This week was super exciting for me because you all helped me reach my initial $6,500 fundraising goal. What a HUGE relief. Thank you again! I might actually have the chance to reach Dana-Farber’s goal for each runner of $8,700. This past week I just raised my fundraising goal to $8,000 on my fundraising page. Let’s see how I do! I am very happy and grateful for reaching my initial goal…that was my hope! I had some serious doubts about the challenges of fundraising when I first signed up to run for a charity, but you helped me realize that supporting a great cause is worth every bit of effort 
I will keep on trying to raise more money because cancer is cause that touches way too many people. I am planning to send out one more update letter this week to my donors and prospect donors. I will be sure to share it with you after I do so.
This past week has been a bit lighter with training because I am slowly starting the taper process, which will actually officially start for me this week. I am ready for the taper, although many runners tell me it can be a challenge running nearly 30 miles a week and then cutting mileage in half a week later. I personally think I might like it I will continue to cross-train to keep my fitness up.
I am a little bit behind with posting a blog about last week’s workout schedule, but here it is:
Sunday: Rest Day (Ran my longest 22 mile race the day before…so it was well deserved )
Monday: 60 minute spin class. This instructor was nuts. Since I had the day off from work I went to a morning class….so I had this instructor for the first time. He had some awesome music, which always motivates me in class, but he was doing a lot less spinning and a lot more dancing on the floor. It was hilarious because he was REALLY into it…I couldn’t help but think of Michael Jackson’s moves (RIP Michael). He was groovin’ to the music and shouting at us to ride harder and up the resistance. I love when instructors keep telling you to add-on the resistance when they aren’t actually doing it themselves and see how tired we are getting. I looked around the room while I was on my bike and I guess I was the only one that thought it was funny, or maybe it was too early in the morning (6 AM) for people to laugh. I had a nice smile on my face during the whole spin class. I hope I get the chance to have him as my instructor again.
At night, I attended a B.A.A (Boston Athletic Association) clinic about the Boston Marathon. There were a lot of first time marathoners and a lot of charity runners. On the agenda was: how to taper (depending how we were currently feeling in our training), nutrition before and on marathon day, and general questions about the Boston Marathon. There was an olympic marathon qualifier and a running coach that helped give the presentations for the night. The special guest was Bill Rodgers – who won the Boston Marathon 4 times and the New York Marathon 4 times. Pretty awesome if I may say so myself…it is truly inspiring. What I learned is that everyone has their good and bad running days. He shared with us that there were some marathons he didn’t finish despite being a multi-marathon winner.
Picture of Bill Rodgers winning the Boston Marathon
After the B.A.A. clinic I stopped by Marathon Sports (running apparel store and official Boston Marathon gear store) because they had a special discount for all B.A.A. clinic attendees. I wasn’t going to go because it was pretty late already, but I really wanted to check out the Boston Marathon gear…this stuff gets me excited. I bought another pair of compression socks and a Boston Marathon jacket that I told myself I wouldn’t wear until AFTER I finish the Boston Marathon (I don’t want to be a poser). I was there for an hour or so and spoke to a number of the store staff and an Adidas representative who all gave me some helpful tips for marathon day. I will take any and all advice I can get!
2012 Boston Marathon Jacket
These are coveted by Boston Marathon runners (you see everyone in these jackets training up to the Marathon).
Tuesday: Rest Day, busy bee at work!
Wednesday: Another Rest Day, woo hoo.
Thursday: Ok time to make up for my 2 rest days. I hit the gym and ran 5 miles on the treadmill with some stretching. I wore my new sneakers to try to break them in more before the big race.
Friday: Ran another 5 miles on the treadmill, weights, stretching.
Saturday: Went on the arc trainer for 30 minutes and ran 1 mile on the treadmill. I wasn’t wearing my compression socks and for some reason (whether it be mental or not) my right leg was bothering me a little bit so I stopped. I think I have a little bit of tendonitis and the compression socks have been helping a lot with that. We are too late in the game to chance running if anything feels a little uncomfortable.
Sunday: Went on my last “longer” run which ended up being a little over 15 miles. I stopped once at a Seven Eleven to buy a Gatorade and fill up my portable water bottle. The poor ladies that work there must think I stink when I stop in to re-hydrate. I give them my money and step far away from the counter just in case I smell sweaty. They’ve seen me a couple of times during my long runs and I told them I was training for the Marathon…so they just smile now when I come in. It has been tough not being able to run with my Dana-Farber team mates this past week…it just really helps having teammates push you through long runs. At this point long runs are no longer hard physically, I just get a little bored…probably because I pretty much run the same few loops when I go out for runs on my own. I usually run along the Charles River. The fun thing is there are always a lot of other runners out which helps motivate me. When we run with the Dana-Farber team it is usually a different course each week, which is fun to see the new scenery. Nonetheless, I felt good and I felt strong during my long run. I practiced with a few things during this longer run that I wanted to get a better handle on for marathon day (like pre-race food, glide stick to prevent chaffing, wearing my new sneakers, and Gatorade). Also, wearing the compression socks on marathon day is going to be a must. It might look a little silly, but I don’t care – it helps!
One thing I tried during this longer run was a tip that the Marathon Sport staff shared with me on Monday. Since the Boston Marathon provides a different type of gu (I think it’s the Powerade brand) than the one I’ve been practicing with all during training, I’ve decided it is best to keep with the GU that I am use to. During my 20 mile race a month ago I took the Powerade brand gu provided by the race and I didn’t love the taste nor did it sit well with my stomach. Since most women running apparel have limited pocket space, I wasn’t sure where or how I was going to carry these GU packets with me. I also don’t like running with extra packs and bands when I run…I know they have special “fuel belts” that you can attach gu packets to, but when it comes to running I try to be a minimalist. Little things shaking around my body would bother me…especially during a long run like 26.2 miles. I shared this concern with the Marathon sports staff members and a couple of them shared with me this trick that I thought I’d share with you in case my fellow Marathon runners find this helpful:
First, apply glide to the part of your waist/skin that touches the elastic band of your shorts or pants.
Second, pin the gu packets with safety pins to the outer band of your running shorts. Make sure the pin doesn’t go through the entire elastic (i.e. you don’t want the pin actually touching your skin). You just want to make sure the pin is holding the gu packet to your shorts.
Third, tuck the bottom part of the gu packet into the band of your shorts to prevent the gu packet from moving and shaking around. I was skeptical with how this would feel when I was running, but applying the glide stick prevented any chafing. It was also really easy access to rip off my shorts when I was ready to re-energize myself during my long run.
I practiced this technique with one gu packet, however I will probably take at least 3 with me during the actual marathon. I’d recommend it to any other runners that might be worried about how to store their gu packets. I know this might sound silly, but if it helped me I thought I would share it!
Anyways, I had a really great week overall with training and fundraising. I can’t believe we are less than 2 weeks away to the real thing! Every day of training of fundraising has been so worth it! Tomorrow or Friday I will post my last update letter I sent to my donors and prospect donors so you can read it! Thanks again for reading, for your support, and your donations!!
