Whew, no getting scooped up in a van for me :) Sunday was the 1/2 marathon in Phoenix which I "trained" for with Team In Training again, this time as a mentor. Which is why I wasn't filling up your inboxes begging for money! As a mentor, you have the option of not fundraising, I think it's every other season. So you got this season off everyone, but just wait until my next one, I'll expect some donations again, although I'll try not get mean about it this time :) haha
So anyway, Saturday night was the pasta party where we all go carb load and listen to people make us cry. You get the standard motivational person, and then we get a survivor, or someone still in treatment telling us all these crazy things, all the while making you feel wonderful and horrible. Walking into the dinner is the "red carpet" where all the coaches, coordinators, and mentors make all this noise & cheer & blow whistles in your face and all this stuff. This year I was doing the cheering. I remember last year being a bit traumatized because you don't know it's coming and it's so loud, and so many people, and you just want to cry a little bit! So it was kinda of fun to watch it happen to other people! haha
They had some crazy numbers to tell us too. Let's see if I can remember--this year is TNT's 20th anniversary...in that 20 years, there have been over 340,000 participants just like me, who have raised..............$800,000 million dollars for research!!! Can you believe that number? Wow! I'm trying to remember some of the other things they said...something like 61% of money used to go directly to research, now it's 95%!! Anyway, there were some crazy numbers, to be VERY proud of, but there is still so much work to be done. There's no cure!!! Although there has been wonderful progress with the medication, Gleevac, which these people will have to take everyday for the rest of their lives, and within I think 10 years or less they hope to have like 11 more medications available...(Still no cure you guys!)
Anyway, the race itself was good. A nice flat course, perfect 65 degree weather, a band at every mile, plenty of sports drinks & water offered along the way. Can't really complain. The miles seemed to just tick by...until like mile 9 that is. Then they got a little slower...but I'm only having minor aches & pains, nothing too major. I finished in just at 4 hours, since I walked the whole thing, which I'm content with.
This whole season was a weird one for me. I feel like I wasn't committed for some reason. I think because I came into the season late maybe?? Anyway, as every race, pasta party, or any TNT event will do, it reminds me of why I sign up in the first place. And I'm completely re motivated. So, I still have visions of the triple crown (which means I need to complete a 100 mile bike ride and a triathlon!), and a Hike (they have a newer program called Hike For Discovery), and I really want to get up to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, which is a TNT event (and there are SF firemen in tuxes waiting at the finish line with Tiffany necklaces!) AND there is a completely non-TNT related goal that would be so cool to accomplish-- there are a series of 1/2 & full marathons across the country called the "Rock-n-Roll" series (this one in Phoenix was one of them) and they have different medals for completing the races-- for example, you get a 26.2 rock star medal for a full or two halves, a 39.3 medal for a full & half or 3 halves, and so on, a gold musical note for completing back to back marathons in 5 weeks! (WOW!), and if you do at least 5 of their races (all of this in the same calendar year) you get a GIANT gold medal that says "ROCK STAR" on it. It's just amazing. There is a guy on our team this year who did this and we saw all his medals, which were awesome.
So I've got some decisions to make...what do I do first??? I need a break...I need my Saturdays to sleep in on for awhile, but I don't know what to do first. Obviously there's no rush, these events will be here for years and years...but what to do......
P.S.-- I'll need your help :)
