Over the Edge for Brain Cancer

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to participate in a once in a lifetime adventure. I took part in a two-day fundraising event called Over the Edge for Brian Cancer put on by Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure where "Edgers" would rappel 365 feet down the side of the Manchester Grand Hyatt, the tallest hotel on the waterfront in San Diego. I first heard about the event on facebook and thought that it looked terrifying and wasn't something I would ever want to do. 

About a month before the event though, the organizers of the event reached out to me to see if I'd be interested in participating, and after some encouragement from a fellow brain cancer friend who was also participating, I figured what the hell, I'd do it!

Manchester Grand Hyatt

I was worried about fundraising for the event since I had just finished fundraising for the Long Beach Marathon (Marathon #20!!) to raise money for my neurooncologist's research lab, but thanks to the generosity of family, friends, and others, I surpassed my $1000 fundraising goal! 

Geared up to Rappel

The majority of Edgers were going over the edge on Sunday, but I was fortunate enough to be invited to Media Day on Saturday where a smaller group of people, including my neurosurgeon, would be rappelling down and giving interviews. 

Pre-Rappel Interview

I was so, so nervous leading up to the event. I'm afraid of heights, totally not an adventurous person, and I have a neurotic irrational fear of metal failure. (Thank you Strength of Materials lab in undergrad.) The closet thing I've done to facing my fear of heights has been to go down a big zip line and to take a trapeze class. Both almost made my heart stop with fear as I felt that plummeting sensation in the pit of my stomach, but both activities ended up being fun. With that in mind, I tried to tell myself that this rappelling event would be fun as well. 

Final Preparations

After a quick one-story practice rappel about 10 feet off the ground, we were ready to rappel 30 stories down the side of the Hyatt. David was able to come up to the starting level with me and it was great to have him around for moral support. My rappelling partner BethAnn (fellow marathoner and a badass Kona Ironman athlete) was also giving me pep talks and trying to convince me that we were going to have a great time.

Going Over the Edge

Before starting the descent from the top the people working the event went over the instructions one more time and assured us that we were safe, we wouldn't be able to fall more than a few inches quickly before the safety locked up, and made us feel comfortable that we had a team of people watching out for us at the top and bottom of the ropes.

Making My Way Down

The hardest part of the event for me was trusting the ropes and safety system, and facing my fears and rappelling the first few inches down. I was terrified of looking down and was afraid I would freak out if I did, so I kept my eyes on the wall and the ropes almost the whole way down. I didn't dare peek out at the spectators on the ground until I was about 3/4 of the way down.

Rappelling With BethAnn

When I finally got down to the bottom I couldn't believe I did it! It actually wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, most likely because I didn't look down or around when I was too high up. It was pretty fun rappelling down and I'm so glad that I faced my fears and went for it!

We Did It!

In addition to David coming to watch I had a whole support crew of Team Mokie friends, some even in tutu!

My Support Crew

I also had a chance to chat with my neurosurgeon for a minute and get a picture with him. He performed my surgery a little over a year ago and I'm sure he's seen a hundred patients since then, but when I started talking to him and said "You probably don't remember me..." he immediately said "Of course I do!" Hopefully its not because I made such a big deal over how much hair they shaved off for the surgery!

Post Rappel With My Neurosurgeon

In the evening after I rappelled there was a Liquid Courage reception for Edgers going over on Saturday and Sunday that David and I attended at the hotel. We had a chance to talk to more participants in the event as well as the organizers, and decided to come back the next day to watch a Stupid Cancer friend of mine go over as well.

Liquid Courage Reception

Melanie Rappelled on Sunday

On Sunday I was also treated with an unexpected surprised - I made the 2nd page of the Sunday paper! The San Diego Union Tribune published a full page article about the event and not only did my poorly worded quote make it into the paper, a picture of BethAnn and I rappelling made the print edition as well. You can view the online version of the article here. 

2nd Page of the Union Tribune

I also made the event highlight reel (giving a quote stumbling over my words in poor English... oops! I need a speech coach or something...) and also put together my own video of the event including footage from the GoPro camera that I had attached to my helmet. (Thank you Jeanie for lending it to me!)

Video of My Rappelling Experience


Event Highlight Reel
(My awkwardness is around the 3:00 mark)
 

Although I exceeded my fundraising goal of $1000 it's not too late to help me go further over that amount! If you'd like to contribute to my fundraising you can do so here.

I'm so glad that I participated in this event and it taught me once again to face my fears, try something new, and surprise myself with what I'm capable of.

Lunafest 2013

Last Thursday I had the honor of being the guest speaker at the Lunafest film festival here in San Diego. Lunafest is a traveling film festival with short films by women, about women, and for women. The event is held all over the country and in each city they partner with a local charity. Girls on the Run San Diego has been fortunate enough to be the San Diego partner for 4 years now! Proceeds from each event are split between the Breast Cancer Fund and the local charity. Each year there is a guest speaker who opens the event, and the first year we hosted the event we had Ironman champion Michelli Jones. The idea of following in her footsteps was exciting but a bit terrifying. 

Being a GOTR Coach Means.....

"sharing my love of running with others"

"being awesome"

I am not the most confident public speaker even though I've had my share of the stage over the years in my professional career giving presentations and doing sales training. I do my best if I practice, practice, practice, so that is what I did to prepare for this. I put together a slideshow to go along with my talk, because hey - a picture is worth a thousand words. I then practice the speech to myself over and over again on the train to and from work. I'm sure I was the mumbling weirdo over in the corner with a Hello Kitty lunch bag. Oh well, it worked! 

David Joined the Estrogen Festival for Moral Support

(He was one of four men out of 150 women)

I was pretty nervous starting out but relaxed a little as I got into things. I only messed up a couple times when I forgot which slide was coming next. If you have 10 minutes to spare, you can watch my talk about running, cancer, and Girls on the Run.

Esprit de She Relay

Two years ago I completed my last triathlon, the SheRox Triathlon in San Diego. Following that race I was registered for two more triathlons in the coming year, but the first one was cut short to a only a run due to bad weather, and I skipped out on the second because I had been getting dizzy swimming in the pool (due to my then unknown brain tumor) and was afraid to get into the ocean. The SheRox Triathlon has since been branded the Esprit de She race series, and just this year Girls on the Run was announced as a partner and beneficiary. Due to this relationship several of my friends from Girls on the Run were doing the race and our Board of Directors even had a relay team formed. 

It crossed my mind to do this triathlon, but it was just one week after the Long Beach Marathon and I figured I was better off giving myself a break and avoiding the dirty ocean bay water in my semi-immunocompromised state. About a month before the race our Board relay team biker had to drop out due to a personal commitment so I agreed to step in. I hadn't biked in about a year but it's a short course so I figured it wouldn't be an issue. A few days before the race though our runner dropped out as well ... and instead of trying to get a replacement for her I begged another friend to step in for the bike leg and proposed that I would be the runner instead. Luckily it all worked out and by race day we had a swimmer, biker, and runner!

Girls on the Run Triathletes Pre-Race

Jeanie Coming Out of the Water

Allison Coming Out of the Water

Tara Coming Out of the Water

Kathryn - Relay Team Biker - In Tutu!

Soooo Happy To Be Running!

Charging Towards the Finish

22:09 Finish ~ 7:30 Pace!

Girls on the Run Relay Team

Happy To Still Have Some Speed

"Triathlon Finisher" Medal - Err.. Not Really

For the past year I've had nothing but slow runs and haven't even attempted any speed workouts. I was happy enough just to slog through my runs as I cycled through one week on chemo and three weeks off each month. The races I've completed this past year have been the slowest ever, even slower than when I first started running 12 years ago. With this in mind, I had low expectations of my performance in the relay, but I admit that a part of me was hoping that I could pull out a 22:XX finish like I used to be able to before I was diagnosed with cancer. I must have had my Wheaties this particular morning because I ended up finishing the run in 22:09. Possibly my fastest 5K ever? It couldn't be ... 

I forgot to start my watch when I started to run because I was so flustered over trying to make a fast transition of the timing chip when Kathryn came in on the bike, and whenever I did look down at my watch I was running about a 7:30 pace. Not the 7:15 I used to be able to keep up, but still a great pace for me right now. Someone told me later that the course was actually 2.9 miles instead of 3.1 miles, which I believe. So although the official race results show that I was running a 7:09 pace, I really think it was closer to a 7:30 pace. Regardless, I'm thrilled with my time and it was so fun to have a taste of some of the speed I thought was left far behind. 

My next race is in two weeks and I'll be running the Silver Strand Half Marathon for the first time. This weekend I'll also be doing something a bit different, I'll be rappelling down the Manchester Grand Hyatt in Downtown San Diego as part of a brain cancer fundraiser. Crazy? Yes. Fingers crossed I don't totally chicken out! More on the fundraiser here.

Marathon #20

About two weeks ago I accomplished a huge personal goal - I completed my 20th full marathon! I had planned to run marathon #19 and #20 in the fall of last year, but cancer had other plans. Fortunately I was able to run the LA Marathon as #19 this year, and just last weekend I ran the Long Beach Marathon as #20. 

Last Long Run By The Coast

I had run this race years ago and liked it for its flat course, scenic route by the beach, and easy access to/from the start line from the surrounding hotels. I was originally training to run this race with Tara who ran the LA Marathon with me, but unfortunately she got injured and had to drop back to the half. My friend Barb who had been training with us but was signed up for the half (because she had the NY Marathon three weeks later) heard that Tara couldn't run with me anymore, and took my plea seriously when I joked that she should upgrade to the full instead. Well, as my mom taught me as a kid - you never know what you're going to get until you ask! And I'm so glad I asked, because Barb ended up running with me! Thank you Barb!

Here are some pictures that tell the story of the race better than words.

Pre-Race Pedicure Tradition

Long Beach Marathon Theme: PINK!

Crafting Time With Iron-Ons

Outfit Complete!

Tara's Long Beach Shirt

Race Morning Breakfast of Champions

30 Minutes Till Race Time!

Best Husband EVER

Bumped Into Blogger Friend Ciry At The Start

Sun Coming Up At Mile 6

No Turning Back Now

We're Halfway Done!

Still Feeling Good 

We've Spotted David!

Best Banana EVER Apparently

20 Miles! Piece of Cake From Here

Who's Got The Spirit? Barb Does! :)

One Mile To Go!

"One More Mile" Sign With Signatures

Found Our Names!

Flying Towards The Finish Line

Marathon 20 - CHECK!

 

20th Marathon, 2nd During Chemo

Me & Barb (Aka Bad Ass Running Buddy)

Blowing My Fitbit's Mind!

Long Beach Marathon Medal

We finished the race at exactly 5:01:00. I wish we could have shaved a minute off! Oh well. This was my 2nd slowest marathon ever, but a 23 minute improvement over my "powered by chemo" LA Marathon, so I was happy.  I've been feeling stronger each month and hopefully I'll be running like I used to at some point in the future.

After the race David and I had a quick lunch in Long Beach before heading back to San Diego to relax and enjoy the rest of our Sunday. As it turned out, the annual neighborhood street festival was going on that afternoon just a few blocks from our house so we went down to check it out and listen to some bands.

Golden Hill Street Fair

Representing My Hood

It's hard now to believe that the marathon wasn't even two weeks ago. It seems like it was so long ago! I have a couple other shorter races planned for the rest of the year and I am already thinking about what marathons I want to run next year. So far I'm signed up for the Maui Marathon in September since the registration fee was only $26 (who could resist?!) and we were already planning on going back to Maui next summer for our one year wedding anniversary. I'm also eying the Napa Valley Marathon in March and have a couple friends who seem interested in that as well. We'll see! For now I will try to revel a bit longer in this accomplishment and try not to dismiss it too quickly before moving onto my next goal. I can't believe I made it to 20! HUGE thanks goes out to Barb for switching to the full marathon at the last minute and running with me the whole way. You are truly a Bad Ass Running Buddy!