I kicked off the Challenge at the 2011 Boston Marathon with Tedy's Team, lead by former New England Patriot Tedy Bruschi, and I cannot think of a better way to have started this challenge. Running from Hopkinton to Boston as part of this team is one of the most incredible things I have done. Everyone at the American Stroke Association, Tedy, and all of my teammates were amazing in making this a fantastic day for all of us!
Only 13 days after Boston, I was hitting the pavement for State #2 at the Cox Providence RI Marathon. Despite less than two weeks of recovery from Boston, I managed to run a faster marathon that day. This was a great marathon, and I was fortunate to have a good friend come along and support me. Running two marathons that close together also qualified me to join the Marathon Maniacs!
One month later, I was running the Keybank VT City Marathon for State #3. Not my best marathon (perhaps due to rediculous humidity and tired legs after 3 marathons in 6 weeks), but the thing about running this challenge is that my time doesn't matter. It's raising awareness and funds for the American Stroke Association, and honoring all of those I know who have been affected by heart disease and stroke that matters. So if I have a not-so-great marathon, I still feel good about what I have accomplished. My Dad is one family member who I am running in honor of, and he came to watch me run that day, which gave me motivation and inspiration to get to the finish line no matter what.
Well, a few weeks after that, I had surgery (unrelated to running) which kept me down and out for most of the summer, so I didn't get to make much progress over that time. Three months of no running left my feet just itching to hit the pavement, and the day I was cleared to run, I went home and put on my running sneakers! I had about 40 days to train for the Maine Marathon in October - yikes! I had never run a marathon with that little training, and I almost backed out, but thanks to some great training advice from fellow runners, I was able to get in shape and ready to go.
40 days later, I was at the rainy start line of State #4 at the Maine Marathon! This was the first time I had ever used a run-walk strategy, and I liked it so much that I've continued to do this ever since that race. I knew that I wasn't ready to go all out and push myself and risk getting injured, and so I took a one minute walking break every 5 minutes from start to finish. Despite not having ideal training and the rainy weather (and wearing a lovely looking garbage bag through most of the race, since I had managed to forget to pack anything water resistant), I was able to keep good spirits by thinking of the cause, and this took me to the end, which surprisingly came at about my normal finishing time. It's amazing where pure inspiration can take you.
I had originally planned to run one marathon in November and one in December, but I realized that I still needed a little more recovery time, and so I took it easy with training and opted out of those two marathons.
I rung in the new year at the Walt Disney World Marathon for State #5, and what a wonderful escape from the winter weather! This was my favorite marathon yet (except maybe Boston - nothing can really beat that). Train to End Stroke had a team running Disney, and it was absolutely wonderful to be able to have the support of all of the awesome folks from the American Stroke Association. And who wouldn't want to be cheered on by Disney characters while running through the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom (where there were many cute little animals cheering), and Hollywood Studios! It was awesome :).
This was also my first attempt at taking pictures while running - hence the horrible photos from this marathon :)
Just a few weeks ago, I finished State #6 at the New Jersey Marathon, which was another great run. Perfect weather and beautiful views, and we even had a Kentucky Derby style start (with the horn).
It's hard to believe I've run 6 marathons in the past year, and that I'm feeling disappointed that I didn't run more! Overall, I have run over 157 marathon miles (plus a whole lot more in training). Since I started the Challenge, I've gone through 3 pairs of running shoes, taken in gallons upon gallons of gatorade, eaten endless packs of Sports Beans, and greatly expanded my list of songs on my ipod. I qualified to become a member of the Marathon Maniacs by running 2 marathons in 13 days, and after 2 more states, I can join the 50 States Club.
You might wonder what has kept me going, and the answer is simple: it's the cause. I think about my Gram, my Pop, my Grandpa, my Dad, my teammates from Tedy's Team and Train to End Stroke, and all those for whom donations have been made in honor of, and it gives me the inspiration to keep my focus on making it to each finish line so that I can complete this challenge. I am doing this to fundraise for a cause I am passionate about and that makes it easy to push through each race, even when I find myself struggling.
In the past year, I have have raised a total of $3866 for the American Stroke Association, and my goal is to reach $10,000 in the upcoming year. Please click my fundraising link at the top of the page if you would like to help me to reach that goal! Together we can make a difference in the fight against stroke.
Onto year 2 of the Challenge!!
