Michael & Liz are Bloggable

"This is the first time I have ever seen you not able to put a book down." -Liz

I've never really cared for books. I am a very slow reader and wretched at reading comprehension. Often times I'll say things like "Yeah, I read about that, I can't recall the exact information, but it was about this topic" ... good story loser. But this book kept my attention.

While in Seattle and browsing around the race expo we came upon a guy in a booth. His name is Dane Rauschenberg and he was promoting his book (which is the title of this blog post). In 2006 he decided to run an official marathon every single weekend of the year. He traveled all around the U.S. running races. On the weekend before Christmas, when no races anywhere were scheduled, he even organized his own sanctioned marathon with 21 other official runners in order to maintain his streak. He successfully finished the 52 marathon challenge and averaged a pace of 3:20 no less.

This story, this challenge, just absolutely intrigued me. It actually made me jealous for 3 reasons. I love setting sweet challenges like this that are difficult, I'd love to have the means to actually attempt to achieve goals of that caliber, and I want to stand up and conquer challenges that difficult. So as I was standing there listening to him, I got out some money and went up and talked to him. I told him about my Man vs. Machine challenge from last August and told me about his next big challenge. He is going to run from Titusville, PA to Titusville, FL. OK, I definitely wasn't jealous of that.

He signed a book and off I went. I didn't start reading it until we got back to Cincinnati, but I met Dane one more time. Dead tired and walking like a zombie, I made my way through the mile 24 out and back part of the marathon. All of a sudden, from a person passing me on the way back, I heard "Happy Birthday Mike! 2 more miles and you'll feel better!". I turned because it was a different birthday wish than I had before, and it was Dane running by. He had remembered my name. I don't think he was an official runner that weekend because I can't find his information in the race results, so I'm guessing he was just motivating a friend. And of course, he didn't look tired.

I finished the book in about 6 days between Cincinnati and home. I couldn't stop reading it. Dane writes like he's talking to you and uses humor well in the book, so it was a really easy read. He went through how he became a runner, his struggles in getting faster, and then went into detail about all 52 races. It was interesting to hear his opinion of different races, especially ones that I've run before like the Marine Corp Marathon and the Hatfield & McCoy Marathon (I did the half).

There are a few things I learned from his experiences though:

•  I can't run a marathon every 6 months and expect improvement. Sure marathons are hard, but if I want improvement, I need to run more of them. 
• Smaller races seem better than bigger races. Sure bigger races have better expo's and "swag". But in smaller races you'll feel more competitive, less crowded, and more likely to place in your age group.
• Running the same race over and over again is silly. Going to different races, different states, different climates is a great way to grow as a runner.
• Being a member of the "50 States Marathon Club" is something I aspire to do.
• Some of the more popular races are not all they are cracked up to be.

So I realize this book will not be for everyone. If you don't run, you probably won't enjoy it as much as I did. If you are a runner, it will certainly make you laugh and keep you interested. Although halfway through you start getting immune to how awesome he is. Week after week he is smoking these races running faster than I ever have before, but I kept catching myself thinking "Wow, just a 3:26? That was slow." But it wasn't just his times that were awesome, it was clear that he's a great person as well. This whole "stunt" was done for the sake of charity which he ended up raising $44K throughout the year. You can read more about it in his book if you like.

To say his book motivates me is an understatement. Right now I'm in a transition period trying to get my weight down before I start running more marathons again, but I'm hoping to start running races around October or November again. I have a few in mind that I'd like to race.

I do have the Blue Ridge Relay to run again in September, but that has been planned forever and I'm definitely running that no matter what. I have a blog post coming soon about that race too!!

For any local runner friends, let me know if you'd like to borrow it.