Marathon Posts

Here are some memorable quotes from the trip. Some are toned down a little for our PG audience, and others might be paraphrased slightly due to the lack of memory we had.

1) “I like your plaid shirt!”

2) “I don’t want to park over there, I just really want to valet this!”

3) “No, I don’t want your lettuce. I’m not a rabbit!”

4) “It doesn’t matter if it’s small, you are not a deer, you are a human, it still smells!”

5) “I want to punch mother nature in the mouth!”

6) “What marathon?”

7) “Beer bong for the lady?”

8 ) “He was great. Cutie too! Didn’t notice that. His eyes, didn’t notice those either. You’re married, not dead. Was he married?”

9) “Hope I didn’t scare you last night. HAAHAHAAHAHAHAAhah!”

10) “Bear Down! Bear Down, devil woman!”

I’ve done some running in my days, but never a marathon. In fact, the most I’d run before last week was an Army ten-miler in Iraq a few years ago, and I was hurting for days after that. So needless to say, I was a little worried about the PF Chang’s Marathon I promised to run. I was afraid for my nipples bleeding, my feet blistering, and hitting the “wall” between miles 17 – 20. I trained a little during the four months on the road, and when I say a little, I mean maybe two to four times a month, so the looming marathon was heavy on my mind the last weeks of the trip. I even considered dropping to the half depending on how the training went the two weeks prior. I did a few two-a-days and then went for a long 13-mile run. I made the mistake of trying new socks for that run and got huge blisters on either foot. That sidelined me for a couple days, and then I did a few low-mileage runs before I jumped back into the long run. I did a 15-mile run the Tuesday before the marathon and felt pretty good, so I made the decision to run the full. It was also easier to make that decision because we had a lot of support from friends and family. The best marathon decision I made was taking three days off after that 15-mile run and then doing a slow 4-miler on Saturday followed by drinking 96 oz. of beer watching the Cardinals play a terrible game and lose to the Saints. People always say you should “carbo-load” before a long race, so that’s what I did! Aaron’s training went about the same minus the blisters.

… Continue reading A Family Affair

First off, I would like to thank everyone for their support during the last four months for the 31 Stadiums Tour. We have raised over $5,000 and have had an incredible journey going around the nation seeing friends, family, football and promoting two excellent foundations with the CPT Joe F. Lusk II Memorial Fund and the Veteran Tickets Foundation.

Now, my brother and I have signed up for the PF Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Half and full Marathon, respectively, in Phoenix, AZ on 17 January. Yes that is less than a week away and the training originally planned has been lacking significantly. I have been running a few times the last two weeks (before that it was pretty sporadic) and it is going about as well as you can imagine. The reason I write is that we are looking for pledges per mile to support our marathons. Or you can pledge one amount to donate. No amount is too little, and if you can help support us and the Foundation, the sign up is under the “Pledge” tab above. The more we raise per mile, the more motivation I will have to run the entire marathon. Just to let you know how the training has been going, here is a list of the last few weeks and my run times:

24 Dec: 4 mi 30:45
25 Dec: 3 mi 22:30
28 Dec: 100 m x 10
1 Jan: 2 mi 15:00
2 Jan: 5 mi 37:30
6 Jan: 5 mi 38:45
6 Jan: 3 mi 24:00
7 Jan: 8 mi 1:02:45
8 Jan: 13 mi 1:45:00 (now I have two big blisters)
10 Jan: 3 mi 25:15
11 Jan: 3 mi 24:15
11 Jan: 10 mi 1:23:15
12 Jan: 15 mi 2:08:00

As you can see, I have not put in the recommended mileage, but will continue to train this week and have fun completing the strenuous test of the 26.2 mile marathon. Thanks again for your past support and helping me accomplish some incredible goals.