21 Mile pics

Here are some pictures of Lisa and I from the "Joints in Motion" team we joined on Saturday to run 21 miles. Fitcorp and Dana Farber weren't doing the marathon course, so we jumped on a different bandwagon to run with thousands of other charity groups (including Team in Training, my old love!!)

Here are a few shots. A group pic where I'm in the middle, and then one of me and Lisa (she's in pink) but I'm mostly obscured by some big guy. Oh well.

For more details of the run itself, see the previous post.

Running With Angels

Today I ran the first 21 miles of the Boston Marathon ... and it was amazing!

I've been warned so many times about the downhill start and how that destroys your legs so that by the time you reach the hills at around mile 17, you're anhialated, destroyed and useless.

So, I took it slow, tried to be light on my feet, and by the time I got to those hills, they really weren't that bad at all. I mean, they were challenging, but they weren't insurmountable. Not at all.

Maybe that had something to do with the team of angels I had on my side.

Now, I'm not into mysticism or ghosts or even religion per se, but I am spiritual - and I had a spiritual experience today.

So to explain a little bit, "Heartbreak Hill" can also be described as a series of hills that culminates in one very large one at the end. I had been on them before, as those who've read this blog before know, but never at this precise time in a run. So I was extremely nervous about being able to make it up and over all of them without having to stop.

I thought it might be a good idea to call in support. When I run on April 20th, I'll have a bunch of names on my wrist with different mile markers, people I'll be running for during different points in the race. For this training run, I didn't do that, so I decided to make an impromptu list of people to run in honor of... and really, they were running "with" me.

When I approached the first hill, I called on the person who'd know the most what I was going through at that exact moment, my college boyfriend Evan. He ran Boston at least 3 times and his best time was 2:52 - a time I'll never even come close to. He'd been on that very spot many many times, and in fact, his ashes are scattered in Hopkinton, near the start of the Boston Marathon. I called on him to help me up that hill, to give me the strength and courage, and he did.

The next hill wasn't too bad, and I had my grandfather Emil in mind. He was a calm, thoughtful and quiet man and I looked to his quiet strength to help see me through.

For the next one, a little more challenging and a little longer, I knew I needed an ace. So I chose my Aunt Dale. She's my dad's little sister, and she died from Ovarian cancer 5 years ago. She was a no nonsense, firecracker of a woman and I had her piercing voice in my head "C'mon, Julia. What are you waiting for? Get up that hill!" I could almost feel her slap my butt to help me climb this challenging one.

The next one was also not too bad and I thought of my best friend Anna's dad Victor. He was a Russian immigrant and worked very hard to give his family a good life here, and like my grandfather, he too was a man of few words. At least in English to me. I thought of him and Anna and Anna's mom Zina and their combined strength as a family. Then, my friend Helen and the entire Hong family came into my head and I visualized them all standing behind me, pushing me up.

The parts that were actually as challenging as the hills were the long stretches of flat between the hills and during those long stretches, I called on my Great Aunt Jerry. My grandmother died when I was 7, and Aunt Jerry was like a surrogate grandmother to me. She was patient and kind, constant and steadfast, and I needed some of that kind of strength. Not flashy hills kind of strength, but the kind of strength that keeps you going even when things aren't at their most exciting. I also knew that if she was still here (and she'd be 90, which is hard to believe!) she would be right out there on the course to support me - even if she had to be there in a wheelchair.

The last hill, which is technically Heartbreak, I was saving for my mother. I could almost see her smiling ruefully at me, saying "Great. You saved the hardest one for me!" I didn't just want her to push me up the hill. I wanted her to hold my hand and run up the hill with me. I envisioned us both holding hands and gliding up to the top of that very, very long hill like we did back at MGH. I said to her "You'll need the practice today because you'll be running with me a LOT on April 20th." And it was so weird. I actually could see us doing it, holding hands, and it was as if she was helping me up the hill.

When I reached the top, after having had contact wtih all of those special people, my "heartbreak team", I felt invincible. I know I'm ready for Boston.

Anything can happen on 4.20. Heat, cold, rain, a sore muscle. But I'll have my team and so many others there with me, and it's going to be ok.

Love,
Julia

21 Miles Tomorrow!!!

Tomorrow morning, they're busing us out to Hopkinton and leaving us there.

It's up to us to run back to BC where our cars (and sanity) will be waiting for us!

This is it. The "long run" and our chance to see what it's really like to run the Boston Marathon. Well, the first 21 miles of it anyway.

Lisa and I are running with a huge group helmed by the Arthritis Foundation that buses people to Hopkinton so they can experience the highs and lows of this challenging course. A practice run, if you will.

I ran a little too hard this week, starting with that super fast 12 miler on Saturday, then a killer track session with Somervile Road Runners on Tuesday, pilates Wednesday morning and pretty intense hill repeats Thursday morning with Beth.

My quads are a little achy and that's not the best way to start a 21 mile run, but I'm just going to take it easy. It's not a race. It's a practice run.

Now, off to bed.

One Month From Today....

Four weeks from today is the big day - the Boston Marathon. It's like a wedding day, prom night, first day at school. I've been practicing, fundraising, learning, reading and getting psyched - and it's all coming to fruition in a month.

I don't know what I'm going to do on April 21st. Oh, wait a minute, yes I do. I'll be on a plane to Dallas to the Lung Cancer Advocacy Summit! But then... after that... it will be weird not to be training for Boston since it's been such a huge part of my life for the past 5 months.

Well, I'll find another goal. I'll worry about that then.

For now, it's face forward, feet forward, looking ahead to April 20th!

Sonya Kicked my Butt!

Saturday, I ran 12 miles with my friend Sonya, who I met when my mom was in her final weeks at Mass General. By that time, she couldn't speak, couldn't eat and was pretty uncomfortable, to say the least. There was little that brought her comfort, but of course, people wanted to bring her something... do something to make her feel better.

Her co-workers asked if there was something she might like, so I suggested a manicure and pedicure, not really knowing how that would materialize. The hospital wouldn't let her leave her room and I couldn't find anyone who'd come to her room. Mom had always had gorgeous nails and I knew that she'd enjoy some pampering. Denise Hurley, one of my mom's co-workers, somehow found Sonya Pelletier, the most compassionate, sweet, nurturing aesthetician who just so happens to specialize in healing treatments, particularly for the very ill, who otherwise can't get out to the salon.

Mom definitely fit that category.

I can safely say that the afternoon that Sonya spent with us was one of the best she had in the last month of her life. She did mom's nails (and mine!) and was just so soothing and kind... she stayed for 4 hours, and even some of mom's other co-workers who'd stopped by at their lunch hour stayed for hours longer than they'd planned to because it was such a special time.

Well, that's how Sonya and I met and since then, we've become great friends! We discovered that we have a lot in common, including running! We've done some races together and a couple of long runs, and even though she's been too busy to train for Boston, she's contemplating jumping in as a bandit and decided to do the 12 miler with me.

Let me just say that Sonya's marathon PR is 4:10 and mine is 4:53, so she's a little bit faster than me. She has a definite "can do" attitude, so I wasn't going to slow down - or slow her down! I knew it was "only" 12 and not 18, so I decided to just go for it and run faster than I normally do.

Well, I ended up beating my best ever half marathon time on a MUCH hillier course than any half marathon I've ever done, and almost did as fast as my fastest 10K pace. She kicked my butt! I will say, that the final hill up Beacon Street by the State House.. well, my hill training worked and I barreled up that one before her. But without that hill, she would have murdered me - and that's with practically no training, compared with my dilligent months of training.

I'm psyched because it gave me some confidence that I can do that pace for that length of time. And, of course, it was fun to run with her. Gorgeous day, beautiful route that she'd never run. It was bliss.

We've been SO lucky, weather-wise. Even though it was a snowy winter, the Saturday runs have been mostly brilliantly sunny (if a little cold) and absolutely gorgeous! I can't wait for Marathon Monday!

My Pilates Past

As many of you know, I'm relatively new to running. I ran my first marathon in March 2005, and before that, I hadn't run seriously since high school field hockey. I did other things. I was an aerobics junkie in college and in I hiked a lot in LA. And, while everyone else was jumping on the yoga bandwagon, I was lengthening and strengthening with Sebastien Lagree, pilates instructor to the stars...

Sebastien Lagree - T.V. Guide Interview from Sebastien Lagree on Vimeo.

I haven't done pilates in a long time, and while one might think "she's training for a marathon - she must be in kick-ass shape" I'm only in one kind of shape. I do the same exercise over and over again. Sure, I add some hills on Thursday mornings and have gotten a little bit of speedwork with the track sessions I've attended, but otherwise, it's just running...

Today, I decided to change that. I went with Lisa to Charlestown Yoga studio where they also have a pilates class. It was awesome! New areas were definitely challenged - like my hips and core! There was a funny moment, though when I realized my running muscles are in pretty good shape. We did something that was all about the quads and the instructor was shocked that we weren't shaking and quaking. I could have held that position for hours, because I've got quads of steel with all of the pavement I've been pounding.

Anyway, I'm psyched to add another type of training to the mix. Maybe it will help shave off some of this weird hip fat I seem to have gained. Maybe not! Hopefully it will help give me a stronger core to make the marathon even easier and more fun!

As a special treat, here's a video clip of Sebastian the French Adonis who taught me to be lean and mean and how to have a (his words not mine) "tight ass." It was a fun class. They were glamorous days, with Jewel as a fellow classmate some days and random TV stars you knew but couldn't name on other days, all just doing their thing. LA and the glamour. How I miss it, sometimes.

Here's Sebastian again. Enjoy!

The State House - and 14.7 miles

Most of the runs I do with the Fitcorp Training Group involve The State House because that's the "finish line," so to speak. After whatever mileage we've logged, we always end by climbing the steep slope of Beacon Street next to the Common, right to the crest, where the State House sits. Bit of State House trivia: The main entrance beneath the dome is called The Bulfinch Entrance, and it's now closed (presumably to save wear and tear on historic floors, etc.) The entrance that's actually in use is called - and I kid you not - General Hooker Entrance. Guess the Regular Pimps use another door.

Back to the training blog: Today was 14.7 and it was pretty good... pretty easy and a beautiful day. Lisa had some trouble with her foot (poor girl!) but we both finished off and had a delicious Chai Latte at Starbucks as our reward.

I sent out a ton of fundraising emails late last night and so far have only had one donation in response (Thanks Susan Nelson!) I guess I need to be a little bit more patient, but I was hoping to make that $5000 goal. I'll keep trying. I know when I get fundraising emails and letters, I usually think "Oh yes, I want to donate something" and forget until I'm reminded - sometimes several times! I was going to skip actual fundraising letters this time around because people seem so email savvy, but the thing is that literally 50% of all of my previous fundraising dollars came from letters, so maybe people like donating that way. I might try that if the emails don't work.

That's about it for now. Hoping to drag Chuck out to see Dirty Dancing tonight. He agreed, against his better nature. So if they have tickets at the box office, we'll be having the time of our lives.
Love,
Julia