Breaking into the Double Digits and Other Updates

I've been very bad at blogging lately.  Now that the year-end at work is coming to a close hopefully I'll have more time to post regularly.  I figured I'd give a brief update of where I stand on the training and fundraising front.

Luckily, on the training front I can update you pretty easily because all our training has had a general theme...snow (with some sub-freezing temps thrown in there just for fun).  I kept up with my long runs over break and our first training run back on January 8th was supposed to be not only our first double digit run but also our first run out towards Newton and the infamous Newton Hills.  Due to the snow that was coming down on us that day, we were treated to a shorter 6 mile run towards Hopkinton and an intense cross-training session to make up for the shorter mileage.  I'll get into cross-training in another post but let's just say I went to the grocery store the next day and had to strategize how to get a can of beans off the bottom shelf without embarrassing myself next to an elderly woman.

The following Saturday we finally attacked an 11 miler and the Newton Hills.  I felt great through the hills.  I took my coach Sarad's advice and hunched over slightly up the hills, not straightening up until I was through the crest of the hill, and only looked a few feet ahead of me and not at the huge incline I still had to defeat.  I didn't tighten up until around mile 8 after the third water stop.  The killer though was a hill some of the girls in years past had nicknamed "Mildred" which, like Heart Break Hill, comes right near the end of the run, is long and steep, and on this particular morning was covered in snow and slush.  I managed to jog the entire way up but I honestly probably could have walked it faster.  By the end of the run my legs hurt like they never had before and it took me a full 30 minutes to stretch them out before I felt like I could drive home.

Finally this past Saturday we went towards Hopkinton again for a 12 mile run.  It was bitterly cold at around 15 degrees and with the wind it felt even colder.  Our other coach, Kelly, sent around an email before practice reminding us to dress appropriately.

"10 to 20 degrees: 2 tops, 2 bottoms. A jacket over your base layer and wind pants over the tights."

I had on three tops, two bottoms, and a scarf.  With all the layers I had on I felt like I had suddenly gained 10 pounds and by the end of the run I really just wanted to pull off and ditch my extra pair of pants and scarf (but didn't because I'm cheap and I paid good money for them).  My body temperature must run hot because I clearly didn't need to bundle up so much.  As it's been continuously  snowing in New England, the sidewalks were not well plowed so we also had to battle cars on Rt 135 pretty much the entire run as we made our way into Natick for the first time.  My teammate Manny said that a PeterPan bus driver actually looked him straight in the eye and tried to run him off the road.  In my year and a half driving in Massachusetts with Mass drivers, I don't doubt it.  Aside from the temperature and traffic issues the run went very well and I finished in about the same time I finished the 11 miler and not nearly as sore and tired.  I estimate my pace was about 10:30 min/mile which is great for a long run and right where I want to be.

So what's on the agenda for this week?  Recommitment is on January 31st so we've all been working to get in the last of our donations to reach our fundraising minimum.  As of tonight I have $2,405 in donations!  (This includes $300 from my bowling tournament that hasn't hit the account yet) which is 74% of the way to my goal!  Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far! If you'd still like to donate it's not too late!  Here's the website: http://pages.teamintraining.org/ma/boston11/klauro 

This week I've also been preparing for my main fundraiser!  I'm having a bar night at the Lansdowne Pub on Saturday just in time for recommitment.  I've been spending the week gathering donations for the raffle.  Thanks to the generosity of some local businesses I've got some great prizes and it finally looks like I'm all set!  Stay tuned for all the pictures from the event on Sunday!

Ok I think I've bored you enough with this "brief" update that became not so brief.  I promise to update you all on my training more frequently in the future!

TNT Bowling Tournament

Last Thursday I hosted my first fundraising event and got a taste of the challenges of event planning.  I coordinated a bowling tournament at Lucky Strike in Jillian's which is located right behind Fenway Park's center field bleachers.

The initial set-up of the event was a breeze.  I called Jillian's up and they quickly agreed to let me use 4 lanes for 2 hours and threw in a plate of chips and salsa for the group.  The only catch was that they only times they donated lanes were Monday-Thursday from 6-8pm.  Since many of my friends work outside of the city and/or work long hours some nights, it can be difficult to get down to Fenway by 6pm and therefore it was difficult to get people to commit to coming in advance.

My second challenge was figuring out and obtaining a prize.  I contacted a few restaurants and cafes around Boston to ask if they would donate a gift certificate.  Most seemed vaguely interested but needed a letter from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society officially endorsing me as their fundraiser...which I didn't have.  Because of the holidays I was getting crunched for time so I quickly emailed Jillian at the Massachusetts TNT HQ and voila!  I had the letter in about 24 hours.  The Improv Asylum in the North End came through and donated six tickets.

Finally I decided I wanted to make an inexpensive but fun trophy.  I really impressed myself with my craftiness on this one.  Take a look at the pictures of the trophies below and the pics from the event itself.  We ended up having 13 people including myself participate in the event instead of the 20 I was hoping for.  Even so, we had a great group come out and everyone had a good time.  My co-worker Jess, her boyfriend Chris, and her roommate Sary ended up winning by 5 pins but I bowled the highest score in a game.  I think my 150 is a PR!  Hopefully, I can achieve a few more running PRs in the coming months!

The Trophies!

The Champions:  Sary,  Chris, & Jess

See the photo page for all the pics!

Oh Hey, 2011

Well the New Year kind of snuck up on me there which is why this post is coming a few days late.  I guess I will be a little cliche and join the masses of bloggers out there and write a post reflecting on "how far I've come" in 2010 and what I'm looking forward to in 2011.  So let's see...what is there to note in my life from the beginning of the new decade?

• I spent my first full year in the working world (and haven't been fired)
• I finally ditched my flip phone from 2006 (yes, it did have an antenna) and joined the present with a smart phone
• I ran my first race (a 4 miler in Central Park in April) followed by three more including my first half marathon
• Left the country twice (UK & Ireland in March; Bermuda in May)
• Learned to love sushi
• Saw Tom Petty and Crosby, Stills, and Nash in Saratoga, NY
• Went to three Beer Festivals and two (official) pub crawls
• Was completely surprised at my first surprise party
• Had three different jobs over the course of the year (which will happen in 2011 as well now that I think about it)
• Went skydiving (lived through it and didn't pee my pants before, during, or after)
• Went camping and white water rafting for the first time
• Joined a broomball and dodgeball league and managed not to injury myself too badly

So what's in store for 2011?

• I will run the Boston Marathon (obviously but it had to be said)
• I will run 500 miles (9 down as of today)
• I will finished up my third and fourth rotation and graduate from my finance rotational program at work
• I will find a full-time job and may have to move out-of-state to do so.
• I will complete in my first triathlon.
• I want to hike a mountain or go outdoor rock climbing or both
• This is the most important one which seems to be an ongoing goal: I will cut the drama and bullshit out of my life.   I don't have the time or energy for it anymore.

I won't call these "resolutions."  Most of these items have been on my list for awhile now and I don't like having one date to set goals.  If you attach some kind of fake importance to a date chances are if you start to fail you just wait for the next artificially momentous date until you try again.  If you want to do something, just go out and do it.  No excuses or procrastination (this isn't college anymore people).  So this is just a list of things I want to do soon to keep me focused on what's important to me.  If I achieve them great, if not I'll keep trying until they're off my bucket list.  Three days down, 362 to go.  Bring it 2011!

There Ain't No Holidays in Marathon Training

Christmas Morning!  A time for a big greasy breakfast, opening gifts, time with family, oh yeah, and an 8 mile run.  Now, the schedule is supposed to be a guide designed to allow you to move things things around if they conflict with your schedule.  I decided to ignore this since I'm clearly a masochist  and I knew I would be eating probably about an extra 1000 calories for the rest of the day.

I fueled up with my favorite pre-run breakfast of french toast with bananas.  Carbs and protein all covered in syrup.  Is there anything better?  I donned my new Nike thermal pullover that I got from my brother (that's the plus side of having a brother who's also run a marathon, he knows warm running clothes).  My father snapped this pic right before I left although I ended up letting down Christmas fanatics everywhere and leaving the Santa hat behind for fear of overheating.

The route I took was a short 3/4 mile to a running trail that borders the Tarrytown Lakes Reservoir (running near water is my favorite as I'm sure you'll see in the months to come).  This trail is about a mile long and connects with the North County Trail which is about 20 miles long.  I went out and back on the trail which is pretty flat.  Unfortunately, my parents live in the Hudson River Valley which means that the roads are almost all hills so getting to and from the trail was a little more challenging and I could definitely feel pain creeping up my legs by the time I got back to my parents house, a clear recipe for a sore ass the next day.

The run took me about an hour and 25 minutes which equated to around a 10 minute mile pace taking into account that I probably went a little farther than 8 miles.  I made sure to keep at a conversational pace so I didn't overexert myself.  Having not been able to entice anyone in the immediate area to run the full 8 miles with me (surprising I know), I had to monitor my pace by myself.  I imagine if anyone had actually been out on the trail to see me, it would have been very entertaining to see me muttering nonsense to myself to make sure I could still say full sentences.

I finished the run strong and feeling good but I think because I rushed to get ready for Christmas dinner at my grandparents' house and therefore did not eat or drink  a while after after the run took it's toll on me.  I ended up feeling really light headed and exhausted all through dinner.  I finally recovered after rehydrating, eating, and taking a long nap under my new sheep blanket my Grandmother gave me for Christmas.  Though maybe not an endorsed recovery method, I felt some tea and sugar cookies were the perfect panacea at the end of the night.  Lesson learned though...make sure to eat and drink water within 30 minutes after a long run.

My Reward

Let It Snow!

 What better way is there to lead into Christmas than with a little snow?  Aside from the hour it took me to get home from work on Monday night, I love the snow.  There's nothing better than that silent moment when you go outside and everything is completely white and still before angry Bostonians come out to shovel and ruin it.

Since I was just starting to run last year, I only really ran inside on a treadmill, warm and out of the elements.  Because I now run longer distances and the treadmill doesn't really simulate the rolling hills of a road race (and trust me I wouldn't want to experience a treadmill marathon anyway), I try to run outside as often as possible to build strength in my legs from running hills but mainly for my sanity to have some change in scenery.  Sometimes that means running in the cold, rain, or in the case of Thursday morning, the snow.  When I stepped out my front door at 7am, it was still flurrying and not many of my neighbors had shoveled the sidewalk in front of their houses yet.  For the first 10 minutes or so of my run I had to deal with an occasional snowflake stinging my eyes, but the real challenge was that my normal running shoes, which I think are on their last leg anyway, don't get quite the same traction as they do on dry pavement...big surprise.  I felt like I have to take one and a half steps for every step I would normally take to do the same distance.

This was the sidewalk immediately outside of my front door and my struggling footprints in the snow.  Luckily, when I got out to Beacon St., the main road, a greater proportion of the sidewalk was not only shoveled but also salted in some places.  I'm not sure I would have made the full four miles if the entire route had been snow covered as it felt like I had to work twice as hard as I normally would.  As the snow started to subside I even saw a few other runners and despite a slower minute/mile the run went pretty well.  All in all I had a great morning:  had a successful run, worked from home, got some Chipolte for lunch and then left for Christmas vacation in at my parents' house in New York...all sans pain and injury.

The Real Challenge: Fundraising

As I mentioned before, the Boston Athletic Association sets a fundraising minimum for charity runners because the race is so popular. While this is great for the charities as it ensures that they will raise a certain amount based on the total spots the BAA allocates to them, it can be overwhelming for the actual participants. This year the fundraising minimum was set at $3,250.

Initially I wasn't really too worried about raising this much money. The final deadline is May 18th, 2011, a full month after the marathon and five months from now. That's $650 per month or about $150 per week. Piece of cake! Then I reread my signed agreement...

January 31, 2011 at 5pm marks the recommitment deadline. Up until this point I can donate what I've raised for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and still walk away from the marathon and my fundraising minimum. After this date, I supply the balance of the minimum and am reimbursed as I raise the money. Now don't get me wrong, I'm happy to donate my time and money to LLS, BUT I'm not sure my credit card can quite afford one large $3000+ hit. So that leaves me with really focusing on fundraising. Having never raised this amount of money in my life I was a little worried. My parents raised me in the traditional "we don't talk about money let alone ask for it" way so it's a bit of a challenge for me to solicit donations, even if it is for a good cause.

Despite my reservations, I've come up with a few different fundraising event ideas and I'm sure many of you have already received emails from me. I'm happy to announce that I have blasted through my first goal of $500 in just my first week. To-date I've raised $840 which is 26% of the way to my goal!

Thank you so much to all of you who have contributed thus far. I'm not really one to get emotional or sappy but I  have been really inspired and motivated by your words of encouragement and even more so by your stories of loved ones who have battled leukemia or lymphoma.  In fact, to show my gratitude, if you've donated to me and have someone close who has battled one of the blood cancers, I'd like to run in honor of them by writing their name on the TNT singlet I'll be wearing on race day.  If you'd like to donate, here's the link to my TNT website: Team In Training: Kate Lauro

Finally, this is my official announcement of my first fundraising event.  I will be hosting a Bowling Tournament at Jillian's (aka Lucky Strike) on January 6, 2011 from 6-8pm.  We will have four teams of five and the donation to enter a team is $75 ($15pp).  There will be a two game guarantee and a prize TBD for the winning team.  The Facebook event will follow shortly but you can let me know now if you would already like to reserve a spot!

Ok, I promise that's enough plugs for now...back to training!

Kick-off!

Bang! Was that the starting gun? Yes it was ladies and gentlemen and it was signaling the start of training! I dragged myself out of bed at 7am on Saturday and to The Wellesley Community Center (picture right), our training headquarters, for the Team In Training Kick-off party and first group training run of the season.

At the party, my weekend breakfast staple and our sponsor, Dunkin Donuts, treated us to some coffee and bagels as we were introduced to the Team In Training program and the people supporting us over the next four months. Jillian, the Campaign Coordinator announced that even before we had run our first training run, the Massachusetts chapter had raised over $109K! Over 10% of the way to our $1 million goal! Along with that announcement, she recognized the top 6 fundraisers to date who had already raised from $2K to $18K. We also heard from two of our inspired heroes who were both cancer survivors, one of whom was first diagnosed at age 6 and proudly bragged about recently getting her learner's permit. By the end of all these's speeches, I was shocked, inspired, and a little tiny bit shamed into committing to stop procrastinating and get fundraising!

Finally, our coaches, Kelly and Sarad came up to the stage to introduce themselves and get training started. Sarad really got to the heart of how we will probably all feel about our coaches by the end of training by leading off with, "Someone came up to Kelly earlier and asked if they could call her 'Mom.' So feel free to consider Kelly 'Mom' and me 'Dad.'" Already I'm thinking this is going to be a fun and interesting season and if my 18+ mile runs go the way I think they will, I may even end up calling them Mom, Dad, or whatever else is in my delusional mind at that point. Kelly and Sarad went over some basic training rules the most unfortunate of which is that we are not allowed to run with iPods. We're not allowed to listen to music during the marathon so we have to get use to running long distances without them now. That leaves a

lot of time for bonding with our teammates during runs. Will there be close heart-to-hearts? Heated fights? Awkward revelations? Only time will tell...

Finally, we took off on our first training run, going 1.5 miles out towards Hopkinton (the beginning of the race) and back right on the actual marathon route (picture left). The run went really well as it is shorter than most of the long runs I've been doing. I left Kick-off feeling really excited about our group runs and the entire program in general. For now I've got a very optimistic view of the entire journey and I can't wait to dive right it!