Getting Rid of the Knots!

Yesterday my friend Molly and I decided to go to Sarah Ferguson's Dana-Farber Fundraiser - Restore Total Body Sports Massages! My massage therapist, Amy was great. I never realized how many knots I had in my legs. From the hamstrings to the calves, and even the foot arch muscles I was tight! She told me that my left leg was even tighter than my right leg, which was pretty surprising to me, considering that it was my right hip flexor/glut that was giving me some trouble. After my massage she gave me some great "prevention" tips to keep my body from getting injured... using a tennis ball on the balls of my feet and any other tight areas (like my hip) to massage out any kinks that run deep (and that a foam roller wouldn't catch), and some great hamstring stretches using just a towel!

I'll definitely be going back for another massage before the marathon. Today at the gym I felt much less tense, and my legs felt looser. I also decided to take a yoga class at the BSC this morning (on my day off!) before my run, so I'm sure that all the stretching in yoga was helpful for my run.

Back to work tomorrow, but I hope to up my mileage this week! Hopefully that massage will be beneficial in helping me reach that goal!

Helllllooo 2010!

It's been so long since I've written a blog - I've been MIA since Christmas, but I assure my DFMC teammates and friends that I AM still actively training for Boston! Lately, I have been getting up to 12-13 mile days once a week, with intermittent fartlek and hill days, and of course lots of cross-training too! With all this cold weather though, and lots of snow, I've been completing most of my workout inside... on the "dreadmill" or ellipticals. And then of course, yesterday, I tried out a new class at the Boston Sports Club called Total Body Workout - and it was, really it was! Pat, our instructor worked us hard, and at the end of the class I was already feeling sore. Needless to say, today I can barely walk - but in a good way! We did lots of squats and quad and hamstring exercises, which my trainer, Stacie says is best for marathon runners. One Boston Marathoner even told her that squats were what saved her on Heartbreak Hill last year, so I've got to trust her on that!

While on vacation 2 weeks ago in the Turks and Caicos with my family, my younger sisters, Ashley and Amy and I ran and walked the 6 mile long beach daily. A couple times I tried barefoot which was also a drastic change in my workout. I could really feel the burn in my calves, and I've heard that it's really good to run barefoot occasionally to work those muscles in your legs that typically don't get used much with running sneakers on. Again though, super sore on the flip side. I guess that's a toss up whether barefoot running helps or hinders your training regiment.

With the Boston Marathon approximately 3 months away (I can't BELIEVE it) I promised myself I would stick more to my training schedule and kick butt in the gym daily. In addition, I am going to try to make it to most (if not all) of the weekend group runs... if I can drag myself out of bed by 7am! ugh!


xoxo stay tuned for an update later this week.

Support Me in the Race Against Cancer!

As many of you know, I have decided to run the MANY miles of the Boston Marathon to fight cancer and I hope you'll help me take BIG steps! On Monday, April 19, 2010, I'll run with my Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC) teammates in the Boston Marathon, raising funds to benefit the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. With your generosity, I’ll reach my lofty goal of $10,000 before marathon weekend!

Cancer touches all of us. We all know someone—a friend, colleague, parent, sibling, family member, child--who has battled this disease. Today, thousands of people worldwide are being treated for cancer and this is our chance to do something to help them. I, personally, was motivated to participate in the DFMC this year after the death of a close family friend and community member, Chuck Harvey, who lost his battle with pancreatic cancer this spring. A couple months after Mr. Harvey passed away, my best friend, Libby lost her stepfather, Bob Schneider, to the same terminal form of cancer after just a few short weeks of learning of the diagnosis. These two devastating losses really prompted me to want to make a difference ... to raise as much money as possible to help find a cure.

Please join me in my race toward the ultimate finish line: a world without cancer. Every mile and every dollar brings us closer! I realize that, in these hard economic times around the holidays, it is hard to find the money to donate. But, just think about how your gift will impact others in the near future. A world without cancer would be an amazing thing. Thank you in advance for supporting my run for DFMC.

Happy Holidays to you and your family!

- Amanda

* If you would like to send a check instead of donating online, please enclose a check payable to “Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge” in the enclosed stamped envelope addressed to me.

Amanda Allen
45 Lowden Avenue #2
Somerville, MA 02144

* Will your company match your gift? If so, please let me know and I will send you its matching gift form with your contribution.

Holiday 5K Race Against Cancer

Sunday, December 6 at 11am, hundreds of runners lined up at the Hatch Shell on the Charles River to run a quick, COLD 5K race to benefit cancer research. I met up with a friend, Sidi and two DFMC friends, Lauren and Tyler at the race. The course was so slick from the snow/rain fall the night before, and the wind was stingingly cold, but people were troopers and showed up! I got there 2 minutes before the race started and quickly joined the cluster of racers. When the time started we moved slowly but surely along the river. It wasn't until about the 1-mile mark that the crowd started to thin out a little. Since I started at the back of the race, it was pretty difficult to pass people in the first half of the race so I lagged behind a bit. The course was fun! We stayed on the Boston side of the Charles and went up nearly to the Boston Police Station by Lechemere. The best part of the race was that since the course looped back around, you could see the race leaders (finishing in 16 minutes or so!) sprinting past you on the opposite side of the bike path and we could cheer them on. I wasn't going for speed at the beginning, but half way through I decided to push myself. So I ended up running an 8 minute first mile with a friend, and then ran 2.1 miles at 7 mins a piece. I was pretty happy with that time of 22 minutes considering my pace at the beginning! Next time I'm going to shoot for 20 minutes or less...

Here are some other pictures from the race... The one of me is NOT so stunning. I'm going to work on my "race face" for Boston!

Thursday Night's Heat Wave

Thursday night has quickly become my favorite night of the week... the "new Friday" according to fellow DFMC runners. It's the night we meet at Crossroads to endure long, hard runs with teammates, and we all struggle together. The faster we run, the quicker we can make it back to the bar - for beer. and pizza, and our favorite bartenders Linsey and JJ. But this Thursday was especially awesome. It was 70 degrees out at 6pm on December 3!!! SEVENTY! Here I was dressed for a typical late-fall blizzard in my spandex pants and long sleeved top (thank GOD I opted out of the gloves and headband), and some of my teammates were wearing tank tops and shorts! I guess I forgot to check the weather pattern. Anyways, there was a pretty big group of us that decided to all do the Charles River to the Eliot Bridge (8 mile loop), so we set of with Tyler leading the pack, a nice, slow 1st mile, and then continuously sped up with each mile. Half way through, I ended up running just with Tyler and Shawn - two amazingly fast marathoners (didn't quite know what I was getting myself into!). I was keeping pace with them at 7-minute miles for just about 7 miles, and then the last mile, I was beat. I told the guys to just "go ahead without me - I didn't want to 'hurt my shins'" (which was really code for, 'I'm dying - can't.run.anymore.'). But they insisted that I persevere through the last mile and to "finish strong"... so that's what I did (or at least TRIED to do). When we got to the Mass Ave Bridge I couldn't have been happier. Crossroads was just ahead in the distance... Shock Tops and Cheese Pizza were not not far away :)
The best part of the night is always getting back, congratulating people on their good runs, and then kicking back and talking amongst your teammates! Caitlyn - a Colby alum and DFMC first-timer, me, and Sarah talked for a long time about NESCAC and college sports - and Sarah even started a page for all of us DFMC NESCACers :) - Check it out! www.dfmcnescac.webs.com/
Andrew and I ended the night Christening Crossroads' first ever Scorpion bowl, along with Mike, Lauren and Tyler, and played BU students in a Beirut Tourney... fun fun times!

Can't wait to see many of my teammates at the Holiday 5K Race Against Cancer tomorrow morning at 11am!

Thanksgiving Day 4-Miler - "Turkey Trot"

At 7am on Thursday morning (Thanksgiving), my whole family dressed up in our warmest outdoor running gear, attached our race "chips" to our ankles, and snapped some good ol' shots of all of us that were about to partake in OUR 1st Annual Thanksgiving Day 4-miler around the Old Port in Portland, Maine. Over 1,000 people turned out for this race - adorned with turkey hats, pilgrim suits, and feathered arms (yeah, you name it, people wore it!)

My mom's best friend, Paula, her daughter Kelly, my mom, my two sisters, Ashley and Amy, and their boyfriends Andrew (who's also running for DFMC) and Ezra participated too! We lined up, and decided to pair off for the run because there were SO many people and it would have been impossible to all stay together, so I ran with my mom! When the shotgun fired we started the slow jog with the rest of the crowd for the first couple minutes - and then we were off! It started at the City Hall, then we had a nice easy hill to jog down right to the water, we went along Commerical St. on the water (cobblestoned streets and all), and then up Dana St and Exchange St. What a hilly course! ... but we hadn't even seen a 1/4 of the hills! Then came Free St. and Congress St. - all hills, but I loved it! It was a 2 mile loop that we did 2x, and surprisingly, I found it pretty easy! I ran a steady 8 minute mile for 4 miles with my mom - and we crossed the finish line holding hands at 32:47! She was so excited :) My little sister, Amy and her boyfriend Ezra booked it for the last 2 miles, and ran a 31:00, and Ashley and Andrew finished in 34:00. But the best was Paula - who finished in 40:00 - after losing over 100lbs, she ROCKED it and we were SO proud of her! Next on her agenda - training for a marathon, like me!
Thanksgiving dinner tasted so good after that run - we definitely made some space for it - and I didn't feel the least bit guilty eating 2 pieces of pie and loads of squash and potatoes after it!!!
The Thanksgiving Day 4-Miler is DEFINITELY going to be a new Allen family tradition :)

"Making Some Room for Turkey"

I recently found out that my mother signed my WHOLE family up for the annual Portland, Maine Thanksgiving Day 4-Miler. She said it would be a great way to "make room for turkey" and all that goes along with the typical Thanksgiving Day feast! - this statement completely contradicts the whole idea of Thanksgiving. I'm pretty excited about the idea of running with my mom (a super-star triathlete), and sisters, Ashley (a sophomore all-star lacrosse player at Hamilton College) and Amy (2nd place finisher in the Maine State Cross-Country Championship Race this year!)- can you tell I'm proud of my mom and little sisters? :) I hope I can keep up with them all, especially at 9 o'clock in the morning and in the rain, too, ugh!!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!