The Marathon Post

On Monday, April 19th, I ran the Boston Marathon… I considered concealing the truth from you all, but I have decided against it. So here it is: I am really proud. I think my friend Ryan’s comment on Facebook expressed it best: “4:07:56 PR HELL YEAH”.

It was a personal triumph in many ways.

• I completed my 2nd Boston Marathon and my 3rd marathon over all. I ran 26.2 miles only 3 months and 1 week after spraining my ankle. And my time was a personal record.
• I estimate that I have raised over $9500 for Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC) program where all the money goes towards cancer research. This was record fundraising for me. More importantly, it shows how incredibly generous people are, even during these difficult economic times.
• And I had a great time!

The Many Details

To the Starting Line

Everyone agrees that running 26.2 miles can be challenging. Yet fewer people might understand that getting to the starting line on the day of the race is a challenge in itself.

Boston Athletic Association (BAA) says that the only “guaranteed” way to get to the Boston Marathon starting line in Hopkinton is to take the official BAA school buses from Boston Common. So that is where I was headed at 6:23am on Monday morning. Twenty minutes later I was squeezing through crowds of hungry looking people with neon yellow plastic bags strung across their shoulders. (Of course I looked just like them.). I was looking for my friend and fellow DFMC runner, Bess.

Three quarters of an hour later, we finally got on one of the buses. Despite a few frozen fingers, we knew that now we would definitely make it to the start of the race. After a bumpy ride interrupted only by multiple incidents of public urination, Bess and I walked away from the Hopkinton High School to find THE church--a refuge for the DFMC team runners. (While everyone else hangs out in the fields by the school and waits for 30+ minutes in line to a porta-potty, DFMC runners are sheltered inside a church, where food, drink, medical supplies and toilets are plentiful.)

The church was warm, which was a relief, but we had to go back outside as soon as we got there to line up for DFMC team photos. The next hour was a bit of a blur. When we went back inside after the photos, announcements were already being made to “surrender” our bags. (Remember those neon yellow plastics bags everyone had. These are the only bags BAA will transport for runners from the starting line to the finish line, via school buses of course). I feverishly tossed things in and out of the bag trying to remember what I have forgotten to do: sunblock--check, sunglasses--check, gloves, GU...

I breathed a little easier once I put my bag on the school bus. Then I went out for a short warm up run. It was more of a “cool down” run, but it gave me an excuse to re-tie my shoes about a thousand times. I also got to see the Blue Angels, who must have been doing a fly by over the starting line.

It is unfortunate, that nobody documented my appearance in the starting corral. (Bess did offer, but I was too flustered to agree.) To keep warm I wore an old XL sweatshirt, while wrapping my legs in an even older black fleece cape. I was not the only one wearing expendable clothing, and BAA was well prepared for this situation. Volunteers had separate bags for garbage and for the clothing people shed as they moved closer to the starting line. The disposed clothing would be donated to charity.

We had already spent hours waiting, and months preparing. Finally, we slowly walked, then jogged, then crossed the starting line of the Boston Marathon. Bess and I wished each other good luck before setting off to run the 26.2 miles to that coveted finish line in Copley Square.

Running The Race

From Hopkinton the marathon course takes the runners through Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline, and finally to Boston. The Boston Marathon is known for its crowds. It was sunny and warm, and spectators were indeed out in full force, partying and cheering loudly.

A few live bands played along the course, and people were blasting music from their boomboxes. I remember entering the town of Natick to the sounds of the Who’s “My Generation”. At some point, the Rocky theme-song made my heart skip as memories of my high school jazz band flooded my sugar starved brain.

It is hard to remember what I saw where, especially during the first 9 miles where the course is less familiar to me. Here are a few things I do remember:

• A runner pulling a cart with a couple of oxygen tanks—really, if he can run the marathon, then so can anyone.
• Seeing some of my coworkers in downtown Natick. Thanks for your support!
• Seeing Karen B and getting a hug!
• Watching my dad run alongside the course near Coolidge Corner, because he wanted to get a photo of me running.
• Running with Bill Y for a few minutes somewhere near the Wellesley-Newton border. (That was enough time for Bill to tell me that we will all eventually die…) It was all very inspiring, but being much slower than Bill, I stayed back and he pulled ahead as we climbed the Route 95 overpass.
• Enormous “Run Boston Better” posters at every town border—I wish I could find photos of them on the web. Some of them were rather clever.
• Super cheerful Wellesley College girls—you hear them before you see them. Unfortunately, this year I did not see any middle aged male runners act on signs like “Kiss me, I am a senior”, “Kiss me, it’s your last chance”, etc. I did see a few men sprinkled amongst the girls holding up similar signs… No, I was not tempted.
• Painfully loud Boston College students—they seriously scared me. (Of course it was the 22nd mile, and I was not thinking straight.) They were stepping right into the course, forcing all the runners really close together. The screaming so close by was disorienting. When I tried to slow down to avoid crashing into a runner in front of me, I realized that I could not maneuver all that well anymore. I cannot tell you how glad I was to get to the area where the BC students were behind barricades.
• DFMC "cheering squad" at mile 25 on the Mass Pike overpass. I was really looking forward to that extra encouragement. It was a great feeling to reach the top of the overpass and to see so many friendly faces cheering the team on.
  
• Runners in costumers or otherwise wearing interesting clothes—a lady in violet princess cape, two ladies running together in pink Superwoman capes, an older gentleman dressed as a Cat in the Hat, a guy with all of his exposed skin painted orange, a woman in a leopard outfit, etc. (The leopard outfits were apparently quite popular...)

• Realizing that I can no longer run downhill when following Commonwealth Avenue under Massachusetts Avenue in the last mile of the course.

Apparently I misread the BAA information about water stops. I expected them to be every 2 miles, but instead they were positioned at every mile. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that, but for the first several miles I was confused, uncertain when to expect the next water stop. For awhile I seriously considered asking a fellow runner about it, but felt too embarrassed. Just as well—it worked out fine.

Because of my sprained ankle, I only did two long-distance runs (by “long” I mean over 10 miles) before the marathon. I ran 20 miles 3 weeks before the race and 14 miles 2 weeks before the race. As a result I had little sense for the pace at which I should try to run the marathon. When my hips started “talking to me” around mile 14, I worried that maybe I went out too fast. Of course, there is no point in worrying, but… Luckily, getting preoccupied with something else made me temporarily forget my various aches and pains. Meeting Bill, seeing Karen, eating a GU (Chocolate Outrage was my flavor of choice this year), turning onto Commonwealth Avenue, and finally working through the “Newton flats” were all excellent distractions.

Favorite parts of the course:

• cruising through Natick and Wellesley
• turning “right on Hereford, left on Boylston” to glimpse the finish line and hoping to see mom.

Least favorite moment: dodging the drunken BC crowds.

Official results and statistics:

• Official Time: 4:07:56
• Overall: 16848
• Race entrants: 26,776
• Race starters: 23,071
• Race finishers: 22,588

Boston 2010 vs Boston 2008

• Nick convinced me to eat more during the race, so I went from eating 3 GUs in 2008 to 4 GUs this year. Now I think that having more food at regular intervals helped me avoid feeling sick to my stomach as I did last time towards the end of the marathon.
• I have many more memories from the race than I did from 2008, when I could not remember running through Washington Square or Coolidge Corner. I would credit more GU with this improvement as well. Though perhaps I also paid more attention this time.
• Sadly I saw fewer people I knew along the course. Just as in 2008, I did not see Nick, but this time he did not see me either.
• Having run Boston once before, I did not worry as much about the pre-race logistics such as what would happen once I was in Hopkinton.
• Despite having run 2 marathons including Boston before, I still stressed out about such seemingly unimportant things as oversleeping and missing the BAA bus, deciding what to wear, and eating just the right amount of food the morning of the race. People say some pre-race jitters never go away.

Overall it was a great race for me, and the nice weather and super supportive crowds made it even better.

I would like to thank

• all the people who supported my run and made it possible for me to raise so much money for Dana Farber! Your generosity is humbling.
• my coworkers who were extremely supportive, enduring my long monologues about training and physical therapy, buying my homemade treats every Monday, driving me to and from work when I was on crutches

Special thanks goes to Trace at the BU Physical Therapy Center, who helped me start running again, and to Jack Fultz, the DFMC team coach (and the winner of the 1976 Boston Marathon), who helped me structure my training around the injury replying to every single one of my emails despite having 549 other team runners to worry about.

And last but not least, I would like to thank Nick who endured it all—the training, the therapy, the whining, the sprained ankle, the fundraising, etc, etc, etc…, and even borrowed a friend’s dog, Calvin, for a day to lift my spirits.

Scorecard and Ten Seconds of Fame (Literally)

Being completely preoccupied with eating and workout, I only now found time to report that my 20 mile run last weekend went really well. Yes, of course there were some aches and pains, but I made it in great time without major difficulties. What a confindence booster that was!

Check out the video clip of me running the 20 miles. (The video then moves on to show you other news clips--just reload the page, if you would like to see me run for 10 seconds again, as I know you do.)

Watch the full video at Boston.com

With just two weeks remaining before the marathon, the excitement builds, and the tapering off has begun. On Saturday I ran only 14 miles (Cleveland Circle out to Wellesley and back). Next weekend the run will be shorter still--probably about 8 miles.

The Ultimate Test

It has been a lont time since I have last updated the blog. I have been busy, though I am having difficulties explaining exactly what I have been so busy with. It seems like I spend all of my time doing exactly 5 things:

1. Working out, be it strength training, running, in and out of physical therapy, etc.
2. Eating—muscles need fuel
3. Grocery shopping and cooking (in order to satisfy activity #2)
4. Working—apparently food costs money; so does physical therapy and going to the pool
5. Sleeping—wish I could skip this one but have not yet been able to figure out how

Food is definitely the focus here. It is not just about breakfast, lunch and dinner. Eating for me has been continuous. My desk at work is overflowing with nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate. Occasional family events tend to revolve around a meal. TV watching is almost always combined with eating. Even long workouts imply carefully planned consumption of special “GU” to keep me going. And during those rare moments when I am not eating, I am ultimately planning the next meal.

Of course I run to eat, and I eat to run.

The ultimate test for all of this training is not the marathon itself. The race is more of a celebration after the craziness that the training season brings into runners’ lives. The test for me is coming up tomorrow morning. With three weeks left before the marathon, I plan to do a 20 mile training run.

I am excited and nervous. I am acting on the assumption that my ankle will hold me up. A lot of runners will be doing their last big long run this weekend, and I expect the marathon course will be quite crowded. I heard that some out of town runners come out to Boston to do this run on the marathon course, and that locals come out to cheers the runners on. When I trained for the Boston Marathon two years ago, this is the run I did not get to do because I was nursing an IT band injury then, and it makes me look forward to this run even more.

Why Run So Many Miles So Many Times

I am running the Boston Marathon in memory of my aunt Ada, who died of cancer almost a year ago at the age of 60. Her father had to bury his only child. Her grandson, who was not yet two years old at the time, would not remember his grandmother who spent so much of her time taking care of him.

My aunt Ada was technically my second cousin--she was my dad’s cousin, but I always called her my aunt. Growing up I did not see her very often, as we lived in Moscow and her family lived in Sevastopol, a large port town in Ukraine on the Black Sea. Thus the rare occasions when I did get to see her were extra special. Later on, when her family and I were living in the Seattle area, we spent more time together.

Always upbeat and energetic, she always knew which movies to watch and which ones to skip, and what new book to read, and which noteworthy musician was giving a concert in town. Whenever presented with a chance, she tried to feed me into a food coma. More importantly, she was a great listener, and always knew how to make people relax, talk and feel better.

Aunt Ada’s death came as a shock to my family, as we knew nothing of her illness. Aunt Ada was diagnosed only a few months before she died, and she did not want people to know that she was sick. She was always a strong woman.

I run in memory of my aunt Ada, but I also run for the living—for the cancer patients both old and very young, for the families, for the children, for everyone affected by this terrible disease. If we put our efforts together, we can conquer this monster. I hope you will join me in the fight by supporting cancer research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

26.2 in 4:32:17

In Hopkington my corral was lining up on the uphill. Where is the crazy downhill everyone was talking about? Then we started walking, then running. Ah, here comes the steep downhill.

A sea of people in front of me. A few miles of making sure I am not running faster then 10 minute miles, and I reached Ashland. With so many people passing me by, I turn around, but there was still a human sea behind me. After Ashland, the area was becoming more familiar with every minute. By the time I hit the Framingham train station, I was so excited—I knew I was close to Natick, where people were going to cheer for me.

The miles between Framingham and Natick flew by as I chatted to a fellow runner. Lev was from Latvia, and has been running road races, including many marathons, for many years. We ran together till mile 16 where he stopped to say hello to his children, while I decided to run ahead.

Many of my coworkers cheering in Natick gave me an extra kick. Also, the idea that I just ran 10 miles without any significant IT band pain was exciting. My doubts about finishing were fading away, replaced by utter elation. Knowledge that I have run from Natick to Boston several times was also boosting my confidence.

The smell of fresh pine cones filled the air as we approached Wellesley College. Here I finally got to run through the “screech tunnel”, where the Wellesley College girls show off the incredible powers of their vocal chords. Yet, more amazing was the number of “kiss me” signs the girls were holding up. “Kiss me, I am Mormon.” “Kiss me, I am a virgin.” “Kiss me this Passover.” “Kiss me, I love you.” I did not get to read them all. Incredibly, numerous sweaty middle-aged men flocked to the barricades and followed the signs’ directions. Last chance? At the end of the “screech row” stood several tall young men, also holding up “kiss me” signs…

I reached Wellesley Square and cleared the half way point of the marathon. Now I was on a roll. Of course, according to the amazing DFMC coach and 1976 Boston Marathon winner, Jack Fultz, the real half point only comes at mile 17.

More people, cute dogs, the first real hill at the Route 95 overpass, and I found myself in the Dana-Farber cheering area by the Newton Wellesley Hospital. Mile 17 marker is in the relatively flat area right before the course makes its first turn ever onto Commonwealth Avenue. I felt so excited as I passed Jack’s half point in the race. Finally, I was facing major hills, as opposed to downhills for a change!

I was so excited, that the hills did not seem that bad. As I cleared the Heartbreak Hill the scenery changed. Mildly to heavily intoxicated Boston College students replaced the happily cheering families with cute labs. If you think the Wellesley girls are loud, you have not heard the BC crowd.

In training I have always found reaching the beginning of the B line depressing. Only 5 miles to the finish line, but I know these 5 miles with my eyes closed, so you cannot fool me into thinking I have only a short way to go. I thought the race day will be different, but it was not. The feeling of dread was compounded by a strong suspicion that my quads have solidified into brick, and lifting a leg was becoming an increasingly arduous task with every step. Who said that the last 5 miles are the most enjoyable? I was still hoping for running without feeling my legs as Jack promised.

People practically sit on the B line tracks along the “graveyard” mile of the course, and they do not move an inch when the trains blow the whistles and slow down to a crawl just to get by them. The familiar Washington Square and Coolidge Corner both looked unrecognizable, filled with the screaming crowds. I spent the next block debating about why Trader Joe’s is not passing out or selling anything to the crowds outside their store. Would it not boost the business? I then tried to remind myself that Nick and I have walked to Coolidge Corner, and that the John Hancock tower looming in the distance is really not that far.

I perked up after St. Paul Street. My personal cheering squad was supposed to be near Park Drive. I could see the Japanese bakery, and the True Value Hardware by St. Mary’s T stop. A little further a long there were my parents, pressed tight into the barricade. I was so excited to see them, that I did not notice Nick and my friends standing behind them. I was still looking for Nick, as I scaled up the Mass Pike overpass, the last noticeable hill on the course.

Suddenly it hit me—the screaming Dana Farber cheering squad at mile 25 on top of the overpass. It was as if the entire overpass was screaming. A sea of brown and yellow Dana-Farber shirts. This was it, the final mile. What fatigue? What pain? I could not feel any of it. I remembered Jack’s words—no one drops out in the last mile. Here was my darling dirty Kenmore square with at least 20 rows of Red Sox fans leaning against the barricades. I am sure I was not, but I felt like I was sprinting onto Hereford Street, and finally I was on Boylston running as hard as I could.
I know it sounds cheesy, but I was trying hard not to cry. I made it. I could see the enormous blue gate over the finish line, the cheering crowds behind the barricades, the sun and the beautiful blue sky. I reached the bleachers, and crossed the finish line with my arms raised high in triumph.

And the Winners Are...

Yes, I have earned my "bragging rights" by completing the 112th Boston Marathon on Monday. I ran a slow but even race, passing the half point at 2:15:13, and finishing in 4:32:17.

Between December 1, 2007, and Monday, not counting the race, I ran 364 miles. (Please refer to my complete running log if you would like to check my math.) I understand that my injury 6 weeks ago not only potentially sabotaged my marathon run, but also affected your training guesses. I am sorry, but it is really a game. Smile!

Here are all the bets--only 8 bets overall, so your chances of winning were quite high!

And the winners are:

• the closest guess to the number of training miles: May Jiang at 410
• the closest guess to my marathon time: Julie N. at 4:37:11

Congratulations! Your Amazon gift certificates will be emailed to you shortly!

Thank you, everyone, for your tremendous support!!!

Return soon to read about every detail of my race day.

Spot Me Amongst 24,999 Other Runners

Insert me here (see photo). Of course, there'll be over 500 other Dana Farber Marathon Challenge runners wearing the same singlet! Yes, we are strong!!!

You can follow my progress using my bib number, 22115, at the BAA website.

However, I hope you are out there enjoying a nice day and watching the marathon along the course, not at your computer. Wish me luck!

You, the Spectator, at the Boston Marathon

Please come and watch the race. Besides witnessing my groundbreaking marathon run, you might also find yourself inspired. Of course, I would just be beside myself with joy, if you cheered me on.

Where to watch the race from? A highly debatable question. Let’s assume you are coming from Boston, and that you have the entire day off. Even so, you might have to decide whether you want to anchor yourself in one perfect spot with a cooler and some cucumber sandwiches at your feet, or if you want to skip around and see yours truly at multiple locations.

Please refer to the course map here.

Just about any location on Beacon Street along the C line should be easy to get to and a good place to see runners in action. If you take the B line all the way to the end, you may be able to witness runners right after they have scaled the infamous Heartbreak Hill. You would be stationed near the "graveyard" mile, with the Evergreen Cemetery stretching along the course.

You could also hop onto the D line, and take it to Woodland, which will put you along Washington Street, very close to mile 17. You would be able to see runners before they hit the Newton "Flats". You should be able to make it back to the Fenway or Kenmore stop on the T faster then most people can run 8-9 miles.

You can also hop on the Framingham/Worcester Commuter Rail, and take it to any of the Wellesley stops. The most interesting is probably the furthest--Wellesley Square, which is closest to Wellesley College. You would be near the half point mark, and you will learn the power of the Wellesley girls vocal chords, where the course is sometimes refered to as the "screech tunnel". Please refer to the train schedule carefully, since the trains do not run nearly as often as the T, if you want to make it back in time to see the same people near the end of the race.

Enjoy!

P.S. Kenmore Square spectators beware: there is a Red Sox home game that starts at 11:15am. The crowds will be especially overwhelming once it gets out.

Less Than Five Days To Go

Is this a sign of excitement, stress or sheer panic? You tell me. All the recent dreams I can recall involved me running, sometimes on ice. Nowhere specific—just running. I suspect that I have also been running in those dreams which I cannot remember.

I have resolved to:

• Stop saying that I am not sure if I will be able to finish the marathon due to my IT Band injury. I have decided to drop that line of thinking. I WILL FINISH THIS MARATHON!!!
• Stop stressing over what the weather will be on race day. Nothing I can do about it. (Maybe I am only able to do it because the current forecast looks rather nice.)

Despite the resolutions above, I am still stressing about:

• Missing the BAA buses from the Boston Common to Hopkington.
• Not being able to pee right before the start.
• Having to pee in the field with 24999 other people.
• Having to pee during the race.
• Eating too little or too much on the morning of the race.
• Starting to feel IT Band pain before I reach the 10 mile mark.
• Losing my hearing while running by the screaming girls in Wellesley.
• Ok, I'll stop now.

I may have to append these lists as Monday draws near.

The Coming Weeks of Torture

Time has come to pay for my wonderful 20 mile run in DC. I was finally able to see a physical therapist about my aching IT band today. (With the marathon coming up in just 4 weeks, everyone in Boston seems to have lined up physical therapy appointments). And the verdict is (drumroll please):

• Yes, I will probably be able to complete the marathon--my chances are higher then 50%. (Am I supposed to be happy about that number? I suppose even a healthy person's chances to complete a marathon have to be somewhat less then 100%.)
• No, I should not run at all. While running 2 or 3 miles at a time will probably not hurt me, the risk of re-injury is higher then the potential benefit.

So from now on, potentially all the way to the marathon, I will be getting super intimate with the elliptical machines at the gym. I stand 0% chance to run my 3rd and last 20 mile run this weekend. While hordes of people will be scaling the grand hills of Newton, I will be sulking in the gym.

I thought 65 minutes on the elliptical was torture (after 7.5 miles on the treadmill) a week ago! Just you wait till I do it for 4 hours this coming weekend. I sympathize with the surrounding public. Any volunteers to spin your legs next to me and keep me company for at least part of the time?

Let me just say that advice is welcome, morale requires an uplift, and pity is intolerable. Good night.

Exactly One Month Away

Hard to fathom, but the marathon is only a month away—exactly a month from today. The city of Boston has revealed 2008 Boston Marathon banners today, and I could not help but smile watching them flap in the wind on every other lamp post lining Boylston Street into Copley Square.

Earlier in the week, BAA posted bib numbers. So it is now official. I am definitely in—I have an official bib number! (Did I say that too many times? Well, I need to repeat it to myself because it is so incredible that it is hard to believe.) Here it is:

22115

I noticed many people try to glean some prophetic information from this number. I did not attempt this. However, if you wish I invite you to explore the number on your own. Do let me know if you find any interesting information about my past or future!

The Spirit of the Marathon

This past Thursday, exactly 2 months before Boston marathon, I went to see the movie, Spirit of the Marathon. Inspiring and informational, the movie follows for pro athelets, first-time and many-time marathoners through training and running the 2005 Chicago Marathon.

I do not know much about running and race history. So I was very impressed to learn about Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to officially enter register for the Boston Marathon, men-only event at the time.

My one complaint is that right away the movie claimed that crossing the finish line of a marathon changes your life. I am not a fan of such big, "powerful" statements. I have crossed the finish line of the Adirondack Marathon, and I don't think my life has been any different ever since.

The big statement reminded me of people asking me if my first trip to Honduras was a life-changing event. No, it was not. I think the decision to train and run a marathon, just like my decision to go to El Hogar, is the result, or the evidence if you will, of some change in outlook on life.

The Boston Marathon Course Beckons

Yesterday, I did my 14 mile run along the Boston Marathon course--from Wellesley College to Boston. It was a great experience--working on building up my confidence before the race. I managed to "misplace" the Heartbreak Hill and found it during my 8th mile when I was doing a mile long sprint. Oops... Hopefully I will be wiser next time.

In other news, more celebrities want to run alongside me in the race this year. While Lance Armstrong qualified for the race, and is raising money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the Republican presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, will join the Team Hoyt, a local charity which strives to integrate the physically challenged into everyday life.

Inspiring The Youngsters

Almost a week ago Sunday I had the great honor of speaking to a small group of 9-year-olds about running a marathon. With very little knowledge of what kids at 9 years of age are like, I was very nervous. I spent most of the day Sunday trying to prepare. I decided that I would try to speak mostly in Russian. No, not as a joke. All of these kids were children of Russian immigrants like me (except that all of them were born in US), and all of us could use a little more language practice.

When I walked into the little classroom, the chatter did not die down, and I was thankful. I was very afraid of the cold expecting silence staring me in the face. Instead, I could hardly finish a sentence before little hands shot up in the air with questions ready. The kids wanted to know everything, and the questions anything and everything you could possible think of—silly, and thoughtful, and funny.

• How much money can you win?
• Is the trophy 7 feet tall?
• Do you get annoyed by little kids holding out drinks and orange slices along the course?
• Do you have to pay for the water along the course?
• How old do you have to be to enter in a marathon race?

As I was leaving a little girl stopped me and said, “Was it fun?” Her question made me feel sad, as I realized that I forgot to tell them how much fun it was to train for and run the Adirondack Marathon, and how much fun I am having right now training for Boston.

Talking to the kids was a very rewarding experience, and I hope they will go watch the Boston marathon this year with a renewed interest.

Randomness

Did you know that literally marathons save lives? (Thanks, Ryan)

Bluestocking Runner's blog, which I just came across today, has an excellent Jane Austin quote, which Nick and I were able to place immediately despite a minor modification ("walk" to "run").

"Why must she be scampering about the country... ? ... To walk three, or four, or five miles, or whatever it is... what could she mean by it? It seems to me to show an abominable sort of conceited independence, a most country town indifference to decorum."

Thus the Bingley sisters were talking about Elizabeth after she has walked to Netherfield to see ailing Jane.

Run Helen Run Merchandise

Run Helen Run merchandise is now available for purchase at my Run Helen Run Online Store, and certainly all proceeds will be donated to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge. I mainly created the store because I just discovered the CafePress website and thought it would be so much fun to create my own products. Non-Helen specific items are also available at the Have More Cake Online Store.

When announcing my stores, I really do not want to mislead you. I have created the stores purely for the entertainment factor. Most of the money you would have to spend to buy any one item would go to CafePress, and just a fraction will go to me, and hence to DFMC.

In other news, today the actual Boston Marathon Invitational Entry form arrived in the mail. I could hardly believe my own eyes and my good fortune. Several minutes have passed as I stood in the hallway completely mesmirized still in my coat and wearing my backpack. Suddenly the cell phone rang and brought me out of my stupor--my friend, also a DFMC teammate, called to share her reaction to receiving the form.