24115

With 21 days left I have received the first tangible evidence that I will be running in this year's Boston Marathon.  I got my official number.  It is 24115 and I am part of wave three.  This means that the BAA doesn't want me to get  in the way of the people that can actually run.  I will be sharing a ride into Hopkinton with two of those people.  Jonathan Steeves is a friend of mine and he will be running in his first Boston Marathon.  He is no stranger to marathons, though, as he qualified for Boston this year with the jaw dropping time of 3:10 and that wins him a spot in wave one.  To give you some perspective on this, when he finishes the marathon this year I will still have at least another 2 HOURS to go.

The second person I am riding to the start with is the lovely Katie O'Connel who is running in her fourth Boston Marathon.  She also qualified for this years marathon and she will be heading out in wave two.  Of all of the real runners that I know Katie is always the one that makes me feel good about the training that I am doing and she makes me feel like I am doing all the right things to prepare for the race even though I really am just winging it. 

I really have no idea what I am doing when it comes to training for a marathon.  Sure I go online and look up what I should be doing or I will ask people that I know for some pointers but what I find is either information for people who are, apparently, going to be running either at a pace that only Kenyans can hit or are running their third marathon this week or, more often I find a hundred websites that all offer tips on how to train.  The problem is that if I find a website that says you should stretch before a workout invariably the next website that I find will say you shouldn't.  You see for every tip one website gives there is always another that says you should do the opposite.  I have no idea what to believe because there have been some tips that I have seen that promise dire consequences if you do one thing or another or if you don't do one thing or another.  I read somewhere that if you drink Gatorade at the begining of a race you should NOT drink water at anytime during the race because it would dilute the Gatorade and negate its benefits.  So I shouldn't drink water during a 26 mile race?  You sure about that??

I guess the point is that I could spend every waking moment of my life reading about how to train for a the marathon or I could just run.  So I think that my intensive training program will include some running and then maybe I will drink something but you can bet that it ain't gonna be water because that would just be foolish.

Til next time...

People Who Rock. The Reboot 2012

Well it is just over a month until the big race and I think it is time for the first installment of this year's "People Who Rock".  As you know my fundraising goal this year is to get $3,000 in donations for the amazing people at NF Inc. Northeast and as of right now I stand at  $755.  Now I could dwell on the fact that this is well short of my goal but instead I will heap gobs and gobs of praise to those people who have so generously given money to this cause.

• First off let's talk about my brother James Day who, as it stands right now, gets the golden sweaty sock award for the largest single donation to the cause.  I think that in and of itself elevates him to the status of someone who rocks!
• How about my old friend and neighbor Terry Rizzo.  You know that she rocks.
• Then there is and ex co-worker of mine named Deb Teague and even though her company laid me off last November she still rocks.
• My sister Jean rocks. (as if you needed me to tell you that)
• My sister Jean's friend Barbara Lubin must have spent a lot of time around Jean because her rock-ness has rubbed off
• There is my cousin Bob Ackley and his lovely wife Mandy who donated in memory of an old friend of theirs who did a news story on their amazing daughter Tori.  Bob and Mandy Rock and it is obvious their friend James and their daughter Tori also Rock!
• How about my sister-in-law Julie AND her husband (my brother-in-law) Jim.  It is obvious that they both rock.
• Then there is my other Sister-in-Law / Brother-in-Law set, Beth and Mark Vozella.  They also Rock!!
• There is a family here in my home town that rocks and it is the Battaglino family.
• Melissa Holt donated and as a result, I can safely say that she rocks.
• There is a lovely young woman named Dawn Anderson who is married to a man named Alan.  Now I don't know Alan that well but I do know that Dawn rocks so I am sure that he rocks as well.
• Now there are a couple of people that have donated that I have either never met before or donated anonymously.  Peter and Leesa Themistocles rock.  Sharon Eva Lee-Bense most definitely rocks.  And there was one donation that came without any name attached to it.  You know that a person that donates like this absolutely rocks.
• Let's talk for a moment about the Molinaro family.  Luigi (obviously a nice Irish boy) his wife Cathy and their children Julia, Annalisa and Danielle all Rock!  But it goes beyond that.  Luigi has posted my donation request on his Facebook page so many times that he got  friends of his, The Riggs Family to donate as well.  So it is a foregone conclusion that the Riggs family Rocks.
• And last but not least, I got the first (of what I hope will be many) donations from a local business.  The good folks at Roche Bros have donated and, along with being the finest purveyor of groceries, it has been discovered that they Rock.

Well that is it for this round.  I hope to have many many more posts like this.  From the bottom of my heart thanks to all of you who have donated to this cause.  I know that there is so much negativity going on in the world today but whenever I need a pick-me-up all I need to do is go to my fundraising page and see the generosity and compassion of the human soul.

Please keep the donations coming in.  There is a link to my fundraising page on the right side of this blog and while you are over there go ahead and vote on how long you think it will take me to run this year's marathon.  The votes are anonymous so feel free to be brutally honest.

Til next time...

My role model...

When you think of a person in your life that you look up to you probably think of a parent or maybe an aunt of uncle or maybe even someone in the public eye that has inspired or motivated you in some way.  In my life I never thought much about a role model for myself.  I suppose that I could mention my father who was a hardworking and quiet man with a very dry sense of humor, but he died when I was just 20 years old and I never got a chance to bond with him as an adult.  I also could look to my father-in-law who was a big part of my life as an adult and who was definately someone that you coud look up to.

But, if I am being honest with myself there is one person that I do look up to and it isn't who you might think.  The person that I look up to is the whole reason I am running in the marathon and doing this blog; my oldest son Max.  Why do I look up to him?  Well, it isn't because he constantly talks back to my wife and I and it certainly isn't because he complains about e v e r y t h i n g from what we are eating to school to homework to bedtime to getting up in the morning to going to bed at night to having to comb his hair to not getting to ride shotgun in the car to what we are watching on TV to what we have for snacks to having to put his clothes away to having to clean his room to having to wash his hands to just being tired.  I swear if he isn't complaining about something (or whatching japanamation on TV) then I'm afraid he's sick.  Oh wait...he complains about that too. 

No, I don't look up to him because of any of that.  I look up to him because I know how impossibly difficult it must be to live in his skin and he does this without complaint.  I think of how hard it is for him to control himself and focus at school and still come home with A's and B's.  I look up to him because he does what he wants without regard for how it may make him look to other kids his age.   He will go to a dance by himself without even bothering to ask his friends if they are going.(Something that my wife and I agreed that we would never have dreamed of doing at his age)  He does not give a second thought to taking off his shirt to jump in the pool even though his chest is covered with small tumors and large cafe-au-lait spots.

I look up to him because no matter wht the cicumstances he knows what he wants and he is not afraid to ask for it.   I look up to him because he is an expert at adapting.  He can't write anything by hand so that it can be read but instead, he can type on a computer faster than most adults. 

I look up to him because in his short life so far he has had adenoid surgery, knee surgery and brain surgery and has been a better patient than anyone.  He has had to suffer through countless MRI's and medical exams.  He has had more blood drawn than a vampire victim and he has spent more nights in a hospital than I care to think about.  When he was lying in his hospital bed after his brain surgery and our hearts were being torn apart by the vision of him with the bandage covering the hole that was now in his head, it made me so proud that he didn't bitch and moan about how he felt, he just wanted to play on the ICU's video game system.  Oh, and get something to eat from McDonalds.

That is why he is the person that I look up to.  His life will not be easy, but knowing Max he will live it his way and to the fullest.  This is why I am writing this blog and running in the marathon and raising money for NF.  I want Max to have every chance possible to reach his fullest potential.  I would love to be able to pay back Max for being the awsome influnce that he has been in my life by helping to find a cure for NF.    But I can't do it alone.  I need you to donate to NF Inc NE in suport of my Boston Marathon run.  They do such great work and I know that they are trying their best to help find a cure.  But it goes beyond just that.  They have been instrumental in our lives in giving us advice, compassion, a shoulder to cry on and access to others that know what we are going through.  I know that as Max gets older and starts to make his own way in life, it will be a great comfort to him to have those same people available to him whenever life tries to get him down.

I know that there are plenty of great charities and causes out there but please give whatever you can.  It WILL make a difference in Max's life as well as the lives of thousands of others that look to NF inc for help.
You can donate by clicking on the link to the right or make a check out to NF Inc NE and send it directly to them.  Or you can send it to me and I will make sure it gets to where it needs to go.

Thanks.

Til next time...

Randomness

In lieu of actually having something of any substance to say I offer you the following things that I am pretty sure that I think:

• I think that flags should fly at half staff ONLY for people who have actively served this country and not for celebrities that have wasted their talent and their lives in pursuit of their own interests
• Happy Endings is one of the best sit-coms on TV right now
• I will really miss Tim Wakefield.  I know he has got a ton of crap over the last few years for his declining effectiveness and consistency but when is the last time you saw a professional athlete stay with a single team for 17 years and be a class act throughout.
• I don't think we HAVE to have an explanation for last year's collapse by the Red Sox as some radio stations are clamoring for.  If we get an explanation will that change anything?  Just win this year and all will be forgiven
• Barstoolsports.com is among the most ridiculous, misogynistic, juvenile websites that I have ever read and I can't stop checking in on it.  I am so ashamed of myself.
• I will never, ever understand the appeal of watching over privileged "housewives" bitch about each other and how difficult their lives are on a daily basis. They should come and live my life for a month.
• Will someone, for the love of all that is good and decent in the world, tell Geico that both the squealing pig and the caveman are the most annoying characters on television and I would not purchase their insurance solely because of those two add campaigns.
• As long as I live I will never understand the world's love affair with soccer... or NASCAR.
• Someone needs to tell the people over at ESPN that the dunk is really just a very routine shot and not every single one is worthy of a spot on their top plays.
• Maybe it's the old man in me but I just don't get Twitter.  I have a Twitter account that my wife set up for me and I never use it.  Although I have been notified that I am being followed by several different girls that are apparently looking for a good time.
• I am convinced that there is far more generosity and compassion in the world than we are led to believe by the media.  I have personal knowledge of this fact.
• There are 56 days left until the marathon.  Have you donated yet?  If not, you should go here.  You will be glad you did.
• Did Harry Potter actually do anything that he didn't end up with him getting bailed out by someone else?  I never cared much for the HP movies but every time Harry was in some kind of battle with the nose-less bad guy he never seems to actually win on his own.  As a matter of fact it seems like he always needed someone else to save his bacon and yet he is greeted by everyone as if he is some great wizardly badass.

That's all I got.  What do you think?

Til next time...

Time to set some goals

There are only 64 days left until the marathon and my training has been going very well.  I am pretty encouraged that I am getting out as often as my body will let me (Of course, not having to get up and go to a job certainly frees up a lot of my time) and the fact that I am tolerating longer and longer runs without any part of my body being sore for the next 4 days. With all that being said I thought it was time to set a couple of goals.

 First, my fundraising goal : The last time I ran the marathon I set a fundraising goal of $2,000 and I am proud to say that that goal was reached thanks the the unbelievable generosity of family, friends, friends of friends and, most amazingly, some complete strangers.  This year I am aiming even higher.  I want to raise at least $3,000.  This will be very difficult but I know that, with your help we can reach it.  If you are asking yourself why should you donate I say to you...take a look at this kid.

The big kid not the baby.

Max is just as awesome as he always has been and I would love to help stamp out NF in his lifetime.  So please please please give as much and as often as you can.

Now for my race goal.  My goal this year is the same as it was the last time I ran.  It is to finish the race in under 5 hours.  As a point of comparison my finishing times in my three previous marathons were

2008 - 5:55:20
2009 - 5:21:29
2010 - 5:33:20.

So needless to say shaving 22 minutes off my best time will be challenging (or damn near impossible) but I am going to do my level best to make it happen.

So there they are.  Two challenging but ultimately achievable goals that I have 64 days to accomplish.  As always I can't do it alone.  I need your help. 

Here are all of the links you will ever need to help me out.

Donate to my run
See what NF Inc Northeast is all about
Learn a little about my awesome son Max

Thanks for listening and if you see me running out on the street give me a honk and a wave...I love that shit.

Til next time...

Treadin'...

So it snowed here yesterday.  It is funny to me how much your attitude toward snow changes as you get older.  I have a few kids (I'm not really sure how many at this point) and they were thrilled when they looked outside and saw the snow.  I, however, whined to myself  "I don't wanna go out in the cold and shovel".  There really is no time, in your adult life, that you are excited to see snow.  Unless you are one of those people that see the beauty and peace in the gently falling snow.  I hate those people.  I am so cynical and such a self involved bastard that as soon as I see accumulating snow one of my first thoughts is, I hope the kids don't want to go out .  Because as any parent can attest you will spend hours upon hours getting them out the door.  Especially when it is the first snow of the season because you can always count on the scavenger hunt for boots, snow pants, gloves, scarves, hats and coats. 

So you finally find everything and then you proceed to pack the first one into his snow gear like a Scandinavian sausage which includes tying his boots (although he has been able to tie his own shoes for several years) and zipping up his coat because, lets face it, no one can zip up their own coat with gloves on.  Now lather, rinse and repeat that for each one of your darling little arctic explorers.  After hours of hunting and dressing you are now free. Oh, wait...no you are not because no sooner have you pushed them out the door they are itching to come back in and shed their now soaking wet and snow covered crap all over your house.  Making it extremely inadvisable to walk anywhere in socks.  And lets face it, is there a worse first world problem than stepping into a cold puddle with socks on??

Anyway...because of the weather yesterday I decided that I would put in some time on the treadmill.  So I put on the Bruins game and began running in place for an hour.  According to the treadmill I did a little over 5 miles but I think it was further than that.  I'm convinced that the treadmill is deliberately shorting me on distance.  I know that sounds crazy but when I leave the room after I have run,  I swear I hear it laughing at me.  Also, to add insult to injury, for the first time ever, as I was running, I drifted too far off to the side and accidentally stepped on the rail and nearly snapped off my foot at the ankle...twice.  This time I am sure that it was laughing at me.

Til next time....GO PATRIOTS!!!!

It Begins Again...

After a loooooonnnggg time off to deal with two years of crap I am back.  I was informed this morning that I will be given a number  for this years Boston Marathon and I couldn't be happier.  Sure, my wife is going through radiation treatment for breast cancer and sure, I am out of work for the 2nd time in two years and sure, the very day I find out that I have a number, it snows but what the hell...No Guts, No Glory.

I am putting the past behind me and focusing on the road in front of me.  For those of you that recall my last marathon (if you don't you can read about it in past posts on this blog) I had two goals.  One was to raise $2,000 for the amazing folks at NF Inc Northeast and the other was to finish in under 5 hours.  I am happy to say that goal number one was reached but I was disappointed to come up short on the second one.  This year I have set my fundraising goal at $3,000 and I hope to beat that handily.  My race goal will again be to beat the elusive 5 hour mark. 

Please Please Please help me reach my fund raising goal by donating as much as you can help us eliminate Neurofibromatosis.  You can donate a few different ways:

1. Donate by credit card through my fundraising website here.
2. Donate by making a check out to NF Inc., NE and slip that bad boy in an envelope and mail it to

                                                      NF, Inc., NE
                                                      9 Bedford Street
                                                      Burlington, MA 01803

or 3. You can just send me a check made out to NF Inc NE and I will make sure it gets to the proper parties....Trust me. :)

If you would like to find out more about NF Inc NE, please take a moment and visit their website Here.

I thank everyone in advance for your generosity.  It never ceases to amaze me just how amazing people can be.

I'll be updating this blog on a regular basis as I continue my training for the big day.

Til then...