Introduction

Hello all. This is my first journey into the world of Blogging. As it says in my profile, I am a Christian Ultrarunner, husband and father of four wonderful children, and a career United States Marine. I have only been running Ultramarathon distance for about two years. Initially, I started running these distances as a personal challenge but as the time ticked away on training runs I began to think that there must be something other than selfish personal interest to gain. I got myself involved with the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. Established in May 2004, the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund is a nonprofit organization that has provided over 11,000 grants totaling over $26 million in assistance to our Nation's OEF/OIF wounded heroes and families. I established a fundraising website and with the help of some great Patriots was able to raise more than $7500.00 for the IMSFF throughout 2008. I plan to continue to raise funds this year with the intent of raising awareness of the needs of our wounded American Heroes http://www.active.com/donate/semperfifund/MHuff8.

My goal race this year is the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, 27-28 June http://www.ws100.com/. The race is a 100 mile long ultramarathon that takes place on trails in California's Sierra Nevada annually. The trail ascends from the Squaw Valley floor (elev. 6,200 feet) to Emigrant Pass (elev. 8,750 feet), a climb of 2,550 feet in the first 4.5 miles. Runners then travel west, climbing another 15,540 feet and descending 22,970 feet before reaching Auburn. Runners finishing before the 30 hour overall time limit for the race receive a bronze belt buckle, while runners finishing in less than 24 hours receive a silver belt buckle. The Western States Endurance Run is one of the premier ultrarunning events in the world. My intent is to finish the Western States in less than 24 hours. I was supposed to run this race last year; however it was cancelled due to numerous wildfires in the vicinity of the trail. I plan to try and provide a weekly update and recap of training accomplished. I have scheduled quite a few work-up races that I will also provide race reports on. My first race of the year will be this Saturday, the Swinging Bridge 50K http://www.rrrc.org/events/swinging-bridge-35-50k-1 .

I will say that much like the rocky and hilly trails of ultramarathons, my life as a Christian has had it’s ups and downs and rocky points, but Faith endures. One thing that time on the trails has provided me is an opportunity to strengthen my personal relationship with God. There is great satisfaction for me, to get to a point of fatigue that requires me to look beyond myself for strength, and for me, that additional strength is found in Faith. The Lord has blessed me with the ability to run long distance and with that I have been able to raise funds for an extremely worthy cause, hopefully inspire a few people to take to the trails and try something that they might not have attempted, and also share my testimony of how Christ has provided a purpose for life as a Christian, Husband, Father, Marine and a Runner. Please keep checking back for updates, comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Training for 5-11 January: Weekly Mi (36), Yearly Mi (46)

Mon: Precor EFX 546 CrossRamp (5.5 mi / 50 mins)
Tues: Lift / AB
Wed: CrossRamp (7.5 mi / 1 hr) / Pull Ups
Thurs / Fri: Off (not planned to be)
Sat: 10 mi, Wakefield Park
Sun: 13 mi, Bull Run Battlefield