Challenge to my readers!
According to my blog's site meter, there have been 122 visits from 8 countries to my little corner of the blogosphere. I'd like to challenge you all to
give a small amount to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge. Why give? Well, my guess is that each of you know someone who has been touched by cancer. You may even be a cancer survivor. If everyone who visited this blog gave $5 or $10, that would raise hundreds of dollars to assist other's who are struggling to beat cancer or to have a higher quality of life for the time they have left. Giving is easy...think about it, $5 -- that's not much....most people spend more than that on coffee each week. So, the challenge is easy -- can Long Cold Run readers raise $250 by marathon monday? I hope so...I believe in you....and the kids at Dana-Farber need you.
Check out what money raised by DFMC donations have already done:
http://www.dana-farber.org/how/danafarber/barr_researchers.asp
CNN has posted a story discussing the connection between some types of cancer and alcohol consumption. When my Uncle Chris was sick, this is something I researched a fair amount since he was a recovering alcoholic...and what I found out is that alcoholics are more likely to get cancer -- and pancreatic cancer is one of the more common among that group.
Flu season strikes...and doubt creeps in
19 minute 5k time on Friday and on Saturday morning, I wake up with the flu...sigh. Last week I had a great training week -- 2 fabulous runs and some good cross training. Unfortunately, my long run for the week was hijacked by a runny nose, fever, and headache. I called in sick to work this morning (which almost never happens) and am hoping that some rest and my partner's "soup to wake the dead" will allow me to do a run tomorrow.
This does mean, however, that I've lost 2 long runs in a row and now I'm starting to panic over my performance at the Boston Marathon. I'm trying to remind myself that running sick only leads to more lost runs but right now
I WANT TO BE OUT RUNNING!What do those of you reading this do when sick ( I know you are out there -- my counter says someone is reading this....) Any advice from blog land?
Globe Article
The Boston Globe published an article today about
Steven M. Meyer, an MIT prof. who is living with cancer -- and it seems by reading the
article that he is doing so with as much grace, humor, and enjoyment of life as one could hope for....
For me, this is just another reminder of why instead of "just running", I run to
raise money for Dana-Farber.
Rise,Run, and Learn
The alarm clock went off at 4 this morning and I found myself wondering if I have the mental toughness to run the marathon as a new parent. Soon after, I found myself pounding the pavement for a slushy but warm (33 degree) run and decided that YES I AM TOUGH ENOUGH! In addition to new music on my IPOD, today's run featured 2 skunks, only 2 other runners on the road -- at 6am (an hour and a half later than I was), and running that sometimes was a combination of cross country running (due to large unshovelled areas) and running on a hockey rink (memories of Cool Runnings anyone?). Needless to say, I wasn't able to get my full mileage in during the time before work but I did learn a few valuable lessons.
About half way through the run, I realized that I wasn't paying attention to form and foot/pavement contact. Rather than attacking the pavement, I was just bouncing off of it. Once I began to use all of the muscles in my backside, the running was more effecient and faster. My feet also took less of a beating because they had an active role rather than simply being a battering ram for the pavement. I wonder how it is that I've been running this way and never noticed it!
I also was able to remember (once I talked myself out of my nice toasty house) that I actually enjoy running tremendously when I get out before work -- long before other runners and traffic. At 4 am, you never know what you'll see...today it was 2 skunks -- one day last year, a coffeeshop employee noticed me running a route by their shop. The next week, on my last pass, they had a cup of hot coffee in a "To Go Cup" with the lid taped shut so I could run home...
The most important lesson of the run -- I have the mental toughness to do this crazy marathon training during New England Winter while being a parent thing!
Frustration...
I've been noticing that after playing with my 2 month old son -- especially when I've been bouncing him (mostly to put him to sleep), that the inside of my left knee has been sore. At times, like today just before my long run, it has hurt so much and so sharply that I haven't been able to run. The pain is very localized and I am becoming increasingly frustrated.
This afternoon after making all of my long run preparations, I realized that the area was too sore to push off effectively so I boycotted the run in favor of icing followed by some time on the elliptical trainer at the gym. Unfortunately, while I still got a workout in, this means that I'll be running home from work and then some for my long run in snow, sleet, and rain...
I need to pay better attention to how I'm holding him so that this doesn't continue -- I have to be able to make my mileage every week and I can't do that if I'm injured...
12 weeks to go...must run, must raise $$!
Post Race Pesach Plans
I'm contemplating what to do after this year's Boston Marathon -- the usual recovery at Woody's in the Fenway is out because of Pesach. If you are a runner out there who is also asking this question, let me know. I'd like to get a sense of who's running the big race during Pesach this year!
Marathon Changes
FYI for those who are running or watching this year's race:
Courtesy of the Boston Athletic Association
1/17/2006
This Year’s B.A.A. Boston Marathon To Implement Wave Start
Improvement will have positive effects on participants and residents in the town of Hopkinton; entire race will be more efficient.Also, a minor change in course near race’s finish will allow pedestrian and vehicular traffic on Massachusetts Avenue to pass above while race is in progress.BOSTON – In a change designed to provide a better experience at the beginning of the race both for participants and residents, the Boston Athletic Association in cooperation with the Town of Hopkinton will implement a wave start for this year’s Boston Marathon.In employing the change, all participants will be staged and begin on a single commercial street (Main Street, also known as Route 135) in two waves of approximately 10,000 athletes in each wave. No longer will runners wait to begin the race while lined-up on residential streets. Hundreds of volunteers will escort runners from an expanded Athletes’ Village at Hopkinton High School to their starting corrals, preventing them from stopping on or in front of private (residential or commercial) or public property. Approximately half of the anticipated field of 20,000 official entrants will begin in the first wave, and the remaining half of the field will begin one-half hour later in the second wave.The starting time for the first wave of runners will be Noon, and the second wave will begin at 12:30 p.m. Remaining the same as in each of the last two years (since 2004), a few mobility-impaired participants will begin at 10:00 a.m., several dozen wheelchair division competitors will begin at 11:25 a.m., and approximately 50-70 of the race’s fastest women will begin in a separate Elite Women’s Start at 11:31 a.m. The exact starting line itself, adjacent to the Hopkinton Town Green, remains unchanged.“This improvement will result in a vastly more efficient race,” said Dave McGillivray, Boston Marathon Race Director. “This change is all positive and will benefit everything about the Boston Marathon, including our transportation plan and our accommodation of runners in the hours leading up to the race. The effects of this plan will be extensive: we are sensitive to our impact within Hopkinton, and this operational innovation addresses the concerns of town residents and officials.”Another of the benefits of the wave start is that it will reduce the amount of time that it takes for runners to cross the starting line. Last year, with approximately 20,000 official entrants, the last official participant crossed the starting line approximately 30 minutes after the starting gun was fired. Although the B.A.A.’s timing and scoring system records participants’ net times, in the past it may have taken runners until several miles down the course before they could begin to run freely and without obstruction due to the density of runners during the race’s early stages.“Whereas it took the last official runners 30 minutes to cross the starting line last year, this year it will take fewer than 10 minutes for each wave to cross,” said McGillivray. “It is important to note that the anticipated net difference in this method versus previous years’ ‘one gun, one start’ is only about 10 minutes, meaning the last runner will be crossing the starting line this year at 12:40 p.m. as compared to 12:30 p.m. last year. We get the benefit of a wave start without any significant delay in anyone’s starting time. Runners will continue to be seeded and started according to their qualifying time, which means that – in theory – no one from the second wave will ever catch anyone from the first wave. In practice, of course, due to a number of variables, some runners from the second wave will mix with the last runners of the first wave far down the course. However, by that time, the race will have thinned itself enough so that no issue will arise for runners who are passing other runners, getting the fluid replacement that they need, or other race services.”Another change will be that runners will be scored and ranked by their net time, which means that – although they will be starting 30 minutes later than those in the first wave – runners from the second wave will be timed and scored from the time they cross the starting line until the time they cross the finish line. Prize money winners will continue to be awarded by gun time (not net time).Because the second wave will begin at 12:30 p.m., the finish line timing and scoring operation will remain open until 6:30 p.m. Since 1997, the Boston Marathon finish line has stayed up and running until just after 6:00 p.m., recording all official participants who run within the six hour time limit.“These changes represent a major step forward for the Boston Marathon and its runners,” said the B.A.A.s’ Executive Director Guy Morse. “Everyone wins with this plan. Wave starts have been implemented and received with overwhelming and widespread success in road racing, as well as in other sports. There is no anticipated down-side with our plan.”Benefits of the B.A.A.’s plan to begin the 2006 Boston Marathon in a wave start, consisting of two sections of 10,000 participants each:-An expanded Athletes’ Village will be used to implement the plan, resulting in more space and greater comfort for athletes prior to the race; each wave will have its own designated section of the Athletes’ Village; -Athletes will be staged for a shorter time in downtown Hopkinton;-Athletes will be staged on a smaller geographical footprint in Hopkinton, and they will occupy less real estate in Hopkinton, minimizing impact on town property;-The last runners of each wave will cross the starting line 20 minutes sooner than recent past years;-Once crossing the starting line, runners will be able to run free sooner;-Runners can be transported to Hopkinton later, decreasing the time they will need to be accommodated while in Hopkinton waiting for the race to begin;-On the course, between Hopkinton and Boston, the wave start will reduce the density of runners on the route, enabling systems such as fluid replacement and emergency facilities to stay ahead of the needs of the participants and spectators with the services they are providing;-Runners – except for prize money winners – will be timed, scored and receive age division awards according to their net time;-The finish line in Boston will remain open to time and score official participants until 6:30 p.m.Start timeline for the 110th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 17, 200610:00 a.m. Mobility-impaired athletes11:25 a.m. Wheelchair division competitors11:31 a.m. Elite WomenNoon Elite Men and first wave of approximately 10,000 entrants12:30 p.m. Second wave of approximately 10,000 entrantsUnrelated to the wave start, the B.A.A. and the City of Boston will make a minor course change within the last mile of the route. In the 25th mile not far after the runners pass through Kenmore Square, participants will go under Massachusetts Avenue as they make their way along Commonwealth Avenue. In the past, the course has taken runners across Massachusetts Avenue on Commonwealth Avenue. The change allows for pedestrian and vehicular traffic on Massachusetts Avenue while the race is in progress, providing an outlet in the Back Bay on a major roadway which previously did not exist. The course has been re-measured and the course change does not necessitate any alteration of either the starting line or the finish line. The exact distance from the existing starting line on Main Street in Hopkinton to the existing finish line on Boylston Street in Boston is 26 miles, 385 yards.This year’s marathon will be held on Monday, April 17; it is the 110th edition of the world’s oldest annual marathon. The Boston Marathon has started in Hopkinton, Massachusetts since 1924. From the race’s inception in 1897 until 1923, the Boston Marathon began in neighboring Ashland, Mass.
Progress!
At last I am seeing progress in my DFMC fundraising and training efforts. On the fundraising front, O'Naturals in Davis Sq. will be donating 10% of sale between 4-8 on March 28th to my fundraising and
Figaros by South Station in Boston will be collecting donations for DFMC from February through race day. Figaros will then match the total donated by their customers! I encourage everyone to support these businesses both during the DFMC fundraising events and throughout the year.
On the running front, I got all of my runs in this past week for the first time since Yoni was born! The temperatures were VERY warm for New England in January last week so I was able to run in shorts -- ahh, the wind in my leg hair! I've started running during lunch 1-2 days per week and then running home from work on Friday afternoons. I had a 40 minute commute home so I thought I'd prefer to spend that time plus a little extra running home so that I could spend more time with Yoni.
Later on this week, I'll be checking out a restorative yoga class at my gym. Next week, I'm heading back to spinning class. Between getting my workouts in, tweaking my diet, and hitting the gym more often, I'm feeling less tired and more energized by training. Hopefully, the energy will keep on coming....and the baby will keep on sleeping a little longer tonight :)
Why Run?
Lately a lot of people have all been asking me the same question --
Why do you run????? Some of them phrase it a bit differently -- Why do you run, haven't you had enough knee problems??? My answer is actually very simple -- Because I Can! After 14 knee surgeries and several years of needing a cane to walk more often than not (despite only being in my twenties), I can run. More specifically, as I found out last year, I can run 26.2 miles and still want to run more.
Since I was a teenager, I have struggled with a knee injury that caused my knee cap to dislocate repeatedly. The injury was caused when someone lost their temper and I was the closest target. Surgery after surgery failed and I was told to suck it up and learn to adjust to the fact that I would never play sports again. That wasn't easy to hear for a hard-core soccer player and someone who was running 5:15 miles.
In the spring of 2003, I was walking down the street on my way to work when my knee cap dislocated again -- and life has never been the same since! I had a new doctor through the university I attend and he sent me to a surgeon at the Boston University. After some discussion, he was convinced that my knee could actually be fixed. It turns out that one of the surgical options that we ruled out more than 10 years ago is close to 90% successful now.
That surgery, the
fulkerson osteotomy, happened 2 weeks after my wedding. The procedure involves surgically breaking the bone that sticks out beneath your kneecap (on the shin) and digging a new channel to one side, then reattaching the bone with screws. I was in bed for 12 weeks except for trips to the bathroom and physical therapy with the occassional trip out in the world if a car was availible.
On Thanksgiving Day of 2003, I "ran" around the parking lot of a hotel in Mt. Laurel, NJ with my partner Carolyn - the best run either of us has ever had. My leg was dragging behind me but it was more running than I'd been able to do in years. In January of '04, I started playing indoor soccer with a brace. That following February, I started working out in the gym and in March, my surgeon told me that I was medically cleared to do anything I wanted. I asked what anything meant and he said "whatever you want to do." I laughed and joked that I should run a marathon and he said go ahead!
Over the summer I ran a half-marathon and then when my Uncle Chris got sick I decided to see just how serious my surgeon was. I applied to the DFMC marathon team and was accepted. I probably would have run even if Chris hadn't gotten sick just to see how far I could push it. Running with Dana-Farber is a way to remember Chris -- but running is a way to remember that I can survive life's challenges. Running with DFMC gives me a way to take the challenges I've had and use them to raise money for others to fight the challenges they are facing.
