September 2015 – Month in review

October 18, 2015ianesenior Leave a comment

September 2015 – Nike+ Summary

Another busy month. According to my Nike app I ran 143 miles and my MapMyFitness calendar showed I had a total of 207 miles (143 miles running, 62 miles cycling and 2 miles swimming).

September – Map My Fitness

This month included the Hightstown Triathlon, my 3rd(ish) and last triathlon of the year and also the last few weeks of training for the Marine Corps Marathon so plenty of training during the month in preparation.

Fall definitely made an appearance during the month but luckily it was still fairly warm during the triathlon so I was able to enjoy the last days of summer. Our boys went back to school, my youngest is now in Kindergarten so both boys are together again at the local elementary school.

My two guys heading into school together

Also, as he has now moved up to Kindergarten, he is now at Sunday school every week vs every other week like last year. This allowed my wife and I to have 3 hours together on Sunday mornings so we were able to get some marathon training in together which was a great as we probably hadn’t had a chance to run together as a couple since the Pittsburgh Marathon back in May.

Nice opportunity to get out on the trail together

We’ve been taking the opportunity to get some of the long runs in along the Delaware Canal as it is fairly flat but very close to where we take the kids for Sunday school so we can save some time. It’s been great running there as the temperatures have cooled. We changed our route up a bit this year and crossed over the Delaware River at Washington’s Crossing so we ran both on the Pennsylvania side and the New Jersey side. Just to mix things up. On one of the times we were running together we crossed back to the PA side and saw a group of Revolutionary War re-enactors walking around Washington Crossing Park. We got a bit of a surprise when they started shooting off muskets and it didn’t really help when we ran through the park and my wife pointed out to them that I was British…thanks Babe, appreciate that.

The British are running…the British are running…

Work is ramping up again so I am back to traveling for a while and finding some time to squeeze my training in. I find fitting the swim training in a bit more difficult as I’m not close to my gym but I did manage to find an LA Fitness near the hotel in Atlanta to allow me to get a swim day in before the triathlon. My triathlon races are done for now for this year and once I am back home during the winter months I can ramp that up again with plans for next year.

So we end the month just a few weeks away from our big race of the year, the Marine Corps Marathon. My wife and I are really looking forward to running this together. We will be travelling down without the boys this time around as it is going to be a pretty quick trip. I definitely want to take them next summer to visit the museums and enjoy the sites. That will be a fun vacation. We can scope it all out as we are running along the route.

My upcoming race calendar should now be set through the end of the year (perhaps):

October 25 – Marine Corps Marathon (Washington, DC) – This will be our first time running this event.

October 31 – Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon – I ran this event on my own in 2012 and as a couple in 2013 and 2014.

November 1 – Cooper Norcross Run the Bridge (Camden, NJ) – I ran this event for the first time in 2013.

November 22 – Philadelphia Marathon – In 2011 this was my first marathon and also the first where I broke 4 hours in 2012. My wife and I ran this together in 2013.

November 26 – Bucks County Road Runners Thanksgiving 5 Miler (Langhorne, PA) – We try to run this every year (since we started running) and only missed it last year by being out of town. Here is my last recap of that race.

Looking forward to October and beyond. Thank you for reading.

August 2015 – Month in review

September 10, 2015ianesenior 1 Comment

August 2015 – Nike+ Summary

126 miles this month logged in the Nike app.

August – Map My Fitness

However 233 miles in training. 126.3 miles running, 100.4 miles of cycling, 6.3 miles of swimming. I think it’s the first month I’ve gone over 100 miles on the bike. I think I’m most proud of how far my swimming has come. This August was 5 years since I set foot in the gym. I’m slowly inching my way up to 7,500 miles since I started recording my runs. 🙂

My running has increased from prior months as I am now ramping up the training to the Marine Corps Marathon this October. I had the pleasure of running 15 miles with my wife one weekend when our boys were visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame with their grandparents. They had fun and so did we. Not a bad deal.

A highlight for me this month was completing my first triathlon at the Medford Lakes Colony Sprint Triathlon. It was lots of fun and the weather cooperated this time. I am actually having fun doing things other than just running and it feels great.

Lots to look forward to in September, October and November. I am all signed up for the Hightstown Triathlon in mid-September. In October my wife and I are running in both the Marine Corps Marathon and on Halloween the Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half Marathon. Finally in November I am running my 4th Philadelphia Marathon and my wife and I are running our annual Bucks County Road Runners Thanksgiving 5 miler. Lots of training to do between now and then.

This is the first year since 2011 that I haven’t a runDisney event on my calendar for January so I have a little break from training this December. My wife and I did sign up for a spring marathon so we will be training again through the winter months. We signed up for the New Jersey Marathon on May 1st. This will be my 3rd New Jersey Marathon (and home of my marathon PR) and my wife’s first. It’s a nice fairly local race so it’ll be fun for us. The plan is that we look for a spring and a fall marathon to run together each year. I like the sound of that.

Thanks for reading.

July 2015 – Month in review

August 26, 2015ianesenior 1 Comment

July – Nike+ Summary

As has been the case for the last couple of months I have been running less but working out more. With my goal of completing a triathlon this year I really have had to work hard on my other sports (basically just swimming). So even though I have been running approximately 50% less compared to the same month a year ago I am actually working out more.

July – Map My Fitness

Looking at my Map My Fitness log which includes both swimming and riding I reached a total of 157 miles for the month which is 4.43 miles of swimming, 60.78 miles of riding (both indoor and outdoor) and 92.15 miles of running.

We got back from our trip to England on July 1st and my back was a mess. I could barely sit up straight or sit still. Did I rest? Kind of, but not enough. I saw the chiropractor 3 times in the first few days back…yet still managed to register and sign up for a race much to my better judgement. I even ran a fairly decent time for me during the Washington Crossing Revolutionary Run 10K on July 4th.

A little fun on July 4th

Finally I decided to heed some advice and I went for a sports massage the following week. Wow!!! Ouch…but wow!!! I could actually touch my toes again when I left and within a day or so I was pain free. Amazing. I guess it was all the tight muscles pulling me out of alignment. Either way…I felt much better.

Anyway, the weekend of the triathlon came and went. I’m not going to recap the whole thing again here but you can read the full report from the New Jersey Triathlon here. Long story short there was a lightning storm and the race was cancelled in the middle of the event. I had completed the swim but was called off my bicycle just under half a mile from the end of the ride. It was not to be.

My one and only professional shot from the day – Exiting the swim

I was both disappointed but also happy. I had been very nervous about the swim but it went great. My only disappointment was that I wasn’t allowed to finish. I did however find a make up race for August, the Medford Lakes Colony Sprint Triathlon.

Not much else to report really. Lots of ups and downs but renewed focus on my training with new goals and bigger ambitions. Looking forward to what August brings.

Thank you for reading.

June 2015 – Month in review

July 16, 2015ianesenior Leave a comment

A little late but here goes my recap for my June 2015 activities. My Nike+ activity shows just under 70 miles run for the month. I may have to start moving away from sharing the monthly data from this platform going forward as it just shows running and none of the swimming and cycling I am currently doing in the run up to the New Jersey State Triathlon in July (my first triathlon). So here are my real stats (courtesy of Garmin/Map My Fitness).

June – Map My Fitness Summary

As you can see from the calendar there was quite a bit of swimming and cycling in the first half of the month. for a total of 127 miles (I don’t swim THAT far yet).

The reason the numbers look a little lower (other than focusing on the swim more) is that my family and I took a trip to the UK mid month and with a general focus on visiting my family and sightseeing with the boys we only managed to sneak in a few short runs during the trip.

Playing tourists at the Tower of London

At the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens

We took the boys to Parliament Hill in London to show them where we got engaged.

One of the highlights of the running on this trip was to take my wife on a tour of where I grew up and to visit (run by) old houses where I or my relatives lived as well as past the schools and friends houses around my old neighborhood. Good times.

The house I grew up in. They put up gates…to keep me out?

Wonderful running in the countryside near my old home.

My old school (new campus built since I left).

I also had the chance to catch up with many old friends during the visit and on one occasion a friend of mine (Michael) who had just completed the London Marathon invited us to run with him. This was great as I never would have ventured out on the route he took us. I haven’t lived in the UK for almost 14 years and not lived near where I grew up for almost 20 years so the guided tour was just what we needed. We were very fortunate that the weather was great while we were there (although I did pack a few long sleeve running shirts…just in case).

Catching up with friends while running

Not that we were limited to these occasional runs while over there, as a family we walked and walked and walked all over London. Both my 8 and 5-year-old boys kept up and didn’t complain once, even when my Fitbit told us we had walked 10 miles one of the days. A great visit back and I certainly ate more chocolate than I ever had in such a short time. Well, we had to do the Chocolate Tour of York when we were there.

Good times were had by all in attendance

We got back from what was a great trip on July 1st. I hadn’t been near a pool in 2 weeks and it showed on my first day back (although that may have been a combination of British chocolate and jet lag). Only a few weeks from the big day so lots of work still to do.

Thanks for reading.

May 2015 – Month in review

June 9, 2015ianesenior Leave a comment

May – Nike+ Summary

142 miles during May. As you look at my monthly stats you will notice that there were a lot of rest days but that’s not the whole story. It’s been a busy month.

At the beginning of May my wife and I ran the 2015 Pittsburgh Marathon. We had been looking forward to this race weekend for a long time (we had signed up last September) and we included a family trip as part of our race weekend. It was a lot of fun. The race was great and we had a good time showing the boys around my wife’s alma mater (University of Pittsburgh).

2015 Pittsburgh Marathon

After some recovery from the race and the trip I rested up a little more than normal as I undertook my first (unofficial) ultra-marathon where I ran ‘Goofy in a Day’ for the charity organization ‘Give Kids The World’. This was effectively the two days we ran at Disney rolled into one day and was the distance of the half marathon and the full marathon combined. It was a great experience and I was fortunate to have a couple of folks separately run about 12 miles with me. This definitely helped get over some of the tougher miles. My fellow Mickey Miler team-mate Tammy drove up and ran 9 miles with me which took me over the 20 mile mark and marathon distance and then a I co-opted a colleague who was running to join me and pace me for a few miles when I was into the 30s.

Goofy In A Day

I was astonished at my actual time/pace for the day. I’m not sure I would rush to undertake such a challenge again too soon but ultimately I raised $1,500 for ‘Give Kids The World’ and brought my fundraising through running total to $13,000 over the last few years for both Autism Speaks and Give Kids The World. I’m quite proud of that fact.

I am a brand ambassador INKnBURN apparel and on May 4th this year they offered a secret product that you had to sign up for sight unseen. The hint was that it was May 4th (when people celebrate Star Wars day) so I threw caution to the wind and purchased this mystery item and waited for my package to arrive. When it did it was “O.M.G!!!!!! I’m hyper(space) ventilating”. It was a full sleeve Boba Fett t-shirt!!! Although my wife thinks I said I was bald and fat…and she calls me a Trekkie. I still love her though. I also love my INKnBURN. So proud to be an ambassador.

My INKnBURN Boba Fett shirt

Now, getting back to that 142 mile image up at the top, since I started this blog I have always used the Nike+ image to start each monthly review. With the Pittsburgh Marathon over and the Goofy in a Day done I am now able to concentrate on my summer goal of completing my first triathlon (New Jersey State Triathlon). Some of my running days are now being replaced or supplemented with biking and swimming. Swimming is where I need to most work so I am trying to concentrate on that skill set the most for the time being. In regards to biking, I typically only get out during the summer months and then only at weekends. Well, we managed to rectify this situation this month by setting up a gym at home.

Both my wife and I have long commutes to and from our places of work and with the activities for the kids it is getting harder and harder to get to the gym before or after work. As both of us are training for the Marine Corps Marathon this October we are both needing to get our miles in at the same time. Typically I go out in the dark with a headlamp before dawn but I didn’t want my wife to be outside at those hours so we finally purchased a treadmill for the home (a NordicTrack Commercial 1750) so she can run inside when I run outside in the early morning hours. We also now have the flexibility to jump on the treadmill when the boys are in bed or when one of us is travelling for business and the other has to stay home with the boys.

A trip to the Home Depot was required to set up the base for each machine

The end result – our private workout space

So as I cleared out my office to make way for the new machine (we figure after 17 marathons combined it is more than a fad) I decided to also set up a bike trainer so I could get some bicycle time in during the week. So far so good. Together this has allowed me to do a couple of brick workouts (bike to treadmill) in preparation for the triathlon in July. I’m also getting to the gym early enough to get around 30 minutes of swimming in a few times a week. I’m getting there…slowly, but still I can see some improvement. So now I cannot use the Nike app alone to recap the month. I use Garmin Connect to give me the ability to record all activities so its not just 142 miles this month but 171 miles. Again, pleased with this although I’m finding muscle groups I never thought I had. I am sure my body will get used to it. I hope so!!!

Garmin Connect – May 2015

Garmin Connect – May 2015 detail

This Memorial Weekend we celebrated our 12^th wedding anniversary. We had a great family weekend together with the boys at Sesame Place and we also took them to Philadelphia for a day at the Franklin Institute and tosee the Lion King before I had to jet off again to Arizona for business.

Celebrating at Sesame Place

Enjoying the Lion King touring production in Philadelphia

While in Arizona I took advantage of the unseasonably cool (for Arizona) temperatures and enjoyed some time exploring the area through running from my resort. It was a busy week with many hours sitting on planes and in airports but looking back it was a good trip that yielded some good work.

Taking in some of the sites

Exploring new areas to run

So May was a pretty busy month by both running, racing, home and business activities but was rewarding all around.

Thank you for reading.

April 2015 – Month in review

May 28, 2015ianesenior Leave a comment

April 2015 – Nike+ Summary

148 miles this month. Also a little late in posting but better late than never.

I think at this point we can all agree that spring finally arrived. There were a couple of days where I may have taken my run indoors to the treadmill but that is because I couldn’t get my head around pulling out my winter clothes again. It wasn’t going to happen. April…it’s spring enough for me.

April was the peak of the training for the Pittsburgh Marathon and the start of the taper. The race day is May 3rd so the plan is to get to that start line rested and healthy.

The month started with me signing up for early bird pricing for this year’s Philadelphia Marathon. This was my first marathon back in 2011 and is essentially my hometown marathon. I have done it every year except last year when I was in Florida at that time. I love the crowds and the course. If you haven’t ever run this race (the first have of the course is different from all the other half marathons that Philadelphia hosts and the second has great scenery) I highly recommend looking into it.

With only a couple of weeks left until the Pittsburgh Marathon, and two of us in the house training for it, we had to do a bit of juggling to get our final long runs in without interfering with our weekends and our boys’ schedules. I ended up doing my last 20 miler on a weekday before heading to the office. Yup, up at 2:30am and out the door before 3am. Still managed to get the boys to school and be in the office on time. I will confess that I did drink an excessive amount of coffee that afternoon and I slept like a baby that night. Long run done. Bring on the taper.

Just a couple of days later I ran the Rutgers UNITE Half Marathon. It was perfect weather for running and my performance was really something I was proud of considering I’m coping with a slight injury. You can read my recap here and listen to the recap with my friend John on his podcast, the ‘Runner of a Certain Age‘.

The next day was a time for recovery. After a 20 mile run and then a hard pushed half marathon I took a rest day from training. I also took a day off from work to volunteer to chaperone a school field trip for my son’s class to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. So, looking after four 8 years…totally relaxing!!!

Me, the boy and the T-rex

I had another work trip to Atlanta during the month. The weather wasn’t looking great and it was hot and humid. There was a pretty big storm one day but it picked up in the afternoon and I couldn’t waste the opportunity to go out and run. I took a 5 mile run after work along the Chattahoochee River Trail. It was great. A perfect end to a busy day…plus earning a few extra calories never hurt.

Along the Chattachoochee River Trail

After my little work trip to Atlanta I got the chance to bring my eldest son to work for our ‘Bring Your Kids To Work’ program. He had a great day and I was able to show him around the office. He managed to find a certain picture on display in the buildilng. Looks familiar don’t you think?

He fits in quite well

He recognized this Dopey fellow

Towards the end of the month we finally had a free weekend. When I mean a free weekend I mean not totally overloaded. My wife encouraged me to go running in Tyler Park. I hadn’t run there in 10 months so I was really glad to get out in the sunshine. I wore my new INKnBURN ‘Run or Die‘ shirt and it felt cool and fit great. Truly a fun afternoon with no timetable. Perfect.

A great end to a busy month. Lots to look forward to in May. WIth the Pittsburgh Marathon at the beginning of the month (we are making a mini-vacation out of the weekend with the boys) and my attempt to run ‘Goofy in a Day‘ for charity, it’s going to be quite an adventure.

Again, sorry for the delay in posting but life gets in the way sometimes…in a good way. I’m not complaining.

Thanks for reading.

March 2015 – Month in review

April 20, 2015ianesenior Leave a comment

March 2015 – Nike+ Summary

So as you can see from the Nike+ summary I managed to get in 140 miles this month but if you look at the tail end of the month you will see that I actually had a week break. I’m nursing a sore back/pelvis as a result of all the snow shoveling over the winter. I managed to tweak my pelvis out of alignment. Ouch. Time to get my 8 and 4 year olds out to shovel the snow…or move to Florida. I think the move may be easier.

The weather did not deter my training for the upcoming Pittsburgh Marathon however it did take my running indoors for some of the long runs.

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My run from Sunday March 8th.

My run from Sunday March 14th.

The gym can be a lonely place on a Sunday morning in winter.

However, shortly after my indoor 20 miler I was lucky enough (well required) to take a trip to Scottsdale, Arizona for work. I went from running in sub 20 degree weather (sub zero with wind chill) to running in the low to mid 60s for a week. It was beautiful and flat. I wore shorts again!!! Yes, my legs saw the sunshine albeit at the end of the run as these were still early morning hours. What amazed me about running in Scottsdale was how clear the air was. As I was running I could smell the flowers, bushes and other landscape smells (nice smells) as I ran. I don’t think I’ve had much of a chance for that recently. Also it was flat. That helps alot. I’d been on a treadmill for more than a month so it was great to be out there.

Beautiful place to run

Citrus trees and the smells in the air were incredible

Yes….yes it was

Desert running is pretty cool

I discovered where Iron Man keeps his horses

Lots to investigate

Mind you, I got a rude awakening when I flew back to Philly. I arrived back to 4 inches of snow…ON THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!!! Ugh. My back still hasn’t recovered. Nothing like having to dig your way into your house around midnight. Luckily though that was the end of the snow. It warmed up a bit after that and I was able to run outdoors locally again.

Woo hoo!!!

During this month as I have been preparing for Pittsburgh I have been trying out some new gear. Last year at the Philadelphia Rock n Roll Half Marathon Expo I was recommended to try Injinji toe socks. They look a little weird and are a little tricky to put on but I have always had an issue with my toes rubbing together and usually use some vaseline to prevent blisters. Anyway I thought I’d give these a try and see if they were as good as they were presented.

Actually, they are pretty good. I’ve since bought a couple of pairs in various thicknesses to see how they differ but so far so good. I am using them almost exclusively right now. I cannot comment on the longetivity of the product but from a comfort perspective they seem good and from a blister prevention perspective they absolutely hit the spot. I’ve been using the Run 2.0 sock.

Injinji Run 2.0

Finally this month I’m happy to share that both my wife and I were successful in the lottery for the 40th Marine Corps Marathon later this year. We are so excited to be able to run this event and especially excited because of the special anniversary year. It is sure to be a great event and memorable to all who run.

We’re in!!!

In the coming weeks I have the Rutgers UNITE Half Marathon in Piscataway, NJ. This will be my first event since running the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend races. It will be fun to get back into race mode. Also, I’ll complete the training and start my taper for the Pittburgh Marathon. We are looking forward to the marathon weekend and hope we have enough time to take some sights in with our boys.

Don’t forget that I’m doing other crazy stuff for a change. I’m running the ‘Goofy In A Day’ for Give Kids The World a couple of weeks after that. If you feel like you can make a donation that would be really appreciated.

Thank you for reading.

February 2015 – Month in review

March 6, 2015ianesenior Leave a comment

February 2015 – Nike+ Summary

What can I say about February which doesn’t involve a treadmill? Of the 163 miles run during the month only 14 of them were outdoors and one was even during a snow storm…I was that desparate to go out. I did get to go out on my birthday though and also once in 5 degree temperatures (that was fun!!!). I had to try out the new earphones that I got for my birthday (BOSE SoundSport). Truly excellent sound and they stay firmly in place when I run.

My birthday run

5 degrees of pure fun (brrr)

On the bright side the days are getting a little longer and we are closer to Spring.

I also took a spin in a pair of Hoka Constant. I do this once a year and try a new shoe. As the old adage says, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Yes, I’m still with my Brooks shoes as a consequence.

Worth a try, but not for me.

The organizers finally decided upon a race date for the postponed Philadelphia Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon this Fall. It is usually mid-September but the Pope is visiting Philadelphia that weekend. This is a race my wife and I usually run together. The date was announced as October 31, 2015. Well, what do you know? A race on Halloween. I am sensing some costume ideas coming together. We signed up as soon as they announced that registration was open. I already have a costume in my shopping cart on Amazon.com (those birthday vouchers come in handy).

So here’s to goodbye to snowy February and anciticipation of March and the welcome return to Spring weather and the great outdoors!!!

Thanks for reading.

January 2015 – Month in review

February 19, 2015ianesenior 1 Comment

January 2015 – Nike+ Summary

A little late in posting but getting this done before the following month is over so technically I am still okay, right?

My training shows I ran just over 150 miles for January. This included running 39.3 miles as part of the 2015 Goofy Challenge. You can read my recaps for the Expo, Half and Full by clicking on the links. It was a fun weekend and one that my wife and I had been training for and that we also made time for a family trip which made the experience much more enjoyable.

I certainly made the most of this as there were a couple of milestones for me. It was my third year running for Team Up with Autism Speaks and it brought my fund raising total over $11,000 for this cause. Also, this might be our last runDisney race for a while. Logisitics wise it is hard with both boys in school to take the time to do this. Also, I think I need to give my generous donors a small break from fundraising. Finally, I’m hoping to find a way to do one of the Disneyland races and that will take a while to build up some funds as I want to take the whole family to the West Coast.

Mind you, I say that now and you know I’ll be trying to find a way to get back there sooner. I just love the runDisney races plus it’s great to be a Mickey Miler. I’m already trying to figure out a way to participate somehow in the upcoming ‘Small World Challenge‘ to help raise funds for the ‘Give Kids The World‘ Village. I’ll keep you updated when my plans are final 🙂

With the temperatures being what they are here I’ve had very little opportunity to run outside and so I’ve been taking some time to catch up on my podcast backlog while running many miles on the treadmill. Not that I mind too much as it gives me the chance to wear my INKnBURN shirts during the winter months. Hey, I like to look good when I run (it distracts from the facial expressions that I probably make). Here’s my new shirt from their new 2015 catalogue.

Men's Long Sleeve 'Run or Die' striped shirt

Men’s Long Sleeve ‘Run or Die’ striped tech shirt

So, after completing the Goofy Challenge my wife and I are straight into our Pittsburgh Marathon training. I’m also looking for some potential other long races (yes, let’s say marathon distances) in addition to waiting for the Marine Corps Marathon lottery to open in March. We shall see. It’s been a good start to the year.

2014 – Looking back and forward

January 1, 2015ianesenior Leave a comment

2014 was quite a year. The highlights included running 4 Full Marathons (including a new PR), 4 Half Marathons and running over 2,000 miles (unplanned). I completed my 10th Full Marathon in Baltimore this year (running with my Wife) and raised over $4,000 for charity (Autism Speaks).

December 2014 – Nike+ Summary

This month I ran a total of 211 miles. That is the most mileage I have ever run in one single month. It was a combination of getting my training done for the upcoming 2015 Walt Disney World Goofy Challenge, business travel (where I had a little more time to run but I ate a lot more) and the realization mid December that I was actually close to 2,000 annual miles. With all that said I added a couple of extra miles here and there and a couple of extra runs over the course of the month and finished December with 211 miles and bringing my 2014 total mileage to 2,005 miles. Not sure I will be repeating this pattern too many times but it’s quite an achievement for me.

2014 – Nike+ summary by month

There were many highlights of the year for me, starting back in January with running the inaugural Walt Disney World ‘Dopey Challenge‘. Four races in four days for a total of 48.6 miles. It was so much fun. Not sure I would rush to do it again though based upon the cost and logistics involved it ended up being a solo trip for me, however, I did make many friends that weekend and met up with lots of familiar faces too. I also attended the Mickey Miles Podcast breakfast after the 5K and was there for the launch of the Mickey Milers running team. The team raises funds for the Give Kids The World charity village in Orlando Florida. We are all over the country (and international too) but we interact regularly and meet up at races and I’ve even met up with members on business trips and on vacation. We are very identifiable by our yellow and purple team shirts and hats. It’s a great group and a great cause.

Running the 2014 Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World

Mickey Milers Running Team

Post-race with the Mickey Milers (Janee, Brittany and Joe)

My other endeavors for charity are again for Autism Speaks and as of December 31, 2014 my wife and I raised over $4,000 and will be running the 2015 Walt Disney World ‘Goofy Challenge‘ in just a few days. My goal is to make my miles mean something for more than just my fitness and raising funds for charity is a way that I can do so.

In terms of racing I achieved a PR at the New Jersey Marathon at the end of April a year after my meltdown at the same race. It was a pretty tough winter here in the north east and I did much of my training indoors at the gym. I learned to cope for multiple hours on a treadmill but it was great when spring finally arrived. Conditions on the day of the marathon were tough and windy but I achieved what I set out to do (even though it was just by a few seconds). I was happy. A few days after the marathon I had a small medical scare but thankfully all turned out for the best.

New Jersey Marathon – New PR and a pretty cool medal

My wife and I took part in a few races together this year, the Hot Chocolate 15K in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half Marathon in August and the Baltimore Marathon in October. Great fun at each race and she also achieved a PR at Baltimore. Great race, great weekend.

Philadelphia Hot Chocolate 15K

With my Wife and Father-in-law at the Rock and Roll Half

2014 Baltimore Marathon (my 10th Marathon)

I was also selected as an INKnBURN ambassador during the year and had lots of fun wearing some colorful and artistic outfits at races. I have lots of options now to run in. I have the INB shirts, my Mickey Milers team shirt and my Autism Speaks team gear for the Disney races. I think I don’t need to buy any gear for a while (this is not a New Year’s resolution so don’t hold me to that).

Another PR this year was achieved at the Bucks County Duathlon. I was unable to participate in 2013 due to a family wedding but this year I came back and beat my previous PR by 5 minutes. I had a bit of a struggle at the ‘Chasing the Unicorn’ Marathon in August but the highlight of that day was running across the finish line with my family. That made anything else unimportant and I was happier than my performance really reflected as a result.

A good day for a PR

My best ever finish.

So what does 2015 have in store to improve upon 2014? I’m not sure yet but plenty of things already lined up to look forward to.

In a few days my wife and I will be running the 2015 Goofy Challenge down at Walt Disney World. It is the 10th anniversary of that particular event and the medal looks quite cool. Most of all I’m looking forward to having my family with me at Walt Disney World this year and having a mini vacation with them. My wife and I are also signed up for the Pittsburgh Marathon in May and we are again doing a little family road trip with the boys. It should be a lot of fun. I’m also signed up for my very first ‘triathlon‘…we shall see 🙂

2015 10th Anniversary Goofy Challenge medal

Thanks for sticking with me for another year. I appreciate all your ‘likes’ and kind comments and look forward to seeing you at events and hearing on your success too. Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous 2015.

With my wife enjoying the Baltimore Marathon. Good times.

philly2goofy

…and all the miles in between

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2014 – Looking back and forward

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