We are continuing to raise money for cancer care and research that far surpassed my expectations. We are waiting for the final numbers from the t-shirts, but with that money included, we look to be just over $1000 away from my new $8000 goal! Thank you all for helping to make it happen.
Inspiration:
Last week I wrote about some inspiring women in marathon in marathon history. This week I'm going to write about an inspiring woman who is part of the DFMC team this year.
Hilary was one of the first people I met through DFMC because we have the same last name, and so we were grouped together at the first meeting. Hilary is four years younger than me, yet has already run the Boston Marathon once, and seems to be mature beyond her years. She works for Dana-Farber and really knows her stuff when it comes to marathon training, so I was surprised when she told me that she did not start running until she began training for her first Boston Marathon just a year ago. She had never even run a 5k! That seemed awfully ambitious to me, but I soon learned that Hilary has actively faced bigger challenges than a marathon.
In 1996, Hilary was at an early morning figure skating practice, and found herself struggling to complete jumps that she would not normally find challenging. Her coach sent her home to get some rest, and by the end of the day, she was in the hospital, diagnosed with pediatric AML. She endured several rounds of chemo therapy, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant (thanks to her only sibling,) during a time when her peers were anxious about zits, clothes, and boys.
For the past 15 years, Hilary has lived cancer-free. She went on to graduate from Penn State as a biology major, and now gets to fight cancer for a living as a researcher at Dana-Farber. As a result of the treatments she underwent as a child, doctors said that she would never be able to have children, but she proved the doctors wrong nearly two years ago when she became pregnant with her son Augustus, known as the "miracle baby." Both she and her husband are now expecting "miracle twins!" Because of the increased stress on her heart due to carrying twins, and her already weak heart because of her cancer treatments, doctors are monitoring her closely, and have advised her to stop her marathon training. Despite not being able to run, she has put all of her effort into her fundraising to reach her goal: $15,000 for the 15 years she has spent cancer free thanks to Dana-Farber. Hilary's story is one of perseverance and triumph, and she is a truly inspiring person.
Training:
My legs were incredibly tight and sore from Sunday's race, but I pushed through the workout, averaging 3:33 for my 800s, giving me a marathon potential of 3:33:00. I think that its hard to have a real idea of what you will run until you have actually run a marathon, but having this average (especially on dead legs,) was inspiring.
On Wednesday, even though I was still really sore, I headed out to the Newton hills to stretch out my legs and get some hill work in. My legs were even tighter than the day before, and at one point I even needed to stop to massage a spasm in my right hamstring. I gave myself some much needed rest until the long run Saturday.
Saturday's long run was just over 22 miles out and back, starting and finishing at Boston College. It works out that if you run 11 miles backwards along the marathon route from BC, the 11 miles you run back are exactly where they will be on the marathon course. It was an amazing day! It seemed like every charity was out on the course, as well as other runners trying to get their last big run in before we taper. Jamie and I started the run together, and were soon joined by Jennie, Mike, and Scott. It was nice to run with a pack, and all three of our new running mates have run the Boston Marathon multiple times (this will be Mike's 14th!!) They were able to give us some great tips for running, and helped to keep a steady pace. Here are our mile splits from the run (WS stands for water stop):
| 1) 8:05 | 6) 8:54 (WS) | 11) 8:20 | 16) 9:22 (WS) | 21) 8:43 |
| 2) 8:16 (WS) | 7) 8:30 | 12) 9:24 (WS) | 17) 8:29 | 22) 8:34 |
| 3) 8:16 | 8) 9:06 (WS) | 13) 8:22 | 18) 9:40 (WS) | |
| 4) 9:16 (WS) | 9) 8:29 | 14) 9:24 (WS) | 19) 8:35 | |
| 5) 8:40 | 10) 9:32 (WS) | 15) 8:28 | 20) 9:32 (WS) |
Dana-Farber was great, and they had a water stop every two miles along the course. At the stops we stop and talk with the volunteers, get advice from our coach, and always make sure to throw our cups in the trash before we continue running. Many runners stop their watches at the stops, but I let mine run, I just take the extra 30-60 seconds into account when reviewing my splits. Overall I was pleased, and happy to have the time with my DFMC teammates. It is down hill from here!
Update:
I just finish putting together my final training letter, and will send it out this week! I tried to sum everything up in under two pages, but I know that I could not find the words. Look for it in the mail this week!
Thank you all for your continued support. It means more than you could possibly know!
Some of the professional pics from the New Bedford 1/2 Marathon:
No comments:
Post a Comment