It's Pre-Marathon Training Time!!

Ladies and gents,

The fundraising for this year's Fred's Team efforts are about to begin. So buckle up, because even though it's only April, it's never too early to begin. Sometimes seeing that people are supporting me is the only thing that gets me out of bed at 5:30 in the morning to train.

Anyway, thank you for visiting! As training gears up towards the end of May, I promise to post regularly, and I'll hold contests and raffles and other fun stuff, all to benefit my Fred's Team effort. For now, I'll give you a quick update and then you can read some of the archives. They're kind of funny, at least I think so. Okay, that sounded sadder than I intended. Anyway, enjoy.

Fred's Team, for those who don't know, raises money for the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center here in NYC. The marathon route goes right in front of MSKCC at Mile 18, and seeing the children outside cheering us on was more inspiring than actually crossing the finish line. I am going to run the NYC Marathon a second time to help raise funds for this most worthy cause, and I hope that you will support me in my marathon endeavor.

Please, won't you support me and the Aubrey Fund as I once again tackle the NYC Marathon?

There are three ways you can support me:
-If you would like to support me using a credit card, you can visit my Fred's Team home page, at https://fredsteam.mskcc.org/fundraising/Controller?action=userHome&user_id=35611&event_id=53I also encourage you to visit that site and read about Fred's Team, MSKCC and the Aubrey Fund.
-If you would prefer to support me with a check, please make it payable to "MSKCC" and send it to me. I will take care of adding my race ID numbers and sending it to MSKCC. My address is: 152 W. 58th Street #2D, New York, NY 10019-2111.
-Lastly and most importantly, please pass this site onto friends, family, co-workers, strangers, celebrities, people in general. Cancer, especially pediatric cancer, affects nearly everyone, and fighting it is a cause that many people are willing to support. The more I can raise, the closer we get to a cure.

So, the update:
I got my letter from the Road Runners Club, and guess what? It's marathon time!
Only 192 days to go!
Okay, really, it's more like it's time to start preparing for marathon training. Yes, you actually have to train for your training.
I was out of commission for December and January while I recovered from foot surgery. I had to have bunion surgery to correct all the evils that plagued me throughout training last year. My foot was so enormously swollen we renamed it the "onion," since that's what it resembled. But I had my surgery performed by the most excellent Dr. Gregg Rock, who is himself a marathon runner, and he assured me that I could start running again at the end of January. So I did, slowly but surely. It was hard, because I was in Florida in February and March (yes, so tough to be in Florida during the winter) because it was humid and pollen-heavy, neither of which I "do" very well. But I'm pleased to report that on Sunday, April 22 I ran my first road race of 2007 and my first race post-surgery. It was a 4-miler and I ran like a pokey little puppy (9:30 per mile pace, which is a minute slower than my usual race pace for short races) but I did it!

This Sunday, another 4-miler. I plan on staying slow, but maybe a slightly faster slow, if you know what I mean...

More anon