24 hour final report - the end

Guest J20-blogmaster Ron Mancini wraps up his stint with this post, the last report from "ground zero" at Crissy Field:

The 24 hour run ended at 9am this Sunday morning. Antonia finished her last countable lap at 9:05am. She completed 69 laps for a distance of 70.2 miles. She completed her goal of at least a 100K distance, which she exceeded. She also won first place for her age group for the 24 hour event. She also won this standing last year in the same event. Do I hear the term Triple-crown being said for next year??????? She is sore, her knees hurt and was dead tired after the event. She is currently take a well deserved good long nap.......no wonder, she only took about a 17 minute nap during the night before continuing on her lap completion! We all should be proud of her accomplishment both for her own athletic goals, but also for the pledge donations she was about to secure for this event to help Jenny and Ed. GREAT JOB, ANTONIA!!!!!!

The 3 am Report - 18 hours mark

While starting to feel more tired and sore in the knees, Antonia sounded up and ready for more running and laps. She got a surprise during this last 3 hours, as she received a visit from friends dating back to her early childhood. Two mothers ("Mommy" Anne and "Mommy" Kathy) in the infant play ground Antonia and her mom, Sally, were in when Antonia was very young came by along with one of the kids from that playgroup that has been a life-long friend to Antonia, Paige. This was a total surprise and wonderful. Since this was at a time that Antonia was walking some laps to rest her legs and knees, Paige walked many laps with her as they visited. After Paige left, Antonia started running and continues to complete laps in the 24 hour event. In addition to the wonderful visit by close friends, the runners were witness to a spectacular meteor shower over the bay area for a long period of time. 6 more hours to go.

Midnight Report - 15 hour mark

Antonia is racking up the laps. She reported that the sunset was spectacular. The weather has been unusually wonderful for this time of the year. It has been clear all day, with sun during the day, and a very clear night tonight with no fog or clouds. The stars and constellations are all visible in great numbers. The lights on the Golden Gate Bridge and the city make a wonderful backdrop for the event at night. A friend from Fremont, Jerry, who is an ultra marathoner and teachers long distant runner, came over late today to run 12 laps (12 miles) with Antonia, giving her tips on form and running techniques to help as she gets tired and to make progress during the night as sleepiness starts to come on. It was great for Jerry to come and be part of it. But the big thing Antonia wanted to report is that as she speaks of Jenny, her accident and Antonia's "running for Jenny" to the runners in the event and families who are there in support, the response is overwhelming. The runners especially can relate, since being athletes, they can relate to losing the ability to compete and pursue their sport. This response provided strength and energy as Antonia continuing her runner into the night.

The 8 hour Report

Well, just talked to Antonia on the phone. She called to give me, her dad, and update from the course. She reported she started off slow to pace herself for the running during the night. She developed a few digestive problems early in the event which slowed her pace and caused her to take more breaks than she had expected. Eventually, as she neared the 8 hour mark, these digestive issues have worked themselves out and she is back to running at her more normal pace. Her left knee is bothering her a bit (this was her nemesis last year in this event), and is dealing with the ever present runners IT band issues. But she is feeling strong, postive and really appreciates the few emails she has received via the web feed, and also has greatly appreciated the calls and text messages. She continually thanks you all deeply for your support and encouragement. This ends the 8 hour report.

Antonia's Dad making report on 24 hour

It's usually a better thing to not try to do several blog posts while doing something as delightfully loony as running for 24 hours... To answer curious interest from those already familiar with the run this Saturday as well as folks just signing on, my father Ron Mancini offered to take over as webmaster of the Blog during the run to post something about what I was sharing with him and other friends from my phone while on the course....:

Well, Antonia is around 5 hours into the 24 hour run as I write this. I was with her as she started and did a few laps walking as she started to run and accumulate laps in this event. She continued to get additional sponsor up to last night and hopes to get more yet. She created a binder with sponsor sign-up sheets, which pictures of Jenny at the rehabilitation center in Denver on the cover. She is excited with the response she has received from so many people who are touched by Jenny's story and how Antonia is doing events with support for Jenny as the central purpose of her participating in these athletic events. We are proud of her dedication and putting into action ways to help Ed and Jenny.

Live Webcast Link for the 24-hour Run

The last pre-race email from the Pacific Coast Trail Runners! This includes the link to the live webcast of the race; I am, as a Bozeman sponsor who explored the PCTR info on the race site informed me today, runner #24 (what are the odds...?!) in the 24 hour list:

EVENT: SF One Day
DATE: Saturday & Sunday, 10/20-10/21/07
TIME: 9 a.m.
LOCATION: Crissy Field, San Francisco

We wanted to be sure that you knew that we'll have a live webcast from Crissy Field. We'll be posting runners' progress every hour starting at 10 a.m. Saturday morning. You're welcome to send e-mail messages during the event, too, and we'll hand them to the runners during the event. Just click on:

Live Webcast

Cheers,

Wendell & Sarah
Pacific Coast Trail Runs

Progress

Jenny continues to stride ahead of what the doctors expected, and into finding and building new ways to be with her body as she heals. In this post from her CarePage, there is so much to celebrate: her progress and her knowledge of it being tops on that list.

October 13, 2007 at 07:46 PM MDT

STANDING AND STEPPING

Today I went out on an excursion with John & Jackie. Jackie is the sister of Bozemanite Robbie Gammack. John, her husband, is a physical therapist. They live about three miles away from Craig and have kindly adopted me while I'm away from home doing rehab.

The last time they took me out was about three weeks ago. Today they took me to REI and to a local restaurant near where they live. It was really heartening to see how much progress I'd made between the two trips. Today I did standing transfers in stead of the board transfers that my Craig PT prefers. A slide board transfer involves parking a wheel chair as close as possible to the carseat or seat that you are going to transfer to. You use the board as a bridge from one chair to the next and slide across. This can be relatively easy if the two seats are of equal height or you are moving from a higher chair to a lower chair which makes for a "downhill" transfer.

By contrast, standing transfers involve--guess what?--standing. It means scooting my butt to the end of the chair and then rising to standing with a spotter who blocks my knees in case they should buckle and gives support and cuing as needed. Since I don't have a lot of sensation, I need people to tell me if I need to step forward or backward, whether if I think I am stepping, whether I actually am, etc.

What was great about today was how much my standing transfers had improved. I was taking much firmer steps and needed less cuing from John. I was also able to have more of a sense of feeling about where my feet were and where they were going. I don't know if it's that I'm getting more sensation back or that I'm just using what sensation I have more efficiently. Still not one hundred percent, but I've really improved a lot. In addition, I just seemed a lot stronger: I was able to pick up my legs and swivel them into the car, as well as to position myself on the car seat.

At REI, I managed to get recognized by two people. One was Ken, who is one of the wheelchair maintenance guys at the hospital. The other was Jason Armstrong, a former Bozemanite. Jason used to work with John Zombro as a physical therapist and bikefitter. Jason has since relocated to McCall, Idaho and has a brother who lives in Greely, CO.

Jackie and John were impressed that I got recognized twice at the store. It kind of made me feel like I was back at home in Bozeman, where I have so many friends.

In addition to the improved performance of my legs, my hands are also getting better. I am still tremendously weak, but I am definitely improving. My eating has become much better and neater. I can also now lock the lock drawer in my hospital room, can zip and unzip my purse, as well as retrieve money from my wallet. I can also brush my teeth using an electric toothbrush that Mary, my sister bought me. Yes, someone does have to turn the brush on and off for me, as well as put toothpaste on it, but it's an endless joy to be able to move the toothbrush around in my mouth instead of having someone do it for me. It's just a pleasure to pick which teeth I want to get brushed and in what order.

In addition to the above feats of physical dexterity, I can also brush the front part of my hair. The back is beyond me, but I know it is only a matter of time.

I guess what's really cool is a lot of this stuff I couldn't do a week ago, so it's really nice to see so many improvements in so little time. I now appreciate what may seem like small improvements because I realize how much effort I'm putting into them.

I also got a sense today that I'm going to get through this and that this is truly only the beginning.

Love, Jenny

A Post from Sister Mary

In Jenny's recovery, there is a long road ahead and much need for love and support. But it is, of course, Jenny and her interminable spirit that is making the progress, doing the work, withstanding the challenges, and pursuing all the aspects of her rehabilitation with tenacity and determination day after day. Jenny's sister, Mary, is visiting her once again from New York, and posted to her CarePage about all of the changes she is witnessing in Jenny in this most recent trip:

October 01, 2007 at 04:13 PM MDT

Hi! This is Jenny's sister Mary writing...I'm visiting Jenny for a week to help celebrate her birthday and she asked me to guest blog for her to let people know all the progress she's making...

I think one of the biggest challenges for Jenny is to recognize all the advances she has made. She makes steady improvement in small ways on almost a daily basis. But because the increments are so small, it is hard for her to remember how much she has accomplished. She takes prior accomplishments for granted and forgets how much she has progressed from her injury date.

Since I haven't seen her since she first checked into Craig in July, I was in awe of how much independence she has recovered in these two months...When I last saw her, she was still a prisoner of her neckbrace, couldn't move on her own at all, and was completely dependent on others for all her needs. Her only way of controlling her environment was through asking others to help her. She had some movement in her upper and lower body, but none of it was functional.

When I arrived at Craig from the hospital, she was not in her room. She had left a message for me that she had gone to the laundry room. I headed out and met her part way. I was so moved when she was able to give me a hug! Although she still needs assistance getting in and out of the wheelchair, she is able to direct and participate in that process, using her recovered strength to help shift her body into position for transfer.

She can put her glasses on and off, feed herself using an adaptive apparatus, respond to e-mail using her voice activated software, and get herself around the hospital and beyond. You can't go anywhere with her in the hospital without a staff member or fellow member stopping to greet her. I don't think she realizes how much everyone here cares for her. The restoration of some of her prior independence seems to give more confidence to her movements. She still has many challenges and can become discouraged, but overall, she continues to show great strength of spirit. Her sense of humor continues unabated...

Today I saw her standing for the first time since the accident, practicing getting up and sitting down with the help of some equipment. Later, in physical therapy, she was able to kneel and balance herself with minimal assistance, do the equivalent of a baby cobra (yoga folks will know what I mean), and roll herself from her side onto her stomach. During her occupational therapy, she worked on getting dressed, and although she could not get a shirt on completely by herself, she was able to start the process. Even in the few days I've been her, I've seen her improve so much, that I am amazed. It is hard to believe that her accident happened only three months ago.
Well, Jenny just got back, and we're due to go out and run some errands! I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the support they have shown to Jenny and her family during this difficult time...

Mary