All By Myself.

Hard to be sure
Sometimes I feel so insecure
All by myself
Don't want to be all by myself anymore

What a bit of cold weather and stiff winds brings out?  Nothing.  Nobody.  It's amazing how the paths along the Charles and the sidewalks around the harbor are now pretty much deserted.  Vacant of most walkers, runners and bicyclists now that the temperatures have dipped south of the 30's.  I'm "all by myself" you could say.  Well, sing anyways.  OK, for all of those who don't get this musical reference (I don't blame you if you don't as it is going back a ways) it is the power ballad "All by myself" released by Eric Carmen in 1975 (thanks to my wife Jen for coming up with this one).  Who is Eric Carmen?  Again, I don't blame you if you have no idea.  He only gave us such great songs as "Marathon man"- 1977, "Make me loose control"- 1988 and "Hungry eyes"- 1987.  Alex, I'll take absolutely useless music trivia for $300 please.  "What movie was the smash hit "Hungry eyes" featured in?"  Seriously though, when the weather is nice it is jam packed with people getting in all kinds of outdoor exercise.  Kind of like sardines in a can.  Warmth + sardines.  Eww, like totally gross.  Gag me with a spoon.  Grody to the max!  Barf me out!  I know, enough already with the valley girl talk- thinking of those 80's songs just made me do it!  When the weather gets cold and windy though, you can hear the crickets.  There is hardly anyone out and about.  Actually, you cannot hear the crickets as they have all died off due to the cold.  Sorry.  It's a circle of life thing.  You do come across a couple of other die-hards here and there but it is pretty much wide open the entire way.  So much so that I want to run on the left hand side of the path instead of the right.  I know, "wow, he is such a rebel".  Well, I haven't mustered up enough courage to do it yet.  Hey, you never know when a bicyclist is going to come up from out of no where.  Just trying to think of their safety.  Yep, that's me.  "Mr. Safety".  Ha!

I ended up going into Boston yesterday morning to get in a long run to boost my miles for the week.  I finished the run with 13.2 miles and a weekly total of 27.1 miles.  I have to say that that morning run was pretty lonesome just like my weekday nightly runs.  I have to break out into song for a moment...  "All by myself, don't want to be...".  Yesterday was pretty cold.  30 degrees with winds gusting at 25 mph which made the real feel at a balmy 20 degrees.  Special note to the folks at Weather Bug and the Boston Museum of Science: You may want to have maintenance take a look at your anemometer as it is reporting zilch, notta, zero, nothing.  I found that out the hard way yesterday.  There was no wind when I left my house.  But boy, when I got off the train in Boston, there was wind.  Again, gusting to 25 mph.  Silly me, I wore shorts based on Weather Bug reporting no wind.  Silly, silly me!  I have since switched over to the Seaport Hotel station since that is accurately reporting the wind.  I kind of like these conditions though.  Peace and quiet and cold temperatures which make it exhilarating to run.  Gives me a pep in my step.  Sounds good to me. 

Thank you to everyone who has donated to my Boston Marathon Boston Children's Hospital Miles for Miracles fundraiser!  I appreciate the generosity of all the donors.  If you would like to make a donation please visit my fundraising page.

I'll be posting soon about the patient who I've been matched up with as part of the patient partner program.  He sounds like a very active 9 year old and I can't wait for our families to meet at the Miles for Miracles kick-off event coming up in the beginning of December.

The answer to the trivia question: "Ghost" released in 1990.  Congratulations to everyone who got it correct. 

Until next time, keep on runnin'!

To Hell And Back.

Now that is a phrase if I may say so myself.  I became acquainted with it last year while I was perusing the runners expo in the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center in, you guessed it, Buffalo, NY.  I was there picking up my number for my 3rd half marathon when I stumbled upon it.  I nice grey t-shirt with black piping around the collar and sleeves.  Nice I thought.  But, it wasn't until I pulled it off of the rack, that I knew I had to get it.  The front had a small grunge sneaker print with angel wings and the brand name "Asics" under it on the left side (my left, your right).  I had never tried a pair of Asics on but that didn't matter.  I just loved the winged sneaker.  How symbolic.  How cool that was.  Register please, you can put the receipt in the bag.  I had found my go-to running t-shirt for the summer.  But wait, let's flip it around to see if there was anything on the back.  Icing on the cake you might say.  Oh boy was there ever icing, and them some.  There were jimmies, candles and assorted candy pieces that spelled out "Happy Birthday".  You know, the kind that your parents used to put on your cake when you were 8?  OK, it wasn't that exciting but it was the phrase that put it all into perspective "To Hell And Back" at the top with the sneaker and wings below it.  It was rather large and centered on the back.  Up to that time, my farthest races had been half marathons and that is what I related that phrase to.  Little did I know...

My first marathon was in Hampton Beach in October of 2013.  It struck me during that race what the phrase on my favorite running related t-shirt meant.  "To Hell And Back".  Yep, that summed it up nicely.  The physical challenges alongside the mental challenges.  You put yourself through hell.  Teetering on the cusp of the fiery pit.  But you summon all that you have from within and make it to the finish line and all is well with the world again.  The sense of accomplishment washes away any remnants of sulfur left behind by Lucifer's grip.  Figuratively speaking of course. 

As many people probably don't know, I "reward" myself after completing marathons by getting a tattoo as a symbol to myself as to what I can do and as a reminder to never give up.  Well, I owed myself a tattoo for completing the Providence Marathon earlier this year.  I decided to wait until after my races were over in the fall so that I didn't have to worry about the sun on it, not going swimming and so that I could cover up the plastic wrap that you have to put on it (you feel like a left over sandwhich that gets wraped up and put in the refridgerator for the next day's lunch.  How embarrassing!  I fulfilled my reward last week by getting my 2nd running tattoo.  I ended up getting my favorite running t-shirt design on my shoulder, including the "To Hell And Back" script to remind me of just how accurate those 4 words really are.  The funny thing is though.  I keep going back for more.  It is such an addictive thing that is very difficult to describe.  Maybe it is not meant to be understood.  Just something that is done.  All I know is that I will proudly where my Asics t-shirt when I'm not running and a slinglet when I am (to show off my new ink).  Either way, people will certainly know that I have been "To Hell And Back". 

Update on training: I went into Boston on Saturday for a long run so that I could tack on a few extra miles for the week.  I ended up doing 13.15 miles that day for a grand total of 27.6 miles for the week.  It was the first really cold run of the fall/winter training season.  Boy, I didn't really miss that at all from last winter.  Wow.  It did feel good to get those miles in and was able to grab a few pictures along the way (this one is from one of my runs a few weeks ago).

Until next time, keep on runnin'!

Windy. Windy. Windy.

Wind.

noun: wind; plural noun: winds
/wind/

1. The perceptible natural movement of the air, especially in the form of a current of air blowing from a particular direction.
"The wind howled about the building."

synonyms: breeze, current of air; gale, hurricane; literary zephyr

Thank you Merriam Webster for your succinct definition of this word.  A word that I was able to experience first hand during my run this past Friday evening along the Charles River and Boston Harbor.  I'd have to say though, my definition wouldn't have been so polite and "nice".  It would have been more direct and laced with a "what the f@ck!" here and  "are you kidding me you piece of sh%t" there.  What the "h" "e" double hockey sticks is up with this $@#%!# gusty stuff?  A real truck driver mouth if I may say so myself. 

I knew that my evening run was going to be a bit breezy as the high rise building I was in was increasingly creaking like an old wooden pirate ship undulating in an angry sea as the day went on.  I guess I didn't realize how gusty it would be though until I made my way towards the Charles.  You get a really nice wind tunnel effect along the way due to all the buildings.  I kind of felt like a Porsche 918 Spyder being examined for aerodynamics.  The only thing that was missing was the smoke to demonstrate the airflow as it moved across my body. 

Notwithstanding Mother Nature's fury, it really was a good run.  While it was challenging to run into a strong headwind, it does help in training to keep a race pace in this type of situation as you never know what type of weather you're going to encounter on race day.  I checked the weather when I finished and the temp was 42 (real feel 34) with sustained winds at 18 mph gusting to 29 mph.  Sweet.

I ended up running 10 miles Friday night for a weekly total of 25 miles.  I'm trying to keep an average of between 25 and 30 miles a week leading up to my marathon training which starts up in earnest at the end of December. 

As I've noted in past posts, I'm hooked on taking pictures as I'm running through the city.  So much so that sometimes I'm stopping every a couple of minutes trying to best the last snap that I took.  Especially those sunsets along the Charles River!  I plan to include a picture or two from my runs to each post to add a little eye candy to all of this blah blah text.  The two pictures that I've included on this post are of the Bunker Hill Monument and the Colonel William Prescott statue (in front of the monument) that I took Friday night.  Enjoy!

Until next time, keep on runnin'!

Here I Go Again.

I don't know where I'm going
But, I sure know where I've been
Hanging on the promises in songs of yesterday
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time
But, here I go again
Here I go again

Lyrics from "Here I go again".  Such a great 80's song by the classic big hair rock band Whitesnake.  That said, it does have a wicked cheesy video though with its scenes of the band playing on a stage interlaced with Tawny Kitaen doing gymnastics between two cars and polishing them while slithering all over them.  The cars that is.  So cheesy that it makes me think of a couple of other classics.  Cheeses that is: Roquefort with its sharp, sweet and nutty flavor or Parmigiano-Reggiano with its great crunch and deep caramel-y, nutty flavors.  How quickly I get distracted...  It really is an appropriate song in this situation though because "Here I go again".

I told my family that I had met my goal and felt a sense of closure after I completed the Cox Providence Marathon in May of this year.  That I was done with Marathons and would focus my attention on training and improving my half marathon races (which worked as I had both a half marathon as well as a course PR for the B.A.A. Half Marathon last month).  That's the same thing that I said a year ago when I completed my first marathon up in Hampton Beach, NH.  My wife and son know me better than that though and they told me both times that I would run a marathon again.  Well, they definitely do know me too well, because:

Here I go again on my own
Goin' down the only road I've ever known

I'm running the 119th B.A.A. Boston Marathon on April 20, 2015.  However, I'm not on "my own" as I have been accepted as a member of the Boston Children's Hospital Miles for Miracles Marathon team.  This was the team that I tried to become a member of last year but wasn't able to because they filled their team very early on so I am very grateful that I have the opportunity this year.  Being able to support Boston Children's Hospital's critical mission personally means a lot to me as my son has received outstanding professional and compassionate care from this outstanding organization over the years.  I am very appreciative to have the opportunity and to be able to be associated with such a prestigious organization in the health care community.

I have also signed up to be part of the Miles for Miracles Patient Partner program where I will be teamed up with a patient of Boston Children's Hospital.  This is such a great opportunity as we will be able to provide support and inspiration to each other during my training.  I'll provide more information about who I'm partnered up with when I get the details in early December.

My fundraising for Boston Children's Hospital has just begun.  If you are interested in helping me with my goal of $7,000, please visit my fundraising page:  http://fundraise.childrenshospital.org/goto/runner716  Any donation, whether small or large or somewhere in between is greatly appreciated. 

I want to thank my wife and son for their continued unconditional support and understanding of my need to do this.  Training for a marathon takes a lot of dedication, shuffling of schedules to fit in training and a lot of time away from family.  Knowing that they are behind me 100% makes it a bit more manageable.  Thank you and I love you both more than you'll ever know.

I'm going to blog about my training and new products that I will be using as part of my training along the way.  I've already made several trips to running stores and picked up a few new things that I cannot wait to try out.  It's a bit geeky I know.  As I'm finishing up this post, we are getting our first snowfall of the season.  It reminds me of some of my training runs this past winter.  I cannot wait for those days with 2 degree temperatures, whipping winds and snow in January.  Now that is geeky!

An' I've made up my mind
I ain't wasting no more time...

But, here I go again,
Here I go again,
Here I go again,
Here I go,
Here I go again...

Until next time, keep on runnin'!