Capitol Hill Advocacy

The past several months have been a whirlwind of travel for me and I’m way behind on my blog and can never seem to find the time to update it. In between traveling I’ve been trying to train for my big triathlon in July as much as I can, and have been kept very busy making tutus. In my last post I talked about the Spring Sprint Triathlon, my first triathlon back after a 2 ½ year hiatus. That race came right on the heels of a trip to Vegas for work … and believe it or not later that evening after the race I was back on a plane again headed to DC.

 

 

Spring Sprint Triathlon Complete!

 

 

Red-Eye Sleep Mask from JetBlue

In early May David and I attended an advocacy event called “Head to the Hill” put on by the National Brain Tumor Society. According to the event website:

On Tuesday, May 6th, brain tumor advocates from across the country converged on Capitol Hill to share their stories and advocate for public policy issues that are important to the brain tumor community. This year’s fourth-annual Head to the Hill Advocacy Day was our largest to date, with 135 advocates from 30 states attending 156 meetings with members of Congress or their staff.

This event sounded like a great way to get involved and make a difference in the brain tumor community, and also gave us a chance to visit David’s family. I managed to talk David’s mom into attending as well so the Allens were 3 of the 135 attendees and represented California and West Virginia.  The event started out on Monday afternoon with a training session on the three keys issues that we would be advocating for.

 

 

Brain Tumor Advocacy Issues

 

1. Oral Chemotherapy Parity – ensuring affordability of oral chemotherapy, the standard of care for brain tumors (more here)
2. Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Reauthorization Act – a bill to improve pediatric cancer research and information (more here)
3. Appropriations for Medical Research and Drug Approval – ensuring support for brain tumor research and drug development (more here)

 

The following day we would be broken up into a group of California constituents who would be visiting Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and then later California would be broken up into several smaller groups (because there were so many of us from California - go California!) to visit our representatives for our regional areas. In each meeting that we had scheduled there would be a set flow to the meeting with assigned roles for each topic. In the larger California group there were more of us than there were roles so I didn't speak, but in the smaller group I volunteered for the role of talking about the oral chemo parity act since that was one that is personally relevant to me. In our training we spent time going over the issues, assigning roles, practicing our parts, and role playing.

 

 

Advocacy Training Day

 

That night after the training we headed over to Nationals Park to meet up with David’s parents, brother, and brother's fiancé to watch the Nationals vs Dodgers game. It had been a beautiful sunny day … up until the moment we stepped out of the Metro station. It started raining, then raining harder, then pouring. Such a shame because we had great seats! We watched three innings before they stopped the game for a rain delay (We were soaked by this point!) and after waiting a bit to see if the rain was going to let up we ended up going home. We found out later that after a 3 hour delay (?!?!) they ended up continuing the game and finishing it. Um, sounds miserable.

 

 

Rainy Nats Game

 

The next morning we were up bright and early to meet everyone for breakfast before heading off to Capitol Hill. So much for my plans of running around DC... oh well! We were starting the day with a group photo on the steps of the Capitol before breaking up into our smaller groups and heading off to our meetings.

 

 

Headed to the Hill!

Car2Go Sighting!(My morning transportation to the train station in SD)

 

 

California Constituents

Head to the Hill Advocacy Group

 

Our first meeting was with Diane Feinstein’s office. A San Francisco legend!! She had a lot of San Francisco photos and memorabilia around her office which was really neat. She also had a bowl of California prunes, which we later saw was a staple in the offices of many of the California representatives. Who knew prunes represented California?

 

 

California Prunes - Did the CA Raisins retire?

For those who didn't grow up in CA in the 80s,
check out this video for reference to the CA Raisins

 

In this first meeting I felt perfectly fine until we got to the part of our presentation where someone shared a personal story. This woman in our group talked about her own personal battle with brain cancer, showed pictures of friends she had lost, and also said “I know that this is something that is going to kill me someday”. (She didn’t say this in our practice session the day before.) It took about everything I had not to burst into tears. That is something I often think about, but rarely say since I don't event want to acknowledge the chance of it. Hearing someone else say it so matter-of-factly hit too close to home. I thought that nobody noticed my eye-watering moment in the meeting, but it turns out that the woman who was talking did. After we left the office she came up to me and said something along the lines of – “Hey, I’m sorry that bothered you. You know that I only said that to get to them right? I don’t believe that is the truth. Doctors don’t always know everything. No one can predict when you’re going to die”. As a long term survivor (9 years I think?) I found her words fairly comforting, but I was still shaken up a bit. But … we moved on with our meetings and I kept it together.

 

 

Outside Diane Feinstein's Office

 

Well … I kept it together until one of our smaller group meetings with Susan Davis, our representative for San Diego. In most meetings we attended David was sitting by my side, but for this meeting for some reason he ended up across the table from me. During the meeting I was going through my part talking about oral chemotherapy and how it was something that I was on for a year, and how as someone with an inoperable brain tumor it was my only choice of treatment, and sadly there aren’t really many other treatment options. As I was talking about this I looked across the table at David and out of nowhere burst into tears. The gravity of my situation suddenly hit me, and I just lost it. I tried to finish my part but was sobbing through the whole thing. SOBBING! What a mess. Hey, at least I came through as passionate right? So embarrassing … We had one more meeting after that and luckily I had everything back under control and didn’t cry again, although I’m sure I had the rest of my group nervous about my emotional instability.

 

 

Busy Day of Meetings!

 

At the end of the day we had five successful meetings. In each meeting we found out that the representative either already supported what we were advocating for, or the staff member we talked to seemed engaged and interested in the issues we were talking about. After the day ended David and I talked about whether or not we thought our meetings made a difference, and we both felt that they did.

 

 

Team Allen Advocates

 

A few weeks after the advocacy event we received an email from the event organizer confirming our speculations. A number of co-sponsors were added to the Cancer Drug Coverage Parity Act and the Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Reauthorization Act soon after our meetings! For example, the first act only gained 4 co-sponsors between January – May 2014, but 6 more co-sponsors were added in the days following our meetings. Wow!

 

 

Capitol Hill with My Rappelling Friend Beth!

 

The whole event was really a great experience. It was well run, we enjoyed trying to make a difference, it was fun meeting all of the other advocates, and hey – we snuck in a trip home for David to see his family. If you are interested in advocacy work with the National Brain Tumor Society, you can find more information on their website.

 

 

Domo Does DC

Domo here - returning as special travel correspondent for Monika. Domo heard from many blog readers that his writing was much more enjoyable than Monika’s. Domo enjoyed that. Domo thinks that Monika writes too much about running. Domo thinks you agree.

Domo Packed and Ready To Go

Domo headed to DC last Wednesday for work to spend some time in the field with the local rep, and to then exhibit at the plastic surgery convention that was in town. Domo had never been to one of those conventions before and was excited to see how different they were from all of the dental shows he had gone to over the years. Wait, Domo didn’t actually go to all of those shows. Silly Domo! Domo only joined Monika this past Christmas. Before Domo Monika had another travel friend, Gnomer Simpson. Domo is very happy to have replaced Gnomer Simpson.

Gnomer Simpson in Paris (SO SMUG!)

Domo booked his six night stay at the aLoft hotel in National Harbor, MD. The aLoft is a new type of hotel brand that is part of the Starwood Group aka Sheraton. The aLoft hotel was very cool and modern. Domo liked that.

Domo Checks Into aLoft Hotel

Domo Likes Cool Elevator  Water Pad Floors

The next day Domo had to get up early to get his run in before meeting up with the rep. As you know, Domo likes working on his fitness. Domo is very proud to say that he got up early to run all four days he was scheduled to run. Yay Domo!

Domo Likes aLoft Hotel Gym

Domo Likes Running

Domo Got His Run On

Domo visited some doctor’s offices that day and met a lot of people. That night, Domo attended a seminar about “Aging Gracefully”, and learned about all of the surgical and non surgical options to maintain a youthful look in his face. Domo is so happy that he has a young face. Domo was a bit offended when several people were talking to him about skincare products and pointed out which products would be best for the hyperpigmentation on his face. Hyperpigment-what?? Domo was a bit surprised and hurt to have this pointed out, but was happy to receive samples which were supposed to fix him. It’s not easy staying brown, soft, and smooth!

The next day Domo had four conference calls that spanned five hours. Five hours of conference calls!? Domo must be a very important person! Domo listened to all of the calls on speakerphone to avoid getting brain cancer. Domo doesn’t want brain cancer.

Domo Had a Nice Working View

Domo Working Hard

In between the conference calls Domo went over to the exhibit hall to set-up his tradeshow booth. Domo made a little booboo when ordering the booth materials and accidentally ordered a red carpet when he meant to order grey. He asked about having it changed but decided against it since it would cost $200. Domo felt bad for having made a mistake, but Domo will be more careful next time. Domo sent a picture of his booth to several people who told him that the red carpet didn't look THAT bad. Domon knew that they were being nice and that his booth looked like it was on the hide of Cliffford the Big Red Dog. :o( Oh well.

In between the conference calls and booth setup Domo also had lunch at the restaurant Ketchup in his hotel. Ketchup is owned by the Dolce group! Ketchup was okay, and seemed to be more trendy hype than anything. The food did come with six different types of ketchup which was interesting. It made Domo think about an article that the book “What the Dog Saw” by Malcolm Gladwell that he just read. In the book Gladwell talks about how people in general don’t like any flavor of ketchup but original. Apparently the trendy Ketchup restaurant disagrees!

Domo Had Lunch at Ketchup

Six Types of Ketchup? Domo Confused

The next three days Domo was busy working the tradeshow. Domo met lots of people who were interested in his product. This made Domo happy. Domo was surprised to see several companies at this tradeshow who also exhibited at Dental tradeshows, and was even more surprised to see a couple people that he recognized. Small world! The tradeshow was at the Gaylord Hotel and Conference center which is a beautiful property on the water. If you are ever looking to stay in the DC area outside of downtown, Domo recommends staying at this hotel or on this street.

Pretty View of National Harbor

Along the main harbor street there were several hotels, restaurants, and shops. There was one shop in particular that Domo really wanted to go into – the Peeps store! Who knew there were Peeps stores?? (Oh wow, Domo did research and this is the FIRST Peeps store ever!!!) Domo doesn’t like eating Peeps but thinks they are cute and likes buying them for people. Marshmallows coated in sugar and spray painted weird colors isn’t Domo’s style, but Domo feels a bond between himself and Peeps. Peeps are cookie cutter in shape, squishy on the inside, and textured on the outside. They’re just like Domo! But hey – don’t get any funny ideas. You can NOT eat Domo. You hear me? No eating Domo! Don’t even try!

Domo at the Peeps Store

Peeps Art

One of the nights Domo had to give a presentation to a group of doctors during a dinner. Domo was a bit nervous since he had never presented to doctors before. Sure they are just people, but they are smart people with a lot of extra letters after their name! Domo thinks he did pretty well during the presentation and now feels ready to present again this week to another group. Domo hopes this next meeting goes well too.

After dinner one of Domo’s coworkers showed him several table/party tricks. One involved letting Domo break a toothpick in a folded napkin … but then when the napkin was unfolded the toothpick was whole again! Domo was shocked and puzzled. How did he do this? The next trick involved balancing one toothpick at a right angle to another, with one inserted into a salt shaker, and another weighted down with two forks. Domo was even more impressed by this trick!

Domo Impressed By Trick

Domo is writing this on the plane flying back home from DC. Domo got up at 4:45am EST and is very tired. Domo wishes he could get home and go straight to bed, but Domo needs to go to work, then go to GOTR. Domo has a long day ahead.

Domo Headed HOME!

Domo thanks you for reading his blog again! Domo won’t be traveling again for about a month most likely, so you will be stuck reading Monika’s blathering on about running. Domo feels bad for you.

Domo says bye bye!

Marine Corps Marathon 2009

This past Sunday David and I ran the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC and Arlington, Virginia! This was David’s first full marathon and he did great! We trained together virtually on an 18-week training plan that was loosely based off of Hal-Higdon’s Intermediate Marathon Training Plan.

Running For A Reason

When we signed up for the race we decided that we would fundraise for a charity throughout our training. We wanted to pick a charity that either had a personal connection to us or our family, or that directly impacted a group in the area local to the race. The Marine Corps Marathon is a huge fundraising event and I was amazed to find out that there were EIGHT charity partners associated with the race.

We ended up choosing an organization called Back On My Feet, and raised a total of $625 over the course of 10 weeks. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to our fundraising! We really appreciate it!

Marathon Expo

On the Saturday before the race David and I headed over to the expo to pick up our race packets. The expo was being held at the convention center which was conveniently located right next to a Metro station. It was pouring that day and we were lucky to be able to walk directly from the Metro station into the convention center without ever having to go outside. On the way to the expo I was reading updates from the Marine Corps Marathon twitter account which was announcing various booths that Miles the marathon mascot was visiting and handing out prizes if you whispered the secret phrase to him from the tweets. Unfortunately we didn’t see him at a booth during one of these prize activities, but we did catch him for a quick photo opp!

Miles the Marathon Mascot

Cute Fitting Rooms

Quick RV Visit

David’s parents live near Charlotte, NC and recently bought a RV. They decided to take their first trip in the RV last weekend when they came up for the race. Compared to some of the other RV monsters in the park theirs looked pretty small, but once you got inside it was really nice and actually a perfect size for two people! The driver and passenger chairs looked like lazy boys, the dining table and kitchen were well sized, and the bedroom in the back just fit a full bed. We made a quick visit to the RV to say high to David’s parents, and then we packed our overnight bags and headed back to Arlington to meet David’s brother for dinner.

The Allen RV

Carbo Loading Time

Since David’s brother lives in Arlington (only a few Metro stops away from the start line), David and I were lucky enough to get to stay over at his place the night before the race. We also went out to dinner to get our carbo loading on with Ken and his girlfriend Devon at a really cute place down the street from his apartment. We stuffed ourselves with pasta and bread, and then headed back to Ken’s place to lay out our stuff for the next morning and develop a game plan for the morning, the race, and the post-race celebration. David and I both laid out outfits out for the next morning, put our race numbers on, set aside our clothes for after the race in the gear bag that we'd check, and gave Ken maps of the course and the spectator guide so he would know where to find us along the course and after the race.

Race Day Outfit

Race Morning

On Sunday the big day had finally arrived! Marathon morning! We got up around 5:15am and I started making coffee and my pre-race breakfast of oatmeal, toast, and egg whites. I ate the first in the apartment, the second on the Metro, and I also ate a banana and a Cliff bar when we got to the race. Oink, I know. In total I had an 800 calorie breakfast. Huge I know, but I try to have a 600-800 calorie breakfast before any run that is further than 16 miles. I don’t really like having to eat while running (even though it’s a necessity after a certain distance) so I try to get in as many calories as possible before I run, to limit those that I need to replenish while I run.

Beautiful Morning in Arlington, VA

Metro Riding Runners

David and I took the Metro over to the race and were amused to see that just about everybody that was up and out and about at 6am on the Metro was heading out to run the race. The platforms and cars were absolutely PACKED with runners, which seemed to increase the excitement in the air as we headed towards the start location.

David With His Arm Warmers

Start Line Photo Opp

When we finally got to the start area we went to drop off our bags with our post-race clothes at gear check and then headed over to the portapotty lines to empty the tanks before the race. TMI right? The only reason I mention this is that at every race I’ve done I’ve had to wait 10-40 minutes in line. It’s the main reason I arrive early before the race! The lines usually take FOREVER! This race however was incredibly well planed and equipped. There were portapotties everywhere and we probably didn’t wait longer than 5 minutes! Yay!

First Half of the Race

We headed over to the starting corrals and jumped in to the 4 hour finish area. This put us about 10 minutes back from the start of the group which made the start somewhat of a slow shuffle, but the crowd wasn’t so thick around us that it held us back too much. We had agreed to run between a 8:30 and 9:00 pace for this race knowing that we’d lose some time slowing down at each water station along the way.

There were two hills on the course, one at mile 3 and one at mile 8. Aside from that the course was pretty flat. In the past I’ve really struggled on hills and in all of the races David and I have done together I’ve been a whining dead weight on even the slightest of hills. For this race I did at least one or two hilly trail workouts each week, all ending with a run half-way up the steep hill that I live on back to my apartment. This training definitely helped! We cruised up the first hill without a problem, coasted back down, and then cruised up the next! I felt great! It was such an amazing feeling to feel my training paying off. I’m sure David saw each hill and was anticipating my normal whine of “slow dooowwwwn”, but it never came! Yay me!

I felt pretty good in the first half of the race and felt okay staying on pace with David up until about mile 16. At this point I started to tire a bit and could tell that I was having to push harder to stay next to him. A couple times I asked him to slow down a bit for me which he immediately did, but after the second time I asked I really started to feel bad for holding him back. By mile 18 I was more tired and decided that at mile 20 I’d tell him to go on without me so he could finish the marathon with a better time alone than he could with me by his side. By mile 19 I couldn’t keep this idea in my head anymore and blurted out “just go ahead without me, I want to walk for a minute”. David refused to leave me and we walked for a minute and then started running again, then a bit later we repeated this with me continuing to plead for him to go on. He was running so strong and just as fast at mile 19 as he was at mile 1! I on the other hand needed to change to a lower gear by then and run a little slower. He said again that he wasn’t going to leave me and that actually he wasn’t feeling all that great either. Upon realizing that he was absolutely going to stay with me, I sucked it up and started running again so I didn't ruin his time any further.

Approaching Mile 20

As we approached mile 20 I was still struggling a bit but pushed on. We crossed the 14th Street Bridge and broke through “the Wall” … and plowed on to mile 21. At this point I started to realize that we had 21 miles behind us, and only 5 to go! Coincidentally a few of my favorite power songs came up on my iPod. Metallica’s Master of Puppets, and A-Ha’s Take On Me! As I kicked into cruise control and rocked out to my favorite tunes in my head a shocking thing happened. David started cramping up! He called for me to stop and he walked over to the side of the road and started stretching his legs out. I was absolutely shocked! I suffered from severe leg cramps in my last race and knew exactly what he was going through. He stretched a bit and was feeling better so we started running again, but for the next 5 miles we’d run for a bit and he’d be okay, then the cramps would kick in again and we’d stop while he walked or stretched, and then we’d keep going again. I offered him what Gatorade and water I had left, and at each water station we passed through I’d fill up on fluids to carry for the both of us.

As we got to mile 25 we were in one of our walking stretches when to my surprise who did I see on the sidelines? David’s dad holding a big neon sign for me! From my dogs! As soon as I saw David’s dad Rich I called out to him and also got David’s attention so he’d see him as well. On the other side of the road was his mom holding one of the signs that I had made for David. As we started to come around the curve and run down the hill Rich started running along side us with his neon sign proudly waving above his head. I don’t think I’ve ever smiled so big in my life! And speaking of on the course support – David’s family ROCKS! They showed up at miles 10 and 16 (back-to-back viewing locations on the course) as well as mile 25 and the finish line! We saw them with the signs at miles 10, 16, and 25.

Signs I Made For David

Not too long after we passed David’s parents we then came upon Ken and Devon who were also proudly waving signs! This was really a great little pick-me-up during the hardest part of the race, mile 25 to 26.2. Okay, so that’s more than a mile, you know what I mean!

Signs For Me From David's Parents

As we got closer and closer to the finish line the crowd really started to fill out. My favorite part of any marathon is when you’re running in that last quarter mile to the finish with hundreds and hundreds of people around you and you feel like everyone is there cheering for you. The energy from the crowd and the experience of running through an area so thick with excited, screaming people is really something else. David and I blew through the crowds and charged towards the finish line, and finished side by side. (Technically per the race reseults I came in a second faster. Whooh hoo!)

Official finish time? 4:17:24

Receiving Our Finisher's Medals

Awesome Finisher's Photo

Our original goal was 3:55 so we were both a bit disappointed to not have met that goal, but we still had a great race and considering all of the cramping and walking towards the end, I still think we did pretty well. AND … David finished his first marathon! And better yet, I got to be by his side the whole way! I don’t mean to be totally cheesy when I say that its been my dream since my first race to have someone to race side by side with. Everytime I’ve seen racing couples I’ve always felt a bit jealous. I wish that I had someone who shared my same passion for running and who’d want to train with me for a race, discuss the minute details of running and training on a regular basis, and run with me side by side for hours. Well you know what? That dream has now come true! I’m a simple girl with simple dreams. But honestly, thank you David! It was a great experience.

Aching After The Race

BEST Race Support Ever!

The Carbo Loading Kids

Post-Race Chow Down

After the race we met up with David’s family in the finisher’s area and headed back to Ken’s place to shower and change to get ready for a group lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant …. CHEVY’S!!!

My cousin Sandy and her husband Justin and their son Wyatt were joining us, and so were my Aunt Elsa and Uncle Stanton, and my Aunt Judy who I haven’t seen in about 10 years! Lunch was great and it was so nice to catch up with family.

Mini-Family Reunion

Allen Family Reunion

After lunch I was hoping for a nice nap to recharge a bit. That didn’t exactly happen though since David was arranging a little family reunion over at his brother Chad’s house. David, Ken, and Devon and I headed over there and met up with David’s parents and sister as well. We hung out and played with the kids for a bit before going out to dinner nearby. Didn’t we just eat a couple hours before? Yep. Did we sit down and eat again? But of course!

The Allen "Kids"

Future Marathon Runner

The whole race weekend really turned out to be a great time. Not just the race but the events before and after, and all of the family time we got around the activities. As usual I’m in that crazy period the week after a race where I’m just about recovered and starting to get antsy to start my next training plan. I’m not sure which race I’m going to do next, but I’m so anxious to pick it now so I can get started on training! I hate to admit that marathon training is a true obsession of mine. I’ve acknowledged after this race though that I need to change up my training method. Adding hill workouts really did help me, but in order to decrease my overall finish time I think I need to focus on more speed/temp workouts. Whatever, I’ll figure that out in the next week or so.

For now, hats off to you David for completing your first full marathon!

And thank you so so much Allen Family for your incredible support along the race course and during this whole weekend. It really made the day special.

Me & My Favorite Racing Partner