39.3 Miles Later

I thought I should at least pull together a wrap up of the marathon, albeit nearly three weeks after the fact. I was really happy to get it done and while I didn't set a course record, based on the amount I trained I was perfectly happy with my 2:15 half and 5:13 full. The AllEars team was great, I got to meet some wonderful people and as a group we raised over $23K. I am still deciding if I want to be Goofy next year, I need more time to mull it over. Some things I will remember from the races:

1. Passing the Air Force Cadet somewhere around mile 7 in the marathon who was wearing a 30 pound pack, sizing him up and realizing that even with his 30 pound pack I had a good 40 pounds on him. Next year I am thinking I will lose 50 pounds, carry a 30 pound pack and have an easy run. I really think they need to come up with a pounds moved per minute stat, I would go much higher in the standings.

2. Speaking of weight, I should probably drop beer from my training regimen. My carb loading excuse is looking a little weak these days.

3. Keep smelling the roses. God bless everyone that wants to run every minute but sometimes I want to soak it in. I have done the Disney marathon a half dozen times now and I always take it down to a brisk walk for the last 3/4 of a mile through the Showcase. Hey, I have been busting my hump training for 4 months, just covered at 25 miles and know I am going to get it done. I am enjoying that moment and sneaking in a few extra minutes, I am pretty sure the winner past me awhile back.

4. Seeing so much human spirit and realizing how lucky I am, again. I couldn't go more than a few minutes without seeing a runner paying tribute to a loved one they lost or that was fighting a disease. It is hard to complain about tired legs or how tough the race is when your following a teen who has a picture of her Mom on her shirt in honor of her memory. Or the older man in the tent running for his wife who passed away two years earlier. I always say in training 90% of it is mental, that your brain gets in the way of your body, but I should remember your heart can kick 'em both in the ass and get your through it.

5. There is no way I could do this alone. Jeanne wasn't with me during the races but she might as well have been right there. Many a Saturday I turned her into running's version of a Golf widow, disappearing for 2 to 4 hours at a stretch for my long run during training and on random weeknights. She never complained, well maybe a couple of times but I undoubtedly did something to provoke it, and I can't thank her enough. Everyone needs a safe place to land and she is always there for me, we did this as a team.

Finally, it connected me with Dad and my son Daniel. They were with me for the first marathon and I know they were at the marathon as well. There is a stretch of highway around mile 18 to 20 and it isn't much fun, wide expanses of asphalt seldom are compared to theme parks. The sun had risen though and the sky was crystal blue and as I felt the warmth of the sun wash over me after starting in the dark and cold I could feel their spirit. Months of training and the exhaustion of the run strike me as an insignificant price to pay for that moment. I don't run to a finish line, I run to be closer to them, if just for a moment.

Thank-you Jeanne, my friends and family that supported me (with words and donations!) and Team AllEars, who inspired me to get back on the road after 4 years.

We must be getting close, my shirts arrived today - just 11 more days until the Goofy Challenge!!

Taper Time

I got in 10 and 20 last weekend just before the snow arrive. I was happy with the 20 on Saturday, I got the first 13 done in about 2:10, if I can do that on the race day I should be in good shape. Now it is all down hill. This Friday and Saturday I had a 4 and 12, next weekend it is just 3 and 8. September seems like a long time ago at this point. I am hoping the weather will cooperate, it is getting in to the 70's this week, hopefully next week will be cooler in Orlando. I do much better in the cold weather, if it is above 50 at the start it is probably going to be too warm. Yo can get any time of weather this time of year though, so it could still be cool....

Why I Run

As part of the team I am running I wrote the words below about why I run. I actually wrote them about six weeks ago but wasn't sure I wanted to post it, it is a very personal thing for our family. I decided it is another way to honor my son Daniel's memory and let him know we still miss him.

I started running nine years ago, in the spring of 2000. Our first child was born the year before and I still hadn’t the lost the weight I gained during the pregnancy. Well, actually, it was my wife who was pregnant but I likely gained just as much weight. I had tried running on and off when I was younger, but I was 33 and it had been some time. It started as 5 minutes on the treadmill of running followed by 5 minutes of walking. I kept at it and in about a month or so was able to get up to three miles, a distance I ran four or five days a week. I progressed through that summer, losing about 30 pounds, most of which I have managed to find again in the interim. (It is amazing, there are a million things I lose and can never find, pounds always seem to find their way back.) At some point during that initial summer, I read that whatever distance you can run comfortably, if you push yourself you can probably double it. Keep in mind this doesn’t extend infinitely, so if you had an easy marathon recently (is there such a thing?) don’t expect 52 miles to be a walk in the park. I believed it and pushed myself to six and could feel the adrenaline. So began my dabbling with distances greater than 5K.

Unfortunately in October of the same year we had a tragedy that changed our lives. My wife had become concerned that our baby, who was 37 weeks along, hadn’t moved in some time. Her first pregnancy with our son William didn’t come easily so we were always a bit paranoid but something just didn’t seem right. I took the day off from work and we went to the doctor where we learned that the baby had no heartbeat. I can’t really explain the pain to this day, I have trouble typing the words. You don’t get past it, you get around it. You get distracted, but if you spend more than two minutes thinking about it, even after 9 years, it hits you like it just happened. Our son Daniel was delivered stillborn the next evening. I know there is plenty of pain to go around in this world and many have suffered more than we did that day but it is beyond the grasp of words on paper to explain what it is like to hold your newborn son and never feel his first breath or hear him cry. It is something we carry with us, a part of us. It changed, on the most basic level you can imagine, our souls.

I stuck with running because it was a distraction, and distraction was good. I read that the Long Island Marathon was in May of 2001 and decided to run it in memory of our son Daniel. I was in fairly good shape and followed Hal Higdon’s marathon training plan for beginners to the letter. I set a goal of a 4:30 finish but in reality would be happy just to cross the finish line. The race day weather was perfect, clear skies and about 50 degrees. I thought of Daniel many times along the way, it was so important to me that I make it across the line. I did well at first, getting to the half in two hours but I hit the proverbial wall a mile early at 19 and felt as though I had nothing left. I was relegated to walking, wondering how long the last 7 might take. I stuck with it though, found my legs and started running again. I could hardly believe it when I realized I had a shot at my goal. I remember seeing the clock at the finish and people encouraging me to run faster, realizing that I had 4:30 I my grasp. Little did they know, despite appearances to the contrary, I was running full out. I crossed the line at 4:29:57 and to this day I like to think Daniel was there with me.

I kept running afterwards, doing the Disney marathon in 2002 and every year after until 2006 when I decided to get Goofy. We brought our newborn son James along for that marathon, who was just a baby at the time. Our third child, Faith, was born later that year.

I have a million reasons why I fell off the running wagon afterwards, most of which don’t really hold water, but running does demand time and that demands choices and the running always seemed like an easy thing to sacrifice. I toyed with running Goofy again in the interim years but just never got my act together. When I saw that the AllEars Team was running to raise money for the Avon Breast Cancer Foundation it gave me the motivation I needed and now five years after the first Goofy I am giving another one a shot. I am doing it to help people find a cure, to honor my three wonderful children William, James and Faith and in memory of our son Daniel. I often say I do my best thinking when I am running. I will be thinking about my family and how fortunate I am to have them. They will give me the strength to get through 39.3 miles in two days and bring joy to however many days I enjoy on this earth afterwards.

Getting Closer

I was a slug last week - took about 8 days off from running. We took a last minute weekend trip to Disney to see the Christmas decorations and had a great time, it was worth it. I think the time off actually helped, I felt stronger than I have recently and got both the 6 on Friday and the 12 on Saturday at a bout a 10 minute pace, plus they were only about 12 hours apart. I am looking forward to next weeks 10/20 back to back because it is the last long training run before the race. It will give me an idea of how well I will do and I won't have to kill myself training during the rest of the holidays. I just need to watch what I eat. I have managed to lose about 12 pounds and need to drop a few more, never mind gaining any between now and the race!

Treadmill Run

I just ran on the treadmill again for the first time since the summer and remembered how much it helps me. I did a long run on Friday of 18 miles a bit slower than I would have liked, around 12:10's. I should have done 10 the day before and just haven't had the energy. I used to be a bit of a treadmill nut and could do runs of 15 and 20 miles on it if I had to because of the weather. At any rate, the treadmill is a pace taskmaster for me and although I only ran 3 miles, I got them in in 28 minutes. Getting some faster, for my Clydesdale body anyway, will definitely help with the longer runs and get my endurance up a bit. It is like golfing, one good shot makes up for the futility, so does one good run.

Anyone see that the guy who won Philly did it in 2:15? That averages 5:15 miles for those playing at home. It always amuses the hell out of me that I could stand at mile 25 without having run the previous 25 miles, race that guy to the finish and he would still kick my butt!

46 days, 1114 hours or 66,847 minutes until the Half!

I got an 18 mile run in this weekend. It took a bit longer than I would have liked, 3:40, but it was good to get the miles in. I was supposed to 10 the day before but it was just a crazy week with something going every night. This week looks to be good, I should have some more time with the Thanksgiving holiday. I am starting to make some headway with donations too, I am up to $160. Auctioning the house seems to have gone well also, another team member got $1,200 for it for the week. One of these days I am going to get a 10 and 20 in back to back, I had better before the race or Goofy might be a bit tough!