Megan's Boston Marathon Adventures

2008-12-12T16:30:00.000-08:00

I guess these really are handmade, I mean, it's not everyday you get a tortilla out of the package and it's 1/4 whole wheat. At first, when I saw the wheat part sticking out (this tortilla had been in the center of the bunch... it must have skipped inspection), I thought it was a whole whole wheat tortilla, which made me very happy, b/c I had been wanting handmade whole wheat tortillas, but Trader Joes had been out, sadly. This kinda freaked me out though.

2008-10-02T16:38:00.001-07:00

vp depate tonight... yay! I'm looking forward to the makings of the next snl skit...

re-start...

2008-09-30T18:10:00.000-07:00

So, the marathon was several months ago... but now that Emi's convinced me to blog, I might as well resurrect this one. And, besides, isn't life itself a marathon? Actually, that's just what people say who've never marathoned... it's rather annoying, I think. And those days are over for me anyways, as my knees are shot. If anything, though, I'm resolved in that my title still holds sway... my name is still Megan, I'm still in Boston... and everyday is really an adventure. The problem is, is that most of those adventures (ie-procrastination) entails randomly, dazedly looking up stuff on the internet, reading amazon.com reviews, checking all possible orbitz flight combinations, and making sure I really didn't get another e-mail in the last two seconds.... nope, darn...

Anyways, cheers!

Update for Monday

2008-04-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

For everyone in the Boston area who may have the opportunity to watch the marathon, let me update you with a few details of my run on Monday. I will be starting at the 2nd wave start, so at 10:30, and my plan is to run on a 10:30 per mile pace (a 4:35 overall time). This means that I will be going by Wellesley around 12:45 (which I realize is later than the majority of runners, but I hope you'll stay out there to cheer!!!). I will be at Heartbreak around 2:05 and my finish time, according to this plan is at 3:05 pm.

I'll be wearing my purple Team in Training singlet and bright orange shorts (I know...) and a white hat, and I'm #21813 so perhaps you'll be able to spot me out of the crowd!

If you are going to be at a particular spot on the course, --please-- let me know so I can be on the lookout for you and know what side you'll be on! It would be amazing to connect with as many people as possible along the course.

Aside from all of that, my charity- the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, had our pre-race pasta dinner tonight. It was really great to see my teammate friends outside of practice, and to hear all of the inspiration from current immunology researchers, patient and survivor honorees, and our coaches (and the dinner wasn't half bad either). My mother and grandmother are here for the race, so everything is culminating to be very exciting.

I am looking forward to Monday and being part of such a historic event. I have had a spat of injuries throughout training, so while I'm hoping those don't persist at a level of inhibiting my running, I realize that these things may very well cause me problems on the course. Thus, one of my main goals is to finish, no matter how long that takes, and if that ends up not being possible once I'm out there, having the experience of the last few months and the honor to participate at all are things I will always value.

Thank you very much for your support.

I look forward to seeing you on Monday!

(ps-- I might not be looking so forward to seeing you on Tuesday, though ;) I'm really hoping I'll be able to walk, so I'm currently scoping out accessible routes around campus.)

One week away!

2008-04-13T16:03:00.000-07:00

Training has taken its turns since past January. For one thing, the spring semester is in full swing, which means I've gotten caught up with my schoolwork and must admit I haven't been consistent in updating this blog. But, to cut to the chase, the marathon is a week away! Wow! Thank you all for your support!

I've been tapering, and yesterday was an 8 mile run with the team. I've been having some problems with my left hip and foot for the past few days, so I seriously hope that won't hurt too badly during the marathon, although I have been lying low during training, and have done biking for a few of my longer runs (I've also gotten to see a few tennis matches, while I've been at it).

I'm trying to plan ahead for the big day, and I went out last weekend to buy running gear for the big day, which means I'll be wearing bright orange shorts on Marathon Monday, along with my purple Team in Training jersey-- I'll be quite, um, bright, if anything!

Thank you so much, everyone, for your support! I plan to post once more before the big day, and then of course afterwards, with my experiences. Until then...

Yay Winter Break!

2008-01-15T18:15:00.000-08:00

So, it's officially freezing outside. The snow is beautiful, but alas I'm not such a fan of the cold unless I'm snuggly bundled up in as many layers as possible... preferably sitting inside looking out at the icicles, which, of course, isn't so conducive to running. There was a glorious 11 miles on Saturday with the sun and warm. Ahh! I'll hopefully report back soon with more sunny news, but for now it's back to learning about entrepreneurship and catching up on the new Cashmere Mafia show (which mentions Wellesley!).

back in MA

2008-01-03T19:06:00.000-08:00

After spending a fun, warm 10 days in California w/ family, I'm now back to freezing Boston. I had some great runs in CA. I could wear shorts and a t-shirt and not worry about my fingers falling off. I did an 8-miler in Woodward Park, in N Fresno, which has just the right balance between hills and flat spots, and I had a great short run yesterday morning with a friend, followed by breakfast and catching up. Now that I'm back, I'm looking forward to catching up with the Team this Saturday!

I was extremely blessed last week by a very generous donation to my Leukemia & Lymphoma Society campaign... but I still have a big chunk left to raise, and the deadline is but a few short weeks away. Thank you all for your support, thoughts, and best wishes!

3 degrees

2007-12-15T09:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I've had a very busy week with classes ending, finals beginning, and 2 days of working. And only 5 days left till I'm basking in the warmth, sun, and pollution of central California. Yay! (really!). I went for a 7 mile run this morning, and the temp supposedly felt like 3 degrees- all I'll say is that my lips were numb, other than that I was very (overly) bundled up. I'm looking forward to running in the 50s -- only a bit longer. Well, I have two more finals to take, besides working on Monday, so I'm getting ready to head out of Wellesley, but I'll be back for wintersession and training. Hopefully I'll get a chance to write more once I'm home. Til then.

Snow

2007-12-04T16:02:00.000-08:00

Snow has arrived to the Wellesley bubble, which means two, no, three things. First, it's freezing cold, literally freezing. Two, the ground is icy, which means I'm not going to risk running outside because of my being prone to fall over, which meant four miles on the treadmill today. And three, it means I'm thinking about nice, warm, sunny home in CA-- only 2.5 weeks left! yay! now back to my final projects....

First group run

2007-12-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

Let me just say how incredibly lucky I am to be a student at Wellesley College. Not only have I met an amazing alum training, too, but the CWS (Center for Work and Service) is reimbursing me for my transportation expenses, and group training happens to take place, of all places in the Boston area-- Wellesley.

Today temperatures were slated to feel like 13* at 8 am. I, of course, was excessively layered from head to toe (I really wanted to wear long wool socks, too, but I managed to resist). I took the Zipcar parked right next to the Science Center to the Wellesley Community Center. I wasn't sure exactly where this was located, only that it's near where Rt. 9 and Rt. 16 intersect. I happened to find it right before I would have packed it and have gotten completely lost (Wellesley roads don't allow for easy U-turns). The morning started with a long yet energy filled training talk by Coach Rick, about running form, gadgets, goals, etc. I'm really impressed with his dedication to the Team and his experience (30 something marathons... wow!). One of the assistant coaches is a sports psychologist, which is exactly the field I need to work on... so I can make it through mile 17! Then Colin, the owner of Marathon Sports, came to talk to us about shoes and gear- and about how we shouldn't overdress. whoops.

Now, the run itself... 2 hours later, was a bit hilarious. 60 or so people jogging out of the WCC into the streets of Wellesley- SUVs beware! (before the run we got a toned-down lecture of Wellesley townspeople's behavior, which was quite amusing). I ran with a really great girl from Providence College... all the way through the Ville to the College, which is about 2 miles from the Community Center, right along the actual marathon course. Afterwards, I met two other girls who go to BU (Boston University), and to both of our surprise, she also used to be a rower. So perhaps this is where ex-rowers end up, training for the Boston Marathon, and staying a bit warmer running rather than sitting in a boat on the icy Charles River.

Until my next run...

Brrr

2007-11-24T20:36:00.000-08:00

So, I went out on my first training run today, around Pond Road, about 4 miles, although I didn't have my watch, nor do I own a fancy GPS thing. I'm a bit nervous about cold-weather training. I'm used to California. Where the coldest day I had ever run was 31 degrees, my race day 2 December's ago. Freezing. ha! It was that cold today and I saw someone running in shorts and a t-shirt. I on the other hand had on tights, gloves, fleece head band. At least I know what I'll be asking for for Christmas-- more fleece!

First Meeting & First Workout

2007-11-22T18:36:00.000-08:00

I had my first meeting w/ TNT last Saturday in Somerville. The TNT staff are incredibly friendly, and everyone had a ton of energy. And, who would I find myself sitting next to, but a Wellesley alum! I was also very relieved to find out that our weekend team runs are going to be in Wellesley town, although 2 miles away from campus, compared to anywhere else in the Boston metro area, I'm in luck! It's a great area to run at (although I'm still quite leery about running in the freezing cold and snow), and it's on the marathon course no less.

The team's honorees are amazing... a few of them spoke at the event, which was incredibly moving. I'm so glad that I can run in honor of Peyton! I haven't seen her in awhile (being 3000 miles away and all) but the Central California TNT contact sent me a photo of her that I'll eventually post on here, of her running the Blossom Trail kid's fun run earlier this year. She's growing up so fast!

The normal workout schedule includes running on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, cross training on Wednesday and Friday, and group run on Saturday. This being Thanksgiving, it's been a bit modified, and workouts won't officially start till next week. I did my first workout on Monday with Tracy, 45 minutes of erging on slides. Oh, slides. I'm hoping to make my workout schedule accomodate hers, so that I can share in her intensity.

Anyways, today is Thanksgiving! I had a great time in New Hampshire with Becca's family, which, no, did not include running anywhere, although I enjoyed an amazing Thanksgiving dinner, and a walk through the snowy woods.