Mark McGraw's Blog

Nashville!!!

MarkMcG45 — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:22:20 GMT

Although it was HOT, the Country Music Marathon/Half-Marathon was a great course with fun ups and downs. I think it was one of the more scenic courses that I have run East of the Mississippi. I am looking forward to running it again next year!!! Hopefully the temperature will be a bit cooler next year to make it a little easier for everyone... Congrats to everyone that came out for the Bowling for Brains event. As a team we would also like to thank all of our Cheerleaders in RED that came out to cheer us on... It makes it so much more fun when we see you throughout the course!!! ALSO... a big shout out to Shilpa for making here time of 2 hours!!!

In Sickness and In Health...

MarkMcG45 — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:37:34 GMT

TEAM MCGRAW,

A few days after the Philly Distance run was good but I was nursing a bruised left foot. I still ran but just cut back the pace a bit to try to recover. Things got a little hectic during the last week of September. I had the final days at Shea Stadium to attend and there were heaps of social events to attend. Trying to mix all the training and keep up with my dad's old NY Met's teammates was not such a good idea.

I managed to get out for all my runs and even did my long run of 20 miles on the morning of September 28th.... not a good idea after being out in NYC until 3am. The Philadelphia Phillies clinched the NL East division and we had to celebrate. The rest of the day was good even though the Mets lost and lost their spot in the wildcard playoff. We then celebrated the final game at Shea Stadium. I will post some pictures when I get them.

When Monday came around the sore throat started and by the end of the week I had an upper respiratory infection that was not fun.... I decided to take the week off and only run twice and I kept it very short. I didn't want that crapola getting into my chest!!! Instead I made some good homemade soup and drank heaps of water and emergen'c packs.... This has been my remedy for the past several years as I don't put med's in my body anymore. It usually clears most of the stuff up within a couple of days.

I still have a little residual congestion but I have started running again this week at my regular training distances. Five miles yesterday, eight today, and 5 tomorrow. Friday will be a swim day, Saturday will be 5mi. and Sunday the "BIG MAC" (20miles). This will be the final long run before the taper which Coach Kevin has been talking about in his blog. I will make sure to be resting well before my runs this week so I don't get sick again.

Hopefully everyone's training is going wonderful and you are all looking forward to the marathon!!! Keep healthy and I look forward to seeing you all in a few week..... can you believe it is so close???!!!

YGB,

Mark McG.

Check out Deano's blog from "Team McGraw"

MarkMcG45 — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:55:39 GMT

Hello all,

Check out Deano's blog from "Team McGraw"!!!

http://community.active.com/blogs/deano

Mark McG.

ING Philadelphia Distance Run

MarkMcG45 — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:43:07 GMT

Hey all,

Over 13,500 packed the streets of Philly to run in the ING Philadelphia Distance Run. I am proud to say that all members of "Team McGraw" who started the race all finished!!! It was such a beautiful day in the city as the sun was rising behind William Penn who stands tall on top of City Hall. The start of the race was fast as everyone tried to keep up with the front runners from Kenya and Ethiopia. Even my dad's teammates Greg Luzinski and Larry Christenson ran the first 1/4 mile in support of our team.

It was a beautiful course that wound through the historical city of brotherly love. We passed Old Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was John Hancocked and then ran around Washington Square then back toward the Philadelphia Museum of Art, out West River Drive, across the East Falls Bridge, and then returned along the Schuykill River via Kelly Drive to the finish line at Elkin's Oval. Even after 13.1 miles finishers ran up the art museum steps with fists in the air like they were ROCKY!!!

I finished four minutes ahead of my goal @ 1:26:00 and then got to the fence to cheer on the rest of our Team members!!! Jeff McMahon and I ran back to support team member Debbie Persoud, who despite being injured at mile 4 continued to run with heart and finish the race. "YGB Debbie!!!"

We had a great end of race celebration at Rembrandt's in the Fairmount area of Philly.... We would like to thank them for hosting our victory celebration. What a great warm up to NYC.... Here we come!!! Hope everyones training is coming along well!!!

New training shoes reach 100 miles

MarkMcG45 — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:17:02 GMT

I usually run in New Balance or Asics but recently tried on a pair of Nikes while shopping for my new training shoes. I am suprised to say that out of all the shoes I tried on that the Nike Zoom Vomero 3 fit the best. I have a high narrow arch and my second and third toe are much longer than my big toe so when I find a shoe that fits I usually don't change things up.

So, I bought the Nikes and then learned that there is a place for a chip that can be inserted into shoe that will sync up with my Ipod and keep track of my distance/pace/time. The sales person said that the chip was very accurate and could be calibrated as well. He was fairly convincing but I wanted to read more before purchasing the chip. When I made it home I read some reviews of the Nike + system and was then convinced that I had to try it out. Apple has a 14 day return policy so I figured it could not hurt.

It has been really fun using this with my new pair of shoes. I can listen to music while I am training and every once in a while the music will fade and a voice comes on to tell me my current mileage, pace and how far I have to go. It's much like a GPS voice. Also, when I get home and plug my Ipod into the computer to charge it sends my workout info to Nike+.com and keeps my training log for me. I reached a hundred miles on my shoes today and here is what it sent me. Kind of fun and motivating..... and I am also happy to say that the shoes are holding up well!

http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/v1/html/milestones/print_certif.html?id=1552255474&region=us&language=en&locale=en_us&dateFormat=MM/DD/YY

Hope you all are enjoying the day!

YGB,

Intro and Summary of Week 5

MarkMcG45 — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:49:40 GMT

Hello again,

Mark is my name and I am 36 years young.B-) I have always been an active person and have participated in just about every organized or adventure sport that you can think of. My favorites are whitewater kayaking, ultimate frisbee, triathlon, climbing, and surfing. The the next sport I would like to try is kite boarding. I left my 14 year career as a firefighter/paramedic in Oregon to try and have a successful acting career. In my free time I live from one adventure to the next while still trying to keep the bills paid. I am running with Team McGraw to help support my fathers wishes for cancer patients to have a better quality of life and to guide others in healthy living.

I just finished "Week 5" of my eighteen week marathon training program. Mondays are my cross training days and Fridays are my days off. Last Monday I spent 2 hours weight training in the morning and then actually did go out for a 5 mile run (34' 50") along the west river in NYC. Tuesday was a short 3.4 miler (24' 50") also along the west river. On Wed. I was out for 6 miles (46'19") but then in the evening I played 2 straight hours of a fast paced Ultimate Frisbee game that I play in every Wed. night. I will now be keeping my wed. runs very slow so that I actually have some legs left to play in my game in the evenings from now on. Thursday I was out for 3.5 miles (25' 52"). Friday was my day off but I had several auditions to go on in NYC and ended up walking all over town and then walked down the east river to the Sea Port area to see the "Bodies" exhibit.... My total walking distance that day was 8 miles. The exhibit was a pretty amazing anatomy lesson and I recommend checking it out... you will be impressed or nauseated by what you see.... www.bodiestheexhibition.com

Friday I was feeling pretty good and was supposed to only run 6 miles but I did a bit of exploring through Fairmount Park in Philly and put in a little extra mileage. Ran 9 miles (1:12") and felt relaxed. On Saturday I had my long run day. I my legs felt heavy the whole 12 miles but it was a beautiful day and there were many people out. I ended up finishing in 1:34'35" and felt OK when I was done but then about 45 mins. later I felt a little nauseated. After trying to rehydrate and eating a little I got sick and then felt better later in the evening and ate again.

Today I start "Week 6" of eighteen!!! I will not run today but I will put in a good weight workout. This will help me not get too thin while training for the marathon. I eat about 5 times a day. Here is an example of a days eating.

6:00 am-Wake up and have water and a protein shake.

Workout

8:00 -Egg whites and Spinach and some rice and/or pancakes. More water.

10:00-Some type of snack. More water.

12:00 pm- Lunch consists of a lean meat (ground turkey, steak, fish) and greens... as many as you want... and some rice or sweet potato.

3:00- Snack and or protein shake. Water.

6:00- Dinner is what ever I feel like eating that night and as much as I want... plus more water.

Well I am off to my next audition for a Macy's commercial and then to work at the restaurant. Catch up with you all later and keep on running/living...

YGB,

Mark McGraw