Running Update:

9/7/2016		7.6 mi	1:14:17
9/9/2016		3.2 mi	30:52
9/11/2016		11.3 mi	1:51:15
9/14/2016		7.6 mi	1:13:09
9/16/2016		5.0 mi	45:46
9/18/2016		22.0 mi	3:49:20

I completed my longest training run of the season yesterday—now it’s time to taper!  Less than three weeks until the Hartford Marathon. 

You can always donate to our race here:  www.KRath4Jane.com

Readers of the blog know that I periodically recommend songs that relate (however obliquely) to running.  Here are a few more that I’ve recently had in my head:

     Adele: Send My Love

     Key lyrics: “I was running.  You were walking.  You couldn’t keep up.”

     Empire of the Sun: Walking on a Dream

     Key lyrics: “We are always running for the thrill of it, thrill of it.  

          Always pushing up the hill searching for the thrill of it.”

     Bishop Briggs: River

     Key lyrics: “Run…like a river.”

Jane (and family) Update, Proud Parent edition:  

Alec had his 12th birthday recently!  As usual, the family sang happy birthday as we presented him with his cake, and he made the traditional wish when he blew out the candles.  Todd asked him what he wished for, and he replied that he wished Jane didn’t have NF.  I think Jane was touched (I know I was!) because she exclaimed, “Oh!  Thank you, Alec!”  Later, Jane wrapped up a shell she had found at the beach and put it on Alec’s bed to thank him for using his birthday wish on her <3

NF Update: 

The Fourth Annual Connecticut NF Walk is this weekend!  This annual event in Putnam, CT celebrates the brave NF Heroes who live with neurofibromatosis, and raises funds for critical NF research.  This is more than just a walk; it's a day of family, inspiration, and so much fun!  We’ll make sure to post pictures, as always.

If you’d like more information about the walk, click here: 2016 Putnam NF Walk

Running Update:

8/17/2016	7.1 mi	1:07:26
8/19/2016	4.5 mi	42:36
8/21/2016	19.0 mi	3:12:36
8/22/2016	3.3 mi	30:40
8/24/2016	7.6 mi	1:11:55
8/26/2016	5.0 mi	48:25
8/29/2016	3.3 mi	29:46
8/31/2016	7.2 mi	1:08:48
9/2/2016	5.0 mi	45:07
9/5/2016	13.1 mi	1:58:02

Yesterday I completed another half marathon for the Children’s Tumor Foundation, this time the New Haven Road Race. For the first time the NHRR offered a half marathon in addition to its 5K and 20K races.  We could not have asked for better weather.  The forecast had been for significant wind and rain to be brought in by Hurricane Hermine, but all it brought was cooler, dryer weather than we’ve had in many weeks.  Perfect for a race! 

I was pleased to finish under 2 hours.  It wasn’t a PR, but out of 73 women in my age group, I placed 16th!  Perhaps all the fast people were scared off by the weather predictions from earlier in the week :)

The day was made even better by the fact that I finally met another NF Mom with whom I had corresponded for almost two years.  Diane, whose 3-year-old son has NF, ran the first leg of a half-marathon relay.  We had tried unsuccessfully to meet up before the start of the race. However, just after I crossed the finish line I saw a spectator wearing a CTF hat—it was Diane!

Lining up

At the start

Near the finish

Meeting Diane!

Me, Diane, and Jane

Grandma, Todd, and the kids were all there to cheer me on!

Jane and me with Diane and her relay partner

Next up: training for the Hartford Marathon on October 8th.

Jane (and Alec and Helen) Update:

Today the kids started back to school!  Both Helen and Alec started new schools today.  Alec is now in 7th grade and Helen in 9th—high school!—and Jane is starting 4^th grade, her last year of elementary school.

Jane with her bus stop buddies

NF Update:

To show you how NF is never far from our minds, here is a snap shot of one of the (bazillion) school forms that came home for me to fill out today.  Most kids leave the “Current Medications” space blank.  On Jane’s form I can’t even put an actual approved drug name!  “AZD6244” isn’t an ordinary response.  Thankfully, our school nurse knows all about Jane’s history and treatment, so I don’t have to explain it to her.  But at the start of every school year we always brace ourselves for another round of educating the new people in Jane’s life about NF.

…Which is why we want to support the Children’s Tumor Foundation, for its advocacy on behalf of all folks with NF, and its search for a cure!  THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to our 2016 campaign so far!  If you haven’t yet, please do!  Here’s the link:  

www.krath4jane.com