Incentive

As a way of motivating myself to stick to my run streak, I have bet $99 on me. If I don't run every day, $11 each week that I miss that goal will go to Maggie Gallagher's group, iMAPP. This is an awful thought. Not only would I be out the money, but that money would go to someone who actively hates me. This is a modern way of using a stick as motivation.

I have a carrot already. Everyone has a carrot for motivation to work out. We all know it will make us feel better, lower our health care costs, increase longevity and many other positive outcomes. It's a bit harder to find a stick for working out, though. Most negatives for being lazy are not experienced immediately. No one wants to hire someone to physically threaten them for laziness, either. Luckily. StickK has come along to fix this.

It works on a simple concept. People set goals and can set financial penalties for not hitting those goals. The money can be sent to a random charity, a friend, a foe, or to a charity that makes your skin crawl. I don't have any foes, wouldn't mind donating to a friend or random charity, so I picked the stomach-turning charity option. The idea of Maggie Gallagher having any of my money makes me physically ill. That should motivate me to keep my run streak up.

This site lets you have a friend ref your commitment, so you could easily set it up as a bet on who will work out according to an agreement. It really looks like a good site. Not sure how they make money, though. Unless it's all still just a continuation of their acedemic study. Regardless, I now have a stick to help keep me motivated. The carrot is trying to get my running speed to improve so I can finish the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon in under 4 hours.

Hustle or Hustled?

Most 5Ks are run as awareness and fundraising vehicles for charities. Larger races like the marathon and half marathon are corporate sponsored, but are done simply for the sake of runners; no one is making a profit. The 5K I ran yesterday, on the other hand was organized by a company designed to make money. This was the second for-profit race I've done this summer, in addition to the one I spectated, but I won't make this mistake again.

Yesterday's run was called the Santa Hustle 5K. I finished it in 26:16, a full 1:30 faster than my PR from this summer. I tweeted out that time, along with my shock, because I didn't feel that I had run that quickly. It turns out that the course, although certified, was about 1/5-1/4 of a mile short of a full 5K. The corrected distance of 4.65K seems to be the reality, but it's really going to be hard to know positively what the distance was, because the race organizers are covering their asses. They're issuing corporate statements that sound apologetic, without actually taking any blame. If I recalculate my pace based on this distance, my pace was 9:05 per mile, meaning I would have a 28:13 for a 5K.

I'm ok with that pace and time. It's slower than my last race, but not by much. The race went fine, so 28:13 seems reasonable. The first mile seemed like I was running slowly, nowhere near the 8:55 that my chronograph clocked between the start gate and the first mile marker. The field was too crowded to get any speed going, though. There was a 180 degree turn after about a mile and a half that immediately encountered the crowd-slowing hydration station. I ran the third "mile" a minute faster than my first or second mile, which seemed unlikely to me, especially considering I walked part of it while taking off my jacket.

Charity races tend to be capped at 2,000-4,000 people to make sure they run smoothly. For-profit races don't do that, because it would limit profits, so they end up with double the number of runners, if not even more. This leads to many problems with the race going off smoothly. One for-profit race this year had lines of 2-3 hours for packet pick-up because of the 40,000+ participants and poor planning. The other for-profit race I did this summer started 30 minutes late because of a vendor and people had to wait 10 minutes while a bridge lifted for a boat to pass, in the middle of their race. Those runners also had to dodge tourists during the last .2 miles of the course because it was held at a tourist attraction with no roped off course.

These races attract people because they have a clever concept and/or great swag. I received a Santa hat and beard yesterday, in addition to a long-sleeve tech shirt that looks like Santa's jacket. Others give out really expensive running jackets, sweatshirts and medals. They have much better marketing behind them, too. It makes sense; if you're making money, you can pay for a good ad campaign, which will lead to bigger profits. Charities don't want to spend money on marketing that could be better spent on their actual cause.

I don't want these for-profit races to disappear. I think they are a great gateway for new runners. People who may never consider running otherwise may be lured in by the fun concept and giveaways. If these races get more people into running, they serve at least one good purpose. Personally, I will just avoid them in the future. They aren't providing me with the product I actually want when I pay to run a race.

Marathon Training--Take 2

Just like last year, I am starting marathon training. I weigh about 10 pounds less than I did last year. I didn't really realize that until just now, so that was a pleasant surprise. I also am a bit faster than I was last year, so I should end up in a faster pace group.

In addition to being faster and lighter than I was last year, I'm also mentally better prepared. Last year, I hoped/assumed the group could get me to the race. This year, I know they can, but also understand how important it is for me to listen to my body and put in the effort during the week. I can't rely on the Saturday long runs to get me to my goal. I need to run during the week and do all my cross-training. If you see the training widget on the bottom right side of my blog, you will see those miles increasing much more quickly than it has the last few months. I already rode my bike for 30 minutes yesterday and am ready to tackle my 30-45 minute run tonight. This is in addition to the physical therapy exercises that I do twice a day, every day. With all of that exercise and trying to plan a large fundraiser for the charity training me for the marathon, it feels like my entire day is all about running. I'm ok with that balance.

Claire Squires

She was just a woman who was running a marathon for charity. At the start of the race, she had raised about $800, which is great. Unfortunately, she collapsed near the end of the marathon and died. That is the horrible part of her story. Here is the heartwarming part.

Since her story went viral, people have donated almost $1million in her memory. This was not her first charity event. She had climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, held a car wash and run another marathon previously.

The fundraising company has also agreed to donate all fees to the non-profit Samaritans. That's the group she was raising money for.

I can't put into words why this story has touched so many people, but it clearly resonates as over 60,000 people have donated in her name.

Discipline

I am not as good with discipline as I would like. I wish that I was one of those people who never hit the snooze bar and was able to do my daily workout as soon as I roll out of bed. I don't know if that will ever be me, and it's possible that I only partially envy them. I have learned how to work with the level of discipline I do have, though.

I don't go down the chip, cookie, or ice cream aisles at the grocery store. If I go near them, it's harder to avoid buying them. If I buy them, I will eat them all. I should give myself credit for avoiding the aisles with the poor food choices, instead of looking at it negatively. "I make good food choices." not "I can't stop eating Doritos."

It's why I signed up to train with a group for the marathon. I knew that having a goal and having other people help to pay for that goal would keep me on track. I find it much easier to quit on myself than to let other people down. I was unable to run the marathon last year, but not because I quit. In fact, I kept going for several weeks after I should have probably quit. I had an injury that physically prevented me from walking. Running was not going to happen, yet I tried every week to run.

I am signed up again this year with the same group to run the 2012 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. I would be very grateful if you would consider donating a few dollars to help me and my charity. If you click here and then click the "Sponsor Me" button on the left hand side, you can donate to my charity. Thank you!!!!

If you're in Chicago, you can follow the same link and click "Join" at the top and train to run the marathon or 1/2 marathon with me. It's a great group guaranteed to keep you smiling while you run.

Inspiring Person

Dan Martin. He is setting out on a global triathlon. He will swim the Atlantic Ocean, cycle across Europe & Asia. and then finish by running across Canada and the USA. He's already biked across Africa. Think of him the next time you're feeling a bit off and don't want to go for that 5K run. He does all of these extreme excursions to raise money for education of underprivileged children around the globe.

Charity

Many of us do weekend 5K races that benefit charities. Some of us train with charities for longer races or triathlons. I found a site that lets you log your fitness activity every day and convert that time and effort into a charitable contribution. There is no cost to you at all. There are corporate sponsors donating money to the charities for the activities that you log. Today, I raised $1.63 for the Go Red for Women campaign from the American Heart Society. No, it's not a huge amount of money, but it is $1.63 more than they had before I signed up.

For people who aren't internally motivated to be active and need to feel they're helping others, this is a way to get that external motivation. For those of us who thrive on competitive, there are leader boards and challenges on the site. You have nothing to lose, so check it out.

For those of you who want to train with a charity to run a half marathon, full marathon or a triathlon, join "Team Twitter" with Team to End AIDS.

Holiday Inspiration

I wrote about Dick Hoyt back in March. I knew that he inspired me to get out and move, but I didn't know that he inspired an entire organization. My Team Triumph pairs up three volunteers to act as "angels" like Dick and help navigate "captains" like his son Rick through various races around the country. I saw them in action last July when I ran the Packers 5K and many runners and spectators were crying when they crossed the finish line. If you want to be inspired check out the WI chapter's facebook page. They do have chapters around the US, so you don't have to be in Wisconsin to participate. If you're looking for someone to keep you accountable to your running, here is an entire group that will demand that you be accountable to the other angels and to your captain.