Mount Desert Island Half Marathon

This weekend was the Mount Desert Island Marathon/Half Marathon. Since we're only half crazy, we did the half. It starts in Northeast Harbor and ends right across the sound in Southwest Harbor. In between is 13.1 miles of hills and amazing scenery (the MDI Marathon was recently named one of the most beautiful marathons in the world). And even on a cold (48° F) and windy (winds of 10-20 mph) day the course lived up to the hype. 

 

We arrived in Bar Harbor the day before and enjoyed a hint of what was to come. 

The night before we had the shirts all ready to go. 

It was an auspicious start to the day with a beautiful sunrise (this picture doesn't do it justice) on the way to the buses to the start. 

And the start of the half itself. While it may not look too bad in the picture, it was cold. Frigid some may say. Thankfully we were about to run 13.1 miles to ramp up our heart rates and make us warmer. 

At the finish, bling in hand (or at least around neck). Despite it being cold and windy we both had an awesome race. We gave it our all and beat our time goals. That said, we're looking to improve on our times next year. 

Lobsterman Triathlon

Yesterday was the Lobsterman Triathlon in Freeport. I can sum up my race in one word.

Brutal. 

Instead of being a nice end of summer/beginning of fall day it was a middle of July day with all of the heat and humidity to go along with it. 

That said, I finished. And as brutal as the race was it was still a great time. This was the first race this season where my family was able to come watch. So instead of doing the race without knowing anyone along the sides I had friendly faces well positioned to greet me four times during the race. 

Swim:

This was my first real open water swim in the ocean and my first in the water start. Considering I haven't really trained for the swim at all this summer I was really pleased with it. I was only kicked in the face a few times but nothing too bad. 

Unfortunately coming out of the water was a harbinger of things to come. Running into transition it was tough to stand up completely because of a pain in my middle chest. I'm pretty sure I swallowed either too much salt water or too much air. Either way it was an issue I wasn't really able to overcome the whole day. 

T1

My transition time was pretty decent and I was ready for tackling the bike. 

Bike:

The beginning of the bike was not auspicious. I have been attaching my shoes to the bike so I can run barefoot to the mount line. I've never really had a problem before. Yesterday I took about one or two strokes and my left shoe popped out of the cleat and since I didn't have my foot in yet the shoe went flying. 

After going back to get my shoe and finally getting going I tried to see how the bike would go. If you just look at my average speed (19.3 mph) then it was a good ride. I just wish it felt like a good ride. The first half was tough and things almost fell apart on the back half. 

Heading back in on the bike. 

In addition to how I felt physically, I also had trouble with the hills on the route. On my road bike I don't have too many issues with hills but there's something about my tri bike that makes hills that much harder. I don't know if it's the bike, the gears, or just me. Thankfully I was able to regain (some) time on the downhills and flats. 

T2:

I needed some time in T2 to regain myself a bit and steel myself for the run. There were also a few quick conversations with fellow competitors about how hot and humid it was. 

Run:

Of the three disciplines, the run was the toughest. My normal pace is somewhere in the 7:30-8 minute mile. For the 10k I shuffled along closer to 10:15 mins per mile. And it was shuffling. My normally long strides were reduced to about two or three feet. By this time Mother Nature decided to add to the woes addition to the physical issues I was having from not having trained correctly, probably not having the right nutrition, and the issue coming out of the water. The sun was out in full force and it brought its friend humidity. 

I'm normally not one to stop at every water stop but I had to this time. In fact, I just focused on getting from one water stop to the next. It was equally for hydration and to cool myself off by pouring cold water over me. I was also very thankful for the two families that were hosing people down along the route. 

The best part of the run, by far, was seeing my cheering section. 

My personal cheering section. 

The kids were well behave while waiting for me (unfortunately they had to wait longer than normal because I was that slow). Both of them got a kick out of the leaders, especially the guys with the disc wheels on the bikes, and ringing the cow bell. 

Keeping a lookout for Daddy. 

The best encouragement I could ask for. 

As tough as it was to do the race I'm glad I did it. To date I've raised over $2,500 for research into multiple myeloma. Combined with Nate's fundraising efforts earlier in the year, ME Against Myeloma has raised over $8,000 year-to-date. I would like to thank all of you for your support, both emotionally and through donations. It means a great deal to our family. 

I would also like to thank my sponsors: namely my wife and kids. Without their support, encouragement, and understanding I would not have been able to do any of this. Thank you. 

Traverse City Triathlon

This past weekend I was in Traverse City, Michigan again for the Traverse City Triathlon. The race takes place about five miles from where I grew up, is put on by two guys I ran track with in high school, and was the site of my very first triathlon (in 2013). It's a great course with some beautiful views on a sunny day. 

Going into the race I was hoping to improve on my time and overall standing from last year and I was hoping to place in the top three of my age group (last year I was fourth in my age group with some pretty horrendous transition times). Unfortunately the age group improvements were not to be. This year the competition was much stiffer and I went from 4th in my age group last year to 7th this year. But I moved up in the overall from 30-something to 14th. So overall I'll take it. 

Swim:

The water was cool again this year but not too cold. It was an overcast day and it had rained recently so the normally crystal clear water wasn't, but it was still a great place for the swim. I'm pretty sure I did a better job of staying on course this time and had a pretty good swim overall. I'm also pretty sure my swim was about a minute slower than last year's though (I didn't do nearly enough swim training). 

T1:

My transition this year was much, much faster than last year. My one flub was trying to mount the bike right out of transition, seeing the mount line was still a few feet away, having to stop getting on the bike to run up to the line and then remounting. Oh well. 

Bike:

We flew to Traverse this year so I rented a bike for the race. It was a good bike, but it would have been nice to have my aero bike on this course (it wouldn't have been worth the money or hassle to get it out there for a sprint, but it would have been nice nonetheless). I had a chance to ride the course earlier in the week so there weren't really any surprises. I was only passed by one person the whole ride and he was part of a relay team. Overall a good ride. 

T2:

As with the first transition, this was much smoother and faster than last year's. It's amazing what practice and knowing what you're doing can accomplish. 

Run:

My run time wasn't bad and I felt a lot slower than I was. So I guess that's a good thing. But I did feel slow. Once again though, I wasn't passed on the run and actually managed to pass some people. That's always a good thing. 

Here I am taking the last curve into the finish line. 

Overall it was a good race and a good tune-up for the Lobsterman (Olympic distance) that's coming up in a few weeks. 

Father's Day

This past weekend allowed us to refocus on why we put in the miles running, biking, and swimming.

Family. 

We were able to get the whole family down (and up) to Boston to celebrate Father's Day. It was great to spend the weekend together and especially nice to have the grand kids first experience at Fenway Park be with Grandpa. 

While we were there ME Against Myeloma was able to complete a rare feat: all go for a run together. Here we are along the Charles River with the skyline of Boston in the background. 

Arr, tis the Pirate Tri!

Transition area all set up.

This morning was the Pirate Tri at Point Sebago, ME. The race organizers were thoughtful enough to order up some gorgeous weather and it was the perfect day for a tri. I started things doing exactly what you're supposed to not do: something different on race day. Today was the first time I really tried to mount the bike with the shoes already clipped in and then get my feet in on the fly. Thankfully that worked with little to no hassle.

Swim:
Unfortunately, not everything worked out that way. The strap to my goggles broke about two minutes before the start of the race. Being a former Boy Scout, I had an extra pair of goggles. The problem is, they were in my bag in the transition area which was already closed. What should have been a nice 1/3 of a mile swim, something where I could gain some time on some of the field, turned into a rather annoying experience. I tried the whole Tarzan thing for about 100 yards and then switched over the backstroke. Given the issues with the swim, I did pretty well and was only a few seconds off my normal 100 yard split - doing freestyle.

Not what you want to see 2 mins before the race.

T1:
The first transition went pretty well. Had some issues getting the wetsuit off (I managed to knock my well placed helmet and sunglasses onto the ground trying to get the suit off) but made up time (in comparison to my previous transitions) by having the shoes mounted on the bike.

Bike:
Hills. Usually hills aren't a horrible thing for me. But there's something about my tri bike that makes hills very, very difficult. Thankfully, there was still gravity on the course and what goes up must come down. And the downhill was fun. Very fun. Overall it was a really (and fun) bike.

T2:
I also tried something new at T2 and got out of my shoes before getting off the bike. Once again this probably should have ended in catastrophe as I had never done it before. But once again it all worked out and I was able to make my transition to the running that much faster.

Run:
I'm not sure what exactly it was but my legs did not feel as ungodly heavy starting the run this time (probably means I could have gone faster on the bike). The lack of lead in my legs allowed me to pull out a pretty decent run. I averaged a 7:17 mile which is actually pretty fast for me, especially after having done a swim and bike right before hand. I probably could have kicked a little harder at the end (and am kicking myself for not doing so), but overall I was pleased with the run.

Overall I placed 44th out of 241. I was 36th out of 109 men and 6th in my age group (there were 13 total in my age group, three of which were in the top four so I don't feel too bad).

Post race:
One of the greatest things about doing these races is coming home to the family. We decided to take advantage of the awesome weather and go to the beach. Overall it was a great day.

Pineland Farms Trail Challenge Recap

This past Saturday we ran a 5k at the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge. The event has multiple races, everything from a barefoot 5k to a 50-miler. While we like running, and trail running in particular, we're nowhere near ready to try running for 50 miles. 

The weather was a big question mark up until the race. The forecast was for rain and temperatures in the mid-50s. Thankfully it was just overcast and in the 60s or so. In other words, perfect weather for a run in the woods. 

This was the first running race of the year for both of us. It was the perfect start to the running portion of our season. The trails were great, not too hard but also not really muddy and the atmosphere was fantastic as well. The course was pretty much a U in terms of elevation as it twisted and turned through the woods.

Someday I'll learn how to pace myself better and not go out too fast in the run (my last mile pace was almost two minutes slower than my first). That said, I had a pretty decent run and managed to place first in the "Mohawk division" (at least according to a few spectators cheering me on along the course). 

We're definitely coming back to this race next year. We hope to see you there!

All ready to go!

Katie finishing strong.

Celebrating a great time post-race.

Next up on the race docket is the Pirate Tri on June 8th.

Long run

Just under two years ago we made the roughly 9 hour car ride from our home in Alexandria, VA to our new house in Maine. The trip is about 555 miles, give or take. Today, less than two years later I completed the trip again - running.

Let me explain. Thanks to the marvels of modern technology I've been able to track every mile I have run since April 1, 2013 (that was my first real run since moving up here). Today I passed the 555 mile mark all-time. So, in a manner of speaking, I have run the distance from our old home to our new home. In doing so I have had some great runs, some really difficult runs, and some new races. I have been able to show my kids the importance of staying healthy and I have been able to see some awesome views. I have run in two states and two countries. I have run to find a cure for multiple myeloma.

And, to top it all off I passed this milestone by running a personal record for the 5k. Not too shabby.

-Andrew

New Logo

Since we started ME Against Myeloma we knew we wanted a logo to go with the effort. The logo would be a way to brand our efforts and quickly let people know who we are, what we stand for, and our positive attitude about the fight against multiple myeloma. 

Well, thanks to the efforts of Lauren Hight we now have one. Lauren, a college junior minoring in graphic design, created the logo for us. Here it is:

The thumbs up is not just any old, stock thumbs up. It has a lot of meaning for us as it is taken from a picture of Mike at his first treatment (see below). The thumbs up shows that we're going to beat this. It shows that attitude is everything. It shows that nothing is incurable.

First treatment, 2012

Polar Bear Triathlon - Recap

Our race season kicked off this morning up in Maine with the Polar Bear Triathlon (ME Against Myeloma's season was started a few months ago with Nate's run up the Empire State Building). The weather is still way too cold for open water swimming so the swim portion was in the pool at Bowdoin College (interesting side note: 3 or 4 of the pool records are held by Hamilton, our alma mater).

Pre-race selfie

Swim: Originally I was scheduled to be in Wave 11 with an expected start time of 10:20am - about two hours after the start of the race. Because the transition area was closed at 8:15, this meant I had about two hours to sit around and wait. Thankfully there was an opening in Wave 4 and I managed to start closer to 8:45/9am. The pool swim was only 525 yards but it got off to a rough start for me.  That said, I still managed to do the swim in about the time I thought, though I know I could have gone faster.

T1: After the swim it was a quick dash to the transition area for T1. While my transition was quite a bit faster than in my tri last year, it was still pretty slow. I need to get some tri specific bike shoes and get used to wearing them without socks.

Bike: 

Excited about my (early) Father's Day present

The bike was going to be interesting no matter what. It was chilly; I was wet, a potentially interesting combination. Also, and more importantly, I was on a new bike. They say to never tryout new equipment during a race, which is why I went for a 5 mile or so ride yesterday. That said, the tri was really the first time I got to take my new tri bike for a real ride. Three words: "It was fun." While I am definitely not in the best shape for riding (this has been the winter that never ends), it was still a decent bike split and a good experience getting used to the tri bike.

T2: The second transition went much smoother than the first, in part because I didn't need to put socks on and I didn't need to mess with getting a helmet on, just off.

Run: Of all the events I was worried about the run the most. Not because it's a real weak spot or because the course was really tough. No, I was worried about it because earlier in the week I had managed to tweak my ankle a bit. Not a sprain, but something wasn't 100%. Thankfully I didn't really actually feel the twinge in my ankle the entire run. Once again, my time wasn't the greatest, but I'm satisfied with the result.

Results: My final time was 1:09:57.1 which was good enough for 72th place out of a field of 258. I didn't fare as well in my age category (8th out of 13).

Post race: After the race I got home and got to hang out with the family. Both kids talked about how they were going to do their own triathlon on the driveway. That alone makes the triathlon a success, regardless of how fast I actually was.

Pictures from the race will follow once the race organizers get them online.

Post-race ice cream with the family

500 miles and running

The alarm went off at 6am this morning (Saturday) and by 6:20am I had taken the dog out and was out the door on the way to putting over 500 miles on my running shoes. The morning's run wasn't anything special, just over 4 miles, but a milestone was accomplished nonetheless.

This is the first time I have put anywhere close to 500 miles on a pair of shoes. The 500 mile mark was also reached in record time (for me at least): It took me less than 13 months to do it. As I gear up for my racing and money raising season it still amazes me what I have been able to accomplish. The need to raise awareness about multiple myeloma and to find a cure has been an extremely powerful motivator over the last year.

Here's to the next 500 miles.

-Andrew

A nice little morning jaunt along the coast of Maine.

I feel the need, the need for speed...

The weather and scheduling finally cooperated today and I was able to go out for a ride on the bike. This was my first ride of the season and only about 20 miles all told. At the halfway point I stopped at L.L. Bean for a bike fitting to ensure I was getting the most out of my ride. It turns out that I'm probably a little too big for my current bike, but it is still set up so all of the angles are what they should be. The good news being that I don't necessarily need to go out and get a new ride. The bad news is that I potentially have the justification to do so. Talk about a dilemma.

Another neat thing was that I got to put on my new aero bars. For those unfamiliar with the term, aero bars allow the rider to tuck into a more aerodynamic position during the ride and thus go faster with less work. The bars, given to me by a neighbor who doesn't need them anymore, will take some getting used to (the bike is a lot more sensitive to movements), but man are they fun. I am really looking forward to getting out on the rolling hills of Maine (and elsewhere hopefully) and trying them out some more. The only problem is, now I want a dedicated triathlon bike. Maybe one of these (he says waiting for the money tree to be planted...)?

Felt IA FRD LTD, list price of too much

Rack on

Slowly but surely we're getting ready for spring - and racing. 

Pay it forward

On Saturday I got back into the pool for the first time in a few weeks. The GPS watch that also tracks laps said I had a faster 100 yard split and my previous efforts, but it sure didn't feel like it. I ended up only swimming 1,500 yards and there were more breaks than I'd like to admit. After the workout I thought back to my high school swim career. We would routinely swim 5 - 6,000 yards a practice. During the longest workouts we'd top 10,000 yards (that's over 5 and a half miles). Needless to say I was in much better shape back then.

Charles "Chuck" Lendrum

Thinking about those workouts also made me think about my old swim coach, Chuck. Chuck was great. He knew just how to motivate a bunch of high schoolers and find the best in them. My sophomore year he led us to the team's first Conference Championship in school history (we ended up repeating as champions and then coming in a very close 2nd my senior year). Chuck has probably coached hundreds of kids, all of whom have gained from knowing him. And now Chuck has cancer. More specifically, non-hodgkin's lymphoma, a blood cancer not all that different than multiple myeloma.

As with too many people in this world, Chuck needs help paying for his treatment and making ends meet. That's where you come in. That's where I come in. That's where we all come in. If you can, please help Chuck by giving to the fund his brother has set up: Coach's (Charles Lendrum) Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Fund.

Thank you.

-Andrew

Double positives today!

Mike got good news from his oncologist today that his multiple myeloma remains stable which means no treatment is needed yet. Happily, he also received a call from Rep. Cathy Nadeau that on Friday she will speak on the floor of the Maine House to announce a Joint Resolution signed by EVERY members of the Maine House and Senate, recognizing March as Multiple Myeloma Awareness month. Now that's what we call positive! Thank you Cathy for your efforts to raise awareness on behalf of all those fighting this rare cancer. Cathy has invited us both to be there for her speech. We are blessed!

My Adidas

In November of 2011 I managed to tweak my back. Despite going to a chiropractor, giving up running and generally trying not to make it worse, by May 2012 things had deteriorated enough that I had an MRI and was diagnosed with "severe spinal stenosis." In other words, a severely herniated disc in my back. A few months and two cortisone shots later, I was back in business, as long as business involved doing nothing more than a brisk walk. Over the winter of 2012/2013 I gradually was able to build strength in my core and back to the point of being able to run on a treadmill for 30 seconds to a minute at a time. I had pretty much given up any hope of really being able to enjoy running as a sport again.

However, we had already started ME Against Myeloma and had some long-term goals of getting out there and raising money. By the end of the 2012/2013 winter I had resigned myself to the fact that it was going to be a long, long time until I could really run a road race and set a goal of doing a sprint triathlon in August. I figured that was far enough away for me to slowly build up to being able to run five kilometers without shooting pain in my lower back and legs. 

In order to help motivate us, we had signed up for Runner's World magazine. We kept seeing advertisements for a shoe from Adidas that would "change the world." So right around this time last year we took a trip to our local running store. It was as if the engineers at Adidas knew of my injury and were doing their best to design a shoe to help.

And help it did.

The first time I put on the new Adidas boost shoe was the first time I could run without pain in over a year (the difference was almost freaky). These shoes quite literally changed my life. No longer was I confined to brisk walks outside or "running" on a treadmill (by running I mean holding on to the railings the whole time). I could now go for a run outside. And run I did. In the past year I have put over 470 miles on my Adidas boost and another 30+ miles on a pair of trail shoes, topping 500 miles total.

Thanks to my Adidas I have been able to go for beautiful runs with my wife and kids.

Morning run at Niagara Falls, Ontario (American Falls in the background)

Thanks to my Adidas I have been able to show my kids one way to live an active and healthy lifestyle.

Thanks to my Adidas I have been able to compete in multiple races, including my first triathlon. 

Thanks to my Adidas I have been able to raise awareness of multiple myeloma.

So to the team at Adidas that invented the cushioning of the boost that makes it so different from other running shoes, I say thank you 500 times over (and counting).

L.L. Bean 4th of July 10k

The fastest four minutes in sports

The Beach to Beacon 10k road race is considered by those in these parts as the fastest four minutes in sports. Well, at least the registration is. In 4 minutes and 32 seconds all 4,000 spots filled up (besting last year's record by almost half a minute).

And we got two of them. 

As spring approaches we're filling out our race schedule and will update you on when/where we'll be racing over the coming months. Stay tuned!

This is who we are

So what is ME Against Myeoma? And what are we doing?

We are primarily family of Mike Poulin. We are wives, sons, daughters, in-laws, and grand kids. We are also the donors who give much needed money to fund the research that will find a cure. We are you. And we will be successful in finding a cure. 

ME Against Myeloma raises money for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), the nation's largest private funder of multiple myeloma research. Founded in 1998 by a myeloma patient, MMRF has done amazing things over the past almost two decades. Prior to the creation of MMRF there was little hope and even less advancement in the world of multiple myeloma. MMRF changed that. As one of the nation's highest ranked charities, MMRF has been instrumental in getting six myeloma drugs FDA approved in little over a decade (while putting over 90% of all donation towards research or research related pursuits). MMRF funded the mapping of the myeloma genome. And MMRF has given hope to millions.  

In January 2013 we created the team ME Against Myeloma as a way to raise money for MMRF. We have run up the Empire State Building (twice), ridden our first 100-mile bike ride, run our first half-marathon, run our first 10k, and completed our first sprint triathlon. More importantly, we have raised over $14,000!

That was our first 13 months. We have much more planned for the years ahead. If you would like to become involved please contact us through our Facebook page. If you would like to donate, you can do so here. 

Together we can find a cure.

Together we can prove that nothing is incurable. 

Nothing Is Incurable

In November of 2011 he broke the news.

Cancer.

More specifically something called "multiple myeloma," a yet-to-be cured form of blood cancer with one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers. Hearts stopped and no one breathed. A few months later the diagnosis was confirmed at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He had smoldering myeloma, a pre-cursor to full blown multiple myeloma.

Since then we, as a family, have decided that the diagnosis was not the end. It was just the beginning. It was the beginning of our efforts to find a cure. It was the beginning of ensuring the grandkids really knew their grandfather. It was the beginning of putting our bodies through countless miles of running or biking or swimming to raise awareness of this disease.

Much of the literature on multiple myeloma refers to it as an "incurable" cancer. But we don't believe that. While multiple myeloma has one of the lowest 5 year survival rates of all cancers, we know of people who have had it for over a decade. We know that it is an exciting time in the quest for a cure.

We know that nothing is incurable.

Since the diagnosis we have started running again and, in some cases, started running period. We have taken up new sports so we can spread the word about the fight against multiple myeloma. We have reassessed priorities and decided that having family close by is one of the best medicines. We created the team ME Against Myeloma to raise money for the research that will eventually save his life. We chose to fight.