The Road to Boston '08

Finally! The Race Report!!!!

2008-04-28T08:53:00.006-04:00

Here are my thoughts the day after the race:

It was much warmer than expected which definitely worried me - all of my long runs were in 30 degree temps. But, it wasn't terrible or anything, and we did get some occasional stretches of shade and breeze, which felt wonderful. What I discovered was that honestly, the first 1/2 marathon is ... filler. The first 5 miles or so are really fun, as you are so jazzed about the whole thing and you are just looking at the crowds, the other runners, soaking it all in. Then you realize you've got a LONG time to go, so you just sort of dial it in and .... run. I did a pretty good job of keeping my pace in check (thank GOD!), and I was very careful about regularly taking in fluid and gel. I had a few moments during the first 1/2 where I was a bit concerned about my stomach, and I even felt a bit "pukey" a couple of times, but the feeling went away easily enough so who knows what was going on.

I was getting a *little* worried when I found myself really looking for the 1/2 - I wasn't hurting, but I was simply looking forward to hitting that point. In hindsight, I think I just wanted to feel like I had made some measurable amount of progress. But, at the same time - the race was barely beginning at that point. Boston starts at mile 18. Which also worried me a little. I did my best to check my worry and just ... run.

The Wellesley Scream Tunnel (hundreds of SCREAMING Wellesley college girls) at mile 12 was AWESOME. It was truly unbelievably loud - really, really fun. I then could look forward to seeing my friends at mile 16.5, which pulled me through the next 4 miles. It really was key to have people at various points along the course - when things got tough, I could mentally break it up into "I see David and Kathleen in 3 miles - only 3 miles - I can run for 3 miles." You just can't think about the fact that you have 13 miles left - that is WAY too much to wrap your brain around.

Just after the 1/2 mark I also started to feel like I really had to pee, which I think was contributing to my stomach issues. All the port-a-potties had lines, and there was NO WAY I was going to stand in line. I stupidly chickened out of joining 2 guys I saw dash behind one of the VERY few stretches of trees that were on the course - as soon as I passed them, I regretted it tremendously. I finally found an empty port-o-potty at mile 18, and took advantage of the opportunity (FYI, according to my watch, which stops when I stop moving, the potty break added 2 minutes to my time. Well worth the investment!). I felt MUCH better, so next time, I hit the tree when I get the opportunity!!!!

The break was well timed, as just after was the turn onto Comm Ave at the Newton Fire House - the start of the Newton Hills (and Heartbreak). I did not mind running the hills at all - while it wasn't a walk in the park, the hills really just were NOT bad for me at all. There are 4, and none of them are terribly long nor terribly steep. Honestly, it was a nice break from all of the downhill running! And the crowds along this stretch are AWESOME! Folks were handing out soaking wet sponges (OMG, heaven, pure heaven! My face was totally coated with salt by that point and being able to wash it off felt really, really good....), and someone had a hose set up to spray on us - that was truly glorious. There were also quite a few people who had buckets of ice set out - I definitely took advantage and jammed a few cubes into my sports bra. And, of course, I can't forget the BC students. Thousands and thousands of drunk college students, screaming their fool heads off. Love. Them.

At the crest of Heartbreak, the last of the hills, is where things got ugly. You are definitely entering a more urban area, so you feel like you are getting close to the end, but ..... you're not. That's about the 20-21 mile mark, and those last 5-6 miles seem like an E T E R N I T Y. I kept trying to psyche myself up, saying things like "6 miles is NOTHING, you know it's NOTHING - just buck up and get this done." I wasn't buying it. My lizard brain was tired, and it wanted to stop. So I just shut everything else down and ... ran. No thinking, no planning, no mantras. There was just tunnel visioned running. At about mile 23, I felt better knowing that I'd see my patient partner family at mile 25. I literally ran TO them those 2 miles or so - it was all I could focus on. At about that point, I noticed that I was repeatedly counting my foot falls - but only to 6. Then I'd repeat. So from there until literally the finish, I was thinking: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 -... It was weird. But it worked. One foot in front of the other, 6 times. That's all I cared about. Then, do it again.

I saw the Citgo sign at about mile 24, and I started weeping. Not tearing up, I'm talking full blown weeping. Why? Two reasons: 1) it's a symbol of the end - it's right in the city, and you can finally believe that you are getting close, and 2) it looked SO very far away. Then it disappears as you dip down a bit along the course, and I was certain that I didn't actually see it - that it was a mirage. Which made me cry harder.

Thankfully, the crying didn't last long, and I gave myself a little tough love - shut up, and run. So, I did, and I went back to my repeated counting which seemed to have been working.

Tear Jerker Alert: Soon after, I saw someone running for the Alzheimer's Association, which made me think of my grandpa. Popi went to EVERY SINGLE ONE of my softball games, basketball games, and track meets. Every home game, every away game/meet. He was there. He'd practice with me in the yard, we'd talk about strategy, etc. He was my personal coach when I was growing up. Although he passed away 7 years ago, he would have been SO proud of me on Monday. The sight of the Alzheimer's charity runner made me think of Pops, and that made me run a little bit faster, with a smile on my face, as I heard him say "You can do it, Missy!"

You can see how I felt when I saw my patient partner at mile 25 - I said to them "This is SO FREAKIN' HARD!!!!!" But I think I used a different "f-word," honestly.... They grabbed my arm and literally SHOVED me ahead - it was just what I needed to focus. 1.2 miles left - piece of cake. I picked up the pace big time at that point, as I knew, really and honestly knew, that I was there. After running under Mass Ave just before turning onto Hereford, I got all teary and emotional. All the reasons for running, understanding that I was achieving this long-standing goal, just totally swept over me. But the teary-ness was making me get a bit wheezy, so I had to essentially tell myself to stop it and just focus on running. I REALLY picked it up on Hereford and onto Boylston, and essentially sprinted to the finish line, which was simply AWESOME. I checked my Garmin at some point and was PSYCHED to see 6:47min/mile - yeah, sub-7's to bring it home. Sweet. I was waving my arms around to get the crowd yelling, and it worked! I felt like a rock-star.

Crossing the finish line was spectacular, truly spectacular. I actually didn't cry, believe it or not, until I was into the corral area - I was PSYCHED. Fist pumping, "I ROCK" psyched. It was so totally awesome. I just kept yelling "YES!" over and over again.

It was such an achievement - I'm so stinkin' happy. Sure, I could have run it a bit better - I went out too fast, even with my trying to hold the pace back, perhaps I should have hydrated more/differently, dunno. But for a first timer, I think I did a really good job, and I'm really happy with my race and finish.

And, best of all, I'm already psyched about the idea of another one! I am determined to qualify for Boston someday soon.

It doesn't get any better than this, does it? So sore I can't get out of a chair, but I'm already plotting my next marathon. I LOVE this!

I'm a Boston Marathon Finisher!

2008-04-21T22:33:00.001-04:00

Too tired to really write much, other than to say:

I DID IT!!!!!!!!!

Race Day Tracking

2008-04-20T08:30:00.003-04:00

The Boston Athletic Association's website will have an athlete tracker on race day - just visit the site (http://www.baa.org), and enter my bib #: 21563 (or you can look me up by name), and you'll see my split times at various points along the course. I start in the second wave at 10:30, and will likely cross the starting line within about 10 minutes of that 10:30 wave start (it takes a while to get 10,000+ runners across the starting line, the narrowest of ANY marathon!).

If you'd like to get a feel for the course, check out the Boston Marathon Course Guide, a video of the course narrated by the BAA Race Director.

The Big Day!

2008-04-20T08:26:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow! It's tomorrow!!!!!! Wow - incredible. I can't believe race day is essentially here. I had a GREAT day on Friday - I picked up my number at the Expo, spend obscene amounts of money on Boston Marathon stuff (my favorites being the t-shirts I got for the kids that say "My Mom Ran the Boston Marathon!"), and just had a ball drinking it all in. My local running club had a pre-race party on Friday night, which was great fun.

Yesterday was Children's pep-rally in the afternoon, and now it's time to continue to hydrate, rest, and get my gear pulled together for tomorrow.

I can't believe that tomorrow, I'm going to be a marathoner!

Yes, Coaches are for "regular Joe's" too!

2008-04-17T16:50:00.005-04:00

I think I've made mention to "my coach" a few times over the course of my marathon training, but I've never really talked about him. After I completed my first triathlon last summer, I realized that I desperately needed to work on both my swimming and my biking skills. But ... how? Did I need more pure aerobic work? More tempo work? Speedwork? Could I have a hard swim day followed by a hard bike day? Or did I need to separate the hard days? How many workouts in each discipline did I need? AAAAAHHHHHH! I was totally overwhelmed.

Coincidentally, I had talked quite a bit about coaching with Coach Troy (of Spinervals fame) at his tri camp that I had attended a few months prior. He highly recommended that I find a local coach that I clicked with to help me with my training and racing. At the time, I thought he was nuts. Me? Hire a coach? I'm just a Regular Joe, not some elite athlete or something! But as I continued to feel overwhelmed about how to move forward after my race, I realized that I certainly could benefit from a bit of knowledge. So I dug through the pile of fliers that I had collected at the New England MultiSport Expo a few months back, and found the information from Tri-Hard, a local coaching outfit. I trolled around their site, and eventually stumbled upon their Testimonials page, where I found a comment from a local Winchesterian. I figured, what the heck, and I looked up his number and gave him a call.

Thankfully, he called me back and we talked for a long time about the wonders of Will, his coach, who had helped him to not only improve at the sport, but improve to such a degree that he qualified for the 70.3 Championship race in Clearwater last year! Ok, I'm sold.

Will is incredible - besides providing excellent training plans for me every 2 weeks, he listens when I enter my crazy "pre-race" phase, and helps to keep my head on straight. He's pushed me to achieve results I didn't think I had in me. And he designed a training plan that is getting me to the starting line in Hopkinton on Monday feeling strong and confident, after what was looking like a pretty serious calf injury just a few short months ago. I can't wait to see what he helps me accomplish this season!

So, a coach. It's a good thing. Even for Regular Joe's.

Michelle's Marathon Madness: Take 2

2008-04-14T10:10:00.000-04:00

So, I just get my next training block from my coach, which covers the marathon. Here's what he's got in there:

"Almost party time! You passed all the tests. Those were waking up and heading out to run miles and miles and miles in iffy New England Spring weather. They were doing tough bike intervals and keeping the motivation up to hop on the bike after running for 2 plus hours! They were paying attention to your diet and recovery and your health. You passed em all with a 4.0!

My one note on the race at this point is to keep the excitement in check early. 9-9:30. No faster. Cruise. Let people go – they will. Then you will pass their cramping, aching carcass’s along the road some place around or after 14-17 miles. Cruise. Smile. Laugh. It’s the Boston Freaking Marathon! How cool is that! You, Michelle Spina, are running the Boston Marathon. You know what? Your ready for it! So Smile, Laugh and Enjoy ok!"

Yeah, you guessed it. I'm crying. At my desk at work.

I'm such a loser.

Michelle's Marathon Madness, Take 1

2008-04-14T10:08:00.000-04:00

I'm crying constantly, essentially at the drop of a hat. EVERYTHING makes me think of race day. Which makes me think about: 1) how long I've been running, 2) the memory of my first 10 mile run many years ago which seemed like I had summited Mt. Everest, after many years of 5 mile runs, 3) the thought, years and years ago, that it would be SO COOL to run Boston the week before I turn 40, 4) Children's Hospital and Lauren's stay there, 5) thoughts I think I'll have along various parts of the course, and always, 6) imagining the finish line. These all flash through my head in rapid succession, as in a "life flashing before your eyes" kinda way, and I start crying.

"Damn, I'm late for a meeting. Gotta run." Gotta run -> run -> marathon -> rapid thoughts -> next thing I know I'm getting all choked up in the elevator as I make my way to the meeting on the 10th floor.

It's ridiculous, really. God help me when the radio plays "Runnin' Down a Dream." I'm a blubbering mess.

And the Freak-Out Begins

2008-04-09T20:21:00.003-04:00

I have to simply say that seeing "12 Days Until the Boston Marathon" right there at the top of this blog made me nauseous just now.

In a good way, I think. As much as nausea can be good, that is.

Bear with me. I'm going to be a lunatic for the next 12 days.

How GREAT is This?

2008-04-09T20:15:00.004-04:00

On a fitness related board I frequent, I met a guy who had run 35 marathons, and who was hoping to run 50 by the time he turned 50 (at 46 he's already surpassed that goal, and is now onto Ultra marathons!). Here is part of my welcome post to him:

Welcome!!!! Oh, PLEASE stick around!!!!!!! You are my idol!!! 35 'thons??? Wow. Wow. Wow. I REALLY want to do one at some point. I ran a 1/2 thon last fall, and just loved it. I live in the Boston area, so Boston of course is on my wish list, and in addition I'd love to run NYC - that seems like a great one. My "secret plan" is to actually run Boston the year I turn 40 (2008) - the marathon is JUST before my birthday (usually just a week and a half before, depending on where Patriot's Day falls...), so I always thought running it weeks before the "big four oh" would be a cool way to ring in the new decade, especially THAT one, which so many people seem to dread (I don't actually mind it - I had my "age issue freak out" at 30, so I'm done!)...

And, imagine that, here I sit, just over a week before the RACE THAT WAS MY SECRET WISH LIST PLAN! How often does that really ever happen?

Wow.

And the taper begins...

2008-03-30T19:59:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I ran my last long run with my running club, along the course route. We met up at town center at 5:55am, and our two transport vehicles promptly left for Hopkinton at 6:00am. We drove to the starting line, where I marveled at the simplicity of it. Hopkinton is a small town in central Massachusetts. If it weren't for the marathon, I'm doubtful anyone would have ever heard of it. It's cute enough, but quite unremarkable. I'm sure it will look totally different with 30,000+ people lined up on race day! We then drove 4 miles along the course to Ashland, where we were dumped from the cars and started our run. HUGE snaps to our drivers - they acted as our support vehicles throughout our run, meeting us every 5 miles so that we could reload our drink bottles, gels, act as privacy guards for "nature breaks," etc. They ROCKED.

It was incredible to run along the course, with folks who were Boston veterans. They gave me great tips about what to expect all along the way - where the crowds got thin (a VERY short stretch around mile 6...), where the downhills can kill you if you aren't careful, etc. It was also fun to hear all the old race stories - I just kept thinking that I can't wait to do the same for a Boston newbie someday. "I remember my first Boston marathon, many years ago. You'll love this story..."

The miles just clicked by - before I knew it, we were turning onto Comm Ave, heading into the Newton Hills (aka Heartbreak). As I had already known, they aren't in and of themselves all that bad - it's that they come at mile 20, after nearly 20 solid miles of downhill running, and that kills you. I still felt good after getting through Heartbreak, but I did start looking at my watch once I hit the 19 mile mark. It was AWESOME to be with folks I've run with for years when I clipped my 19.34 mile distance PR - we all whooped and hollered for me as I passed that milestone! By then I was getting tired, and hurting a bit. My feet and ankles hurt, which was a new one for me. I don't think it was anything bad - just the newness of running 20+ miles. The curbs we occasionally had to maneuver felt like they were each the size of Mt. Everest, and I was insanely happy to see the famed Citgo sign and Fenway as we approached the final mile. Turning onto Boylston St. was incredible - knowing that it's going to be about 10,000 times more incredible on race day is just mind-boggling.

I came just up to the finish line, but did not cross it - that's special. And I can't wait to do it a mere 3 weeks from now!!!!

I was tired and a bit sore for the remainder of the day, but generally felt pretty good! Today I feel great and can't believe I am honestly ready for this.

So now I start my taper, and before I know it, race day will be here!

Saturday, March 22

2008-03-22T19:08:00.002-04:00

Happy Saturday! I've had an uneventful day - you know, just the usual stuff. Nothing major, really. Got up, ran 19 miles, did the errands with the kids, made the dish I'm bringing to Easter brunch, etc. Just a regular day.

Wait a second, you say? 19 miles, you ask?

Yeah baybee! You read that right! 19 miles (well, 19.34, to be exact) CRUSHED this morning! It was a BLAST running with my club - the miles really just flew by - it was SO much easier running with the crew. We'd get talking and suddenly 5 miles were gone. You go through a few stories, and before you know it, you're done! Only 30 minutes on the bike after the run, although I could have easily done 40 - I felt great. I'm feeling slightly sore as usual, but other than really, really, really just wanting to go to bed at around 4:30 this afternoon (I'm beyond exhausted right now), I feel fantastic.

Woo Hoo! OMG, you guys. Seriously. Can you believe this?????? NINETEEN MILES?!? That's just .... ridiculous! And not only did I do it, it wasn't horrible. It was fun. In fact, it was GREAT. Why aren't people who do this regularly walk around screaming at the top of their lungs how INCREDIBLE this is? They should be trying to recruit EVERYONE they meet, constantly. It's downright selfish not to share this incredible experience with the world!!!!

After I got off the bike, I was so pumped. Did an obnoxious pose for the hubby and announced: "I am an Endurance Animal!" I think, perhaps, a monster is in the midst of being created here folks.

I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!

21563

2008-03-19T10:05:00.001-04:00

That's me. 21563.

The bib numbers are up, and I am so excited it's ridiculous.

"Fa, a Long Long Way to Run..."

2008-03-17T12:43:00.003-04:00

As in 17 miles!

Yes, another personal record on the books my friends. Seventeen miles. SEVENTEEN MILES! That's crazy. Ludicrous. Totally and completely absurd.

And so freakin' cool.

Look out, Hopkinton - I'm on my way!!!!!

Have Mercy!

2008-03-17T07:44:00.002-04:00

To be more precise, "Have Mercy, the Sequel!" My Saturdays have been devoted to killer bike workouts recently. The latest torture in the basement has been Spinervals Have Mercy, The Sequel: This brutally intense 2 hour workout is a compilation of some of the most demanding interval sets from Spinervals 8.0 through 14.0 designed specifically to make the fittest athletes suffer and beg Coach Troy to once again 'Have Mercy"!!

Niiiiiiiiiice.

While utterly and completely killer, the sense of accomplishment when this workout is completed is priceless. This week was no exception. The cool thing is that doing these killers for the last many Saturdays (my coach had me doing the original Have Mercy for a few weeks, then changed it up with Have Mercy, The Sequel) have definitely improved my biking strength. While these are still puke-in-a-bucket hard, they are a bit less so now.

I'll Show You Mine if You Show Me Yours!

2008-03-13T10:44:00.002-04:00

I mean my PLAYLIST, of course!

So, what are your favorite running or workout tunes? I need to add more songs - my 15 miler made me lap my recently expanded playlist, and that just won't do. Here's what's currently on my iPod (don't laugh - this is a ROCKIN' playlist for running!):

Personal Jesus (Depeche Mode)
Always Something There to Remind Me (Naked Eyes)
Get the Party Started (Pink)
Gettin' Jiggy Wit It (Will Smith)
What You Need (INXS)
Tubthumping (Chumbawamba)
Unbelievable (EMF)
Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Queen)
Real Gone (Cheryl Crow)
Devil Inside (INXS)
Mr. Jones (Counting Crows)
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)
She Drives Me Crazy (Fine Young Cannibals)
You Spin Me Round (Dead or Alive)
American Girl (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
I Feel Love (Blue Man Group)
Love Shack (B52's)
New Sensation (INXS)
Zoot Suit Riot (Cherry Poppin' Daddies)
Roll to Me (Del Amitri)
Life is a Highway (Rascal Flats)
Welcome to the Jungle (Guns N' Roses)
You Shook Me All Night Long (AC/DC)
Don't Stop Me Know (Queen)
Route 66 (John Mayer)
Simply Irresistible (Robert Palmer)
Living In America (James Brown)
Good Thing (Fine Young Cannibals)
Runnin' Down a Dream (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
Land of Confusion (Genesis)
Wild Wild Life (Talking Heads)
Summer of '69 (Bryan Adams)
Another One Bites the Dust (Queen)

Random Thursday

2008-03-13T10:15:00.002-04:00

It's Thursday, which means it's a medium run day (6 miles that turned into 7 - funny how that always seems to happen!). I love these runs, as they are supposed to be simply an aerobic run (so no hard stuff!), and it's a very easy distance. I'm up and out by 6:00am and I head around Mystic Lake, which is always gorgeous to run around. There are some folks out running (and of course we exchange the Runner's Nod, which roughly translated, means: "Morning dude. Keep up the good work!"), some out biking ("Ride on!"), and some early birds heading out to work ("Sucks to be you. But please don't pull out as I run in front of you - it's not my fault...").

It's these runs that make me believe everyone should love running. I totally understand why everyone won't jump at the chance to run a marathon - it is a bit crazy, after all. But there simply is nothing better than an easy run on a crisp, clear morning. Watching the sun come up over Mystic Lake while most of the inhabitants of the houses that surround it are still asleep? That's simply priceless.

It's Thursday, which means I ran this morning. And therefore, life is good.

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's .... Michelle?

2008-02-09T08:02:00.000-05:00

My long run last Sunday was .... let's say, eventful. So there I was, around 5:00pm running on a glorious Boston Sunday afternoon, smiling as I'm thinking about the marathon which will be here before I know it. Smiling because I'm feeling great, my calf feels great, no twinges, no tightness, no nothing. Just running and feeling great about it. Life is good. Then ... I'm flying! Literally, superman arms outstretched, FLYING through the air, as both of my feet have apparently been lassoed by a rogue cowboy. Then KABAM! I come screeching to a halt as my superpowers do not engage and I do not, in fact, take off into flight. SMASH! BOOM! BAM! I'm lying face down on the shoulder of Rt 3, wondering what the HELL just happened to me. I roll over (and get onto the curb so I'm not soon to be roadkill) and see a circle of thick wire about 1' in diameter tangled around my feet. I really was lassoed!!! I didn't see it under some leaves and must have kicked it up with one foot, and then trapped myself in it as I took the next step.

Ouch.

After the stream of obscenities stop flying from my mouth, I recover my composure and notice my new, awesome running tights (ironically the very tights I say make me feel like a superhero - I actually find this funny a bit *after* I recover from the fall and start running again) have a HUGE rip in the right knee. And through that rip, I see what looks like ground beef in the area that should be where I'd be seeing my knee. Ugh. That can't be good.

Nothing appears to be majorly hurt, so I get up and start walking a bit to make sure I didn't seriously bang up anything. I'm VERY VERY thankful that I had my running gloves on - my hands would have been trashed without them. But both knees hurt pretty badly and my left elbow hurts. Well, I'm 3 miles from home and I know nothing is REALLY damaged, so I continue to walk a bit to feel better then just start running again. Eventually I start laughing thinking about what had to have been a SPECTACULAR fall to witness.

I make it home as I note that my supposed 6 mile run ended up just shy of 8. Oooops!!!! But I really did feel great and honestly underestimated the loop. Let's see how much my coach beats me up about it.

It took some time to peel my tights off as they were stuck to both knees - again, ouch. My right knee was DISGUSTING. Just a huge mess of a scrape. My left knee was also impressively scraped, but nothing compared to my right. And my left elbow was banged up as well. So, Sunday night, there I sat, watching the Patriots stink up the joint, on the couch with ice packs ace bandaged to my knees jacked up on Aleve.

I was fine - sore knees for a few days but nothing major. My tights, on the other hand, are goners. I'll try to mend them. Or not. It did look sort of bad a$$ to have a ripped knee. At least that was what I was telling myself later in the run, when I was lamenting the potential loss of my beloved superhero tights.

Although, they didn't ACTUALLY make me fly, now did they? Harumph. Superhero, schmuperhero.

Fundraising Angel

2008-02-03T12:14:00.001-05:00

I have a fundraising angel! He came to me over the holidays when I was home visiting my family. I received an email from someone I didn't immediately recognize, simply titled: Boston. I almost deleted it without reading, as I thought it was spam! Thank goodness I didn't. After a brief introduction, I read the following line:

I will match any contributions you collect up to $6,000 and you are free to make this known if it will help your effort.

Did I actually read that correctly? He's going to MATCH ALL OF MY CONTRIBUTIONS UP TO $6K? No, that can't be right. I read it wrong. Let's try that again:

I will match any contributions you collect up to $6,000 and you are free to make this known if it will help your effort.

Holy smokes, it's for real! This is Reagan's Great Uncle (a serious athlete himself), and he is, in fact, The Real Deal.

Uncle George, my Fundraising Angel!

While I've got the Adopt-A-Mile program going for folks to sponsor specific miles along the marathon route (I'll be thinking of you during "your" mile), Uncle George will be thought about for the duration of the race, as well as Reagan and Lauren, my wonder girls who are providing the inspiration for doing this in the first place.

So, what do you say, everyone? Let's get to that $12k mark, thanks to my Fundraising Angel!

Adopt-A-Mile

2008-02-02T15:03:00.011-05:00

I'm stealing a fundraising idea from another Boston runner: the Adopt-A-Mile program. Here it is in a nutshell:

For $100, you can sponsor a mile of your choice (choose one of the 26 that make up the course). For $250, the coveted last .2 is yours! I'll be thinking of you for the duration of "your mile" which will be a great help to keep my mind occupied for the duration of the race.

Let's get started - I'll keep this updated as we go along. If you see a free mile you are interested in, pony up the $100+ to stake your claim, and let me know you want it!

Mile 1 (toeing the line in Hopkinton): Mom & Carl
Mile 2: Mom & Carl
Mile 3: Mom & Gram
Mile 4 (Ashland Clock Tower):
Mile 5:
Mile 6 (Framingham Train Depot): Dan
Mile 7:
Mile 8:
Mile 9:
Mile 10 (Natick Town Common):
Mile 11:
Mile 12 (Wellesley College - the Scream Tunnel!): Kristin
Mile 13 (Halfway!): Drew
Mile 14:
Mile 15:
Mile 16:
Mile 17:
Mile 18 (Newton Fire Station):
Mile 19:
Mile 20 (the mental/physical halfway point): Therese, Dave & Morgan
Mile 21 (first unchartered mile / Heartbreak Hill!): Lisa & Katy
Mile 22: Erin
Mile 23: Cherry
Mile 24 (Coolidge Corner):
Mile 25 (Citgo sign): The Kamons
Mile 26 (the last full mile!): Brad
Mile 26.2: Hazel & George

For the gory details, check out this link from the marathon site: Course Map

Who's going to claim the first mile? The last? Heartbreak? I'll need someone every mile, so let's start filling this in, shall we?

79 Days?!?

2008-02-02T14:52:00.000-05:00

Yipes! As of today, the Boston Marathon countdown shown at the top of this blog states I have 79 days left until the big day!

Wow.

79 days.

That doesn't seem like much, does it? Training is going well though, so I'm not worried. While I'll definitely be toeing up to the starting line fairly undertrained (my longest long run will only be 20 miles due to my slow start), I know that I have a talent for enduring great physical suffering. I've got my son and his 23 hours of unmedicated back labor to thank for that tidbit of knowledge. An hour of ungodly pain for the great unknown that will be the last 10k of the race will seem like a blink of an eye in comparison.

The good news, as you may have gathered by now, is that the calf / achilles is feeling great. I graduated from physical therapy just before the holidays, and have been slowly but steadily increasing my running time ever since. My long run this week is up to ... 6 miles! Next week is 7, and from there, I increase by 2 miles almost every Sunday up until the big day (there is a recovery week tossed in there somewhere, and once I hit 20 I start my taper). I'm looking forward to racking up the mileage - the runs have been feeling really good lately, and all of the workouts I've been doing in the pool and on my bike trainer have been keeping my overall fitness level very high.

Onwards and upwards!

I'm Ready for my Close-Up, Mr. DeVille

2008-01-17T23:33:00.000-05:00

It's official. I'm a fitness video star.

Ok, ok. So I'm really just a participant in a fitness video, but it's still seriously cool! My video was FINALLY released just before the holidays, and upon viewing, I was thrilled that my two greatest fears weren't realized: 1) I didn't look stupid, and 2) I didn't look fat.

Whew.

It all began back in .... April, I think, when Coach Troy and IronGirl sent out a casting call for participants in an upcoming series. The series was going to consist of a strength workout, a treadmill workout and a Spinervals (bike) workout. Interested participants had to send in a short bio and a collection of photos, and we'd be notified a few weeks later if we got the nod. I was thrilled (and somewhat terrified) to have been chosen for the strength workout - I would have been happy with any of them, but I thought I'd be most comfortable in this slot. I had a few months before filming, and my first tri of the season was two weeks before the film date, so I quickly forgot about it and went about my business. However, once my race was over, I threw myself into strength work to make sure that 1) I didn't look stupid, and 2) I didn't look fat, come film day (recall greatest fears mentioned above).

Filming was WILD! I flew down to Baltimore, MD on Saturday evening, and drove up to Sparks, MD where the gym was located. I shared a room with Nancy and Cherrie, two friends I'd last seen at Coach Troy's triathlon training camp back in March. We had a ball catching up and getting excited about the shoot the next day. Nancy was working behind the scenes, and Cherrie was going to be in the treadmill workout that was being shot earlier in the day. We got to the studio/gym early on Sunday and basically stayed out of the way while the guys set up. And there was a LOT of setting up to do! It was amazing to me the amount of equipment that is necessary to pull together a production like this. You'd think, a few treadmills, a few cameras, and that's about it, right? The few treadmills was right, but everything else I imagined was MUCH too small scale. The cameras and all of their rigging were HUGE. The lights were GINORMOUS, and there were a ton of them. All this and the slew of folks required to work all of the equipment jammed into what wasn't a terribly large studio space to being with.

Troy is so ... Troy. He's so good in front of the camera - his personality really does shine through. Although it made me laugh to see him do his characteristic intro - he definitely puts on his "film voice" for this portion! The treadmill workouts were fun to watch - I haven't yet tried them myself, but the advanced workout in particular looked just fantastically brutal. At one point during the workout, when Troy saw one of the girls at a 10% incline and, get this, a 10 mph pace, he exclaimed "Holy Crap!" Hopefully that made it past editing, as it really was a "holy crap" effort by this athlete! It was amazing to watch.

Then, it was our turn. As the studio was being prepared for the strength workout, we coordinated our outfits and chatted nervously while we waited. When Troy placed us in the studio, we quickly reviewed the elements of the workout, and just dove straight in!

I was surprised to find that the cameras didn't really bother me at all - I think I was too busy concentrating on the hard work of the workout. What did bother me - all of us - was the unbelievable heat from the lights. Before we lifted a finger, we were all sweating buckets. It felt as though we were working out in an oven - it really was unbelievably hot. Before long, my forearms were sweating. Now, while I'm definitely a sweater (I come from a long and proud line of sweaters) this was really absurd! The workout was a lot of fun, and definitely challenging. During the lower body workout there are some great shots of my legs shaking like jello during one of the MANY sets of isolation squats!

I'd definitely recommend giving this a shot if you are looking for an effective and efficient strength workout to add to your training schedule!

To All My Rekindling Friends...

2007-12-24T22:52:00.000-05:00

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."

--Albert Schweitzer

RoadID

2007-12-24T10:14:00.001-05:00

I've been thinking about getting myself a RoadID for a long while now, and I finally got off the dime and ordered one. It arrived earlier this week, and I can't believe I waited so long to get one. This is a very simple idea - basically, it's a nametag that comes in a variety of forms. I got the wrist ID, which is just a simple velcro bracelet with my emergency ID info engraved on it. If you aren't into the wrist thing, they've also got models that go around your ankle, or attach to you shoe. While I'm generally not into fear mongering, this really does just make sense, especially when out biking which takes me MANY miles from home.

With my order I received a $1 off coupon code to share - I'm sharing the sample email I received with the offer because it's so darn funny. I love giving my business to folks who have a sense of humor in addition to offering a great product.

Hey Everyone,

I just ordered one of the best products ever.  It's called a
Road ID - perhaps you've heard of it.  If you haven't, go to
their website and check it out.  Road ID is a great product
that could save your life someday.

When I ordered, they gave me a coupon that I could pass along
to my friends. Here's the coupon number:

Coupon Number:  ThanksMichelle334065

The coupon is good for $1 off any Road ID order placed by
01/14/2008.  To order, simply go to RoadID.com or click the
link below:

http://www.RoadID.com/?CID=ThanksMichelle334065

If you prefer, you can call them at 800-345-6335.

You can thank me later,

Michelle Spina

Oh by the way, their website is awesome, the customer
service is outstanding,and the owners are very smart and
good looking.

Be safe!

Finding Your "Why"

2007-12-08T16:15:00.001-05:00

"Why are you doing this? There are just biking/running events out there, right? Why bother with the swimming if you don't enjoy it?"

This was the question posed to me by a dear friend as I was recounting the terror of my first open water swim during my first triathlon back in June. I'd been explaining that I had been swimming once a week with a small group from my Masters club in a local lake, to get over my irrational fear of swimming in open water, and that I was hating every second of those sessions.

"Then why do it? If it's not fun, just stop!"

Hmmm. Why WAS I doing this to myself? The experience at Mooseman in June was 0.9 miles of pure hell. I hated every second. Every SINGLE second I was miserable and terrified. The subsequent weekly lake swims were not much better. I was still experiencing the overwhelming irrational fear that something deep under the water, something that I couldn't see through the murky darkness, was going to reach up and drag me under. That's not fun, not in the least. Of course I KNEW there wasn't anything evil lurking in the murky darkness, but that didn't matter. When I was out there in the middle of the lake, the terror was real.

I thought about that conversation with John multiple times throughout the summer. Every Friday, in fact, as I was swimming in Mystic Lake, hating every second of it. Why? Why am I doing this? I didn't know at the time, all I knew was that I couldn't quit out of fear. I just couldn't. That was the only answer I could come up with. Just because.

Then one day, one particularly grey, cold, drizzly day, when I was swimming in Mystic Lake, something happened. Something huge. I was swimming, as usual, with my usual internal dialog going on: "This is stupid. Why are you doing this to yourself? You are in great shape, just keep strength training, biking and running, sign up for more 1/2 mary's and start full 'thon training, and that will be just fine. This tri stuff is BS..." This was going through my head, as I was swimming from buoy to buoy that morning, at 5:45am, in the rain. But .... after a while I thought: "Wow. Here I am, in calm and lovely Mystic Lake, at 5:45am, swimming from buoy to buoy without panic (nearly inconceivable a few weeks ago), in the rain. This is kind of cool. Huh. Perhaps this isn't so stupid after all!"

No panic that day. None. Not a bit. While I wasn't loving it, that day it was because I was getting tired easily (swimming a mile straight without stopping is hard work), not because I was worried that I was going to be sucked to the depths of the lake by something evil. I truly had not ONE bit of panic, which honest to goodness, was HUGE. Ever since I was a kid I've hated to be in open water over my head, even though I'm a strong swimmer (a deep pool is no problem - it's the blackness / bottomless pit feeling that freaks me out). I quickly get REALLY REALLY panicked, and simply have to get to a depth where I can stand. This was huge. HUGE!!!!!

That moment I turned a corner. Each lake swim got better and better, and soon I was really and truly ENJOYING those training days. A few weeks later during my next triathlon, I went on to take a full SEVEN MINUTES off my swim split. SEVEN MINUTES. Even better than the time was the fact that I was not in the least bit panicked, and I felt GREAT about my swim effort.

The next month I did it again at Lobsterman in freezing cold Casco Bay, on a very cold, drizzly, miserable day. I even thought as I saw the swim exit approaching that I was disappointed the swim leg wasn't longer, I was doing so well and enjoying it so much. Ha!

The sense of personal pride I felt at the end of the season was overwhelming. I had accomplished something amazing. I looked this demon straight in the face, a demon I've had since childhood, and pretty much beat the crap out of it. How? By gutting it out and NOT QUITTING, for no other reason than "just because."

I had found my "why!" By conquering this fear, I had found my why. It was about not giving up, not giving in, when it would have been SO easy to do so. It was about the sense of pride that one feels when something like that happens - when you rise above what is easy and comfortable to do something hard and uncomfortable - and find yourself on the other side the better for it.

I still need to thank John for that conversation. At the time of it's occurrence, it had messed with my head a bit. I'm not sure I would have realized what I accomplished this summer if I hadn't been thinking for a good part of the summer about "why."

So, thanks John. Thanks for helping me to find my "why." I look forward to our next long chat over dinner. Let's see what else you can help me discover.

I'm Crooked!

2007-11-27T18:40:00.000-05:00

I'm crooked. So says my Physical Therapist today. I apparently have a slight, but noticeable bend in my spine, somewhere in the c9/c10 region. Oddly, I'm not the typical "S" shape that is common with a slight case of scoliosis. I just bend once - I'm straight, then I take a turn, then I'm straight again. Weird.

Oh, and my left calf is "clearly, substantially more developed than my right." How have I left the house each day, such an obscene mess? I'm lucky I haven't been frightening children as I walk down the street!

So as you can surmise, I had my first PT session today, and apparently I'm a walking disaster. However, my freakish abnormalities may have absolutely nothing to do with my calf issue, and are just a part of my charm. We don't know yet. Either way, I'm adding additional yoga days to my schedule. Crooked spine. Substantially uneven calf development. Harumph.

The good news is that there doesn't seem to be anything horribly wrong with my calf. I've got a variety of stretches (Oh - did I mention that my legs and especially my calves are extremely tight? Crooked spine, unbalanced AND tight calves - when will the list end?) to do as well as a few strengthening exercises to encourage blood flow to the area. The current hypothesis is that I've got minor muscle tearing as the soleus muscle meets the achilles tendon. That area doesn't get much in the way of blood flow, so it's slow to heal. We are working on things to help encourage blood flow to speed up the process, as well as work on flexibility and strengthening of the area.

I meet with my PT again on Thursday - I wonder what else we'll find wrong with me? Stay tuned to find out!

Meet Reagan!

2007-11-22T11:29:00.000-05:00

I'd like to introduce you all to a truly amazing little girl, Reagan. Reagan is 13 months old, and is about to be famous - she had the largest hiatal hernia her surgeon had ever seen in a child OR an adult. Seven times the normal size!

Reagan was born 5 weeks early, and had to spend the first few weeks of her life in the hospital. However, she progressed quickly and was a perfectly happy and healthy baby, home with her wonderful parents in short order. While she was on the small side, that was to be expected given her early arrival. At her 7 month check-up, however, her pediatrician became concerned as they found that she hadn't gained any weight in 2 months. Something was definitely up. She had a follow-up X-ray which revealed that she did indeed have some troubles - her stomach and part of her intestines were up in her chest cavity, rather than in her abdomen, where they belong! There were 3 possible reasons for this:

A hiatal hernia. The hiatus is the opening in the diaphram that allows the esophagus to pass through the chest cavity into the abdomen. If this opening is large enough, contents from the abdomen can make their way into the chest cavity.
A Morgangi's hernia. This is a condition where there is a second opening in the diaphram, allowing abdomen contents to get into the chest cavity.
A stretched or loose diaphram, which would allow the stomach to make its way into the chest.

The only way for the doctors to make a diagnosis was surgery - they'd go in laproscopically to see which of the 3 options was causing the problem, then they'd fix it.

The good news was that Reagan was otherwise a very happy and healthy baby! While her parents were of course worried and nervous about her upcoming surgery, Reagan was doing very well.

Surgery was this August, and it was successful! I can't possibly do the story justice, so I'm including the email written by Reagan's parents the day after her surgery:

First of all, thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts, words, and prayers. It has meant so much to Melanie and I and we feel so lucky to know how many people care about Reagan.

For those of you who are looking for a quick update:

Reagan endured 12 hours of surgery yesterday but the surgery at this point appears to be a success. It appears now that she is alert and in some pain, but doing very well and they intend to move her to the inpatient floor later today.

For those of you who prefer all the detail, here it goes:

Reagan had her last real formula bottle at 9PM Saturday and was restricted to clear fluid after that. We were admitted to the hospital on Sunday at about noon. We were placed in a single inpatient room. About mid-afternoon, they placed an IV to keep her hydrated and given a tube in her nose. For 4 hours she was given a solution called "Go Lightly" to clear her bowels. She tolerated everything surprisingly well. Very little crying, she seemed content playing quietly and watching a Baby Einstein video over and over again. She fell asleep at about 8PM and actually slept through 2 enemas and tolerated the third with little crying. She then slept through the night in her Mom's arms. Needless to say, Melanie slept very little. I was able to get a few hours here and there.

At about 6:45 AM the nurse took us to the pre-operation holding area. We met the entire surgical team, had the procedure explained to us again, signed some releases. As they were reviewing the risks again, I have to say we were both pretty upset. At almost exactly 7:30 AM a young anesthesiologist asked us if we thought Reagan would prefer to ride in the bed or be carried into surgery. Thinking I would be able to carry her, I said, "carried". Well, to my surprise and Reagan's the doctor held out his arms, I gave him Reagan and off she went. Very quickly and with little crying from her that we heard. Obviously a hard moment for us.

Children's Hospital is amazing about how they plan for the support of the parents and not just the children. We were walked into the waiting room by a very friendly nurse named Sheila. It was Sheila's job to check in with the Surgical team every 60 to 90 minutes and give us an update. She took our cell phone numbers and we were able to spend our time in other parts of the hospital. There is a very nice garden area within the hospital and we sat there, read, talked, and ate from about 8AM until 1:30PM at which point it started raining. We then spent some time sitting in the cafeteria before moving up to the waiting room at about 4PM. We had constant updates telling us she was doing really well, vital signs were very strong, surgery was progressing well.

After about 9 hours of hearing everything was going well, no issues, we started to get a little concerned. We had been told the surgery would last 4 to 10 hours and we were quickly approaching the 10 hour mark with the nurse telling us they still did not have a timetable for finishing. At about 5PM, the surgeon himself came out to talk to us.

We learned that Reagan did in fact have a hiatal hernia. The surgeon said it was the largest he had ever seen in a small child and bigger than most of those found in adults, 6 to 7 times its normal size. You could literally put your entire fist through the opening. Her stomach, small intestines and some large intestines were in her chest cavity. Further the stomach was inverted and backwards. He said it took them 8 hours just to move everything back to where it was supposed to be and repair the hole. He was unable to learn if it was congenital or developed after birth. It was so severe that he was very concerned it would be very likely to re-occur.

As a result, he wanted to use a gastronomy tube, G-Tube, to anchor the stomach down to the abdominal wall and give the surgery adequate time to heal and give her the best chance of avoiding a reoccurence. This small tube passes from her stomach to the outside of her body, so a side benefit is that they will probably use it to give her supplemental night feedings to help her growth catch up. She will have this tube for at leat 6 months, maybe as long as 1 year. It will extend long for about 12 weeks and then they will trim it back to be close to her skin. Our pediatrician called us later in the night and said that they were actually quite common for other reasons and no big deal. The pediatrician has many kids with G-Tubes. That being said we were expecting to leave here with all this behind us, but I am sure this will mean some extra precautions and follow-ups.

After explaining this to us, he went back into surgery, did the Nissan fundiplication, attached the G-Tube, closed her up and finsihed about 7:30PM. She was moved to the ICU, stabilized and we were finally able to see her at about 9PM. They had removed the breathing tube and she was breathing completely on her own, she had a tube in her nose to collect stomach fluids. She had an IV in each of her feet and all the electrodes stuck to her body to monitor her vitals. She has 4 laproscopic incisions during the surgery and the hole for the tube, so a total of 5 small openings. They will scar, but likely fade over time.

When we first saw her she was still asleep and on morphine for the pain. Very peaceful looking. By about midnight I would say she was aware we were there but quite sleepy. By this morning I would say she is completely alert and aware of her surroundings. Unfortunately that means she can feel some pain and has been quite uncomfortable this morning. The morphine helps.

So we are very happy to report the surgery appears to be successful, they just took the tube out of her nose as I was typing this. We will be moved to the inpatient floor and the room she will stay in for the rest of her time at the hospital later this morning. She is definitely in pain, as you would expect, but that should improve over the coming days. Given her young age she should heal very quickly. We have no timetable as of yet for when we will be leaving, but will try to share updates when we can.

I expect the next couple days will be hard as she struggles with the discomfort, becomes frustrated with the wires attached to her body, and begins to feel up to some playing. At some point she will also start feeding again which I expect will take some getting used to.

This experience has given us both a new appreciation for doctors, nurses and surgeons. The amazing work they do and how friendly most of them are is such a gift. Children's Hospital is really an amazing place. We feel so lucky to live in the Boston area and have access to such amazing resources. Being around here, it is obvious how many people are not from the local area and the families do not have the close support we have. In doing some research about our stay, I did learn Children's Hospital has purchased a mansion not far away which they will be converting into a home for out of town parents. Many of you have expressed interest, so here is the link: http://www.chtrust.org/nationalruns/default.asp?Page=kentstreet08.

Thanks again to everyone for everything. All your support has really helped us.

Three months later, and Reagan is doing incredibly well - at her last check-up, she had made her way onto the weight chart for the first time in her life! Woo Hoo! It will be a while yet before her "button" is removed, but both she and her parents are adjusting very well. It's a thrill for me to be running for both Lauren and Reagan, two amazing success stories from Children's Hospital. I know that Keith and Melanie, Reagan's parents, are looking forward to being where we are now - surgery a distant memory, with a perfectly normal little girl living life to its fullest. All thanks to the amazing doctors, nurses, and administrators at Children's Hospital. It's almost eerie reading Keith and Melanie's thoughts - their experience was so very similar to ours, and their feelings toward Children's echo ours exactly. I'm incredibly thankful to have the opportunity to be associated with such an amazing place through their Miles for Miracles program.

Fundraising Progress

2007-11-17T09:22:00.000-05:00

I want to thank everyone who has so quickly contributed to the Miles for Miracles program. I've clearly surpassed my required $500 by December 10 as you can see from my progress bar above, and I'm so very grateful to all who helped get me past this important milestone.

As the holidays are quickly approaching (by the way, am I the only one completely BLOWN AWAY by the fact that it's Thanksgiving next week? How can that be???), I'm not making any big fundraising pushes until after the new year. Although if you are in need of a last minute charitable donation for 2007, I've got an idea for you!

However, I'd like to remind everyone of the purpose of all of those potentially annoying ads shown on the right of this blog. When you are shopping for holiday gifts, I encourage you to use these links to get to your shopping destination. For example, the Search Amazon link will get you access directly to ANYTHING on Amazon. My blog account gets a small commission from each purchase (you do NOT pay extra for this - these are simply commission links - you go directly to the sites listed as if you would have gone there directly).

As I mentioned previously, I'll be donating ALL of the proceeds from these links to the Miles for Miracles program. So, you'll be doing your on-line shopping, just as you would have ANYWAY, and you are donating to a great cause along the way.

Again, a huge thank you to everyone who has helped out already. If you haven't been able to contribute yet, no worries - I'll be sending out periodic reminders throughout the next 5 months. There is PLENTY of time to help out!

On Getting Older...

2007-11-12T17:49:00.000-05:00

Forgive me in advance for what is going to be a bit of a "Jack Handy-esque" post. I mentioned a few weeks back that the reason this was the year to run Boston was because the race is a week before my birthday, and this year I turn (gulp) 40. I thought it would be a bit poetic to essentially thumb my nose at that particular milestone. How can turning 40 be all that bad if I had literally just run a marathon?

While I'm really not all THAT concerned about the number, it's still a milestone, as far as age goes. And according to conventional wisdom, it's the year you start falling apart. While I don't really believe all that bunk, 40 definitely has a ring of .... oldness to it. Kids think you are a dinosaur, and that you can't possibly relate to what they are going through. Bag boys at the grocery store call you ma'am. That kind of thing. Yikes.

Well, I'm over it, as of last night. My husband and I went to see Annie Lennox in concert at Boston Symphony Hall, and I'm now heartily convinced that it's possible to actually get cooler as you age. Annie's been at the rock n roll gig for a LONG time now - I was rockin' with the Eurythmics back in early high school, shortly after she formed the band with Dave Stewart in 1980. TWENTY SEVEN YEARS AGO! And she's not only still going strong, she's ..... AMAZING! She really just rocked the house last night - the energy in Symphony Hall was truly amazing, and she was an incredible presence on stage. One seriously cool chick, that Annie. One seriously cool chick at 50-something.

This concert on the heels of a similar experience last year when we saw Bonnie Raitt in concert, who I found truly IS the epitome of cool. The Queen of Cool, if you will. At 60-something.

I'm realizing that while it might take a bit more work to stay feeling hip as you start hitting these age milestones, there is really no reason you have to curl up in a ball and give up, just because of a number.

So, I still think it's awesome that I'm running Boston the week before I turn 40. But the difference is now, I think I'll be running to 40, rather than away from it.

Week One, in the Bag!

2007-11-11T14:21:00.000-05:00

What a week! You all heard how excited I was to get back at "real" training again, and this week did not disappoint! It was an easier than normal week as my coach eased me back into the rigors of my usual schedule, but it felt SO good to be back on my bike and getting some good runs in. Other than just getting the fire back, moments of particular note this week:

Two runs in my Newtons! The first run was early in the week, and to be honest, I wasn't so sure about these after that first run. They were fine, but .... I was looking for more than fine after spending double what my usual shoes cost (and my usual shoes aren't particularly inexpensive!). But, I knew that there was a break-in period with these shoes, and they have a 30 day return policy, so I was going to continue to give them a shot. Today was my second run in them, and I'm feeling MUCH more excited! I had an easy 30 minute run on the schedule, and I found it VERY difficult to a) keep my pace where I should have been running - my legs wanted to go FAST!, and b) to stop after just 30 minutes. I just felt REALLY good - leg turnover was really, really quick, and my feet and legs felt cheetah-like. Good, good stuff! So I'm now actually pretty excited about these shoes and am really looking forward to seeing how they feel on longer runs.
Two great rides on the bike - both on the trainer as I had to get them in very early in the morning (pre-dawn). The first was a nice technique focused workout, with lots of one-legged drills and high cadence spinning. I used my aerobars quite a bit and L O V E D them. The second workout was an aerobic ride on Saturday (an hour + warm-up / cool-down), with 10 second pick-ups every 5 minutes - I was watching "Without Limits" in the background, which is a decent little movie about the great distance runner Steve Prefontaine. I watched until he took 3rd in the Berlin Olympics (he is NOT a guy who liked to lose!) - I'm looking forward to finishing the movie during one of my upcoming indoor rides. Great motivation for background viewing.
I'm totally digging the kettlebell workouts. I took a 1-on-1 session at a gym in Worchester to make sure that my form was good, and for help on some moves that I was having trouble with, and it was well worth the trip. I learned a lot, had fun, and got in a nice workout. Can't beat that! And, I came home with a 35# bell, which is super cool.

This week kicks it back up to normal training volume - back to lots of double days (i.e., bike in the AM, run in the PM). I'm psyched!

I'd like to give a BIG thank you to everyone who quickly helped me to meet (and surpass) my December fundraising requirement! I'm sure I'll be able to meet my overall goal by the race.

In other news, I just received information about my patient partner. I'll be contacting her parents today to learn more about her, and will post back with details shortly. I'm really looking forward to meeting them at the upcoming Miles For Miracles team kick-off party in early December. I felt very strongly about being paired up with a patient to help make my training feel more purposeful - I can't wait to learn more about her.

And It Begins!

2007-11-05T12:43:00.000-05:00

Woo Hoo! My "time off" is officially OVER!!!!!!! After the pretty intense end to my summer / early fall racing (it still makes me chuckle to talk about *my* racing season - makes me sound like such an athlete, doesn't it?) I had 3 weeks of "fun" planned in my schedule by my coach to allow me to recoup physically and mentally. No running, no biking, no swimming, but I could do anything else - pretty much whatever I wanted. And I did have fun revisiting some old workouts that I haven't used in a while, and discovered some new great ones, as I mentioned in my previous post.

It was fun, but I was close to losing my mind! I'm SO ready to get back to "real" training again, especially to start ramping up for the marathon. I'm just so darned excited about the whole thing, I can barely contain myself!!!!!!

This week I ease back into the swim/bike/run schedule, and I'm just itching to get on my bike tomorrow (Monday is my rest day)! And, as if it were fate, my Newton's arrived today!!!! I've got a run scheduled for Wednesday, and while it is killing me to wait, I'll have to wait. My coach, after all, might read this blog now and again, so I've got to be good. :)

So hold onto your hats boys and girls, It Begins!

Strength Training Fun

2007-11-04T09:56:00.000-05:00

I'm in the last days of my "workout for fun" period, which has helped me to recoup physically and mentally from my race season. It's been SO much fun revisiting some of my old workout "buddies" - workouts and instructors that I used to do regularly, that I haven't touched in many months, and discovering new instructors that I haven't really worked with before.

I found two new workouts worth noting. First, Cathe, the undisputed Queen of advanced home exercise videos, has come out with a new series - the Four Day Split. As the name implies, there are 4 distinct workouts in the series, each about an hour long with 30 minutes of cardio followed by 30 minutes of weight training for a particular body part. The weight training uses HEAVY weights, as you are only hitting each body part 1x/week - you've got to just nail it hard. The split breaks down as follows: High Intensity Step / Chest & Back; Low Impact Step / Shoulders & Core; Cardio Kickbox / Legs & Core; Bootcamp / Bi's & Tri's. This is a GREAT series - the cardio is all really fun, particularly Bootcamp which is just a party in a box, and the weight work is TOUGH, but super effective. I like the efficiency of this series, and will use the weight work in particular often.

Amy Bento has also come out with The Challenge Series, and I picked up her Slo-Mo Strength Challenge. This is another multi-workout DVD (I'm really liking this new trend - multiple workouts that work well together so you can create a week-long rotation that covers all body parts) that's set up as a 3 day split: Lower Body; Back & Shoulders; Chest, Bi's & Tri's. In addition, there is a separate ab routine that you can tack on as you'd like. She's also got a huge variety of additional pre-mixes created from the primary routines, so you can do a full UB workout one day, or a total body workout (of various length options). The DVD is VERY flexible - there are an amazing number of ways you could structure a schedule using this. Amy is a great instructor, and she's introduced a number of really interesting twists. I did the Back & Shoulder workout yesterday, and WOW - both parts got worked incredibly well, and it was a lot of fun. I'm nicely sore today, and am looking forward to trying out another workout later this afternoon.

Let's see if I can finally get some meat on my puny shoulders from one of these heavy lifting series!

I highly recommend both of these instructors and these particular workouts - give them a try if you are looking for a new challenge, especially if you like or want to try split training (which I happen to find incredibly effective). Check out Cathe or Amy's site for more information on the workouts (including video clips), or buy both at the Advanced Workouts site.

Happy lifting!

"I was one tough baby! Don't mess with me."

2007-11-02T12:52:00.000-04:00

Doing this run for Children's has made me think about Lauren's time there. As I mentioned in an early post, she had open heart surgery to repair a birth defect when she was 4 months old, and as you can imagine, that experience was trying. Thankfully, the surgery was a huge success and Lauren has absolutely NO side-effects or limitations - she's 100% a perfectly normal 5 year old girl. I often joke that the surgery helped to make her tough as nails - she really is one tough little girl.

Here's a blurb that I wrote a few weeks after we returned from the hospital. I thought you all might be interested in seeing it for the first time, or again for those who were involved at the time...

A Mommy’s Thoughts

First, we would like to thank everyone for all of your support through all of this. Your kind words, thoughts, and prayers were so very appreciated, and helped us more than you will ever know. This was incredibly difficult for us, but knowing that we had many people pulling for Lauren was very comforting.

Now that it’s all over, I wanted to put everything down before it was a distant memory. I learned a lot over the 5 days that we were in the hospital, and I don’t want to forget anything. Some random thoughts about the experience:

Handing your child over for surgery is probably one of the hardest things a parent can do. On Friday morning, when we were at home getting ready to head to the hospital, I seriously considered packing a bag and just stealing Lauren away. Driving to Florida and assuming a new identity seemed like a very reasonable idea. I had to try very hard to remember that she needed this surgery and that it was for the best. I spent a lot of time kissing her perfect little chest that morning, realizing that it was the last time it would look like that. Lauren was so happy and calm that morning – she only started to fuss when it was LONG past her breakfast time. It was difficult for me to hold her, because what she wanted was to nurse, and I couldn’t do it. After her vitals were taken, Lauren was given a mild sedative to relax her so that her IV could be placed. She was so calm and happy, and was chewing on her fist while I rocked her in the pre-op area. It was nearly impossible for me to hand her over to the anesthesia team. I found that I couldn’t breathe, and was nearly hysterical. Thankfully, Bob was somewhat more composed than I, and he was able to hold me up. If I never feel that way again, it will be too soon.

Waiting for updates from surgery was surreal. We knew theoretically what was happening to Lauren, and getting the updates was like a strange dream. The incision has been made (“Oh my God, someone has cut open my baby”). She’s now on the heart-lung machine (“My baby’s heart has been stopped, and a machine is in it’s place”). The hole is repaired (“Her heart has been stitched”). She’s now off the heart lung machine (“Her stopped heart was restarted”). They are closing. She’s ok. When the surgeon came out to tell us how everything went, I nearly hugged him as he told us that Lauren was doing well, and that it was all over.

As techno-weenie geeks, Bob and I had a very difficult time not feeling in command of the situation in the hospital. As we waited in the ICU parent’s room, we felt tortured that we couldn’t see Lauren right away. An hour turned into nearly three, and we were getting downright panicked. We later heard that Lauren’s breathing tube had fallen out, and she had to be reintubated. When we were finally able to see Lauren, we were both taken aback by how she looked. She had a breathing tube taped to her mouth, a tube in her nose, measurement stickers on her forehead, a line into her neck, lines in both hands, two chest tubes draining from her chest cavity, a number of cardiac lines in her chest, and of course, the incision (which was bandaged at the time). She had blood caked on most of her surgical tape, and smeared on her nose, which was bleeding slightly. It was horrible. But, she was ok! We tried to keep perspective, and trusted the staff when they told us that she was doing great, regardless of how we felt when we saw her.

Soon after we saw Lauren in ICU, a problem came up – she was not responding favorably to the pacemaker. A pacemaker was used to up her heart rate a bit, as this was supposed to help her. The increased heart rate was causing an irregular rhythm and a higher than desired blood pressure. Although her natural heart rate was quite a bit lower than the doctor’s would have liked (high 70’s, rather than 130’s), she seemed to do better without the pacemaker. She was then set to use the pacemaker only if her own heartrate dropped below 60. While everyone assured us that this was a common response, and that she’d most likely be absolutely fine, we were terrified. We spent the rest of the night on Friday watching her monitor, obsessing over her numbers. Finally, the staff convinced us to go home and get some rest, as Lauren would be heavily sedated the entire evening. As hard as it was to leave her, she was under fabulous care, and we desperately needed some rest.

The next day it was slightly easier to see Lauren. The measurement stickers that were on her forehead were removed, so she looked a bit more like our girlie-girl. By later that afternoon, she had opened her eyes. As wonderful as this was, it was also incredibly difficult, as she looked at us with pleading eyes that simply screamed “help me.” She was clearly very upset with the breathing tube. Thankfully, the tube was removed later that evening, and she was breathing on her own very well. That afternoon her chest tubes were also removed, which was another relief. She was still quite sleepy however. Finally, at just after midnight, Lauren woke up, and she was HUNGRY! She was able to nurse without any problems. Although it was terrifying to hold her, and it was difficult with all of the wires, it was absolutely wonderful to hold her again.

Things just got better after Saturday evening. Lauren nursed like a champ every 3 hours, and although she was having trouble keeping the milk down (she had a lot of gunk in her stomach and lungs), it was actually helpful for her to vomit to rid herself of the gunk. She was ready to move to the regular floor by mid-afternoon on Sunday, and she was nearly back to her normal, happy self. By Monday, she really was back to her old self, and we felt quite wonderful. Seeing her incision after her bandage was removed was incredibly difficult, but knowing that she was fine helped to calm us by that point.

It’s amazing how perspective can help make you feel better, even when you feel like things couldn’t be worse. Whenever we were really down and feeling sorry for ourselves, we saw others in more difficult situations. We noticed two newborns in the ICU, yet unnamed. We couldn’t begin to imagine how difficult it would be to have your newborn whisked away for surgery and the ICU. We saw a mother of one of these babies who was pumping for her son. I’m on my second nursling, and have pumped while at work without any problems, and I found full-time pumping to be awful. Managing this while your milk is coming in, and you are recovering from childbirth, and your baby is in intensive care is too much to contemplate. We also met a few parents who were at the hospital for the second time, and who had more visits in the future. Thankfully, Lauren’s visit should be her last.

We are now at home, and Lauren is our girlie-girl! Her newly fixed
heart has apparently made her hungry as a bear, as she is now eating nearly constantly. We would not be surprised if she suddenly climbs the weight charts, and her multiple chins are truly adorable! I am treasuring the time I have with her sleeping and nursing in my arms, free from wires and tubes. Hopefully she will view her scar as a badge of honor.

“I was one tough baby! Don’t mess with me.”

Matching Gift Programs

2007-10-31T16:37:00.001-04:00

I found out some information regarding how to handle matching gift programs that I'd like to pass along. If your company has a matching gift program (check with someone in HR if you are not sure), please be sure to take advantage of this program as it will effectively double the impact of your contribution!

Somewhere on the matching gift form be sure to specify the following information - you are contributing to Children's Hospital Boston, and you need to additionally specify somewhere on the form (they differ from company to company, so I can't give any more specifics here...) that you are supporting Michelle Spina / Boston Marathon.

Then send the form to:

Stacy A. Devine
Special Events Officer
Children's Hospital Trust
1 Autumn Street #731
Boston, MA 02215
(617) 355-2896
(617) 355-6530 (fax)

Thanks to everyone who has already supported my effort! It's exciting to see my little "runner" progress bar get closer to my goal. I appreciate your generosity.

My Latest Fitness Obsession: Kettlebells!

2007-10-29T20:03:00.000-04:00

I'm sure you are all aware of the importance of strength training for overall fitness, but it's also extremely important to keep up a solid strength training routine while focusing on endurance events (like the marathon!) as well! Strength training can reduce your risk of injury, repair muscular imbalances caused by running, and improve running efficiency. All good stuff.

The key is to train in a functional way - multi-joint movements that require you to stabilize your core while you lift. While I definitely love the "traditional" gym style methods of lifting (think about isolated moves like bicep curls and leg extensions), it's time to move toward a more functional way of training. I'm finding that the absolute ULTIMATE in functional fitness is kettlebell training! This funky thing on the left here is a kettlebell - my husband calls mine a cannonball with a handle, which pretty much sums it up! They come in a variety of sizes (I have a set of 3 - 15#, 18# and 26#). You work out with them in very active ways - a key move in kettlebell training is the swing, where you hold onto the handle with both hands, and force the bell to swing up to shoulder height by quickly and powerfully snapping your hips as you come up to a standing position from a squat. Sounds easy, right? But when you perform the move with a heavy bell repeatedly - look out! It's an awesome, highly efficient workout.

I've been doing plenty of fairly heavy duty weight training over the years, but kettlebell training has taken me back to a beginner level again! It takes balance, coordination (yes, you probably SHOULD be fearing for my safety given my lack of coordination!) and overall strength. It's also just a HECK of a lot of fun. Seriously, what's not fun about swinging a cannonball around?

Luckily, there are a some workout DVD's out there that are amazing, so I can easily do this at home. I started with the "Kettlebell Goddess Workout"which in addition to having a cool name (with workouts included titled "Nike," "Athena," and "Callipygos" - how fun is that???). I'm now working my way through the Art of Strength series, which is a fairly serious step up in intensity.

I have a personal training session with an instructor in two weeks. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes, and if I come home with the 35# bell I'm just DYING to get next!

Let's see if this can help get me to the starting line in Boston fast, and injury free!

Amazon Store / Fundraising

2007-10-28T12:45:00.000-04:00

You have probably noticed the Amazon store links over on the right side section of this blog. I've got a store that I had put together a while back as a pet project, which is chock full of all of my favorite training tools. I've got everything from my favorite nutrition products, favorite electronic training aids to workout DVD's listed. If you can't find something you are looking for, use the Amazon Search box provided just below the store link to search the entirety of Amazon.com.

To encourage you all to use the links here on my blog for your upcoming holiday shopping, I'll be donating all the proceeds from purchases made via this blog to the Miles for Miracles fundraising effort!

So please, purchase away! In addition to getting the great stuff you were going to purchase ANYWAY, you'll be helping to raise money for a great cause.

Both Children's Hospital and I appreciate the help.

Gear Hound

2007-10-27T08:54:00.001-04:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE the latest gear gadget. I simply need the latest training tool / item of clothing / shoe / whatever-the-rage-is! It's an illness, really. But all in the name of fitness, so it's perfectly justifiable! That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

My latest obsession is a new running shoe, the Newton. The theory is that the shoe puts you in a position to encourage a forefoot strike, rather than the more injury-prone and less efficient heel-strike. On top of sounding like pretty cool technology and high praise from regular folks as well as pros (who am I to question Ironman Champion Michellie Jones???), it's wicked cool looking. Seriously, take a look at this beauty:

So, if it doesn't make me actually run any faster, it will at the very least, make me look like a total stud while I'm plugging along at my usual pace. I'll take it.

I'll provide my review of the shoe when it arrives (yes, I actually ordered a pair, ridiculous price aside!) and I take it for a spin.

The Road to Boston!

2007-10-26T18:00:00.000-04:00

OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!

That was my first thought as I opened the email from the Children's Hospital Boston Miles for Miracles Team. I was chosen!

Let's go back a ways..... I've been a runner, for, well, forever really. I didn't ever give much thought to running a marathon until recently. I was perfectly happy with my usual 4-5 mile runs, and when I did work up to a 10 mile long run I felt like that distance was a major accomplishment. More than double it? Crazy talk. Then I started training with a wonderful bunch of folks in town, and the questions began: "How long have you been running? Have you ever run a marathon? Do you want to?" Well, you hear those questions over and over again, while you watch people who seem quite normal, with lives and jobs and children, who have run not one, but MANY marathons, and you think it's not such a nutty idea.

"I'll run Boston someday."

The Boston Marathon is typically 1-2 weeks before my birthday in April, so at some point "someday" turned into "the year I turn 40." I thought it would be a fun way to basically thumb my nose at the whole turning 40 thing: "Who cares? I just ran a marathon! I am all that and a bag of chips!" What a GREAT idea, I thought, when I was in my early 30's and the big year was so very far away. Yes, it's a great idea, and I will do it.

It's here. The year I turn 40 is HERE. And with it comes a vague memory of a thought I had many years ago. "I'll run Boston the year I turn 40." Well, crap. What have I gotten myself into? I'm happily entrenched in triathlon training, which I started just a year ago, and I had a great first season. I can't possibly derail my tri training with this silly proclamation I made years ago, can I? So I begin to push the memory back from where it came, and was going to dump the idea. Or at least modify it. Yeah, running the year I turn 43 or something isn't nearly as snappy as the big four-oh, but it'll have to do.

But the niggling thought wouldn't go away. It was too perfect, really. The race is exactly a week before my birthday this year. Then I started chatting with a friend about her experience running Boston a few years ago, and find out that she ran with the Miles for Miracles team put together by Children's Hospital. I was a goner. Our family has strong ties to Children's Hospital, as our daughter had open heart surgery to repair a heart defect there when she was 4 months old. I'd happily give them my left arm if they asked for it, for all that they did for us. Run a few miles, and raise a few dollars? That would make them happy? Count me in.

So I filled out the application, spent a lovely hour on the phone with the coordinator of the team, and I waited for 2 weeks until the email came.

OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!

Now, here I am, taking a few weeks to recoup from my recent 1/2 marathon last weekend before I start training for Boston.

Wow.