I didn’t make it through day 25 last time, but my friends rallied around me on the 31st to get the missing miles in and I was able to end on a high note and raise enough money for a family to attend Camp Sunshine.

Now that I’m full time with Run to Win, I’m better able to get my running in during daylight hours when there is less traffic and safer conditions.

Seems like a good time to start it again, doesn’t it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGX2jU8KhDQ

Beginning on March 1 and running through March 31, I will be running the challenge again and I’d like for you to join me. Here’s how you can help:

1. Run the Challenge (sign up below)
2. Donate to Campsunshine
3. Get Camp Sunshine Media Attention***
4. Promote Your Products with Prizes (contact me if you have something)
5. Come Run a Free Race with Us (details to be announced)

1 More Mile For Sunshine – 2012 Edition is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

Over the past 2 weeks, I’ve run the last hundred or so miles that I needed to reach 500 on the year. It took an extra 23 days over my initial goal, and in total I’ve run for over 3 days and 6 hours so far this year.

Last week I took a day off from work and headed up to Camp Sunshine, where Ashley was kind enough to show us around. They have a great facility, and I’m glad that I chose to raise money for them this year. I also took the opportunity to drop off the $270 in cash and checks that I’d collected.

Speaking of which, I’ve raised $1500 through the 1 More Mile for Sunshine challenge, enough money to pay for a family to stay at the camp for a week! I got a donation from Jeanne Moore and made up the difference myself to reach the $1500.

There were quite a few news articles and media stories of the challenge; it was mentioned on at least one local news station and at least 2 radio stations in the area, plus was distributed through the associated press to papers around the country.

This is a list of a few links that I was able to find to online versions of a few of the articles:

• Wolfe News Wire (Jan 21)
• Cool Running (Jan 21)
• WGME 13 (Jan 30)
• Maine AP (Jan 30)
• The Independant (Jan 18)
• Boston Globe (Jan 30)
• Maine Today (Jan 22)
• WBZ 38 (Jan 30)
• Bangor Daily News (Jan 22)
• SeaCoast Online (Jan 31)
• Run Bulldog Run (Jan 25)

Here are the past 2 weeks’ numbers:

Miles Run: 116.1 Miles The Past 2 Weeks (502.4 Miles This Year)
Duration: 18:30:01 The Past 2 Week2 (3 Days 6 Hours 26 Minutes 58 Seconds This Year)
Net Weight Change: -1 Pound (-½ Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $374 Raised This Period ($1500 Total)

Post-Challenge Week #3 Update – Media Coverage & $1500 Raised is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

It’s been a week since my last update. In that time I haven’t run a lot of miles (less than 37) but I did have a good 10 mile race this morning, 7 days following the challenge.

I took part in the Cape Elizabeth Mid-Winter Classic 10 Miler, where I thought that I’d run between 59 and 60 minutes although I’d ideally like to have been around 57-58 minutes. I didn’t have a lot of leg turnover, but I ran relatively consistently the entire way and didn’t feel any worse at mile 9 than I did at mile 2.

There were a lot of donations this week! The current total is up to $1126, $326 of which came in during the past week. This leaves me $374 short of being able to send a family to Camp Sunshine for a week, so hopefully the donations will keep coming in to reach that $1500 mark.

Thanks this week goes to:

• Snake Head Games
• Robert Aube
• Chanda Guyot
• Linda Douglass
• Laura Tyrrell
• Olga Frenkel

There was also quite a bit of news coverage (thanks to everybody who forwarded me links and newspaper clippings!) I’ve got a draft together with links to all the stories that I will get on the site this week some time. Getting Camp Sunshine’s name into the news is worth even more than the donations because it gets the word out there so that people know about the camp.

Here are this week’s numbers:

Miles Run: 36.9 Miles This Week (386.3 Miles This Year)
Duration: 4:58:41 This Week (2 Days 11 Hours 54 Minutes 56 Seconds This Year)
Net Weight Change: -2½ Pound (+½ Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $326 Raised This Week ($1126 Total)

Post-Challenge Week #1 Update – The Mid-Winter Classic 10 Miler is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

I put on a 50k community run today with some friends on a loop course with a well stocked “aid station” at the end of each loop.

I was supposed to run 196 miles this week but wasn’t able to due to injury concerns. I wanted to finish on a high note despite not running much this week so I ran the full 31 miles, and collectively we wanted to run at least the 196 miles which we made pretty easily. I haven’t verified the math yet but I think the humans ran 229 miles and the dogs ran 29 miles so we made it pretty easily.

The loop was 8 miles long (with a 5 mile option) so I ran 3 full loops. For the last loop, I went out on the 5 mile loop but before taking the road home I continued off course for a mile out and a mile back so that I could get the full 7 miles in.

There was a good crowd of people for the first 8 mile loop, with 13 of us heading out on the trails with 2 dogs and 1 person and the baby staying back at the house. I finished the first loop in about 79 minutes.

The second loop saw 5 of us heading out for 8 miles, with 2 people taking the 5 mile option. No dogs ran with us on this loop, although Echo honked the horn at us as we were running away because she wanted to be let out of her car.

The break between the second and third loop was pretty long; probably around 35 minutes. We had a few people come at 11:00, so while waiting for all the newcomers to get set and ready to head out and the timing of everything it just took some time. I used the opportunity to eat some of the yummy food, of which I’ll have more to say in a bit.

For loop 3 there were 6 of us and 1 dog running the 8 mile loop and 2 people running the 5 mile loop. My friend Jamie took a pretty good spill after breaking through some ice early into this loop, but he ran through it and hopefully it doesn’t swell too much on him tonight.

For my last loop, I convinced Four and his cousin’s dog Zephy to come out for the 5 mile loop so that I’d have somebody to run with for the first 4 miles at least. They had come in with the 11:00 crowd. This worked out pretty well because I only had to run alone for the last 3 miles on the day.

In between each loop at the end there was a great aid station. We provided home made apple leathers, beef jerky, bread and chicken soup, while other people brought butternut squash soup, corn chowder, mac & cheese, swedish fish, no bake cookies, Girdhelli chocolate brownies, M & M’s, Oreos, biscuits, scotch, more chocolate cookies, some packaged something-or-others that I never ate any of and were gone by the time I was done so I didn’t see what they were, banana bread, some sort of cake and at least a few other things that I’m sure I missed.

We went through most of what was there; we didn’t have to try to convince people to take too much home with them.

I think that it was a pretty successful day. I know that I had fun, and everybody I spoke with said that they had fun. This is the first run of this kind where I’ve done the full 50k, so I didn’t actually get to spend much time “off trail” with too many people as I ran for 4 hours longer than some people so almost everybody was gone by the time I finished.

Some final stats:

• 19 People Present
• 18 People Ran
  (the baby rolled around in the living room but didn’t run)
• 4 Dogs Present
• 3 Dogs Ran (1 puppy just came over just to play)
• The humans ran 229 miles in 38 hours 37 minutes.
• The dogs collectively ran 29 miles in 4 hours 53 minutes.
• All together, we ran 258 miles in 43 hours 32 minutes for
  a pace of 10 minutes 8 seconds per mile.
• $200 raised today for Camp Sunshine

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 31 Miles (496 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 31 Miles Today (349.4 Miles Total)
Duration: 5:03:58 Today (54:58:15 Total)
Net Weight Change: +1½ Pound (+3 Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $200 Raised Today ($800 Total)

For more photos from the event, watch the video. I’ve included quite a few of them at the end.

Day #31 – A Strong Finish: 31 Miles for Me, 258 Miles Collectively is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

I got out for a short hike today while I was marking the course for tomorrow’s run.

The trails are covered in ice and next to no snow, so there wasn’t any need to worry about snowmobiles while I was out. I expect we won’t see any tomorrow.

With single digit temperatures tonight, it is going to be cold tomorrow morning but should warm up pretty quick, so I don’t expect anything to thaw between now and then.

It will definitely be a day for having some sort of traction on your feet, be it the screw shoe/ice spike variety or something else.

Which reminds me, I need to go plug my drill in so that it has a charge tomorrow morning in case anybody needs some screw shoes made…

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 30 Miles (465 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 1.4 miles today (318.4 Miles Total)
Duration: 26:29 Today (49:54:18 Total)
Net Weight Change: -1 Pound (+1½ Pounds Total)

Day #30 – Marking the Trails for Tomorrow’s Run is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

Cold temperatures should lead to some better footing than we’ve had lately.

I’ll be checking out the trails tomorrow while I mark the course for Sunday’s run.

There was one donation today. Thanks Margaritt!

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 29 Miles (435 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 0 miles today (317 Miles Total)
Duration: 0:00 Today (49:27:48 Total)
Net Weight Change: +½ Pound (+2½ Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $25 Today ($600 Total)

Day #29 – 1 More Donation is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

I was a little stiff at the outset, but stretched out during the warmup and felt pretty good up through about 4 miles.

My knee began to get a little sore at that point but not too painful.

My plan is to take it easy tomorrow and then get out while marking the course on Saturday for Sunday’s run.

On Sunday, I plan on finishing the challenge with the 31 miles that are scheduled for the last day. Actually, it will be closer to 32 if I can run all 3 of the 8 mile loops.

I’m not sure what shape the trails will be in after last Monday’s storm and this week’s above freezing temperatures, but I’m going on the assumption it will be runnable.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 28 Miles (406 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 5.07 Miles Today (317 Miles Total)
Duration: 50:30 Today (49:27:48 Total)
Net Weight Change: No Change Today (+2 Pounds Total)

Day #28 – Testing the Knee with Hills is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

I did not run today, and my knee was feeling mostly normal. I’m going to try running again tomorrow night, with the plan that I will be running the full 50k on Sunday so that I can finish the month off with 31 miles on the 31st.

The winner of the final contest was chosen! Check the video to see if it was you. There were 110 entries into the contest.

I received 3 donations today. 1 was from my Ian Parlin and Emma Barclay, 1 was from Shauna Baxter and Jim Dunn, and the third was from Jeanne Peckiconis. Thanks a lot, all!

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 27 Miles (378 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 0 miles today (311.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 0:00 Today (48:37:18 Total)
Net Weight Change: -½ Pound (+2 Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $95 Today ($575 Total)

Day #27 – An Improved Knee, The Last Contest Winner, and Donations is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

My knee is feeling marginally better than it did yesterday, but I didn’t do much today other than go to work.

There is one final contest on the site to win a long sleeve compression shirt from Zensah. You can get the details here: http://www.1moremileforsunshine.com/341/final-contest-win-a-long-sleeve-zensah-compression-shirt

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 26 Miles (351 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 0 miles today (311.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 0:00 Today (48:37:18 Total)
Net Weight Change: No Change (+2½ Pounds Total)

Day #26 – Nothing to Report is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

I went to bed last night with my right knee aching a bit. I woke up this morning with it aching a bit more, especially when I walked around.

This had me worried some, but I decided that it was worth giving the knee a 10 minute test. If I could get out and run for 10 minutes and it doesn’t hurt any more (or at the very least isn’t acutely painful) then I’d keep going, otherwise I’d go back home and stop.

I didn’t quite make it 10 minutes before turning around. The knee certainly didn’t feel any better but it didn’t really get any worse, either, except when my leg was sliding at a weird angle.

And therein lie the problem. Because it had been raining all night and I thought temperatures had been just over freezing, I didn’t bother putting on screw shoes. However, in between the pockets of slush were pockets of black ice, and I kept slipping around enough that it was bugging my knee and I was worried I was going to fall.

So, I decided to turn around and finish my 10 minute test in the direction of the house so that I could at least change into screw shoes.

On the way home, I passed 2 people stuck in their driveways despite the lack of snow, one of which was a mini-van spinning its tires in a perfectly flat driveway and the other a car that had a driveway with a hill but had driven off the driveway and into the snowbank next to it.

I decided that I don’t really want to get hit by a car again, especially given the poor visibility with the fog, so I didn’t even make it 2 miles total. As I was writing this, a plow went by as well and I definitely don’t trust them.

This evening, my knee was aching enough that I decided it wasn’t worth continuing. It didn’t hurt enough that I’d have stopped in a race or done much more than note it, but I had over 20 miles to run on it tonight and more than that tomorrow.

I’m doubly glad I made this decision before running most of my miles until the gym kicked me out. Visibility on my way home was bad enough that I wouldn’t have gone back outside; I almost drove into a mailbox on my own street. I don’t trust my body to traffic enough to run in conditions like that.

On the plus side, I chose the winners for the recovery socks. Watch the video above to find out who won.

Going forward, I’m going to give my knee a couple days to recover and will see how it feels on Thursday evening with the group I coach at Maine Running Company. Hopefully, I can still do the full 50k on Sunday, and am going to plan on doing at least the first loop.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 25 Miles (325 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 1.66 & 1.33 for 2.99 miles today (311.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 15:50 & 10:01 for 25:51 Today (48:37:18 Total)
Net Weight Change: +½ Pound (+2½ Pounds Total)

Day #25 – I didn’t Make the Mileage – But I Awarded the Recovery Socks is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

After yesterday’s 3 hour nap and sleeping in until 7:00 this morning, I should feel pretty well rested. And when I got up I did feel a bit rested. Once I was out running, though, not so much.

The plan today was to run 16 miles in the morning, and then meet up with a friend for another 8 miles on the trails this afternoon.

The 16 miles went by pretty quickly, but about 12 or 13 miles in my left foot and my rear right cheek were getting a bit achy. They had calmed down by the time I got home though.

After this morning’s run, I spent most of the afternoon laying around eating. I had a banana, a ProGrade Workout Smoothie, a cantalope, some home made pancakes, and various and sundry other items I found laying around ready to be consumed.

I wound up running my evening run alone, so instead of heading for the trails I opted to get it over with quickly by running the local roads.

Thankfully, my foot and cheek were no longer achy. Possibly from all the food I’d been eating, but probably because I made good use of the foam roller a few times in between workouts.

This week I ran over 148 miles. That just seems nuts to me, and is well and above anything I have ever done before, including college when I used to actually run crazy mileage.

There are now only 7 days left to the challenge, about 196 miles.

There was 1 donation today. Thanks Tami!

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 24 Miles (300 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 16.11 & 7.92 Miles for 24.03 miles today (308.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 2:08:49 & 1:01:05 for 3:09:54 Today (48:11:24 Total)
Weekly Total: 148.1 miles (Most I’ve Ever Run in 1 Week!)
Net Weight Change: +1½ Pounds (+2 Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $20 ($480 Total)

Day #24 – A Lot of Road Miles is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

I went out to Bradbury Mountain this morning with Erin to meet up with the Trail Monsters. It was a smaller crowd this week, and conditions were a little tougher to run in.

The snow was packed down but not very solid, so there was a lot of slipping and sliding, especially off of the power line trails which thankfully had been groomed.

On the groomed sections, we were running around 8 minute pace; the rest of the way we ran mostly 10-12 minute pace.

I was pretty tired by the time we got back to the park, but I wanted another mile or 2 and Erin wasn’t at the car anyway. I decided to try heading out on the boundary trail, but thankfully I saw Erin coming down it in her snowshoes before too long because conditions weren’t great if you didn’t have them.

She ran for about 70 minutes and then snowshoed the rest of the time I was out running.

It was very cold at the start, between -1 and -6 depending upon if you were in the sun or not. My hydration pack tubing was frozen solid even though there wasn’t much water in it so I wasn’t able to use it until mile 9 after running a few miles with the backpack under my jacket and the tub stuffed between my back and the bag.

After that, I just had a 4 inch cylinder of ice that I eventually managed to get to slide around inside the tube enough to get a little water around it, which then melted it pretty quick so I was able to drink the water and not just carry it for the last 6 miles.

I also got to try out the ice spikes for the first time, and they worked out pretty well. They were very comfortable, and helped on some of the downhill sections. I’m looking forward to trying them out in icy conditions.

Once we got back to the parking lot, Erin drove me home while I finished off the remaining gummy bears and ate a partially frozen banana.

As soon as we got home, I changed into some road flats and ran out the door for the last 7½ miles.

I figured that a 4th hour running on the roads was probably better than a 4th and 5th hour running in the snow.

This part of the run was pretty uneventful. There was one lap dog getting walked that tried to jump on me, but the owner just held the leash over his head so that the dog spun his wheels trying to run off the ice on the side of the road once I was near by. It was pretty funny.

Once I got home (again), I’ve basically been eating non-stop. Half a grapefruit, some left over ghoulash, and a lot of mixed nuts and crackers with some green tea have been on order so far, although I expect to keep eating all afternoon when I’m not napping.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 23 Miles (276 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 15.54 & 7.48 Miles for 23.02 miles today (284.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 2:56:47 & 58:09 for 3:54:57 Today (45:01:34 Total)
Rolling 7 Day Weekly Total: 141.2 miles (Most I’ve Ever Run in 1 Week!)
Net Weight Change: -1½ Pounds (+1½ Pounds Total)

Don’t forget, if you get cable television, then Nickelodean will be airing a special about Camp Sunshine tomorrow! Check your local listings and if you can watch it, let me know how it is. We don’t get cable. Here’s more information about the show:
http://updates.pressherald.mainetoday.com/updates/camp-sunshine-to-be-featured-on-nickelodeon

Day #23 – Trail Running at Bradbury Mountain is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

This morning I got in over 2/3 of the 22 miles I need to run today by starting a bit before 6:00 and running for 16 miles and change.

I felt really good this morning; inhaling the ham and peas pasta dish that Erin made for me last night must have settled well over night to provide plenty of energy this morning.

I remembered the camera and got some photos as the sun came up, but it wasn’t nearly as spectacular as yesterday morning, unfortunately. At least the temperatures were in the low-teens last night, and are supposed to be single digits tonight, so the trails should be in excellent shape for a 23-miler tomorrow morning.

I finished off the morning with a short stint on the foam roller, which felt great.

This afternoon I went out to get the remaining 6(ish) miles that I needed, and took the opportunity to actually get a few errands done as well. There was a lot of traffic as I ran in town and needed to be on the busy roads for some of the run, but I managed to not get hit, which is always a bonus.

I wound up running about 10 kilometers total, which brings my weekly mileage over 134 miles. As I mentioned yesterday, each day my new highest miles run in a week will be going up by 7 miles every day.

Since I got all of the required miles in during the day, that means no evening run during a weekday, which is very exciting. I plan on relaxing at home, writing this daily update…and relaxing at home.

Oh, and I’ll remind my foam roller why it’s my second best friend right now. Definitely going to spend some time with it tonight. I’ve noticed at work today that my legs are getting rather sore, even though they felt fine on the run.

I’ve got 47 miles to run this weekend, and 196 miles to run next week.

There was 1 donation today, from Roseann McConnell, who is amazed at how full I can stuff my pockets. Thank you for the donation, Roseann!

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 22 Miles (253 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 16.11 & 6.21 Miles for 22.32 Miles Today (261.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 2:08:18 & 52:03 for 3:00:21 Today (41:06:37 Total)
Rolling 7 Day Weekly Total: 134.2 miles (Most I’ve Ever Run in 1 Week!)
Net Weight Change: +½ Pound (+3 Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $35 ($460 Total)

By the way, if you get cable television, then Nickelodean will be airing a special about Camp Sunshine this Sunday! Check your local listings and if you can watch it, let me know how it is. We don’t get cable. Here’s more information about:
http://updates.pressherald.mainetoday.com/updates/camp-sunshine-to-be-featured-on-nickelodeon

Day #22 – No Evening Run Necessary – YAY! is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

This morning I learned a new method to keep a dog from biting you while you run.

About a mile and a half into my 12 miler, a bulldog came running out of a driveway at me. I shined my headlamp (which was on bright) directly into its eyes, which didn’t shut it up at all but did slow it down. Thankfully the owner had come out and gotten it under control by the time I ran by its yard again.

I had another run in with some dogs later in the run – twice, actually, though they were the same dogs. In one of the side neighborhoods, I looked up and saw a man walking his 2 big mean dogs that don’t like runners and go after me any time they see me, plus I noticed he now has a 3rd dog. He always keeps them (mostly) under control, but I don’t like risking running near them and especially have no interest now that he has another dog to try to control.

Once I saw them, I just turned around and went back the way I came. The neighborhood has a few cross streets and I was looking to add distance anyway. A little while later, I saw them turn onto and start walking up the street I was then heading down, so I turned around again. No need to risk anything right now.

It’s too bad I didn’t carry my cell phone with me so that I could get a photo of the sunrise this morning. It was the first clear day this week and the colors were fantastic.

I ran 3 easy miles on the road outside work at lunch time just to make it easier to get the mileage done tonight while I was coaching.

This evening I did 6 hill repeats with the folks I coach at Maine Running Company. I was able to get my 6 miles that were left to run for the day in pretty easily with just a tiny bit of an extended cool down, so I didn’t have to go out and run again after I finished the workout and everybody had left.

If you take the last 7 days, they add up to a new PR in terms of maximum weekly mileage that I have ever run in my life. The most I had run previously was about 124 miles (give or take) and I am now just shy of 127 miles. Every day going forward is going to pad that number by another 7 miles.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 21 Miles (231 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 12.01 & 3.1 & 6.1 Miles for 21.21 Miles Today (239.6 Miles Total)
Duration: 1:41:41 & 25:44 & 57:42 for 3:05:07 Today (38:06:16 Total)
Net Weight Change: -½ Pound (+2½ Pounds Total)

Day #21 – The Highest Number of Miles I’ve Ever Run in a Week is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

This morning I woke up at 4:45, heard a plow drive by the house while I was eating breakfast, and decided I’d go to the gym and use the treadmill instead of risking the roads.

When I got done on the treadmill and headed home for another breakfast, I thought that I had run 15 miles this morning. I managed to get 8.7 miles before the treadmill shut off on me at the 1 hour mark and then adding on another half hour plus, but looking at the pace I think I really only ran 14 miles. The second set must have been 5.3 miles and not the 6.3 miles I thought I’d run; a 6:54 average pace matches where I was at 8.7 and a 6:33 average pace seems a bit quick for what I was doing.

If I’m wrong then I’d rather run an extra mile than 1 mile too few, so 14 it was.

This evening I had a headache coming home from work (I blame windowless room w/no ventilation where I sit all day) but I felt much better by the time the run was over.

Of course, it started snowing again right before heading out, but thankfully there wasn’t much traffic.

I did almost get hit by a car though, from somebody turning into the street way too fast. Thankfully, I saw him starting to make the turn and knew it’d be a tight squeeze so I was hugging the snowbank and just hoping I wouldn’t get pinned. I didn’t. I really don’t want to get hit by a car again, so hopefully the trails will be firmed up enough to be worth running on tomorrow morning.

In the random trivia department, I hit a new PR tomorrow for weekly mileage (by about 3 miles) and every day after that will pad that total by another 7 miles.

The muscles are definitely sore but I’m still feeling pretty whole. A couple of minor aches and pains are being monitored but for the most part I’m holding up well. The real trick I think will be getting enough sleep, and tonight I should be getting to bed nice and early and get to sleep in a little later tomorrow, which will help.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 20 Miles (210 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 14 & 6.03 Miles for 20.03 miles today (218.4 Miles Total)
Duration: 1:36:31 & 50:04 for 2:26:36 (35:01:09 Total)
Net Weight Change: +2 Pounds (+3 Pound Total)

Day #20 – Almost Got Hit By a Car is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

This morning, it was tough to get out of bed. It was tough to not get back into bed. It was tough to get out the door. But, I enjoyed the 9 mile run once I was out there.

I blame lack of sun for last night’s funk. I work in a windowless room with no ventilation so I rarely see the sun during the week, and yesterday’s snowstorm didn’t help.

Speaking of which, it was snowing still this morning. I only passed one plow though and with a little surge was able to get into somebody’s driveway before the plow got near me.

At lunch time the roads were too messy to really risk, so I spent most of my 6 miles running a 0.6 mile loop that didn’t have much in the way of traffic (I passed 5 cars.) I also stopped in at my barber’s and let her know about the challenge, so she’ll be donating.

The kids at the elementary school where I start my run only made fun of my tights and obnoxiously bright jacket on the way out; they didn’t heckle me on my way back at the end of the run.

This evening, it took me 3 times longer to get home than usual, so I had no interest in sharing the road on foot with rush hour traffic. Instead, I waited until around 8:00 to get out the door, and only passed 6 cars which is much better. There was about a half inch of snow on the road which made it relatively slick.

Once I finished the run I spent a few minutes shoveling the inch that had fallen since I got home out of the driveway (well, part of the driveway) so that there’ll be that much less to push out of the way in the morning.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 19 Miles (190 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 9.06 & 6 & 4.4 Miles for 19.46 miles today (198.3 Miles Total)
Duration: 1:17:29 & 48:16 & 36:48 for 2:42:34 (32:34:34 Total)
Net Weight Change: -2½ Pounds (+1 Pound Total)

Day #19 – More Snow but More Fun is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

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Today was difficult.

We got 8 inches of snow overnight, and it continued snowing all day. Thankfully, my wife did almost all the shoveling, so I only had to be out there for half an hour to help clear enough of the driveway to get one of the cars out.

I’d called a few local gyms and Family Fitness offered a day pass to come in and check them out, so they got my 5 miles of treadmill running this morning. I think they got themselves a new customer, I liked their setup and the folks seemed pretty easy going.

I got a bit over a mile jogging to Papa’s Place for lunch today from work, but that was just no fun since I was wearing boots and a winter jacket, it was snowing and hard to see, and there was a lot of traffic and no shoulder or sidewalks.

Neither run was as bad as tonight’s run though. It was nice enough out, but the trails weren’t that packed down and it was way too much work to try running on them so after a few miles I abandoned the trails and finished up on the roads.

I got in all 18 miles, though, so hopefully tomorrow will be better.

I’ve been starving since I finished running. I had a ProGrade Workout Smoothie with blueberries (plus a multivitamin), a ProGrade Craver and a banana and my stomach is still growling.

I chose the winners from last week’s contest, and will contact them for their address to send the Ice Spikes to tomorrow. I’ll get this week’s contest up on the site tomorrow morning; I’m way too tired tonight since I didn’t get done running until almost 10:00 and it’s getting close to midnight now.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 18 Miles (171 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 5 & 1.38 & 1.64 Miles for 18.02 Miles Today (178.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 34:04 & 13:49 & 1:39:53 for 2:27:46 Today (29:52:00 Total)
Net Weight Change: +2 Pounds (+3½ Pounds Total)

Day #18 – Today it Got Hard (and last week’s winners) is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

This morning I intended to run 12 miles, and I did, but I had to change my loop around a bit from the original plan. The first 4 miles were with Erin, and then I planned on running 3.5 out and back and then the final mile on the roads.

After getting chased by 3 Australian Shepherds and mile 6.5 or so that didn’t like me using the trail next to their farm, I decided that I’d run out to 8.25 and turn back, running the final 2 miles on the road.

Around mile 7.75 or so the trail goes up to a road and goes along the edge of it for a few hundred yards. A German Shepherd didn’t like me using that trail so I decided I’d back up and just run back.

Once I got to the roads, I did the first mile there, ran off to a side trail and did a short out and back, and then finished up with another mile on the roads to get my 12.

That left 5 miles left to run, which I took care of in the evening when a friend of mine came up to visit. I showed him some good Maine trails, and despite the fact that he claims he doesn’t run much he put up a good pace. Must be all the bicycling around New York City. I was able to slow him down a little while we were running in the snow, but a good part was on the roads where he pushed the pace a wee bit.

I felt great on both runs, though, which is a great relief when you’re afraid of hamstring problems in an endeavor such as this. It was nice for Dylan to push the pace a little so I could test my leg, and no problems at all.

For post race recovery, I spent a little time with the foam roller and a lot of time with some good food. I’d baked 2 loaves of bread today (one of which destined was destined for croutons) and had the second cooling on the rack when Dylan and his girlfriend arrived. I cooked a quinoa taboule salad up yesterday that’s been marinating for the past 30 hours or so. I also had had a ham in the oven while we were out on our run, so with the apple and nut salad that Erin put together we had the makings of a good meal.

All the food was quite tasty. We also had some Erin-made ice cream to enjoy while we watched the 2^nd half of the Jets and Chargers game.

Not a bad way to fuel up for tonight’s snow storm and trying to figure out when I’m going to run 18 miles tomorrow in a foot of snow.

I’d like to thank Eileen Hamilton for today’s donation!
Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 17 Miles (153 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 17.13 Miles Today (160.8 Miles Total)
Duration: 2:34:45 (27:24:13 Total)
Net Weight Change: -1 Pound (+1½ Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $25 ($425 Total)

Day #17 – Unhappy Shepherds, No Hamstring Problems, Good Food is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

Last night I went to watch the Portland Pirates beat up on the Worcester Sharks (local AHL hockey teams), which was a lot of fun. The only problem was that during the 3^rd period my right hamstring started to twinge a little. I stretched it out but it was still hurting when I woke up.

Rolling out with the foam roller a few times before we left for Bradbury Mountain seemed to help, and once I started running it felt great. This afternoon it’s back to feeling a little twinged, so I really hope it doesn’t amount to any real trouble because I don’t want to stop.

The run today was great, we had a big crowd of Trail Monsters. We started at Bradbury Mountain and went up the snowmobile trail to the powerlines outside the park. We made a big loop of it, heading towards Pineland Farms with a 15 mile loop.

There was only 1 real obstacle, a frozen river that was solid enough but which didn’t really look that safe so we crossed one at a time.

I spent the last 5 miles before getting back running with Erik and his dog Django as everybody else had pulled a way ahead of us. When we returned to the parking lot, I needed another 0.8 miles so I went up the boundary trail 4 tenths and turned back.

I’ve included some photos from the run at the end of today’s update (above), and Jamie Anderson put together a video along the run, if you’d like to see what it’s like:

After the run, Erin and I went over to LL Bean and exchanged my broken headlamp for a brand new one. I love LL Bean’s warranties! Following an afternoon nap (long overdue) we went to the Maine Track Club annual banquet, where Erin won a gift certificate to LL Bean. Figures, but we can just run over from Bradbury after another run later this season.

Update: Ian Parlin wrote about the run on his website, and included a lot of great photos taken on the trail: http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2010/01/beautiful-loop.html

There were 2 donations today, from Don Hardon and Joe Dobos. Thanks for the support!

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 16 Miles (136 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 16 Miles Today (143.7 Miles Total)
Duration: 2:45:25 (24:49:28 Total)
Net Weight Change: +½ Pound (+2½ Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $50 ($400 Total)

Day #16 – Hamstring Woes and Bradbury Mountain is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

1:00 a.m. – Turn 30. Check.
5:00 a.m. – Roll out of bed. Check.
6:15 a.m. – Hit the trails for a 15 miler. Check.
7:12 a.m. – Watch the sun come up while running. Check.
9:00 a.m. – Go to work all day. Che…hey, wait a minute…who made this checklist anyway?

This morning’s run was great. The past few days my morning run has been in the single digits, starting around 3 or 4 degrees fahrenheit. Today, it was calm and warm, with temperatures in the high 20s.

As the sun started coming up, I could see the clouds moving along at a good clip overhead, and about 20 or 30 minutes later the breeze did pick up enough that I needed to put my gloves back on, but I had a good 90 minutes of my run with the gloves in my pocket. Not too shabby for a mid-January trail run in Maine.

I saw quite a bit of wildlife today, including a few ducks, some squirrels, and a mouse that was trapped in a snowmobile rut and couldn’t find a way out (I got a picture of the mouse with my cell phone.) I also got some good sunrise shots, since there was enough cloud cover that the sun didn’t fry the lens on my cell phone.

I included those photos at the end of the video after the numbers for the day.

I almost managed to run exactly 15 with my various out and backs on the trails that I took to minimize my time on the roads. I ran just over a mile and a half on the road at the beginning and end of the run, and I was at 14.9 miles when I got back to my car, so I didn’t have to run too far past it in order to get my 15 miles for the day.

That frees up my evening so that I don’t need to run tonight, which is good as I’m planning on going out with some friends and family to watch the Portland Pirates (our local hockey team) whallop on Worcester. I haven’t made it to a game yet this season so it should be fun.

These past few days have felt a lot like pre-season in college, with a few notable differences. In mid-February, we’d head down to Florida and run 10 miles every morning and 5 every afternoon, with one day per week reserved for a morning 15 miler with the rest of the day off.

For the challenge, I’ve been running 5 or 6 miles combined with 8 milers, with a 15 miler this morning. The temperatures are a bit lower than I’d find in Daytona this time of year, and (other than Tuesday and Thursday evening) I’ve mostly been running alone instead of with my buddies, but it kinda feels the same.

Of course, then I have to go to work all day which is way different than preseason, where I’d goof off and/or nap all day. That’s definitely different.

Thanks to Diane Bell for today’s donation!

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 15 Miles (119 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 15.01 Miles Today (127.7 Miles Total)
Duration: 2:12:44 (22:04:03 Total)
Net Weight Change: +½ Pound (+2 Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $20 ($350 Total)

Day #15 – The Happy Birthday 15 Miler is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...