OK so I've had a little over a week to bounce back from Berlin. Although it took that long to get back to a normal sleep schedule and figure out what day it is. I think I am slowly coming back to normal, or at least normal for me. I slept until almost 3:30am today, considering my alarm goes off at 4am I'll take it. I haven't done a lot of running, but that's probably a good thing. I usually do a short easy shake out run 2-3 days after a marathon, but with the traveling and lack of sleep I waited until the weekend to lace up again.
I was signed up for the Electric Run Friday night, another themed sort of obstacle/color run at night with lots of glow sticks and dance music. Well, when Friday afternoon rolled around I checked the weather and it was rainy and cold. I was tired and really didn't feel like driving an hour out of my way to run a 5K then drive about 90 minutes to get home. I bailed and went home instead and ended up falling asleep at 5:30pm.
Saturday there was a 5 mile race just minutes from my house organized by a good friend for a great cause so, I decided to get dressed and test out my legs a little closer to home. When I got there I got a text from my friend Steve, trying to get motivated to go for a run so I invited him to join me at the race. I really wasn't sure how my legs and the rest of my body was going to feel running only 6 days after the most painful marathon ever. I started out slow and just took it easy. I actually felt really good. Maybe my legs just don't like international travel. I finished the race in 48:44 averaging around a 9:40 pace. I haven't run that fast in a while and it felt amazing. I was kind of shocked and extremely pleased by my performance. So, I decided to do another 5 miler Sunday.
My friend Sarah was organizing a race in her community for the second year in a row so I went to show my support and to see if I could repeat my amazing performance from the day before. It was raining and cool, but not cold. Lucky for Sarah and the West Newbury school programs that the race supported because if it was sunny out I was planning on going skydiving again. It ended up being perfect running weather. It wasn't really pouring rain, more like a light mist and felt really refreshing. The course was a lot hillier than I remembered, but I have learned over the years that my brain conveniently erases hills from my memory and I sign up for the same tough courses over and over again. Despite the hills, I still finished strong and a couple of seconds FASTER than the race the day before in 48:42! AMAZING!
My plan for this week was to continue resting and recovering but slowly add a few miles in. I rested Monday, after back to back races I figured that was smart. Tuesday I did a short loop around the Charles River after work. I ran a little over 5 miles and resisted the urge to turn it into a fartlek on the Storrow Drive side. Just slow and steady to get the legs moving again. I finished and hopped in my car to head home. There was a little traffic so I sat in my car on 93N lost in thought about a lot of things. I thought about the run and my Dopey training plan. I made a mental 'to-do' list for the Disney trip, I still need to book a hotel, flight, and rental car. Then I started thinking about my plans for after Disney.
I had applied again for the Dana-Farber Marathon team to run Boston in 2014. I followed up with them after I got back from Germany and emailed back and forth a few additional details. The wheels in my head were turning and trying to think of creative ways to fundraise. I was just $300 shy of $10K the last time I ran for them and that really bugged me. I still hadn't heard back from them if I made the team or not, but I was trying to think positive and visualize being part of the team again. I thought about who to tell first when I finally got the news. I had promised my friend Steve he would be the first to know since I met him the first time I ran with DFMC. Then I thought about my mom and my brother. Just as I was thinking my brother will need to get a damn dog sitter for Patriots Day and plan to be in Boston for the day, my phone beeped. I had a new email.........You’ve been accepted to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC) team in the 2014 Boston Marathon!
Thank GOD I was stopped in traffic because I screamed out loud and bounced up and down in my seat and did a little happy dance. I am so excited and thrilled I can't even express it in words appropriately. My fundraising page isn't set up yet, but I am already drafting the letter to send out to friends and family. I am just itching to tell people but holding back because I want to be able to send out my link. Well, the cat is out of the bag now, but keep your checkbooks handy as soon as the link is available I will be posting it, emailing it, mailing letters, and asking for support.
Hard to believe it was 4 years ago that I started this blog as a way to keep people updated on my training and fundraising for my first Boston Marathon with Dana-Farber and like my mom the politician, I am running again 4yrs later. Maybe I will make this a tradition and run every 4 years. Fundraising is a lot like grassroots campaigning and I've got a lot of experience with that. From stuffing envelopes to passing out balloons and stickers at parades and even putting up lawn signs (hey, I wonder how I can make that into a way to fundraise....), I never thought those skills would come in so handy, thanks Mom!
Anyway, stay tuned for more info on my journey. A link to my fundraising page will be posted as soon as I have it and I will be using the elevation profile of the Boston course again to track my fundraising progress. My goal is to hit that $10,000 mark this time. It won't be easy, but I know that if all of the people that read this give a little and ask their friends to give a little it will bring us all one step closer to a World without cancer. Thank you in advance for your help.
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