Thursday, April 15, 2010

$7,041 and counting!

Whenever I share that I am "running Boston," people make the assumption that I qualified. Which then makes me feel like I have to explain that I didn't. Which, for then makes me feel sort of lame--like I am not a TRUE Boston Marathoner because I got a free pass into the race. But then I remind myself WHY I am doing this.

I am running for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. My mom was treated here, so it has personal, emotional ties for me. 100% of donations go to INNOVATIVE BASIC CANCER RESEARCH. This is important. The Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research is unique because it enables research initiatives that cannot be supported through any other mechanism. It provides financial resources for young DFCI scientists and their brilliant novel ideas that are too daring to secure funding from traditional sources. Sometimes the Barr Program also supports more senior scientists who are striking out in a completely new, uncharted direction. The idea is that after two years of funding, Barr Program investigators will have advanced their projects far enough that ongoing success looks likely. Now they can attract more conventional funding.

My fundraising goal is $10,000...please help me reach it! You aren't just helping me reach my goal--you are honoring EVERYONE you have every known that is or has suffered with cancer by helping to fund THE CURE!

This will probably be my last blog before the race. Unless I am up with insomnia the night before! I will take all of your well wishes with me from Hopkinton to Boston. My running goal is two-fold: to beat my 2008 time and to ENJOY the race.

XO

Friday, April 2, 2010

17 Days to GO!

I can't believe it! All of my long training runs are behind me! Looking ahead at the start of a marathon training program is overwhelming. And now, I am practically finished. Crazy. It is funny to think that my 9 mile run this weekend is a piece of cake. It sure helps that the weather has taken a major turn for the better--beautiful, sunny, warm! I can actually wear shorts again.

So...in 17 days I will wake up around 6 am and gather with my Dana-Farber team in the lobby of the Boston Marriott Copley. Then we will walk to the buses parked along side the Boston Common. Trek it out to Hopkinton and wait. Nervous anticipation. Lot's of chit chat and milling around. Second-guessing and double-checking. "Do I have my this and that?" "Did I train enough?" "Did I eat/drink enough?" Well, too late now! At 10:30, wave 2 will start (that's me) and off I will go.

I am also realizing that April has begun. For me, April is more than just a month. It is the month that my mom died 16 years ago...and I can really replay the entire month day by day in my head. Easter fell on the same weekend in 1994 as it does this year. That was not a fun holiday--Mom was really sick and I learned that she was not going to survive this cancer. Life was really never the same after that point. I returned to Gettysburg and coasted through the next 2 weeks on autopilot. Thank GOD for my very best friends--I will never forget that call on Sunday the 17th. "It's time to come home," says my Dad on the answering machine. Anne and Murph were there to help me pack. What do you pack when you know you are going home to watch your mother die? Anne and Lee drove me to the airport. I boarded that plane and flew home. I have never been so scared in my entire life. She was waiting for me and I got to spend 4 more days with her before she died at 10:45 pm on April 21, 1994.

I ran the Boston Marathon 2 years ago...on April 21, 2008. It was an amazingly beautiful day--a bit hot for a marathon, actually. I raised over $10,000 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (my team) that year! It felt amazing to be running in honor of my mom supporting the hospital that tried to save her on the day that she died. Regan and I actually saw the sliver of a rainbow on our way home. It was magic!

17 days until the marathon and 19 days until April 21st.

XO