Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Twin Cities Marathon spectators wanted!!; Less than $200 left to reach fundraising goal!


I can't believe it. Less than $200 to my goal of $1750 to blast blood cancer!! That's only 14 folks giving $15 each. I can take contributions after the race on Sunday, but I can run much easier knowing that I've reached my LLS fundraising goal. If you can help, please contribute today!

Wow... once again I'm blown away by your generosity. Tremendous thanks to:

Elizabeth W., Madison, WI
Mark R., Madison, WI
Pete T., Madison, WI
Cristy DLC, New Brighton, MN (TWICE!! Thank you Cristy!!)
Michael and Patsy N., St. Paul

I can't believe how many wonderful folks I'm privileged to be surrounded by. Thank you very, very much.

RACE DAY - T MINUS FIVE DAYS!!
My race number is F2853. I have a massive case of the jitters - my hip/leg is still giving me trouble and I don't know what that's going to mean on race day. Lots of water, anti-inflammatories, physical therapy work, the stick, quality time with a foam roller and hopefully a little luck will pull me through. 

Race day is currently forecast to be 56*, but sunny. Not bad. Let's hope it holds.

There are 44 other Team In Training athletes that will be running the Twin Cities Marathon. Come on out and support my teammates as we run the most beautiful marathon in America!

Given my hip issues, I'm going to assume a 5:30 finish time - about three minutes faster than my last marathon time. If I'm feeling really good, I'll try for the 5:20 finish time. The race starts at 8am, but since I'm slower, my pace group can take up to 10 minutes to pass the starting mat. 

Also - you can sign up to receive texts when I cross various points on the marathon course. You'll be notified when I pass the start line, 5k (3.2 miles), 10k (6.4 miles), 13.1 miles, 30k (18.64 miles) and an additional spot, as well as the finish line. Sign up here.

WHERE I'LL BE ON RACE DAY
Here's an approximate idea of when I'll be at various miles on the course, give or take a few minutes. If I'm able to run the 5:20 schedule, you'll see me a bit earlier - about 22 seconds every mile. West River Road on the Minneapolis side of the river is especially sparse and spectators are really helpful there!!

1 - 12:35 (12th St/Hennepin Av; 8:22am)
2 - 25:10 (Lyndale/Douglas Av; 8:35am)
3 - 37:45 (Douglas Av and Oliver Av?; 8:47am)
4 - 50:20 (Dean Parkway/Lake of the Isles Pkwy; 8:59am)
5 - 1:02:55 (West Calhoun Pkwy, between 32nd St & 36th St; 9:11am)
6 - 1:15:30 (West Calhoun Pkwy/Sheridan Av S; 9:25am)
7 - 1:28:05 (22nd/East Harriet Blvd; 9:38am)
8 - 1:40:40 (W Minnehaha Pkwy/Humboldt Av S; 9:50am)
9 - 1:53:15 (Minnehaha Pkwy/35W; 10:03am)
10 - 2:05:50 (Minnehaha Pkwy/Chicago Av; 10:15am)
11 - 2:18:25 (Minnehaha Pkwy/Cedar Av; 10:28am)
12 - 2:31:00 (Cedar Av S/E Nokomis Pkwy; 10:41am)
13 - 2:43:35 (E Nokomis Pkwy/52nd St; 10:53am)
14 - 2:56:10 (Minnehaha Pkwy/Nokomis Av; 11:06am)
15 - 3:08:45 (Godfrey Rd/Hwy 55; 11:18am)
16 - 3:21:20 (42nd St/W River Pkwy; 11:30am)
17 - 3:33:55 (West River Rd/36th St; 11:43am)
18 - 3:46:30 (West River Rd/28th St; 11:56am)
19 - 3:59:05 (West River Rd/Franklin Av; 12:09pm)
20 - 4:11:40 (East River Rd/St. Anthony Av; 12:21pm)
21 - 4:24:15 (East River Rd/Marshall St; 12:34pm)
22 - 4:36:50 (Summit Av/Cleveland Av; 12:46pm)
23 - 4:49:25 (Summit Av/Snelling Av; 12:50pm)
24 - 5:02:00 (Summit Av/Oxford; 1:12pm)
25 - 5:14:35 (Summit/Dale, 1:24pm)
26.2 - 5:30:00 (John Ireland Blvd & 12th St/Rice St, 1:40pm)

And, if you want to bust out your purple and green gear - here are the official TNT cheer stations!
Mile 4.5 (8:00 a.m.) - Located in Minneapolis at the northwest corner of LakeCalhoun near the Calhoun Beach Club (corner of Lake St. & Dean Parkway).
Mile 10 (8:40 a.m.) - Located at the intersection of Portland Ave and 50th St.
Mile 17 (9:15 a.m.) - The TNT cheering section will be just prior to the official mile 17 water stop of the marathon. We will set up at about 34th Street and West River Road . Park along Edmund Blvd. It runs parallel to the River Road. You will need to walk down a small hill to get to the River Road. (It is about 4 blocks south of Lake St.)
Mile 22.75 - also mile 6.75 of the TC10 Miler - (9:35 a.m.) - Located at the intersection of Summit Ave. and Snelling Ave. (This is our official Honoree Cheer Station).

A few notes about cheering - first, cheering is AWESOME. You can't know how fantastic it is to be cheered on by hundreds of strangers! If you're planning to be cheering on runners on Sunday, or are a volunteer, you are a ROCKSTAR. 

As awesome as cheering is, though, remember one thing: 
- Don't say "you're almost there" unless you're at the St. Paul Cathedral. 26.2 miles is a really long way, even if you've already done 13, or 15, or even 20. : )

See you Sunday!!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

77.5% toward goal; 12 days to race day!

Wow. I'm sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. The good news is that my workload has increased quite a bit and involved a great deal more travel this year. I love my new portfolio, but it certainly has reduced my blogging time!

First things first - I have a TON of new donors. Thank you so much!! We are only $394 away from goal!! Big thank yous to:

Duane N., Ortonville, MN
Paul B., St. Paul
Jenny L, Madison
Carole L., Green Valley, AZ
Jane P. and Dave M., St. Paul
Ethan F., Minneapolis
Kecia P., Grand Forks, ND
Penny Ives, Minneapolis
John B., St. Paul

On a more positive note... training is going alright. I've gotten through a very warm summer - much warmer than last year - and missed only one long run the entire season. The midweek runs, though, have been a different story - it's been tough to balance the extreme heat and risk of heat stroke and our training schedule. Last season, a teammate had to drop his race because of heat stroke. A seasoned runner can tolerate heat more easily, but as I am only in my second year of running, I've been playing it safe - spending more time cross training in the pool on days when the heat was unbearable.

Last race, I finished in 5 hours and 33 minutes (5:33) and change. I'm hoping to run the same this time around, and if things go really well, finishing 15 minutes earlier. We'll see.

There are so many things to do! We just received our race jerseys today; I'll need to add my name and my honorees to mine. (This year, I'll be using iron-on letters, not the puffy paint. Last year's jersey looked... grass-rootsy : ) ). And I have my bib number - F2583.

FOLLOW ME ON RACE DAY VIA TEXT MESSAGE
Follow my progress on race day. Every time my race chip crosses a mat along the course, you'll receive a text message. Register here. 

RACE INFORMATION
Come on out and support my fellow runners on race day! We'll have 44 athletes besides myself running in the Twin Cities Marathon from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training program. The race starts at 8am, but it's best to assume that I'll be starting around 8:10am (takes awhile for thousands of runners to get across that start line!)

The race is 26.2 miles between the Minneapolis Metrodome and the Capital in St. Paul.

Spectator guide [pdf].
Course map. 
Starting area map.
Finish area map.

More soon!