Tuesday Run

Yesterday I decided to do my long run because the weather forecast did not look promising. Its nice to get the longer of the two week day runs over with first too. So around 6:30AM Maddie and I took off for a nice 10 mile run. I was expecting pretty smooth sailing since it has been really quite warm (relative to what one would expect for February). Somehow though there was still quite a bit of snow and ice on the trail which was especially slippery because it was in the process of melting. Luckily for me, Maddie responds well to "whoa danger" which I yell to her every time I see snow or ice ahead so she doesn't run full steam and end up dragging me across the ice. Other than that nothing too exciting. I think my legs were still a bit tired from my long run on Saturday so it wasn't our best time ever but we are still under an average of 10 minute miles.

Also yesterday, I sent my letter out to Staples for copies to be made, got stamps and envelopes and made my address labels so tonight will be fundraising letter night. I'm hoping to get through my entire first round of mailings tonight. So everyone should be watching their mail!

DFMC 2010 (#8)

So a little late with my initial entry for this year's training.....I'll do a quick recap so that everyone is up to speed. This year I am living, working, and training on the Cape. I have myself a trusty training partner, Madison , the golden doodle. She does not let me slack off. Luckily (or unluckily) for me, she does not have a snooze button so when she hears my alarm go off she gets right in my face.

In January, I ran 12 training runs (3 a week)for a total distance of 106 miles. The runs spanned from 4 miles on January 4th to 16 miles on January 24th and my average pace was 9:39 per mile. The 16 miles was the Derry New Hampshire 16 miler, a race which had ridiculously steep hills around every corner. That went surprisingly well for me and inspired my to keep up the early morning runs. Most of my runs are on the bike path, as Madison is a much better runner when there are not cars driving by all the time.

In February so far I have run just shy of 98 miles so far with 8 runs. I usually do 3 runs a week but I missed on run for a storm. I am back on track now though. My longest run to date is 18 miles, which I did yesterday. A nice jog from my house in Harwich to my parents house in Eastham. It was a fabulous day for a run and I finished in 2 hours and 54 minutes.

This week I have two runs to do during the week and then a half marathon race on Sunday!!!

Training Kick off!

Yesterday was my official training kick off day. My original plan was to get up at 5AM and run about 3.5 miles down the street just to practice gettin gup and running in the dark. That then got changed when I remembered that I was a little bit afraid of the dark. The new plan was that I would run around my street for 45 minutes. I figured I could do that since the street was pretty short. So I get up at 5AM, get all bundled up in my running clothes and go outside to run. I get past the neighbor's house and realize that I am actually terrified of the dark! SO I turned around and ended up using the elliptical machine for 45 minutes.

Now I need a new plan because it does not even start to get light out until like 6:15 and that does not jive with my work schedule. I will keep you posted on what I come up with. Right now my plan is that I can drive to work and then run and get ready at work. Another option would be that I can convince someone to run with me in Harwich twice a week at 5AM. Any takers??

Best Boston Ever!

Marathon Monday was absolutely perfect! I seriously don’t think I would have changed anything. I met my parents down on the common where I had to catch the buses around 7AM Monday morning. The line was very long but it moved pretty quickly. The bus ride to Hopkinton always seems a bit long and this year was no exception. We were stuck in traffic to get off the exit for soo long!! People kept jumping off the buses to go pee on the side of the road!! There were butts everywhere! Even our bus drive stopped the bus so he could get out and go!! By the time I got to Hopkinton it was almost 9:30 so I rushed around got my act together put my bag on the bus and headed to the starting line.

The actual race was fantastic. I had such a blast I think I was smiling the entire time! I started off a little slower than I had hope but still was doing pretty good. The weather was gorgeous, which meant tons of spectators!! At mile 12, I stopped for a quick pee break. At 14, I saw my BFFs! At mile 17 I stopped to see my parents and got some much needed sunscreen! After that I kicked up Heartbreak Hill! When I got to the top (mile 21), I picked up the pace a little bit. At 25 I high-fived every single Dana-Farber supports and the patient partners. I saw my again at the corner of Boylston and Hereford and then sprinted (well I felt like I was sprinting) to the finish line. I ended up with my best time ever, 4 hours and 17 minutes! Yay!! The best part is that the next day I was barely even sore at all! I guess all those dark snowy freezing morning really did pay off! And to top it off, I have raised over $5,000 so far!!!

Tomorrow's the day!

So tomorrow is the big day!! I am very excited!! I have carefully gathered everything I need for tomorrow throughout the weekend: a new pair of running pants, my number, my Dana-Farber packet and bracelet, 2 bottles of Gatorade Rain, 2 peanut butter Powerbars, one balance bar, some t shirts to cut fabric out to write on and pin to my shirt, an armband for my cellphone (thanks Dad!), and a pretty new good luck necklace (thanks Mom!). So now I think I am ready to go! I just have to eat some pancakes for dinner and pick up a sesame bagel with cream cheese on the way to the bus.

Tomorrow I will get on the bus around 7 and head out to Hopkinton. The race starts at 10:30AM. After that, you can check on me throughout the day online at bostonmarathon.org using my name or bib number 22314!!

Weather and Numbers

2 of my favorite things!





Number


I have been assigned my bib number. It is 22314. I have decided that is a very good number because 2 + 2 is 4 and 3 + 1 is 4 and the last number is 4 haha. So now I am extra pumped! You can use this number to track me on Monday on http://www.bostonmarathon.org/ . (I think you could probably track me with just my name too, but its much more fun to type in that super awesome number.) Ok I'm done raving about what a great bib number I have haha what do you expect? I look at numbers all day.

Weather


On Monday there were 15 days until the marathon. Do you know what that means?? You can check the weather on http://www.accuweather.com/ and find out what the weather is going to be on the marathon day!! Weather.com only goes 10 days into the future but accuweather goes 15. Yes I know that the probability of the weather being predicted 15 days in advance has almost zero chance of actually occurring, but its still fun to check. As of Monday it was going to be partly cloudy and 50 degress. Perfect! Oh wait, not perfect because there is no way they can guess the weather so early!! So I checked every day through yesterday and it was saying rainy, boo. I just checked right now though and its supposed to be 70 degrees and partly sunny!! Hopefully it keeps at that because that is my perfect race weather. Most people probably like it a little cooler, like around 50. I have come to terms with the fact that I am terrible about what to wear. If its 50, I get confused. I think I may be chilly and then put too many clothes on and that's bad. If its going to be 70 then its perfect! I get to wear my DFMC shirt (see above for this years shirt) and shorts and there is no question!

Playing Catch-up

Ok I knew it was just a matter of time before that happened. All of a sudden a month has passed and I have not written one thing!!! So I'll just give a quick recap of the weeks I missed:

March 10 - March 16: I ran 10.5 miles on Tuesday and 6 miles on Friday and I think I might have worked every other minute of the week.

March 16 - 23: Glenn and I went to Costa Rica for a well deserved break. We walked a lot every day however I did not run at all the whole week. My excuse is that my running clothes were in the suitcase that we checked and did not receive until we were back at the airport to come home. Costa Rica was amazing! We went on zip lines through the rainforests and everything.

March 24 - March 28: So our flight home was delayed and ended up getting back to Boston around 3:30 and I had to be to work for 8AM. There's nothing like jumping right back into it. I put in a solid 3 super long days at work and all of a sudden it was 12 days since my last run!! I start to panic so Michelle and I run 6 miles that Thursday.

March 30: I had to borrow my dad's car because my was at the shop so I decided that I would run on the bike path from my house in Harwich to my parent's house in Eastham, 18.5 miles. I was a little nervous because it had been so long since I had done any distance but the weather was pretty nice and my mom told me she had baked me cookies so I just tried to run as fast as I could! The run went absolutely amazing!! I could not believe how fast I was able to run. I got there in a shade under 3 hours (which is fast for me.) I was instantly super pumped up about the marathon again.

March 31 - April 5: Another whole week of not running. I'm not really sure why I didn't go at all but I didn't and there is nothing I can do about it now.

April 6: I ran 13 miles and it was cold and windy and dark and terrible outside and for some reason I hated every second of my run. It was totally boring!! I did however run really fast again so that it would be over sooner.

Yesterday: Yesterday Michelle and I got up and ran 6 miles. It was good to get back into it again. I feel much better when I get my legs moving!!

So there! Now you are up to date!! I will try to be a better poster in the future!!!