Training

Running for a cause other than yourself

3 Comments

On Sunday my wife and I ran a local 5K race to help raise funds for my friend Mike as he trains to race for Team USA at this summers Maccabi games. Anyone who knows me knows that if I have a plan I stick to it somewhat religiously. If someone in our family talks about weekend plans in the future I pretty much look up my calendar and see what run I have planned. I guess that’s my nature. My wife would tell me to loosen up a little. I guess it’s my profession to be measured and disciplined but sometimes you do have to have a little fun. Of course when I am at Walt Disney World it’s all fun.

Anyway, with a week before I run the New Jersey Marathon I am hitting the last part of the taper and resting up for my best efforts on May 5th and I was being extremely careful in my preparation as this is my ‘race’ for the year where I am going for a goal, but this was for a friend and I wanted to make sure I was there to support. I wasn’t going to run hard during the race but take it nice and slow to keep loose and have fun.

The weather was perfect. Clear sky, light breeze and cool temps in the 50s. I dropped my eldest off at his Sunday morning class and took the double stroller to run with Asher (and his Best Pal).

Taking it nice and slow with my race crew

Taking it nice and slow with my race crew

Shari and I both wore our new ‘Boston Strong’ shirts and we were glad to see that many of the people there were also wearing Boston gear. Runners are their own support group.

I started at the back as I was the only one running with a passenger, mind you I was lucky I noticed just before the start that I was on the wrong side of the start line which would have put me at the front…oops. Shari went off with the main pack and ran a new 5K PR (just over 24 minutes). As the say in Boston she is becoming a ‘wicked fast runnah’. She makes it look good.

My little red haired 'wicked fast runnah'

My little red haired ‘wicked fast runnah’

I took it nice and slow chatting with Asher all the way and asking him to tell me the directions of each of the arrows on the course. He was a good navigator and I made it back to the finish line running 10 minute splits. Asher was more excited to see his Mommy at the finish line although he had fun peeking through the window in the hood of the stroller to make sure I was still there during the race. Mickey, I am pleased to say, behaved beautifully.

Asher with Mommy and his Best Pal

Asher with Mommy and his Best Pal

We made it to the finish line. Asher already re-carbing for his next event.

We made it to the finish line. Asher already re-carbing for his next event.

After the race was over and we had said goodbye to everyone we headed over to Dunkin’ Donuts for coffee (me) and a treat (Asher) as promised. It seems I do run on (or at least for) Dunkin’.

Asher 'earned' his treat after all his hard work during the 5K

Asher ‘earned’ his treat after all his hard work during the 5K

Once I have completed the New Jersey Marathon next week I will be getting ready to hold a virtual 5K to raise funds for Autism Speaks and hopefully get closer to achieving my fundraising target for the 2014 Dopey Challenge. (Watch this space, the medal looks awesome).

Raising funds for charity sometimes feels harder than the actual training itself. In addition you feel a little extra pressure to make sure you achieve the goals you set out for yourself so you don’t let everyone down. It’s tough and hopefully your family, friends and colleagues understand why you repeatedly ask for sponsorship.

When I decided to run the Goofy Challenge last year I actually signed up for the race before I signed up for a charity. I had made the choice to run the Goofy well before I signed up for the event. It was after I had registered that I began to think that running such a high profile event made me feel a little like I was showing off and I thought that it would be more of an achievement if I ran for a cause other than my own ego. Around the same time that I registered my niece was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. This led me to join up with Autism Speaks and run with them them at Disney. I had run enough miles for myself it was time to run for someone else. I had the shirt below made for the occasion, although it will need to be updated this year as I go from Goofy to Dopey 🙂

My 2013 Goofy shirt courtesy of 'One More Mile'

My 2013 Goofy shirt courtesy of ‘One More Mile’

The back of my shirt for 'Team Sadie'

The back of my shirt for ‘Team Sadie’

If you would like to follow my progress please sign up to follow this blog. If you would like to contribute to the cause you can do so using this link.

My goal is stay healthy through running and go onto raise funds for other events in the future. My hope is that in 2015 (a long way off I know) that I get to run the Boston Marathon for Autism Speaks if they have places for the event. I’m not a ‘wicked fast runnah’ and this may be my only way to that great event. I know that if I get there to run for others that will be my personal BQ.

Thanks for reading.

(If you want to follow and support my friend Mike you can do so at this link)

Two weeks to go to the New Jersey Marathon…dealing with the unexpected

Leave a comment

Just a week ago in Boston we were reminded that there are things beyond our control. As runners we follow a plan, we train, we practice our race day efforts (pacing, hydration, fueling strategy, clothing) but for all our planning and rehearsing both physical and mental we have to understand there are things we cannot control.

A colleague once said to me during a difficult project that you can only worry about the things you can control, you cannot worry yourself about the things you can’t.

I am now two weeks out from the New Jersey Marathon. I have trained hard for this. Again using Hal Higdon’s Intermediate 1 plan, early cold winter mornings (remind me not to sign up for too many Spring marathons unless I move to Florida) and I am now enjoying(?) the taper down to race day. I may be over-carbing a little too much but I have two weeks to work on that.

New Jersey Marathon 2013

New Jersey Marathon 2013

When I signed up for this I thought it would be great to show support to the folks in New Jersey following the devastation that occurred as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Although I live just outside of Philadelphia I work very close to the Jersey Shore in Holmdel, NJ. Indeed we were impacted by the storm and the surrounding areas were hit hard. We as a Company stood up to challenges it faced and have very much embraced the ‘Restore the Shore’ initiatives. Take a look at this article which captures how the Company I work for faced the impact of the storm for our community.

Before I headed down to Walt Disney World for the 2013 Goofy Challenge I floated the idea with my Company that we should get a team of runners together for either the New Jersey Half or Full Marathon to represent our Company and it’s ‘Restore the Shore’ initiative. I am pleased to say that we will be sending a few folks along (me included) as well as sending some race volunteers.

New Jersey Marathon 2013

New Jersey Marathon 2013

I sent my original email before the tragedy at Sandy Hook in Connecticut last December. It was this tragedy that the Boston Athletic Association was honoring last week with a special mile marker at mile 26 to remember each of the victims of that terrible event. Little did anyone know that we would again be witnessing another tragedy on the day of the Marathon. Indeed many of the runners were not able to reach the 26 mile marker on that day.

Over the last week we have seen an outpouring of support from runners all over America and the World in support of Boston. The City of Boston has set up the ‘One Fund Boston’ site where people can contribute to support the victims of the tragedy. You can visit the site here.

One Fund Boston

One Fund Boston

A sign seen at the 2013 London Marathon - April 21, 2013

A sign seen at the 2013 London Marathon – April 21, 2013

Last week the New Jersey Marathon Race Director asked that we run to support Boston by wearing the yellow and blue colors of the Boston Athletic Association. Many vendors have produced such gear with net proceeds from the sale of items being contributed to the One Fund Boston organization. Indeed the official partner of the Boston Marathon, Adidas, is selling a race shirt with all proceeds going to this fund.

Boston Commemorative Shirt by Adidas

Boston Commemorative Shirt by Adidas

So, with two weeks to go I have many more reasons to run. I started out with thoughts of supporting the victims of Hurricane Sandy, now we run to finish for those in Boston and to complete the honor of commemorating the 26 victims from Sandy Hook whose mile marker was to be seen by all the finishers.

With all those things to run for it puts all my negative thoughts, moans and groans about achy this and that, and all the whining about early mornings and cold starts into perspective.

With my new race day gear (I’m planning on wearing whichever commemorative shirt arrives in time and also a pair of red Zensah compression sleeves to represent the ‘Red Sox’ – don’t worry I’m still a Phillies fan) I am running not just for myself on May 5th but for all these other reasons.

I’ll leave the Disney runs for all my charity fundraising but I hope the rest of my year and future years are to run for health and enjoyment and for all the positive things in life.

(If you want to follow me during the New Jersey Marathon my Bib number is #2492)

Here we go again…let’s do this together

5 Comments

Am I nuts?  How do you define ‘fun’?

Dopey Challenge

Thursday, January 9 – Sunday, January 12, 2014

Start/Finish: Epcot®

Run 48.6 miles of fun in the Dopey Challenge!

Are you ready for the ultimate endurance challenge? Then take part in four days of fun for a total of 48.6 miles in the all-new Dopey Challenge! Participants will run the 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Marathon, and if you complete all four races within the pacing requirements you will be awarded the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge medal and the brand new Dopey Challenge finisher medal for a total of six pieces of “bling.”

Dopey Challenge

Dopey Challenge is now official

Today runDisney officially opened up registration for the 2014 Walt Disney World Marathon weekend. About a week ago some limited pre-sales opened for the Runner’s World Challenge, Disney Vacation Club members and Disney Visa Card holders. Spots were limited and it seemed were snapped up very quickly due to the excitement of the new events in 2014, the Minnie 10K and Dopey Challenge.

I personally registered to run last Friday by signing up again to run with Team Up to raise funds and awareness for Autism Speaks. I ran the Goofy’s Race and Half Challenge with them last year raising just over $3,400 of which I am very proud. I will admit that the expectations of my donors were on my mind during the Marathon when I was beginning to feel uncomfortable and as much as I was proud of myself for achieving the Goofy I was relieved that I hadn’t let everyone down. Of course I said to myself I would never do something so crazy again. Umm….

So there are a few changes that runDisney implemented this year which can be seen here.

The big takeaways from this are that in addition to the new races, they have made changes to the numbers of entrants so that the courses can move more efficiently. They have trimmed back numbers for the Half Marathon (traditionally the most crowded) and runners now have to submit proof of time to get a corral assignment. There will be more corrals at the start so they can spread the runners out according to ability which should ease congestion on the course. Will this work? We will see when we hit ‘Cone Alley’ after leaving the Magic Kingdom.

The other news is that they are keeping the Marathon Course the same as in 2013 which took us through the Walt Disney World Speedway and also through the ESPN Wide World of Sports. I ran the Marathon course in 2012 and 2013 and had a few thoughts on this.

In 2012 we started with a loop through EPCOT on our way to the Magic Kingdom and the park still had the holiday decorations lit which was nice. As this pushed the mileage reached at the Magic Kingdom to mile 10 instead of mile 6 as it was in 2013 it was daybreak when we reached the Castle which I thought was pretty cool. In 2013 instead of the lights at EPCOT we arrived at the Magic Kingdom still in the dark and saw Main Street USA all alight and the Castle glowing in the distance. That could not be beat. It is really an unbelievable experience.

There was a very tough out and back in 2012 between miles 18-20 and this is where I struggled in 2012. I lost a minute per mile from mile 20 but still finished upright. In 2013 this was eliminated with the run through ESPN (although that seemed like it went on forever but that may have been the excessive heat).

I liked the 2013 course and will be looking forward to running it again. At this time they haven’t announced the 10K course but I believe it will be in EPCOT where all the races start.

So, I’m registered and looking forward to the four days of early wake ups (start times are 6:30, 5:30, 5:30 and 5:30), carb loading on Mickey shaped treats, trying my first Dole Whip which everyone seems to know what they are but me and meeting new friends and sharing the experience.  Logistically this needs to be a solo trip as my eldest will be in grade school and my wife and I are taking turns to participate in runDisney events next year so we can look after the boys. She will be signing up for the Princess Half Marathon in February 2014.  Don’t worry boys, Daddy will bring you some overcompensating gifts home!

I’m planning to use the same training plan I used for last year’s Goofy Challenge which is to use Hal Higdon’s Marathon Intermediate 1 plan to get me through the Philadelphia Marathon and then use Hal’s Multiple Marathons plan for the period between Philadelphia and the Dopey Challenge with an adjustment on the weekends so that my Saturday runs are at least half the Sunday run in length (see my plan here). Wish me luck.

Okay, so I’m signed up. What I now need to do is to train hard and healthily to get me to the starting line but also, and often the hardest part, is to raise the required donations for the cause I am running for. Autism Speaks is a charity near and dear to me. My niece in the UK was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and although I am not able to be there on a day to day basis to help, by raising funds and awareness I am doing what I can to help her and similar families. Over the next few months I will be raising funds for this cause.  If you would like to make a contribution I would be very appreciative. You can follow this link. Feel free to share this link if you can.

Autism Speaks

If you have any great fundraising ideas that would be great too. I’m planning a virtual 5K later this year (watch out for it) which may have a Disney theme with a bit of a twist. You have been warned!!

So, let me know if you are also signed up for any of the Walt Disney Marathon weekend races in 2014. What you are looking forward to most? What you are most apprehensive about? Let’s share this journey together.

3,000 miles (so far) and how I got here

2 Comments

Today I passed the 3,000 mile mark in my running career (it’s a full time gig).

Running history from Nike+

Running history from Nike+

So how did I get here?   On ‘My running story‘ page I tell how I got started running. But that is not really the whole story of what I do and how I do it.

I started running on a treadmill back on August 2nd 2010 (I had joined the gym on August 1st) doing a Couch to 5K program.  I persisted through the first couple of painful days as my body reacted to this new activity, and got through the initial shin splints I developed and by mid-September I had gained enough confidence to take a run outside.  In anticipation of this I had started to look at how I could track my runs and invested in the Nike+ Sportband.  I took my first run using the system on September 22, 2010 on an 80+ degree day.  I struggled to run 1.8 miles in the heat (I said I was confident enough not necessarily smart enough) but pushed through gradually building up my distances until by December of that name having lost 20+ pounds I ran my first 10K distance on December 31, 2010. You can see where this is going right?  I’m a statistic tracker (geek) and have recorded all my runs since.  I moved up to a GPS device in February 2011 (my birthday treat) and haven’t looked back.  I use the Garmin Forerunner 305.  To load my Garmin data into Nike+ I use a web app designed by Angus Smithson. Here is the link.  I also upload my data into ‘dailymile‘ and ‘Strava‘ so that I have a history in more than one location should any of these sites stop supporting Garmin devices.  I do this manual upload routine after each run…until I get a watch which will upload to all at the same time!!

Around the same time I started running longer distances I began strapping my right knee as I was struggling but too hard headed to quit (good decision).  I figured I needed to do something about this and while Googling runners knee and other ailments I came across Jeff Galloway and his ‘Run Injury Free‘ method.  I didn’t know who Jeff was at the time but I thought this was worth a try.  I hadn’t signed up for any races at the time but I had a couple of goals. Since February of 2011 I started using Jeff’s ‘RUN-WALK-RUN’ method experimenting with various intervals.  I had signed up for the 2011 Broad Street Run (the largest 10 miler in the US) and that was to be my first big race.  My wife noticed an inaugural Half Marathon in Tyler Park nearby a couple of weeks before Broad Street so I decided to sign up.  My practice run the week before the Half ended up with me getting lost in the park.  It was my first time there and I wasn’t familiar with the park, plus I had the map upside down….D’oh!!

During that Half Marathon (and many subsequent races) many people stopped to talk to me during a walk break as they had seen me taking regular walk breaks in between set periods of running.  I would pass them during the run section and then they would pass me during the walk and this kept going on.  It is usually the latter part of the run when I get stopped as these people have seen me taking these walk breaks but have not managed to pass me.  Jeff’s basic philosophy is to take regular walk breaks before you get tired as this gives your muscles a chance to recover and you can finish a long run faster and stronger.  In his books he states his goals are to have runners cross the finish line standing up with a smile on their faces.

Having run (to date) 7 Half Marathons and 4 Full Marathons I can attest that this method works for me.  In fact I PR’d in a 5K last year with 23:31 which included 3 minutes of walking (6 walk breaks of 30 seconds).  If I had gone flat out I would have faded towards the end of the race.  I once tried a 5K when I wanted to see the difference not taking a walk break would have and I finished with 28:04. That’s a pretty big difference.  So I guess I will stick with what works.  I currently run with a 4:00/0:30 ratio.  This is my plan for this year although I sometimes play around with intervals between races.

Taking walk breaks also reduces the risk of injury as it gives the body time to recover.  I use this time to let my heart rate come down.  I watch this pretty carefully so I can judge the effort I am expending with the pace I am trying to maintain.

The reason I use this method is so that I can continue to run as long as I can.  It’s only been 2 and 1/2 years so far but I would like to continue as long as I can and by using this method I can hopefully continue for many years to come.  One day I hope that I will be running events with my boys.

I recommend you check out Jeff’s site to learn more about him and the training methods he employs.  Now I know a lot more about Jeff, have a few of his books and occasionally ask him questions (to which he timely responds) on his Facebook page.  Jeff is actually the official runDisney trainer and his programs are available on the runDisney website.  One day (hopefully next January) I hope to meet Jeff in person and thank him.  At Disney I am in good company.  There are many Gallowalkers.  Everyone uses their own timers for their Run/Walk ratios and many times I heard beeping and had to check whether it was my turn for a walk break or someone else.  I was in good company.

My goal was never to run to win everything or to always be looking to place in my age group.  Running has enabled me to lose 60 pounds, turn my health around and spend quality time with my family.  In that way I have already won.  Running has given me opportunities to explore different cities and countries.  I have run in the USA, England and Israel to date (and if you count EPCOT’s World Showcase, plenty more countries).  Mostly I compete with myself and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow runners in the events I run in.

Using Jeff’s RUN-WALK-RUN method I have indeed crossed the finish line standing up with a smile on my face.  Long may this continue.  Let’s see how far I can go.

Finishing my 1st Marathon in Philadelphia, November 2011

Finishing my 1st Marathon in Philadelphia, November 2011

🙂

If you are interested in the products above I would recommend you look at them on Amazon.com for some reviews.  I would also recommend checking out DC Rainmaker for running electronics reviews.  They are very comprehensive and do far more justice than I can provide in terms of testing all the functions.  Plus you get to check out how Ray and his wife are doing with their move to Paris and the bakery they opened up there.  Interesting stuff.

See you out there.