Week 1 - Marathon Training

(I took this picture at a track near my house in Weehawken, NJ)

I am happy to say I am off to a great start with both my marathon training and fundraising! I logged 20.5 miles this week! Woo-hoo! Easy! Piece of cake so far! Let me back track a bit and fill out in on my week so far!

Last Wednesday (6/10) I attended a meeting for Fred's Team at the Sloan-Kettering Lab Research building on the upper east side in NYC. I was excited to learn more about the organization and to meet some fellow runners! The event went really well and they had a few speakers plus a nice spread of cocktail-type food! The first speaker was from the Board of the Aubrey Fund, which raises money for Pediatric Cancer Research and was followed by speakers from our big sponsors, Coca-Cola and Powerade. I met two first-time marathoners, Tina and Lori, who are both very sweet and eager to run the race! We chit-chatted for awhile about training programs and have been emailing back and forth about other things such as what to eat, cross-training, etc! I am hoping to attend one of the Fred's Team organized runs in Central Park and meet up with my new running friends! Overall it was a great event and I felt myself tearing up during the speeches and during the slide show. The Director of the Fred's Team told us that they bring the hospital patients out on 1st Avenue during the run to slap high fives with all the runners! It just feels so good to do this and to raise money at the same time!

Then on Thursday I ran the JPMorgan Corporate Challenge 5K race in Central Park with Team Bank of America. I really did not enjoy the race but it was for a good cause, "Teaming up for a Greener Tomorrow", so I guess that is all the matters. I just felt there were so many people (they said 8,000 people were there but it felt like 20,000) and many people were walking as opposed to running so it was quite crowded. I don't even know what my final time was but I know it was slow as it took forever to weave around people.

Then I ran 6.5 miles on Saturday with my friend Andrea from the Hoboken Elysianette Running Society Team. This was my first long run in 3 weeks! I took off due to shin splints and it was definitely worth it because they feel better now! Andrea has run a few marathons before and I appointed her as my coach and running mentor! She has given me a lot of good tips so far! On Sunday I ran again and decided to run to our gym (4 miles) and meet Matt there for some weight lifting. I run to the gym at least once a week...its a good way to log miles! My only problem is I usually don't like to run two days in a row but my training schedule calls for it so I am following it to a tee! Wednesday I jogged the 6 mile loop in Central Park with Aunt Theresa and Thursday I did 4 miles with my friend Lia who I also met through the Hoboken Elysianette team! I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to all my running partners so far! You are all my saving grace!

I also started fundraising and sent out my first email yesterday and have already raised $270! Thank you to everyone who has donated so far! Only $2730 left to raise! Also I cannot believe the overwhelming amounts of people who have responded to my email with similar stories of losing someone to cancer or to knowing a survivor. I will keep everyone anonymous but I have heard "I lost my grandmother to pancreatic cancer," "My aunt in being treated at Sloan-Kettering for Leukemia and just received a bone marrow transplant," and "My uncle is being treated for Prostate Cancer at Sloan-Kettering." I also have a friend who had a rare form of skin cancer removed last year and she responded and also donated which was so sweet! Of course I will be thinking of her on race day. I just cannot believe how many people cancer affects. I can only hope and pray for a cure one day.