I finished my first ever Mt Wilson Trail Race and loving it!!!

I am so happy today because I completed the Mt Wilson trail race and I did a lot better than I thought. For those of you who don't know where Mt Wilson is... Mt Wilson is the mountain north of Pasadena where all those antennas stick out. Mt Wilson is the first 'big' mountain I ever hike. It is 15 miles round trip with 4500ft of gain. I guess I consider a hike 'big' if it has over 4000ft of gain.

So for the last few years I am constantly amazed by how people run up on the Mt Wilson Trail. I think the trail is very steep and I don't know how people do it. I have a lot of respect for those people because I can only dream doing something like that.

Fast forward a few years. I graduated from the Wilderness Travel Course and I am now a Sierra Club rated leader. Yet the thought of running the Mt Wilson Trail is still too insane for me. All these uphill... how can people do it???

Well things started to change in Sept 2007 as I joined Team In Training. I started training for the Los Angeles Marathon and I started running on the trail. I was like... wow... I can actually run on the trail. I do think that running downhill is bad for you but I like the thrill of running on trail.

So few months ago I registered for the 100th Anniversary of the Mt Wilson Trail Race. The current version of the trail race doesn't actually go all the way to the top. The exact course has changed over the years due to trail damage caused by erosion, earthquakes and fire. But the current trail is approximately 8.6 miles in length and has an elevation gain over 2100 feet with the turn around point at Orchard Camp.

I started training for this race soon after I finished the LA Marathon. I ran sections of the trail and my body was holding up... well sort of. Since I hiked the trail numerous time I have a very good sense of where I can run and where I should just hike. I am nervous, excited, and ready. I don't really care about my marathon time but I really want to do well on this race.

Then the Sierra Madre Fire came. Our Sierra Madre was burning!!! When I found out the Wilson Trail was burned I was devastated. Luckly the fire was under control after a few days.
So a few days after the Mt Wilson Trail Race Committee rescheduled the race to June 7, 2008... 6 days after my San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon *_* I wasn't too thrill because I wanted more time to recover from Rock N Roll. But hey... at least the race didn't get cancel!!!

Wanting to recover for the trail race. I did everything I can think of. I started off by drinking the muscle recovery stuff that big time hiker likes Mars Bonfire uses after my marathon. I then went on a 2 hours massage on monday... which is very painful. I told her I just finished a marathon and I have another race this sat. I told her the massage doesn't have to be comfortable, it just has to work!

Game Day

I started out running and my legs started to get tight so I started to hike. I got to 1st water and took pictures with Sarah.

Sierra Madre SAR Sarah Hess

I then continue up to Orchard Camp and I got there 1 hr 16 mins into the race. I was surprised with my progress. I took some pictures and I started to run downhill. I was running at a very good pace until I hit the 1st water again. I guess by then my leg are getting tired. I slow down because I know if I don't slow down I may push myself too hard and fall off the cliff. My left foot also started to bother so I just go very slow. I made it down to the trail, walk the uphill on the street and then started the final descent. I was kind of tired but I was abled to pick up my pace. I spirit the last 200 feets or so and got a good finish.

After Thoughts

Well I am happy that I did well. I think I own this to my hiking friends and Team In Training. Without them I wouldn't be able to do what I did today. Well I have been running for cancer so today I ran for my hiking friends. I could of do a lot better but I am just glad to finish... espeically since I finished a marathon 6 days ago and that this is my first time. I'll try to cut at least 10 minutes next time. We'll see what happen.

Lisa Carlton's Story

This is the story of the woman who I ran for. I am giving her family my medal to let them know that they didn't fight the disease alone. We all fought for her and we will continue to do so until we find the cure.

My Story is very simple. I have cancer. Same as many other people in this world. At first it seems a little unfair. You shouldn't have to be sick the same time you kid is. Of course, Joshua is my hero. I look up to him every day and know that if he has the strength to get through chemo, then so can I. I think he was lucky though, he didn't know to be afraid.

Ok, I hope I am doing this right. Hi everyone. I finally made it home last week. I feel like I have been gone for months. Looking back I'd have to say it started in October when we moved into the conference room. There were several days where I had severe itching on my hands and feet. So bad I had to take benadryl for days. Then my neck swelled, as everyone remembers. Remember that funny doctor? His office called today and left a message wondering when I would like to schedule my surgery to remove the lymph node in my neck!! We already talked to his office in December and let him know I was in the hospital to have surgery. Nice to know he has been paying attention. My official diagnosis was given to us the end of last week. I have Non- Hodgkins High grade Large B cell Lymphoma. I have another meeting with my oncologist tomorrow to discuss the treatment. It will need to be aggressive, like the cancer. They talk about it going into the brain, so they want to put chemo in my spinal column. Lot's to talk about. I only have 1 goal and that is to stay alive for my children. It makes sense that this is an aggressive form of cancer because it seems like it came out of nowhere and moved so quickly. I am trying to be real and open with my daughters. I have every intention of living through this, but they know better than anyone that there are no guarantees. If they can lose their father, they can lose their mother, too. I will take every edge that I have. Eating all healthy foods, using a medical hypnotist, and praying every day for God to carry me through this. I am truly blessed to have the love and support of so many wonderful friends and a beautiful and devoted family. This sucks, but is the way life is. Complaining won't get me anywhere, but fighting hard will..

Lisa has 3 children
Daughter Katie is graduating from high school this june
Daughter Kalie just turned 11
and Son Joshua just turned 4.

Here is Joshua's story

Joshua has a condition called X-linked Hyper Igm. Basically, he is missing 2 of the 3 components of his immune system.

When he was 6 months old Lisa took him to the doctor because she felt he looked pale and just wasn’t ‘right’. The doctor told her to take him straight to the hospital that moment. He had pneumonia and had to be intubated and put on a respirator. He was diagnosed soon after that.

The best treatment for this condition is a bone marrow transplant, and he was put on a list. He was matched with a donor of umbilical cord blood. He had to have extensive chemotherapy to kill what little immune system he had so it would not fight the new bone marrow. This was when he was one year old.

He spent several months in the hospital, in isolation. The doctors were giving him huge amounts of steroids to help his lungs heal from the pneumonia, but the steroids were also suppressing his new immune system and preventing it from ‘grafting’.

When he finally came home he was on oxygen 24/7 and was taking 12 different medications, some up to 5 times a day, plus 3 breathing treatments a day. He could not go outside, they could not have anybody at the house, no immunizations, and they wore (and still wear) a mask if anybody even thinks they are coming down with a cold. They can’t even open the windows because the wind may blow in germs. He could not eat anything fresh; only processed food because of the risk of bacteria.

There were several times when Lisa did not know if Joshua would live. Any mistakes they made in his care could have cost him his life. He turned 4 on May 25, one day after Lisa passed away. He will probably always be on oxygen, and his health will never be normal, but his survival is Lisa’s greatest accomplishment.

At the same time Joshua was fighting his battle, Lisa’s ex-husband (father of her 2girls) was dying of kidney cancer. Lisa took him into her home & took care of him. He passed away in her home. So her daughter’s have lost both parents.

Joshua’s father was at Lisa’s side & was a constant support for her.

Lisa’s parents will be taking care of the children.

I am not posting Joshua's pictures but if this will help you understand how cancer sucks, let me know and I will show you.

I asked if there is anything we can do to help Lisa's family with this hard time and I haven't heard anything yet. If you want to help in some way let me know and I will keep you up to date on this. If you want, you can write a card for Lisa's family and I will forward it to her family.

Louis

Second Marathon: San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon

term to help you understand the blog
TNT: Team In Training
Honored Teammate: Blood Cancer Survivor

Since I got injured during my LA Marathon (knee problem starting mile 7), I did not count that as running the 'marathon' because I was power walking half the time. I figured in order for me to share my marathon experience with you all, it's only fair for me to run another marathon so I registered for San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon

Well My fun run got serious when my teammate told me her coworker Lisa Carlton passed away from Non-Hodgkins disease around May 24. She was 38 with 3 kids. Although I never met Lisa in person but I ran mile 18 for her when I did LA. It was surreal because I just ran for her 3 months ago and she's gone now. I decided to ran San Diego in memory of Lisa Carlton.

When I ran LA I had the whole 'I Run 4 Food' and 'Part Time Runner Full Time Hiker' theme going

No fun stuff this time, just Lisa

Game Day
I got to the starting line at 5:00 am to give myself plenty of time to stay loose and warm up. I wanted to look for the Team In Training San Gabriel Valley team but that seem to be impossible because there are several thousands runners all with Team In Training jersey. Well I was lucky and bumped into the team. I took pictures with Honored Teammate Virginia and Gordie before I head out to run. Gordie is running and Virginia (You can download her bio here) is cheering

Honored Teammate Virginia and her husband Van

Honored Teammate Gordie

I started the race by myself at around 6:30 am. At around mile 3.5 I bumped into Gordie and his teammates. I joined force with them and continue our journey.

At around mile 9 Gordie's teammates were starting to pull away. I had a lot of strength to go faster but I decided to run with Gordie because I don't like the idea of having a honored teammate running by himself... plus I will only go just a little bit faster if I were to go at my own pace. I figured it's better to run in pair than running by myself.

Both of us are getting tired but we continue to push forward. By mile 17.6 we actually passed the 3 teammates that we were with. I guessed one of them was having issues and needed to slow down. I continue to follow Gordie until mile 21. Coach Karla was there and run with us until mile 22.5. When we were at mile 23 something we saw Coach Katie and Gordie was kind of beat up by the run. I was thinking about running ahead because Gordie was planning to just walk the rest of the way. But then I figured I ran with him for the last 20 miles... why leave him now. So the two of us walk together and we finished the marathon in 6 hours.

Is running a marathon tough?
To a lot of people running the marathon is the toughest physical thing they ever done... especially when Sarah and Elaine said the exact same thing during the last few miles of the LA marathon.

To me, I am happy to say that some of my hikes are tougher than marathon. I think my body is better adopted for these kind of abuse because of my hiking experience. If hiking for 15 miles with 7000ft gain don't help with you endurance, I don't know what will. Trips like Mount Baldy + 3Ts, Iron Mountain, Antimony and Eagle Rest, and Mount Shasta really beat me to the ground. I didn't really struggle during my marathons... but when I was doing Mt Shasta, I was so drained that I was ready to quit. I remember crying at the ridge because I wanted to do it so bad but I just didn't have the strength to do it. Well long story short I pushed forward and got to the peak with my friends because it was too dangerous for me to go back to the campsite by myself.

(left to right)Roberto, Wayne, Katie, and I summited Mount Summit 9 hours after we started (we hiked in sat and started the camp 3am Sunday morning). We didn't get back to the car til 7 pm. It was a 18.5 hours day for me *_*

So what I really learn from this Team In Training Marathon experience?
I learned a lot during the last 9 months. Before Team In Training my knowledge about cancer is very one dimensional. As the season progress my coaches and teammates started to share their stories. I learned that kids can have cancer just like everybody else. I also learned that although we haven't find the cure, but we did developed drugs that battle them. Medical breakthrough like Gleevec gave Virgina the break that she needed. Also emotional stories from Coach Kiley and Team Captain Gail made me realized how lucky I am. I started donate more money to other non-profit organization and I think that's a good thing. I think I donated over $500 this year to various causes.

My Final Thoughts
When I tell people I ran marathons they are very impressed. To me, marathoners are regular people doing what they like. Training with TNT make me realized that a lot of people are doing stuff 100X harder than running a marathon but they didn't deserve the credit that they should receive. What I did was nothing. If you think running a marathon is tough, try Chemo! Look at people around you... cancer survivors, single parent, people with disability, policeman and firefighter... or just normal parent trying to raise their children... those are the people that we should be impressed. Me? I am just a hiker who want to know if hiking is tougher or if running a marathon is tougher. I got my answer and I didn't disappoint my hiking friends. I don't think running the LA Marathon and the San Diego Rock N Roll marathon is an accomplishment, but fund raised $5100 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is an big accomplishment for me. And every single one of you helped me with that accomplishment. Thank you for your support. I am sure Honored Teammate like Virginia and little Tyler are happy with what you did.

This is just a fraction of what I experienced. I tried to write down as much as I can but being a very bad writer doesn't really help. If you want to know about my experience you can always give me a call.

Please read Lisa's story

Louis