Marathons number 109 and 110

This weekend has me attending marathons in both Jackson, MS and Mobile, AL.  And while other are lamenting the potential cold weather in Jackson for the Mississippi Blues Marathon (high of 32 and sunny) I am focusing on a few other things.  First of all, I will take chilly over muggy which is what we had last year at the event. Second, I look to the fact that the course has been changed to take out some of the less enticing strips and remove last mile hills.  Less sweaty in humid weather on an easier course!  Now that is positive thinking!  (Mobile's weather for the First Light Marathon the next day is slightly warmer with calls for the same warming sunshine.  I actually think that sounds mighty fine for a marathon).

What I am looking forward to this weekend is testing myself.  Having never run back-to-back-marathons, this will be something new for me, which gets harder and harder the more marathons you run.  And when I was thinking about what number of marathons these would be, I realized I was running  my 109th and 110th lifetime marathons on 1/09 and 1/10.  That is definitely something I hadn't even tried to plan and thought the coincidence was quite without cans.  (Or "uncanny". Your call.)

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Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine Article

My first article for my new series called Running Matters for Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine is now online.  Read all about how:

I Love Being in Shape.

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Beat the New Year 5k and 6 Hour Run Recap

A Runner's Ramblings: Volume 4; 27th Edition
665.6 miles raced in 2009
Race: Beat the New Year 5k
Place: Salt Lake City, UT
Miles from home: 2 miles 
Weather: 20-30s; dark

The crux of this race report has much more to do with what I did before it. My big way to end the year was by running a 6 hour run at Liberty Park, then doing the 5k right before midnight.


The night before NYE I had a little trouble falling asleep.  The 6 hour run was something I was looking forward to doing and I had the pre-race jitters.  I finally fell asleep and slept peacefully.  The morning broke and I was quite please to see beautiful sunshine and much warmer temperatures than I had been dealing with recently.  Twenty-three degrees is what awaited me as I stepped out the door for the first of 3 separate 2 hour runs.

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One Run or Three? New Year's Eve Running Plans

I mentioned the other day how I was disappointed about not being able to do a 12 hour run in Wyoming on NYE and how instead I was planning to do a Beat The Clock 5k at 11:30 PM.  I did not, however, state I would try to make up for not being able to do that 12 Hour Run, which I was using as training purposes for my 204 miler in April, by staging my own mini-version and doing a 6 hour run.  And where would I be doing this run?  At Liberty Park, of course!

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Marathonquest 250

I recently was sent an article about a gentleman who wishes to run 250 marathon distances in 2010. According to the website, the 54 year old Martin Parnell will run 12 actual marathons with the remaining distances being run on the Cochrane Foothills Marathon course in Cochrane, Alberta.

I love reading about these sort of adventures.  Often when I speak about them, people wonder if I feel it will distract from what I myself accomplished in 2006 with my 52 Marathons in 52 weekends.  I have a mutil-layered answer to that.

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Book Review - Unthinkable

Recently I received a complimentary signed copy of Scott Rigsby's book, Unthinkable from the author.  Going into reading this book I knew what to expect.  Scott Rigsby overcame a horrific car accident, dozens of surgeries, the amputation of one leg right after the accident, and another amputation years later of his other leg, to become the first double amputee to finish an Ironman in Kona.  BAM.  I knew I was about to be extremely inspired.

But, being inspired and actually enjoying a book are two separate things.  Not every great story has a great storyteller. Fortunately, while Rigsby's book has a few sections I could have done without, it was overall a very enjoyable read.

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Christmas Present

This Christmas, circumstances beyond my control, had me home alone not being able to visit my friends or family.  So I slept in, lazily woke and finally went out for a run.  I planned on doing an easy 8.25, or 5 loops around the Liberty Park, my familiar haunt.  I would say countless miles have been run around that 1.5 mile loop but because I have a record of every single mile I have run in the past 4 years meticulously and lovingly noted in a spreadsheet it would only take a little bit of math to see how many miles exactly.  But, let's just say thousands.

As I have been vamping up my miles in preparation for my 204 mile run in April, and am on pace for the most miles I have ever run in one month ever this December, I have done many miles in a slightly tired or sore state.  That has been the point.  But I just did one run yesterday, Christmas Eve, of 7 miles and so was feeling rather spry today.

Each lopp was faster than he next and even in the 21 degree weather, the sun was shining brightly and I was feeling good.  Then I saw Henry.

When I first moved to SLC, my morning routine consisted of a 3.75 mile run before work, every day I was here.  That job ended, my life and work routine went with it and rarely did I venture out for 7 AM runs anymore.  The biggest shame of that was that I know longer saw Henry.  Easily in his late 70s, Henry was a staple of my early morning runs.  Regardless of the weather, Henry would be out at the park doing his loops in the opposite direction I did mine.

But here he was.  My already great feeling run got even better.  I stopped to talk to him briefly and expressed surprise at seeing him out here at noon.  "Had to make sure all the morning stuff was taken care of first," he said obviously speaking about Christmas presents and the like.  I most assuredly have to figure out a way to interview him someday.  But this time, after all of the previous times of seeing Henry and never getting his last name, I got it:  McNabb.

Not to be too melancholy but in the past 18 months or so since I had last seen him, I wondered if Henry was still around, alive and walking (briskly, I might add.)  Well, he was and was looking as fit as ever. 

That was my Christmas present.  Walk on, Henry!

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ICESPIKE - A Product Review

One of the great things I miss about doing book signings at expo is the ability to walk around and check out the newest running gear, gadgets and accessories.  Those who wish to whip through the expo, packet in hand and eyes on the ground are often missing out.  If you are a runner, chances are have a good supply of running gear.  And you may have some well-worn-in running gear.  But that 1987 Turnipfest 7k cotton t-shirt you have been running in for 20 years is getting a little ripe.  It wouldn't hurt you to look around.

For me, while I could not float around the expo in the Manchester Marathon as I would have liked, I was fortunate enough to be seated next to a product being displayed called ICESPIKE.  I was intrigued.

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Writing for Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine

Starting January 4th, I will begin a weekly column for Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine. Focusing on my thoughts on running and life, I am happy to be partnering with a magazine that has such a strong focus on enjoying the outdoor life and pushing one's athletic limits.

Based near Charlottesville, VA, Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine not only encourages readers to go outside and play, but is actively committed to protecting the places where we play. Each issue offers readers the opportunity to act on regional issues of ecological importance while focusing on healthy, active, green living and eco-conscious recreation.

I look forward to sharing my experiences with BRO as we both move forward  into the future.  And while I do tend to run on roads more often than trails, I give you Exhibit A in proving I have earned my trail running chops. (Yes, that is blood running down my legs!)

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Ringing in the New Year

I have been hoping to do quite the doozy of a race on NYE for about as long as I have been running, and while I have a done a 5k or two on the last day of the year, that didn't quite cut it.  Unfortunately, while I had planned to run a 12 Hour Race on December 31st, the race was canceled, leaving me searching for something to commemorate the beginning of 2010.  Granted, I did find a local 5k that starts at 11:30 PM, and gives you 30 minutes to finish befroe the new year starts (which will be fun) but I wanted more.

Then I realized something I had already been planning, while not exactly on NYE, will fit in just nicely with my desire to push my limits and boundaries in the upcoming year.  You see, in spite of the fact that I have run in 108 Marathons, I have never once done them in the same weekend.

That all changes January 9th and 10th when I visit the Mississippi Blues Marathon and the First Light Marathon in Jackson, MS and Mobile, AL respectively.

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