The Distance

Before I recap my latest week of training, I'd like to share a few facts about cancer, taken directly from The American Cancer Society's Cancer Facts & Figures 2009, which illustrate clearly why I and over five hundred others are running for Dana-Farber and why your financial support is so vital:

• How Many People Alive Today Have Ever Had Cancer? The National Cancer Institute estimates that approximately 11.1 million Americans with a history of cancer were alive in January 2005. Some of these individuals were cancer-free, while others still had evidence of cancer and may have been undergoing treatment.
• How Many New Cases Are Expected to Occur This Year (2009)? About 1,479,350 new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2009.
• What Percentage of People Survive Cancer? The 5-year relative survival rate for all cancers diagnosed between 1996-2004 is 66%, up from 50% in 1975-1977. The improvement in survival reflects progress in diagnosing certain cancers at an earlier stage and improvements in treatment.
• How Many People Are Expected to Die of Cancer This Year (2009)? This year, about 562,340 Americans are expected to die of cancer, more than 1,500 people a day. Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the U.S., exceeded only by heart disease. In the U.S., cancer accounts for nearly 1 of every 4 deaths.

The one nugget of good news? Cancer research is making a difference, with the survival rate up to nearly two-to-one from fifty-fifty roughly 35 years ago. But the death toll is still staggering, too staggering, with nearly 1.5 million new diagnoses of cancer annually and well over half a million deaths in the U.S. alone! While survival rates have improved, 66 percent still leaves much room for improvement. That's why it's important to step up our cancer research efforts.

Please, if you haven't yet provided your support, go to my page by clicking HERE. This is one of the world's worst "natural disasters", and it's occurring EVERY DAY! When you provide your support -- and every dollar helps! -- you may do so in memory or honor of a loved one, and be assured that 100 percent of your contribution will be used by the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research toward finding more effective solutions for treating cancer. (NOTE: If you prefer to contribute by check, click HERE to download a form with the relevant instructions.)

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Training Recap:

After last week's 57+ mile effort (my highest weekly running total ever), culminating in the first of five planned 20+ mile long runs (and in the snow, no less), I've had benefit of a "step back" week to recharge my body.  Here's the traditional recap of my cardio activities for what was Week 12 of 22:

EXERCISE	TOTAL MILES	TOTAL CALORIE BURN
Running five runs and one simulated run on the Arc Trainer, including a long run of 14 miles, two 6-mile runs, one 5-mile recovery run (done on the treadmill), one 4-mile recovery (done on the Arc Trainer) and seven 0.45-mile hill repeats (5 uphills and 2 downhills) that, with warm-up, recovery, and cool-down, totaled 8.8 miles	43.8	3,446
Other three spinning classes (two of which I led) totaling 2 hours and 24 minutes	N/A	1,335
TOTALS:	43.8	4,781

Since beginning my training for Boston, I've logged just over 490 miles.  (I'll hit 500 tomorrow, with a 10-miler on the agenda.)  Week 13 will be another 50+ mile effort, as will every other week from here on out until the taper period begins the first week of April, immediately following my participation in the IU Mini Marathon.  I estimate I'll log roughly 900 miles total in preparation for April 19!

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Fund-raising Update:

In the past week, I've added $70 to my total, taking it to $1,478, thanks to contributions from Chris and Craig Lathrop and Roli Lall (her second).  Thanks to all of you!  I'm still well away from my $5,000 goal, so I'm hoping some of you reading this will seriously consider donating.  I need your support, as do millions of current and future cancer patients and their families around the world!

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This Week's "Title Track":

The Distance A track by CAKE from the release Fashion Nugget

The arena is empty except for one man,
still driving and striving as fast as he can.
The sun has gone down, and the moon has come up,
and long ago somebody left with the cup.
But he's driving and striving and hugging the turns
and thinking of someone for whom he still burns.

Snow (Hey Oh)

Please join me in supporting the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Claudia Adams Barr Program for innovative cancer research. Your financial support funds research and discovery that would not otherwise be possible through government-funded initiatives. 100 percent of your tax-deductible contribution goes directly toward this vital research!  Please click HERE to contribute, and thanks for your help!

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I've reached the halfway mark, time-wise anyway, of my 22-week training program, having logged nearly 450 miles of running to date.  I ran the first of five planned 20-plus-mile runs yesterday in the aftermath of a seven- to eight-inch snowfall that hit Friday evening and early Saturday morning.  It was the first opportunity to use my YakTrax, and I didn't miss a beat.  Of course, having opened my big mouth last week and mentioned how healthy and injury-free I've been, I'm now battling a mild head cold and nursing a sore left knee.  I logged over 57 miles this week, easily my highest weekly total thus far, and it couldn't be a better time for a step-back week; I'll drop down to about 45 miles this week before cranking it back up to 50-plus territory (and doing another 20-miler) the following week.

Here's a summary of Week 11's cardio activities:

EXERCISE	TOTAL MILES	TOTAL CALORIE BURN
Running five runs and one simulated run on the Arc Trainer, including a long run of 20 miles, two 10-mile runs, one 5-mile recovery run, one 4-mile recovery (done on the Arc Trainer) and six 0.45-mile hill repeats (4 uphills and 2 downhills) that, with warm-up, recovery, and cool-down, totaled 8.4 miles	57.4	4,387
Other one spinning class totaling 47 minutes	N/A	309
TOTALS:	57.4	4,696

I've been struggling with determining my marathon pace.  I've been training more intensely than I ever have and running a lot hillier terrain than I did with my first marathon.  It's showing in my long runs, which I've been able to comfortably run at a pace of 8:30 or faster, which suggests that I've gotten faster.  In discussing this issue with DFMC training advisor (and former Boston Marathon champ) Jack Fultz, he gave some great advice:

If a runner whose training is well rounded with a good balance of quality and quantity can run an 8:00 pace for a marathon, she/he should be able to run a half marathon at 95% of that pace (a faster time) or about 7:35. This runner’s 10K race pace should be about 90% of the 8:00 marathon pace or about 7:10 pace. So running shorter training races will not only give you a good workout and a shorter term goal on which to focus, it will also provide you with a good indicator of what pace might be appropriate for your marathon.

I went back and ran the calculations for my most recent (and only) races at the half marathon and 10K distances.  My pace in the Louisville Marathon last October was 8:03.  My predicted half-marathon pace would be 95 percent of 8:03, or 7:38.85.  My predicted 10K pace would be 95 percent of 7:38.85 or 7:15.91.  Now, get this:

• My pace in the Evansville Half Marathon in October 2008 was 7:37.40.
• My pace in the Evansville YMCA 10K in September 2008 was 7:15.81.

That's scary close!  Needless to say, I'm hoping to find either a half marathon or 10K race within the next few weeks to get a good read on what benefit, if any, I've realized by ratcheting up my training intensity.  In the meantime, I'm giving consideration to running Yasso Repeats for an upcoming speed workout to get a ballpark estimate.  This will help me better determine the paces at which I should be training, particularly for my pace and long runs.

On the fund-raising front, I received no new donations, and my total remains at $1,408.  It's rather discouraging to see things at a standstill, especially since I'm still a considerable distance from the minimum I'm required to raise.  Time to step up my game.  Hopefully, I'll have better news to report next week.

Take It to the Limit

Please join me in supporting the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Claudia Adams Barr Program for innovative cancer research. Your financial support funds research and discovery that would not otherwise be possible through government-funded initiatives. 100 percent of your tax-deductible contribution goes directly toward this vital research!  Please click HERE to contribute, and thanks for your help!

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I've had another good week of training.  I'm feeling great, both physically and mentally, and continuing to train hard for April 19.  As Don Henley and the Eagles might say, I'm taking it to the limit.

You know I've always been a dreamer.  (Spent my life running 'round.)
And it's so hard to change.  (Can't seem to settle down.)
But the dreams I've seen lately
Keep on turning out and burning out
And turning out the same.

So put me on a highway
And show me a sign
And take it to the limit one more time.

It truly does feel like I'm spending my life running around.  I eclipsed the 50-mile mark this week for the first of what will be quite a few times before all is said and done.  Yesterday's long run of 19 miles was my longest yet for this training cycle, and I'll step up to the first of five planned 20-plus milers next weekend.  Through 10 weeks, I've logged nearly 400 miles on the road.  (I'll cross that mark on Tuesday.)  I am continually thankful that I've managed to stay healthy and injury-free through it all when several of my DFMC teammates have been battling various ailments.

Here's my customary summary of the week's cardio activities:

EXERCISE	TOTAL MILES	TOTAL CALORIE BURN
Running six runs, including a long run of 19 miles, two 9-mile runs, two 4-mile recovery runs, and a 45-minute tempo run on the treadmill that, with warm-up, recovery, and cool-down, totaled 5.4 miles	50.4	4,106
Other two spinning classes totaling 2 hours and 15 minutes	N/A	1,159
TOTALS:	50.4	5,265

On the fund-raising front, it was a very slow week.  With a contribution from Patricia Van Cleve, my total now stands at $1,408.  I know there are a couple people out there who have told me they plan to contribute; I just hope there are a bunch more like them that I don't yet know about.

I'll keep it short and sweet this week.  Thanks again to all of you for support -- past, present and future -- and, until next time: Endeavor to endure!

Runnin' Down a Dream

Week 9 of 22 is in the books, and it ended on a high note with weather conditions improving significantly.  I'm in great health, feeling strong, and thankful that I've been able to avoid illness and remain injury-free.  Some great runs this week, along with a lot of great news from several DFMC teammates who are back to full strength (or close to it) from lingering injuries, has me in good spirits.

Here's the summary of my activities (excluding strength training and stretching) for the week:

EXERCISE	TOTAL MILES	TOTAL CALORIE BURN
Running six runs, including a "long" run of 12 miles, two 9-mile runs, one 4-mile run (a recovery run, done on the treadmill), one 3-mile run (my post-long recovery), and one set of 6 x 0.45-mile hill repeats (four uphills and two downhills) that, with warm-up, recovery, and cool-down, totaled 8.5 miles	45.5	3,942
Other two spinning classes totaling 1 hour and 30 minutes	N/A	844
TOTALS:	45.5	4,786

I had company on my long run again this week, running with Drew and two others, Jeff and Joe, from work.  It made the run considerably more enjoyable and the time seem to pass much more quickly than a solo run.  If you guys are reading this, a big THANKS to all of you!

Week 10 will likely be my first 50-plus mile week, with my long run ratcheting up to 19 miles, bringing my total mileage for this training cycle very close to the 400-mile mark.  I'm amazed, given how miserable my knees felt during the first couple weeks of training, that they've held up to all the pavement-pounding I've subjected them to thus far.  I can't say enough about the importance of regular strength training and stretching; I have absolutely no doubt it's responsible for my dramatically improved physical condition.

From a fund-raising standpoint, things continued to be "slow and steady".  My total now stands at $1,383, thanks to yet another donation from my parents.  Thank you, guys!

In recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day tomorrow, I went with a Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers song for the title of this week's post.  I and my DFMC teammates have a dream, too: That, through our efforts and those who support us, we can raise vital funds for cancer research that will ultimately lead to better, more effective, treatments for cancer patients.  Your support is vital and greatly appreciated.  If you haven't done so already, please give to the best of your ability by clicking here.  Thanks!

My Friends

Just a quick shout-out to my fellow endurance athletes who read this blog.  Many of you may use one web site or another that allows you to post and track your workouts.  I've tried many of them, but my favorite is dailymile.  While it doesn't automatically integrate with my Garmin 405CX sports watch -- I have to enter my data manually -- entering new runs, cross-training workouts, etc. is a breeze, and it tracks the miles I'm putting on each pair of running shoes I'm rotating through, which will allow me to see when it's time to pick up a new pair.

The coolest feature of the site, to me at least, is its "social networking" aspect.  Just like other sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.), you can build a network of friends, track and comment on their workouts, motivate them, etc.  I'm finding the site to be one of the best ways of interacting with my fellow DFMC teammates, who mainly hail from the Northeastern U.S.  (As of now, I have eleven friends on the site, nine of them being teammates and two hailing from my area of the country.)  It's really helping me cope with the feelings of isolation I'm experiencing as the only DFMC team member within a 250-mile radius.  dailymile also integrates with Facebook and Twitter, allowing you to publish your workouts to your non-dailymile friends.

If you're not currently using a web site to track your miles, and even if you are, dailymile is worth a serious look.  You really have to see it to appreciate its many great features.

Weathered

The title track from Creed's third album accurately describes, as succinctly as possible, how I've been feeling of late. Over the past week, Southwestern Indiana (like much of the country) has been in the deep freeze, and I've been doing nearly all of my running in "feels like" temperatures ranging from the low single digits to low double digits. Thankfully, a warm-up is on the way, and the remnants of last week's snowfall will soon be a distant memory.

Here's the summary of my training activities for Week 8:

EXERCISE	TOTAL MILES	TOTAL CALORIE BURN
Running six runs, including a "long" run of 17 miles, two 8-mile runs (one on the treadmill, due to road conditions), one 4-mile run, one 3-mile run (my post-long recovery, done on the treadmill), and one set of 4 x 0.45-mile hill repeats (alternating between uphills and downhills) that, with warm-up, recovery, and cool-down, totaled 6.6 miles	46.6	3,684
Other two spinning classes totaling 1 hour and 32 minutes	N/A	751
TOTALS:	46.6	4,435

Highlight of the Week:  For the first time ever, I ran my weekly long run with a partner.  It's amazing how much more quickly the miles fly by when you have someone to share them with!  Thanks to Drew Figas for running with me and for biting off a hilly 17-miler despite his longest run since the Dallas White Rock Marathon in December being "just" 8 miles.  He's currently training for a half marathon here in April (before tackling a half Ironman), so he won't be able to join me every weekend, but I'm grateful for whatever company I can get.

Lowlight of the Week:  I had to cut my hill repeats a little short on Wednesday.  I turned my ankle three-quarters-of-a-mile into my warm-up moving to the shoulder to avoid the path of an oncoming vehicle, which is just one of the hazards of road running.  While the sensation of pain was immediate, I kept running and the pain subsided fairly quickly, but the ankle, along with knee pain I was feeling before I ever started and then the onset of stomach issues during the run, ultimately conspired to do me in.  Still, I managed to do four of the five repeats I was scheduled to run and, most importantly, my ankle was not seriously injured.

In other news, I crossed the 300-mile mark on yesterday's run.  I haven't done the math on how many miles I'll log in the course of my training, but it will easily exceed 800 miles.  I have many, many more miles to log the big day in Boston!  Hopefully, I'll be able to remain healthy and injury-free.

On the fund-raising front:

• With donations from my Pat Lomas (my wonderful mother-in-law), Anand Vedapuri, and an anonymous donor, my total has risen to $1,183.  Thanks to all of you!  I still have a long way to go toward my goal of $5,000, but I'm getting there.
• I finally wrote my initial fund-raising letter and sent it out to my friends on Facebook.  I'll be tweaking it slightly and mailing it out to family and friends in the coming days.  Then, it's on to determining a plan for reaching out to local businesses and community organizations, as well as attempting to obtain some P.R. in the local press.

Let me close this post by briefly discussing who I'll be running for on April 19:

• in memory of my father-in-law, Marvin Lomas, who passed away in April 2008 after a brief battle with brain cancer which, by the time it was discovered, was well in its advanced stages
  
• in honor of my brother, Tim, who was diagnosed with brain cancer.  Fortunately, his cancer was caught early, and he has remained cancer-free since undergoing successful surgery in July 2008.
• in honor of an aunt, who is a breast cancer survivor, and a cousin, who has been in remission from Hodgkin’s Disease for several years.

In addition to these beloved family members, there is another person whose ongoing battle with cancer has captured my heart.  It is my honor to also be running in honor of Jack Bruce, the three-year-old great nephew of a high school classmate.  I have never met this incredible young man (though I hope to someday) but, through the power of the Internet, I have been able to follow his story.  After completing chemotherapy in July of last year, Jack was declared N.E.D. (no evidence of disease).  Unfortunately, he relapsed in November and has since been undergoing further chemo.  I'm very happy to report that the chemo has been very effective and that Jack's prognosis looks very promising.  Still, the thought of what this little guy has had to endure for most of his life/childhood is overwhelming, and I am in awe of the strength and courage that he and his family have shown in facing such a horrifying monster.

If you haven't done so already, please give to Dana-Farber, and take part in authoring many more happy endings for cancer patients.  Cancer is a formidable foe that doesn't fight fair; it delivers rabbit punches and low blows on a regular basis.  Let's collectively focus our power, and deliver a knockout blow!  To be part of a great victory, punch (or click, if you're not the violent type) here.

Keep Pushin'

Week 7 of training is in the books, as the push for the Big Day on April 19 continues.  Old Man Winter has started the new year off on a rampage, bringing cold temps and winds in the mid- to upper-teens, resulting in a "feels like" in the single digits ... but I'm not complaining: My DFMC brethren in the Northeast have been enduring snow storms and heavy winds.  I've been fortunate to have the ability to get outside rather than being relegated to the indoors.

Here's the obligatory summary of the week's training activities:

EXERCISE	TOTAL MILES	TOTAL CALORIE BURN
Running six runs, including a "long" run of 16 miles, two 8-mile runs, one 4-mile run, one 3-mile run (on the treadmill, by choice), and one set of 5 x 0.45-mile hill repeats (two uphills, followed by a downhill, followed by two more uphills) that, with warm-up, recovery, and cool-down, totaled 6.9 miles	45.9	3,819
Other two spinning classes totaling 1 hour and 43 minutes	N/A	878
TOTALS:	45.9	4,697

I learned an important lesson (the hard way, unfortunately) on my 16-miler Saturday: Sweats layered over Cold Gear may be fine for runs approaching an hour or slightly longer, but they don't work well on longer runs.  My sweatshirt soaked up all the moisture the Cold Gear was wicking away and, about 90 minutes into my run, while I was still facing a bit of a headwind and was miles from home, I started feeling rather cold and uncomfortable.  Luckily, I was able to get through my run, though I had a nice ring of frozen sweat around the neckline of my sweatshirt by the time I was done.  Needless to say, I'll be paying a visit to my local running store tomorrow to pick up something more appropriate for cold-weather running ... and I'll need it, as the week ahead looks just as harsh, if not more so, as this past week was.

The DFMC team roster -- there are some 500+ plus of us -- has been out for a few weeks.  I recently looked it over to see if there was anyone nearby that I could arrange the occasional training run with.  No dice.  As you might expect, there's a very high concentration among the Northeastern states.  My closest teammates are in Chicago, over 250 miles away -- I'm the sole Indiana resident on the roster -- so unless my job takes me to a major metropolitan area between now and early April, it's not likely I'll be meeting any of my teammates until marathon weekend.  That said, I've been very fortunate to have connected with many of them on Facebook, and those that I interact with on at least a quasi-regular basis are a great group of people.  I can't wait to meet and speak with them in person (though I fear race weekend will go way too fast).

While I don't have any DFMC teammates to run with, I was recently contacted by a co-worker who, along with a couple other people, may begin accompanying me on my weekly long runs, possibly as soon as next weekend.  I'm not sure how we all compare pace-wise, but I'm hoping that, if they're faster than me, they won't feel like I'm hindering them by running a little slower than they would like.  It will be great if things work out because I've found the long runs to get very monotonous as the distances increase and my iPod provides little comfort.  Regardless, I'm prepared to run with or without company.

Finally, from a running standpoint, at least, I've been looking for a half marathon to run as a preparatory "tune-up" for Boston.  I was looking for one that was within reasonable driving distance and fell on a step-back week during the peak of my training.  Ultimately, I selected the IU Mini Marathon, to be held in Bloomington on April 3.  This coincides with the final 12-mile long run that immediately precedes the beginning of the taper period.  It should be an excellent gauge of how well my training has prepared me, as the course has its fair share of challenging hills.  The other great thing about this race: All proceeds benefit the Bill Z. Littlefield Scholarship for Survivors at the Indiana University Foundation.  The scholarship is to be dedicated to a cancer survivor to attend any one of the eight Indiana University campuses for a full ride.

In closing, I'd like to thank Aaron and Laura Briner and Drew Figas for their generous financial contributions the Dana-Farber cause this past week.  I'm closing in on the $1000 mark, which I'm quite happy with, given I have yet to really kick off my fundraising efforts.  That will be changing in the very near future.

Until next time, and in the true REO Speedwagon spirit of this post, remember:  You can tune an athlete, but you can't tuna fish.  (I know:  Booooo!)  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Correction (1/6/2010):  My math was off on my fundraising total.  It actually now stands at $1,058!  Thanks again to all who have contributed so far!