My inspiration band

I was thinking about inspiration today as I headed out for my long run. In the past, inspiration for my running has tended to be things like the size of my waistline, the data on my heart rate monitor, or the latest issue of Runner’s World. My training for Chicago is inspired by something completely different – a desire to pay tribute to those whose lives have been touched by blood cancers and to contribute to finding cures for all forms of the disease.

Many marathoners wear a pace band on their wrists when they race. The band sets out the time it will take them to reach every mile marker if they are running at their goal pace. I’m going to wear a different kind of band – an inspiration band – one that lists the names of people I know, or know of, who have been victims of leukemia or lymphoma. My plan is to put 26 names on it – one to provide inspiration for each mile of the race. So far, I’ve collected 9.

Of course, top of the list are Jon and Kirsi. Then comes my TNT teammate, Gill, who is herself a survivor and will be running with me in Chicago. (You can check out her story here.)

This week I learned that one of my work colleagues – a beautiful bright young program analyst – is also a survivor of childhood leukemia. Another colleague confided that his father died of leukemia. So, suddenly, I am running for them as well.

Next, there’s Michael, the young nephew of good friends, who faced death with more grace and courage than most adults; our family friend, Dawn, who died of pneumonia while undergoing leukemia treatments last year; my old friend Leah’s grandfather, who died of leukemia many years ago; and beautiful Maeve, the daughter of a law school classmate, who died of the disease 10 years ago.

No matter how tough the next few months of training or the marathon itself turns out to be, I know my inspiration band will help me get through it. If there are names you’d like to add to my band, please email me or leave a comment here.

Running in Celebration

This week we got the wonderful news that Kirsi’s doctors have given her a clean bill of health. After a year of treatments, hair loss and worry, they found no sign of cancer.

Of course, Kirsi’s good news also makes me want to train harder than I ever have in an effort to run a personal best in Chicago – to honour her courage and determination, and to express my great gratitude to all who have contributed to her recovery. To that end, I’ve kept to my training schedule faithfully -- even tackling tempo runs by myself. I found them hard, but – as I keep telling myself – not as hard as fighting cancer.

The news also brought home to me just how necessary organizations like LLSC are. It would be wonderful if every patient and their family received the good news Kirsi got this week. With that in mind, I will be working hard to raise as much money as I can in the coming months. So far, so good. On-line pledges have topped $1,800 with more in the mail, so it seems I am well on my way to reaching my goal of $6,000.

This was also a special week because I met a few of my TNT teammates in person for the first time. Five of us who live here in Ottawa met on Monday evening to get acquainted and talk about possible group fundraising activities. I’ll look forward to getting to know each of them better in the coming months.



The last notable thing about the week was the weather. Summer has finally arrived. On Sunday, when I ran a 14 km long run, it was 26 degrees in the morning. Remarkably, my body didn’t object to the sudden heat – perhaps because it was still relatively cool when I headed out, and I kept properly hydrated throughout. The highpoint of the run was a very brief pause at the Experimental Farm to admire the iris, peony, and columbine beds. I took the photos here with the camera built into my cell phone. Gotta love technology!

Unfortunately, looking at all those beautiful flowers inspired me to head out to the garden to build my new vegetable bed when I got home. I was glad to get my veggies in the ground, but my legs and back let me know I’d overdone it when I crawled out of bed on Monday morning. Lesson learned. Obviously, from now on I need to get my gardening done before I head out on my long runs.

Believing in the run

I read a great Nike ad this week:

“Running never takes more than it gives back. Believe in the
run”.

I’m beginning to suspect that this run – the Chicago marathon – will demonstrate that for me in a way no other race has.

Training for races has always been about me -- about making me feel happier, stronger and healthier -- but this time it is also about providing financial support for research and patient services for those who are fighting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. And knowing that is more motivating than I ever imagined.

My fundraising efforts have started well. Friends and family are responding to my initial appeal with great generosity -- almost $1300 raised to date -- and I appreciate their support more than I can say. It helps so much to know that so they are behind me. The messages they have left on my TNT fundraising page have also been wonderful and very moving!

I ran a terrific 12km long slow run yesterday. It was overcast and cool so I mostly had the trails to myself – except, of course, for the birds, squirrels, chipmunks and groundhogs. With less traffic than usual, I was able to let my mind wander a good part of the time. When it’s going well, a long run truly is a meditation in motion.

I ran a couple of faster runs this week too. At moments, they felt hard. But whenever I felt tempted to quit or slow down, I reminded myself of my reasons for doing this, and just how lucky I am to be able to run.

That’s another gift running gives me -- a tremendous sense of gratitude – for good health, friends and family, the beautiful world in which we live, and the chance to make a difference.

A good week

Training went well this past week. The weather was cool and I stuck to my program. No really long runs yet, but I did a total of 32km, including a couple of good tempo runs, a relaxed run home from work one evening, and a decent long run of 11km yesterday. Legs seem to be up to the challenge, which is great.

My plan is to run just 4 days a week, but try to make every workout count. I also plan to bike to work (21km round trip) 2-3 days per week. My middle aged waistline is telling me some core work is in order so I'll try to find time for yoga and strength training too. Hoping to run with the Running Room group on Wednesday nights so I'll be inspired to pick up the pace a bit. It turns out only hardcore (read "fast") runners have signed up for the RR marathon clinic this session -- meaning I"ll be doing all my long runs alone. Ah, well. It won't be the first time. The good thing about it is that I'll be able to head out as early as I want to avoid the heat. (I am such a morning person --NOT!!)

Time to get some sleep. Sleep is very high on my list of "must dos" in the coming months, and I'm definitely feeling ready to tuck in.

Go team!!