The sun and something numb (TMI? You be the judge)

It certainly will be nice to see (and run in) the sun.  I plan on going out today to get in 10 miles or so.  It is April 1st so I only have 19 days until the marathon and I must admit I am a little worried.  In years past the one thing that I was always thankful for were my feet.  I had shoes that never gave me any problems and I never had to think about my feet.  This year, however, I have had a strange and worrisome problem with my left foot.  When I start out running everything is fine and my feet and shoes feel pretty good.  However, after about 4 or 5 miles the toes on my left foot start to go numb.  If I stop and walk for a few minutes they go back to feeling normal.  But after I start running again they will eventually go numb.  Now I have two different pairs of sneakers that I have tried and this happens no matter which pair I wear.  It is not necessarily something that will prevent me from running but I would rather not have to deal with it for 26 miles.  So if any runners read this please post a comment and let me know if you have any advice.

On another note I have neglected to mention that I now have an official number for the marathon.  It is 27427.  If you want to follow my progress on marathon monday then you can go to the BAA website and enter that number.

On Tuesday I got a call from a lovely young woman from the Boston Globe West who is doing a story on runners from the Millis/Medway/Medfield area and we had a nice long chat about why I am running for Neurofibromatosis and about my oldest son Max and his struggles with this disorder.  We spoke for a good 1/2 hour and she told me that the story should be in this Sunday's Boston Globe, so keep an eye out for that. 

Don't forget to DONATE DONATE DONATE.  I am only about $800 short of my fundraising goal and sooo badly want to meet it this year.  I can't do it without your help.  If you need a reason to donate here is one.

This is Max's 7th grade school picture.

Now I ask you...How can you look at this handsome dude and NOT want to donate???

I am still looking for reviews on chapter one of my epic saga so give it a read and post a comment on what you think.  Don't worry I can take it. 

I would also like some more votes on my marathon finishing time which you can do on the left side of this page.  My goal is to finish in under 5 hours and that would be about 21 minutes faster than last year.  Let me know if you think I can do it or if I'm just kidding myself. (always a possibility)

One last thing...I am happy to report that my father-in-law is doing better.  In case you missed it he was admitted to the hospital with an AVM.  I won't go into details about what that is (if you really want to know then Google it) but let's just say he had bleeding in his brain.  He has been asleep for several days now but he is breathing on his own and he has been moved out of ICU and to a rehab facility in Natick.  The doctors seem pretty optomistic that he will make a full recovery but he still has along way to go.  Send out good thoughts for him and his family.  Get better soon, Larry.  We all miss you.

Til next time...