Outpacing Melanoma 5K

Background part 1: When my husband and I started dating in 2002, he was training for and ran a marathon (the San Diego Rock & Roll marathon). Although he finished the race, I know he was disappointed with how he did. He ran into trouble because he didn’t account for how much drier San Diego is than Kansas City, and struggled with dehydration—I’ve never seen such salty sweat stains. After that race, he pretty much hung up his shoes and never looked back.

Background, part 2: I’ve always been a runner, although I never ran many races. Nearly a year ago, my younger son and my daughter-in-law gave me a much-needed push to give racing and consistent training a go. So I have, and this has been a great year for me with a couple of age group places and the satisfaction of seeing my times and endurance improve.

Then last August, I was diagnosed with melanoma and had surgery to remove it in September. I immediately started looking for a race centered on melanoma and found this one.

I also asked my husband to consider running this 5k with me. I told him I didn’t want an answer right then because he’d be answering out of emotion, but to think about it. After all, the race wasn’t until May so there was no rush. In January, he told me to sign us both up.

In the meantime, I got wild and crazy and signed up for the Heartland 39.3 Challenge—three half marathons in about five weeks’ time. After I’d signed us up for the Outpacing Melanoma 5K, I realized it was scheduled the Sunday before my third half marathon. Oops!

Pre-race: I suspected I might get a little emotional at the race. There were teams running in memory of folks who’ve died from melanoma, and a warrior wall where you could say who you were running or walking in support of, stuff like that. Mostly I held it together, so that was good. My husband isn’t as fast a runner as I am, so we’d decided to run together and talked about what pace he was aiming for. Side note, those of you who are real pacers in races? I have much respect for what you do! Running the pace he wanted and helping him stay steady with it took more focus that I would have thought.

Race: We were aiming for a 12:45 pace, but of course race excitement meant we started a little fast, so I slowed down more so he’d stay with me. He told me later that was perfect. This course is pretty flat with the exception of two hills: the first hill is in the first mile, and the second hill came right around mile two. We slowed a bit on those, but my husband was able to recoup and keep going. With about 2/10s to go, he picked up the pace and right before the finish line, we held hands and crossed together, as I’d hoped, grinning maniacally. I immediately burst into tears—I was just so happy he was with me and I was able to say a big F U to cancer. He got a PR in the 5K , with a chip time of 38:49 and 12:23 per mile pace. I am so proud of him!

Final thoughts: If you have ever had a sunburn—ever—or you have moles, please get checked. The only reason I got checked is because a dear mentor of mine died from melanoma. I never ever in my life thought I would get it. I don’t really burn, and I never was a big sun worshipper. Yet here I am. If I hadn’t been getting yearly checks, my story would have a very different, much shorter, ending. As it stands, I have a higher risk of recurrence and I’m now on the six-month check for the next four and a half years.

What’s next: On Saturday, I’m running the Run with the Cows Half Marathon and my husband today signed up to run the 5K race too. I’m stoked, and we’ll both be wearing lots of sunscreen.

Garmin Half Marathon—the Land of Oz

This half marathon was one week after the Rock the Parkway Half Marathon. I didn’t need to train so much as recover from the previous week. I asked around for ideas on what/how to train and recover that week and the consensus was to mostly repeat the last week of the training program I used for the first half marathon. That’s what I did, with the exception of the easy recovery run the day after the Rock the Parkway race—it snowed that day so I opted to do cardio indoors rather than risk slipping and falling.

Pre-race
The forecast had been all over the map for race day: first it was going to be in the 50s, which would have been challenging since we have had an unusually cold spring and I’m not acclimated to running in warmer weather. Then it was going to be much cooler (high 30s) with lots of rain which is just gross. But we ended up with temps in the mid-40s and a slight chance of rain, which is about perfect. I’ll take it.

The race itself started at 6:45 and we knew there were going to be a lot of participants since there was also a 10K and a marathon. We got there pretty early, and while that stunk getting up that early, we also got a good parking spot which helped us a lot after the race. We didn't have to sit in traffic trying to get home.

I’d originally planned to take this race super easy and treat it as a long run. Spoiler alert #1: I didn’t do that. My legs felt really good all week so I decided to find the 2-hour pacers and run with them. Spoiler alert #2: while I did find them, I also found a woman I’d talked with at the Jingle Bell 5K in December and I ended up running with her for the first nine miles.

Race
Jeannie and I had to dodge a lot of runners to get in clear space, but we were right on track at the pace I wanted (about 9 minutes per mile). Once things cleared out a bit, we chatted off and on and before I knew it we’d gone 7 miles and gotten to the hilly part of the race.

Jeannie had said she couldn’t train hills where she lived, so I know this part was hard for her. But she’s a lot faster and more experienced runner than I am so she caught up on the downhills (her best time for a half marathon is about an hour and a half—like I said, she’s fast).

Then around mile 9, we got to the trail part of the race. While the trail was paved, it was also patched a lot so it was pretty uneven and I nearly fell a couple of times. By now, Jeannie had hit her stride (she trains on trails) so she took off. I was starting to feel pretty dead in my legs. I knew I’d finish, I also knew I wouldn’t be breaking the previous week’s time. Here are the random thoughts running through my head from mile 9 to 13:

“I should have eaten that banana this morning.” (I’d eaten the rest of my breakfast but skipped the banana)
“Man my legs are tired.”
“Huh that Dorothy just passed me.” (lots of women in Dorothy costumes since the theme for the race was the Land of Oz)
“Wonder if I can catch that other Dorothy . . . nope, guess not.”
“I really should have eaten that banana.” (like 80 calories was going to make a difference for me at that point)
“Oh look, the Cowardly Lion.”
“My toes hurt.”
“Glad I don’t have a half marathon next weekend.”
“My legs are tired.”

Over and over again. You get the idea. I did briefly walk, and it was at the smallest hill ever but I was just toast at that point. I walked for about 30 seconds, then ran to the finish line for a chip time of 1:59:38.

Post-race
Kent and Jeannie met me at the finish line, and we grabbed a photo of the two of us. She’s a lot of fun and I hope I see her at other races. We milled around a little, I grabbed the print-out of my time and got in line for what I thought was a post-race massage. It wasn’t, it was a chiropractor who popped some things on me (very strange, I don’t go to chiropractors so I think it was mostly wasted on me). Then we were home shortly after 9. That was the one big benefit of the race starting so freaking early (even by my standards).

Next up is the Outpacing Melanoma 5K on Sunday, May 6 (Kent and I are running that together). The third and final half marathon for the Heartland 39.3 Challenge is Saturday, May 12 in Bucyrus, Kansas. It’s called Running with the Cows and I’ve heard it’s a really fun race. I’m back in training and feeling pretty good so we’ll see if I can get a new personal best then.

No guarantees

I was poking around the Outpacing Melanoma 5K race site the other day, and ran across this link, which shares the story of why this race got started.

Long story not so long, her husband had a melanoma removed from his back in 2005, had the 6-month checkups and then five years later out of the blue, he developed a cough and had back pain that felt like sciatic nerve issues. It was metastatic melanoma, stage 4.

He went from totally fine to a nagging cough and some pain and then dead in six weeks’ time. I'm telling you, this is one nasty cancer.

Her story was sobering and the parallels for me are inescapable. I too had a melanoma removed from my back, on my spine to be specific. I too am on the 6-month checkup plan for the next five years. I too have a nagging cough (but also have reactive airway disorder . . . so is this a cough from the reactive airway disorder or something else?). And I too have been having back pain (which is almost certainly from running two half marathons a week apart). It’s probably nothing.

Still.

I’ve been thinking about how or if I would change how I live if I end up in the same situation as her husband. Never mind the memes about eating all the cake, drinking all the wine, etc. What would really matter to me if I had weeks left? And when do I start living that way, as though this is it?

I would hate to get to the end without having thought this through, figured out I would need to do or say and then done it. 

Rock the Parkway Half Marathon--my first half marathon

Training
This is my first half marathon, and in a way, I feel like I’d been training for this one forever. Originally, I planned to run the Hangover Half Marathon on January 1, but it was postponed a week and then ultimately canceled because of extreme cold. The race organizers offered a couple of other races I could switch to instead, so I ran the Sweetheart 10K race in February, which was also postponed a week due to a snow emergency.
I used Hal Higdon’s advanced half marathon plan, not because I’m such an advanced runner but because the distances were about what I run each week anyway. To be honest, while I’ve run most of my life, I haven’t trained or competed until this last year. There’s a lot I don’t know how to do yet (running well downhill for example) and I’m pretty inexperienced with the mental side of racing.

Pre-race
I gotta be honest—it was FREEZING out. I don’t have much insulation any more and have zero shame in wearing layers to run. Those runners who wore shorts and singlets? Insane! I did the tiniest of warm up runs but honestly was shivering so much, I didn’t run more. See that yellow headband I'm wearing? I almost didn't bring it and I'm so glad I did. The wind was just awful and that headband kept my ears from freezing off.

Because I’m inexperienced, I decided to find the 2-hour pacers and stick with them. I didn’t want to go out too fast and I thought it might be good to run with a group (I always run alone). They explained their strategy: slower to start, walk through every aid station, speed up downhill. Stick with us, they said, and we’ll get you there. OK, sounds good to me except I don’t drink or eat during a 2-hour run, so I figured I’d see how I felt at the first aid station and take it from there.

Race
Our first two miles were pretty slow, which was good since I was running with a lot of people and dodging elbows left and right. But when we got to the first aid station, I though hmm I don’t really want to stop and walk, I’ll get even colder so I kept going. I figured they would probably catch up with me later and I’d run with them then. I never did see them again as it turned out.

Around mile 9, a friend was out cheering and that just warmed my heart—she braved some nasty weather to do that and I felt so encouraged.

Then somewhere around mile 11 and right after it started sleeting, a man on my right side who was slightly behind me said “Hey don’t slow down, you’ve been my pacer this whole race—I’ve been following your yellow head band and I want to break the 2 hour mark.” Say what? Someone is using me as a pacer?? So we ran together. Wow did that help—every time I even thought about being tired or cold, I reminded myself that I too wanted that sub-2 hour time and that I’d worked hard for this for months. At the 12 mile mark, Richard (that was his name, we were best buds by now) asked if I had anything left in the tank for the downhill stretch. I don’t know, I said, but I’m sure going to try. And I ran my little legs off until the end.

Post-race
I found my husband, who is the best crew a woman could ask for, grabbed a banana and a beer (really odd pairing to be honest) and went to get the print out of my results. I was pretty confident I’d broken the 2-hour mark according to my watch, but I wanted to see the official results. When I got the print out and saw 1:57:04, I started to cry. Now you have to understand that I’ve been (accurately) called a velvet covered brick, and tears are not normal for me. But I just stood there in the freezing wind blubbering while my sweet husband told me what a great job I did.

Next weekend I run the second of three half marathons for the Heartland 39.3 challenge. It’s supposed to be upper 40s and rain, of course, because apparently I bring crappy weather to races.

Mind over matter

Last Wednesday, my running plan called for a 60-minute run that increased in speed throughout. I’ve done tempo runs (as these are called) before, but what I hadn’t done was an hour long run in 22F with a wind chill of 9F at 4:27 AM. That’s some wind, to drop the temperature that much.

But I did it, and then I had Kent take this lovely photo as proof that yes, I ran in that weather super early in the morning. I look so glamorous!

How cold was it? I always take a little snot rag with me because my nose gets really drippy in the cold weather. It was so cold that the little rag froze.

Big 12 12K race before I forget

I won an entry into the Big 12 12K run through work—the race had three lengths: one mile, 5K and 12K. I could have also run the mile before running the 12K part but since I’ve been training for a half marathon, that race didn’t work into my training plan.

The weather was lovely that morning. Well it was sunny. Also cold and also pretty darn windy. Runners were encouraged to wear their school’s colors, and while I couldn’t find any Jayhawk-specific stuff, I did wear KU blue. You can see I’m also using magnetic holders for my bib. I got tired of poking holes in my good running gear so got these from Amazon. They worked really well.

This route was incredibly hilly and that’s saying something because I run hills all the time. But these were pretty steep, especially the last two miles of the race which was nearly all uphill. 

In this photo at the very end of the race, you can see I’m concentrating really hard. I was mortally afraid I’d catch my toe on one of those carpets that were covering the wires and go tumbling. Fortunately, I didn’t.

All in all, I’m pleased with how I ran. I maintained an average page of 8:57 per mile and came in fourth in my age group. The winner in my age group ran it in 57 minutes!

Wedding!

I have been a little preoccupied the last month what with my older son’s wedding, so I’ll be catching up with my posts. This time, though, I’m starting with the most recent and the most important.

First things first—the wedding was gorgeous and went off beautifully. My new daughter-in-law is highly organized and everything went off without a hitch. The ceremony was held outside in at Carnton. After the ceremony, we had a cocktail hour and could tour the mansion which was pretty cool.

Just married!

Carnton that night

I was able to participate in all the bridal party stuff that day, including getting my hair and makeup done professionally. As I watched the bridesmaids and the mother of the bride get their makeup done, I realized what a smart choice I made to have someone do mine. Some things are much better when outsourced!

Here’s the start of getting my hair done. I have a lot of hair, but it’s fine and very soft so the stylist used texturizing powder, then backcombed my hair like crazy and then used probably 10 bobby pins and half a can of hair spray. My hair wasn’t going to move at all, which was also good since it was incredibly windy outside.

Here's me with a french twist (no makeup yet).

I was trying to get a photo of the the lines of the dress.

I'm not very good at the selfies, but here's a closer look at my makeup.

As the makeup artist started on me, she asked what I normally wore. “What you see is what I do,” I replied. “Oh,” she said, “you go for the natural look.” Yup, that’s true but as I told her I didn’t want that for the wedding. I asked her to glam me up and that’s what she did. I’ve never in my life worn false eyelashes (I don’t have the skill to put them on, I have tried and failed), but I wore them on Saturday!

Interesting factoid: it was so windy out, that the ends of the false eyelashes fluttered in the wind.

This is Karen (my daughter-in-law's mother) and me. Yes, we both have on navy. My daughter-in-law helped us each pick out our dresses.

This is Karen and my daughter-in-law's sister who was the matron of honor. 

Full on Hollywood with my sunglasses and stole.



















Kent and me in front of the front door to the mansion. You can see how windy it is because my bangs actually blew around.

The ring-bearer (also the son of the matron of honor).



















KU was playing in the NCAA tournament that night. My younger son sat with Kent and me at the reception, and all three of us graduated from KU. So Ben whipped out his phone and we sort of kept an eye on the game while eating dinner (KU won).

And a photo of my corsage.