Fall Season Week 12

I don't think I've chosen this life; I feel I've been pushed into it. And what sustains me is a sense of my life as a mission. - Jane Goodall

Fundraising Tip
Host an event for your friends, family, and/or colleagues. Some events could include cocktail parties at your home, raffles (make sure items are donated), garage sales, sporting tournaments or a dress down day at work. It's best to keep it small in this area.

Training Tip
Technique
With Base training fully underway, there is no time like the present to focus on improving your sport technique. Better technique is critical to your overall goal achievement. With improved technique, your performance is helped in several ways:

1. Better Economy – Your “economy” in sport is defined by how far you can go on each unit of oxygen you consume. Put another way, the less oxygen you use for any given amount of exercise equates to better “economy”. If you improve your skill & become a more technically proficient athlete, you will simply consume less oxygen for any given bout of exercise. Therefore, you will be more economical…this translates into going faster for the same distance or going longer before tiring!

2. Decreased Injury Risk – We all know that poor technique is one of the leading causes of injury. When joints/muscles are repeatedly moved in improper ways or have stresses placed upon them in unsupported positions, the aches & pains of pre-injury may show themselves. For endurance athletes, this is critical – consider the number of times that your shoulders rotate during a 1k swim, that your knees bend & straighten during a 40k bike, or that your feet hit the ground in a 26.2 mile run. If your form is off by just a bit each time, your injury risk is substantially higher.

3. Improved Performance – If one of your main goals is to reach the finish line a bit faster, then technique improvement is where you ought to spend a great deal of time. That base training & those high intensity intervals are certainly important, but if your mechanics are poor, you just won’t be able to go as fast as you could if you had more efficient movement patterns. Remember this…energy put into movements which don’t directly move you forward is simply wasted energy! Also consider…Olympic athletes regularly spend hours working on improving their technical abilities. If the athletes at the top of their game continue to work on form, who are we to think that we don’t need to!!!

Run Technique
For running, the misconceptions are that speed comes from running more, striding out farther, & pushing off harder. Again, some points to consider:

1. Cadence – If you want to maximize your speed abilities & minimize your injury risk, proper cadence is a huge skill to master. Ideal running cadence is 90-100 strides per minute (count one foot only)…very similar to cycling cadence, yes??! If your cadence is too low, then you are potentially either heel striking (the lower your cadence the more strongly you may be doing this) or strongly pushing off from your toes. Both of these (heel striking & toe pushing) have huge injury risks attached to them – just chat with any Physical Therapist! Additionally, if you are doing either of these then you are making running too hard!!

2. “Falling” – Have you ever considered “falling” when running? If not, it’s time to do so. Running is simply the act of falling from a balanced position to an unbalanced position & back to a balanced position. If you let your body mass fall forward, then your legs will move underneath you to catch you (self-preservation). It’s really that easy! That’s what I meant when I said that “pushing off” makes running too hard!

3. Running in Circles – Lets discuss how to “run in circles”. It’s really the same thing as on a bike! When on a bike, your leg is longest at the bottom position. After you pass the bottom position, your knee bends to pull the foot around to the top position (heel directly under the hip). Then the knee extends to bring the foot back to the bottom position. The same sequence happens when you run. When your foot is on the ground directly beneath your body, your leg is at its longest. Once your body moves past your foot, then your knee should immediately bend to bring the foot up to top position ( heel directly under your hip). Once the foot moves past the hip, then your knee should extend to place the foot back down on the ground directly beneath the body. If you think about pedaling circles while running, you’ll start to get the hang of it!!

Frequently Asked Questions
HOW DO I GET TO KNOW MY HONOREE?
The honorees are involved in this program because they want to be. Please feel free to e-mail them, send them a note, or arrange a get-together. However, please keep in mind that you are not the only participant matched with this Honoree. Respect their time by remembering each patient family has 10-15 participants training and fundraising in their honor. We try to provide several opportunities for you to meet your participant in person. We will invite each honoree to the kick off party, one group training and one clinic. When you contact your honoree, be sure to identify yourself as a Team In Training Member.

Mission Moment
Thomas
Living with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma for 5 years, 3 months
Age: 51

My husband Tom was diagnosed in Nov. 2002 with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, MALT type, stage IV. We had gone to 15 doctors over the course of 5 months to get a diagnosis for what Tom had. When he finally got a diagnosis of cancer, we were stunned. We never imagined this could happen to Tom. He began chemotherapy immediately since he was having symptoms, and the lymphoma was in his spinal fluid, sinuses, bone marrow and ear. He had 7 rounds of two types of chemo and also chemo directly into the spinal fluid. He then had 20 treatments of radiation to his head. He got a 3 year remission, but unfortunately in May 2006, he relapsed with the cancer, which is now wrapped around his spinal cord. He is currently undergoing chemo again and has had another 18 radiation treatments. His oncologist is hopeful he will achieve remission again. The type of Non-Hodgkin’s Tom has unfortunately can never be cured. They can treat it, but it is low grade and will more than likely come back again.

Tom lives each day to the fullest but this was not always the case. He has changed a lot of his behaviors and said he is determined to make the most of what this disease has taught him about life. He is an inspiration to his family and friends and all those who know him.