We are now less than 10 weeks away from the Boston Marathon and I am confident we will reach our fundraising goal. Two weeks ago I sat down for an interview with Ashleigh Livingston, a journalist for the Press-Republican who covers the education beat. She had received a tip from an anonymous source at SUNY Plattsburgh that I would be running the Boston Marathon in an effort to raise awareness about ALS and money for research.

Ashleigh and I first met at the Koffee Kat in downtown Plattsburgh to discuss the fundraiser, where I shared information about my training, the fundraising efforts, and some information about ALS. I told her how excited I was to combine two of my passions, running and helping others, by running a marathon to raise money and awareness for ALS. When asked how I became involved in the fundraiser, I told Ashleigh about my good friend Alison Rosenbaum and her parents Roger and Darlene who had founded an organization (ALS Raising Hope) to support ALS research. We soon found ourselves at Roger and Darlene's house where the story took on a new depth. Ashleigh did a wonderful job with the story, capturing the sentiment that we were trying to express. You can read the story online at:

http://pressrepublican.com/0100_news/x991869215/Marathon-effort

My training has been going well. Since the early trouble with my hip I have increased my time working on core strength and have been stretching religiously before and after every run. Although my hip has not completely healed, it has become nothing more than an annoyance. Last weekend I did 75 minute long run at 8 minute per mile pace followed by a 40 minute swim in the pool for a total of 1 hour and 55 minutes of cardio. My resting heart rate has dropped to 42 beats per minute and I find it difficult during runs to elevate my heart rate above 140 beats per minute unless I increase my pace to 7 minute pace. All these signs point to a substantial improvement in my cardiovascular fitness. I am going to continue with my base training and begin to include some race pace tempo runs over the next month to prepare for the race.

A hitch in the hip...

http://www.crowdrise.com/2012UMassALSChampions/fundraiser/joshuajabaut

My first couple of weeks of training got off to a great start. I did a 30 mile, followed by a 40 mile week. I was feeling a little tired, but very excited about the fundraiser and the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon so I pushed through.

I'm sure many veteran runners can predict what happened next; an injury. On an easy 4 mile run my hip got progressively tighter and more painful. I have had episodes of IT band tendinitis in the past, and this seemed to fit the bill. I took a week off from running to let my hip heal, but it did not subside.

I was born to a family of stubborn men, and I am no exception. A hitch in the hip is no reason to stop training. I tried an easy 15 minute run and my hip did not seem to get better or worse, so I decided to just continue to run short runs until the pain resolved. It is now nearly two weeks since my hip started to hurt and it has gotten much better.

At this point, I would say that it has healed to nearly 90%, but I will push forward cautiously at this point, because I cannot afford another setback in my training. To supplement my running, I have taken to the pool, swimming three days a week for 30 minutes at a time. This brings my weekly cardiovascular training to a total of 5 hours, with an hour of cardiovascular training three days a week. I will continue to progressively increase my runs and swims by 5 minutes per training session each week until I reach 10 hours of cardiovascular training each week.

The fundraising has begun and the link is posted above. We are off to a fantastic start, with a wonderful anonymous donation of $500 and many other generous donations, we have already approached the $1,000 mark. Our goal is set at $7,500 and I am certain that with the support of my friends and family, that we will surpass this mark.

In other good news, I was accepted the University of Vermont College of Medicine class of 2016 and am in discussions with the Associate Dean to pursue an MD/PhD degree that will allow me to pursue my dream of becoming a medical researcher.

Until next post, I encourage you to do one unwarranted act of kindness. Both you and the recipient will feel wonderful for it.