Marathon Training, Luxury Wins, and Nursing in the Age of Covid.
Registered Nurse Michelle Peterson needs your help! Michelle is "running as one” on Team South Shore Health. Together the team is running the 125th Boston Marathon. Michelle’s mission is to raise money for South Shore Hospital’s Dana-Farber/Brigham and Woman’s Cancer Center.
As an ICU nurse at South Shore Hospital, she has taken care of many patients who received care right next door at the Cancer Center. From screenings to treatment, they do it all.
I caught up with Michelle yesterday and asked about her marathon training, how to enter her Facebook MEGA giveaways, and Cheddar.
Q1, Your pay to play and online Facebook donations have taken team fundraising to an entirely NEW level. Is it true that this past summer you gave away a high end outdoor furniture sectional? What other prizes have there been?
Michelle: Yes! I was worried there would be another shut-down so I planned accordingly with online fundraising instead. I’ve had some pretty cool prizes; a Louis Vuitton Neverfull bag, a Solo Stove, Peloton, trip to Mirbeau for an overnight, massage and dinner for two, and my last fundraiser is “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” which has the option of $500 in $20 scratch tickets, Encore Overnight with $500 to spend at the Casino or $800 in cash! It’s almost filled up… I can’t wait to see who wins!
Q2, This isn’t the first marathon you've trained for. Highlight from your first and last marathon?
Michelle: Omg no… Back in 2014 I ran my first ever Marathon in NYC, it was my best time ever and I still can’t seem to beat it 4:38… I ran Chicago a few years later in 2016 and then again the following year in 2017 because I just love their deep dish pizza . And then I finally got to run The Boston Marathon in 2018. I trained my butt off and was planning on beating my NYC time but that day ended up being a complete wash-out. It was pouring the entire day and I was completely soaked just sitting around Hopkinton waiting for my wave to start. It was by far the hardest race I had ever ran hands down. I was freezing and shaking and soaked to the bone for the entire 4 hours and 58 minutes I ran. I actually was so desperate to be dry that I took off my shirt and sweatshirt that I had on at a porter- potty right before heartbreak hill, and put on someone elses not so wet clothes that were sitting next to the toilet (I know… gross). You could literally barley sit on the pot in those thing! There were tons and tons of people’s clothes piled up inside. I eventually crossed the finish line in someone else’s zip up top at a time of 5:56. I took a few years off from running after that, I even cancelled my Marine Corps Marathon that I was due to run six months later. That day ruined it for me. But now I found a reason to come back to it. Although I’m now so much slower than I was in 2018 and I’ve been battling numerous injuries since I’m literally going from couch- to- marathon… I’m back and now it’s all about finishing and fundraising!
Q3, You're fundraising and running to support The Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center in clinical affiliation with South Shore Hospital. Tell us what makes this affiliation so special? Tell us something we might not realize.
Michelle: This affiliation is SO special because it is literally right down the street for so many people. I know how difficult it can be for a patient to have to be driven into the city every day for treatment… fighting traffic is just the half of it. With access to Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center right in Weymouth MA, patients on the South Shore can receive top notch treatment and preventative care without the stress of driving into the city.
Something that I have learned just by working with my patients in the ICU who are treated at Dana-Farber at South Shore Hospital, is that they also are able to be part of many clinical trials as they can in Boston.
Q4, As an ICU Nurse working for months on end with Covid patients I can only imagine you work “frontline" in a way that most of us folks will never really fully comprehend. After a solid 18 plus months how do you do it? What do you do to unwind? Given the enormity, how do you find time to train for a marathon?
Michelle: Nothing compares to the amount of anxiety and depression nurses felt in Massachusetts in the beginning of the pandemic. Every day leaving your family to go into the unknown and praying you don’t infect the ones you love weighed so heavy and I honestly don’t know how I did it… and didn’t just give up. I don’t blame the nurses that did. At some point around May 2020 I went for a bike ride as I did sometimes when I got home from work (mainly due to anxiety and despair of losing patients that night) and on my ride I saw a landscape company decorating a large tree with large hearts. I could feel my shoulders relax and could literally feel like a weight was lifted. In that exact moment I decided that this wasn’t all about me and that I had a duty to keep going and keep fighting for my patients lives, and the community is suffering with me. Now I take care of my covid patients just as I do the others.
Unwind? I’m just go go go. With two very busy kids in sports every single day, they occupy my time the most. When we are not in an ice rink or on a field, we love going out on our boat, hiking with our two german shepards, traveling and just hanging out with our friends. I make use of every minute I have.
Running can be fun but when training for a marathon it can feel like a chore. I squeeze my long runs in whenever I can during the week. Due to working nightshift, I haven’t been able to make the weekend runs along the course so I am typically running somewhere in Marshfield by myself. I am a lot slower than I used to be so my runs also take a lot longer than they used to, but I get them done.
Q5-Q7, The Usual Questions:
Top five songs on your play list?
1.) Work Bitch by Britney Spears,
2.) Goosebumps remix by Travis Scott,
3.) Popstar by Drake,
4.) Pump Up The Jam by Technotronic,
5.) You Make Me by Avicii
Running Shoes? Brooks Ghost 14
Marathon Eve Dinner? Pasta with chicken and a glass of wine
Q8, The Cheesy Questions:
Favorite Cheddar?
Wyke Farms, Cabot, Kerry Gold
Michelle: Cabot? I’ll eat any cheese anytime!
Q9, It’s final push time with the Marathon just days away.
Spin for Luxury—tell us the details about your upcoming fundraiser and how to enter.
Michelle: The last raffle I have running right now is called “Who wants to be a Millionaire”. For $45 per spot with only 50 spots, you can win either $500 in $20 scratch tickets, , Encore Overnight with $500 to spend at the Casino OR $800 in cash! There’s only about 15 spots left so if anyone would like to enter you can send a Venmo to Michelle-Peterson84 and visit my facebook page “Spin for Luxury: Boston Marathon Fundraiser for SSH Dana-Farber Cancer Center” to pick your number!
Lastly, thank you Michelle. You’re an inspiration.
Thank you for highlighting such an important cause! I hope to see lots of spectators on Monday October 11th!!! I need all of the positive energy I can get!
In full transparency to MarshfieldToday.com [marshfieldtoday.com] readers, Michelle Peterson is the close friend of two of my good friends. I’ve met her a few times and I have to say besides her great sense of humor she is a great energy to be around.