Thank You!

A huge Thanksgiving THANK YOU ! to all for your support, kind words, kind emails, as well as contributions to the March Of Dimes. Over 500 dollars have been raised in memory of Joshua.

Weeks have flown by since the marathon and I am only getting around to posting anything now. I do apologize for taking so long.

The day of the run could not have been better, although in my memory the event has a bit of a fuzzy dream like quality to it. The night before involved a restless slumber, nervous with worries about what the next day would bring. The 8 am start was freezing, but once underway garments, gloves and hat were shed. Invigorated by the chilled morning air, my worries were soon replaced by a resolve to do the best that I could. I don't have any profound reflections to offer about the run. There were points where it seemed easy and then points were it took a lot of effort to go another step.

It was a beautiful autumn day and all along the route there were crowds of people cheering the runners on. This was the type of cheering that made you feel like you were a part of something big, and I guess when there are this many people all out and having a good time it is something big afterall. So I would recomend that if you are ever in the vicinity of a marathon, you should check it out and route the runners on. Bring some noise makers, pots and pans and perhaps some jelly beans. I'm not particularly big on sweets but there was one person handing out the best jelly beans I’ve ever tasted. Your efforts won't go unappreciated and I bet you'll have a great time too. There were many moments particularly toward the end where a simple "way to go" a cheer, cowbell ringing or a rock band playing Run Now on someones front lawn put an extra bounce in my step.

My personal cheering section for this trip consisted of course of my Mom, Cari-anne and Aidan and Ryan. Here is a picture of us in Bar Harbor the day after the run. Many thanks to LuAnn and Mike for making the trip up from Massachusetts to see me off on the chilly, chilly morning of the run. How is it that I didn't get a picture of you guys too?!

I’m proud to say that I jogged (some might call it speed walked) the entire course only taking breaks at the water stations. I did finish a bit ahead of my secret 6 hour prediction, Crossing the finish line at about 1:45 pm. It didn’t matter to me that 545 people finished ahead of me or if I had come in last. My congratulations to the swiftest runners but let’s not forget those that were on their feet 6, 7 or 8+ hours. Congratualtions to All!

Here I am at 26.2 miles, crossing with some little hitchhiker that greeted me just before the finish line.

The first few hours afterward I was as sore as well...as if I had been in a marathon. I recovered quick though and the next day I was chasing the kids to the top of the biggest McDonalds playland I've ever chased kids to the top of. Since then I have been at best a weekend runner, but I have not given up the habit and have not ruled out the posibility of doing this again.

Thanks Again!

Best wishes to all during the Holiday Season!

5:44:40

Wish Me Luck!

Here we are up in Bar Harbor. Most of today was spent sight seeing, enjoying the splendid scenery and beautiful fall foliage. No Running. We also drove along the marathon route and I got that queasy feeling again. More than once I caught myself thinking, what was I thinking when I thought of this. but this is it, the big day is tomorrow. Wish me luck! A little prayer for me and for Joshua would be welcome as well. Thanks to all who have shown your support along the way and a special thanks to those of you who contributed to the March of Dimes in memory of Joshua. Check back to see how the Marathon turns out.

Tripping the Moonlight Fantastic!

Last night I set out to do a quick 3 mile run and had one of those perfect moments that you can’t quite explain or plan for. Hit with a woozy concoction of the cool night air, moonlight illuminating a silver path down familiar but not quite recognizable streets, the quiet hum and buzz of crickets and other creatures, I was awestruck by the beauty of it all. Mix in thoughts about my boys, my wife, all of my family and friends and these things converged to give me a quiet sense of well being with a great gratitude for all I have going for me. I am really very lucky. 3 miles turned into 6 and then 9 as I kept passing the house to do another loop. I might have kept going too, but it was getting quite late. Once back home, as she always does, Cari-anne asked how my run was. After one of these rare dreamy jogs my response is always “Fantastic!” to which she will respond with a quizzical Really? She’s admitted that she will never understand the word “Fantastic’ in relation to jogging and I have to admit that I wouldn’t usually throw them together either but I have come to recognize it has many rewards. I’ve run 500+ miles since starting this adventure in May and on this coming Sunday I will cover the 26.2 miles I set my sights on months ago.

Mile O0oh!

I can't believe that I hadn't made this connection before as each day I make my way to work leaving Pennsylvania, crossing over the Delaware River into New Jersey. Smack dab in the middle of the bridge there is a mile marker sign that says Mile 0. I'll proceed from there along the interstate until I reach mile 27 where I exit and drive the remaining distance to work. I don't know why today was any different but I suddenly recognized a similarity, at least in distance, between this stretch of road, that often seems endless in the car, and the upcoming run. I felt a little queasy. I prefer to think of the whole thing in smaller pieces. Much smaller! Then again it’s all about little steps and we all know how they add up. Anyway I don’t know where I'm going with this except to say that I’m getting just a little bit nervous and a bit excited that the big day is not to far off. Now with talk of mile posts I can't help throwing in a few pictures of my little guys Aidan and Ryan. And look! There are mile posts here too. Perhaps it’s a reflection of their dad’s youthful wanderlust or an eye to all of our future travels together, but Cari-anne and I started a tradition of photographing the boys for each year from birth to oh I guess about a 100 years from now, next to the mile post corresponding to their age. Scattered about are the first few installments.

Putting The Horse Back In Front Of The Cart

This week my daily 5 mile commitment has all but fallen apart. The run itself only takes an hour but the usual challenge of finding the time got the best of me and all of the important responsibilities like work, commuting, time with family, household chores to name a few took precedence. Then a simple blood pressure check at work had the nurse telling me I needed to see my doctor a soon as possible! This caused a bit of a panic and I did what I should have done in the first place, consult a physician before beginning an exercise program. All turned out ok with the visit, blood pressure is a little high and I’ve been given medication for that. EKG was a.o.k. and the doctor said there is no reason to stop running as long as I feel ok during and after. So I am getting back on track, but I need to rearrange the schedule and re-evaluate what it is I’m up to. Since starting, I’m getting into much better shape. I also enjoy the running but at the same time the daily grind trying to find time does take its toll, especially when I’m stealing from time I could be spending with Cari-anne and the kids. There are some things that are more important than jogging. My new plan is to continue running somewhere between 25 and 30 miles per week. Rather than doing 5 miles on every outing I will try to mix it up with shorter and longer runs to reach my weekly goal. That way I can take advantage of days when I have the time by running more and on days when I don’t, a short run or day off will do. I need to incorporate some long runs in anyway because on October 19th I’ll be in for the long haul. 26.2 miles is a long way to go. I can’t say I won’t be walking a bit along the way but I know I’ll cross that finish line. Thanks for stopping by. Keep checking back to see how it all turns out.

Georgia Runs Again

I’ve been feeling a bit guilty about leaving Georgia behind on my runs and even more so since she hasn’t been getting her fair share of walk’s lately either. Over the past weekend we hopped in the car and set out together for the Snow Hill Recreation Area about a 10 minute drive from the house. Then with odometer clicking, drove down the seldom traveled gravel road until we ticked off 2.5 miles. There I tied a ribbon around a tree branch and headed back to the parking area. Now around the house Georgia is a pretty laid back dog spending much of her time curled up with our cat Milo in her dog bed. She is very gentle with our kids too in spite of their ear pullings and other devilish games they are learning to play with her. This subdued mood disappears the minute the doorbell rings and she is transformed into the wild affectionate monster who’s sole purpose is to get as close to whoever this new person visiting is. Hopping out of the car at the park is much the same and she is such a beautiful dog it doesn’t help that everyone comes up to greet her. After making friends with everyone, and their dogs, “G-Force” allowed me to start our jog with the familiar tugging away at her leash that ended our jogging partnership way back in May. Once we passed the 2^nd gate and were off on our own I set her free. As expected she was tearing off in front of me or lagging behind until I called out come on “G” and she’d come racing back. This went on for about the first 2 miles and then suddenly I had the dog I always knew she was inside gently trotting alongside of me. At the turn around point she perked up a little because she knew which direction the car was in. Basically a lazy lapdog she was eager to get back to it, to the house and perhaps a nap with the cat. It was a nice run. A beautiful warm day but cool in the shade of the forest and Georgia deserved more outings like this. Arriving at the parking lot again she had been transformed to my obedient servant and even though there were a whole new bunch of people to go make friends with, a simple “heal Georgia” kept her in check. I’d say there is hope for our runs together after all.

I've covered 45 miles since my last post.

2 months to go until the big day!

Run Down On The Run Up Until Now

First of all I would like to thank Janis, Scott, Joy and Kimberly for your generous donations in Memory of Joshua Keller. Your support is greatly appreciated and your contributions will help the March of Dimes in their fight against premature birth.

It’s been about 3 months since I began these daily outings and far to long since posting to let the world know how my preparation for the Mount Desert Marathon has been going. I can’t get too excited about reciting a bunch of mile and time statistics so I’ll try to spare those details, but here is a run down on the run up until now.

Way back during those early May mornings I was sporting sweat pants and hooded jacket with hands pulled up into the sleeves to fight the early morning chill. These were mainly brisk walks with Georgia around the hilly 3 mile loop which would become part of my daily route. In my head I was thinking “run a marathon for a good cause” and in reality I couldn’t conceive of running 2 blocks. Then seemingly out of nowhere I began jogging a bit each day, tripping all over Georgia’s leash as I set my sites on “just up to that mail box,” “drive way” or “street sign.” Before long it was separate walks for Georgia and each time jogging I was going just a little bit further, slowly working myself up to a solid mile. For a while I was content with this and walking the rest, reasoning that I didn’t want to push myself to hard and regret it. This was probably a good decision and as time passed I was up to jogging 2, 3 then 4 miles. This didn’t happen overnight of course. I haven’t been following any particular training program either, except that I don’t want to back slide. If I made it this far on one day, I need to go at least that far the next. Now I’m up to 5 miles on most days. I say “most days” because sometimes there just isn’t enough day in the day to get out and run. There have also been other excuses to skip a day here and there, big colds, sick kids, foot pain, backaches and pink eye. Ok the pink eye was kind of cheating but I am never the less dedicated and get very mad at myself when I don’t do my daily task.

Finding time has been the trickiest part. Early on I was able to get up 5ish and hit the road during that brief moment of tranquility before the boys woke up. Schedules are always changing but with a little improvising and the help of my biggest supporter Cari-anne, I get my run in. My wife can’t really understand why I’ve chosen a marathon to channel my energies into but she has been behind me all the way. A few months ago I began finding gifts on my pillow. A new pair of jogging shorts one night or a nice t-shirt or socks on another. Out with the old sweats and in with the new summer attire. On days when I was inclined to roll over and hit the snooze she would nudge me, several times until I got up and out. I’d return home to find my usual morning responsibility taken care of with the kids up, fed, dressed, meals packed and ready to go. Lately my strategy has been getting the kids off to daycare early and then doing my run. Even better, today Cari-anne and I dropped off the kids together and as she proceeded to work, I ran the 5 miles back home with plenty of time to get off to work myself. So I guess where there’s a will there’s a way.

October 19^th is not all that far off and I realize I still have a tremendous amount of work ahead of me. Considering that 5 miles is only about 1/5 of the distance I plan to cover in one day I need to up my mileage at least once a week. Check back. I’ll be out running every day to earn your support. Please consider a donation to the March of Dimes in Joshua's Memory.

Hello and welcome to Running with Joshua!

My name is Gary Keller and I am preparing to run in the Mount Desert Island Marathon this fall. This blog is part of my effort to remain focused on my goal, as well as a plea for moral support, as I get out and run each day. I would appreciate if you check in on me every now and then. I do have a higher purpose here as well. I am dedicating my run to the memory of Joshua Keller and to raise money for the March of Dimes in their efforts to fight premature birth and birth defects.

Joshua is the name of our first son, born on May 1st 2005. Sadly he arrived 15 weeks early and due to prematurity and respiratory distress he did not survive. I can’t describe how awful the weeks and months following losing him were. Three years have since passed and even though we adjust to such things we never forget. Joshua is in our thoughts and prayers every day. On the third anniversary of his passing I was inspired to honor his memory by doing something that could benefit others rather than have his legacy be thoughts of sadness and loss. The idea to run a marathon evolved over the ensuing weeks as I took the first few morning walks, then jogs and wrestled with all of the reasons of why I should -or- should not do this in my head. Ultimately "why I should" won out and here we are. My promise is that I will be out and running each day to earn your support. Your support for the March of Dimes will make a difference in people’s lives and will benefit others.

There is a wonderful, happy side to this story. A little over a year after we lost Joshua my Wife gave birth to our second son Aidan. Amazingly, Ryan was born 11 months after that. Both boys are thriving. Ryan just had his 1st birthday and Aidan’s 2nd birthday is fast approaching in August. They are growing so fast. This is a reality that we could barely dream of in those dark days 3 years ago. These pregnancies were very difficult for my Wife, but with lessons learned from our experience with Joshua and the support of the wonderful doctors and nurses at Maternal Fetal Medicine our two beautiful boys are healthy and here with us today.

Thanks again for stopping by. Your support is certainly appreciated. Please consider a

donation to the March of Dimes in Joshua's Memory.