how on earth do i follow aimee's post? right now i could bust into a blogging hugfest (would that be a "blugfest"?), but i won't as aimee's talents and accomplishments will come out as we run forward. however aimee, i thank you for the kind words (nazi - kind word, hmmm... ;-)) and if i can say, i can't wait for the day when i walk into the locker room ready for that run and without batting an eye (or having that LONG internal conversation) you will say "firehouse!?!" and i will say, "yeah, sure but let's add a rez." oh yeah, it's coming my friend.

the run today - from my point of view, was great.... how could it not have been, i fueled up with 4 cups of coffee, hadn't eaten since 830A and it was a balmy 32 degrees out. i'm not kidding about that, but it was in fact a good run. we banged out a "firehouse" on a chilly but beautiful light-wind-sun-shining day. the miles flew by since we chatted the whole time, clearly a conversation of the "good" variety as next thing we know, we're done. yesssssss! i don't care what any running "yahoo" says, the best part of running is being done. not only because of the miles logged for training, or time/pace improvement from a previous run but because you can eat and drink anything you want for the remainder of the day. my good people, that is the "post-run celebration," whether you ran (or walked) 1 mile, 10 or 26.2, you've earned the right to celebrate yourself. makes you wanna lace up the old trainers doesn't it?

i need to sign-off because it's super late, but before i do i must prepare you for a few days without me. i'm heading west for the long weekend (happy b-day MLK). i tell you this not because i think you will miss me but because i'm trying to make you jealous. picture this, i'm running along the pacific coast highway, it's 70 degrees out, i'm in shorts and a t-shirt, iPod cranking, all while taking in sights of west coast. call me a running geek if you want but i am SO looking forward to saturdays jaunt. (and i'm pretty sure the aforementioned celebration on the santa monica pier won't be so bad either! no, not bad at all). if i can find a computer, i promise i will tell you how fabulous it was, the run that is (you can hear about the rest of my trip on my other blogspot...kidding... seriously, i'm kidding!).

2 finishing thoughts...

FIRST, the weekend forecast for boston:

friday - rain (high 40/low 24)

saturday - partly cloudy (high 36/low 18)

patriots sunday - partly cloudy & windy (high 23/low 7) GO PATS!

AND words from Martin Luther King, Jr (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968)

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others? Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little."

The Hardest Step...

"The hardest step for a runner to take is the first one out the door." - Ron Clarke, world record holder in the marathon in the 1960's

Ain't that the truth! Especially when you live in Boston, and you are training during the beautiful winters we have up here in New England --- cold, windy, icy, dark --- and to make matters worse, you don't actually consider yourself a "runner," yet you have to run a marathon in 3 months! Darn it. Why do I get myself involved with these things?

For those of you who know me, you know that I have always been anything but a "runner." Basketball? Bring it. Soccer? Love it. Spinning? Sure. Golf? I'll try it. Running? HELL NO! I still have nightmares about the 1.5 mile running test in the Plex during BC basketball preseason workouts, and the never-ending suicides that me and Kim Beezer had to run during freshman year.....(sorry Kim, definitely my fault). Well, I guess I've changed my tune over the last couple of years, thanks in large part to my friend Laurie. For those of you who don't know Laurie, this year's marathon will mark her 10th Boston Marathon and her 15th overall marathon. Not too shabby for a Stonehill soccer player, eh? Her discipline and success in this sport are contagious, and the rest of us mere mortals can only admire how she goes about her training in a quiet yet highly intense manner -- and, oh by the way, she actually ENJOYS this crap! CRAZY! So, here I am -- a few years later, after watching and admiring her from the sidelines on Marathon Monday, beer(s) always in hand (sometimes both hands), with my BC faithful --- attempting to run my second marathon. And run it well. Oh yeah, and I'm trying to actually keep up with her on training runs... no small task.

A day in the life of trying to keep up with the Running Nazi.... Picture this: four hours ago, today. We meet each other in the BC locker room to change and get a run in.

aimee: "so, laurie, what are you thinking in terms of mileage today?"
laurie: "firehouse."
(this is code for a 9 mile run, up/down/up/down/up/down the hills of Newton --- and back again in the opposite direction)
aimee: "oh. really."
(long pause)
(damn, is she serious? my legs are still hurting me from Sunday's long run)
(she's a friggin mad woman. tell me again why I agreed to run with her today?)
aimee: "actually, Laurie, the training schedule only calls for a 4 to 6-miler today....so, I was thinking of going shorter.....ya know....shorter than 9."
(another long pause and a major glare from her in my direction)
(glare, glare, glare)
aimee: "um... so.... I guess you wanted to do more than 4 to 6 today? um..... ok. yeah. I guess we can do 9 miles today. I mean, my legs are hurting a bit, but I guess we can do 9."
(UGH!!! I hate her! hate her! did I mention that I hate her??!!!!!)
(if looks could kill! stop looking at me like that!)
aimee: "ok, let's do 9."

(we did 9. and did it well.)

The reason I tell you this story? Whatever Laurie says when it comes to running, goes. And whatever she tells me about running is Bible to me. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing, but I'm thinking that it's a good thing. I hope. Fingers crossed.

One last example. I'm looking back at my 2006 marathon training log/journal. Here is my entry from the week of February 6th, 7th and 8th of that year. ".....lots of negativity...need to push through....terrible week....took two days off from working out because I am overtired and need a mental break from this crap...." And then --- there it is --- the very next day, I went on a 9 mile run with Laurie, and here is my next entry in all CAPS: "A CRITICAL RUN TODAY. WAS VERY NEGATIVE THIS WEEK. AS LAURIE PUT IT TO ME SQUARE BETWEEN THE EYES "GET OVER IT, OR ELSE YOU WON'T GET BETTER. GET OVER IT QUICK."

We all have our good days and bad days -- hopefully many more good days than bad. Right? Right. That's what life's all about. Make today better than yesterday. So, as of today, I'm fortunate to be feeling pretty good. Just 3 months shy of Marathon Monday. Scary yet exciting.

Moral of the Story: Those Hard Steps are always hard, but they get easier when you have the Running Nazi glaring in your direction, holding you accountable.

Smile Laurie, that's a compliment. Thanks for pushing me today!

phew she's gone....

running 26.2 miles is less exhausting than trying to type with aimee breathing down my neck.... i'm only writing this because i know she went immediately back to her office to post something. welcome to our "blog" world, it'll be a long strange trip for sure....

i have nothing else to say, just wanted to beat her to the punch! for all here in the northeast, bend at the knee's when shoveling that snow. (mom & dad thanks for sending the plow guy over! miss you.)

and that's how it started.....

sarah nixon (http://www.bluestockingrunner.blogspot.com/) this first post is for you, for... well... i'm not going to say "guilting" us into creating this blog site, but definitely taking advantage of our exhausted state of being (throwing it out there as we were charging up johnny kelley's hill trying to keep up with you) . for some reason when we got to heartbreak hill, looking at the back of your head, we thought, yeah , that blogging thing might be kind of cool.... we'll just see about that ;-).

so here goes our blogging and of course running journey.

for any on lookers out there, this will be a 2 person effort. those 2 people being aimee mcguire wainwright and laurie nahigian. we are dana-farber marathon challenge runners, aimee for 2 years and laurie for 10. we will both be contributing to this, together and separately. as time goes on you will know who is writing when, even if we don't identify ourselves - aimee will most likely use proper grammar, spelling and punctuation and laurie will... well... not. either way or both together we hope you will tackle these mile with us, laughing or crying.

about DFMC, the short version (see http://www.rundfmc.org/ for more info), we run to raise money for critical cancer research done at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. "The DFMC directs 100% of funds raised to the Barr Program, which enables scientists at the leading edge of discovery to achieve better cure rates and to enhance patients’ quality of life." this year our teams' goal is to raise $4.5 million dollars in an effort to ultimately find a cure for cancer.

so back to our personal journeys, with 3 months and 6 days to go, you will have the honor and privilege to take it with us - - no, seriously, we'll owe you for reading this (our dads will have the checks in the mail soon). we will try to keep it as entertaining as possible, light and funny (if laurie is doing the writing), long and over spoken (yet perfectly punctuated if aimee is posting).

with that said, enjoy the read, we will be back soon. but until then..

run on good friends!

(oh wait, that's our job)