Boston 13.1 – Just Do It

Step Two – A Different Kind of Training Schedule »

Boston 13.1 – Just Do It

August 9, 2012 by luau

Boston 13.1 is a little over 5 weeks away. Team Up with Autism Speaks has 270 runners/walkers running/walking themselves into race day shape. Are you one of them? If so, I applaud you. Thank you for taking your time and energy and devoting it to something that is so close to my heart.

But if the answer is no? Well, why the heck not???

If one of the reasons is that you aren’t in shape and can’t handle 13.1 miles, I am begging you to reconsider.

13.1 miles is a daunting distance. Calling it a half-marathon makes it sound even scarier, but I want to tell you something.

Finishing 13.1 miles has more to do with what’s between your ears than what’s in your muscles. You may think that you are physically unable to cover 13.1 miles, but I will tell you that in most cases you are wrong. And remember, this is a running and WALKING half-marathon. They welcome and accommodate walkers!

If you can walk and are in mildly good health, YOU can cover 13.1 miles. The marathon? That’s a different story. 26.2 miles will physically take you to empty before the finish line if you are not careful, but at half that distance, it’s more about overcoming the mental hurdle of that word – half-marathon.

For almost all of us, the point of the race is not to finish first. There are only a handful of people who can truly claim that goal. No, the point of the race for you and me is to have the best time we can and finish – it doesn’t matter if you get there by running or walking or some combination of the two.

The best time – that can mean many things to many people and does not necessarily mean “clock time”. The best time I ever had during a marathon was at last year’s New York City Marathon. I finished in my worst time ever, just over 4 hours, but I had the BEST time ever as you can see —>HERE<—.

Do you have the mental strength? I know you have the physical ability; and I’m pretty sure you have the mental fortitude.

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Whether you are a novice runner, an avid marathoner, or a power couch potato – I want you. I need you. My daughter Brooke needs you. My family needs you. The entire Autism Community needs you. You can read my pitch to you from back in March —>HERE<—.

2012 Team Up! with Autism Speaks benefits include, but are not limited to:

Race Entry (which means you don’t need to worry about the $65 – $100 entry fee)
Team Up! with Autism Speaks Runners Tank or Long Sleeve, and an Autism Speaks dri-fit hat
Pre-Race private team dinner for you and a guest, location TBA
Customized fundraising page
Team Up! Facebook Page
Virtual Coaching by a certified running Coach Chris Fales
Fundraising Tips and Opportunities
Dedicated Autism Speaks staff
Race Day Cheering Section at Mile TBA
Race Day Team Up! Tent for pre and post race usage
Team Handbook- In a PDF form and downloadable for reference at anytime.

You get all those things, plus (if you’re local) Sunday training runs with me, and double-plus I’m bringing Jess from Diary of a Mom along to the Team Dinner (she’s the real attraction and is gonna be walking the 13.1)!

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September 16th is a little over 5 weeks away. Even if you can’t train regularly between now and then, you CAN sign up to walk the distance and support a wonderful organization – an organization that is making an effort to approach this autism thing from so many different angles, both scientifically and socially. Are they perfect? No way. Do they have faults? Sure. But who among us, both as individuals and as organizations can claim perfection? No one. Autism Speaks is working hard to make the world a better place for autistic people young and old.

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So now we’re left with the fund raising issue.

$500.

Though small compared to some charity race entries, $500 is still a lot of money. The good news is that you still have 37 days left to do it. That’s less than $95 a week, less than $14 a day. Raising the funds may be challenging, but with a little creativity (did you see my blue hair for New York? Money raiser!!!), it can be done with room to spare.

So please, PLEASE consider joining the team. We need 130 more runners to fill the 400 slots we promised. If you can’t do it, you might know someone who might know a guy whose brother has a girlfriend whose uncle has a co-worker whose son’s best friend has a sister that is trying to figure out how she could run a half-marathon in Boston in September while raising money for Autism Speaks – please pass this post along. The more people that see this, the more likely we will find runners who want to join us but just didn’t know it yet.

If you are from out of town, Boston is beautiful in the Fall and you can use the race as a springboard to doing a little touring of New England. Football season will be just starting – you could run/walk the race in the morning and then watch the Pats destroy the Cardinals in the afternoon at Gillette or you could come into town earlier in the week and catch a Red Sox-Yankees game at Fenway – shoot! I’ll come out and have a drink with you beforehand! Any way you slice it, the trip would be fun and for a good cause.

I hope to see you on the 15th at the team dinner and then on the 16th on the course. I’ll be bringing my camera along so who knows, maybe you’ll end up here on the blog or on the Run Luau Run Youtube Channel!

Join the Team —>– HERE –<—.