And We're off!

It has been a crazy, crazy week! But out of all of the days Saturday was definitely my favorite. Not because it was Saturday and I didn't have to work (although I spent the afternoon practicing, e-mailing, and calling on work related stuff), but because of a morning full of Team in Training awesomeness!

The Chicago support staff @kick-off Mob style

Andy, myself, Julie, and our coach Cruger

Saturday was the first group training session (GTS) for the Chicago team. I've only been looking forward to this since March when I got the e-mail saying I had been chosen to be a mentor. So, to say I had a nervously, excited tummy that morning was an understatement. It was doing cartwheels. After a coaches clinic overview of helpful nuggets of information ("cotton is rotten!") we went out for a 3 mile run. Who turned the humidity switch to on? And who said that it was okay? I was dripping by the time I got back. I had merrily bounced around to various runners on the team. I started with the faster group and kept them on the course since none of them had gotten a map, and then switched to some of the newer runners.

But my favorite part of the morning came later. As some of you may or may not know the Country Music Marathon pulled runners of the course because of tornado warnings the day of the race. That meant that not one of our Georgia Team in Training runners got to complete the marathon. They all got medals and times for whatever distance they completed, and took what had happened in stride. Enter the wonderful staff of TNT. While some of the runners were trying without success to find a marathon the TNT staff noticed that there was a 20 mile run scheduled for this weekend. Then the brilliant idea of adding another 6.2 miles for the CMM team started. And we all got to cheer them along. Granted it wasn't the best weather. No one really wants to run 26.2 miles in 70+ degree heat and extremely high humidity, but they did it. It wasn't easy for them, but no one left until they were all done. Some ran the last 6 miles with them, others stood at spots towards the end to help run people in. It was an amazing sight. I get teary eyed looking at the pictures every time. It was truely a great moment, and a fabulous way to kick off the season! I love spending time with my Team in Training family!

I'M RUNNING THE CHICAGO MARATHON!!!!

I'm so excited I'm shaking at the moment. Oh my goodness!!!! I'm going to run the Chicago Marathon, and I get to do with Team in Training as a mentor. Have I mentioned I'm really, really, really excited? I could go run a marathon right now. Okay maybe not, but I feel like I have enough energy to go run one. I've been bouncing off the walls all weekend thinking about if I would get picked to be a mentor or not. It's totally turned around my week. If I wasn't shaking out excitement so much right now I would be bouncing off the walls.

You know you want to join me right? ;-) Check out the Team in Training website for more information and tell them I sent you. It will be a blast!!

No more knots!

This morning the knots in my calves disappeared!! While this may not sound like a big deal, it a huge step forward. I started noticing after my first marathon 2 years ago that I get a lot of really bad knots in my calves after a run. I would stretch and use my massage stick, but I could never really get rid of them. Until this week. I have done more squats, push ups, lunges, and sit ups than I have ever done in my life this week, and I can tell they are making a difference. I suspect that the combination of squats, lunges, some awesome stretching, and my massage stick have made the difference. Despite a less than stellar run this morning (everyone has a bad one from time to time) I currently do not have any knots in my calves! Despite some tired legs from strength training it feels really awesome. If this is a sign of what is to come, I'm pretty darn excited!

On a completely unrelated topic, I found a few things yesterday that I wanted to share:

The New York Times had an article yesterday about figure skater Tanith Belbin. She talks a lot about her struggles with eating and how it affected her training. I think it's so brave to share such an important message. I started running as a way to get healthy, and to try and avoid the health problems that have plagued my parents. Within the last year I started making small changes to how I eat so that I can be an even stronger runner. I think that's part of the reason this article has been on my mind so much. How you eat can play a huge roll in how you feel.

The other is a video made by a fellow Team in Training member about her honored hero. It is so beautiful and moving. There were a few tears while watching it.

An old friend in a new place

It's been a year and a half since I first signed on the dotted line with Team in Training. It's hard to believe it's only been that long. I feel like it's been much longer than that, which is a good thing. A really good thing! See Team in Training combines two things I really love, fighting cancer, and running. Every Saturday I get excited about heading out to the GTS whether I'm training with the team or on my own because I get to see some of my all time favorite people. Oh, and I get to run :). We're not just about running though, we're about making a difference in the lives of cancer patients with all sorts of endurance events.

Do you live in Georgia?
Want to find out more about Team in Training?

They have a new blog!!! Head over to Team in Training Georgia's new blog and find out more. You'll never regret it!

Remembering the Season

I've been having a little fun with my pictures from the Nike Women's Marathon =). It's pretty cool what we can do with things! Hope you enjoy!

It just wasn't my day

I survived!!! It maybe not be the best way to start a race recap, but after finishing on Sunday it truly was how I felt. It really was not my day, which was a huge let down considering how well the first half of the race started. It taken me a while to write this, which may turn out to be a good thing. It's given me sometime to reflect on what happened.

The weekend started out really well despite the really awful flight with AirTran. I'm sorry to say this about anything, but I would be perfectly happy to never fly AirTran ever again. It really was that bad. We made to San Francisco though, and got checked into the hotel with a wonderful view of the parking deck, and then headed over to the expo to pick up race numbers and have fun. It was the most confusing expo lay out ever. I ended up having to walk around the entire tent before finally figuring out where the race number pick up was, and then there wasn't anything to do in the tent after that. I really didn't needed the flavored oxygen, nor did I want to blend my own smoothie on a bike. So, I went over to Macy's to check out the official apparel, and get a little something for myself.

Saturday was fun, but I ended up walking a lot more than I wanted since Mom and I couldn't find a cable car that had room for us until we were almost to Fisherman's Wharf. One of my roommates from Florida State lives in San Francisco, so we got together to have lunch and hang out some. Amazingly right when we were headed over to the dock for our bay tour we ran into the rest of the team! So we ended up having a great time together before heading back to the hotel (no walking this time!) for our meeting and pasta party! Walking into the pasta party is truly one of my favorite things of the weekend.

Saturday night was the first time I didn't sleep through the night before a race. It was kind of a weird combination of nerves and fear that my alarm wouldn't go off. The hardest part of the morning was waiting for everyone to get together for pictures before we left. It felt like it was taking forever. We didn't head over to the start until almost 6:30am which made me a little nervous. The group I was running with got stuck trying to get to our pace group and ended up waiting with the 12:00-13:99 pace group. All I'm going to say about it is that I have never come across so many rude people in one place in my life! If no one if moving there is no room for you to go anywhere no matter how rude you are to us, we can't let you go anywhere, and pushing us around isn't going to get you anywhere either!

The first half of the race was great! Because there are so many people we started off at a really comfortable pace. It was so much fun running past the piers and even getting to run by bakeries as they were making sourdough bread. It smelled great! We hit the first hill coming up off of the bay and you could tell that a lot of people were not ready for them. We had to keep jumping around people so that we could keep moving. Most of us jumped up on the sidewalk. It was by far the easiest hill to get around people because the road was still wide. The second hill was really narrow! And hardly anyone ran up it. We had so many problems because people would abruptly stop right in front of us. It was just way too narrow for that many people. I almost ran right into a road block pillar because it was hidden by the people in front of me. Mile 6 brought the first of the really challenging hills. It's actually pretty similar to one that I run all the time on Peachtree Road called cardiac hill although this one might have been a little steeper. There were two more challenging hills after that to take us up to the highest point in the race and the cliffs over looking the ocean. It was beautiful!!! And very steep, which made me a little nervous when someone in our group mentioned going faster to make up some time. I tried not to see myself falling flat on my face. It was probably the best view we had!! I was kicking myself for not bringing my little camera along for the race (and even more so after getting my official photos. More on that later).

From the cliffs we hit the Golden Gate park. The crowd started thinning out some at this point, although the crowd came and went in spurts, and there was never a big crowd until you got to the finish line. The best part of the park was the smell!! It smelled like eucalyptus! It was awesome. We split twice from the half marathoners in the park. By the time we rejoined the second time we were at mile 16 and I found my Mom right before the final split.

What happened next never crossed my mind in the weeks and months leading up to the race. The first half had gone so well (I finished 13.1 miles in just over 2:16, which was great). What was next was the great highway, which I hope was named for the view (which was great). I didn't think it was so great at the time. The great highway took us to Lake Merced, which is a 5 mile loop, the longest 5 miles of my life. Up until mile 18 I felt really good, and then things started to cramp. Not a muscle getting a little tight, but full of cramps in my hamstrings. Once one started another one would get going. I couldn't run anymore, so I stopped and got some salt out and my last pack of Luna moons to eat, realizing that I was going to be in big trouble later, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. Things got better and I was able to start run walking around the lake all the while thinking I could still finish with a decent time. The problem with the lake is that the only people out cheering you on are the volunteers at the waterstops. It was the first time in a race that i had run by myself for such a long stretch too. It was miserable. I could have used a TNT coach, but they were all running past me in the opposite direction and ignoring me. I'll spare you most of the details because this was a really low point in the race for me. I somehow managed to get around the stupid lake and make it back to the great highway where I came to a complete stop. Because I had eaten everything I had brought with me already I was out of energy and fuel and no way to get any. Finally a TNT coach stopped and asked if I was okay, and I told him that I needed something to eat. His reply "what do you mean you need something to eat?" I'm pretty sure it means I need something to eat, just a wild guess. Fortunately he had some sports beans that he gave me and then I saw Tommy Owens, our head coach (the other TNT coach was surprised I knew Tommy. I think he finally looked at my shirt and realized I was from Georgia. Maybe he was going through brain melt...).

It was great seeing Tommy. I wish I had looked better. To quote Tommy he said "this sucks because you're in such great shape." No argument from me. It did suck, and I had already gotten pretty upset over it all. And then Rob came back! Rob and I had started with the rest of the group and had fallen off at the great highway. We were both in pretty bad shape. Both of us were cramping up, and both of us were ready to be done. So we started walking and running, and even stopped to stretch (should have done that earlier!). And then a glorious sight appeared. We were at mile 25 and just a little further down the road we got our first glance at the finish line from a distance. It was all we needed. Rob started yelling at me to take us home as I took off with him behind me. Somehow we started sprinting in, picking up our Coach Joanna right before the finish were we went even faster. I almost had trouble keeping up, but there was no way I was stopping. We were finally at the finish! I grabbed Jo's hand early in the sprint in the hopes of crossing with her and Rob, but had to let go because of the traffic in front of us. Somehow I even managed to PR (5:00:33). I really don't feel I deserved it at all. I was so mad, confused, emotional. And then I saw the pretty blue box from Tiffany's! It didn't make everything better, but it at least gave me a small sense of accomplishment. I had finished!

I feel like I left a lot of myself out on the course. The memory of the great highway and the lake keeps coming back almost a week later. I'm not happy about it at all. There is some unfinished business with those two. I don't know if it means doing the event again next year or not yet. I've already signed up to do a 1/2 marathon Thanksgiving day. I need to go run another race and try to get the bitter memories out of my head. I know that I can't control how things go, but a bad race on top of not great auditions has certainly lead to some low feelings about myself. I'm also thinking about try another full in the spring. I need to check my schedule before I do anything else, and I want to get through the 1/2 marathon too and just see how things go. I'm already running again, and feeling pretty good! I've also started doing a lot of yoga the last couple of days which has felt amazing! Sadly last Sunday just wasn't my day....

2 years in the making

I remember exactly where I was the day I first saw the website for the Nike Women's Marathon. I don't remember the exact date. It was sometime in June of 2007, and I was training for my very first Peachtree Road Race. I had done a few fun runs when I was a kid, but had never done really well. All through youth I played soccer, but never once did I consider myself a runner. I had recently gotten a pair of Nike shoes which were compatible with the NIke+ system and I was on the website checking it out. I had set up my training plan with Nike after getting the shoes, which was great because I had never learned anything about training to run all through my time as a soccer player. Looking back I probably would have been even better at soccer if I had done some endurance training before the season started. And then one Saturday it happened. I came across the site for the Nike Women's Marathon, and I was entranced. It sounded like the coolest thing I had ever seen. A race geared towards women with a chocolate mile, foot stations, and a tiffany's necklace as a finisher's medal. At the time I never thought I could run a marathon, but I thought it would be really cool to run this one. There was no way I could do it that year because the race was already full, but Nike had done something very cool. They had set up a virtual half marathon for those who did not get into the race. All you had to do was sign up and get the Nike+ system so that you could upload 13.1 miles on the day of the race and in return (for a small entry fee) everyone who uploaded the correct mileage got a finisher's shirt and a tiffany's keychain. I had never wanted to try something so badly. I saved up and got an ipod nano and the Nike+ system, paid my entry fee, and set up a training plan to train for a half marathon.

Now, I should say that up to this point I had never run more than 8 miles. I had been training during the summer in Atlanta, my least favorite season to train, and it had been tough. I had gotten to know an old friend at church who was a runner. The day I discovered the Nike Women's Marathon had been the day that a bunch of us from my Sunday School class had gone to a Braves game (which they lost because they always lose when I go to a game), and we started talking about running and I told her what I had found. She said that one day she wanted to run that marathon, and before I knew it this came out of my mouth, "well if you do let me know, because you might be able to talk me into doing it too." HA! The next morning I tried out Nike+ for the first time and loved it!

I thought a lot about trying to do the race in 2008, but for various reasons I ended up running 2 different marathons that year, ING Georgia and the San Antonio Rock-n-Roll Marathon. San Antonio was my first race with Team in Training, and we ended up training along side the team going to the Nike Women's Marathon. I was so jealous! I had never wanted to do a race so badly before and right then in the middle of training I made a promise to myself. I was running the Nike Women's Marathon in 2009 with Team in Training. No questions about it. I didn't care if it meant turning jobs down (which hasn't been a problem because there are no orchestra jobs at the moment) I was doing this race! There was also no question about doing the race with Team in Training. I love working with Team in Training! It's one of the best decisions I've ever made. Unfortunately for our staff coordinator in meant that i started bugging her the day I saw the lottery for spots opened (I'm pretty sure she's forgiven me, at least I hope she has). She talked me into signing up to be a mentor, which was funny because at the time I didn't realize she was the one choosing the mentors for the Nike Team (payback for the bugging? lol).

In just 6 days I'll be running a race I've wanted to do for 2 years. It hasn't fully sunk in yet. Could it really be possible that on Sunday I'll be in San Francisco running the Nike Women's Marathon? Could you believe that I've already started packing? I'm just a little excited. Frankly, it's hard to sit still at the moment. I have a feeling that it's going to take a lot of focus to get through the week. Just 4 more days till we leave. I don't know what will happen at the race. I have a time in mind that I would like to finish in, but I don't know what will happen. There is no question that I will finish. I haven't held my goal pace for more than 10 miles, and my long runs have been significantly slower than what I'm use to. To make things even more complicated I've gotten a little faster now that the weather is cooling off. It's honestly starting t mess with my head. Saturday's run was great despite being sick, but my average pace was 8:30 a mile. I can't hold that for 26.2 miles. It is whatever it chooses to be that day, but one thing is for certain. On Sunday I'm running the Nike Women's Marathon. It's just 6 days away!!

Heros

This post originally started out as something very different, but I couldn't get over what happened this morning. Sometimes I feel like I forget why I run. This morning was one of those runs. I got to caught up in everything that seemed to be going wrong. I will not trouble you with my whining, it's enough to say even I felt bad about it, but I think I may have come up with a solution for one of the issues. Tomorrow's 8 mile run will tell the tale of my latest experiment (my violin students will tell you that I love to experiment).

What made the difference? Well I started reading the Caringbridge website of a friend's nephew. See Daniel was diagnosed with neuroblastoma back in June and was having surgery to remove the tumor this morning. And while I was reading that his wish was to go visit his Aunt Becky every week it hit me, this is why I run. It's not just to be in shape, or to have time to myself and try and stay sane, it's to be a part of something bigger, to make a difference. See Daniel doesn't care that his hair is falling out, or that his body sometimes violently objects to what he has to go through, he just wants to be a kid. Or take our team honored hero Kate. She's only seven and just finished her last round of chemo July 1st. They didn't ask to have cancer. Who would? But they fight anyway. Or Uncle Clyde and Ryan who both lost their battles with cancer. Ryan was starting a new chapter in his life after winning the Metropolitan Opera Competition in 2007 and getting a chance to perform with the Met Opera. Who knew he only had a year left. So much promise lost because of cancer.

This is my I run. To make a difference. To fight the only way I know how, because deep down inside I worry about who might be next. Every five minutes someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer. That doesn't even count all of the other cancers. What would life be like if cancer no longer existed? Daniel and Kate's fight would be over for good! That's why I run!! And let's face it 26.2 miles doesn't hurt nearly as much as going through chemo.

You can help!! Go to http://pages.teamintraining.org/ga/nikesf09/bgartley all donations are 100% tax deductible and 75% of you gift goes directly towards making a difference in the lives of those battling cancer!

Daniel Enfinger

Kate

Running lessons

Oh the things I learned this morning on my run. Let me count them =). I decided to go ahead and get my long run for the week out of my way since I’m off to D.C to visit family and friends this weekend. So, I got up at 5:45am to run my 8 miles. I learned a lot this morning. For instance:

1. You can’t see fog in the dark. A slight problem because it was really dark, and I apparently was running to fast in the fog I couldn’t see.
2. Apparently Cardiac Hill is easier to run up after you have run up the hill on Jett Road (I can’t believe I just said that Cardiac hill was easy. What am I thinking…)
3. My favorite flavor of Nuun is citrus fruit (check it out at www.nuun.com)

Now the rest of the day is for taking my car out to get the sunroof fixed (grrr, storms + rotting tree branch = hole in wallet), and practicing for auditions, which I have to say is going really well. Only problem is that I’m not going to be able to practice for 5 days and I have a lesson a week from Tuesday. I can do this!!!! Oh, and I’m really trying not to go running in my new shoes. It’s so hard!!!! I could tell on my run this morning how badly I need the higher arch supports. It just means my runs after I start using them are going to be wonderful!!

Why they Run

Saturday was amazing! I got up at 5:15 am and got ready to head to the river. See I had this insane idea of going for a 6 mile run before reporting for water stop duty at 7:00 am. Because I fell earlier in the week I was behind in my runs, but I was okay with that. I really wanted to go on the 10 mile run Saturday, but really that's not what it was about for me. For me it was about making sure my body was okay. Really it's my left hand that is in bad shape. Not a good thing for a violinist getting ready for an audition, but what can you do other than make sure everything is okay and give things time to heal. That's why I was only doing a 6 mile run.

I was nervous when I left the parking lot. It was extremely dark with very few people out. The river is heavily wooded, and on this particular morning covered in mist. I felt like I was running through the mist of avalon. But I just but all of the worrisome thoughts of a dark, wooded park behind me and just ran. Before I knew it I was at the other end of the park and then at the turn around to head back up to the start. A friend of mine was planning to run 4 miles that morning too, so I had someone to run back to the start with. It turned out to be great because I probably would have wimped out and allowed myself to walk up the lone hill I had to run up. Instead I stayed steady and ran with Sally up the hill doing 6.2 miles in about 59 minutes the same as my last 10k race.

Instead of manning a water stop I got to be the course sweeper making sure everyone on the team ended up in the right place, that the water stops had what they needed, and help anyone who had problems. A couple of my mentees were nervous about the 10 mile run, which is very understandable. The sudden change of single digit miles to double digit miles in daunting. For me the nervousness sets in for the higher miles (think 18-20 miles), so I can understand what they're feeling. I watched them from my car as I drove around, and cheered them on. If I could have I would have gotten out of my car and run with them and cheering them on. I did do plenty of cheering from my car. Some struggled more than others, and that's when the doubt sets in, and that's when the coaches and mentors become so important. We made sure that everyone made it in, and that there was plenty of cheering for everyone. It's a huge accomplishment. It's humbling to watch, and I'm so proud of all of them. Training for a marathon, especially your first, is not easy. I remember. I was there last year, and just because this is my third doesn't mean that it isn't mentally and physically exhausting. However, I'm so excited about this marathon!! Watching the Tour de France has also been incredibly inspiring for me (I've been cross training on the stationary bike a lot this week while watching). We got our recommitment papers and Nike marathon applications this weekend!! I've already started filling it all out. I'm so excited!!!! There is something very special about this particular race and the training so far. I don't know exactly what it is. Maybe it's all of the new friends I have from this team (I've meet some amazing people!!!), or the fact that I've waited over 2 years to run this race, or the fact that my runs have been going so well. Or maybe it's all of those things and more.

A few Team in Training friends have passed this link around and I wanted to share it. It shows the progress of 5 team participants. I think it shows better than what I can describe what it means to be a part of Team in Training and fighting against cancer.

http://www.whytheyrun.com/watch.html

The Importance of Food

Food is important!! It was the first thing that I thought about on the 1.5 mile walk back to the house. I hadn't eaten anything before leaving for my run, which was suppose to be a 6 mile run. Yes, it was suppose to be a 6 mile run, but it wasn't. Instead it was 1.5 mile run with an ungraceful fall resulting in a banged up and bleeding left hand. I think it's safe to say that the good run streak is over. What an awful time for it to happen too. My potential audition with the Atlanta Opera Orchestra is September 1st (my last audition was a bomb after forgetting to eat enough, see the pattern?), and now I'm waiting for everything to heal enough to start practicing again. It just means I have to work harder once I can play again. The good thing is that my legs are in great shape! Fingers are crossed that things heal quickly!!

The Difference a Year Makes

It's hard to believe that it's only been a year since my uncle Clyde passed from cancer. It's been a bit of a mixed bag as far as emotions. I went back to the caringbridge website that my aunt and her friends had set up so that everyone would know what was going on last summer as things were unfolding. It's amazing how quickly things happened, and it's amazing to read the stories and memories that people posted. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

June 2008, and my Uncle Clyde and his wife went on a wonderful trip to Italy. When they got back they noticed that my uncle had lost a bit a weight, a tall feat after a trip to Italy (having just gotten back from Italy a month ago I can say that there are so many wonderful things to eat there!!). One of my aunt's friends who is a nurse noticed that my uncle was jandus, and said that he needed to get to the hospital immediately. From there it was a whirlwind 72 hours of shock. He went into the hospital on Friday and was diagnosed. By Saturday they were calling friends and family after getting the diagnoses of pancreatic cancer, and by Monday he had been staged and was heading into surgery. He kept joking about if he came out of surgery. At the time most of us didn't know much about pancreatic cancer, and thought it he needed to be more optimistic. Apparently he knew something the rest of us didn't. I started poking around online after getting the news from my parents, and started to discover how hard this might end up being. Surgery is a mixed blessing with pancreatic cancer in my opinion. It's incredibly hard, not because they have to remove a large part of the digestive system, but because complications are very likely after such a surgery. That's what happened with my uncle. There was internal bleeding, another surgery, and finally after 3 weeks of fighting, pain, and hysterical 6am phone calls it was over. It was like living a bad dream or having all of the air knocked out of your body.

The problem with pancreatic cancer is that it's incredibly hard to diagnose. They are no specific symptoms that scream pancreatic cancer, they are all to general. The one year survival rate is 1% and the five year survival rate is 5%. It's a death sentence, which is why I walked into a Team in Training information meeting 4 days after my uncle's death. Even though they raise money for blood cancers it was still fighting cancer, and since I was already a runner, it seemed like a good fit. Running has always been a way to help cope with things. A way to help cope after my father's stroke, or taking care of my parent's. A way to cope with all of the stress of being a violinist, and staying in shape so that I don't get injured again. All I had to do was raise money and train. It was an amazing experience, and a way to have something good come out of something that wasn't good.

It's been different since Clyde's death. He was always the clown at family gatherings, A kid trapped in an adult body. I miss the crazy smile, his love of helium balloons, and his good nature. It's good to remember all of that. And it's good to fight back, which is why I'm doing another event with Team in Training this fall. It's time for cancer to go down!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ga/nikesf09/bgartley

Saturday fun with Team in Training

There's nothing like getting up early for a great run with the Team, and as an added bonus we had our nutrition clinic this morning. So, instead of running at 8am we left for our 6 mile run at 9:30am. Not such a great thing with Atlanta's wonderful summertime weather. I'm not sure that I really learned anything new at the clinic. I didn't get to go to the nutrition clinic when I ran the San Antonio Rock-n-Roll Marathon with the team. I think I might have heard a little too much about bowel movements this morning. Fortunately the 6 mile run was awesome! I ran with one of the new marathon team members returning for her 2nd Nike Women's Marathon. Despite the heat my Nike+ sportsband said we kept a 9 minute mile pace (even better than last weekend's Peachtree Road Race with a new 10k PR!!!). So, another great week of training, and a track workout to look forward to on Tuesday =).