Running A Full Marathon

Back in February a friend told me that I should enter the lottery to get into the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C. and my first reaction was "No way!" I had just signed up to run the Nashville Half Marathon and had  no desire to train for a full marathon! Well I have one persistent friend! Finally said I would enter the lottery with no thought - or desire - to make the lottery. I got in. And I was stunned! About a week after I got the email saying I was in, I started getting excited about the idea of running a full marathon.

Then the Nashville Half came. And it was hilly. Really hilly. There was 7 up hills in the first mile alone. And my first thought was: "DC is hilly. Mile 25 is all up hill. What am I thinking?" As hard as Nashville was, it was also a really fun race. At the end of the race I thought "I could handle running this course again!" I must be crazy! Here are some of my highlights from Nashville:

So here I am training for a full marathon. I ran my first double digit run today - 11 - and wrapped week four of training. The Marine Corps Marathon is October 26th and I'm real excited about running my first full marathon! I'm also running two half marathons this fall as part of my training for the full. 

With all this being said, I am sure y'all are not surprised that I am raising money for Young Life Capernaum with this "fall tour of running". My goal is $5000 and there is there just over 3 months til the grand finale of the fall running tour. Would you consider supporting me in this new goal of a full marathon? If you would like to support me and Young Life Capernaum go to:

http://www.razoo.com/story/The-Fall-Half-Marathon-Marathon-Tour

Also I've entered a contest to be on the cover of Runner's World Magazine. I need votes to be considered! Here's my second shameless plug: will you please vote for me? You can vote once a day through August 26th here:

http://covercontest.runnersworld.com/entry/1173


Updates coming soon!

Another Half Marathon Is In The Works!

Sorry for the lack of blogging, but.....Yes, my friends, you read that correctly! I am running another half marathon! Nashville here I come! I'm excited about running another 13.1 miles! I'm a bit worried about the hills that Nashville has to offer since Virginia Beach is pretty much known for four things: it's beach, it's humidity, jet noise, and the fact that it's super flat. I am planning on taking some of my training runs over to the rather glorious, and aptly named, Mount Trashmore to train with some hills. Also my Dad is having open heart surgery up at Mt. Sinai in Manhattan on March 6th. Mt. Sinai is located right across the street from Central Park and I'm really excited to go for a run up there. I'm just sad that the tv show Friends has been over for like 10 years and the fact that it's fictional because, if you know me, I'd be right there at Central Perk hanging out with my six friends. Slightly obsessed. I know.

Since the last time I've blogged, I've run several races. I just wanted to share a few pictures.

I was dressed as Where's Waldo for the Wicked 10K

here in Virginia Beach in October. It was a blast! 

The very next weekend in November I ran the Color Me Rad

5K with my friends Elissa, Jen, Rosann, and Josh. It was a fun,

mellow race to run with friends! Lots of fun memories!

A few weeks after that I ran a 10K on Thanksgiving morning and in December I ran a 5K in Chesapeake to support Young Life there!

So if you remember my blog post from before the Virginia Beach Half Marathon, you'd remember I was raising money for Young Life Capernaum through C-4 Racing. Well, my friends, I am back at it. And this time I am helping to raise money to send our dear friends with disabilities to a week of Young Life Camp. For many of these friends, they have never been to summer camp before nor have they been away from their parents or care givers before. And paying for a week of camp is hard for many of these friends. So going to camp is just a dream for a lot of them. And if this isn't enough, they will get to hear the Word of Christ while away at camp. What more could you ask for? My goal is to raise $5000 to put towards Campership. Will you help me send our Capernaum friends to camp?

If you'd like to contribute to my race and help send these kids to camp, please go to Rock and Roll Nashville Half Marathon Fundraiser. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at hamilton.ash@gmail.com.

Also I've talked with my friend Jeremy, who is the founder of C-4 Racing, and we would both love to see C-4 grow into a larger racing company. We could definitely use some help! If you would like to be apart of that on the business end of things or to join the team on the racing end of things, Jeremy and/or myself would love to chat with you. Again, feel free to email me at hamilton.ash@gmail.com.

I am thankful for all of you and the impact you've had on my life! Thank you!