Tips From An Amateur

It’s all about the shoes

by Tyler Simpson on Feb 25, 2023 category Footwear, Tips From An Amateur

Mostly current rotation, with new ones in the back and a pair of retired shoes in the middle

I’ve been a “shoe guy” for a long time. Or at least since the start of High School. I personally can’t stand the term “sneakerhead” because people overuse that term and I’m way too old to use it. When I got to High School, I started to really get into shoes, and once I started working, it was over. I would spend at least half of my paychecks on shoes and remember getting into “disagreements” with my mother about how I was spending my money. My trump card was always, “well I could be spending it on drugs”, and that tended to give me the “W”.

I was mostly interested in shoes for the style, and any performance-related shoes I was getting on the discount racks. I had the backwards mindset of “why spend a lot of money on shoes I’m going to beat up?” As I’ve matured to an otherworldly degree, I have realized that companies often make performance shoes more expensive because (you guessed it) they are better quality. Revelation to my brain.

Even though I ran track throughout college, all of my shoes (trainers and spikes) were provided by the team. I never gave much thought to what I was wearing, and definitely felt like I’d made it because I was being given “free” shoes whenever I needed them. One reason I was interested in the decathlon was because that qualified for a few more event-specific spikes. It wasn’t until after about a 12 year hiatus from running that I started doing some research about running shoes and learned A TON about the differences.

There are many things to learn about and consider with running shoes. My goal is to give you my idiots guide to understanding the different aspects of shoe buying to be aware of. After all, I am firmly planted in the amateur category (at best) but I have spent a lot time researching and talking to former trackmates in the running shoe industry and I have learned a decent amount. The following information is in no particular order.

Stack height

You have likely seen this more than you have heard about it, but the general thing to know about stack height is that it is the amount of cushioning that is in the sole of the shoe. A brand that is known for having a higher than average stack height is Hoka. Hoka has become very popular in the last few years, even for non-runners. A big reason for their popularity is that their shoes are wildly comfortable and provide a lot of cushioning underfoot. I know a few runners that were previously unable to run due to various injuries and pains that have been able to run again with Hokas. I had a pair of Hoka Speedgoats that I grew to love, but they felt very “tippy” at first. It took me a while to get comfortable running in them.

Note the difference in height between the shoes

The most common reason that I’ve heard of against wearing shoes with a lot of cushioning is that it can actually weaken your foot muscles. When this happens, your likelihood of a foot injury can increase, so you will want to compensate to help prevent that. One easy way to do that is to walk around your house barefoot as much as possible. One other downside to having high-cushioned shoes is that the tread typically wears out quite quickly. I had a pair of On Cloudmonsters (pictured above and below) that started to show a good bit of wear after only 50 miles. Ideally you want to see more rubber on the soles to help prevent this.

There is a notable difference in the amount of rubber underfoot – both have similar mileage

Wearing a shoe with a higher stack height can be very beneficial to runners who are doing longer efforts. You tend to see a lot more people wearing these types of shoes in ultras (anything over marathon distance). After being on your feet for 3+ hours, it can be much more manageable if your feet have more protection. Other than that, I haven’t heard a compelling reason to get a higher stack shoe.

Drop

If you have started looking into running shoes more thoroughly, you have likely heard a shoe described by its “drop”. The easiest way to understand drop is that it is the difference in the height between the heel and the toe. Most shoes that I’ve seen have somewhere between a 4-10mm difference (always shorter in the front). There are a few brands that focus on having a “zero drop” which ultimately means the sole is flat.

From everything I’ve read, the reason the heels are generally higher is to help protect your feet from heel striking. Heel striking is very common, and happens when a runner’s heel is the first point of contact when running. It’s not the ideal position for your feet (from an injury-prevention and running efficiency standpoint), and shoe manufacturers try to help. Zero drop shoes are becoming more popular, with brands like Altra leading the way. If you read up on these shoes, the general recommendation is not to jump into a zero drop shoe too quickly. Due to having less protection in the heel, you really want to be landing closer to your toes, otherwise you can increase your chances of injury.

Toe box

The toe box is referring to the front of the shoe, where your toes are. Some brands are known for a narrower toe box, but there are more brands doing the opposite. Research is showing that the more movement your toes have, the better. If your toes are too cramped, it’s never a good thing and can (again) increase your chances of injury. Altra is also leading the pack by having a wider toe box than most of the other brands.

Carbon plate

The carbon fiber plates have been much more common in the last few years. Don’t quote me on this, but I’m fairly certain Nike was the first to mass produce a shoe with a carbon fiber plate in the sole. Now almost every major shoe brand has something similar in their racing shoes. The basic benefit of the carbon plate is that it helps propel you forward, which reduces your effort and lowers your time (Nike’s 4% shoes were billed to take 4% off your race times). I remember getting my first pair of shoes with a carbon plate and there was a notable difference in feel and took a little while getting used to.

In my experience there are a few things to consider about the carbon plated shoes. First is that they don’t really do anything for you when you are running at an “easy effort”. They actually feel quite unstable at slower speeds. The real apparent difference is when you are running at faster speeds, and they do feel like they are propelling you forward. The second consideration is that they actually beat your feet up quite a bit and the general guidance is that they are not a daily trainer. Lastly is that the carbon fiber doesn’t generally last as long, so don’t expect to be able to get the 300-500 miles that most shoes advertise.

Lugs

The lugs on the bottom of your shoes are more specific to trail running shoes, but are important nonetheless. If you’ve seen a pair of trail runners, one of the first things you will notice is that the tread underneath is much more aggressive. There are knobs sticking out all along the bottom of the shoe, which are very important for grip and stability off-road. Not all trail shoes are alike, and shoes with longer lugs are made for more technical terrain. Those shoes will be better on challenging trails, but will not transition as well to the road.

Gore-tex

I’m sure most people have heard the term gore-tex before, but if you somehow have not, it is a material that is known for being waterproof. It is pretty much the industry standard in waterproofing, and found in all the high quality rain and snow gear on the market. Given that running is a year-round activity and often done in rain or snow, there are a number of shoes with a gore-tex option. While these shoes will do a great job of keeping moisture out, the opposite is also true. They are not nearly as breathable, so the inside of the shoe will trap your foot sweat inside. While that is far from being a reason to avoid them, it’s definitely worth considering prior to purchase. If you think you will be running in wet environments regularly then it is likely a worthwhile investment. Otherwise, it’s ok to have wet feet once in a while.

Brands

There are a lot of shoe brands in the running market, and you’ve probably heard of most of them. All the biggest brands make running shoes, and there are a number of other brands that tend to focus primarily on running. Asics, Saucony and Brooks come to mind but there are plenty of others (some of which I mentioned earlier). Your best bet is to head down to a specialty running store and try out a few different options. Many of these smaller stores also have these incredible machines that can analyze your feet for any consideration. For context, if you are looking for a high quality running shoe, you should plan on paying between $125-150 (sometimes more, sometimes less). Once you know what brands and models you like, you can often find good deals at various online stores. I don’t think I’ve ever paid full-price for a running shoe.

Usage

As you get more into running and training for various races, you may find that not all running shoes are created for the same purpose. They are obviously all for running, but there are actually a few different types of runs that you might find yourself on.

Tempo/Speed

For improving your speed, you will likely want to incorporate tempo runs into your mix. These involve periods of running at faster paces, even if they are broken up into intervals. For this type of running, you will look for a bit more of an aggressive shoe that is built specifically for speed.

Long runs

When training for longer races, the long run is a staple in the mix and is often done at a slower (or conversational) pace. The point of these runs is to build up your endurance and spend more time on your feet, so that your body gets conditioned for running longer. Shoes for these efforts are often a little more cushioned (think stack height). I’ve made the mistake of doing long runs in a tempo shoe and have felt it afterwards. It’s not to say that it isn’t doable, it just may hurt a little more during and after your runs.

Racing

This gets a little more granular because many brands make different racing shoes for different events. The shorter the distance, the more aggressive the shoe. A racing shoe is generally going to be notably lighter than a training shoe and this is where you will see the carbon fiber plates. It is far from a requirement to get a racing shoe, but they can make a recognizable difference once you start trying out different shoes. Bear in mind they do tend to be more expensive…

New Balance RC Elite – my race shoe for the past 2 years

Trails

Trail shoes are an entirely different breed and have a few key differences from road shoes. There are three primary things that I’ve seen. A reinforced toe box for protection against rocks and roots, a firm sole (also for protection) and aggressive, rubber grip. Similar to road shoes, there are a variety of options when it comes to the trails. If you plan to run on the trails on any consistent basis, I recommend picking up some trail shoes. I have ran with a few new trail runners, and they have marveled at the difference after picking up their first pair.

Recovery

It’s becoming more common to have shoes and sandals that are specifically designed for recovery. Ultimately that means high cushioning for your sore feet. There are a few brands that are focused almost exclusively on this market – most notably Oofos and Kane. Footwear like this has become more popular and other brands are making their own versions of recovery shoes. I too succumbed to the interest here, but have mostly relegated my recovery slides for odds and ends. After a few minor foot pains, the most common advice I’ve received is to walk around the house barefoot, so that’s been my go-to.

Breaking shoes in

The general advice I’ve always received is to walk around your house in new shoes for a while before going out for your first run. This is especially important before doing a run over 3-5 miles. I’ve made the mistake (recently…) of skipping this step before and have ended up aggravating my foot, which took a few weeks to recover from. Be smarter than me 🙂

Conclusion

There is a LOT to the shoe buying process, and I hope this has been a helpful high-level overview for you. While this was a lot of information, it is far from being all encompassing. This was mostly geared to newer folks, but hopefully some of the veteran runners out there learned something new too. You might have noticed that I have (what some might say is) a lot of running shoes. There are a few reasons for that. One reason is that I do a decent variety of runs on roads and trails, and each shoe serves it’s own purpose. The other reason is that you can injure your feet if you run with the same shoes every day and on the same terrain. The variety helps prevent injuries so you aren’t sidelined unnecessarily. For those of you who think I might have too many shoes, I’ll tell you as well… at least it isn’t drugs.

What Are You Listening To?

by Tyler Simpson on Feb 1, 2023 category Tips From An Amateur

The topic of “what people listen to while running” has been pretty interesting to me. There are four basic things that I’ve heard people say: music, podcasts, audiobooks and… nothing! The last one threw me when I first heard someone say that, but I’m now a believer – to some degree… I have found that what I listen to varies depending on the type of running I’m doing, but I most definitely have a preference. Early in my 20s (so about 100 years ago) I heard a lot of people I looked up to talk about active learning. What I understood that to mean, was to listen to something educational WHILST doing something else. The biggest place that became a habit for me, was when I was driving. If you have a 30 minute commute each way to work, you could get an hour of learning in each day. Five days of that is pretty easy math, and at the end of the year you could add over 250 hours of “learning”, even if that’s the only time you ever do it in a day.

Enter: Long runs

Once you start delving into the training required to complete a marathon, you will find yourself spending a lot of time out running (pro tip). The way I see it, that is another version of the education on wheels, but instead on your legs. Sure, you can listen to hundreds of hours of music, but that is unlikely to help you double-dip with somewhat of a life-hack. Let’s dive a bit into the world of music to kick this off.

Musica

Music feels like the go-to for the vast majority of runners. I’ve heard all sorts of reasons why, but the most logical one tends to be about the BPM (beats per minute) and how it helps keep a cadence. Here is an article that helps you find your running BPM. When I started going out for regular runs again, I absolutely threw my headphones on and shuffled up my library for enjoyment. While it was enjoyable for the first few weeks, quite frankly I started to get pretty bored. Now I know the music enthusiasts will tell me 100 different reasons why that’s insane and probably because I wasn’t listening to the right stuff.

Regardless of your music tastes, I found myself either getting too worked up with upbeat music or getting tired of just listening to music for an hour plus. Given my desire to read and learn more, I realized this was a new opportunity for me to take advantage of the time. I decided to open up the books app on my phone and I bought a book called “Run the Mile You’re In” by Ryan Hall. If you’ve never heard of Ryan, he’s quite the legend in American distance running. He is also a Christian, so I was curious to hear how he was going to incorporate his faith into his running.

Audiobooks

Pretty quickly into Ryan Hall’s book, I realized I enjoyed the content a whole lot more than listening to music for the reasons I mentioned earlier. Aside from being more interesting than constant music, I was feeling better for “reading” more and I also found that I was focusing less on how I was feeling and more on the narrator. For runs that last for an hour or more, not focusing on the running is quite refreshing. Since I switched over to audiobooks, I’ve listened to a total of 20 different books. Those 20 books were all “read” at the same time as I was doing other things: running, driving, mowing the lawn, to name a few.

The very first marathon that I ran was the Virtual Boston Marathon, where I was alone on sidewalks and the sides of the road for over 4 hours. It was painful, and a true initiation into running the marathon distance. As somewhat of a accidental strategy, I chose to listen to “Hiroshima” by John Hersey. If you haven’t read the book, it’s about six survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima. There are a number of details that are brutally graphic, and overall it’s an absolutely horrific accounting of the experience for people in the city. I found myself so distracted about the various details that I felt that I had nothing to complain about. As I said, an accidental strategy that worked out quite well.

While reading audiobooks had been a welcomed change, some of the audiobooks were many hours of listening. Most of the books have been great, but I’ve definitely had a few that have been less engaging. I don’t remember exactly how, but I came across the book “Finding Ultra” by Rich Roll at some point. Without going into the details, it’s an incredible book and one that I enjoyed quite a bit. In learning more about Rich, I found out that he had a very successful podcast. I’d heard a lot of people talk about different podcasts that they listened to, so I decided to see what all the hype was about.

Podcasts

If you are where I was about 2 years ago, you may not understand what all the chatter about podcasts is for. Podcasts are essentially smaller audio shows or series that cover a specific topic. Some of them are a series that cover historical events. Some are interviews with various people and others are just pure entertainment. Rich Roll describes his podcast as long-form conversations that are “all things wellness”. The guests that he has on his show are all very intelligent and talk about some incredibly fascinating topics (in my opinion). I listened to one episode and was hooked immediately. I found that even discussions about things that I had no opinion or knowledge about were so interesting, and forced me to become more curious. I also liked that I could listen to an entire podcast in one or two runs, instead of over the course of 15+ runs like many of the audiobooks.

After getting into the podcast groove, I found a few other ones that I listened to but haven’t even scratched the surface of what’s out there – because it’s pretty overwhelming. If you are looking to learn more about different topics, I highly encourage checking out an episode of a podcast. There are tons of recommended lists that you can find out there, so slap a search into google and see what you can find. One of the best things about most podcasts?? They are free!

Nada

Don’t listen to anything. Not a single thing. Actually, listen to everything around you, unfiltered and uncut. A few years back, I went for a run with someone who told me they never listen to anything on runs. I thought he joking, because that sounded absolutely insane to me. My indoctrination had been that you HAD to listen to something when running – as if it was a rule of some sort. When I pressed, he explained that when he runs on the trails, he wants to hear all the sounds of nature. His reasoning was mostly for the enjoyment of nature, but he also had the practical sense of being able to hear if someone (or something) was near him.

When running off-road, you are often on single-track trails that don’t leave much room for passing. If a mountain biker or faster runner is coming up behind you, it’s much better to hear them coming – so you aren’t that obnoxious person blocking the entire trail AND you don’t get scared by someone “coming out of nowhere.” Outside of people, there are some dogs that are off leash that shouldn’t be and being able to prepare yourself for their assault (friendly or otherwise) is helpful too.

I tried going for a solo trail run without any headphones, and I immediately understood the recommendation. It added so many amazing layers to the experience, and allowed me to be more present and aware of the world around me. Just the other day I went for a run on the trails mid-day because it was gorgeous outside. I was running down by one of the ponds and as I came up to a section by the edge of the water, I heard something up in the trees rustle. I looked up and saw a massive bald eagle take off and soar out over the water. As my jaw hit the ground, ANOTHER bald eagle right above me took off after the first one. I’ve been lucky enough to see a few bald eagles in the wild, but this took the cake. I stopped and watched them fly away, and couldn’t help but think that I would have completely missed that if I had headphones in. When I’m on the trails, my eyes are always down, and the only reason I stopped to look up was because I heard the rustle in the trees. I wonder how many times we miss moments because we aren’t fully immersed in where we are…

One of the bald eagles I startled on my run

What about racing?

My first few longer races (half marathon and longer) I listened to music during the runs. I can’t say for sure if it helped, but it was at least a net neutral. When it came time for my first in-person marathon in Chicago, I decided that I wanted to really experience the environment that I had heard so much about. Despite the fact that I got absolutely destroyed during that race, I was very happy to hear the crowds and the energy throughout the entire course. It felt like a way that I could give back some appreciation for the thousands of people that were there to cheer all of us on. Since then, I’ve opted for the same approach in New York, Boston and Philly, and plan to continue going sans headphones. To each their own, and do what works for you!

A few final thoughts

Try something new

If you’ve only ever done one thing for your runs, I recommend trying something new. I know there are a number of things that I haven’t mentioned that some people may rave about. For example, I’m sure there are some people who use a language learning app while running and love it! I have found that switching things up keeps running feeling fresh and can often be the thing I’m looking forward to even more than the actual running. The best news is that you can always go back to old faithful if you aren’t a fan of the new thing.

Leave headphones at home for group runs

This might just be a pet peeve of mine, but I don’t understand why people come to a group run and then just put their headphones on the entire time and don’t talk to anyone. I tend to have things that make no sense to me but others see no issue with, so this could be another one of those things. To me, the whole point of running with other people is to be in conversation with someone about something – anything. If I wanted to listen to something I would just run alone. Call me crazy, but I say leave the headphones at home if you are running with other people.

Run naked

Streaking!!! Ok, so I’m not actually talking about actually running without clothes. I am however talking about running without any headphones. To some people, that may sound just as insane. If you have never done it, I recommend giving it a try. If you want to ease into it, invite a friend to go for a run and have the conversation take the place of the headphones – it also makes sure you don’t run too fast 😉 If you are anything like me, it’s not often that are you are alone with nothing but your own thoughts. It can be incredibly helpful in processing your thoughts or emotions, and can quickly tap into your spiritual side. That’s a blog for another day though…

Tips from an Amateur: Fundraising

by Tyler Simpson on Jan 14, 2023 category Tips From An Amateur

Early in my career all I could see was money… get it??

Tis the season

If you know any runners, you have likely started to see some posts, emails and announcements about fundraising for an upcoming race. Right now Boston Marathon fundraising is in full gear, but London Marathon is right around the corner and Tokyo Marathon comes before both of them. For us non-elite runners (raising my hand), often our best bet to run in one of the premiere races is to get lucky in the lottery or to raise money. Having gone the fundraising route a few times myself (with some big, scary numbers to raise) I’ve seen and experienced a few things that might be helpful to others trying to navigate these waters.

My background

I have never worked specifically in fundraising, but I have worked professionally in non-profits since 2007 and have picked up a few things along the way. The organizations that I have worked at rely heavily on fundraising and have both been involved in many different campaigns, and done so successfully. I have been indirectly involved in fundraising my entire career in non-profits, and directly part of some campaigns a few times.

Once you work in the non-profit world for a while, you realize that it can be a pretty crowded space. Outside of non-profits, are religious organizations, relief efforts and gofundme campaigns for all sorts of worthy causes (to name a few). Anyone who has connections on social media knows that new requests come in weekly, if not daily. Over my years, I’ve collectively raised over $25,000 for various causes and events (I realize that pails in comparison to many). Over $23,000 of that money came from marathon fundraising efforts. Here’s to hoping I can help you a little if you are just starting out.

Incredible action shot which makes me look like I can’t stand up straight

Fundamental Understanding: Rule of 7s

I’m not sure it’s officially called the “Rule of 7s” but if I’ve heard this once, I’ve heard it over 50 times. The general premise of this “rule” is that it takes 7 impressions (or touch points) to motivate someone. An impression can be a post, a conversation, an email, an invitation, etc. Ultimately you would count every time someone comes across information related to a topic. I’ve seen far too many people post once to Facebook, Instagram or some other platform and then never come around again. With a seemingly infinite amount of things to spend money on, it takes at least a few times to make an impression. There are different groups of people in your life that will support you, and catering to each of them is an important element to getting results. Drilling down a little further, an effective technique I was taught was to publicly thank and acknowledge donors and tag them on social media. By doing this, others are seeing that you are getting supported and connections of your donors may also want to give to you too.

Choose a cause that is personal

Raising money or gaining support for something you don’t have a personal connection or true belief in, is never easy. People are generally smart and intuitive and can tell when others aren’t bought in to what they are doing or supporting. Most fundraising campaigns have a donor website to utilize, and crafting a personal story is going to be a key first step to gaining support. The Boston Marathon was the first race that I fundraised for, and I was fortunate enough to get a bib through the organization where I work. Many of my donors were fellow staff, board members, and I also received huge support from family and friends. There were a few unexpected donors, but no “out of left field” donations came in.

When I was raising money for the March of Dimes to run the NYC Marathon, I shared my personal story and had unexpected donations coming in left and right. The biggest difference was that my story was central to my family as opposed to my workplace. I was very fortunate to have incredible support for both fundraising campaigns, but they attracted different people.

Our son about 12 hours after he was born, weighing about 3 pounds 5 ounces and 6 weeks premature

Share your training progress

Even though you are fundraising and ultimately looking for financial support, people are generally interested and excited to see how your training is going – especially if you are a first-time marathoner! Some people may not feel like there are in a position to provide a meaningful financial gift, but they are happy to come on a training run with you. Having an accountability partner can be invaluable as well. When I first started putting in longer training runs, each week was a new distance record for me, so it was easy to overshare my progress – because it was exciting! Very few people are out running consistently, let alone anything in double digit miles and for weeks and months at a time.

The other reason to share your progress online is to show people that you are serious and dedicated to holding your end of the bargain to actually prepare to finish the race. I have absolutely no statistics to back this up, but my assumption is that people are motivated by the running first and the cause second. What I mean by that is people would decide they want to run a marathon and then find an organization to raise money for. There are certainly exceptions where people want to support an organization or cause, and the running is just a way to do it.

Training run picture that was 100% posted on social media

Recommendation: maybe be a little selective with what progress you are sharing and don’t think that people want an update after every workout you finish. It can quickly drift into obnoxious over-sharing territory and could become a negative.

Getting creative

Given that you aren’t the only one out there asking people to give their money to you (the cause you are raising money for), think about what might be a creative way to motivate people. Captain No-Statistics is coming back to say that the vast majority of donors that I’ve seen only give to the cause one time and specifically because of the fundraiser. The organizations I’ve worked for have been very clear about their lack of expectations for repeat donations for marathon-based donors.

In thinking how I could drum up some more donations (either by getting more donors or more money per donor), I solicited the help of a small child in my house. My young daughter has always been quite artistic, so I crafted a business arrangement with her in 2019 (she was 8 at the time) where I would pay her $5 (of my own money NOT from the donation) for every portrait she drew of a donor. The deal was that for every person that donated at least $50 they would receive a “custom” portrait based on the photo of their choosing. When one was not provided, I became an internet sleuth and found a picture from their social media for her to draw. After these mini masterpieces were finished, I would post the original photo next to the portrait and post it to Facebook and Instagram (my social media platforms of choice). The interest for these portraits skyrocketed and I turned into a very demanding client, putting her to work to crank out portraits and the donations came in. At times she was well behind in her production, and I must admit that quality control suffered somewhat dramatically in the final weeks.

I have seen other people offer to do things in exchange for donations – typically a collective large amount instead of smaller donations. For example, you could do a polar plunge (jump into cold water), cut or color your hair, do a training run in a silly outfit or anything you can come up with. The point is to have something interesting or motivating that people want to see happen. Sometimes friends are more motivated to see you run around town in an inflatable dinosaur suit more than they are to donate to your cause because “it’s a great one”.

Parties or events

From what I’ve seen, younger runners in particular, have had good success putting on a fundraising party or event. The general premise is that you may know someone with a talent or you frequent an establishment, and partner with them to bring them business and help you raise money. This may look like a specific day and time period where the establishment will donate a certain percentage of sales to your campaign. Other times a particularly talented (and hopefully charitable) person you may know would be willing to donate their services and the money spent on an event would go towards your fundraising. I’ve seen people do this with a paint night, for example. These events certainly don’t happen on their own, so you will need to put some sweat equity into making it happen (setting it up, inviting people, showing up yourself, etc.). Good news is your are sweating for your training, so why not sweat for your fundraising!

Utilize matching gifts

Many companies offer matching donation programs, where they will match an employees charitable giving to another organization, up to a certain amount. This is a huge benefit for people that can take advantage of this, because it means that you ultimately get double the amount. It does sometimes take a while for the matching gift to come through, but as long as you know it’s coming… that’s ok! You can do some research yourself to see if you have any connections at a company or otherwise you can poll your network.

A second way that I’ve seen/used related to this is to utilize a large gift that you know is coming in as a challenge to other donors. An example would be if one of your family members says they are going to give you $1,000 towards your goal. Instead of just posting that in, you can ask if you can hold off on acknowledging that gift and say that you have a donor that will match every dollar donated up to $1,000. It’s not a silver bullet, but who doesn’t like a challenge?? I would recommend running that by your family member first, but I can’t imagine there would be much push back.

Enjoy the process

Reconnecting with former college teammates for a training run (which was 70 degrees in January)

I totally understand and can relate to being pretty scared about raising thousands of dollars, in particular when some charities say they will charge your credit card for what you didn’t raise. In talking with many other charity runners, they pretty much all say that raising money was “the easy part”. I’m not sure if that excites you about the fundraising or freaks you out about the running… Hopefully you are raising money for an organization that has a good support system, and otherwise I hope you can refer back to this post for some ideas and encouragement. I will say, it feels pretty incredible when you end up hitting your fundraising goal AND finish your race. Best of luck!