Running for Grammy....Flaming June Half Marathon

So it's been about a month and a half since my race.  Sorry that it's taken me this long to post an update - life is just really busy.

In the 4 weeks leading up to the race (and following my last post), the weekday runs continued at 5 miles with the Sunday run getting ever longer.  I threw in a 10k on a Sunday to give myself a bit of a break and topped out my training distance with 10 miles the following week.

And then I started having a lot of pain in my right foot.  Doing what research I could, I decided that it was probably the start of plantar fasciitis which was not a good sign.  The Sunday before the race I headed out for a long run and had to turn around almost instantly.  I knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to try to run in pain and would probably end up only making it worse.  The last thing I wanted to do at that point was have to withdraw from the race.

So I went home, rolled a frozen water bottle under my foot and rested.  And I hoped that it would start feeling better.

Then on Monday or Tuesday I went to TK Maxx on my lunch break to see if they had anything in stock that I might need.  (TK Maxx is just like TJ Maxx - only the name is different.  No clue why.)  I walked past the exercise equipment stand and on the top shelf was kinesiology tape.  I've never used kinesiology tape before, but I started wondering if it might help.  I did a quick Google search to see how one would tape up plantar fasciitis to make sure it was possible and then purchased a roll.

When I arrived home that night, I taped up my foot and was immediately amazed at the difference in how it felt.  Something about how the tape supports your arch which in turn gives your arch a break.  I don't understand it all - but I am a believer.  From that moment, I wore the tape 24 hours a day.  I didn't have any pain walking.  I was able to complete my last 2 pre-race runs - 4 miles and 2 miles.  And I was able to run the entire half marathon with little to no pain.

With Alice.  At the start, waiting for the countdown.  

The race was Sunday 7 June and it lived up to its name - Flaming June.  If you're reading this from the US, you will completely laugh at me when I tell you that it was sunny and around 20-23 degrees Celcius (70-75 degrees Fahrenheit).  I know - beautiful day, right?  But when you're not used to training in that, it does start to zap you.  Give me sunny and crisp.

Since the race was held just outside of Cambridge, we opted to take a taxi to get there deciding that while cycling there might be an okay warm-up, neither Alice or I wanted to have to cycle home.  We arrived with plenty of time to get checked in and warm up.  We took off in the 3rd wave - letting all the really speedy people get out in front.

Mile 1 was pretty quick - you've got an entire mass of people high on adrenaline and keen to get moving.  You just get swept up in what's going on around you.  But by mile 2 we had settled into our race pace of 9 minute miles.  I was super thankful for my Christmas gift from Luke at this point - my Nike GPS watch.  We knew we could relax a bit and enjoy the run.  13 miles is a long way to go if you're overdoing it.

Miles 2-7 were really good.  Cambridge isn't very big - even when you get outside the city, so the course covered lots of different areas.  After leaving Histon, we headed up the busway for a bit so the track was paved and nice and flat.  We then veered off into the country a bit, running through some fields and along some back roads before we connected with the busway again for a long, windy stretch.  The wind felt nice, but this was probably the least exciting section of the course.

We turned off and started to make the return trek.  It was at about this point that I started really feeling it.  I'd been running for over an hour.  I was tired.  And I had an hour still to go.  The tricks your mind plays on you at that point are just mean.  So many times I just wanted to say 'Screw it!  I'm done!'

But that run wasn't about me.  I wasn't running it because I like to run.  I wasn't running it to lose weight.  I was running it to raise money for Alzheimer's.  So I pushed those bad thoughts out and thought about Grammy and about my friends and family who were supporting me in this race.  And so I pushed.

I am not exaggerating or blowing smoke when I tell you that I could not have done this without you.  Just days before the race I had reached my fundraising goal of £300.  I had also set a time goal of 2 hours for the race and was therefore determined to hit it.

By the time I saw the mile 10 sign, I had mostly surpassed the tiredness and 'I can't do this anymore!' feeling.  I dug deep and did what I could to finish strong. I lost a few seconds on my split times, but was still on target to finish in time.

By miles 12 and 13 I had started passing quite a few people who had started in the earlier heats.  This was encouraging and helped me to keep pushing to the finish.  And I did!  With almost 2 minutes to spare.  My official time was 1:58:14.

I walked it off, stretched it out and then got ice cream!  As one does after a half marathon.  (Sadly there were no London Prides at this finish line.)

Overall it was a great experience.  If you asked me at miles 7-9,  I would have told you that I hate long distance running and that I was never going to do that again.  Ask me today and I'm not yet sure what I'd say.  I'm just now getting back into running in the mornings and that should start to pick up after next week.  I don't yet know what fundraising event is next for me.  Only time will tell, right?

Again, thank you so much for all your support throughout this race.  It means so much to me.

And while I know that Grammy doesn't understand to say thank you herself, I think she would thank you if she could.  I know that the £300+ pounds raised with go to Alzheimer's research and support.

With lots of love,
Aubs xx

Running for Grammy - Week 8 of Training

** Please help me reach my fundraising goal of £300 for Alzheimer's Society by donating on my Just Giving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/Aubree-Wisley-HalfMarathon-7June2015/ **

This is a conversation that happened in our house Monday night.....

Luke: How far are you running tomorrow morning?

Me: 5 miles

Luke: Phew!

Me: Yeah - my long runs have now become my short runs.

But instead of running 5 miles - I ran 6.27.  And my running partner Alice ended up at 8 miles.  

Fortunately my 'short' runs plateau at 5 miles for the rest of training and hopefully we can find a better (read: shorter) loop.

Since my last post on 19 April, I've run 40 miles - with two of those runs being my longest runs to date (7 miles 2 Sunday's ago and 8 miles this past Sunday).

 But why have I chosen to run 40 miles in the past 2 1/2 weeks?  Because my Grammy suffers from Alzheimer's and I'm running to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society in an effort to fund research that will find treatments (and maybe a cure) for this terrible disease.  

My rehearsal dinner - 21 June 2007

Right now I'm listening to a book called Elizabeth is Missing about a woman who has dementia.  It's told in the first person and is a very interesting depiction of what it must be like for someone who has dementia.  It really makes we wonder if her experience is anywhere close to Grammy's.  And my heart breaks for anyone who has to suffer through it.  As well as for the family members who are responsible for taking care of them.  

White family girls cruise 2006

Grammy turned 82 a few weeks ago.  Fortunately it was a good day and most of the family was able to attend.  I'm happy that so much of the family is still local.  I just have to wait until I go home later this year.

82nd birthday party - Thanks Andi for the photo!

As of today I have 32 days until my half-marathon.  It seems like the time is just flying by.  4 more long runs to go!

If you have a friend or family member who suffers from dementia or Alzheimer's, you know how hard it is on everyone involved.  And even if you've never experienced it first-hand, you probably will.  Please help me reach my fundraising goal of £300.  You can donate online on my Just Giving page.  

Thanks for reading.

Aubs 

Running for Grammy - Trainng for the Flaming June Half Marathon

March 2010

Last year, Luke and I ran our first race ever - a 10k in Kew Gardens.  We then took a while off to recoup, moved house, settled into life in Cambridge, Luke started rowing and we just completely fell out of the habit of running.  After a couple months off, I started running again - trying it fit in 2-3 outings a week.  And it's been going well.

But about a month ago I decided that I needed a motivator and goal so I started checking out upcoming races.  I decided to sign up for the Flaming June Half Marathon that takes place just outside of Cambridge.  We have a lot going on in the next couple of months, so a close to home race fit the bill.  And knowing that I'm going to have to run 13.1 miles will definitely get me moving.

2011

I've started training and am using Hal Higdon's Novice 1 Training Plan as a guide.  I'm currently in week 5 and ran just over 6 miles this morning.  6 miles is just under 10k - so this distance I am familiar with and can handle.  We'll see how I'm doing once we get to week 10.

But I don't run just for me.  I run for Grammy.  My Grammy is an amazing woman.  She's a great cook and an amazing seamstress - both of which she tried to teach me.  Cooking I can handle - but I wish I had taken more time to learn proper technique and skill when it came to sewing.  Unfortunately she is no longer able to do either.

August 2012

August 2012, just before Luke and I moved to the UK, was the first time that I had ever truly experienced the effects of dementia/Alzheimer's.  In the car on the way back to her apartment, Grammy looked over at me and said, "Your mom is dead, right?"  I think I was a bit in shock and told her no, that my mom was waiting for us at her apartment.  But I didn't know how to respond.  Do I go with the flow and continue on her train of thought or do I attempt to bring her back to reality which could upset her?  I still don't know the proper answer to that one.  

April 2012

Just a couple months later, I flew back home to attend my grandfather's (other side of the family) funeral.  Shortly before that, Grammy fell and broke her foot - and then her other foot.  She was in the hospital when I got there and we knew that she could not go back to her apartment.  We selected a skilled nursing facility for her to recoup in and after she had been moved I went to visit her for lunch one day.  

"Well how'd you get up here so fast?" was her question.  "What do you mean, Grammy?  Where do you think we are?"  "Grant City, of course."  Grant City is where Grammy grew up and where she and Grandad retired to.  It is about 2 hours north of Kansas City.  I tried to tell her we were in Kansas City, but she wouldn't believe me.  To her, we were definitely in Grant City.  

22 June 2007

It has gotten progressively worse while I've been in UK.  Today she lives in a memory care center in Smithville, Missouri.  

November 2014
(don't forget to check out the photobomber in the back!)

The woman she is today is so very different from the woman that I grew up with.  I don't get to see her very often any more, but when I do, it's hard.  
Outwardly she looks pretty much the same as she always has - except that she now has long, pink fingernails (there is someone that comes into her unit to do manicures).  But it's hard to remember the last real conversation I had with Grammy.  Today, conversations are more or less her stories about what she believes she did that day.  Sometimes it's funny.  Sometimes it's sad.  

March 2010

Other than Alzheimer's and the inevitable fact that she is getting older, Grammy is pretty healthy.  She could continue to live like she is for a very long time which is hard to cope with.  It is a very stressful process for her daughters and very sad for her friends and family who have known her for so long and miss the woman we know and love.  

Because we live in the UK, I am unable to be there for Grammy and my family.  Therefore, I am running this half marathon for Grammy in hopes that the research and programs that the Alzheimer's Society leads and participates in will find treatments that will slow/cure/prevent Alzheimer's in the future.  Please join with me by supporting me on this run.  You can sponsor me on my fundraising page.  My goal is to raise £300 ($450) and run the half in under 2 hours.  

I'll keep you updated on how the training is coming over the next 7 weeks.  Pray for endurance and no injuries.

Love you & miss you,

Aubs

Running for Grammy - Kew Gardens 10k

Last Sunday, Luke and I ran our first race - a 10k at Kew Gardens. I sort of took up running while we were living in Scotland but pretty much stopped after we moved to Cambridge.  At the beginning of the summer, I decided it was time to pick it up again and asked Luke if he'd run with me.  He said yes but told me that he needed a goal.  So I went online and started looking for races that we could participate in.  The Kew Gardens 10k met what we needed.  It was about 3 months away which would give us adequate time to train, it was relatively close and 10k seemed like a good starting race with a little bit of challenge mixed in.

My grammy has Alzheimer's and I've known that if I were to run a race that it would be to raise money for Alzheimer's for a long time.  And so we signed up with the Alzheimer's Society.  You can read our story on my fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/Aubree-Wisley/.  We even got cool running tops.  And I didn't think about it when I was ironing on our names, but it was so nice because the volunteers could cheer us on by name as we passed by.  It's the little things, right?

We used the Women's Health 10k Training Plan and were able to stick pretty close to the schedule.  Our time scale was a bit longer than this one so we repeated the middle weeks a couple times.

Because the race started early on Sunday, we went down to London on Saturday afternoon and rented a room via Airbnb in Chiswick.  We really liked the area and hope to go back and explore more.

We woke up early on Sunday and walked to the tube station to go the three stops to Kew Gardens.  You can see our sleepy faces in the picture above.

The day was beautiful - perfect running weather.  Blue skies, cool start to the day.

Kew Gardens was also great because it the scenery was beautiful. For some reason the view makes a huge difference when we're running.

Somehow we started off near the front of the hundreds of other runners.  That didn't last long though.  How someone runs at that pace for 6.2 miles I will never understand.  Oh well.

My goal was to run it in under an hour.  And we did!  53 minutes 16 seconds.

And the feeling you have when you finish is amazing!  Totally wasn't expecting that.

At the end of the race, we picked up all of our post race treats - which included your standard British post-race necessity:

However, we opted for ice cream as it was still only 10am.  The beer made a great accompaniment to our dinner that evening.

Overall, we really enjoyed the experience and would like to do another race in the near future.  I'll keep you updated.

There is still time to donate if you'd like.  Just click on the link: https://www.justgiving.com/Aubree-Wisley/.  And it doesn't matter which side of the pond you are on.  They've figured all that out for you already.

Love & miss you,
Aubs, Luke & Luther