Lacing Up, Crossing My Fingers and Training For a Half Marathon

It's been 8 months since my last Running for Tish update. Soon after my last post I began my first year of teaching. I was still unable to run because of my injury and on top of that I felt like I was barely keeping my head above water with a very difficult class, home visits and parent teacher conferences. Jumping in and taking over someone else's class in the middle of the year is not as simple as it sounds! Running definitely became less of a priority for me because of this. I did make it to the gym a few times during the school year though and found that I was able to run again which was extremely exciting for me even if I couldn't find the time to enjoy it! It became even more difficult to find time when my son joined the track team. The time that I had previously said wasn't there for running really wasn't there! Spring went by and I continued not exercising much. One thing I remember my college professors telling me was that once in the school setting I would be surrounded by food...all the time. This proved very true. There were always treats (cake, cookies, brownies, donuts) and on top of that part of my job is to sit down with my preschoolers and eat breakfast and lunch with them. As my exercising slowed and pretty much halted all together, I began allowing myself to eat more and more foods that I knew I shouldn't. By the beginning of June I had gained 8 pounds and was ready to get myself back under control. In the last 45 days I took control of my health and fitness have lost 10 pounds (yay!) and started running again.

 

So now I am in the middle of training for my half marathon. My longest run so far has been 7 miles. Thursday I plan to move that number up to 7.5 to 8 miles. My IT band still bothers me and my hip gets aggravated and threatens occasionally. I try not to get too excited about being able to run the Bellingham Bay Half Marathon because it was so devastating last year when I had to drop out. It used to be when I ran it was really fun and carefree and I loved that. Now during a run I am constantly evaluating myself. I carefully consider each ache and pain and determine if I can or should continue. I will not make the same mistake of running through the pain and finding myself unable to run at all. I found a product that has been an amazing help. It is a simple compression band that is worn just above the knee. It holds my IT band in place and is either a great placebo or actually relieves a lot of the pain and irritation caused by my IT band.

Hopefully I will be able to keep adding on the miles and soon I will be able to 13.1 miles. When I run I try to enjoy the moment and remember that I love to run. I look forward to a day when I can run without constant worry that my next step will be the one that hurts too much. I run because I love to and I hope I never lose that. I will keep lacing up, crossing my fingers and training for my half marathon and if I'm lucky I'll be at the starting line September 28th!

 

 

2014 Relay For Life

I am officially signed up for the Whatcom County Relay For Life! It is a good cause and you donation is tax deductible! I won't be bothering you (for a while anyway) for donations since there are still 250 days until the relay but I wanted to let everyone know that I am signed up and I will run again (someday) and I am asking you to make me run for a good cause.

Click here to visit my Relay for Life page and donate~ Donate

A Trail Half Marathon!

After raising $400 for Relay For Life I began searching for another half marathon to sign up for. I was seriously considering the Seattle Half Marathon but the starting time for it is 7:30 a.m.! That would mean I would have to wake up before 5, drive and hour and a half and then find the energy to run...no thanks. After some more searching I found a race that caught my attention. It was the Lake Padden Trail Half. Trail running has always been something I knew I would like to try but never have. After considering the pros and cons of signing up for a race like this I decided that it is definitely something that I can do and I will gain a new running perspective.

I am now signed up for my very first trail half marathon! Lake Padden is located just outside of Bellingham, Washington which is very close to where I live. This will make arriving there awake and ready rather than exhausted much easier! I am excited to train for it and to gain new running experience! The race is on October 19th which is about 3 weeks after my Bellingham Bay Half Marathon. This will be perfect timing as I will have enough time to recover and not enough time to lose all the hard work put in while training for it!

I am proud to say that my Relay for Life team raised over $7,000! Our final total will be higher as there are some employers that haven't put in their matching funds yet! People can also still donate to our 2013 team up until the end of august. Feel free to donate and make me run! $200 more and I will sign up for a third half marathon!

I want to thank all of my donors and supporters! Because of you we were able to help current and future cancer patients. We helped to give hope to those who need it more that anything and that is something you should all be proud of!

Four Miles

After a few weeks of getting back into the swing of running I am really kicking myself for taking such a long break from it! I have been trying to add more miles into my runs but so far my legs really don't feel like doing more than four miles. Running is hard but it is SO much harder after taking time off from it! It is starting to feel comforatable again aside from a pretty irritating injury. Out of nowhere an area the size of a quarter on the side of my calf hurts. A LOT. It is a strange hurt though, it seems to be seriously offended with running. The rest of the time it just quietly complains. Today during my 4 mile run it was the worst that it has been. I had planned on running six miles but four was the most that the injury would allow. The last mile was more of a "hobble run" than anything else. So compression sleeve, ice and epsom salt baths will definitely be in my near future! Hopefully I will get in a few more runs this week before Relay For Life and hopefully I will be able to add on some miles! Four is not very close to 13.1...definitely have my work cut out for me!

Please donate and support me in Running For Tish.

Running For Tish

Donate to Relay For Life!

Tish Hurst was wonderful mother of three beautiful young girls, a cherished daughter, a very loved little sister and a great friend to so many people who loved her very much. Tish was an amazing woman with strength that was inspiring. She was diagnosed with stage 3 triple negative breast cancer in 2011. Less than a year later it had spread to her lungs. We as a family came together with such hope and love that it seemed pretty impossible for her to not survive. We joined the Whatcom County Relay For Life and created the team We Fight Cancer Together or WFCT. On July 13, 2012 our team walked all night long and raised over $10,000. After Relay For Life Tish continued to fight her cancer but it was just to aggressive. Despite all of the Chemotherapy and other available treatments her cancer continued to grow and spread. When she ran out of other options she participated in a clinical trial. We never lost hope. She was such a big part of our family. She was so important to us, there was no way we could lose her. In April 2013 it became apparent that the clinical trial was not working. Instead of shrinking her tumors were growing and spreading. Because of this she could no longer be a participant in the clinical trial. Despite all of this she planned a family Disneyland trip. Like I said, she was pretty amazing. 

Right before this trip her tumors were making it difficult for her to breathe. She had to bring oxygen tanks with her to help everywhere she went. This didn't stop her from enjoying her vacation. She created moments and memories that we will cherish forever. Soon after returning from this trip her breathing became more difficult and soon she was in a hospice. We lost her on May 3, 2013. We will miss her forever. We hurt because there is a hole in our family. We will keep her in our hearts and remember her forever.

In February I ran my first half marathon. Tish commented on one of my Facebook posts. I recently started really thinking about what she had said.

My first thought after reading her comment was -what a great idea. I already run and I want to raise money to help find a cure for cancer. My second thought was- I have no idea how to make that work. Almost three months have gone by and I keep coming back to that comment. So I have decided to try and make that work for her.

Click here to make your tax deductible donation!

Over the past few months when I was running and was tired, out of breath and wanting to quit, I thought of Tish. She has inspired me to be better, to enjoy my ability to be exhausted and to enjoy every moment no matter what. When I feel like quitting I tell myself that I am lucky, that I am fortunate enough to be able to suffer through a difficult run. After a while it became more of a way of thinking rather than something that I only thought of when I was struggling. Running for her became something I do. It became normal to say to myself this one is for Tish as I began a run. Since she has passed away I feel even stronger about the importance of appreciating every moment. You do not know how many moments you have so to waste a single one is unacceptable.

After giving this running for donations idea some time to roll around in my head this is what I came up with.

I am asking you, all of you, to support this cause that is so important to me. I am asking you for a donation to go towards finding a cure. A cure that will ensure that no one has to go through the horrible, toxic treatments that are currently used. A cure that will save our loved ones so that no one will have to go through the loss of someone to cancer ever again. Here is what I am offering for your donation. If I raise two hundred dollars I will sign up for a half marathon. Now you might be thinking, she runs all the time, that's nothing. I do run all the time...not 13.1 miles though. Despite having conquered my first half marathon it is still an intimidating beast to me. So this is what I will do. As donations come in (if they do *fingers crossed*) I will start training. You can see my donation progress here. If I reach $200 I will sign up for a half marathon and post about it in here. I will then sign up for another half marathon after another $200 is donated, and then another after an additional $200. To be clear I will sign up for my first half marathon after $200 is donated a second half marathon after $400 is donated and a third on after $600. If I make it to six hundred dollars in donations I will sign up for another for every additional $300 donated. If you guys go crazy with donations *fingers crossed* I may have to put a cap on how many races I will complete...like I said 13.1 miles is a giant scary intimidating beast! So come on people...make me run!! 

Please donate for my family and for yours!

This picture was taken the very last time I got to visit with Tish.

Donations can be made here~ Relay For Life
Just click on the "donate now" button and enter your info.
Donations are tax deductible!

If you are wondering what happens to the money donated here are some answers for you. Why We Fundraise