Race #4 and Cancer

I have to say this about running: you learn a lot about diseases. Particularly cancer. I don’t know what it is about the cancer community but they sure seem to love running.

I’ve now completed four races as part of the NYRR club. Of those, two have been dedicated to various cancers (colon and lung), one was populated by Scots (The Scotland Run) and the other was just a run. For people who like running, I guess.

Of the two cancer runs, I had personal connections with both. My father is a survivor of colon cancer and my father in law died of lung cancer a couple of years ago. Ironically, the lung cancer run was put on by a group focused on raising awareness of lung cancer among people who do not smoke. This was the case with my father in law, who had not smoked in many, many years when he was diagnosed with the disease.

After that race, I actually walked around the celebration area (a standard feature at every race) and spoke to a couple of people staffing the tables. After picking up the customary elastic bracelet and brochures, I changed and headed to the subway. That’s when it hit me. Standing there alone in the park, cold and tired, that I would never see my father in law again. He really did die of lung cancer. Just like the man who’s name was plastered all over the race route.

As I continue the training process, I am constantly asking myself why I am doing this. It’s not my idea of fun. It’s taking a lot of time. And, maybe most importantly, at the end of the day, my body hurts badly and I beg for rest.

My latest conclusion is rather simple: I am driven by fear. Fear that I will die regretting that I did not try to complete this task.

Race #4, the TGL classic was particularly notable for my pace of 8:32 over a 4 miles course. This is a solid achievement because it followed a solid 20-mile bike ride the day before, at a rough pace of 18.3 mph. Here are the numbers:

Run As One, TGL Classic
Distance: 4.0 Miles, 6.4 Kilometers
Date/Time: April 13, 2008, 9:00 am
Location: Central Park, NYC
Weather: 49 Deg. 52% Hum. Wind 7 MPH
Overall Place: 2581
Gender Place: 1889
Age Place: 252
Finish Time: 43:11
Pace/Mile: 8:32
AG Time: 31:35
AG Gender Place: 1820
AG%: 53.3%
Total Finishers: Men – 3241 Women – 2862 Total – 6103
Age Group 40 – 44: Men - 389, Women – 274, Total – 663

Third Run+

It’s been three weeks since my last posting, but I have not been sitting still.

A little more than a week ago, I completed my third qualifying race, the Scotland Run. For me, the most important aspect about this particular race was that I completed it while recovering from a significant head cold with the accompanying coughing, sneezing and runny nose. I was pumped up with vitamin c, decongestants and antihistamines and had virtually no expectations other than completing the event.

Although I was recovering from a cold and the race was the farthest distance I had ever run (10k), the results were on par with my previous outings:

Scotland Run 10K
Distance: 6.2 Miles, 10.0 Kilometers
Date/Time: March 30, 2008, 10:00 am
Location: Central Park, NYC
Weather: 37 Deg. 25% Hum. Wind 8 MPH
Overall Place: 4145
Gender Place: 2669
Age Place: 360
Finish Time: 57:38
Pace/Mile: 9:17
AG Time: 53:15
AG Gender Place: 2513
AG %: 50.4 %
Total Finishers: Men – 3644 Women – 3284 Total – 6928
Age Group 40 – 44: Men – 476 Women – 278 Total - 754

This past week I also rode my bike for 20 miles on Wednesday at an average speed of 18.5mph. I didn't feel all that good afterwards. I'm beginning to trade off the pain of training for the pleasure of talking about the accomplishment.

On Sunday, April 6, I ran around Prospect Park three times, for a total of roughly 10 miles (3.25 around plus the distance to the starting line) in about 98 minutes. This was the farthest distance I have ever run to date. That is a little better than 10 min/mile which seems to be my average. Unfortunately, the pain in my legs following that outing was substantial. I can still feel some tension today, two days later.

But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel: If I can complete 10 miles right now, the idea of a half marathon in a few weeks is well within my grasp!