Inspiration, Training and Fundraising

Inspiration:

My inspiration for running was my own story and how cancer has affected my life, but throughout this process, I have been inspired by the many stories shared with me.  Sharing my story with others has opened others up to sharing their personal experiences, which is what has made this a really life changing experience.  Here is a little about some of my teammates and why they are running.

Jennie (http://www.begoodbestrong.blogspot.com/):

Jennie is one of the first people I connected with at Dana-Farber, and we connected through the DailyMile - a website where we track our runs and support one another online.  Jennie and I tend to run at a fairly similar pace and this will be her 4th Boston Marathon for Dana-Farber, so I was excited when I was able to meet up with her at the DFMC long runs.

Jennie's life has been deeply impacted by cancer.  Jennie grew up as the 4th of 5 children in a close knit family in Marblehead, MA.  In 2008, her older sister Molly lost her life to brain cancer at the age of 36.  A year later, her younger brother John lost his life to the same disease at the age of 32.  Then just last year, her sister Mary lost her life the Melanoma after a 5 year battle at the age of 35.  Of the 5 children from their close knit family, only two remain, and if alive today, all five would still be in their 30's.  Jennie has shown me the resilience of the human spirit in her attitude and drive.  She runs to make a difference.

Patrick (http://dfmc2012.wordpress.com/):

Patrick and I also originally met on DailyMile, but then we actually met in person when I started doing the Tuesday track workouts at Tufts.  Patrick joined the Dana-Farber team last year as a member of the partner's program.  If you elect to be part of the partner's program, you are paired up with a child who is currently being treated at Dana-Farber, and your fund raising money is targeted toward his/her cancer care and research.



Brendan (a charming, now 11-year-old boy,) was partnered with Patrick because in December of 2009, Brendan was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.  Brendan loves Boston, the Red Sox, and Patrick.  Over the years, Patrick has built a relationship with Brendan both in person and through his blog, "Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge, Two People Teaching Each Other About Living Life."  Both Patrick and Brendan post letters to one another on the blog discussing training, cancer, and life.  Through their blog, they teach all of their readers what it means to live life.

I am going to continue to add inspirational biographies for the rest of the season, to share some of my experience with you, and I hope that through them you may get a glimpse of the experience I have been so lucky to have with DFMC.



Training:

Tuesday Night Track Workouts:

Now that my achilles seem to be hanging in there, I felt it was time to add some speed into my repertoire.   The distance runs will get me to finish the marathon, but the speed work is what will get me to run it faster.  Unfortunately, speed workouts are not until 7:30 at night at Tufts University in Medford (over an hour from my house), but they are worth the long drive.

My first workout was on the 21st.  12x600 with 200 recovery jog between each.  I had not calculated my pace ahead of time, so my plan was to see how I felt and wing it.  I went out chasing Patrick and Jamie, and soon learned they were faster than me (oopsies,) so I had a very speedy workout, and ended up finishing the last 4 or so alone.  Oh well...I was kind of mad at myself for messing up the pacing, but at least I had gotten my first track workout under my belt, and met some great people to push me.

When I went to my second track workout on the 28th, I had my splits prepared ahead of time.  I was ready to stay on pace for the whole workout.  After my warm-up, I found my way over to the line, and Jamie hopped up beside me.  She said, "You ran with me last week.  We should run together again - you lead."  So I did, and although I was way ahead of pace for the workout -  2x(400, 800, 1200, 1600) with 1/2 the recovery in the middle, I was able to finish it out with Jamie, and was happy to be pushed.

Black Cat 20 Miler (Salem and Marblehead, MA):

The Black Cat 20 Miler was my first run over 17 miles EVER, so I was a bit nervous, and determined to run it like a training run.  That philosophy usually goes right out the door once my feet cross the starting line, but this time I was able to keep my pace under control.  I started out with a comfortable 8:30 pace, and after mile 10, began to pick it up.  Around mile 8 I had a terrible calf spasm that I was worried would end the race for me, but after hopping off the course and really rubbing it for about a minute, I was able to continue.  My achilles felt fine the whole time, but there were some temporary pains that aggravated my final 5 miles (some foot and shin pain,) but nothing I couldn't work through.  Final time was 2:48:08, and I was still coasting at a comfortable pace through the finish line.  I hope this means good things for Marathon Monday!!  Here are some more pics, (thanks to my husband who gave up his morning to stand by the water on a cold damp day for nearly 3 hours, only to see me run by twice.)

Crossing the 10 Mile Mark

Juggling Gatorade and Goo-Bites at a Water Stop

Rounding the Final Corner.

Crossing the Finish Line

YAY!  I'm Done!!

The next big race is the New Bedford 1/2 Marathon in 2 weeks!  Getting geared up to run at home!!


Fundraising:

A Bigger and Better Goal of $6500 for Cancer Care and Research:

Thank you to everyone for helping me to reach my fundraising goal of $5390!  Because it is such an amazing cause, I am not ready to stop there.  Now that I have upped my goal to $6500, we have gotten a flood of recent donations, bringing us to $5855!  We are really making a difference!  Thanks for your support!!

T-Shirts:

T-shirts are available for order until March 15th!  Order your's now.  Click HERE to download your order form, and remember, with your order, you can add names to the back!