Please Support my Run for Community Cooks: Boston Marathon 2015

As many of you know, it has long been a desire of mine to run the Boston Marathon. That dream will come true on Monday, April 20, as I partake in running the 2015 Boston Marathon. I'm running to fulfill my own dream, but more importantly, to raise $5,000 to support Community Cooks and provide nourishment for others. Will you donate and help me reach my goal? 

I chose to run for Community Cooks because it is a local organization I believe in and personally support. Their network of volunteer cooks is made up for 600 people providing home-cooked meals to 2,700 hungry, vulnerable neighbors in the Greater Boston community through 28 direct-service partner agencies each month. I've been a volunteer in their network for the past four years, providing a course of a meal for residents at the Windsor House - Adult Health Care- in Cambridge. It's a ritual for the kids and I every 4th Monday night. They help with a small part of the meal - measuring, pouring and of course, taste-testing! This month, it was egg noodles; last month, brownies. Yum. It's a way for us as a family to give back. 

For me, Food is Love. It's a mantra that I grew up with, starting with my mom and grandmother and one that I've carried with me throughout my life. In celebration, in mourning, in solace and in comfort, food - both the gift and enjoyment of - has been central. A meal -- made with love, quality ingredients and by caring individuals -- is a basic need that I feel everyone should have access to.  Community Cooks brings this to life. 

Through your contribution, you are not only providing access to a meal that will satisfy the physical hunger of neighbors who have fallen on hard times, you are giving the gift of comfort, community and connection…and helping to build a community of caring where everyone matters.

As the year draws to a close and a new one begins, I'm excited about what 2015 holds in store for us. My official marathon training starts on January 1st and will continue up until the big day on April 20! I'll be out there most every day through cold, snow and rain (and hopefully some sunny days in there too) training and preparing for 26.2 miles of running. I hope that you'll support me and Community Cooks along the way. 

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and nourishing new year. 

Santa Claus came to town...

And hooked me up with some great running and training gear to prepare for my official January 1 start of training for the Boston Marathon. My family (I mean Santa) really pulled out all the stops!
In my stocking included:

3 pairs of my favorite running socks in a variety of fluorescent colors
2 containers of Body Glide
1 fleece lined pair of Sugoi pants
A gift certificate to Marathon Sports to fill in the gaps and/or that 2nd pair of shoes after training is done.
1 Garmin 220 watch with GPS to track my distance and all the other good stuff I want to know about my runs. So far, I'm having a little learners curve with it, but all in all, pretty awesome.

The best present - a December full of amazing weather, including a week straight in the 40s (touching 50 a few days) which provided some absolutely lovely weather.


Please support my 2015 Boston Marathon run, to support Community Cooks by clicking below to donate. My goal is to raise $5000 to support Community Cooks and to raise awareness of food insecurity in greater Boston.

Well howdy, Mother Nature

It hasn't been exactly the most pleasant week for running outdoors. But keeping true to my training and the #rwstreak, I've been out every day doing at least a mile run. Most have been morning runs, as at least I know exactly what the weather is and don't have to guess if it will get better or worse.
The good news is 45 and rainy is quite pleasant to run in. 28 and blustery, less than ideal.

The biggest thing about Boston is you never know the weather in April. It could be 50s and sunny, 40s and rainy or 80s and melting (which is exactly what I'll be doing if it goes anywhere over 65 degrees, so help me!)

I like to think this week's stuff is just the beginning of a good winter training. Here's a snapshot of my monthly calendar from mapmyrun. I do long for some longer miles, but just getting out and breathing a bit through this hectic time is awesome too.

If you're so moved by my running and want to support me as I get my base for my 2015 Boston Marathon run to support Community Cooks, please consider a donation! Every little bit helps me reach my goal of $5000.

Streaking...

While it has been extremely warm for November, this streak will be done fully clothed. I've committed to the Runners World streak (#RWRunStreak)which means I'll run at least 1 mile between Thanksgiving Day and New Years Day. I kicked it off with our annual Feaster Five run in Andover, MA. The Feaster is the 2nd longest running turkey day road race and one full of family significance.

Dave grew up in Andover and has been running the 5 mile race for 20 years. I joined him in 2003 and this year marked my 11th year and one of my best finishing times. For those keeping count, I did beat Dave for the 4the consecutive year. 2009 was his year because I had given birth 16 days prior. But I still walked and completed the 5k race!  

Theo & I Thanksgiving morning!

Between Thanksgiving Thursday and today - Tuesday Dec 9 - (13 days) I've accumulated just over 33 miles to start building up my base for Boston. January 1, 2015 will start official training in preparation for April 20.

The timing is great because I was going to eat that slice of leftover pecan bourbon chocolate pie one way or the other. Now I can savor it just a bit more....

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Help me reach my goal of raising $5,000 for Community Cooks by donating to my run! 

I'm Running - it's a Dream Come True!

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I got the email that would help me realize a dream: I will be running the 2015 Boston Marathon. And I've made the decision to raise money for Community Cooks. 

I've considered training to run the marathon for the past 10 years or so but didn't do so for a number of reasons- time, life, fear of training, kids. I was a finish line volunteer at Boston for 5 years, helping to escort in the VIP athletes to the Copley Fairmont. My two favorite memories include sprinting to "escort" 10-time men's wheelchair winner Ernst Van Dyke and getting the privilege of hearing him speak so humbly about his accomplishments and remembering me from one year to the next. The other was escorting an elite Japanese female finisher in. In that case, my escort duties were really more propping and carrying duties for this tiny, almost fairy-like woman who spoke little to no English. There was no need for language as it was clear she had left it all out on the course and just needed to recover. 

I set my sights on running 2015 and on November 26th, I received the email that let me know I would be running The Boston Marathon and able to fundraise for Community Cooks. Dave and I had talked about us being able to do this- training with 2 kids will no doubt require a full team effort. Creative timing for weekend long runs sprinkled in with swimming and dance classes, increasing mileage during the cold early Boston winter mornings, a demanding job with travel and normal family responsibilities will all play a role. But we couldn't be more ready for it- the kids were cheering when I read them the email. Sophia exclaimed, "Mama- I can run with you to train and cheer you on!" Theo already shows promise as my stretching and strength and conditioning coach. 

The best part of running is being able to fundraise for Community Cooks - a network of volunteers like me that provide home-cooked meals to hungry, vulnerable neighbors in the Greater Boston community. Every month, 600+ individual volunteer cooks (including 25 participating business and civic/faith based groups) mobilize to give their time and resources. 

I chose Community Cooks because their core tenet resonates so well with me: "Food is Love." Whether it a home cooked meal with family, a dinner with my closest friends or bringing a lasagna to a new mother or friend in need of comfort, food brings us together, and provides warmth, love and an intimacy that everyone deserves. I have been a volunteer cook with Community Cooks for the past 4 years, providing a part of a meal for residents at the Windsor House - Adult Health Care- in Cambridge. It's a ritual for the kids and I every 4th Monday night. They help with a small part of the meal - measuring, pouring and of course, taste-testing! It's a way for us as a family to give back.

Please support my run for Community Cooks. My goal is to raise $5,000 for Community Cooks and to bring awareness to the problem of food insecurity in Greater Boston. And of course, cheering and good thoughts for me along the way are always welcome. 

I'm hoping to blog and give updates on my training at least 1-2 times each week. I'm sure some will be more entertaining than others as Mother Nature greets us with her winter best. As long as there is a nice pot of homemade chicken soup waiting for me when I get back, we'll call it even. I hope you'll follow the blog for updates.

Stay tuned!