changes

Well, this Boston (in 10 days...yikes!) will be my last marathon for awhile. Not for forever, but at least for a bit. It's my 10th which seems like a good place to stop. That and I am starting doctoral studies in the fall part time so full time work + part time school means less time for 20 mile runs.

Running Boston for the second time was important to me, mostly to prove to myself that qualifying the first time wasn't a fluke. But now I have 3 BQs and I'm getting tired of marathon training. Shank probably just rolled over in his grave but I think I need a break from it. Not a break from running, just something different. I'm also kind of disturbed by the circus around the Boston Marathon. I love running it but it selling out in 8 hours is ridiculous.

Since I started this blog research and advocacy around CTE has really taken off. I'm so proud of the Sports Legacy Institute and I feel fortunate that Shank's story is eventually going to help people avoid the same pitfalls. My mom and I are working on Shank's page which will eventually be found here along with the other legacy donors.

readings

I want to share with you (who are you? i don't think anyone reads this!) a number of important articles that have recently been published. All deal with traumatic brain injury and the after effects years later.

The first, a piece by Malcolm Gladwell (an excellent story teller- I would recommend all of his work) really affected me both because it took a very interesting approach to looking at football head injuries (comparing football to dog fighting) and it included interviews with both the doctor that performed Shank's brain autopsy and Chris Nowinski, someone that I really admire and that I worked with in trying to establish the BAA charity program (we are still working on it! fingers crossed for 2011).

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/19/091019fa_fact_gladwell
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/ask/2009/10/questions-for-gladwell.html

The second piece was similar, but probably as important because it was in the widely read NY Times and finally moved the dialogue away from just NFL players. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/sports/ncaafootball/22concussions.html?_r=1&hpw
Shank didn't play in the NFL but were the injuries he suffered any less because of that? Of course not. We need to stop worrying about only NFL players because they are the famous ones and start figuring out what to do about kids playing football and suffering repeated concussions.

1 year anniversary

So it's been almost an entire year since Shank passed. Hard to believe. It really feels like I got that phone call only weeks ago. How do you commemorate the day? Do you celebrate the person? Do you mourn? In my case, I am doing what he surely would have done- running a ridiculously long race in preparation for my next marathon. Life goes on: left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot....

Updates

It's been a long time since I last wrote. I am debating whether I will use this space to continue to blog about running and fundraising for SLI, or whether it was just useful for that one event. I don't know that I will have answered that question by the end of this post!

We completed the application to become an official charity partner for the 2010 Boston Marathon, which was very exciting but we have no idea if we will be chosen as only 6 new charities will become partners. I really hope the people at the BAA realize how important it is to continue to do research on head injuries and how much community service CSTE and SLI do in the Greater Boston community. If not I guess I will just run it again (assuming I qualify again(!)) and try a new fundraising strategy. I hope that being done with grad school will give me more time to focus on things like that.

This time of year is my least favorite for running. My allergies are terrible and every run is like breathing through a straw. It's awful and takes all of my energy and will power just to get out there. These are the times I miss Shank the most because he would tell me just to suck it up and get out there, whether I did 2 miles or 20. That is the kind of kick-in-the-a$$ I need now.

In other news, we got a puppy and that has been taking up all of my time and I am loving it. She is so cute! She's not a runner yet, and will probably only ever be able to run 1 mile at a time, but I can't wait.

thanks!

Thanks for the support! I had a great time running the Boston Marathon- I was really trying to just soak it all in and enjoy it as Shank would have done. I feel great and am happy to report no injuries, just sore legs. It was truly a great day and one I will not forget. As Shank would have said, what a great day!

countdown

Well, I have made it this far and am still healthy and sane. If you have the opportunity to donate please do so prior to the race (April 20th) as I will be working with SLI to figure out if this is a good fundraising option in future years. I've heard from a few people that they've had trouble donating- I think the easiest way to donate and make sure it goes to Shank's fund is to write "Sports Legacy Institute-Shank Paradis Fund" on your check and mail it to them at
Sports Legacy Institute
230 Third Avenue
Waltham, MA 02451-7528

In future years I hope to have an online donation area for Shank-fund money but at this time we're working with what's already in place.

Wish me luck & hope to see some of you out on the course.

bracelets!!

Yay! The bracelets have arrived. They are green and say "Shank Paradis Fund" on them. I am rocking mine right now. If you donated let me know so I can mail it to you!

This blog mentioned in Phedippidations!

Steve mentioned A Great Day for a Run in his podcast Phedippidations. Check out his website for the podcast or search for it at i-tunes.
http://steverunner.com/

Thanks Steve!

ouch

I sprained my toe (yes, this is possible) and so I ran the Bronx half with friends instead of trying to run a good time. I was just happy to get the mileage in without any pain after missing 2 days last week and worrying that it was a serious injury. I am ordering the bracelets this week so let me know if you donated so I can send you yours. Enjoy the nice weather this week!

Oldie but goodie

This is from my first marathon. Shank convinced me to run and helped me survive. Judging by how happy we look I am going to guess this was prior to mile 23 :)

Updates

I just ran the Manhattan 1/2 in 1:47. It was 14 degrees at the start! I am pretty pleased with the race as a barometer for training since the course is very hilly and the weather was so cold. I have another 1/2 in 2 weeks and am hoping to run between 1:44 and 1:45.

I'm starting a facebook group about the fundraising so I will post more about that soon. Thanks for stopping by!

AJ

Training, mailings, etc.

So things are progressing on this front even though I haven't written in a while. I am currently working on the mailing to send to people requesting them to consider a donation (thanks for the help & advice Tashia!) and deciding what the bracelets will say. Then I will be hitting you all up for some financial help :) We've started the Shank Paradis Fund at the Sports Legacy Institute and I really hope this is something we can keep going for years to come.

Training is going really well even though the weather hasn't been so great. I think I'm already at a better fitness level than this time last year so I am optimistic that it will be a good spring with another PR and another BQ in the process. I am running a few half marathons as training runs this winter and my school schedule is better than last semester so I think I can keep up the mileage for jan-feb-march. April 20th is fast approaching!

Again, stay tuned!