I'm Selling Out (for charity)

It hit me about 20 miles into my last run.  I reminded myself, yet again, about how wonderful an organization the Fisher House Foundation is, how incredible their ability to channel money directly to veterans and their families, and how amazing their results and impact has been to those people.  While we have raised a tremendous amount of money for this great foundation, there is, as in running, always room for improvement.  Therefore, I decided that in the process of training and running the Western States, I would flaunt myself before the thrones of some of the greatest running support companies and local business around Fairbanks and wherever else, and offer to stamp their names on a half-crazed man running through the mountains of California for approximately 24 hours this Summer.

Although the term "sell-out" may still be apt, I think that the motivation for such an action, i.e. raising money in support of temporary lodging for military families while their loved ones receive critical medical care and treatment, negates any derogatory-esqe demeanor from the term.  Instead, I would proudly boast of my selling out for a good cause.

Therefore, I have sent out the following letter to numerous companies (or, rather, their public relations departments and "contact us" addresses) in hopes that they will take me up on my offer to bear the name and logo of their company, in exchange for a (rightful) donation to the Fisher House Foundation.  No money to myself, mind you, but I cannot say that I will turn away any "trial products" to test in my training or during the run (also, I'm pretty sure that a convertible can be scientifically-proven to increase running endurance when used to drive to and from races... just saying, I'm willing to test this theory if anyone has the car to use...).

Think about this, though: companies spend millions on advertisements during the Super Bowl for only a 30-second spot.  With advertisements via myself, the add would be waved across my back (or front) during hours upon hours of training runs, and the actual race.  This becomes literally "pennies on the dollar" (whatever that means) or, in Carius-speak "cheapness-per-hour".  But don't just take my word for it, let's consult these scientific graphs and charts:

Here is the letter I have started sending out:

Technically, due to the overwhelming support I have received from the doctors at Norwalk Hospital, I will offer to place their logo (or at least that for the Emergency Department) on the shirt, if they so choose (up to them, and "the administration" I guess).



So, in addition to the aforementioned-unmentionable companies (until they agree to let me use their names), if anyone has any businesses that could use a solid back (or front, if I get enough) of a human billboard and a solid reference on multiple social networking sites, I would gladly entertain offers.  They can e-mail me directly at brandon.carius@gmail.com for further information.

PLEASE DONATE TO THE FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION TODAY!

Training Week T-7

 First, a big shout out to another fine donor who has made a great contribution to the Fisher House Foundation:

Maura Carius - my Mom and an original supporter of my running craziness

Monday - 1:31
Tuesday - Off
Wednesday - 2:04
Thursday - 1:11
Friday - 4:31
Saturday - 55 minutes... followed by a fun 3.5 mile footmarch for the Fairbanks military parade.
Sunday - 1:31

Total time - 11:43 Total distance - 82-87 miles (85-90 counting the parade haha)... not too shabby on 6 days of training.

This week would have been almost at the 100 mile mark if it had not been for taking Tuesday off.  In return, however, I have been focusing more on the main hills.  My longer runs are primarily centered on Birch Hill, and, yet another new hill.

This upcoming week will be challenging to get mileage in prior to my long run on Friday.  Tomorrow will be the Brigade run (read: slow run), which will take about 2 hours to go a total of 3 miles.... mandatory fun, or for fans of "The Office", "funtivities".  Thursday I have been volunteered to participate in the organizational day via a 1.5-2 mile Tough Mudder-esqe run, which will, of course, be perfect for my 5 hours of going up and down Birch Hill repeatedly on Friday.  Loving it.

Ester Dome will be another "playground" in my route arsenal that hopefully will help increase my readiness for hitting the hills on the Western States course next month.  I will try to post pictures soon.


Please Donate to the Fisher House Foundation Here!

Cracks in the foundation.

Just wanted to share with everyone a small but nonetheless painful challenge I have been dealing with.  For some reason, the massive callous that has always been on the bottom of my foot for years has morphed into something that has several large cracks the penetrate deep into my foot.  Can everyone say "yay"?

 If these cracks were any bigger... they would still hurt and annoy me when I ran.

This just brings up what most runners, especially those who have had foot injuries, already know: how brilliant the design of the foot is, and how strong, yet sometimes vulnerable, it can be.  For big guys like myself (210 lbs.), this fact is all the more real, as we are the tractor-trailers of long distance running.  For more normal "lightweights", it's a lot better.  But overall, it is not hard, if you think about it, to seriously appreciate how perfect the structure of the foot is, and how it can transfer the incredible power of steps, either jumping, walking, or running, into such a small area.  Between the calcaneous, navicular, cuboid, and metatarsals, the human foot is built like the arch of a stone bridge, perfectly fitted to sustain structure and form under tremendous pressure.  After long runs, the soreness that comes with finally resting feet is a testament to the beating they take.

But, returning to my major issue, I have been trying with moisturizers and lotion to heal these cracks.  I've also been soaking my feet in hot water and salt baths to try to get them to heal.  My feet are generally compared to that of a hobbit's: tough and durable.  Therefore, this issue baffles me a bit.  It is not painful to the point of stopping, but I don't need to repeat that I have never hit the 100-mile mark before, so I am not sure if it will affect me too much or not.  If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Training Week T-8

As always, I first have to give special thanks for the most recent donations that have been made:

- Mark Patton - jump school buddy

Thanks to everyone for keeping up the support and interest, both in the race and in the terrific Fisher House Foundation!

It has certainly been good to run outdoors in fresh air again, unlike the dusty and polluted Afghanistan, however, the cold has certainly been a drag.  I am almost strictly a t-shirt and shorts type of runner, no long sleeves or sweatshirts for me, so running in cold weather is difficult at times.  Now, given the predominance of sub-zero temperatures in Fairbanks winters (temperatures are usually around -20 or below in the morning), I cannot adhere to that, but I am all the more compelled to run in shorts in the summer and spring months.  This especially came into play last Thursday, when I did not fully appreciate the cold as I went on my run.  After about 15 minutes, I realized how bad the 18-degree cold was for a guy in short sleeves, but I tried to be hard-headed about it.  I lasted for about 40 minutes, then had to turn in and completed the final bit on the treadmill.  it took about 15-20 minutes for my hands to regain full feeling and function.  Hooray.

This past week my training breakdown has been as follows:

Monday  - 1:31
Tuesday - 1:33
Wednesday - 2:00
Thursday - 1:21
Friday - 1:15
Saturday - 4:05
Sunday - 1:04

For Saturday's training run, I ran approximately 3:31 on my own, then finished it off by running a local 5k with Erin and pushing Jackson in his racing stroller (in all fairness, Erin pushed for over half the way!).

Awesome running partners.

Total time for the week: 12 hours, 49 minutes.... which probably brought me right around 90-95 miles for the week!  Not too shabby in my mind.

Currently, I am taking today off to rest up a little bit after over 2 weeks of going hard.  Tomorrow will be another solid day of about 2 hours or so, and I am going to have to bump up my long run to Friday instead of Saturday because of a parade that I will have to march in.  Getting excited, and very anxious, for race day to get here!

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THE FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION