San Francisco here we come!

As Mike & I trained for our marathon at Walt Disney World, we both thought that it would be the only marathon we would ever do. It took many hours/miles of training runs, blisters, aches and various pains and incredibly sore feet! But, as we crossed that finish line (well, maybe it was back at mile 21) we both knew in our hearts that it wasn't our only race - we were hooked!
As many of you know, we began our running journey when we learned that our friend Lyndsay had been diagnosed with Leukemia. We joined Team In Training to help in a small way - together with your help Mike & I raised over $8,000! When added to the other 5000+ runners at Disney it meant more than $7 million had been raised to help find a cure for this horrible cancer!
As we trained, Lyndsay underwent bone marrow biopsies, Chemo, and many, many days in the hospital all leading up to her bone marrow transplant! We are happy to announce that she is now cancer free however she is dealing with some of the many side effects of that treatment. One of the most common is something called GVHD or Graft Verses Host Disease. She is doing better, but still not herself yet. So again Mike & I will be running. This time we are tackling San Francisco! It will be a bigger challenge with those wonderful hills (Disney was quite flat - big plus)! With your help and support we hope to raise $4000! Please join us as we run to help put an end to cancer!
All you need to do is follow the links to our fundraising sites and donate! We can also always use those words of encouragement and if you are extra motivated we would love to have you help out on Saturday morning at one of our aid stations. You'll meet the team and have great time!

Amazing!

Amazing! There aren’t words to explain the experience of running a marathon. Especially, with Team In Training! Physically, this was the hardest, most challenging thing either of us has ever done. We trained for months, worked hard, endured sore muscles, joints, feet, and blisters. Mentally, we remembered Lyndsay, Julie and Mathew, their hope, courage and smiles strengthened us every step (especially in those last few miles), for them we could continue. The cheers from the crowds and Team coaches and other Team members were the icing on the cake!
It seems hard to believe that after 4 + months of training for our first marathon, it over and WE DID IT! Running at Disney World was fabulous. We woke at 2am to get ready to meet the rest of the team at the staging area at 3:30am. It felt like we were at a club with bands playing and people milling around in groups, all filled with adrenaline for the up coming start of the race. We were then all corralled in to our starting positions and before we knew it, fireworks were lighting the sky and we were off!
The first 10 miles were a blur! We were in and out of Epcot in the blink of an eye then off to the Magic Kingdom. The energy when we came in to the park was so charged it pushed us towards the castle with a burst of speed, the next thing we knew we were at the half way mark, 13.1 miles. We were now on a long stretch of road that wound around to the Animal Kingdom park. Here we were greeted with animals (sheep, I think) and a live African band. We didn’t stop many times for pictures, but our first glimpse of the “Tree of Life” was breathtaking and we couldn’t resist.
From there, we were on our way to Disney’s Hollywood Studio. This section, between the two parks was very emotional for us. We hit mile 21, which we had dedicated to Julie one of our mentors. Neither one us said much during this time, but our hearts were praying for her, Lyndsay and Mathew…both had tears mixed with sweat as we pressed on.
After pressing through Hollywood Studios, it was on to Epcot and the finish line. We starting hearing things like, “it’s not much further” and “only 2 more miles”…just in case you’re wondering…these are the longest miles ever. I think they become exponential here! I have to say up until this point we had been running pretty strong, but I hit a wall and we slowed down a lot. As I look back, it felt like I was running almost as fast as when we had started, but I wasn’t ever close. Thankfully, the finish line was in sight! Together, just like we started, Mike & I crossed the finish line with a smile and a heart so filled with accomplishment and love, it was bursting! Team In Training raised over 7 million dollars for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for this race alone. Like I said, Amazing!!!!

Mike and I would like to thank all of you who supported us whether financially or with your prayers and encouragement. To our coach, Ken and Happy, our assistant coach, you both taught us so much and knew just when to step in and give that little piece of advice or word of encouragement, thank you. Colin, thanks for finding us on race day and running with us, it gave us a burst of energy to bring us to the next park! Our mentor, Aimee, each week you would keep us posted and check in with us, keeping us accountable (I needed that) and to all the SD Team Mentors who, ran “sweep” making sure that we were on our way back, who shared your experiences and helped make our training go that much better, you guys ROCK! Of course, our whole team we feel like you are all family now! Mostly, we want to thank Lyndsay, our reason for running! She glows with faith and grace and always has a positive outlook. She has blessed us and encouraged us in ways she will never know, Thank you.

Florida, here we come!

Its hard to believe that our training is over & that ww are ready to run a full marathon! We will be leaving for Florida in a little over 24 hours and then, race day will be here before we can blink. Today I am busy running around doing last minute errands.

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!