20 miles

This weekend, The Absolutely Fabulous Four were scheduled to run the Hyannis Marathon relay. At the beginning of the month, A friend was injured and left the team. That was okay-- I'd make the relay less of a recovery run and more of a work out. 13.1 is a fun challenge. Done.

Well, not so fast, (sorry for the pun), Runner #2 has a conflict that he learns of days before the race. No problem. I'll just run three legs. A challenging training run...

Yeah. Sucker that I am. It was good for me I suppose. Really good physically to see how I could handle it, but mentally, it's another whole game. That was the biggest lesson. Sure, my hamstrings are tight and I feel like I sprained my ankle but at the end of the day, I'm fine. Better than fine. And, I'll have another great attempt at 22 miles before the marathon in March.

Stay tuned!

It's begun. READY, SET, RUN!

Last January, after much convincing, I joined my Stephens House friend of old, M., in California where we ran our first half marathon. I had no desire to run; a race more than 10K was never on my radar. In fact, after graduating, I ran my first 5 mile race in 2005, won a trophy and two months later, basically, stopped training altogether. But, M. and I met our good friend W. in CA and enjoyed one of the most rewarding days ever. It didn't hurt that it was winter in New England and the trip to CA was Awe-some!

In any event, running is a family tradition. Mom has been running for-ever. I remember riding my bike along side her when I was just off training wheels.

Apparently, signing up for crazy things is also a family tradition. My mother ran her first marathon a few years ago after learning that even though she could get a number for the Philly half marathon, she would be charged full marathon price. Having neither run a half or a full marathon before, having run only 10 miles in the past few months, she completed the marathon.

So, here I am.

Two weeks of getting my butt out of bed to run before work, I'm signed up and ready to run the Boston in order to raise money for Boston Medical Center, a safety net hospital located in Boston's South End. BMC is a private institution, with a public mission of exceptional care, without exception. That's public health lingo meaning we care for any child, adult or family regardless of their ability to pay for care (yes, even with healthcare reform paying for care is STILL a problem). The hospital supports 70 sub-specialties and a multitude of social service programs, including the only hospital based Preventive Food Pantry in the country, a Grow Clinic, Robotic assisted surgery in cardiology and neurosurgery, the Kids Fund, the Medical Legal Partnership for Children, and MUCH more.

I am at the starting blocks. Here I go: Ready, Set, RUN!