The Noah Influence

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  This post was originally going to be an insightful, possibly witty, definitely bragadocious, recounting of my latest training run.  However, I think I’d like to point you guys to the blog of another fellow runner, Noah Moore.  Noah went to Centre College with my wife, Julie, and she always talked about how cool and nice he was.  She talked so much about him, that I felt like I knew the guy, even though we’ve never met.  After I started my blog, Julie told me about Noah’s blog, Moore on Running, and when I read it, I knew that I had found a kindred spirit.  Like myself, Noah started running as part of his attempt to lose weight and get healthier.  And like myself, Noah was bitten by the running bug.  Not only has he raised money for the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, he has inspired his 6 year old son, Peyton, to take up running and complete his own kid’s marathon.  Peyton just finished running 26.2 miles over 3 months.  Noah was even interviewed about Peyton’s marathon for Endurance Planet.com.  Not to be all hero-worshippy, but to me, Noah is a great ambassador to our sport.  He is the epitome of how we as runners should give back and inspire others to take positive steps in their lives to better themselves and help other people along the way.  Way to go, Noah!

That being said, I am not Noah.  I have a mission.  I want to bring as many folks with me to the runners Promised Land as I can, but I don't have Noah's knack for charity.  In fact, I've been told that I can be a pretty selfish a-hole at times.  For those of you who are interested in helping out a charity with your running (unlike me), there are several ways.  Experienced runners can help coach through Team in Training or other charities.  You can also contact some charities about getting a spot for a specific race.  When you do that, you are usually expected to raise a certain amount of money for that charity, but they will often pay for your admission into the race or other expenses.  Another avenue for charity is through Plus3Network.com.  Plus3Network “connects people with corporate sponsors and worthwhile causes.”  Essentially Plus3Network is an internet based training log that allows users to give to specific charities by logging  your workouts with the website.  Each charity has a corporate sponsor that donates money based on your workouts.  It’s not a bad option for those folks that aren’t good at soliciting donations, and it helps a worthy cause based on workouts that you were going to do anyhow.  Make those miles work people!  Of course, it’s good pub for the corporate sponsors and they even manage to advertise a bit on the site.  I've actually logged miles on Plus3.  I've considered helping coach a running a team or raising money for charity, but I haven't found a charity yet that I feel a particular kinship for.  

Okay, now for the hard numbers.  I did an 8 mile training run at a 7:23/mile marathon pace yesterday.  It was a warm day, so I ran shirt off, enjoying my topless freedom.  I love that.  It’s the tail end of spring break for the city schools here, so there were a ton of kids and their parents playing in the park as I passed through.  The pace was tough to maintain, but I needed to see if I could even hit that kind of speed for that long.  A BQ would require me to hold that speed for 2 more hours, so I doubt that IT will be in my immediate future.  However, I may be able to make my year goal of 3:30:00.

That’s all I’ve got.  Later kids!