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.