Running for AIDS

I began training for the San Francisco AIDS marathon a few weeks ago and, well, it's been an experience. My group leader, who was assigned to me and Sarah V based on our running times, is quite supportive and insightful with his weekly emails. This is his sixth marathon, which I gathered from the bottom of his email, which lists his complete health resume. This includes a gastric bypass operation five years ago and the loss of 153 pounds a year after that. In person, he got me and Sarah V very amped indeed, stating that after his first marathon, "I could last all night long on the dance floor!"

Here is the email sent today. Sarah said she was confused because she thought he was telling us to rub goo on our nipples, but to be careful, because it may give us the runs. The email, word for word:

A few pointers: make sure that your toe nails are trimmed. As we get into the higher mileages, long toenails can cause injuries and toenail loss. Also, particularly for the men, wearing nipple guards or applying body glide to the nipples will be more important as the miles tick up. On my first 5 mile run, I didn't take precautions, and when I got home and took a shower, my nipples felt like they were on fire as I soaped them up--not fun! Ouch!

I hope you all have tried GU or some type of energy gel/bar to fuel your runs. Don't try them for the first time on a Saturday run because you want to have a bathroom available should you have a bad reaction. I personally witnessed an AIDS marathoner get runner's trots when she tried a sports gel for the first time on a Saturday run. She had to run .5 mile with abdominal pain until we found a bathroom. Not pretty! It may be necessary to try several products before one fits right, but regardless, it's important to get your body used to getting fuel during a run to avoid hitting the wall or bonking, a potentially serious and very uncomfortable condition where your body has used up all its glucose reserves and is trying to cannibalize itself as fuel.

I personally use GU chocolate outrage flavor (it's made with Belgian chocolate and I love it). I will always call out the times when it's recommended to take in some fuel (generally every 30 - 45 mins).

Hope you're all doing well. See ya Saturday.

Total sponsorship so far: $1165.00 Still needed: $635

That reminds me, if you'd like to donate to my "runs" and give money to AIDS research and HIV treatment (I am desperate for the donations at this point), comment or something. I'll give you the link to the donations page.