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While creating some custom InsaneMarathon.com gear for myself to wear and share at local races and events the company I was using, Zazzle, allowed me to save my designs and share them in an online storefront. If you would like to check it out and have your very own InsaneMarathon.com technical t-shirt or trucker hat - visit our new online store! InsaneMarathon.com Gear - www.zazzle.com/insanemarathon 
Add Comment How do you follow up to a Disney Marathon weekend? I had a few options to choose from... I received a free entry to the Marathon Bahamas that took place January 20 and was contemplating heading down to Nassau for the event on Saturday, running it on Sunday and flying back to Florida after the marathon. But with Berlin, New York and who knows what else coming up later this year I decided against it. My friend Mike was running the St. Pete Beach Classic 10k on Saturday and after looking at the event I decided to do the St. Pete Beach Classic Duo. The Classic Duo is completed by running the 5k and the 10k back-to-back. It was good to get the legs back up to speed and I received 3 medals for completing the challenge (one for each race, plus a medal for completing the duo challenge). You can't beat running scenic races in beach communities! Sunday I decided to give back to the running community. I have always wanted to volunteer at a race, the problem is I am normally running all the local races so there is no chance to volunteer. The past two years I ran the Clearwater Halfathon (1/2 marathon). It is a great race and this year they added a full marathon distance to the event. I signed up to hand out medals to all of the finishers. I had an amazing time volunteering. The medals for the Clearwater Halfathon and Clearwater Marathon were top-notch (see photos) and the athletes were so much fun to watch. Volunteering really made me appreciate what goes on during a race to make the experience enjoyable for the runners. I ended up unboxing, unwrapping and organizing all of the 1/2 and full marathon medals while the runners were out on the course. Once the runners started finishing the half marathon myself along with a handful of other volunteers passed out the medals to the finishers. The reactions when an athlete crosses the finish line are priceless. Some finish like it was nothing and go about the rest of their day like normal. Others are sobbing, in pain, dizzy, gave the race everything they could. The best reactions are from the athletes that have just accomplished something that they never thought was possible. Those are my favorite reactions. Congratulations to all of the Clearwater 5 mile, half marathon and marathon finishers. Display those beautiful medals with pride! If you are looking for a scenic, fun, well organized, mid-size winter destination race definitely consider the Clearwater Running Festival next January! On a side note: If you follow our Facebook, twitter or instagram pages you know that a few weeks ago I placed first in my age group at the Deleon Springs Half Marathon. I ran that race on a whim and I am glad I did. It was a small, flat, shaded half marathon just outside of Deland, Florida. The selling point was $35 day-of-race registration. That makes it probably the best half marathon deal ever!      The 2013 Walt Disney Marathon Weekend is over. Once again I ran the 39.3 mile Goofy Challenge. I never know how to prepare for the Disney Goofy event and this year was definitely going to be a challenge. I had a national meeting that lasted until 10:30pm on Friday night in Delray Beach, FL. Somehow I needed to get to Disney World to run the 1/2 marathon by 3am (to board the shuttle busses). I made it work! Left Delray Beach at 11pm arrived in Orlando at 2am, changed clothes, got on the shuttle bus at 3am and headed to the start of the 1/2 marathon with ZERO hours of sleep! Not the way you want to start off running a 39.3 mile challenge! The weather was forecasted to be in the 80's. I was tired. So I decided to enjoy the race, take photos and have fun! I sure did. I took photos with every character I could. Somehow I still finished with a time of 1:59. I was happy! After the 1/2 marathon I went back to the hotel, cleaned up, had breakfast at the Polynesian Resort and went to the expo at ESPN Wide World of Sports. The expo was packed, the merchandise was picked over and I was exhausted. I waited in a couple lines to have my photo taken with green screen backdrops and then headed back to the hotel to nap. After passing out at the pool for a couple hours I had some pasta dinner at the hotel and went to bed before 8pm! Day two of Goofy went well. I knew I was going to have fun with the marathon and I sure did! I stopped EVERYWHERE! I took photos with all of the characters and not just with the professional photographers, I used them as well as my iPhone. After taking photos I would post them online so everyone could see my Disney Marathon journey. I finished the marathon with a time of 4:26 - which isn't bad considering how many lines I waited in, photos I took, tweets I tweeted and so-forth! Hopefully you follow InsaneMarathon.com on instagram, twitter and Facebook! I am also excited to be starting the 60 day fitness challenge tomorrow, January 21! There is a very dedicated group of us doing INSANITY, Shakeology and following strict nutritional guidelines for 60 days. I was thinking about running another marathon this weekend; either the Clearwater Marathon or the Bahamas Marathon. However, I decided not to run either of them. I decided to run the St. Pete Beach Classic Duo (5k & 10k). I also decided to volunteer at the Clearwater Marathon. I'll be posting about those events next!            As you probably know by now, I was a part of the 2012 NYC "Sandy" Marathon cancelation. The New York Road Runners finally made a "resolution" for the 2012 runners and our options are: 1) Take a refund of registration fees and not be guaranteed to run the race again (unless you win the marathon lottery, qualify or 9+1 NYRR). 2) Have guaranteed entry to either the 2013, 2014 or 2015 NYC Marathon and pay the entry fee again. 3) Run the 2013 NYC Half Marathon and pay the entry fee. So after reading my choices I thought I would probably choose the second option and run the 2014 race (maybe 2013). So after logging on to the marathon website I was shocked to see that I needed to choose the year I wanted to run NYC today; 2013, 2014 or 2015. I am already scheduled to run the 2013 Berlin Marathon September 29, 2013 and I figured that the 2013 NYC Marathon will still be plagued with "Sandy" references so 2014 was looking like the best option. But who knows where I will be November 2014? What option do you think I should choose? 2013 NYC and run it after Berlin? Or 2014 and hope that my schedule and training allow for the marathon to happen? Comment below or CONTACT US with your feedback! Were you supposed to be running the 2012 NYC Marathon? What option did you choose?   Are you looking for a fun running challenge this year? My friend and RRCA Coach, Debbie Voiles, has started a 13 x 13 in 13 challenge. What does this challenge entail? You will commit yourself to running 13 half marathons in 2013 (a marathon counts as 2 & virtual races do not count). If you are interested in joining this challenge, join the 13x13in13 Facebook page. If you are on twitter or instagram you can use hashtag #13x13in13. She even has awesome looking car magnets and t-shirts to let everyone know you are a half marathon running machine! More information about the challenge can be read on Debbie Voilies blog, Mojo For Running. I am already in the challenge. By the end of January I should already have 4 or 5 1/2 marathons in the book! Comment below or on the InsaneMarathon.com Facebook page if you are committing yourself to 13x13in13! Have fun with this! They say that goals are just wishes unless you write them down. I wanted to share a few of my 2013 goals with everyone. Become Faster: This is going to be a fun goal to achieve! I want to eventually qualify for the Boston Marathon. I am not giving myself that lofty goal this year, I just want to improve my marathon time to sub 3:30. My current marathon PR is 3:47 and half marathon 1:39. I will have to work hard to accomplish this goal but if all goes well when 2014 comes around I should be under 3:30 for a full marathon! Help People: The reason for InsaneMarathon.com is not so that I can brag about what races I have ran, the places I've traveled, products I have been lucky to try out, or how INSANITY and other workouts have changed my life. InsaneMarathon.com was created to help motivate others to never underestimate themselves. Anything you set your mind to is possible and if sharing my story and knowledge can help just one other person get our the door for their first 5k, complete INSANITY, or run a marathon using one of our free training plans this mission has been accomplished. One of the things I am going to be doing this year to help motivate more people is starting a run club in Tampa, FL for runners of all abilities. I will also be running free fitness and health challenges throughout the year. I want to motivate people to start something new to better their health and wellness. By the end of 2013 I want at least 30 success stories from people that were inspired and motivated through the work of InsaneMarathon.com! Keeping Organized: One thing I have always thought about doing but never acted on was keeping an organized calendar. This year I have started doing this and I am going to continue to add to it and follow it all year long. I have set up multiple calendars for different tasks (personal, work, fitness, fun) and synched them with all of my devices. The hard part will be adding, editing and following the calendar. But I am pushing myself to stick with it! Promote Myself: One of the amazing things about working for yourself is that you have the ability to promote yourself. My 2013 goal is to promote myself to a "Star Diamond" level. I will accomplish this goal only when I succeed at helping people - the more people I help the better chance I have at achieving this goal. Get Out: I want to get myself out to more events. If there is a local business event that sounds like I could learn something, I am going to attend. If there is a social run, motivational speaker, fitness club, whatever - I am going to get myself out and attend more events in 2013! Read: I will ready one motivational / business / personal growth book a month and post it on InsaneMarathon.com or social media (Facebook, twitter, instagram). This month I have already finished - Maximum Achievement by Brian Tracy. 11 more to go! What kind of goals have you put in place for yourself? Can InsaneMarathon.com help you achieve any of them? We have been wanting to reach out into the local running community and as of today InsaneMarathon.com is more than just a website - we will be sponsoring a local run club in Tampa, FL every Thursday night at 7:00pm. When I first moved to Tampa from Chicago back in October 2009 I found a running group on meetup.com called "Bayshore Runners" I met a lot of my current running friends from that group. Sadly over the last year or so the group had slowly dissolved and last week I was notified by e-mail the group would be disbanded unless someone stepped up to take it over. I decided that InsaneMarathon.com can give life back into the Bayshore Runners. Too many of the running clubs in Tampa Bay are centered around bars & booze. That is great for socializing, but Bayshore Runners - InsaneMartathon.com Fitness Club is about HEALTH & FITNESS. Our group will be about achieving goals, running, and healthy socializing! If you would like to join us - you can meet the group every Thursday evening at 7:00pm, Hyde Park Village, Tampa 33606. We will be meeting by the water fountain near the Lifestyles / LA Fitness and across from the Lululemon. For more information see our event on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/insanemarathon) or on our meetup page www.meetup.com/insanemarathon I look forward to meeting everyone at the group run! | 
James Blakeis the owner and creator of InsaneMarathon.com. ArchivesApril 2013 CategoriesAll  |
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