Today felt pretty good. I

I had a side bet with another buddy to run the last mile for time. 6 flat was worth $75. $1 per second under that. I ran about 11 miles to the track, knowing I needed 12 to finish out the 150 for the challenge. During the 11 I felt pretty good. Definitely better than the last two days.

I was lucky enough to have Katherine, Hudson and Jill as well as Jill’s partner Cord and his two kids all there to cheer (mostly watch in sheer wonder as to why anybody was doing such a thing). It helped keep me honest knowing that people were watching.

Going through 800 Jill yelled, “pick it up” so I flipped her the bird. Which is a totally normal exchange.

I ended this 150 mile adventure with a 5:29 mile, worth $106 for Detroit Prep. I couldn’t be happier with the way it all turned out.

All told, we raised $2,351 in 10 days with just a little bit of running. Thanks to everyone who donated. It means the world to me and you did a great thing for the current and future kids who will attend Detroit Prep.

I think I’ll take tomorrow off.

Strava Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/3975778283

“Make that money! Make that money!” said the guy on the bike who couldn’t possibly know that I was 9 days into a 10 day running challenge. And more specifically 13.5 into today’s 15. And even more specifically, that I was starting to question everything. Well, I guess I started to question this yesterday around mile 4.

Still, even for a guy like me who doesn’t believe in any sort of universal signs, it was admittedly, a nice sign. So, thanks guy on the bike, who must be from the universe.

Trying to mix things up on my routes and realizing that doing a 7.5 out would force me to run the 7.5 back, no matter what, I decided to explore the Bay Trail towards the Richmond Bridge. It was mostly nice, once I got past the part where it is basically the shoulder of whichever version of the 80 that was. But once I was past that, it’s nice a nice wet land to the east and the Bay to the west. Glad I checked it out.

I am not sad tomorrow is the last day. I am tired. I need a day off. But first, I have to run at least 12 more to get to 150 for the 10 days and my last mile has to be for time to try and “Make that Money!” for the kids in another side bet. 6 flat gets $75. +$1 for every second I’m below that. I’m going to give it everything I have left, but man that doesn’t feel like a whole lot right now. Fingers crossed.

Strava Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/3971203642

That one was pretty rough.

Explored the trails at the end of Albany bulb and discovered the sculpture garden. What a weird place.

123 miles so far. 2 days to go.

Strava Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/3966418236

Tripped 100 miles for 7 days while running up Tunnel Road. I’d been meaning to get to it since moving back out here. I used to do hill repeats on it back in my bike racing days.

The biggest excitement of the day was when I rounded a corner and saw what I thought was a discarded bungee cord. When I was within about two feet and it moved, I jumped over it. Since it was red, black and yellow I tried to remember the rhyme to identify a poisonous snake, but kept coming up blank. A few turns later, it came back to me, “Red touches Yellow, Kills a Fellow. Red touch Black, He’s friendly Jack,” and then laughed because now I couldn’t remember which colors were touching.

108 miles so far. 3 days of at least 15 miles each to go.

Strava Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/3961676214

Two side bets/challenges in 1 run.

Corey bet me to wear a costume for at least 10.
Kyle, exacted revenge on me with a 1:1 donut to mile bet.

Did 10 in the costume. Then 1 more loop before I could not eat another donut. I was definitely going to throw up. After I threw in the towel, I attempted to jog slowly to get to 15 but it became abundantly clear that wasn't happening either.

I'd gladly do this again to raise money for the kids. I hope they grow up to make better decisions!

Big shout out to Katherine for running the donut command station and taking lots of great video and photos. They can all be found here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/mhXzPNqeF4VWcQUCA

Strava Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/3956747042

So my friend Abby put in a side bet for me to pick up trash while on my run. I strapped on my backpack and headed out with George to do the first 10 miles, picking up trash along the way. The picture above is from the turn around at 5 and that’s only about half of what we picked up. The rest I just threw in trash cans almost immediately after I touched it. The way back I didn’t even bother putting stuff in my backpack anymore. There was no need as I never carried anything further than a .25 mile before I could dunk it home as we ran by.

I dropped George off at home after doing 10 feeling torn. On the one hand, it was nice to help tidy up a place that I use all the time for runs. On the other, what is wrong people? Throw your shit away. There’s really no excuse with the frequency of the public trash cans around here.

My legs are feeling pretty decent so I went back out for at least another 5, but maybe another 10 if I continued to feel good. I ended up doing 7 more, giving me 17 for the day.

Big shout out to Abby for this creative side bet. Thanks for supporting the kid and a solo trail clean up project!

We’re half way through the Summer Recess and I’ve ran 80 miles in five days.

Strava Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/3951182210

I’m blown away by the generosity of friends! I didn’t have anything planned for today’s run. I was just going to cover at least 15 miles and check the box. Then, a running buddy from Detroit proposed a side bet to write out Woo TC in the gps track of my run. Woo TC is the abbreviated title of the Woodward Ave Track Club. I loved the idea, so I opened a new tab in my browser and started doing some scouting for where I could make this happen.

I ended up running up and down a bunch of roads I’d never used through a neighborhood I run through all the time. I got some funny looks from all the masked up retail shoppers on 4th Ave as I passed them for the 4th time. But it was totally worth it and we’re able to put another $100 towards the 3rd floor rehab project.

Got an idea for me? There are still a few days left that I don’t have anything specific planned. Would love to take your idea and make it happen, you know, in exchange for dollars.

Strava Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/3947165864

Decided to take on another of Jeff’s side bets today before my legs get too beat up and I’m incapable of even trying to run fast. The bet was 2 KOMs in 1 run for $100. This one also made me nervous. There are so many fast dudes around here that I knew I’d have to do some research to discover a few that were within reach. After putting in a bunch of time looking at probably close to 100 segments, I settled on two with nothing left to but pull up my split shorts and run as fast as I could.

Luckily, my legs came good and I got both by reasonably safe margins. KOMs are always tricky because the start and finish lines can be allusive so I started each effort before where I thought the start was located and ran through what I assumed was the finish fo a few more strides, just to be safe.

Another $100 for the kids. Again, a big thanks to Jeff for being so generous and coming up with Interesting bets to make me work for it!

16 miles for the day. 48 total so far. Strava Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/3943165332

George was feeling left out because he loves the kids of Detroit Prep as well, so today, he also ran 15 miles.

Strava Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/3938609083

What a great way to start this 10 day adventure! My good buddy Jeff very generously took my bet, but also a few side bets. One of those was to complete a 15 miler at sub 6:45 pace. When he proposed it, my gut reaction was, maybe I shouldn’t even bother because it could sabotage the rest. I decided to give it a go anyway because $100 is a lot of money and will go along way to finishing up the 3rd floor.

I’m not gonna lie. I was nervous. I haven’t really ran this fast for this long in a while since COVID shut down all racing. It was fun to have a reason to go fast. To dig deep and run an honest effort.

Big thanks to Jeff for being so generous with this bet!

Strava Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/3933452427