What goes up must come down!

I discovered a few new roads to run on near the house, trouble is they are all hilly. I decided to try out a new loop last night and ran up Lilliesville road then up Whittier Road until the end (about 4 miles with some pretty steep sections). My plan was to turn around and come down Whitcomb Hill Road, which looked doable on the map. It turns out the road is closed in the winter. So, I retraced my steps to the car. Ending up with a 9.5 mile run going up and down Whittier Road.

A friend of ours showed Stefan an online running tool at runningahead.com. It allows you to plot your course and get the mileage and elevation and to keep track of workouts. I know it will be a great tool to use to be more accurate in my workouts. I just plotted this course to get the mileage and learned I gained 1260 ft in elevation throughout the run. Phew!

Snowy surprise

Today's seventeen miles started out innocently enough. There were snow flurries predicted but by the time I left the house, we'd had just a few flakes fall from the sky. I left the house around 10:45 and ran across the bridge to the River Road near our house. It's a dirt road that stretches out about 6 miles and has 2 roads that connect to it that lead to a whole slew of dirt roads up in the hills. I ran out and back on River road (10 miles) and then up Lilliesville road for 2.5 and back down to add 5 and then back home, to make a total of 17. At mile 9 I got some wind and snow flurries, it was mild enough. When I got to mile 11-12, the snow started coming down heavy with wind (did I mention I was running uphill at this point?). I almost turned around but persevered for another mile or so and then turned around.

I was glad I stayed with it, I finished the 17 in 2 hours and 31 minutes. I'm sure I won't be breaking any speed records this year but I'm confident that I can finish.

My bib number

I logged on to the Boston Marathon site yesterday and got my bib number - it's 13090. Last year I was somewhere around 14125. The First Wave of runners (bib numbers 0-13,999 start at 10:00) and Second Wave runners (bib numbers 14,000-20,000+) start at 10:30. So, I'm happy to be starting in the first wave and at the back of that wave. That way, I'll be motivated to stay with the faster runners for a while. I will likely cross the starting line 10-15 minutes after the 10:00 start (due to the sheer volume of people starting at that time). Then I can stay motivated to stay in front of the Second Wave runners for as long as possible. Should be fun.

You can follow my progress on race day (Monday, April 20) by logging on to the Boston Marathon website and searching for me by name or bib number. They will be posting every 5K split (3.2 miles) which should mean every 25-33 minutes for me.

One more month!

I can't believe there is only one more month! It's often at this point that I start to wish I had trained just a little bit harder. Now that I can imagine myself running the marathon, I'd like to see myself running it at a personal best. While this year's Boston might not prove to be my fastest, it will certainly be the most meaningful marathon to date. I have been fundraising since November and am almost there. By almost, I would say as of this moment I am at 2375, just 625 shy of my goal. I am hopeful! Many of the folks I first contacted in November said they'd support me when the time came. Well, time's up. I'm sending out a big e-mail reminder later today to everyone I've been in contact with to this point to let them know where I'm at.

I just finished a 7 mile run and feel pretty good. Tomorrow's long run will be around 18 and I just hope it is warm enough in the morning to run before 10. We woke up this morning to 10 degrees and I just didn't want to deal with the cold. It's amazing how spoiled you get once you run in 40-50 degree weather, it's hard to go back. The last two weeks we've seen pretty warm temperatures and it is so nice - no hat or gloves!

The downside to the melting snow (and running on dirt roads) is the mud. It's hard anytime and especially hard on tired legs. The trick is to time the run so that it's warm enough to leave the hat behind but not so warm that the roads are mush. Keep your fingers crossed.

Over the river and through the woods

I'm stalling.. I'm planning to run a 22 miler today and I'm waiting for it to warm up a bit. It's 15 degrees and I'd like it a little closer to 20. I'm planning to get dressed in a few minutes and then load up my gatorade and gu in my waist pack and hit the road. It will probably take me about 3 hours and 20 minutes. I'm running pretty slow on longer runs and think I might throw in a few hills. I'm heading over the river and through the woods.. literally. We have a series of dirt roads right across the river from our house and while I'm getting pretty tired of running on the same roads, I am very glad they are so convenient.

Meet Brandon...

Brandon is two years old and has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lympoma (NHL). He is receiving treatment at Dana-Farber's Jimmy Fund Clinic. I got to meet Brandon on Saturday (1/24/09) during the "Meet your Match" party as part of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge Partner Program. Brandon is my Patient Partner and he's given me a million more reasons to train hard and fundraise even harder.

Brandon and I got to spend all morning getting to know each other at the Boston Children's Museum with many other patients and their runners. The room was full of smiles, laughter, and hope as we played a series of Dr. Suess themed activities. I'm looking forward to spending more time with Brandon (and his family) over the coming months. Hopefully, they'll be able to join the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge cheering section at mile 25 on Marathon Day. I know I'll need a great smile like his to keep me going to the end!

Off to a slow start

Well, I'm officially off to a very slow start. My training hasn't really started, unless you count running 1-2 days a week. My fundraising efforts have been sporadic and as a result I've raised under $50 (hey, that only leaves $2,950). I'm hopeful that that the current economic conditions are primarily to blame for the lack of money pouring in.

On the training front, that's all me. I have a million excuses everyday and every 2-3 days I seem to muster up the motivation to get my running shoes on and head out the door. I will need to start the official training program in the next month. Last year I went from 12 miles a week to 50 during my first week of the 16 week training program. I was lucky that I didn't injure myself. I am hoping to ease into this year's training program. Guess I better stop typing and go for a run..... maybe tomorrow.