The full Team Donahue took its first training run together this weekend. On a balmy (55º) Sunday morning we headed out along part of the Boston Marathon course for a 10 – 12 miler. Mike took an early lead with Heidi close behind (take note, for those of you who are voting) and Sharon brought up the rear feeling a bit of lingering knee pain after several runs in the ice and snow during the week.

Heidi and Sharon at the Avenue Deli

Along the course, which included a run up and down the Heartbreak Hill series, we stopped in at the Avenue Deli, where the proprietor had been so helpful during Sharon and Christine’s epic run in the Nor’easter last weekend. He promises to be open on Marathon day this year, so if you’re out there spectating on Comm Ave, be sure to stop in!

On December 20, during Boston’s first Nor’easter of the season, Christine and Sharon faced their first 20-miler in preparation for the Miami Marathon at the end of January. Typically, one would prefer not to do a lot of shoveling prior to doing a 20-mile training run but unfortunately there was no choice for either of us, so we both had a mini-work out before the run even started. We were resolved. We had gear. Thanks to some foresight from Christine, we had Yaktrax for our shoes, hand warmers, and even a new neoprene coated tube for the camelbak (due to some technical issues, Sharon decided to wear a coat over the camelbak and save the new tubing for next time…..).

Since the snow was still coming down at a good clip at 7:45 a.m. and it was unlikely that the old faithful routes (the river, the minuteman trail) would be cleared, we decided to play it safe and run along the Marathon route primarily on Commonwealth Ave so we could take advantage of the carriage road. Of course, what this meant was that we had to conquer Heartbreak Hill twice during the twenty miles! While running we encountered a few other brave souls out there getting there miles in, as well as a very helpful deli owner who offered dry, warm socks and snapped our picture after 12 miles. While we were never able to hit a solid stride, instead focusing the whole time on not wiping out, the run seemed highly manageable, at least for the first 18 miles. Miles 19 – 20 were a test of our wills, our faces so frozen we had difficulty speaking clearly, managing only to throw out a few words about whether Teixeira was a good idea for the Sox (we all know that’s moot now!). When Christine’s Garmin hit 20 miles and we had reached our destination we could rest assured that was the craziest 20 miles either of use had ever run!

This past week was week 8 on the DFMC training schedule and the first weekend group run with the DFMC team. Mike made it to the 10 mile run at the Mount Auburn Club in Watertown where he met fellow teammates and enjoyed the post run buffet of snacks. The route brought him out into Newton and over the infamous "Heartbreak Hill". One of the really great things about the DFMC training program is the number of training runs they have on the actual Boston Marathon course. The value of knowing the course mentally can't be over estimated. Especially Heartbreak Hill, which really isn't just one hill, it is actually a series of 4 hills that occur between miles ~16 and 21. Heartbreak is the last of this series of hills and isn't even that big! It rises only 88 feet over just under a half mile but it comes at absolutely the worst time in a marathon experience, right when your body runs out of fuel and you hit the mental wall. When you run Boston this is where the real work begins. Here is a fun fact according to wikipedia:

"The nickname "Heartbreak Hill" originated with an event in the 1936 race. On this stretch, defending champion John Kelley caught race leader Ellison Brown, giving Brown a consolatory pat on the shoulder as he passed. His competitive drive apparently stoked by this gesture, Tarzan Brown rallied, pulled away from Kelley, and went on to win—in the words of Boston Globe reporter Jerry Nason, "breaking Kelley's heart."

Sharon and Christine on the hill up to Balboa Park in San Diego

While Mike was back in Boston braving the ice and cold training last week, Heidi, Christine and Sharon were on the road for work and ran in California. Big hills were a common theme on their runs too! Heidi spent the week in Palo Alto CA where she ran the hiking trails in the "Dish" at Stanford University. She reports the hills here made Heartbreak look tiny. During the week Sharon and Christine were in San Diego for a conference and went on several sunrise runs with co-workers Eric and Shuhao (thanks Shuhao for being the official Team Donahue photographer in San Diego!!). Their route frequently ran from Harbor Island up into Balboa Park. This involved running up a hill nearly 300ft high!!

Heidi on the Coastal Trail on "hill" number 2

After a fun week of running in sunny San Diego, Sharon headed off to Colorado where she hit the roads to train at altitude and Christine joined Heidi in San Francisco. Christine and Heidi went on their first ever trail run at Muir Beach. They ran a 7 mile course over the Coastal Trail and Tennessee Trail where they enjoyed spectacular views of Pirates Cove. While the scenery was beautiful and the run was fun, they weren't too crazy about the giant hills, over 1000 feet high!!

Welcome to the first installment of our training blog!! We are training to run the 113th running of the Boston Marathon on April 20th, 2009 with the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC)!! This year will be the 20th running of the Boston Marathon for DFMC. Since 1990, the DFMC has raised over $38 million dollars for the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Cancer Research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. All of the funds raised go directly to funding basic research in cancer at the Dana Farber. We all feel really fortunate to have been selected to join the DFMC Team and are looking forward to the up coming months of training and fundraising with our new teammates. Mike, Sharon and Heidi are new to the DFMC experience. This will be the first marathon for Mike and Heidi. Sharon has run 4, including last years Boston Marathon. Along with her previous teams, Christine has raised ~ $50K for DFMC, so we’re counting on her to keep us on the right track as we spread the word about supporting this important cause. Mike’s fundraising is off to a great start, with over $500 collected so far. The rest of us are getting things rolling around now and chances are if you’re reading this you’ve received one of our letters or e-mails. Thanks for checking out our blog and for supporting our efforts!

Recently, the Team Donahue DFMC newbies ran 7 miles in the pouring rain along with other first time members of the team! Starting in January we will have training runs nearly every weekend and will be updating the blog with our experiences and some fun stats! Please come back and visit us periodically over the next several months for updates and to track all the miles we run in training (it will be more than 1000 miles!)

BAA Half Marathon Crew

We have been keeping in shape this fall by running several half marathons. Heidi, Sharon and Christine ran the Maine Coast Half marathon for women. Catherine Switzer, the first women to run the Boston Marathon and winner of two New York Marathons, was there and called out our names as we finished. Heidi and Sharon had great runs that day, Heidi’s finish time was a personal best! Christine lagged behind, challenged by a stuffy nose! In the beginning of October all four of us ran in the BAA Boston Half Marathon along with a bunch of friends. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time during the run! Mike beat us all literally by more than a mile, finishing in a blistering 1 hour and 43 minutes! Christine and Sharon each had personal bests that day. In November, we ran the Smutty Nose seacoast half marathon, not the best day for the group but the weather and the scenery were beautiful and the Donahue family came out to cheer us on!

One of the “training runs” for a few of us will be the Miami Marathon and Half Marathon in January. Heidi plans on running the half marathon, while Christine and Sharon will be running the full 26.2. We’ll keep you posted on how that goes as well.

Sharon and Christine had one of their first doses of “winter” training yesterday. While out on the Minuteman Trail at 6:30 a.m. putting in an 18 miler (that’s 30,000 steps for any Adnexans who may be reading this) the hose to Sharon’s water supply froze solid! Clearly a new product concept needs to be pitched to Camelbak – insulation!



We look forward to sharing more stories of our training adventures over the next several months. Till then take care and we will see you out on the road!!


Cheers all – Team Donahue.