"I'm not exactly the running type."

First of all, HELLLOOO BLOGGING WORLD.

My name is Francesca, and I am so excited to be here:)

Back in the Springtime, I was motivated by the 7 crazy-cool runners that you have been following on this website to sign up for and run the MARINE CORPS MARATHON in October! Not only that, but in exchange for Team in Training's (TNT's) expert coaching and support, I have made a committment to a raise at least $1800 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Considering I'm not exactly the "running" type, these next couple of months are sure to be tough and challenging. BUT I do love to have a good time (see picture on the right), and I'm hoping that's what I'll find in my experience with TNT. One thing is for certain, LLS's mission to try and find a cure for blood cancer, as well as provide patient services to those already afflicted with the disease, will be more than enough to keep me going!

I promise to keep this blog alive and entertaining for those of your who will join me every week. Check back for new updates (on my health) and future fundraising events!!

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Most importantly, I'd like to say:

CONGRATS to Chris, Brandon, Crystal, Jessie, Brian, Lena, and Ashwin!! Your hard-work and dedication truly inspired me to join TNT and follow in your training and fundraising footsteps. I am so proud of all of you, and I'm so happy that I'll be training with most of you by my side over the next 5 months. Thank you for letting me be a part of this madness!

We Actually Did Do It... Just Like Diddy

Well... hello again, it's now been almost three and a half weeks SINCE WE ALL FINISHED the Nashville Country Music Marathon. No, it hasn't taken this long for us to recover well enough to type. But before writing anything I (Chris) did want to let things sink in some.

In the shortest sense, completing that race in what turned out to be brutally hot weather (hovering somewhere between 85 and 90 degrees by the finish) was absolutely the most challenging physical feat I've ever achieved.

It seems that everyone agreed those 26.2 were not a particularly enjoyable experience. We had cramps, dehydration, and a little more walking than any of us expected. We ate Gu gels, chugged CytoMax and inhaled salt packets along the way. And still nothing could really prepare you for those awful few miles between 20 and 24.

The race itself was some twisted combination of constantly battling within yourself, sometimes talking to yourself with tunnel vision, to keep both legs moving in rhythm while at the same time desperately seeking out energy from all the fantastic, screaming, smiling supporters along the way.

With those last few minutes in mind and the Tennessee Titans stadium looming, there was nothing better than the distant image of a purple shirt looking to help everyone through the last stretch. When asked if I was doing okay (I must have looked as bad as I felt), I lied with a forced grin but gladly accepted a buddy until I could see the finish.

Taking those last few steps is a powerful, powerful moment and stopping is difficult. A body in motion for so many exhausting hours doesn't respond particularly peacefully. But after eventually staving off delirium, there was nothing better than watching teammate after teammate in TNT gear cross the finish.

As the most skeptical (I think) of the group in joining with Team in Training rather than run individually, I want to loudly express that the training, the friendships and the unbelievable support from this group of people backing the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's efforts to beat blood cancer was something I will never forget.

There are so many thank you mentions that I wouldn't even begin to try one by one. But I'll try broadly from the whole lot of us. Thank you: TNT coaches, staff and team leaders, honored teammates, all our fellow TNT runners (DC area and all our new friends from around the country), all our friends who put up with a multitude of invitations to fundraising events, and the biggest thank you of all to everyone that contributed their hard earned dollars and kind words in support of a great organization in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

What happens now? Well, several (Brandon, Crystal and Ashwin, I believe) are continuing with TNT as captains for this Fall while it looks like all of us are returning to marathoning. We had such a good time torturing ourselves once we're doing it again. Wave to us in October at the Marine Corps Marathon in DC!

This blog may fizzle, or it may live on depending on the group sentiment. Either way, thank you everyone again, and we hope you enjoyed following along. Below are pictures of each of us on race day. So long!

Raceday Eve

Greetings from Tennessee! Less than 9 hours away from the race and Ashwin and I are in the hotel lobby still wired and far from sleep.

We've prepared by scarfing southern BBQ and rocking to some honky tonk yesterday before a relaxing Friday and an inspirational Team in Training dinner with more than 600 members from around the country.

The event has finally set in after months of hard work and we're all psyched for the morning to come and get on the move for what looks like will be a beautiful, sunny day in Nashville. Hopefully the heat holds off (forecast is for a high of mid-80s) until we're almost finished.


a few observations (read: inside jokes) from Nash-vegas:
- Brandon, aka "Bruno," has a camera that takes a great picture of Andy Dick on stage at Tootsie's Bar.
- Girls in cowboy boots and skirts/dresses... we could get used to this.
- Country Music speaks to everyone, especially when the lyrics only consist of the line "I'm gonna kill you"
- From coach Chip - "You'll be fine if you alternate the beer, liquor and water."
- running for 5 hours > running for 2 hours and 8 minutes
- "Bite Me Mode" will 100% apply to a one Lena Feldman tomorrow.
- Go to the Smoking Corner at Tootsie's
- Combo Platters at Jack's. 'nuff said.

We'll have lots of pictures and video to come in the next few days. Until then, leave us a note to find after 26.2 miles tomorrow morning!

Congratulations!

I want to express a massive congratulations to Crystal and Jessie (and all the Team in Training runners!) for their finishing the Suntrust National Marathon on Saturday morning in DC.

I spent some time watching the chilly, early miles around Dupont Circle where the pack was especially crowded before wandering over to the runners' second lap down Constitution Ave where the bunches had thinned out. There I joined some fellow TNT members at mile 17 handing out water, Powerade and as much encouragement as possible to lift everyone going into the later stages of the race.

It was inspiring to see how strong most people looked - I even saw a few smiles - so far into their run, and great to see groups of TNT runners together with Jessie, Barry and Trish going by in a pack and Crystal joined by Ashwin, Brian and Lena, who were getting in some training.

By the time I made it over to the finish at RFK, Mayor Fenty was just finishing up (at 3:25!). Watching runner after runner come across the line in exhausted joy only made me want my own race to arrive sooner.

While a few of our group are now finished their TNT event, the rest of us continue to train for Nashville in about a month. We're putting in a shorter run this weekend before ratcheting up to 20 miles next week.

Lastly, if you have a moment, please leave a note congratulating Crystal and Jessie on an awesome accomplishment, and we'll hopefully hear from them personally when they've overcome exhaustion and soreness!

Long Overdue Update

Long story short: When your body hurts for extended periods of time while you run, it's probably time to take it easy for a little bit.

I didn't heed this fairly obvious maxim and stubbornly battled through some longer runs with pain in my knee. After finally caving and visiting the doc, I found myself prescribed some arthritis medicine and 2 weeks away from running (with some skiing thrown in the mix, shhhh...)

After several months of training, almost everyone has suffered through a few aches and pains. I know Brandon was feeling a little banged up this past week. But this was the first time in a long athletic career where I'd been told to actually sit still for any period of time, where rest alone was the best antidote so I did my best to adhere.

So I put away two weeks on the sidelines and with just a pair of short test jogs during the week headed out to Reston for our 18 mile session on the W&OD trail. Wah la! With only a little dull pain in place of the sharpness I was feeling before the miles passed fairly easily until a wall hit between 15 and 17.

In the end, Brandon and I both finished everything pretty strongly although we'll be hoping our pace picks up a little bit in the weeks to come. Crystal and Jessie cleaned up their last group run before the National Marathon in couple days(!) with a now leisurely 6 miles. The rest of the crew put their miles in on their own this past weekend and from what I've heard all is moving along well.

So, back in good health I'm excited to be out on the move again with TNT and am looking forward to competing in the Shamrock Half Marathon this weekend in the company of my roommates.

I hope that everyone will be able to make it out and support Crystal, Jessie and the rest of the TNT crew this coming Saturday morning in DC for the National Marathon. You can take a peek at the course below and scout out your favorite breakfast spot (or AM pub???) to stake out and then look for the green visors as they make their way around the city and give them your loudest support!

Lost In Translation on 2/7/09

I think all of us who made it out to the run this morning might as well have been running through a maze.  Coach Charlie spent about 10 minutes describing the route we would all run for our “12 miler.”  Clearly, he didn’t take long enough to describe it - either that or we didn’t listen well enough (it was probably the latter).

Captain America led us out, but as usual, we lost sight of him before we knew it.  It’s almost a good thing we weren’t following him because after he told us where he ended up running, we realized he got more lost than anyone.

I’m not exactly sure what happened to Crystal, Brian, and Ashwin, but I know that Jessie and I missed the very first left turn that we were supposed to make, and about 1/3 of the way through the run we had a moment where we just stood around looking at all the different routes we could take, and we had no idea which was right.  It was like we were in the castle in Super Mario 64 and we didn’t know which door we should take.  Ok, that’s a stretch, but I wanted to give a shout out to the classic N64 game.

A friendly couple walking their dogs pointed us in the “right” direction, so we went with it.    We eventually realized that we made a mistake somewhere along the way, but we were on a trail, and it had mile markers, so we just kept on going...

After all was said and done, Jessie and I ran 13ish miles, and it’s unknown how far Crystal, Brian and Shwin ran, but it was probably right around the intended 12 miles.

We certainly missed Lena (who ran her 12 miles on Friday) and Chris (who ran later in the day), but we all finished and we are ready to tackle the 14 mile run next weekend.  No? Too soon?

Until next time, stay classy.