Dec 9-15, Week 1
Well, the first week of training for Boston started off much different than last year. After finishing the NYC marathon last year and being excited for the Boston training, this year saw the tragedy of Sandy resulting in the cancellation of the NYC marathon (not that I was running) and then a family illness take priority over most other aspects of life for a week. Though two very different starts to Boston training, the week ended well with our first group run!
Like last year we met in Lexington, MA at the Greater Boston Running Co for our first run of 8-10mi. It was a gorgeous Dec day, sunny and about 35F outside - a little cool but near perfect running weather :) Perhaps I'm a little crazy, but I would gladly take this day over a 70F day for training. I am going into the training this year with a different mindset. After training hard last year, I felt like I peaked with 4-6 weeks of training to go and was not in peak shape for the marathon, even if it was 88F for the race. This year, I hope to run the lower mileage most times and also run at a slower pace. What I realized this weekend is that those are hard goals to stick to. My plan was to run 8 mi at ~10min pace. I managed to stick to the 8mi, though through chatting with other runners, ran at a 9.10min/mi pace. A bit faster than I wanted, but for a 'short' run, it was ok. Overall, a great way to start off the training season!
In addition to it being the 1st week of DFMC / Boston training, the 13th also marked the 1mo date of the PBSC donation. The folks from the bone marrow registry called to check on me but unfortunately had no information on how the patient was doing at this point. I was told that at 6mo such information should be available, so hopefully I'll hear something then.
Lastly, I also received an e-mail from the DFMC office that I was again accepted into the Patient Partner Program and have the pleasure of running in support of RJ this year!! Very exciting and definitely looking forward to RJ's support and inspiration in the weeks and months ahead. As I know from last year, the training and race are difficult, but the battles that others face can be so much worse. I thought of RJ and others throughout the training months and race and they all served as a source of inspiration whenever I needed it.
