Training for IMM - Team in Training

Three weeks until the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon!! I will be running as a member of Team in Training (TNT), an endurance program that raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Marathons are already emotional, but this race will be taking on a whole new meaning for me.

My fundraising page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/in/CHNIndi14/schramc

Why TNT?

I decided to run a marathon with TNT when my cousin Paul lost his battle with leukemia in 2012. Growing up, I knew as much about him as any distant relative… a VERY funny and light-hearted guy who would sometimes give us gifts from his latest travels. But in the last year of his life, our relationship changed drastically. I was about to bike across the US with 4K for Cancer when I found out Paul had been in remission for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and was now battling leukemia. I kept a blog detailing daily struggles and triumphs on the ride, and he became one of my most dedicated followers. He said reading my words helped him get through chemo and later, the endless wait for a bone marrow donor.

A comment from my 4K blog

June 24, 2011 at 9:17 pm 


Paul says: 100 MILES… amazing! I’m inspired by your posts 

and the undertaking of such a trek just to help people.


Keep it up,
 your proud cousin, Paul

I started to think of him more and more as I pedaled over mountains and through endless deserts and windy plains. I knew that my daily battles were nothing compared to his. He said that I inspired him, but I think he inspired me even more.

I was lucky enough to see Paul several times after my return, before he passed away in January 2012. I will never forget the look on his face the last time I saw him, when I told him I'd decided to do my PhD research in pharmaceutics so that one day I could develop cancer treatments. Whenever things get tough in grad school, that's what i think of.

So this one's for you, Paul! I hope I can continue to make you proud.

I will also be dedicating the 26.2 miles to two of my teammates from the 4K ride: Nick and Tom, who are both lymphoma survivors. Besides being two of my favorite people, they help me to remember that even though I’m young, I shouldn’t take my health for granted. Nick was diagnosed right as he was about to graduate from college, a time when your whole future – the one you’ve been working toward for years and years of schooling – is right within arm’s reach. The fear that would come from the realization that you might not live to see it… I can’t even imagine. And then there’s Tom. Also diagnosed in his early twenties, he had a 4.5 pound tumor removed from his chest cavity and within a year, was biking across the country. In fact, his last surgery was only a couple months before we dipped our bike tires in the harbor in Baltimore. On days when I was struggling and wanted to quit, I would just look at Tom. Both of them embody the fight, and I admire them for that.

Training with TNT

Training with Team in Training has been awesome so far. For most of my running career, I've been a solo runner. Here and there I'll do a run with a friend, but never as a part of a group or club. I've come close to joining local running clubs, but I was always deterred by the fact that I had to run on the group's schedule, which never seemed to fit with my own. 

And truthfully, it has been a struggle to make it to the TNT group training runs... I was injured or travelling each weekend for the first month and a half of group runs. When I could finally go, it hit me that I'd have to wake up at 5am to get there on time since the group runs are in Indianapolis. It was the last thing I wanted to do on a Saturday after already having woken up at 5am all week for my internship in Indy. But I did it anyway. If it was any other group, there's no way I would have had the motivation to wake up to my alarm before the sun rises for the sixth day in a row and drive an hour+ to do a long run that would inevitably be painful. But something felt different about this particular group. It's not just a group of strangers united by a mutual love of running, but by a much deeper cause.

And immediately, on my first day there, I knew I had made a good choice. I was greeted by one of the coaches, Mark, with whom I'd already had an on-going email chain discussing strategies to improve my time so that I can reach my goal. Mark ran with me that day and it was clear how invested he was in helping me improve as a runner. And that goes for all the coaches - they train with us, in addition to providing water and support for us on the training course. I also found out that they will be running bits of the race with each of us as well!

At another of the group runs, I met Gary. It was early September and fall had decided to come early, so after months of balmy temperatures I suddenly found myself standing in a circle with the other runners shivering uncontrollably in the dark and completely dreading the upcoming 14 miler. I wasn’t exactly in a good mood. But as soon as I started running with Gary... well that changed. At first he may seem like your average out-going, older runner, who is clearly in great shape and loves running with other people. But no. Gary is not your average runner, he is a BADASS. He was diagnosed with CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia) over ten years ago, and is still battling it today. There are currently no targeted treatments for this particular type, so since his diagnosis, he has been participating in TNT events nearly every year (except when he’s undergoing chemo), and he has raised a boatload of money. Running all those races with cancer?! I can't even imagine. I also can't imagine fundraising every single year. But as Gary put it, "when I found out, I realized I had two options: do something about it, or don't." Participating in TNT is his way of taking back some control in an uncontrollable situation.

Every time I run with Gary, the miles fly by. We chat about everything from our mutual love of New Zealand to the things he's come to realize since finding out his number of days left is less than he'd planned. Nothing will quite make you forget your petty complaints about the weather/shin splints/sleep depravity like running with a man with cancer - and getting your butt kicked. (He claimed he could barely keep up with me, but really it was the other way around).

Training progress

So how has my training been going so far?

Things started out poorly when my first month of training became non-existent due to a knee injury in June. But, thanks to physical therapy, I was back at it by the end of July. Seriously – it works miracles. Even though I’ve only been able to run 2x a week for most of this training cycle, cross-training (bike, elliptical, swimming) plus the strength and flexibility I’ve gained from physical therapy has made my training VERY successful.

Two weeks ago I ran a 10K PR at the Mustached Turtle Dash in Indianapolis, and finished 1^ST PLACE OVERALL FEMALE!! Woohoo!

Yesterday, I ran my fastest 20-miler ever at the TNT group run!! Finishing 20 miles in just over 3 hours.

Added 10/19: Just ran my second sub-1:50 half marathon at the Purdue Boilermaker Half!

Can’t wait to CRUSH this marathon - and cancer! - in a few weeks.