Monday Motivation: T-Minus One Week Baby!!!

So ya know, a week from now right about this time I will be about 10 miles into the 119th running of the Boston Marathon. Just a nice 26.2 mile jog. With 32,500 of my newest friends. No biggie. I am cool as a cucumber. Not a bit nervous. Or anxious. Or excited. Or freaking out.

Oh that's right, April Fools day was weeks ago.

I AM FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW.

In one week I will be running the Boston Marathon - what?!? How did this happen? What was I thinking? Did all that training really happen? I can't possibly be ready for this, right?!

No, no I must be dreaming. Any minute now my alarm clock will go off and it will be 5:00am on a chilly February morning with a -3 degree temp and more snow falling, and I will be bundling up to head out for a DFMC team run, and the marathon is still months away. Yup, that alarm is going to go off any second now. Oh man, wait until I tell Dave about the crazy dream I was having about it being a week before the marathon and how my stomach started feeling like there were a million tiny acrobats doing flips, boy will he get a kick out of that. Just as soon as that alarm clock goes off and I wake up. Any second now...

Um, shoot. There isn't an alarm. Guys, I don't think I am dreaming.

Wow, this is really happening.

Okay Erin, get a grip.

Sorry about that! Though now you basically get a sense for the cycle of thoughts that keep running through my head. Boston is in full on marathon mode and just about everywhere I look right now is a reminder of the adventure and celebration that awaits us one week from today. Trying to soak it all in but it already feels like it's all flying by so fast.

This has been a journey like no other and I can only imagine the memories that will still be made in this coming week. I could never have reached this point without the support and love from my incredible family, friends, and teammates - I am so blessed to have all of you cheering me on!

It has been hard for me to put into words what this team and our mission has come to mean to me, but pictures are worth a thousand words right? So here is a little Monday Motivation treat my teammates and I conjured up on an 18 mile training run this season, as the snow swirled around us and winter refused to "Let It Go." A "Frozen" medley seemed an appropriate tribute after the training season we endured and this gives you a sense for the unbelievable spirit, dedication, and passion of this year's Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team. And while I may be the one singing, this was a true team effort with my incredible teammates Laura, Crystal, Elise, and Amy getting the bulk of the credit.

T-Minus One Week!!!

One week from today, it all starts in Hopkinton baby!!! 

Monday Motivation: T-Minus 2 Weeks!

When I decided to chronicle my journey as a first time marathoner for all of you, I had three primary goals.

First, to allow my family and friends –many of who live far outside the Boston area – to cheer me on from afar and follow my training and learn more about the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge.

Second, in hopes of inspiring or providing more information to anyone who might be considering applying for a future DFMC season – particularly as I gained the final courage to push “send” on my own application after reading about other runners experiences with the DFMC.

Finally, to keep myself accountable – because it is far too easy to let yourself down but by sharing this journey publicly I knew that when things got tough (and they did) I could not and would not let all of you down by quitting. 

So with these goals in mind, in the days after receiving the notification that I had been selected for this year’s DFMC team I started imagining all the wonderful posts I would craft for all of you. Recaps after every group run, witty commentary on the trials and errors of a first time marathoner, pictures, videos –oh the fun we would have!

And then…well, I started training for a marathon.

To say that this journey has consumed me these past few months would be an understatement. And how could it not? There is a reason it is not called the “Dana-Farber Marathon Experience” or the “Dana-Farber Marathon Commitment.” It is called the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge, because it is indeed a challenge in every sense of the term. Raising thousands of dollars to support vital research while training through a record setting winter was not for the faint of heart. But without a doubt this has been the most rewarding challenge of my life thus far, and I am not sure that anything I write here will ever fully capture what this team, this mission, and this journey have come to mean to me.

And so while many of the posts and reflections that sounded so good in my head during those long runs never actually made it onto the screen thanks to the post-run fog I would immediately fall into upon returning home, well…rest assured it’s not because there hasn’t been an abundance of things to share with all of you. I have just been a tad bit busy becoming an almost marathoner. In the next two weeks I will do my best to catch us up and embrace the taper (the time where we reduce our training and mileage to rest up for the marathon while attempting to distract ourselves and our nerves). 

But for now, I am in Eugene, OR visiting two very special training “coaches” who are demanding morning snuggles, and who am I to ignore coach’s orders? 

T-Minus 2 Weeks!!! 

 Lifting a 4 and 3 year old counts as cross-training, right? 

 With two weeks to go the nerves are definitely starting to set in...
but the last 26.2 are merely the celebration of all the miles and memories from this journey! 

Click HERE to make a gift in support of Erin