2001
| December 20, 2001 I, in a moment of weakness, signed up to do the Leukemia Society's Team-in-Training 26.2 mile walking marathon in La in March. Which means I train daily. And I have to raise money for the society. I am counting on Synopsys, where I work, to help me. I may end up baking all weekend in January and holding a one-woman bake sale at work. I have no idea at the moment. Maybe I'll give Jettison away for a donation. I am about to burn them. The books not the cookies. I made the first training. My younger son is the honoree for one team - I am on another. HE gets to come with me - sometimes. If I can get him out of bed. They told us to get shoes. They talked about foot problems. Black toenails. Whatever they are. Calluses. Corns. All that. Ugly! I have size 9 sneakers - Rebocks and some others. I can walk for an hour - no problem. They timed me at about a 16-17 minute mile. My starting time. I missed training for a week - since I was in Florida - striding around the hotel - pushing the kid in his wheelchair on a rug - lifting suitcases - running through airports while pushing the kid in the wheelchair. I missed a training walk. Then he was sick and I missed the buddy walk. I had no idea where it was. And I wasn't in great shape either. But I was trying dutifully to get to the gym and use the treadmill. I also needed shoes. I went out for shoes before the Buddy Walk last week - part of my training ritual. They said "bigger than you wear". Well, I didn't move fast enough to get them - too busy - and have a black toenail! If they hadn't warned us at the very first training I would not have known what it was. Or what caused it. Your feet swell - mine, after 5 miles, grew too large and rammed my feet into the front of the shoes I wear. The shoes are fine for up to 6 miles or less and for doing weight training. The guy in the first store put me in size 10 - a full size up. He did not check for my ankle turning. So off I went at the crack of dawn to the Buddy walk along Shoreline Drive. (San Francisco Bay.) About 5-10 minutes into the walk my asthma went off - my chest is cold and the air is too heavy. (Try FREEZING!) I grabbed my ever-present inhaler and took a few whiffs (2) and got back my breath. Then my legs took off. Seems I have shin splints - up the sides of the legs - enough to bring tears to my eyes. "Walk it off - takes a couple of miles". Egad! So I walk and stretch and walk some more. Something is terribly wrong. I have NEVER had these before! I have hiked with a 50-lb back pack in HiTek Boots in sand, snow, pavement, racing with teenaged boys (Boy Scouts). I never had a problem. Of course, after 7 miles in sand I fagged out and flagged down the support car. I wasn't drinking enough. My cub scout had done 5 miles before fading. The teenaged boys did 9. But that is in sand and carrying heavy back-packs (tents, lanterns, stoves, water, etc). Back in the gym later in the week, I try my old shoes. On a treadmill. I am fine. Hints of the sore legs but more because the legs were hurt than anything else. Hmmmm. They (the team) sent me back to another store. I did not do 4 miles - because I and my buddy walker are the slowest - and they turned us around when they passed us going the other way. I had run into a store near the hospital on a Thursday night coming home from chemo. Ditto this second pair - this store was three doors down from the first - just my luck. I am now ready for the next training. My new shoes are size 9 1/2 - 10 is too big! And I pronate (turn my arch in) so I need a motion control heel - which I had determined from testing my old shoes. That would explain the shin splints! The second store tried several size 10 shoes and I just felt "off" - turns out I need size 9 1/2. For now anyway. Now let's see if I can return the other shoes! I am zonked - totally tired - no work out Wed-Thurs due to my legs and his chemo. Bad Mommy! And NINE MILES is the training walk this weekend - after which I have to recommit! (I knew the word "commit" would be in there somewhere.) OK. I'll think about it! I did 6 miles. Because I just could not force my hips to do 9 and because I was exhausted. In spite of egg, Medifast and whole wheat toast with peanut butter for breakfast. I'm afraid that I'm not going to be able to do the 26.2 mile marathon - I was so tired and hurt so much during the walk that I detoured straight for the boat house on the way by - 20 minute miles was my timing - way too slow and way off base. Much slower than usual. I do 3.2 MPH average on the treadmill with bursts of 3.4 and 3.5. A 15-minute miles is what I am targeting. I did my 6 miles - bringing up the rear - way back in the rear - people were doing 11 minute miles - I had missed more training for this week's lumbar event. I have priorities. I did walk around my neighborhood yesterday (Friday) to break in the shoes before attempting the 9 mile walk. And the Medifast, which I swear has a diuretic in it, had not kicked in before I started walking, but it sure kicked in about 3 miles into the training walk! And I nearly wet my pants - My bladder declared war at 3 miles. (Having had two babies I have little control left) At about 5 miles I was seriously looking for a bush (I cannot control it when it decides it has had enough) and I was miserable. At about 5 miles, I spotted a Kybo (porta potty) and raced in - just in the nick of time and what a relief! I had actually passed it on the way out but hadn't realized what it was - one of those big handicap ones - I was never so glad to see one of those things in my life! (The ones at Boy Scout camps sometimes make you look for a bush!) I was contemplating sitting in the grass and letting it go - it was that bad!!!! If there had not been apartments along the way I might have. (They evidently see that there are porta-potties along the way - good thing! Or old ladies like me would not survive marathons!) Part of my exhaustion was that I was not drinking water because I was afraid my biological system would explode! No more Medifast before a long training walk! My feet hurt in new areas, my shins kind of hurt (from last week) and I had to walk them down again. And 10 minutes into the walk I nearly collapsed again (asthma in the cold) - fumbled with the inhaler and it took 15 minutes for my chest to stop heaving - yea gods! The cold air knocks me for a loop! I have physical pain in my chest! Problem was - there was no one around. Which also scared me. What was even worse is that there are all these lovely gray geese - Canadian geese - flocking to the bay and landing near us as we walk. They are so close and so big and lovely to watch. And it is hunting season. Of course I get to see one big beautiful bird get hit and fall, struggling, into the water. I did not see the SOB hunter go get it. Oh lovely! My walking buddy from last week had started 10 minutes early because she is slow - we were last men in last week. I had caught up to her at the turnaround point. Then I lost her again. I didn't stay for the party - just went home and crawled onto the couch. Ah but I am in Pain this morning!!!! Back, BUTT and feet all hurt - and it was cold so I chapped my hands!!! I haven't written a letter to raise funds yet either - And I just want go back to bed today! Whatever possessed me! And then he yells for a drink. The 15 bottles of soda next to his bed not being the flavor of the day. |
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