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 LisaI 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 GordieI 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
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