Running for HP at Corporate Cup in 1983

Running with my shadow...

If you ran competition at any point in your life, you will always compare yourself to what you used to be. It can't be avoided. Yet, decades later, I really have to let that go and be kind to myself along the way.

Yesterday, I ran 6 miles with only a few momentary breaks. I averaged a 9.5 minute mile. When I was 24, I ran my first 10K and averaged a 7.25 minute mile pace over the 6.2 mile course. Then, I had been training for 4 months. I am at the one month mark this week.

I knew this would hurt and wanted to keep the run social and hoped someone would go out quickly with me, but no takers until Sam joined me at the 2.5 mile mark. It was getting hotter by the minute and I wanted to complete ASAP.

In the first mile, I heard some voices behind me chatting away and thought maybe it was my group. When they finally caught and passed me at the second mile mark, I realized they were another running club made of younger adults and it brought back memories. When they passed, one woman commented... "Nice pace." I said "Thanks." Yet, in my mind, I think my shadow (the runner I used to be) is so way ahead and you'll never catch her and neither will I.

In that regard, I envy the folks who never ran before. They don't constantly compare themselves to a standard set decades ago.

Danielle graduated High School in Spring 2009

Running so far, so good...

I started running on March 27th with Team Challenge at San Thomas Aquino Trail. My calves tightened after and I could barely walk the next day. Welcome back body. I'd always been a toe runner, so I made a conscious effort to land mid-foot versus toe, which helped. The first run lasted three miles and I was pleasantly surprised my sensitive hip did not flare; must have been all the boot camp over the Winter.

My second run was at Sawyer Camp Trail. It had rained that afternoon and the trail was nearly empty. I dialed U2 on my iPod and started running, one foot after another. I didn't wear a watch and didn't want to be pressured by time. I wanted to feel my body's response to sustained pounding, deep breathing, sensitive stomach and sweating. I ran four times that first week, 3x4 miles and 1x3 miles with Team challenge.

My second week, I ran 3x4 miles, completed a step class and a 23 mile bike ride as well. My third week, I ran 1x4 miles at Sawyer Camp, 1x2 miles at the track, 1x5 miles at San Thomas Aquino Trail and took a total body conditioning class at the gym.

I can feel changes; digestion and circulation improving, muscles strengthening, and it feels good overall. My hip bothered me a bit after 5 miles, but nothing a few ibuprofen couldn't resolve. This week I'll make the track workout again and try to up the mileage at Sawyer Camp Trail during the week day.

I know from experience, the only way to make 13.1 miles as comfortable as possible is to slowly work up to at least 25 - 30 miles a week for two to three weeks prior to the race.

Oh no, I need orthodics...

When I had quit running a few years back, I had visited an orthopedic doctor who recommended I talk to a podiatrist who fitted me for my first orthodics. She also told me to get better shoes for my flat and over-pronating feet, so I had officially graduated from stability shoes to motion control shoes.

I don't like orthodics. Am I the only one? They remind me of girdles and tight uncomfortable clothes, restrictive and binding, and I sort them into the don't-like-to-wear them category. Still, doctors are supposed to be helping us, so when I walk, I wear my orthodics, but when I run, I just wear my motion control shoes sans orthodics.

I have sloppy ankles; you know, the type the suddenly give under you when you step on something uneven. They work best when I am stronger, but I need to get stronger without getting injured first. It's a little like the chicken-egg story. So, I tell myself I will be careful during my training runs. I will wear good shoes (without orthodics) and I will get strong enough to make the 13.1 miles without injury.

Uncle Don, the best Uncle ever...

The last time I saw my Uncle was at our family gathering last X-mas at my sisters home. He was 77 years old, and even at his advancing age, he had a wonderful uplifting tone in his voice when he greeted you."... great to see you, how ya'doing?" he'd ask as he gave you a great big bear hug. I can hear his voice in my mind at this moment. I will miss him.

Don passed away last weekend of congestive heart failure. I got the news during the nutritional lecture after our weekly Saturday morning Team Challenge run. Gratefully, Don didn't suffer very long, had a sharp mind to the end and lived well beyond what the doctors said he would twenty three years ago. I recall back when we visited him at the hospital; when he was first diagnosed with colon cancer, had a large section of his intestine removed and told he would be living with an ostomy for the balance of his life. The doctors also diagnosed that he would require heart surgery over that same year. I recall them saying, "If you were a smoker, you'd be dead." He was 54 years old that day; the same age I am today.

Don's mother, Mary Rodrigues, my maternal grandmother, had also died of colon cancer complications at age 65. She was diagnosed too late and never treated prior to her death. So, when I run the half marathon in July, I will think of my family, Don, Mary, and Danielle and I will be surrounded with many many people who share a similar family history regarding colon health.

If it's Fall, it's time for Prednisone...

Fast forward, Diane's Training...

I used to run a lot. I mean I used to compete in 5K's, 10K's and Corporate Cup Races before I had kids. In fact, I first met my one only father of my kids and husband, Andras, after I had just completed a 1/2 marathon, the last 1/2 marathon I recall running. In fact, much like the one we are fund-raising for right now. So, I stopped running when the kids were small; just too too much with working full time and maintaining a household. Then, I started running again when the kids were more independent and I was facing the big Four-Oh and I ran uninterrupted for a few years, even ran a few races. Then I managed to have a nasty ankle sprain, then some chronic back-pain which I later learned was fibroid tumors. A few years and a few surgeries later, I didn't like the direction my numbers... you know, the ones doctors watch, so I embarked on something a little less stressful to the joints; walking. Later, I tried boot camp, then step classes and spin classes, then biking Sundays with Andras... which BTW was a walk in the park for him. Then, just last month, Danielle said, "Mom, can we run the CCFA half marathon fundraiser... together." I thought about it for around 10 seconds, then said, "Sure".

Not stomach flu, one ER visit later...

Danielle took the prescribed antibiotics as directed by her doctor and a week and a half later she said she felt worse. That wasn't right. Then she confided a very embarrassing fact; she had blood in her stool that would not go away and she'd had it for over a week now. I immediately took her to the ER. The doctors assessed her situation, which included testing her for possible internal pancreatic damage that could have occurred during the car accident. They admitted her to the hospital overnight where she was prepped for a colonoscopy in the AM. I stayed with her all night and the next day prior to her returning home. The colonoscopy would reveal that she had many bleeding ulcers in her colon. She was given doses of mesalamine (Asacol) and prednisone (steroids) and a restricted diet of soft non-scratchy foods. She was very ill and remained home from school for eight weeks.

The accident... continued

I soon discovered that the reason the Instructor had not called was because he broke his arm trying to grab the wheel when they were hit headon by an oncoming vehicle who had crossed the center line. The Instructor left in an ambulance. Danielle was visibly shaken with no broken bones. Later, she said she didn't feel well and a few days later we took her to the pediatrician who treated her for stomach flu.

In a good way now, but not when it started...

If I stop to really think about what this means to me, in so many ways, I am simply overwhelmed with emotion. My mind floods with so many memories. So, the best way to express, for me, is to keep moving forward, one step at a time, toward the goal making this world a little safer place for people with hyper-sensitive digestive tracts.

This all began when my second daughter, Danielle, was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in the late Winter of 2007, when she was only 15.5 years old. It started with a phone call from her cell phone during her second Driver Training lesson. She said, "Mom, I've been in a car accident." The first thing that entered my mind was... why isn't the Training Instructor calling me instead of my young daughter... where is the adult? She told me where she was... Polhemus Road in Hillsborough; a narrow two lane road through the canyon east of HWY 280 in San Mateo county.

I jumped into my car, just five minutes away from our home, and was shocked to find the road blocked with Fire Engines lights swirling... continued later...

Thanks to Danielle Boross, my daughter, we are doing this together...