Half Full Triathlon Relay.

About 2 weeks ago, I drove to Maryland for the Ulman Cancer Fund's Half Full Triathlon. I was planning on heading down solo and leaving Enzo at my parents but on a whim I asked my mom if she wanted to take the trip with me. My parents are like conjoined twins. The last time my mom slept somewhere my dad did not was when she had to spend a few night in the hospital.  I actually thought they were joking when they told me my mom was going to come with me while my dad puppy sat.

After about 3.5 hours of conversation, we were soon pulling into Union Jacks for the Team Fight Luncheon.  Last year, I was selected to make a presentation at the lunch and participate on a relay team. I was invited back this year by Brian Satola the RD to race on a Team Fight  Relay Team along with Steve Johnson (who would be swimming and riding.)  Thank you Steve, for without you I would not have been able to return.  I am a runner, not a triathlete (yet... *wink, wink*). 

Fast forwarding to the drive home, I was high on endorphins and talking about how much I love this race.  My mom, who rarely accompanies to runs, but knows I race often genuinely asked "Why?  What makes this race so special?" I thought for a moment and first thing I said was "Everything is just so nice!  The people, the event, the RD's, the Ulman Fund team, the Team Fight people, the course, the shirts, just everything."

To start, there was the moving speech by Aaron about his experience at the Team Fight lunch.  This really emphasized why all these people were here, not just to compete but to do something for young adults effected by cancer. The lunch concluded with the Half Full Triathlon YouTube Video  which is worth a look if you have a moment.  Besides the Team Fight people being amazing, the Half Full RD's do such a great job making sure everything is done well.

At 5 am my alarm when off and I was so scared to go outside.  I haven't been out in 45 degrees since maybe March, so this was going to be a shock to my system.  It was only on that Saturday that the universe decided it would be Fall in the North East.  It was 70's all week and then 50's on Saturday.  On Sunday it was cold and raining when we left for the event. 

I met Steve at the transition and felt so bad that he was going to have jump into the water for .9 miles soon.  He was ok with that part but more concerned with having to bike 56 miles while cold and wet.  I let him prep and planned to cheer him on at the start and at the transition.



There are some interesting things about being part of the relay.  First I got to hang out at the exciting event all day and this was a lot of fun.  But not knowing exactly when I would be starting was unusual.  Any other race, I have my routine down.  It is not very complicated.  Drink, pee, change shoes and head to start.  But in this case, I was not sure when Steve would be in.  There is always a lot of standing around, getting cold, warming up, then getting cold and finally Steve was in!



I grabbed the chip, gave Steve a high 5 and then headed off to the run.  This course is tough.  Two loops of rolling short and steep or long hills.  It is not easy. This is always two weeks after North Coast 24 hours, where I ran about 87 miles and my body is always feeling beat up.  I am never fast and with the hills to contend with, I just hope to be somewhere in the 1:40-1:50 range.  Someday I would like to run a 1:30 half and my PR is 1:34, so shooting to run under 1:50 should be easy, but I always feel worried, but I am always happy with my time when done.   I just cant imagine who tough this run must feel after swimming and biking, but I feel compelled to find out.

http://www2.brightroom.com/email/87980/432/114322340


http://kimsheridan.smugmug.com/Other/Half-Full-Triathlon-2011/19339930_BhDGQK#1511980133_zS8KbcB

I just joined a LiveStrong program at my local YMCA, which provides personal training for cancer survivors.  The group is special since it is all survivors trying to get fit.  I hope to work with my trainer to build up my upper body strength for a few weeks and then determine whether swimming will be something I can do.  I had my latissum dorsi muscles "transplanted" to my chest after my double mastectomy and this is what allows me to look normal, but I don't function the same and never recovered my upper body strength.  These muscles are engaged with any pulling down motion.  Closing the trunk when from impossible to possible but harder than it ever was before.  I am concerned that swimming may be too tough.

My plan now is to train for greater strength, the get in the pool and learn some technique.  Once I have figured out if I can do the swim, then I will invest in a bike.  I have year to train and if I can piece it all together, I hope to be a part of that Survivor's Wave of athletes that get sent out first in the yellow caps.

I feel more survivors are represented in sports that better. As a 29 year old cancer patient I fear my live was over and I was going to be sick and weak after treatment.  I had no real life role models.  Everyone knows about Lance Armstrong, but it is sometimes hard to relate to a man who has the genetic code and financial resources to be strong and fit again.  To see regular men and women who have beat cancer and returned to sports is inspiring beyond belief and I aspire to be apart of that wave of racers someday!

Thank you, Aptium Oncology, for mentioning me on your blog :)

I am so honored to have been selected of the subject of a blog article posted by Aptium Oncology.

Based upon some conversations I had with a fellow co-worker and an intern, an article was written up about "my story".  I was under the impression that this was going to be used to help promote my art therapy program and it was.  However, it was a nice surprise to learn that the author had also submitted the story to Aptium Oncology and they wanted it to appear on their blog.

Here is the write up!

http://learn.aptiumoncology.com/Aptium-Forum/bid/74054/Cancer-Survivor-Brings-Art-to-Cancer-Patients

NorthCoast 24 Hour Nationals: Cleveland Ohio Sept 17-18, 2011

On Thursday, Sid got time off from work and was able to acquire a Cessna to fly Tamra, he, and I to Cleveland, cutting out trip to 2.5 hours instead of 9 hours. It is always a treat to have Sid fly me out because when it works out, the travel stress is reduced.

I had not trained anywhere near what I planned to do in August.  I had a few nice 75 miles weeks, but I wanted them to be 100 mile weeks.  I missed 3 key long races (50k, marathon and a 12 hour run) that were required for me to feel physically and mentally ready.  I know what my biggest problem is right now.  It's finding my discipline and making running THE priority.  But the reality is, running is not the priority right now.  School, work, Sid, and Enzo are my priorities. This is ok because I like those things a lot too. :)

So how did it go?  It was really fantastic.  The RD's (Dan and Joe) have figured out how to put on a great event.  The course is fast.  September is a great time of year for a run like this in Cleveland.  The Aid Station is wonderful. The volunteers are amazing.  The shirts are cool and I am always thrilled to get a female fitted shirt for a change!  And the runners are just awesome.

I started easy and began to notice early on that my feet were feeling sore.  I expected this.  They have been bugging me for a while now.  I wake up in the morning with stiff sore arches. I have chronic plantar fasciitis, that is usually not real big deal, except last year I ended up with scar tissue called fibromas that are more painful than the PF in my opinion.  In hindsight, I should have had my podiatrist shrink the fibromas with cortisone, but I didn't want to have this done unless I felt I was trained for a good run.

About 14 laps in, I saw Dr. Lovey and I took a moment to ask him if there was anything his team could do to prevent me from dropping due to my foot pain. I told him that I wanted to prevent the pain, but the truth was the pain was already there and I wanted to prevent it from getting worse.

Dr. Lovey is a wonderful man.  He alerted his team that I would be coming in and I needed help.  Two med fellows were waiting for me.  They basically popped things in my feet back in place, worked out the knots in my arch and paid attention to any pain I mentioned.  Over the course of the night, I stopped in many times to see them and they did their best to keep me going.  Dr. Lovey was out there providing words of encouragement. I feel terrible that I was not able to get 100 miles for them. I found that each pit stop gave me a renewed sense of freshness and I was able to drop my pace down after returning to the course.  However, with each hour, the pain relief would last less and less time.  I was coming in at 10 laps, or 7 laps and finally it no longer helped.

All day long, Tamra was plugging away at her own mileage, while under doctors orders to NOT do anything strenuous.  She followed these orders, begrudgingly.   This was unfortunate timing, because Tamra had begun working very hard towards a 50k goal and only a few days prior she was told to not exert herself.  She compromised by helping me out in between walking laps. I am very proud that she logged about 25 miles and she did not end up in the hospital in Cleveland.

Sid was around in spurts, but his job has become transportation and food runs.  He dropped us off, saw us start, took some photos and then left for the hotel.  He came back at noon with some KFC that made me happy.  He couldn't pace me, so he did a 9 mile run on his own.  He returned to the hotel to take a shower and bring back coffee.  It was nice to know he wasn't bored to death with me running in circles.

At one point about 11:30 pm, Sid had gone back to the hotel and Tamra was ready to call it a night.  I was so tired I needed to get off my feet, I promised to get up after Sid and Tamra left. I had not set up a tent.  I pulled my sleeping bag up over my head once Tamra and Sid departed and within a few minutes, I felt something soft bouncing off my head. I was wondering who would be throwing things at me.  After three or four times, I pulled up the covers to see a rat's butt scurrying off into the bushes!!
Holy cow! No way! A rat was poking at my head while I was trying to nap.  I saw Ray run by and I told him what just happened.  He advised that solution to my rat problem was simple, just get up and run.  I was already putting on my shoes. 

During the entire race, I had not been keeping track except to check my lap count at the end of each hour.  Because I had no splits, I was freaking out every time the monitor would stop reporting my numbers.  I was hoping to hold about 4-5 laps per hours.  I think I had done about 50 miles in 10 hours.  I think I was about 65 laps in 12 hours.  I can't wait to see my splits.  With only 55 more laps to go in 12 hours, it seemed reasonable that I could get 100 miles since I was not pushing very hard for those first 65.  I was hydrated, fueled well, and felt energetic at the half way point.  By 11:30, I was starting to feel like I needed a nap, but the rat put a stop to that plan. I tried to stay out there, but by 2 am the aching was getting worse and by 3 am I decided I had to get off my feet again.  By 4 am, the pain was too bad.

I was afraid to lay on the ground since the rats in the bushes were freaking me out.  I grabbed a blanket and sat in my chair.  The damp air had covered my chair with a layer of dew that made me cold and wet when I sat in it.  The wind was blowing up under my blanket and making me shiver.  I put on my Gortex jacket over my running jacket and long sleeve t-shirt.  I was still too cold to move.  After an hour of this, I was completely frozen and finally decided to move to the ground. I curled up inside one sleeping bag. I used my blanket as a pillow and the other sleeping bag went over head.  But it was way too hot like that, so I had to crack open a small hole for air.  I was convinced a rat would crawl in and bite me.  Needless to say, I did not get much rest.

In that moment of weakness, I just wanted my feet to stop throbbing and I wanted to stop being so cold.  I decided that I was not getting up until the sun rose because only then would their be a promise of the chill being burnt off the ground.  I knew the 100 mile goal was now out of reach as I pulled my sleeping bag tighter and wished I had been bright enough to change out of my sweaty clothes first.

I could hear the chatter of people.  The night time grumblings of the few on course had been exchanged for chuckles and laughter as the new day broke and more people woke or came back to the race.  I peeled back my covers and saw the sun illuminating the sky and I knew it was all going to get better from here.  I climbed from the ground, happy to be have been spared by the rodents of the night.  At 6:30,  I decided to go walk some laps.  Sid and Tamra arrived.  I was happy to walk a few more with Tamra in the morning.  

It is always great to see how things played out over the night.  My friend Jonathan was now in 2nd place.  I am sure that very early on, when the leader board did not include him and he may have felt it was not going to be his day.  He had started worrying about a blister and I know he has a condition that makes blistering painful for weeks/months after an event.  But Jonathon was smart and well trained and it paid off.  It was unclear where the 3rd guy was, but it seemed Jonathan would be holding 2nd by the last few laps and earning his spot in the Worlds!  I am so happy for him and what he was able to do all night long. 

Connie was very close, with over 144 miles, but was unable to set a new American record for the women.  Debra Horn had a great second place finish with 131.  Debra is probably my most favorite 24 hour runner.  She is so consistent and stealth.  She just shows up, runs and by the end of the day she is at the top of the leader board.  Some people (like me) drop a great performance once in a while.  Debra runs 128-131 regularly.  As a master's runner, I hope to someday be able to do what she does.  She gives me hope that I have time to figure this out.

As we came around the last lap, Phil was in the lead for the men and asked if I wanted to finish up together.  Tamra and I were jogging and Phil was running well.  I wanted to stride out the last lap, but I did not want Tamra to have any issues. She told me to go ahead and Phil and I ran together for a few tenths while he called out the time... 2 minutes to go... 1 minute to go... and then the siren called for us to stop.

It is always confusing at the end. People don't seem to believe it is time to stop. We dropped our blocks to mark our finish, hovered around for a minutes before exiting the course.  I always find the final minutes of these races so amazing.  Zombies find renewed strength and speed.  Paces drop as people find they are actually able to move again but only with the promise that the pain will end soon.  It is special part of the race that so many miss when the drop early and go home.

After a shower, Sid, Tamra and I went in search of lunch.  Cleveland was like a ghost town.  It was bizarre. We ended up at the one open pub we found downtown.  The young waitress asked what we wanted to drink.  In unison, Tamra and I said "WATER!"

The waitress took one look at me and said, "Oh boy, I know that feeling! ... Rough night last night, huh (wink, wink)?"

"Yeah, something like that," I said finding some energy to crack a smile.


(I ran just short of 87 miles. That plus the rats made the night kinda rough I guess? ;) )

*****
Links to results and photos:  


Overall Results | USATF Age Groups

Photos: John McCarroll | Jen Goellnitz | Mark Shelton

Looking for Clients.

Hello all,

I am in the process of getting my Education Specialist (Ed.S.) degree at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in Marriage and Family Therapy.  I am already a Board Certified Creative Arts Therapist who is qualified to and has experience working with individuals, couples and families.

At the present time, I need more Couples and/or Families to work with and the cost is low.

If you are interested in working with me, I am able to work with Couples and Families in Central Jersey at very low cost through home visit at the clients home for 1-2 hour per week.  Cost will depend upon my travel expenses.  Insurance is not accepted.  I have a very limited availability so please contact me at mekasan2@hotmail.com.

If families or couples are near the TCNJ, in Ewing NJ, then feel free to sign up at the Family Clinic there to see who is available to work with you. I am looking for Clinic clients on Thursday nights after 7 p.m.  

Again, you can contact me at mekasan2@hotmail.com for more information or to get started with visits.