Austin Marathon - 10 days and counting

I need some input here... Last night, I figured since I can't run, I'll go and try the elliptical machine at the YMCA to get some sort of cardio without the impact. I've never done this before, so I need some advice from anyone who reads this because I was on this thing for an hour keeping it at an RPM of about 75-80, and I have to be honest, I got off of it and felt like I had done nothing. Am I doing something wrong, or is it that running 50+ miles a week has put me in a position where I have to be on it for hours to get any benefit? Anyway, good news is that when I stopped I felt no strain or anything on the left shin.

Running Blog Database and PR10K (Promote Running to 10,000 Kids) update: I am overwhelmed by the response I have gotten from people linking their blogs to the Faithful Soles Running Blog Datbase (link at upper right of this page). I had no idea how this would go over when I started it on February 1, but thus far it is averaging better than 10 bloggers a day linking to it (as of this morning, over 70 bloggers from 24 states in the USA and 12 other countries). The cool thing for me is being able to go on there and selecting, for example, men in my age group who are advanced runners who do marathons and being able to read about what they are doing. I had one lady who told me she felt very alone being a beginning walker, but she has been able to find blogs in her age group of other women who are beginners and reading their entries and it has really inspired her. Probably the thing that has touched me most are the youth and teens in my PR10K program who are reading the blogs and really getting inspired by them. A lot of these youth come from underserved areas and may not live in the best of situations as far as neighborhoods, parents who care, or having a real mentor, and many of the bloggers are inspiring them to show that you can overcome tough obstacles in your life. My goal on Faithful Soles is to continue to get these youth involved in a running or walking program through our memberships. If you have not read about the program, when you become a member of my site, we provide a youth in an underserved area with a matching membership, and we give them a goal setting sheet and a mileage tracking sheet. When they reach the mileage goal they set for themselves, we send them a "Goal Achievement Certificate" with their name and what they accomplished. It is amazing what a difference this is making in their self-esteem. Just think about how you feel when you get that medal at the end of a race, that's what these certificates mean to these young people (by the way, I'm now exploring getting them a medal with the Faithful Soles logo on it with the words "I REACHED MY GOAL!" printed on it, I'll keep you updated on this). Also, I am in the process of talking to a major shoe manufacturer about providing many of these kids with running shoes, something most can not afford. All of this information and more is on my main web site (again, link at upper right of this page).