Sean Valley - Team In Training Participant

So by now you've probably heard that I am diversifying my Team in Training experience. I am training for the Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon which takes place in Anchorage Alaska on June 18, 2005. I will try to keep this training blog up as much as possible with photos and insight into my Team in Training experience. I hope you'll check by often and learn a little bit more about why I do this.
Sean

still wanna read last year's blog? click here

May 6, 2005 - I received an email from our Honored Teammate, Stacey, tonight. She's been at practices and she's a lot of fun. She is telling her story to the team through email. I thought I'd share that story with you, my devoted supporter(s). So here is Stacey's Story.

May 4, 2005 - Dagnabit. I made the jury. Three weeks of sitting in a chair.

May 3, 2005 - Ouch! I swam tonight with the Maui Tri group. My first time in the water since... September?? August??? We did about 2200 yards, and I kept up. This could be really painful tomorrow.

May 2, 2005 - I have jury duty this week. I was called for a jury (I'll skip this Pauly Shore reference, one per year is plenty), and thought I would not make the final cut because there were so many people. By the time today ended I was sitting in chair number 5 in the jury box, and I'm facing a three week trial. This is not good timing, but I refuse to sabotage the jury and try to get out of it. If (Heaven Forbid) I am ever on trial, I hope I don't have a jury of people who are not smart enough to get out of jury duty.

April 30, 2005 - God has a sense of humor, but you know what, so does Pauly Shore, and sometimes he's just plain not funny. Last night I found out about my stress fracture. Today I went to our training run (I will continue to call them runs), as I started out I walked with Team Captain, Scott Weaver. Scott had surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm in the first week of April. Yes, open heart surgery less than a month ago, and he's at practice. After Scott ran away from me (a testament to him, not a slam against me) I met up with a woman who's sister died two weeks ago of Leukemia. Suddenly, my stress fractured left shin isn't so bad. At this point, however, I was still bitter. Then about three miles in I started to notice that my heel was rubbing against the back of my shoe. It felt like a small pebble was in my shoe, so I stopped a couple of times and wiggled my sock, at one point I even took it off, and it didn't get any better. So, I decided at about mile 4.25 that I would practice for the songs I am to sing at church tomorrow, a Steven Curtis Chapman song called "Live Out Loud." One line of the chorus says, "This is life we've been given, made to be lived out. So la, la, la, la, live out loud - Live out loud!" God, you are a witty one.

This put me into a much better place. Ready to celebrate the fact that I am still out here, I haven't had surgery, I have my health and an amazing wife and two healthy daughters. I'm not going to finish the marathon as fast as I had hoped, but I am going to finish it with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. So, boys and girls. "Wake the neighbors, get the word out. Come on, crank up the music, climb the mountain and shout, 'This is life we've been given, made to be lived out.' So la, la, la, la, live out loud - Live out loud!" Ya, by the way. The blisters suck! Coach Ginny just grimaced and said, "You gotta get New-Skin." So, I went to the Redmond Foot Zone and they guy said it was the worst blister he's ever seen. So I thought I'd share it with you:)

April 29, 2005 - By Tuesday I hadn't seen any progress and my shin was killing me at work so I called the doctor and went in that afternoon. I was referred to a podiatrist immediately. After some frustration, I got in to see Dr. Woodle tonight at 5:30. He pushed, poked, stretched and had me run down his hallway. Then he sat me down and asked if I had already purchased my ticket to Anchorage because my injury will not heal in time for me to participate in the Mayor’s Midnight Sun Marathon. He confirmed my worst fear. The injury that I had been thinking was shin splints seems to be right on the border of a stress fracture and with only 6 weeks until race day he said it would not be likely that I could get my pain level manageable and put in the mileage necessary to complete the marathon. I informed him that was not an option and that instead of running I will walk. I will finish. I am not doing this for me. I am doing this to honor my mom. Now, I’ll be totally honest, if my mom were alive today, she would totally understand if I bowed out or transferred to a fall season marathon, but my mom’s not here, so I don’t have that chance to talk with her about it. So, I will be going forward, tenderly, but completely. I will follow everything the doctor prescribed, creams, physical therapy, and the new shin brace, but I will be there in Anchorage on June 18th and I will finish in my mom’s memory. As you can imagine, I am incredibly frustrated right now, and down right sad.

April 23, 2005 - Well, that was frustrating. I took off with every bit of enthusiasm I could muster for a 14 mile run along the Burke Gilman Trail. I caught up to Michael, Betsy, Rory and Kate (Mike was in D.C.) but I couldn't hang. After the water stop at 3 miles I realized that this day was going to have an early end for me. So, I got to the 4 mile marker and turned around. I spoke with Shelby after and decided to cross train for the week to give my shin some recovery time.

April 19, 2005 - Asics is not a miracle cure. I should not have run today, but it was so darn beautiful out that I had to. I wore my new shoes (pictured at left) but my shin still hurt. I ran about 3 miles. Started at mile post one and then went to the new foot bridge and crossed to the "trail side" of the Sammamish River Trail. It felt better on the gravel and dirt than running on the pavement, but still not good. Even the soothing sounds of Hot Tuna couldn't improve my leg. I think I'll take it easy the rest of the week in preparation for the big Saturday run.

April 18, 2005 - People ask me, all the time, about the elevation for the Anchorage Marathon.

Here is the official elevation chart. It seems to roll up hill and then slide down hill and then kick you in the face just before the finish.

I tried to run today. BAD IDEA. I took about three steps and realized I gotta do something about my shin, it was killing me. So I headed to the best foot doctor in town, the Foot Zone at Redmond Town Center. Shelby had me run on the tread mill for a few seconds and said that he could instantly tell the trouble. Now, I can tell you where your son went wrong on his math paper, but I can't tell you when my own stride is screwed up, so I greatly appreciated Shelby's insight, and the new pair of shoes that I got because the other ones didn't allow my foot to return to the neutral position.

April 16, 2005 - It has been a crazy week. Tina was out of town, we had the Recommitment Party, the article was in the paper, and my shin continues to be the bane of my running existence. Add to that my cracked heals (a thing I wish I hadn't inherited from my mom), and you have a great formula for screwing up your stride.

But when it all boils down to it, my aches and pains are nothing, well, not nothing, they are painful and they make it tough to train, but in compared to people like our honored teammates Megan and Stacey, it ain't no thang. I am able to get out and do it, and today, despite the downpour that made me feel like I was training for a triathlon it was great. I ran with Katie, Mike, Michael, Betsy and Rory. Mike said we did our last full mile at an 8:36 pace, not bad at all!!! All six of us (and many more) are part of the Anchorage team so it was good to run with some of the folks I'll be traveling with. After the run, I had so much sweat and stuff on my face that I had to take a picture to show you. The white stuff is not sugar from a donut...

Photo by Katherine Ganter, Redmond Reporter

April 13, 2005 - We had our recommitment party last night at Fred Hutch, it wasn't as well attended as I had hoped, but it was good. I spoke a little about why I joined TNT and one of our honored teammates Megan spoke as well. She has CML, was diagnosed in August and was given word that she is in remission as of one week ago today! Yay, Megan! That is so exciting. It also scares the bejeezus out of me.

Mom was in remission twice, in seven months before she died. Live life to the fullest folks, if you're reading this and you're not on the Team (first I'm shocked) it's time to find your own team, it may not be a marathon or a triathlon, but get out there and enjoy the sunshine. I love my TV and my computer, but if I hadn't gotten off my bum and started this TNT journey, I'd be 250 pounds, and complaining that I never have anything to do. Get out and enjoy the day, oh and pick up a copy of today's Redmond Reporter, Andy Nystrom wrote a great article... in fact, here it is.

April 9, 2005 - Another 14 miler today. Another run along the Sammamish River Trail. Another rain storm... no wait, there wasn't any rain this time, it was beautiful a perfect day to run or even do a water stop. Why couldn't I do the water stop on a sunny day instead of the crud I had. Oh, well, I guess it's all for the best.

April 5, 2005 - My mom had such a great laugh. It always seemed to be the little stuff that made her laugh. I hope that I will be able to pass that love of laughter on to my daughters. Today, I wanted to make people smile. It is really easy to get so into our MP3 players and our own little fitness world that we don't even notice that there are dozens of other people running on the same path. We may be there for different reasons, but ultimately it's about getting or staying healthy and feeling better. Smiles make everyone feel better, so today instead of running in my white TNT hat, I grabbed the propeller hat that was still in my car from the rainy day water stop. I only ran two miles (I DO NOT HAVE SHIN SPLINTS!!!), but the propeller was going nuts in the wind. I had lots of smiles and a few, "Nice Hat's. So, next time you're out of the Sammamish River Trail, smile, it makes the day so much brighter!

April 2, 2005 - I'm a stud. HA!!! I did run farther than I ever have in my life. We ran 14 miles, from Gasworks Park to Matthews Beach and back. I felt really good, until Pat kicked it in, in the last mile. I ran with Pat and Scott the whole time, they're both doing San Diego (I - Anchorage). It was good, conversation was flowing and we had a reasonable tempo going. After Pat fleet footed away from us, I discovered I hadn't bent my knees in about thirty minutes, or so it felt. I am a little tender this afternoon, and setting up for church will be a blast tomorrow, but I will live to run another day.

March 30, 2005 - This has been a wild weather week. I haven't been out as much as I need to be, I may have to run the long run on Saturday, with the San Diego crew. I was interviewed today for the Redmond Reporter. I am very excited to get the word out about this program. I have benefited so much, and I want others to know about it too.

March 26, 2005 - Where's the 90 day weather forecast? I did the water stop at Sixty Acres today so I didn't get to run. Instead I stood in the rain for four hours and handed people wilted cups of water and sports drink. I did take some fun pictures to help them prepare for the race. Some of the folks are from the Vancouver/London crew too.

March 19, 2005 - I did a pretty decent job of running this week. It's hard to run, pack up your house, shuttle your children and maintain your sanity. Most would say I have let sanity go the longest without attention, but that's okay. We did another Seward Park run, and this time I was a little smarter. I ran the beginning with Coach Ginny, and Pat and Alec. Good conversation about why we're all involved in this program and it's great to get to know these people. I grabbed my hat for the rain and off we went. A relatively uneventful run. Pain free, other than the general aches, but my ego got a bit of a hit or a boost depending on how you take it. I'll take the boost this time... Casey and Pat from last year's Maui crew are both doing Maui again. Each of them, separately, yelled at me as they biked past me (in the opposite direction), "You look like a marathoner." I guess that's a good thing.

March 12, 2005 - Another note to self, confirm the mileage before taking off on a Saturday run before the team. Today is Eliza's birthday, so I had to run before the team, but I wanted to be at practice in case any of my mentor group needed me (they never do, but I can hope). I did my ten miles and got back just as the team was getting together for the pre-run notes. Ginny said, "Yep, we're gonna go do 8 miles." Notice the difference between Ginny's words and mine? Yep, it's a two mile difference... I ran too long. Can I complain about that? I felt great, rocked to my original TNT Training tunes and the weather was cool and dry (once the sun came up). I guess it's okay, and Eliza's birthday party was awesome.

March 5, 2005 - Note to self, buy some of that Airborne stuff or find a new job. Working with children, and having children expose you to more germs than a can of Lysol can control. I have felt like garbage this week, but I hate, hate, hate to miss practice, so I went. The run did not feel great, but isn't that a relative thing? I know that cancer patients don't feel great when they are going through chemo, but there is a reason they're doing it, to feel better in the long run, I am so glad that I am doing this instead of chemo. I did have a nice conversation with Rory during part of the route, it has been fun getting to know the team. It's harder when you only meet once a week, but we're getting there:)

March 1, 2005 - People are amazing. Last night I sent out about 250 emails to people who I know, college friends, people I've known since childhood, former teachers, everything. Today would have been my mom's 75th birthday. To honor her, without even realizing it, I'm sure, friends and family have donated nearly 900 dollars in online donations TODAY alone. There are no coincidences folks, God works in mysterious ways.

February 28, 2005 - I ran with the Foot Zoners again. A little shorter, a little darker, a lot colder and a whole lot wetter. I'm sending a ton of emails tonight to help my donations. Here comes the Spam King.

February 26, 2005 - Good Golly, I need to learn how to pace myself. We started from the Foot Zone in Redmond today, and I took off with Coach Shelby, Alissa, and a couple of other people. I felt pretty good for the first three miles, but then I hit a wall. I had to walk much more than I like to. When Kit ran past me, she reminded me to keep aiming for that next cone (a reference to my Maui strategy of run two cones, walk one), and Kit assured me that the next cone had a 4 on it (the half way point). I made it okay, and felt reasonable afterward, until Shelby confirmed that yes, my shoes are shot and I need new ones.

February 24, 2005 - Transcendental Meditation take me to another place. I ran the back of the Sammamish River Trail today, a run that I call "Five Bridges." I start at mile post one and cross at bridge number two to the "trail" side of the Sammamish River Trail. From there I go to Sixty Acres cross 116th and back to mile post one. It's about five miles round trip, and it's a good trail simulation. Well, I took my MP3 player, as I do on all my solo runs, and I was listening to an album that I had gotten Tina for her birthday (on the 22nd) by the Duhks. Talk about being taken to another place. This Celtic Bluegrass music, along with the unpaved path along the river, I felt like I was in Ireland (if you've been to Ireland, don't ruin my image - I like it.) Not as driving as my other runs with my techno-garbage but wow, it was amazing. One of my mom's favorite prayers was an old Irish prayer with words to the effect of, "May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, and may you be in heaven at least 15 minutes before the devil knows you're dead." Trust me mom, the road was meeting me this day, and it was nice to run with you.

February 21, 2005 - Ouch, oh, ow. Damn. That hurts. I ran with the run club from the Foot Zone tonight. They're runners, I'm not. I kept up for a while with the leaders (they were polite) and the best part was that we got to wait for the back group at the stop lights. Then I ran with the back group and I didn't get to wait anymore...

February 19, 2005 - Back to Seward Park. It seems odd without a bike or a wetsuit. This week was a fun one. I got some good mileage in and I have my MP3 player again, so lonely runs along the Sammamish River Trail, aren't so lonely. I took off to fast today. One of my mentees, Mike Meltzer, was telling me his story of why he is involved with TNT. I know we all have our personal stories, and I am glad that many are happier than mine. Mike is a survivor. He has had Leukemia for about 7 years, and he's continued to do triathlon's and a now a marathon. I am always impressed by perseverance!!!

February 14, 2005 - Ever have one of those days when you don't want to do what you're supposed to do, but then something hits you upside the head and says, "Hey, you lily-livered lazy bones," ok, maybe only I say that, "step away from the computer and do what you said you were going to do?" Well, I got a donation check today from a friend, and a note was attached that told me they had a new reason to donate to TNT. Their friend Mike Shertz was diagnosed with Leukemia in November. Now, this was a sunny day, and I was just feeling lazy, I had no excuse not to run, but God gave me a reason to run. I called Lance and Jennifer on the way to my parking spot and thanked them for their donation and let them know that I was running for Mike that day!

February 13, 2005 - I got in a run, and bonus points for me, I saw Coach Ginny on the way back, so someone know that I was actually out there.

February 12, 2005 - Whoops. Got up and ready to go. Training closer to my house than any other ever has been... I asked Tina if she needed anything before I left, and she let me know that it was not a good idea to leave the house. In fact, she said, "are you really going?" It was a busy day with Caroline's birthday party and stuff so I opted for the family. I will get in a run tomorrow.

February 5, 2005 - I met some extraordinary people today. They're not doctors and lawyers or teachers and principals, well they might be but that's not why they're extraordinary. You see these people are going out of their way to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Yes, we get to travel to San Diego or Anchorage for a marathon, but literally anyone can do that. Ordinary people don't do this for a greater good, they do it for themselves. Extraordinary people do this for God and for others. We did four miles today from Gas Works Park to the front of Hec Ed and back, I ran past the UW Med Center where my mom spent most of her treatment for Leukemia in 1990 and 1991. There's no way that the coaches knew that or planned it, but I've been slacking off, I had a bad week and didn't run like I should have. Running past my mom's hospital room kicked me in the fanny. I will be out this week.

January 30, 2005 - Car broken into last night. About $300 in donation checks stolen along with my MP3 Player and Drill. I can't even think straight I'm so mad, embarrassed and scared that whoever stole my stuff is going to do something with those checks. Pray for us will ya. It's gotta get better.

January 22, 2004 - Wow. Tonight I went to the memorial service for Steve Lundgren. I work with Steve's wife Margie, had trained in honor of Steve, but I never met Steve. It was a very nice service at the Seattle Yacht Club with an incredible view. Part of the service was friends and colleagues of Steve sharing some memories. One of those who shared was Gene Tankersly. Now, I'd never met Gene, but the name sounded familiar. He told a wonderful story of the times that Gene and Steve and their wives would get together on the Oregon coast and I thought, "Wow, what a great life." When Gene came back and sat down I noticed his yellow LiveStrong bracelet. So after the service I stopped Gene and said, "This is gonna sound weird, but are you at some point, a cancer survivor," to which he answered, "Yes." I told him who I was and that I train for triathlons and marathons for the Leukemia Society and for the past two years I'd be training in his honor, thinking of him and praying for him every time I trained. This isn't probably what you'd expect at the memorial service for a friend, but it really gave me pause to think about how many people I have the chance to touch through Team in Training. I thank God for the opportunity and I pray that God will give Gene enough time so that they can find a cure for his cancer, just like I prayed that they would have found a cure for Steve's.