hills and prayers

Harlem Hill is much longer than I thought.

We began Tuesday night's practice at our meeting spot at 86th street in the bridle path on the east side. I thought this was an interesting meeting spot, considering we were running harlem hill repeats, which doesn't even start until 107th st (approximately). We had a 1.5 mile warm-up and then we were supposed to push all the way to the top of harlem hill and recover down. Seems simple enough. Unfortunately, I underestimated the length of the hill. My 1st repeat I took out confidently, and quickly. I thought the hill would never end. Towards the top my breathing became heavy and labored, even though I wasn't moving quickly at all (it's all about effort; not speed...). ANYWAY, since my recoveries down the hill were SO slow (I could have been walking), I only ended up getting 5 repeats in. Most people got 6. Hmph. I was happy enough to finish that last hill and run back to stretch though! My legs DID NOT want to move after all those hills. As one of my teammates stated on our cooldown to the stretching area, "Why does this feel like mile 23?"

The point of the workout was to get the lactic acid to build up and teach the body to recycle it quickly. That must have been why my legs were so sluggish at the end. All in all, a hard workout, and a GOOD night's sleep!

On a sadder note...

On Tuesday night, Pat McCormick (Kate's dad) lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. He was recently taken off chemo and has been spending time at home for the past week. He is finally whole and well again, and in no more pain. He was one of the best men I knew, and has raised a wonderful, beautiful family. He will be greatly missed and I hope anyone reading this will extend their prayers to him and his family.

Here is his obituary:

PATRICK DEAN MCCORMICK

Patrick Dean McCormick, 52, Henderson, Kentucky, died of pancreatic/liver cancer at 10:25 p.m. Tuesday, August 4, 2009, at his home.
He was a piano tuner and technician, wonderful jazz pianist, but more importantly, the nicest man you could ever hope to meet. He was a member of First United Methodist Church in Henderson, where he was organist until March of this year. Pat loved to play the piano, and his music was enjoyed by many throughout the tri-state area.
He was preceded in death by his father, Carlos Archie McCormick, and his father-in-law, Charles William “Bill” McClure.
Survivors include his wife of 30 years, Heather McCormick; one son, Seth Patrick McCormick of Henderson; one daughter, Meredith Kate McCormick of Henderson; his mother, Juanita McCormick of Harrisburg, Illinois; one brother, Steve McCormick and his wife, Janice, of Harrisburg; nephew, Brad McCormick and his wife, Sherie, and their four children of Harrisburg; nephew, Mike McCormick and his wife, Penny, and their three children of Harrisburg; niece, Sheena Lowrey and her husband, Talon, of Harrisburg; mother-in-law, Mary Ann Blackwell and her husband, Chap, of Columbus, Indiana; brother-in-law, Brett McClure and his wife, Kim, and their sons, Alex and Drew, all of Anchorage, Kentucky.
Services will be at noon Saturday at First United Methodist Church. The Reverend Gary Chapman and the Reverend Willard Knipp will officiate. Private family burial will be in Fernwood Cemetery.
Friends may call from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Saturday at Rudy-Rowland Funeral Home.
Expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to American Cancer Society, First United Methodist Church Music Ministry, or St. Anthony’s Hospice.
Honorary pallbearers will be members of the choirs and praise teams at First United Methodist Church and Chapel Hill United Methodist Church and the musicians with whom Pat has enjoyed playing throughout his musical career.

TNT packed weekend!

We've had a fun week of team in training!

One thing we are known for is our willingness to go out and party on a weeknight. We are marathoners; when we commit to something we mean business. Coach Ramon wrote in a recent email "If you would put as much effort and commitment to your running as you put to your socializing/drinking/misbehaving, you would all be winning marathons!"

I think he is right.

Anyway, Wednesday night we went to a beautiful venue on 18th and 10th called "The Park." We had the rooftop/penthouse area reserved for team in training, and we could not have asked for a more beautiful night! Fun was had by all :-)

Saturday, instead of having our regular group GTS (Saturdays are long run days) we had a special nutrition clinic, followed by a short fun run (not short enough- we were dripping with sweat after 10 minutes!), followed by a "Connection to the Cause" ceremony. During Connection to the Cause, our honorees, those affected by Leukemia and Lymphoma, share their stories to help us really realize what we are running and fundraising for. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house.

Which brings me to what I'm running for- my roommate and the most wonderful girl I know, Kate, has had a tough past few months. Her dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March, and mere weeks later, here mother was diagnosed with brain cancer. I hope you will extend your prayers to the strongest family I know. Even though they do not have a blood cancer, team in training's mission extends beyond that- funds for blood cancer research benefit all cancer research. It really helps me to keep in the McCormicks in mind when running a long run.

Sunday, we had the Achilles foundation "Hope and Possibility" race in the park. It was a 5 mile race, and we couldn't have had more perfect weather. It was our first TNT race, so many people on the team were running their first races ever! It was a very exciting and nervous atmosphere. Nothing makes you want to race like a pack of TNTers cheering you on to the finish line- I wish they could be there for all my runs! My time was OK, nothing like my times last season. In fact, my pace per mile was 42 seconds slower than my first 5 mile race of last season. But I FELT good at the end, and that's all that matters. Baby-steps. I will get there, this season is definitely long enough.

Tonight we had practice in the rain! We were originally going to do a hill workout in the trails of the park. However, because of the rain and slip factor, Ramon gave us all the choice to run either a 4, 5, or 6 mile loop. I ran with our mentor captain, Antonella, who ran with me last season, and has been having the same kinds of running doubts that I have had recently. We ran a leisurely 5-miler, finishing the run with my go-to coach, Sandy. We will definitely be running together again, hopefully not in this monsoon weather we had tonight though.

Finished off the night with Shake Shack with my new mentee, Christy. Can't think of a better end to the night than a Shack burger to ruin all the calories I just burned!