I ran Heartbreak Hill Today!!!! And my heart did NOT break!

What a day!! 2nd Boston Marathon course visit. This morning, I joined my old high school track friend, Katie Stomski for a 12 mile run up the Newton hills. I attribute my long running runner status to Katie and her family and the reason why I'm pretty good at it. She set my running schedule in high school and we were a force not be reckoned with. The Katies united again today and I think everyone in the Newton area knew!




The 12 miles flew by, we caught up on job status, living situations, boys, running advice, and before I knew it, we had already run up Heartbreak hill! I do not know the Marathon course at all. Stomp announced when our loop arrived on the course, but we ran up several hills and up Heartbreak Hill and I said after awhile "Well, where is Heartbreak Hill?" and Stomp said, "We just did it." I screamed in delight and shock! Oh, I guess that was the hill that I said, "Oh Look at this one." It is a big long intimidating hill, but nothing heartbreaking... but we had only done 8 or 9 miles at that point. It will feel different on marathon day, but it's been a momentous day! And Thank you so much for running with me Stomp! I had an absolute blast and felt good for most of the run! It was romantic, we decided to run the Valentine's Day 16 miler together.

I had a iPod Nike mishap and did not accurately record the mileage, but we did 12 miles in 1:48.

I quickly took off down the road to my next adventure - the Team GO FAR meeting at the new Bottom Line facility. They have expanded to a new building and it's beautiful. With the new space, they will now be able to hire more counselors.



I won a Bottom Line hat and calendar for being a top fundraiser! I really did win!! Thanks friends. Anyone that donated, just ask and you can borrow my hat. Speaking of fundraising - our team goal is 100,000 dollars. I really hope we reach it. It would be thrilling! Check out the thermometer!



:-0) It was another delightful meeting. Rick inspired us again and gave me chills about Boston Marathon preparation. I cannot wait. I am so excited - I AM RUNNING THE BOSTON MARATHON! Today, my day was pretty much dedicated to marathon events and I am much more pumped than before. I was excited before, but the level has been stepped up a lot.



Tomorrow, I am running the Marathon Sports Super Sunday 5K with Joe Piedrafite, Nick LaPete, and Mike Arnold. Joe and I picked up our race numbers this afternoon ... see picture below. This is Joe's first 5K, it should be a great race! I was hesitant to sign up for the race since Sundays are my rest day, but Joe and Nick extended the invite with lots of love and excitement that I couldn't resist. I also want to run a slow race to enjoy the race with Joe and Nick, but it's hard to post a time online being that I can't asterisk it with "Katie's rest day". Joe registered me for the race though and spelled my name wrong. I win! So my name is Katie Weunmann according to the Super Sunday records, in case you need to check up on my records. Joe is also training for the Boston's Run to Remember half marathon on May 24th. Come out and cheer him on!


Sweet picture, eh? JUST RUN!

Okay folks, enjoy your night!

I'm winning!

I'm in the top three for fundraising within my charity! hahaa I'm wicked competitive. We're all on the same team, but I'm winning!

Tonight, I had a date and we traveled to Shrewsbury for an incredible fun date of painting pottery. Since 'Clay Time' is across the street from Moe's and I need to have my burrito before tomorrow's long run, I asked if he'd like to join me for a burrito. hahaa I thought I had explained my Burrito tour already, but I think he was perplexed by how much I insisted on a burrito for dinner.

I rate Moe's burrito a 6.
To work backward a little, I rate Chipotle burrito a 9.

The scale is from 1 -10. Goodnight everyone! I didn't drink tonight! I'm winning!

Running

I love running. But I absolutely love running outside. I don't enjoy the treadmill so it's not even an option for me. I'm going to be selfish on this one point, I will not run on the treadmill. After hours in the office, it feel so good to run down the street with the cool wind and the beautiful scenes. I feel I've earned the joy of running outside vs. inside, right?

I try my best to work my schedule to not run in the dark, but with work and the sun setting so early sometimes I can't beat the sunset. Today, I jumped out of my office and ran down the street to squeeze in my 6 mile run at 5pm.

I survived this run earning just one small scrap on my thumb, and two large bruises on my knees. This is my first fall since the crazy competitive high school track meets. I fell almost every meet as I muscled for a good inside position or my legs are too long to keep me standing properly. I'm not quite sure what happened, but this fall this evening was because I thought I could hurdle over a snow bank while running sideways into a street. I landed on my knees and hands. You can see on the below Nike chart. I had been running up a hill, then where I fell, sat down, and immediately stood up and sprinted the rest of the hill!

The biggest struggle with marathon training is finding the time to fit in an hour - two hour workout during the week. It's only the beginning and the workouts are going to be getting longer so each day is a victory to fit in a good workout!

1st Fundraiser - Amherst Brewing Company - done!

My first fundraiser was a success! Thanks Amhizzle friends! Your support was tremendous and it means so much to me!! AND it was a blast to see you all. A special thanks to Mark Gumz, President and CEO of Olympus America & David Willard, Director of Employee Communications & Community Services for their generous donation to my fundraising efforts. Olympus donated three Stylus 840 digital cameras for my raffle. - Something to Look forward it at the other fundraising events! I emailed Mr. Gumz two weeks ago. He responded within hours expressing his eagerness to help my efforts. David Willard followed up and miraculously delivered three cameras within days from when I first spoke with him. Thank you to John Sarantos for helping me sell a couple more tickets!

Best instance of kind human nature: Brett Burdick, an old college classmate stopped by my fundraiser to drop off a donation and say Hi. Brett and I spent our Senior Fall semester at Umass together, enjoying the lessons of Communication- Public Speaking 280. I haven’t kept in touch with Brett over the last two years, but with the magic of Facebook I was lucky enough to contact all old Umass classmates, teachers and friends about my Boston Marathon run and charity fundraising goal. I tried to send as many individual emails and messages as time would allow with my running schedule, work, and most importantly, sleep, but I know I did not reach everyone. Brett certainly surprised me with his visit. Since he’s a professional Poker player, I convinced him that he’d need to bet on my marathon time. Brett signed up for two times and I secretly want him to win just because it was so sweet of him to drop by. I can’t recall the times though, so maybe I don’t really want him to win! I think they’re over 4 hours and that’s over my goal time!

I had two friends, Courtney Smith and Doug Lemieux drive up from Wareham. I thought my drive was far from the Boro, but Wareham is a hike and a half! That’s love and I couldn’t appreciate it more! A ton of fellow bandos came out to support, Thank you to Todd Monroe, Jeff Fazio, Kait Cintolo, Sean Monroe, Eleni Kalafatis, Kristen Dye, Chris Bill, Michelle Gray, Steph Chueng, Danni Marone, Megan Kolb, Jen Iaconetti, Jay DeFuria, Kathryn Rapacki, Allison Norton, Greg Walters, Katie Wise, John Sarantos, Courtney Smith and Doug Lemieux. Pictures will be posted soon…. I promise!

During the raffle ticket selling spree, John and I had the pleasure of talking with a couple, Ruth and Paul? I'm honestly not sure about his name, but he told me of his horrific Boston Marathon experience. It sounds like a rough race! Ruth tried to hold him back. Ruth is very inspired by "our call to action" from President Obama. She's a Freshman College Writing teacher - Teaching Assistant? Professor? I didn't investigate, so I won't categorize her. Anyway, she was very interested and passionate about passing on the Bottom Line charity information to her class. Her semester plan is to involve her class with charity work. Each student will choose a charity, write for them, and change the world! I'm not exactly sure how it will all play out, but she's definitely leading the charge and it was a pleasure meeting them both.

In pure Katie Weinmann fashion, I’m planning to create a beautiful scrapbook of this adventure. I spread out a few pages as a guest book, one dear friend mentioned that she’s “in awe of me.” What an amazing compliment! All of the praise is overwhelming, but it the best way possible. I don’t really feel that I deserve all the compliments. I’m running a few miles, but it’s all YOUR donations that are making it happen!

Okay, I must be off to bed. I am sick and I need my rest! A few generous co-workers brought the gift of germs to work last week. I will update more tomorrow.

Thanks again everyone!!! HEY! We passed the $2000 mark! Can we make it? $1000 a month for the next threee months?

Morning Gym Visit

My little non muscular arms have an odd sensation this morning. Although, I think it's actually the feeling of accomplishment before 7am! I dragged myself out of bed, peddaled for 45 minutes, leg lifts and push-ups!

I perform 3 sets of 10 push-ups each morning. I am not certain what the quality of my push-ups are. I've heard that a push up can be done incorrectly, but I argue that if the arms feel a strain than it must be correct in some form!

Anyway, come out to UMass - ABC this evening! It's the beginning of the Katie Weinmann Boston Marathon fundraising tour! Don't miss it!

Lasagna Dinner

Thank you. Thank you! Thank you! The donations are wonderful this weekend and I thank you for your generous support! Thank you Bruce Daley! Stephanie Crawford donated $26 today, a pretty sweet number! Steph was a key factor in my decision to run the marathon. She said, if you're considering it all, go for it! Thank you to Tracey Sanford as well for your donation today!

This evening, I prepared a Lasagna dinner. My parents and I drove out to Milford, MA to visit with Molly, Josh and little Elizabeth and enjoy dinner with them. Anyone will let you in his or her home if you bring dinner, a good trick of mine. I also tricked my family into enjoying a marathon meal. I don't mind eating pasta and lasagna leftovers all week long, but it's easier if I can make a whole lasagna and share it with someone. I squeeze in my lasagna meal and I can enjoy sensible variety for the rest of the week. Hint Hint, Just ask Me and I will make a lasagna dinner for you! I am free on Sundays and Tuesdays.

That reminds me, I have decided that the steak Burrito with rice is my official dinner before the long run. To date, I have enjoyed burritos at Chipotle and Acapulco’s. This blog will also be dedicated to my 2009 Burrito Tour!! On Friday night, my goal was a burrito for dinner. I ventured out with Carolyn Cross and Julia Smith for post work drinks and dinner. By drinks, I mean I had one beer and that was one too many. I drink a lot of water, but one beer can really dehydrate me. Phew, I need to be more dedicated to the state of hydrated. Ha! It's a struggle every Friday! We ended up at the Cheesecake Factory so I had pasta instead. It was delicious, but the burrito is the meal for me and now I know that.

Guess My Time 50/50

Good Afternoon Friends,

The Countdown is ON! 85 Days until I run the Boston Marathon!!! My coach mentioned yesterday that the next 4-6 weeks will be the toughest part of training because it’s a long stretch with no view of the end. I couldn’t agree more so I will attempt to distract and motivate myself with your support at fundraising parties. Also another great way to focus on the final goal is… introducing …GUESS MY TIME 50/50.

GUESS MY TIME 50/50

Bet on the time that I finish the Boston Marathon according to my official Champion Chip timer and win some money! 50% will go in the winner’s pocket, 50% to Bottom Line.

$5 – 1 minute slot

Pick the minute of your choice.
Example – buy finish time 4:38. If I finish in 4:38.6 – you win!
A minute can only be purchased by One Individual – one overall winner


The Guess My Time 50/50 board will travel across the state for each Katie Weinmann Boston Marathon fundraiser, but if you’d like to win/secure your time early, feel free to email in your bet.

Payment:
$5 – 1 minute slot
· Cash is the Best Form of Payment because 50% needs to be supplied to the winner on April 21, 2009.
· Checks should be made out to Bottom Line – Please send directly to my address at
50 Fairmount St Apt 2
Marlborough, MA 01752

I will post/ update the time list on my Blog, under the January 25, 2009 entry. You can also check my blog for my race time history (predictor times if you like to play the game), and my training run times thus far.





Good Luck Everyone! Don't Miss Out! What do you think I'm capable of??

Time References:

Men’s Overall Boston Marathon Record: 2:07:14
Women’s Overall BM Record: 2:20:43
Bill Rogers 1979 Finish: 2:09:27
2008 Top Woman Finish – Dire Tune: 2:25:25
BM Women’s Qualifying Time for Ages 18-34: 3:40:00

My Half Marathon Time: 1:50:03
Best 5K: 19:54
1 Mile: 5:47
400: 69.5
100 Dash! : 13.9

Marathon Goal: 3:59:55
Realistic Marathon Goal: To Finish!