Week 10 - training at Wally World

Time once again for my weekly training update, thanks for reading along.

This week I’ll review:

A)   Fundraising status 
B)   Health status 
C)   An example of what “marathon training” means

A)   FUNDRAISING 

I am really proud to say that collectively Team DetermiNation has raised over $375,000 so far for the NYC marathon.  That is almost staggering to me.  I’m so grateful to all of you who have supported me as part of the Team.  Together we are going to bring more birthdays to those who are affected by this terrible disease. 

On a personal level, last week I got a couple of generous donations from my neighbor who’s family has been affected by cancer, as well as a friend and fellow endurance athlete Stephanie.  Stephanie takes to the open water as to raise money to fight cancer – I think I’ll stick to the land. 

I’m at $2,250 towards my goal of $6,000.  So I’m just over a third of the way there, with just under 3 months left to go. 

If you are able to make a donation, please CLICK HERE TO DONATE

B)   HEALTH 

So far so good.  I’m reasonably healthy and don’t have any major issues at this time, and I pray that I can complete my training in good health and run a good race.  If you wouldn’t mind saying a similar prayer for me I would surely appreciate it. 

I’ve been cross training as much as I can, mostly swimming.  There is only a few more weeks left until the outdoor pool that I go to will close until next summer.  It’s a shame that it’s closed for so much of the year. I suppose I will try the indoor pools until the marathon, but they aren’t as close, as big, or as convenient as the pool by our house. 

I’ve been able to run more and at a faster pace recently, so I’m thinking that is a good sign.  Today I started a new course of physical therapy called ASTYM.  It’s hard to describe, you could google it, but basically it’s a hard plastic edge that the therapist runs over my legs to break up the muscle and remove scar tissue with the idea that after a few treatments my legs will be a bit more flexible which should help me run better and with less chance of injury.  Wish me luck!

C)   THIS is marathon training!

So this past weekend my wife had her high school reunion up in Michigan, and as it turns out her cousins were going to be there as well for a camping trip.  So we thought it would be a great idea to join the family at the campsite and rent an RV to see them when we weren’t at the reunion.

My wife's family at the RV park.  Lots of cousins!

We got in on Friday afternoon, and after setting up the RV we hung out with the family.  There were a lot of them there, most I hadn’t seen in a couple of years.  Thing is, I was already a bit tired and as much as I wanted to stay up late with everyone else around the campfire I had to turn in at 9pm so I could get up early to run the next day.  No one said anything, and I think they all understood, but I did feel bad not being able to spend more time with them.

But that’s what marathon training is, it’s a sacrifice.  It’s physically demanding, mentally demanding, and it takes up a big chunk of your life.   I’ve already done 3 marathons so far, but this time – being part of the DetermiNation team and having everyone supporting me really helps me to take it seriously in a way I never did before.  I always had the motivation to get myself ready to run 26.2 miles, but this time I feel a responsibility to not let everyone else down.  It’s tough at times, but it feeds my inner fires when I’m not feeling up to a workout. 

Anyway, being at an RV park there weren’t really many options for my run.  It was dark when I got up and ready to run at 5am.  I wanted to run at least 11 miles.  I didn’t know the lay of the land, and the roads in the area were fairly narrow.  So I didn’t have many options. 

However, there was an amusement park directly across the street and it had a big empty parking lot at 5am.  One of the best things I ever bought was a running watch with a GPS tracker, so it could tell me exactly how far a loop around this parking lot was.  Turned out it was 1-1/2 miles around, so if I looped it about 8 times I’d get to my 11 mile goal.  It was pretty strange to run in an empty parking lot around and around.  But it beats a treadmill.  While I was running I kept thinking of Wally World from National Lampoon's Vacation.  I half expected John Candy to come on out and stop me telling me the park was closed. 

An empty amusement park parking lot makes for an excellent impromptu running track.  But it kind of reminded me of something I'd seen in a movie once....

Hmmm...empty parking lot at an amusement park...

After the run, which took me about an hour and forty five minutes, I got back to camp and showered, stretched, changed, and waited for everyone else to wake up. 

It was an interesting experience.  But that’s what it’s like to try and train for a marathon – you have to fit the runs in when and where you can. 

Speaking of “can” if you “can” donate to my page PLEASE do so, it’d be a really great thing to do.  

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