Hello everyone,
Welcome to my blog, where I’ll be listing a different reason I’m running the 2014 Boston Marathon every week until the event. This week is a big one; it’s the start of the new year and I’ll need all the motivation I can get. So as reason #1, I’m focusing on the pediatric oncology/hematology patients at Mass General Hospital for Children. As you may know, my entire marathon team will be raising funds to go towards this division at MGH; I am choosing this week to focus on the kids themselves who will benefit. Since the first time MGHfC had a marathon team in 1998, over $9 million has been raised towards pediatric hematology/oncology. MGHfC has put this money towards many specific initiatives, ranging from research and clinical trials to the actual treatment of patients. But MGHfC takes into account the whole patient, and also puts resources towards programs like art and music therapy and support services for parents and siblings of patients. In a lot of ways, I think that those last programs motivate me most of all. While pediatric cancer has not affected me or my friends and family personally, I have had little cousins who have had long-term hospital stays, and I know how important things like music therapy are in distracting kids from constant medical procedures, and just letting them forget that they’re in the hospital for a while. Every step I take this week, I will be thinking of the kids at MGHfC and hoping that someday soon, they’ll be the ones running around outside.
Now for a training update. This week should mark the “official” start of my training plan.* My initial plan was to really ramp up my mileage during the two weeks of the holidays when I had a lot of time off work, but of course instead I became really sick (cough, congestion, sore throat, the whole nine yards) right after Christmas. Bottom line, it’s been impossible to run for the last week. I’ll now have to increase my mileage relatively quickly moving forward (while being careful to avoid injuries not over-do it), which will be made even more difficult this coming week by fact that I’m traveling for work. I won’t lie; I’m a little stressed about it. However, I still have faith that I’ll succeed, and I’ve got over four months to make things happen. The good news is that my Achilles has never felt better! Focusing on the positive, right??
As always, please consider making a donation by clicking on the giant “donate here” button at the top of the page; every amount makes a difference in hitting my $7,000 goal. Thank you to those who have already donated, and thanks in advance to those who will donate in the future!
Until next week,
Meg
*I should note that many of my fellow marathon runners started training earlier in December, but I’ve had a nagging Achilles issue that I wanted to heal completely. I took it relatively easy for the month and just maintained the pace and endurance I’d already attained over the year.
Welcome to my blog, where I’ll be listing a different reason I’m running the 2014 Boston Marathon every week until the event. This week is a big one; it’s the start of the new year and I’ll need all the motivation I can get. So as reason #1, I’m focusing on the pediatric oncology/hematology patients at Mass General Hospital for Children. As you may know, my entire marathon team will be raising funds to go towards this division at MGH; I am choosing this week to focus on the kids themselves who will benefit. Since the first time MGHfC had a marathon team in 1998, over $9 million has been raised towards pediatric hematology/oncology. MGHfC has put this money towards many specific initiatives, ranging from research and clinical trials to the actual treatment of patients. But MGHfC takes into account the whole patient, and also puts resources towards programs like art and music therapy and support services for parents and siblings of patients. In a lot of ways, I think that those last programs motivate me most of all. While pediatric cancer has not affected me or my friends and family personally, I have had little cousins who have had long-term hospital stays, and I know how important things like music therapy are in distracting kids from constant medical procedures, and just letting them forget that they’re in the hospital for a while. Every step I take this week, I will be thinking of the kids at MGHfC and hoping that someday soon, they’ll be the ones running around outside.
Now for a training update. This week should mark the “official” start of my training plan.* My initial plan was to really ramp up my mileage during the two weeks of the holidays when I had a lot of time off work, but of course instead I became really sick (cough, congestion, sore throat, the whole nine yards) right after Christmas. Bottom line, it’s been impossible to run for the last week. I’ll now have to increase my mileage relatively quickly moving forward (while being careful to avoid injuries not over-do it), which will be made even more difficult this coming week by fact that I’m traveling for work. I won’t lie; I’m a little stressed about it. However, I still have faith that I’ll succeed, and I’ve got over four months to make things happen. The good news is that my Achilles has never felt better! Focusing on the positive, right??
As always, please consider making a donation by clicking on the giant “donate here” button at the top of the page; every amount makes a difference in hitting my $7,000 goal. Thank you to those who have already donated, and thanks in advance to those who will donate in the future!
Until next week,
Meg
*I should note that many of my fellow marathon runners started training earlier in December, but I’ve had a nagging Achilles issue that I wanted to heal completely. I took it relatively easy for the month and just maintained the pace and endurance I’d already attained over the year.