Upcoming races

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.

March 2013 – month in review

2 Comments
March 2013 - Nike+ Summary

March 2013 – Nike+ Summary

March is the step up month in my marathon training and I clocked just over 182 miles of which 100 were indoors on a treadmill and 82 were actually outside. Yes, March brings the beginning of spring and after finally getting outdoors on March 10th for a teaser of future weather I feel we got ‘punk’d’ by Punxsutawny Phil. What the heck happened?  We got snow in the last week of March and it sent me back inside the gym again.   

Not quite telling the truth

Not quite telling the truth

Anyway, as mentioned earlier, this was the month my marathon training started introducing the ‘longer’ long runs.  I had a 17, 18 and 20 miler to do and thankfully all were able to be done outside.  The 18 miler was the coldest and started off with me slipping on ice as I left my house.  Needless to say that was a very slow and decidedly steady run.  But run it I did and made it through the month.  I struggled a little with an ache in the arch of my right foot during the middle of the month and I had to cut a run short to make sure I didn’t push myself too far.  It had been nagging me for a couple of runs but I wanted to make sure I was fit for the long runs.  Thankfully all was okay.

My last long run was outside by the Delaware Canal and it happened to be on the first day of trout fishing season.  As the water level was high my progress was halted by some flooded areas so I repeated a 6 mile out and back three times as part of the run.  I ran multiple times past dozens of people sitting or standing by the banks of the canal fishing thinking to myself how can they sit there doing nothing, just waiting for something to happen?  They were probably looking at me thinking what the heck is that guy doing running past me again and again….is he lost?  They wore camouflage and I wore spandex.  Two very disparate worlds.  I struggled around mile 16 on that run and although I finally made it to mile 20 I actually was beat up.  I wasn’t using my regular energy gels and I feel that made a huge difference.  I actually for a couple of hours after.

I rotate a couple of pairs of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12’s at a time and track the mileage on each and the pair I was running in had reached 450 miles by the end of the month so I feel that the arch pain and sore foot I experienced this month may be because I pushed that particular pair too far.  It may be that the discomfort was a sign that the shoes were basically past their due date. Nevertheless I now have a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 13’s to break in before the New Jersey Marathon on May 5th and another pair being delivered to keep on hand when my next pair (already at 294 miles) are ready to be retired.

My new Brooks Adrenaline GTS 13's

My new Brooks Adrenaline GTS 13’s

March was memorable in that runDisney announced a new event for 2014.  The inaugural ‘Dopey Challenge’.  You can read about it in my post from the day it was announced.  I am so pumped by the prospect of this event that I am very close to an intervention for sure.  I have decided that I will again be running with TeamUp to raise funds for Autism Speaks.  It is a cause near and dear to me as I have a family member who has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and I feel it is the least I can do to help.  Once registered I will be posting my training plan and fundraising ideas so watch this space!!!

Alternatively you can head over to my new Facebook page which launched this month.  It is linked to this blog and will offer a forum for people to post and share along with other news and some giveaways.  Take a look, ‘Like’ it and see what you think.

Tomorrow is April 1st and is the day the registration for the 2013 Philadelphia Marathon opens up.  This is a special event for me as Philadelphia was my first marathon back in 2011 (not that that was too long ago).  This year the plan is for my wife Shari and I to register and run together.  This will be her second marathon after Walt Disney World where we ran together too.  I want to take this one easy as I will be focusing on completing Dopey standing up and uninjured.  I will be focusing on the upcoming New Jersey Marathon in May as my time goal for the year.

April also is the start of what is our ‘race’ season.  We are not competitive runners but have signed up for a number of events over the next few months to keep us in shape.  First up is the Atlantic City April Fool’s Half Marathon on April 7th.  You can see the races that I have planned on my ‘Races and Events‘ page. I hope to be able to do some race recaps on these events whenever possible.

So final thoughts.  I am hoping that the weather finally breaks and becomes what we expect spring to be (although temperatures in the low 50s and overcast would be fine on race days).  April has one more long run and then the beloved taper.  I will also be signing up for the 2013 Philadelphia Marathon and the 2014 Dopey Challenge.

On to the next adventure.

See you out there 🙂

48.6 is the new 42.4…That’s just Dopey!

4 Comments

In January of this year I ran the ‘Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge’ at Walt Disney World.  The challenge is the completion of the Half Marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday and the Full Marathon (26.2 miles) on the Sunday.  For good measure my wife and I also ran the Family 5K on the Friday.  That was what everyone traditionally called the unofficial ‘Dopey’ challenge.  I think the names are pretty much self explanatory.  So in addition to the 39.3 miles official distance you add another 3.1 miles to reach the 42.2 miles of the Dopey…or so we thought…

Was this a prediction for 2014?

Was this a prediction for 2014?

Last week runDisney dropped a little note into the runDisney ‘Wine and Dine’ registration email that the upcoming (2014) Walt Disney World Marathon weekend would see all new medals for the races.  I’d seen rumors rumbling around on Facebook and the blogosphere earlier this week that Disney was planning on hosting an official ‘Dopey’ challenge.  There were lots of wild guesses out there as to what would make up the Dopey.  Most thought that it would be what everyone had been unofficially doing all these years but what confused everyone was that it seemed runDisney had slipped a 10K into the Marathon weekend schedule.  Well today all those rumors were put to rest as runDisney announced the official inaugural ‘Dopey Challenge’.  This consists of 4 races on 4 days as follows:

  • Thursday January 9 – 5K (3.1 miles)
  • Friday January 10 – 10K (6.2 miles)
  • Saturday January 11 – Half Marathon (13.1 miles)
  • Sunday January 12 – Full Marathon (26.2 miles)

The Goofy Challenge earns you a Donald medal for the Half, a Mickey medal for the Full and a Goofy medal for completing both, a total of 3 medals.  Add in one more for the 5K and you walk away (slowly and with a limp probably) with 4 medals.  runDisney announced that by completing the Dopey Challenge you get the 5K medal, a Minnie themed medal for the 10K as well as the Donald, Mickey and Goofy and finally for completing all races you earn a new ‘Dopey’ medal.  That’s 6, count them, 6 medals.  Bling, bling, bling, bling, bling, bling (although the 5K is usually a rubber medallion so deduct a bling…it’s up to you).  That’s some serious hardware.  In addition to walking funny after all this mileage you’ll probably be stooped over from the weight around you neck 🙂

So, what’s the plan?  Am I in?  You bet.  Wouldn’t miss this.  A friend suggested I need an intervention.  Maybe, but it will have to wait until January 13, 2014!!!

Thanks to runDisney I now have 2 problems:

  1. My blog is called Philly2Goofy (oops, didn’t see this coming)
  2. I’m going to need a bigger car for my new distance magnet (see below)
My car

My car

Race you to the Castle 🙂

It's official

It’s official

California here I come…

2 Comments

California, here I come
Right back where I started from
Where bowers of flowers
Bloom in the spring
Each morning, at dawning
Birdies sing and everything
A sun-kissed miss said, “Don’t be late”
That’s why I can hardly wait
Open up that Golden Gate
California, here I come

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA at sunset.

The Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, CA)

My Wife and I just signed up for the San Francisco Half Marathon (the 1st Half Marathon) as part of the San Francisco Marathon weekend in June.  We were looking for a getaway for our 10th wedding anniversary and I had always wanted to visit the city and Shari said we should look to find a race out there. As I said in my previous post it’s awesome to have someone to share your interests with.

We started to ask people what there was to do in San Francisco (recommendations still welcome by the way) and someone suggested walking the Golden Gate Bridge.  My thought is why walk it when you can run it….TWICE!!!

Based on what we have seen the 1st Half Marathon (starting at a very ‘Disney’esque time of 5:30am) is more scenic and the only Half Marathon that goes over the famous bridge.  (There are two Half Marathons which basically follow the Full Marathon route – just split the course down the middle for each). Although the city appears to be hilly (based on my recollections from seeing the film Bullitt and countless others) the 1st Half is the least hilly of the two half marathons.  Not that I’m complaining.

Here is a tour of the course for the 1st Half Marathon.

Shari says that having run the Benjamin Franklin Bridge run in Philadelphia in 2011 and 2012 this won’t be too dissimilar.  Well, maybe it will be warmer in San Francisco in June than it is in November in Philadelphia.  I hope.

Although it is an early start we are staying about 15 minutes walk from the start line area and if we do our usual pacing we may be done before 8 a.m. and back in the hotel to shower and grab breakfast which still leaves us with a full day for sightseeing.  Nice.  Looking at the website the it says that all finishers over the age of 21 will get an Irish coffee at the finish line.  At 8 a.m.?  Well, you are on vacation so why not (plus the kids are at home with my In-laws).

Looking forward to writing my race report after the race.  Excuse any typos…not sure how well I function after running 13.1 miles and drinking an Irish coffee but it will be fun to find out. 🙂

Planning ahead

Leave a comment

We decided to sign up for the April Fool’s Half Marathon in Atlantic City on April 7th. Shari and I ran this last year at its inaugural race. I guess we are obligated to do this again after all our picture made the cover of the brochure for the 2013 race and we are also on the marketing banner which we saw on display at the Rock and Roll Philadelphia and Philadelphia Marathon expos. You would think they may offer us a free place this year for our continued uncompensated representation. LOL.

This actually fits in well with my training for the NJ marathon. Not quite sure yet if I want to race this event and try to beat my PR which I got in the race last year. It is a nice flat course along the boardwalk in Atlantic City and then out and back through Ventnor, Margate and Longport. The temperatures last year were ideal. I think it was one of my first outdoor runs in 2012 when I was able to wear shorts outside again.

Last year Rina came down to babysit the boys but with her recent achievements at the Walt Disney World Half Marathon she signed up for her 2nd 13.1 race. Good for her. We will be heading down with Shari’s parents who will look after the boys this year. We are going to make a nice weekend out of it as we don’t generally make it to the Shore in the off season. I’m already planning my meal at Jo Jo’s on Saturday night. No doubt the ladies are planning more towards Caesar’s Pier and the outlets 😉

Discovering ourselves on the promo banner while visiting the Rock and Roll Half Marathon Expo in Philadelphia

Discovering ourselves on the promo banner while visiting the Rock and Roll Half Marathon Expo in Philadelphia

Shari recreating her pose

Shari recreating her pose

AF poster 2013