First DFMC Meeting of the Year!

Wednesday night was the kick-off DMFC meeting for the 2011 team! I was so excited to get back to the meetings and see all my teammates I hadn't seen in far too long. I was also really excited to introduce Molly to everyone and to show her what I had been doing all last year - she had always picked me up from meetings, driven me to Crossroads nights, and long runs and EVEN to the Copley Marriott at 4:30am on Marathon Monday to meet up with my teammates! So I'm happy for her that now she gets to experience all of this with me and see why DFMC is so important to me and the other 549 team members.

Molly picked me up from work and we headed over to the Longwood Medical Center. We got there super early because we both were filming our video clips of "Why We Run" before the meeting. So we grabbed a bite to eat in the food court and headed over to the meeting in the Jimmy Fund Auditorium. We were greeted by all the DFMC staff members - including Jan, the director and Jack, our fabulous team trainer (and 1976 Boston Marathon WINNER). I introduced Molly to him and said, Molly, this is Jack - he WON the marathon before. And she responded by saying, "shut UP"! It was so funny - she couldn't believe it and Jack was so humble about his accomplishment. We are so fortunate to have such a fantastic, experienced coach though.

After mingling for a while with all the team members, Molly was finally called in for her video. She asked if I would come in with her for moral support AND because (and I didn't know this) she wanted to pull me into her video at the end! They made us put on navy blue DFMC team shirts and stand on a little piece of tape to position us in front of the camera (but not block the DFMC banner behind us). I stood next to the camera woman as Molly got situated in front of it. She talked about her mother, Risa's breast cancer, and how she had gotten a double mastectomy and what an inspiration and role model her mom was to her. I got teary just listening to her speak about Risa (who is like a second mom to me). Then at the end, she said, "and I'm also running with Dana-Farber this year because my roommate and friend, Amanda..." (grabbed me and pulled me into her video) "ran with DFMC last year, and I got to run heartbreak hills with her and it really inspired me to run the WHOLE marathon this year. So my goal is to be able to run up the hills with her again this year!" We hugged and said, "this is for you Risa! we love you!"  I did mine after Mollys and pulled her into the end as well. I felt MUCH more comfortable in front of the camera this year and didn't fumble my words like I did the last time. I was proud of myself!!!  Dana Finn, who shot the videos said she liked ours because they were original, so that was good. I can't wait to see how they turned out - and I will post mine as soon as its up... as long as it's not incredibly embarrassing, which I'm sure it will be ;)

Anyways, the meeting and shooting the video clips was great. I can't wait for the long group runs to start in December, and hopefully by the first one, my knee is better. I got x-rays on my right knee on Thusday and should know the results by this afternoon. Until it heals, no matter if its a meniscus or a stress fracture (the doctor thinks it might be the latter), I will have to rest and live vicariously through Molly as she starts her training. Wish me luck on the test results!!!

I'm Back and Running with DFMC for a Second Time!!!

Hi All! It's been way too long since I last blogged about my marathon experience. I finished, I loved every second of it, and I ended up qualifying for this years marathon with a time of 3:26:42. I just wanted to say though that I am officially, RUNNING THE BOSTON MARATHON again with the wonderful DFMC team. I can't imagine running it any other way that supporting a great cause, raising money for cancer research, and training alongside my awesome teammates. This year I even convinced my friend, Molly DeLong to apply the team and though she thought she'd never run a marathon, she's going to because SHE MADE THE TEAM! Together, we're hoping to raise over $16,000 for the Claudia Adams Barr Program within Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to put an end to cancer. This is the first of my many posts this season, so please follow me as I begin this journey for the second time.

Chuck, this one's for you!!! Much love!

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!