Holiday and New Year Wishes

As we quickly near the end of another year and we enjoy the festivities of the season, I wish you joy and laughter as you gather with family and friends and hope 2019 brings you continued happiness, health, and blessings!

Speaking of blessings, you have likely noticed me being a bit quieter on here than usual. In late September (precisely one day after I called to confirm my spot on the 2019 Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team roster), someone very near/dear to me was rushed to the hospital for an unrelated condition during which it was discovered that they had suspicious masses on their lung. From that day onward, my training for and support of Dana-Faber was literally what helped me to navigate weeks of uncertainty, appointment logistics, and the emotional roller coaster of learning that someone you love has cancer.

On the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, that person had surgery at Brigham and Women's hospital in Boston to remove the middle lobe of their lung - the site of the primary and largest tumor. While I anxiously awaited news of their prognosis, I sat in a waiting room and drafted my November DFMC newsletter (if you aren't on the list and wish to be, please drop me a note to be added). I was anxious. And scared. There are so many unknowns with cancer, not the least of which is that you cannot stage it without tissue samples and in the case of this patient, the only way to retrieve that tissue was during the surgery. Meaning we had no idea if this was truly being caught early (as we prayed and hoped) or if they would discover it had progressed farther into other parts of the lungs (where pre-cancerous or even early stage cancer cells can spread but are not always be detected by a PET scan, used to illuminate areas of high metabolic activity often indicative of cancer and which had been done prior to the surgery). 

Thanks to the tremendous talent, dedication, and precision of thoracic surgeon Dr. Yolonda Colson and her team at BWH - to whom we were referred by the Dana-Farber Diagnostic Clinic - the patient came through surgery beautifully. Even better was the initial thought that the lobectomy had removed what indeed turned out to be a 2.5 cm adenocarcinoma in the patient's middle lobe and there were no initial signs of cancer in the surrounding lobe tissue and lymph nodes, meaning it was unlikely to have spread. That being said, the only way to confirm this would be to wait for the full pathology results of all the tissues samples retrieved during the surgery. So while the patient grew stronger every day and was discharged after only four days in the hospital, we anxiously awaited the pathology results. 

On Friday, December 14th I heard the most beautiful words. "We got it all." That's what Dr. Colson said as we sat in her office and reviewed the full pathology report. The cancer was classified as Stage 1 and the pathology was clear, meaning there are no signs of further cancerous activity at this time – which also means no chemo or radiation will be necessary. This person will have to undergo scans every three months for the next three years to monitor for reoccurrence (for which they are now at a higher risk for) and then if they continue to have clean scans (showing no cancer), they will have scans every six months thereafter until reaching the five year mark at which they can officially say they are cancer free. And while we can never know what the future might hold, this is the most promising news we could have hoped to hear following a cancer diagnosis. 

A blessing in every sense of the word given it is estimated that only 1 in 6 lung cancers are caught as Stage 1 when surgery alone can be considered potentially “curative” (noting again that doctors will not consider someone cured of cancer until they reach the five-year mark of clean scans). 

Thus, my third DFMC season has become deeply personal. As we enter the fourth week of official training, I have certainly felt the magnitude of what DFMC funds more keenly than ever before, and your gifts and support are more meaningful than you could know. In fact, you have helped me to reach the $5k milestone before the New Year, a milestone which it took me until February to reach in each of my two previous DFMC seasons. WOW and THANK YOU!!! 

And because you know I like keeping the FUN in fundraising - as well as find ways to give back to YOU while you support vital cancer research - be sure to check out the EVENTS tab above where you can learn about 2019 Super Bowl Squares (now on sale!), Paint for A Cause, Dine for a Cause dates, and more!

Wishing you all the joys and blessings that 2019 can possibly bring you, and thank you again for your love and support!

xoxo

Erin

                                                     

T-Minus 18 Weeks: Let the Training Begin!

So I have been a little quiet on here lately - rare for me, I know. In late September someone very near/dear to me learned they had a potentially cancerous tumor - a few weeks later with a referral to the very best at Dana-Farber's diagnostic clinic and Brigham and Women's surgical team, we learned this would require major surgery which took place just after Thanksgiving. While I'm not able to share much more than that at this point in time, I can say that the honor and privilege to run Boston for Dana-Farber, and the critical research this team funds, has never been made more real to me than in these past two months.

Intermingled with this news was our first team meeting on November 7th and our first group run this past Saturday, December 8th. Both allowed the chance to reconnect with so many from our DFMC family as well as to welcome our "newbies" to the team. Our "official" training plan started today and over the next 18 weeks we will run upwards of 250 miles - or 840,000 steps and 85+ hours on our feet - with one hell of a 26.2 mile victory lap on April 15, 2019. I hope to be celebrating having raised at least $13,100 to fund vital cancer research - though if I am being honest, after raising $18,668 in 2016 and being just shy of the 20k Pacesetter mark (Pacesetters are top fundraisers on our team who meet various milestones such as 13.1k, 20k, and 26.2k), the competitor in me is not so secretly aiming to raise 20k to kick cancer's butt!

Quick shout outs to my #BirthdayChallenge and #GivingTuesday bonus winners - Peter Naughton and Ellen Hourihan! Each received a Starbucks gift card for donating during those challenges, and I appreciate your support!

Running wise, I had my first 6 mile run on Saturday since before I got pregnant in 2016, and I felt great! No surprise that getting to be back out on the course with my favorite teammates and volunteers was a game changer. Day 1 of my plan called for 3-4 miles and I stuck to the lower end with a solid 3 and plan to do 4 tomorrow (when Day 2 again calls for 3-4). Stretching, core work, and even greater focus on diet will all come into play now as well.

Thanks as always for your love and support...here we go!

Getting in today's miles while wearing my new Tracer 360 LED safety vest
on Day 1 of training for the 2019 Boston Marathon.

Birthday Wishes

Today is my 36th birthday! It is also Election Day in the U.S. As such, here are a few birthday wishes as I begin this next trip around the sun:

1. U.S. Friends, take a few minutes to educate yourselves prior to heading to the polls. Non-partisan sites like Vote411.org (organized by the League of Women's Voters) are a great resources, as are your local ballot guides. 
2. VOTE! 
3. Put the $10 you might spend on a greeting card or a coffee and make a gift to fund vital cancer research in honor of my birthday! First you voted, now you are helping us to get closer to a world without cancer - is this a great day or what?!? 
4. Drop me a note if you have a loved one or friend you would like me to run in honor or memory of! 

And with that, I'm off to go log a few sloshy birthday miles to start this next year off right!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday everyone!  I have been quiet these past few weeks thanks to a whirlwind of personal and professional obligations (more on that soon) but, nonetheless, my pre-training has continued to be in full swing and I have never been more grateful for the clarity I find while logging early morning miles.

Speaking of - the most popular question I have been getting as of late is "are you training yet and, if so, what are you doing?"

For this past month and for the next 8 weeks, I am in what I am calling pre-training prior to the start of our "official" 18 week training plan which begins with our first DFMC group run on Saturday, December 8. After an extended running hiatus after having my first baby (five weeks early in late December 2016), I have been taking this time to rebuild my mileage base. This refers to the strategic and progressive increase in aerobic activity and mileage that allows you to have a strong foundation as you go into marathon training. Simply put, I wasn't running at all and currently I am running 11-12 miles or so per week over 3 run days. Over the next 8 weeks, I will increase that to 15-20 through 4 run days. On non-run days, I have been incorporating other aerobic activities (for a minimum of 30 minutes) to re-establish and strengthen my aerobic fitness, strength training, and daily stretching to keep my muscles loose and prevent injury.

Speaking of injuries, that is the hardest part of returning to any consistent running program - your brain feels as if you should be running 5-6 days a week and logging X amount of miles while your body needs time to rebuild a solid foundation. The temptation is to ramp up your training and mileage too quickly which almost always leads to injuries that, in the end, have the potential to sideline you for far longer and can put you further behind in training. Thus the importance of a strategic plan which allows you to map out the progression and trust that you will, in fact, get back to your higher mileage in due time.

Additionally, I have been focused on my nutrition and putting better fuel in my body. Like many new Moms, I blinked and have found myself still carrying around the extra weight (and then some) which I put on during pregnancy and theougjout the fog of early Motherhood. A return to solid nutrition with a focus on all my vegetable and fruit servings, whole and high fiber grains, lean proteins, and eating at the right times throughout the day has not only helped me to fuel my miles but has left me feeling way more energized and focused. While I cannot tell you how that has translated on the scale, quite literally because ours needs a new battery that I keep forgetting to get (mental note, pick up batteries today Erin), I can tell you that my clothes are fitting looser and I am down a size, which is particularly gratifying given I have invested in vital running gear over these past few years which needs to fit again by the time we head into winter training!

And with that, I am throwing on my rain gear and head lamp and heading out into the rain for a few sloshy miles. Have a great weekend everyone!

T-Minus 185 days!

T-Minus 7 Months

7 months from today I will be sitting in the basement of St. John's in Hopkinton, MA. Nervous laughter will punctuate the quiet morning air and there will be countless hugs, pictures, and far too many trips to the bathroom. Patient banners will be carefully placed around the room awaiting signatures and expressions of encouragement, and volunteers will be on hand to provide nourishment for the journey ahead. There will be announcements, speeches, and testimonials. Some of us will head next door to the chapel where a Mass will be offered for those who wish to join. It will end with a hearty chorus of "God Bless America" and it will likely make me cry (I am a sucker for the music, after all). Minutes will feel like hours and hours will go by in minutes. And then we will find our way outside to gather on the front steps of St. John's where a photographer will capture the smiles, nerves, and grit of the more than 500 runners who have taken on the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC) - a challenge which asks runners to train for and run all 26.2 miles of Boston's famed course while raising vital money for innovative cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. And soon thereafter, we will make our way to the starting line of the 123rd Boston Marathon.

There is a reason they call the corrals which space out the runners "waves"- because as we make our way down a  side street we will suddenly merge into a sea of other charity runners, each of us proudly wearing a singlet emblazoned with the cause we have so passionately trained and fundraised for. We will have put in months of hard work to allow our legs to go the distance and there will be no shortage of energy replenishment along the course- but what will really drive each of us to Boylston Street is our hearts. Hearts that will remind us of dear family, friends, and angels who we will honor with our run. Hearts that will remind us of the power we have to impact change. Hearts that will burst with all the emotions as strangers yell your name and thank you for running. 

7 months from today will be April 15, 2019. It will be six years to the day that lives were changed forever,, including my own, on Boylston Street. We have since reclaimed that date as One Boston Day - an annual day of kindness, service, and love. I can’t think of a more fitting way to honor the spirit of that day and to remember the lives lost and forever altered than by running my third DFMC/Boston to help save and change lives through the research being done at DFCI.

And so starts the journey.

It's official!
Honored and humbled to be back with the very best teammates,
crew, and volunteers for DFMC's 30th season!