Spirit of the Marathon

I forgot to tell you, but when I was home this weekend for the holidays my dad suggested we watch “Spirit of the Marathon” on Netflix. It was so inspirational that I think I might rent it again and watch it whenever I need some inspiration. http://www.marathonmovie.com/.  I just found the movie on hulu that you can watch in case you’re interested (it is 1 hour 42 minutes) http://www.hulu.com/watch/85354/spirit-of-the-marathon.  I like the beginning quote, “Sometimes the moments that challenge us the most, define us.”  Its true. I am not sure if I would call it a movie – more of a documentary really.

Anyhow the movie documented the reasons/motivations behind each runner and why they pursued the marathon dream.  Some were beginners, others were professional runners. The story about the Kenyan (who had won 2nd and 3rd in the Chicago marathon multiple times) was very touching…it brought tears to my eyes as corny as that sounds.  But then again, it isn’t that hard to bring tears to my eyes in movies. He ran so he could raise money for his family back home and to help rebuild a home for his brother. There was also a story about a girl who was raising money for a charity. She was adopted and wanted to give back to the agency that helped match her to her parents.  At the end of the movie, it shows each of the runners actually running the marathon…it really made me want to go out there and run.  I won’t give too much away in case you want to watch it.

Anyways today I woke up early (I have to admit, after a few days off it was really hard to get up this morning) and I went on the arc trainer for about 40 minutes and did some stretching. When I got home I took out my roller and did a good 20 minutes on it working the sore spots in my calves and hips.  It is sort of difficult to tell if my leg is still feeling painful because I am sore from yoga yesterday. I will probably take it easy tomorrow again and see if I feel better this weekend to run a bit.  I wore flats today at work…boo! But then pulled out the healed boots for a couple hours when I headed into Boston for a friend’s birthday. While I love heals, I have to limit my usage the next couple weeks…

Emotional Letter

I received an emotional letter today in the mail…a happy/grateful emotional letter.

One of my best friend’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of years ago and had a mastectomy.  I sort of heard about it through the grapevine and didn’t learn much about it until much later. It was one of those situations where I wanted to extend my best wishes, but wasn’t sure how much I should know or how much they wanted to keep private. I wish I was able to provide more support during that time, however my thoughts and prayers always remain with them.

She and her husband generously donated to my Dana-Farber marathon challenge about a month ago.  My sister and I literally grew up with this family and their daughter has become like a second sister to Dana and me. When my sister was at the Coast Guard Academy and away for summers, Amy would act as my fill-in sister and we’d go to the mall, the beach, or out to eat. I really miss her and her parents who have since moved to TX.  But what is always nice is that we can pick up right where we left off if we chat on the phone or see each other in person…this is when you know you’re close to someone.

Amy’s mom sent me a really touching Christmas card.  I can proudly say she is a breast cancer survivor – and she is truly an inspiration.  Her letter – in a positive way – really moved me and reminded me why this race is so important.  Not necessarily because of the run, but because of what the run represents. She sent me a picture from her holiday party post-cancer and she is more gorgeous than ever.  A very beautiful lady inside and out.

The letter really made me miss their family;  I am so happy that I running for Dana-Farber in honor of the people I love.  It has been a moving experience for me and the motivation I need to keep on going.

In terms of training, this morning I cross trained for 40 minutes on the bike and stretched for about 30 minutes.  Tomorrow is another run day.  Can’t wait to be back home for Christmas.

Visualizing Goals

I am very strong believer that in order for me to achieve a goal I have to visualize it.

This probably has something to do with being stronger on the “right-side” of my brain (i.e. seeing the big picture, using my imagination, enjoying images, symbols, & illustrations, seeing greater possibilities, etc).  This right-side brain also explains my love for art (although I majored in economics at Holy Cross, I minored in art because I couldn’t quite give up the desire to create things).  Even this right brain/left brain test confirmed my thoughts of having tendencies strongly associated with my right-side of the brain.  Try the test for yourself: http://www.intelliscript.net/test_area/questionnaire/questionnaire.cgi

Anyways, as I started training for the Boston Marathon I needed a visual representation of what I was actually doing. I like writing things down – which is probably why I enjoy writing this blog everyday. However, I wanted another way I could picture my running schedule…I wanted to see the how each day was contributing to the overall end goal.  I was at the BU book store and saw a art-deco calendar that was perfect and exactly what I had in mind. I started the calendar during the last week of November to keep track of my training and mileage. I am on the fourth week of training as you can see.  It sits above my bed and I am able to visualize my goal when I wake up and before I go to sleep at night. Sounds silly, but something as simple as this really helps.

Today when my alarm beeped at 4:30 AM, I had some doubts and contemplated going back to sleep.  But I couldn’t help but face the rather large calendar on my wall and see what I needed to do for training today.  I jumped out of bed and headed to the gym.  I ran 6 miles successfully on the treadmill with about 1/2 hour of stretching.

Trust me, visualizing your goal is part of the mental challenge of running long distances.  If you can see yourself doing it, you are one step closer to achieving it.

Inspiration

I am keeping this post short today, it’s only Wednesday, but it’s been a crazy week!  I just got home and I’m exhausted.

This week for work-outs:  1 full rest day, 3 running days, 2 cross-training days, 1 long run day.  I opted for a rest day today, so that means 5 miles tomorrow morning. I’ve already done 2 running days Monday & Tuesday. I have my alarm set already for early morning. Hope I make it…

Words of inspiration for tomorrow morning:

“Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle… when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.” -MG

 

My supporter…

As I wrote in previous posts, I have always wanted to run a Marathon and my dream was to run Boston.

The person that really supported and encouraged me to go through with this was my sister and best friend.  I was doubting myself as to whether I’d be able to raise enough funds or train the 26.2 miles, but my sister knocked some sense in to me and told me to go for it. I am so thankful she did.

To run the Boston Marathon you either have to qualify (by running another marathon within a year’s time before the Boston Marathon) or run for a charity.  To qualify, women that are 18-34 must run a marathon at 3:38:46 for 2012 (that is about 8 min 19 sec pace; for comparison sake I ran my last half marathon in about 8 min/mile pace), and in 2013 a female at that same age group must run a marathon at 3:35:00.  Because of the popularity of this marathon, the qualifying times keep getting faster each year.

One day I hope to qualify for Boston, but for some time I really had my mind set on running for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The B.A.A. (Boston Athletic Association) that organizes the Boston Marathon requires charity runners to raise a minimum of $4,000 (which increased from $3,500 last year).  Similar to qualifying times are getting faster each year, the fundraising goals are also getting higher year after year. In addition, each charity encourages a certain dollar goal for their runner-fundraisers.  Dana-Farber has set the goal of $8,400 per runner for 2012. My personal goal is $6,500, but even if I meet this goal, I will strive to keep raising more money. I know that these dollars help save lives.

Besides raising the money, I was also nervous running the 26.2 miles. However my sister knew exactly what to say to me when I started questioning my abilities.  She has always been one of my biggest supporters and confidants.

Although my sister is younger than me by three years, I really respect her advice and opinion. I feel so lucky to have a friend that understands by strengths and sees my weaknesses as strengths too.  Dana is also a pretty competitive runner and ran during high school with me (we overlapped school by couple years).  I would say she is even a faster runner than I am and she inspires me to push myself to be a better runner.

Now that I have signed up I feel confident in raising the money I need and training for this race.  I just needed a little push and encouragement.  Thanks Dana for your help!

Today I had a great work out…I lifted for an hour (body pump) then came home and ran 5 miles outside. Other than feeling a little sore from the weights, I felt pretty good!

The Pursuit of HAPPYness….

I apologize in advance for the short posts recently…I have been super busy.  My goal is to try to write something each day (even if it is brief) that has either 1) inspired me, 2) reminded me about Dana-Farber and Cancer Research, or 3) about running and training for this Marathon…So here is my piece for today.

I saw Chris Gardner today. Have you seen the Will Smith movie, “The Pursuit of Happyness?”  (yes, intentionally spelled with a Y). Well the movie is based on a true story – the life of Chris Gardner.  If you haven’t seen the movie – I suggest you go to your Netflix account now and rent it. He has a super inspiring story and I can’t even begin to tell you about how heart wrenching his story was for me.  Chris talked about how he fell into homelessness with a 14-month-old son and was able to eventually break out of this cycle to better his life for him and for his baby.  You know how they say the book is always better than the movie? Well unfortunately I didn’t read the book, but I watched the movie.  I am sure hearing Chris Gardner’s story today in person was even better than the book.

What I took away: sometimes we assume things without knowing the entire background; Chris Gardner’s life story opened my eyes  to see how life circumstances sometimes don’t always play out to how we want them to.  He started working off in a pretty good job as an aid to a top doctor, however life quickly changed for him once he had a family – long story short, a string of events led him into poverty and homelessness.  He actually worked  the entire time he was homeless. What inspired me most was the way Chris handled the cards he was dealt with in life and how he eventually succeeded with a “bad hand.” Chris took challenging circumstances that were (mostly) out of his control and instead of becoming a victim of “life” he worked hard and pursued what he always wanted to do – be a stock broker.  He didn’t finish college or have any direct trading experience, but the pursuit of his dreams never failed him. He eventually worked for Bear Stearns and  became a top performer in his office.

Chris also talked about a few strangers in is life helped him a long the way – some that simply just gave him a $5 bill without him asking for it and how it helped him feed his son some nights.  You never know how something so small can impact someone in such a big way.

While the story doesn’t directly relate to Dana-Farber, cancer research, or training for a marathon – it just inspired me to be a better person, less judgemental, and even more willing to help others less fortunate.

I’ll end with one of Chris Gardner’s quotes I found: ”It is your responsibility to pursue what matters.”  Running the Boston Marathon is going to be an amazing experience, but what really matters even more is running this race to support the cause. That is what matters.

A thoughtful text message

I don’t have much time to write tonight, but I thought I would share with you a thoughtful gesture….

I received a text message while I was at work this afternoon from one of my favorite people….who knows I am running the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge and has been very supportive in my blogging efforts.

He was at the Nike Store in NYC today and snapped some inspiring pics for me. I thought I would share them with you.

This one is of Bill Bowerman, who was a coach for the University of Oregon and co-founder of Nike. SO COOL! He has trained numerous Olympic and All-American athletes.  Finding a good coach is key… they give you loads of inspiration and encouragement.  They are truly one of your biggest cheerleaders.

The second picture is of one of my favorite runners…Steve Prefontaine.  He looks so INTENSE in this picture! (I bet you he was having a conversation here with himself to keep on going and win the race!) I love it!!!

Steve PreFontaine

When I ran high school track and XC, I had a poster on my bedroom wall of Steve PreFontaine running on the track and his quote ”To do anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”

I still think about this poster a lot …I wish I could find it.  This saying is not only is this applicable to running, but to everything in our lives.

Steve PreFontaine is a middle-long distance runner and track legend. He helped make running famous in the media during the 1970s and died when he was only 24.  A bit ironic that he died so young and said “to do anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift” – he must have realized how precious life is.

I didn’t know much about his history until reading about him recently, but I really love some of the quotes he has about running – which are inspiring.  I thought I’d share some of my favorites with you:

“Success isn’t how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started.”

“You have to wonder at times what you’re doing out there. Over the years, I’ve given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.”

“A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they’re capable of understanding.”

“Most people run a race to see who is the fasest, I race to see who has the most guts.”

If this isn’t inspiration, I don’t know what is…

My friend – who is attending medical school right now and attends to patients – texted me the following last night:

“A picture to motivate you when you don’t feel like running. This is Luca, diagnosed with leukemia. Dana-Farber was the first place in the world to cure pediatric leukemia, and has now increased survival to 4/5. You are doing an amazing thing.”

Thanks for the inspiration…Luca IS an inspiration.

Write down what you want

I had training at work this afternoon – it was very different from any training I’ve been to before. Probably one of the best trainings I’ve attended -really great for personal self-development and growth (not just professional development) The trainer, Pat Conley, from Worldwide Predictive Index (http://www.piworldwide.com/Products/Predictive-Index-System.aspx) came to talk to about 20 managers.  We went around the room to talk about challenges we may have encountered with our staff and how we can improve as managers with our coaching skills.

But he also provided great insight to communication, taking responsibility for our lives, and providing value to others.  I really enjoyed the presentation.  Pat was extremely inspirational; he reminded me a lot of Jim Rohn (a pracitcal motivational speaker who I’ve come to admire but passed away this year) http://www.jimrohn.com/. He said that when we write our down our goals and really focus on them – we can succeed at anything.  He gave us a lot of examples of this, but I know this is true from my own experience.

A couple of years ago, I really had my mind set on doing a marathon – specifically the Boston Marathon. I wrote it on my “bucket list” of things I want to accomplish in my life.  In April, I will be finally checking this off!