The Long Road Begins.

On the Home Front

Last Monday was my son Max's first birthday! Kate made him a little cake and let him go to town on it. I haven't posted any shots of my little guy since the first entry of this blog, so I thought this would be a good time for a couple shots!

Loving Mom's cake!

Officially finished with Mom's Cake!

The Fundraising

This week was a little bit slow on the fundraising front, but I did have one nice donation come in at the end of the week. On Thursday I was contacted by Architect Paul Rovinelli about some photographs of mine from a This Old House story that I shot in 2009. As the architect on the job, he wants to use the photos for his website and portfolio.

Here's a shot from the story. 

The Training

46 miles.

Well, I think it's fair to say that the training is completely back on track now. This week marked two personal bests for me, running both my longest single run (16.1 miles), and my highest weekly total mileage ever! (46 miles)

This week also seems to have been the week where I will have to start tapering back on my mileage for the Sunday Soup Group runs. My Saturday Long Runs are just getting too long to expect much of myself the next day. This week I subconsciously tricked myself into doing only six miles on Sunday (more on that later), and it worked out pretty well.

Saturday Long Run

16.1 Miles

When the alarm clock started chirping at 6AM this morning, I groaned and hit the snooze button. At 6:09 when it chirped a little more mockingly, I got mad and dragged myself out of bed and put on my running clothes.

With one cup of coffee down, and a full travel mug in hand, I stepped out my front door into a wall of freezing cold. Even the car seemed to protest, turning over a few extra times before coming to life.

My plan today was to run 14 miles with the Run for the Memory team at our normal "Heartbreak Hill" route. In truth, it was so cold, I was wondering if many people would show up, but that's never a problem with this crew. About 15 of us plus our fantastic coach Rich showed up.

Heading out down Heartbreak, the group was pretty quiet. The temp was a whopping 1 degree. I couldn't help but notice that the other runners passing in the opposite direction all seemed smiley and chatty, enjoying their runs. It was actually pretty funny to see the frost built up on their hats and facial hair. (on the guys at least!)

After a couple of miles, we all started warming up too. The chatting and laughing began.

We split into two groups. One planning ten miles and the other planning sixteen. I really wanted to get in my first ever fourteen miler, so I stuck with the group doing sixteen with the intent of turning around at the 7 mile mark and heading back on my own. When the time came though, I felt really great and didn't feel like running alone, so I just kept on with them.

Its amazing how running with a group can motivate you! I had no idea I was ready for a 16 miler, but I finished and finished strong, extending my longest ever run by almost 3 miles! I think I can honestly say that when properly rested and fueled, the cardio seems to be a non issue now. It's all just a matter of keeping my mind and muscles from falling apart when the runs get long.

Here are some quick shots from the pre-run.

Brent, who is evidently a little more excited than the rest of us.

The coat comes off!

Getting ready to head out.

Sunday Soup Group

6 miles.

After such a long run on Saturday, I wasn't sure what, if anything, I would be capable of on Sunday. I felt pretty good when I woke up though, so I packed up Max and brought him over to Grandma's house, then headed down to meet the guys.

This week's planned distance was 8.5 miles with the normal 1-2 mile warmup for those who wanted to do it. I definitely didn't want to do any extra, so I stayed in the warm house waiting main loop to start.

About two minutes before we were going to take off, one of the guys looks down at my feet and says, "hey man, are you wearing two different shoes?" I look down and, what do you know? Two different shoes. 

So a little bit pissed at myself, and a lot embarrassed, I jumped in the car and shot home to change one of my shoes. (I've been bouncing back and forth between my New Balance shoes and my Brooks to see which I prefer, but I don't think I'm supposed to wear both!)

Pretty embarrassing start to the day when I showed up to the soup group run with two different shoes on!

Anyway, I think it was all for the best because I came back and did my own run, going a bit shorter so I would still finish with the other guys. I ran six miles and they were TOUGH!!

I think from now on, the Soup Group run is going to have to serve as a recovery run for me. I'll probably keep it between 5 and 7 miles, which means I'll probably be running by myself a lot, but the soup is worth it!

And speaking of the soup....

The Payoff!

This weeks soup was Tony Miele's Spicy Beef Stew.

Thanks to Tony and his family for hosting this weeks Soup Group!

Soup Group Face of the Week

Tom McMullin

Tom McMullin joined the Soup Group during his winter break form college. He heads back to
school this week after banging out a 13 mile long run yesterday. He's racing in a 1/2 Marathon soon and
I'm guessing that a full marathon is not far behind! 

And last but not least, I just had to post this shot of "Slick Nick".  I'm not sure if he just ran 6 miles or played a 3 set shot at CBGB's!

That's all for now....