And so it begins....: November 2018

How did it go? I have been asked this question about a gazillion times since I ran my first half-marathon. Here is an account of the journey from start to finish.

Let's take a step back and go back five year to 2014. My sister-in-law Devorah told me that she wanted to run the half of the half for Chai Lifeline in Las Vegas. I had run several 5k's before and thought I could handle the 6 mile race. I thought about it over Shabbos. I knew it was going to be a lot to raise the money for this race. Stephen said "You really only need 100 people to please 36 dollars and you are set." After hearing that, I thought I would be able to raise the money, run the race and accomplish this challenge. The 2014 Vegas Team Lifeline experience was extremely uplifting and powerful. I met so many awesome individuals. Before the race there was a pre-race pasta party. At this party we watched individuals who had been running the race for five years get their "5 year jacket." My sister-in-law turned to me and said "I want that jacket." I turned to her and said "See you in five years." I ran the race and finished it even though it was way harder than I had planned. I knew that it was not going to be something that I could do every single year. However, Devorah took on that challenge and I tried to support her each and every year as she raised money and trained for the half of the half.

2014- Half of the half race

Fast forward to June of 2018. Team lifeline announces that registration is open for the Vegas Rock and Roll Marathon series. Both Devorah and I sign up again. This year we decide to step up our game and run the half-marathon. I had run a ten miler last year in preparation for running the half. I still needed to put the time into training for this race. Devorah never really liked running but followed the training schedule and ran farther and faster than she has ever run.

Training was easy at first. I would wake up before the sun during the summer and get five miles in easily. I would swim laps at the pool on my off days. Things were moving right along. I was raising money with each run I ran and the support group kept growing. Then things didn't go as planned.

One day I woke up with intense leg pain. The pain didn't go away at first and some days the pain made it so I could barely walk and going up and down stairs was near impossible. Of course I rested my legs. As I watched others run the streets of West Orange, I started to get depressed. I had worked so hard and I didn't want to let myself or the fan club down.

It took awhile to figure out the problem. Lots of advice from Eliot and constant reassurance that I would get back out there helped me recover and solve my problems. One of my surgeries removed several lymph nodes in my body. This makes it so the water doesn't circulate like it should. I started to wear compression sleeves on my legs. At first I would wear them to run. It helped a little bit but it was still a struggle to run. After a while I started to wear them all day long. I noticed a huge difference. The compression sleeves started to regulate the water in my legs and made the pain go away. Once I got the leg pain under control it was back to training like a rock star. Of course the more miles I ran the more my feet hurt. One of the many side effects from the Chemo is the neuropathy in my feet. Sometimes I can't feel some of my toes or parts of my feet as a run. I have grown accustomed to this feeling and just learned to run with it.

wore these all the time--

Sometime over the summer I convinced Stephen to run the half marathon with me. Even though he wouldn't be running it with me, he would take on the this challenge. He would run occasionally but nothing more than 5 or 6 miles. This summer we both took to the streets of West Orange to train for our first half-marathons. Together we raised over 7,000 for Chai Lifeline.

Now let's talk about the actual marathon.

It truly took everything I had to finish the race. I didn't walk once. It was a goal for me to run the entire race. I felt that if I started to walk I would not start running again. I also felt that if I walked I would be letting myself down. I didn't want to walk because then I knew I would have to try again to run the entire 13.1 miles and prove to myself that I could do it. At the time, I couldn't imagine running this particular race again. It took everything I had to keep on running. Several times I recalled Eliot's words of wisdom "one foot in front of the other" and used this to get me through the rest of the mile.

Before the race pictures:

Just some of the many that ran the half for Team Lifeline

Taking on the world together!

Let's get to the mind of Rachel during the race.

Mile 1- not bad, I could do this

I got this....

Mile 2- ok, it is thinning out and people are starting to walk but I am still feeling good

Mile 3- I haven't even run a 5k yet????

Glad I am carrying the water bottle (Thanks Joe)- rinse out my mouth

Mile 4.5- met up with a fellow survivor and ran together

Two survivors- proving cancer didn't win

Mile 6- I am not even half way there

Splashed water on my face and rinsed out my mouth

Mile 7- I see the Stratosphere, just make it to the Stratosphere

Mile 8- I feel like I have barely moved on the strip, I am no closer to the Stratosphere then before

Splash more water, rinse mouth, feels like I am eating sand as I run

Mile 9- when will I turn around and head towards the finish, this is taking forever

I can't believe people are waiting on line for the port-a-potties.

Mile 10- ok- only a 5k left, I can do this

Finding every tenth of the mile is harder and harder to run

Feel just as bad as I look here-

Mile 11- One more rinse of the mouth, try to get rid of the sand taste in my mouth, chuck the water bottle, I should be able to make it to the end

Mile 12- only one more mile but it feels like the end is no where in sight, just one palm tree after another, one tree, two tree, three tree, ok, forget this, counting trees is not helping

Mile 13- trying my hardest to push through but feel like I am barely moving

I finished the race- probably in shock that I actually finished it

Grab a medal, get water, a banana, chocolate milk and other snacks

Get a Mylar blanket- I had always wanted to run a race that deserves one of these

Asked a random person to open my chocolate milk because I couldn't get my fingers to work right

Stopped by several of the medical tent people and asked "Are you ok?" Did I really look that bad? I knew I felt exhausted but I must have looked horrible.

Hobbled my way back to the Team Lifeline tent. Sat for a few minutes and then met up with my brother Joe and sister-in-law Devorah who ran the race together. Where was Stephen? Well...Stephen had enough time after he finished his race to walk back to the hotel (20 plus minutes), take a shower, and relax on the couch before I crossed the finish line.

He makes it look so easy

Would I do it again?

I think it is like childbirth. Right now my feet kill me and every step is painful but in time the pain will fade and I will forget all about eating sand while I run.

Thank you to everyone who was a part of this journey with me. Thank you to everyone that checked in on me before the race and after the race to see how I was. I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you Stephen, Joe and Devorah for raising money and running with me. Thank you mom and dad for holding down the fort so that I could participate in this experience. Thank you kids for being the best kids out there and making it possible to train for a half marathon. It truly was a family journey.