The Dash

by Trish Reske
Trish is a member of the Run for the Memory Team and will run Boston Monday, April 19

It's been said that "the dash" between the two dates that will be on our grave marker will represent the entirety of our life - how we made use of the time that we were given on this earth.

For the 35 Alzheimer's Association Marathon team members, that dash happens to be filled with lots of other numbers: our official bib number; the number of times we've run for Alzheimer's, the number "26.2", the number of training runs we've shared, the number of people who are supporting us, the number of funds we've raised as a team, the number of port-o-johns at the start.

The number of stories we've shared of loved ones with Alzheimer's disease, as we added to our mileage each week and counted down to April 19, 2010.

Yes, we're counting. We're counting our calories; we're counting down the days. We're counting on good weather (ha!), we counting on loved ones to come out and cheer us on. We're counting on each other as a team.

But most of all, we're counting on the fact that one day, hopefully soon, a cure for Alzheimer's will be found, due in part to our dash to the finish line at Boylston Street.

It's the number one reason why we run.

Nutrition tips

At the February Run for the Memory team meeting, we heard from nutritionist Nancy Clark.

She had a lot of valuable insight - a number of good tips on eating right. Here are a few:

-Eat when you're hungry. (It sounds obvious but if you get hungry before it's time for dinner, don't hold off and starve yourself.)

-People get hungry about every four hours, so if you have breakfast at 7 or 8, then lunch at 11 or 12, you're ready for more food at 3 or 4. So maybe have a "second lunch" in the mid-afternoon, such as a sandwich or a bagel, rather than just snacky items. (I'm going to try to follow that one because I feel like I snack too much in the late afternoon.)

-Try to have three different foods in a meal - rather than just a bagel for breakfast, throw in a banana and some juice.

-After long runs, have something simple to eat if you're not hungry, such as a bagel or a banana, as it's important to refuel.

-Check race Web sites before you go so you'll know what and where the food and drink will be along the course.

-Finally, a non-food tip: Get more sleep and watch less TV.