Pictures

Sorry, I forgot to post the link for some pictures.  If you have to search, my bib number is 22364.

http://www2.brightroom.com/97708/22364

Post Race continued

After that she kept telling me to just take it a mile at a time.  She said "this mile is special because after this you will be on 22, then that mile is special because you will be on 23, and so on."  Then after that she said something that was what makes this story so awesome.  She said, "Just remember why you are running this race.  Marathons are painful and you want to quit, but it doesn't even compare to going through chemo."  After hearing that from her, I ran the rest of the race without walking.  I will never forget that conversation I had with her.  Very inspirational.  I tried to find her after the race, but didn't.

I got to mile 25 and that is when the fans were on the side of the road cheering and it was awesome.  When I was at about 25.75 miles, my Team in Training coach came to bring me across the finish line.  At this point, I was digging as deep as I could and giving it everything I had.  If you look at the pictures, you will see one where they captured the pain I was going through at the end.

I got to the last .2 miles and I looked over and saw my aunt yelling my name with a sign that read "Go Adam."  Then, I heard the song Starships by Nikki Minaj playing.  My teammates know that song gets me pumped up, so it was very fitting as I crossed the finish line.  Once I crossed the line, I had a huge smile on my face.  It was such an awesome feeling and awesome atmosphere.

My legs are still pretty sore even 2 days after the race, but it was more than worth it.  I am so glad I decided to experience this with Team in Training.  I will be continuing to do events with Team in Training.  I met a lot of great people that I hope to keep in contact with.

Thank you, again, to everyone who helped me in this journey by donating and also just all of the support from everyone and all the congratulations.

Also, to Matthew and the others I ran for:  there were over 24,000 people running at the event.  We were all running because we are inspired by you.  We ran to help fight cancer.  Just know that you are heroes and you are inspiring people every day.  Also know, that you have a lot of people that are happy to support you in any way they can.

I would also encourage anyone to join Team in Training for an event.  You will not regret it.  They have all kinds of events you can do and it is a great experience.  Let me know if you would like more information.

Thank you again.  I have posted this before, but I love this quote from John Wooden.  You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.  

Get out there and do something good for someone.  Big or small, they will appreciate it more than you may ever know.  Please also keep Matthew and others in your thoughts and prayers.  He is in his marathon right now and needs the support to help him win that race.  

Post Race

Well, I just got back from San Francisco, so I thought I would give a little recap about my experience this past weekend.  

The weekend started early Friday morning as we boarded the plane from Des Moines.  We arrived in Denver on time and shortly boarded the plane to head to San Francisco.  Again , the flight was smooth and on time.  I spent the afternoon relaxing and waiting for my family to arrive.  They arrived in the evening, so we went out to eat, hung out for a bit and then decided to call it a night.  

Saturday morning, I decided to go for a little jog to stretch out my legs and clear my head a bit.  I ended up jogging some of the crazy hills of San Fran and decided to cut it short so I didn't wear my legs out.  For lunch, we had the Inspiration Dinner.  This was a very cool event. We ate and then there were a couple speakers.  The first speaker was a guy who lost his wife to cancer and he is very active with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society because he promised himself he would do whatever he could, so people didn't have to go through what his wife did.  He has ran 50+ marathons and calls himself the back of the pack man.  He is all about enjoying the experience and had a lot of jokes about being one of the slow runners.

The next speaker was a cancer survivor.  She had a great story about her experience.  The day of the marathon was actually the 4 year anniversary of the day she found out she had cancer and she was going to complete her first half marathon.  She was very inspiring.  

After that, they announced the top fundraisers and the very top fundraiser was a lady in our group from Central Iowa.  She is very dedicated to Team in Training and she is also a survivor herself.  She raised over $40,000 by herself.  I was in awe when I heard that amount.  

After that, the family and I went on a bus tour of the city, walked across the bridge, and went to eat.  Then, we went in search of my pre-race breakfast.  I like to eat peanut butter on bread or toast before I go run and we had a little trouble finding peanut butter.  I finally decided I was just eat something else, but my mom and my brother were determined that I was going to get my peanut butter and they came back to the hotel with a jar of it.  That made that peanut butter sandwich extra special.  We hung out in the hotel for a bit and then I decided it was time to get some sleep.  

I was very surprised on how well I actually did sleep.  I got a good night's sleep and woke up about 15 minutes before my alarm went off.  I took a quick shower, ate my breakfast, and got all ready.  Then, it was time to head down to the lobby to meet the team.  After a few pre-race pictures, we headed out to the start.  The start was a block down from out hotel.  It was so awesome to walk out of the hotel and see a swarm of people.  I had a little trouble finding where I was supposed to be at first, but finally found it.  I was just looking around in amazement.  There was a guy standing next to me and I looked at him and said, "Never miss an opportunity to run with 20,000 women in San Fran."  He thought that comment was hilarious and he said it was his 4th time running the half there.  

Then, the race began.  When I started running, I just got a big smile on my face because it was just awesome to be experiencing it.  The first part of the race was pretty slow because there were so many people packed around you.  We couldn't have asked for better weather and it was really cool to run around the city and see the sights as you are running.  

I felt great from the start.  My IT band pain popped up in mile 3 for about a mile or 2 and ironically went away after that and it never bothered me again.  I don't understand that at all, but I am very thankful for that.   We got to mile 6 and there was a huge hill.  I have never ran on a hill like that before.  Then, after that you had to go down, which was almost worse than going up.  After that it was relatively flat until I believe mile 10 or so.  I just kept on running and enjoying the sights.  Every once in a while, I just found myself randomly smiling because it was just so awesome.  

I think it was about mile 18 and I finally took my first break to walk.  That was farther than I thought I would go without walking.  After that, it was just fighting through it.  

I think the coolest story of the whole trip happened to me on mile 21 or so.  I ran alongside this lady from Pennsylvania.  She told me this was her 58th marathon and she recently did a 50 mile run over in Switzerland.  She has ran in all 50 states and was telling me about Des Moines and how she really enjoyed it.             

The time has come

This is it people.  Tomorrow morning at 6 AM, I will be boarding the plane to San Francisco.  The time has finally come.  I am starting to get a little nervous, but I think once we get there and I have some time to relax and go to the inspiration dinner, I will get excited and confidence and adrenaline will take over. 

I have spent the last couple weeks resting and taking it easy on my leg.  I  got a massage the other day and she also showed me a few stretches I should do.  I have been icing, sretching, and using my foam roller a lot.  I have a little more confidence in my leg than I did before, but those feelings might change at mile 16 or so on Sunday. 

Last night I took the time to write the names of people I am running for on my jersey.  I have 4 individuals other than Matthew that I will be running for.  Two of them are battling cancer right now and two of them I will be running in their memory.

I want to thank everyone for all of your support, whether it be donations to LLS or just words of encouragement.  Also, I want to thank family and friends who are planning to come out to support me on race day.  For anyone who has been in a race and had people cheering you on, you know how much that helps.     

Matthew, I will do my whatever I can to cross that finish line for you, buddy.   

I am guessing this will be my last post until after the race.  I am hoping to take a lot of pictures to share.  I am really looking forward to this.  I honestly think this could be one of the greatest experiences of my life so far.  Thanks again to everyone who has helped along the way.