"Kicked By An Angel" is a moving blog, subtitled "My thoughts on life as I struggle through breast cancer"

Frances bade 2008 "Good riddance!" with the following lessons:

I am not the same person I was before my cancer diagnosis. I can’t say that I am better or worse — just different. I look at life, my children, daily tasks from a different skew. I have a better appreciation regarding the passing of time and a renewed respect to really try to live in the moment. I can’t say that I now live every day as if it were my last but I do think about and cherish the small intricate details more often; especially regarding my children. So on this snowy New Years Eve at the end of 2008 here is a list of things that I learned:


1. Pettiness and Drama have no place in my life and I learned to cut out all the people who perpetuate those energy-sapping qualities.


2. I have absolutely no control over many things in life –including many aspects of my own health as well as the actions of others.


3. Most people are generally well-meaning, well-intentioned, and kind.


4. Everyone, including myself, feels jealous and resentful at times. We must have been given those emotions for a reason. I think it’s OK to feel them as long as we admit it instead of feeling ashamed. Maybe jealousy is there to spur us into action.


5. People can change, and they do, all the time.


6. Relationships enter our lives when we need them and stay while we continue to learn and grow. When we no longer learn and grow then that relationship passes;not to be mourned, but to be celebrated, and remembered fondly.


7. Forgiveness is the most important gift we have to give each other; because nobody is perfect (not even my mother!)

As a mother, eloquent & quite humorous writer and cancer survivor, Frances is both an inspiration and role model. It is through the eyes of another individual that we are able to gain perspective on our own lives. Thank you, Frances, for providing that perspective. See the rest of the post, and many more, vistit Kicked by an Angel.

WOO HOO!! So I looked up the BAA website and searched my name and there it was: 22603, my official bib number for THE Boston Marathon. I got chills. It’s getting so close and the days are flying by. Having said that, Marathon Weekend cannot come soon enough.

For some reason this week, it’s like all of the months of training suddenly caught up with me and I’m EXHAUSTED. I can barely hold my head up and my eyelids feel like little lead weights. I know I’m eating enough (no chance of undereating for me!!), and I’ve taken it easy and backed off the cardio a few days now, so it doesn't feel like I'm overdoing it by any means (if anything it's the opposite). I’m averaging about 6-7 hours of sleep each night, although the quality of my sleep isn’t that great. And I’ve had a nasty awful headache pretty much every single day for the past week (unusual for me) – which may quite likely be related to the fatigue issue I’m battling. I have no idea what's going on, but I hope it passes and I feel better soon.

Quick recap of the past few weeks: Ran the Providence St. Patty's Day 5k with a few friends - gorgeous day but a tad warm for running in my opinion. Nonetheless, I had a blast!  Celebrated with some cheesecake, lunch & long island iced teas at the Cheesecake Factory afterwards - holy yum!!! Had my longest training run of the season just over a week ago: 22 miles in 29 degree temperatures. What a beautiful run, though. I tried slurping down some salt packets during the 2nd half of the run, and to my surprise it wasn't gross at all, didn't make me super thirsty, and actually made me feel like a had a bit of a pep in my step by the 18 mile mark. Bring on the boullion cubes for Marathon Monday, baby (I never thought I'd be crunching down on boullion cubes while running 26.2 miles, but at this point nothing could surprise me!).

Now that I am in the tapering phase of my training, I have a short 14 mile run to do in the next few days, a bunch of stretching workouts, a speed workout and some strength sessions - but that's about it. Next weekend is my last "long run" of 10 miles. And then I'm in the home stretch. Only 15 more days to go!!

Anyway, that’s it for now… getting super psyched for the race – coming up on the 2-week mark now!

Bib Name Age M/F City State Country Ctz *
________________________________________
22603 Crocker, Sarah 32 F North Reading MA USA

I am thrilled to announce that I am one of very few Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team members who have not one but TWO patient partners. Unfortunately, unlike Ashley Dumont, my patient partner who is thankfully doing well right now, Andrea Moore, my new partner, passed away just over one year ago, on March 2, 2009. 

It is in her memory that I will also be running the 114th Boston Marathon 2 weeks from today. While I have yet to connect with and meet Andrea's family, rumor has it that they will be flying in to town for Marathon Weekend!! Andrea, who passed away at 18 years old, fought not one but two valiant battles with ALL - a form of leukemia, after being diagnosed at the age of 6.  


While I am sad that I never had the opportunity to get to know Andrea, I am thrilled that her family has decided to participate in the In-Memory Program with the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge, and honored to be running the Boston Marathon for Andrea and her family. 








You can read more about Andrea here: http://www.wickedlocal.com/sherborn/news/lifestyle/health/x1681070373

Orange sunsets



Burberry raincoats



Dogwood tree blossoms



Flip flops


                                                                                            Red Sox games

*Feel free to throw-up because of all this mushiness. 

Have you ever seen those intense mom and dad runners? You know who I'm talking about -- those parents who take their toddlers out for a quick twelve-miler after work. Are you wondering where I'm going with this post?! I'm starting to wonder myself. Basically, I just wanted to tell you about the dad I saw running up this nasty hill in North Reading last weekend. I'd guess that the guy was probably about forty-two years old, and he was pushing his toddler up this ridiculously steep and long hill. GET THIS -- he was ALSO pushing his six-year old son on a bicycle up the hill! The POOR DAD!! His toddler was crying, and his six year old was whining about how he wasn't going to make it. I have a hard enough time just running up the hill. IMAGINE running up the hill with two small children! I stuck behind the bunch for a bit during one of my long runs because the scene made me chuckle outloud. Bottom line: that's dedication! Hats off to all of those parents who run with their children!

Also … I just wanted to send out a quick reminder about my contest for a chance to win a $25 Visa gift card.  All you have to do is make a guess at:

 How long it will take me to complete the Boston Marathon in hours, minutes, and seconds (for example, 3 hrs., 15 min. & 22 seconds).

I will select the winner after the race -- the person who guesses the closest estimate of my race time in hours and minutes will win – it’s that simple!

Here is how to enter the contest:

1.      Please make either an online donation to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge, or you can make a check payable to “Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge” and mail the check to me:

                                       Sarah Crocker

                                       109 Lowell Road, Unit 313

                                       North Reading, MA 01864

2.      Once you've made your donation (or if you have already made one prior to the contest), submit your best guess by filling out this contest form online (or you can just write it on a post-it note & include it in the envelope if you mail me a check).

 Good luck and thank you for your support!

Now to my GENEROUS DONORS of the past few weeks: Lorainne Allen, Maggie Perkins, & Lavinia, Matt Magliozzi, Paul Filtzer, and Jonas Geiger. Muchos Gracias to you all, and the good work continues thanks to your efforts and generosity!!

The Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge is a set of big challenges. And "challenge" is in the name, so "hard" is OK!


It's a bit of a challenge to apply for the Dana-Farber Boston Marathon team, complete with multiple essays and spreadsheets, donor plans & goals. It's a big challenge to say "I'll commit to raising thousands of dollars, or pay it myself!" It's a big challenge to raise that much money. It's a challenge to find the time to train enough to be able to be confident heading toward the start of the longest run you may ever have done, and without a doubt one of the most difficult marathon courses in the world. It's a challenge to stay safe, and courteous, through eight different towns that will accommodate the 26,000+ runners that will toe the line in Hopkinton the morning of April 19th.

Those all seem like challenges, until I think of the challenge of battling cancer.

Then it seems pretty reasonable, and well within my grasp.