Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Lucky to Work at Newton-Wellesley – Sabrina

The past two weeks of tapering have been a much needed rest on my body – it made me a bit uneasy to take so much time off after dedicating so much time to running over the past 11 weeks (55 hours and >300 miles, according to my training logger!). Suddenly I felt as though I had so much time on my hands, and I devoted much of my energy to planning our upcoming wedding.

Yesterday I ran my last long run before the marathon, just shy of eight miles, with my dog, Terra. During my training, I've come up with quite a few creative run ideas, and one of them was to run, rather than drive, to the park for our run. Nearly everyday, I take my dog to Cat Rock Park in Weston, where she can run off leash and we run the trails together. The park is just over two miles from my home in Waltham. So, yesterday, I decided it was the day to do that run. Over the past few weeks, Terra has really become a “city dog” as we have done a lot of our runs together along the Charles and the streets of Waltham. But I could tell as we ran along yesterday that she knew where we were headed. When we made the final turn toward the park, her ears perked up and she quickened her pace until she reached the end of her long lead. I unclipped her when we got to the park and we ran our circuit. The longer days and opening leaves of spring soften the glow of the late day sun. I felt like we could run for miles, but I knew I better take it easy. After a few miles on trails, we headed back out on the road and made our way home, Terra running with a stick from the park in her mouth for much of the way. I just love the smiles we get from weary commuters heading home, and I imagine they are thinking “I wish I was doing what they were doing right now!".

This morning, I arrived at work, and something seemed to be up. As I walked down the lab hallways, I noticed many inspirational banners hanging on the walls. Someone ahead whispered, “here she comes!” and ducked out around the corner. I entered the break room, and there was a full table of YUMMY home baked carbs, many of them gluten free (thanks for remembering, guys!). And my supervisor, Diane Mullen, made sure that I stayed and enjoyed a great breakfast. We are so truly lucky to work here at Newton-Wellesley Hospital – I am so touched by the support and encouragement of my coworkers and thank you all once again for your generous donations to the Vernon Cancer Center.

Next week is it! I am really looking forward to the marathon. My goal is to ENJOY it, finish it and hopefully give back to others along the way.

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