Sunday, January 8, 2012

Group-Run and Gus Time

The DFMC Team Hits the Streets
This morning at 8 am, about 50 Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge runners took to the streets of Watertown and started heading out to run "the hills" of the Boston Marathon course.  We found ourselves at Mile 22 of the official course after a 2.5 mile run south.  At that point, we headed west (toward Hopkinton) to first run the course in reverse.  Although some of the more adventurous runners pulled out a 16 miler today, my running partners and I opted for the more desirable distance of 12 miles.  Despite the shorter distance, we did have some QT with the official course and of course, the infamous hills.

01.08.12 Group Run Route

The Hills
We did not run all 4 Newton Hills today but Heartbreak was definitely on the list.  Before we attempted to run up the beast, we first ran down 3 of the 4 hills.  Running downhill is actually an important component of training for Boston since the first 7 miles of the course is one big downhill trek, which many first-timers don't take into consideration.  The downhill portion didn't last forever though because once we hit our turnaround point, it was only uphill for the next 3.5 miles.  Thus, our battle with Heartbreak Hill took place about 7 miles into the run (considerably earlier than when we'll see it on race day).  I had the extreme honor of running the hills with two amazing women who provided constant motivation throughout today's run.  Eileen, a team veteran, is a 7 year breast cancer survivor back for her third Boston marathon.  Although a novice marathon runner, my other running partner today, Patty, is nothing short of pure inspiration.  She is taking on the challenge of training for Boston while still undergoing treatment for breast cancer... oh yeah, and working full-time!  Patty shared with us the great news that she wraps up her radiation treatment this week.  Congrats, Patty!  
One of my running partners, Eileen,
as she crossed the finish in 2011.

The End Result
We finished our 12 mile run in about 2:20.  Although it was not a marathon winning time, it is hard to debate how great the run was.  I met new teammates and caught up with old ones.  I got an opportunity to enjoy the absolutely gorgeous day with bluebird skies and great temps (at least for January in New England). And the best part - it was all before others managed to eat breakfast.

Quality Time with Gus
Post run and nap, I spent a lot of time with Gus (aka the Miracle baby).  As you may recall from my post in November, I managed to kill my cell phone in a rainy run home - in summary, it drowned.  Despite my attempts to dry the phone for well over two weeks, I was forced to buy a new one.  After waiting months, our entire family ventured into the Verizon store.  After a painfully long decision making process (just ask my husband who followed me around to each phone as I tried to see which would take better pictures of my sprinting toddler), I settled on the Droid Razr.  There were many things on the phone that I was pumped about; the HD camera, the Android Platform, the nice big screen.  However, the front-facing camera was NOT one of them... that was until this afternoon.  Little did I know, the same feature that 12 year-olds obsess over because it allows them to take pictures of themselves with friends to post on Facebook, also entertains 2 year-olds!  Thus, I wanted to share with you Gussy's first "session" with the front-facing camera.


***Check back tomorrow for Part II of My Cancer Story***

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