Run-A-Thon Re-Cap

If you were on Facebook this last Saturday and kept seeing me post repeatedly (~1xhr) and saw me "bragging" about the distance I was running you were witnessing the live updates of my Run-A-Thon "38,000 Strides to Cure Cancer". If you are just tuning in check out the page on this blog titled  "38,000 Strides to Cure Cancer".

While it may have seemed that I was just trying to clog your newsfeeds and brag about my wolf-like running ability you were wrong. My purpose was to create awareness for my cause which is to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) through Team in Training.

The LLS exists to raise money for blood cancer research, fund patient support programs, public education programs, and send lobbyists to Washington, D.C.. There are many forms of blood cancer, all of which I do not know, the big or most common types are Leukemia, Lymphoma, Myeloma, and Non Hodgekins Lymphoma. I'm sure that you are aware that there are many different types of cancer and while the LLS only deals with blood cancers, its research team has developed more than 29 cancer treatments in the last few decades, many of which treat other forms of cancer besides blood cancers.

Here are some facts about blood cancers in the U.S.

•  Approximately 957,000 people are currently living with blood cancer
•  Every 4 minutes, someone new is diagnosed with blood cancer
•  Every 10 minutes someone dies (this used to be every 6 minutes, yay research!)
•  Leukemia is the #1 killer of children between ages 1-14yrs old

My role has been to fund raise money to fight blood cancers through LLS's fundraising campaign group, which happens to be the LARGEST training/fundraising team in the world, Team in Training (TNT). TNT came into existence over 24 years ago when a man, frustrated by the diagnosis of his then 2 year old daughter (Leukemia) set out to raise money to fund research for a cure. He and his buddies committed to running a marathon in order to raise money. That first year, those 6 men raised $32,000 and consequentially started the "running for a cause" movement and Team in Training. 24 years later, TNT has raised $1.6 billion with the help of 54,000+ volunteers like myself. 24 years ago the children with Leukemia had a 50/50 chance of survival, today its 90%. That's what I'm fighting for.



So I know I've been rambling on for a little while now and I'd like to do what I started out to do, recap my run-a-thon. So here we go.

Friday night before the run we (Josh and I) spent several hours arguing about where to go, where to stop, what to do about the dog, etc, finally at 10pm after almost driving to Provo (twice) we went to bed with the plan to run to City Creek Canyon in the morning.

I'm going to be throwing in some of my facebook posts, which as you can see for yourself quite negative at first (I've never been a happy morning person).

Saturday morning we started a little later than we had wanted, leaving the house at 5 am.

The start:

Starting an hour later is not the best way to start the day, but I for some reason just dreaded waking up this morning. Progress reports every hour as we go. Stay tuned

We ran south on Redwood Rd for 5 miles and back home with Buttercup so that she would get a run in with us this weekend (without having to go the full 35 miles). Being first thing in the morning, the darkness, sleepiness, and heavy legs made the first 5 miles feel painfully slow but it was manageable.  

Merp... At this point I'm not sure 30 more is possible.
Feel free to donate and make me do it out of obligation and guilt. I need the motivation.

After turning and heading back for home things started to improve, well... as much as it could for with over 2/3 of the run left.

Potty Break: Mile 10 back at home

While the pace was still pretty slow, things started to feel better. Josh, who was on rollerblades for the first 10 miles put on his running shoes and joined me for the last 25 miles. So we started North East to the Jordan Parkway Trail. We stayed on the trail until reaching 400 S in Salt Lake. We found we really enjoyed using the trail, because there tended to be more shade than the city streets and the air was a little cooler due to the proximity of the Jordan River. Here are the then live updates:

Mile 16



Mile 20

Striking a Pose at mile 21 or something...

Besides some light cramping that made me walk here and there things were going slowly but steadily. The side cramps I learned quickly were coming because I was attempting to talk while run... apparently my diaphragm and abdomen thought I should be quiet and just enjoy the scenery... Josh didn't agree. In fact he chattered on and on the whole way. I don't even remember what we talked about now. I'm sure it wasn't to important. I do remember one thing I learned, apparently Lance Armstrong was finally convicted of doping and stripped of all his titles???? What?? That's messed up. I can't even tell you how grateful I am for that man and his willingness to go on all these crazy challenges and adventures with me and be my support and confidence. As things got harder he managed to stay positive and just enjoy the experience. His attitude made a big difference, he helped me stay focused on the positives, including the beautiful day, the distance we've already covered, the goal of finishing, etc. I honestly would not have finished if it were not for him.

At 400 S we turned East, heading off of the trail and into the heat of the city. We both needed to refill our hydration packs and we had run out of salt, which we have learned is crucial for Josh's success while running, and less so, mine as well. So we headed to the Wendy's on 400 West. They were kind enough to let us use their bathroom, refill our water packs, and let us steal their little salt packets.

Wendy's Potty Stop





We were both thrilled for the opportunity to take a short breather and refill. We had been out of water for only 20 mins, but it was pretty hot and being over 4 hours into the run we couldn't drink enough water in order to stay hydrated.

Running was definitely starting to take its mental toll, especially as we zig-zagged through the city towards State Street and South Temple. Its amazing how much difference the shade and even the slightest breeze makes. It has an overwhelmingly sweet feeling to it, especially when fatigued. We welcomed the change of scenery as we entered Memorial Grove and  headed towards City Creek Canyon. We were short our distance, only at mile 27 when we entered the Grove so we knew we'd have to do some loops around the Grove if we were to finish there.

Mile 28, City Creek Canyon

Mile 28! At city creek. So nice. We've slowed down, but we're feeling strong. 7 miles to go!



While the scenery and the temperature had improved by running into the shady woods of City Creek, the intensity of the run did not. Everything was uphill for the next few miles and my legs could no longer produce the power needed to propel my body up and forward at the same time. Walking was the only option when things got much steeper than being flat. We even tried running up a steep trail section on Bonneville shoreline trail, it was not a good idea. We had to turn around and follow the road that traces the perimeter of the Grove and over to the Avenues. We were so close to finishing but it was hard to stay motivated knowing our destination was just 2 miles behind us where we just left.

View from the Road: State Capitol



Once we turned around to start heading back to the grove it was a little uphill and then mostly downhill, which felt so much better. I think the muscle that was most fatigued was my abdominals... (looks like I need to take some pilates classes) but my legs were definitely a close second.

Once back in City Creek we ran to the bottom of Memorial Grove again where we chased down a man and his dog, literally. We saw a man leaving the park with what looked like a Bouvier! We were soooo excited! This is the dog Josh and I really want to get! (After our dogs get old and pass on). She was so pretty, old but sophisticated. 

Anyways, we were distracted talking to the owner for about 10 minutes and so when we finally started again we were at mile 33 at 7 hrs and 20 mins, you can imagine how badly we wanted to be done, and how annoying it would have been to do another two laps of the grove. So we simply ran back up to the spot in the creek that we had picked out for our ice bath and stopped there about 1/2 mile short of our goal... but I really didn't care much... it felt soooooo good.

Done! Mile 34.5 I know its cheating, but we couldn't pass up a good soak



This task was incredibly difficult for me, but I didn't do it for me and that helped, this run was dedicated to my family and friends who's fight is a lot more difficult and important than any run I could ever do.

Disease does awful things to your body and each type messes you up in a different way. Cancer... well that starts out as just the small aches and pains and soon the small things become bigger, and often the treatment is worse than the pain of the cancer, but the treatment may mean hope, a chance, a fight for survival. So day after day these people in my life will fight a battle tougher than my 8 hours running. Whether its going in for radiation every day for 7 weeks (you are so strong dad!) or fighting with time and destiny that it doesn't come back (Jeff and Michelle you are amazing!) or praying that a permanent cure can be found before its too late, these people are the real warriors. They are my hereos.

So while it was ooooh so tempting to back out and not even do the run since I didn't meet my fundraising goal I stuck with it, because like I said, it wasn't about me, it was about these people:

In honor of:Mile 1: My father Wayne Eschler- prostate Cancer
Mile 2: Jesika May- Acute Leukemia
Mile 3: Lisa Polita- Age 2- Leukemia
Mile 4: Bud Rigby- Lymphoma

Mile 4: Ronen- Age 3  ALS (Leukemia)
Mile 15: Richard Steele- Multiple Myeloma
Mile 16: Ed Tucker- Multiple Myeloma
Mile 33: Kathryn Rodgers

After all was done I'm glad I did it, it was by no means a PR and it was not easy, but I did what I said I would and I fulfilled my commitment and honored the people we care about by running, an ability they do not all have the privilege of doing right now. As is stated on my fundraising webpage, my goal was to raise $3,000 and I only just raised 42% of that, but I'm not done trying yet. I still have a month and a half to go and I have plenty of other tricks up my sleeve :)

Although my race is over, the race to cure cancer is not. Therefore, if you are reading this and would still like to donate to my run-a-thon, please do! I would love to accept your donation on behalf of these wonderful warriors. Donations are secure and easy through my fundraising webpage (an e-mail confirmation will be sent to you with tax deductible ID) at:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ut/nikesf12/rblackamix

There are so many good causes out there, TNT is just one of them, but its the one that really spoke to me. As a runner, I couldn't help loving the idea of running to fight cancer! It has helped me to feel so much more motivated and less selfish about taking time away from school, work and family to run. Running with Team in Training and fundraising hasn't been easy, and I'm far from being done. But it is worth it. Because while some of you might think I'm being annoying and that I'm wasting my time. Today I found a quote that summarizes my feelings on the subject:

So once again, Thank you, Thank you for your love, generosity, and support. It means so much to me to know that the few of you who read this, care. I hope that you one day have the opportunity to participate in some sort of "cause" and have the opportunity of feeling like I do right now, proud to be alive!!!

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