Back in the saddle for a cure!

I've made a tremendous decision in my life. Last year I wrote about my intent to run the Twin Cities Marathon to benefit people who battle blood cancers and their families. With your help, I did it – I finished in 5:22:22 (eleven minutes faster than my first marathon!), and together we raised $1,797.60 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I've again committed to run a marathon, a full 26.2 miles, at the Twin Cities Marathon on Oct. 2, with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training.

Why, you might ask, am I subjecting myself to four months of grueling training in the summer heat – again?!!?

I'm running for my dad, Ned Jimmerson, and our honored teammate,Alie. 

My dad, Ned Jimmerson

I lost my dad too young two and a half years ago, when he succumbed to stroke complications and diabetes. The best way I could think of to honor the memory of my dad is by surmounting an incredible physical challenge (I never thought of myself as a runner of any stripe - and I’m sure you didn’t either!), and to support a worthy charity in doing so.

Alie, our honored teammate

LLS supports patients with blood cancers and their families. Alie is one of those patients. She’s eight years old and was first diagnosed with leukemia at age 3. Today, Alie is recovering in the hospital from her second bone marrow transplant. In addition to running in memory of my dad and Alie, I'm also running in honor of others who have survived, lost or are battling with all cancers.

I have a coach, a team, a training program, and a noble cause on my side. I’m committed to a daily personal training routine and weekend training with my team. I’ll write fundraising letters (like this one), plan fundraising events and participate with my team at the Twin Cities Marathon.

But I need YOU to help me with the most significant part of this endeavor.

I have set a personal goal of raising $1,750 in donations by July 15 for LLS’s continued support of those who battle blood cancers and their families. If you need extra time, your contributions will gladly be accepted after that date.

•  $25 provides patients and their loved ones with free booklets with up-to-date information on their disease and help them make informed decisions about their treatment options.
• $50 makes a Family Support group possible, complete with a trained facilitator, where comfort can be found and experiences can be shared among patients and family members.
•  $100 helps supply laboratory researchers with supplies and materials critical to carrying out their search for cures.
• $1,000 makes one- on-one conversations with health care specialists possible, providing patients with information about their disease, treatment options, and preparing patients with questions for their health care team.

No donation is too big or too small. About 72% of all funds go directly to research and patient aid, and your contribution is tax deductible. I'm really looking forward to keeping you updated on my progress as we get closer to October.

Your strong financial support, and the strength and tenacity that my honorees have used in battling disease in their lives, will carry me across the finish line. I hope I can count on your support, and look forward to hearing from you!

Across the finish line!!

Pictures to come soon, but I made it!! I finished the marathon on Sunday, and not only that, but finished with a new personal record, shaving off 11 minutes and 23 seconds off of my time from last year. Not bad considering I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish. AND of course we raised over my goal of $1750 by the marathon to defeat blood cancers - better than any finish time I can think of!

Video of me crossing the finish line, about 45 seconds in - black pants, bib on the leg, purple shirt and sunglasses.



But, of course, battling blood cancers was the real reason I was on that race course. Check out this Twin Cities Marathon "Faces in the Crowd" video clip of my teammate Tyler, who is a blood cancer survivor and completed the marathon on Sunday.



The weather could not have been more perfect. Last year, I was focused on avoiding the pace bus that picks up folks slower than the minimum pace (13:44 per minute.) This year, I just had a blast - a smile on my face almost the whole way through, giving high-fives to little kids along the marathon route.

I had a much better pacing plan than last time, actually figuring out my run pace (as opposed to trying to derive it from the overall pace, as I was last year) and striving for negative splits (running the first half of the race slower than the second.) That didn't quite happen, but I did start out more slowly than I did last year, and if I run again next year, I will certainly work to improve my negative split plan. An additional bonus - since I was coming up on a mile every 12 minutes or so, and I had to vary my pace every mile, the negative splits pacing also kept me occupied and less focused on 26 miles.

Also, this year I was taking salt tablets, which I think greatly reduced the quad and glute cramping I experienced last year.  Last year, I didn't start my run/walk until mile 10, and this year, I only ran the first mile straight through (slowly - but still couldn't slow down to the pace in my pacing plan!!). Mississippi River Boulevard proved to be the toughest (and slowest) segment of the course, from the Franklin Av bridge to Summit Av, only because of the huge hills there. Sure enough, my quads and even calves started to threaten to cramp. I walked whenever I felt them start to seize and made it through ok. I cruised through the miles 21 through 25, compared to last year!! I couldn't run my three minute segments, so I'd just walk until I felt the cramping pass, and then try to run another 30 seconds or minute, or even 15 seconds, until I felt my legs threaten to cramp again. Anything to keep on going!

Overall, highlights included:
- Seeing so many friends along the race route! Especially Kate and Pat with the bullhorn (around mile 9), Karl (around mile 15), Al, Jen, Anna and Liam, and Tony (around mile 19), and Michelle and Jeff (around what, mile 21? 22??), and TNT friend who was a race marshall, April, around mile 19.
- Seeing my awesome coaches and teammates along the race route!
- Watching first-time marathoners rock it out.
- Spectators who stuck around for us back of the pack folks. You guys are SO AWESOME.
- Favorite spectator sign: "26.2. Because 26.3 would be crazy."
- Seeing Alan Page, Minnesota Supreme Court Justice and former Purple People Eater, play his tuba around mile 2. (I voted for you, Justice Page!)
- The "Return the DVD" people collecting DVDs in front of the Basilica, around mile 1.
- Running behind a guy that had "The Penguin" logo pinned to the back of his shirt.
- Seeing all of the TNT cheer teams along the route! Go green and purple!!
- Watching 70+ year old runners pass me. Wow. Pretty cool. I hope I'm entering marathons at that age!!
-  Enjoying a couple sips of some kind soul's birthday beer, set out in little cups like a water station, around mile 24 : ) Have no fear - it was literally about two sips.
- Giving little kids along the route high-fives.
- Being cheered on by little kids who can't even read yet.
- The race volunteers - race marshalls, volunteers who hand out gatorade and water, EMTs - are just incredible. I never got through a water/gatorade station without someone hollering "GO ERIN" : )
- Seeing all of the other incredible charity teams members and their cheer stations along the route. Folks fighting MS, the Childrens Tumor Foundation, American Cancer Society, all incredible folks and athletes running in their name. Very cool. 
- Playing on my iPod as I ran down the last .2 miles to the finish line: "Tubthumping," Chumbawumba. Wow, that song takes me back.

And, for a bit of humor, how I was certainly feeling Monday and Tuesday:


All in all, a fantastic race and another wonderful marathon experience. Thank you, again, for all of your support. You're fantastic!

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. 

SIGN UP TO RECEIVE TEXTS AS I GET CLOSER TO THE FINISH LINE

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!!

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!

47% towards goal of $1750 by Aug 9; Thank yous! and 16 miles

Wow - training is going quickly! Only 61 more days until the race in October. And SIX DAYS before August 9. If you haven't already, please consider contributing today. I'm at 47% towards my goal of raising $1750 by August 9 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society - but I need your help to get across that finish line!

Big thanks to most recent donors - you're great!

Kris & Britta, Moorehead, MN
Stacey K., Minneapolis

As far as a training update - we're getting up there in mileage! Last weekend, we ran 16 miles, much of it along the marathon route along Minnehaha Parkway, Lake Calhoun and Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis. Some exciting news there. I had been having trouble with getting enough electrolytes and fluid in, especially when it was warm (like it has been), without upsetting my stomach. On a friend's and coach's advice, I tried a salt tablet (only for the long runs), and lo and behold, I wasn't nauseated. Not once. Couple that with the fact that my right leg felt good - only hurt at the beginning until mile 1, then after mile 3, then after 6 it felt great - and that's a successful run in my book! We'll be doing 16-17 miles in the next couple of weeks, and jumping up to 18 soon.

Quick marathon training fact: we never actually run 26.2 miles for a training run. The longest we'll run will be around 20 miles.

PT is going well. It seems my right leg, which is apparently weaker than the left, is finally starting to respond to the series of strengthening exercises I've been directed to do.

Finally, a mission moment. Here's a little bit more about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

44.7% towards goal; 15 miles this weekend!

Whew! What a week it's already been. First things first - we're now 44.7% towards our goal of $1750. I can't believe it - how great is that? Only three weeks and a half weeks left to go. Donate by clicking here.

BIG THANK YOUS to our most recent donors: 
- Alison L, St. Paul
- Dalton & Anna, Ohio
- Brad B., St. Paul

"Mini mission moment", or why I'm running: Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under the age of 20. Every 4 minutes one person is diagnosed with a blood cancer.

Training update
We did hills for our mid-week team run - 8 of them, with each hill being a half mile! That's four miles of hills, two miles just going up. And my midweek runs seem to be going a bit faster... I completed today's 5 mile run at a pace of 10:21, which is so hard to believe. This time last year, I was doing sporadic runs at everywhere from 14 to 10:30 paces - mostly toward the 12-13 minute pace mark.

I can't believe we're doing 15 miles this weekend already! Whoa! Going to try out the salt tablet strategy and see how that goes. Thanks again for all the support and encouragement from everyone. We'll get there yet!

42% towards goal, thank yous and trip to the physical therapist!

HOLY COW! In one day, we managed another 10% towards our goal - so far we've raised $732.40. That's almost 42% towards the goal of $1,750 by Monday, August 9. Woohoo!! Pretty awesome. If you haven't already, you can donate here. Less than four weeks left, and every little bit counts and is very appreciated.
BIG THANKS, my-awesome-colleagues edition:
- Kate E. and Pat S., Minneapolis
- Ruth P., Minneapolis
- Sheila B., Minneapolis
- Bob F., Boyceville, WI.

Training update
Went to the physical therapist this morning recommended by my coach. If you've been following my DailyMile posts (and if you haven't, I can't blame you - interesting to me and maybe four other people), you'll know that my right IT band has been giving me trouble AGAIN. #$#$%!! This was the same injury that jeapordized my participation last year. This year, I have been so careful to stretch after running and dedicate about 30-45 min after each run to core and hip flexor strengthening. So when I started to feel that familiar migrating pain on my right leg again - quad to IT band to glute and back to IT band - I was pretty disappointed and frustrated. After icing, treating with anti-inflammatories and taking it easy for a week didn't work, the next stop was the PT.

Boy, am I glad I did.  Talk about a valuable lesson in going to the doctor when the pain doesn't clear up after a week and not waiting longer. Turns out my right side is weaker than my left, something I found odd since I'm right-handed. And since we caught it with about eight weeks left in the training schedule, there's still time to do strengthening exercises to make things workable for the race in October. In other words - not only do I know now what's causing this persistent injury, I can actually do something to to fix it. Hooray!!

Well, we'll be doing 15 miles for the long run this weekend. On Coach Jan's suggestion, I will be experimenting with salt tablets for this long run to see if they help with the cramping I experienced at last year's marathon in mile 21/22ish.

PSA - Walk or run your first marathon, half marathon, triathlon or century ride and be part of a great cause. Join Team In Training!
More generally, this post is a stellar example of the support that Team In Training offers its participants as they work to support the mission of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Most folks who are part of TNT are first-time endurance event participants. When I first started Team In Training last year, I hadn't done anything more than a 5k (3.1 miles), and I was hardly alone. This season there are plenty of folks on the team who at this point in the season are running and walking farther than they've ever gone in their lives. It's pretty cool.

Our Minnesota run/walk marathon and half marathon TNT teams have a coaching team. Not just one coach, but three - a head coach, running coach and walking coach. They give you a schedule and you're able to run with the team twice a week. There are informative clinics about various endurance sport issues, like nutrition, injury prevention and gear. TNT has two team shops per season where the weekly long team run is held at a local running store, and afterwards, the store can determine the best shoes for you, and gives a generous day-long discount to team members - 25-30%. Even better, you get a personal mentor to help you with fundraising, not to mention support from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society staff. It's pretty awesome. And of course you get to be part of making the mission of a great organization possible. Can you ask for more? I can't! If you're interested in learning more, check out Team In Training, and if you're in Minnesota, check out TNT Minnesota.