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.

Spotlight Series

Allison, Another Team Hero, and Me

My Hero

I’m starting a weekly feature called the Spotlight Series to highlight some of the others I’m sharing this journey with. Every Team In Training group has a Team Hero to share inspiration and support when the going gets tough. 14-year-old Allison is my hero and I asked her Dad to share some of their story with you. He was gracious enough to compose the following message. By the way, he’s training for the marathon too!

Hello.  My name is Dr. Tom Bolan and I am the father of this year’s Team in Training Team Hero, Allison.  I would like to tell you a little bit about this most remarkable young lady.  Her “adventure” began at the age of 2 when she fell down the last few stairs at the house that we were living in at that time.  After a week of continued complaining, you realize at age two, this was not just a ‘sprained ankle’ as we were initially told by the first doctor we saw.  We took her to an orthopedic specialist and he concluded that “she is simply getting more attention this way, and has decided that she doesn’t want to walk”.  Now, in my heart I knew better, but there was nothing to do but give it a bit more time to allow her to heal.  After another week and continued complaining, I insisted that something was wrong, so I sent her in for some blood tests because even the x-rays that I had taken of her legs and ankles didn’t show any abnormality.  When the results came back, she didn’t even get to go home from the doctor’s office.  A parent’s worst fears were realized when the diagnosis came back blood cancer- Acute lymphocytic leukemia, or ALL for short.  The reason she would not walk, and fell in the first place was from the bone marrow growing at such an abnormal rate. It was stretching her bones from the inside out! An extremely painful condition to say the least.  Obviously, the “specialists” were embarrassed for not finding the problem, but more importantly we began the journey that would last two years and three months.  Daily visits to the clinic after her first 30 days in the hospital kept us pretty busy.  I have never seen such a trooper in my life!!  She never complained.  I had explained to her that we were going to “take an adventure together” over the next couple of years and that I would be with her every step of the way.  We were thrilled when she was cleared of the disease until eight months after her last treatment.  And then, the worst news yet… it had come back.  She relapsed and began the entire process over again at age five.  The only chance she was given at that point was a bone marrow transplant, and after serious research, we chose the Fred Hutchinson facility in Seattle, Washington since they specialized in children and transplants.  We moved to Seattle for 5 months and spent 110 straight days in the hospital.  Had it not been for groups like the Leukemia Society helping us every step of the way, we probably would have gone crazy as well as bankrupt from all the expense.  They shared information and their hearts with us and connected us with others who had experienced similar trials.  I am happy to report that after years of follow up and ongoing blood testing, I can report that by God’s grace and lots of prayer, Allison is cancer free for eight years now!!  What a thrill for her to be able to give back to those that have helped her so much by being this year’s Team Hero.  Thank you LLS and Team in Training for all that you have done and continue to do.  Now you know why I run and train with TNT: in order to support the mission, so eventually no other parents will have to endure watching their child fight the life and death battle on a daily basis.  Go Team!!