Last night, with a tasty beer in hand and rain in the forecast, I seriously considered not running today's Firecracker 5K. When I woke up this morning, the radar looked mostly clear, so I headed to Brentwood. The temp was 73, and humidity and dewpoint were in the high 60s. The cloud cover was nice.
Before the start, I saw Melissa, a former co-worker who was wearing a purple TNT shirt, and my nice neighbor, Rhonda. I thought of courageous Ann Gregory and her husband, Chris, at M.D. Anderson in Houston, facing difficult, all-too-familiar challenges. I dedicated the run to them, two people I don't know but understand every bit of what they're facing.
As the race began, I saw Rhonda pass me with a nice pace. My goals were to get to the Mile One marker in 8:20 and Mile Two at 16:10 and then see if I could bring it home hard. Last year, when I was cross-training hard, I ran a 24:09. I wanted to be in the ballpark this year. An 8:00/mile pace seemed reasonable, given recent performances.
As many young people passed me, I listened to a new high-tempo iMix - Boy (Book of Love), I'm Not Going Out Like That (Run DMC), Red Skies (The Fixx), Synchonicity II (The Police), Hey Ya! (Outkast) and Fly Away (Lenny Kravitz). I felt decent, hitting Mile One at 7:55. Too fast. Mile Two went fine. 16:08. OK, not bad. That's where I wanted to be.
Right after Mile Two, you get a double shot of small hills. They hurt and I felt my heart rate climb, but I kept the pace. Few folks were passing me now. At 2.7 miles, this tiny little girl (let's call her Sue Pain) appeared on my shoulder. A few folks around me stopped running. More slowed. Sue asked me if I wanted to relax and slow. I thought again of Ann and Chris in their Houston hospital room. Sue and her pitchfork disappeared.
Some dude who was kicking it in passed me. I decided to run with him, and we finished in stride. Finish time: 25:08, an 8:04/mile pace. My Garmin said I ran 3.11 miles. Average speed was 7.4 mph.
Most people in the finish pen sucking water and eating bananas looked a lot younger than me. I saw Rhonda, who thinks she ran right at 24 minutes or a shade below. Great run. I felt good about my run, too. I ran a smart race and kept the accelerator on the floor. Right now, I'm probably capable of a 23-minute 5K in optimum conditions (dry and cool).
I saw Dr. Jagasia, Dori's clinic physician, finish, and went to find him. I also saw Dr. Morgan, who is part of the team that treated Dori on 11 North. Dr. Jagasia told me about an effort their VUMC team is pursuing to add technicians to complement their clinical skills. He talked about instances in which the team has needed more instantaneous support to diagnose. More to follow, but Dori and I likely will be involved in some way to support.
I also saw Chuck Hargrove, my former softball teammate and all-around good guy. Chuck paced a friend, then headed out for a six-mile cooldown run. The boy likes to run. Chuck met Dr. Jagasia and thanked him for treating Dori. He told Dr. J that he'd been praying for him and his team to take care of her.
Dori did her "own Firecracker run" this morning - a 2.5-mile run/walk in our hilly neighborhood. She looked good afterwards. Dori's walking about 8-10 miles a week now. I like the direction. Last year, when I ran the Firecracker, Dori was a few weeks into a 53-day, chemo-filled hospital stay.
Lastly, here's information about an important upcoming Bone Marrow Drive in Springfield. Melody Alexander is a friend of a co-worker, Valerie. Melody does not have a donor. If you live in Middle Tennessee, especially north of Nashville, please swing by.
BONE MARROW/BLOOD DRIVE FOR MELODY ALEXANDER
SATURDAY, JULY 26, 2008
11 AM UNTIL 4 PM
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
200 5TH AVENUE WEST
SPRINGFIELD, TN 37172
MELODY WAS DIAGNOSED EARLIER THIS YEAR WITH LEUKEMIA. SHE MUST HAVE A BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT AND CURRENTLY NO DONOR HAS BEEN LOCATED. CALL MARCIA CARLISLE @ (615) 696-8263 TO SCHEDULE AN APPT. FOR A BLOOD DONATION AND/OR TO REGISTER FOR THE NATIONAL BONE MARROW REGISTRY. CALL SUSAN HALL @ (615) 696-0750 W/ANY QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE EVENT OR BECOMING A BONE MARROW DONOR. YOU CAN CHECK THE BONE MARROW WEBSITE FOR MORE DETAILS AND ELIGIBILITY @ WWW.MARROW.ORG.
Happy 4th, everyone.
2 comments:
Jim, congratulations on a great 5K race today. Often the most difficult part of any run is walking out the front door. Keep chanting, "Run for Dori, run for Dori, ... ."
Yes, I am honored to have met Dori's physician. It is great to put a face with my prayer intentions.
Have a great holiday. Thank you for your service to our country.
Chuck
Jim, Thank you. We were both runners in a past life and duly impressed with your run. I think Chris's jaw literally hit the floor when he heard your time. Chris hasn't competitively run since the army when his best time for a 2 mile run was 15:35. (He asked me to include that; must be a guy thing. ;))
Keep up the good fight.
Ann
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