Martin Parnell Finish the Race Attitude

Below are the Latest Donation stats:

• Date: Monday February 7th 2011

• Final Total: $287,231.73
• Cost of a Right To Play program: $50
• Number of children who will benefit : 5,745

The final figures are in and the Marathon Quest 250 fundraiser is over. We managed to raise $287,231.73 for Right To Play. This will allow 5,745 children to have a Right To Play program in 2011. Thanks to everyone who donated. It was an amazing year and I couldn't have done it with out you.

Last week was busy. Irene and Asana arrived from Ghana and with Sarah, Jules and Jamie, from Toronto, we gave a number of presentations. The main one in Calgary was at MacEwan Hall. Hayley Wickenheiser joined us and talked about her experiences visiting kids in Africa. On the Wednesday, we talked to a group from Samsung and Beckie Scott shared her experiences in Ethiopia. In the afternoon Sarah, Irene, Jamie and myself headed up to Edmonton for the second leg of the awareness campaign. We visited Mother Teresa, Bishop Savaryn and Monsignor William Irwin schools. At the last school one of the kids asked me if I knew about Heidi, the cross-eyed opossum. I said no, but I would find out.

Heidi is two-and-a-half years old and lives in Leipzig zoo, Germany with her sister Naira. Zoo officials believe Heidi's cross-eyed condition is a result of fatty deposits located behind her eyes, which create pressure. But, they can't be sure. They think the fatty deposits could be the aftermath of a bad diet earlier in life, and claim that while her eyes look 'off' they don't affect her ability to get around and aren't painful.

Get's me thinking that now that I've finished my marathons I'd better watch what I eat. I don't want to go cross-eyed!!!!!

Dr Randolph Randolph's book of animal jokes (Spider's)

Q. Why did the spider buy a car?
A. So he could take it out for a spin!

Quote of the Day

"You shouldn't spend your entire life trying to fit into the system. You shouldn't just take your place in society and do nothing. The world is huge. The world is awesome. That world is to go out and explore."

Ronnie Simpson, Outside Magazine, February 2011

Heidi, the cross-eyed opossum

Read More

Comrades Training Stats:

• Race Date: Sunday May 29th 2011
• Race Distance: 89km
• Training Km's Target (Jan 1st to May 28th): Lots
• Training Km's Actual: 60

Things are getting back to normal, whatever that is. I've got lots of things on my "to do" list and it's time to start ploughing my way through them. However, the first bit of ploughing was the drive way. We had a good dump of snow this week and I didn't want to get reported by the "Side Walk" police for not clearing the pavement. I started shovelling the white mud and then felt a pain in my back so I stopped. I'm going to use solar power to finish the job.

I've been looking at my Comrades Marathon training program and I'm way behind. I should have put in 239km's in January and I did 40km. Oh dear. I had better pick up the pace if I want to complete the 89km's in 12 hours. Outdoor training's been tricky with the wacky weather we've been having so it was time to jump on the treadmill. The last time I ran on the moving mat was in 2009 but it was fun putting in 10km while watching the Rangers vs Celtic cup tie.

On Feb. 5th 2011 Stefaan Engel, a 49 year old man from Ghent, Belguim completed 365 marathons in a row. Not only that, he started on Jan 1st 2010, did 18 marathons and was injured. He then used a wheel chair and did another 18 marathons. In total he completed 401 marathons in a row. Futhermore, in 2008 he completed 20 Ironman triathlons and holds the Guiness book of records for the most in one year. People said that running 250 marathons in one year was crazy, well, in that case Steffaan is mega-crazy. Nice one mate!

Dr Randolph Randolph's book of animal jokes (Spider's)

Q. What does a spider do when he gets angry?
A. He goes up the wall!

Quote of the Day

"The world's greatest lie is this: At a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate."

Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Stefaan Engel, mega-crazy marathon runner

Read More

Comrades Training Stats:

• Race Date: Sunday May 29th 2011
• Race Distance: 89km
• Training Km's Target (Jan 1st to May 28th): 1292km
• Training Km's Actual: 121km (1%)

The medical results are in and here's the diagnosis. The medical profession use a lot of big words so I've interperted their findings:

Chest: Appears within normal limits. The heart is normal in size, the lungs and pleural space is clear with no active intrathoracic disease detected. Meaning: Looks good

Hips: Appear well maintained. No significant degenerative changes identified. Bony pelvis is unremarkable. Who says it's unremarkable!

Knees: Shows good maintenance of joint space with no specific arthropathy apparent. No joint fluid or radiopaque loose bodies. No acute fracture or dislocation. Meaning: Not bad for an old fella.

Bone Density: Researcher John at the U of C stated "Overall, I would say your bone health is very good. I was not surprised by the results, mainly for the tibia. The one thing that really surprised me was the values for your radius. I did not think they would be as high as the tibia, but your wrist bones were looking a lot better than I expected. My initial thoughts are that there may be some sort of whole-body effects occurring with your extreme lifestyle over the past year."  Meaning: We have to do more testing!

Heart: Normal left ventricular size, wall motion and wall thickness with an estimated left ventricular ejection fraction of approximately 60%. No other significant abnormality is identified. Meaning: The ticker's still going.

Well, that's the Coles notes. I'll be taking more tests during the year so I'll keep you posted.

Dr Randolph Randolph's book of animal jokes (Spider's)

Q. Why are spiders good swimmers?
A. They have webbed feet!

Quote of the Day

"We are not retreating - we are advancing in another direction"

General Douglas MacArthur

The inside of the radius bone (looks like an Aero bar!)

Read More

Comrades Training Stats:

• Race Date: Sunday May 29th 2011
• Race Distance: 89km
• Training Km's Target (Jan 1st to May 28th): 1292km
• Training Km's Actual: 146km (1.1%)

Things have changed from a year ago. At this point, in 2010, I had run 1266.0kms and was a week and a half into my leg injury. This year I've run 146.0km and now it's time to start my next project: The Book. Over the last three years I've self-published three books. The first was "How do you eat an Elephant?". This was a photo-diary of my cycle trip across Africa in 2005. A combinations of my blogs and photographs, it sold four copies. So, unfortunately, it didn't make the New York Times Best Sellers list. The second was a childrens' book, "Riverbank Friends". Sue's mum, Terryanne, wrote twelve brilliant poems, about the lives of some animals living along a river bank and I illustrated it. The third book,"Pause for Thought", again by Terryanne, a book of poems, for adults, for which I provided the photos.

So, now I'm writing a book about my year of running 250 marathons. I wasn't sure where to start so, I've decide to treat it like a quest. I needed a name for the book so Sue came up with "M is for Marathon", excellent. Each chapter will start with a letter i.e M is for Martin, A is for Africa, R is for Right To Play etc. Then I had to decide how many words should be in the book. I checked out five books for their length. The authors include Ray Zahab, Bart Yasso, Pam Reed, Dean Karnazes and Sister Madonna Buder. The number of words range from 75,774 to 89,607 (it took a while to add them all up!). I'm going for 80,000. Sue will be helping me with the book.

And so it begins, "Book Quest 80,000". I'll keep you posted.

Dr Randolph Randolph's book of animal jokes (Spider's)

Q. How do you spot a modern spider?
A. He doesn't have a web he has a website!

Quote of the Day

"Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like muscles of the body"

Lynn Jennings

The cover of "M is for Marathon"????

Read More

Book Quest 80,000:

• Complete initial manuscript: July 10th 2011
• Total words (target): 80,000
• Words actual (todate): 3165
  
• Words target (Feb 27th): 4000
  

Comrades Marathon Training:

• Race Date: Sunday May 29th 2011
• Race Distance: 89km
• Training Km's Target (Jan 1st to May 28th): 1292km
• Training Km's Actual: 156km (1.1%)

My writing career has started. So far this week I've written 3,165 words and they're all very good words. I'm sure Sue will have something to say about them but I haven't shown them to her yet. I've set myself a target of 4,000 a week which means, hopefully, I'll have finished the first pass of "M is for Marathon" by mid July. Someone asked me if it's a who-dun-it. Silly question, we know who did it. I'm looking for a publisher so if you know of anyone who's looking for the next Harry Potter, but instead of magic it's about running, tell them to contact me.

On another literary front, I've submitted my first article to the Cochrane Eagle. They asked me to do a series of articles on ultra running, the Comrades Marathon and my trip to Benin to visit children participating in Right To Play programs. My first effort is "Every thing you wanted to know about Ultra running but were afraid to ask". Check it out in the March 2nd edition.

Of Mice and Men is a brilliant novel written by Nobel Prize winning author John Steinbeck and published in 1937. It's about two ranch hands, George and Lennie, during the Great Depression in California. The title is also very applicable to a recent study carried out by Canadian scientists on the effects of exercise on the health of mice. The study, by researchers at McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario, found that signs of premature aging were halted - and even reversed - in virtually every tissue and organ in the bodies of mice that exercised. I found the report very interesting but I think there are some key questions still to be answered:

• How did they get heart rate monitors small enough for the mice?
• Did the mice have special running shoes or did they go barefoot?
• Have the qualifying times for Boston been changed to accommodate mice?

If you have any other burning questions about mice and exercise let me know.

Dr Randolph Randolph's book of animal jokes (Spider's)

Q. What did the wife spider say to her husband when he tried to explain why he was late?
A. Your spinning me a yarn here!

Quote of the Day

"The pen is mighter than the sword"

Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Are you Man or Mouse?????

Read More