The Beginning

   Happy New Year! 2014 is here my friends! That means new hopes, new dreams and new challenges. The 366 Project is now officially H-I-S-T-O-R-Y! But, I've got a dirty little secret! I know that it was going to stop after the 366th day. But, I just didn't want to! There's a certain amount of pride when you have that many days running in a row under your fueling belt. I guess that I just wasn't ready to give that up. At least not yet! So it continues on until I don't know when? Yes, I'm crazy!

   

   For those of you who've continued on through the 366 Project to follow me into this new blog and podcast, welcome back! You guys rock! Amazing that there's any of you left! Hopefully I can continue to improve my writing and recording skills to make sure that you stay here.  

   For those of you who are new to the blog and podcast, howdy! I'm glad that you're here! Let me tell you a little about myself, what this new blog and podcast are going to be about and what I hope that you'll get out of it. 

   My name is Mark and I'm a 40 year old amateur distance runner living in a small little town in upstate NY. I've been running for over 12 years. My wife, Sara was the first person to ever make me realize the distance running potential inside me, spurning me on to complete my first marathon in 2003. Since then I've been fortunate enough to put many miles in out on the roads surrounding my small town and have run over 60 different road races. My favorite race distances are the half and full marathon. After trying for about 10 years, I finally managed to break that 4 hour marathon barrier in 2012! I'm not fast. But, I am persistent. It's not about the speed, or number of miles that you run. It's about being out there. To say that I love to run is an understatement! 

   Running has become something extremely special and important in my life. It's hard to describe just how much to people. It's given me so much over the years. Better mental clarity, increased physical strength and my sanity to name just a few. My eight-year-old son thinks that I'm the coolest running dad on the planet too! Not bad!

   I've always been a huge fan of running blogs, podcasts and the run-net community. It's absolutely amazing what's out there! Great people, great motivation and running related knowledge up the ying yang! Last year I decided to try my hand at blogging and video podcasting. I ran at least a mile a day for 366 days in a row and had the time of my life recording that journey. I learned so much about myself and set some new PR's in the process! It's a great story! Check out my first blog, which can also found on Blogger at Run366Project@blogspot.com and it's accompanying podcast, the 366 Podcast, on my YouTube channel, Youtube.com/user/Run366Project!

   At the start of this year, I wanted a new challenge. Last year I finished my 11th marathon feeling better than ever before, recovering even faster all while smashing my old PR by more than five minutes! At the end of the race I felt like I could've kept going forever. I never felt like that before after a marathon. So, I thought why not  take the leap and try my first ultra marathon? 

   This new blog and podcast will revolve around my life, my training for this new challenge and the journey from start to finish as I try to go farther than ever before. I've never done a race this big. Quite frankly, it scares the shit out of me. I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. Not really too much different though from my first marathon! I'm going to train hard and try my best. It'll be interesting to see if I can do it! This year I'm going to try to put out more video podcasts and offer up some helpful running related tips and tricks on the blog. I'm also going to prove to you that if you have the dedication, put in the work, that you can do ANYTHING! 

   So, once again welcome to my new little project for 2014. More good stuff to come. I promise that I'll try to make it worth your while! You guys are awesome! Go put some miles into your life...