244 days to go…

I’m officially registered for the 2007 adidas Dublin Marathon, as I mentioned earlier. The marathon, 26.2 miles, is set for 29 October 2007 which is the public bank holiday. The race is truly international with half of the 12,000 participants hailing from outside Ireland.

I decided to register in order to kickstart my training and I may have to re-read Dean Karnazes’ book for a little inspiration. I’ve already run in Phoenix and St. Louis so this will be my third. I shaved 20 minutes off my time from Phoenix to St. Louis and this time I am aiming for 10 minute miles which puts the finish time at 04:42. As I said before, anyone interested in training with me in the Galway area, leave your comments below and we’ll plan a run.

Today has been a busy day for blogging, in case you haven’t read the other post yet. It must be my blood pumping after my first run in a while. Yesterday I ran about 5.5 miles along Galway Bay from the city centre to Salthill. I mapped it here using MapMyRun.com. Switch it to satellite or hybrid view to get a great view of the bay that was to my left on the way out. Cool site, eh? It was a gorgeous psuedo-spring day and Galway is going to be a great place to train. Which brings me to my next point…

I’ve run two marathons already, one in Phoenix and the other in St. Louis and and I’m ready to start training for my third. I have decided to run the adidas Dublin Marathon on 29th October where, I understand, instead of water and PowerBar stations you can grab a pint o’ Guinness. So if you’re in the Galway area and you are as crazy as me, please no Dean Karnazes wannabes, then post a reply and we’ll find out how to start a drinking, er, training program. So get off your arse and let’s run!

I finished my longest run ever this past Sunday. It was 20 miles around Forest Park and the thermometer was a balmy 12 degrees, with a nice 10-15 mile per hour breeze. I am tapering off now with all of the long mileage days behind me and there are only about 2 weeks to go before the big day on January 9th. It’s not to late to support my cause for the research and treatment of Leukemia and Lymphoma. I still need to raise about $1800 to reach my goal of $3800. Gifts may be sent payable to me:

James Britton
payable to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
7515 Buckingham Dr Apt 2N
Clayton MO 63105

Happy Holidays!
P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon

I have recently commited myself to train for the P.F. Chang’s Rock N’ Roll Marathon in Phoenix, AZ on January 9, 2005. I am a member of Team in Training, the premier endurance training organization for runners, cyclists, and triathletes. The ultimate mission of Team in Training is to train athletes for various events, who in turn commit themselves to raising money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). I have an honored teammate, Josie, who is a 4 year old girl that was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Lymphoma (ALL) this past April. She is as cute as a button and full of energy, despite receiving chemotherapy. She has great hope that someday she will be better. With the help of LLS and Team in Training, she can get the help she needs.

My goal is to raise $3800 by the end of October. This money will go directly into our local St. Louis chapter of the LLS to support patient treatment and family support programs that Josie and her family count on everday. Please give what you can, since every dollar counts. You may send your generous gift to me by clicking donate now link above.

Your gift is 100% tax deductible and your credit card statement serves as a receipt.

Thank you for your support of me during my training, and especially your support to Josie. She is very grateful.

I hope to have my training schedule available soon so you can track my progress and possibly use it for your own training program. I’m a firm believer that if you stick to the schedule, anyone can run a marathon.

-James Britton