Excited and nervous

Last post before I leave for San Francisco. (SuperShuttle is picking me up at 3:45 am, blech). Thanks to everyone for all the support. I will think of you as I run, walk, and possibly limp 26.2 miles through the city. I'm leaving you with a couple pictures that our local Leukemia and Lymphoma Society staff just sent around. First, mile 7 - the beginning of a large hill:
Some of them look a little agonized, yeah? That's because they are climbing about 300 ft. Check out the elevation map of the course below:

If you're interested, you can also download a pdf of the whole course from Nike's website.

And the last picture. This one is hilarious. Since this is a women's marathon, they have lots of things that women stereotypically like. For example, they'll have chocolate and a happy foot station (or something bizarre-sounding like that) along the course. Somehow I don't think I'd be able to get up and start running again after whatever they do to your feet. By far, the funniest women-friendly thing they do is at the end, where you're greeted by firemen wearing tuxes and carrying silver platters with wrapped Tiffany's necklaces (instead of finisher's medals). Don't believe me? See for yourself:Jealous of my perks from companies that market to women? Comfort yourself with a little Sarah Haskins. If you haven't seen Sarah Haskins before, she is a comedic genius with a show on Current TV called Target: Women. Check out her 3-minute episodes on yogurt and cleaning products! Oh man, I'm watching them now and they are so funny.

OK for real I have to go pack. Stop distracting me.

From Harriet Mack: Feature on Cooper

Cooper's mom Harriet sent a memorial article written by his professor and mentor. The Macks have been in New York organizing a memorial service and exhibition of his work at Cooper Union. Read the article and see images from the exhibition.

In case you were worried...

You won't have trouble spotting anyone from the National Capital Area team on race day. We'll be pairing our bright purple singlets with neon green visors that are so bright they cannot be truly captured by my camera.

No dog maulings here

Sorry for being a delinquent about posting! I was pretty nervous before the 20 mile run, so my parents gave me their love and support. Mom shared the story of her first 20 mile run and her harrowing encounter with an aggressive, snarling Great Dane that wanted to eat her for breakfast. Dad told me to go buy some therapeutic beer at the 11-Eleven down the street (yep, that’s 11th Street’s own liquor store, coming at you through plexiglass 11 hours a day, 11 days a week).

Despite my parents’ useful advice, the 20 miles itself didn’t go well. The first 12 miles were fine, but I had to completely stop for the first time in our training runs because of a strange knee pain. I was disappointed that I couldn’t do the whole 20, but my knee is much better now.

I want to say a special thank you to those of you who have donated, helping raise over $4000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. On the 20 mile Saturday, I met one of the leukemia survivors on our team, a friendly man in his 60s named Tom. He told me that when he was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia five years ago, the five-year survival rate for someone in his age group was about 10%. Tom’s cells had a chromosomal abnormality called the Philadelphia chromosome that led to his leukemia – some of you may remember that our orchestra teacher Mr. Huneycutt also had the Philadelphia chromosome. But Tom is healthy today and training to walk the Nike Marathon with us because of a drug called Gleevec, a drug that was developed with the help of grants from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. So thank you all again.

Half the miles, double the fun!

I had a wonderful run yesterday. We were doing a 10-mile recovery run between last Saturday's 18 (more on that later) and next Saturday’s 20. The weather was surprisingly chilly, and it took a while to get warmed up, but once we got going it was just a glorious morning. The course was new to me – we followed the Custis Trail (pictured) along Arlington’s I-66, stopped for water and Gatorade near the Italian Store, continued up to Rosslyn and looped back on Lee Highway to try out the Marine Corps Marathon’s big hill. (It’s a wussy hill – I expect better from SF!) We did the loop 2.5 times, but the hills and new scenery kept it interesting, the crisp fall weather kept me feeling fresh, and for the first long run in a while, I had no hip or knee issues.

This Saturday provided a burst of confidence that I’ll need going into the 20 mile run. Everyone had a pretty crummy 18 because it was horribly hot and humid, and the water stops were too few and far between. I walked a lot because my hip started hurting early on, but Dad claims that it doesn’t matter – you’re still getting your body used to the mileage. I also missed the turn-around, so I actually did 19 miles. So what’s another mile, especially given how great I felt yesterday? I’ll just keep deluding myself until Friday night when I start panicking.

Stormy weather

Tropical storm Hanna is projected to hit tomorrow morning.
We're supposed to run 12 miles tomorrow morning.
Hm...

Update: We did run this morning, but we moved to an inland location instead of braving the exposed course along the Potomac River. It was pretty fun splashing through puddles. I took a picture so you could see how wet I was, but it's disappointingly hard to tell. That's the top of one of my tomato plants (a cutting from a Rogers High School FFA plant!) behind me - had to bring all the plants in from the balcony.

I stopped by the farmer's market on the way home and bought some okra and eggplant. While I was digging through my purse for change, a powerful gust of wind nearly carried off the canvas tent. Everyone grabbed part of the tent and held it until the wind stopped.

At this point, local authorities report 3 dozen car accidents, 45,000 customers without power in Virginia alone, and nearly 7 inches of rain in some areas. DC residents can pick up 5 sandbags per household, courtesy of the city. As high tide approaches, Alexandria, Virginia, is evacuating residents in a flooded, coastal neighborhood.

If you're out there, be careful. And maybe if we're really lucky, the rats will drown.

Death to flies

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has donated so far!!! Your generosity and support have been overwhelming. I'm proud to say we've raised over $2,600 as of today! Y'all are kind of awesome.

In other good news, my knees are much, much better. I ran 8 miles today with only a little stiffness near the end of the run. Last weekend's 16 mile run was more painful, but it wasn't so much my knees as everything else - I was a mess of blisters and soreness. The physical therapy exercises have helped immensely - I highly recommend Sport and Spine to anyone in the DC area.

And the third piece of good news is that I'm no longer coming home from runs with dead flies on my forehead. My friend Meredith unhelpfully suggested that I stop slathering my forehead with honey, but I think they were actually drowning in a toxic mix of sweat and sunblock. I know, it sounds gross because it IS gross. Luckily, insect season is ending with the cooler weather.

Unluckily, the fly plague has moved indoors. A day after my roommate Erika left for a trip to Nicaragua, we were hit by an invasion of fruit flies. I've hidden all the fruit, poured boiling water down the disposal, and set out traps with soap and vinegar, but they're annoyingly persistent. I want Erika to hurry up and come home so we can devise our battle plan. My friend Jon suggested buying a bat, and I've also always wanted a carnivorous plant. And our secret weapon: If it starts to look like we're losing the war, I'll jog back and forth in the kitchen, killing flies with my forehead.