First post

This summer, when S told me she had leukemia, the first thing I did was to go for a long run. Listening to Tito Puente's "A Donde Vas?" on my iPod, my body fighting to cut through the summer humidity, I wished for something to do to combat the uselessness I felt. The thought of running a marathon and doing it for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society crossed my mind, but then the first of three hurricanes hit. After the third one passed, I contacted the Leukemia Society again, and was told that even though training was already well underway, I could jump in. For the past several weekends, I've trained with Team In Training, watching my mileage creep up from 10, 12, to 14 miles. The weather has gotten slightly cooler, I've raised 75% of my required funds so far, and each week experienced a new but minor ailment-- chafing on the collarbone, blistered feet, and just today, an Achilles tendon that started to throb when I went off for one of my easy, short runs. I promptly stopped and hit the exercise bikes at the gym instead, but all day I felt like something was missing.

I also haven't quite figured out what I should be eating-- I have several running training books, the reading of which has become a minor obsession, and I know the rules about percentage carbohydrates and whatnot, but still I'm gaining rather than losing weight. What's up with that?