Thank you all

I sold all my miles and have been humbled by the response. I thank you all for donating and I will proudly wear your names on my jersey come race day.

On the day of the race, I will have my pace app publish my progress mile by mile to my Facebook page so that you all can keep track when your mile comes up.

Thanks again, and I can't wait for race day!

4.9 — Golden Gardens 80 min.

This run went pretty well, but part way through I started feeling some pain in my left knee just about in the same spot I had been feeling pain in my right knee awhile back. Then my right foot started to hurt. I was able to finish the run, but knew that I'd be feeling it later.

Later, I was feeling it big time. In the time to took to drive home, everything stiffened up and I was hobbling around for the next couple of days. I'm taking a short hiatus from running to let things heal up a bit. I'm skipping the next Saturday run on the 16th and hope to back at it on the 23rd.

Run stats: 1:21:53 min. | 8.24 miles | 9:56/mile average pace

4.2 — Genessee Park 110 min.

This was officially the longest I have ever run in my life (so far as I can remember). I ended up doing closer to 120 minutes because I didn't turn around soon enough. I had to map out the run once I got home because my GPS lost signal towards the end of the course and I couldn't rely on the results (it had me doing 5 minute miles... not so much).

I got in just about 12.5 miles in just under 2 hours — almost a half marathon. I was feeling it at the end. There was a steep-ish section of the path under the I-90 bridge leading down into a parking lot that really got to my knees. This was with about 1 mile left to go, so my last mile was pretty slow. I did my stretching afterwards and got a massage too. I'm kind of stiff, but I'm not in any real pain which is a win on its own.

The best part of the run came after when I went to breakfast with a bunch of folks. This was the second time I've gone to the post-practice breakfast and it was the highlight of the morning. To be honest, everyone is very nice and ready to talk and share what they are doing, why they are running, what their experiences have been — I need to do more I think to take part in this element of the Team in Training experience. I've been happy to run my own pace and not go to the food-related gatherings mostly to avoid eating stuff I don't really need to eat. But, I'm monitoring my diet still and I can accommodate the calories. I need to be a bit more social.

Run stats (est.): 1:57:17 min. | 12.5 miles | 9:37/mile average pace

3.26 — Redhook 90 min.

We were greeted by these motivational messages near the end of the run.

I'm starting to feel like I don't have anything interesting to write about if I don't have an injury to talk about.

The run went fine. I kept up a fairly even pace and felt good throughout. I tried out a new fuel belt with the 4 mini water bottles on it. I drank one every 20 minutes and it did have an impact on my overall energy level I think. I skipped the water stops and tried to go off the water and gel packs I carried with me to try and get used to using the water bottles and getting them in and out of the belt while running. My goal is to run the marathon without any pauses. I know that might not be completely realistic, but that's my goal.


And cheerleaders.



I did feel a slight twinge in my right IT band and knee towards the end of the run. I've slacked a bit on my stretching and foam roller usage — just a little reminder to not get cocky and to keep up the work.

Run stats: 1:29:35 min. | 9.22 miles | 9:43/mile average pace