Is this Brandon's running post about pooping?

Sorry this photo was too good.....

Sorry to disappoint you all but this will not be my post about one of the most significant hurdles any runner faces on marathon day. Saving it for a bit later....This guy just couldn't keep it in his pants....

Things have really turned the corner in Boston and within basically one week, the vast majority of the snow has melted. It would be difficult to tell right now that we had 250cm of snow over 1 month if you visited. While running conditions are still a bit treacherous because of melting snow turning to ice overnight, it really have been a pleasure to go out and run in the light as a result of daylight savings time (thank you George Bush! ugh....).

All this training has not been without sacrifice, as I feel like I haven't seen most of my friends at all over the past few months except for a few sporadic events and I am really looking forward to the end of training.

DFMC's marathon team training adviser posted a video that reviews the Boston marathon course. I thought it would just be boring (which it is) but I honestly had some chills watching it. I haven't cried in a marathon since finishing Montreal in the Olympic stadium but there probably is a legit chance that there might be some waterworks in this one.

Work in the lab has had more downs than ups lately, mostly thanks to a company's error in sending me a bad reagent but there is progress there. Amusingly, the fund that I am raising money for via DFMC, funds one of the projects I work on in the lab. So to all of you who have donated so far, thank you for directly supporting the cancer research that I do. I have definitely stepped up the effort in the fundraising the campaign over the past week or so, which I hate to do but it is necessary. The march madness pool starts on Thursday, March 19th @ noon, so please join and have a chance to win some money in the process! Just so everyone knows - if I win the pool, I will donate all the money towards my fundraising goal.

This week in running

Not much of interest to report this week so far. Have had some pretty decent runs and actually regained some of my motivation to train. Didn't have anything crazy to juggle around this week and I even managed an early morning Monday run (I always prefer to sleep). I have felt a couple of twinges here and there while running lately but it is probably more about me being hyper concerned about an injury that actually having one. No long run for me this Saturday because Sunday is the New Bedford Half Marathon. Conditions look OK for the race but pretty cold but still hoping to finish in under 1:27 which would be a PR by a 1 minute and 31 seconds, wish me luck!

I did have a "uh oh" moment this week when I learned that unfortunately I could not finagle my way out of the non-qualifier wave through a friend who knew people at the B.A.A. To explain, there are 4 waves of runners in the Boston Marathon, which are set based on your qualifying time. Wave 1-2-3 are made up of qualified runners and wave 4 is mostly the fundraising groups. Since Boston is so huge, each wave is separated by ~25 minutes making the start time for the 4th wave, 11:15am. Depending on the weather, you actually want to get out as early as possible, so that the temperatures are as low and cool during the majority of the race. Anyways, my efforts to move from wave 4 to wave 1 or 2 through a friend resulted in a email from the coordinator of the DFMC team to call her immediately. I have to admit I was shitting bricks that she was going to tell me that I had violated some team rule and they were kicking me off. Luckily, she just wanted to comfort me that it would be OK to start in wave 4 and that it would all be okay.

Hopefully I will have time to post after the New Bedford half!
Thanks for reading!