Archive for: St Jude

Halfway There! Help Support St. Jude Children’s Hospital

Posted by Jim on March 13, 2012

St. Jude Children's Research HospitalLast night, because of the support of a couple friends, I reached and exceeded the halfway mark in my goal to raise $500 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  I decided early in my training that I wanted to do more than just finish the marathon.  The Nashville Marathon had already partnered with St. Jude, so raising money for their research hospital seemed like a great idea.  I was even more excited to help when I learned that St. Jude never charges the family for medical services not covered by insurance.  And the hospital’s research on children’s catastrophic diseases has helped save the lives of thousands of children.

If you’d like to help St. Jude and help me reach my goal, visit http://bit.ly/jimsrun and click the donate button in the top right corner.  And thank you for doing your part!

[PhotoCredit:Ginny]

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My 250th Training Mile

Posted by Jim on February 26, 2012

Tennessee RiverwalkThat 251.8 miles, to be exact.  That’s how far I’ve run since starting my training on October 10th of last year.  That’s 15.1 miles a week, even with the lengthy break I took due to illness.  Total running time, 54 hours and 57 minutes.

I just got back from my longest run to date while training for the Country Music Marathon taking place on April 28th in Nashville, Tennessee.  I ran the full length of the Tennessee Riverwalk in Chattanooga and then back to my truck by the Chickamauga Dam.  That’s 15 miles total.  It was the perfect weather, a little cool (54 degrees) and sunny.

I started a little fast, about 2 minutes faster than my final average of 13:20 per mile.  My knees felt fine for the first seven miles, but started to hurt a bit after that.  The only time the pain really bothered me was about the 11 mile mark, but I just focused on the book I was listening to and kept on running.  Soon I didn’t really notice the pain.  The final couple of miles were a very slow jog, but I was thrilled to have finished this long run without too much trouble.  I feel good about finishing the marathon.

I want to remind anyone reading my blog that my goal to finish a marathon is only one of the reasons I am running; the other is to raise money for St Jude Hospital in Memphis.  St Jude is the only pediatric cancer research hospital in the nation where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance.  And their research continues to improve the chances of these children to live a healthy, cancer free life.  I hope that you will help me in supporting St Jude by making whatever donation you can afford.  Just visit http://bit.ly/jimsrun to sponsor my run and support St Jude Hospital.

(Photo Credit: fdtate)

Categories St Jude, Training
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Why I Run

Posted by Jim on November 7, 2011

I finished my four mile run today and decided that I didn’t want to share with you the specifics about my run.  Instead I wanted to tell you why I run.

I want to share a video with you that tells the story about why I started training to run the Nashville Marathon next April.  Most of my life I have worked and acted to provide for myself and my family.  My focus was keeping my children, my wife and I healthy, well-fed and comfortable.  But now I’m at the point in my life that I realize there are so many others who need our support and assistance.  For “Big Ben” in this video, he needs our help just to survive.

To hear a father say “Ben’s dying” when speaking of his son breaks my heart.  I watched this video of Ben struggling to fight a relentless illness and his family trying to cope with the impending loss of their son.  St. Jude Children’s Hospital was there to do all they could for Ben and his family.  They fought the disease along side Ben, they educated and consoled the parents, and in the end, they used the knowledge they gained from Ben’s experience to try and help others like him.  All of this is at NO COST to the family.

Please watch this video and consider joining me in supporting St. Jude Children’s Hospital.  You can donate directly about part of my fundraising run by visiting http://bit.ly/jimsrun/.

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Training Run: November 6, 2011

Posted by Jim on November 6, 2011

I ran 5 laps on a 1K loop for a total of 3.1 miles.  Finished in 39 minutes.  Legs were a little tight, but my recovery heart rate was better than any of my past runs (27 BPM after 1 minute).  I think I just needed a day off (didn’t run yesterday).  I am now running 5 days a week.  I’m not running more than 3 days in a row, nor am I running the day after a speed workout or race.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am running my first race this weekend.  It is a 5K in downtown Chattanooga.  I am not concerned with my time.  I just want to do a speed workout every couple weeks.  The race will sub as my speed workout.

I think I’m going to start posting more information about St Jude Children’s Hospital, the charity I am supporting with my marathon run.  They are an amazing organization.  I really hope I can raise a decent amount of money to help them care for children with catastrophic diseases.  So watch for more information, stories and videos from this wonderful research and treatment hospital on my blog.  Oh, and thanks for dropping.  Leave me a note in the comments and let me know you were hear.

Categories St Jude, Training
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Welcome to Jim’s Run

Posted by Jim on October 29, 2011

Hello World!  I’m starting this blog to document my effort to run the Nashville Country Music Marathon on April 28, 2012 AND to raise $500 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  The blog is a part of my motivation to complete this race.  Every few days, I will update the blog with how my training is going, information about the race and running a marathon, and stories that tell about the amazing work being done at the St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

I hope that you will join me in this journey.  Here’s how you can help:

  • Drop by regularly to see how my training is progressing.
  • Leave comments to encourage me in this journey.
  • Make a donation in support of my run and the St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
  • Tell others about this blog.

Thanks for dropping by!

Jim

Categories St Jude, Training
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