Welcome! Here’s How to Get Dirty

Help me run for a good cause. My Dad passed away last October, the result of complications from leukemia, a cancer of the blood. I’ll be racing in his memory at the Denver Marathon this October. Since his death, I’d been looking for ways to help other families confronting the same challenges my family faced during my Dad’s illness. When I moved to Denver I found Team In Training, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s nationwide program that helps participants train for, and compete in endurance events. My commitment to the team includes raising money and support for the LLS to help them fund cancer research and provide assistance to families coping with the difficulties along the way. This is where you can help! Please consider a donation to my effort. My goal is to raise $2,500 towards our ultimate goal- a cure for blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. Any contribution helps (and it’s tax deductible!). Aside from the sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that you’ll feel when you contribute (scientists have proved this!), you’ll be making a real difference to the patients and families that get support from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. To donate, click on the link to the right below the Team In Training logo. To find out more about Team In Training, click here: http://www.teamintraining.org/.

You’ll also be able to keep track of my successes and setbacks over the coming months by following the blog. Take a look around. I hope you’ll find some inspiration and humor in my reports. Aside from the regular updates, I’ll post info about some of the best runs on the planet in my “Run of the Week” area and a playlist of songs to keep the energy high. I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences with you and I welcome your input too. You can comment on any post, but the “Get Dirty” page of the blog is specifically designed to collect your stories, thoughts and contributions. You can navigate there through the tabs along the upper right border of the site. Share stories of inspiration, suggest songs for training, offer a nutritious recipe, recommend a practice run. Anything goes.  Thanks for checking out the site and helping me put an end to blood cancer.

Get dirty for good.

David

Cash-Free Challenge

Would you like to help, but feel a little strapped for cash? Have you already contributed but want to do more? Take the Cash-Free Challenge and make a difference! All without using your wallet, purse, or checkbook. If you accept the challenge you’ll get a FREE awareness bracelet to show your support and spread the word. You’ll also add one more buck to the funding that the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society receives to accomplish their mission. Check back each week for a new cash-free challenge. You’ll find this week’s challenge on the “Get Dirty” page of the blog.

The Results

Between Mile 16 and 17

Race Day

Predawn, my brother dropped me off outside a hotel in Downtown Denver a few blocks from the starting line. He wished me luck and I hopped out to meet my team in the lobby. Our group of purple-clad runners and walkers filled most of the space while clumps of other runners moved restlessly through the atrium with anxiety and excitement before the start of the race. One of our Team Heroes, Kelli, who had been diagnosed last year with lymphoma and would be running the marathon today, stood and thanked everyone for their commitment to the cause. We walked through the cool morning the few blocks to the starting area. Twenty minutes from the race start, I shed my warm-up clothes and put them in my gear check bag so I could recover them after the run. Thankfully, the weather was comfortable (about 50 degrees) instead of the 17-degree temperatures and blowing snow that Denver experienced just one week ago.

I joined about 10,000 others in the chute before the starting line. As the sun came up and a news helicopter buzzed in circles above the crowd, The Star Spangled Banner played over the loudspeakers. An announcer counted down to the start and the mass of humanity surged down Broadway. A few blocks that led to a sweeping right turn started the course and thinned out the beginning crowd. The early route had many twists and turns, passing by Union Station, Coors field, and the shops and restaurants of the revitalized warehouse district of Lower Downtown. My goal early in the race was to avoid going out too quickly and using up all my energy before the end of the race. I’d need to average 7:15 minutes each mile to meet my goal and my plan was to run the first half of the race at 7:30 pace. I found this steady pace and felt strong and comfortable. I waved to a few family and friends that had come to cheer me on. The first big hill of the course came underfoot and I climbed it confidently along with a half-marathoner named Adam that I’d met on the course. He said he himself was a cancer survivor and was happy to learn about our group. At 5.5 miles I passed one of the Team In Training Cheer Stations and the spectators there went crazy. I laughed out loud thinking that some of them might be working harder than me! A couple coaches ran along with me for a bit to check in.

The race entered City Park and I still felt good. I passed the first relay station; one of the racing options today was to run as a team of four, each team member running one leg of the race. I grabbed a cup of Gatorade at one of the hydration tables set up every couple miles along the route. My belly started feeling full so I determined to drink  less at later stations. The course entered Cheesman Park and followed an uphill before exiting the park and connecting to 17th Street. The half-marathoners cut off of the full-marathon course here to run their final mile to the finish. Don’t think I didn’t consider following them. I passed the Half Marathon mark at 1 hour, 39 minutes and 30 seconds, which was just as I planned.

Coach Greg Giving Support

Here, the course followed a long out- and-back on 17th Street with a gentle incline for a couple miles. I could see some of the top runners heading back while I was heading out. Making the turn at the end of 17th brought me back on a steady downgrade. Coach Rick joined me for a moment and suggested that I use this segment to recover some energy. The last significant uphill brought me to mile 17 and Washington Park. Keeping an eye on my watch, I knew I needed to drop my times to around 7 minutes per mile to stay on target to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Family and friends had relocated here and cheered me along again. Somewhere between mile 17 and 18 my legs started to ache. At the faster pace, I’d pushed myself to a place where the waste products of my exertion could not be removed as quickly as they were being produced and they began to build up in my muscles. My lungs felt great. My legs felt anything but. Coach Greg appeared again at mile 20 and I told him about what I was feeling. He said that this kind of thing happens, but that runners sometimes push through it to recover. I hoped that would be the case for me. My times were slipping though. I figured if I came through Mile 20 at 2 hours and 25 minutes, I had a shot at Boston. I came through at 2 hours and 31 minutes. If things kept up this way, my time goal would not be met. At mile 21 I left the park for what I considered the last segment of the course. My legs kept aching and I kept trying to get them to go faster, but they just couldn’t give me more. Other runners started to pass me at astounding speeds, or what felt like astounding speeds. Coach (and cancer survivor) Andy rode along with me on a bike for a mile or so and kept me positive about how I was doing. I ran the last couple miles alone. About one mile from the finish a runner in front of me pulled up short, clutching his hamstring and limped to the side of the road. I briefly wondered if the same would be ahead for me. When I passed through the Santa Fe Arts District and turned onto 13th street though I suddenly felt stronger knowing that I would be at the finish line soon. I passed cheering family one more time and then went into the final hairpin turn to the finish. This last turn revealed the finish line- suddenly very close. I dug for a little more strength and kicked for the final 100 yards to the end. 3 hours 23 minutes and 53 seconds. The announcer called my name over the public address system and asked  for a big cheer from the crowd for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Someone handed me a bottle of water. Another hung a medal around my neck. Coach Tony met me at the back of the chute and we talked about my race. I was disappointed to not meet my qualifying time but in the context of why I decided to run the race, my finishing time was secondary. I continued through the post-race chutes, where Ronald McDonald of all people handed me some sliced apples, and other food and energy drinks were dropped into a bag for me. I plodded over on wobbly legs to the Team In Training booth to make sure the staff knew I’d survived my race and to see how my teammates fared during theirs. As the next few hours passed, other Team In Training athletes returned to the booth on bruised and blistered feet, with weary muscles and aching joints. Some dipped their feet in the ice  pool. Others laid around in the shade. All of us felt great about what we’d accomplished and why we’d accomplished it.

Thanks for following my journey over these last few months. I wish I could have told you that I’d completed my goal of qualifying for The Boston Marathon. Nonetheless, the season was a great success. As of this writing, I have $6,240 in my fundraising account! This is far beyond what I thought I’d raise and represents meaningful progress in the fight against blood cancer. You are still welcome to contribute if you’d like to by following this link. At many times throughout the race I thought about my Dad. I thought about the others I’ve met that have lost someone to a blood cancer or have family that are living with a blood cancer. I also thought about the many of you that have supported me by visiting my blog, donating to my fundraising efforts, or both. Especially in those final miles when my legs ached and no one was there to cheer for me, the thoughts of everyone who has offered support and appreciation for my commitment kept me strong. It has been an honor to be a part of a special group doing important work, and to share a glimpse of that with you. The season is over, but the effort to end blood cancer continues. I hope that you will keep supporting this cause. Perhaps you’ve been inspired to join your local Team In Training group (http://www.teamintraining.org/) and prepare for your own athletic event, be it a bike ride, triathlon, hike, or marathon. Perhaps you’ll look for other Society events that further the mission (http://lls.org/hm_lls). Perhaps I’ll undertake another challenge someday and you’ll support me again. After all, I still need to qualify for Boston…

Thank you again!

David

The Countdown

And Add Up

I’ve just learned that donors have contributed $6,000 dollars in memory of my dad, Paul, to further the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s mission to end blood cancer. This amount is extraordinarily generous and a real tribute to the cause. This total is the highest raised by any Denver Marathon team member this season and triple the minimum required to run with the team! I’m indebted to those who found ways to contribute despite the personal and financial challenges that many are dealing with, and can only offer my sincerest thanks for your benevolence. All told, the Denver Marathon runners and walkers have amassed $168,000! This will be pooled with thousands of other athletes around the country that have made the commitment to the team. If there is anyone that would still like to contribute, please feel welcome to do so by clicking here.

My training has essentially concluded; these last few weeks I’ve been tapering: running fewer miles and minutes to restore muscles and promote generally good health in the few days before the race. I think I’ve prepared soundly and with great intention and expect to accomplish my personal goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon by completing the race in under 3 hours 10 minutes and 59 seconds. But the marathon is a long race and anything can happen. Despite all of the preparation- the hundreds of miles, and the thousands of minutes,  race day stands apart. I’ll need to average 7 minutes and 15 seconds over the 26.2 miles to meet my goal and this will be difficult. My mom, aunt, and brother, Thomas, will be along the course to cheer for me, 60 other teammates will don purple shirts to try to meet their goals on the course, and a handful of coaches and staff from Team In Training will be along the route to help with anything that might come up. I know when this race becomes especially hard for me, I’ll also think  of the many of you that have visited my blog, shared words of support, and contributed to my personal campaign. It will be hard for me to think I can’t do it.

The starting gun will fire at 7 AM this Sunday morning in the golden shadow of the Colorado State Capitol dome and at least 12,000 runners from around the world will wind through the wide streets of Lower Downtown Denver and the imposing architecture of the Central Business District. They’ll pass historic Union Station and the now-quiet diamond at Coors Field. They’ll link City Park, Cheesman Park and Washington Park with steady footsteps and determined will. 26.2 miles later they’ll finish right back where they started. They’ll all be out there for their own reasons, great and humble, and I’ll be out there for mine. And in that way, you’ll be there too. I look forward to telling you all about it.

For some additional inspiration, here I have a link to a couple news stories highlighting some of my teammates. Once at the local news website, type “leukemia” and “mararthon” in the search bar.

Cold Morning

Winter Snow On The Highline

Wintery run

Our last Saturday Group run. The morning broke with blowing snow and below freezing temperatures: 17 degrees! (The date is October 10th) The roads across town were treacherous and an overpass on the interstate was blocked by a jackknifed tractor trailer. I would later hear on the news that the county was receiving over thirty calls for accidents each hour throughout the morning. Ten teammates (including two coaches) braved the discouraging conditions and met for the last weekend run along the Highline Canal trail. I started off with Coach Greg and we discussed some tips for the race, now only a week and a day in the future. After a short time, I caught up with Dr. Tom, another teammate and father of my team hero, Alison. You can read more about his reasons for running on my blog post from a few weeks back here. We ran together, but Tom had left the start before me so he turned around, leaving me with some time on the trail alone. It is rare to be alone on the Highline Canal Trail on a weekend morning, but the weather of the day kept most Denverites at home, under an extra down blanket with a steaming cup of coffee instead of out on the trail with an extra pair of wool socks and earmuffs. Winter is one of my favorite seasons to be outside and with my pace keeping me plenty warm, it was actually an enjoyable run. The snow began to accumulate on the trail underfoot and stuck to the autumn leaves remaining on the limbs of the cottonwoods. The palette of color simplified; gray sky and brown earth prevailing, but highlighted by severe white slashes where snowy  trails or roads crisscrossed the undulating meadows and fields along the trail. I turned around and retraced my shoe prints at a steady but unhurried pace. Coaches and teammates had finished in the few minutes before and talk of a group breakfast circulated. We made our way to a nearby natural grocery store where big bowls of deluxe oatmeal and cups of coffee drove the chill from our bones and restored us for the day ahead.

The Longest Run

All Downhill Now

I missed yesterday’s run on account of work. The team celebrated Mission Day, a day of recognition that coincides with the longest run of the season before the race. Team members share brief stories of why they’ve chosen to participate and who they are running or walking for. The Team Heroes came to support the team members during their up-to-five-hour runs by staffing water stations along the trail. I wish I could have been there and I missed the team as I laced up my shoes for the 20 mile run on the Highline Canal Trail this Sunday. The gravel path was strewn with dry fallen leaves, the earliest casualties of the season; the trees were still mostly be-leafed in green and gold. The canal, unusually, was filled with water today and pairs of mallards kept pace alongside. My goal today was to run successively faster segments up until race pace. I eased into things with a couple slower miles and then picked up the pace to within a minute of my goal pace. I could keep track of my mile splits with my watch and the help of markers posted along the trail. For the first 15 miles everything went to plan: 8:30, 8:10, 7:50, 7:40, 7:23. My legs felt fine and especially the first half went by before I realized. Now, I should have brought my running pack that holds a couple liters of water, but it was a warm day and I didn’t want the pack pressed against my back for the duration so I left it home. Instead I had a small waist-belt with only half a liter or so of water and a pouch to hold my keys and a few energy gels. As I continued the run and the miles got to around 16 or 17, my mouth became drier and my throat parched. It became harder to keep going and my times began to slip off my goal pace: back to 8:30, and 9:00. I kept going through it though. I thought of my teammates and how hard they’ve worked. I thought of how hard I’ve been working. I thought of my Dad and the reasons why I signed up for this. And I kept going. Even though I slowed down, I was determined to finish running. It was important to me. My timer hit the 20 mile mark just where I’d begun my out-and-back run and I stopped, panting for air, and a little shaky on tired legs. I pulled another water bottle out of the car and found a shady place in the grass to stretch a bit and rest. I felt good about what I’d accomplished but  disappointed that I didn’t run as planned. We’re heading into the final few weeks and from here on in will be tapering, lessening our distances and time running to give our bodies time to rest before the marathon. This is the last phase in our preparation and the coaches have warned us that this can be a difficult period, mentally and physically. I’m certainly anxious to have the event so close, but confident that I’ve prepared well. I’m not entirely sure what to expect, but glad it’s all downhill from here.

Spotlight Series

Heartbreak and Hope

Teresa is a Team Mentor for Team In Training. She helps new participants like me develop and implement fundraising strategies, and supports our running goals as well. Her enthusiasm for and commitment to Team In Training is contagious in the best way possible. I hope you get a sense of this from the following post.

Teresa Holladay (left) with Hero Russ Stevens (right) and family

Hi, I’m Teresa Holladay and I’ve been with Team in Training for three seasons, the whole last year! I go at my own pace, sometimes walking, sometimes running. I’ve finished one full marathon and a lot of half-marathons and will be participating in the Denver Marathon in a few weeks. Team in Training has really shown me that this is about how the tiniest thing you do will lift another person’s spirits. I run for some dear friends who have had not one, but TWO, children with leukemia. I never thought asking them if I could run for Scotty and Russ would be any big deal. I’d wear their name on a ribbon on my shirt, that’s all. But no. It has touched my friends, Jan and Doug, so deeply that they have given me a home-made, hand-written thank you card every week for a YEAR. Let me tell you why. Their first child, Scotty, was an adorable little guy who was diagnosed back in the days when there was absolutely nothing that could be done. He was a real character, an adorable child. His dad sat down with me one night and told me the whole story, from beginning to end, including how he felt strongly impressed to get his wife and get to the hospital at a certain moment and so they were able to be there with little seven-year-old Scotty when he kissed his mom, closed his eyes, and quietly said goodbye.  When I’m out on the trail, all by myself, and the going gets tough, I think of Doug telling me that story and of sweet Jan holding her little boy. It makes all the difference to get me going again. And then, just a couple of years ago, Scotty’s brother Russ got leukemia. It’s been 38 years since Scotty’s passing but the thought of losing another son… it just can’t happen.  Russ is a father, himself.  But treatments are better, now, thanks to research.  He received a bone marrow transplant from another brother (this is an amazing family, can you tell?).  The truth is, Russ’ health has never quite recovered. He’s cancer-free but just can’t get all the way better.  So we have a long ways to go. I could never have imagined how much my simple little Saturday training activities would mean to my friends. And, to be honest, I never would have guessed how much it would mean to me.  But when THEY think things are tough, they think about me out there on the trail on Saturdays, and when I think things are tough, I think about what they’re going through. I guess you could say, somehow, we keep each other going. I love Team in Training and everything they do for both our teammates and our honored patient heros. I hope to be able to walk and run to fight cancer until we have a cure. I heard a leading researcher say, “in our lifetime”, and I want to be there to see it.

Training With Tony

Coaching One-On-One

I headed out on the Highline trail this morning with the plan to run alone because their are few others on the team that have the same goals as i do. I passed a small group of teammates that I didn’t know; we’ve combined the Central Denver group of runners that I train with, and the South Denver group too. One of their coaches, Tony, asked if he could join me for the day and I was happy to pick up a partner for the 15 miles along the trail. Long-distance running must be one of the finest ways to get to know a person quickly. Our conversation ranged from the personal to the political as we ran along. And of course we talked about running. Tony recently moved to Colorado with his family from the Boston area where he’d grown up. He’s been running for years, has finished some twenty or so marathons and owned a running shop in a city near Boston. I asked him about strategies for running my marathon and how to qualify for Boston (a race he’s run several times). He gave me some tips on pacing and the mental side of running too. This is another benefit of being on the team. The day went by quickly and the run felt good. My knees that had been aching at various times in pat weeks felt fine today. I’m taking this as a sign that my muscles are strengthening in the right way to keep my posture as healthy as possible and limit the strain on my joints. I hope there’ll be more opportunity to run with Tony in the future.

Two-A-Day

Double Your Fun

I woke up this morning well before six to make it up to Red Rocks Amphitheater for my weekly stairs and conditioning session. The wind was quiet today and the end-of-the-year festival at the concert venue left the strong smell of stale booze on the air. Coach Rick did the workout with us and we huffed and puffed through tarzans, stair pushers, planter leaps, the squat-thrust relay, and ladders. It sounds like a lot, but Tuesday is considered a hard day and I still had some more running in the afternoon. I wanted to run fast so I decided to run only about 5 miles round-trip on the good ol’ Cherry Creek bike path. I finished in less than 40 minutes so it was pretty speedy; it’s nice to be at a point in my training that allows me to get in some miles without devoting too much time. With the race fast approaching I won’t do too many of these two-a-days, but it should enhance my gains before leading up to the final tapering period when workouts will be less strenuous.

Strength Workout

Confluence Park Circuit

I’ve never liked the gym. It’s usually stuffy, foul-smelling and brimming with ego. I had a workout to do today but I wanted to be outside. I jogged down to Confluence park for a  hill and strength workout today. After the 15 minute warm-up I ran under the 15th street bridge for some pull ups on the bike ramp. The circuit continued with a run across the bridge over the South Platte River to the main hill in the park where I did high knee and bounding exercises interspersed by sets of push ups on one of the flower planters along the path. Another run across the Cherry Creek bridge and back under 15th Street brought me to the main green where I did some side shuffles and grapevines. Now my heart was really pumping. Some step up knee lifts and more push ups followed by a run up another hill where I finished with some planks and push ups wrapped up the workout and left me with an easy run back to the house. These workouts will be more common over the next few weeks, the goal being to stabilize my core and add power to my legs. Finding a way to do this outside under the sun and sky makes it much more enjoyable.

Keeping It Cool

The Highline Canal Trail

Autumn Is Here

The morning was cool enough to pack a jacket. Lauren and I made the trip down to meet our temmates at the First Nazaren Church today to link into the Highline Canal and go. Coach Rick suggested I limit the run today to 15 miles so I don’t put too many miles on my legs for the week. I was glad for the cooler temperatures that were comfortable for exercising in, and ran along contented with the crisp air, the clear skies, and the dry leaves of fall dropping from the branches of the cottonwood trees that line the path. The workout went by quickly, my arrival at my turnaround point at the tunnel under University Avenue coming before I expected. As I headed back, I saw many other runners out on the trail, some of which were also preparing for the Marathon coming up. Some were running on their own, with their own sole focus, the experience a solitary one. Others were in groups, wearing team shirts and engaging with teammates in familiar ways. Running definitely offers anything one may be looking for, be it simplicity, challenge, dedication, friendship, meditation, or adventure. As I came within about six miles of the finish I saw a high-school cross-country team out for a weekend practice enter the trail ahead of me. I passed the girl’s team, running in one large, chattering group. One runner among them split off, caught up with me, and then passed right by. I had been encouraged to increase my pace near the end of the run and being passed by a high school girl helped motivate me to pick up the pace then and there! keeping up was manageable, but hard work. I finally came alongside her and asked what team she was on. She was a sophomore on the Cherry Creek Cross-Country Team and expected to do well that season. I ran with her for a bit, and then came to her turnaround point, where I continued straight. The visit reminded me of my days running on the Homestead High School team: the camaraderie of the team during long runs around the city, the cool fall mornings, the absolute quiet and palpable tension of hundreds of runners at the starting line, the firing snap of the starters pistol. Good times. I finished the last five miles at race pace and still felt fresh at the end. I’ll take this as a good sign that I’m preparing well and with only a couple weeks left of hard training, I hope that’s the case.

Wash Park Speedwork

Mile Repeats

I headed down to our typical Thursday evening meet-up at the South High School Track. My teammate Kelli was there, sitting in the grass above the track and observed that the JV football team was using the field below for a game, and their fans were using the track to watch. Guess we’ll need to change plans. Fortunately, Coach Greg knew a number of specific distances for the trails and carriage ways that cut through Washington Park, located just across the street from South High. Designed at the turn of the 20th century, “Wash Park” still retains much of the original design. Its 165 acres, dominated by Smith and Grasmere Lakes, features lawns, meadows, and groves of shade trees. Other designers, including Frederick Law Olmstead Jr., most famous for his work at Acadia and Yosemitie National Parks, added structures like the boat house in later years. Flower gardens are planted around the park including one that is an exact match to the one Martha Washington tended at Mt. Vernon while her husband was our first president. Wash Park is surrounded by an historic neighborhood composed of brick homes that were crafted between the turn of the century and World War II. It has become a popular place for residents and a beloved part of the city. My workout through the park consisted of 3 1-mile repeats run between 6:30 and 6:05. I started each lap feeling good and I enjoyed zipping around the carriage roads, passing by the other runners, joggers and walkers out for the evening. Near the end of each lap, I needed to focus on maintaining proper form, leaning slightly forward, as a plank, from the ankles and pushing back my arms instead of pulling them forward. In between, I had a short recovery. We finished with a few drills on the hills at the edge of the park. This space really is a tremendous asset for the City of Denver and especially for those of us preparing for the marathon, which will include a couple miles through Washington Park.