Completed Wicked Half Marathon!

I completed the Wicked Half Marathon in Salem, MA on Saturday (9/22).  I ran it in 1:36:33.  I placed 88th out of 813 runners, and 29th in my age group!  Considering I planned to finish the race in 1:42:00, I'm pretty satisfied with the results.

Thank you once again for supporting my training and racing to benefit the North Shore Medical Center's Cancer Center.  So far I have raised $1,232.40.  While my goal is $2000, I still raised more than last year.  For that I am thankful. 

Now I have more race...the big one!  The Bay State Marathon is on October 21st. 

You can still sponsor me by making an online donation at the link below until October 1st.  After that you can mail in a check to address is below!

Donate here:
http://nsmcgiving.partners.org/nealgrasso

or, mail a check here:

North Shore Cancer WALK/RUN
Development O ce
81 Highland Avenue
Salem, MA 01970

Thanks again!  Wish me luck next month!

A Runner's Prayer

The following was the opening prayer at church a few weeks ago.

Divine Physician, healer of bodies and souls, stretch out your hand and touch us.  Recreate us in your own image, and restore us in Christ, so that we may run the race and receive the prize of everlasting life.

While I realize this prayer has a deeper meaning than running, I couldn't help but adopt this payer as my own running prayer.  The way I look at it I'm doing more than just running.  My prize is not simply a metal, or a personal best time.  My prize is not my own, it's the families that will benefit from my efforts.  The ultimate prize is everlasting life.  I'd give up some of that everlasting life if I could help someone else live a little longer, and a little more comfortably in this life.  It's the least I can do.

What are you doing?  Get out and run!  Do something incredible!

Taking Stock

As of today, September 7th, and since June 1st, I have done the following:

• Run: 264.53 miles
• Bike: 198.03 miles
• Swim: 6.19 miles

This adds up to a total of 468.75 miles and 65.36 hours of training.

Not bad!  Kind of puts this entire effort into perspective.  It will be interesting what this all adds up to once I run the final race on October 21st.  Now, this is still small potatoes compared to what professional athletes do, but it's pretty good for an amateur runner, father of two, with a 40 hour plus/week job.

This is where the training = sacrifice.  It's more than just the three races (which add up to 42.44 miles). It's the whole training program. 

So, if you are thinking about donating, but have not, consider these numbers.  If you have donated, and you want to donate more, consider what all this training is worth, and the ultimate cause...helping families who are struggling to care for a loved one with cancer.  I am training for these families, as well as for those I know personally, who are or have struggled with cancer.  Keep that in mind.  I know I do!

Happy running!

Hard is good

A difficult challenge is hard.  Overcoming a difficult challenge feels good.  Therefore, hard = good.  I can lay it out like a math problem.  If, C = Challenge, H = Hard, and G = Good, then:

C = H

C = G

so

H = G

It's that simple.  I've done some hard workouts lately.  20 miles on Saturday.  A 10 mile bike ride on Monday.  Almost 6 miles yesterday, which involved running 1200 meters (3/4 of a mile) at a sprint pace, four times in a row, with little rest in between.  Finally, a 16 mile bike ride today.  All where hard.  All were good! 

The running was harder than the biking.  But, despite the difficulty, when I was done, I felt great.  I kept telling myself that hard is good.  I kept telling myself 'if others, who face more adversity than I do, could do greater things, I surely can do this'.  It's all about perspective. 

Running 26.2 miles is hard, for sure, but there are those in life who have done much harder things.  I can start listing them here, but this entry would not end if I did.  Suffice to say, if you were to take 5 minutes and think about what could be harder than running 26.2 miles, you wouldn't be finished when your time was up.  I think about this every time I head out for a run, or hit the gym.  You should too next time you face a challenge.  It may be hard, but hard is good!

Running and Overcoming Adversity

Running can teach you ways to overcome adversity.  In fact, I just finished a book by ultra marathon runner Scott Jurek, entitled Eat and Run (a great book, which I highly recommend).  In his book Scott described a four step method he uses for dealing with issues, such as injuries, that come up during training or a race.  This method could be applied to any aspect of life, so I thought I would share it here.

The four steps are:

1. acknowledge how you feel;
2. take stock of your situation; 
3. think about how to remedy the situation; and 
4. separate negative thoughts from reality. 

Seems pretty straight forward.  Lets look more closely.

Acknowledge How You Feel
Are you angry, sad, disappointed?  Is there pain?  Is it unbearable?  It's OK to express how you feel and accept it, no matter how strong or weak the emotion.  The important thing is to recognize your feelings and comprehend them.

Take Stock of Your Situation
Objectively evaluate your situation.  List the positive and negative aspects of your situation.  Assess what you have at your disposal to continue on and reach your intended goal.  This is your opportunity to list the who, what, when, where of your situation.

Think About How to Remedy the Situation
Now that you have acknowledged your feelings, and you have objectively evaluated the facts, you can figure out what to do next.  How are you going to reach your goal?  What is your game plan?  How do you implement that game plan?  This is where strategy comes into play.  The better your strategy the more likely you will achieve your goal.

Separate Negative Thoughts from Reality
A game plan is only 1/3 of the solution.  The other 2/3s are implementation and positive attitude.  Implementation is easy.  You have a plan, now do it.  However, if you have any doubts, you may not be able to effectively implement your plan.  So, you need to eliminate your doubts and move forward with out any hesitation.  If you have effectively done steps 1 through 3, you can tell yourself that the reality is that you have a plan, your are ready to go, and you know you can do it.  Keep those negative thoughts out of your head, maintain a positive attitude, and you are more likely to succeed. 

Running can be so much fun!  Life is like a good long run.  You should enjoy every minute of it...the beauty, the challenge, and the success!  Run happy, and have fun!

Its been a while...

So, it's been a while since I posted.  I've been a little busy, but that's OK.  Allow me to recap:

• 8/15 - Went to Wisconsin for business and ran 5 miles along Lake Superiror.  What a spectacular run!  The mist off the lake first thing in the morning was absolutely stunning.
• 8/17 - Ran 8 miles at a very strong pace.  I was very pleased with my speed and will continue working on that.  I think I may have a decent time in the marathon.  I guess the training is paying off.
• 8/19 - Ran 12 miles like it was nothing.  It felt really good, and once again I ran at a very good pace.

This week, I'm gearing up to run 17 miles on Sunday.  So far so good!


On another note, I've been reading a new book.  Terry Fox, His Story.  Terry Fox was a young athlete in Canada who was diagnosed with bone cancer and lost his leg at mid thigh.  With a prosthetic leg he ran across Canada in 1980 to raise money for cancer research.  He called it the Marathon of Hope.  His path was to run over 5300 miles from St. Johns, Newfoundland to the Pacific coast.  He made it to Thunder Bay, Ontario (3339 miles) before he had to stop for health reasons.  Terry died in 1981 due to complications from cancer.  Since 1981, the Annual Terry Fox Run has taken place across Canada to raise money for cancer research.

The book contains excerpts from Terry's personal diary.  On April 26th 1980 he wrote "I want to set an example that will never be forgotten.  It is courage and not foolishness.  It isn't a waste."

Terry's selfless, relentless, running is more inspiring than you can possibly imagine.  If he can run 3339 miles, in tremendous pain, I'll be fine.  Besides, it's a selfless act that I am performing for others.  It isn't a waste.

Be inspired!  Run and have fun!  Run for someone else!  It isn't a waste!

20 miles!

I just ran 20 miles.  Wow. I feel ... tired.  But not too tired to continue on.  My workouts have been great lately.  I ran 7 miles on Thursday like it was nothing.  I ran 16 miles, all on trails, while in New Hampshire last weekend.  It was spectacular!  Best of all, I am still receiving donations.  Every donation goes a long way, and helps keep me motivated.

While I was running today I had my I-pod on shuffle.  A John Denver song came on that I think sums up the long distance running experience quite well.

Sometimes I fly like an eagle
And sometimes I'm deep in despair

The despair comes when you are very tired, and every muscle aches.  But the flying happens when you are just cruising along and everything is going your way!  Most of the time I'm flying.  When the despair comes, I just think about flying. 

Check out the entire song by John Denver, Looking for Space.  It's a beautiful song!

Run happy!