Okay, so maybe there is some truth to the comments I keep hearing about me stretching myself too thin and committing to too many things. But sometimes it is hard to know when to stop, especially when you combine wide and varied interests with a helpfull personality and (the perception of) free time.

I was/am the Course Director and Volunteer Coordinator for the Marathon Sports Super Sunday 5k/10k that was held this past weekend on Super Bowl (that's right, I said it) Sunday in South Boston; an event which has grown from 330 participants to maximum capacity of 1,500 in only 2 years.

That in itself is enough to have kept me busy these past few weeks but of course I pile more on top of that: a return to Miami to lead the 3:20 (7:38/mile) marathon pace group for the ING Miami Marathon, racing to a 26 second PR (13th place - top 0.9%) finish in the Tropical 5k the morning before, ushering for the NewRep Theater's production of "Cabaret" , taking on the Director of Sponsor Relations duties on a newly formed Race Director Committee for the 24-hour Around the Lake: Ultra.Marathon.Relay that takes place at the end of July in Wakefield, MA, volunteering for the WGBH family and kids day activities at the studios (I get to be the official event photographer), and of course all of the other stuff that comes with life as a married highway engineer.

But don't get me wrong, I obviously enjoy doing all of these things or else I wouldn't put myself in these situations.  I just have to figure out how to better distribute them across the year so that they don't all jumble over each other like has been happening recently.

So obviously I have still been running and am now preparing myself for my next full out effort at the sold out Boston Marathon in April.  But before that I will be making my first ever trip to Arkansas to lead the 3:30 pace group for the Little Rock Marathon on St. Patrick's Day weekend (what a lousy time to be away from the Boston area) and to visit with my good friend Susan who I met when we were on the FHWA PDP training program back at the turn of the century.  I need to get more core work and hill training in between now and then because I am still feeling last night's 14 mile run on the ice/snow along the Charles River and back to my apartment (into the wind...uggh).  I was toying with the idea of going to yoga tonight, but the prospect of walking home in the 6-degree temperatures at 7:30 when I have so much to do around the house (including catching up on this blog) lost out to a quick 30-minute workout in the gym and an overheated bus ride home.

But the cats were not going to feed themselves (they made that much clear when I finally got home), the laundry, the filing, the dishes, the sorting, the vaccuming, the...wow, this is depressing.  I just can't think about it anymore.

Good night everyone.

Though I have to admit that there were times out on the seemingly never-ending Tow-path segment, run into an 18mph headwind, when I didn't know how I was going to do it. The temperature at the 7:00am start was 19^oF and with the wind chill I don't think that the ambient temperature ever crept above freezing.

I am so thankful that I had packed an entire second outfit for my mid-course (mile 38) gear bag because I needed the dry gloves, the change of socks and shoes without frozen cushioning foam, the wind jacket (duh!), and the second pair of tights which actually covered my ankles. I don't want to even think about the amount of energy my body was expending just trying to keep warm during those first 6 hours. But at least we didn't have to deal with snow, or worse yet, rain.

The volunteers (and general spectators) at the aid stations were so incredibly helpful and supportive. I want to thank them all for braving the cold to come out and support us runners as they did. The tepid soup, frozen m&m's, and pb&j sandwiches kept me moving out there and I am so very grateful for them all.

The final 8-miles of rolling hills climbing up from the river to the finish, though a welcome change mentally from the constant level terrain of the tow path, were brutal on my body.  I felt like I could walk faster uphill than I could run at that point and the few brief downhill sections vibrantly announced their presence to my quads and my knee ligaments.  And yet still I was able to finish this race on the run with my final mile at 8:26 pace (comparable to the initial 3 miles of the day). 

It felt so good to stop and savor the sunset before enjoying a couple slices of pizza and a quick shower before the awards ceremony.  No, I didn't earn any special award for my performance beyond the Hostess cupcake and cup of hot chocolate..

Though one of my local newspapers (The Somerville Journal) did provide a brief write-up on my efforts to support the NESHV and honor our fallen soldiers through my running, which hopefully will remind its readers of some additional things to be thanful for this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

It was just 14 months ago, while reading the weblog of Robert Jordan (aka James O. Rigney, Jr.), that "RunningBull's Run" was conceived of in its present scope and scale. Up until that time I had been searching for some reason, for some cause, for something bigger than myself to dedicate my running efforts towards since I had at that point achieved my original running goal: to qualify for and compete in the 111th Boston Marathon (2007). I knew that I wanted to align myself with a charitable group to make a difference in the lives of others with the financial resources that I collected as well as motivate and inspire others through the actual act of running.

Reading about Robert's (he will always be Robert to me, since that is the name he used during the half dozen occasions on which we interacted) battle against Amyloidosis, about his family, about his time in Vietnam, about the simple things in life and all of his plans for the future, brought my conceptual thoughts into focus and aligned me with a cause that already had meaning to my life and for which there exists a continuing unmet need.

At this point many people assume that I signed on to assist the Mayo Clinic or the Amyloidosis Foundation but I chose instead to dedicate my efforts to battle against a more insidious and pervasive disease; Apathy for the plight of our war veterans. I chose to align myself with the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans located in downtown Boston to help raise awareness of their proven and effective programs and services that help rehabilitate and reintegrate our homeless veterans. I wish that there was a simple and direct link associated with this choice or with my decision to undertake such a (relatively) ambitious endeavor. Nobody even blinks twice when a cancer survivor or family member of a cancer victim signs up to raise money for cancer research by running a 10k or Marathon. But when a 32 year old civilian employee of the Federal government announces that he is going to run in a series of races over the course of a year for a combined distance (350+ miles) that exceeds the sum total of his lifetime running career in support of homeless veterans...that gets a bit complicated.

And since I am not a professional writer who can tie this all together nice and neatly I am just going to lay out the key points that when taken as a whole come together, mesh, meld, and result in THIS, this ongoing experience to which I have dedicated 1 year of my life.

• My father is a disabled Vietnam veteran who now resides in the VA Medical Center located in Bedford, MA.

• My favorite author (Robert Jordan) was also a Vietnam veteran, but one who was able to effectively manage the after effects of his war experiences by channeling them through his writings.

• My best friend in high school, my college roommate, 3 of my co-workers, my cousin, my grandfather, my father-in-law, and about a dozen other people who are meaningful in my life are veterans.

• Our nation has been at war against a Terrorist organization since September 11, 2001; though you wouldn't know it based upon the coverage in the media, the urgency in Congress, or the focus of our economy and the output of our manufacturing sector.

• My middle brother celebrated his 20th birthday on September 11, 2001; while I watched on live television from the fitness center of the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage, Alaska as a plane crashed into the North Tower.

• Over 4000 American soldiers, many of whom enlisted in response to that attack, had been killed fighting the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq (now over 4730).

• My wife and I attended the NESHV Leave No One Behind Dinner & Auction while she was employed by PWC in November of 2006

• I had met and run with Dean Karnasas in Boston and Chicago during his 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days challenge, after reading his Ultramarathon Man book, and witnessed first-hand the human body's ability to overcome normally recognized limits.

• I wanted to help, not ignore, not pick and choose, and not "pay off" the homeless and the hungry people living on the streets of my city in one of the wealthiest nation's in the world. Especially those who served that nation but somehow slipped through the cracks after returning "home".

• I wanted to give back to other runners; to help them to achieve their goals while I continue to pursue my next goal.

I have learned from this experience that our limits are self imposed. We can go so far beyond what we could ever imagine if we are only willing to focus ourselves and dedicate our time and effort to achieving the goals that we establish. The keys to remember are patience, perspective, perseverance, and positive attitude.

This photo was taken the last time I saw and talked with Robert Jordan. We discussed running, languages, dining in Cambridge, and the joys of travel before he signed my German language editions of The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt. I obtained these books, and three other later volumes, to help keep me motivated on my path to self improvement through learning an additional language since I want to read my favorite stories and experience my souvenirs from Salzburg. However, my language study has taken a back-seat while I have focused on maintaining my physical condition to undertake the challenge of completing the component events of "RunningBull's Run to Honor America's Veterans".

And so now I must run, off to my track workout in preparation for this weekend's Marathon where I will continue my efforts to thank our Armed Forces personnel who continue to risk their lives in defense of an ideal, I will continue my efforts to motivate and inspire the runners who have elected to follow my guidance to achieve their own goals, and I will continue to show our veterans that they have not been forgotten.

Thank you Robert/Jim

You may be one year gone, but you are not (nor will be) forgotten.

May you always find shelter in the Memory of Light.

I have recently been able to get back into the swing of things with my run training and have brought my weekly mileage back to the positive side of 50.  Which is a good thing since today marks the first day of my 16 week training plan / countdown for the JFK 50 Mile Memorial (my first official ultra).

Of course saying that I learned just yesterday of a nice low-frills marathon / 50 mile race not too far from home in Ipswich, MA that occurs two weeks sooner.  I am considering contacting the Race Director to see if the 37.5 mile option will be available again this year, as it apparently was in years past.  I know, it probably isn't the best idea considering I will be racing the Marine Corps. Marathon two weeks before and pacing two others between now and then, but I am a little anxious about the distance having never run more than 30 miles (in just over 5 hours) before.  Combine that with the fact that I have only participated in one race (last Thursday's ++" in which I finished 4th overall, same as last year but with a time 35 seconds faster over the 5.2 mile course) since July 4 and I am starting to get a bit antsy.

Which is why I am glad that I finally took the plunge and joined my local running club, the Somerville Road Runners (www.srr.org), so that I can undertake some structured workouts with other competitive runners - many of which are much faster and more accomplished than me.  I have only attended two of the weekly track workouts but am already feeling a better sense of place while also learning better control of my faster paces.  Though that is much easier to do on a measured oval than on roads and trails so I am waiting to see how it carries over into my long runs and tempo runs.

I was gently reminded that my previous post related to my Boston experience with this event was technically off topic and unrelated to the larger purposes of this blog.  Therefore, I will post my detailed comments regarding this event and my team's finish to my MySpace blog: myspace.com/therunningbull (hopefully before Friday of this week).

Unfortunately, only about 6 of the 28 photos that I took during the event and emailed to myself before turning in the borrowed Blackberry Curve 8330 after we finished actually got delivered to my email inbox.  Oh well, that is still 6 more than I had from Boston's event.

Sad to say, we did not Win, Place, or Show in the Finals so my anticipated fundraising efforts for RunningBull's Run took a mighty hit which may impact my ability to fully participate in the scheduled events for this fall.

Now that I have finished telling the recap of my entire day for the 23rd time to my coworkers and immediate family I can write a quick and simple little update for everyone else...Yes, I finished the Marathon on Monday.

I finished it in style too, setting a new personal record (PR) of 3:10:36 which bested my previous PR by 39 seconds and was a 22 minute improvement over my previous best time for the Boston Marathon course. The weather was near perfect for running and the crowds were thick and extremely supportive. The only things that could have made it better would have been to have a tailwind and some cloud cover. But at least my sunburn is mild and only on one side of my body, the benefit of a point-to-point course.

I had one minor muscle cramp episode that did of course impact my ultimate finishing time, but not by too much and fortunately wasn't enough to keep me from qualifying to compete again next year. It happened just after cresting the infamous Heartbreak Hill as I entered the water stop in front of Boston College. I pulled off to the right hand side of the road, reached out for the cup of Gatorade, and quickly pulled up short in a staggering hop between two of the volunteers who were very concerned with my well being (Thank you for that). Fortunately, I was able to quickly massage my left hamstring into a more user-friendly condition and carry on with my down hill journey through Brookline to Boston and the finish line. However, other than that setback, everything went according to plan and my even effort pacing remained right on target from start to finish. I even accounted for enough time to stop and give thanks to the Wellesley Scream Tunnel prior to the mid-point of the race.

I brought a disposable camera with me on the run and hope that at least one or two shots come out useable. I guess we won't know until they come back from being developed.  However, I now have these two photos from the weekend of events to share.  The first is me working at the Expo on Friday evening distributing Runner's bags (with T-shirts).  The second is of me preparing to depart the Athletes' Village for my starting corral at the Hopkinton Common.

Oh sure, my legs hurt, my sunburn hurts, and I have remained tired and worn out for the past 49 hours, but in a good way! I will still be running at NikeTown tonight and giving thanks for the post race massages and Ben & Jerry's they had for us yesterday.

I didn't realize it until I was filling out my running log after today's long run around the Charles River and through the Back Bay Fens out to Jamaica Pond but I not only surpassed 55 miles in one week, but also passed 60 for the first time.  I ran just over 25 miles today which, when combined with my other runs through the rain, sleet, snow, wind, and just general February in New England of this past week bumped me out to greater than 50% more weekly mileage than I had run all of last year.  And my muscles and joints are not protesting in the least.

Oh sure, I can feel that I should probably rest tomorrow by just focussing on some weight training instead of running, but my body is actually accepting this increased mileage.  Which of course makes me a lot more confident going into the first of my 3 marathons in a five week period, before the real test of my new fitness and ability at the Western States Endurance Run Training Camp over Memorial Day weekend.  Running hills through the snow today and Friday has at least given me some idea of what to expect from the New Mexico sands at the end of March, though there isn't much more I can do about preparing for the altitude, heat, and sun in my neighborhood.