1 More Mile for Sunshine

Post-Challenge Week #3 Update – Media Coverage & $1500 Raised

Blaine Moore — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:40:43 +0000

Over the past 2 weeks, I’ve run the last hundred or so miles that I needed to reach 500 on the year. It took an extra 23 days over my initial goal, and in total I’ve run for over 3 days and 6 hours so far this year.

Last week I took a day off from work and headed up to Camp Sunshine, where Ashley was kind enough to show us around. They have a great facility, and I’m glad that I chose to raise money for them this year. I also took the opportunity to drop off the $270 in cash and checks that I’d collected.

Speaking of which, I’ve raised $1500 through the 1 More Mile for Sunshine challenge, enough money to pay for a family to stay at the camp for a week! I got a donation from Jeanne Moore and made up the difference myself to reach the $1500.

There were quite a few news articles and media stories of the challenge; it was mentioned on at least one local news station and at least 2 radio stations in the area, plus was distributed through the associated press to papers around the country.

This is a list of a few links that I was able to find to online versions of a few of the articles:

Wolfe News Wire (Jan 21)
Cool Running (Jan 21)
WGME 13 (Jan 30)
Maine AP (Jan 30)
The Independant (Jan 18)
Boston Globe (Jan 30)
Maine Today (Jan 22)
WBZ 38 (Jan 30)
Bangor Daily News (Jan 22)
SeaCoast Online (Jan 31)
Run Bulldog Run (Jan 25)

Here are the past 2 weeks’ numbers:

Miles Run: 116.1 Miles The Past 2 Weeks (502.4 Miles This Year)
Duration: 18:30:01 The Past 2 Week2 (3 Days 6 Hours 26 Minutes 58 Seconds This Year)
Net Weight Change: -1 Pound (-½ Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $374 Raised This Period ($1500 Total)

Post-Challenge Week #3 Update – Media Coverage & $1500 Raised is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

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Post-Challenge Week #1 Update – The Mid-Winter Classic 10 Miler

Blaine Moore — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:45:46 +0000

It’s been a week since my last update. In that time I haven’t run a lot of miles (less than 37) but I did have a good 10 mile race this morning, 7 days following the challenge.

I took part in the Cape Elizabeth Mid-Winter Classic 10 Miler, where I thought that I’d run between 59 and 60 minutes although I’d ideally like to have been around 57-58 minutes. I didn’t have a lot of leg turnover, but I ran relatively consistently the entire way and didn’t feel any worse at mile 9 than I did at mile 2.

There were a lot of donations this week! The current total is up to $1126, $326 of which came in during the past week. This leaves me $374 short of being able to send a family to Camp Sunshine for a week, so hopefully the donations will keep coming in to reach that $1500 mark.

Thanks this week goes to:

Snake Head Games
Robert Aube
Chanda Guyot
Linda Douglass
Laura Tyrrell
Olga Frenkel

There was also quite a bit of news coverage (thanks to everybody who forwarded me links and newspaper clippings!) I’ve got a draft together with links to all the stories that I will get on the site this week some time. Getting Camp Sunshine’s name into the news is worth even more than the donations because it gets the word out there so that people know about the camp.

Here are this week’s numbers:

Miles Run: 36.9 Miles This Week (386.3 Miles This Year)
Duration: 4:58:41 This Week (2 Days 11 Hours 54 Minutes 56 Seconds This Year)
Net Weight Change: -2½ Pound (+½ Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $326 Raised This Week ($1126 Total)

Post-Challenge Week #1 Update – The Mid-Winter Classic 10 Miler is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

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Day #31 – A Strong Finish: 31 Miles for Me, 258 Miles Collectively

Blaine Moore — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:03:01 +0000

I put on a 50k community run today with some friends on a loop course with a well stocked “aid station” at the end of each loop.

I was supposed to run 196 miles this week but wasn’t able to due to injury concerns. I wanted to finish on a high note despite not running much this week so I ran the full 31 miles, and collectively we wanted to run at least the 196 miles which we made pretty easily. I haven’t verified the math yet but I think the humans ran 229 miles and the dogs ran 29 miles so we made it pretty easily.

The loop was 8 miles long (with a 5 mile option) so I ran 3 full loops. For the last loop, I went out on the 5 mile loop but before taking the road home I continued off course for a mile out and a mile back so that I could get the full 7 miles in.

There was a good crowd of people for the first 8 mile loop, with 13 of us heading out on the trails with 2 dogs and 1 person and the baby staying back at the house. I finished the first loop in about 79 minutes.

The second loop saw 5 of us heading out for 8 miles, with 2 people taking the 5 mile option. No dogs ran with us on this loop, although Echo honked the horn at us as we were running away because she wanted to be let out of her car.

The break between the second and third loop was pretty long; probably around 35 minutes. We had a few people come at 11:00, so while waiting for all the newcomers to get set and ready to head out and the timing of everything it just took some time. I used the opportunity to eat some of the yummy food, of which I’ll have more to say in a bit.

For loop 3 there were 6 of us and 1 dog running the 8 mile loop and 2 people running the 5 mile loop. My friend Jamie took a pretty good spill after breaking through some ice early into this loop, but he ran through it and hopefully it doesn’t swell too much on him tonight.

For my last loop, I convinced Four and his cousin’s dog Zephy to come out for the 5 mile loop so that I’d have somebody to run with for the first 4 miles at least. They had come in with the 11:00 crowd. This worked out pretty well because I only had to run alone for the last 3 miles on the day.

In between each loop at the end there was a great aid station. We provided home made apple leathers, beef jerky, bread and chicken soup, while other people brought butternut squash soup, corn chowder, mac & cheese, swedish fish, no bake cookies, Girdhelli chocolate brownies, M & M’s, Oreos, biscuits, scotch, more chocolate cookies, some packaged something-or-others that I never ate any of and were gone by the time I was done so I didn’t see what they were, banana bread, some sort of cake and at least a few other things that I’m sure I missed.

We went through most of what was there; we didn’t have to try to convince people to take too much home with them.

I think that it was a pretty successful day. I know that I had fun, and everybody I spoke with said that they had fun. This is the first run of this kind where I’ve done the full 50k, so I didn’t actually get to spend much time “off trail” with too many people as I ran for 4 hours longer than some people so almost everybody was gone by the time I finished.

Some final stats:

19 People Present
18 People Ran
(the baby rolled around in the living room but didn’t run)
4 Dogs Present
3 Dogs Ran (1 puppy just came over just to play)
The humans ran 229 miles in 38 hours 37 minutes.
The dogs collectively ran 29 miles in 4 hours 53 minutes.
All together, we ran 258 miles in 43 hours 32 minutes for
a pace of 10 minutes 8 seconds per mile.
$200 raised today for Camp Sunshine

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 31 Miles (496 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 31 Miles Today (349.4 Miles Total)
Duration: 5:03:58 Today (54:58:15 Total)
Net Weight Change: +1½ Pound (+3 Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $200 Raised Today ($800 Total)

For more photos from the event, watch the video. I’ve included quite a few of them at the end.

Day #31 – A Strong Finish: 31 Miles for Me, 258 Miles Collectively is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

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Day #30 – Marking the Trails for Tomorrow’s Run

Blaine Moore — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:25:41 +0000

I got out for a short hike today while I was marking the course for tomorrow’s run.

The trails are covered in ice and next to no snow, so there wasn’t any need to worry about snowmobiles while I was out. I expect we won’t see any tomorrow.

With single digit temperatures tonight, it is going to be cold tomorrow morning but should warm up pretty quick, so I don’t expect anything to thaw between now and then.

It will definitely be a day for having some sort of traction on your feet, be it the screw shoe/ice spike variety or something else.

Which reminds me, I need to go plug my drill in so that it has a charge tomorrow morning in case anybody needs some screw shoes made…

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 30 Miles (465 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 1.4 miles today (318.4 Miles Total)
Duration: 26:29 Today (49:54:18 Total)
Net Weight Change: -1 Pound (+1½ Pounds Total)

Day #30 – Marking the Trails for Tomorrow’s Run is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

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Day #29 – 1 More Donation

Blaine Moore — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 03:59:52 +0000

The forecast is looking good for this weekend.

Cold temperatures should lead to some better footing than we’ve had lately.

I’ll be checking out the trails tomorrow while I mark the course for Sunday’s run.

There was one donation today. Thanks Margaritt!

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 29 Miles (435 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 0 miles today (317 Miles Total)
Duration: 0:00 Today (49:27:48 Total)
Net Weight Change: +½ Pound (+2½ Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $25 Today ($600 Total)

Day #29 – 1 More Donation is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

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Day #28 – Testing the Knee with Hills

Blaine Moore — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:58:23 +0000

Today I ran a little over 5 miles while doing hill repeats with the folks at Maine Running Company.

I was a little stiff at the outset, but stretched out during the warmup and felt pretty good up through about 4 miles.

My knee began to get a little sore at that point but not too painful.

My plan is to take it easy tomorrow and then get out while marking the course on Saturday for Sunday’s run.

On Sunday, I plan on finishing the challenge with the 31 miles that are scheduled for the last day. Actually, it will be closer to 32 if I can run all 3 of the 8 mile loops.

I’m not sure what shape the trails will be in after last Monday’s storm and this week’s above freezing temperatures, but I’m going on the assumption it will be runnable.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 28 Miles (406 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 5.07 Miles Today (317 Miles Total)
Duration: 50:30 Today (49:27:48 Total)
Net Weight Change: No Change Today (+2 Pounds Total)

Day #28 – Testing the Knee with Hills is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

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Day #27 – An Improved Knee, The Last Contest Winner, and Donations

Blaine Moore — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:54:00 +0000

I did not run today, and my knee was feeling mostly normal. I’m going to try running again tomorrow night, with the plan that I will be running the full 50k on Sunday so that I can finish the month off with 31 miles on the 31st.

The winner of the final contest was chosen! Check the video to see if it was you. There were 110 entries into the contest.

I received 3 donations today. 1 was from my Ian Parlin and Emma Barclay, 1 was from Shauna Baxter and Jim Dunn, and the third was from Jeanne Peckiconis. Thanks a lot, all!

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 27 Miles (378 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 0 miles today (311.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 0:00 Today (48:37:18 Total)
Net Weight Change: -½ Pound (+2 Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $95 Today ($575 Total)

Day #27 – An Improved Knee, The Last Contest Winner, and Donations is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

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Day #26 – Nothing to Report

Blaine Moore — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:51:53 +0000

There isn’t much to report on today, and I opted not to create a video of that nothing to report.

My knee is feeling marginally better than it did yesterday, but I didn’t do much today other than go to work.

There is one final contest on the site to win a long sleeve compression shirt from Zensah. You can get the details here: http://www.1moremileforsunshine.com/341/final-contest-win-a-long-sleeve-zensah-compression-shirt

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 26 Miles (351 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 0 miles today (311.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 0:00 Today (48:37:18 Total)
Net Weight Change: No Change (+2½ Pounds Total)

Day #26 – Nothing to Report is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

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Final Contest – Win a Long Sleeve Zensah Compression Shirt

Blaine Moore — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:17:19 +0000

It is the final week of the challenge, which means one more contest.

One of the products I made good use of all month has been my Zensah Leg Sleeves, which Erin bought for me for Christmas in 2008. I’ve been using them after they proved so effective at helping me recover from my first 50 miler about a week later.

I contacted Jonathon at Zensah to see if they would like to sponsor a contest for the challenge, and they are offering up a long sleeve seamless compression shirt!

The shirts are thermo-regulated to keep you warm and the compression will increase blood flow keeping your upper body muscles fresh.

Entry into this contest is a little different; rather than leaving a comment, you need to make a tweet.

Just click here and then press update to send the following tweet on twitter to be entered into the contest:

@runtowin @zensah contest entry

1 person will be randomly chosen to win a free shirt, although everybody wins since I’ve gotten Zensah to provide a 10% off coupon for everybody on both the men’s shirt and women’s shirt. Just reference coupon runtowin10 when checking out.

Send your tweets by Wednesday afternoon (11/27) at 6:00 PM EST to qualify!

Final Contest – Win a Long Sleeve Zensah Compression Shirt is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

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Day #25 – I didn’t Make the Mileage – But I Awarded the Recovery Socks

Blaine Moore — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:51:51 +0000

I went to bed last night with my right knee aching a bit. I woke up this morning with it aching a bit more, especially when I walked around.

This had me worried some, but I decided that it was worth giving the knee a 10 minute test. If I could get out and run for 10 minutes and it doesn’t hurt any more (or at the very least isn’t acutely painful) then I’d keep going, otherwise I’d go back home and stop.

I didn’t quite make it 10 minutes before turning around. The knee certainly didn’t feel any better but it didn’t really get any worse, either, except when my leg was sliding at a weird angle.

And therein lie the problem. Because it had been raining all night and I thought temperatures had been just over freezing, I didn’t bother putting on screw shoes. However, in between the pockets of slush were pockets of black ice, and I kept slipping around enough that it was bugging my knee and I was worried I was going to fall.

So, I decided to turn around and finish my 10 minute test in the direction of the house so that I could at least change into screw shoes.

On the way home, I passed 2 people stuck in their driveways despite the lack of snow, one of which was a mini-van spinning its tires in a perfectly flat driveway and the other a car that had a driveway with a hill but had driven off the driveway and into the snowbank next to it.

I decided that I don’t really want to get hit by a car again, especially given the poor visibility with the fog, so I didn’t even make it 2 miles total. As I was writing this, a plow went by as well and I definitely don’t trust them.

This evening, my knee was aching enough that I decided it wasn’t worth continuing. It didn’t hurt enough that I’d have stopped in a race or done much more than note it, but I had over 20 miles to run on it tonight and more than that tomorrow.

I’m doubly glad I made this decision before running most of my miles until the gym kicked me out. Visibility on my way home was bad enough that I wouldn’t have gone back outside; I almost drove into a mailbox on my own street. I don’t trust my body to traffic enough to run in conditions like that.

On the plus side, I chose the winners for the recovery socks. Watch the video above to find out who won.

Going forward, I’m going to give my knee a couple days to recover and will see how it feels on Thursday evening with the group I coach at Maine Running Company. Hopefully, I can still do the full 50k on Sunday, and am going to plan on doing at least the first loop.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 25 Miles (325 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 1.66 & 1.33 for 2.99 miles today (311.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 15:50 & 10:01 for 25:51 Today (48:37:18 Total)
Net Weight Change: +½ Pound (+2½ Pounds Total)

Day #25 – I didn’t Make the Mileage – But I Awarded the Recovery Socks is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

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What Do I Do When A Dog Chases Me?

Blaine Moore — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:40:52 +0000

With all of the additional road miles this past week, I’ve had more than my fair share of encounters with dogs of various shapes and sizes.

I’ve had big dogs start to chase me such as a couple of rottweilers that tried to charge up a hill after me (but were very obedient to their owner who immediately yelled at them to heel.)

I’ve had shepherds chase me down a trail to the road to keep me away from their turf.

I’ve even had little ankle biters who thought they weighed about 20 times more than they actually did try to chase after me, although most of them were on leash and held firm by their owners. (One that did come out into the street was apparently named Gizmo and looked like one.)

Dogs and runners have a love/hate relationship (usually hate.) As a runner, we are invading their turf, putting their owners in danger, moving fast enough to look interesting and tasty, or just have some bright colors on that makes the dog think that we are a toy.

There are a lot of reasons for a dog to chase us, and for the most part they are valid reasons. Sometimes the dog just wants to play with us, or to come over and say hi, and sometimes the dog wants to hunt and maim us.

I have had mostly good luck following the steps below.

I will also be the first to admit that I have also been bitten before. I have not been bitten very many times, and I plan on continuing to follow these steps as being the least intrusive to my run, the least danger to both myself and to the dog, and from my own experience has the highest success rate.

What to do when a dog chases you:

Stare down at the dog before he really starts making his move, even if you have to slow down and/or walk backwards.
Make an effort to move away from his turf or his owner so that he doesn’t feel as threatened while you are asserting your dominance, which is what you are doing in step number 1. Move slowly; you want to discourage the dog from chasing you, and not give it a new game.
Talk to the dog and try to calm it down. I will usually say, “Good puppy” or something like that in a soothing voice to try to calm the dog down and show that I am not a threat. It probably helps that I have a deep voice.
If he makes a break for you, stop and bring your hands, arms and legs in towards your body. If you are a man, put your hands in front of your crotch so that the dog can not bite you there. You want your body to be in a straight line so that there is nothing hanging off of you for the dog to attack and grab hold of. Many dogs are just friendly want to play with you or check you out; I don’t assume that the dog going to bite me until it does, but I also do not want to make it easier for the dog to injure me.
Start moving away or continue your run depending upon whether the dog just wants to sniff you or is being playful or is still threatening to bite. Unless you were bit, do not move too fast until there is some distance between you and the dog. You can probably out run a dog over the long haul, but in a sprint you are all too likely to lose.
If you are running at night or otherwise have one available, shine a bright light into the dog’s eyes. Your headlamp may disorient it enough to lose interest or to not notice that you are backing away from its turf until you are far enough that it doesn’t care anymore.
If you are bit by the dog, kick it in the head. If you can, try to kick it below its muzzle on its chin as that will cause the most pain while being the least likely to permanently injure the dog. The goal is to give it one good lick that will teach it not to bite runners in the future and hopefully confusing or hurting it enough to leave you alone in the present. Get away from the dog, and call the game warden or your local sheriff at the first possible convenience.

When I am confronted by a dog, I do not want to hurt it. If I am attacked, though, I will do what I have to in order to protect myself.

It is not the dog’s fault if it attacks you; it is the dog’s owner’s fault. A dog should not be let to run loose in a settled area without supervision; in many places that is illegal.

If a dog chases you off of its property, then you should call the sheriff or game warden even if it does not bite you.

The owner will probably get upset with you no matter what happens, but if they have been served a warning to keep their dog under control then there is a slim chance that they might actually put it on a leash or stand outside with it to keep it under control.

This will make the dog less likely to hurt a runner or a passing child or anybody else, and it will also protect the dog from getting hurt by traffic.

If you are bit by a dog, and it breaks your skin, then you should probably go to the emergency room and make sure that you are up to date on any vaccinations and shots that you might need, as well as to patch up any tears that you can not treat yourself at home.

Rabies is not the only thing that you would need to worry about, and in fact is probably unlikely, but the treatment right after you are bit is much less painful than the treatment that you would get if you gave yourself time to succumb to the infection.

What others do when a dog chases you:

My method is not the only way of dealing with dogs, and it may not even be the best method. Here are some other methods that people I know have tried to varying degrees of success:

Run away as fast as possible. I am not a fan of this method, as it only encourages the dog to chase you. If you have enough of a lead, then you might be able to get far enough away that it will give up and go home, but I do not really trust my sprinting abilities that much.
Carry mace or pepper spray. Mace or pepper spray can be useful not only against dogs but also against two-legged assailants. I do not like carrying anything more on a run then I have to, though, and 99% of the time I do not get chased. Another problem that weapons pose are that they can be used against you, and are really only useful if you want to hurt something. I prefer not to hurt the dog until it has definitively shown me that I am in danger.
Throw an imaginary rock. I have never tried this, but I have heard a few people use this method. Maintain eye contact with the dog and reach down to the ground for a rock, even if there isn’t one there. Stand up, cock your arm, and make a throwing motion at the dog. Supposedly, this will usually scare the dog away. If it doesn’t, though, then you are only teaching the dog that he doesn’t have to be afraid of you, and may encourage him to attack you. I have never tried this, though.
Yell, clap your hands, and stomp your feet. While I have on occasion yelled to make a noise and startle the dog, I have had less success compared to trying to use a soothing voice. The problem with clapping your hands or stomping your feet is that it provides a target for the animal and might encourage it to jump on you if it isn’t startled away.

My dog history

I have been chased by numerous dogs before. Sometimes, the dog will want to run with me, and even had one keep up for about 9 or 10 miles. I had to drive it home, since there was a river and a few bridges in between the end of our run and the dog’s home.

Usually, the dog is only trying to protect its home or its owner, and is satisfied when I leave them both in peace and move away. My run might slow down for the 20 seconds it takes to pass a driveway, but otherwise we both manage to get along just fine.

Now and again, a dog will really want to play and be friendly, but it is hard to tell the difference sometimes between a dog tearing after you to play and dog chasing you to hunt. I have also been bitten by a dog before when it wanted to play, and it obviously was not trying to hurt me so I just let it be. He was just overly excited and his owner had slipped on the ice and lost control of him.

And a couple of times, I have been bit. When I lived in Connecticut, there was a dog that chased me any time that it was outside when I ran by. I was in my teens and it had not yet occurred to me that I could call the game warden to control the animal. After it had chased me perhaps 8 or 9 times, it managed to catch up to me once before I was far enough away from its house for it to lose interest, and it bit my leg. That was the first time (of only twice) that I have felt a need to kick the dog. It yelped and ran away, and it never bothered me again.

The second time I was attacked by a dog and felt a need to kick it, the dog bit at my hip through my winter running clothes and clawed at my legs. Thankfully, I had full length pants on. The owner threatened to call the police on me when I had the gall to kick his dog when the dog ran out of his yard, ran across the street, and attacked me. I told him to go ahead and kept moving, and then called the police a few minutes later when I got home.

That guy gave me the evil eye every time I ran by and he was outside after that, but he always grabbed his dog when he saw me coming. Unfortunately, I think he only controlled the dog when he saw me coming, because about a year and a half later the dog had to be put down when it attacked a kid on a bicycle. It was not the dog’s fault, but I guarantee that the dog’s owner still has not taken responsibility for what happened.

That was a lone occurrence, though, and the vast majority of my interactions with dogs while I have been running have been friendly or at least brief and uneventful. Most domesticated dogs will not attack you, especially if you do not give them a reason to.

Have you ever been chased or attacked by a dog? What have you done to protect yourself, and how effective was it? Do you have any good tips that I can add to my list above?

(Photos by Carmen, James Charron and Lance McCord)

What Do I Do When A Dog Chases Me? is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

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Day #24 – A Lot of Road Miles

Blaine Moore — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:02:39 +0000

After yesterday’s 3 hour nap and sleeping in until 7:00 this morning, I should feel pretty well rested. And when I got up I did feel a bit rested. Once I was out running, though, not so much.

The plan today was to run 16 miles in the morning, and then meet up with a friend for another 8 miles on the trails this afternoon.

The 16 miles went by pretty quickly, but about 12 or 13 miles in my left foot and my rear right cheek were getting a bit achy. They had calmed down by the time I got home though.

After this morning’s run, I spent most of the afternoon laying around eating. I had a banana, a ProGrade Workout Smoothie, a cantalope, some home made pancakes, and various and sundry other items I found laying around ready to be consumed.

I wound up running my evening run alone, so instead of heading for the trails I opted to get it over with quickly by running the local roads.

Thankfully, my foot and cheek were no longer achy. Possibly from all the food I’d been eating, but probably because I made good use of the foam roller a few times in between workouts.

This week I ran over 148 miles. That just seems nuts to me, and is well and above anything I have ever done before, including college when I used to actually run crazy mileage.

There are now only 7 days left to the challenge, about 196 miles.

There was 1 donation today. Thanks Tami!

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 24 Miles (300 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 16.11 & 7.92 Miles for 24.03 miles today (308.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 2:08:49 & 1:01:05 for 3:09:54 Today (48:11:24 Total)
Weekly Total: 148.1 miles (Most I’ve Ever Run in 1 Week!)
Net Weight Change: +1½ Pounds (+2 Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $20 ($480 Total)

Day #24 – A Lot of Road Miles is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

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Day #23 – Trail Running at Bradbury Mountain

Blaine Moore — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:20:07 +0000

I went out to Bradbury Mountain this morning with Erin to meet up with the Trail Monsters. It was a smaller crowd this week, and conditions were a little tougher to run in.

The snow was packed down but not very solid, so there was a lot of slipping and sliding, especially off of the power line trails which thankfully had been groomed.

On the groomed sections, we were running around 8 minute pace; the rest of the way we ran mostly 10-12 minute pace.

I was pretty tired by the time we got back to the park, but I wanted another mile or 2 and Erin wasn’t at the car anyway. I decided to try heading out on the boundary trail, but thankfully I saw Erin coming down it in her snowshoes before too long because conditions weren’t great if you didn’t have them.

She ran for about 70 minutes and then snowshoed the rest of the time I was out running.

It was very cold at the start, between -1 and -6 depending upon if you were in the sun or not. My hydration pack tubing was frozen solid even though there wasn’t much water in it so I wasn’t able to use it until mile 9 after running a few miles with the backpack under my jacket and the tub stuffed between my back and the bag.

After that, I just had a 4 inch cylinder of ice that I eventually managed to get to slide around inside the tube enough to get a little water around it, which then melted it pretty quick so I was able to drink the water and not just carry it for the last 6 miles.

I also got to try out the ice spikes for the first time, and they worked out pretty well. They were very comfortable, and helped on some of the downhill sections. I’m looking forward to trying them out in icy conditions.

Once we got back to the parking lot, Erin drove me home while I finished off the remaining gummy bears and ate a partially frozen banana.

As soon as we got home, I changed into some road flats and ran out the door for the last 7½ miles.

I figured that a 4th hour running on the roads was probably better than a 4th and 5th hour running in the snow.

This part of the run was pretty uneventful. There was one lap dog getting walked that tried to jump on me, but the owner just held the leash over his head so that the dog spun his wheels trying to run off the ice on the side of the road once I was near by. It was pretty funny.

Once I got home (again), I’ve basically been eating non-stop. Half a grapefruit, some left over ghoulash, and a lot of mixed nuts and crackers with some green tea have been on order so far, although I expect to keep eating all afternoon when I’m not napping.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 23 Miles (276 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 15.54 & 7.48 Miles for 23.02 miles today (284.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 2:56:47 & 58:09 for 3:54:57 Today (45:01:34 Total)
Rolling 7 Day Weekly Total: 141.2 miles (Most I’ve Ever Run in 1 Week!)
Net Weight Change: -1½ Pounds (+1½ Pounds Total)

Don’t forget, if you get cable television, then Nickelodean will be airing a special about Camp Sunshine tomorrow! Check your local listings and if you can watch it, let me know how it is. We don’t get cable. Here’s more information about the show:
http://updates.pressherald.mainetoday.com/updates/camp-sunshine-to-be-featured-on-nickelodeon

Day #23 – Trail Running at Bradbury Mountain is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

Day #22 – No Evening Run Necessary – YAY!

Blaine Moore — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 00:58:18 +0000

This morning I got in over 2/3 of the 22 miles I need to run today by starting a bit before 6:00 and running for 16 miles and change.

I felt really good this morning; inhaling the ham and peas pasta dish that Erin made for me last night must have settled well over night to provide plenty of energy this morning.

I remembered the camera and got some photos as the sun came up, but it wasn’t nearly as spectacular as yesterday morning, unfortunately. At least the temperatures were in the low-teens last night, and are supposed to be single digits tonight, so the trails should be in excellent shape for a 23-miler tomorrow morning.

I finished off the morning with a short stint on the foam roller, which felt great.

This afternoon I went out to get the remaining 6(ish) miles that I needed, and took the opportunity to actually get a few errands done as well. There was a lot of traffic as I ran in town and needed to be on the busy roads for some of the run, but I managed to not get hit, which is always a bonus.

I wound up running about 10 kilometers total, which brings my weekly mileage over 134 miles. As I mentioned yesterday, each day my new highest miles run in a week will be going up by 7 miles every day.

Since I got all of the required miles in during the day, that means no evening run during a weekday, which is very exciting. I plan on relaxing at home, writing this daily update…and relaxing at home.

Oh, and I’ll remind my foam roller why it’s my second best friend right now. Definitely going to spend some time with it tonight. I’ve noticed at work today that my legs are getting rather sore, even though they felt fine on the run.

I’ve got 47 miles to run this weekend, and 196 miles to run next week.

There was 1 donation today, from Roseann McConnell, who is amazed at how full I can stuff my pockets. Thank you for the donation, Roseann!

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 22 Miles (253 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 16.11 & 6.21 Miles for 22.32 Miles Today (261.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 2:08:18 & 52:03 for 3:00:21 Today (41:06:37 Total)
Rolling 7 Day Weekly Total: 134.2 miles (Most I’ve Ever Run in 1 Week!)
Net Weight Change: +½ Pound (+3 Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $35 ($460 Total)

By the way, if you get cable television, then Nickelodean will be airing a special about Camp Sunshine this Sunday! Check your local listings and if you can watch it, let me know how it is. We don’t get cable. Here’s more information about:
http://updates.pressherald.mainetoday.com/updates/camp-sunshine-to-be-featured-on-nickelodeon

Day #22 – No Evening Run Necessary – YAY! is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

Day #21 – The Highest Number of Miles I’ve Ever Run in a Week

Blaine Moore — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:51:00 +0000

This morning I learned a new method to keep a dog from biting you while you run.

About a mile and a half into my 12 miler, a bulldog came running out of a driveway at me. I shined my headlamp (which was on bright) directly into its eyes, which didn’t shut it up at all but did slow it down. Thankfully the owner had come out and gotten it under control by the time I ran by its yard again.

I had another run in with some dogs later in the run – twice, actually, though they were the same dogs. In one of the side neighborhoods, I looked up and saw a man walking his 2 big mean dogs that don’t like runners and go after me any time they see me, plus I noticed he now has a 3rd dog. He always keeps them (mostly) under control, but I don’t like risking running near them and especially have no interest now that he has another dog to try to control.

Once I saw them, I just turned around and went back the way I came. The neighborhood has a few cross streets and I was looking to add distance anyway. A little while later, I saw them turn onto and start walking up the street I was then heading down, so I turned around again. No need to risk anything right now.

It’s too bad I didn’t carry my cell phone with me so that I could get a photo of the sunrise this morning. It was the first clear day this week and the colors were fantastic.

I ran 3 easy miles on the road outside work at lunch time just to make it easier to get the mileage done tonight while I was coaching.

This evening I did 6 hill repeats with the folks I coach at Maine Running Company. I was able to get my 6 miles that were left to run for the day in pretty easily with just a tiny bit of an extended cool down, so I didn’t have to go out and run again after I finished the workout and everybody had left.

If you take the last 7 days, they add up to a new PR in terms of maximum weekly mileage that I have ever run in my life. The most I had run previously was about 124 miles (give or take) and I am now just shy of 127 miles. Every day going forward is going to pad that number by another 7 miles.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 21 Miles (231 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 12.01 & 3.1 & 6.1 Miles for 21.21 Miles Today (239.6 Miles Total)
Duration: 1:41:41 & 25:44 & 57:42 for 3:05:07 Today (38:06:16 Total)
Net Weight Change: -½ Pound (+2½ Pounds Total)

Day #21 – The Highest Number of Miles I’ve Ever Run in a Week is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

How to Avoid Getting Hit By A Car

Blaine Moore — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:19:40 +0000

Getting hit by a car is a less than pleasurable experience, whether you have a few tons of steel wrapped around you or you are just out running. After last night’s close call, I thought I’d share share a little story from when I was younger, and then some tips for avoiding having the same thing happen to you.

When I was in middle school, my brother got rear-ended while he was waiting to turn into our driveway after school. After being forced into the other lane, he was side-swiped by a dump truck. The only seat left in his vehicle was the driver’s seat.

Had anybody else been in the car they would have probably been killed. My brother was out of the hospital that night, and the next day he was the high scorer in the basketball game.

That was the first day all year that I did not get a ride home from school from my brother.

One year later to the day, I was out running near the school. I came out of a parking lot, turned onto the road, and began running along the shoulder while I waited for a utility van to pass me so that I could cross the street.

As the van passed me, I looked up the road and saw that it was all clear. I could see about a quarter mile until the road turned, and there was no traffic except for the van that was passing me. After it had gone by, I ran behind the van and started to cross to the other side.

In the time that it took for the van to cut off my vision of the road ahead and for me to run behind it, a woman had come around the turn and was speeding past the school towards me. I heard her slam on her breaks and as I looked up I knew exactly how a deer must feel when it looks into the headlight.

I distinctly remember thinking, “Oh s**t, I’m about to be hit by a car.”

That thought was immediately followed by, “That’s probably not a good idea. I should try to get out of the way.”

Those were my exact thoughts in the 2 or 3 seconds that I had before the car hit. I jumped for the snow banks in an effort to not get hit, and I almost made it.

The car was going much faster than I was, though, and it weighed a whole lot more than I did. I was lucky in that I only caught my ankle on the bumper and got tumbled into the snow; the accident could have been a lot worse.

The woman that hit me was speeding, but it was not her fault that I got hit. I was not paying enough attention, and I made a stupid assumption about the road that I was on that came back to bite me.

In a way, though, I am glad that both that woman and I were idiots that day. I got hit by a car in a way that scared the hell out of me without causing me any permanent damage. I was running again in about a week.

There are very few situations where a runner is going to win any sort of conflict with an automobile. Those few situations tend to be less than legal and rarely involve the automobile being in motion. I may be a little paranoid, but I have assumed in almost every one of the 20,000+ miles that I have run since then that there was a car coming that might hit me.

What would happen to you and your family if a car hit you on your next run? When I got hit, I was not carrying any sort of identification with me. If I had hit my head and was unconscious, there was nobody running with me that could have told the paramedics who I was or who to contact about my care.

For identification when you are running, I highly recommend wearing some sort of a dog tag. It is easy and convenient to wear and is one of the most universally recognized forms of identification that you can find.

Specifically, I recommend getting a Road ID. I have bought 4 of them so far. I bought 1 for myself years ago and 1 for my girlfriend our first Christmas together. Then after we bought a house and got married, I bought new ones for each of us with updated contact information.

They are durable and the peace of mind is worth a lot. I highly recommend getting one for yourself, and then actually wearing it when you go out. They also have versions that you can wear on your shoes or your wrist, if you prefer not to wear a dog tag style necklace.

Whenever I run now, I try to follow a few simple rules.

Run facing traffic unless there is a local law stating that you shouldn’t.
Make yourself visible. Bright clothing, reflective gear, and flashing lights or headlamps are all tools that you can wear depending upon the conditions.
Make yourself predictable. Do not weave into and out of the road and try to run as straight as possible.
Keep your eyes up ahead of you and make sure that you are aware of both oncoming traffic and any traffic that might be coming off of side roads or driveways.
Make eye contact with drivers who are stopped. If they won’t look at you, then point at them until they do. You want to make sure that a driver knows that you are there before that driver pulls into you. I’ve found that when running on a sidewalk, you’re even more invisible to cars pulling out of driveways or cross streets than if you are in the shoulder of the road.
Try to always carry some sort of identification with you when you run, although I’ll admit I’ve not done a great job at this for the past year or so.
Write emergency contact info onto the bib when you race using a pen or marker. If there is a space on the back for it then fill it in there, otherwise just include an “ICOE” (in case of emergency) phone number on the front.

I recommend that you think about your own safety and that you try to be aware of your surroundings when you are running. I also recommend that you always carry some sort of identification with you in case the worst should happen.

Run safe.

How to Avoid Getting Hit By A Car is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

Day #20 – Almost Got Hit By a Car

Blaine Moore — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:06:25 +0000

This morning I woke up at 4:45, heard a plow drive by the house while I was eating breakfast, and decided I’d go to the gym and use the treadmill instead of risking the roads.

When I got done on the treadmill and headed home for another breakfast, I thought that I had run 15 miles this morning. I managed to get 8.7 miles before the treadmill shut off on me at the 1 hour mark and then adding on another half hour plus, but looking at the pace I think I really only ran 14 miles. The second set must have been 5.3 miles and not the 6.3 miles I thought I’d run; a 6:54 average pace matches where I was at 8.7 and a 6:33 average pace seems a bit quick for what I was doing.

If I’m wrong then I’d rather run an extra mile than 1 mile too few, so 14 it was.

This evening I had a headache coming home from work (I blame windowless room w/no ventilation where I sit all day) but I felt much better by the time the run was over.

Of course, it started snowing again right before heading out, but thankfully there wasn’t much traffic.

I did almost get hit by a car though, from somebody turning into the street way too fast. Thankfully, I saw him starting to make the turn and knew it’d be a tight squeeze so I was hugging the snowbank and just hoping I wouldn’t get pinned. I didn’t. I really don’t want to get hit by a car again, so hopefully the trails will be firmed up enough to be worth running on tomorrow morning.

In the random trivia department, I hit a new PR tomorrow for weekly mileage (by about 3 miles) and every day after that will pad that total by another 7 miles.

The muscles are definitely sore but I’m still feeling pretty whole. A couple of minor aches and pains are being monitored but for the most part I’m holding up well. The real trick I think will be getting enough sleep, and tonight I should be getting to bed nice and early and get to sleep in a little later tomorrow, which will help.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 20 Miles (210 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 14 & 6.03 Miles for 20.03 miles today (218.4 Miles Total)
Duration: 1:36:31 & 50:04 for 2:26:36 (35:01:09 Total)
Net Weight Change: +2 Pounds (+3 Pound Total)

Day #20 – Almost Got Hit By a Car is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

Day #19 – More Snow but More Fun

Blaine Moore — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:06:06 +0000

This morning, it was tough to get out of bed. It was tough to not get back into bed. It was tough to get out the door. But, I enjoyed the 9 mile run once I was out there.

I blame lack of sun for last night’s funk. I work in a windowless room with no ventilation so I rarely see the sun during the week, and yesterday’s snowstorm didn’t help.

Speaking of which, it was snowing still this morning. I only passed one plow though and with a little surge was able to get into somebody’s driveway before the plow got near me.

At lunch time the roads were too messy to really risk, so I spent most of my 6 miles running a 0.6 mile loop that didn’t have much in the way of traffic (I passed 5 cars.) I also stopped in at my barber’s and let her know about the challenge, so she’ll be donating.

The kids at the elementary school where I start my run only made fun of my tights and obnoxiously bright jacket on the way out; they didn’t heckle me on my way back at the end of the run.

This evening, it took me 3 times longer to get home than usual, so I had no interest in sharing the road on foot with rush hour traffic. Instead, I waited until around 8:00 to get out the door, and only passed 6 cars which is much better. There was about a half inch of snow on the road which made it relatively slick.

Once I finished the run I spent a few minutes shoveling the inch that had fallen since I got home out of the driveway (well, part of the driveway) so that there’ll be that much less to push out of the way in the morning.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 19 Miles (190 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 9.06 & 6 & 4.4 Miles for 19.46 miles today (198.3 Miles Total)
Duration: 1:17:29 & 48:16 & 36:48 for 2:42:34 (32:34:34 Total)
Net Weight Change: -2½ Pounds (+1 Pound Total)

Day #19 – More Snow but More Fun is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

Win A Free Pair of Recovery Socks

Blaine Moore — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:40:41 +0000

Matt Frazier from No Meat Athlete let me know about a product called Recovery Socks, a graduated compression sock that helps stimulate blood flow after a workout.

I’ve been a fan of compression sleeves for the past year, ever since I ran my first 50 miler about a year ago.

I’m excited to announce that the folks over at Arcosox (the US distributors of Recovery Socks) agreed to sponsor this week’s contest, and even sent a test pair to me last week to evaluate them for myself. I’ve been wearing them most evenings since I got them, and even wore them to bed the past couple of days, and I’ve been very happy with them.

From their website, Recovery Socks are designed to:

Stimulate blood circulation
Improve oxygen delivery to the muscles
Reduce lactic acide production
Relieve cramps
Boost performance

Recovery Socks are made from a patented antibacterial fiber and is used by many world-class athletes in their training.

For myself, I’m far from world class, and I’m not doing any high intensity running right now. Instead, I’m just running a lot, going further each day, with most of my mileage in the snow.

So far, I haven’t had any calf tightness at all. My lower legs have felt pretty good, and I’m planning on continuing to use them for the rest of the month to help get me through this challenge. I will admit that they look a bit silly, but then I’ve never felt a need to wear knee high socks before and I’m not wearing them to make a fashion statement.

You can learn more about Recovery Socks at their website: http://www.RecoverySocks.com

How to Win A Pair

If you’d like to try them out yourself, then I am going to be giving away 1 pair each to 2 people (supplied directly from Arcosox) that leave a comment below by end of day Sunday, January 24^th.

Winners will be chosen at random, so if you want to make fun of my hideous carpet in the picture above then I will not hold it against you and it will not affect your chances of winning!

Win A Free Pair of Recovery Socks is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

Day #18 – Today it Got Hard (and last week’s winners)

Blaine Moore — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 04:33:38 +0000

Today was difficult.

We got 8 inches of snow overnight, and it continued snowing all day. Thankfully, my wife did almost all the shoveling, so I only had to be out there for half an hour to help clear enough of the driveway to get one of the cars out.

I’d called a few local gyms and Family Fitness offered a day pass to come in and check them out, so they got my 5 miles of treadmill running this morning. I think they got themselves a new customer, I liked their setup and the folks seemed pretty easy going.

I got a bit over a mile jogging to Papa’s Place for lunch today from work, but that was just no fun since I was wearing boots and a winter jacket, it was snowing and hard to see, and there was a lot of traffic and no shoulder or sidewalks.

Neither run was as bad as tonight’s run though. It was nice enough out, but the trails weren’t that packed down and it was way too much work to try running on them so after a few miles I abandoned the trails and finished up on the roads.

I got in all 18 miles, though, so hopefully tomorrow will be better.

I’ve been starving since I finished running. I had a ProGrade Workout Smoothie with blueberries (plus a multivitamin), a ProGrade Craver and a banana and my stomach is still growling.

I chose the winners from last week’s contest, and will contact them for their address to send the Ice Spikes to tomorrow. I’ll get this week’s contest up on the site tomorrow morning; I’m way too tired tonight since I didn’t get done running until almost 10:00 and it’s getting close to midnight now.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 18 Miles (171 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 5 & 1.38 & 1.64 Miles for 18.02 Miles Today (178.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 34:04 & 13:49 & 1:39:53 for 2:27:46 Today (29:52:00 Total)
Net Weight Change: +2 Pounds (+3½ Pounds Total)

Day #18 – Today it Got Hard (and last week’s winners) is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...