Running in Circles

It was pouring rain yesterday in New Orleans and the region; the rain and wind actually caused some building damage around the region.
But for us, that means we had to--for the first time in the four months of marathon training--run inside at Loyola's Rec Plex.
Luckily, we only had to run 4 miles yesterday, or 32 times around the upstairs track. It actually was refreshing, in a way, to run in such a stable environment. I didn't have to worry about tripping over uneven or hilly sidewalks, and didn't have to deal with crossing cars.
But at the same time, I don't think I could do much more than 4 or 5 miles on the track in the gym. For one thing, keeping track of the laps gets difficult, especially when you are talking to someone. Second, running around a short track requires a level of mindless repetition that is hard to maintain for a long period of time. During the 14 and 16 miles I did by myself in NYC over Christmas, I got better at being able to "turn my mind off" and stop thinking. But a track offers no distractions at all from your mind. It is very hard to tune out while running the same route over and over and over and over....
But the run worked out pretty well. We actually maintained a pace much quicker than our normal pace, though we may or may not have excluded the final lap.

I've been getting great responses from friends and family who have begun checking this site for our updates and info on St. Bernard. Kathleen's post has some more info on it below, and here are the two important links for it:
Learn about St. Bernard Project
Donate to St. Bernard Project
Here's another pic from Shrockin. Jenn is in the middle with the sweet pigtails, and Liz, the founder of St. Bernard Project, is the blond at the bottom. Loyola volunteers are here with part of a family that they helped last fall.
-bob

I, too, am getting a little nervous about the approaching race. Still, I have a lot of support to make it worth it. My cousin Adam called me yesterday to wish me good luck, and the rest of my family keeps sending me words of encouragement/ looks of disbelief whenever I mention the marathon. Worries aside, I'm getting very excited about next Sunday.
A little bit about the St. Bernard Project-- It was started by Zack Rosenburg and Liz McCartney in March 2006 after they had visited the parish and felt a connection to the people there. As Zack has said many times, "We realized that these were people who had done everything 'right,' owned their house, paid their taxes, had a job, and still they lost everything and the government had left them behind." Jenn and I became involved with the project that fall semester when we met Liz at another site in the parish and thought her project sounded like a good idea. For all the work that they do and the inspiring examples they continue to be, I count myself blessed to be able to know Zack and Liz.
Loyola University Community Action Program (LUCAP), an organization in which all three of us are involved, has a rebuilding project that works with St. Bernard Project called Shrockin'.
Check out this amazing photo of Jenn

shrockin' it out!

Pre-Marathon Worries

As the big day approaches, I'm getting slightly more and more nervous every day. It certainly isn't an overwhelming nervousness. I'm not even particularly worried about the distance. More than anything else, I'm worried about what I'm going to do when I finish the marathon.
What's next?
I've been running four days a week--often for hours on end--since October. Since Christmas time, I've had to schedule huge chunks of weekdays to running, both in freezing New York and beautiful New Orleans. I've finished a 10-mile run minutes before a test began.
In other words, I'm going to have some free time on my hands.
I'm not going to jinx myself by starting to think about my post-marathon schedule, in particular about any races or anything coming up. I'll stay focused on the one coming up in less than two weeks...
Useful links:
Donate to St. Bernard Parish
St. Bernard Project Info

The Last Run Above 10 Miles

Today we ran the last run before the Mardi Gras Marathon (Feb 24) that is above 10 miles. Our 'Novice' training has a pretty significant taper (you can look at the schedule here) and so we stay under 10 miles the rest of the way out. That is an intimidating drop in mileage, but it seems as if all marathon training follows the same pattern.
It was actually too hot a day for a good run. I certainly hope that the marathon day is cooler than today. Thought it was a nice day to go sit out at the Fly, it wasn't a nice day to be running up and down St. Charles all day.
Monday is an off day, as always, as we return to school following the Mardi Gras break. We'll have some more St. Bernard photos and info up soon, and we'll also have some pics of us running (though Kathleen seems embarrassed at the idea of it).
For now, I'll just give you the two most important links on this page again:
St. Bernard Project
Donate to St. Bernard Project

Only Two Weeks Left

It's only two weeks and a few hours away.
Kathleen and I have been training for the Mardi Gras Marathon for 16 weeks--four full months. Four months ago, when we started our training for a half marathon, running more than two miles was a huge struggle. Now, as I am two weeks away from running the full 26.2-mile marathon, I feel like my Sunday run of 12 miles is no big deal. My mom even said that it "was nothing", especially compared to the 20-mile and 18-miles of the previous weeks.
It is pretty nerve wrecking to think that the hardest part of the training is over. With only two weeks to go, we are in the middle of the taper, which means we're running less and less every week. The final week before the marathon features only 9 total miles--the same total as the first week of training.
Of course, the final week is capped by a grueling 26.2 mile race around all of New Orleans, where the first week was capped by a 6 mile jog around Uptown.
While I am anxiously awaiting race day, I want to point everyone to the St. Bernard Project website and the 'Donate' link on the right side. Kathleen and I started the training months ago not only out of some personal desire to punish our bodies, or even to get in shape, but mostly out of a desire to raise money for St. Bernard Project, a great organization that is helping families return to Katrina-ravaged St. Bernard Project. Every dollar you donate to the Project will help rebuild damaged homes in the devestated area of the Gulf Coast.
Look around their website. Kathleen and I have dedicated countless hours of training in the hope that we can raise money for the organization. If you've got some time, please try and help them out.