As we head into marathon weekend, I have one final runner I'd like to introduce you to, Stephanie Kaplan Lewis.
Stephanie and I met a few years ago at a women's leadership dinner. Over the course of the meal we discovered we grew up in the same town, graduated from the same high school, and that she was dating one of my high school classmates (he is now her husband).
After that small world encounter, Stephanie and I have been in constant touch and I have marveled at all she has accomplished. After graduating from Harvard, Stephanie co-founded Her Campus Media. The business has seen tremendous success and she's currently promoting the company's first book "The Her Campus Guide to College Life."
Despite her packed schedule, this year Stephanie also decided to run her first marathon. She is running in support of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center team. The hospital is a place very close to her heart, as that's where she was treated after being diagnosed with a sarcoma (tumor) in her arm at the young age of 24.
Thanks to the incredible care she received, Stephanie has been cancer-free for over 18 months.
Read on to learn Stephanie's marathon training secrets, including Flywheel workouts and her wardrobe staple, her neon fanny pack!
PBS: Is this your first marathon?
SKL: Yes!
PBS: What made you decide to run this year? And why Boston?
SKL: Having grown up in the Boston area (Newton, MA), attended college here (at Harvard), and now running my business here (Her Campus Media, with our offices in Packard's Corner) and living in Brookline's Coolidge Corner with my husband Jason, I always knew that if I were ever going to run a marathon, it had to be the Boston Marathon!
I grew up watching the marathon every year and know what a truly incredible event it is for the city. I decided to run this year after taking up a renewed interest in running recently and feeling like this was the right year for me to take on this challenge, from a time, fitness level, and motivation perspective!
PBS: You are running with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center team. Tell us more about that.
SKL: I'm running with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center team to support the hospital's Cancer Center. I first became connected with BIDMC when I started dating my now-husband, Jason, who had just begun his emergency medicine residency at BIDMC at the time.
Between driving him to and from his ER shifts at all hours of the day and night, attending residency retreats together, and socializing with the other residents, I came to feel like a part of the BIDMC community. I had no idea I would soon become a patient there myself.
Jason and I got engaged during the summer of 2013, and two weeks later, at age 24, I found out I had cancer - a sarcoma (tumor) in my arm. Definitely not something I was expecting to have to tackle, when all I wanted to do was plan my wedding and run my start-up (Her Campus). Those first few weeks after the diagnosis were filled with so much anxiety and uncertainty as we figured out a course of action.
Thanks to the incredible doctors and care at BIDMC, I was lucky to receive excellent treatment that enabled me to be declared cancer-free a few months later. I got to spend the next year tackling the projects and challenges I wanted to tackle, rather than battling cancer. I am thrilled to say I have now been cancer-free for over a year and a half thanks to the expert care I received at BIDMC.
PBS: How have you stayed motivated to train during the coldest and snowiest winter in Boston history?
SKL: This winter was absolutely brutal! Had I not committed to running the marathon before the winter started, I probably would not have left my apartment to work out at all these past few months! But I had committed to this team, this event and this fundraising cause, and I knew I didn't want to let myself, BIDMC, or my friends and family who had donated, down. I just kept focusing on the end goal and visualizing myself running the race, and I knew that if I didn't put in the miles and the workouts to get there, there would be no way I would be able to do it. I definitely substituted a lot of outdoor runs for spin classes though (Flywheel is my favorite!), and did a lot of shorter runs on the treadmill!
PBS: Will you be wearing anything special on race day?
SKL: I really have no idea what I'll be wearing on race day since the weather is so unpredictable! And having done all my long runs in the freezing cold, I'm not even sure what to wear to run in warmer temperatures. But my one running "staple" is my neon fanny pack that I use to carry my iPhone (which I use for music), ID, credit card, and my running snacks (Vanilla Waffle Honey Stingers are my go-to). My coworkers make fun of me for my fanny pack, but I swear I couldn't do a long run without it! I got it at TJMaxx, which is where I get as many things as possible!
PBS: Is there anything else you'd like the readers to know?
SKL: Training for a marathon (and running one, I imagine!) really pushes you to your physical and mental limits. For me, it was important to have mantras I could repeat to myself when things got really tough on a long run. One of my newer ones, taken from the movie "Unbroken" which I saw over the holidays and thought was so incredible and inspiring, is "If I can take it, I can make it." When I was on a miserable long run in the freezing cold and snow, I would just tell myself that if I can just get through this, one training workout at a time, then I'll be able to run the marathon.
PBS: Thank you, Stephanie, for sharing your training journey and the personal story behind the team you are supporting.
Readers, if you would like to make a donation to Team BIDMC, please do so here.
Good luck on Monday, Stephanie! We know you can take it and you'll make it!
*All photos courtesy of Stephanie Kaplan Lewis.
