Jim Hampton's Team In Training Page
Racing to Save Lives
Welcome to my Team In Training home page.
FINAL UPDATE - 1/13/08
Today, I am the proud finisher of the P.F. Chang’s Marathon!!!!!! Yahoo!!!
When we got up this morning, I felt good. I got plenty of sleep last night, and my body was functioning pretty well with stretching. Our local group met together at 5:30am (yes AM) to go over last minute instructions, make sure everyone had everything they would need, and then took a group picture. We then proceeded to shuttle to the start, arriving there a little after 6:00am. The marathon wasn’t scheduled to start till 7:40am, so we had plenty of time to do further stretching, go to the port-a-potty (most of us several times—probably due to nerves), and just discuss race strategy.
The weather cooperated with us—the temperature at the start of the race was in the low 40’s, and by the end when I finished, it was in the 60’s. It was absolutely beautiful weather, and especially great for running.
There were over 30,000 participants—about 22,000 running the half-marathon, and about 9,000 of us running the full marathon. So as you can imagine it was tricky at the start just navigating all the people. Due to my projected finish time, I was in the last corral of runners, but once the gun started, the entire sea of humanity began moving forward as one. By the time I got to the start line, the runners in the front had already been running for about five minutes.
I felt good as we began. I was doing run/walk intervals of 10 minutes running, one minute walking up through the halfway point of the race. (This is the technique we were taught, and I really enjoy it for long race like this.) I made it to the 10K mark in a time of 1:08:38 (an average of about 11:03/mile). My time at the half-marathon (13.1 miles) was 2:35:55 (an average of about 11:54/mile). I was really pleased when I got there, as I was ahead of my projected time by 9 minutes, and was still feeling really good.
Things began to change around mile 16. My right quad muscle began cramping pretty badly, so I stopped to stretch and rub it for a few minutes. I started running again, but within just about five minutes, it started cramping again. I stretched a little more, but to the same effect. I found that I could power walk without any undue pain or cramps, so basically had to finish the next nine miles of the race doing this. Obviously, this had a huge impact on my time, as I was now closer to almost 15 minutes per mile. I tried at various points to run, but to no avail, as the cramps would start almost immediately.
The scenery on the race was just beautiful. I had the opportunity to meet several people over the course of the race who were matching my pace, and we enjoyed talking about our lives, our running history, and why we were doing this.
That brings me to my reason for running. As you know, both of my grandmothers died from cancer, and I have a cousin who is currently undergoing treatment for Leukemia. It was incredibly gratifying to see that there were about 1200 Team in Training participants in this race. I probably chatted with over 200 personally at some point during the race.
Yesterday, we had the opportunity to attend a motivational lunch for all TnT participants. There we heard several inspirational stories from survivors of Leukemia and Lymphoma, thanking us for what we were doing, and the impact it was having on their lives. The national director of TnT informed us that the 1200 of us had collectively raised over $3.6 million dollars (net)! Just think about that for a minute. Your contribution, no matter how big or small, was combined with those from tens of thousands of other contributors to make a HUGE difference by going to fund important cancer research aimed at totally eliminating Leukemia and Lymphoma.
Back to the race. I was still feeling OK until about mile 21. At that point, I realized just how tired I really was. I had been very intentional along the way to make sure I was properly hydrated (extremely important in the dry air of Arizona) and had eaten the right types of food (generally power bars or gels) in order to sustain myself. But I think that doing all that walking (as opposed to running) actually took more out of me because I was longer out on the course than I had planned. Miles 21-25 were just brutal. I can say with total honesty that I have never experienced anything so grueling physically! There were times I wondered if I would make it. The only thing that kept me going was the names I had pinned on to my back of both L+L survivors, and those I was running in memory of. I didn’t want to let them down; nor did I want to let all of you down who had done so much to ensure my participation. That, and the power of your prayers, allowed me to persevere. I can’t tell you the flood of relief that hit me after I passed the 25 mile mark! And I found that I was actually able to run again (although not very fast) all the way to the end, crossing the finish line at somewhat of a hobble. My total time was 5:55:42.
Crossing that finish line was truly a life-altering experience. I’ve done plenty of things in my life which I’ve been proud of, but this definitely ranks right near the top! I was crying, laughing, and smiling all at the same time. It was such a thrill to know that I had accomplished this monumental task.
I know I’ve said it many times before, but let me say it one last time—THANK YOU!!!! I cannot emphasize just how much I appreciated your support of me, and more importantly, the mission of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It was through your generosity that we were able to meet the fundraising goal, and it was through your prayers and encouragement that I was able to accomplish this significant goal.
Two weeks ago, I was asked to take on a special role: to serve as the mentor to the next group of Team in Training participants who will be participating in a marathon in San Diego in June. (Don’t worry—I won’t be asking you for any more money!) I look forward to helping the new participants learn how to accomplish both their fundraising and their training so that they can also feel this incredible sense of accomplishment as I have done. I look forward to the challenge.
This is the last update on my marathon run. You have been such a vital part of this journey, and I wanted you to know the full story. Blessings on each of you!!!
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Update 10/29/07
Well, we did it!!! We surpassed our goal of $4000. Yahoo!!!! A great big THANK YOU to all who gave so generously to this worthy cause. You are to be commended for your willingness to support this mission.
If you did not have the chance to contribute, let me encourage you to still give to this incredibly worthy cause. Every five minutes someone in the US is diagnosed with a blood-related cancer, and every 10 minutes, someone dies from it. Your financial contribution will go a long way toward helping the LLS find a way to cure these cancers.
ORIGINAL MESSAGE
I am training to participate in a marathon as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I'm completing this event in honor of my two grandmothers who died from cancer, as well as all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!
Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the Society's mission.
I hope you'll visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress.
Update 9/3/07: After two weeks of training, I'm already feeling comfortable (well, not comfortable, but at least enduring!) distances of 8 miles (which I've done twice now). I'm training with a great group of people which certainly helps make the distance a little more bearable. :-)
We're off to a good start with the fundraising, but let's keep it going!
Thanks for your support!
Update 9/29/07
I'm discovering that there is a method to the madness. I always thought that training for a marathon simply involved doing a longer distance each week. However, what I've discovered is that your body needs time to recover after longer runs, so we frequently will drop back in mileage for a week or so after a longer run and then crank it back up a notch.
I'm discovering that my left knee, which I hurt in a horseback riding accident years ago, flares up every so often (our trainer thinks it is probably arthritis). It doesn't keep me from running, but can make the first couple of miles a little more uncomfortable.
This week, as part of our run, we got the opportunity to hear some more stories of people who are dealing with Leukemia or Lymphoma and their courageous battle. As if I needed another reason, this will be yet another factor that will help me in my pursuit of the goal.
Thanks so much to all of you have given. Because of your generosity, we're now past the halfway point in reaching the goal. Of course, that simply means we've still got about 46% to raise in the next month. Therefore, if you haven't yet contributed, let me encourage you to do so.
I'll post more in a few weeks, but until then, keep me in your prayers.
