After the post-race press conference, she came into the media room, sat about four seats away from me, and dug into a huge ice cream bar. =) Nice. My kind of gal.

Though I was beyond unhappy about being at the Fairmont Copley Hotel this Sunday for the 2008 Olympic Trails – Women’s Marathon at 6:20 in the morning, being there made my weeks, hours, and late late nights of work worthwhile. These women were absolutely amazing! Seeing them run – I’m sorry, FLY – 26.2 miles around Boston and Cambridge was just incredible. The top finishers ran every mile of the race under 6 minutes – Deena Kastor ran every mile from 15 to the finish line under 5:40. Magdalena Lewy-Boulet – an absolute unknown from California – held the lead until mile 23, sometimes by over a minute twenty seconds! She originally qualified for the Trials as #44 out of 150 with a time of about 2:42:38 (Deena’s was 2:19:36), and even with Deena on her heels, she still came in second at 2:30:19 (Deena came in at 2:29:35). IT WAS INCREDIBLE! Such an exciting race.

Just as fun was sitting on the sidelines with the press-only bib list of runners and everyone around us saying, “Who the hell is 43??! You with the list – who the hell is that! Someone time how far she’s leading by – where’s Deena?!” Deena “showed up” and decided it was game time at about mile 15; Magdalena’s minute-plus lead suddenly became Kastor’s playground. At one point the jumbotron near the finish line split to show Magdalena and Deena at about mile 20, and Deena’s legs were flying at almost twice the speed of Magdalena’s (or at least it looked that way). It was almost funny, as if it would be pointless to even mention to Magdalena, “hey, uh, just so you know, Deena Kastor just cut your lead in half in the last three miles, may want to kick it.” Kastor became a machine. Not that Magdalena’s performance was anything to scoff at. But I mean, crushing a minute-plus lead with straight 5:23 miles in the last ten miles of the Olympic Trials Marathon… who does that? Kastor, obviously. Fantastic.

I actually didn’t get to see the finish line though because my intern duties demanded me to be in the Athlete Recovery Tent… which I found to be just as intense, if not more, than the finish line. The first runner I came in contact with was Kate O’Neill. She had been training with Deena Kastor and was favored to claim a top-three spot to make the Olympic Team, but something happened to her knee and she dropped out of the race. As I walked into the recovery tent, she was laying on a table while someone examined her knee, and her face was so pained that I didn’t even want to talk to her. “Dropping out was never an option,” she told her mom as tears were streaming down her face. This was one of those times I decided to ignore my boss’s instructions to “Go get Kate and bring her back out here for interviews!” “Media ethics” prevailed over my portfolio and “the public’s right.” Eventually though, Kate hobbled up, put on a smile and walked with me outside of the tent to a swarm of reporters. Brave woman. I would have told the reporters to buzz off unless they had an ice cream cone.

Now “technically” I wasn’t even supposed to be in the Athlete Recovery Tent. My boss though, must have thought I was looking especially trustworthy and inconspicuous that day, so she shoved me through the flaps with a list of runners to retrieve. Meanwhile I also had four of my own runners to get on the phone to newspapers around the country. I know, this all does not sound too difficult, but considering that every one of these women had just sprinted 26.2 miles, most were cramping to the point that they couldn’t walk, some couldn’t walk, the only way to identify them was by their numbers (which most of them had torn off), and, understandably, all of them wanted just to speak with their families and coaches and go home – task then not so easy. Thankfully only one of my four runners declined a phone interview, and the reporter from Maine that I connected to Kathleen Castles (#110) is not only writing an article from my pitch letter, but also is going to use the photo I took of Kathleen for the Maine Current!! Honestly, I’m more excited about having my shot in a paper than any of the other three interview clips. Maybe I chose the wrong major…

Speaking of noteworthy runners, I also got to interview Emily LeVan of Wiscasset, ME, whose three-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with Leukemia. Emily decided to run the Trials as a fund-raiser for her daughter’s treatment, and you can check out her and her daughter’s story (if you didn’t catch it on NBC nightly news!) at http://twotrials.org/. I talked to her at a press conference this past Thursday and told her about my running for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society, Dad, and my injury, and we had a nice heart-to-heart about the mental stress of running for a loved one (and the consistency of traffic lights in Boston versus Maine). She’s lovely, and did a fabulous job in Sunday’s race too – finished 67th with a time of 2:45:45.

In other news, I got an email from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society today – my final fund-raising count is $7,139.00! Pretty much blew the $4,000.00 goal right out of the water HURRAH! This past week though, was tough at times. Being that I’m interning for the Boston Athletic Association, I had to drive the Boston Marathon course this past Wednesday to pass out “spectator guides” to places along the miles and let me tell you – the course is beautiful. The beginning in Hopkington is really nice, rolling hills, trees and lakes. Then it runs from town center to town center, surges up heartbreak hill and into the city. Thankfully one of my coworkers from the gym did the drive with me, and we actually ended up having a lot of fun. The company was great – I was only sad a bit of the way. This Monday was difficult at times as well, but I took the job of screaming above everyone else for any Team in Training runners I saw quite seriously, and furiously rang my cowbell until about 4:00pm. As of now, my number is deferred until next year’s Boston Marathon, but as to whether or not I’ll end up running – stay posted. Either way I will be back to conquer the marathon again some day, just exactly which marathon is up in the air. How about 2012 in Denver? If all goes as planned… (more on that later).

Now, what’s to become of my blog? After graduation (May 18th!) I will be spending the summer working my butt off in Boston at the Allston BSC until my apartment lease runs on on August 31st, quickly dropping into Chicago for a “hello,” back to Maine for my cousin’s wedding September 6th, then by the 8th, off to Europe for a few months of “shoe-string” exploration. I have a number of friends all about England, one in Geneva, and my best friend Jess is going to be living and working in Brussels, so I have plenty of places to stay and travel from, (though I’ve heard that the Brits do not enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches so I may have to bring a jar lest I don’t discover another form of “cheap travel food” =). The final goal around December is to make it to Sydney to visit my best friend from middle school who moved there before high school, and hopefully stop in New Zealand to visit my friend Josh. Then it’s back to the U.S. just in time to depart in some sort of service abroad program.

I’ve never been to Europe before (or anywhere abroad! Besides Canada…), and I can’t even tell you how excited I am to go. I’m even going to sell the Beep (the Jeep, tear!) before I leave. One thing is for sure though – before I leave I am going to have to invest in a few huge memory cards for my camera; there’s no way I’m making it through even one month abroad with my father’s genes on 1,000 photos. As for 2009, the Peace Corps is – as of now – looking like my best option. Since high school I’ve toyed with the idea of an extended service abroad program, and the more I examine my past few years and think about those ahead, PC just seems to fit. They’re government run, so they defer your student loans (!!), I can use my communications/PR/psychology/IR/anthropology studies in one of their programs, and they have an association with a number of colleges around the country for graduate schools. PC clicked for me recently when I was examining the graduate schools that they partner with a bit further; throughout my four years at BU, I have endeavored to combine my communications/public relations major with psychology, anthropology, and international relations classes to mold my major into more of an “international business and culture communications” realm of study. The PC is associated with three graduate school’s for communications, and the University of Denver’s program that is paired with the PC is titled: “International and Intercultural Communications.” Aka, “we made this program specifically for Amanda S. Wybolt so get here.” Done and done.

So there’s the life plan as of 5:16pm, Earth Day 2008. I’ll keep the blog updated to let you know for sure =)

Again, thank you all so much for your fantastic efforts and contributions in my effort to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in memory of Dad. Even without running, we did one heck of a great thing raising all of this money, and if all goes well, our efforts will help to save a family or two from the pain and loss we all went through, and continue to feel everyday.

I hope to see all of you soon, or at least before I set off this September! In avoiding getting too emotional before I go into work this evening, we’ll leave it there (for now).

Love,
Amanda

I’ve recently sent in a bundle of checks and money from my fundraiser – a bit over $1,000 – so that, combined with the current online total is about $3,205 (plus a bit more). It’s safe to say that I’m only $700 away from my goal amount, which is awesome.

Money can continue to come in until the end of the month, so there’s still a chance to reach $4,000.

Thank you all so much for your support, and I’ll be sure to let you all know how race day goes this Monday!

Amanda

The most that happens now is that my number gets deferred to next year’s race.  Though at this time, I don’t know if I’ll even be in Boston then, so… I don’t know.

Where to start. Lots has happened since my last post (apologies on how long ago that was, March was a hell of a month).

Let’s start with the bad so to end on the good =) As some of you know, my injury has gotten worse since it happened around the second week of March. When I last left you, my hip was the only thing involved.  About a week after the hip injury, my left foot began to hurt to the point where I couldn’t even walk. Weird, I know.  Especially since I have a considerably high pain tolerance when it comes to athletics – I’d never felt anything like it before.  I’ve seen an orthopedist, and continue to see a physical therapist, and my foot is still not in shape to run. My orthopedist capped me at 5 miles while my physical therapist does not even want me to run at all. So combine that with my general inability to even sit still for more than twenty minutes, and you can all guess how well this is going over. Truth be told, I’ve tried running a bit, and I made it about three blocks before I had to stop from the pain. On top of that, my ankle now feels extremely weak – the other day I was just standing around on a BOSU ball and it felt as if it was about to snap.

As of now, it all comes down to this: my PT and orthopedist agree that if I were to run the marathon, it would probably be the last time I were to ever run more than a few miles (if even that).

This is frustrating beyond my ability to express. Especially since the injury occurred 32 days before the race. (I’m going to stop here because my body and mind aches from dealing with this today, more later.)

On the brighter side of the post, my fundraiser at Red Sky on the 25th went very well – we raised $524! A number of my good friends attended, as well as some of my clients from the gym. The raffle was great – I ended up raffling off: an iPod shuffle, 3 two-week gym memberships + three personal training sessions, a one-month membership to BSC, a BSC backpack (guess where I work! hahaha), and a dinner + drinks for two at the Red Sky. All big hits, some people even bought 30 tickets! The venue was really nice too. They provided some stellar food, and the DJ was awesome. We were there from about 8 to 11:30 or so – good times =) Even stopped by Churchill’s afterwards. Here are some shots from the night:

Where I am now: After I heard that I could not run the whole race, I went into work quite upset, and my coworker came up with a brilliant idea – to run the marathon as a relay. I’d start and finish, then a bunch of my friends/coworkers would sponsor miles in-between and just pass my number along. The idea further developed into everyone getting into little teams and running a few miles together with my number before passing my number on. Teams would pay $20 a mile, and everyone involved would get a t-shirt (“memorial miles” ?), and of course, we’d have a big party afterward for everyone involved. I’ve talked to a few people who’d possibly run and the feedback has been amazing – everyone is really excited to help me and run a few miles… It’s been very touching to have such an outpouring of support for this new idea, since the whole situation has been so difficult to deal with. And the more the idea gets discussed and people get excited to run, the more excited I’m getting.

Now it comes down to the man; I am currently in a massive game of phone tag with the BAA (Boston Athletic Association, people who run the marathon) and Team in Training office to see if my “relay” will be allowed. No word back (I was expecting to hear today).

::sigh::

I really hope this relay comes through. After preparing for so long, and so many of you contributing and supporting the race, I want the marathon to happen one way or another.

I’ll keep you updated (promise =)

All the best! Love,
Amanda

Tuesday, March 25th, from 7:00pm-12:00am (time subject to change) at the Red Sky Lounge in downtown Boston, Fanuil Hall area

Since it’s a charity event, the manager of the place is getting us *free* pizza, appetizers, and a D.J.

… AMAZING!!

More to come later but I was just so excited I had to get it out =D

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYY!

This is what it looks like: (the bottom-most “x” on the Psoas, by the bottom of the pelvic girdle, is where I currently ache)

And this is what it does: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psoas_major_muscle (discussion on Wikipedia as a reliable source aside, it’s a good enough definition with out me having to dig out the old anatomy books).

I was finishing my 6 mile run today on a street in Allston/Brookline, MA called Summit Ave, because it claims probably the most killer hill in the area. The earlier part of my run consisted of wimpy hills and a jog around the reservoir by Boston College, and all aspects of my body felt as they should on a run – achy but solid. It wasn’t until I got home and showered that I noticed that the front of my left hip really started to hurt. Luckily, I work with some fantastic physical therapists at Boston Sports Clubs, and after tracking down Bryan, I was informed of my injury, and instructed to, “ice, muscle rub, and no running for two days.”

Lame.

I’m currently eyelashes deep in the second novel of a trilogy, so maybe this will allot me enough time to finish book two and three so that I can resume life as a normal person (or as normal as I get – I heard a few of you laugh at that comment).  When I find myself in a good book, I get lost; there’s no diverting my attention for need of micturition or grub if I’m in the midst of a good story.

Bartender, more IcyHot please, I’ll be the one in the corner between 700 pages.

‘Till the next run, PeaceLove – Me

Hands down, (and as most of you already know), my two passions – art and music – I go crazy about. Between critiquing, doing things over, practicingpracticingpracticing… even the drawing I did in high school that won the gold key award at regionals in the Scholastic Art Contest still drives me nuts every time I look at it because there’s that one little corner that never really came out correctly…

And don’t get me started on old Waubonsie Valley choir or Pink Notes recordings… I love listening to them on repeat, but to this day I hum along and feel the need to comment on this note or that chord or the entry of the second altos in that line…

I know, I’m nuts. And long winded – point being, I’m doing the same thing with this fund raising letter I promised I’d mail to all of you by, oh… Monday… woops. I’ve finally made what I’m forcing myself to let be the last revisions this morning, so after I hand in my midterm paper tomorrow, I’ll print out a bazillion and mail them off to you stunning folks.

Anyway, here’s the latest and greatest version (click ->): BostonMarathonTnTLetter.pdf

Now onto my paper due at 1pm today =)

signed, me

ps: LOOK what I came across when I was revising the letter…

(I’m a huge dweeb)

(what a squirt)

BosMarathonFundRaisingLet.pdf

This one is in a general format – the ones I will be sending out are all going to look a bit different. Please feel free to email the letter on to anyone. The more support, the more money that goes towards preventing cancers, such as the one that took Dad, from getting more people – from affecting more families.

Thank you again.

In health and love, Amanda

(From the BU gym not the one I work at that’s 3 blocks away, no red lights.) Even after run #1 and 40 minutes of weights (legs and back) … HOLLA! Short post I know, but I had to throw that out there =D

PeaceLove, Amanda

ps: fund raising letters coming as soon as I figure out how to attach .pdf files to this fancy pants WordPress business

The marathon is officially less than two months away (eek!) and it’s a good thing that the weather’s starting to change; I’ve decided that the Boston Marathon must have its reputation as one of the hardest marathons not because of heartbreak hill or any of that talk, but  because you must train in the New England winter months. Unless of course, you enjoy running indoors on a treadmill for 2 hours.  (My shins and ankles do not.) Either way, it is painful. My contacts almost froze to my eyes a few times – no joke. (Well, it felt like they did. My nose hairs definitely did freeze though…)

Heads up: my official fund-raising letters/emails will go out before the end of this week, I’ll post copies to this page.

Oh! I was about to say that I have nothing else fun or interesting to say, but I forgot to tell you that I have an internship with the BAA – the Boston Athletic Association. This is the organization that makes the marathon happen every year, so it’s been interesting to be on the inside of the event. My public relations team is actually not doing too much with the marathon because the BAA is hosting the women’s Olympic trials (http://www.bostontrials2008.com/) the day before the marathon, so we’re busy organizing/promoting that. Pretty awesome, talk about world-class athletes. It will definitely be inspiring to watch these women run the day before I trot my 26+ miles. Oh god, 26+ miles… I just wish it didn’t sound so long.

For now, I’m back to my homework. Keep an eye out in your snail-mail/email boxes!

PeaceLove,

Amanda