Eitan Loewenstein's Team In Training Page
You want me to run how far?!
A few months ago Joel Shickman, a friend to both Johannah and myself, passed away after a year long battle with leukemia. He is survived by his wife Heather and three sons: Coleman, Miles and Ellis.
To honor Joel's memory Johannah and I have committed to running in the Rock 'n Roll Marathon (26.2 miles) in San Diego in June of this year. We'll be participating through Team In Training. Team In Training raises money for leukemia and lymphoma research and treatment.
I know, you think I'm a hardcore athlete who could run 26.2 miles in my sleep. And you're partially right. The only way I could run 26.2 miles now is if I was dreaming.
Johannah and I have been training for the past several months already and training will continue until the week before the race. With hard work we'll be able to complete this race and honor Joel's memory.
Any contribution you could make to help me reach my fund raising goal would be very appreciated. Every dollar will help and go a long way towards fighting this awful disease.
Congrats to Vida Ghaffari, winner of my headshot raffle.
UPDATE 6/3/08:
We did it! Johannah and I finished our races!
San Diego was a blast. Team in Training really made sure the entire experience was wonderful. Saturday we checked into our hotel and rested a little bit before we went to the pasta party. The food was "meh" but the presentations were absolutely wonderful. They had a few people talk about running and the society and then one of our fellow runners, who currently has cancer, got up and told us his story and how the society and Team in Training made a huge difference in his life. It was really pretty moving.
The next morning we were shuttled off to the start line at 4:00AM for the 6:30 start. Our training group hung out together on the grass at Balboa Park while we were waiting for the start. Everyone had a chance to relax a little bit, stretch and laugh away a few pre-race jitters.
Soon we were all put in groups divided by time. I was really happy because Johannah and I got to start together, even if we wouldn't get to finish together. Once we actually got past the starting gate (10 minutes after the gun went off) we were off to the races. Or more accurately the professionals were off to the races, I got a good steady pace going and managed to run 10:30 miles for the vast majority of the race.
That was until mile 19. I guess you could say I hit the "wall" although I would more accurately describe it as a piece by piece breakdown. First it was my hips, then my thighs and then eventually I started getting chest cramps. The hips and thighs I managed to mostly run through. But once the chest cramps started happening I couldn't breath well enough to run. I even had trouble walking quickly. The longest single stretch I managed to run after my cramps got bad was 1:50. That's one minute, 50 seconds. I had to do a slow walk for the end of the race.
The race itself was really fun. We ran on a freeway, through downtown SD, around Petco Park, up into residential areas and over a bridge and finished in the Marine base. It was quite a sight to see Marines checking running numbers before letting us go to the finish line.
I must say the Team in Training people were absolutely amazing once I was on the course. My coaches jogged along side me for a little bit or simply made sure to say "hi" as I went by. Once I started hobbling around the 22 mile mark other coaches traveled along side me to make sure I was OK and not hurting myself further. One of my coaches even met me at the very end of the race to make sure I could run in the last few seconds, to get a good photo. How nice of them.
So if you look at my official results http://results.active.com/pages/oneResult.jsp?pID=39861639&rsID=64204 you can see I finished in 5:31:32. I ran the first half in 2:20:50, which means the second half took me nearly three hours. During that time I got passed by a guy who was speed walking wearing socks, flip flops and carrying two walking sticks. Walking will do that to you. Yowsa.
But I'm very happy and proud that I finished the race. If you had told me seven months ago that I'd be finishing a marathon I'd have literally laughed in your face. But here I am. Heck, I'm already looking forward to trying to train for another one in the future and hopefully making it the entire race without serious pain.
But the best part of the whole experience is that together Johannah and I raised around $5000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I'm so proud of Jo for all the amazing hard work she put in and for finishing her half marathon. Go Jo!
UPDATE 5/25/08: Second to last entry. Woo hoo. The race is only six days away. It's been a few weeks since I wrote, so here's the short version: I missed my 20 mile run because of my first ever migraine. Three days later I tried making it up but got dizzy and dehydrated because I hadn't been eating or drinking much in the days leading up to the run. Stupid, I know. I made it over 12 miles, but not much farther.
I did make the next two runs which were 12 and 8. They were OK.
Despite all of that I'm still feeling confident and excited for next week. It's such an amazing thing to be a part of and I'm sure my adrenaline will help me push through those last few miles.
Oh, and I reached my fund raising goal! Horray! Thank you to everyone who helped me make it. This shouldn't stop you from donating if you were going to. The money is going for to a great cause.
Next week I'll update this page on how the race went. Then that'll probably be it!
UPDATE 5/5/08: - Yesterday I joined the ranks of the insane. We had a "short run" of "only" 12 miles. Well, technically it was a little less than 12, but who's counting. I ran that in under two hours because I had to go off to my softball game. I got to my softball game and was informed that I'd be catching for the whole game. Oh yeah, and they forgot all the catcher's gear. So I kneeled, squatted, got up and down for a pitcher who couldn't throw something into my glove to save his life and took at least a dozen balls in the shins for a whole softball game and still managed to hit a single, walk once and score twice. Even more amazing, I can still stand upright today. Next week is the longest training run we do, 20 miles. I'm sure the next training update will be fascinating.
UPDATE 4/30/08:
Two weeks without an update? Here's the semi-short version of what's been up with my running these past two weeks: Johannah and I were up in Ojai for Passover so I had to run there. Ojai is very hilly and simply running out of and back into the camp we were staying in translated into a 150 foot elevation loss/gain. So there were no easy runs. I did a nice hard hill run the first day I was there and got sick for the next three days. I managed another six and eight mile run before we got back to LA.
On my eight mile run some local yelled at me from his car, I turned my head and tripped on something bolted to the concrete. I fell into some gravel. So now I've got road rash on my elbow and knees. I ran almost the entire way back (over a mile) all bloody and dirty. I'm so hardcore.
Other than that running in Ojai was great. I'd be out alone surrounded by nature on a secluded road. It was something out of a postcard, quite cheesy really.
We missed the team's 15 and 17 mile runs and didn't have the time up in Ojai to run either of those. So yesterday we set out on an 18 mile run together. At the eight mile mark Jo started to feel yucky, so we decided to cut the run to only 16 miles (yes, only). At about the 10 mile mark our pace slowed to a very very leisurely jog as Jo's knee started hurting. At 12 miles that jog became walking because Jo could barely make it on. At around 14 miles she told me to go on without her. Obviously I didn't. We walked those last few miles very slowly together. The whole run/walk took around four hours and 45 minutes. Jo was a real trooper to keep going even though she was hurting. Poor girl.
UPDATE 4/8/08: Bloody Nips.
UPDATE 4/8/08: Ok, I didn't run this last Sunday. Instead I was in Mammoth Mountain skiing all day (and a good chunk of Monday too). I went with a bunch of friends who ski and snowboard all the time. I was being pretty cautious and was doing turns all the way down the mountain almost every time we did a run. At the end of the day they were all exhausted and I felt like I could go for another couple hours. It's amazing what all this running has done for my body.
UPDATE 3/30/08: It's very dramatic to say "today I ran farther than I ever have in my life." It's true, but it's been true most of the past few weeks. This week, it really hit home. We ran twelve miles in the Santa Monica/Venice area and it was quite intense. My group ran at a good clip and it still took two hours and ten minutes to do the whole thing. That's like running the entire time you're watching a movie (drama, not comedy). Food for thought: the world record for the half-marathon (13.1 miles) is 58:33. That's a mile farther than I ran in less than half the time. I'm just impressed by that to no end.
UPDATE 3/23/08: Most people don't know this, but there's more to training for a marathon than running more than you ran the week before until you hit 26.2 miles. There are lots of different methods and strategies people use to train. One thing our coaches use is called "tapering." It's pretty standard to taper as you get closer to the race but our coaches added in mid-training tapers. Basically that means we ran less today than we ran last week. Then we ease our millage back up. It's supposed to allow our bodies time to recover.
Well, someone forgot to tell my body. Today we ran eight miles and it was WAY harder than the ten we ran the week before. My muscles ached, I'm getting sick and I slept terribly last night. The fact that it was in the 80s with ZERO breeze didn't help at all. Major yuck. But I'm very happy I did it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go ice the knees I borrowed from a 90 year old man.
UPDATE 3/19/08: I'm quite used to being looked at like I'm crazy when I run. This is Los Angeles. The transportation pecking order goes as follows: limo, your own car, public transit, pushing a shopping cart full of cans, bicycle, feet. So it's understandable that people look at me like I'm insane. But today I got looks that went beyond "you're insane." Today I might as well have been running through people's back yards with a chainsaw. These looks were full of disgust and complete disbelief. Where was I running? Rodeo Drive. The "Pretty Woman" section.
UPDATE 3/16/08: I'm typing this update with one hand. No, no, this is not that kind of website. I'm just icing the bottom of my shin. For some reason it's the only part of my body that decided to ache after a ten mile run. My pace group today went a wee bit insane. We didn't have an official Team in Training pace from a mentor for a good chunk of the run so we ran at our own pace, which was kinda fast. The whole group managed to stick really close together but we pledged not to let the "faster group" which was behind us catch up with us. We didn't. It was a little stupid, considering we're supposed to be running at a slow pace (Long Slow Distances is what they call it, the boring LSD) but it was really fun and the whole group seemed to enjoy it. Nothing wrong with a little friendly competition. We're in double digits baby!
UPDATE 3/9/08: Do you know what's evil? Making our running time earlier on the day we move our clocks forward. We had to be in Marina Del Rey at 7:30AM which was like being there at 6:30AM. Oh, and then we had to run eight miles. I realized something funny. Running eight miles feels exactly like you think it would. You get tired and it's really far.
I've added an extra incentive to be one of the first 50 people to donate to me. I'm giving away the hat I got from the fund raising I did so far. It's super light weight and vented, perfect if you want to take up running yourself. All you have to do is donate. Giving ten dollars gives you the same chance of winning as giving 100. Only I won't give you such a bear hug. Shipping costs are on me if you live out of arms reach. I'll be raffling it off April 15th if I have less than 50 people (boo) and earlier when I hit 50 people. Right now I'm at 21 donors, so you don't hesitate too long.
UPDATE 3/3/08: Something is wrong with my brain, that's the only logical explanation. I was all set to train for and run a half-marathon. That's 13.1 miles. I've walked that distance a few times in my life but never run it. Yet partway through training I start to think I could complete an entire marathon. The training program is MUCH harder but the end result is much cooler. So instead of training for the half, I'm going all the way. 26.2 miles of pure running fun.
Funny thing, on the week I decide I want to up my goal I skipped practice. I'm going to make up the millage running on my own (7 miles of hill running) but I missed practice to take part in the LA Bike Tour. You bike most of the LA Marathon route on city streets. You start before 6AM and are done at around 7:45 so the marathon can take place. We biked all around downtown, over the LA River and into East LA a little bit and around all sorts of neighborhoods that I've never seen before. It was around 20 something miles of biking (after which I went to go play a softball game, we lost). It was a really cool experience and unless I'm running the LA Marathon next year I'd like to do it again. You should too. Yes, you.
UPDATE 2/24/08: Today we ran five miles. It was cold and it rained a tiny bit. Could have been worse I guess. We could be training in Vancouver or Minnesota under seventeen feet of snow (just guessing). No, we just get the rain and chill. It's weird, the first two miles were way harder than the last three. I really found my grove and the whole experience got much more manageable. Near the end of our run they had us count our pace and see how close we were to the magical cadence of 180 steps per minute. I was at 160, they told me to speed up my steps to maximize efficiency. Oy.
UPDATE 2/20/08: I've decided to post updates on this page as my journey to being able to run without looking silly continues. If you like this sort of thing please check out Johannah's running blog. She does a really good job of chronicling her running and mocking me.
Team in Training is all about training as a group to be able to run this thing. They put me in a slightly in-shape pace group after I ran a 29:16 5K (3 miles). I remember back in the old days I ran a 12 minute mile and was impressed by myself. Amazing what a little hard work can do.
