Schloss Solitude

Stuttgart, Germany -- I passed a personal milestone yesterday. I ran 13 miles. That’s right…not a misprint…13 miles. It was basically a half-marathon. We were supposed to run 12 miles, but we took a little wrong turn and it ended up being 13. We ran a beautiful path through forest trails, around 4 lakes and trails, and reached our halfway point. It is called Schloss Solitude (picture) and it is a castle that overlooks all of Stuttgart. It was a great moment. I felt like Rocky when he runs up the stairs and puts his hands in the air in jubilation. It took us 2 hrs to run all 13 miles.

I watched a movie called Click yesterday as well (it was pretty good btw) and it was also two hours. It is hard to fathom that the time it took to sit and watch the movie…was the same amount of time it took to run the 13 miles! Watching a movie will never be the same for me.

So, I guess you could say that I have trained and prepared properly for the Stuttgart Half-Marathon on July 23rd. It is two weeks away. We are to train this week just as we did last week. So, I will have another 12-13 mile run next Sunday as well. Then the following week will be all about light runs and rest! I never realized how important rest is so that you can have fresh legs. My High goal for the half-marathon is 1hr 45 minutes. My low end goal will be 1hr 55 minutes. That is somewhere between just over an 8 minute mile pace to an almost 9 minute mile pace. Anyway, I am hooked! Now I know why John and Chris liked running so much.

My original goal for the half-marathon over two months ago was just to finish. But remember, at that time I had never run over 5 miles in my life. So, I struggled for about the first three weeks. Then it just clicks. No more grogginess. No more looking at your watch. You just run and run and run. The energy level is crazy too! I have energy to do so much more things that I want to do.

So this week I have decided to run with John in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC on October 29th. I have learned that signing up for the marathon makes you train for it. Plus, there is a $ catch to this one. I am going to use this training period for the half-marathon as the foundation for training for a marathon. My boss and I have been researching marathon training and you really need about 4 good months to do it. I still have plenty of time.

The catch is that the marathon is actually full and is not accepting any more participants. However, you can sign up for it if you run for a charity group. Basically, the way I understand it is that you apply through a charity group, pay your $110 entry fee, and then raise the rest of the money for the charity.

THAT is where all of you come in! I guess I am going to have a soliciting moment here. I need to raise $850 dollars for my charity. This is the other motivational kicker…I am running for the Diabetes Foundation. That one is for Delia. So, I figure that if I combine getting to run with my brother, run for a good charity, and run for Delia…then I can finish this race!

Like I said before, this is where you guys come in. Get those checkbooks out and send me something please. It doesn’t matter how much. Five dollars, $20, $100, whatever you feel like. Also, if you can think of any other family that would be willing to give a donation, let me know and I will try to ask them as well.

I will be signing up today for the Marine Corp Marathon. I am pumped!