Super Quick Blog

Ran only 4 miles on Friday. Have not run since that time because i've been under the weather. Only 2 weeks till the Relay!

Celebration of Life

I almost forgot this picture was taken until I saw it last night on the giant screen. Can't wait for Team Brenda and to Brenda my races!

Up'N the Miles!

This past week, I was able to run 4 miles, 3 days in a row. In my ever short running career thus far, i'm pretty sure I have not ran 3 days in a row ever. It's always been every other day or at most two days in a row. Needless to say I was not use to the short recovery time. The biggest discomfort are the quads. I suppose I need to strengthen those.

Saturday (PM) - 4 miles: 44:47 (11:11/mile)
Sunday (PM) - 4 miles: 44:59 (11:14/mile)
Monday (AM) - 4 miles: 45:11 (11:17/mile)

I need to run again.

Till We Meet Again

A few hours ago, I got word that my good friend Brenda passed away at the age of 36. She was a wife and mother of two energetic young boys. About three years ago, she was healthy like many of us. Our paths crossed in 2005 when I joined Team in Training (TNT) to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and train for my first marathon. Brenda was an honoree of the TNT program. On a day, two years ago, she felt exhausted and was unable to climb the stairs of her own home. After being puzzled why she could not even get up a flight of stairs, she went to see her doctors. She later found out she was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). Brenda went through 3 rounds of chemotherapy and after a stem cell transplant of her own, she was in remission.

To be honest, I did not know Brenda was an honoree of the program until pretty late in my first season as a participant. Even then, I had not spoken to her. That is until my first marathon in Arizona. Around mile 15, I bent over because I was not feeling well. Many other runners asked if I was okay. Then I saw a familiar face. It was Brenda and her cousin Miah, who were also running the marathon. I'm not sure if she knew my name, but i'm sure she recognized me. She asked if I was okay. I said "not really." She gave me a bag of pretzels and told me to hold onto it and as motivation, she showed me a picture of her all "tubed up" in the hospital and told me if she could get through that, I can finish the race.

They continued off and those pretzels came in handy later. I did finish the race and surprisingly I finished ahead of both of them. Brenda later would always give me crap because I looked so bad at mile 15, that it did not make sense that I could finish ahead of them. She said I hustled them. Hehe.

I really got to know Brenda the following season, where she was an honoree for the run team and the triathlon team. She herself was training for Wildflower and the half marathon in Alaska. We really clicked during Wildflower training weekend, which required outdoor camping. I really was not sure about going, but looking back, I'm glad I did because that's where I got to know Brenda and saw more of her amazing qualities. A few months later, Brenda would finish her triathlon.

Brenda was one of the main inspirations for me to try a triathlon. I did not take on the Olympic Distance she did, but I signed up to do a Tri-for-Fun (a sprint distance). After I got my bike, she quickly called me for a bike ride.

That was also one of my favorite moments with her. I had not ridden a bike since I was probably a kid. We rode the Iron Horse Trail from Danville to Dublin and back. I was basically struggling all the way and requested for many stops. She laughed it off and said "again?" She made fun of me because I had this great bike and it couldn't help me. I told her just think if I did not even have that. She continued to ridicule me because I kept complaining that my butt was sore from the bike seat. We finished about 13 miles that day.

Near the end of my second season, Brenda relapsed. I would no longer run or bike with her; however, I did get to spend time with her while she was in the hospital and was even honored to donate my blood (first time) for her. I still remember the time we had a karaoke duet and watch her perform "Baby Got Back!" A performance that even Simon Cowell would praise.

Those are the fun times I will remember Brenda. She loved to have fun and would lovingly talk about her boys. She loved to blog and would constantly rip my blogs because they were boring and lacked what she called "flair." Brenda loved life and cherished every moment of it. She was freakishly strong and fought to the very end. It's surreal I won't be able see her or follow her blogs any more, but I know she'll be reading mine. Brenda will always be in my heart and whenever I feel something is impossible, i'll look to her and I will persevere because she never ever quit.

Brenda - May you rest in peace.

Till we meet again!

Phil

Running 3's

Past week:

Tuesday - 3 miles
Saturday - 3 miles
Sunday - 3 miles

Next week, i'll increase it to 4 miles and hopefully get them closer in days to simulate the frequency of the relay legs.

Saturday Run Recap

Yeah...I know. I'm three days late. Saturday's run was great. I crashed the Spring Team's coach's run in Alameda and saw many familiar friendly faces. It truly made the run fun. I initially opted to do 6 miles, but thanks to a push from Raji and Claudia, I went out to do 2 more miles for a total of 8 miles. I think that's the furthest I ran thus far in 2007. My previous long was 10 miles with Olivia back in December. I finished an amazing 1:20:09. I'm not sure if that is for real. That's a 10:01 mile. That can't be right. The miles must have definitely been off. Overall, I felt great. However, for the relay...I don't need to run more than 6 miles at a time. I just need to run it at least 3 times.