Week #12

If you can't tell from the picture above I am glazing at the start line. 21.5 Miles is a long time to run - ohhhh man.
Mile 21 - I am looking a lot happier

This week went great. All that rest paid off. During the week I did some swimming, 2 spin classes, a little running and on Saturday I completed my second to last long training run. This weekend the Alz. team met at B.C. drove out in a van to Hopkinton (that is a long ride) and ran from the start line of the marathon course back to B.C. In the end I ran 21.5 miles in a time that I was not expecting. I did better than I planned but I am still not setting myself up for any goal time on race day. Finishing the marathon itself is still an accomplishment for me. Now I am preparing for my last long training run which will be next Saturday!

Week #11

So as you can see from my post below my thoughts and attention were not on running this week. I did manage to keep up with my running routine during the week but when it came down to the weekend and my long run I just couldn't pull it together. The events which occured during the week finally caught up to me and my body needed rest. I am hoping this will just leave me with more motivation to finish my last 2 long run which are coming up this weekend and next weekend.

Fundraising: I am up to $1,900. Feel free to be the one to push me over the $2,000 point. Keep posted for ticket details for the "Bowling Battle of the Charities" event.

Why We Really Run, "In Memory of Papa Sokolow"

I got word when I was on my way to work on Tuesday that my grandfather had passed away in his sleep. As many of you may recall I lost both my grandparents on my dad's side this past summer (my grandfather had Alzheimer's and my grandmother was his care taker) and now this is my grandfather on my mom's side. My grandfather was the caretaker of my grandmother, Elizabeth Sokolow who is in the middle stages of Alzheimer's. From this past year's experiences I have learned that Alzheimer's doesn't just destroy those that have the disease but also those that take upon the caretaker position. This year's Boston marathon certainly will be different. The past three years I stood at the start line with all four of my grandparents living, this year I will head to the start line with only one still alive. This horrible disease has taken a lot from my family this year and I plan on fighting back by attacking the Boston Marathon stronger than ever.

Week 10

The countdown is on, only five weeks to go. Five weeks till the marathon totals out to about 150 miles to run, 1 1/2 marathon in New Bedford to run, six birthday celebrations to celebrate (Kim, Kaylin, Jim, Mrs. Cullen, Keri and mine!!!), 3 Holiday celebrations (St. Patricks Day, Easter & Passover) to pig out at, 1/4 of a semester to study and write, 1 Team pancake celebration and banquet to attend, 1 marathon expo to pick my number up at, 1 "Battle of the Charities" bowling event to raise lots of money, 20 GU packs to eat up and one start /finish line to make it to!

I mixed things up a little bit this weekend by adding skiing into my workout. I took the first weekend off from running since late December. It felt great! I mentally prepared myself for not running over the weekend by pushing myself really hard over the week. It all paid off. Starting next week I will be in the final push of training!

Team Photo

Run for the Memory Team '08.

With Dave McGillivray, Race Director of the Boston Marathon

Week # 6-9

So if you can not tell by the title of this blog I have been very busy. Training is at its peak right now, grad school is starting to kick me in the but and unfortunately, my grandfather (caretaker of my grandmother who has Alzheimer's is not doing so well) On a positive note the running has been going great. Since I last posted I have had a 20 and 16 mile training run. This past weekend I participated in the Hyannis half marathon. I finished with a time of one hour and fourty-three minutes (1:43), not as fast as I planned but still on track for my marathon pace.

Some inspirational stories:

* As I ran one cold Thursday morning I cam across a blind man trying to cross the street, naturally I helped him. Our travels together did not stop after we crossed the street. We continued to walk together for another quarter of a mile, until we reached the T. On our short travels together we discussed locations like the Perkins School for the Blind and the Alzheimer's Association in addition to some of the daily struggles he faces as being a blind man in a seeing world. My struggle to run 9 miles on a cold Thursday morning was not so much of a struggle anymore. I ran the last three miles of that route the fastest I ever had.

* As I ran one cold Thursday evening I stopped into Dunkin Donuts at the end of Wollaston Beach to grab a cup of water. As I stood in line a man asked me if I was running the Boston Marathon this year and I replied back with a yes. We continued to talk about the marathon which eventually lead our conversation into the Red Sox. Come to find out this man was not a fan of the Red Sox (I kept talking to him anyways) but he was not a fan of the New York Yankees either. His opinion on the two teams was, "The Red Sox and Yankess have destoryed the game of baseball, what team beats out another team 4 straight games, they have taken over the MLB?" I replied "athletes" win series in a clean sweep like that. His response was they aren't athletes it's people like you that are athletes. I love the Red Sox and I disagree with his statement that they are not athletes. On the contrary to be compared to such elite and professional players really motivated me to finish my run strong.

Week #5

Week #5 went well. I am starting to feel strong and into the grove about my running again. I made it to my Wednesday and Thursday morning run along with some other workouts at the beginning and the end of the week. I did my first speed workout. Uhhh, it was a killer. A 45 minute run/sprint felt harder than a 2 hour run, go figure? This was a cut back weekend so I only ran 13 miles on Saturday. I ran with my run club (Colonial Road Runners) rather than my run team (Alzheimer's "Run for the Memory" Team) this Saturday. It was good to catch up with the runners in my run club. Both groups are filled with inspirational and athletic people so I benefit from running with both groups.

The Alzheimer's "Run for the Memory Team" has started a blog of their own. I happen to be one of the writers for the blog; let me just say next time you hear a song by Vanilla Ice you may or may not think of the Alzheimer's Team. At this blog you can find updates, interesting stories and pictures on the entire team http://www.alzmass.org/marathon/blog/ !

Fundraising: I am still itching to get to $2,000 before February 15th. Please help by buying a ticket into my HOT raffle. If you would like more information about the raffle (which includes two free ski passes to Waterville Valley) please e-mail me at Lori.Coburn@alz.org