Marathon Update #10

This photo reminds me it's big world out there for us to do big things in. I'm only 13 days away from trying to do something big.



To make a donation and support my fight against Leukemia pleas visit my official fundraising page at:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/LA10/bsosax


Let's begin this edition of Marathon Updates with some great news. Thanks to an up swell of donations over the past couple weeks I have both met and exceeded my fundraising goal. Thank you to everyone who has donated and thank you to everyone who has spread the word. More on that below. As of today we are less than two weeks away from race day and final plans for the race are starting to come together. Also being only 13 days away from the race I'm also at the end of my training. It's been a long journey that's coming to the end, but I still have my final few days here to make sure I'm ready for the big day.


Now back to the fundraising. Thank you everyone again. To be quite frank, the support I have received while training for this marathon, (both financial and emotional), has been one of the best experiences I've had since being diagnosed 4 1/2 years ago. Actually it's one of the best experiences of my life. I've never been good at asking for and accepting help, (actually I still am lousy at it) but I barely had to say the word and so many people were there for me. I cannot begin to express how much this has meant. Your support and encouragement has made me feel like I could do what I was told I wouldn't be able to: finishing that damn race. Looking at the list of names on my fundraising page of people who've stepped up to show their support is one of my motivational crutches that I'm using to get through these last few weeks of training. We've got donations from all across the country and even internationally, (I feel like a rock star). I am planning on making a mp3 track of all the names of people who have donated to listen to during the race when I need a kick in the ass to get me going (thanks for the idea Mentor Lady). So anyone who wanted to donate, please come by the page and donate. Even if it's just a dollar, seeing your name on the list makes a difference. I'm going to ask a friend to make the mp3 track for me so if you want to be on the race day track get your donations in by the 19th. Thanks again so much. This support has meant more to me than I could ever express in words.


Race day specifics are now coming up. In addition to worrying about what I'll wear and what nutrition I need, I'm starting to realize quite a few of you are coming to the race. Thank you everyone who's even considered coming. I'm not 100% sure how the whole race day thing works, but I've asked my sister to be at the finish with my nieces and nephews. From what I hear at the finish they have a good system for people to find each other. I'm also going to have my phone on me, (just in case of an emergency) but after the race I'll be reachable. As to the specifics for actually running, I've figured out a few things:

1) The starbucks hat will be in full effect - For those of you who don't know I've done the majority of my training wearing a starbucks hat. Hence the fact that most of my running team doesn't know my name, they just refer to me as starbucks. Truth is I prefer coffee bean.

2) Green Socks - My green socks are tied for being my most comfortable and they match my hat. So right there that one is a no brainer.

3) My nutrition will be Chocolate and Vanilla Gu - Don't know if I spelled gu right but who's cares (Erica). For those of you who have never had gu, it's this paste that’s full of energy boosting stuff??? I really don't know the details, but what I do know is that the chocolate and vanilla flavors taste like cake frosting. No joke, cake frosting. I might have to run more marathons just so I have an excuse to eat a bunch of these.

4) the marathon playlist - this is shaping up nicely, and thanks to a visit to the bookstore yesterday I now have White Rabbit on the list (reading does pay off). However a warning for those of you who are also White Rabbit fans, don't go to sleep at night with that song on repeat unless you are prepared for some funky dreams. I'll publish the final list before the race.

That's all the race day details I've decided on so far. I'll have to start nailing down all the details, like apparel very soon though.


Training is ending!!! I am so excited that training is ending. So now that I'm in the final 2 weeks of preparing for my run I've made some changes to my training approach. Namely I've shut down the running. I ran about 5 miles last Saturday and it kicked my but, badly. I've been scaling back the runs for over a month now and the runs have been getting progressively more difficult. This was something I've expected just not something I was totally ready for. So between now and the race I wont be running anymore. I will do some cycling at the gym and will definitely continue my strength training. However I'm of the opinion now that I've only got 1 more run left in my body before it quits on me, so I'm saving it for the 26.2 mile run in 2 weeks. As I said in my last update, I'm not going to harp on why the runs are difficult, but I do want to say that running this race while doing these damn treatments was something my doc has said I wouldn't be able to do. And now for the first time since I've begun training, those words are starting to get into my head. So any words of encouragement to help me kick this mental funk are greatly appreciated. Thanks. I'm going to finish that damn race!!!


So now I'm just getting ready for the race. Eating a lot of bananas, drinking a lot of water and getting rest. Thank you again everyone, so much. And please spread the word. This is a great cause, and if you're not sure why you should donate, please read marathon update #7 again. Thank you.

B