Week 14: Dwell in Possibility

Today I completed one of my last long runs before the marathon. This does not mean that we will not be running a lot; we will continue to train hard. We are simply entering the final stretch of our training. Today we ran 18 miles and next weekend we will run our longest at 22 miles.  It is hard to believe we are just 4 weeks away from the Boston Marathon. At this point it is all about keeping healthy, staying injury free and continuing to log the miles so we arrive in Hopkinton ready to make the long awaited trek to Boston-26.2 miles-as promised to those for whom we run and to our many supporters. This week has been amazing with temperatures of 50 degrees with even a few days that were in the high 60’s. I actually ran outside three times this week in shorts. This is certainly not a typical New England winter. Some days it is running in multiple layers and other days we are in shorts.  As hearty New Englanders we adjust. As our coach Jack Fultz says, “There is no bad weather, just bad clothing choices.” We just have to choose wisely.

March 17th Team Run approaching final water stop-mile 16

Fundraising Update

As usual I will start off with a focus on fundraising. After all, the reason behind the miles is our collective effort to support Dana Farber’s ultimate goal-a world without cancer. This week our fundraising efforts have brought us to a total of $13,731 posted to my fundraising page. There is still a group of checks that have not been posted to my account. So once these are finally posted our total will be $13,896. It is crazy because I mailed them in on March 5^th. Most checks have been posted within 3-5 days of mailing them in. The good news is the address was correct and it had a return address too. So let’s hope this week we see them posted.

Our great success fundraising is part of the reason that I wanted to title this weeks post, Dwell in Possibility (thank you Emily Dickenson). Back in September when I was applying to be a member of the Dana Farber Team I am not sure what I was more worried about- training for and running the marathon or the fundraising. In fact, I was not sure that I would be able to raise the $5,000 that I initially submitted as my goal never mind the $13,896 that we have raised as of today. Of course, I do like to “dwell in possibility” and although I was filled with doubt and it seemed like a stretch, I could see the possibility. We are where we are today because of the generosity of friends, family, co-workers and supporters who also shared a belief in all that is possible -we dream a world without cancer. While it is sometimes hard to imagine, we believe one step, one dollar and one mile at a time we will get there. So once again, it is with deep gratitude that I simply say, thank you! Your donation is making a direct difference. Our collective commitment to such an important effort emerges as a resounding roar-cancer no more!

Dwell in Possibility

Dwell in Possibility. These three words of Emily Dickinson took on all sorts of meaning for me this week. As usual, I was not really aware of it at the time but the thoughts collectively weave as I run. On a very basic level, who would have guessed that we would have a basically snowless winter in New England? Or who would guess that in the second week in March  that I would be running in shorts? These were just simple reminders that anything is possible even if not probable. However, it was today’s 18 mile run on the marathon course that really reminded me the power of dwelling in possibility and how if we do not at least entertain the idea of possibility we really limit ourselves. After all, we are often the ones who set the limits on our own perceived capability and capacity. Dwelling in possibility, we are not bound by limits.

Up until today, each time we have run on the course I have struggled with the Newton hills and the big hill in Wellesley. If you have run the hills in Newton, they are really not that terrible. It is just where they are placed and on many of our long runs they have fallen in final miles. I do need to be honest. Prior to training for the marathon, I was not a huge fan of hills. In fact, just the idea of a hill could tire me before I even arrived at it.  On most of our runs I have done well but had to stop to catch my breath from time to time on the hills. Each time I have learned to run smarter. Running faster in hopes of getting it over sooner does not work to well. I have learned slow and steady with one foot in front of the other gets you to the top. I have learned that to be able to run hills you have to train on hills often. I have also leaned that you have to convince yourself that you like hills and see them as your partner in training. Hills make you stronger. Today, I experienced what I was not sure was possible. I ran the hills strong and steady. I did not walk or stop once (except at water stops).

A Journey with My Thinking Today

As I ran the hills today, I found myself thinking of the quote that is often cited to define insanity. It is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” I am sure many who have trained for a marathon or anyone who has patiently and persistently worked towards a goal has questioned their sanity from time to time. However, as someone who appreciates the power of transforming our lives by changing our behaviors, I was also reminded that there are times that we need to do the same thing over and over again in order to get different results. I found myself thinking of a reading in one of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books that talked about the many times Lincoln failed before he succeeded. It also referenced that while Babe Ruth broke the record for the most homeruns he also led the league that year in strike outs. Sometimes having the courage to fail and to fail many times and still returning to confront that which has defeated us is what leads us to our success.

 Perhaps I wasn’t doing the same thing and I ran the hills differently today because I was running them smarter. However, I learned this only from doing the same thing over and over again and returning to a place where I experienced defeat. I suppose I could look at it from the perspective, that today I did not listen to the voice in my head that was screaming for me to stop when I was halfway up a hill. In that sense I did it a bit differently and therefore got different results. It was all this thinking of repetition and doing things over and over again even when you think you cannot that kept bringing me back to Emily Dickenson’s words “dwell in possibility.”  Thinking about what it means to dwell in possibility is quite fun.

So from here I jumped to thinking about Cancer. It is amazing how running for Dana Farber makes you think a lot about cancer. However, when I think about Dana Farber and Cancer, I think about possibility.  I imagined the many scientists who are hard at work researching cures for cancer. I began to make connections to their work in doing things over and over again, in search of different results- a cure for cancer. Once again, I know they do things differently. However, my thinking with the idea of “doing the same thing” is more connected to sticking to something with the hopes of different results-pushing the status quo. So from here I jump once again with my thinking and now it is Steve Jobs. I hope you are still with me. This is how my mind works on a run. Steve was a revolutionary thinking whose innovative spirit embodied the words of Dickenson and was he taken too early by Cancer. Steve Jobs dwelled in possibility. If he can imagine a world in which people cannot live without their iphones or ipads never mind all that these tools can do, we can certainly imagine a world without cancer. Here is where I link back to thinking about insanity and the notion of being crazy for sticking at something and I am reminded of Apple’s “think differently campaign” and the amazing ad Here’s to the Crazy Ones which once again embodies Dickenson’s “dwell in possibility.” Here is the video clip of the ad.

This ad reminds me that while we may feel like the world is too big or the challenges are too great it is the people that believe that they can change the world that actually do. I am also reminded of the quote that is so often referenced “it is what it is.” I am not sure who actually said this originally. I just hear it a lot. I guess this is the realist’s perspective that sometimes things are simply the way they are. While there is certainly both truth and wisdom in this, I like Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summit’s version of it “It is what it is, but it will be what you make it.” Here I return to the family, friends, and supporters of our Marathon Challenge team. We are not crazy to think we can change the world and that we will one day live in a world without cancer. We are choosing to dwell in possibility and one step, one donation, and one mile at a time we are working to support Dana Farber’s Ultimate goal- a world without cancer. Remember, it is the people who believe they can change the world that often do. Thank you for being one of these people!

With Gratitude,

Kerry D