No turning back now - I would appreciate your help!

Thanks, brother! When your donation hit I got the below e-mail:

 

There it is, folks! Fletch just matched my donation and now he can decide what avatar I'll be sporting for the next year.

Just do me two small favors Fletch: Don't take any input from anyone I've ticked off on here lately, and, as Sam said to Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings: "Please don't turn me into anything...... unnatural."

 

Thanks again, brother! To be honest, I'm not much of a runner either. I used to be a runner "back in the day", but like I said, Monday was my first time running since March 2008. Still, I've got a ton of time to get ready for this and I WILL do it. I'm not trying to impress anyone with a fast pace. My only goal in the actual event is to run the entire 13.1 miles without stopping to walk.

Even if I don't manage that, though, the real good will have already been done thanks to you and the other people who have donated or will donate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

A nice side benefit is regardless of how the half marathon turns out, I'll be in much better shape and a lot lighter by December 6th. :D

 

Just so everyone knows, Fletch declined the offer to make me display any avatar, so the offer is still open. The next person who matches my donation can choose any avatar they like for me to display for the next year.

 

Run update: I ran for the second time today in eight years. I've been told in the past that I was a natural runner. I never really believed it, but today made me think it might be possible. I was still a bit sore from Monday when I started and I almost didn't run, but I told myself I was going to do it.

I didn't run a fast pace - just an 11 minute mile, but at a mile and a half I was smiling to myself, I was breathing normally and my heart rate was 147 which is my target heart rate. I was only going to go two miles, but when I passed the two mile point I still felt great so I kept going. The closer I got to three I felt like I could keep on going for a little while, but I knew I shouldn't push it, so I stopped at three miles.

It's a good thing I stopped when I did. I hadn't even really cooled down yet and my wife said she wanted to walk the dogs. That's a little over a mile walk.

I'm feeling really good about this. :D

 

Thanks so much, Melissa! I was sitting here at work getting ready to leave and an e-mail came in that said I had received a donation and it listed your name. I'm kind of surprised that I knew who it was since I'm normally terrible with names.

That takes me to 77% of my goal. Again, thank you so much. :D

 

If any of you missed this link in a previous post, I encourage you to watch the video.


St. Jude patient Anna James Video - St. Jude Heroes

 

***update***

Update #1: I checked the status of my fundraiser and now, thanks to a very generous donation of $250 from my wonderful daughter, Sandy Little (who is in the Navy and is in Taiwan right now being immersed in the Chinese language) I'm at $635.00, which is over my goal of $500. Like I told my daughter, I've always been proud of her and she's just given me another reason to be proud.

The fact that I've reached my goal doesn't mean that I stop, though. The more money I raise the more money St. Jude Children's Research Hospital gets. I'll probably up my goal to $1000 on Monday.

Update #2: My previous runs were on a treadmill. I decided to try 2.5 miles on a loop through our hilly neighborhood. I thought I was going to die. I had to stop quite a few times, but I only stopped and walked the downhills. My legs feel like jello right now. I don't feel so bad, though, because this is only the third time I've ran in over 8 years and I have a stubborn streak that won't let me give up. I know in a few weeks time I'll be running that same course in around 22 minutes. In a few months it should be around 20 minutes. We'll see.

 

This has been done. Not only did I bump the goal up, which I could have done without any risk, but I changed my level to Silver. Basically that means that if I don't make it I agree to pay the shortage out of pocket.

If it comes to that I don't really mind, but in all honesty Im hoping to go well over $1000.

 

Answered, Tom..... and again, thank you. I'm still blown away.....

 

Just finished my run for the day. I set the torture machine to an easy 11 minute mile right from the start and cruised for 3.5 miles. As far as breathing and cardio went, I really felt like I could have kept going, but my knees were telling me something different. I almost pushed on to 4 miles, but decided not to push it. I've always believed that when your knees tell you to stop it's time to stop. Anyway, I'm satisfied with 3.5 miles in 38.5 minutes given the fact that I just started running last Monday.

Like I've said before, my goal at this point is to build up some endurance and condition my joints and muscles. Maybe some of you runners can tell me if what I'm doing is a good idea. I'm sticking to the treadmill until I build strength in the muscles, joints and tendons. Then I plan to hit the pavement. Does that sound right?