Fundraising Update

If you're reading this and you've supported me in any way (financial, emotional, or otherwise) - THANK YOU!! This is a big thing I'm doing here, and it's challenging in just about every way imaginable. Your support, and the stories I hear about peoples' personal experience with cancer, get me out the door every day and doing things I never thought I could do. (See the rambling post below.)

As of right now, I've raised $925 - 22% of my goal! Awesome progress so far, but I know we can all do more! Some ideas coming up include two big events:
1. A "Playing for the Cure" party at our house in New Hampshire (drop me a line if you want more info!)
2. A "Gadgets for the Cure" drive - you get to get rid of old unwanted electronics, we send them to be reused or recycled, they give us money toward the cause!

Any other fundraising ideas are welcome--what's worked for you?

Time Flies...And So Do I!

So much training (and fundraising), so little time. Good news, though: I've definitely turned a corner with my training, and I'm feeling REALLY good about where I'm at. I'm consistently getting faster and stronger, and on Saturday, we got thisclose to 10 miles. Our TNT coach is always looking for a way to challenge the small group of marathoners on our team--this week, the method was "creative rounding". On the schedule for Saturday's long run: 9 miles. We're ramping up the mileage about a mile a week, and since my race is three weeks after everyone else's (San Diego at the beginning of June), I'm actually ahead of my own training schedule by a week. Our coach planned a great route around Manchester--down by the minor-league baseball stadium, over a footbridge across the Merrimack River, around some of the more historic areas of the Queen City (I'm still not sure why it's called that - ideas are welcome). It felt a little long, but we kept going, and I even picked up the pace a bit for the last two miles or so. When we got back, the GPS read 9.91 miles! (I should have run around the college campus where we meet to make it an even ten!)

Today FINALLY brought the weather we can expect during spring (one of my favorite times of year in New England) - sunny, low 50's, beautiful. Especially after the washout last weekend, I was ready to get outside and go hard. My goal was to run 800-meter repeats (2 laps on a track) in about 3:40 - which, according to various race calculators I've found, gets me to a three-and-a-half-hour marathon (my current goal). I went under that and then some: 3:25, 3:33, 3:28, 3:21! That and a jog to and from the track, and I logged a little over 5 miles--a good day indeed!

Stay tuned for a fundraising update!

GOALS!!

In school recently, we've been working with our advisory groups to help them set goals for their high school career. (As a brand-new high school, we're emphasizing a small-group approach from day one--really good to build comfort with a new situation.) It's gotten me thinking about what I hope to get out of this whole running thing. So here goes......

MY GOALS!

- A 3:30 marathon (8 minute miles? Stranger things have happened)
- A half-marathon PR (under 1:41 - my next chance is in May!)
- Run races for fun and charity (read: don't take myself so seriously)
- Maintain my weight around 150 lbs (I'm down 5 from my post-holiday high of 165)
- Get more energy to do my job better than I do now
- Make staying healthy a priority
- Make new friends through running (already started on that!)

What are you hoping to get out of running (or whatever it is you find important)?

With Both Feet (and One Slightly Gimpy Hip)

Last week's running: 21 miles
Fundraising total as of 3/1: $600 (and holding--my massive letter-writing campaign kicks into gear next week!)

So if you know me (and you do), you know that I have a hard time doing anything halfway. I leave the country for the first time and live in Africa for two years. I have a tender moment with a baby chick and give up meat for 2.5 years. I meet a girl and move to Memphis with her (and marry her, obviously). You get the idea.

Now that I've decided to semi-retire from soccer and get into running a little more seriously, I've jumped in with both feet. I've logged quite a few miles since I got back in the game (75 last month), some at a pretty accelerated pace (got my first run under 8 min/mile last week!) and for the most part my body's responded well--I haven't found that I've lacked energy or had too many injury issues during the runs themselves.

Well, wouldn't you know it, it's caught up to me a little bit. In last week's storm (the one that knocked out power to a good chunk of NH and made Saturday's long run, well, a ton of fun), I figured that my gym would be closed for my usual Friday cross-training, so I decided to go out on a relatively easy run--4 miles, pretty light, no big deal. Later on that day, my hip started to flare up a little bit. I got through Saturday's 7 miles fine, but it's definitely a reminder that (a) running a marathon doesn't happen overnight and (b) I'm not 18 anymore. My 30-something body, as healthy as it seems to be most of the time, doesn't recover like it used to, so I've gotta scale back a little bit if that's what my body's telling me.

So tomorrow, I'm thinking I'll mix it up a bit. We'll start with an easy mile to warmup (on the treadmill--nice, flat surface), then play in the student-faculty basketball game (where I'm at least good for running up and down the court). Then we'll see how it goes from there. This definitely isn't a deal-breaker, but definitely a helpful reminder to chill out a bit.