Richmond Send Off

My Team in Training event for this year, the Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon, is now more than a month in the past.  But the people I trained with were not all doing that event.  A few of them ran the Nike marathon in San Francisco, but the largest number of my teammates are running and walking the Richmond Half and Full Marathons next weekend.  This is billed as "America's Friendliest Marathon," and from what I hear, it is a great one to do.

Last night was the send off for the Richmond Marathon Team, held at Capital Ale House not two blocks from where I work.  All of us were invited, so I went, of course.  It was great to look around at the excited and happy faces.  For many of them, this is there first half marathon or marathon.  There were a few nervous faces, too.  But they will be just fine once they cross the start on November 16.  They are racing for whatever their personal reasons to run or walk this race are, but they are also racing for a cure, and I am very proud of them!  They are a great group of women and men!

My Mentors' Gift

Every Team in Training participant gets a mentor to help them with fundraising.  This year, I got two: Kristina and Bryan Babbitt.  I have been involved with Team in Training for eight years now, and this couple were the best - bar none - mentors I have encountered!  And I include myself in that mix, as I mentored people at least three or four seasons over the years.

I could write a lot about all the things they did to keep the participants involved and motivated, but I won't.  I will mention that every week, they put out an amazingly well done newsletter for us.  That alone is a ton of work. 

The final touch was the race weekend.  They drove all the way down from Richmond to see us off at the start and be there at the TNT finisher tent, sitting out for hours in the hot sun.  And when we came up to the tent, they gave each of us a handmade gift - a medal holder.  Isn't it cool?  That is my medal from the race under it.

Kristina and Bryan are running the Richmond marathon together in two weeks, and I plan on being there to cheer them on.  And they are coming back for their third season in a row to mentor once again.  Can they top this season?  I don't know, but if anyone can, they can.

Coach Cheryl!

I first met Cheryl in my first marathon (and first Team in Training event), up in rainy Anchorage, Alaska on June 18, 2005.  We were both on Virginia's team, about 16 of us in total.  Cheryl was with the Tidewater group, and I was from Richmond's.  We were the only two walkers, so we walked together for the first 16 or 17 miles.  Here we are around mile 7, I think.

Since we never walked or trained together, we were not used to each other's paces, and at some point, I was just a bit faster, so I went ahead for the last 10 miles and waited for her at the finish line.

Fast forward a few years.  Cheryl would be the one waiting for me.  She has done many events - raising lots of money for this cause - become a runner, and also completed a triathlon.  I find the latter particularly impressive, since it involves swimming in a river.  So, she is quite the athlete!  If she completes a century (100 mile bike ride), she will earn the coveted Team in Training "Triple Crown."

Cheryl has also become a coach on our Tidewater Team, and for some time now, has helped others attain their athletic goals.  She has supported my LLS fundraising quests very generously whenever I have asked, including during my current "Crabby" campaign.  And, to top it off, she is simply a great person.

But best of all, I learned that she is going to be our team coach for the Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon Sunday!  I am really excited to be participating in an event with Cheryl as our coach, and can't wait to see her.

Talking to the Teams

I wanted to meet the Spring Team and give a mission moment about my eight year remission point. I am not doing TNT at this moment in time, but know a number of the people on the teams.

So I got up early yesterday and went out to meet the run team at 8AM and the cycle team at 9AM. I got to the park early and had time to run and walk three miles or so in the cold. I had hoped my friend Lelia would want to come out and run, but she ended up going in Florida, so I ran by myself, doing laps around the VITA track in the park. It felt like it could snow, but after my workout, my upper layers were soaked through, and my fleece was covered with frost on the back. I sweat buckets when I work out, even in the cold. Standing around afterwards for a half hour left me feeling chilled.

The spring team has a lot of people, which is fantastic to see. The last few years, it has been small, and it is always more fun with a bigger team. They were an enthusiastic group. I talked to them about my great fortune in reaching eight years in remission, but how even though Hodgkin lymphoma is considered a “good cancer” to have, 15% of people so afflicted will die from it. Why is that? Why is it that the drugs that cured me so successfully will not work for someone else? There has to be something at the cellular level or sub-cellular level that is different enough, and that is why more money is needed for research.

It was great to see so many old friends on this team, and I felt wistful that I am not on it, training for Vancouver. But about 8:30, I left to drive 25 minutes to meet the cycle team, coached by my friend Susan Ann. It was across town, and I got to meet six people who came out that day. Their training does not officially start until January, so this is preliminary workouts. They were riding 25 miles on the cold day. What a nice bunch of men and women!

I really appreciated the chance to talk to these fine groups of TNTers, out there in the cold and trying to make a difference with blood cancers. That difference is still badly needed, despite recent successes in the war against cancer.

The Iron Woman

One week from today, my good friend Susan will be in Louisville, Kentucky participating in her first Ironman Triathlon. She has done too many marathons and triathlons to count, as well as a couple of century rides. But this is her first Ironman: 2.4 miles swimming in the Ohio River, 112 miles on a bike, and 26.2 miles on foot. I cannot imagine it, and I am so proud of her.

I wanted to write her a little something to send her off, but I was pressed for time and the words wouldn't come. So I started to write a note about how I could not find the right words for her, and suddenly, the words came to me!

I'll be cheering for you from afar on the 29th, Susan! I want to see that Ironman tattoo after this is all done. You rock!

"The Iron Woman"

From me this time, no clever rhyme
(Though I think of you no less)
But there is insufficient time
To properly express

The admiration that I feel for you
As you chase down your quest -
The Ironman Tri you now pursue
While you strive to give your best

Though you will be both hot and tired
With little chance for rest
Think of us who’ll be inspired
‘Cause to the end you pressed

So whether swim or bike or run
Go strong, like one possessed
You’ll end your day in August sun
Ironman metal on your chest

With these last words, my verse I’ll end
Now to send you on your quest:
Go make us proud, my Iron Girl friend
To know you, I’ve been blessed

LLS Recognition Awards

On Monday, June 28, the Virginia Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society held their annual volunteer recognition and awards ceremony. I missed it because I was still in Washington state, hiking in Mount Rainier National Park after running the Seattle Half Marathon. But I learned later that three friends got awards, and they are three people who could not be more deserving. I was really happy to learn about them winning these awards, but sad to have missed being there.

Chuck Smith got the Team in Training award. Anyone who knows Chuck knows that there is not a more dedicated person out there. He has been involved in TNT for about four years and has done so much for the program and its participants. He has been head and assistant run coach multiple times, and also been a fund raising participant on several occasions. He is always ready and willing to help in any way possible, and is a supurb coach during the events, taking the time to run a bit with anyone who needs it. He typically puts in 30+ miles on his feet for our events.

Susan Ann Glass, my Triple Crown friend, won the Volunteer of the Year Award. In addition to doing something 25 events - or is it 30 now? - for TNT over the years, Susan has most recently been the cycle coach. She has done marathons, half marathons, triathlons, and a century cycle event. She has done a half iron man triathlon, and in a month and a couple of days, she will be an iron man (iron woman?) triathlete. Can you tell that I am proud of her?

Ed Stone won the Nike Winged Victory Award, given to a blood cancer survivor who has made a difference and inspired people. Ed has never done an iron man triathlon, but he is an iron man in everything else. He is a four time cancer survivor since surviving leukemia at the age of 20, and has gone through all kinds of hellish treatments for melanoma in the past year. He has lost part of his left foot to this disease, but has already been back out swimming and on the bike. He has done marathons, half marathons, triathlons, and century cycle events, and was Team Virginia's first TNT Triple Crown recipient. Ed is a constant inspiration to everyone on our team.

Congratulations to these three fine people. There could not be better choices for these awards.

Thanks, Lelia, For a Great Season

One of the cool things about Team in Training is coming back for another season and meeting old friends and teammates in a totally different role. People I used to mentor come back as my mentor. People I used to train with come back as my coach. And this season, I ended up mentoring a gal that used to be my coach, Lelia.

It made for a great season. First, Lelia was a mentor's dream - she just quietly went about fundraising and met her goal with no real help or assistance from me. She did it by direct email and letter campaigns, and by doing innovative fundraisers that I never would have thought of, like a Bunko night. Of course, if I ever did a Bunko night, I would probably be drummed out of the ranks of Guydom. Drunko, maybe - but not Bunko. Not for a guy.

Because Lelia and I both were doing a type of Galloway run - walk, and because we were walking and running at similar paces and intervals, we trained together every Saturday. Sometimes she would be stronger and push me a bit, others times it was me pushing along, and many times we both had bad days running the same day and could commiserate. The few times she couldn't make it to training, I really missed her. After last season of being the only "runalker" and training by myself most Saturdays, it was great to have a teammate to train with and talk to. We trained together for the last Saturday yesterday, and it was fun. So thanks, Lelia! It was a great summer season.

Here is Lelia at mile 8 in the San Diego Marathon a week ago, being suprised by her friend Mike and his camera. Another of my mentees, Stephanie, is in the right hand side of the photo. Don't they look like they are having fun? Come on out and join Team in Training, y'all! You won't regret it!

Good Luck, Amber!

Man, time sure flies! You blink your eyes a few times and 4.5 years goes by. Time waits for no man, woman, or child. And today arrived a day that I knew would come some day – Amber’s departure as our Team in Training Director at LLS for the Virginia Chapter.

It feels like yesterday that I met Amber, but in reality, it was September of 2005. I had done my first TNT event and my first marathon the prior June, and had come out to speak to the fall team as a Survivor. The current coordinator, Sarah, introduced me to Amber, telling me that she was coming on as Sarah’s replacement. I chatted with this nice, friendly, young woman for a while. It was clear she would be very good for the job, but I never could have guessed how great.

I don’t know what Amber earned in her job, but I know two things: she will never get wealthy working at LLS, and if she was paid by the hour and by her dedication, she would earn a lot more than she did. Over the years, I’ve seen her out with the team so many very early Saturday mornings on her day off. She worked so many evening recruitment meetings, and if I emailed her with a question or idea after hours, I usually got an answer within minutes. She actually did two events fundraising for Team in Training so she could experience the program first hand. She approaches her job with a rare passion and dedication. Plus she is very smart, well spoken, enthusiastic, and interacts with people very well. She is the kind of person that was going to get a much better offer at some point – probably at many points – and at this time, she decided to take it. I know she will do fantastically well with the National Kidney Foundation.

During her 4.5 years, I have seen so many people come work for LLS and move on, but Amber worked away right through it all and was the only constant during this time. So it feels strange to think she won’t be there after today. She has meant so much to Virginia and Richmond Team in Training during this time, growing it and keeping it going through tough times. Whatever we needed as volunteers, Amber would help find it. She always supported and encouraged us in so many ways. Whether it was advice on fundraising or training, or just being a friend, well, that was Amber! She leaves the office in the capable hands of Elliot and Cate, but we will all miss this wonderful young woman.

So Amber, congratulations and best of luck in the new job. Everyone will miss you. I for one (of many) am glad that our paths crossed these past four and half years. And I expect they will again, hopefully both of us wearing the purple together as we race for a cure! Best of everything to you, Amber, and GO TEAM!

Here is Amber (front center with green jacket and antlers) with last year's Spring Team before our Jingle Bell Run:

Back to Back Runs

After yesterday's fun run with Lelia and our two team run coaches, I decided to run again today. I need to get in the habit of working out and running with great regularity, and a spring like day in daylight seemed like just the ticket. So I ran and walked six laps in Echo Lake Park.

I am really enjoying having Lelia on my team. First, we go pretty far back with Team in Training. She was my walk coach for my first two seasons on the team. Secondly, she is a "runalker" like me, and we are both working out at fairly similar paces. She has a runner's GPS, and that helps keep us both on pace and with intervals that work. Third, she is a fun person to talk to and having someone to chat with makes the miles just slip by. The last time I did TNT I ended up training by myself a good bit because I was the only person doing a run / walk combination. So I am definitely enjoying not being out there by myself all the time this go-around. I am really glad that she is back on the team.

At the end of training yesterday, I ran into several former teammates. That is another great thing about TNT - you meet a lot of really good people, and it is a lot of fun to run into them in other seasons. Yesterday, I saw Liz, who was on my first team ever. Vicki, who was the run coach for that team, is coaching the spring team. Betty, Summer Team walk coach, was on my first team. Chuck, my roommate for the Arizona marathon in 2008, is our team run coach. And Sarah, my Arizona coach, was out coaching the Monument Avenue 10K team. It felt like a mini-reunion!

Our Team Grows

Well, I think I will be busier than Tiger Woods in a singles bar! I now have nine participants that I am mentoring for the summer team, the most mentees I have ever had. Our team has grown steadily, despite not having yet met or trained. We are now up to 27 people: 7 cycle, 7 triathlon, and 13 on the marathon / half marathon team. This means we have gained 8 participants since kick-off three weeks ago. The cycle team is really a combined spring and summer team, but the triathlon and foot-race teams are purely summer. The marathon team has gone from only eight to 13, which is a nice gain. And we could potentially add some more. 11 of the team are headed for San Diego, and the other two of us are doing Seattle. I’d love to add a few more for Seattle in particular. Come on, you know you want to join us!

The first year I did TNT, one of my walk coaches was Lelia, and she was my walk coach a year later when I did San Diego. After an absence of a couple of years, Lelia has joined the team for San Diego. It will be great to have a teammate from the past training with us.

Hopefully, the weather will be OK for this Saturday and we can finally train together. I will probably be training by myself most of the time. The two of us going to Seattle will have a different distance schedule from the 11 people going to San Diego. And then me, as a “runalker”, will have a different pace from the walkers or the runners. It is always more fun when it works out that there are others on the team to train with, but I will adapt to whatever the situation is. At this point, I’m just glad our team has grown, and I can’t wait to meet everyone and get started!

10K With the Spring Team

I am not training for an event with the Spring Team (yet), but had an opportunity this morning to put out a water stop, do a mission moment, and train with the team. They were doing 3, 4, and 6 miles, and I decided to try for six miles - 6.5 actually. I probably should have stuck with 4, since I have not done more than 5 miles since doing the Country Music Half Marathon seven months ago. And I have trained very little during those seven months.

But I did the six mile route, running mostly with Nicki and Mindi. Nicki is a seasoned TNT veteran, and will be running the Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans on the weekend that is the 13th anniversary of the bone marrow transplant that saved her life. Mindi is new to TNT, and to long distance running. She ran her first half marathon a couple of weeks ago in Richmond, and will also be running the marathon in New Orleans in February. Mindi's pink hair stands out, and I told her that she should switch to purple for the season, or better yet, half of her head purple and the other half green. She did not seem convinced.

It felt good to run. I ran at least 4, maybe even 5, of the 6.5 miles. I know it was a little too much, because I don't think I've run more than 2 miles at any given workout since my race. So I might be sore tomorrow. But for now, I am just glad that I still have enough of a level of fitness to go that far, mostly running. That represents about a quarter of a marathon. Back at the park, Nicki, Mindi, and I exchanged high-fives with the three coaches that waited for us. Everyone else, save for one really fast coach who was long gone, did 3 or 4 miles - so they were long gone, too.

In my mission moment, I talked about surviving cancer seven years ago, and some of the ephiphanies I experienced during treatment. One of these was the realization on my first day of chemo that as I walked into this pretty full oncology room, feeling kind of scared, that this was one oncology room in one city on one day. Imagine how many people all over the world were doing the same thing. Another ephiphany was how difficult some people had it. I talked to a woman that first day who was in her 80's and she was on her 12th year of dealing with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. That is a long time to deal with cancer, and she told me how tired she was of it.

Another ephiphany occurred on my last day of chemo, the 25th of November, 2002. The man next to me nearly died from a very small amount of a new chemo they tried on him, since the previous treatments were not working. He passed out and 4 nurses and a doctor worked on him and brought him back. They told him and his daughter that this treatment would not work, and that they were out of realistic options. How difficult would that be to hear, just a few days before Thanksgiving, or any time for that matter? It brought home how difficult some cancers still are to treat, and it tells me now that this is why those of us doing Team in Training must keep on doing it.

Survivors Making a Statement

So, about a month before my last TNT event, I was walking into the local supermarket wearing my purple Team in Training windbreaker, and a lady walks up to me. "Do you do Team in Training?" she asked. I told her that I do, and that I was training for the Country Music Half-Marathon. She said "I just want to thank you. I am a multiple myeloma survivor."

We chatted for a while, with me telling her about surviving lymphoma. She told me that her daughter had done TNT, and that once she is fully recovered, she thinks of doing it as well. At the time, she was only a couple of months past treatment and not feeling strong yet. Her name was Mindy. It was about that time that I had recently learned about all of the advances with multiple myeloma, which as a group is one of the most difficult blood cancers to treat. I felt such encouragement from this news, and from meeting Mindy and hearing this appreciation.

Fast forward to our informational meeting last week. There was Mindy, with her husband and a friend who also is a multiple myeloma survivor. They were all considering joining the spring team. The four of us chatted for a while, and I encouraged them to join. “Do it!” I said. “The feeling you will have when you cross that finish line as a cancer survivor will be indescribable!”

I learned last night that Mindy and her husband have joined the team, to walk the half-marathon (Shamrock) in Virginia Beach this coming March. I love it when cancer survivors make a statement. When they say “Cancer, you kicked my butt for months. But in the end, it was me who won this fight. Now look at me! I’m going to become a half-marathoner (or marathoner, or triathlete, or century rider)!”

I hope that when Mindy crosses that finish line in March, she will have a smile that lights up all of Virginia Beach! Go Mindy! Go survivors everywhere!

A Visit with the Fall Team

Yesterday, I decided to go meet the Fall Marathon Team when they came back from their 6, 8, and 12 miles runs. I got to Byrd Park by 7:45, walked a couple of laps around the lake, and settled in on a park bench for a while.

First in was my friend Susan, training with the marathon team yesterday, but preparing for the half Iron-man triathlon next month in Augusta, Georgia. Seeing her was a great surprise, because I had no idea that she was working out with the marathon team yesterday. Others began to come in shortly after she did. Since I have not trained with that team, I don’t know a lot of the people on it. But I did see some old friends, such as Chuck, Betty, and Liz – all teammates from prior events. And I got to chat for a while with some of the folks on the team that I don’t know well. Also, I got to meet my TNT “penpal” Michelle. She was working out with the team in Fredericksburg, and she and I have been exchanging emails for almost two months, talking about our experiences with Team in Training. She had decided recently to train with the Richmond team, making the 50 mile trip down here. She also brought some great home baked apple muffins, and some homemade granola. It was wonderful to finally meet her.

I’ve missed working out with the Purple People, even though my life and weekends have been pretty busy. So it was nice to be around the team for a morning. Plus Chuck and I set a time to catch up in a week or so over a beer, and Michelle and I agreed that I will buy her a Legend Brewing Company brown ale to celebrate her becoming a marathoner in a couple of months. She is training for the US Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC. I will look forward to both of those brews, both with great people!

Here are photos of Michelle and I, and of me with some of the Fall Team:

Pink Power!

Today being Sunday, I could have slept in a little before the start of the work week. I could have, but I didn’t. Instead, my alarm was set for 4:45, all to help my fellow man. Or should I say my fellow woman? Because I was volunteering as crew at the Pink Power Triathlon, an all female race with an all male volunteer crew.

I woke just after 4AM, I guess just nerves for not wanting to be late. I lay there until the alarm went off, slapped on some deodorant, shaved, and brushed my teeth. I pulled on shoes, shorts and a tee, and, as I headed out the door, grabbed a bagel to eat in the car during the drive. The event was in a part of town that I am not familiar with, and so I got an even earlier start than I needed, arriving for check-in at 5:35AM instead of the requested 6AM. Even so, volunteers were already there in the pitch-black darkness.

My job was as a bike course monitor, working with another guy to direct cyclists to make a U-turn as the course doubled back on itself, and make sure everyone was safe. The bike crew chief gave me a map with emergency phone numbers on it. “Just call if there is any emergency,” he said. “Great,” I thought, “I guess I would need a cell phone to do that.” I figured that the chance that the other volunteer at my post also not having a cell phone was remote. I mean, what is the chance in America that both of the only two people in one spot don’t have a cell phone? Plus, there was a police officer directing vehicular traffic.

I was at my station before 6AM, and the first triathlete came by at 7:10. It was fun. A lot of the women appreciated my pink bunny ears, and I wore a Team in Training shirt to advertise TNT a bit. A few of the participants that went by were old teammates from prior foot races, so that was really cool. Included in this mix was my friend Susan, who so recently got the TNT Triple Crown!

I felt proud of these 500 girls and women – all ages and races, all shapes and sizes, and all exerting themselves on a very hot day to swim ¼ mile in a pool, bike about 12 miles, and run 3.1 miles. We’ve come a long way since the days when women were not supposed to exert themselves and show how strong they can be, and were considered "the weaker sex." One of my prior teammates used to wear a tee-shirt that said “Strong is the new Beautiful.” That being the case, I saw about 500 beautiful women today!

Way to Go and Congratulations, Coach Bob!

Tonight, the Virginia Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society had their annual volunteer recognition ceremony, where they recognize the many volunteers working in so many ways to help LLP progress towards the mission of curing blood cancers. This includes the Team in Training, Light the Night, Leukemia Regatta, School Programs, Patient Services Volunteers, and the Board of Directors, as well as other volunteer areas. It is a nice chance to socialize for a bit, and then learn what is going on with LLS, and also to see some of the many people who give so much as volunteers get recognized.


One such extremely deserving person is TNT's beloved "Coach Bob", from the Virginia Beach Chapter. Amber said that he has volunteered as a coach for TNT for the past ten years, year round. That is an incredible sacrifice of hundreds and hundreds of Saturdays. Bob got the Team in Training Outstanding Participant Award this year, and a more deserving person you cannot find.


In my first marathon, Midnight Sun in Anchorage in 2005, Coach Bob was the Virginia Team's Coach. He worked so hard for us, and escorted every member of Team Virginia to the finish line in the marathon. He is a great guy, a great coach, a great volunteer, and I was really happy to learn that he received this award this year. Here is a photo of Bob and me just before the start of the Marathon in Anchorage:


Well done, Coach Bob, and well deserved!

Go Anchorage Team!

I will always have a special affinity for any TNT team going to the Anchorage Marathon, because that was my very first event, and my first marathon. It is one of the all-time fantastic memories of my life.

Tonight, the Anchorage Team had their send-off and I crashed their party. I had asked for an invitation because two of my awesome spring team mentees, Cathy and Kathy, transferred from the Nashville Team after our season started. Cathy did so because she just decided that if she was going to do a marathon and raise thousands of dollars - she has raised $30,000+ or what it took three of my seasons to raise - she might as well race in Alaska. And Kathy got a nasty stress fracture early in our training and switched to the summer team after she recovered. So I wanted to see each of them off at their send-off. I am really proud of both of them. Kathy's daughter, Kayla, is a double leukemia survivor and so this cause is very special to their family. Kayla was there tonight, and so I got to meet her, which was great, because I had written her name on my Nashville race shirt.

We had a great team dinner at PF Changs, and in addition to the Anchorage Team and Amber, former coaches and teammates Sarah and Michal were there, plus Coach Chuck B., who I have never trained with but know from prior events. They are such a good group of people!

It was a lot of fun to be part of their celebration, and if I win the lottery tomorrow night, I will be up there cheering for them in person! Here is my little tribute to them. North! To Alaska!

Great job!
On to Alaska!

Awesome scenery!
North Star!
Changing lives!
Helping cancer patients!
Overcoming obstacles!
Racing for a cure!
Accomplishments you will always remember
Getting closer to kicking cancer to the curb!
Extraordinary!

Thank you from your patient honorees!
Everyone of you is amazing!
Achieving great things!
Memories to last a lifetime!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To Susan, My Triple Crown Friend

I blogged a couple of days ago about going to the Fletcher Flyer race to cheer for TNT Virginia, and the other Purple People. I mentioned my amazing friend, Susan, and how she earned her TNT Triple Crown that day. This means that she has run at least one marathon or half marathon, raced in at least one triathlon, and participated in at least one century bike race. In Susan's case, I don't know how many marathons, half-marathons, and triathlons she has done, but Sunday was her first 100 mile bike race, sealing the deal on the Triple Crown.

She is now done with that race, and is already fund-raising and training for her next event, the Half Ironman Triathlon in Augusta, Georgia this fall! This blows my mind, because I don't dare fundraise more than once a year but Susan seems to do it almost year round. It will be her first half Ironman, and she is fund raising for it. Here is her Team in Training webpage for this event:

A few days before her race, I gave Susan a card with this message in it, my tribute to her as my friend and in recognition of her new milestone, the TNT Triple Crown:

She’s run tons of marathons, each twenty-six two
She’s raced in triathlons, seeing every one through
Now with a smile on her face and seldom a frown
She’s one hundred miles from a TNT Triple Crown

She endures rides in the cold when her hands and feet freeze
Tough, long climbs up steep hills, plus some down hills with ease
She took a bad spill but you can’t keep her down
Nor delay her long quest for the TNT Triple Crown

Yet there’s a loftier cause for the things she endures
The money she’s raised will help fund cancers’ cures
For the mission she races, and not for renown
To Matt, Rich, and her Dad she’s dedicating her crown

She is not a grand duchess all decked out in jewels
Or a powerful empress with a retinue of fools
Or a pompous queen wearing an ermine-trimmed gown
But she soon will be sporting a TNT Triple Crown

As she zips by on her bike, hear the cheers from the crowd
She’s relentless and tough, and of her I’m quite proud
At the end of the race, she’ll be the talk of the town

For she’ll own the claim to a TNT triple crown!

Go Susan Go! You rock! Here she is after her race holding her Fletcher Flyer Century medal:

Thanking Our Mentors

We had a great group of mentors this season - Nicki, Paul, Theresa, and Jamey. I want to thank all of them here. Scattered through my blog are a number of photos of these fine people, so I won't repeat photos here.

Mentors are kind of like fund-raising coaches, plus a little more. Each week, they contact every participant by phone and/or email. They are available to meet with their mentees to review fundraising. They brainstorm with participants. It is not an easy volunteer job. Many participants are intimidated by fundraising and keep delaying things until it is really late, and because they are not keeping up with fundraising, they kind of avoid contact with their mentors. Mentors feel a bit like a mother hen, keeping track of their chicks and wanting them to succeed. Mentors also do water stops each week and often bring a post-training snack.

Nicki was our mentor captain, and is great! She is also a patient honoree and a fundraising participant in the Shamrock Marathon - her fourth marathon as a lymphoma survivor. Mentor Captains coordinate all of the other mentors, including the cycle and triathlon mentors. It is a lot of work, but Nicki was up to it. She did an amazing job putting together our extremely successful silent auction. Nicki also came out and supported the Nashville team after her event was done, running with us and setting up roving SAG wagons. Nicki is amazing!

Theresa was my mentor for the second season in a row. She is a fun and creative mentor, always with good fundraising ideas. Plus she gives us gummy worms - mmmm! She was busy for a lot of training weekends so I was disappointed not to see her smiling face more because I really enjoy training with her and catching up on our lives. To show you how TNT works, in 2006 I mentored a wonderful lady named Mary Nell. Mary Nell came back the next year as a mentor, and she mentored a new participant, Theresa. A year or so later, and again this year, Theresa came back to be my mentor. Talk about coming full circle! Theresa, you're the best!

Paul is one of the most dedicated TNT participants I have met. He first came out for TNT, and did his first marathon, in the winter of 2007-08 when I raced Arizona - the first part of this blog. Since then, he has come out every single season as a mentor and/or participant. He trains hard with other particpants and supports them during training. He often brought great post training snacks, including delicious muffins. He did not fundraise this season - you can't do that every time - but he made the trip to Nashville at his own expense to be part of the team. Great guy!

I didn't get to know Jamey too well. Why, you ask? Well, because he can run a mile before I tie my shoes. The last I normally saw of Jamey was his butt and the backs of his heels as he disappeared from Byrd Park! But was always glad to see his smiling face at training and think that he must have been a great mentor.

To all of you, thanks for a great season and for all of the support.

Thanking Our Coaches

Year after year, season after season, Team in Training Coaches do a great job! Our Spring Team was no exception to this rule. I am not going to repeat photos in this post, because many previous posts have pictures of the Spring Team Coaches.

Coaches do so much in addition to having overall responsibility for each participant’s welfare each Saturday. Between our two events and the half and full marathon teams, we have people doing four different distances on any given weekend. The coaches plan the routes each week to accommodate this, keeping safety in mind. They run with different participants at different speeds, make sure that water stops are covered, make sure that the routes are clearly understood, deal with injuries, and make sure that everyone is back at the park. They often give us great mission moments as well.

Vicki was the head run coach this season. This is the fourth time that she has been head coach for teams I have been on, including 2007 when I was a non-fundraising mentor. She is fantastic, working with each person to understand their goals and come up with a plan for achieving them. I always know that it will be a special season when Vicki is coach. In 2006, when I was the only one on the team walking the full marathon, it was often Vicki who waited back at the park to make sure I got back in OK.

Chuck was the assistant run coach, and was the Virginia Team Coach in Nashville. He is incredibly enthusiastic about TNT, our mission, and each participant. He would put in extra miles most weeks, switching from teammate to teammate so that everyone would be running with a coach at some point. Plus, he led us in dynamic stretching – every Richmond participant should always remember “scraping the goose poo off our shoe” – and always had an original cheer for the team each week.

My intent at the start of the season was to combine running and walking, but if we had a large walk team, I could have been persuaded to walk instead. However, we only had one walker who was not a coach, so I went with my original plan. Even with just one walk team member, coaches Kristi and Cathy came out every week. Kristi is also a patient honoree and fund-raising participant who walked the half-marathon in Nashville in about 2:54 (not 3:54 as I originally typed following a bout with dyslexia), walking every step. Cathy walked the half marathon in Virginia Beach (Shamrock). And after her event was done in March, she still came out every week to walk with Kristi and support the rest of the team

Our coaches were amazing and did so much for us – both the big and little things. We were lucky to have them.

Thanking Jen and Amber

Jen and Amber were the staff at LLS assigned to our team. Amber is the leader of Team in Training for all Virginia, and Jen is in charge of Richmond TNT operations. They are both terrific. Here is Jen (left) and Amber after our Jingle Bell run late last year.Amber is a seasoned veteran, having been an LLS employee for nearly four years now. I blogged about her last winter when she ran the Winter Team that included my Arizona Marathon in January, 2008. Everything I wrote last year is still true about Amber – she works so hard in everything she does.

The Spring Team was Jen’s first team. She joined LLS after doing the Nations Triathlon for TNT. She worked so hard all year to recruit the team and keep it going. She was willing to meet one on one with every participant to go over fund raising if they wanted to. She ran fund raising clinics, and often was out early on Saturdays to run with us. Amber also was a frequent visitor to our training sessions.

I was saddened to learn that Jen accepted another job a month ago as the Fall Team was forming up. I know she will do well and excel at it. I am really glad that I was part of her very first team that she was responsible for. No one working for the Team in Training program is going to get rich. They work their butts off and I would guess it is not for a ton of money, but believe in the mission and work very hard to attain it.

Amber was our LLS staff for the Nashville trip and took care of so many details. She was also out there on the race course all day cheering for participants. There is no way we could be successful at what we do without people like Amber and Jen. No way! Of course, they are doing their jobs but go above and beyond every week. They give so much of themselves to our teams and I think that every participant appreciate this. I know that I do, big time!