Marathon Training RECAP

It's been quite a ride these past 18 weeks. When I started training for the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon it was the end of winter, one of the coldest winters in Florida of my life! I remember complaining on here about the cold and wishing that I would actually "sweat" during some of the training runs. I also seriously doubting whether my Achilles tendon would hold and remain injury-free for the entire training period. Well, we went from the coldest winter in memory to one of the earliest and hottest summers in a long time and we ran through it all. My wish was granted and I experienced an entirely new level of sweating on the last few long runs. Being more soaked than when I'm surfing without ever touching the water... getting so hot that I actually stopped sweating (yeah, I know this is bad)... hearing my saturated shoes make "squish/squash" sounds with every step... you name it!

Yeah, we put in our time - sweat and shivers.

Now the hour is finally upon us and here I stand; uninjured, determined and ready. I know it's been awhile since I posted a "Thursday Stoke," and since it's Thursday this might as well be one of the best Thursday stokes!

I'm stoked to be running the Seattle Rock 'n' Marathon this Saturday! That's only 48 hours away! I want to mention a few things, all of which I'm stoked about. First of all, my goals.

Goal #1 - complete 18 week novice runner training schedule injury free. CHECK!

Goal #2 - Raise money for American Heart Association in memory of my father and to raise awareness of heart disease. CHECK!

Goal #3 - Have FUN and finish the marathon without injury. Leave it all out there on race day and get the best time possible, take as much of it in as possible and have as much fun as possible. Enjoy the run with Jenny!

I haven't accomplished goal #3 yet, but in my mind the first two and hardest two goals are met. The last goal is the easy part! All I have to do is run.

Here's some stats I pulled from Dailymile.com, which I used to track only my marathon training progress from start to finish (I'll probably keep my account active after the race).

Miles run - 403
Time spent actually running - 61 hours and that's not including all the time spent stretching, recovering and EATING like a king!
Total workouts - 63
Distance traveled around the world - 0.02 (hey, it was on .01 FOREVER!)
Donuts Burned - 255 (but I didn't eat one single donut...wtf?)
Gas Saved - 22 gallons (would someone please put 22 gallons in my truck?)
TVs powered - 840 (don't really understand that statistic)
Fastest Run - 7:26 minute pace 5-miler on June 8th
Longest Run - 20.3-miler on June 5th
Shortest Run - 2-mile taper run on June 23rd (seriously Hal Higdon, what's the point of this run?)


It really has been a great experience and I'm so happy to have had a wonderful girlfriend to share the long runs with on the weekends. I've met a great group of runner friends along the way as well.

I've also been totally humbled by EVERYONE that has donated or supported us in one way or another. We set out to raise $795 or simply $15 for each year my father was alive (he passed away of a sudden heart attack when I was 15-years-old) with a simple website HERE. Without even having to try hard we immediately shattered our goal. The donations kept coming and coming and as of this posting we are at $1,888.60. That's absolutely amazing! Nobody asked us to raise funds and we aren't running this race as "official fundraisers," but it's been a great experience. I can't even begin to thank everyone!

As you're reading this Jenny and I are traveling to Seattle. Tomorrow is the Expo and Saturday is the race. The forecast as of today calls for a low of 56-degrees and a high of 69-degrees - perfect in my opinion. Jenny would like it a little hotter, but I'm content with anything under 90 degrees at this point! I'll try and get a recap up as soon as possible. I am Bib #11050 for anyone wishing to track me.

Wish me speed and endurance!