I pretty much stepped away from organized running for the 2016 year and I have to tell you, it sucked!  2016 left me with such an empty space inside after everything that went on in 2015.  Raising money to help Mobile Meals of Toledo was a blessing for me.  I had such purpose and enjoyed every moment I was out running races!  So to make things right…I needed to get back out on the road and make a difference.

This 2017 year I’ve teamed up with BlackJack Animal Rescue.  They’re a Tennessee based animal rescue that helps not only Catahoula Leopard dogs (my Stella) but many others as well.  They may be based out of Tennessee but their heart-strings venture out across the country!  They’ve devised a wonderful network of people who Foster, transport and just get out and save these beautiful creatures from a sure death.  I can think of no better way to spend 2017 than by raising funds and awareness for this rescue and I hope you’ll all join in and help along the way!

The shirts!  Run Zombie Run racing shirts will be put together in the very near future.  I’ve reached out to Matt at Second Sole 4130 Levis Commons Blvd, Perrysburg, Ohio to supply me with the shirts.  I’ve also reached out to Jon & Mike over at Jupmode to do the printing of my race shirts.  The front will remain pretty much unchanged from prior years but the back will have All proceeds to benefit Blackjack Animal Rescue!  Working on either a pup face or paw prints on there as well!  Hoping to go with Black this year but will be happy with a dark gray as well.  I do have some ideas for T-shirts for sale to help raise more money for Blackjack.  We’ll get that moving in February or March.  I’ll be working on the big build up to our Big Sur Full Marathon out in California!  Stay tuned!

The challenge!  I’m setting a start goal of getting at least a 10 mile (or further) race for each month of 2017!  I’m going to do my best to find as many Half Marathons as possible as that is my distance of choice!  We’ve committed to run the following right now:

The Dave’s 10 Miler-this is on January 22nd and can be anything from a crazy 60 degree day to a fricking blizzard!  I ran it in 2015 and holy cats was it a tough, windy and cold run!  That one almost broke me.  If you look back through my blog postings you’ll find an entry on how I struggled to finish this one.  Had to dig deep!

The Ann Arbor Half Marathon-this is on March 26th and is a scenic but tough race!  It has a serious mother of a hill at right about mile 11!  Most of the race is on an incline and of course…shitty Michigan roads…lol!  It starts out right next to the Big House so if you’re a Michigan fan…it’s pretty damn cool!

The Glass City Half Marathon-this one is on April 23rd and is a week prior to the Big Sur Full Marathon!  I thought about skipping it this year but hey…the bling is cool and Karla gave it a green light!  I may regret it the following weekend but I’ll worry about that when the time comes.  Love running in my home town!

The Big Sur Full Marathon-this is on April 30th and is considered to be one of/if not the most scenic Marathon in the country!  Getting into this is done on a lottery system and I’ve been trying for a few years now to get into it.  I’ve always said that if I did…I’d run the Full Marathon…well…now it’s time to get it done!  My Brother in law who has run Marathons in every state has said time and time again that the Big Sur is one of his favorites.  That speaks to me as he’s seen some of the most beautiful spots in the country.  I’m all in for this one!

Training… I’ve decided to take my own approach on the training for the Full Marathon.  I’ll be doing a build up by adding a mile to each week on my long run.  This should have me right where I need to be come race time.  During the week I’ll do smaller runs and maybe a mid mileage run to keep moving.  I have to think of keeping healthy so I need to keep it simple and allow myself rest time as well.  I’ve already started my strength training to re-condition my body for the beating that it’ll be going through during the coming months.  I’m adding the stair climber back into the mix to get ready for elevation issues in California!  There might be a few hills in that race…lol!

Diet will be cleaned up and I’m going with the 6 clean days and 1 off day.  The off day will be on my long run day as I’m sure Carbs will have to be my friend!  I used this program a few times over the years and love how I feel when I’m eating clean most of the week.  The one off day keeps your head in the game and gives you something to look forward to when you want to eat something “bad”!

The Rescue!  Blackjack is a very small and humble organization.  They’re a 501c3 non-profit and are doing their work because it’s a calling!  How can you not fight for people who do that?!  I love my dogs and when I lost my Silver…my heart was absolutely broken.  I reached out to Blackjack and found a whole new world of animals that are not only unique…but absolutely wonderful!  The Catahoula Leopard Dog (mostly known as the Cata-What??) when you tell someone what kind of dog you have are very energetic, loving and beautiful dogs.  They’re the Louisiana state dog and you’ll find most of them in the southern states such as Tennessee, Georgia, Texas and of course Louisiana.  Blackjack watches for dogs that are on death row, being mistreated, strays or just pups turned over to them to find good homes.  Sharon Bryant runs the show there and can I just say…she needs to receive some kind of award for the work she’s doing!

So fellow Zombies…time to focus!  Tune in again and I hope you’ll stay on for the entire stretch!  There are good things to come in 2017!  If you haven’t got on Facebook and like/shared Blackjack Animal Rescue…please do so!  Look on their web page:

http://www.blackjackrescue.org/

If you need a dog or can foster…even better!  They have a paypal set up for one time donations or monthly donations.  You can also help by using :

https://smile.amazon.com/  Just put Blackjack Animal Rescue in as your choice of charity and they’ll get a portion of your dollars spent on Amazon!

Also…break out your smartphones…go to the App store and get the ResQwalk App.  put Blackjack Animal Rescue in as your choice of charity and just turn it on and go out and walk!  Blackjack will get money just for you moving your butt!  lol!!  It’s a fun App and you can look through all the people out there walking and posting pictures of their pups!

You all know I’m about moving and working on keeping healthy.  So lets all make the pledge to do that in 2017.  Help make a difference in the lives of these beautiful creatures that depend on us humans to have a good life.  They deserve that.  I’ll get back to more regular blogs…I promise!  Stay Tuned for more info as it becomes available!  Keep following me on 30races.com and also on my Run Zombie Run Facebook page!  I’ll post pictures of the shirts as soon as they’re done!  Woo Hoo!!  Let’s do this!

See you on the road!

~Zombie~