Updates On All Fronts

First, Janet's cancer has been confirmed. She has a tumor about 1.75 inches in diameter. The wise doctor knew that he was not capable of deciding if it was operable, so she is going to be visiting University Hospital in Wisconsin (one of the best) to see what can be done. I'm afraid I don't have many of the details, but I'm trying to stay informed. The good news is that the cancer has not metastasized. It's my understanding that this greatly improves the prognosis.

We all gathered at her home last week for a family reunion of sorts. They're easy to do with the McClards because everyone lives pretty close to one another. In fact, I'm one of the furthest away, and I only had a two hour drive. It was great to be around family, and the gathering was beneficial for everyone there. It seemed to help Janet to have everyone around and try to take her mind off things for a few minutes.

BTW, please let me know if you would rather not hear all of this other news. I'm feeling that the blog is a good place to rethink some of the things that have been happening, and I know that most of you would like to hear what is happening. However, if I'm wrong, just chime in, and I'll stick to running.

Which is where we are now. I've survived the first week of training, and must say it was much easier than I had expected. My biggest concern was that I am still working 7 days a week, most days are 10-12 hours. All of this time is on my feet. What I'm learning is that this has already strengthened my quads beyond belief. Yep, you read that right. Want to get in shape? Leave academia!!!! My legs have taken to the extra running quite well, and I'm really glad to know that.

I'm also sleeping much better. With the opening of the sushi bars, I stopped sleeping well. I mean really stopped sleeping well. Last night was the first night since July 20 that I have gone to bed and slept the whole night. There were many many nights when I was awake for an hour or more. When you have to get up at 5:30, it's not good to lie awake at night. Not good at all. So, I'm hoping last night was the beginning of a trend.

Last weeks miles totaled about 4. I have to doublecheck the figures and start my training journal today, so I'll be back with better figures next week. What I do know is that right out of the gate, my first 2-mile run was at a pace of 10:04. Not bad!!! I'm pretty psyched!

It's also time to announce that there has been a slight change in the plans. As it turns out, Green Bay and Madison are not a week apart, but two weeks apart. I'm actually a little nervous about this, I'm worried about how tired my legs might be that second week, instead of just being able to ride some momentum and some adrenaline to the next week. I'll need to do some reading before race day about how to recover a little more quickly for the next race. If we decide that two weeks apart is going to work, we'll actually probably run the Rockford Marathon (where Janet and all the cousins live). This would actually create a nice family gathering, with several people running different levels of the race. We're hoping that this will happen, because it would be fantastic to have everyone working together to help raise money for cancer and to show this support to Janet. Chris has already said that she wants to do something, T.J. has offered to run one of the marathons, Scooter may do something, and I'm sure there will be more.

With all of the work I've put in over the years with running, it would be so amazing to see so many family members taking part in such a positive and healthy way!

That's all for now, I'll probably be back next week with another report. Until then, drink on, DrunkRunners, drink on!

Finding the Reason to Run

First the bad news. Last week our aunt was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It's unclear as of right now what the full prognosis is, but we are hoping for the best. Until then, it's time to fight!! I can't speak for Clyde, but this has been some very tough news for me to deal with. She's the aunt that has been most supportive, to me at least, over the years. When I told my family of my "condition" she never batted an eye and gave me a great big hug. I'm so angry that this has happened to her, and I have to do something!! Clyde has run and raised money for the American Cancer Society several times, and you may remember that we ran the Madison Marathon together, raising a few thousand dollars in support of them. I don't want to steal his thunder here, but I need to post when I can find an onramp to the interwebs. He has decided to run both the Green Bay Marathon and the Madison Marathon. Because I'm younger and very competitive, I couldn't let him do this on his own. I've decided that, despite my sevendayaweek job that I can find the time to train for and raise money for these two marathons. Because of my schedule it is going to be difficult to do anything else for our aunt, so at the very least I can show some support in this manner.
Clyde tells me that they are only a week apart, which is going to be the big challenge. Running one marathon is, when said and done, not impossible. Running two is going to be difficult. And that's an understatement. What may make it even more interesting, is that I have decided (sorry Clyde if I'm copying you again) that if I raise $3000 I will run both marathons in a dress.
Yes, it's been worn before, but I've never actually run in it. Finding a pair of panties may be an issue, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. And I promise to deck it out with some rhinestones.

Now on to the running: The plan is quite simple. I'll be working my way back in to things. I need to take it slow, because being on my feet all day leaves me with little opportunity to be lazy because I hurt my knew. I've started a 5K in % weeks plan and will follow that until I can actually run 3.5 miles again. Then depending on how the calendar looks, I'll work up to a 10K before starting marathon training, which I'm pretty sure I have time for.

Today was the first run and it went really well. How far did I go? 10 minutes! That's how far. It felt good and I felt like a million bucks afterward. I was so excited I had to jump in the car and come tell you all.

So that's it. Clyde and I will be attempting something none of us thought we would ever do. 2 marathons in seven days. Yes, we'll be asking you for money, and we may even ask you to support in other ways. Anyone need a scarf? I may be selling them.

Until we meet again. Keep up the running and thank you in advance for your support!!!!

Sixpack Chopra