Meeting RJ

As mentioned I'm participating in the Patient Partner Program with DFMC and this weekend was able to meet my partner, RJ.  For someone that was dealt a difficult situation when he was only a kid, he's a tremendous inspiration for us all.  Not knowing what to expect, I arrived at the match party hoping to leave RJ with a good impression of me.  I should step back and say that while I'm new to DFMC and the program, RJ has participated for several years though his past runner recently had surgery and thus is not running Boston this year. He's clearly the expert here! Given their history, I was a little uncertain what to expect being the "newbie" but hoped that I could represent RJ well in the marathon.  What I was not expecting was someone that has had such a strong influence on others that he had been asked to give the "keynote" speech for the day on "What the PPP meant to him."  I literally started the party sitting next to a VIP, for many reasons.  Over the course of 2+ hours, I got to know RJ and his family, watched him give a very inspiring speech about the importance of the PPP and be approached by runners and staff who remembered his positive attitude, appreciation of life and his ability to loudly cheer for every DFMC runner on marathon Monday!  In talking with RJ and his family, it was clear that this was a perfect reminder of why we're running and raising funds for DFMC.  It was also a great reminder that in life, we may be dealt difficult hands at times, but how we respond is up to us; even in difficult situations, we can inspire others for many years to come!  Thanks to RJ and his family for a great "match party" and being an inspiration to us all!

Exciting News in Cancer Therapeutics...?

Thanks to my uncle for pointing this news out since I had not hear about it otherwise.  That said, I'm still not very likely to move back to Rochester/Buffalo just yet :)  The article below copied from the following Buffalo News link: http://www.buffalonews.com/incoming/article715519.ece

Roswell Park Cancer Institute is launching a clinical trial to evaluate a cancer vaccine designed to eradicate cancer cells and prevent relapse of disease.

The experimental dendritic cell vaccine, which was developed at Roswell Park, will be manufactured at the cancer center in a custom-made unit that can maintain control of temperature and gases, officials were to announce today.

The immune system protects the body against harmful invaders, such as viruses. Dendritic cells, acting somewhat like messengers, play a key role in this defense mechanism.

Dendritic cells are removed from a patient and stimulated with a specialized protein. The treated cells are then given back to the patient as a vaccine designed to recruit killer immune cells that seek and destroy cancer, Dr. Kunle Odunsi, director of Roswel Park's Center for Immunotherapy and principal investigator, said in a statement.

The new study will test the vaccine in combination with rapamycin, a compound used to prevent rejection of organ transplants. Research at the cancer center indicates that rapamycin prevents the immune system from using up its cancer-killing T-cells in a quick burst.

The study is expected to enroll about 20 patients. The vaccine is being considered for a host of cancers, including ovarian, bladder, brain and breast.

Crossroads, Group Run #5 and Match Party

This week was a busy week, between the speed workout, running the Newton Hills on Thursday PM, then another group run today.  On top of that, this afternoon is the Patient Partner Program Meet Your Match party. Given the activities, summaries will be brief...
Crossraods - Runners (DFMC, other charity teams, non-charity runners) meet at the bar and then head to one of the T stops on the D-line.  If you go all the way to Woodland and run back in, it's ~9mi with most of it along the course route.  The big plus is getting more work on the Newton Hills.  It was my first time doing this and it was a great run.  Some snow, sleet and rain made it a bit wet, but running with a teammate was really nice.  The hills were challenging after a long day of work, but great to get them in.  After finishing at Crossroads, more time to chat with people over beer and pizza.  Definitely something that I'll do again!
Group Run #5 - We met in Lexington today at the Greater Boston Running Co and ran the Minute Man Trail.  What a difference in the weather from last week...sunny, a slight breeze and ~40F, great weather for a run! Much better weather today made conversations easy and I spent the run chatting with a teammate from Boulder CO. We did 5 miles toward Arlington, back to Lexington and then 2 miles in the opposite direction and back for a nice 14mi run. Oh, and the fun part was running across I95/128.  Guess runners are an easy group to impress if running a bridge above a 6 lane highway is the highlight of a run :)
K, off to the DFMC Match Party in a bit!

First Speed Workout Ever

Last night was a speed workout with DFMC at the Tufts track in Somerville.  It was my first such workout not only with DFMC but ever!  We did 12 sets of 600m with 1 recovery lap between the sets.  I ran with a group that was running our 600m in 3mins and our recovery lap in ~1.5mins.  The workout felt good but definitely was difficult by the last 1-2 sets. It was nice to run with others while doing the workout and meet some new people.  After the workout, a bunch of us made our way to Red Bones which was good for several reasons...chatting with teammates, BBQ and beer and of course, getting a ride there which meant getting a ride closer to the T (yes, I'm being lazy after working out)!  It made for a late night, but a fun one.

Blizzard Run and Milestone

The milestone piece of the weekend was hitting the $4,000 mark for fundraising!  This is huge as it is the minimum required by the BAA for runners doing charity runs.  My goal is to still raise $10K and hopefully I can hit that mark for Dana-Farber and the research that they support.  We also learned that as a team, we've reached the $1 million mark the quickest of any group thus far!  A huge Thank You to all those that have helped support me in this effort!

This was the 4th week of the DFMC group run and wow, what a day to run.  The first winter snow of the year came in moderate force and made for an interesting run.  We started at the Longfellow Club in Wayland and even at 8AM were concerned about the road conditions.  The run was an out and back with moderate hills.  Perhaps foolishly I did the full 16 mile run, but come Marathon Monday I won't have a choice in the distance or the weather.  Running in the slush and snow is never the most enjoyable, but b/c of the weather, we tended to run slower and in groups, so it was a great way to meet and chat with people.  It might seem crazy that we were running in this weather, but the volunteers manning the water stops for 2+ hours deserve even more credit!  I'll also thank the drivers that slowed down, moved over and put up with us.  This does not include the one driver that felt necessary to demonstrate their true character by not moving over, not slowing down and spraying a few of us with slush.  We may be annoying, but we're running for a good cause! The cause helped me forget about the slushy sock and shoe over the last 4 miles.  Once back at the club, it was nice to have the icicles start melting from my face and change into some dry clothes.  Overall, a 16mi run that felt more like a 20mi effort, but one that felt good overall where I met a bunch of new people and avoided any injuries - I'd say a success!

Kick-off Post

As Boston training has progressed, I've been trying to decide on the best way to keep people informed of my progress.  Not having blogged before, I thought that it might be a bit daunting to set up a fancy little page, but like running Boston for the first time, I won't know til I try!

Over the coming weeks and months I'll post to this page at least 1x per week and perhaps more often, depending on how training is going and what milestones are being hit.  The next 3 weeks provide plenty of great topics - a nice 16-mile run this weekend (probably in the snow), on January 28th I'm meeting my match in the Patient Partner Program through DFMC and the first weekend in Feb I'll be running with my sister Kim and her husband Todd as they both run and complete their first 1/2 marathons!

Thanks for visiting and for all the support!