The Doubt Monkey

Sometimes I have a little doubt or anxiety about my training. I often think of it as my "doubt monkey. " It's a little monkey which darts into my mind and says, "your calf is not going to heal in team for your marathon" or "you're going too fast," or "you're too heavy."



Sometimes my primate protagonist will whisper to me, "12 weeks to go. Really? You can just FINISH that marathon. Do you really need to finish it in 4:15? Maybe you're too old for this."



If I allow it, the monkey can stay for days. Most days, the monkey comes for a quick visit and then gets scared and runs away-like a real monkey. He'll creep in on mile 15 on a 18 mile run and say, "you should just walk the rest. You deserve it."



I don't usually promote violence-but if you have a doubt monkey, I invite you to punch him (or her) in the face. Name him. Taunt him. Mock him. Today.

Marathon of Miracles-Supporting CT Make-A-Wish Foundation.

I have wanted to give back and actively fundraise for my upcoming marathon for a few months now but have agonized needlessly over WHICH cause I should support.

On a June trip to Disney, my desire to make a difference in the lives of others became a little more in focus.

My family and I were visiting Disneyworld in Florida for a few days vacation in June. On our second day there, on the bus to the Magic Kingdom, we encountered the grandparents of a 2 year old little girl from South Carolina who was suffering from a rare eye cancer. The proud grandfather told my wife how their grand-daughter, though perhaps too young to enjoy the park, was being brought to experience the magic of Disney because if they waited, she might not be able to SEE it. Even worse still, if the cancer metastasized, she would not LIVE to see it. Truly, devastatingly sad. And yet, I could see how happy being at Disney made the grandparents, parents and child. It brought joy and hope to a challenging life.

In the weeks following our trip, I became aware of the Make-A-Wish foundation and how it helps children like this little girl. I implore you to help me help these children, between the ages of 2-18 and with terminal illnesses, receive their wishes.

As you know, I am training for the Marine Corps Marathon on October 25th. I am dedicating my training and race to this cause under the title: "Marathon of Miracles-Supporting CT-Make-A -Wish Foundation."

Please consider supporting me in this cause. It's not hard to do. It simply requires a check or a phone call. Unfortunately, the CT chapter is not set up for online donations, but they'll take a pledge right over the phone and the phone call is toll free.

Thank you for your consideration. I hope you'll donate and help make a difference in these children's lives-and make their wishes come true.

When calling or contacting Make-A-wish, please reference the Marathon of Miracles event or my name. Thank you!

Make-A-Wish Foundation®
of Connecticut, Inc.
126 Monroe Turnpike
Trumbull, CT 06611

(203) 261-9044 phone
(877) 203-WISH toll free
conn@ct.wish.org

Week #14 of training for the Marine Corps Marathon

Week #12 Long run Bummer!

This 13 mile run turned into a craptastic 9.5 miler. Click away!

Friday Cross Training on the Mountain Bike

I forgot how much more crap you have to take with you to Mt. Bike. I hope to write more tomorrow. It was great to ride the West Hartford Reservoir though. I miss it. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 466 ft Location: West Hartford, CT, Elev. Gain: +95 ft Date: 07/10/09 Up/Downhill: [+718/-623] Time: 03:46 PM Difficulty: 3.5 / 5.0   Weather: Fair   76 F temp; 53% humidity   78 F heat index; winds SSE 11 mph Performance Distance: 6.21 miles Goal: 60:00:00 duration Time: 0:49:34 Speed: 7.5 mph Attained: 1% Pace: 8' 00 /mi Calories: 340 Notes I forgot how much more crap you have to take with you to Mt. Bike. I hope to write more tomorrow. It was great to ride the West Hartford Reservoir though. I miss it. Map   Elevation (ft)   Speed (mph)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 48 +0' 48 6.8 -0.7 +115 ft 2 6' 58 -1' 02 8.6 +1.1 +68 ft 3 9' 55 +1' 55 6.0 -1.5 +119 ft 4 9' 53 +1' 53 6.1 -1.4 -99 ft 5 5' 18 -2' 42 11.3 +3.8 -23 ft 6 7' 12 -0' 48 8.3 +0.8 -7 ft end 6' 59 -1' 01 8.6 +1.1 -78 ft Versus average of 7.5 mph

Posted from bimactive.com

Thanks to Nik and Dan for getting me through this 12 mile training run. I listened to episode #12 of 4 Feet Running and I enjoyed listening to their bantering about running and Nik's San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon report. I empathized with her hitting "the wall" at 20 miles because I feel like I've come across that as well in my spring marathons. I mean, really, how are you supposed to prepare for 68-75 degree heat when it's 45-58 in the months leading up to your race? SOME people do it, and I guess I'll have to look into that more. I also want to give a shout out to Nicole from Team Point Two, who point together a playlist for team point two and I listened to some of them on the backside of my 12 today. I find music inspirational when I run. I try not to rely on it exclusively because I don't want to be dependent on it, but a great tune can really amp me up when I'm thinking of calling it quits. Also, thanks to Nicole for polling everyone on available times to make the teampointtwo.com phone call that was recorded today. Finding a time when everyone was available was getting challenging, but asked the right questions and nailed it down. I hope we get to do more in the future. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 226 ft Location: Marion, CT, Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 07/05/09 Up/Downhill: [+623/-623] Time: 01:04 PM Difficulty: 3.8 / 5.0   Weather: Sunny   75 F temp; 45% humidity   76 F heat index; winds WNW 10 mph Performance Distance: 12.01 miles Goal: 10' 55 min/mi pace for 12 miles Time: 2:08:30 Speed: 5.6 mph Attained: 101% Pace: 10' 42 /mi Calories: 1609   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 10' 41 -0' 01 5.6 +0.0 -13 ft 2 10' 45 +0' 03 5.6 -0.0 +23 ft 3 10' 47 +0' 05 5.6 -0.0 +10 ft 4 11' 12 +0' 30 5.3 -0.3 -16 ft 5 11' 10 +0' 28 5.4 -0.2 +23 ft 6 11' 01 +0' 19 5.4 -0.2 +10 ft 7 11' 40 +0' 58 5.1 -0.5 -14 ft 8 10' 04 -0' 38 6.0 +0.4 -20 ft 9 10' 02 -0' 40 6.0 +0.4 +19 ft 10 10' 32 -0' 10 5.7 +0.1 -17 ft 11 10' 29 -0' 13 5.7 +0.1 -23 ft 12 10' 52 +0' 10 5.5 -0.1 +16 ft end 11' 40 +0' 58 5.1 -0.5 0 ft Versus average of 10' 42 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Week #1 of Marathon Training in the Books

Sorry for the bad audio. I may have to get a more powerful microphone. Chester Road race was fun yesterday. I'll post a race report this week. Time to go to work!