My Magic 'Fridge & One Week 'Til Boston Marathon!

ONE WEEK UNTIL THE BOSTON MARATHON. (ONNNEEEEE WWEEEKKKK!!!)

I mean, it’s not like I’m excited or anything. It’s not like I’ve stared at the training schedule on my refrigerator for months now. (Uh, I have.)

Actually, I thought I was the only one that did it. Until I stumbled across the blog of another runner/cancer warrior and realized I wasn’t alone. It’s true, folks. 1 week to go until the Boston Marathon, I am here to report that there ARE magical refrigerators out there everywhere. (I'm with you on that, Joe, and since imitation if the best form of flattery, I'm going to share about my fridge, too.)

Meet MY refrigerator that contains a magical binding contract for the upcoming 2010 Boston Marathon. After some help from my dear friend Colin (and adjustments to ensure I wasn’t as fast as a hare, but was just a bit faster than a turtle), my Boston Marathon training schedule was solidified months ago. In my world, that means only one thing…it gets printed on the fancy color laser printer…and then gets posted to my refrigerator.

This isn’t like a grocery list or “honey do” list that you adjust, remove, add, etc. This is THE list for THE Boston Marathon. It stands the test of time over the training months. There are days when I stand in front of it, tired or elated, burnt out or energized, compliant or argumentative. I’ll hug it, mock it, high-five it and argue with it. In the end, there are no negotiations. The refrigerator just sits there as my coach telling me to shut up, suck it up, lace up my shoes and head out the door. (Although, right now it’s telling me it’s TAPER TIME, so I’m in love with it…!) FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION.

For example, if it tells me to do an 8-mile Tempo Run? No matter how late I work or how tired I am, it is a “must do.” Rest day on the schedule (my favorite)? No running/no cross-training (No problem!).

This past season in prepping for Boston, we’ve had a lot of rain in SoCal. (Now, this is where the East Coasters smile and laugh at us West Coasters because it’s inevitable that the Boston Marathon will be cold or windy or raining or snowing…or all the above.) I’m not used to running in inclement weather, but on many Saturdays this training season when it’s been pouring outside (yes, in San Diego), my ‘fridge has told me to lace up my shoes and go run 16 miles in it --- tsunami warnings and all. And I did. (Thanks, Erin, for being a pal and running along coastal flats with me during those warnings to ensure that if I washed to sea, I’d at least have a buddy with me out there.)

To miss a day feels like I’m missing something important. I haven’t been perfect. Unfortunately, as I battle my way back to perfect health from my fight with cancer, it means there are some tough, health days….days when I want to run, but the doctor just shakes his head from side to side and says quietly, “not this week.” (But hey, I just passed my 6 month cancer-free check-up, so I can’t complain.)

Regardless, each day that gets highlighted takes me one day closer to the Boston Marathon. I love looking at how “yellow” my paper is turning, which also happens to be the color of the LIVESTRONG wristband. Seeing as I’m running the marathon on Team LIVESTRONG raising funds to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation, I’d say that’s pretty fitting.

Now that I’m writing all of this, I guess I lied. Neither my refrigerator nor my list is magic. The magic lies in my intent that every pounding mile I run in months of preparation, all the sweat/time/pain…every mile of that race…I WILL run to fight cancer. We WILL find a cure. It’s something much bigger than me, which is why my running buddies often hear me say, “When your feet get tired, run with your heart.”

In exactly 1 week from today, I’ll be crossing the finish line of THE Boston Marathon, the oldest internationally famous, marathon race. The best part is that I’ll be crossing that finish line with my fellow Team LIVESTRONG teammates. Every dollar raised and each day I cross off my training plan has been due to wonderful supporters like you. I appreciate all the support in kicking cancer to the curb, so that others don’t go through what me and so many of your loved ones had to face. Last year at this time I was fighting cancer...and now I'll be running cancer free. We have a lot to be thankful for this year, my friends.

So, I’m one week away with a few more miles to run this week, and I’m still short of my fundraising goal. For a $100 donation, I will run with a ribbon on my shirt in honor of/memory of someone you know battling cancer. However, every dollar counts, whether it's $1, $5 or $500! To donate to LAF, go to my fundraising page by clicking here.

I'll be posting more in this last week about the angels that have sponsored miles in the race, my tracking bib number (so you can virtually cheer for my slow bootie) and the reasons that keep me running. For now, I need to stare at my refrigerator as it's mocking me because it's 9:45pm, and I have yet to run the 6 miles that it's calling out for today on the schedule. Ah man,...time to argue with the inanimate object (and I'll lose...and hit the gym tonight, I'm sure)...

BOSTON, here we come!!! 7 days!!!

To also connect to Joe's cancer/running blog as he preps for Boston (Bib #7929), go to: http://joerunfordom.wordpress.com/

Pics:

1. My magic refrigerator.

2. My magic training schedule

3. The yellow is starting to fill up the schedule as we get close to race day!