Week 4: Moving steadily forward!

Week 4 was a week of steady progress on both fronts.

Here's what happened....

The Fundraising

I had some nice activity this week in the fundraising department.

Back in the spring, I shot a cocktail story for Northshore Magazine.
The story included some very interesting takes on cocktails including an "Oyster Shooter" from Finz restaurant in Salem, Ma.

On Tuesday, I was contacted by Carol, who is the wife of Finz's owner. As a christmas gift, she wanted to have a large print made of the photo. So in exchange for a generous donation to the Alzheimer's Association, I gave her the rights to use the photos. She is having two 20x30 inch canvas prints done with them. I can't wait to see how they come out!

Oyster photographed at Finz Restaurant in Salem, MA

Another phone call came in on Monday from the producer of Gordon Ramsay's show 'Kitchen Nightmares". They wanted to use some of the images i shot for last month's Boston Magazine cover on their show! The idea was that Gordon would have some large prints of the dishes, and would show them to whatever chef he was berating on his show at the time to show them what the dish SHOULD look like. Unfortunately, I couldn't get them to make the kind of donation I thought was fitting. They did however make a small monetary donation. In addition, they are going to FEDEX me a bunch of autographed cookbooks, photos, wooden spoons, etc. Hopefully they will be able to be used in a raffle to raise some more $$.

Lamb Carpaccio from Barbara Lynch's Sportello
shot for Boston Magazine's 50 Best Restaurants of 2010.
Image to be used on Gordon Ramsay's "Kitchen Nightmares"

The Training

Weekly Mileage - 38.5

IT GOT COLD THIS WEEK!

   Even thought it got so cold this week, I have to say that this was a great week of training! Because it got so cold, I found myself wimping out a bit and hitting the treadmill for all 3 of my weekday runs. Staying off of the pavement and taking it easy on my knees and ankles, left my legs feeling GREAT for Saturday's long run.

Saturday Long Run
12 Miles

   This week, my Run For the Memory team started training on the actual Boston Marathon course! I met everyone on Commonwealth Ave in Newton, right at the top of Heartbreak Hill. After a pep talk from the coach, we all headed out towards Wellesley. We all took it pretty easy, just focusing on getting in the miles. After 6 miles out, we turned around and headed back towards my first
battle with Heartbreak Hill.
   9 Miles into the run, we hit Heartbreak. I have to say, it wasn't all that bad! Of course, we'll see what happens when I'm hitting it at mile 17 instead of mile 9!
   All in all, a 12 mile run that felt great. I'm definitely feeling more and more like a real runner every week!

   Special thanks to Coach Rich for providing moral support and water support for the whole run!

Coach Rich gives us some advice before sending us out on the road.

Sunday Soup Group
7.9 Miles
Rain

   I woke up this morning to a text from my wife, (who was already at work), warning me to be careful of black ice. Apparently there were several roads in Medway that were shut down!
   I bundled up my son and took him to my mom's for his normal Sunday with Grandma. Then, fearing a bunch of "no-shows" for the group run, I headed to Joe's.
  This weeks host, Joe Hamm, obviously had the same fears as me and sent out a mass email telling everyone not to "wimp out!"  I think it worked, because we still had 6 warriors show up to brave the weather.
  The rising temps and continuing rain melted the ice, and we were good to go!
  The run ended up being another great recovery run from Saturday's long run with about 50% trail running, and 50% road running, all around the Route 126 area in Medway. These runs are great because the pace is a bit easier, and so there is lots of chatting which makes the miles go by quicker.
After 7.9 cold, wet, but somehow still enjoyable miles, we headed in for some hot soup!

The Payoff!

Joe Hamm's Chicken Tortellini Soup and Garlic Bread.

Soup Group Face of the Week!

Hiroshi Morimoto 

Hiroshi is a Core Soup Group member and multiple time Boston Marathon finisher.

I'll be running with Hiroshi in both the Hyannis Half Marathon in February and the 

2011 Boston Marathon.

Having a 20 mile weekend (ok 19.9) is a big charge for me! Just a few months ago, I would have struggled with just an 8 mile run. Now I can do an 8 mile run as a recovery run the day after a 12 miler!

Onward!!