last week's theme: testing my limits

Last week saw a convergence of many things: a severe lack of sleep, the most miles I've run in a week, the longest and coldest race I've done since the Chicago Marathon, and a nagging back pain that just won't quit! Let me explain...

Thursday's regular 9 mile run at Crossroads was great...I had a nice run and chat with Gordon at a pretty good pace. That man does not stop for traffic, the T, or green lights...so it's a good thing he was leading the way! Crossroads was more busy and more festive than usual after our run, which meant that I didn't drag myself home until after midnight--on a school night. oops. 6am for school on Friday was rough. Hours of sleep? barely 5.

Sunday was the big day that I've had my eye on for awhile: The Boston Prep 16 miler race in Derry, NH. Unfortunately it was also the morning after Shifter's marathon party, which I finally pulled myself away from at 1am. oops. 6am for the race on Sunday was rough. Hours of sleep? barely 5.

At Derry with fellow DFMC-ers from Boston, Marisa
and Mike. Read Mike's blog here: http://turningontoboylston.blogspot.com/

The temperature at the starting line in Derry was just 3 degrees. I had heard that Derry is famous for being hilly, cold, sometimes snowy, and just generally unforgiving. This was not an exaggeration. During the 16 miles, we were constantly going up and down, up and down, and it got to the point where I didn't want to go downhill...because it just meant I'd have to go up again. I can safely say that my legs have never burned like that before. You know it's bad when you want to stop and walk so badly, but then you realize that walking will only prolong your misery. So you keep running, if only to end the pain sooner.

I had no clue how I would fare going into the race, but I was pleasantly surprised; apparently the hill work at Crossroads is really paying off. I finished in very consistent 8-minute miles, for a total of 2:08:40. That lent a little confidence to my quest for a sub 4 hour marathon!



With Glen, fellow DFMC teammate after the race.
Read Glen's blog: http://borntorunandraise.blogspot.com/



After a solid 40 mile week, the theme of this next week will be new things: the start of Tuesday track workouts, and the start of cross training in the pool. It's both a blessing and a curse that we have DFMC runs on Tuesday, Thursday, and the weekends....awesome because I get to run and train with great people...but tough because the socializing afterward the running only contributes to my lack of sleep on school nights :)

thank god for JIM

JIM stretching and group shot before the run

Friday and Saturday saw some of the coldest days in a long time...I believe it was -10 at 8am when I started my long run on Saturday. Luckily, I didn't have to brave the 12 miles alone. I ran with JIM, otherwise known as "Joints in Motion". They run to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation, another great cause, and their Saturday runs are open to anybody training for Boston. I ran with a few people for most of the 12 miles, though I couldn't tell you their names because we were too cold to talk. So, thank god for JIM, because I wouldn't have motivated on my own!

After that brutal cold, the weather again ruined my plans for a run with Fred on Sunday. We had planned to do 5 or 6 miles at Walden Pond, but since Boston looked like this...

...we had to settle for brunch on Newbury Street and browsing around the Boston Public Library instead. I did get out for 5.5 miles today though, and the balmy 30 degrees was a welcome change!

Next weekend brings the Derry 16 miler, a race in New Hampshire that a lot of fellow DFMC-ers are running. It should be....interesting. My roommates Katie and Mo did it last year, and came home with tales of brutal snow and giant hills. Fun!

crossroads

Last night I did a cold COLD run at Crossroads. Every Thursday night, a bunch of us meet up at the Crossroads Pub downtown and take the T out to Newton, then run about 9 miles back to the bar on the marathon course.

And of course, in typical Betsy fashion, I decided I should buy a face mask on my way to the run...and after frantically going to City Sports, EMS, and Marathon Sports (all sold out), I cursed myself for trying to 'plan ahead' only 15 minutes before the run. When we started the run, it was 13 degrees....but as we passed through Coolidge Corner the thermometer said 5. Ouch.

Anyway, I love Crossroads because it's so fun to meet new runners, and each week I find myself running or talking to somebody different! Last night I ran with new friends Marissa and Mike, both first time DFMC-ers, and this guy named Tony (who I kept calling Tom, and he didn't correct me until mile 8. oops!) Marissa, Mike and I brainstormed some new ideas for fund raising, and I made a plan with Shifter and Glen to do our long run together on Saturday morning. And the free pizza and beer after the run doesn't hurt either. Thursday may be the new Friday.

Seeing that today is a day off from school because it's so cold in Boston (-7 with the windchill), it may have to be a day off from running too.

a "yay" moment

Yes, this was me...for the better part of 3 months in the fall of 2007 after the bike accident. After weeks of staying in hiding in my apartment, I finally decided to brave the Boston bar scene with some college friends that I knew would take good care of me...and luckily, Sammy didn't desert me in spite of my fashionable accessories!

But, I post this photo to make a point! This week marks a momentous occasion: Aunt Karen will be finishing her chemotherapy treatments! Her battle has been long and much more arduous than my few months in a neck brace and a sling. So this post is simply a "yay" moment--for Aunt Karen, or for anyone that has ever had to endure the fragility of the human body, and discovered a different kind of strength in the process.

(a note about "yay" moments....as a third grade teacher, I am a big fan of the word "yay!" i use it often (more often than I should?) to describe anything from a good run, to a fun night out, to a student reading a big word correctly, to a life changing event. it just works. try it, you'll see!)

The prologue

Anybody that knows me had always heard me say "someday I want to run a marathon". For awhile it was "My life goal is to run a marathon before I turn 25 years old." Then it became "I will run a marathon while I'm 26, because the symmetry seems fitting." And that slowly became....you guessed it...."I would like to run a marathon before I turn 30."

Well, in the fall of 2007, when I was 26 years old, everything changed. I fell off my bike in Boston (yes, much like a 5 year old) while riding to an ultimate frisbee game in Jamaica Plain. I needed stitches in my head, bruised my ribs, and broke my neck and my right arm. Recovering was a long process, and after spending so many weeks out of work and watching my fitness slip away, I knew I had been taking my body for granted. Physical therapy is a harsh critic.

Three months after the accident, in January 2008, I finally went out for my first run. Later that winter, I ran the longest race I had ever run (7.2 miles as part of the Hyannis Marathon Relay). And as I watched my roommate and my then-boyfriend train for the Boston Marathon that spring, I knew I couldn't keep pushing this life goal further and further away!

So, ultimately my youngest brother Tom and I decided that we would take on the 26.2 together, and with good reason: our Aunt Karen had recently been diagnosed with colon cancer, and was about to start chemotherapy. We immediately signed up to run the Chicago Marathon with the American Cancer Society...and in the process of running our respective 26.2 miles, we also raised a collective $2800 for cancer research.