My Boston Marathon

Just a few days ago, I finished the Boston Marathon. To be totally honest, I can't quite believe it. But then I feel how sore my legs are, and I realize that I did, in fact, run from Hopkinton to Boston. And I've got the picture to prove it :)

Ok, so for those of you who want the abbreviated version, here it is. I completed the Boston Marathon in 5:13, a time that I was really happy about. At the halfway point and at mile 20, I thought I had a chance to finish in under 5 hours, but it sadly it didn't quite happen. But I ran up all the Newton hills, and crossed the finish line with a smile on my face. So I can't complain one bit! And I had wonderful friends and family to cheer me on the whole way.

Alright, so there's the short version. If you'd like the more complete version, read on--warning it's LONG!.

My Marathon Day began at around 5am...yes, 5am. I got myself together, and headed off to meet up with my friend Beth and two of her friends who were also running. After "getting our swag on" (long story, don't ask), we took a few pictures and headed to Boston Common to get the BAA buses to Hopkinton. There, we met up with my running buddy Sarah and joined a looooong line of people snaking towards yellow school buses hailing from school districts all over Massachusetts. Eventually we got on the bus and began the 45 minute drive out to Hopkinton.

When we arrived in the Athletes Village it was probably about 8:30am. We spent the next little while hanging out on the grass, writing our names on our arms and shirts, applying sunscreen, eating last minute snacks, stretching, and just generally trying to stay loose. Eventually, we heard the announcement that it was time to go. So we checked our bags and began the 3/4 mile walk to the start line. There we joined the thousands of other people waiting to begin the marathon. We inched our way towards the starting line and then....we were off!! I started a bit before 11am, so almost 6 hours after I woke up! People cheered loudly as we began our trek to Boston.

The first few miles passed quickly. Sarah and I quickly realized we ran the first mile waaay too fast (the first mile is very much downhill) so we slowed down and got into a good pace. We made our way through Hopkington and Ashland, before heading into Framingham, where I knew I had friends and family waiting. I was so happy to see them! After passing through Framingham, we headed through Natick where Sarah saw some of her friends. Then we reached mile 9, where there was a HUGE contingent of Tufts people. It was quite a rush to hear them all cheering!

After Natick, we headed into Wellesley. True to form, we heard the Wellesley girls a good 1/2 mile before we saw them. They were as loud as advertised! Right after the campus, we passed the halfway mark. We were 13.1 miles in! After seeing my family again, we continued to Newton. Oh Newton, home of the dreaded hills. Sarah and I had talked before and said that we really wanted to run up the 3 big Newton hills. After having some Goo at the base of the first, we headed off.

The first hill was hard, but we made it through without any real problems. We made the turn onto Commonwealth Ave and attacked the second hill. Again, no real problem. The crowds were great in Newton! There was one woman and her daughter who were yelling "You can do it! Yes you can!" That became my mantra for the rest of the hills--so thanks, random woman :) Next up was Heartbreak Hill. It was hard, not gonna lie. When I reached the top, my whole body felt like jelly. I had to walk for a few minutes just to feel my legs again. But we picked it back up into a jog for the last little hill to BC.

So now we were at mile 21. And I won't lie to you, I don't remember much from miles 21-25. At some point, Sarah started going a bit faster than me. I motioned to her to go ahead and set out to finish the race on my own. I just went into a zone and remember pretty much nothing of Brookline. I saw one friend there, but apparently there were a bunch of other people cheering for me that I didn't even notice or acknowledge. So if you were one of those people, sorry!

I got to mile 25, which is easy to recognize because you pass the giant Citgo sign heading into Boston. I knew then that I could do it. Through Kenmore Square and then under Mass Ave (which was probably the worst tiny hill of the whole course). Then the famous "right on Hereford, left on Boylston" and I could see the finish line! I heard my family and gave them a quick wave and then pushed my last bit of energy into propelling me across the finish line. It was an incredible feeling! I got a hug from the Tufts President and the coach of the Tufts team and then got my shiny blanket, water, Gatorade, and finally, my medal. And let me tell you, I was pretty darn proud of that medal.

And so that, my friends in a (long) nutshell is my Boston Marathon story. But I certainly can't say that I accomplished this alone. It was so wonderful to have my friends and family there to support me on Marathon Day. And the text messages, e-mails, Facebook messages and phone calls that I got from all of you were so wonderful both as motivation before the race and congratulatory after. And of course my running buddies Sarah and Beth were constant sources of motivation. So thank you to everyone who has supported me in this crazy journey! Now, the soreness of my legs has started to disappear, and I can't wait to get out there running again!

Below are some pictures of me and my good friends running--courtesy of Henri.



I shall leave you with what may have been the funniest moment of the day. As we were running along at the beginning I heard someone say (into his cell phone) "Um, I'm running the Boston Marathon right now, can I call you back later?" It was simply hilarious--why are you even picking up your phone????

Tapering...

We've now reached what is arguably the most important part of marathon training--the taper. The tapering period is basically where you drastically reduce your mileage and spend a lot of time resting. Now Miriam, you might say, that seems crazy! How is it possible that resting is the most important? Isn't running lots of miles more important? Well, while building a base by running lots of miles is important, so is tapering. During the taper period, all those little aches and pains that have cropped up during the training start to go away. You really get a sense of just how fit you are. And when marathon day arrives, you are well rested and ready to go!

Of course, like any aspect of running, tapering isn't all fun and games. I feel extremely antsy--to go from running 25-30 miles a week to running about 10-12 is hard. It gives me a lot of extra energy. The reduction in running also means that I no longer need to eat quite as much as I have been---another (sad) change. But mostly, with tapering comes the anticipation, and then knowledge that Marathon Day is getting closer and closer. Things start to creep into my mind like what will I wear, what will the weather be like and will I hit the dreaded wall? One of the biggest challenges for me is not letting the doubts creep into my mind.

Despite all that bad stuff, I do feel good. I feel incredibly fit and ready to take whatever the Boston Marathon course will throw at me. And it is due in no small part to all of you and your wonderful support! Several of you have asked how you can follow me during the Boston Marathon to track my progress. I'm looking into this and will report back with options early next week.

Lastly, even though the hard training is over, the fundraising is not. It's not too late to donate and support me in my quest to run the Boston Marathon! You can donate at: http://www.tuftsmarathonchallenge.com/runners/miriamst. As I've mentioned before many times, your donation of even $10 will be very much appreciated!

And What Did YOU Do With Your Sunday??

Well I'll tell you--I ran 20 miles! Yes that's right, today was our longest training run. We met at Boston College and donned stylish neon green safety vests (pictures hopefully to come soon) and headed west on the marathon course. We went as far as the far west side of the Wellesley College campus before turning around and heading back to BC.

I was a bit nervous upon starting this run as previously I had only done 14 miles. A six mile jump seemed pretty big and I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle it. But it actually went alright. Well, let me rephrase, it went alright until about mile 18 when I no longer wanted to run up the hills anymore. Then it was less than alright. Bascially, the course that we did ended with Heartbreak Hill. Remember when I said earlier that running Heartbreak Hill isn't that bad? Well it turns out after running 18 miles, it's a lot worse. Those Newton hills will certainly be a challenge on Marathon Day!!

One of the things (well really the only thing) that got me through that tough part was my wonderful running partner Sarah. At one point between the first and second hills we took a quick walk/stretch break. When we started up again, I told her I didn't want to walk again and she shouldn't let me. She agreed to do this....and so a few minutes later as we were running up the second hill the following conversation ensued:

Me: I can't do this (PS, this is like the absolute worst thing you can say as a runner. We ALWAYS can do it)
Sarah: Yes you can. And you know what, you have no choice, you have to.
Me: Maybe I need to walk for a few minutes
Sarah: No, you're not allowed to. You have to keep running, you have no choice. C'mon, lets go.
Me: You know, I don't like you very much right now. You're mean.

Yes, I know she was doing exactly what I had asked, but at that moment, I didn't care :) I ended up walking for maybe 100 feet, enough time to take a few drinks of water, before pushing through it to the end of the run.We finished the 20 miles in just about four hours, which puts us in great position for a good run on Marathon Day!!

One of the fun things about today is that there were so many people out there running on the marathon course. This weekend is the traditional last long run of training so lots of people were out doing various permutations of 20 or so miles. It was nice to be surrounded with so many other runners!

So after today, I feel much more confident heading into Marathon Day--just 3 weeks away! Getting through this 20 mile hurdle was huge and also helped me solidify a few things for race day. Things like what to eat before (peanut butter and jelly sandwhich), what to eat/drink during the run (water/Gatorade mix mostly with maybe 1 or 2 GUs--have we discussed GU yet?) and what parts of the course are my most/least favorite. And now begins the taper period. Basically we don't do any more long runs. Just shorter runs (of no more than 8-10 miles) until Marathon Day!

Remember, it's not too late to sponsor me for the Boston Marathon--go to: http://www.tuftsmarathonchallenge.com/runners/miriamst to donate online! Your gift of even just $10 will go a long way to helping me acheive my goal!

Finally, to my fellow Jews--Happy Passover! Enjoy your matzo!

So What's the Deal with High Fructose Corn Syrup??

So I'm sure you've all seen those commercials on TV about high fructose corn syrup. You know what I'm talking about, where someone advocates that high fructose corn syrup is the same as sugar and fine in moderation. I've seen them a lot and have often thought about high fructose corn syrup and whether it is really the same as sugar or whether it is a large contributing factor to obesity.

I am totally not a chemist, but from what I can understand, high fructose corn syrup is created when regular corn syrup goes through some kind of chemical process to change it's molecular structure from glucose to fructose. Then it's mixed with more regular corn syrup (which is made of fructose) to make a sweet syrup. Please don't ask me how corn syrup gets made from corn....I have no idea.

So anyways, there's been a ton of debate about whether or not high fructose corn syrup is worse for you from than regular sugar, which is typically in the sucrose form. In fact, if you do any sort of scholarly search you'll find a myriad of articles either saying that it's totally fine or that it's the worst thing ever invented. So who to believe? Well it's hard to say.

A few years ago, the American Medical Association released a report saying that they did not feel strongly that high fructose corn syrup contributed to obesity more than sucrose. Even a very publicized 2004 study showed that while there did seem to be an association between high fructose corn syrup and obesity, it was unclear if it was a direct cause. And just the other day, a study from Princeton was released that showed that rats who ate high fructose corn syrup had a greater weight gain than rats who ate table sugar, even if they consumed the same overall calories. (see below for a funny aside about rats)

So with all this conflicting information, what's a girl (or guy) to do? Well, as always, I'm no expert, but I'd say that avoiding high fructose corn syrup is probably a good thing to do. But that's easier said than done--it's in EVERYTHING. Seriously, soda, juice drinks, candy, salad dressing, and bread...really bread. So for me personally, I try not to buy or consume too many things with high fructose corn syrup, but I don't stress too much about the occasional soda or food that slips by.

But obviously, this points to the fact that we need more research about that factors that contribute to obesity. The Tufts President's Marathon Challenge, which I am so honored to be a part of, is raising money that will fund this important research so that we will not only better understand how things like high fructose corn syrup contribute to obesity, but how we can intervene to curb obesity in this country. You can help me out by sponsoring me at: http://www.tuftsmarathonchallenge.com/runners/miriamst

So what do you all think about high fructose corn syrup? Is it something you work to avoid, or something you don't think much about? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

And for a parting note, one of my most favorite TV shows, The West Wing has a hillarious scene about doing medical research in white rats. Here you go:

Margaret (one of the White House aides talking to the Surgeon General): Red meat has been found to cause cancer in white rats. Maraschino cherries have been found to cause cancer in white rats. Cellular phones have been found to cause cancer in white rats. Has anyone examined the possibility that cancer might be hereditary in white rats?
The Surgeon General: Let me tell you something, I'm not a hundred percent sure we've ruled that out.

Just a little something to brighten your day :)

My dear blog readers: Why I need your help

So it is now a little more than a month before the Boston Marathon. I'm getting more and more excited, and a bit nervous, each day. Amazingly enough, I only have two more long runs left before the taper period begins.

While my training is going well, I can't say the same about my fundraising. I've set out to raise $2,500 as part of the Tufts President's Marathon Challenge, which raises money to fund important research to fight childhood and adolescent obesity. I know this is a lofty goal, but I do believe with your help, I can achieve it.

For those of you who have already contributed a HUGE thank you! You are really helping me make this experience extra special. For those of you who haven't quite gotten to it yet, I hope you will contribute even just $10 to help me achieve my goal.

If you're still wavering about contributing, here are a few reasons to give:

• It's incredibly motivating for me to have all of your support. It may sound cheesy, but when I am struggling with training it's so helpful for me to know that there are people out there who are supporting me. I know that the marathon itself will be an even bigger challenge, but your support will help me through the tough parts.
• Your donations are fully tax deductible and go to an incredibly important cause--fighting childhood and adolescent obesity. The Tufts School of Nutrition has been at the forefront of the fight against obesity, both on a national and local level. They do amazing work and your contribution will help them do more.
• And if none of these serious reasons convince you, think of your contribution as a small price to pay for the hours (or probably minutes) of enjoyment you've received from reading this blog :)

We'll return to our regularly schedule talks about running and fighting obesity soon, but I wanted to interrupt with this important message and request for help. If all of you reading this gave just $10 (or even better, $26-one for each mile!) it will go a long way to helping me achieve my goal.

You can donate online at: http://www.tuftsmarathonchallenge.com/runners/miriamst. If you'd prefer not to donate online, just let me know and I'm happy to give you the address to mail a check. Thank you all so much for your support!

Running in the Rain (Or why I am a hardcore runner)

So I woke up this morning at 6:45 (after successfully changing my clocks before going to sleep!) and peeked outside to see that it was pouring....and windy....and the kind of day that makes you want to just stay in bed. I checked the computer to see the forecast, and pretty much just saw this icon...for the whole day.

I'll be honest, I almost went back to sleep, I was pretty close. And then I remembered that the Boston Marathon is only a little over a month away and that training days are precious. So I dragged myself out of bed and headed over to Tufts for the weekly long run.

When I got there, I was impressed, about 30 other people had also managed to drag themselves to the run. The rain had mostly stopped and so off we went. For about 10 minutes, I thought it might be ok. And then...it began to pour again. Very quickly I was soaked....likely dripping wet, squishy shoes soaked. But there was nothing to do but continue on. And so, thanks to the support of my running buddy Ann, we finished our 14 mile run, battling the rain, the wind, the puddles of questionably clean water and drivers which seemed to think it was really fun to splash the poor runners.

As we sloshed our way through the rainy streets, Ann and I decided that having showed up this morning for the run made us hardcore runners. After all, a lot of people would decide to stay inside on a day like today, or cut the run short, but not us. And I'll say, while it wasn't the most fun run ever, it gave me a pretty good sense of accomplishment, that I could battle the elements as well as the usual sore muscles and tiredness. While I'm keeping fingers and toes crossed that Marathon Day weather is not like today, at least I'll have experience running in the cold rain if it comes to that!

And remember, if you want to support your favorite hardcore marathon runner, you can do so at http://www.tuftsmarathonchallenge.com/runners/miriamst. All money goes to a great cause-research to fight childhood and adolescent obesity. Even if you can only give $10, every little bit helps!

Heartbreak, You (Didn't) Get the Best of Me

Ok, yes, I butchered a classic song, but it's been stuck in my head all day. But today was a big day--I had my first taste of the infamous Heartbreak Hill. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Boston Marathon course, it overall is a net downhill. But starting at mile 16, there are a series of hills, culminating in what is known as Heartbreak Hill just after mile 20 before the course begins to go back downhill towards Boston.

I'd been curious about this hill since I started training for the Boston Marathon and have definitely wanted to check it out before the actual race day. The Tufts group had a long run on the Boston Marathon course this past weekend, but I couldn't attend. But since I'm currently on spring break, and didn't have class today, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to give the hills a try. So off I went.

After a somewhat torturous T ride out to Newton, only increasing my hatred of the Green Line, I arrived at Riverside station and found my way to Commonwealth Ave and headed back in the direction of Boston. I went up one smallish hill, then another. Then a bit later, I went up a slightly longer hill, but still nothing too bad. I was still waiting for this Heartbreak Hill. Then, all of a sudden, I was at Boston College heading downhill. I realized that that last hill was in fact, Hearbreak Hill. And it wasn't that bad. Now, we'll see how it is after running 20 miles, but at least I know I can do it!

I had hoped to do 16 miles today, but it wasn't in the cards. I've had a slight cold the past few days and once the cold meds started to wear off, running became more difficult. I pushed through it a bit, but then bailed out. When I got home, I mapped it out and found out that I had done 13.5 miles. Not the best, but not too shabby.

Perhaps most excitingly, I got to wear shorts to run today! Maybe possibly spring is coming!

Thanks again to all of you who have contributed to my marathon running effort! I still have a ways to go though, so I would appreciate any help that you can give. You can visit http://www.tuftsmarathonchallenge.com/runners/miriamst to contribute.