Getting my sea legs

With the second week of training complete I’m happy to report that I don’t feel quite as out of shape this week. On the downside, my training fizzled out as the week wore on again. Need to continue to apply myself and make time!

Fundraising - Worked Veteran's day and was not able to start my letter campaign as planned. Hoping to get the email campaign off and running this weekend.

Also stocked up on an important piece of training gear, a Brooks reflective vest now that it is dark at night.

A summary of training progress 11/7-11/13:

Saturday: Low impact cardio: 60 minute Arc Trainer Workout.

Sunday: Low impact cario with running: 45 minutes on the Arc Trainer and 30 minutes on the treadmill. My work on the treadmill consisted of running only 1.5 miles with the rest of the time being a walking cool down, but at least my legs had some time to adjust to the marathon shuffle.

Monday: Junk cardio: I spent 30 minutes on the Arc Trainer with another 15 on the recumbent bike. I realized when watching the tv on the cardio equipment, my pace slows down quite a bit, but at least I got my heart rate up.

Tuesday: Rest day

Wednesday: 62 minute treadmill work out. Total of almost 5,5 miles, with 5 miles of running consistently at 5.5 MPH/10:54 per mile pace. While still a slow pace for me using my high school XC pace as a bench mark, I’m happy to be able complete this length of a run without stopping so soon in my training regimen. And let’s face it, It’s been 15+ years since I ran a X Country race. On a positive side, a 10:54 per mile pace = a 4:45 marathon which would be a PR for me by 55 minutes so that would be great too! But since I’ve never really had a training regimen for those races, my finish goal this year is somewhere between 4:00 and 4:20 or a 9-10 minute pace.

Thursday: Worked late

Friday: Unmotivated

Out of the blocks . . .

I’m out of the blocks for training. Week 1 was a slow start (kind of like my sprinting prowess). Had a couple of solid workouts on 10/31 and 11/1 on the Arc Trainer of 45 Minutes each. I continued on Sunday with a 15 minute recumbent bike workout to cool down (and hopefully burn off some of that extra Halloween candy!). I took Monday off and then returned to the gym Tuesday, this time to give my running legs a shot. While I was slow, I did get a solid 65 minutes in on the treadmill to gross 5.2 miles. Some of that mileage was a walking warm-up, a walking cool down, and a 3 minute mid-run walk break, but all in all for the first time running in a while I was pleased with the current level of endurance even if it be at a tortoise pace of 11-12 minute miles. Sadly, I never thought I’d look back on my 6:30 – 8 minutes miles in high school track as being fast, as they certainly didn’t put me in the lead pack then but I guess I just needed to get older. The delayed on-set muscle soreness that followed my over ambitious run on Tuesday combined with a crazy work schedule for the rest of the week did not permit any additional training but I did get back in the grove this Saturday. I even got Dave to join my gym, so hopefully that will help the motivation.

No progress on the fundraising front yet. I’m hoping to make great use of some work time off on Veteran’s day Wednesday to get the first batch of letters out the door this week. So for all those out there thinking of noting, one of you can have the special honor of being my first donor if you act fast!

Of note this week, DFMC announced the 2009 Grand Total formally this week: $4,025,688. What an amazing accomplishment for a team of approximately 550! There were 86 runners who raised over $10,000! Way to go 10K team. One day I hope to join your ranks. I was one of 218 runners who raised between $5,000 - $9,999. Thank you to everyone who contributed and helped make this possible. 100% of these fundraising dollars go to funding Cancer research in the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research. We have not yet reached the ultimate finish line of a world without cancer so there is still more work to do. This year’s goal is $4.4 Million dollars. With your support again, we can make this happen, please follow the link in the top right hand corner to donate. Thanks for your support!

A New Horizon

This month I was officially accepted to the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge Team for the 5th consecutive year. While this is my 5th time on the DFMC team, I anticipate it will be a markedly different experience for me.

In my past 4 years on the team I had never attended any of the runner's meetings or weekly group runs. I wish I could say I logged all the training miles on my own but the reality is I never really put too much effort into the training aspect of being on the team and focused more of my energy of fundraising. My fiancé, Dave, a Certified Strength and Conditoning Specialist with the NSCA, and Exercise Physiology PhD student, liked to say I brought lack of preparation to a whole new level. Not exactly a ringing endorsement to my training program, especially from someone so professionally qualified to judge! Inevitably I always paid the price in pain and suffering on Marathon Monday. But despite his critical reviews of my training program, or lack thereof, Dave would always scrape me off the finish line on Boylston Street and make sure I got home in one piece. Despite my less than stellar athletic performance, the week or so of walking funny it was worth it to me for the funds raised for cancer research.

My entire perspective changed on March 28, 2009. On that day, I received a call from my mother that my younger brother, my only sibling, was rushed to South Shore Hospital after collapsing in his apartment on his way to work. Prior to collapsing, he had indicated his chest felt funny. Paramedics were not able to revive him. His death was unexpected; he had not been sick. Months later, even with autopsy results in hand, doctors are not sure what happened. It was some sort of cardiac incident... arrhythmia, myocardial infarction, they won't say for sure.

With a nagging ankle injury and a broken heart, I deferred my marathon entry with the DFMC in 2009 and did not run the marathon. Honestly, through my grief I did not think I would ever elect to run again. Yet marathon Monday came round and I couldn't shake the disappointment of not waking up and heading to St. John's to prepare with the other runners, of watching the marathon online sitting at my desk at work. Yet, I still wasn't sure I'd have the heart to sign up or use my deferral. As the fall came, and with it the DFMC application process and start of the BAA registration process I started thinking about the marathon and whether I would participate.

My brother was always proud of me for running and fundraising. Our mom has Chromic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) and I have participated in DFMC every year since her diagnosis. Because of Barr Investigator's research in genetic abnormalities in a class of proteins that control cell growth in certain cancers, there is now a drug therapy for CML, which was previously a fatal cancer. How could I turn my back on doing something so important? I decided I couldn't and that through participation and fundraising I would continue to do everything I could to make sure another family member is not taken away from me prematurely.

This year I vow my experience will be different. I attended the first runner's meeting on Wednesday October 28^th, the 7-month anniversary of my brother's death, and also his 1st birthday since his passing. I needed something to do to keep me busy that day, and couldn't have picked a better activity to honor his memory. In that 3rd floor room of the Smith Building at Dana Farber and at Boston Beer works following, I was surrounded by a group of optimists. Many of who had experienced similar life-altering losses of loved ones as I had with my brother. We are wounded, but not defeated; united in a common cause to conquer cancer. I'm looking forward to training with and getting to know my team mates better this year. The miles we log have the potential to not only strengthen our hearts physically, but I hope to help them heal as well.