A BIG Week

Wow, so much to update and so much to do so I'll focus on the highlights...

First, a work trip to CO prevented attending the weekly track workout at Tufts and I suffered through a treadmill run for 13.5km.  While it was not fun, I was motivated by the generosity of my latest donation.  Though not as large as some others, it was totally unexpected and unseen.  On top of that, I returned from CO to find a package and e-mail offering more donations for the fundraiser I'm putting together.  Posto (LINK, Davis Sq, Somerville, MA) generously donated a gift card and my uncle sent autographed Bruins items, including a Tyler Seguin card and Phil Esposito hockey puck.  Lastly, I received the donations from the Coolidge Corner Theatre and Aquarium...

On top of the fundraising efforts, I ran the Hyannis 1/2 Marathon this weekend. Luckily the Nor'easter that was predicted for the weekend was only rain down on the cape, unfortunately running in rain is worse that running in snow, at least in my opinion.  We started the race and it was low-40s, raining and windy.  Running through plenty of puddles, dodging the rain drops and and not losing my hat when running into the wind were challenges, but running with friends from the SBS running club and teammates from DFMC made it enjoyable.  Oh, and running a 2nd 1/2 marathon in <2hr and setting a new PR made it a nice run as well :)  Let's hope the marathon training continues as well as it has thus far!

Support from Area 4

While it is not a trip to Area 51, you won't need government clearance to enjoy Area 4 who generously donated a gift card to my DFMC Fundraiser! 

A Difficult 16 miles...

I'm not sure if 16 miles of running is ever 'easy' but today was a tougher than normal.  On Sat AM I found out that the DFMC group training run for Sunday was canceled due to the forecasted storm coming to Boston...20F degree temps, 4-7" of new snow and 20-30mph winds gusting to the 40mph range!  Well after seeing this yesterday, there was a debate about running on Sat at 10pm since social activities prevented me from running earlier in the day.  After deciding to get to sleep early and run early Sunday, I knew I made the wrong choice after stepping outside.  Running with the wind was fine and the blowing snow was not a problem.  Even the slushy roads and wet shoes (cold and squishy around mile 12) were not that bad.  Running into the wind and blowing snow though...well that was just not fun!  Running last night for 2.5hrs at 10pm would have been the better and easier choice but still got the 16 miles in this morning and have since thawed out.  Hopefully next week's 1/2 marathon and future training runs are a bit easier and warmer!

Week 10, mid-week update

A quick update as I heard from the Coolidge Corner Theatre (web site) who will be contributing tickets to my DFMC raffle!  This is a great local theatre with a diverse movie selection and unique atmosphere.  Thank you to the CC Theatre for another fun prize.

The week has been going well...12.4km on Tuesday at the track workout, another 9mi tonight at Crossroads and a planned 16mi this weekend.  It is a busy week but training is really kicking into high gear!

Fingers crossed for some good weather this weekend and not the snow that they are predicting.  Also hoping for some more donations to come in for the fund raiser.  If anyone has connections and would like to offer up some great prizes, please contact me! :)

New Donations for Fundraiser!

I received 2 awesome e-mails today confirming additional donations for my DFMC fundraiser drawing!!

Slumbrew is donating a gift pack and I couldn't be happier as I know plenty of friends enjoy a quality drink.
Slumbrew Website
A nice Dig article on Slumbrew

The New England Aquarium is also donating 2 entry tickets to the drawing.  These make a great prize for a family to see the great exhibits, especially once the new Giant Ocean Tank is reopened this summer.  Check out the New England Aquarium Homepage and just as interesting is the construction update for February

Week 9 & Nemo

This will be quick as Nemo delivered a huge amount of snow to Boston and as such has exhausted me. When it was fairly certain that the storm was going to hit Boston on Friday, I decided to run Crossroads on Thurs night.  After a slow T ride and other issue, I missed running with other DFMCers and ran by myself around Southie for 8+ miles. It was actually a very nice run.

With Nemo dumping 24" of snow on Boston Fri PM into Sat AM, today's run was a bit difficult.  I ended up deciding to cut it short at ~7mi since I had to run in the road and more and more cars were starting to hit the roads.  Also, the plows did a decent job, but there were still some roads that were mostly slush.  Anyway, here I am after the not so quick 7mi, definitely was not breaking any speed records today...

Photos from CA and Match Party

Rather than more writing, I thought some photos would be enjoyed...

First, the Patient Partners and Runners from the Match Party.  We're all excited to be paired together and looking forward to the rest of training and marathon experience!

From CA, we got to drive around and see Palos Verdes, numerous beaches around LA (Manhattan down to Huntington) and the USS Iowa Battleship at Long Beach.  After our day out, we were as exhausted as Barley and Stella!

 On Super Bowl Sunday, we had a great time racing the Surf City 1/2.  There's lots of fun things about this race and vacation, but the surfboard medal is always a highlight 

Fundraising Minimum Met!

That's right, thanks to the generosity of 46 donors, we've raised $4,053!  This means that we have past Natick, MA and are close to the girls of Wellesley College.  If the weather is nice this year, I likely won't stop for any kisses, but race day is so far away, so we'll see.  I digress...the BAA sets the minimum fundraising level for charity runners and this year, like last, it was $4,000.  This always seems daunting but thanks to everyone's contributions, this is one concern that is no longer on my mind.  My next goal is the $5,000 mark which is 1/2 way to my goal of $10,000!

Also, today I confirmed my fundraiser to help reach my $10,000 goal.  I'll be having a social outing at the Asgard Irish Pub on March 20th from 5-7pm.  I plan to ask for donations at the door and also sell tickets for an opportunity drawing for prizes.  While still 5 weeks away, Mystic Brewing (Website) confirmed their willingness to donate to the event.  I hope to have other local businesses confirm donations soon!

Anyone following the impending snow-pocalypse?!  Boston is supposed to get slammed on Fri evening with 10-24" of snow.  As you can imagine, the group run on Saturday is likely to be canceled as we dig out from this storm.  We'll see if the forecasts are right, but I'm already planning to run on Sunday AM, hopefully along the sidewalks and not in the streets.

Surf City 1/2 Marathon Completes Week 8

Well, between lots of things going on at work and lots of training runs, traveling to LA and other activities, this will be a short update for the last week.  First, fund raising is continuing along and thanks to some more generous donations this past week, I'm now within $100 of the $4,000 mark!  Very exciting and a tremendous thanks to the 40+ people who have donated thus far!

Training has continued in this cold winter.  After the run with the November Project last week on Wed AM, Amy and I caught a plane on Thurs to head to LA and visit Kim and Todd.  We had a nice visit and really enjoyed the sun and warmer weather.  It was great to drive along Rte 1 and the Pacific Coast Highway, see a number of beaches and have a few drinks outside.  It was also great to catch up with Mike and Cisca and meet Michael down in Seal Beach.  All of this was in addition to running the Surf City 1/2 on another fabulous day.  Race temps were in the 60s but full sun.  That said, Kim and Todd cheered us along at miles 3 & 5 and finishing around 2:01:30 hrs was both a great race for Amy and I and a PR for Amy!  A great way to start Super Bowl Sunday and way to wrap up the trip.  I'll try to post pics once I have time.

Some other races are approaching but for this week, I'm back to the speed workouts at Tufts tonight (8 x 800m, total distance of 7 miles) and hopefully Crossroads on Thursday, though we'll see.  Overall, feeling good and looking forward to more DFMC training runs in the coming weeks.