The Time Has Come!!

So here I am. T-minus 10 hours and 30 minutes from starting my first marathon. I'm not gonna lie I'm pretty nervous. I feel prepared for the run just based on all of my training runs, but I still feel nervous for the unknown. One thing is for sure, I'm not sure I would have been able to go through with this without all of the support from everyone these past few months. As much as this was an excuse to raise money for Multiple Myeloma it was also an excuse to get my butt up and run this marathon!

As I prepare for the race tomorrow I wanted to thank everyone again who has donated to the cause of Multiple Myeloma. I really appreciate the support. For tomorrow I want to recognize the people that will be "running the marathon" with me in various forms.

12 people will have a ribbon pinned to my shirt in their honor. They are:
Brandon Bowman
Jason Crosby
Jay and Michelle
Evan Baker
Aaron Goodkin
Ed Buckley
Denise Bowser
Elin and Tupper Kinder
Gerri Schultz
Robert Buckley
Sarah Treleven
Patrick Treleven


The following people have these miles donated to them:

Brandon Bowman Mile 26

Jason Crosby Mile 25

Jay and Michelle Mile 24

Evan Baker Mile 23

Aaron Goodkin Mile 22

Ed Buckley Mile 21

There is still some time for people to capture the remaining miles! I will check again before I go to bed!

Finally, there are 4 people that will have their name written on my legs so they can run it with me! They are:

Brandon Bowman

Jason Crosby

Jay and Michelle

Evan Baker

Tomorrow I will be back on to let everyone know how it went!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Under 2 weeks left!!

The race is nearly upon us! There are under 2 weeks left until the marathon and I'm starting to get pretty pumped! My training has been progressing without any real hiccups and after Sunday my taper officially starts! The training has been some of the hardest and most involved running of my life, but I really believe after all is said and done it will be worth it!

Now I have one final favor to ask of all of my family and friends who have taken this journey with me: we have to hit the $3,000 mark!

I'm so happy that we were able to get the initial goal of $1,500 out of the way early (another big props to Bowman, Crosby and the rest of you early birds for that one!), but it's getting down to crunch time and there is still a little over $700 left to hit the revised goal. Now it's time for all my procrastinators to stand up! I am an infamous procrastinator myself, so I completely understand, but the time has come!

So, lets remind everyone what we're playin for here:

$301-500: Get a personalized message on my running playlist for encouragement...or laughs...either one, lol.

$201-300: Get your name (or something else...) written on my legs to be with me while I run. Feel free to pool your money together as a group to hit this if you like.

$101-200: Get a mile dedicated to you on the course!

$51-100: I'll pin a ribbon on my shirt for a you or a loved one.

$1-50: A thank you note and a warm fuzzy feeling :)

Here's the winners of these prizes so far!

		.01-50	51-100	101-200	201-300	301-500
Name	Donation	Email TY	Ribbon, TY, pic	Mile	Name	Message
Brandon Bowman	500	X	X	X	X	X
Jason Crosby	301	X	X	X	X	X
Jay and Michelle	260	X	X	X	X
Evan Baker	201	X	X	X	X
Aaron Goodkin	150	X	X	X
Ed Buckley	125	X	X	X
Denise Bowser	100	X	X
Elin and Tupper Kinder	100	X	X
Gerri Schultz	100	X	X
Robert Buckley	100	X	X
Sarah Treleven	100	X	X
Rosanne Larkins	50	X
Stan Wooley	25	X
Cris Vernon	25	X
Bruce and Sue Rifenburg	25	X
Kathy Whitley	25	X
Mary Conlan	25	X
Peachie Fitzgerald	25	X
Siobhan Alvarez	25	X
Kenny Parsons	20	X

Thank you again to everyone who has contributed! You all are amazing!

Let's make these last 2 weeks count and hit that $3,000 mark!

Remember all you procrastinators: The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!

20 Miles!!!

For the first time in this whole training process, I actually feel ready to run 26.2 miles.

As many (or few, depending on how many people read this thing...) saw last week in my training plan Trey developed for me, this Sunday was my peak mileage day: 20 miles. I was actually pretty nervous about it all last week. I have been feeling really good in al l of my training runs and workouts, but I've NEVER even approached the 20 mile mark before. My previous long run before Sunday was probably in the half marathons I have done, and maybe stretching to 14 miles in a training run.

Needless to say I was a little nervous about it all week. Not only was it 20 miles, but it was 20 miles at more or less race pace. My first thought was that I might be able to take away some of the mental strain by running with Trey. He had mentioned trying to take an early morning and getting out on the actual race course for a long run together. I thought having someone else with me might help me hit that seemingly elusive 20 mile mark. But, Trey was busy this week with a bachelor party for one of his friends (a good exuse I guess, lol) so it was back to just me.

When Sunday rolled around I rolled out of bed at 7 to get some food in me before the run and at about 8 hit my familiar trails around Chamblee to try to get to 20 miles. Luckily, I have the most amazing fiance ever, who met me outside my complex twice during my run so I could get some water and gatorade. She probably saved my life, lol.

In hindsight...I felt REALLY good considering I ran 20 miles. I finished the distance in 2 hours in 45 minutes; a pace of about 8:20. Cardio-wise, I would have no problem finishing out the 6.2. My cardio felt really strong throughout. My knees and feet were pretty sore toward the end, but nothing unbearable. Overall, it was definitely a success. My confidence for this marathon is through the roof and I'm ready to knock it out!!

That being said, there's one other area that has to get knocked out prior to the big race...hitting that fundraising goal! Everyone has been amazing with donations so far, and we are soo close to $3,000! Over the next week, I'm going to be gearing up for the last fundraising blitz, so keep an eye on your email inbox and be generous! It's for a good cause!

Thanks everyone! I'll update again soon!

Half Marathon Check up and the Training Plan

Hey everyone! Thanks for hanging in there with me through this whole process. I know I have been a little slow to update, but the training is still going strong, especially since I called in reinforcements! But more on that later.

First, I have to give you a rundown of how the half-marathon went that I ran at the beginning of this month. On October 4th I ran the inaugural 13.1 Half-Marathon here in Atlanta - right by my apartment actually! It started at Oglethorpe University, ran through some Brookhaven neighborhoods, up to Chamblee, and actually on some of the same running paths and parks that I train in every day! All in all I thought it was a really nice course!

Before, I get into how I ran I need to let everyone know that I actually have a coach now! Ok, coach might be pushing it, but my good friend Trey Bailey (yes the same one who jinxed me with the year of the injury, don't worry I forgave him, lol) crafted a training plan for me that will hopefully get me to that 26.2! I'll be honest for someone that had never run farther than 13.1 miles in a race and really about 11 in a training run, the long distance runs were getting harder as I got up and over that double digit mark. So, after a particularly depressing long run, I called in the reinforcements. Trey first had me make sure I ran every single day for a 2 week period about 5 miles a day at an easy pace. I had been running about 4 times a week, but I would have biking days in there to to keep the stress off my legs. However, I think not running every single day affected my ability to stretch out my longer runs. So, for the 2 weeks prior to the half marathon I did not have any long distance runs or any real training runs, so I was a little nervous. I started out running pretty slow, about 8:30 pace to make sure I didn't die during the race. At about the 6 mile mark, however, I ran past the best fans in the world: Sarah, Matt, Mary, and my dad. At that point the course turned onto the paths I was used to running during training anyway and I started to slowly pick up the pace. I averaged under 7:30 the rest of the way! I felt great! I actually just missed a new half-marathon PR by 6 seconds!! I thought it was pretty awesome considering how much I paced myself in the beginning and how nervous I felt going in!

Now, that I have returned to stretching my distances and doing workouts, Trey's plan has been great. I think has really helped me to have a set distance and goal for every day I run. Before I was basically coming up with the runs and workouts on my own with no real rhyme or reason, other than the fact that I needed to run longer. Now I feel focused and I am ready to for that 26.2!

Below is my training plan, so if you happen to see me on some of the longer days, wish me luck!

Sheet1

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R
1	Robert's Plan												Max Weekly Mileage			40
2
3				Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	%	Total
4	8	II	10/4/09	13.1 (Race)	OFF	6 Easy (9:27)	OFF	6 (Quality Workout)	6 Easy (9:27)	OFF	90%	36			Pace Chart
5															Easy	E	0:09:17	0:09:27
6				13.1							36%	13.1			Marathon	M	0:08:06	0:08:15
7	7		10/11/09	12 (Marathon)	3 Easy (9:27)	3 Easy (9:27)	OFF	7.5 Easy (9:27)	3 Easy (9:27)	OFF	70%	28			Tempo	T	0:07:25	0:07:42
8															Interval	I	0:06:50	0:07:00
9											0%	0			Rep	R	0:06:34	0:06:46
10	6	III	10/18/09	10 (Quality Workout)	5 Easy (9:27)	8 Easy (9:27)	OFF	10.5 (Quality Workout)	7 Easy (9:27)	OFF	100%	40
11
12											0%	0
13	5		10/25/09	20 (Marathon)	3 Easy (9:27)	OFF	OFF	10.5 (Quality Workout)	3 Easy (9:27)	OFF	90%	36
14
15											0%	0
16	4		11/1/09	14 Easy (9:27)	5 Easy (9:27)	6 Easy (9:27)	OFF	10.5 (Quality Workout)	5 Easy (9:27)	OFF	100%	40
17
18											0%	0
19	3	IV	11/8/09	11 (Quality Workout)	OFF	6 Easy (9:27)	OFF	10.5 (Quality Workout)	5 Easy (9:27)	OFF	80%	32
20
21											0%	0
22	2		11/15/09	12 (Marathon)	OFF	6 Easy (9:27)	OFF	6 (Quality Workout)	OFF	8 Easy (9:27)	80%	32
23
24											0%	0
25	1		11/22/09	6 Easy (9:27)	3 Easy (9:27)	OFF	20 min Easy	RACE DAY	20 min Easy	OFF
26
27
28			11/29/09
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36

I have to admit I was a little worried about it before I started. I had gotten my mileage up to about 12 about 2 weeks out, but with work and school kicking into high gear I had not been able to put in the same amount of mileage

http://www.nps.gov/archive/gwmp/mvtfinal.jpg

Here's the link for a picture of the Mount Vernon Trail. I entered the trail at mile 14 and crossed the Arlington Memorial Bridge to Washington. And here's a picture of what it looks like on the ground:

I know...I'm a slacker...

So, my goal was to try to update this blog AT LEAST weekly...well if anyone has actually been following this thing, they know I pulled an epic fail in that attempt. But, in my defense, I don't see the point in writing a post about how my run went yesterday...I'll sum the vast majority of my training runs this way...they're long, they hurt, yet some how are very satisfying every time I get done.

My hope is that I would be moved to write a blog at least once every week about something that you might actually enjoy reading about, as opposed to how I just did a 7 mile run at 7:30/mile pace.

Well, with how busy I've been with work, school, and training, I have not been able to get on here for an updated...until now. Let's just say I was so moved this week after my long distance run on Tuesday.

I traveled to Washington, DC on Monday for work. I received an award on Tuesday at the FTA Awards Ceremony and Wednesday I participated in the New Employee Seminar, which has to be some kind of record by itself, lol. We stayed at a hotel along the Metro Line South of DC in Arlington, VA. Of course taking 3 days off from running was not a possibility so one of my first tasks when I get to the hotel on Monday night was to find some kind of running trail around DC. I even had thoughts of taking the Metro into the National Mall and just doing laps around all of the monuments. Instead I was able to find a better alternative.

Running right along the Potomac River in DC is the Mount Vernon Trail. The access from where I was in Crystal City to the trail was incredibly easy - under a mile. Once I got to the trail I experienced probably one of the best and most scenic runs ever. The view of the DC from the Potomac was incredible. The point I entered the trail happens to be right outside of the takeoff runway at Washing Reagan Airport, so as the planes were taking off they zoomed right over my head. I ran along the Potomac for about 2.5 miles until I reached a bridge I crossed to make my way to downtown DC and the National Mall area. Once I crossed the bridge I ran right past the Jefferson Memorial. Then, I made my way into the National Mall right next to the Washington Monument. From there I turned right and made my way to the US Capitol Building. Passing all of the different museums on the way to the Capitol was awesome. Once I got to the front of the Capitol, I took a loop around the reflecting pond in front of it and headed back to the Washington Monument, back by the Jefferson Monument and finished the final 2.5 miles along the Potomac back to Crystal City.

For someone like me who is fascinated with history and in DC in general this run was amazing. I like my little home trails in Chamblee and Brookhaven, but I'd trade them for those views in a heartbeat.

The other thing that struck me while running on the Mount Vernon Trail and in DC was the number of people out of the trail. I couldn't even count the number of bikers who were COMMUTING to work. I was REALLY jealous. That's a commute I could get used to. There were also scores of other runners out on the trail and I was struck by how friendly everyone was. I got more hellos on this one run than a year running in Atlanta.

My main interest in my current Master's program is this greenway planning and my experience running in DC definitely re-invigorated that interest. I really wish Atlanta could put together something similar. The Silver Comet trail doesn't even compare. I'll try to post some pictures of the trail so you can get an idea of how awesome it was.

In other news, my training is continuing to progress and am on track for getting some good distance under my belt prior to the race.

Thanks again for everyone following my journey and encouraging me. Believe me I couldn't do it without you!

We Reached the Goal!! But Can We Do More???

I need to send out another big thank you to everyone who has donated so far!

I haven't been raising money for even a month yet and with all of the support from family and friends we've already exceeded my original goal for the Atlanta Marathon! With the donation of my friend Jason Crosby last night (who like our other top donator, Brandon Bowman, is serving our country in the armed forces. Is there an oo-rah in the Air Force, Jason?) my grant total shot up to $1,681! $181 over the original goal!

However, this is not the end. I still have close to 3 months until the marathon actually starts. I COULD sit back at this point and just wait it out, content with doing JUST enough to get by. Or, I could jack up the goal again, and see how high we can get! I still haven't even gotten to send out personalized letters yet! Spencer still hasn't sent out an email to his massive contact list! We could raise even more money to fight this disease!

Almost immediately after exceeding our goal last night I got an email from someone with MMRF (could have been one of those automatically generated emails, I honestly don't know) hinting that I should raise my goal to $2,500. That would be an amazing amount of money to raise for my first real fundraising experience for my first marathon. But, I was thinking on my way to work this morning...Could we do more? The MANSION hasn't even gotten together for a donation yet...Can we do more than $2,500? We raised $1,500 in under a month. Could we match that feat over the next 3?

I think we can. I KNOW we can. So, while I again appreciate the suggestion from MMRF as to what our fundraising goal should be, I think I'm going to tell them, "Thanks, but no thanks" to their suggestion.

Our NEW GOAL: $3,000!!!