Fourth Annual Howard Solomon Run for Thyroid Cancer

I woke up this morning slightly manic. Actually, I wake up slightly manic most days but that's a post for another day.

I realized that last year we didn't do a Howard Solomon Run for Thyroid Cancer. It's been pretty popular in the past and I think it's time for a resurrection of sorts.

You can read about the last one here. In a nutshell, the Run for Thyroid Cancer (which really isn't a run at all) is designed to do two simple things that are important to me, personally: get people to be more active and give something back to the cancer community. And it's designed to be all inclusive. Anyone can "participate."

Here is how it's going to work this year: if in the aggregate we accumulate 100 points, I will make a somewhat significant donation in all of our names to Livestrong. So off the bat, let me say that this isn't going to cost you a thing. Just a little sweat. The donation will be made singularly by me, though you are welcome to make a donation if you choose. And if you do, you will receive a cool special prize. More on that later.

To participate, all you have to do is something "active" on the designated day. Active doesn't have to be a 50k - but you do have to break a light sweat. Lets go with an activity that gets your heart rate above 100. Could be a brisk walk, a light jog, family bike, a hike or a game of tennis (hi, dad!). You probably get the point. The one thing you HAVE to do to qualify is send me a picture as proof that I can then post to this site. I promise to protect privacy, especially of children.

Here is how the point system will work:

- you get one point if it's a solo activity - meaning just you
- you get one additional point for every adult member who partakes, and 2 additional points for every child
- you get 5 bonus points if I deem the event to be "gnarly". A run over 10 miles would probably count or a bike ride over 40.

The "event" will span over two days and I'm looking at the weekend of September 24-25. It jumps out at me as an active weekend: my daughter has her first swim meet of the season, my main man Todd is running the Hamptons Marathon and if I get permission from the Mrs., I will be doing the Coastal 50k.

Oh, and ten bonus points to Todd if he breaks 3:20 at the marathon. :)

Anyway, that's about it. Exact amount of the donation is TBD but it will be a good one and the specific amount will be dependent on our total points.

If you are in, please roll call it out in the comments. Interested in seeing who's still out there anyway.

End of a good streak

I'm sad to say I had to wear a tie to work today; first time in nearly three years. We had a meeting with a conservative company and a colleague strongly suggested I wear one. So, with a degree of reticence I complied. Not sure if the thing matched but whatever. Anyway, here's the proof.

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Headlands 50k

Just finished the Headlands 50k - otherwise known as the Skinnyman 50k (Todd, I wore my shirt in honor of Skinnyman!). I finished in the not-too-bad time of 6:37, which was pretty good given the fact that my legs aren't entirely recovered from Vermont and I haven't run more than 13 miles since that race. So, overall, I am pleased.

I have to give a huge should out to the co-race directors, Tim and Diana Fitzpatrick. They are just awesome; fantastic race directors and just as nice people. They assumed race directing duties after last year's debacle. They didn't want to see the demise of a very highly regarded race and so they grabbed the reigns and did a fantastic job - one of the best run ultras I've ever done (this was ultra number 14 for more btw, to go along with 12 marathons). They personify everything that's good about this sport; thanks Tim and Diana for a job well done. It was a pleasure meeting you both in person. And I'm real glad that a story that ended so sour ended up so sweet.

And We Are Home

A mere 13 hours after leaving my parents house, we've arrived home. We could have been to Europe in that time; the near four hour delay made it kind of brutal. We had a great trip East - always a highlight of the year, but I'm happy to be home and have us all return to some degree of normalcy.

In other news, the Yankees set a major league record today by hitting three grand slams in one game. We passed by Yankee Stadium as the game was being played. I'm going to take that as some sort of cosmic message. What it might mean, I have no idea.

Over and out for now; got to rest up for my 50k race on Saturday. Scratching my head trying to figure out why I signed up for that one.

Pictures from the Road

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Greetings from Maine

Picked up the kids on thursday am from camp; they had a blast. I'm already ready to send them back. But that's a story for another day.

We headed up to Maine post-camp to celebrate my mother-in-laws 70th birthday. I can't recollect ever being here before' I have to say, it's incredibly beautiful and very .. New England-ish, which isn't necessarily a bad thing (Red Sox aside). I have had lobster for lunch and dinner for two consecutive days and that streak should last so long as we are here. Also, the water is about as cold as Northern California which is something I don't fully understand. At least the beaches are equally as beautiful.

Anyway, I will post pictures tomorrow.

Cross Fit

A new Crossfit facility opened in my hometown recently and this past Saturday I went to check it out. Had a talk with the coach, who walked me through a few of the exercises. He then gave me (and a few of the others in attendance) a baseline test, which consisted of a 500 meter down, 40 squats, 30 sit ups, 20 pushups and 10 pull-ups all for time. If that doesn't sound like much, give it a shot. It hurt - badly. My baseline was 5:10. It was pretty cool and I am getting a sense this might become my new thing. I'm headed East for a few days to get my kids at camp and plan to "officially" start when I get back. I sense a new addiction.......