Siobhan Anderson's Team In Training Page
Racing to Save Lives
Welcome to my Team In Training home page. I did it- I'm officially a marathoner! See below for deatils.
Well here I am, in the midst of training to participate in the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon- 26.2 miles, 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.
My inspiration and motivation: My big sis Keara
As some of you may know, my beautiful big sister Keara was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease when she was 3 years old. At that time, Keara was the youngest person to be diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma. She was so young and fragile and endured a year of treatment to fight this disease. Luckily over time, she beat the cancer. However, all the other children in her pediatric cancer group (most with Leukemia) did not survive. I could not even imagine not having her in my life and my heart goes out to those families who have lost someone due to blood cancer or any cancer for that matter. I am running in honor of Keara and the hundreds of thousands of individuals who are battling blood cancers today.
Please make a 100% tax deductible donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the Society's mission. My fundraising goal is $4,000 and I can only get there with your support!
The Marathon experience:
So, October 8th came and I was SO prepared. I was loading up on my carbs, drinking TONS of water, felt good and ready for my big marathon day! Chicago had record high temperatures on the day of the marathon- 88 degrees and lots of humidity. I wasn't too fazed, I've been running in over 90 degree heat, so it didn't seem like such a big deal. I just knew I would have to take it slow. The beginning of the race was amazing- incredible crowds and cheers. Than the heat came on. At the first water stop, there was no water left! We knew there was going to be problems if they didn't have enough water at the first stop! The next was sparse and either the stops did not have water or Gatorade, or both, or did not have cups. Runners were picking cups off the ground to get some water. Thankfully, I brought my fuel belt, so I had water with me and could refill when I saw water. I started feeling the heat around mile 6. My TNT running mate and I dunked our heads in nearby fountains to stay cool. By mile 9 the locals were out on the streets with their hoses spraying us all down. I can't even tell you how much that helped, but at the same time my sneakers became soaking wet and weighed me down. It was very difficult to run in this heat, we had to stop every mile to walk. People were walking all around us. The fire dept came out to spray the crowds with the fire hoses. You saw people dropping all over the place- on the side of the road getting medical attention. It was crazy and sad. However, I felt good; after all I was trained by TNT. I was taking it slow, getting water however I could, taking breaks and I could have kept going to the end (as long as there was water). Than all of a sudden, I'm running and there are cars driving next to me. I asked what was going on and someone in the crowd said the marathon was canceled and they've just diverted us back to the start. We were at mile 17 and they were stopping us from accomplishing what we've worked so hard for! To say I was disappointed is an understatement, I felt like I was stabbed in the heart. I felt good and could have finished, but after hearing rumors that they ran out of water at the later miles, I don't know if I would have finished under those conditions. I still got a medal, but it means little to me other than I survived one of the hottest marathons. I logged around 18 miles and left with no real sense of accomplishment. Than our wonderful NYC coach- Ramon gave me something to be happy about. He told me he was going to continue training those that did not get the marathon experience they worked so hard for and we would run the Philadelphia marathon! I jumped in right away, there was no way I was going to have spent 5 months training and than hang up the sneakers without that ‘moment’. However, that next month of training was hard. After tapering for 2 weeks and than recovering another week after Chicago, it was hard to get back into training. And the temperature started dropping considerably in November, which made it difficult to get out and run. But I did it because I knew I needed to. On November 18th, 2007 I officially ran my first marathon. My time was 5 hours and 8 minutes. It was incredible! Don’t get me wrong, it was hard, but one of the best days of my life! The weather was cold and rainy- I had on long sleeves and gloves- a drastic difference from Chicago. The crowds weren’t as big as Chicago, but still good support. I walked through each water stop and soon started looking forward to that walk. I stopped and stretched at mile 20 and than headed back to finish what I started 6 months ago! It was such an amazing feeling crossing that finish line; I had a smile on my face all day! Thank you all again for you tremendous support, I could not have done this without you.
Training update:
September- this is it, the last month of training! It's crunch time to get in those miles and work up the endurance. I ran 21 miles yesterday- the longest I will run before the marathon. It took a long time, longer than I wanted, but hopefully the conditions will be better during the marathon. It was HOT and rocky- we ran the trails in New Jersey. But overall, it went very well and I didn't feel that bad after. I took my first ice bath afterward, which felt great. My right foot is hurting badly, but it's for a good cause so I'll suck it up!
August update- Up to 14 miles and heading for the big 15 this weekend! Wish me luck!!! Also LOTS of hill training this month. Funny- I don't remember Chicago having hills- but the coaches say it's all about building the muscles!
July update- I just ran my first 10 miles! I ran from riverside park (72nd St.) to World Trade Center and back! I felt great, a little sore, but great. We also a nice hot and very hilly long run accross the George Washington Bridge and along the Hudson.
The month of June brought more miles- I'm up to 7 miles on my long runs now, and my first race ever! I ran the 5 mile Hope & Possibility race in Central Park and had a great time with it. It was exciting to be part of a race and I finished in around 50 minutes.
Training is going well, they are starting to really challenge us with effort levels and long long runs. But I feel good and feel like I'm finally starting to enjoy running!
Thanks for visiting, be sure to check back often to see my progress. Thanks again for your support!
