5200 people and $27,000

Hi all, Haven't been on here in awhile but have some good updates for all.

I'm almost near 5200 people who have been on the site. Amazing from the very modest beginning. Also, with matching donations, I'm up to over $26,000 on my Team Fox page with another $1300 in checks and matching gifts coming in. So, will be over $27,300 for my efforts of beating ryan's time.

I'd like to say that running has been easy since the marathon but I keep getting nagging injuries. First, I ran 4 miles slowly and ended up with shooting pain in my right knee. Then took a week off and ran 3 miles and tweaked my hamstring. Took another week off and ran and tweaked the same hamstring. Now I am on a steady diet of stretching and icing and rest. I actually did yoga both days last weekend and am feeling better but I'm holding of running until next Friday.

The good news is that I've kept a pretty clean diet and have only gained 3 lbs since the marathon. I think that was the damn stuffing, butter filled mashed potatoes and pumpkin cheesecake from Thanksgiving.

OK, Happy Holidays!!

A new challenge will be started once we hit the new year. I'm not going to try and beat anyone but am going to help others in their first marathons and raise more money for Team Fox

Best wishes. Tim

Over 5,000

More people keep coming to the site!! Over 5,000 people have now viewed beatingryanreynolds.com. I think my goal in the beginning was to hit 1,000. Thanks to everyone out there!!

I miss running

So they say I should take 2 weeks off before starting to run again. sniff, sniff!!!

Going to DC this weekend and not taking any workout clothes with me...that's a first but what the hell. It's not like I am going to go for a walk or something. even if I do, my converse shoes and chip and pepper jeans are good enough for that.

Have a great weekend
tim

nuun tablets

Hi all.
So one of the things that I did differently this time around had to do with my hydration. I would usually drink a lot of gatorade or water leading up to the race. In my previous three marathons, I would get pretty bad muscle cramps around mile 21 or 22 and have to push myself even harder through the finish line. A couple marathons, I even had to walk a little.

This time, I knew sodium was going to be key. When I went to the expo, I saw these little nuun tablets:The guy selling them said they have a lot more sodium that regular gatorade and only have 8 calories and little to no sugar. So, trying these made sense. Since I was in the tapering phase I needed to make sure I didn't gain weight. Plus, Gatorade wasn't needed because my body would have used all of that sugar way before the race.

I started taking these 3 days before the race in all of my normal water drinks. Then I took a 20 oz bottle of water to the marathon and used Nuun as my pre-race hydration.

During the race, I experienced none of the muscle cramping that had previously happened to me. I am not sure if it was these Nuun tablets, or the additional GUs that I took that helped with this. All I know is that everything that I did seemed to work. So I have to give credit where credit is due.

Plus, overall, the Nuun tabs make boring water taste a little better.

The last 6.2 miles!!!

Only 6.2 miles to go and 68 minutes to finish under Ryan's time.

Here's my splits for 20 through 22.
20 through 21 - 8:34 pace
21 through 22 - 8:50 pace.

Starting to slow down a bit but remembered some advice here that helped a ton.

• This is from my friend Michael Haskell - You can definitely do this. It's 40 to 50 minutes of true pain vs having to look back and say "what if..." I didn't want to have any regrets as I was so close.
  
• Try to look for some people that you definitely don't want to beat you and start passing them. Everyone is tired at this point but there are people in the crowd that you just HAVE to beat. One of them passed me at mile 20. This gentleman was wearing a singlet and A SPEEDO!!! Not sure if anyone else saw him but I could not finish BEHIND him if you know what I mean. I passed him at mile 22.

At mile 21, I started to look at my Garmin watch often. I looked once and it read 21.1 miles...looked down again...21.23 miles...once again...21.34 miles. It was then I decided that this watch was no f'ing good at this point. I thought about throwing it into the crowd too but came to my senses...I took it off and shoved it into my racing belt.

Side note...it's a racing belt...not a fanny pack. Fanny packs are worn by people at the Oklahoma state fair with cotton candy in one hand and a funnel cake in the other. Anyone that runs 26.2 is wearing a racing belt....umm...sorry Oklahoma.

I also looked down at my left hand where I wrote "IZZY" on my knuckles. It helped me get through the tough part of the race. IZZY is the father of a new friend of mine that I met through Team Fox and he is courageously battling Parkinson's as we speak. I hope that with everyone's hard work, we can all find a cure soon.

Now I'm at mile 22 and getting ever so close to the TEAM FOX cheering section and around the corner from there, Central Park. I had a mini Snickers bar at this point. LOVED IT!!!! I also was stopping at the water stops, walking, chugging a gatorade and dumping three cups on water on my head...that felt amazing!!

My family would be at that TEAM FOX section so I knew I had to pull myself together. Mile 22 to 23 was my slowest at that point at 9:16 but my form was good...well at least to me. As I approached TEAM FOX, I saw my family wearing my beatingryanreynolds.com t-shirts and they were going nuts...jumping and yelling!! I thought about stopping but I wasn't sure if I could get moving again after that. My one regret is not stopping to say hello to Michael with everything he has been doing. But, I really had to keep moving at that point.

After I passed them, I wondered how far I would have to run before I was out of their sight and could slow down again. Mile 23 to 24 was at 9:25 but at that point I only had 2.2 miles left and I was certain I would beat Ryan at this point.

Now I was in the park and my quads were screaming!!! It actually was easier to run up the hills then down them. Down hills are especially hard on your quads as you are basically stopping your body with every foot strike. I continued with the gatorade chugging and water dumping at every stop. This is where I grabbed the Twizzlers...YUMMY!!! Mile 24 to 25 was at 9:17 so I sped up from the previous mile.

Now I was running on central park south and coming towards the end of my journey. As I was running, I heard loud screams and cow bells from the crowds. It was my wife yelling her head off with all of our friends. They had run all over the city to see me and now they were cheering me on at the end. I stopped, did a little wave and bowed to them.

The Central Park South stretch is not really that long but it seems to go on forever when you are finishing. Mile 25 to 26 was at 9:11 so once again faster than the last mile.

As I hit mile 26, I could see the finish line in the distance. I saw the clock and I knew that I would get under 3:40:00 so I soaked it in and finished by waving to the crowd. Some people sprint it out but it didn't make a difference if I finished in 3:38:46 or 3:38:02... As I was crossing the finish line, I gave the photographers a big thumbs up...hopefully I'll have a great finisher photo.

At the finish line, you get your medal and a food/water pack with more carbs. I chugged more gatorade and ate the almonds...I wanted nothing to do with the bagel, apple or anything else.

My official time was 3:38:45 and I did beat Ryan Reynolds by over 11 minutes. I also beat my previous best marathon time by 30 minutes and my other NYC marathon time by 40 minutes.

I think that after all of the donations are in, I should be over $30,000 raised for MJFF. Amazing. Thanks to everyone for their advice, support, encouragement and donations. It's been a great 6 months and I have met a lot of amazing people over this time. Hopefully with all that MJFF and Team Fox are doing, we can find a cure quickly!!

Time for bed. Tim

13.1 Through 20 miles!!

Still feeling very good at this point and we were getting very close to the Queensboro bridge into Manhattan at this point. My wife, family, friends and Team Fox would be waiting for me on the other side of the bridge. Oh, and Ryan e mailed me on Saturday night to let me know that he would be at 63rd and 1st Ave. I was looking forward to a mountain of cheers from everyone as we stepped into Manhattan for the first time in the race.

As we approached mile 14, I could sense that I was getting a little tired. Vero, the little train that could, kept up the pace and we still motored along at an 8:00 to 8:15 pace. The Queensboro bridge was right in front of us getting closer with every step. Once we got on the other side, it would only be about 10 miles to the finish.

When we hit the base of the bridge, I kept my gaze right in front of my feet so as to not look up at the hill we were about to run. Up the bridge, it is a little over 3/4 of a mile and it feels every bit of it. Once you get to the top, it is a sharp decline and you can once again let gravity take over. As you near the bottom, you can hear the roar of the Manhattan crowd as they see all of the marathoners run into the city. You make a sharp left turn and head towards 1st Ave. It was at this point that I decided to lose the beatingryanreynolds.com t-shirt and go straight up TEAM FOX for the rest of the race!! I pulled the shirt over my head, rolled it into a ball and whipped it into the crowd. Some random, tall guy caught it and realized he was holding a soaked singlet with Ryan Reynolds on it. I could see the disgust in his eyes...was it the sweat or Ryan's image??? Strangely, this was comedic to me and it gave me a lift.

As we rounded the corner onto 1st ave at 60th street, I started looking for Ryan. He said he would be on the right side. I had a hat on so it covered the glorious baldness of my head. As we got to 64th street, I figured that we missed him. What I didn't know was that my wife and friends had decided to go to 63rd and 1st on the left side to see if they could see Ryan too. So, in the end, I missed everyone there. Not a big deal as I would see them later in the race.

At 73rd and 1st along the left side, I saw a good friend. Michelle Trilli. It was nice to see her cheering. I asked her to bring a banana but I didn't stop. I wondered to myself how long she held that banana and if she just decided to eat it at one point or throw it....hopefully she didn't throw the peel on the race course...Since I didn't hear of any race accidents involving said banana, I'm sure she disposed of it properly.

The crowd gave me a lift as we continued up 1st ave. We also knew that there was a TEAM FOX cheering station at 97th and 1st. Vero was a little ahead of me but that only motivated me to catch up before we hit the cheering area.

That was around mile 18 to 18.5. Now I was started to get tired but at mile 19, I was at 2:33:36 and had 76 minutes to run the last 7.2 to beat Ryan's time. I felt that if I didn't completely crash and burn that I would do it. This for me is where the true race started.

Vero was still keeping her pace. So I had to let her run her race as she had a PR on the line. Didn't want to hold her back. The last thing she did was give me her energy jellybeans. This was very gracious of her and I must have looked shitty. I definitely got a lift from the them. Not sure if it were the actual jellybeans or the fact that Vero gave them up that did that. Either way I was happy.

Note to self though...eat the jellybeans or GU or pretty much anything ONLY when you are close to the Water/Gatorade stops. Otherwise, they turn to paste.

My pace was still pretty good between 19 and 20. I ran that mile at 8:43 which was still right under Ryan's total marathon pace. So, I didn't lose anything that mile...felt really good about that.

With 6.2 miles left, the race was getting more difficult with each step. This is where I had to rely on the advice and words of encouragement from everyone who supported me over the last 6 months...

The first 13.1 miles!!

Have to say that the weather was perfect for the entire race. 50 to 57 degrees and the clouds hung around pretty much the entire race.

When the gun went off, Vero and I started with a nice pace and started weaving in and out of runners. We were going at a nice controlled pace of about 8:15. Our strategy was to run by feel and we felt great. We hit the top of the Verrazano bridge and headed down towards Brooklyn. We let gravity pace our speed and we were running under an 8 minute pace. For down hills this was OK. Along the sides of the bridge, you could see all of the men who hydrated way too much before the race, they were all pissing over the side. I'd have hated to be the people on the lower level of the bridge because the wind was blowing across us.

After the Verrazano, we were now in Brooklyn and there were a ton of people cheering us on. Someone yelled "You look great"!!! I thought to myself, did they know this was a 26.2 mile race and we were at mile 3??? Whatever...Vero and I were running a 7:30 to 8:00 minute pace...definitely faster than I had trained but I felt amazing...wasn't sure if it would last but what the hell. If I could knock out some miles under my 8:18 pace, it would give me some cushion.

We were stopping at most of the water stops for either gatorade or water. We would grab our drink and put it down while we were running. Everytime I did this, it seemed that I would swallow some air and spend the next 10 to 20 strides burping...not a great feeling. But, I digress.

We ran past the Team Fox cheering section just after mile 7. Great seeing everyone and it kept us running strong!

Vero and I were knocking out the miles, one after another around 8:00 pace at this point. At mile 9, we were still under an 8:00 pace for the marathon. Felt really strong.

My race strategy was to consume a GU packet every thirty minutes to keep my energy up. The first five would not have caffeine and the last two would. I also planned to eat something later in the race to be determined by what people were passing out.

Vero had a ton of people out for her in Brooklyn as that's where she lives. This was great as it seems that people were always handing her treats for fuel. You could see by the look on their faces that they were pumped to see her. And she was pumped that they were there to cheer her on!!!

At mile 12, I decided it was time to take my salt packet to try and avoid muscle cramps later in the race. I opened the tiny McDonalds salt packet and emptied it into my mouth...delicious!!! Quickly grabbed a gatorade to wash it down.

The halfway point was on the Pulaski bridge in Queens. I looked down at my watch and we ran it in 1:44:56. I missed my half marathon PB by 30 seconds. Not sure if this pace was good or bad but we kept cranking out the miles. At this point, I was 10 minutes ahead of Ryan's pace and I was happy to leave half of the race behind me.

The marathon...Pre-Race.

What an amazing day yesterday was. I'm going to give you some insight into the day and how it progressed.

Pre-Race
I was a little nervous the night before because of the time change so I called for a 4:30 wakeup call from the Hotel and set 3 alarms on my iphone. They had a little sign on the nightstand to tell us to remember that the clocks would go back an hour just after 2:00 AM. The one thing about that is...THEY SHOULD HAVE TOLD THE FRONT DESK PEOPLE ABOUT IT!!! My wake up call came at 3:30 AM!!!! I guess it's better than not calling at all but I had to sit around for an hour and a half before going to the Team Fox bus.

Took the Team Fox bus to Staten Island for the start. Nothing really eventful here. Took about an hour to get there and I was headed up to to the Orange section to be with my starting group.
First thing that I did was get some Dunkin Donuts coffee to facilitate getting lighter for the race if you know what I mean. Then about 2 hours before the start I ate my pre-race meal of two kashi waffles, peanut butter, banana and honey. It was all going smoothly at this point other than the getting lighter part. So, I walked around the area for a little bit and shazam!!! I was running for the port-o-john...

NOW I WAS READY TO RACE!! Well, only after going pee about 4 more times...I guess I was nervous.

NOW I WAS READY TO RACE!! I met up with Veronique from Team Fox. She was my running partner and we both run about the same pace. I've never run a marathon with someone but I knew that it was going to be beneficial to both of us. More on this later.

The race villages were full of people from all over the world. Tons of Europeans mostly dominated by the Italian contingency. Also a lot of runners from Japan and other parts of Asia. That's how you know how big this race is. I've run the Marine Corp and Pittsburgh marathons and it's a lot less international than NYC marathon.

At around 8:30, we headed up to the corrals as they were going to be closed at 9:05 and you would have to run with the 10:00 start time instead of the 9:40 start time if you weren't in there. As soon as the corrals were closed, there were a number of people that didn't make it...now this is the fun part...they all were now climbing over the 6 ft fence to make it in. Some were graceful...others not as much. All I could think about at this point was that these runners could have thrown all of the training out of the window by getting injured climbing the fences at the start. At about 9:15, the corrals were set and we all moved forward to the starting line.

I was getting nervous but also excited because I knew how hard I trained over the last 6 months and that with the NYC crowd, I would have a ton of adrenaline flowing through my body. I also knew that in under 4 hours, the world would know whether I beat Ryan's time or not.

With that...the national anthem began...the gun sounded ...and we were off!!!

Quick update

Well, I wanted to take today to do a recap of the marathon but my computer is messed up and taking a while to process. You'd think that it ran a marathon yesterday!!

This week, I'll give a full update on the marathon and also a revised "Celebrity Beatdown" List... I beat Alanis Morissette, Anthony Edwards, Ed Norton and Tara Costa yesterday as well as Sarah Palin and Will Ferrell amongst others from their previous marathons.

stay tuned.
I'm gonna nap

3:38:46!!!!

I did it!!! Beat ryan's time by over 11 minutes. Now I am celebrating with my wife and family with a margarita at Rosa mexicana!!!

Have a good night.

This is it!!!

No no no. Not the Michael Jackson movie.

It's my last blog until after the marathon tomorrow. I am going to sleep and tomorrow going to focus on the race. I wanted to thank everyone who has supported me with donations, advice and encouragement. It all helps a ton. I have never prepared for a marathon like this one so this is as ready as I'll be.
Especially want to thank my wife Michelle who helped me with love and support!!! Even though at the time, my abs were just a rumor.

I'll see a lot of you along the course and some after the race.

See ya under 3:50:22.

Tim

Don't let this happen to you!!!

If you don't know by now, this can be a common happening in marathon running if you don't use either glide or tape em up. I use the really wide surgical tape so that there are never issues. Sometimes the glide can wear off especially after heavy sweating. Please...Don't let bloody nipples ruin your marathon experience!!

AND NO!!! This is not me. Yes, I am bald but I would never, ever wear bright orange shorts!!

Hourly Weather Forecast

Still early...but it looks good.

1 day 4 hours and 16 minutes

Only 1 day left and today is an important day. Here's what I have planned

• Just ate a protein pancake. Regular pancake mix with a scoop of whey. Added peanut butter and honey. Pretty good food for fueling
• Going for a nice and S-L-O-W 20 minute run. The purpose of this run is to loosen up and stretch and to also shake some of the nerves.
  
• Lunch at Mercer Kitchen with the family who is in town this weekend.
• Afternoon nap...hopefully.
• Team Fox pasta dinner at OTTO. Going to be yummy.
• Plan to try and get to bed by 9:00 tonight. Waking up at 4:30 tomorrow morning.
• Hydrating today as well. Overall, going to eat very bland today. Do not want to upset anything for tomorrow.

More later...

Fiber One Bar....don't leave home with out it...actually, don't leave home at all.

Just a note to everyone out there. Whatever you do, do not have two Fiber One bars in the same day. Or, if you do, be really, really close to a bathroom!! In fact, I would recommend just eating the second one while on the toilet.

You say Fiber One...I say "FIBER FUN"!!!!!

Not having any more of these until far after the marathon...maybe even March!!

March 2012!!!

Sorry for the potty humor but this was too good to pass up...

Twittering...or is it...Tweeting!

Not sure if you've checked out my Twitter updates. I shoot some quick messages there pretty regularly now. I've just done some updates on the expo experience and also posted the 1010wins interviews from Wednesday on there. Check it out here:

http://twitter.com/btngrynreynolds

More to come soon!!

Taking the ferry to the expo

Leaving Jersey City to go to the ferry at 9:45. Drops me off at 39th street and West Side Highway. The expo is at 35th and 11th. Perfect!! I might be one of the first there this morning!!

Resting up for the big day!

3 days, 3 hours and 5 minutes until the start of the NYC marathon and I'm taking Thursday and Friday off to rest up for the race. Basically running 3 miles today, get a good stretch in, eat well and hydrate!! Oh and nap!!

I've eaten really well this week and I am sitting right at 198 lbs. I haven't gained or lost weight during the tapering time. I'll be happy to be at this weight for the marathon for sure. The key this week is obviously getting the carbs needed to create an energy surplus for race day. Also want to eat enough protein but that usually isn't a problem. I've laid off of the simple sugars and haven't had any alcohol this week.

Going to the race expo at the Javitz center today pick up my race # and timing chip. Also going to check out some of the booths there are well. Going to the expo on Thursday is important as it will be relatively quiet. About 66% of the runners in the marathon are from out of town and out of country. The expo is crazy if you go Friday night or anytime on Saturday...who needs that stress.

Went to a great information session with my friends at Team Fox last night. Picked up some great additional tips. The big one was with fueling myself during the race. I was planning on taking four GU packs with me and take them about every 45 to 50 minutes...however, it was recommended to take them every 30 minutes...yikes!! I'll have to carry 7 of them for the race. I am also having people have a banana ready for me at mile 19. That's where I'll start getting hungry and the banana will do the trick.

Hydration wise, I'll drink mostly water when I get up but stop drinking anything the last 90 minutes before the race. That's so you don't have to keep going and going and going to the port-o-john before the race. About 5 minutes before the start time I'll have about 6 to 8 oz of gatorade and I should be set There's a lot of people that keep drinking tons and tons of liquids before the race and after the gun goes off, they are looking for relief.

One of the main reasons that I think I'll have a great race is that I am a lot more knowledgeable about training and nutrition for this one. I had no idea what I was doing before...and this is sure to help!!

OK, more later...I'm off today so there will be more updates coming. I'll let you know how the expo went.

thanks, tim

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Nice relaxing massage tonight. Such a departure from my weekly deep tissue massage. I'm pretty certain that i feel asleep.zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...yep...no doubt about it.

I ran 3.5 miles this morning. Barely warmed up when I had to stop. I'm going to have a lot of energy come Sunday morning. Going to have to hold back in the beginning.

On Friday, I'll post a picture of myself in my marathon gear so you know what I'll be wearing. Of course, I'm going to be flying right by you so PAY CLOSE ATTENTION or you might miss me.

Getting a lot of great advice from people. Thanks.

Here are some of them:
- Don't start to fast!! You'll burnout
- Don't start too slow!! You'll get trampled.
- Don't drink too MANY liquids. You'll piss yourself.
- Don't drink too FEW liquids. You'll passout.
- Watch out for bloody nipples (I had to think about this one...my bloody nipples or someone elses)..and do I really have to look out for them...will they be after me??
- Make sure you go #2 before the race...That's really a lot of pressure..you just can't force that. But if you don't, you are risking this below. Sorry about the picture... I left it small scale so if you really want to see it, just click on it. All I can say is that this guy better have won the race because he will never live this down. Even he is completely disgusted with HIMSELF!!! Oh, and look at the top left part of the picture...the only thing the three guys in black can do is stare with their own "Holy Shit" look on their face...

More to come later....umm...that picture made me sick!! Although, not as sick as the runners behind him!!

New Article!

Hi everyone. Here's the article written by Katie Drummond from trueslant.com.

http://trueslant.com/katiedrummond/2009/10/26/beating-ryan-reynolds-tim-reid/

Hope you enjoy it!!

The key to this week is rest and eating right. Today here's what I ate:

Breakfast
4 egg whites + bowl of oatmeal

Lunch
Tuna on whole wheat bread w/tomatoes and lettuce.
Pretzels

Snack
Protein Bar

Dinner
Brown Rice, Ground Turkey, Roasted Red Peppers

Dessert
Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries in yogurt.

I'm trying to keep away from the simple sugars and replace with complex carbs. This is exceptionally difficult for me but it's one day in a row.

Running 3 - 4 easy miles tomorrow morning and then a nice stretch at the gym.

Have a good night.

5 days, 13 hours and 47 minutes until the start of the marathon.

Guys in Sports Bras!???!??!???!?!?! WTF!!!

OK, so I went for my 8 mile run today in Liberty State Park and boy was it WELL WORTH IT!!! Great blogging material!!

At around mile 6, I see this large man running towards me at a distance and what do I see...THIS GUY IS WEARING A SPORTS BRA!!! and he was apparently too hot to keep his workout t-shirt on so it was only SPORTS BRA TIME!!!. Now, I understand that sometimes people need some additional support but are you kidding me!! This picture is not the actual guy but I found it on the internet and it's pretty close.


I googled "guys wearing sports bras" and boy is it funny as hell!!! Here's a guy that actually had to ask an internet site a question whether this is socially acceptable.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Alvcqw7aVgJFWvl0gTkBTmIjzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20090110173147AAOL6lU

If you have to ask, then it should be obvious. Maybe this is OK in Europe but in the good old U.S.A. this really isn't an option.

Here's what you should choose. It's compression gear from Under Armour and they have long sleeve, short sleeve and tank tops for men. But they have NO SPORTS BRAS FOR MEN!!

The other thing to remember if you are a guy is that if you find yourself in the women's section or more importantly, in the women's bra section, THIS IS NOT FOR YOU!!

If for some reason, you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO WEAR A WOMEN'S SPORTS BRA THEN LEAVE THE COVERING WORKOUT SHIRT ON!!!

4100!!!

Just a quick update here. Now 4100 people have viewed this site since its inception on May 15th. Over 3200 people have viewed since the Jimmy Fallon interview on October 2nd.

Thanks everyone!! Tim

Haircut!?!?!?!?

I was walking down the street yesterday and there was this guy handing out fliers. He looked right at me, directly in my eyes...and handed one to me. It just happened to be for a new barber shop around the corner. Now, either he had very limited vision or maybe he had to pass out like ten thousand of these before he got paid. As ya all know, I am very bald. I haven't needed a haircut in over 10 years. The last time I went to get my haircut, the stylist (Yes stylist!!) said mid-cut, "Hey, maybe you should cut your own hair"!! At that point, I knew I was NEVER going to pay for this service again. When people are turning down cold hard cash to do something really easy, it's time to reevaluate.

I used to just clip my hair about once a week. Sometimes I would wait a little too long and I would get that lower head hair ring thing going on. So, in May, I started to shave with a razor. It's very liberating! and now, I can't go more than 2 days without shaving it as it starts to feel strange. Here's a quick shout out to Bruce Willis and Yule Brenner for making bald cool.

I'm now in the middle of my tapering for the race and it's tough to cut back mileage. But it's something that has to be done. I'm focusing on nutrition, hydrating and staying loose. Going to hit the gym today for a nice long sauna and stretch session. Tomorrow running 8 flat miles in Liberty State Park.

Interviews

It's been a busy week for beatingryanreynolds.com...I mean me...

Yesterday afternoon, I met with Alice from 1010WINS radio station here in NYC. She did a 8 to 10 minute interview on my website, my motivation and how I'm feeling. The interview will air sometime next Thursday or Friday...hope you enjoy it.

Then last evening, a local college student interviewed me for a project that he is working on about the psyche of a marathoner. Not sure I was the best to talk to but what the hey...anything to help out.

Tomorrow morning, I'm meeting with Katie from the website trueslant.com. She writes a column called Extreme Sports. I love it...now I am extreme!!! giddie up!!

In the tapering portion of the training and it's tough not running as much. Trying to stay busy and not gain weight the next 2 weeks. Have to say that two days in a row, I've eaten a monster chocolate rice crispy treat. I guess there's a good amount of carbs!! :-) Right at 199 right now so I would like to stay there for the race. It's not smart to try and drop weight the last 2 weeks as your body needs the nutrients.

I'm hoping to find a couple people that want to run under a 3:40 as that's my goal based upon the training performance.

OK...out...Tim

Adventureland

Well, over the weekend,Michelle and I watched the film Adventureland on pay per view.


From the website IMDb "It's a comedy set in the summer of 1987 and centered around a recent college grad who takes a nowhere job at his local amusement park, only to find it's the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world".

Stars Kristen Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg and Ryan Reynolds. Ryan plays a handyman named Mike Connell.

The main reason that I am writing about this is that Adventureland park was filmed at Kennywood Park in my hometown of Pittsburgh about 20 minutes from where we lived growing up. I'm sure very few of you have heard of Kennywood but growing up in Pittsburgh meant many summer days there. There were a few rollercoasters... The Racer, The Jack Rabbit and the ever so scary Thunderbolt along with a number of other great rides. Here's some pictures...

Even the Three Stooges loved Kennywood Park!!!If I went to Kennywood now, I would probably be a little underwhelmed....almost disappointed... with it being a little run down and not nearly as big and magical as I had remembered it to be. But I guess that's the thing with life, a lot of times, it's better to think and imagine it as it was when you experienced it. As a kid, Kennywood was a day that you marked on your calendar while you were toiling away at grade school during the last days of May. You knew that you and all of your friends would hit those turn styles and be turned loose...to experience thrills, chills, ups, downs and even upside downs (that is if you dared to ride the Laser Loop). You see, it's really the memories that matter most. What you can pull out of your ever so cluttered mind in your adulthood that can make you smile, chuckle and sometimes even wince!!!

By the way, it's also the same way I look back at my hometown. Pittsburgh may not be as big and glamorous as NYC but when I was growing up and living there, it was what I knew...and I loved it.

Ok. sniff, sniff...can someone hand me a tissue?!?!?! tomorrow I'll be funny again. Just got a little nostalgic watching that movie over the weekend.

12 days until the marathon!!!

MJFF Fall 2009 Newsletter

Hi all,
My challenge made it into the Fall 2009 MJFF newsletter as a story in the Team Fox section. Thanks Katrina for getting my challenge out there and helping to raise even more support for MJFF!!!

http://www.michaeljfox.org/newsletters/MJFF_Newsletter_Fall_09_FINAL.pdf

For some reason, I can't link it so paste the above address into your browser to see the article.

Please note that the picture of me in the newsletter was taken at 5:30 in the morning before the NYC Half-Marathon. I'm looking rather tired as that was before my Red Bull.

Just turned in more checks today and now I am at around $21,000 raised. With Macy's corporate matching gift programs, I would have over $22,500 raised so please turn your forms in or call me and I can do it for you. Yes, I am an enabler.

My new ultimate goal is to raise over $35,000...I have to beat Ryan's time to get there.

As I said before, I am amazed and motivated by all of your support. There are definitely good people in this world and I am lucky to know a lot of them.

N.S.S

N.S.S. stands for Navy Seal Shit...

When I ran my 21 miles a couple weeks ago with my running team, you talk with a number of people in your group during the 3 or so hours. I said to one woman..."The race really starts at mile 21. I know that I can run a great pace but that's when you can hit a wall". She looked at me and said emphatically, "THAT'S WHEN YOU HAVE TO THINK NAVY SEAL SHIT"!! "NAVY SEAL SHIT MAN...NAVY SEAL SHIT". Her point being that at that point, you have to pull out all of the stops and dig in and suck it up like the Navy Seals do. She yelled one more time, "NAVY SEAL SHIT MAN"...I looked at her and said, "Yeah, Navy Seal Shit". Then I asked her if she was a Navy Seal. She said sheepishly, "Nah, I teach third grade"...

I'm gonna write N.S.S. on my right wrist for the marathon...

I lied!!!!

So, I think I was the one to say that I would love for it to be 45 degrees with a light rain for marathon day. Well...F that!!!! I ran today in more than a light mist at 45 degrees and I officially do not want that for race day. New hope is for 55 degrees and cloudy.

Ran 15 miles today in the mist and rain. Run went well. Warmed up for 1 mile then ran 13.1 miles at goal marathon pace of 8:18. Feeling pretty good at running under 3:40. Only 2 weeks from today!!!

OK...gotta go and nap

Sawyer loves Team Fox!!

Or he just loves dirty laundry piles... Sawyer is one of our two cats. I, in nature, am a dog person but these two cats came into my life when I married Michelle. Sawyer is an extremely friendly cat, never hisses and generally talks all of the time...actually never shuts up. Umm....I guess somewhat like me?!??!?!?!?!

Anytime we are doing laundry...he is in his element. He jumps on the stinkiest pile and rolls around like he's high on acid or something...Here he is 10 seconds after I dropped my workout pile on the floor...obviously LONG RUN pile is his favorite. I believe he lives for the instant that I drop the that pile on the floor.

Why Team Fox!!

I've been asked this question many times since I started this journey. Why Team Fox? and How did the website come about?? Here are the reasons:

1) First of all, I read Michael J Fox's first book about a year ago on a flight overseas. Actually read the entire book on the flight. It was such an easy read and it was extremely inspirational to me.
2) Ryan Reynolds ran under 4 hours in a marathon. This has always been a goal of mine and I never trained hard to do it. Kinda ticked me off...here's a guy who works crazy hours, travels all over the place and still had time to train hard enough to get it done. This challenge has motivated me to do more and to finally get in shape.
3) Ryan ran for Team Fox and when all of the magazines came to my house and my wife started with the "why aren't in you shape like Ryan Reynolds"?..."WOW...Ryan is HOT"...etc.. I thought of starting this website.

The thing is that I have been very lucky over my life. My family has not been afflicted with devastating disease or illness that has taken people from me that I was close to early in their lives. I mean, my family has been afflicted in the past...My great grandfather and grandfather on my Dad's side had it pretty tough with hammer toes...but...do you know how hard it is to raise money for the National Hammertoe Foundation...I just have to say it would be very difficult. Not much support out there at all for this...even the Muppets make fun of HT's.

I have met a lot of amazing people that work for MJFF and Team Fox, and I know that I made the right choice. The thing about life is that you can either be on the sidelines and do nothing or you can jump right in!!!! I found myself just going to work, coming home from work, eating, drinking and not generally making an impact (other than when I plopped my butt on the couch). I know that I can do more...that everyone can do more...and really make a difference. That's what I hope to do from here on out. I'm a busy guy... but we all have time to change things...to not accept what is and what "HAS" to be.

Nike always said..."Just Do It".

I say "Just Do It Better"!!!

Great night!!!

Hi everyone!!! Still tallying up the numbers from last night's big event at Los Dados in the meat packing district. Looks like we raised nearly $6000 for The Michael J Fox Foundation!!!

All in all a very fun night with a lot of great friends, music and margaritas!! By 7:30, the entire bar and restaurant were packed and the DJ was rolling!

Thanks to all that helped make the night great. Especially want to thank the following people:

My wife Michelle. Thanks for the inspiration for the website and helping last night. Good to see you running around the bar like old times!! Love ya!
My co-host Kevin. $6000 raised with only 3 weeks of planning. Not so bad. Just think what we could do with 6 weeks or even a couple months!!

"What the?!?!??!...Kanye....give me back the mike"!!! "KANYE"!!!!

Just kidding....let me continue

Susan - It's still incredible how much you raise with your event..thanks for the inspiration to do more!! Kevin and I will be there for you whenever you need help!
Los Dados Restaurant - Michael, Yan, Fabian and everyone!! Thanks...you were great and it was a perfect place for our 1st big bash. Two words though..."Beer Bar"...don't worry we'll do it again!!
Team Fox Ladies One person almost closed the bar...no names mentioned here but all of you can come to our parties anytime!
All of the Macy's, MMG employees and friends from the retail and wholesale market - All we had to say was "CHEAP DRINKS" and we knew you would be there!! Thanks for being as thirsty as you were!!
My agent - No, I don't have an agent.....yet!!!

Thanks so much for everything. With all in, I am over my $20,000 goal...If you haven't given yet and would like to...please do so...every penny helps...
but dollars help more ....
and euros help even more than that...
and don't get me started about the pound...

Talk to you later. TIM

Good run today

Even though I only got 3 hours sleep last night, I had a good 6 mile run this morning. It's nice that 6 miles is now easy.......I mean really easy. I've also been doing a ton of core work to ensure I am set for the marathon. I am so stoked for this race!!!! The fact that I said stoked shows you how excited I am for November 1st. It's the 40th running of the NYC marathon and there will be 40000 people running.

I am also looking forward to the margarita madness event tomorrow night. If you are in the city tomorrow stop by Los dados tomorrow night. Itl will be the place in the meat packing district with the dj and the drinks flowing.

HOLY SHIT!!! HE WORE GLOVES TOO!!!

HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED THIS!!!
Not only did Ryan Reynolds wear long navy pants but he also wore gloves as well. I hadn't looked close enough at this picture to realize this. Maybe Ryan has thin blood or some circulatory issues. I absolutely hate being hot when I run so I never wear gloves. Even during the manhattan half in Jan, I tossed my gloves after mile 1 and it was 12 degrees outside.

Ryan, if you have to wear all of this to run a marathon at 55 degrees, what do you wear when you go home to Canada. I'll bet you look like nanook of the north or something.

I will be wearing a team fox tank, shorts, shoes and socks for november 1st. And that's all!!

Claritin-D = no sleep for Timmy!!!

So the doctor never said the claritin d would keep me up at night. I had a slight cold yesterday morning and I took claritin for it at 6am. Around 8 am, I was as high as a kite...A kite high on claritin d. This had a couple of effects on me. First of all, being high from claritin made my morning fly by. Fastest morning at work ever. Also gave me this unquenchable thirst. No matter how much water I drank my mouth was as dry as if a ate about 100 saltines crackers with extra salt dipped in balsamic and vinegar without any liquids to wash it down. The big downside is that I went to bed at 10 and haven't really slept much since. I usually don't sleep well if I have too much caffeine in the pm but this is ridiculous. I took this yesterday morning.

I am running 6 miles this morning to get the blood flowing again after the 21 miles on Sunday. I am amazed at how well I feel after Sunday. But, when you train the right way, you see vast improvement. Only 1 hour and 18 minutes until my run. I'd go now but running at 3:42 am seems somewhat crazy...even for me.

Great run!!!!!!

Ran with the ny flyers today. Did about 21 miles at an 8:18 pace. Really felt good the entire time. Basically ran my goal marathon pace of 8:25 for the first 18 miles and then ran an 8 min mile the rest of the way. Thanks to the flyers and all of the volunteers that helped with water and snacks. I feel ready for November 1st.

Can't wait!!!!!!

Tim

22 tomorrow!!

OK...
Here it is...
The last big run of training!!!

22 Miles

tomorrow morning!!!

Really looking forward to this. I feel great and from here on out, it's all about staying healthy and running a little less each week until the marathon. You don't want to dial back the intensity of the training as this will result in de-training as your body thinks that you are taking it down a notch. So, there will still be a couple of speed sessions and some moderately long runs. Next Sunday, I will only have to run 15 miles and the Sunday before the marathon, I will only run 8 miles.

I'll give you an update after the mileage tomorrow. Have a good night and have a drink for me.

Tim

BIB # 15688!!!

Phew!!! I got some good news this week from NYRR. They gave out the BIB race numbers and I am #15688.

What this means is that I am in the first start group running the marathon and my start time will be 9:40. The great thing about this is that every time I look at the timers, it will pretty much be in real marathon time. The other groups start at 10:00 and 10:20 and they have to look at the timers and subtract either 20 minutes or 40 minutes. Due to the fact that I am trying to beat 03:50:22, it will be great to just have to look at the timers.

Plus, the front runners in my group are the Elite Men, meaning they run like a 5 minute mile or faster. So, it won't take long to get from the corrals to the start line.

My number puts me in the "sub elite" category which is funny in itself. But, I guess if you are not ELITE, then you are SUB-ELITE. Doesn't matter..happy to be starting at 9:40 and not waiting around for even longer.

First 5 good reasons I can beat Ryan Reynolds...more to come...

1) I'm bald dammit!! That's way more aerodynamic than all of that stupid, needless hair flowing carelessly around in the air.
2) I've learned the whole left-right-left-right thing very early on in the running process. left-left-right-right leads to nothing but embarrassment....oh and pain!!
3) I've lost 20 lbs since May. How do you run with 50 Big Macs around your waist?!?!?! - V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y!!!
4) Fartleks - That's speed training in swedish and saying Fartlek is never not funny!!
5) 3 drinks a week vs 3 drinks a day. This has actually made me a much more aggressive and angry runner. GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!!!

I'm compiling a long list and this is the first 5. More to come later. I am sleepy!! Night All.

2754 people!!!

Nothing short of amazing!! Now 2754 different people have viewed beatingryanreynolds.com. When I started this I was happy to hit 300 people...Once the Daily News article came out, the counter went from 300 to 600 pretty quickly. But, nothing like the numbers since the Jimmy Fallon interview. Basically had a 200% increase in the number of people that have read this. I know at least a couple people who have read this all the way through..hopefully I've been entertaining. I try to come up with something funny to write daily...

today, nothing much funny other than it seems that the new food our cats are eating in not agreeing with them as they barely made it to the litter box...before you know what...need to go back to the old food as I'm not going to keep cleaning THAT up.

point is...if all else fails...best option is to revert to potty jokes...

Staten Island Baby!!!

Since my last long run went so well, I decided to do something similar this weekend. So, I am traveling to Staten Island for the final half marathon of the season for the NYRR grand prix. I'll run 9 miles before the race starts and then run the half marathon ending up at 22 miles. Seems like a good plan.

I am getting super excited for the marathon. I haven't run one since NYC in 2004. This is by far the best training I have ever done. Part of the reason for the challenge was for me to really get in great shape and I am pretty close. I've had to buy all new pants and dress shirts as I was swimming in the old sizes. Went from a 44L to a 42 L and from a 36 waist to around 34 right now. Running is definitely good for both the body and the soul.

The good news is that I am now a runner!! I'll keep this up when the marathon is over. Gotta find a way to get into Boston for 2010. Anyone want to sponsor me????

Have a great night! Tim

Put em in your pocket...

So I went to the gas station to put air in our car's tires. Usually a pretty simple task in itself. Here's a note of caution...

DON'T PUT THE VALVE CAPS ON TOP OF THE AIR PUMP MACHINE!!

I thought I was being smart by not putting them on the car. The reason is obvious but I guess not obvious enough for me. THE AIR PUMP VIBRATES!!! If this were a movie, the entire crowd would have been yelling at the screen, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, NOT ON TOP OF THE AIR PUMP"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the time I realized this, the caps had already danced their way across the top and jumped to their freedom. Michelle and I looked for them for a bit but the caps matched the dirt where they fell. They were gone!! Off to where ever valve caps escape to. A man in the car next to us seemed pretty amused as he just looked at us with this stupid smirk. Luckily, the gas station sells the caps so we purchased new ones and then we were on our way.

As far as my training goes, I felt great today after my 18 miles yesterday. I went to the gym and did some core work along with a quick weight session (upper body only), hit the sauna and then got a massage. After I got home and had some lunch, I took a power nap.

Running 6 tomorrow at an easy pace. Wednesday will do some speed work...nothing crazy, just some tempo stuff. Then Friday for a nice easy 6 miles. Followed by my last big run...22 miles on Sunday.

Can't believe that we are 4 weeks away!!!

This was posted as a comment on my site!! Who is the real jackass?

Here's a comment that someone posted on my site after the Jimmy Fallon interview with Ryan Reynolds.

"Your a Jackass. Because of Ryan Reynolds being on Jimmy Fallon and watching the interview where he mentions your site is the only reason I'm here. But hey if it give you donations to help a good cause good for you. I still think your a jack ass that has low self esteem because your gir thinks hes hotter than you".

It seems as though this person could use some additional education or they haven't graduated 3rd grade yet. They should have wrote "You're" a jackass. meaning "you are" a jack ass. They did this twice so they can't say that the first one was a mistake. Next up...the run on sentence after calling me a jackass. Sheesh...so tough to read. Also, the sentence "if it GIVE you donation" It's "if it GIVES you donations. Lastly...what is a "gir" I just googled "gir" and here's what shows up.

I do not have this gir? so not sure what was meant here :-)

I also like how this person used the "bad/good/bad" sandwich in presenting their case
1. "Your a jackass"
2. If you get donations, good for you
3. "Your still a jackass"

Please people, if you are going to post comments here, BE INTELLIGENT!! I can take almost anything...well, except outright stupidity.

So I have to ask...who is the jackass now?

18 miles today....and that's with the Humidity!!!

Today I woke up and took the train to WTC got off and started to run up the West Side Highway. I ran about 4.2 miles to the gym, dropped off some stuff and proceeded to run up to Central Park for the half marathon today. I got to the start around 8:30...just enough time to hit the john and stretch a little. Then I lined up for the start. I have to say that using a race for a training run is amazing...so much motivation and lots of gatorade and water. I basically ran my goal marathon pace the whole way and had zero issues. Finished in 1:50:19. Total of 18 miles for the day. Strangely humid today...especially strange after a much cooler week.

This half marathon for me was just different...not bad different. Just different. It's just a change to go into a race saying to yourself..."OK, don't go crazy...this is just a training run like all of the other training runs"...then, it happens...someone who looks relatively out of shape passes you. Nothing you can do though...just run your pace...the real race, The NYC Marathon, is on November 1st...not today.

So, anyway, I felt pretty good. Got home, Had a nice pumpkin ale and an ice bath just to make sure I feel great tomorrow. see ya, Tim

1917 people!!!

So, yesterday at this time, the counter on my website read that 914 people had viewed my website. In the last 22 hours, over 1000 new people have viewed beatingryanreynolds.com. AMAZING!! Thanks to everyone for checking it out. Got some e mails from some people today telling me how much they love the site. I would say that this has been a lot of work but I love to talk and stay busy so this blogging and putting together events has been fun for me.

The Los Dados event is going to be amazing! Stay tuned for updates...hope to see over 200 people on October 14th.

Beating Ryan Reynolds plug on Jimmy Fallon at around 25:00 minute

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Trying to figure out how to edit this. Just go to the middle of the video to see what ryan has to say about beatingryanreynolds.com

Ryan Reynolds on Jimmy Fallon Tonight

Hi. Check out Jimmy Fallon tonight. Ryan Reynolds is on. That's all I am going to say

Ryan Reynolds on SNL

Ryan Reynolds is now going to be hosting Saturday Night Live this week with special guest Lady Gaga performing.

Here's the promo video. Check out the part showing the shrub and the Gaga mask...funny.
http://justjared.buzznet.com/2009/09/30/ryan-reynolds-snl-promo-videos/

It's always been a dream of mine to be on SNL...HEY LORNE MICHAELS!!!

MR LORNE MICHAELS!!!..if you are reading this you still have time to add me to the cast this week. I mean, I'll rearrange my busy schedule to come down there. Oh, whats that you say...my umm, television experience??? Well, umm, let's see...hmmmmmm...oh, yes...I once did a commerical for Sprite with the Pittsburgh Pirates...I mean...they did FILM the commercial with me in it...well...but, umm, it seems that I guess I got cut out of the 30 second spot during editing...totally unjust though...I freakin rocked that commercial. Oh, and then there was that internal United Way spot for Macy's annual donation drive...actually, umm, don't watch that one...actually....forget I even mentioned it.

Mr Michaels, could you at least leave me some tickets at will call? I mean, I'll just come and watch...in the very back row...in the dark...by myself...Oh, sorry...no extra tickets..OK...well, then I'll just watch...at home...what??...don't even watch at home...what the...umm...OK. I'll just go to bed early...Not sure if you know this but I have a big run on Sunday anyway...18 miles.

umm, thanks...beatingryanreynolds.com

I never want to see when I need a doctor!!!

So, if you wake up in the hospital and this is the first thing that you see...

You are in for some definite bad shit!!

I mean, you'll probably live but between the time you first see "Dr House" and when you finally get to go home, you'll probably turn green or blue, have a limb mysteriously fall off or have some crazy growth that no one can figure out.

I don't even know what hospital would hire him. It seems that the only people that go to that hospital have crazy, abnormal diseases that no one has even heard of. Who wants that stress every single day?!?!?

8 miles

Ran a nice 8 miles in the park this morning before work. Avg a 8:45 mile. Feeling a million times better than last week. Still chgging emergen-c like crazy. It has tons of vitamin c to keep the colds and what not away. Also keeps scurvy at bay....just look it up!!!!!

Tomorrow I have just a light weight workout plus some ab work that wil come in handy during the marathon. A lot of things can break down over 26.2 so you have to prepare as best a possible. Working abs can't be bad....earlier this year,I thought my abs were just a rumor!!!!!

Just hear Sal masakala (sp?) has challenged to beat p diddys time from his marathon. What a freaking copycat!!!!!! Just a note, Ive Already beaten diddy!!!!

EASY EIGHT

HI, running easy 8 miles in the park tomorrow morning. Been hydrating like a champ since last week...building up my mileage by running to the freaking bathroom all of the time...speaking of bathroom breaks...

A person at the shoot today asked me what people do when they REALLY have to go to the bathroom during the marathon... Well, some people stop at the port-a-john and others hold it while a small, very select few do as Nike said..."JUST DO IT"...while they are running...without missing a beat....not just #1 mind you...that's all I have to say...there are pictures out there but I run a "clean" site so I chose not to post any.

If it comes down to me having to do this to beat Ryan's time, well then, I guess a 3:55:00 isn't all that bad?!?!?!??!?!?!??!

Video Shoot with MJFF

Today was fun! Had a video shoot down at Deutsch Inc today to support MJFF. Basically I was asked a bunch of questions on "why Team Fox"?, "How did the website come about"?, "What makes a Team Fox person"?, It was a good time. I was sporting my beatingryanreynolds.com t-shirt, some varvatos jeans and my converse...gotta look good ya know. The good thing was that I filmed a quick United Way segment for Macy's annual donation drive about a month ago and when I saw the clip, I was very stiff and robot like. The director today was pretty damn funny and helped me be myself. So, hopefully, it'll come through on the film.

Thanks everyone down there!!! If you don't know it, the Deutsch offices are huge and go pretty much an entire city block. Truly amazing offices. I counted it as my workout today. Thanks Carmela for walking me through. I also checked out their website and it seems as though they really have their shit together...

check it out here...seems that creativity is job 1...2...and 3!!!!

http://www.deutschinc.com/

I've always thought that if I hadn't been in retail that the advertising world would have been a great career and creative outlet...