This year my daughter Blythe will be running with me on October 25th.  I'll be running my second marathon (and second with Team Running Strong) and Blythe will be running her first 10K.  We are both raising money to help American Indian Youth!

Nation-wide, donations to non-profit organizations are down.  Running Strong for American Indian Youth needs your help more than ever.  In order to make up the difference, we need to raise more money.  In these challenging economic times, I am not asking for anyone to donate greater amounts of money.  Instead, please help us find others who would be willing to donate a small amount, too ($10 for Blythe's 10K or $26 for my marathon for example.)

Jeff:  (Fundraising Total- $1317.90)

When I first visited the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1992, I was torn between the wonderful people I met there and the condition of poverty in which they live.  Here are a few statistics from "The Arrogance of Ignorance" by Stephanie M. Schwartz.  97% of the people living on Pine Ridge live below the poverty level.  The life expectancy there is almost 30 years less than for the average American.  Teen suicide happens 150% more often and infant mortality rates are 300% greater.  The school drop-out rate is 70% and teacher turnover rate in schools is 8 times that of the average school in this country.

Help me raise money to help Running Strong change this picture to one that is filled with hope and a healthy future for the children!

Blythe:  (Fundraising Total - $633.50)

I was a little bored last year while my dad took over 6 hours to finish the marathon, so I thought running the 10K would be fun!  This is a chance for me to do that and to help the people.  Please help me raise money for Team Running Strong.

If you would put a name in the comment section for who you are donating to (Jeff or Blythe) so that we can personally thank you for your donation!  If we all help out just a little bit, we can make a large impact in the lives of children who really need our help.

Offline donors:  Mabel & Tom Stewart, David Maurer, Ken & Kathy Sprinkle, Ian Skarbek, Andres Carrillo, Church of Uncertain, Mary Beth and Olivia Johnson, Pam Alter

Jeff's Training: 

14 weeks to go- ran 12 miles on Saturday, 18 on Sunday at pace + 1 minute.

11 weeks to go- just got back from beautiful Porcupine, South Dakota.  It was great to see so many friends.  I had several conversations with people living on the Pine Ridge Reservation about taking a relative to dialysis.  These are problems that seem to affect almost every family on Pine Ridge.  This is only part of why I joined Running Strong.  Any help we can give to the children to promote healthy living through food, water, shelter, school assistance programs will help the future of Indian Country and our world.  I'll be training even harder since my visit!

8 weeks to go- uh oh. Knee locked up during long run.  Time to see an athletic trainer and re-group to finish the training.  No need to panic, but the goal is to raise money for the children and finish the marathon at least 1 second faster than last year.

7 weeks to go- no running last week.  I may have a torn meniscus.  Physical therapy starts tomorrow.  Marathon is definitely only a maybe.

6 weeks to go- 9/9/09.  Start physical therapy today!  I will see about plan "C" which would be something like speed-walking the marathon just to stay ahead of the bus.  GOOD NEWS!  PT says finishing the marathon is possible.  I will have to cross-train my way to the finish.  Time to saddle-up on the recumbent and hit the elliptical.

5 weeks to go.  Elliptical for an hour on Sunday.  Getting stronger from exercises prescribed by PT.  Ran 1/2 mile Monday after riding recumbent bike.  This is still a maybe, but looking more possible than before. Wednesday update:  cleared by PT to run 2 miles then do elliptical for up to 2 hours this weekend in place of a long-run!  Did my "long run" today- 2 miles jog just over my original marathon pace + 2 boring hours staring at a wall on the elliptical trainer; no knee pain but swelling after!

4 weeks to go.  PT update:  I get 3 runs in the next week...wait for updates.  I have to do this to help the future generations! 31 days to go:  6 miles jog, 2.5 hours elliptical, 1 mile walk- 4 hours.  A few more of these and I'll be ready to go.

2 weeks to go.  I went 10 miles jog and 1 hour on the elliptical today.  This was the first long workout without knee swelling or pain during OR after.  Feeling more confident about beating the bridge.

12 days to go:  18.5 miles jog/walk.  This was quite difficult, but did not hurt my knee.  There is still hope for beating the bridge since I was able to hold a faster pace than it will take to remain on the course.