Bump in the road.

Wouldn't you know it? I got sick just as I started the serious training. Lovely. Hopefully I'll be feeling a bit better on Saturday for the first group training run.

Gentlemen, start your training!

On Thanksgiving morning, I ran the Orem City International Thanksgiving Day 4k to officially begin my training. It was a fun experience. I started out way too fast for me (6:43 for the first mile) and then settled down to a comfortable pace. I must have settled way down, because I ended up with a 7:32 average for the race. Official results can be seen here. Granted, that's less than a sixth of the marathon, but for just beginning my training, I'm happy with the results. Today, I did a 4.5 mile training run with a nice long hill in the middle. Thus begins the training. Also, I've had some very generous early donars to the cause. Check out the fundraising page here: http://www.active.com/donate/huntsman07/jcox116.

Dig Deep for Doug

In mid-August, my Father was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer: carcinoma of unknown primary. He has been receiving treatment at the Huntsman Cancer satellite office in Provo since then. As a family, we have seen many people rally around him to offer support and faith. I have decided to run the SLC Marathon and raise money for Huntsman Cancer Research in honor of him and his marathon against cancer. I have set a goal to raise $1,000 for cancer research. I would like to invite you to be a part of this effort by contributing to Huntsman Cancer research. If you would like to contribute, I suggest just one dollar for every mile of the marathon ($26.20), but feel free to contribute however much you are able. Just go to the fundraising page: http://www.active.com/donate/huntsman07/jcox116 and contribute however much you would like.

Also, I will be tracking my training here on my blog, and you are welcome to visit any time to see how it is going, or check back on the fundraising page for updates on the progress of the fundraising efforts.

Thank you for your support and friendship.