26.2 Quest Bumper Stickers

Like many other bloggers I was contacted by Build A Sign some time ago with the offer to make some Custom Bumper Stickers for my blog.  I loved the idea, but didn't really know where to start other than my logo.  Megan was more than helpful to step me along in the process and help me ultimately get a great looking product.

End of an Era - A Tribute

The phrase "Tuesday night runs" to many people may not have the best memories, but for the over 100 people that have been coming to Tuesday Night Runs at the Fleet Feet in Lawrenceville lately, it is a phrase that will hold many fond memories.

I want to be careful to not talk of the Tuesday Night Runs, or the Tuesday night runners in past tense.  There will be many more humid, sweaty, stinky (everyone else but me), and fun Tuesday night runs in the future, and even if (which they won't) the runners begin to dwindle over time, there are many friendships that have formed over the past few years that will no doubt bond for a lifetime.

Running on Empty Book Winner

Thank you everyone for stopping by and entering the Running on Empty Book giveaway.  Please accept my apologies for not announcing the winner earlier, but work somehow took over the past week+ of my life and the blog and it's community was one of things that suffered the most (sleep and running were two other on the deprived list unfortunately)

If you have not yet picked up Running on Empty by Marshall Ulrich you need to head out and pick it up.  The story of how Marshall had his toenails surgically removed as well as the many other stories will not tell themselves.

Without further ado, lets see who the lucky (and very impatient I assume) winner is.

We had a total of 21 entries.  Some of the comments were from those who did not want to be entered, and one from me so I pulled them out before the count.

Working or Running?

Tonight is the first time I have run since Sunday's six mile tempo run. I ran five miles which was all my body could take me.  I have worked nearly 60 hours in the past 4 days because of some stuff going on at work that left me no choice but to work.

After working 15, 16, etc hour days I had nothing left to run by the time I got home at night.  I also didn't get up before work to run because I neither had the time, the energy, nor was I getting enough sleep.

Good Luck Boston Runners!

Just a really quick post at the beginning of a very busy week.  Good luck and enjoy to all the Boston Runners!

I know many more people (bloggers) that are running this year and I think it is very cool.  I don't really have any hopes of speeding up that much, but who knows, maybe I will still be running when I am old enough for the qualifying time to get to where I can do it :)

I will leave you will this funny video that was sent to me from Improv Asylum last week.  If you have run a marathon before this all rings too true.

Road ID Winner

Thank you everyone for stopping by, entering to win the Road ID and sharing it with all your real and virtual friends.  I am sorry this has taken a couple days longer than originally planned but I was having issues with Photobucket and my blog was looking a little bit funny so I opted to wait until all was back to normal.

We had 195 total entries, and many good comments along the way.  My brother in law who I talked about in this post entered as well, however I am hoping he doesn't win because then it will appear to be a bit fixed.  I have decided that I will be buying him a gift certificate myself to avoid any appearance of being biased. I am so proud of him and how he has quit smoking and started running recently, and with some specific medical issues he really needs a RoadID when he is running on his own.

Running on Empty Book Review and Giveaway

I know not everybody is driven by or even interested in running anything further than 26.2 miles, but that doesn't preclude them from getting any benefit or inspiration from Marshall Ulrich and his book Running on Empty which goes on sale today.  Running on Empty is An Ultramarathoner's Story of Love, Loss, and a Record-Setting Run Across America and shares all the behind the scenes information on what he had to go through to complete the 3,063 miles in just 52 days.

The book is an easy read with a relaxed style and in many ways I find it reads similar to a very long blog.  You feel like you really get to know Marshall as you read it and you become part of his journey.  At any age it would be a challenge to run across America, but at age 57 Marshall had more to deal with than if he was much younger, not to say there is a prime age to be an Ultramarathoner.

Lauren's Run 5k For CURE Childhood Cancer

If you are in the Atlanta area and are looking for something to do on May 1st, you may want to check out the Lauren's Run 5k.  The race is hosted by and benefits CURE Childhood Cancer and includes a 5k, a 2k Fun Run/Walk and a Tot Trot so it can be a great family event.

I haven't promoted local races in the past, but was approached and asked to help promote this race so I figured why not?  Atlanta is a big place and I have a lot of local readers to go with the rest of my world-wide readers so if I have the opportunity to give back to the local running community I think I should, especially given the cause that is benefiting.  I am not sure if I will be running this race or not so don't walk up to bald-headed guys and introduce yourself, unless of course you are into that kind of thing.

KT Tape - Have You Used It?

Some time ago I was sent some KT Tape to try out and see what I thought.  I have not had the types of injuries to use these and give them an adequate test so I tried them on my daughter's foot following their instructions to try and alleviate her arch pain.

Payton actually had more pain when she ran with the KT Tape, but I am not blaming the tape, but rather that we were providing more support with the tape, and that is not what she needed.  It turned out that her arch pain was much more than what could be helped with just tape, and we ended up having to go with some Custom Orthotics before we actually made any progress with her issues.

To Run Or To Smoke

This week has been a fun week for me running even though I have not logged many miles.  I am still trying to recover from some muscle issues in my right thigh so I am still taking it easy and running a lot fewer miles.  The leg does feel like it is getting better, but I am still not completely out of the woods yet.

The thing that has made this week a fun running week has been the company I have had to run with.  My brother in law, Brian, brought his family from Indiana to spend spring break with us in Atlanta.  We have had the opportunity to run together four times, and I hope I was able to make a positive impact on him with running which will help him to continue and fall in love with running like I have.

Road ID Review And Giveaway

If you run alone any time of day or night and have not checked out Road ID yet, I highly recommend that you do.  I have been running with a Road ID for nearly a year now and have been very happy with it.  I have luckily not needed to use it yet for an emergency which I am happy for but I still strap it on each time I head out the door by myself... day or night.

 Some may say that I can't prove it is needed because I haven't had to use it yet, but just like life insurance or a fire alarm you don't want to be caught without them when the dreaded time comes.  I don;t have any medical issues, but I would like my wife to know quickly in the event something does happen rather than them trying to figure out who I am while my family sits at home either worrying or maybe even not knowing what is going on.

Just Like The Secret Service

I wouldn't have gotten up to run this morning since I ran yesterday and am still in a injury recovery plan, however I still got up and ran a mile with my daughters.

They both are running in a meet tonight and their coach wanted them to get up and run a mile before school just to shake things out a bit. Since they normally get up at 5:30 to get ready for school, this meant that they needed to get out the door shortly after 5:00 AM to get the run in and still have time to shower and get ready for school.

I won't let them go out alone on these non-lit roads at this time of the morning, but even with each other I am still very uncomfortable.  I woke them up at 5:00 and got ready myself.  I just put my shoes on and some warm clothes.  I didn't put a watch on or any of the other normal running gear since it was only going to be a mile.  As we walked out the door I did grab one piece of my running gear - the reflective vest with flashing lights.