Like every other kid, I always dreamed about being a pro athlete. Even long after I realized it wasn't realistic, I still didn't totally give up on those dreams, or at least dream I'd do something great. I just always had the feeling I would. Who knows how everything will play out, but I came up with my big idea this morning.
Last year, I wondered why I had to have Crohn's Disease and why I had to suffer. I knew there must be a reason why I was put in this position. Even while I was sick, I felt like I wanted to do something to help Crohn's suffers. Naturally, the best place to do that would be through my running.
I sort of got the idea a week or so ago, but it all came together this morning. I attend the Indy 500 every year. My plan is to run 500 miles to Indy right before the race to try to raise money for Crohn's research. I actually live over 600 miles away, so I'm not sure where I'd start or things like that. I'm also not anywhere near in the condition to pull it off at this point.
We camp there every year anyways, so we could just start out a couple weeks early and my dad could be my crew. The big thing would be getting it out there. Hopefully, I could get the speedway, Indy Cars and some of the Indianapolis media involved. I live in the Andretti's hometown and if I could get them to put some money into it, that would be a big help. I also thought that I'd plan it the year before I actually run it. That way, I could go around the campground and track the Saturday before the race and start making people aware of my goal for the following year. It could end up big if I can get those key parties involved.
I got the idea from a ultrarunner who suffers from Crohn's and ran across the country last year to raise money. I don't have any desire to run that far, but 500 miles is the race distance so that would be a perfect amount for me to run. I'm also not looking to set any records, so the amount of running per day isn't too important, although I probably wouldn't be able to get too much time off.
Anyway, I did actually run today. I went to Hickory Run State Park in the Poconos. I saw they had a trail race there this year and decided to follow the route. Early on, the course was a bit tricky. There were a lot of roots on the trail and many of them were covered by fallen leaves. It wasn't too rocky though, so that was a big plus.
The early part was downhill and I was supposed to be doing a tempo run today, so I opened it up after the first mile. The roots were gone, the trail was wide and fast. I blazed an 8:39 pace for that second mile. I then changed direction and onto the Pine Tree Hill Trail. I guess I should've been prepared for the correctly named trail, but I wasn't. It was uphill for almost the next two miles. At first, it wasn't too bad. It was a grassy path and gradually uphill. After the third mile of the run, it seemed to keep going up and up. The faster pace earlier had destroyed me and eventually I had to walk. I walked for about a quarter mile until the course leveled off some.
I was going to stop at 4 miles, but since I walked some, I decided to keep going. I was trying to get to the next trail turn. Finally, I gave up after 4.6 miles. I still had to walk about .2 miles to the next turn. I'm glad I didn't run the final mile of the trail. It was narrow with brush all along. Even walking it, I was hitting the bushes. That wouldn't be a big deal, but I'm really worried about ticks and Lyme Disease. It ended up being about a two mile hike back to the car (because I wasn't too close to the trail either).
I would've liked to swim after the run, but it was just too cold. It actually felt like fall, especially with the breeze in the woods. Definitely not the type of weather you'd expect at the end of August. I did get a hoagie at the beach snack stand.
I then drove to see the Boulder Field. This is a big wide open space with lots of huge rocks in it. It is quite an odd area. I took some pictures and almost fell at one point. Maybe I shouldn't complain about rocky trails anymore. Running there would be a good way to train for those trails, although it would be nearly impossible.
Even though the hill beat me up, it was a great run. I'll definitely be back and I'll explore some more of the trails as well as that one. We'll likely camp there someday too. It was a productive day with my idea as well.
4.6 miles - 47:16 (10:17 pace)
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