6 Host Cities Chosen For 2010 Event

Today we finalized the 6 host cities for our 2010 event – “Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes.” It has taken us the last couple of months to complete the selection process for the cities representing their respective continents. We might not have chosen the easiest places to race, or the most well-known, but we did choose cities that will welcome us for our one-mile race and fitness presentation with open arms and make the 2010 world tour an absolute running adventure. Here are the selections and the order of our tour stops:

  1. July 4th – Willimantic, Connecticut, USA www.thelastmileracing.com
  2. July 10th – Buenos Aires, Argentina www.urbanrunningtours.com.ar
  3. July 17th – Symi Island, Dodecanese, Greece www.hotelfiona.com
  4. July 24th – Jos, Nigeria www.athleticsnigeria.org
  5. July 31st – Chennai, India www.o2healthstudio.com
  6. August 8th – Townsville, Queensland, Australia www.townsvilleroadrunners.com

We will begin our world tour with The Boom Box Mile on America’s independence day. The Boom Box Mile was the USA representative thanks to race director, Charlie Olbrias, who was an integral part of the 20/20/20<5@45 event in 2008 and The SmoothToe New England Marathon…One Mile At A Time in 2009. Due to the interest of Juan Lapadula from Urban Running Tours, Argentina rose to the top for representing South America. One of the sister cities of Tarpon Springs, Florida (my host city for the 20/20/20<5@45 event) is the beautiful and remote Greek island of Symi. Nikos Halkitis from The Symi Visitor and Fiona Hotel will be our host on our long trip (by plane and then boat). I met Nikos at a Tarpon Springs dinner in 2008, we discussed racing in Symi at that time – so it is exciting to see our talks come to fruition.

From Greece, we visit the most populated African country – Nigeria. Thanks to their Athletic Association and television interest, we are looking forward to making this stop in Jos a memorable time. Then we travel to a place I still call “Madras.” Since my time in India coaching the national junior Davis Cup team from the mid-80s to the early-90s, India has resumed their Indian names and now it is called Chennai. Due to the efforts of Nina Reddy with O2 Health Studios and Savera Hotels and Ranjini Manian from Global Adjustments, I am looking forward to returning to the city where I began my coaching career. We conclude our world tour in northeast Australia at the Townsville Running Festival on August 8th in Townsville, Queensland. Thanks to the President of the Townsville Road Runners, Anthony Hockings, we will try to break the 30 minute mark at his event.

We will keep you updated now that the selection has taken place as we prepare for the event coming in 7 short months.

Fitness Video Coming in 2010

I met with my trainer and One Mile Runner Consultant, Juan Ruiz-Tagle, this morning as we planned the details of our upcoming fitness program. In February 2010, we are shooting a video for You Tube as we share part of our upcoming Fitness DVD. We will take this DVD opportunity to teach our unique methodology. During our 2010 event, “Around The World In Less 30 Minutes,” we will be giving a free fitness seminar in every host city on our world tour. It will be a wonderful chance to share our message with the public across the globe.

Next month, we will announce the 6 host cities for the “Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes.” We are trying to find the best locations to handle our fitness presentation and one-mile event. We will be going to a few hot climates for these races, but the people and companies involved in each of these cities will do a fabulous job with this unusual event.

Please check out a few of the You Tube videos that Juan and I shot in early 2009 at www.OneMileRunner.com. This will give you a head start on the new material coming with our step-by-step program in 2010.

The Humidity Is Still On

Residents of southwest Florida converse about the break in the humidity not coming in until mid-October. In 2009, it will be a welcome entry. With many parts of the country feeling the cooler temperatures of autumn, we are still feeling high humidity here in Sarasota. We hope by next weekend that exercising outdoors will be a more enjoyable.

At The Bath and Racquet Fitness Club www.bathandracquet.com (my training base and headquarters for my coaching), we just finished hosting the 50’s National Clay Court Tennis Championships. There was no surprise that the ambulance had to come by yesterday afternoon because players were experiencing heat induced problems. I was on the court teaching this morning and it looked like I jumped into the pool and then went on court.  That is how wet I was in October!

One of the new products I will be testing this month is the Vega Sport – the natural plant based performance optimizer. I am looking for this product to replace the other energy drinks I use and assist me in restoring the electrolytes that I lose during exercise. The other product that I am using daily in this heat is the Khepra Botanical Foot Mist that provides a cooling burst for my active feet. I have been using the incredible Khepra lotions in my training and races for massages and skin treatments. All these products can be found on the “online shopping” page at www.OneMileRunner.com.

Back In Sarasota

In 1997, I traveled about 35 weeks that year coaching on the professional tennis tour. When I came back home, I actually had forgotten where we kept the plates. This year I had a little deja vu…when we returned home to our Sarasota home, I actually went to the wrong cabinet to get a glass for water. I love being on tour for an event, but it is nice to be back in our home after racing so much this summer. I am being careful on my return to the tennis court. Last year after completing 20/20/20<5@45, I tried a new pair of tennis shoes and this brought on plantar fasciitis for 5 months. This year I was a bit smarter…

We returned to Florida just before Labor Day. 13,000 total miles on my car from the end of June until early September. We went all over New England and enjoyed visiting and racing in so many cool towns and cities. Sekyen and I took off to Dublin, Ireland for a little getaway before I started coaching. It gave me time to decompress after finishing the event. I am in the midst of preparing my body for the toll in 2010. I have increased my strength workouts and I am only doing easy running every other day. My speed workouts will begin in mid-December to prepare for the Masters Indoor National Championships in Boston on March 27th.

To my surprise in 2009, I had no injuries throughout The SmoothToe New England Marathon…One Mile At A Time. I think this is a testament to my new training program, the recovery products that I endorse, and to the dedication of Sandra Bello (my massage therapist in Tyngsboro, MA) and Dr. Brian Bigelow (the Chiropractic Consultant to the www.OneMileRunner.com based in Nashua, NH).

I will be announcing in November the six host cities for our 2010 event, “Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes.” In December, we hope to have my new book, Creating Amazement, released and ready for the public. And in early 2010, we will be shooting our new One Mile Fitness video.

I will keep you up to date on all that is happening every week throughout the end of the year.

2010 Event – Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes

After successfully completing the 20/20/20<5@45 event in 2008 and The SmoothToe New England Marathon…One Mile At A Time in 2009, many doors have opened up for us. In 2010, www.OneMileRunner.com is going international. The 2010 event is called “Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes.” That is 6 one-mile races, on 6 continents (no interest in Antarctica), in 6 weeks. The tour will begin in North America on July 4th and finish in Australia.

I also have committed to participate in the National Masters Indoor Championships in Boston at the end of March. I have only run indoors twice, but I look forward to trying to break my mark of 4:37 which I ran in Boston at the 2007 Indoor Championships.

I wanted to thank everyone who supported me during my long summer of racing. It seemed that I was racing all the time. The theme of the summer was recovery and we put it to the test. To my surprise, I did not have a race where I could not “go.” Even when I felt tired or my legs felt “heavy,” I was able to muster up some speed for each race. That is a testament to my new training regime, the recovery products that I endorse, and to the dedication of my massage therapist, Sandra Bello, and my chiropractor, Dr. Brian Bigelow.

I will begin my speed work for the Indoor Championships in mid-December. Until then, I will work on my strength and aerobic base.

Here’s wishing you all a great autumn race season – enjoy the cooler temps and the speed that can go with it!

Race #27 – Boston, MA (The end of The Boston Marathon)

The grand finale of The SmoothToe New England Marathon…One Mile At A Time took place on Boylston Street in Boston, MA. The Boston Marathon finishes directly in front of the Boston Public Library. We ran the last .2 of the Boston Marathon to mark the end of our event. We started with the first mile of the Boston Marathon on July 1st and ended with the last .2 on August 30th.

In looking over the distance that I was going to run for the finish, I became aware of the history of the marathon. .2 of a mile is 352 yards, but ever since the 1902 Olympics when the Queen of England wanted the marathoners to finish in front of her, the official marathon distance became 385 yards. So it is really about 26.21875 miles…I thought it was exactly 26.2 miles, but I was wrong, it is 33 yards more. Here is short video of our finish down Boylston Street:

The official time for completing The SmoothToe New England Marathon…One Mile At A Time was 2 hours, 7 minutes, 9 seconds. I finished way below the cumulative 2 hours and 11 minutes. I was shocked how good my body felt throughout the event. We all thought that there would be days that this 46 year old body could not crank up any speed, but there was not. 27 times I put my toe on the starting line, nervous and excited, and 27 times I felt some speed in my legs. This was all due to my recovery methods, recovery products, and training. Here is photo with the clock at the finish line with the Official timer from The Last Mile Racing Management Company, Charlie Olbrias:

It was a bittersweet celebratory breakfast as we were so pleased how the event went, but sad to see the tour come to completion. It was an amazing journey around New England. The challenges that The Last Mile Racing Management Company overcame setting up and running this event were many, but we came through tired and successful. Thanks to The Last Mile Racing Management Company for making The SmoothToe New England Marathon…One Mile At A Time such a professional, well-run event. It could not have taken place without them.

Thanks to our title sponsor, SmoothToe Energizing Socks for supporting this amazing trip around New England. The short recovery time between races showed how important The SmoothToe Energizing Socks were to my preparation, performance, and recovery.

As some of you have already heard, www.OneMileRunner.com is going international in 2010. We will shortly announce our 2010 event as we attempt another challenging feat – this time overseas.

Race #26 – Hartford, CT

Race #26 took us to the capital of Connecticut – Hartford. This was the 5th Capitol we visited on our journey. Charlie Olbrias from The Last Mile Racing Management Company had run the Hartford Marathon five times. He knew a good, flat spot around mile marker #12 for us to put on The Capitol Mile #5 race. We had an opportunity to show a different look at running the mile. Check out this short video of my last quarter mile. You can hear me breathing from far away. If you run the mile hard, it hurts. This race was no exception.

All that is left is the .2 of The SmoothToe New England Marathon…One Mile At A Time taking place down Boylston Street in downtown Boston Sunday morning. Let’s hope for very little traffic!

Toe Touch Your Way To Stronger Legs

Here is a video showing The Toe Touch Matrix. This exercise really works the proprioceptors in your feet. It mobilizes your hips, knees, and ankles. Instead of touching with your hands in a balance reach, touch the 10 matrix spots with your toes. Spend close attention to the back corners of the matrix as those spots really hit difficult areas of your body. Again, this is a multi-directional, multi-joint, and multi-muscle exercise.

Take a few moments to shake up your balance and fire this one-legged exercise that you will feel way up in your glutes!

Race #25 – Hudson, NH

The last couple of days have been one of my highlights of “The SmoothToe New England Marathon…One Mile At A Time” as it marked the first time that I presented a speaking engagement and raced in the town that I grew up in – Hudson, NH. For many years, one of my oldest friends, Bill Nadeau, has been asking me to speak in Hudson. We thought that 2009 would be a great opportunity to present two talks: one to the teachers of Memorial School where I attended junior high and then a sports talk for the public taking place at The Hudson Community Center. I presented both talks on Tuesday and then raced to The Community Center on Wednesday evening. It was very special to see the support of so many old friends and their families. It was a very windy night and I was fortunate to break 5 minutes in 4:59.08.

Thanks to Bill and all his preparatory efforts. We had a wonderful time sharing The O’Meara Process with the teachers of Memorial School. There were still a few teachers on the 2009 staff at Memorial School that were there when I was in 8th grade in 1977! In the evening, I spoke about some of the new fitness exercises at my talk at the Community Center.

Here is a video of Race #25:

Now we travel to Hartford, CT for Race #26 and our 5th capital of a New England state. We race in Hartford on Friday evening and then finish in Boston (6th and last Capitol) for a quick .2 on Sunday morning.

Races #23 and #24 – The Derby Mile and Brooklyn Fair

It was an end to a busy week and a half as I completed 5 races in 9 days. Race #23 took us to The Derby Mile in Salem , MA. The Derby Mile is put on by the Salem Parks and Recreation www.salempd.org. Race Director, Doug Bollen, does a fantastic job and I was happy to make his race Mile 23 on The SmoothToe New England Marathon….One Mile At A Time. I raced The Derby Mile last year as part of my 20/20/20<5@45 event in 2008 posting a 4:56 on their demanding course. You can check out the blog post from last year under “My Daily Journal 2008.”  It was a stronger and larger field this year and we had to run into a head wind the whole point-to-point race, but I managed to run 5 seconds faster in 2009 at 4:51. This was a great sign that my recovery in 2009 has been very successful. Here is a photo of Doug Bollen addressing the crowd at their fabulous post-race party:

Race #24 brought us back to the country roads of New England. Sunday evening we raced in Brooklyn, CT which hosts the oldest continuously run agricultural fair in the United States.

Our race took place out by the beautiful area of Hillandale Farms. It was a wonderfully flat course, but I did not have much bounce left in my legs and could only record a 4:58.43.  Here is a photo of Charlie Olbrias from The Last Mile Racing timing company. With only a week remaining on our tour, Charlie and his crew have been invaluable in making The SmoothToe New England Marathon…One Mile At A Time a professional event. Due to their creativity, care, and dedication, we are in the final leg of our logistically and geographically challenging tour around the New England states.

Race #25 brings us to Hudson, NH where I grew up. I have two speaking presentations on Tuesday. I speak to the teachers of the school district in the afternoon and then a sports presentation to the general public at the Hudson Recreation Center at 7pm. The following night I race to the Hudson Recreation Center for Race #25…this will be the first time I speak and race in Hudson.