3 weeks until the deadline

and I still need $250.

I'm thinking I might do another fundraiser at Rosie's. It was good for about $50 and if the weather is nice, it might encourage people to stop in for a treat.

I am pretty sure I can raise at least $100 more, but I might need to cover some of the end. Oh well.

It was a good run!

I can't believe it's over!

It was a great race. I finished in 5 hours! And I only have $480 more dollars to raise in the next three weeks before they charge my account!

I had a lot of foot pain and knee pain and afterward some tummy trouble/nausea. But overall, I am super psyched about it. I actually teared up a bit when I rounded that last turn and saw the finish line. Oh Boston. What a day.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped me get this far and everyone who will donate in the next couple weeks. You ROCK!

$660 to go and EXPO

As the last couple days approach, I am constantly getting donations. Some large, some small, but all greatly moving me forward toward my goal. I am $660 away from $4000 and really feeling positive that I'll make it, especially knowing that people can donate for a few weeks post race day as well.

I went to the convention center today to pick up my bib number: 23164

While I was there I enjoyed the many booths with free stuff galore. It was like a massive carnival for runners and supporters. Food, energy bars, shoes, etc etc. It was awesome!

We also got free shirts and I picked up my nice and ridiculously expensive commemorative jacket.

There was a video station where they showed a course preview with lots of inspiring words of wisdom from seasoned marathoners and beginners alike. There was a lot of talk about the "promises" we make to the people in our lives as being the inspiration for running. This hit home as I thought of my family and of Children's Hospital and the money I'm trying to raise for them. I am just so honored to be part of this history. As the video said (as I tried to not tear up too much!), we are running in the footsteps of those who came before us, as those in the future will be running in ours.

This is really happening!
2 days to go!

News Articles

I have been featured for my marathon run in 3 newspaper and online news articles.

The Wellesley news ran an article in February about me!

The Topeka-Capitol Journal did a feature on me last month

And now the Wellesley Public Affairs released an article about me!

With $1500 to go, I hope people start getting motivated! We can do it!

Go Team Elaina!

4 days

and the donations keep coming in!
Keep 'em coming!

http://howtohelp.childrenshospital.org/bostonmarathon/pfp/?ID=ME0064

I have to raise $1500 more. I'm also planning on making a sizable donation myself, so as long as people keep going with it, I think I may actually have a shot.

I've been getting a lot of smaller donations which worried me for a while, but if 150 more people give $10, I'll be set. Or, if 75 people give $20. Etc.

Might I actually make it??

5 days to go!

until Marathon Monday!

I'm still $1700 short of my goal and I'm starting to get a bit worried! The good news is that I have several weeks after the run in order to come up with the money and also that between me and my fiance we can probably cover it with our subsequent paychecks. The bad news is that that will suck! I am trying to save up enough money so that he can fly out to visit me next summer while I'll be living in Africa. Unfortunately, I only have until graduation to officially work (until the Peace Corps of course and then I probably will have a part time job in medical school if I can afford to spend the time).

Basically, DONATE! Tell your friends! I need all the help I can get so I don't have to pay the entire difference myself!

Training is great. I truly believe I am physically ready! I've had a bit of fasciitis on my left foot, but I'm taking care of it and doing cross training. I think tomorrow I'm going to try and run 3 miles without stopping. Dope up on ibuprofen!

Thanks to everyone who has helped support me so far; I couldn't do it without you!

E

Tapering!

Well, after the 21 miles I ran a week ago, I am feeling pretty good.

That run went well and I won't do more than 8 from here on out.

I'm staying limber and stretched out, continuing to get enough protein and carbs, and just planning on enjoying these next two weeks of low mileage.

The weather has been great as well!

As far as fundraising goes, I have officially gotten to the $2000 mark and have less than $2000 to go. I am going to start investigating plan B options. If anyone has any ideas, let me know!

Other than the money issue, training is going well and I'm getting excited for the race in 2 weeks!

I'll post in a few days with my official BAA number! Eek!

~E

Thank you Rosie's!

I just wanted to thank Rosie's for holding the fundraiser and everyone who came out and bought some tasty treats! The event went well and they invited me back for another go in a couple weeks! I am also looking at Bruegger's Bagels. They have a program where they'll do 15% of the profits of people who come in with a flyer for my event. Which sounds pretty sweet. I'm also thinking about selling Lemon Thai pad thai plates for $5 each and just getting a huge plate of it from them for $90. I'm not really sure what kind of profits I'd actually get from that, but I would need to sell 33 plates in order to make a $50 profit to donate. So...I'm looking into that.

All in all, it was a great day ($50) and if I do it again, combined with some other events, I might just have a shot at it. I am pretty sure I'll make the March 15th deadline of $1625 (I'm sitting at $1450 now). Worse case scenario...I end up having to pay the difference myself...which is pretty bad, but not the worst thing in the world. It's for a good cause and getting to run the Boston Marathon is such a cool life goal of mine that it's worth it in the end! Right?? right. I'm not sure anyone even reads this haha. oh well.

I hit 17 miles on the treadmill last Saturday and am planning on just doing 12 this week to give my knees a little break. Then, the week after that it's 19. yikes!

wish me luck!

$1000!

It's official. I've met my first big personal goal of $1000!! I need to raise $625 by March 15 and then after that it's on my way to $4000. Slowly but surely. Slowly but surely. (works for training, too!)

Thank you to everyone who has helped me get this far! And thanks in advance to all the people who will help push me to the finish line =D

~Elaina

15 miles

I ran 15 miles yesterday and iced my knees afterward for almost an hour while I watched Grey's Anatomy at work.

Today, no knee pain! Although, the rest of my body hurts like crazy haha. I took some ibuprofen and am resting in bed doing homework today. Tomorrow, I think I'll just do 5 miles!

Things are looking up!

Mild Set Backs

I spent the last few days puking my guts out...and haven't been running at all. Today I am planning on getting in an easy 6 miles and come hell or high water, I am running 15 this weekend. I might take the advice of a fellow trainer and try the treadmill. I think 3 hours on a treadmill is going to be torture, but I'll try to charge up my ipod and download some podcasts that will be interesting. Maybe something medically relevant or a book on tape or something. That could work, yeah. It's just a little too icey/snowy out there for my comfort right now to do go try a new route. I want to wait until it warms up a bit before hitting the marathon route. I think in the next couple weeks I am going to do the 17 miler on the actual trail and test out Heartbreak Hill.

I also was informed by the trainers that I most likely have a mild case of runner's knee. Which makes sense; my knees hurt a lot right after a run and start to be a bit painful around the 8th mile or so. So I've been using the ellipticals a lot to take some of the strain off. Which means I can hook up my laptop and watch missed TV episodes of House or Dexter! Sweet.

The newest fundraising deadline is approaching--$1625 on March 15. Right now I am cruising toward $700. There are still several several people who have yet to donate. I think people are just waiting until the time is closer...which is fine. I feel so behind other people, though. And deadlines freak me out.

I'm having a big bake sale event at Rosie's on March 4th between 3pm and 5pm where 20% of the profits go toward my fundraiser. Please tell people to stop on by, grab some awesome baked goods and support the kids! I'll come back later with more information!

It's snowing

but I'm going out there anyway! 6 miles, baby!

Full Force Fundraising!

I've started my email campaign! So far I've emailed all my Wellesley professors over the last four years, my FYM group, a few friends, and have sent spam to Community and a couple class conferences. I've also asked my work supervisor (who ROCKS) to forward my message to the entire department. I've gotten almost $100 in the last two days...I need that to continue and get even better! I'm seriously going to have a party when I reach $1000. Hopefully that will happen in the next couple weeks.

GOALS:
February 20--> $1000
March 1st-->$2000
April 1st--> $3000
April 19th-->$4000 +

Yes, I admit that I am mildly freaked about the amount of money I still need to raise. What is very frustrating is that if every student here donated $5, I'd have $10,000!!

I am planning on going to Rosie's, a local bakery and asking them to hold a fundraising day where I'll get a certain percentage of the profits. Hopefully that will be beneficial! I'm going to ask next week for a day sometime in early March. I'll widely publicize that event (with proper spam and everything!) and hopefully they'll get a lot of extra business.

I'm also going to make some posters this weekend and put a few up in the campus center. Maybe I can elicit some help from a friend who used me for something similar last year haha.

If anyone has any marathon fundraising ideas that don't require much input, let me know!!

As far as training goes, I'm definitely a bit behind, but catching up quickly. The MCAT had me skipping a couple long runs, but I just ran 12 miles yesterday and this Saturday is 14!!

Tomorrow I'm doing some cross training to let my knees recover from the long run and then it's 6 miles on Wednesday come rain or shine (or blizzard!). Wish me luck!

-Elaina

A New Year!

I thought I'd drop by to update everyone on my marathon progress.

It's cold and snowy here in Kansas right now, making those outside runs pretty difficult. I've gotten out there quite a few times and braved the cold, but I've also tried my luck at the treadmill for a couple of my runs. I'll tell ya, 8 miles on a treadmill without any entertainment is dull indeed. I stared at a wall for over an hour and tried not to cry. Haha, that sounds pretty intense.

Other than that, the roads are finally clearing up and I'm headed out for an 8 mile long run to kick off the new year tomorrow (that's to make up for my laziness and lack of running today!). I mapped out a couple Kansas runs on MapMyRun.com...a really awesome site! Here's my profile link if anyone is interested:

http://www.mapmyrun.com/user_profile?u=184125235527711276

So training is going pretty well, I'd say. I've dropped down a pants size (woot!) and can actually fit into size 4s (><). I just need to stay warm and motivated!

Financially, things are not quite as hot. I made my $500 deadline on December 15th, but I haven't made anything else since then. All I asked for for Christmas was donations, but no one seemed to like that idea I guess! Toward the end of January I'll start the campaign in full gear--until then it's MCAT studying for the big test on January 30th with a few personal letters to family and friends. I figure the months of February, March, and April can be used for those hard core solicitations of businesses and college acquaintances haha.

Well, Happy New Year!

-Elaina

Two Mile Stones!

I've reached a new level in my training (or rather, pre-training, since I don't really officially start the scheduled training until December 14th). I have been working my way up the milage, wanting to be comfortable with 7 or 8 miles come mid December. Once a week for the last four weeks I've ran a 6 miler. Every time I finished I would be exhausted, with knee pain, and a lot of upper leg muscle soreness.

This week, however, I reached a...mile stone as it were. I had the brilliant idea that instead of trying to run 6 miles once a week, maybe I should do it more often than that. So I ran 6 miles in 1:02:23 on Sunday. Then I ran a quality 3 miles in 0:28:00 on Tuesday. Then, while still sore I decided to run another 6 miles yesterday (Thursday). In the past I would wait until I felt normal again. I think this meant that I never really improved my muscle strength! So instead of waiting for the soreness to go away, I got out there on Thursday and with my running partner extraordinaire, Kristen, we ran 6 miles in 0:59:25! I think we felt pretty hardcore about it!

So training is going well. I would say that I am definitely comfortable at 6 miles at this point as I am feeling fine today, no muscle or knee pain at all. Yay!

The fundraising is going well, too! I'm starting to get a little nervous as our first $500 deadline is Decmeber 15th, but I thinking that people are starting to get a little more interested since it's becoming something people bring up with me in conversation. I have $85 on the website now, and a check from my grandmother for $20 in my room, so I've offically broken the $100 barrier! Another mile stone! Yay!

Just $400 to go in the next month and then after the hollidays, the major fundraising starts. $4000!!! Here we come!!

~Elaina

Well It's Official!

Support Elaina's Boston Marathon Run!

I have created a facebook group dedicated to supporting my run with the Miles for Miracles Team Boston!

I also received a giant package in the mail from the Team full of fundraising tips, envelopes for checks, and all sorts of colorful thank you cards and flier stuff. It was awesome! I can't wait to get the information for my patient partner!

Since November has arrived, the pre-training training has begun. I ran my first long run on Tuesday--6 miles in one hour and three minutes. I am definitely not a fast runner haha.

The first exciting event happened on a run--I saw a snake! We were running along and suddenly what I thought was a stick started to wiggle! I'm pretty sure I shrieked/jumped/ran a bit faster for a couple minutes (maybe I'll use snakes to encourage better pacing!)

So check out the facebook site and keep checking this blog for updates. I'll be working on personalized letters and emails in the next couple weeks.

Please support me in my run and donate to my fundraising efforts!


Elaina

Facts about Children's Hospital Boston

Based in Boston. Serving the World

Since 1996, Miles for Miracles Team Boston has raised more than $11.8 million to support the areas of greatest need at Children’s Hospital Boston. Here at Children’s, life-changing care and worldchanging research come together to fuel breakthroughs that improve the lives of children and adults everywhere.

The following are examples of the impact Children’s has had, and continues to have, on Boston and around the world.

Life-Changing Care

Named among the top two children’s hospitals nationwide for 20 years, Children’s breadth and depth, and its ability to solve medical problems no other hospital will attempt draws patients from around the globe.

-World-leading programs in cardiology, gastroenterology, neurology, orthopedic surgery, cancer,
advanced fetal care and neonatal care.

-Delivered life-saving care to more than 3,000 patients from beyond Massachusetts in 2007, including hundreds from abroad; Interpreter Services aided patient families 80,000 times, translating into 35 languages.

-Achieved Magnet status for nursing excellence—among only 5 percent of hospitals nationwide.

World-Changing Research

The nation’s premier pediatric research facility, Children’s receives more NIH funding than any other pediatric hospital and ranks fifth in NIH funding among all hospitals.

-World-class research team includes 13 Howard Hughes Medical Institute appointees, 7 Institute of Medicine members and 9 members of the National Academy of Sciences.

-Two Children’s scientists have won Nobel Prizes—John Enders, PhD, for culturing the polio virus, and Joseph E. Murray, MD, for the first successful organ transplant.

-Founded the world-changing field of angiogenesis, which holds promise for treating more than 60 diseases; drugs to control angiogenesis are now extending life for cancer patients and reversing blindness for macular degeneration patients.

-World leaders in stem cell research. In 2008 our scientists reprogrammed mature human cells to simulate embryonic stem cells, creating 10 disease-specific cell lines that will shed light on root causes of disease; all Children’s cell lines are available to the international research community.

-Home to top pediatric obesity experts whose groundbreaking studies have directly influenced public health policy.

Training

-Children’s is one of nation’s most competitive pediatric residency program: 1,000 applicants vie for 35 resident positions annually.

-Many of the nation’s division chiefs, department chairs and top academic researchers trained at
Children’s—we are an incubator for the star practitioners of the future.

Welcome!

Hello everyone!
I wanted to get this thing up and running so that anyone who is interested can start to follow my progress!

This upcoming April I am going to be running the Boston Marathon and I will be running with Children's Hospital Boston, a truly amazing hospital for kids and families and also for researchers and physicians. Those of you who know me might be aware of my other blog, HopeMD, a fabulous blog (if I do say so myself) about navigating the pre-med adventure in college and one that chronicles my desire to be a pediatrician down the road. So the Children's Hospital Boston Miles for Miracles Team really is the best possible fit for me to run this historical race!

I envision this blog to serve two major purposes. First and foremost it is to serve as a linking mechanism to my Miles for Miracles homebase website which is where you all can help me fundraise for hospital research. I need to raise $4000 (but $5000 is an even better goal!) and I need as much help from my support base as possible. If all my friends and family chip in, I'll have that goal met and more!

The second purpose of this blog is to update anyone who is interested in my path to becoming a marathon running rock star, of course! I'll begin really hardcore training toward the end of the year (think mid December or so) and that's when the posts here will shift a little from fundraising efforts to let you all know how bad my shin splints are! I plan on posting my training schedule and milage, plus links to relevant running information as well as information about what Children's Hospital Boston has going on (pretty innovative research going on over there!)

So that's that for now! I'll be tinkering around a bit, trying to get up some Miles for Miracles banners and whatnot with some very visible links to my fundraising page, haha.

Let me know if you are interested in helping me raise the goods for a really excellent cause!

Talk to you all soon,

~E