What’s another 3.1 miles when you’ve just finished a marathon. Join Team JFK for our second year of participation in this great event. It starts and ends at Southborough’s Town Hall. Strollers, pets, and iPods welcome – a terrific family event with plenty of music and food at the finish.

Mike and I completed one of our last two long runs on Saturday. Every time I think the conditions couldn’t get worse, they do. I was thankful for missing the pouring rain last week, but compared to Saturday that didn’t seem so bad. For me there were a couple other factors that made this run particularly difficult. First, I missed two long runs in a row, so the fitness level just isn’t where it should be at this point. Second, my calf is still bothering me. The good news is I’m used to the pain and it really isn’t that bad if I can run 18 miles on it.

We started around 6:30am in a steady cold rain and total darkness. The route was two laps just over 9 miles each on the roads between our houses in Hopkinton and Holliston. After about an hour it started snowing. Not fluffy dry snow, but wet driving snow. It was the type of snow and wind where you have to run with your head bent forward in order to see. As we neared the start, Mike asked if I was in for another lap. Clearly he wasn’t suffering as much as I was, but I had to keep going. Only six weeks until marathon day.

I actually felt relatively good around mile 13 when Mike mentioned that if we were doing the New Bedford half-marathon (which was happening the same day) we’d be done by now. About a mile later I wished I was done. But the purpose of the long runs is as much mental conditioning as it is physical. I have always trained alone so doing long runs with Mike and the team is a tremendous help. Three days later I don’t remember much about the last four miles other than I finished. It was cold. I was drenched and tired. We passed a dead opossum (for the second time). We’ve always jokingly called this type of run a “character builder.” I’m hoping the 21-miler in two weeks has a little less character.

Seven team members braved the elements on what had to be one of the toughest days weather-wise of the year. They started in Hopkinton and ran the marathon route, some going up to 20 miles. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) because of my calf injury, I wasn’t with them. Although for the first time ever I did get to see what it’s like to work a water station. Mike, who also missed the run because of a schedule conflict, set up the tent he bought for Patriots tail-gaiting and I’m beginning to think that’s the best investment he’s ever made. We were just past the mile 15 mark for a little over an hour and it poured the entire time. I don’t mind cold, snow, wind, or even rain if it’s above 45 degrees. Running 18 miles in 30-degree driving wind and rain is the worst. Hat’s off to the folks who ran, all of whom looked fantastic when they reached us despite being drenched and cold.

Last weekend the Brothers Keohane training schedule called for an 18 mile run. Rob injured his leg running 2 days before. Did that stop him? Nope. Rather than skip a day of training, he decided to ride his bike instead (using different muscles, or so I’m told!). So… off he went.

2.5 hours later when Rob was still gone I was not panicked, but concerned. Did I mention we had a snowstorm the day before? …Finally he called. He had ‘bonked’, but was not hurt. He forgot money for food but remembered his cell phone. So… off we went (the kids and I), to recover him. I tried to leave the kids home to play with their cousins Andrew and Brooke, but they insisted on ‘going to get Daddy.’ Go team!

I talk to the kids about the marathon because I want them to feel included. I also want them to understand, on whatever level they are able, about John and autism and other children with special needs. As you can imagine this generates many questions and comments.

While driving to find Rob (a game of I Spy Daddy), Liam (4 years old) commented “Daddy is running for the people at the hospital.” I explained that he is running to help John’s school. The school where they are helping John ‘find his words’. Liam’s response was “I wonder what John’s words will sound like?” Hmm, I wonder that myself and can’t wait for the day we all hear them. How cool will it be when Liam does hear John’s words, and knows his Dad helped!? And feels that he helped his Dad?!

 I use Intuit QuickBase to track my workouts which is not surprising since I am a designer on the QuickBase team. Still there are plenty of options out there. Active.com, Nike, and even MapMyRun.com all include applications that allow folks to input workout data and view reports. The best part about QuickBase is that I can customize it however I want. With the other services you have to work with whatever their product development team produces.

QuickBase enables me to add or remove application functionality as my needs change. For example, I noticed MapMyRun’s site allows people to associate footwear to a workout so they can see how many miles the sneakers have on them. Great idea! I had already kept a list of my equipment in QuickBase so all I had to do was link the equipment list to the workouts and I can now track the distance (144 miles on the pair I bought in January). I have created reports specifically for the marathon which I’ll just delete when I no longer need them. I also add links to race results, routes, and photos so all my data is on one site. Very cool. Check out my workout log.