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Month: September 2014

Here we go, 50k

Here we go, 50k

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By now, a few weeks after the Santa Rosa Marathon, I would have expected to be talking about how my training for CIM is going, and how I’m really looking forward to that race, and how my desire and intent to shatter that 3:20 that’s still on my back is just through the roof… and while some of that is true, the important detail that isn’t is that I am no longer racing CIM. Instead, I’ve committed to my first (!) trail (!!) 50k (!!!!) a few weeks later, on December 14. 🙂

Fortunately, I can say that I’m not passing on CIM because of injury; honestly, it’s a straight-up logistical clusterfuck that I can’t successfully navigate (read: putting my family ahead of my running). I learned only about a week or so into my “in earnest” CIM training that it wasn’t going to fly, and aside from the initial miff about losing my registration money, it really didn’t faze me all that much. That, in and of itself, is kinda a BFD because it wouldn’t have been that long ago that DNSing a race would have been tantamount to treason. Whatever. These things happen… and now that I’m living in a part of the country where there seriously is a race, or two, or three, every single weekend year-round, it’s really not that big a deal. CIM isn’t going anywhere.

Instead, when I learned I could no longer run CIM, I just did some research and some soul-searchin, thinking about what I wanted to accomplish, took a few deep breaths, and registered for what will be the longest run of my life!

follow the line!
follow the pretty colors
and hang on tight!
and hang on tight!

Fortunately, some friends here have run this race before, so they’ve been good sources of info not only about the course, itself, but also about the kinda different world of ultra-running and ultra-training, a world to which I haven’t yet earned entry.

I’ve been reading about ultras for a long time, probably since about the time I started marathon training back in ’07, and they’ve always both intrigued and intimidated me like hell. Usually the chain of events is think think think about running an ultra, research some options, almost commit to it, and then… race a marathon, finish it, and think no fucking way. 

Going into this race, though, my one and only goal is to finish the thing, and so far, the training has been pretty similar to how I’d approach marathon training; the biggest difference has been how much time I’ve been spending in the foothills in an attempt to become stronger on ascents and descents (read: teaching myself how to race on trails).  I haven’t focused so much on speed as I would in marathon training but instead, on elevation gain, “time on my feet,” and portioning out my runs between flatlands and trails.

from Alum Rock
from Alum Rock
AR
AR
AR
AR
it's like Karl the Fog's cousin!
it’s like Karl the Fog’s cousin!
it rained one morning, and I was *that* girl who was literally standing in the middle of the street, revelin' in it.
it rained one morning, and I was *that* girl who was literally standing in the middle of the street, revelin’ in it.

Speed is something that the ultra community seems to be divided on–whether it’s really all that important or useful to include some semblance of speed, or threshold, or interval, or non-ultra-pace in your training–but with RNR SJ and the Nike Women’s Half (for which I am still fundraising, woo!) on my calendar before the 50k, it’d probably be in my best interest to do some fast running as part of this cycle, if for no other reason than to not embarrass myself at those HMs.

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get $20 off the 13.1 (BIBRAVESJ) or $5 off the 10k (BIBRAVESJ10K). Both are valid until 9/28.
get $20 off the 13.1 (BIBRAVESJ) or $5 off the 10k (BIBRAVESJ10K). Both are valid until 9/28.

So far, the training has been mostly pretty fun but also kinda challenging, as it damn well should be. I’m embracing the slower-than-normal running and the time I’m spending on the trails near home, and while some days I’m questioning my sanity for taking a step back from marathons for a few months, in the grand scheme of things, I think it’ll make me a stronger (road) runner. Time will tell. At any rate, it’s fun, and I feel like at any given time, I’m generally wearing more dirt than my three year-old…. so there’s that. Can’t complain. 🙂

Happy and healthy fall racing, gang! How’s your final prep going?!!

Blood Cancer Awareness Month, 6 weeks from race day, and we’re 75% of the way there

Blood Cancer Awareness Month, 6 weeks from race day, and we’re 75% of the way there

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Alas, it is September. School has begun (or resumed); everyone is all the rage for the long-awaited PSLs and decorative gourds; and… and… did you know! It’s also Blood Cancer Awareness Month.

For the entire summer, I’ve been fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Now, just six weeks out from race day, I’m putting out another call to humbly ask for you, my readers’, support on my final fundraising push on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for the Nike Women’s San Francisco half marathon that I’ll be racing in about a month’s time. Race day is October 19th, and to date, I’ve met 75% of my fundraising goal.

 

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I know you probably receive many fundraising solicitations, and I hear you. It’s exhausting. There are so many reputable organizations doing incredible work, and I count LLS among them. For more than 60 years, LLS has invested more than $1 billion to advance cancer therapies and save lives; in fact, in ’13 alone, the organization invested nearly $74 million in research.

While it might not be as common for us to know someone who has been affected by a blood-specific cancer, LLS’s work and research is pivotal because nearly 40% of new cancer therapies approved by the FDA between 2000-13 were first approved for blood cancer patients. In other words, LLS research grants have funded many of today’s most promising advances, including targeted therapies and immunotherapies, and some of the therapies first approved for blood cancer patients are now helping patients with other types of cancers and other serious diseases. In other words, the work that LLS has done, and is continuing to do, matters; it’s not exclusively for blood cancer.

When I last wrote, I said that I will be racing the NWSF half marathon—a tough race, especially with the hills of San Francisco—to memorialize Traci’s mother, Carol, and to honor my mother, Sandy. I’m expecting this half marathon to be one of my most challenging road half marathons to date, but this race isn’t about me or my performance. I’m racing on behalf of the LLS and fundraising for this organization because I want to continue to honor Carol and my mother and the countless other women and men who continue to fight their cancer diagnoses like hell.

Traci with her parents, post Chicago Marathon 2010
Traci with her parents, post Chicago Marathon 2010
with my mom at my first Masters graduation in 2010. I am so happy that she beat the cancer and the stroke.
with my mom at my first Masters graduation in 2010.

Don’t get me wrong: truly racing a half marathon is no walk in the park—even before adding some SF-style hills into the equation. My proverbial “fighting” through a tough half marathon race, though, is absolutely inconsequential compared to what Traci’s mother and my mother endured in their cancer treatments. These two women could fight like they did because organizations like LLS are helping to find cures and ensure access to the best available treatments… and quite frankly, the LLS can’t function without the support of generous donors like you.

Nike Women's SF fundraising

Asking for money, even for good causes and reputable charities like the LLS, admittedly is kinda awkward. What’s worse though—what makes me more uneasy—is when I hear of another friend, or another family member, or an acquaintance, or hell, even a stranger, getting a cancer diagnosis. Let’s put an end to this nonsense; it’s 2014. We should be, we need to be, beyond this.

It is absolutely an honor to be fundraising for the LLS again, and I humbly ask for your support in my fundraising endeavors. I’ve met 75% of my $1,800 goal—so very close, but not quite there yet—and I’d love to have your support before October. Every donation is 100% tax-deductible, and of course, every donation matters. Additionally, you can make your donation stretch even farther by seeing if your employer participates in matching gift opportunities.

Please know that you have my heartfelt thanks for your generosity and your consideration. Every donation helps us get one step closer to a world without cancer, and I appreciate knowing that you will be with me in spirit as I take on what will surely be an incredible and challenging race.

All my love. 🙂

http://pages.teamintraining.org/gba/nikesf14/eminkgarvey

why LLS?: my storyimage002