Mission Moment - Tim

I thought it would be appropriate for my next post if I focused on what we at Team in Training call a Mission Moment. Mission Moments are the reasons behind why we run marathons and why we fundraise for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. They are usually stories about patients or someone on the team's personal connection to cancer.

Today's Mission Moment is about my good friend Tim.

Tim and I became insta-friends on a recent kayaking trip in Wisconsin. It's hard to find someone else out there that you can joke with about things like nurses forgetting to undo turnicates before pulling out your blood draw, or going out in public when you're bald. But I think that, combined with a shared love for Dave Matthews Band (and IV Benadryl), is how Tim has crept his way into my family...even going on vacation with them without me!

Only 1 year ago, when Tim was a freshman in college he was diagnosed with APL, a rare form of Leukemia. In a condition that without treatment would have killed Tim in less that 2 weeks, he got on the first plane home to LA and within hours was a hospital inpatient at UCLA, and didn't leave for nearly 3 months. The next 6 months consisted of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, followed by a bone marrow transplant that he was lucky enough to have 2 perfect bone marrow matches for in his family (which is almost UNHEARD OF!), and on March 4, 2008 Tim received brand new bone marrow!

On a visit to Seattle last September, Tim told his story to my Team in Training fam at practice. You can read it for yourself on his blog:

http://www.unidude.blogspot.com/

It's Official...

Not even three weeks after completing my first marathon...I've signed up for a second! On May 2, 2010 I will run in the Eugene Marathon. Known as "Track Town USA", Eugene is a world-famous "Mecca" for runners. We even get to run our finishing lap around Hayward Field.

My biggest goal for this marathon is to get FASTER. I think I can probably shave off about 15 minutes from last time, 20-30 if Coach Glen can really push me. Looks like it is time to take those tempo runs more seriously. The good thing about this location is that it is flat! The course only has one, quarter-mile hill during the 7th mile. This alone will allow me to run more and walk less. And I need to remember that salt is just as important to replenish as electrolytes.

I feel pretty confident that with one marathon under my belt and my base of knowledge and training from last time that this is going to be a great season!

Run Like A Girl

As predicted, the day I ran the Nike Women's Marathon was an epic day in my life. It wasn't even all about the running, but the tiny moments that happened along the way. I am not going to recap my experience mile by mile, but here are some of the things that kept me going:

-Debbie and I hadn't even finished Mile 1 when a woman patted me on the shoulder and said, "Congratulations on 3 years cancer-free". This continued to happen the entire way. One woman in particular told me at Mile 20 that she had been walking the past 2 miles, but was going to start running again after reading my jersey. I tried to thank all of them for their hard work.

-Theme of the day: Keep on Truckin'! Must have repeated that over 100 times :)

-Mile 6 and half of Mile 7 was a continous, gigantic hill...THE hill that I had been hearing about for months. The top of the hill was covered in pictures of Team in Training Honored Teammates, including my own.

-"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone"

-Finding Coach Ginny and Coach Glen on the course and finishing off the last few miles of the race with them. They got me this far, and got to see the finish!

-Scooby, one of my good friends who is also a lymphoma survivor, jumping in a Mile 25 and running the rest of it with me. That meant SOOO much to me...I didn't want that mile to end!

-Getting a Tiffany & Co. necklace handed to me by a SF fireman after crossing the finish line. I have no recollection of what he looked like (too focused on a little blue box...), but rumor has it that they were all very sexy.

-And finally, a boyfriend who flew to San Francisco, talked me off multiple emotional ledges, gave me a pep talk identical to Joan Benoit's, sorted out my Cliffshots, taught me to "think like a winner", got up at 5am to see me off, bused to Mile 11 and made sure I didn't pass out, walked with me at Mile 16, stood there for another 2 hours and watched me cross the finish line, endured a sweaty bus ride back that smelled like "victory", got me ice for an ice bath, celebrated with me, sent me flowers when I got home....basically ran a marathon too...and never complained once. He is fantastic. I'm keeping him :)

Me, Karah, Lacey and Debbie - GO TEAM!

Next Stop: Eugene Marathon!!!

May 2, 2010

GO TEAM!

CAR WASH!!

I want to wash your car for money!!! All proceeds benefit my fundraising efforts for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Sunday, July 19th

Shoreline Les Schwab
17754 15th Ave Shoreline, WA 98155

10am-4pm

Any questions, please let me know! anmacpherson@gmail.com

Lance

You can think of Lance however you would like, but this totally sums up the way that I see him.

kayak cross-training

For the past week I've been running through tornado paths and kayaking the Wolf River in Wisconsin. Needless to say, it has been one of the best weeks of my life! It is opportunities like this one that make me feel truly blessed to have had cancer. I would have never met any of the amazing people on this trip or even learned how to paddle for that matter. Much love to my FD Fam!! You all inspire me to run harder and faster.

because I don't want bloody nipples

I will always remember when my friend Brittany, a cross country runner for St Louis University told me, "every time I do a long run, a little bit of pee comes out".

And then of course, everyone has heard about guys and their bloody nipples.

But it never crossed my mind that I might lose a toenail...or six.

A co-worker just told me she lost six toenails during her first marathon. Another told me her big toenails turned black. I am not sure if it's better that I learn these things now or discover them in my own time. I can live with a little pee...in fact, don't a lot of runners running for time just pee down their legs during a race anyway? And I'm a girl, so bloody nipples are less of a threat. But the toenail thing is making me very uncomfortable.

Maybe I am not a real "Marathoner" until one of the above happens. In that case I should just accept them (as well as puking or passing out, etc.) as consequences of pushing yourself to the limit. But then again, prevention is key too, right?

Slow down if you can't breathe. Put Bandaids on those nipples! Relax your hands and toes when you run. Wear the right shoes. No cotton. I am learning quickly that running is a science. There's a correct formula. One must follow the rules if you want results. The Guess and Check Method is probably not the route I want to go if I want to keep my toenails. So if you have any words of wisdom, tried and true tips, even horror stories that I can learn from, send them my way! (anmacpherson@gmail.com)

LOVE ANDREA

Rochelle

I would like to introduce my friend and fellow TNT participant, Rochelle Williams. Rochelle recently wrote this journal entry about why she is running for Team in Training. I wanted to share it with everything because it proves that you don't necessarily have to have a personal connection to cancer in order to feel empowered enough to make a difference only in your life, but the lives of others as well.

In my life I have been fortunate enough not to be tied directly to anyone who is affected by a blood cancer. But part of what brought me here is something that my Mom said to me when I was a child. I recall having a conversation with her about another kid in my fourth grade class that had cancer and I explained to her what he looked like, what he was going through and how much school he missed. I remember my Mom telling me that all cancer was horrible, but that blood cancer "is the worst". For some reason, that stuck with me and stayed in my mind through the years.

As an adult, I have gone through my own personal struggles. I have struggled for several years with alcoholism and found that up until a year and a half ago, I had not been living life to it's fullest. In fact, I feel that I have lost many healthy years to my addiction. I am healthy now and working a program of recovery. My program suggests that I continually "step outside of myself" "get outside of my comfort zone" and do good works for others. I want to always follow my program that not only has helped me so much, but that can help others as well.

When I got the Team In Training flyer in the mail, I knew that this would be one way that I could help others in my recovery. I felt instantly connected with this cause and know that it will keep myself and others healthy. I am so excited for this. Never in my life did I believe I would be doing something this huge and I thank God everyday that I am sober, healthy and present.

Thanks Rochelle and GO TEAM!

I'm being featured at athletesgiving.org!!! Check out the post "Spike's Team in Training"

make two fists and keep fighting!

I just found out about a guy named Dan Rose from my friend Brad Ludden's blog (athletesgiving.org...definitely worth checking out!). He is a HARDCORE runner, a cancer survivor, and I find him very inspiring as I am training for my first marathon.

Here is what Brad wrote about him at athletesgiving.org:

"I was recently introduced to Dan Rose. He’s a cancer survivor and a runner. When I say runner, I mean he’s crazy! He run’s 100 mile races (and often longer). We were talking about doing a cool running fundraiser and he suggested timing it to run 3 full marathons leading up to an official one and then run in that to. This would be done in 1 day. In other words 4 marathons within 24 hours… I made it very clear that I would do my best to drive the pace scooter and cheer!

Here is his bio:

While undergoing chemo treatments in Boston in 2004, I knew if I was lucky enough to get healthy again, I needed to do my part to help inspire my friends who are/were/will be stuck in the hospital just like me. I wanted to come back from treatments stronger than ever to prove cancer can actually be a blessing in many ways. On August 1, 2008 I completed a 192 mile run across MA following the “Pan Mass Challenge” bike route in order to raise money ($7,650!) and awareness for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Even more important than the money will hopefully be the inspiration a few of my fellow patients will feel when they read about this run. I don’t know what my next goal will be just yet, but I do know its purpose will be the same: To inspire cancer patients everywhere to make two fists when they wake up every morning and keep fighting!

His blog can be followed HERE"

4 marathons in 24 hours?????!!! I don't think so.

a slight change of plans...

Today I was convinced to do something that I should have committed to since the beginning of training. I've decided to run the FULL marathon (26.2 miles) instead of the half (13.1).

When I told my dad this after returning from practice, his response was, "how are you going to do THAT?!"

I'm going to push myself harder, Dad.

I'm going to follow the advice that I gave everyone else during my speech at the Team in Training Kickoff Ceremony. That cancer taught me to be a braver person. It made me realize that my body can go much further than I think it can, and I am determined to live the rest of my life challenging that factor.

So here we go.....

THANK YOUS!!!

Today I raised $520!!!! YEAH!!!

I want to give a huge shoutout to some fellow First Descents alum who came through BIG today with donations!!!

I LOVE YOU ZSA ZSA, MOONSHINE, AND MAMA LUDDEN!!!

Also to Liz and Brett, who donated today as well as adopted a new kitty, JAKE!

THANK YOU!!!!

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Mission

I thought I would start out by providing more information on the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

According to their website (lls.org), the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. LLS's mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since its founding in 1949, LLS has invested more than $600 million in research specifically targeting blood cancers.

LLS-funded research has directly contributed to breakthrough cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, bone marrow and stem cell transplantation and new targeted oral therapies.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society funded much of the research performed on Rituxan, an immunotherapy drug that was used in treating me for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Since adding Rituxan to the standard treatment protocol for this disease, survival rates has increased significantly.

LLS also provides many services to patients such as family support groups, an extensive educational website, free seminars and conferences, and direct patient financial aid.

A donation of $50 makes possible a family support group with a trained facilitator where comfort can be found and experiences can be shared among patients and family members.

A donation of $100 helps supply laboratory researchers with supplies and materials critical to carrying out their search for cures.

$500 could provide patient aid to a person with cancer for 1 year.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/wa/nike09/amacpherson_LTN