Two Weeks Post Marathon

I didn't post my marathon update on this blog- - -should have, but didn't. If you didn't get a chance to read it, you can CLICK HERE.

Today has been two weeks since our marathon and you know what, I WANTED to go for a run today! Jeff thinks I am crazy, but I must really like to run- - -because after that horrid Chicago race, I wasn't sure I would ever run again.

It felt good to be able to just go out and run five miles, five little, short, and fast miles. I think I will continue to run, but just not another marathon. I beleive 5 K's, 10 K's and half marathons will be much better for me. Hopefully, I will get to run for Team in Training again some day. It was an awesome experience and we met so many wonderful people! What they are doing for LLS is amazing!

12 Hours To Go

We just got back to the room from the Team in Training Pasta Dinner. It was an emotional, funny, encouraging, sad, entertaining and inspiring dinner. All of the honorees and memorial pictures were being displayed on a large screen.

We had a couple of speakers that were really good speakers. One was John “the Penguin” Bingham who writes for Runner's World and he was HILARIOUS. It was like going to a stand up comedy show that was all about running- - -great stress reliever!

The other speaker was a woman whose niece was diagnosed with leukemia when she was only 3 years old. Her story brought many tears at our table. Thankfully, because of the money that the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is raising, the type of cancer that this little girl has has gone from a 55% cure rate to a 95% cure rate! Her niece is now 6 years old and in remission! It was really hard watching a family at our table shed many tears as I am sure they have probably lost a loved one also to this terrible cancer.

There are 650 Team in Training participants here in Chicago and combined we have raised 1.6 million dollars for LLS. It was so fun to sit with all of the other members and share what the M.C. called "our last meal" before the race.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Expo

Dad's Memorial Screen (these did not turn out well)

Marilyn's Memorial Screen

Shelby's Page

These next 2 pictures are of the amazingly LOUD reception the wholeTNT team received as we entered the dining hall for the pasta dinner. They went above and beyond to make us feel important!

Expo Picture

Pasta Dinner

Now it is time to TRY to sleep- - -hopefully it will come. But as I head off to bed, I wanted to leave you all with the email that I received from my dear sweet Camryn when I got back to the room tonight.

Hi mom, How are you?? I know you aren't going to stay up late but I hope you get this e-mail before the race. I just want to let you know that I love you a lot and I hope you won't get hurt. Mommy I wish I could be with you right now. I will be trying to check my e-mail a lot on Sunday. GOOD LUCK MOMMY!!! Here are some verses. I hope you like them.

Here they are:But the LORD said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die" Judges 3:23


The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. Psalms 118:6


Mommy I love you with all my heart.


Camryn


P.S. I hope you cross the finish line. I love you a lot.

I love this huge banner from the expo. Tomorrow truly will be the victory lap!!

Chicago

To see the latest update, click HERE

Pre Race Encouragement

There have been a few emails going around from the Team in Training group that will be running in Chicago on Sunday and I thought I would share:

Post Marathon Pain

We can't all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.- Will Rogers

Bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible.
- William Shakespeare

Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.
- T.S. Eliot

Big occasions and races which have been eagerly anticipated, almost to the point of dread, are where great deeds can be accomplished.
- Jack Lovelock

The pain won’t last but the memories will. - John Maclean, Ironman hall of famer

Then where does the power come from, to see the race to its end? From within. - "Chariots of Fire"

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop. - Lewis Carroll, from "Alice in Wonderland"

Counting Down the Days

I just went to my friend Dalene's blog so I could see her ticker for the countdown of the marathon. 8 days 13 hours. . . .oh my goodness!! That is so soon and I am scared to death! I received my Team in Training jersey in the mail yesterday. That really made it feel real. I really am going to be running this thing- - -I can hardly believe it.

I love that we get to have the names of the people we are running for on our jersey's. If you look closely on the back side of our jerseys you can see "Dad" Walter Pilant and Marilyn Williams under the "In Memory" and Shelby Batley under the "In Honor". What a neat way to remember and honor those who have fought this terrible disease. I need to continue to focus my thoughts on this instead of my fear of not finishing.

Back of Jersey

Update on Shelby

This is an email from Shelby's mom that I received today. Please pray for Shelby. It is families like this that are my driving force to complete this marathon and raise as much money as we can. This is real life and people are affected daily from these blood diseases.


Hello,
I'm sorry that I haven't e-mailed, but my philosophy is...no news is good news...which brings me to the update...over the last couple of years Shelby has had bouts of severe fatigue and she just does NOT feel well. We have been through a gammet of tests and the doctors have put her on thyroid medication. That seemed to work for a while and although she would be extremely tired towards the end of the school week, we chalked it up to her less than perfect system (due to the chemotherapy and side effects). Well, this summer she was still going through the fatigue, so we thought, maybe she is about to "start", she is 13 after-all. Things have gotten worse...she has been on the couch this whole week. We went to the dr. for blood work hoping that the thyroid rx needed to be "tweaked", but the numbers looked in normal range...so...tomorrow she goes in for an echocardiogram...she may have an enlarged heart which would explain the fatigue. I am worried, JJ is worried and even Shelby is worried...she asked me if she would need a heart transplant!!...can you imagine having that worry at 13? It breaks my heart that she is feeling so bad, and worse that I have no solution for her. Of course, the doctors asked the usual questions...are you having trouble in school? are you having trouble with your friends? The answer to all are NO! Even she knows where they are going with that line of questions...it is so frustrating to have people think it may be emotional...I know it is NOT!! She told me today, I love 7th grade...I love it more than 6th grade, I love my classes and I miss my friends. Hopefully, she will feel better soon...please pray for her!!! She has been through TOO MUCH!! She is the sweetest, most compassionate girl...she needs a break, so do we, we are exhausted with worry...I thank you for your caring, love and support!
Sincerely,
Mollie

Happy Birthday Marilyn

Twelve years ago today, September 24, 1996, a beautiful baby girl named Marilyn Williams entered this world. No one knew at that time what her life would consist of. Know one knew that in less than 11 years she would be going to her heavenly home. God knew though, and God created her, prepared her and used her in amazing ways during those few years of life she had.

I received an email from her mother, Connie, this morning after she looked at the blog. This is part of what she said, "The impact of your dad and Marilyn's lives is tremendous. When I saw Shelby's picture it took my breath away. It reminded me of Marilyn - long dark curly hair, big dog.........WOW! Our prayers are with you and yours daily. "

Jeff was able to visit with Connie a little this week and we know it is extremely hard for her on special days like this. Days she wishes she was having a birthday party for her precious child instead of shedding many tears of sorrow. It has only been a little over a year since Marilyn went to be with her Heavenly Father and the pain is still so fresh. There is nothing to take away that pain of losing someone you love so dearly- - -I know because I feel the same pain for my father. Even though we may know they are in a better place and they are happy, we still miss them immensley.

Connie shared a part out of a book she was reading and said it seemed like something Marilyn would have written. It was a letter from a 13-year-old girl who had also passed away. I wanted to share a portion of it.

"This is one of those 'if you're reading it I'm not around' letters. I guess it might be hard for you to read, but there are things I wanted to say, and I might not have the chance. First is, thank you so much for not aborting me. I know it wasn't easy for you to go through what you did, but you gave me life. Maybe you're thinking it would be better if you hadn't, since I dind't get to live very long. Don't think that.

My life was not a waste. I know I lived for a reason. I've done what I was created to do. I served my Jesus the best I could, and I think others have hope because of me. I might have wanted a different life, a healthy one. But Jesus knew better. So don't be sad for what I've lost. Be happy for what I've found."

Marilyn touched more lives in her short life than many people do in their entire lives. She was a trooper, she lived for Jesus, and she told you about it. She was not ashamed of the gospel and she had the courage to live a life of suffering and hardship for her Jesus. She truly laid her life down for Him and glorified Him in the process.

Now she gets to celebrate her birthday with Jesus! Happy Birthday Marilyn!

The LONG Training Runs are OVER!

It's done. . .20 miles done! I am in major pain, but I am sure my pain pales in comparison to the pain my dad and Marilyn went through in their fight against cancer. These are the things I try to focus on when my body is screaming at me to STOP running!

I took my FIRST ice bath- - -that's how bad the pain was. I am not sure it helped, but I was numb for the time I was in the bath.

Now it is time to rest. Three weeks until race day and the runs are short- - -9 miles being the longest. I am excited to rest these next 3 weeks, but a little nervous that my confidence to run a LONG run will be shattered.

Jeff did great tonight- - -he completed 19 miles and wasn't too far behind me. He quit last week at 10 miles so I was proud of him to make it 19 tonight. Remember, HE HATES RUNNING!

20 Miles- - Too Legit To Quit

In about 30 minutes, between 3:30 - 4:00 pm, we will begin running. So, when will we finish?? Good question! If we can keep the pace as normal, we should be rolling in around 7:30-8:00 pm. That is just insane to do any physical activity for that long of a period!!

I am quite sure I will have NO energy left to blog about it. I will barely be able to walk. I will barely be able to walk tomorrow either.

I am SO glad this is our final LONG run before the marathon. On my iPod, somewhere near the point where I usually want to fall over and die, the song Too Legit To Quit comes on. This is an oldy, but a goody, especially when you feel like lying down in someone's yard for a nap when you still have 8 more miles to run. Tonight it might be 10 more miles to run when that song comes on. Hammer Time!!

Well, I need to go get ready!

18 Miles

I was pretty excited I survived the 18 mile run on Monday morning. Then I thought, "Wow, the marathon will be 8 MORE MILES!" and I wasn't excited about my 18 miles anymore.

We have one more really long run- - -Sunday we will do 20 miles. Then it will be time to start tapering down to rest our legs for RACE DAY!! After our 20 miler, our longest run until race day will be only 9 miles. That will seem so easy at this point!

24 DAYS TO GO!!

It's Important to Me!

Things are going well. Jeff and I both seem to be injury free at this point. The knee braces have been miraculous to me. Fifteen miles didn't seem bad on Sunday- - - -our legs are recovering faster.

Now is the time to zero in on fundraising. I think it is hard for people who have not been affected by something to truly understand the cause behind it. I think LLS is a great cause and it is important to me, but that does not make it important to everyone. It is important to me because I was personally afffected by it.

I think about some friends of ours who battle with a different disease and there are probably a lot of people out there who don't feel "called" to support that cause either. I think after watching my father suffer from lymphoma, it makes me more sensitive to those who suffer from this disease. However, those who have not been affected by it, do not realize the trauma it causes to families. I get that and understand that. I was once was there also.

I want to raise as much money as we can- - -because I know and have researched so much about blood cancer treatments. I know how they are continually improving on treatments and treatments with less side affects. I realize that MONEY is important to their research. I realize that these diseases can be genetic and it is highly possible that those in my immediate family could someday suffer from one of these diseases. It is REAL for me! It is important to me!!

Encouraging Email From a TNT Teammate

This was an email I received today froma fellow Team in Training runner. It was encouraging to me so I wanted to post it here:

I trust all is well. I did a long run Saturday (22 miles) with my local TNT Chapter. At mile 20 I was a bit out of sorts. Self doubt, confusion and second guessing were leading the way in thoughts that were circulating in my mind. To be honest I was not happy. I was expressing my frustrations to a few teammates when one of them asked "do you know what your problem is?". My first response was "where do you want me to begin?". She said "you are thinking too much about it". Plain and simple. As we get into more miles it's hard not to have negative thoughts. Am I training enough? Am I training too much. The race is five weeks away. On and on and on. The bottom line is to "not to eat the elephant in one sitting". A mile here a mile there. Nice and easy, cool as ice. You continue to make it happen. I made a huge mistake and forgot for a moment what this is really all about. It's about the patients and survivors. It has ALWAYS been about them.

Fundraising Totals Through 08/29/08
TOTAL: $75,586.37
AMANDA: $4,835.56
DENNIS: $4,100.60
JONATHAN: $4,050.00
MARIE/JOHN: $3,700.00

A few weeks ago I spoke about where some of the money you raised went. Take a look and pass on while you finish up your fundraising.
$25 pays for 5 days of parking at a local hospital for a family member to take a myeloma patient to an outpatient clinic visit.
$50 pays for resources and materials (Trish Greene Back to School Program) for two children with leukemia to help ease their transition back to school after treatment.
$250 pays for 10 $25 phone cards for blood cancer survivor peer volunteers to make phone calls of support to newly diagnosed patients through the First Connection Program.
100 individuals donating $400 each will support one year of research for a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Fellow.
$500 will provide reimbursement for cancer medications, not covered by insurance, to one patient with leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma.
$1,000 will provide reimbursement for radiation co-pays, not covered by insurance, for two lymphoma patients.
"Fight the good fight" "Never ever, never ever ever, give up". Thanks for letting me in today. Peace and Love!!
Dennis

We Are Back Online

After waiting for TWO weeks for blogger to get our running blog restored, I finally gave up and created a new one. We will continue our journey at this new address www.reason4running.blogspot.com.

We didn't get our long run in tonight because our babysitter is out of town for the holiday. We hope to run our 16 miles tomorrow night.

My New Running Look

**copied from my personal blog**
My running blog, Reason For Running, has been removed by blogger because for some reason it was flagged as a Spam Blog (whatever that means). I took the necessary steps they told me to do to get it back up and it STILL is not up. That was Ma week ago. I do not know how to contact them to find out what's up so that is why I am blogging about running on this blog. I plan to start a new one soon because I am tired of waiting for them.So, what can I say about running?Currently I am hating it and want to quit so very badly. We just finished our long run. . .15 miles and I HURT. My sweet Camryn is rubbing my feet as I type- - - -I love her. I can't believe that I am at the point where I am saying that I am hating to run because under normal circumstances I love to run very much. But this LONG distance stuff is pure torture. I am having serious knee issues and this is what I look like now when I go out for a run:

What a NERD I am, but that is how badly my knees hurt. I am hoping these braces will help. Jeff couldn't stop laughing at me tonight when I put them on. I didn't care because he looked like a nerd himself with his little shin splint brace on his leg, which I tried to get a picture but my battery died. I WILL GET ONE THOUGH!
I am at the point now where we have committed with Team in Training to run this thing and I am too stubborn to quit. I really feel strongly about the cause and the commitment we have made so I just can't do it. I may come crawling across the finish line, but I WILL NOT QUIT!

14 Miles Today

I am highly dreading our 14 mile run today for two reasons: 1. we missed our 12 mile run last weekend because of all the rain and 2. I thought I was going to die on our 11 mile run 2 weeks ago. Why would I think I could make it 14??? My plan is to start out REALLY slow and keep a 12 minute pace until toward the end and IF, I say IF I can pick up the pace, I will try then. Here is the course we plan to run.

Week 7 Thoughts

I love that 6 miles now seems quite easy to run. Our first LONG run was only 5 miles and I remember that being HARD. Now, 6 miles is one of our short midweek runs. Amazing what 6 weeks of training can do. We ran 11 miles on Sunday- - -and that was TOUGH for me. I actually wanted to quit early for the first time. As far as cardio goes, I felt like I could run forever, but my legs just get so tired after 2 hours of running. And my knees are beginning to really hurt after long runs. I hope this does not become a problem. Sunday night I started having some SERIOUS doubts about my ability to cross the finish line in Chicago. Truthfully, I am scared to death. I want so badly to complete this. . . . .I don't want to give up. . . .I want to be like my dad. Please pray for my physcial health and for us to stay injury free.
On a lighter note, I have found a new piece of gear that I just LOVE called the Sweat Gutr. Here is a picture of it:It is literally this thin plastic gutter for your forehead that drains your sweat to the sides of your head instead of dripping down into your eyes. I was a bit skeptical when I ordered it, but I have worn it a few times now and I LOVE it. It doesn't keep ALL the sweat from your eyes, but it does a tremendous job. And, it doesn't get saturated with sweat like all other headbands that are fabric since it is soft plastic. I love it when I find new things that actually work! I won't run without it- - -especially in this heat!

What is wrong with this picture???

Uuhh, can you say HUMIDITY??? Kayla tried to take this picture of us outside after we returned from our 10 mile run tonight and the camera lens immediately fogged up because of the ridiculous amount of humidity (84%).
So we came inside, allowed the lens to clear up and she got this picture:

Don't we look so happy???? Really I was, just exhausted. We both ran good times and our babysitter had the boys in bed, which made me extremely happy. Having the energy to do something as simple as putting the boys to bed after a 1o mile run is a BIG deal! Especially when it is 9:30 pm, you are SOAKING wet with sweat and all you want to do is down a recovery drink and jump in the shower.
Note to self: Never leave so late for a long run that you end up on the pathfinder AFTER dark- - -creepy!

Bugs

Okay, I told Dalene I have never eaten a bug and I still haven't, but tonight. . . .wow. . . .they were everywhere but in my mouth- - -in my nose, in my eyes and when I got home, the girls said, "Eeeewww mom, you have bugs all over your chest!!" Yep, my chest looked like the front of a windshield after driving after dark. Numerous little bugs plastered to me in my HUGE amount of sweat. I am irritated that I didn't get a picture. I looked in the mirror, thought "YUCK!" and immediately jumped in the shower.
Tonights 8 mile run was a killer!! Amazing what ONE more mile does with 87% humidity. We waited until 7 pm to go, but it was STILL bad! We even took the pathfinder for almost 5 of the miles hoping the protection of the trees might lower temperatures. I don't think it helped- - -it only added to the BUG problem by being next to the river.
Cooper was standing outside when Jeff got back from the run and he said, "You dying daddy?" It was so very cute. He then asked me a bit later and I said, "yes honey, mommy is dying". He said, "men shoot you?". I laughed and said, "no, men didn't shoot me. . .I just ran too much".
A little bit later, we were in the house and I captured the below picture. He put on his headband and a hairband around his arm and said, "I go jogging mommy." This is how I look when I go jogging, a headband on and a watch around my wrist. I guess he thought he fit the part!! I LOVE THIS KID!!!

A Word From Jeff

I just have to get off my chest that my run tonight of 5 miles felt like I was being hit in the head with a bag of bricks the entire time. It was miserable. For those of you that don’t know I have had 2 left knee surgeries over the last 2 yrs and this is the leg that I thought would for sure cause me problems. Well, let me tell you that it is my right leg and it isn’t just the knee, it is the calf as well, shin splints and a tight hamstring. This was supposed to be training for a marathon with my wife and we leave together but we don’t finish together. So as I was running tonight (walking a lot as well) I was thinking, “Why in the heck am I doing this running?” I really ponder this and here is what I came up with, for the love of my wife and what this means to her and the reasons of why she is doing this herself. I’m just trying to make it through this for support. I really like being pushed out into uncomfortable positions right now and running for me is definitely not in a comfort zone of mine ( I know I’m weird for liking to be uncomfortable but oh well).I am also doing this for Marci’s dad and for Marilyn Williams, who both were tremendous people. What they went through touched so many lives and spoke to so many people through the perseverance of their struggles. Lastly, my reason was to get in better shape, but that one really didn’t matter much as I was thinking of the others. I just want to be able to be a good supporter and right now I’m am just an injured tag along.

PowerBar Gel

We completed our long run this evening- - -7 miles!! I thought it was going to be really tough, but it wasn't too bad. We did a lot more running this time- - -instead of doing the run/walk thing. I felt great at the end and actually ran my final mile the fastest- - -so I may have been saving too much for the end. OR it could have been the PowerBar Gel that we tried for the first time tonight. We have learned that for longer runs we will need some kind of energy boost with electrolytes to help with endurance. I did some research on this to see which ones were the best tasting and we found one of them at GNC- - Strawberry Banana- - -it was pretty good- - sort of tastes like thick warm yogurt. I took mine at the 5 mile mark and I felt GREAT the last 2 miles!!We are heading into WEEK 4 of our training and it seems to be getting a bit easier. I think our bodies are responding as they should be.If you want to check out the 16 Week Training schedule we are using, click HERE.

Staying On Schedule

Keeping our running schedule has been tough over the last week. We missed a 3 mile run Friday because it was the 4th and then we missed another 3 mile run yesterday because we have family in town. For some reason, I feel bad about telling friends/family to just hang out while we go get our run in. It makes me feel selfish and inconsiderate.Our 6 mile run on Sunday went pretty well. I just took it very slowly and my body felt pretty good by the end of it. Jeff completed his too and his calf still feels very tight, but much better. Maybe we have made it over that little hump- - - -until the next one. I am sure the whole training will be up and down with how our bodies feel.So today we are scheduled for a 4 mile run and it is raining and will be raining on and off most of the day. It looks like we are going to go to the YMCA to run on the treadmill (yipee!!) I am not a fan of the treadmill!

Hit The Wall

Training had been going great for me up until Thursday of this past week. You know, I am in WEEK TWO- - -how could things be so bad?? Well, my body is beginning to reject all of this running. I felt great on my Wednesday night run- - 4 miles in 40:28 (which is amazing for me at this point), but I think I must have pushed it too hard because ever since then my body from the waist down has been having all kinds of weird aches and pains. My feet hurt, my knees hurt, my hip hurts and my back hurts. I have had 3 days off now since I missed my Friday run because of the 4th July and my body still doesn't feel good. I am dreading our 6 mile run tomorrow.Now for Jeff- - his body started rejecting even sooner. He wasn't feeling well last Sunday all day (stomach issues), but completed the 5 miler. Then on Tuesday nights 3 mile run, he had major pain in his calf muscle- - -pain that was bad enough that he thought he couldn't even run. He thought he might have had a calf strain and he even thought his marathon might be done. He took the rest of the week off. Luckily, the pain has gone down tremendously and we don't think it is as bad as we thought. He is going to try to run tomorrow as well.

Chicago, Here We Come!

Our journey begins. . . .we decided to run a marathon. We wanted to run Chicago because a couple of our friends are running there. It was closed. Then we noticed it was still open to run for certain charities. PERFECT!! Then we noticed we could join Team in Training and run to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. EVEN BETTER!! We now can raise money for a good cause- - and in memory of my dad and Marilyn. I had heard about Team in Training a few years back after dad had passed away from lymphoma and knew in my mind that I wanted to do this someday. I tucked it away in my mind because I still had a tiny baby at the time. I have recently been reinspired to run again after listening to a good friend of mine talk of her experience. She ran her first marathon last year and it has inspired me to run my first one this year. Next. . . .I talked my dear sweet husband into running with me!! He hates running, but he loves me, so he is doing it. I love him dearly for his willingness to travel this road with me. Thanks honey! We are keeping a journal of our 16 week journey leading up to the Chicago marathon.