Win Skis & 2 Passes to Okemo Mountain!

On January 23, 2017 By eatplayrunkirbyIn Boston, Running, TrainingLeave a comment

I feel so fortunate to have received some very generous donations this year to support my fundraising efforts for Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital!

10 more days to get your entries in to win 2 all day passes to Okemo Mountain for the 2017 season and a new pair of women’s skis! (For yourself, your family member, your friend or to trade in!) $10 per entry, which I’m collecting via Venmo/PayPal/Google Wallet. Drawing will be on Feb 1st. Please feel free to spread the word! I’m happy to coordinate shipment of the skis if you’re not local, so please don’t let that stop you!

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If skiing isn’t your thing, you can always support my fundraising for Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital as part of the 2017 Boston Marathon Race for Rehab team by donating at my crowdrise page :

crowdrise.com/spauldingrehabboston…/fundraiser/kirbymatthess

More about the Skis:

The new Salomon Quartz is a perfect ski for the advanced to expert skier that is looking for a ski that will make smooth and lively turns on the hard pack. Built with Salomon’s Light Density Wood Core with a single Ti Layer the Quartz give you a stable ski that will not be overly heavy, and still have a very quick and lively feel. The new All Terrain Rocker 2.0 has a little more Rocker in the tip to engage your turns quicker, and dampen out vibrations. Slight tail rocker has been added to release you out of your turns effortlessly. RKS (Rocker Stabilizer) makes the Quartz ski smoother without any extra tip wobble by adding a 3D layer of composite fiber in the contact zones, and improves your control. Salomon also has the X-Chassis that has extra reinforcement to give you more torsional stiffness for better edge hold in ice or firmer slopes. If you are looking for a ski that will crush it down the groomers with a light and lively feel that will be stable no matter how fast you ski, the Salomon Quartz will not disappoint you.

RKS (Rocker Stabilizer)
All Terrain Rocker 2.0
Light Density Wood Core
Single Ti Layer
Semi Sandwich Construction
X-Chassis

Vets Week & Paint Nite!

On January 20, 2017January 23, 2017 By eatplayrunkirbyIn Boston, Marathon, Marathon Training, RunningLeave a comment

So my apologies for the lack of updates. Jan 9th-13th I was up at Mount Sunapee for my favorite week of the year, the New England Winter Sports Clinic for Veterans with Disabilities. This year was particularly special as it was the 20th anniversary. For me, it was my 12th clinic. Here are some pics from this very special week!

One of my past patients, who is also a Veteran, and his first time on skis ever!

So while the week didn’t lend itself to much running, it’s honestly one of the best weeks of my year and it’s an easy “sacrifice” of miles. That said, upon getting home, I was hit HARD (as in over 5 days down for the count) with one of the worst colds in my life. Horrible timing, as I had my Paint Nite event fundraiser at Muse Paint bar . I got so much support for this, so I had to rally and it ended up being a really great time and over $300 raised for Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital!

I’m happy to report, that I am FINALLY feeling better. Still some lingering congestion and a less than sexy cough, but it could be worse (oh don’t I know!) Looking forward to getting in those miles. Doesn’t hurt that I got this in the mail recently, as well!

As always, please consider donating here to support my efforts as part of the Race for Rehab team for Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and the 2017 Boston Marathon!

https://www.crowdrise.com/spauldingrehabboston17/fundraiser/kirbymatthess

Peace Out, 2016! It’s the Year I Run The Boston Marathon!

We’ve all heard the complaints. 2016 was no joke when it came to the amount of horrible things that seemed to just keep happening. I have to say, for me personally I don’t think I could say it was horrible. But nonetheless, it felt fitting to say “Peace Out” with a New Years Eve run as the sun began to set. I was rewarded with great weather and a beautiful view, so if that was 2016’s farewell to me, then so be it!.

I kept New Years low key this year, but from the look of my cats, Blitz and Scramble, you’d have thought I hosted a rager!

It was a nice start to 2017, waking up basking in the sun of the new year. Made it all that much easier to tackle my long run for the day!

And what a perfect day to kick off a new year! I don’t think you could ask for much better January weather (but I will ask for this same forecast every day during my training on my long run days, thanks!) I only did 8 (my goal was 8-9, per our team coach’s training schedule) so as long as I was in that range I was going to be happy. (I also did 3 miles the day before!) My long runs are not as good as they have been in the past, but I’m trying to remind myself that I am getting out there and even with a few walks I’m running the majority of the time. More importantly, it’s feeling easier with each and every run!

Since I no longer run with music, my mind tends to wander . And today I was thinking about an artsy shot I could take. I was SO happy with my sunnies choice today because I was able to get this really sweet pic with the Boston skyline in my lenses.

It was meant to be! I wanted a cool picture for thank you cards to my donors so this fit the bill! I can’t wait to get them in and for all of my amazing supporters to date to get one in the mail! Keep in mind, you can still keep donating and help me reach my goal by visiting my CrowdRise site. No donation is too small (or too big! 😉 ) Plus, you’ll get one of my awesome custom “Thank You” cards!

https://www.crowdrise.com/spauldingrehabboston17/fundraiser/kirbymatthess

It’s been awhile since I ran down to the BU bridge, but check out this awesome view I got as well.

When all is said and done, I would say it wasn’t a bad start to 2017! Even better, I’m so proud of my parents for joining me in tackling the Run the Year 2017 Challenge. I’m going to count my run miles and they will count their “intentional walk” miles. (They even went out and bought fitbits! It’s a big undertaking, given the fact that to meet the goal we have to log an average of 5.5 miles/day. But rather than focusing on the ultimate number, I plan to count it as a win if we can all keep moving throughout the year and feel committed to our health, happiness and each other. Besides, we get to be the Matthess Family Musketeers! 🙂