Running for Boobies
Tue, 30th August, 2011
Running for Boobies!
Day 1: Monday 15th August 2011
The day started pretty overcast and drizzly, but the temperature was perfect for running and the light spatter of rain had a cooling affect as we ran. I started from my friend Regina’s house in Portland, she decided to do about 40 minutes with me, but as we were heading out around Back Bay we started formulating a plan for her to do the full leg to Freeport. A lot of times with running the hardest part is getting out there, but once you get going it’s easy to keep going. If you’re struggling getting started, just go out for a 10 minute jog and see what you end up doing!
The run wasn’t too bad, pretty flat the whole way and we took it pretty easy. A camera guy from channel 13 came out and took film of us and did a mini interview, we also stopped by the Falmouth staples to see Heather. Just before we reached Freeport Jess, Regina’s savor came by to pick Reg up…16 miles isn’t bad for a Monday morning run! I continued for the last couple of miles, making it to Freeport shops after around 3 hours of running. After getting a dry top and some refreshment I went in search of a dry place to sit and wait for Reg who was meeting me for lunch, LL Bean was that place. I found the comfy chairs, by a fireplace, under a moose – very Maine indeed and exactly what I needed.
Lunch was footlong subway and iced tea, delicious, and left Reg and I feeling very full and happy. After hanging out in subway for another hour or so I headed off for my second leg of the day…an easy 8.5 miles to Brunswick. A friend of mine, Molly, ran with me in spirit, she was on the treadmill at her gym while I ran on the rainy streets of Brunswick. She ended up running 12 miles as opposed to the 8 miles she originally began with, proving once again, that once you get going it’s easy to keep going!
Finally made it to my destination, after jogging about a quarter of a mile past it and having to jog back! But Lacey was waiting at the door with a hug and a towel, which was great because I looked liked I’d just jumped into the ocean. Hot shower, nachos and ‘she’s the man’ was the perfect way to end the first day of this journey.
Aspire to be great instead of good, aspire to be remembered instead of forgotten, aspire to accomplish what others have or have not done, aspire to be yourself and nothing else for when you strive to be yourself everything is limitless because you are not holding yourself to the limits of others.
Day 2: Tuesday 16th August, 2011
Today was a rough one. Woke up feeling sore everywhere and the thought of running 32 miles were not appealing. But after much procrastinating I finally headed off around 9:30am. After getting a little lost trying to get out of Brunswick (almost headed to Topsham) I found the right road which I would then be on for the next 18.5 miles…It definitely was a slow trot which felt like a bouncing walk. My feet hurt, my knee was sore and my back was killing me, but I just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other and I knew I would eventually reach my destination. In my mind, I kept thinking of a quote my friend had told me ‘the mind will keep the body strong’, that quote was probably what got me through those miles. 3.5 hours of running later I finally reached Wiscasset, my lunchtime destination, I’d never been so happy to see a town’s sign or to see a town centre. I was soaked, sore and hungry. Reg met me once again for lunch and we went to Sarah’s Café. Everything looked good and tasted even better, not sure if it was because of the state I was in, but it was probably the best chocolate milk and chicken salad sandwich I had ever had.
After stretching for about half an hour by our table I was starting to get mentally prepared for the next 14 miles. Although, running was probably the last thing I wanted to do right then, but it had to be done, so I headed off very unwilliningly. With Reg keeping me company on her bike, my slow trot started once again, slowly and painfully! Luckily Reg was a very good distraction and I managed to settle into an easy trot. Wearing a red hat and poncho I felt a lot like Forest Gump, especially when a random runner came up and asked me why I was running, my first thought was to say ‘ I just felt like run-ing’, but wasn’t too sure if he’d get that!
7 miles later Reg had to turn around, but luckily enough Sabrina had found us at that point and she took over and ran with me the rest of the way. It was another good distraction and motivation to keep my slow trot going. 2 hours and 20 minutes after leaving Wiscasset we reached the road to Duck Puddle campground. After saying goodbye I decided to walk the road to the campground…a short 2 mile walk! It was long and pretty hilly, but walking felt amazing after about 6 hours of running.
I reached the campground as it was getting dark and was lucky enough to bump into the owner. Once she heard what I was doing and who I was doing it for she was amazing. Put me up in a cabin, with a shower, gave me bedding, shower stuff, t-shirt, food and best of all, beer. I couldn’t have asked for much more. The really came through and made the end of a torturous day very enjoyable.
Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on the spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic.
Day 3: Wednesday 17th August, 2011
Today was a little bit more manageable. It was like getting over the second day hump of preseason training. The second day is always the worse, but after that your body adjusts and gets used to the stress and pain you’re putting it through and it feels normal again. It also helped that today was a lighter mileage day, just 20 compared with 32! I walked the 2 mile stretch back to route one, called it my warm up but was basically delaying running again. Once on route one I began my slow trot towards Waldoboro. A few nice ‘rolling’ hills later I trotted past the famous Moody’s diner, took a picture and kept going 3 more miles to Hillary’s family restaurant, ‘The captains fresh choice’. Greeted by a familiar smiling face I was happy to get out of the heat and sit down for a little bit. Hillary and her family were great, the fed and watered me and also gave me ice and drugs! (Tylenol) I hung out there till I was ready to complete the next 12 miles to Rockland.
Reluctantly I packed up my things and was on my way. The next leg wasn’t too bad; I settled into my slow trot and felt like I was cruising. A couple hours later I reached Rockland and not long after that I found my destination for the night. A slow walk up the road brought me to Nick Wheelers house. After a nice hot shower and a delicious meal cooked by his roommate I was all set and heading into a food coma! I was passed out around 9pm that night.
The task ahead of you is never greater than the strength within you.
Day 4: Thursday 18th August, 2011
Fourth day, my body is now somewhat used to the constant pounding and motion of running, but still pretty tired! I tried to get up early to beat the heat, but that didn’t really work out too well, still ended up leaving around 9:30am. The first leg was 14 miles to Lincolnville and second was 12 miles to Belfast.
Starting off was a bit rough, but once I got going I felt again like I was cruising, but probably wasn’t! It’s interesting how my stride changed naturally to accommodate this much running. I don’t lift my knees up very high and my stride length has shortened, it’s almost like a fast shuffle. But I believe it was doing that to conserve energy, my body had found a way to keep me moving forward at a decent pace, but using as minimal amount of energy as possible.
I reached Lincolnville around lunchtime and after a couple slices of pizza, which I struggled to finish, I wandered down to the beach. It was a cute little beach, nothing more, nothing less. Even though it was a nice day the breeze was a little cold for me, so I went in search of a sheltered place in the sun. I found it behind an old red barn in someone’s backyard. Curling up in the sun, sheltered by the barn, I passed out for an hour or so…it felt great. As the sun shifted in the sky however my sunny patch kept moving, so in turn I had to move with it. After another hour of moving from sun patch to sun patch I figured it was time to actually get moving. Few stretches and some Tylenol later I was on my way. Stopping briefly to plank a moose, I was able to maintain my trot the whole rest of the way.
I stayed with Judy and Joe, Little Sam’s parents. At first I couldn’t find their house, but luckily Judy drive by and picked me up as I was wandering the streets…she said she was on the lookout for a lost girl walking around! I’ve really began to appreciate hot showers more and more this week, nothing brings you back to life more than standing under a constant stream of hot water!
Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can do what others can’t
Day 5: Friday 19th August 2011
Today started out like every other day this week. I stumbled out of bed, hobbled off to the kitchen to fuel up on breakfast; then I procrastinated for about an hour or so before actually getting ready to leave. I’ve gotten it down to a bit of a routine now. First, pop in a few Tylenol then Band-Aid up the chaffing caused by my sports bra, rub some Tiger-balm onto my thighs and kneed and put on sunscreen before getting dressed. Slowly put on my shoes and pack up my back pack, fill it with water, then duck tape my extra clothing plastic bag to the outside before putting it on and getting on my way. Today was an exciting day for two reasons. One, I was only running 20 miles, and two, after today I only had one more day of running left.
I started today with a nice easy walk down to the town of Belfast and along the waterfront. Then started my jog over the footbridge and up onto route one. I stopped at ‘Just Barbs’ for lunch, had a delicious turkey club and fries, which again I couldn’t finish, I think my stomach has shrunk from all the running. Then after taking a quick nap in a nice grassy patch under a tree I was anxious to get on my way, and I looked a bit like a homeless person lying there in the grass next to the main road.
So off I went and before long I started recognizing familiar things and I knew I was almost there. I also got to run over the new bridge into Bucksport, which was very fancy and nice. As I reached Shady Oaks campground all I could think was ‘one more day of running, one more day of running!’ so excited! And even more exciting was the fact that they had a pool that I could fully submerge in…so good!
Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired. When you were younger the mind could make you dance all night, and the body was never tired..You've got to make the mind take over and keep going.
Day 6: Saturday 20th August 2011
Final day!! Today was my last and longest day, 37 miles to complete before reaching Bar Harbor and I was done running for the week. Even though it was my longest day I was actually really excited, mainly to be done!
I had sat in the pool last night and had about 10 hours sleep, so my legs felt well and my body felt rested, I also headed off earlier than usual to beat the heat. My morning run was pretty overcast the whole way, which was pretty nice, it was 17 miles long and took around 3 hours to complete. Actually wasn’t too bad, I zoned out on what I was doing the whole time because the whole time I was preparing for my big 20 mile run that afternoon, so almost forgot about the 17 miles I was currently doing.
Once in Ellsworth I stopped by Dennys (as instructed by Brian, Hillary’s family’s business manager). Elaine was there waiting for me, and as I walked in she announced to the entire restaurant who I was and what I was doing, talk about center of attention! After that they got me whatever I wanted, including an endless supply of chocolate milk. Unfortunately, with a shrunken stomach I just couldn’t eat like what I used to. So after eating most of a turkey club and fries and 1 n a half glasses of chocolate mile I was well stuffed. So after saying goodbye I went off to find a nice patch of grass to curl up in for a couple hours.
I woke up around 1:30/2pm and after stretching and going through my pre-run routine I walked to the nearby Renys to get a costume for the final leg – if you’re going to do something crazy you might as well look it! It’s amazing though how much energy putting on a costume can give you. It’s like putting it on take you from your body and puts you in a whole new one where you can do just about anything. I set off for my last 20 miles in a hula skirt, leis and a flower bra with a sign saying ‘I’m running for boobies’ and I felt like I hadn’t even ran that day. Part of being in costume is and drawing attention to yourself is the fact that you’re putting on a show, so you have to act how people want and expect you to act, aka you have to be full of energy and excitement even though you’re running 20 miles in 80 degree heat. But it wasn’t too hard as I was so excited to be almost done, I felt like I really was cruising it this time!
Before I knew it I was crossing the bridge onto the island, I still had about 9 miles to go till I reached the town center, by Molly joined me for those last few and it seemed to make the time go by a lot quicker. I started to see more and more familiar places and got plenty of honks and as we got closer and closer I couldn’t help but get more and more excited.
It was a really surreal feeling getting to the town center in Bar Harbor. I was done, I had done it, I had set this unreal goal, planned it and gone ahead and completed it. Part of me couldn’t believe it and part of me was relieved to be done. It was such a personal reward, because there was no huge celebration at the finish bringing me in, this was a goal that I had decided to set and carry out and it was a personal achievement of mine and celebration, that within myself I felt extremely proud…and then of course Molly announced to everyone else around us what I had just done, so others got to share in the celebration!
The weirdest part about it was I didn’t even feel like I had just run 37 miles that day, or 162 miles that week. My body had either just gotten used to the constant motion or my mind was so much on cloud nine that it had completely separated from the body.
We went out and celebrated, basically all night long with beers, shots and dancing and the next day I woke up and aside from a little hangover, I felt fine. It’s strange how tough something can be, but once you’re done, the body just recovers and goes back to a normal state of being. It proves that the human body really can handle anything and it has the ability to bounce right back. We just have to learn to let our mind control the body and not the other way round.
Believe that you can run further or faster. Believe that you’re young enough, old enough, strong enough and so on to accomplish everything you want to do. Don’t let worn out beliefs stop you from moving beyond yourself, believe you can and you will.
Day 1: Monday 15th August 2011
The day started pretty overcast and drizzly, but the temperature was perfect for running and the light spatter of rain had a cooling affect as we ran. I started from my friend Regina’s house in Portland, she decided to do about 40 minutes with me, but as we were heading out around Back Bay we started formulating a plan for her to do the full leg to Freeport. A lot of times with running the hardest part is getting out there, but once you get going it’s easy to keep going. If you’re struggling getting started, just go out for a 10 minute jog and see what you end up doing!
The run wasn’t too bad, pretty flat the whole way and we took it pretty easy. A camera guy from channel 13 came out and took film of us and did a mini interview, we also stopped by the Falmouth staples to see Heather. Just before we reached Freeport Jess, Regina’s savor came by to pick Reg up…16 miles isn’t bad for a Monday morning run! I continued for the last couple of miles, making it to Freeport shops after around 3 hours of running. After getting a dry top and some refreshment I went in search of a dry place to sit and wait for Reg who was meeting me for lunch, LL Bean was that place. I found the comfy chairs, by a fireplace, under a moose – very Maine indeed and exactly what I needed.
Lunch was footlong subway and iced tea, delicious, and left Reg and I feeling very full and happy. After hanging out in subway for another hour or so I headed off for my second leg of the day…an easy 8.5 miles to Brunswick. A friend of mine, Molly, ran with me in spirit, she was on the treadmill at her gym while I ran on the rainy streets of Brunswick. She ended up running 12 miles as opposed to the 8 miles she originally began with, proving once again, that once you get going it’s easy to keep going!
Finally made it to my destination, after jogging about a quarter of a mile past it and having to jog back! But Lacey was waiting at the door with a hug and a towel, which was great because I looked liked I’d just jumped into the ocean. Hot shower, nachos and ‘she’s the man’ was the perfect way to end the first day of this journey.
Aspire to be great instead of good, aspire to be remembered instead of forgotten, aspire to accomplish what others have or have not done, aspire to be yourself and nothing else for when you strive to be yourself everything is limitless because you are not holding yourself to the limits of others.
Day 2: Tuesday 16th August, 2011
Today was a rough one. Woke up feeling sore everywhere and the thought of running 32 miles were not appealing. But after much procrastinating I finally headed off around 9:30am. After getting a little lost trying to get out of Brunswick (almost headed to Topsham) I found the right road which I would then be on for the next 18.5 miles…It definitely was a slow trot which felt like a bouncing walk. My feet hurt, my knee was sore and my back was killing me, but I just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other and I knew I would eventually reach my destination. In my mind, I kept thinking of a quote my friend had told me ‘the mind will keep the body strong’, that quote was probably what got me through those miles. 3.5 hours of running later I finally reached Wiscasset, my lunchtime destination, I’d never been so happy to see a town’s sign or to see a town centre. I was soaked, sore and hungry. Reg met me once again for lunch and we went to Sarah’s Café. Everything looked good and tasted even better, not sure if it was because of the state I was in, but it was probably the best chocolate milk and chicken salad sandwich I had ever had.
After stretching for about half an hour by our table I was starting to get mentally prepared for the next 14 miles. Although, running was probably the last thing I wanted to do right then, but it had to be done, so I headed off very unwilliningly. With Reg keeping me company on her bike, my slow trot started once again, slowly and painfully! Luckily Reg was a very good distraction and I managed to settle into an easy trot. Wearing a red hat and poncho I felt a lot like Forest Gump, especially when a random runner came up and asked me why I was running, my first thought was to say ‘ I just felt like run-ing’, but wasn’t too sure if he’d get that!
7 miles later Reg had to turn around, but luckily enough Sabrina had found us at that point and she took over and ran with me the rest of the way. It was another good distraction and motivation to keep my slow trot going. 2 hours and 20 minutes after leaving Wiscasset we reached the road to Duck Puddle campground. After saying goodbye I decided to walk the road to the campground…a short 2 mile walk! It was long and pretty hilly, but walking felt amazing after about 6 hours of running.
I reached the campground as it was getting dark and was lucky enough to bump into the owner. Once she heard what I was doing and who I was doing it for she was amazing. Put me up in a cabin, with a shower, gave me bedding, shower stuff, t-shirt, food and best of all, beer. I couldn’t have asked for much more. The really came through and made the end of a torturous day very enjoyable.
Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on the spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic.
Day 3: Wednesday 17th August, 2011
Today was a little bit more manageable. It was like getting over the second day hump of preseason training. The second day is always the worse, but after that your body adjusts and gets used to the stress and pain you’re putting it through and it feels normal again. It also helped that today was a lighter mileage day, just 20 compared with 32! I walked the 2 mile stretch back to route one, called it my warm up but was basically delaying running again. Once on route one I began my slow trot towards Waldoboro. A few nice ‘rolling’ hills later I trotted past the famous Moody’s diner, took a picture and kept going 3 more miles to Hillary’s family restaurant, ‘The captains fresh choice’. Greeted by a familiar smiling face I was happy to get out of the heat and sit down for a little bit. Hillary and her family were great, the fed and watered me and also gave me ice and drugs! (Tylenol) I hung out there till I was ready to complete the next 12 miles to Rockland.
Reluctantly I packed up my things and was on my way. The next leg wasn’t too bad; I settled into my slow trot and felt like I was cruising. A couple hours later I reached Rockland and not long after that I found my destination for the night. A slow walk up the road brought me to Nick Wheelers house. After a nice hot shower and a delicious meal cooked by his roommate I was all set and heading into a food coma! I was passed out around 9pm that night.
The task ahead of you is never greater than the strength within you.
Day 4: Thursday 18th August, 2011
Fourth day, my body is now somewhat used to the constant pounding and motion of running, but still pretty tired! I tried to get up early to beat the heat, but that didn’t really work out too well, still ended up leaving around 9:30am. The first leg was 14 miles to Lincolnville and second was 12 miles to Belfast.
Starting off was a bit rough, but once I got going I felt again like I was cruising, but probably wasn’t! It’s interesting how my stride changed naturally to accommodate this much running. I don’t lift my knees up very high and my stride length has shortened, it’s almost like a fast shuffle. But I believe it was doing that to conserve energy, my body had found a way to keep me moving forward at a decent pace, but using as minimal amount of energy as possible.
I reached Lincolnville around lunchtime and after a couple slices of pizza, which I struggled to finish, I wandered down to the beach. It was a cute little beach, nothing more, nothing less. Even though it was a nice day the breeze was a little cold for me, so I went in search of a sheltered place in the sun. I found it behind an old red barn in someone’s backyard. Curling up in the sun, sheltered by the barn, I passed out for an hour or so…it felt great. As the sun shifted in the sky however my sunny patch kept moving, so in turn I had to move with it. After another hour of moving from sun patch to sun patch I figured it was time to actually get moving. Few stretches and some Tylenol later I was on my way. Stopping briefly to plank a moose, I was able to maintain my trot the whole rest of the way.
I stayed with Judy and Joe, Little Sam’s parents. At first I couldn’t find their house, but luckily Judy drive by and picked me up as I was wandering the streets…she said she was on the lookout for a lost girl walking around! I’ve really began to appreciate hot showers more and more this week, nothing brings you back to life more than standing under a constant stream of hot water!
Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can do what others can’t
Day 5: Friday 19th August 2011
Today started out like every other day this week. I stumbled out of bed, hobbled off to the kitchen to fuel up on breakfast; then I procrastinated for about an hour or so before actually getting ready to leave. I’ve gotten it down to a bit of a routine now. First, pop in a few Tylenol then Band-Aid up the chaffing caused by my sports bra, rub some Tiger-balm onto my thighs and kneed and put on sunscreen before getting dressed. Slowly put on my shoes and pack up my back pack, fill it with water, then duck tape my extra clothing plastic bag to the outside before putting it on and getting on my way. Today was an exciting day for two reasons. One, I was only running 20 miles, and two, after today I only had one more day of running left.
I started today with a nice easy walk down to the town of Belfast and along the waterfront. Then started my jog over the footbridge and up onto route one. I stopped at ‘Just Barbs’ for lunch, had a delicious turkey club and fries, which again I couldn’t finish, I think my stomach has shrunk from all the running. Then after taking a quick nap in a nice grassy patch under a tree I was anxious to get on my way, and I looked a bit like a homeless person lying there in the grass next to the main road.
So off I went and before long I started recognizing familiar things and I knew I was almost there. I also got to run over the new bridge into Bucksport, which was very fancy and nice. As I reached Shady Oaks campground all I could think was ‘one more day of running, one more day of running!’ so excited! And even more exciting was the fact that they had a pool that I could fully submerge in…so good!
Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired. When you were younger the mind could make you dance all night, and the body was never tired..You've got to make the mind take over and keep going.
Day 6: Saturday 20th August 2011
Final day!! Today was my last and longest day, 37 miles to complete before reaching Bar Harbor and I was done running for the week. Even though it was my longest day I was actually really excited, mainly to be done!
I had sat in the pool last night and had about 10 hours sleep, so my legs felt well and my body felt rested, I also headed off earlier than usual to beat the heat. My morning run was pretty overcast the whole way, which was pretty nice, it was 17 miles long and took around 3 hours to complete. Actually wasn’t too bad, I zoned out on what I was doing the whole time because the whole time I was preparing for my big 20 mile run that afternoon, so almost forgot about the 17 miles I was currently doing.
Once in Ellsworth I stopped by Dennys (as instructed by Brian, Hillary’s family’s business manager). Elaine was there waiting for me, and as I walked in she announced to the entire restaurant who I was and what I was doing, talk about center of attention! After that they got me whatever I wanted, including an endless supply of chocolate milk. Unfortunately, with a shrunken stomach I just couldn’t eat like what I used to. So after eating most of a turkey club and fries and 1 n a half glasses of chocolate mile I was well stuffed. So after saying goodbye I went off to find a nice patch of grass to curl up in for a couple hours.
I woke up around 1:30/2pm and after stretching and going through my pre-run routine I walked to the nearby Renys to get a costume for the final leg – if you’re going to do something crazy you might as well look it! It’s amazing though how much energy putting on a costume can give you. It’s like putting it on take you from your body and puts you in a whole new one where you can do just about anything. I set off for my last 20 miles in a hula skirt, leis and a flower bra with a sign saying ‘I’m running for boobies’ and I felt like I hadn’t even ran that day. Part of being in costume is and drawing attention to yourself is the fact that you’re putting on a show, so you have to act how people want and expect you to act, aka you have to be full of energy and excitement even though you’re running 20 miles in 80 degree heat. But it wasn’t too hard as I was so excited to be almost done, I felt like I really was cruising it this time!
Before I knew it I was crossing the bridge onto the island, I still had about 9 miles to go till I reached the town center, by Molly joined me for those last few and it seemed to make the time go by a lot quicker. I started to see more and more familiar places and got plenty of honks and as we got closer and closer I couldn’t help but get more and more excited.
It was a really surreal feeling getting to the town center in Bar Harbor. I was done, I had done it, I had set this unreal goal, planned it and gone ahead and completed it. Part of me couldn’t believe it and part of me was relieved to be done. It was such a personal reward, because there was no huge celebration at the finish bringing me in, this was a goal that I had decided to set and carry out and it was a personal achievement of mine and celebration, that within myself I felt extremely proud…and then of course Molly announced to everyone else around us what I had just done, so others got to share in the celebration!
The weirdest part about it was I didn’t even feel like I had just run 37 miles that day, or 162 miles that week. My body had either just gotten used to the constant motion or my mind was so much on cloud nine that it had completely separated from the body.
We went out and celebrated, basically all night long with beers, shots and dancing and the next day I woke up and aside from a little hangover, I felt fine. It’s strange how tough something can be, but once you’re done, the body just recovers and goes back to a normal state of being. It proves that the human body really can handle anything and it has the ability to bounce right back. We just have to learn to let our mind control the body and not the other way round.
Believe that you can run further or faster. Believe that you’re young enough, old enough, strong enough and so on to accomplish everything you want to do. Don’t let worn out beliefs stop you from moving beyond yourself, believe you can and you will.
My Journey