The State of My Toes

Running improves your appearance, doesn't it?

That's what I thought.  It is partly true.  It makes you stronger and improves your cardio, while giving you shapely legs.  It does, however, do some less enjoyable things to your feet.

This is what my toes look like when viewed from above:

The shiny, red polish is not just there for the pretty colour; it is there to hide the horror beneath.

The most recent bit of damage appeared after this morning's run.  At first sight, it looks like a hangnail, but it is in fact a sliver of nail that has broken off and been ripped upwards... the red underneath is not polish, but a little section of naked flesh.

This is slightly gross, but perhaps not so impressive.

Something slightly more revolting can be found by looking under my littlest toes.  The right pinky toenail looks as though it is made of three nails stuck one on top of the other.

The littlest left toenail is sort of squished and sticks up in the air.   I'm not sure what the brown stuff is, but it's as hard as the nail itself.

But, Rebecca, those kind of look like my toenails...

The toenail that I find the most impressive is on the middle toe of my right foot.  If you look back at the first picture, you may notice a bruise along the bottom edge of the middle toenail.  That is in fact the last point at which the nail is in contact with my toe; it moves up and down freely as if on a hinge.

Care to place bets as to whether it will fall off sometime during the race next weekend?

Next weekend???

Yes, indeed!  The Nike Women's Marathon is next weekend!  I will be running the half marathon along with a nice big group of purple clad friends.  There will, in fact, be purple people from every TNT chapter in North America,  It is going to be crazy!  I'm going to love every minute of it!

If you'd like your name to appear on my shirt by race day, now is the time to let me know.  Save your spot at http://bit.ly/SponsorReb.

Preparations, Gifts and Awards

The Pre-Race Potluck

Last night we had our pre-race potluck dinner for the San Francisco and Dublin teams.  We got together with our teammates at the LLSC office in downtown Montreal to go over the details of Race Weekend.  We also got some last minute advice from our beloved coaches and staff, and we (the mentors) even got to put in our two cents worth.  We also received our race shirts, and some people received fundraising prizes.  Yesterday I received three things.

My new race shirt

My brand new piece of purple attire is in my hands and ready to be decorated.  This is how it looks now:

And this is how it might look on race day, unless I receive more donations...

The names on the front represent all the people who have made donations this year; the ones in red have donated $100 or more.  The names on the back are my honourees.  I am running in memory of my friend Emru, who passed away from AML in 2008.  I am also running in tribute to Cyane, who is a five-year-old survivor of ALL.

My Extra-Special Shirt

When the prizes were awarded, I received the ever-coveted Superstar t-shirt!

This shirt is awarded to TNT participants once they reach a lifetime total of $10,000 in donations.  So that means that I get to wear this badge of honour thanks to you!  And that also means that you are responsible for all my Mary Katherine Gallagher impressions  ;).

A Special Gift

The third thing I received yesterday was a very special gift.  William Brock—cancer survivor and San Francisco teammate—is the author of a very special book about surviving cancer.  His book uses photography to tell stories of survival, and to illustrate what survival looks like.  It is meant to give hope to those who are still fighting cancer.  His beautiful book is available online (in both English and French) at www.portraitsofhope.ca, and the proceeds go to cancer research.  Cancer patients and survivors can contact him via the website.

Many thanks to those of you who have made donations to Team in Training!  It means such a great deal to so many people.  Thanks to you the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has been able to invest over 1.8 billion dollars in 2011 into various cancer related avenues, such as scientific research and patient support services.

If you have yet to donate, and wish to do so, you can find my TNT page here: http://bit.ly/SponsorReb.

Thanks again!

Rebecca

Welcome to my new blog!

I am nearing the end of my third season with Team in Training and it occurred to me that I have sent much fewer newsletter-ish updates this year than last year.  In fact, I think I sent only one at the beginning of the season.  It is now almost the end, so I thought a few people might be interested in some news.

If you've been following my progress on Facebook, then you may know that I had some health issues that messed up my training this summer.  I cursed the migraine gods and they finally liberated me in August.  Despite this plague, I did manage to complete the Montreal Oasis Half-Marathon last week!  In fact, I was able to do it in 20 minutes less than the Halifax half last year!  A personal best!  

I had a great race for the first two thirds, but then things got weird (14.2 km according to my Garmin).  I'm not sure if I was over-caffeinated (gorged myself on Gü Rocktane gels) or if I should have run slower.  It was a bit rough, but four of the TNT coaches on the racecourse helped me by running (or walking in one case) with me through the tough bits.  When I crossed the finish line, I collapsed into my friend Sophie's arms who sat me on the sidewalk and handed me her asthma pump, and then I was fine.  She was also the one to hand me my finisher's medal.

The following are a bunch of pictures from last weekend.  I apologize for the watermarks on the official race pictures.  These are only screenshots of the proofs on the marathonphoto website.  I seem to be smiling during all the rough bits... dunno how that happened.  It might have been all the purple people I saw who cheered me on, and whom I cheered on.  Running with TNT turns an endurance event into a party.

 The race started on Jacques-Cartier bridge....  it was cooooold, hence the garbage bags.

My sweat tastes salty  :)

This is when I started having trouble... why the heck am I smiling?

This is me trying to breathe the way Coach Brian told me to.

High-fiving Coach Cathlyn after she ran with me to corral leading to the finish line.

And then what happened?

Now my focus has switched to my final event of the season, which is the Nike Women's Half Marathon!  This is the same one that I completed in October of last year, which I decided to do again while sitting on the beach just past the finish line.  Two weeks from tomorrow I will get to participate in that incredibly fun Marathon again!  I am so very excited!  Some TNT friends and I are planning to run it "like tourists", which is to say that we will go slowly and enjoy the scenery and the atmosphere.  We will take many pictures along the way, and especially enjoy posing with the guys who will be handing us our "medals".  :)
As for the fundraising, I have raised $3,051.27 so far, which is not bad.  I would like to reach $4,000 by the end of the season.  There is a Fundraising Superstar t-shirt in my future, by gum!  That's something you get when you reach a lifetime total of $10,000 with TNT.  Anyone wishing to make a donation to Team in Training may do so here:  http://bit.ly/SponsorReb

Thank you very much indeed to those of you who have helped me with donations and words of encouragement!  It means a great deal to me and to our cause!  
Keep an eye on my YouTube page for video updates from San Francisco!

Thanks again!



Rebecca