26 Miles

Wow. 26 miles in one day. It usually takes me a whole month...

Well today was stupendous! I arrived at the East Falls Church Metro station in darkness, made my way to the run site and joined 275 other runners on a very chilly (thank God) Saturday morning. It must have been 45-50 degrees. At about 7 am the coaches kicked things off with stern warnings to go slower than our normal pace per mile. They kept saying that this was "not a dress rehearsal, this was not a race...it was an opportunity for the body to get used to 26 miles so that we could recover in time for the marathon, now 1 month away.

We then heard a touching story on how the Whitman Walker Clinic helps those affected by AIDS. One of its past beneficiaries told a touching story about he and his partner. After both contracted HIV, his partner went downhill fast, but thanks to the clinic, he was able to secure legal representation that ensured he continued to receive benefits and that he had full visitation rights at the hospital. The bottom line is that the clinic is vitally important and that your donations are just as vital. Thank you!

We then hit the W&OD trail. The Washington and Old Dominion Trail is an old railroad venue. We ran 3 miles East to the Eastern Tip of Arlington, just shy of DC, we then turned and ran 3 miles back. At the point we were 6 miles down and set off for 10 miles west and then the return back.

We experienced every season today. We started with a cold crisp autumn morning. It got warmer, but overcast, and the rain started coming down. It felt good. Then it was overcast, then Sunny, then rainy, then Sunny again.

Our Western segment took us all the way out to Reston/Vienna and then we ran back. I did not hit the "Wall" this time. Instead, the run remained extremely pleasant. As we finished we got lots of cheers, made our way through a balloon arch, and received a medal after finishing. Our Pace Group numbered 9 today, but Elizabeth and I basicallyt trudged our way through together for most of the 26 miles, while the others went ahead about 2 minutes in front of us.

Today was remarkable. I wont forget it. I thank Rachel and the kids for the patience as I missed baseball and soccer games today, but today was a very important milestone for me, and I proved to myself I could get through 26 miles.

Donations continued to flow this week, and I send my thanks out to:

Kara Dickerson
Sterling Fennell
Pramod Raheja
Bill Rollins
Christine Screnci

I have hit $19,802, just shy of my $20,000 goal. I believe I will be there soon thanks to your generosity and kindness.

This week, I will train with two 45 minute runs in Las Vegas and then a recovery run next Sunday for 8 miles.

What a day!

Thank you for your moral and financial support in the fight against AIDS!

-Dan
Total Training Weeks: 21
Total Training Miles: 355

48 hours

So, only 48 hours unitl we line up on the trail for a 26 mile run. They are combining all running groups Saturday, so there will be 275 runners.

Today, I ran another 3.3 miles in California, and after a meeting this afternoon, I head home on a redeye. I am hopful to get some rest tommorrow and then I will go to bed early, ready to we run at 6.30 am on Saturday.

I wont be able to guage my pace Saturday, because they are slowing us down substantially. Where I have been averaging 13-14 minutes per mile, they will slow my group down to 19 minutes. It's all scientific and I trust the coaches. They have been methodical from the start.

So, I will hopefully be writing to you on Saturday Evening after a run that I cannot even comprehend right now.

Talk to you then.

Thank you for your moral support and financial support in the fight against AIDS!

Total Training Weeks: 20.4
Total Training Miles: 329

Mission Accomplished in Mission Viejo

Another 45 minutes early this morning in Mission Viejo, California.

I hit the treadmill in a 24 Fitness Gym today and it felt really good. My pace was great and I completed about 3.3 miles in 45 which is a great pace for me.

Will be doing another 45 from Woodland Hills on Thursday morning, and then on Thursday night it's back to town on a red-eye.

I AM NOW ONLY $198 SHY OF MY $20,000 GOAL! So many more generous donors again including:

Pramod Raheja for the second time!
Kara Dickerson
Sterling Fennell
Bill Rollins
Christine Screnci

Just awesome.

And thanks for the very kind notes of encouragement that have been coming in. I got one from Jack Chalden that would bring tears to your eyes. If he gives me permission, I might publish it.

See you from Woodland Hills on Thursday!

Thanks for your moral support and donations in the fight against AIDS!

Total Training Weeks: 20.2
Total Training Miles: 326

Give Me a Tenner

This morning, we completed 10 miles along the Capital Crescent trail under the C & O canal. It was warm and humid this morning, and that made for a more uncomfortable run. Nevertheless, even after bathroom breaks and an uphill run for half of the run, I was able to come in under 2.30 hours and therefore maintain the right pace for where I need to be.

My back was a bit sore around mile 9, but besides that,no major issues.

My fundraising took another great spike this week, thanks to the continued generosity of my CEA family.

CEA matched employee donations with a $2100 contribution (with more to come) and the following heroes also came through with their kindness:

Megan Hayes
Jamie Lilly
Stacey Moore
Veronica Oconnell
Katie Swearingen

DONATIONS ARE ONLY $450 AWAY FROM MY $20,000 SPONSORSHIP GOAL!!!

Please consider a donation if you have not done so already. The cause is a very important one: The Whitman Walker Clinic and its services in the fight against AIDS.

Two individual runs for 45 minutes this week and the whopper: 26 miles on this Saturday, September 30.

Thank you for your moral support and donations in the fight against AIDS!

Total Training Weeks: 20 or 5 months!
Total Training Miles: 323

Cool

Cool weather definitely helps! Good solid run this morning from home with no problems. I have been wearing my ipod for the past couple of runs and I know it helps. We are not allowed to wear anything out on group training, and for good reason....you have to hear the bikers coming up behind you yellling: "Passing on your left!"

This weekend will be 10 recovery miles and then a nervous week of preparing for 26 miles next Saturday!

Read about Khalid Kannouchi below:

As told by John Beach:


"As a promising young runner during the early 1990s, Khalid Khannouchi of Morocco asked the track federation of his home country for assistance with training expenses. When the federation refused assistance, Khannouchi traveled to the United States in 1993, found a job in Brooklyn washing dishes, took up residence with three friends in an apartment and then began serious training. Khannouchi married American Sandra Inoa (a runner he met at a 5k race in Hartford, Conn.) in September 1996 and applied for his green card two months later. He was sworn in as a U.S. citizen on May 2, 2000.

Khannouchi ran very well in smaller road races in the U.S. before running the fastest debut marathon in history to win the 1997 Chicago Marathon. Two years later, Khannouchi ran the fastest time ever in the marathon at Chicago on October 24, 1999. And three years after that, he again ran the fastest time in the world in the London Marathon in April 2002. 2002: Set World record by winning the London Marathon in a time of 2:05:38. Amazing! 2000: Set American record by winning the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in 2:07:01 on October 11, his first marathon as a U.S. citizen...3rd at London Marathon in 2:08:36...U.S. citizen on May 2...ranked #3 in world (#1 U.S.).

1999: Won the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in world record time of 2:05:42.
1998: Won the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in 2:07:19.
1997: Won the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in 2:07:10, the fastest marathon debut in history."

Thank you for your moral support and donations in the fight against AIDS!

Total Training Weeks: 19.5
Total Training Miles: 313

Thanks to CEA: Donations Bolt to $19,500

With a great spike in matching contributions from my family at the Consumer Electronics Association, my donations have now have reached $19,500 and I am just shy of my $20,000 goal. This is absolutely phenomenal, and I salute the organization that I have been privileged to be associated with for 8 years.

I also salute my friends and family that have been so kind and generous as well.

The Whitman Walker Clinic immediately benefits from your benevolence!

I had my normal 45 minutes from home today on a sparkling, cool fall morning. My pace and time were right where they should be.

I'll do another run on Friday and then another group one on Sunday for 10 miles.
26 miles on September 30th....the day is fast approaching.

Thank you for your support and generosity. I look forward to giving you the great news about hitting $20,000! If you know anyone who might want to donate to this worthy cause, please pass this blog posting along.

Dan

Total Training Weeks: 19.3
Total Training Miles: 310

307 Miles and Shaving off Time

8 mile recovery run which puts me at 307 total training miles since May. That's not alot to experienced runners, but that's great for me. Especially considering the cause for which I am running.

Today, my pace improved dramatically, which is good considering that last weeks 22 miler was an utter disaster. I ran at a 1.30 run/3.0 quick walk pace and managed to shave over 5 minutes off my time.

This week, I will do 2 45 minute recovery runs from home, and then another 8 miles next Sunday.

On September 30th, we have our last long run before the marathon, and that will be for 26 miles. I am definitely having a couple of accupuncture treatments before then!

Donations are over $17,000. I am trying to hit $20,000, so please consider a donation if you have not done so already. The patients at the Whitman Walker Clinic really could use your support!

Thank you for your moral support and donations in the fight against AIDS!

Total Training Weeks: 19
Total Training Miles: 307

Merv, and Rosa

Right outside the Hotel Gym, sits "The Griff" Merv Griffin's enormous yacht. I took a stroll and had a look. Must be nice.

45 minutes at 6 am on the treadmill this morning from Marina del Rey. This was the first time I used my iPod for exercise in over 4 months. It did help me to run stronger and make the workout on the treadmill a bit more interesting. Sunday is a recovery run of 8 miles and then next Saturday: 26.2 Miles!


Read about Rosa Mota:


As told by John Beach:

"Ten years after her elite marathon career ended, Rosa Mota has slipped quietly into the history books, not forgotten, but not the first name that comes to mind when discussing the best female marathoners of all-time either. In her era, Rosa Mota did not create controversy. She did not set any world records. What she DID do was win races, especially the biggest marathons of all: Boston, the European Championships, the World Championships, and the 1988 Olympic Marathon in Seoul Korea.Consistency was the hallmark of the diminutive runner from Porto, Portugal.She won the Boston Marathon on three occasions, in 1987, 1988, and 1990. Her times in those three Boston's were: 2:24, 2:25, and 2:25. She broke 2:30 on12 separate occasions, but the most significant statistic is that she won nearly two thirds of the marathons that she ran.Her lifetime PR came in a third-place finish, 2:23:29 in the 1985 Chicago Marathon (yee haw!), behind Joan Samuelson's 2:21. In 1988, she won the World Championship Marathon in Rome, then followed that up with the gold medal in Seoul, in which she surged with two miles to go to win by 13 seconds ahead of Lisa Martin. As for now, Mota says, " I run every day and sometimes twice a day. One hour in the morning and 45 minutes in the afternoon. Maybe I'll start competing again. I like to do charity events. I try to run with children and old people. (Did she really just say that? A good-souled elite runner…) I have been running small races in Japan for children who have cancer."A true ambassador to the sport, Mota won the 1998 Abebe Bikila Award for global contributions to the sport of long distance running. Asked about her biggest contribution Mota cites the effect her career had on other female runners in Portugal. And the people she met during her years as a world-class runner are her most prized possession. " If I was not a world class runner, there are so many people I would not have met. It's my friends that are most important. When I am finished as a competitive runner, they will always be my friends. "

Thank you for your moral support and donations in the fight against AIDS!

Total Training Weeks: 18.4
Total Training Miles: 298

The Wall: Dad, I am ok!

Out here on the West Coast for Business and I spent a goodwork out on the treadmill at the hotel. The treadmill seems to make the workout more intense, more aggressive. I am feeling better after those very tough 22 miles on Sunday.

If you read the previous blog entries, you know that I described finally "hitting the wall" on the last run around mile 18.

Rachel called today that my dad had called her and was worried because he had read that I run into a wall. I might as well have....

But for my dad and others who are wondering what hitting the wall means, here is a definition right of the web:

"You know you're in trouble when your fuel tank starts running on empty.
This happens when your body runs out of carbohydrate fuel (sometimes known as muscle glycogen) and starts burning fat for energy instead.
This is a far less efficient way of producing energy and you'll start to chug along in the slow lane instead of motoring at top speed.

Sometimes runners get so tired they feel they can't even put one foot in front of another any more. This urge to stop running is known as "hitting the wall."

This describes perfectly how I felt on Sunday towards the end, and is exactly why it is so important to keep eating....

Anyway, it's a new week and I am looking forward to another treadmill run on Thursday. Sunday, we go for 8 miles in recovery....a nice break!!!!

Thank you for your moral support and donations in the fight against AIDS!

Total Training Weeks: 18.2
Total Training Miles: 295

22 Miles, A Dead Battery and THE WALL

Today had it all.

My alarm went off at 5am, right on schedule. I got ready, had my breakfast and coffee and at 6.30 am I got in to my car to leave. The car did not even attempt to turn over. I tried again: Nothing. Again: Nothing. I ran into the house, grabbed the Van keys, backed the van out of the garage and lined it up next to my car. I connected the cables, tried starting my car: Nothing. Again: Nothing. At this point, I am completely furious. Rachel gets out of bed, tries it herself: Nothing.

Luckily, Shari and Tara were doing water duty at the run sites today, so I was able to reach Shari and then Pam who directed to me to meet the group at Lock 8 of the C&O canal path which would have me starting at around mile 7 which would only give me at about 17 mile run vs. the total 23.

I called a cab and instead of waiting for the group at lock 8, I ran to them. So I only ended up missing about a mile today of the total run. And what a run it was.

The first 15 miles were solid. The next 3 tougher, and then I hit the infamous wall. It took all of me to finish the next 4. I had never experienced The Wall before today's run. It's not fun. Your body just shuts down. It's almost as if it is protesting or punishing you to continue.

I was happy to finish.

THANK YOU TO TARA AND SHARI who waited for me to finish and then gave me a ride back to the office so I could call another cab. I've since returned home and AAA just left. Of course, when the AAA guy jumped my car, it started right away.

So today, was not the best of days, but I am happy I finished.

Thank you for your moral support and financial donations in the fight against AIDS!

Total Training Weeks: 18
Total Training Miles: 292

Nice

Cool weather definitely makes the difference. Last individual run this morning before the big 23 miler on Sunday. I am really looking forward to it actually, and am hoping that my pace is on par.

This morning I ran farther on pace than ever before, and managed to go almost 3.5 miles which for my pace ratio is exactly where I want to be. Legs felt fine, body felt fine and my new water pack makes a big difference. Instead of having to reach for that water bottle, all you do is bite on the water tube. And it holds a lot of water.

DONATIONS HAVE PASSED $17,000!

Thanks to:

Fred Antonini
Elena Grant
Susan Littleton
Skip West

CEA, Friends and Family are incredibly generous!

Well, God-Willing I will be writing on Sunday after my 23 miles on the C&O canal.

Thank you for your moral support and donations in the fight against AIDS!

Total Training Weeks: 17.4
Total Training Miles: 270

A Good Drenching

Pouring Rain this morning for a 45 minute run. It was actually refreshing. My legs were much better today and my pace was solid.

I tried out a new water bottle today---which is the camel-back system. You can fill it up to about 36 oz of water and then you strap it to your back. Then all you have to do is sip out of the tube that comes out of it, instead of carrying a water bottle. I liked it much better.

This week I am mentally and physically preparing for a 23 miler on Sunday. It is the longest run yet and just shy of the 26.2 miles I will be doing 2 weeks later. So, it's lots of stretching, eating right and proper rest leading up to Sunday.

Next run comes Thursday for 45 minutes and then its' the big one on Sunday.

Thank you for your moral support and donations in the fight against AIDS!

Total Training Weeks: 17.2
Total Training Miles: 267

3 Miles with General Custis

Ran 3 miles yesterday during lunch hour along the Custis Trail in Arlington. Run was ok. The outer bands of my shins hurt this time, and my times were a bit off, but for getting back into the groove it was fine. I am not sure if I will be able to make the 10 mile run on Sunday, due to some family issues, but it's possible.

I received more donations yesterday from Jack Chalden and Angela Gibson who I thank for their generosity. My totals keep climbing, now appraoching $16,500!

Well, hope to write back on Sunday....

Thank you for your moral support and donations in the fight against AIDS!

Dan

Total Taining Weeks: 16.5
Total Training Miles: 264