Family Matters

So I bit the bullet and signed up for my first standalone marathon, the Nike Women's Marathon in San Fran on October 20.  Decided, as I always said, that this would be my first on it's own marathon.  And that I'd do it with Team In Training.  Felt drawn to do this for my Uncle. 

When I do TNT events, it's not just about blood cancers but rather for all people I care about who've been impacted by cancer.  By doing my piece of fundraising, I know I'm helping to make a difference.  Same goes for when I fundraise for AHA and MS.  These are my three passions.  But for now, the focus is cancer because of Uncle Willie.

My parents hosted a family get together for Uncle Willie and his brothers and family.  It had been years since I saw him and his kids, my cousins, and I had never met his brothers.  It was so nice to see everyone, and celebrate Uncle Willie as a family while everyone was on the East Coast.  Mom got this great pic. 

Extended fam with Uncle Willie in the middle, celebrating life together.

Family is so important.  And it gives us purpose.  Celebrating time together.

Feeling like I have even more purpose now to do Nike.  I signed up in honor of Uncle Willie, to tackle my first "legit" marathon - and what better way to feel driven for the event then to dedicate it to people you love.

My TNT friends are like another family, and feeling pretty blessed to have them.  It's been really nice to be reminded of this, even more than I always am through signing up for Nike.  I've started my list of everyone who has been touched by cancer to run each mile for them.  How can you not go on when you are running for people who might not be able to?  Not possible. 

Grateful for our short bbq to spend time with this family.  And to making the most of time we have together.  And hoping there can be some more quality time together while we are able to take advantage of it. 

Life's too short so "celebrate we will, 'cause life is short but sweet for certain."

Now, run.  And know it's for so much more than just a race.

And, use that in all of your training, for those who might not be able to do what you do.  This will help me continue to drive to get back into the groove, and force me to stay there.

These are my thoughts...time to take care of business some more.

A Purpose-Driven Life

Sometimes we all need a smack in the face, a reminder of why we do the work we do.  In life, work and our personal lives.  It can be easy to lose sight of things in everyday life.  But reminders serve to give us purpose in life, in all of those areas. 

We just wrapped up a big week of Heart Association events.  One of my favorite and personal big events was Home Runs For Heart.  The mission piece we highlighted was the story of one of my good friends, Derek Fitzgerald.  I've heard his story so many times, but it still chokes me up.  Last weekend Derek asked me to join him on an organized bike ride as part of his TNT and IM training, and we shared a long 67 fun-filled miles together.  And last night Fox aired a piece on Derek they filmed just after HRFH.  Of course almost made me cry.  And watching it today was just the reminder I needed as to why I work for the AHA, why I got into non-profit.  This is why I worked at LLS.  Fundraising has always been a passion of mine since grade school when I got involved with MS.  While not easy, it is extremely fulfilling to be reminded that work I do is raising life-saving money to fund research and education efforts.  And during the craziness of the past weeks, I needed a big reminder of this. 

Also recently my family received the extremely sad news that my Dad's cousin, my Uncle Willie, has terminal cancer.  Uncle Willie was like a brother to my Dad growing up, and as they had us kids they just grew apart as their lives became busier and busier.  Two weeks ago we got the news as my parents drove back from Golden.  It was found very late, lung cancer, that has metatisised to so many places and now his brain.  This has been a wake-up call to my parents and the family.  Life's too short.  Now, my parents are making up for lost time with Uncle Willie, and helping him to make the most of his time left by crossing off a few bucket list items.  Cancer freaking sucks.  And this is the wake-up call (that I didn't necessarily need a reminder for) that cancer, like heart disease, doesn't discriminate for them.  But reminded me of my purpose.  Also a reminder that we need to do more to fight these terrible diseases.  That my work is never done. 

The non-profit life has defined so much of the person I became in my 20's.  I've met amazing people, who have forever changed me for the better.  They are constant reminders of purpose for my life.  And sometimes it's good to be reminded of the people who impacted your life. 

These are two examples of why I started training for triathlon.  To honor and remember survivors and those who have lost their battles to illness.  So on those tough days, I'll be sure to dig a little deeper this season for Derek, Uncle Willie, my Dad, Granddad, Pop-Pop, Aunt Stella, Mrs. Remley, Mrs. Massimini, Mr. Mestichelli, Mr. Donovan, Aunt Sandy, Curt, David, Steve, and the so many other people I can and will think of. 

Remember your purpose and use it to find extra strength when you need it.  A wise woman told me this was a great reminder of why we train just a couple weeks ago, and I guess I just needed my own personal reminders of my own purpose to embrace it (thanks).

How Andrea Got Her Groove Back

2013 training has been interesting.  Ironman training kinda ruins you for future training, shorter trainings never seem long enough and that can turn into frustration.  While it might not be perfect, I think I'm finally on the right track.

Two weeks before the St. Luke's Half Marathon I ran my longest run since last summer at 14 miles, and for once in a long time felt pretty strong.  Had a couple good training runs mid-week as well.  Race day came up fast.  While long run-wise I was on track, my actual training was not up to par.  Lack of speed work, barely getting in 2 runs per week, slow times...recipe for disaster.  But I tried to adopt the attitude to just have fun and not put so much pressure on myself on race day.  It went fairly well, not a PR, but not my worst time by a longshot.  I smiled and cheered for friends and thanked volunteers.  The posse all had great races, and I couldn't have been happier to share in all of that.  And I got to run with a TNT friend for a lot of the race, Jackie, who totally kept my spirits up and me focused. 

I was reminded to always respect the race distance.  A lot of people have asked if 13.1 miles was not enough.  In theory, yes of course in comparison it seems a lot shorter.  But, I have always been of the school of thought that you should always respect the race distance because each distance is challenging in it's own way.  It's true.  My lack of speed prep was apparent on race day, and the last 3 miles my legs were shot.  But I dug deep and of course forced myself to continue on.  To everyone, some race will be very challenging.  And I totally respect that.  St. Luke's was a good reminder to me to respect every race I do.  While I could muscle one out most of the time, to actually race well always requires training and a plan.  We all need to be grounded sometimes.

A week later I did a 38 mile ride, my longest to date which again seems like not enough.  But the hills were a challenge and I really enjoyed it, with good company of course (Doreen).

While I might not have done great with a plan consistently this year, I'm reminded of how challenging training for any distance can be when life gets in the way.  But the best thing is that I'm enjoying it, and know I'm finally getting out of that funk and moving on to better things. 

Time to get back on the horse.  Not sure what snapped me back into action, even though it has been gradual.  Maybe the warmer temps and sunshine.  Maybe I just really needed some down time, and my body was trying to tell me.  Who knows.  All I know is Andrea is finally getting her groove back, and it's about dang time.