She's been humping my leg, begging me to let her post, so here's Strudel. My apologies in advance.....
Hey, Cancer Boy! Lymphoma Awareness Day? I left something on the rug in your room to be aware of. Now go clean it up and leave me alone with my readers.
I'll keep it kurz und gut, because Cancer Boy will be dragging his anschwellen lymph nodes back down here soon.
I just wanted to remind you all that dogs are the superior breed. Und German dogs are more superior than most.
Still need the evidence? Do you read the news? Or are you too busy pretending to exercise while you play with your Wii games?
A few days ago, a man has a seizure. His German shepherd dials 911 and he is rescued. Pathetic humans. Where would you be without us?
Yes, yes, yes. Sit, down, roll over, good dog. We could speak back. But we don't. And when we do, it is purely for your amusement.
Watch the video and listen carefully. Listen very carefully. Is not so tough.
Cancer Boy watches and waits. We dogs watches and waits, too. So you better watch yourself.
Cancer Boy coming back. He mumbles -- something about more paper towels. He mumbles a lot these days. And plays that gestopfte guitar. All day with the strumming and the singing James Taylor. I liked it better when he was busy.
Guten Tag. Be nice to a dog today. Probably saved your life and you didn't know it.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Yesterday and Tomorrow
Sunday blog entries are kind of a rare treat, but you've all been so good lately that I thought you deserved one.
Plus, I want to give you a little heads-up that tomorrow is Lymphoma Awareness Day.
***************************
But first -- Yesterday. It was a banner day in the household.
John had his first soccer game of the season. He had been a little hesitant about playing this year. He likes soccer a lot, but last year he was on a "difficult" team. The coach was a nice enough guy, but not much of an instructor. It was also a very good team, with 4 or 5 very strong players who always wanted the ball, and who were, well, jerks. Not that I want to say an 8 or 9 year old kid is a jerk, but they weren't very good teammates, and the coach didn't place a high priority on them all working together and encouraging one another. So last year John ended up not getting much help in getting better, and not getting much action, even when he was in the game.
This year is a little different. New coach who has worked with John a few times in practices and before the game. New teammates, some of whom are very good, and all of whom work together well.
John's team went up pretty quickly, 2-0. John didn't start, but when he was put in on offense, he did well, scoring his first goal in a couple of years to put his team up 3-0. The other team came back and scored twice before the half.
For the second half, John played goalie, something else he hasn't been able to do in over a year, and that he loves. He shut out the other team for the second half, and his team scored twice more. Final score: 5-2, with John playing a big part of the victory.
I'm sure they won't all turn out that way, but it was a great way to start the season, especially after last year's experience.
****************************
The other big event yesterday was Catherine learning how to ride a two-wheeler. We've tried with her a few times before, but she got discouraged and we gave up. We know these things come when the kids are ready for them. Yesterday, she seemed ready. The boys take bike rides together around the neighborhood every now and then, and Peter rides with some friends after he does his homework, and of course Peter and I sometimes do a 10 mile ride (with a Dunkin Donuts stop) early Saturday mornings. So she's had some incentive to get in on the fun.
She's not completely there, but she's darn close. It's like St. Peter walking on the water -- she does great until she stops and thinks about it, then she panics a little bit and hits the breaks. We're going to try more today. A little more practice and she'll be flying along like my brother. (Or Pee Wee Herman. One or the other.)
Having all three kids riding a bike is one of those parenting milestones we look forward to reaching -- things the kids have to be able to do on their own, without any help. There are a bunch of them: Potty training. Tying their shoes. Using a knife and fork. Reading. Swimming. Isabel adds "making their own beds," but that seems to bother her more than it bothers me.
Anyway, they're growing up.....
*********************
Now, Tomorrow:
September 15 is World Lymphoma Awareness Day, co-sponsored by about 30 Lymphoma-related health organizations around the world. Since so few people understand what the lymphatic system is and does, a theme of the Day (which began in 2004) is "Know Your Nodes," which I like, only because it sounds so much like "Nodes of Gold." Go to the Lymphoma Coalition website to take the Know Your Nodes quiz!
There are all kinds of events going on all over the place to support Lymphoma research and raise awareness. For example, the Red Sox honored the Lymphoma Research Foundation before their game a couple of days ago. And, of course, Tom and Mary will be getting sloppy drunk tomorrow in the name of Lymphoma. Or something like that. Go to the LRF website to find out if your local chapter is doing something interesting.
I know all of you don't have an issue with lymphoma awareness, but if you could pass the word on to your less-aware friends and co-workers, that would fabulous.
Plus, I want to give you a little heads-up that tomorrow is Lymphoma Awareness Day.
***************************
But first -- Yesterday. It was a banner day in the household.
John had his first soccer game of the season. He had been a little hesitant about playing this year. He likes soccer a lot, but last year he was on a "difficult" team. The coach was a nice enough guy, but not much of an instructor. It was also a very good team, with 4 or 5 very strong players who always wanted the ball, and who were, well, jerks. Not that I want to say an 8 or 9 year old kid is a jerk, but they weren't very good teammates, and the coach didn't place a high priority on them all working together and encouraging one another. So last year John ended up not getting much help in getting better, and not getting much action, even when he was in the game.
This year is a little different. New coach who has worked with John a few times in practices and before the game. New teammates, some of whom are very good, and all of whom work together well.
John's team went up pretty quickly, 2-0. John didn't start, but when he was put in on offense, he did well, scoring his first goal in a couple of years to put his team up 3-0. The other team came back and scored twice before the half.
For the second half, John played goalie, something else he hasn't been able to do in over a year, and that he loves. He shut out the other team for the second half, and his team scored twice more. Final score: 5-2, with John playing a big part of the victory.
I'm sure they won't all turn out that way, but it was a great way to start the season, especially after last year's experience.
****************************
The other big event yesterday was Catherine learning how to ride a two-wheeler. We've tried with her a few times before, but she got discouraged and we gave up. We know these things come when the kids are ready for them. Yesterday, she seemed ready. The boys take bike rides together around the neighborhood every now and then, and Peter rides with some friends after he does his homework, and of course Peter and I sometimes do a 10 mile ride (with a Dunkin Donuts stop) early Saturday mornings. So she's had some incentive to get in on the fun.
She's not completely there, but she's darn close. It's like St. Peter walking on the water -- she does great until she stops and thinks about it, then she panics a little bit and hits the breaks. We're going to try more today. A little more practice and she'll be flying along like my brother. (Or Pee Wee Herman. One or the other.)
Having all three kids riding a bike is one of those parenting milestones we look forward to reaching -- things the kids have to be able to do on their own, without any help. There are a bunch of them: Potty training. Tying their shoes. Using a knife and fork. Reading. Swimming. Isabel adds "making their own beds," but that seems to bother her more than it bothers me.
Anyway, they're growing up.....
*********************
Now, Tomorrow:
September 15 is World Lymphoma Awareness Day, co-sponsored by about 30 Lymphoma-related health organizations around the world. Since so few people understand what the lymphatic system is and does, a theme of the Day (which began in 2004) is "Know Your Nodes," which I like, only because it sounds so much like "Nodes of Gold." Go to the Lymphoma Coalition website to take the Know Your Nodes quiz!
There are all kinds of events going on all over the place to support Lymphoma research and raise awareness. For example, the Red Sox honored the Lymphoma Research Foundation before their game a couple of days ago. And, of course, Tom and Mary will be getting sloppy drunk tomorrow in the name of Lymphoma. Or something like that. Go to the LRF website to find out if your local chapter is doing something interesting.
I know all of you don't have an issue with lymphoma awareness, but if you could pass the word on to your less-aware friends and co-workers, that would fabulous.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Lymphoma Research News
Some nice news about lymphoma research:
Both the University of Rochester Med School and the Arizona Cancer Center just received $11.5 million grants to study lymphoma.
The Rochester team is looking at a drug called SGI-498. Researchers have already identified proteins that seem to trigger tumor growth. SGI-498 has shown in trials that it can identify these proteins and disrupt them, stopping the tumor from growing. So far, it's been done in solid tumors. Lymphomas, of course, are not solid tumors, but rogue cells that travel around the bloodstream. This research will look into how SGI-498 can be used on non-solid-tumor cancers. They're working on the theory that lymphomas develop from abnormal stem cells (immature blood cells that haven't grown into mature red or white blood cells yet). This is why stem cell transplants seem to work -- they wipe out all of the old, bad stem cells and replace them with normal ones. Very interesting work to come soon out of Rochester.
The Arizona researchers are working on individualized therapies connected with Rituxin, looking at the growth mechanisms for lymphoma cells and hoping to find ways to turn them off. They're hoping for the same result as the Rochester folks, but goinga different route.
What I like most about the Arizona story is the lead researcher's statement:
Dr. Miller says in some cases it has become difficult to define what a cure is because patients with supposedly incurable types of lymphoma are in remission for many years.
He says "About half the patients are known to have a curable type of lymphoma, and the other half are the types that we know we can treat. And the time that those patients spend in remission is getting so long we may be curing some of them. We just haven't lived long enough to testify to that conclusion."
There's excitement in the air.
We're even hearing a word researchers use very cautiously.
We're actually hearing the word "cure."
Dr. Miller says, "I'm getting close to offering a written guarantee. It's that close."
There's a whole lot of that cautious talk about "cure" in the lymphoma community lately. Very cautious, but there's more talk about switching treatment strategies toward curing rather than just treating. Part of the difficulty is knowing how to define "cure," as the Arizona researcher says. With a slow-growing lymphoma, someone might be treated and not show signs again for 5 years (the standard for many cancers in labeling someone "cured"), while the lymphoma is still there, just not very visible yet. So that involves new ways of measuring its presence -- which might lead to better screening, and thus early detection and better curability.
Anyway, it's all very fascinating -- certainly something I'm keeping my eye on, and that I'd like to talk to Dr. R about.
Both the University of Rochester Med School and the Arizona Cancer Center just received $11.5 million grants to study lymphoma.
The Rochester team is looking at a drug called SGI-498. Researchers have already identified proteins that seem to trigger tumor growth. SGI-498 has shown in trials that it can identify these proteins and disrupt them, stopping the tumor from growing. So far, it's been done in solid tumors. Lymphomas, of course, are not solid tumors, but rogue cells that travel around the bloodstream. This research will look into how SGI-498 can be used on non-solid-tumor cancers. They're working on the theory that lymphomas develop from abnormal stem cells (immature blood cells that haven't grown into mature red or white blood cells yet). This is why stem cell transplants seem to work -- they wipe out all of the old, bad stem cells and replace them with normal ones. Very interesting work to come soon out of Rochester.
The Arizona researchers are working on individualized therapies connected with Rituxin, looking at the growth mechanisms for lymphoma cells and hoping to find ways to turn them off. They're hoping for the same result as the Rochester folks, but goinga different route.
What I like most about the Arizona story is the lead researcher's statement:
Dr. Miller says in some cases it has become difficult to define what a cure is because patients with supposedly incurable types of lymphoma are in remission for many years.
He says "About half the patients are known to have a curable type of lymphoma, and the other half are the types that we know we can treat. And the time that those patients spend in remission is getting so long we may be curing some of them. We just haven't lived long enough to testify to that conclusion."
There's excitement in the air.
We're even hearing a word researchers use very cautiously.
We're actually hearing the word "cure."
Dr. Miller says, "I'm getting close to offering a written guarantee. It's that close."
There's a whole lot of that cautious talk about "cure" in the lymphoma community lately. Very cautious, but there's more talk about switching treatment strategies toward curing rather than just treating. Part of the difficulty is knowing how to define "cure," as the Arizona researcher says. With a slow-growing lymphoma, someone might be treated and not show signs again for 5 years (the standard for many cancers in labeling someone "cured"), while the lymphoma is still there, just not very visible yet. So that involves new ways of measuring its presence -- which might lead to better screening, and thus early detection and better curability.
Anyway, it's all very fascinating -- certainly something I'm keeping my eye on, and that I'd like to talk to Dr. R about.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
A Few Follow-Ups
We're back into the swing of things with classes now. Isabel and I are both teaching brand new courses in a new program for first-year students, which is fun. But it's all completely brand new, so we can't even fall back on old activities and assignments much, so it's been a lot of work. But I'm enjoying it -- helps with that transition back to being a full-time teacher again.
So there's nothing much new to report, but there are a few follow-ups from older posts:
********************
First, and certainly most importantly, we're all devastated here with the news that Tom Brady is out for the season with a torn ACL. Well, Peter is devastated. The rest of us are just...quietly mourning.
While this might seem like a completely new item, it's actually a double follow-up.
First, we had suspected that Strudel had a torn ACL a little while back. I'm happy to report that she has been doing well since the vet recommneded resting her leg (her own version of watch and wait). She's back to full activity now. She sends her love to most of you, except the few of you she wants to bite.
But the Brady item is also a follow-up on a previous Nodes of Gold entry, featuring athletes with Lymphoma. In that entry, Joe Andruzzi was shown singing "I Got Friends in Low Places" at Larryoke -- teammate Larry Izzo's fundraiser. Here's where the second follow-up comes in: at the same event, prevously-second-string-and-now starting-quarterback Matt Cassel drunkenly announces "I'm very flamboyant right now," whatever the hell that means, and then sings the Backstreet Boys' "I Want it That Way." This is the guy that's going to us back to the Super Bowl. Great.
(Not that I have anything against the song. In fact, I just love this video of two guys from China doing their thing with the song. But just as the Chinese government didn't want these guys in the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics, I don't much want Matt Cassel throwing to Randy Moss.)
(Be sure to stay for the Bloopers Reel at the end of the Chinese Guys video.)
**********************
The New Haven Road Race finally posted category results (by age groups, etc.). I placed 124th out of 164 in the 40-44 year old male division. Not great.
However, in the Clydesdale division, I placed 48th out of 76. Much better in terms of percentile.
Delving further: I placed 9th out of 12 in the unofficial category of 40-44 year ol Clydesdales.
So, I think we can safely say that I don't do well against other old guys, I do better against fat guys, but, again, less well against old and fat guys.
I'll need to think carefully about the implications of that data on my training plan.
*****************************************
Finally, a nice article in USA Today a couple of days ago on the Stand Up To Cancer telethon from Friday night. They raised about $100 million for cancer research. It was a good show -- lots of stars with cancer, who are survivors of cancer, have been affected by it, or who just care. YouTube and other places have lots of video, in case you missed it.
**********************
You're about caught up now. My next appointment with Dr. R is at the end of the month. I'll start gearing up for that soon, I guess.
So there's nothing much new to report, but there are a few follow-ups from older posts:
********************
First, and certainly most importantly, we're all devastated here with the news that Tom Brady is out for the season with a torn ACL. Well, Peter is devastated. The rest of us are just...quietly mourning.
While this might seem like a completely new item, it's actually a double follow-up.
First, we had suspected that Strudel had a torn ACL a little while back. I'm happy to report that she has been doing well since the vet recommneded resting her leg (her own version of watch and wait). She's back to full activity now. She sends her love to most of you, except the few of you she wants to bite.
But the Brady item is also a follow-up on a previous Nodes of Gold entry, featuring athletes with Lymphoma. In that entry, Joe Andruzzi was shown singing "I Got Friends in Low Places" at Larryoke -- teammate Larry Izzo's fundraiser. Here's where the second follow-up comes in: at the same event, prevously-second-string-and-now starting-quarterback Matt Cassel drunkenly announces "I'm very flamboyant right now," whatever the hell that means, and then sings the Backstreet Boys' "I Want it That Way." This is the guy that's going to us back to the Super Bowl. Great.
(Not that I have anything against the song. In fact, I just love this video of two guys from China doing their thing with the song. But just as the Chinese government didn't want these guys in the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics, I don't much want Matt Cassel throwing to Randy Moss.)
(Be sure to stay for the Bloopers Reel at the end of the Chinese Guys video.)
**********************
The New Haven Road Race finally posted category results (by age groups, etc.). I placed 124th out of 164 in the 40-44 year old male division. Not great.
However, in the Clydesdale division, I placed 48th out of 76. Much better in terms of percentile.
Delving further: I placed 9th out of 12 in the unofficial category of 40-44 year ol Clydesdales.
So, I think we can safely say that I don't do well against other old guys, I do better against fat guys, but, again, less well against old and fat guys.
I'll need to think carefully about the implications of that data on my training plan.
*****************************************
Finally, a nice article in USA Today a couple of days ago on the Stand Up To Cancer telethon from Friday night. They raised about $100 million for cancer research. It was a good show -- lots of stars with cancer, who are survivors of cancer, have been affected by it, or who just care. YouTube and other places have lots of video, in case you missed it.
**********************
You're about caught up now. My next appointment with Dr. R is at the end of the month. I'll start gearing up for that soon, I guess.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Big Guys Running
I'm a little disappointed with the folks at the New Haven Road Race; they still have only preliminary results up. These results list the order of finish for the entire race, which is great. But the final results will give more information, including a breakdown of results by age group or other category. It's always fun to see how I've stacked up against other old men.
In additon to age groups, though, the NHRR is big enough to divide runners by, well....weight. Some races recognize what they call "Clydesdales," male runners of a certain....body composition. The Clydesdale category was begun when some fat guys argued that, just as it isn't fair to compare a 50 year old runner to a 20 year old runner, it also isn't fair to compare a 200 pounder to a 130 pounder. So now we have our own category. I, of course, signed up for the NHRR as a Clydesdale. After the showing that the other 40 year olds made at the Bastille Day 4 miler, I figured the fat guys would give me my best shot at an all-time high for a group finish.
The bad thing about having run the NHRR is that now I really can't go hard for a couple of weeks, which means that I can't run in a special race on Saturday.
In addition to being Isabel's birthday, Saturday is also the day of the Big Man Run in Somerville, MA (ironically, home to some of the best barbeque in the northeast, at Redbones in Davis Square. Try the White Trash Sundae for dessert). The Big Man Run is supported by the USA Clydesdale and Filly Racing Federation. (Women runners of a certain size are categorized as Fillies in some races, or Athenas in others.)
The Big Man Run is an amazing thing, from what I understand. It's a 5 miler, which is probably amazing enough, considering everyone in the race is over 190 pounds. But at three stops along the route, instead of getting water or Gatorade, each participant must drink an 8 oz. beer and eat a hot dog. Failure to keep it down results in disqualification. Also, you must bring three $1 bills with you, and tip the women who serve you. Failure to tip results in disqualification.
I can't imagine doing this race. Maybe when I was 20 and had more of an iron stomach. But now, I'm a 41 year old with three kids and a mini-van, and on Nexium for acid reflux. And that doesn't even factor in the cancer thing.
Still, it does show that running is among the most democratic (small d) of all sports, with room for everyone to feel like a winner. Or something like that.
In additon to age groups, though, the NHRR is big enough to divide runners by, well....weight. Some races recognize what they call "Clydesdales," male runners of a certain....body composition. The Clydesdale category was begun when some fat guys argued that, just as it isn't fair to compare a 50 year old runner to a 20 year old runner, it also isn't fair to compare a 200 pounder to a 130 pounder. So now we have our own category. I, of course, signed up for the NHRR as a Clydesdale. After the showing that the other 40 year olds made at the Bastille Day 4 miler, I figured the fat guys would give me my best shot at an all-time high for a group finish.
The bad thing about having run the NHRR is that now I really can't go hard for a couple of weeks, which means that I can't run in a special race on Saturday.
In addition to being Isabel's birthday, Saturday is also the day of the Big Man Run in Somerville, MA (ironically, home to some of the best barbeque in the northeast, at Redbones in Davis Square. Try the White Trash Sundae for dessert). The Big Man Run is supported by the USA Clydesdale and Filly Racing Federation. (Women runners of a certain size are categorized as Fillies in some races, or Athenas in others.)
The Big Man Run is an amazing thing, from what I understand. It's a 5 miler, which is probably amazing enough, considering everyone in the race is over 190 pounds. But at three stops along the route, instead of getting water or Gatorade, each participant must drink an 8 oz. beer and eat a hot dog. Failure to keep it down results in disqualification. Also, you must bring three $1 bills with you, and tip the women who serve you. Failure to tip results in disqualification.
I can't imagine doing this race. Maybe when I was 20 and had more of an iron stomach. But now, I'm a 41 year old with three kids and a mini-van, and on Nexium for acid reflux. And that doesn't even factor in the cancer thing.
Still, it does show that running is among the most democratic (small d) of all sports, with room for everyone to feel like a winner. Or something like that.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Get Up, Stand Up
An aside, before I begin: When Peter was about three, his favorite song was Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up." He'd sit on the floor for the verses, and then when Marley got to "Get up, stand up," Peter would dutifully stand up. Then he'd sit back down and wait for the instructions again. And that's about as good a story as any to describe Peter.
****************************
Anyway, the point of this entry is to alert you to Friday night's Stand Up to Cancer extravaganza. All Big Three networks are going to simultaneously run a kind of telethon, raising money for (and awareness of) cancer research.
From what I've read, the Stand Up people are taking a new approach and new attitude toward cancer -- it's not the Scary Word Death Sentence that it always has been in the past. The show will feature many big names in entertainment. YouTube already has a bunch of videos from Stand Up that show the kind of funny, irreverent approach they're taking to this. Henry Winkler, once known as The Fonz himself, appears in this video and this video as a very pesky, annoying character named Cancer. There's also a very funny video from cast members of The Daily Show. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to link to it in a family-oriented blog like this one, but if you search YouTube for Daily Show Cancer, you'll find it easily enough. It's one of my favorites.
SU2C's whole approach, particularly the humor and irreverence, is to make cancer something that doesn't get whispered about. (If you've been reading the blog, you obviously know that I appreciate such an approach.) That kind of hushed awe about cancer isn't good for patients, their families, or anyone who's trying to fight it.
So watch, or set your Tivo, for Friday night at 8:00pm. Give if you can, or just watch and help raise awareness.
****************************
Anyway, the point of this entry is to alert you to Friday night's Stand Up to Cancer extravaganza. All Big Three networks are going to simultaneously run a kind of telethon, raising money for (and awareness of) cancer research.
From what I've read, the Stand Up people are taking a new approach and new attitude toward cancer -- it's not the Scary Word Death Sentence that it always has been in the past. The show will feature many big names in entertainment. YouTube already has a bunch of videos from Stand Up that show the kind of funny, irreverent approach they're taking to this. Henry Winkler, once known as The Fonz himself, appears in this video and this video as a very pesky, annoying character named Cancer. There's also a very funny video from cast members of The Daily Show. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to link to it in a family-oriented blog like this one, but if you search YouTube for Daily Show Cancer, you'll find it easily enough. It's one of my favorites.
SU2C's whole approach, particularly the humor and irreverence, is to make cancer something that doesn't get whispered about. (If you've been reading the blog, you obviously know that I appreciate such an approach.) That kind of hushed awe about cancer isn't good for patients, their families, or anyone who's trying to fight it.
So watch, or set your Tivo, for Friday night at 8:00pm. Give if you can, or just watch and help raise awareness.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Ran Another Race
This morning, I ran in the New Haven Road Race, one of the city's premier athletic events. I didn't do as well as I would have liked, but it was still a respectable 29 minutes 45 seconds.
This was, by far, the largest race I've ever been in -- 2536 finishers (plus a bunch more that didn't finish). I finshed 1598th. See preliminary results here -- not yet broken down by category. The results list the clock time, and the net time. Because there are so many runners, we are timed with a chip on our shoe that begins timing for each individual runner as we cross the starting line. So the clock read 31:17 as I cross the finish, but my it took me over a minute to officially start, so my time was 29;45.
This was also the first race I've been in that had a separate tent marked "Elite Runners" -- at the same time as the 5k is a 20k (12.4 miles) that serves as the national 20k championship for the US Track and Field Association. This year's 20k was dedicated to Ryan Shay, who won it in 2004, and who died of a heart attack during the men's Olympic marathon qualifier last fall. There were another 2090 finishers in the 20k. While the two races take off in separate directions, they start in the same place, so there were a whole lot of runners there in that one place.
I had been going back and forth about how I wanted to handle this race -- really go hard and try to get close to my PR? Or take it easy and enjoy the experience of beng in a big race? I kind of hedged and decided I'd just take whatever opportunities came up.
As usual, I started near the back of the pack. That might have been a mistake. It was packed solid for the first mile or so, very hard to pass anyone. Big races like this include lots of first-time racers, people doing it just to try it, little kids, etc. Which is great -- I'm all for people running. But these kinds of runners also tend to go out too hard at first and then die about a half-mile or a mile into it, and start walking, or even stop dead in their tracks, bent over. Which tends to cause pile-ups, near pile-ups, and tripping, as does the lateral zig-zagging that people do when they see a small break in the crowd and try to dash for it before it closes.
So the first mile was slow, as I tried not to fall over anyone or be tripped. For the second mile, things started to spread out slightly, so there was a little more room to pass people. I was feeling pretty good at that point.
But then, about 2.5 miles into it, I just started dying. Maybe it was the hot sun, maybe it was all the sprinting up to that point to pass people in the crowd when a seam opened up. Whatever the case, I struggled for the last part of the race. It was my legs, not my lungs, which is better than the other way around (less worry about that ol' lymphoma-induced fatigue).
Still, it was a respectable time. I'll take it.
Plus, the NHRR gives out awesome shirts -- not cheap cotton, but that nice moisture-wicking material. Sweet. Too bad mine didn't fit.
This was, by far, the largest race I've ever been in -- 2536 finishers (plus a bunch more that didn't finish). I finshed 1598th. See preliminary results here -- not yet broken down by category. The results list the clock time, and the net time. Because there are so many runners, we are timed with a chip on our shoe that begins timing for each individual runner as we cross the starting line. So the clock read 31:17 as I cross the finish, but my it took me over a minute to officially start, so my time was 29;45.
This was also the first race I've been in that had a separate tent marked "Elite Runners" -- at the same time as the 5k is a 20k (12.4 miles) that serves as the national 20k championship for the US Track and Field Association. This year's 20k was dedicated to Ryan Shay, who won it in 2004, and who died of a heart attack during the men's Olympic marathon qualifier last fall. There were another 2090 finishers in the 20k. While the two races take off in separate directions, they start in the same place, so there were a whole lot of runners there in that one place.
I had been going back and forth about how I wanted to handle this race -- really go hard and try to get close to my PR? Or take it easy and enjoy the experience of beng in a big race? I kind of hedged and decided I'd just take whatever opportunities came up.
As usual, I started near the back of the pack. That might have been a mistake. It was packed solid for the first mile or so, very hard to pass anyone. Big races like this include lots of first-time racers, people doing it just to try it, little kids, etc. Which is great -- I'm all for people running. But these kinds of runners also tend to go out too hard at first and then die about a half-mile or a mile into it, and start walking, or even stop dead in their tracks, bent over. Which tends to cause pile-ups, near pile-ups, and tripping, as does the lateral zig-zagging that people do when they see a small break in the crowd and try to dash for it before it closes.
So the first mile was slow, as I tried not to fall over anyone or be tripped. For the second mile, things started to spread out slightly, so there was a little more room to pass people. I was feeling pretty good at that point.
But then, about 2.5 miles into it, I just started dying. Maybe it was the hot sun, maybe it was all the sprinting up to that point to pass people in the crowd when a seam opened up. Whatever the case, I struggled for the last part of the race. It was my legs, not my lungs, which is better than the other way around (less worry about that ol' lymphoma-induced fatigue).
Still, it was a respectable time. I'll take it.
Plus, the NHRR gives out awesome shirts -- not cheap cotton, but that nice moisture-wicking material. Sweet. Too bad mine didn't fit.
**************************
Speaking of shirts:
Before the race began, while I was warming up and looking for a short bathroom line, I said Hello to about 15 people wearing purple Team in Training shirts. I told them I was lymphoma patient, and thanked them for what they've been doing for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. They all seemed pretty moved; three of them told me I gave them inspiration to run hard in the race.
I'm glad SOMEBODY had a better race than they'd planned......
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)