The count down has begun!

Well, last Saturday was our longest run ever. Both Mike & I completed 20 miles! It was quite an acomplishment for us. I was so glad that Mike was able to complete it, as for the past few weeks his right knee had been giving him some dificulty. Best of all, we both felt like we could have continued on for an other 6.2 miles! Now, we are to tapper our training until race day.
Today, was supose to be a 10 mile run in La Jolla, but we chose to stay up in Riverside...now we will each need to run it on the treadmill. Thank goodness for DVD's! Next week will be our last team run before we fly out to Florida! It has been lots of fun planning the trip. I know that everything is going to happen so quickly from here on in and it will be race day morning before I know it!
We had one of our team-mates, Patty decorate our race shirts and they are so cool! She did a great job on them and we can't wait to wear them at Disney!
For anyone who is interested in looking at the race course you can check it out by going to:
http://disneyworldsports.go.com/dwws/en_US/events/eventDetail/detailname=WdwMarathonDetailPage

On Saturday we did a 12 mile back down run, it was cold and wet...but still one of the best runs yet for us as Lyndsay was able to join us for the team pot luck! Even though she is only at 91 her doctors let her come out to meet everyone!
Just a note on Lyndsay: she will be having a bone marrow biopsy very soon as her "platets" are low. Please be praying that the tests show no cancer or blasting of cells.
Next week, we will be running our farthest training run before the actual race...20 miles!

18 MILES!

Who would have ever thought that we would be distance runners! Certainly not Mike or I, but here we are running 12 & 18 miles. This Saturday was amazing! Mike & I were both feeling great and running strong. We love stopping at our aid stations, besides water and Power aid, there is always great encouragement! One of our mentors was even fundraising and did very well with the passers by who were just out for a morning walk. The 1st nine miles flew by...training really does work, who would have thought! As we headed back, Mike chose to stop at mile 12 and catch a ride back from the aid station. As you may remember, his knee has been bothering him a bit, but, good news, it is increasingly better every week! He progressed 4 miles more this week and is feeling great! I continued on with Mentor Erin and we pressed on to the finish! OK, so we were the last ones in, we did linger at the last aid station and were a bit confused on the last turn...but we finished strong and smiling! Next week we have aback down run of 12 miles, I think, then we up it to 20 miles! Marathon here we come!
Disney is starting to feel real now. Both Mike & I know we will actually run 26.2 miles. We are excited to hear stories of the run it self, what with all the characters and entertainment that will help cheer us on as we run thought the parks.
I don't know how much I have said about the run it self, but it is pretty amazing. We will be starting at Disney's Epcot and will run through part of the park and on to a transition road to the Magic Kingdom. There we will run all though that park and through the castle on to an other road that will bring us to the Wild Animal Kingdom. Of course we will get to run through that too! Then its back to Epcot where we will finally cross the finish line! we have been told that the characters will stop and take photos with you as your run...I will have my camera with me. We will just have to wait and see if we can stop for pictures! It might be in our best interest to just press on ward and not be too distracted!

Wow...The miles keep coming!

I can't believe how many miles we are putting in each week. 5 miles each day (or there abouts) and 13, 14, 16 + every Saturday! It makes those first few weeks seem like nothing.
On Sunday Nov. 16th Mike & I ran the Silver Strand 1/2 Marathon as part of our training. This was only our 2nd 1/2 marathon, and the 1st was 7 years ago. It started off going really well, but Mike was watching his knee. It had been bothering him since the 14 mile run. About 2 miles in to the run, we had to slow it down to take it easy on it. Since we were running right by the parking lot where our car was parked (about mile 5) Mike made the sad but wise choice to sit the rest of the race out. I continued on my own to the end and let me tell you, it was HOT about 90 on the coast!!! It was not the same not being with Mike at the finish line, but he was there snapping a few pictures and cheering me on!
This past Saturday was the run we have been looking forward to since day one...our Train Run! We caught the train at the Solana Beach station and took it up to Oceanside where we got off and began the 16 mile run back. Off we went on a thankfully much cooler run and before we knew it we had traversed one whole city, to Carlsbad! Mike ran until he needed to give his knee a break, 8 miles. Again, I pressed onward. The miles seemed to go by pretty smoothly until the last one...I began the mental battle of "boy, my feet hurt" or "my legs are tired" and "gee how much further do I really have?". Then out of nowhere a runner behind me just called out as he sprinted by "You're doing great! Keep going" He wasn't even part of the Team, but it made me smile and my stride even picked up a bit. As it turned out, I was only about 3/4 of a mile from finishing! That was the longest run I have ever done and I can hardly believe that in weeks Mike & I will run 18, then 20 and then 26.2!
After the run we joined some of the Team for pizza...We are always starving after our runs! One of the more seasoned runners made the comment that the first 15 to 18 miles of marathon running aren't so bad, but at some point it just becomes a matter of pain management! I can see that! I must say that we are finding that we are recovering much quicker after these long runs than we did earlier on, so our bodies must be getting stronger!

Personal Records!

Last Saturday, Mike and I ran 14 miles! It was the longest run either of us have ever completed. About 7 years ago we did a 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) but never this far. Now were are in the Big League! The run was from Pacific Beach to a point in La Jolla and then back. IT was a very pretty and friendly run. We ran around part of Mission Bay and then along the boardwalk and continued up in to some beautiful neighborhoods that overlooked the ocean. People we super friendly and we asking about Team In Training and why we were running, as well as folks cheering "GO TEAM"! Over all it was a great run. This weekend we will be running in the Silver Strand 1/2 marathon instead of a regular training run. We received our practice purple shirts last weekend and can't wait to wear them on this run!

It seems so hard to believe that we will be in Florida in about 8 weeks. Everyone on the team who is heading down there is so excited! It seems that most of us really like Disney and are having some fun planning our free time at the various parks. I have not been since I was about 5 years old - and back then they only had the Magic Kingdom, and even then they were just finishing building Space Mountain!!! Mike has been there since Epcot, but hadn't spent too much time there. We are both looking forward to exploring the new parks and of course Disney World! It will be fun going with the group, as so many of them have been before and can show us the places that we must see. A couple of the group are planning a trip over to Kennedy Space Center, that might be a fun side trip too...so much to see and do, so little time and 26.2 mile to run right in the middle!

Lyndsay Update!

Lyndsay is home now and doing very well! We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with her and her mom & Dad, Lisa & Carl on Sunday. Although she goes to the infusion clinic 3 times a week right now to check her levels and often needs to get a boost of magnesium she love being home and able to move around more freely. They found a cute little place near the hospital and Lyndsay can even sit on the balcony and get some fresh air!

Double Digits!

This Saturday's run was in Encinitas, although a very different area than the last time we ran here. We met up a little park right on the beach. This was a special day in that the team was challenged to all wear our white TNT (Team In Training) shirts. If there were any that didn't their coaches would have to accept the "punishment". Well, it seems that we were the first team ever to all wear them, so the 2 head coaches had this wonderful purple hair coloring applied to their heads and had to run with very purple hair! It was quite a site!
Our run took us past some amazing beach homes, many of which were for sale. So Mike & I house shopped (wished) while we ran. Then we came along the PCH for a bit until we turned around at a camp ground - we ran through that on the way back instead of the road, just for some thing different, then it was back by our homes again. Once we got back to the park, Coach Ken had suggested that we all go for a waist deep dip in the ocean. It apparently is a great way to recover after a long run - the waves moving back & forth over your muscles, the salt water to help replenish your sodium and of course the cool temperature to help sooth the legs & feet. It really was nice, but reminded me of swimming in Maine when I was a girl. I used to come out of the water in July with my lips and fingers blue! The picture above is of the shells I discovered while out in the water.
Mike & I both agreed that so far this was both our favorite and our best run to date.

The last two runs

Well, obviously I have not been keeping up with my postings...so let me fix that!
Two weeks ago we ran 7 miles at 4S Ranch in North County. I have never been in an area that is up hill in every direction!! Needless to say it was a very long 7 miles. That being said, it was a great clinic on stretching. The team had me say a few words about why Mike and I chose to run. This was the weekend afterLyndsay had her bone marrow transplant. Which after 2 high doses of Chemo and 3 days of full body irradiation happened on September 18th without a hitch! Praise God! To read how she is doing check out the link to her blog in the upper right of the screen!
This past Sunday the team run was at Lake Miramar. This is a beautiful area with a 5 mile loop around a man made reservoir. Mike & I ran 8 miles and loved it. This weekend we will miss the team run as we will be in Philadelphia visiting family and attending a software training. I have a call into the Philly area Team In Training office and hope to be able to run with them on Sunday. If not, then my sister, Jessica has a great path that she runs and we will do our "Back down 6 miles" there.

UCSD Run

This past Saturday we ran at UCSD. This was a very fun run. The course was a bit hilly and very confusing. We missed a turn and ran a bit further than planned! So, what was going to be a 4 mile run turned into a 5 mile run! Oh well. We were joined early on by one of our teammates and then once we realised we missed the turn, we added another! We were so close to Lyndsay, who is back in the hospital (UCSD) to have her bone marrow transplant this week on the 18th!!!!
Later on I went over to see her. She is doing really well. Saturday and Sunday she was given doses of chemotherapy. Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday she will undergo total body radiation in preparation for the transplant on Thursday. After her transplant she will be confined to her hospital room for 30 days, after that she will be limited to being at home, which I am sure will be a nice change. After 100 days, her restrictions will start to be lifted as the transplanted marrow has joined with her!

Missed a week!

Last week both Mike and I had to miss our team run. I had volunteered back in January to work at the Women of Faith conference and Mike had to attend the Guide Dog leadership seminar. We made up for it by running durring the week. Righ now the miles are not yet that large 2-4 each day we train on our own, and between 4-8 on Saturdays, they soon will be. Mike and I have both found that each day the run gets a bit easier and we are also shaving a bit of time off each mile as we progress!
I came back on Wednesday, very excited because I ran over 4 miles with an average of a bit over 11 minute miles - that's almost to where I was when I was in my early
30's! We both found that durring the week we like to run with our ipods - My "power song" is "I Get A Little Stronger Everyday" by Michael W. Smith, it really helps me kick it up! On Saturday runs with the group, we don't use the ipods. Instead, it is amazing how many people - not part of the Team, cheer us on with a "GO TEAM" as we run by, it realy lifts the spirits and is a quick reminder of why and for whom we are running.
We are really looking forward to going to the run tomorrow - for Lyndsay! We also hope to be able to see Lyndsay, she will be getting her bone marrow transplnat on the 18th and will be in the hospital for at least a month. Please keep her and her family in your prayers!

Encinitas Training Run

One of the best things about being in the San Diego chapter of Team In Training is the great places we get to run. This week it was along the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) in Encinitas. It is so nice to have the ocean breeze and hear the surf as it hits the sand. It also is much more pleasant to look at than the boring road that we run during the week. I think we will need to find some place else to run when we are in Riverside.
Tonight we start the midweek training with the Inland Empire/Orange County group. Even though we are officially SD members, they are letting us run with them. There was no way we would be able to meet midweek down there. We just got their schedule today. It seems that they do something called "boot camp"...this sounds tough. I did that in the Air Force, it was hard then, and I was much younger!!!! So we will be off to that in just a couple of hours...I'll keep you posted.

Crown Point

This past Saturday we met at Crown Point for our training run. It is a beautiful park on Mission Bay overlooking the back side of Sea World and it is a stones throw away from Pacific Beach. This week we had a very amusing visual demonstration by Coach Happy. He had us laughing so hard in his pink tutu and and flamboyant sunglasses - of all mornings not to have my camera!!! At least I know now that I don't need to go out and get a tutu! (I may still get one for Mike -ha ha) After a few more announcements we set out on our run/walk. Mike & I liked it here so much that we will be back to run on our own some time soon.

Both of us seem to be more excited and inspired each week after our Team meetings. Everyone involved is so positive and uplifting (and surprisingly full of energy in the morning), we just love it. The energy keeps going all week too. I found a saying that kind of has that same momentum "I am fairly certain that given a cape and a nice tiara, I could save the world." Leigh Standley. OK, so I don't need a tutu, but maybe a tiara and cape?!

Thanks to all of you who sent your donation checks this week - YOU GUYS ARE GREAT!!!

Our first team run

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS DONATED SO FAR! YOU ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!

We have been so excited about starting our training, and last Saturday was our first run with the team! Unfortunately, I had bothered my knee, all because of the wrong shoes! When they say wait for the shoe clinic, WAIT!!! I had bought the "bad shoes" a month or so before, but hadn't done a lot in them. So our first run was a bit sad as we turned around and got me some ice.
The Great news is that I went to Moving Shoes and got a pair that are perfect. Although i have given my knee a bit of rest this week and will take it slowly this coming Saturday, I am amazed at how the wrong show can hurt so much...especially when it felt so comfy!.

TNT Kik Off Event

Yesterday Mike & I Attended our Team In Training kick off event yesterday! Boy are we inspired and eager to go out ant run!! We have just 22 weeks to get in shape for our marathon. We met 2 honored teammates and learned in a very simplified way what blood cancers do. I was part of that skit. I got to be platelets. It was shown that in the bone marrow, the over population of white blood cells (fight infections) cause both the red blood cells (carry oxygen)and the platelets (clotting)to "clog" up everything so that none of the cells can do their respective jobs.
They also had a drawing for 3 different gift baskets...I won the 1st one. It had all sorts of cool things, including a TNT sweatshirt, ear warmers, travel mug and a bunch of other goodies.
We then broke up into our different event groups. Some are hiking and others are biking. Our group is made up of several different races, all either 1/2 or full marathons. We got to meet our coaches and mentors. We also discussed the different training sites we would be at and the big run, that apparently the San Diego TNT group in known for, the "Train Run" where the group will take the train from Solana Beach to Oceanside and then run back!! They said we would do thins some time before Thanksgiving! Now that's something to look forward to.

This morning Mike and I began our training and ran about 3 miles! Mike is super motivated and so am I. And so the adventure begins...

It's official...we are crazy!

Today, after talking about doing this for some time, Mike and I committed to run our 1st marathon! We chose to train with a group called Team in Training and raise $8,000.00 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society on behalf of our fiends' daughter, Lyndsay. She was diagnosed with Acute Byphenotpic Leukemia earlier this year.
Join us on this exciting(or do I mean exhausting?!)journey as we prepare to run 26.2 miles this coming January 11Th at Walt Disney World in Florida. We invite you to cheer us on by posting your support, as this is a huge event for us. We are looking forward to reading your posts to this blog and invite you to check back often as there will be new posts and photos of us training. We also encourage you to dig deep and help us reach our goal of raising $8,000.00.
Thank you,

Mike & Dawn ... we off to run!