Tag Archives: Boston Marathon

One Week!

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ONE WEEK! 7 days til the 118th Boston Marathon!  Well it has been a while since I updated the blog, but the last two months have flown by (I think we have established that I am not an avid blogger).  Between work, parenting, traveling, and marathon training–there is little time to blog.   Here are some highlights from my marathon journey.

The two most important updates:

  1. Have you donated to my campaign? There is still time, donate here:   www.tinyurl.com/dfmcjenn
  2. Sign up to track me on race day! Choose your level of stalking:
    1. Follow me on Twitter, @kenzington11 My phone will send out a tweet ever 5 miles and also read me your replies in my ear (I run with the music playing)
    2. Text “26333” to 345678 or subscribe on www.baa.org and receive text updates of my progress on race day. http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/att-athlete-alert.aspx
    3. Follow me on facebook.   www.facebook.com/jennsbostonrun

Marathon Training.  I’ve been suffering with Plantar fasciitis that started up at the end of January.  I had it before in my left foot 3 years ago, now it is in my right foot.  I laid off running for about 3 weeks in February and beginning of March, which put me behind on my training.  Luckily, I am seeing a physical therapist who has really helped.  I tape it before my runs and see the PT twice a week.  My PT sessions are really painful but as of this week I have no pain when I run!   I got back on the training schedule in March with long runs of 16, 15, 20 and then my last 20 on March 29th the day thousands of Boston runners are out on the course from Hopkinton to Heartbreak Hill. This was a great run and the excitement of so many runners on the course gave it the feel of a real marathon.  The Dana-Farber team ran from BC out to Wellesley and then back for 20-22 miles total.  I ran 20 which was a great simulation of running up to Heartbreak Hill having run 16 miles prior.  It is intimidating due to all of the marathon ‘lore’ and it’s also a really long hill.  I did some walking, some running, asked a traffic cop where was the “top”of Heartbreak.  Mt. Alvernia St.  He was right.  This is my first time running the Boston marathon but I got a great ‘preview’ of the course which will help me on race day.

Fundraising update. Goal achieved, almost to my “Stretch Goal”!  Thank you to all who came out to my fundraiser at Flatbreads and Orange Leaf on March 4th!  I raised $1765 for Dana-Farber from FB, Orange Leaf, silent auction and the raffle.   This was a huge success!   My original goal was to raise $10,000 and I am just over $11,000 today.  I am not hoping to reach $13,100 (13.1 miles is the distance of a half marathon) which would put me at the next Dana-Farber Pacesetter level!  For bragging rights but also to raise that much more for cancer research!  I attended our last Dana-Farber team meeting two weeks ago and I’m on the board as an 8K pacesetter. Help me reach 13.1K!

7 Days of Rest and Anxiety! We have entered the period of marathon training called the Taper, where runners cut back on all the training runs and relax. From what I have learned, few are good at taking this advice, myself included. I will be running a few shorter runs this week—nothing more than 6 miles and starting to think about carbo-loading starting Thursday. Contrary to popular belief you want to carbo-load well before the night before the race.   What else to do during the taper period? Try not to freak out that the marathon is in 7 days!  Plan my outfit.  Lay out my race day stuff.  Re-plan my outfit.  Check the weather.  Decide on my back-up outfit.  Repeat.   You get the idea.

Cheering Section.  I hope to see a few friends and family along the course but you can still watch and cheer me on from wherever you are in the world!  There are a few ways to track me along the course and send me cheers and encouragement.   I’ll be running with my phone and an app called Runmeter.  Runmeter will tweet my progress every 5 miles and read me your tweets.  This is very cool and I love to hear your voices out on the run.  Runmeter will also post on Facebook and read your comments and “likes”.   BAA also offers runner tracking by text and email from their site at baa.org.   I hope to hear some cheers while I’m on the run!   See the links at the top to follow or sign up for text tracking.

Thank you for reading and if you haven’t, please donate to my campaign at www.tinyurl.com/dfmcjenn   I really appreciate your support.

best,
– Jenn

HBB
One of my training runs at Heartbreak Hill
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my race day “singlet” for Dana-Farber!

Kicking off 2014!

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hello there, happy 2014!  It’s been too long between blog updates but a very fun and busy holidays!  (see below my resolution for more frequent updates!) Training for Boston and winter running has been going pretty well though I definitely did indulge over the holidays.   I ran two half marathons since Marine Corps and ran a PR (personal record) at the Seacoast Half Marathon in November.  I run the Seacoast half every year since it’s in my backyard and it’s a great race.  www.seacoasthalfmarathon.com  I ran a 1:52 which was 4 minutes off my previous best, so all my Marine Corps training did result in a PR, just not for the marathon.  I also ran the Yukanrun Half “Merry-thon” in Gloucester, MA in early December.  The kids loved the name of it, Merry-thon, and it was a pretty good race.  I came in just barely over 2 hours at 2:00:02 so let’s just round that to 2 hours shall we?  Here’s the link for next year, www.yukanrun.com/Holiday-MerryThon.html, just know that this is a hilly race. Just when you think you’ve finished the hills there is another one, but it is very scenic course along the coast and pretty good race support.  And there were quite a few elves, Santas and holiday costumes.   I think next year I will try the Jingle Bell Half in Atkinson, NH to change things up. They had a cute medal this year(and I do like the race medals!)  jinglebellhalf.com  I also fit in a few training runs over the holidays, the longest and coldest being 16 miles at 8 degrees.  I’ll write more about winter running in an upcoming blog but I can tell you that I am not sure I will run if it’s below 10 in future!  Winter running, not my thing.

On to the new year’s resolutions for 2014!  Of course I need to set some goals for 2014, all the kids are doing it.  No list etched on the wall, just a few posted here for the world to see, so you can keep me honest.   I’m turning 44 this year, so 4 goals sounds like a good number for 2014. Let’s not get crazy!

1.  Run the Boston Marathon and raise $10,000 for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  Have you donated a few bucks to my campaign?  Please help me out, it only takes a minute. You can go to my page and donate online.  100% of donations go to cancer research!  HELP ME break the half way mark, my current total is $4900.  Click here:   Jenn’s DFMC page (donate here).   I’m so excited to be part of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge Team for 2014.   More updates to follow on my training.

2. Run a race in every month of the year.   I have to admit that I borrowed this cool idea from a running friend but it is a cool concept.  So far I have already planned or signed up to run a half marathon or longer run every month except July, August, and September.  Still looking for some fun races to do for these months.  I plan to run Boston in April and then another marathon in October–to be determined.   Marine Corps Marathon is a lottery this year so I will enter.  I’m not sure if I would run MCM again (3rd time could be the charm) or try something new.

3.  Run a PR for the marathon, under 4:08.  Like most marathon runners, I want to improve my time.   I’d LOVE to get under 4 hours but let’s just set a goal for improvement on my best time of 4:08.  That would be great.

4.  Update this blog once a week. I’ll keep you updated here on the blog more often as I train and count down to the Boston Marathon! Three months and a bit to go.   I plan to blog something on Sundays/Mondays on my latest adventures in running, racing and fundraising.
Thanks for reading, check back soon or why not follow this blog or my Facebook?
-Jenn

2013 Half Merry-thon with Elf Power!

2013 Half Merry-thon with Elf Power!

the starting line

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It has been a goal of mine to run the Boston Marathon *someday* and I am so excited to join the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge team for 2014!   I submitted my application and expected that I would wait the 4-6 weeks, as advertised.  But I received an acceptance email back on September 25th which was great!   I will be running in honor of my grandmother, Peggy Murtagh, who is a cancer survivor and my inspiration to meet and overcome new challenges in life.  I’m lucky to have Scott, who ran Boston with DFMC in 2011, as my in-house expert (literally).  As well, DFMC has fundraising and marathon coaches to get me to the finish line – for the run and the fund raising.   My fundraising goal is $10,250.   It’s pretty ambitious and I’m a little nervous to meet it, but I know all my friends, family, colleagues and friends of friends will support me!   Speaking of support, have you donated to my run?  Did you know that 100% of the funds donated go toward cancer research?  I’m thinking to run a promotion,  if you donate $100 or more, I’ll send you some tasty gluten free baked goods.
You can give at my DFMC page:  http://www.runDFMC.org/2014/jenniferh  Also, don’t forget to check if your company may match your charitable donation.

I’ve run 2 marathons so far and scheduled to run Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) again on October 27th.  Boston should be a piece of cake, right?   I’m a fair weather runner, so the Boston course will be a challenge for me mentally and physically but also training in New England in winter.  I just got chills thinking about the freezing temps and snow.  But I am committed to crossing the finish line and raising funds for Dana Farber.   I plan to update my progress and post ‘news’ of my journey on this blog.  First time blogger, first time Boston Marathoner, so we will see what happens!   Stay tuned.  You can also “follow” this blog (see the button on the right) and/or follow my page on Facebook,  https://www.facebook.com/jennsbostonrun    speedily,  – jenn