Chaire Herodikos Selymbriaios!

Back on track. Out to Jamaica Pond but got a bit lost so did the circuit of Brookline Reservoir and Allendale Farm as well. Came back feeling good.

Revised training schedule:

August

September

October

Down to Jamaica Pond with Leo. Nice morning.

Another sweet early morning run to Jamaica Pond with Leo. Glorious weather along the Emerald Necklace. We stopped by the water for a good 10 minutes and watched the geese and joggers. He was happy! Nothing like a baby for happy. My legs feel good and strong after a solid week now of 8 mile days, it was probably just fine to dial back for a bit though better to plan such things in advance of course.

For me it is really challenging to keep to a running routine while travelling, and recapturing the discipline always takes me a while. It's such a consistant phenomenon, this "losing the thread" but I don't really understand it. Maybe something psycho-spatial!

Jamaica Pond via the Necklace. Leo was fussy, did not enjoy being strapped into the stroller, and so we had ~15 minute breaks to hang out on a bench and watch the people at Leverett Pond and the JP Boathouse.

To Jamaica Pond - Leo stayed home. As an outing I didn't enjoy it as much as the runs with the baby - as a run however quite a bit better without the stop-and-go. I wore the MOTOActv watch and sure hope the new software is better - the GPS distance tracker lost about 10% in comparison with the Gmap Pedometer hack, reading 7.32mi at the end of an 8 mile run. Lower body feeling just ok - a few new aches and pains, which is to be expected since for the last 3 days I've been at 53 miles/week. I would say that so far I'm handling the additional mileage fine. No dead legs for the moment. 

Out to the Arsenal St Bridge. Lovely morning - sunny and cooler than it has been. End of a really good week, my legs feel very and I'm looking forward to moving forward with the training plan. Looks like I should only be about a week behind what I'd anticipated in early July.

CREDIT CARD DONATIONS

RACE REPORT!!!

On October 26, I will be running the Cape Cod Marathon as a benefit for the Gaza Community Mental Health Program. 

GCMHP was founded by the late Dr. Eyad R. Sarraj, a psychiatrist and human rights campaigner who was an inspiration to advocates of nonviolent activism around the world. The organization provides mental health services to the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip and works to secure a Palestinian society that respects human rights and in which people are able to live in freedom and with dignity.

More information about GCMHP is available here. Dr. Sarraj is beautifully remembered here, here and here (by his son).

This benefit is "pay for performance" - the faster I run, the more money I raise. Every sponsor should choose a mile along the 26.2-mile-long marathon course (Mile One, Mile Five, Mile Sixteen and so on). Notify me of your selection by facebook or email (ashakow[at]hotmail.com). Also tell me how many times my speed in MPH you want to give. For example, if I run Mile 12 at an average speed of nine mph, someone sponsoring Mile 12 at 3x would donate $27. 

As soon as they they have written me, I will record all donors in the table below on this page. Those who wish to remain anonymous should tell me so explicitly and will be listed as "Donor One," "Donor Two," and so on.

After the race I will report in the table below on this page how fast I ran each mile. Sponsors should then submit a donation for the appropriate amount to the Gaza Mental Health Foundation.

I have set up a credit card donation page through CrowdRise, or you can simply send a personal check or money order to the Gaza Mental Health Foundation, PO Box 380273, Cambridge, MA 02238, attention Hilary Rantisi. Check donations should specify GCMHP as the recipient in the "note" line.   The CrowdRise method does involve transaction/credit card fees amounting to $4.25 on a $50 donation, so if you would prefer that all of your donation benefit children and parents in Gaza, the check option may be desirable. All donations are tax-deductible by either method.

My objective is to run the entire marathon in 3 hours 10 minutes, an average speed of about 8.2 mph. My speed for any individual mile, however, will obviously vary according to the terrain and how late it is in the race, so there is some strategy involved in the choice of which mile to sponsor. For folks who like to play the horses, you can read a description of the marathon course here.

To follow the progress of my training between now and October 26, see daily updates to this blog here. Those who would like to request an annual report or other financial information from the Gaza Mental Health Foundation should write directly to Ms. Rantisi (hilary_rantisi[at]hks.harvard.edu).