What a ride!!

It's been 4 days since the Marathon, but I am still constantly thinking about it. What an amazing experience it has been!

When I first ran the Boston Marathon for Dana-Farber in 2014, I knew it would be special, in part because of the determination to reclaim Patriots' Day as a joyous occasion after the tragedy in 2013, and also because I was running in memory of 3 friends who had died of cancer. As described in the newly released film "Boston: The Documentary", the 2014 race was "epic".

This year, having decided to run again in memory of Dr. Patricia Frost-Fitch, one of my earliest mentors in the field of veterinary dentistry, I was not sure what to expect. As I mentioned in my last post, the training was more difficult for me this time, and I have said to more than one person "This is definitely going to be my last marathon". However, my experience in Boston this year makes it likely that I will return. The staff and volunteers for Dana-Farber, the teammates running in tribute to spouses, children or parents who have died of cancer, and the unceasing encouragement from a million spectators made Monday an unforgettable day. I am still basking in the post-Marathon glow!

With the help of over 80 donors, I raised $10,440 for the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Cancer Research. One of the most special things about running for Dana-Farber is knowing that the work we are doing actually saves lives. For example, immunotherapy cancer drugs like ipilimumab and nivolumab were developed based on research done by Barr investigators at Dana-Farber. Hearing "Thank you, Dana-Farber!" throughout the course was humbling and helped keep me focused on the finish line.
 
At mile 25 at Kenmore Square, I was having a tough time and was walking. One of the course photographers captured this moment, and even though I initially didn't want to post it, because it's not a happy photo, I am putting it up because it reminds me of what happened right after this photo was taken. I was pretty close to the side of the road. A Boston Police officer, who was on the side of the road, in front of the barriers for crowd control, saw me looking like this and walked over to me. She took my arm, said, "Come on. Let's go" and started jogging. I started jogging again, and the crowd let out a cheer so loud it felt like the Patriots had just performed their miracle SuperBowl comeback again. She ran with me a few steps and then let me go on so she could return to her post. What a moment! The boost I got from that kept me going to the finish.

It was my slowest Marathon (more than 20 minutes slower than my fastest - which is still not fast!) but probably my favorite in terms of how I felt at the end. You can see it on my face as I cross the finish line.

So, even though the training is somewhat awful and the fundraising can be stressful, I hope to be back on the team for 2018. The excitement of being in Boston on Marathon weekend, the camaraderie of the DFMC team, the knowledge that we are running for a purpose larger than ourselves, the memory of loved ones lost, the support of the volunteers, the encouragement of the spectators, and the feeling after crossing the finish line: The intensity of all of these feelings makes the difficulties of training and fundraising worthwhile! 
 
It has been said that happiness lies in the joy of achievement (paraphrasing Franklin D. Roosevelt), and I am certainly a living example of that right now! Thank you for sharing this journey with me!


 

I'm leaving on a jet plane....

It's Wednesday, April 12, just 5 days until the Boston Marathon. All the training is done (my husband snapped a photo of me coming in from my last run at home this morning), I'm really close to reaching my $10,000 fundraising goal (please visit http://rundfmc.org/2017/milinda to help me get there!!), and my family and I are currently waiting at SFO to board the plane to Boston.

I've made "In Honor Of" cards for several of the people in whose honor I am running. (A few of them are shown below.) These will be displayed at the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team pasta party on Sunday, April 16. This was a very emotional event last time I ran for Dana-Farber (in 2014), and I am happy to be bringing my Mom with me this year.

We're getting to Boston a few days early (flights were much more affordable!) and I'm looking forward to just relaxing in the hotel in Copley Square, getting to the Expo before the weekend crowds arrive, and hopefully seeing some old friends. We arrive in the wee small hours of Thursday morning, and I will write another blog post on Thursday or Friday evening.

It has not been easy this time around; training has been harder on my body, I've found it more difficult to put in the hours of running, and I have said to more than one person "I'm looking forward to it being over!" and "This is definitely going to be my last marathon!" Thanks for following my journey and for your support and encouragement!

Just 10 more days!!

A week ago, I was in Indiana, for my father-in-law's memorial service. Although I woke up at 7:45am, my body (and my Garmin!) still thought it was 4:45am! Nevertheless, I set out for my last long run before the Marathon.

As I set out, I passed the cattle ranch that my in-laws' house backs up to, and it was apparent that joggers are a pretty rare site along Highway 17, because the steers just stared at me as I ran by. If you look closely at the photo below, you can see three white faces turned my way.

You can also get a sense of the weather. Almost cold enough to snow, which I would have welcomed, but as it was, I was pelted by tiny, cold raindrops as I started out. But then the rain let up, and the remaining 19 miles were misty but not drizzly. It would have been gorgeous had the sky been blue, but even with the grey, I enjoyed the scenery, which included a couple of small lakes, an old cemetery with graves mostly from WWI, and a farmhouse built in 1876.

My turn-around was at Culver Academies (where Dierks Bentley, one of my favorite country singers, spent a short time as a teenager), and whose campus abuts a huge lake, Lake Maxinkuckee.

I was fortunate to have support from my husband and brother-in-law, who met me in Culver to refill my water bottle and see if I needed a change of clothes before the turn-around to head back to Plymouth. I didn't need a change of clothes then, but about 5 miles later, I almost peed my pants when a large pit bull and 2 shepherd mixes came running out of a barn, barking at me and not looking too friendly. I am not normally afraid of dogs, but when you're running and they're chasing you, it's a bit disconcerting! I yelled "NO!" at them, and the shepherds hung back but the pibble kept coming towards me, so I finally squirted him with my water bottle and he tucked his tail and ran home. In another situation, I probably would have stopped and petted them, but being alone on a country road with no one in sight, I thought about poor Diane Whipple and did not want to end up in a bloody heap on the side of the road. So that gave me an adrenaline rush, which made my 3 remaining miles pretty easy. (Maybe I need someone to scare the pee out of me at mile 22 in Boston next week to make those last 4 miles easier!)

So, my second 20 miler went much better than my first, which took me more than 15 minutes longer (thanks to an 1100 ft elevation gain!).


When I got back to my mother-in-law's house, I checked my donation report, and was thrilled to see that I was very close to the $8000 fundraising mark. (After raising $8K, DFMC team members are considered "Pacesetters", and we get a special patch to wear on our race singlets.) I expressed my excitement to my brother-in-law, and after I'd showered and changed, he surprised me with a donation to bring me to that 8K level. What a great reward after my last long run!

The next 10 days will see just a few short runs, and we fly to Boston on Wednesday, 4/12. The whole family will be doing the BAA 5K on Saturday 4/15, which will be pretty low-key if I run it with Ella. Currently, the forecast calls for rain on Marathon Monday, but that could change (it's New England - if you don't like the weather, wait a minute!).