Training Miscellaneous and Boston Excitement

Hello again!
It is now 7 days until the Boston Marathon, and I am definitely excited. I was supposed to go on a training run with Alan Giraldi, a fellow Badwater entrant, but that was scuttled. I’m looking forward to running with him next week sometime after Boston if he’s available. As for Boston, I’ve never been there so I’m trying to plan the right itinerary. While there’s a lot going on that’s associated with the race, I do want to enjoy the city with those coming along. One must do: Tour of Fenway Park. Other than that, it's pretty much whatever. While on the whole, I think East Coasters see themselves much differently than West Coasters, the city definitely has much to offer the traveler. Besides, how else can I convince people to come on my crazy race adventures if I don’t at least offer a little bit of non-running related fun? Hehe.

As far as training’s concerned, a good 50 miles on the weekend helped me close the week well. Although I’m scheduled to taper leading to Boston next Monday, I’ll probably try to put in 45 miles total over the next four days. But the intensity for those miles will be very mild; more of fun runs than anything else. I just want to relax and enjoy the scenery of San Francisco before I really ramp down on the weekend before the race. Easy runs are great because they’ve just been reminding me of why I love running in the first place; the freedom to wander and be in my own space. I have to start taking a camera with me so I can give you all a glance at what I’ve been seeing. Since my training weeks include Monday-Sunday, next week will be two big mileage weeks (almost 100 and 105 miles) prior to leaving for Uganda.

One thing I am not excited about lately is this persistant ITB Syndrome. It has been getting progressively better, with targeted stretching becoming the norm. However, I don’t want this to persist, particular as I get closer to the meat of my season. The best thing for me to do right now is to rest when I can, ice after workouts, and stretch diligently. I might go with orthodics at some point, but the isolation of the pain to the right knee makes me wonder if there’s something going on related to my ACL tear from 10 years ago. Oh well; we’ll see.

I just want to give a HUGE thank you to all the donors who have already given for the Wells in Uganda! I am pleased that as of now, we have $1720. This is such a blessing and although there is much work to do in order to raise the total of $6000, I am hopeful that the generosity will continue and the work of friends/family who are also fundraising will pay off in the end. I hope that the people who have/will give will be blessed in their giving. A big thank you as well to the friends/family who are fundraising; I have full confidence that they will be successful and blessed in their efforts as well. Doing things for those who can not pay you back helps to re-center the heart, mind and spirit on that which is most important in the world. Good stuff, indeed.

God bless,
Gundy