Renee Cathcart

A Marathon Wrap Up - Thank You

The miracle isn’t that I finished.

The miracle is that I had the courage to start - John Bingham

One week ago today I was in New York about to embark on the New York Marathon. People would tell me not to stress, it was all about the Journey to get here (and they were right), that this was my Victory Lap (some lap!) and that come race day, Expect the Unexpected (no truer words said).

Come race day morning, I was feeling good, mentally and physically prepared. I was injury free and had envisioned in my mind how this race would go. But this is New York, the largest marathon in the world and anything goes. This is how it all played out….

Alex and I were up at 4.30am to get ready, between the excitement, nerves and constant sirens of New York, I think we averaged about 4 hours sleep. Not optimal but we were ‘Road Warriors’ and everyone assured us the adrenaline of the day would get us through. We met the Can Too team downstairs, laughed at everyone’s interpretation of appropriate ‘throw away gear’ and headed off to the buses that would take us to the start line on Staten Island. We were ready!!!

Our actual race time didn’t start until 11am so we had a good 4 ½ hours to sit around and soak up the atmosphere. Felt like I was at a school carnival with everyone dressed in their house colours waiting for their race but time passed quickly and before I knew it, the American National Anthem was playing, the gun went off and I was running the New York Marathon…. it was so surreal!

The first 20km through Brooklyn and Williamsburg were my absolute favourite, forever burned into my heart. The streets were lined with thousands of New Yorkers coming out to support total strangers calling your name, telling you ‘You’re Awesome’, ‘You Got This’ and ‘You Go Girl!’. Children, adults, NYPD and the Fire Department were lined up to high five you like you’re some sort of rock star, bands were playing, gospel singers were singing, people were holding up the most hilarious and creative signs I have ever seen…it was completely over the top American Ra Ra and Roadrunner and I were loving it. The first stabs of pain surfacing in my jaw from smiling and laughing so hard.

At 20km I thought I was pacing quite well given the euphoria and the sheer number of runners I had to run around. I noticed that the run/walk Jeff Galloway technique which is VERY popular in the US was starting to get on my nerves. I couldn’t get a rhythm as people would come to an abrupt halt and start to walk in front of you, causing you to do a sharp dodge around them to avoid a full on collision. Most would choose to walk smack bang in the centre of the course causing you to have to run around them. I couldn’t work out if they were being arrogant selfish runners or in fact courteous runners trying to free up the sides lines for people who may want to be closer to the crowds. I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt (at least for now) and go with the latter.

20km-26km saw us run through Queens. This is where your Can Too training kicks in. It’s a rather boring part of the race, not much to see, crowds have thinned out and you have to find your groove and plod along. Looking over at Roadrunner I could seeing her ‘Bonking’ (calm down, it’s a running term for when you start to hit the wall) much earlier than I anticipated. It’s here we hit the Queensboro Bridge. A LONG rather dark, dingy and depressing covered bridge with a steady incline. It was bleak, Roadrunner was digging deep and all you could hear was the stampede of feet as there were no spectators.

Once you come off the bridge you hit First Avenue, BANG! ….you have made it to Manhattan and the crowds are unbelievable….just what we needed to lift us back up. At this stage of the race I was still feeling good, the smile was back on my face and I was high fiving half of Manhattan to boost my energy. I’m running with tens of thousands of people and out of nowhere I start to see Orange Can Too shirts, like magnets being drawn together. 3 became 5, 5 became 7, and before I knew it we had a posse of 8 bright Can Too runners taking on Manhattan to a chorus of ‘Go Aussies’ and ‘Go Can Too’ There was even Rocky music playing….a truly magical moment that unfortunately dissipated almost as quickly as it had come together.

At about 32km you hit The Bronx and I started to notice that things didn’t feel quite right. The gels that I had used all through the program were not agreeing with me and I started to feel sick with 10km to go. My annoyance level at the Jeff Galloway style runners had increased several notches (Sorry Deb and Tom) and I was starting to trip over them as they would come to an abrupt halt and walk through the crowded drink stations. Truth be told, it was probably just exhausted runners looking for a break as they hydrated but at the time it was damn annoying and Mutley had arrived! I remember thinking that running the New York marathon was like a cruel video game where the objective was to try and get you out of the race before you could cross the finish line.

NY Marathon Game

Level 1 (0-5km): CLOTHING POOL

You have dreamt about running across the Staten Island bridge and looking out at the view of Manhattan but the reality was you couldn’t enjoy the view as you needed to keep your laser focus on the ground to navigate the various types of clothing people so rudely left behind on the course. If you didn’t roll your ankle you were through to the next level …Well Done!

Level 2 (5-30km): THE DRINKS STATION

Thousands of runners running and walking through a narrow band of road littered with slippery cups covered in water and Gatorade. Navigate the walkers, the volunteers, don’t slip on the cups and you are through to the next level…Congratulations!

Level 3 (30km): THE SPONGES

Clearly you think you are hot stuff navigating your way to this point of the race so the game ups the ante by adding in the slippery wet sponges to the drink stations. Yay!! Like the walkers and slippery cups were not enough! Make it through here and you move through to the final level of the game…Legend!

LEVEL 4 (35km): THE BANANA SKINS

Yep that’s right. ….It’s time to see who can skate when running while exhausted! Just when you navigated the other runners, the walkers, the clothes, the slippery cups, the slippy sponges they litter the course with banana peel…..COME ON PEOPLE!…REALLY!? Navigate this final hurdle, ‘Collect $200 and Progress to Go’. You have earned the right to run down the iconic…. 5^th Avenue.

By 35km Roadrunner was coming out the other side of the wall and not a moment too soon because I was tanking. My stomach was cramping and all I could do was focus on keeping the vomit down. The noise from the crowd started to fade into the background as I started to enter a weird fog, up ahead I saw our Can Too Founder the wonderful Annie Crawford poised with camera in hand and all I could think was …’keep running toward Annie.’ After becoming entangled in another walker (who got a few choice words from me) we caught up, I must have looked a sight because Annie kept rubbing my shoulder saying every possible motivational/inspiring thing she could think of to get me to the entrance of Central Park. I had about 3.5km to go.

Once in Central Park I think I lost all perspective of the crowd. Everything between my heart and my legs was shutting down as I was willing my legs to continue in spite of everything. Roadrunner was reminding me of everyone who had got behind us in the past 5 months, all the money we had raised for Cancer Research and how many people we knew who had got up early to track us via the app on the home stretch of the run. There was no way in hell I was going to have my kids watch that little blimp on the screen stop, I hadn’t trained this long to walk now so with a last burst of energy I didn’t know I had, I crossed the finish line in 4 hours 58 minutes….. I had just become a Marathoner and all I could do was cry!

It wasn’t exactly the race I was hoping for but I guess that is what makes it so special…. It wasn’t’ easy….I couldn’t control all the elements and the unexpected did happen. I just had to rely on the Can Too training, the ever so special Roadrunner and heart to get me through. I will be forever grateful to have had this experience.

So a massive thank you to all those reading this, with your support over this marathon program I raised $8,765, for Cancer Research. $15,490 when you combined it with Roadrunner. (Not a bad effort for a left and right foot.) Contributing to the $205,000 raised by our Can Too New York Marathon pod - Enough to fund two cancer researchers….just awesome!

I also have to conclude by thanking my amazing family and friends for supported me through this very long training program. For not laughing at me as I hobbled around the office in high heels after training and not complaining about the incessant number of Orange shirt pictures on Facebook. To my incredible coach Mike…thank you just doesn’t seem enough…..you really are Magic and to the beautiful Alex who has been by my side every step of the way…you are my angel, couldn’t have done it without you. This really is an Epic Ladybird Memory xxx

Together we really did make a difference. – Funding two cancer researchers in 2017.

Thank you all so much

Love Renee

1 more sleep - A Marathon Update from New York!

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it.

If you can dream it, you can become it - William Arthur Ward

Tomorrow I will become a Marathon runner….who would have thought?

It’s week 20 - the final week of the training program with race day a mere 1 sleep away. I still can’t believe I have made it this far. The past 4 weeks has been a seesaw of emotions filled with joy, pain, exhaustion and tears. I swear I’m starting to feel bipolar.

Week 17 saw us pull back for a 21km recovery run (Don’t think I’ll ever get use to calling a half marathon a recovery run) from Kirribilli to Iron Cove Bridge as we prepared our bodies for the final build of the program. Dare I say it was an easy run filled with idle chatter and a little music as Roadrunner ditched me for the sunny shores of Palm Cove.

Week 18 was the big week I was dreading, it was a week that saw me surround myself with positivity as I tried to psych myself up to run the furthest distance in the program. A whopping 36km from Kirribilli to Blackwattle Bay and back. I can’t begin to describe the pressure and nerves I felt that week….what if I hit the wall? What if my leg didn’t hold and the shin splints flared back up?...What if my Achilles chose to go now….What if my knees went?....Worse yet….what if I couldn’t make the distance? I’d have no chance of making 42.2km in New York. Thankfully Magic Mike (our coach) knew exactly how we would all be feeling and despite suffering a blinding migraine – insisted on running with us to ensure we all accomplished this massive mental milestone. As guilty as I felt, I had to admit I needed him and the run turned out to be my favourite to date with Roadrunner, Theresa, Magic Mike and I talking and laughing (yes….. I did say laughing) through the majority of the run.

But like every seesaw, once you are up, it’s time to come back down.

Week 19 saw us pull back and begin our taper with a 20k run. I guess my body was tired and really needed a break from training because I ‘wasn’t feeling it’. My legs were like lead, my breathing was shallow, I felt ordinary and frankly I dragged my butt through every kilometre….a far cry from the ‘runner’s high’ a week before and I was left feeling disappointed and nervous all over again.

Week 20 had me back on top which was our last 10km run as a group before we travelled to New York. NOTHING…not even the rain was going to dampen my spirits that day. This was followed by a 5km run through New York’s Central Park and a final 7km run along the city’s Highline…….Simply Spectacular!

So now the training is complete and it’s a battle of the mind .This ‘tapering’ SCREWS with your head! Just when you have survived the 20 week program, pushed your body to the furthest distance ever…. You pull back and take it easy, run a leisurely 5km and somehow trust that your body will know what to do and pull out a record 42.2km on race day. Every part of you is screaming you should keep running, that you’re getting unfit….that you won’t make the distance. You suffer phantom aches and pains as your body recovers which sends you into another wave of panic as you fear you are injured. It’s a roller-coaster of emotions.

So this morning I have taken a friend’s advice and allowed a little time to reflect on all that has happened in the past 20 weeks. The support I have received from family, friends, colleagues and the Can Too community has been overwhelming, it has amazed me who has ‘popped out’ of the wood work to lend their support both financially and emotionally. Together we have raised $7,485 for Cancer Research and became a Hall of Fame Champion for raising over $16,000 across the three programs….phenomenal!

I can’t thank you all enough for supporting me and helping improve health outcomes for our friends and family that are fighting this horrible disease.

Tomorrow’s Marathon is dedicated to my Mum and Pop (a half marathon for each of them) who lost their battle with Bowel and Lung cancer. I miss them both so much and wish they were here to see this magical moment…You are always in my heart.

I’ll also be thinking of those people that my friends have donated money in memory of….Darran Wilkinson’s sister Kylie Wilkinson, Natasha Caristo’s Uncle Peter, Deidre O’Brien’s Mum and Harriot Oakeshott’s Dad Dr Rob Oakeshott, my Uncle Sam and Aunt Diana. All are welcome in our heavenly grandstand of supporters.

A huge thank you must go to my amazing coach – Magic Mike who pushed me, supported me and basically put up with my moaning and groaning over the past 20 weeks. Without him, this magical moment wouldn’t be possible.

And to my inspiring twin...aka right foot…aka Roadrunner. You are amazing! Thank you for sharing this journey with me. Here’s to an EPIC Ladybird Moment!

If you would like to be part of this marathon journey, there is still time.

Simply click on my fundraising page www.cantoo.org.au/fundraisers/ReneeCathcart

Together we can make a difference.

Warm Regards

Renee

Running to save your loved ones - A Marathon Update - Only 4 weeks to go!

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination. – Tommy Lasorda

Today I begin week 17 of a 20 week training program with Can Too to run the New York Marathon and raise money for cancer research. The program is certainly the most challenging thing I have ever done, pushing me way beyond any boundaries I thought I had. Just when I thought I had the hang of this running thing I quickly realised that running past a half marathon (21km) was a whole new ball game. All the rules change!

I have learned:

• About shoes - You need a pair that is a size to a size and half bigger than normal to take your poor swollen feet and prevent toe nail loss. (Very important with summer just around the corner)
• Simple enough but get new shoes at the beginning of an intense program like this and they can lead to shin splints…not so good.
• Paw Paw cream is a girl’s best friend! I don’t know what it is, but when you run past 21km, you chaff in places you never ever dreamed of!
• Fuel. It’s all about the FUEL!… How many carbs your body needs per hour to go the distance. Get it just right and you can push past ‘THE WALL’ that everyone talks about. Get it wrong and you are in a world of pain feeling like hell, desperately trying to drag your butt home without being sick.
• Coke Cola is still KING. Forget the Gatorade and Powerade, this puppy gives you wings on those long runs.
• I HATE traffic lights. Nothing is more challenging than having to stop at lights on a long run and then push off again when the lights change and try to regain your rhythm. It’s a form of torture!
• A ‘recover run’ is now a half marathon. That’s right you heard me…..you run a half marathon to help recover from all the excessive running you have been doing before you push to the next build (bigger distance) It’s INSANE!
• Dry Needling – The Pantene of endurance running. ‘It Won’t Happen Overnight But It Really Will Happen!’
• It's where the physio pushes a series of thin needles into your VERY tight and somewhat sore muscles, wiggles the needle around until it elicits a spasm like you have been electrocuted in order to trick your brain into sending blood flow to the area so that it loosens up muscles and heals the inflamed area more quickly. It’s a KILLER that saw me hobbing out of the physio in tears but dare I say, it saved my Marathon campaign and healed my shin splints when nothing else did.

The last 6 weeks has seen us run all over Sydney as we paint the town Orange. For me it has been a period of uncharted territory, each Saturday bringing a new running milestone. Unfortunately the quick build in the program saw me develop shin splints so I spent a couple of weeks simulating runs in the gym and not running the full distances on a Saturday. The 29km Kirribilli to Bronte Beach and back run marked my return to the program and saw us tackle what our coach called ‘undulating hills’. Trust me, there is nothing undulating about running up the long and very steep Bronte Road.

The 30km Centennial Park to Kirribilli and back run was the most challenging run for me. Running around the outside of Centennial Park with nothing to look at was like Ground Hog day that I thought would never end. It was only 1km more than two weeks prior but it might as well have been 10km. My error in hydration and fuel saw me hit ‘the wall’ at 26km culminating in a not so ladylike ‘little tumble’ or ‘face plant’ as my daughter likes to call it, at an entrance to the park. Luckily I had Roadrunner (aka Alex) to drag my sorry butt home those last 4km. What would I do without her!

The ‘Recovery Run’ or Blackmores Half Marathon saw Roadrunner and I add another medal to our tally. The running gods paused the rain just long enough for us to complete our race and cheer in my friend Wendy who completed her first half marathon. A truly magical moment as we shared in her excitement and celebrated her accomplishment.

The 34km Kirribilli to Blackwater and back run has been my favourite run to date. So picturesque and hardly any traffic lights! Don’t get me wrong, it was a long hard run…really hard in places and the last 4km home pushing up the Cahill Expressway (listening to Rocky music of course) and across the Harbour Bridge against major head winds was EXHAUSTING but I got the fuelling right and with the ever effervescent Roadrunner by my side, I was able to push through ‘the wall’, dig deep…real deep, and make it all the way back. It’s the first time in this whole program that I thought I might actually be able to run a marathon.

Next week is the final long run – 36km - before we pull back in preparation for the Marathon. At this stage of the program I am exhausted, my body is very tired and it is all mental strength from here. You know before you take your first step if it’s going to be a good run or not, so it will be a week of positivity and psyching myself up to meet the challenge ahead. (Encouraging texts and calls most welcome!)

With every exhausted step I take, I remember why I am doing this and think of the people that are going through cancer treatments who would give anything to feel well enough to walk around the block let alone run it. Thanks to the generosity of my colleagues, friends and family we have raised $5,775 for cancer research. Only $725 to go before we hit the target of $15,000 across the three programs I have completed.

So if you have a loved one or friend who has been touched by cancer and can spare a few dollars, please sponsor me in their memory and help improve cancer treatment outcomes for those that we care about. Every little bit counts and anything over $2 is a tax deduction. www.cantoo.org.au/fundraisers/ReneeCathcart

Together we can make a difference.

Warm Regards

Renee

The Runner's High - A Marathon Update

If you want to experience something, run a marathon” – Emil Zatapoek

Hi all,

They call it ‘The Runner’s High’, those first few hours (in my case days) where you are on a euphoric high for having completed a significant distance run. A moment of insanity where you are so pumped over your last accomplishment that you think you can do anything!

Well I don’t know what the hell Alex and I were drinking/inhaling along the Great Ocean Road’s half marathon last year…perhaps it was the Koala pee…but our runners high lead us to signing back up with Can Too to run a marathon to help raise money for cancer research. And not just any marathon…the New York Marathon!......yes in 9 weeks and 1 day (not that I’m counting), I’ll be at the start line on Staten Island psyching myself up to run through the 5 boroughs of New York city.

I am now entering week 12 of a 20 week training program – uncharted territory - where I am asking my body to run further than it ever has before, to double the biggest distance I have ever run and I have to say, it’s not liking it one little bit! In preparation for this program I worked on strengthening my core, my Achilles and my knees but what I didn’t count on was getting shin splints from the quick build in the program. 0-23km in 8 weeks - GEEZE WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Thankfully I have learned that a girl needs a good support crew to keep her on the road and I have collected the best bunch of crazies over the course of the last 11 weeks. Introducing….

Magic Mike –

Settle girls…it’s not Channing Tatum, rather my Coach. The one man in my life that I love to hate. I hate him every Wednesday night for making me run in torrential rain, for pushing me so hard I want to be sick. I hate him every Saturday morning for making me run ridiculous distances like ‘just 18km’ or ‘only 24km’ and then I love him for a brief moment somewhere between 9.00am -10.00am on a Saturday when I finish and am so grateful that he has pushed me to get fit enough to make those ‘just’ and ‘only’ ridiculous distances.

Crazy Claire –

My Mentor, the one woman that can take the ‘Micky’ out of any situation and get away with it, the person who will make you laugh on those long runs when you would rather cry and knows exactly when to run alongside you to give you that extra ‘umph’ to get you home when you would rather walk.

Wonderful Wendy –

My massage therapist, who every week turns her serene massage parlour into Helga’s House of Pain! Without her torture, I don’t think I could walk let alone run each week.

Pesky Pete from the Body Mechanics – The ‘other’ leprechaun man in my life.

An amazing physiotherapist that specialises in long distance runners and cyclists. Yes I am putting all my faith in his ability to keep this old body finely tuned and on the road!

During the past 12 weeks I have run around some of the most beautiful, if not unusual places in Sydney, training in gorgeous sunshine and torrential rain. (I’ll save you the drowned rat photo) culminating in a 24.5km run from Kirribilli to the Iron Cove bridge and back this week.

It’s been a tough couple of weeks as I ‘simulate’ many of the training runs in the gym as I try to recover from shin splints and get ready for the next big build in the program. Just as I started to get emotional, feel exhausted and wonder if this was all too hard, a girlfriend contacted me to tell me that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time after a 10 year remission. That soon snapped me back to reality and put things into perspective. It reminded me again why I am putting myself through all this. Yes it’s great to get fit, inspire my children and take on a challenge (That I still don’t know if I can even do) but for me it’s really about stepping up and doing my part in memory of those that I have loved who have lost their battle with cancer, the friends I have that are in remission (I am so very proud of you!) and those that are about to start on their journey to recovery.

Every passing year brings new medications, new trials and fresh hope for those fighting to stay alive but it takes money, donations…your donations to fund the research necessary for these amazing breakthroughs.

Thanks to all your very generous donations we have raised $4,255 for this marathon program and $12, 855 overall for Cancer Research making us Can Too Hall of Fame Champions! Wouldn’t it be great to make $15,000 before New York?

If you would like to support me and be part of this fundraising journey, please click on the link below. All donations are tax deductible.

https://www.cantoo.org.au/fundraisers/ReneeCathcart

All money raised goes directly to cancer researchers. I promise you are not paying for a girl’s week away to New York!

Together we can make a difference!

Regards Renee

Can Too Hall of Fame Champions!

Thank you to all my wonderful friends and family who continue to support me in raising money for cancer research. We became Can Too Hall of Fame Champions today for raising over $10k ($12,835 to be exact!) Think I have to extend the NY Marathon target and see if we can raise $15k. I can promise you, this WILL be the one and only marathon I run. So come on friends, give up a coffee a week and help raise money for this great cause! www.cantoo.org.au/fundraisers/ReneeCathcart