Back in April 2009, I was a few years into the routine of caring for my severely autistic, non-verbal son Jack. He was 5 1/2 and beyond the work, I was grieving the thoughts of his future, all the “typical” things he’d never experience as a kid and I’d never experience as a parent. Meanwhile, I was also discovering that I could run marathons moderately well. I had personal-best at the time of 3:00:05 and I was chasing a sub-3 (2:59:59 or better). I put in lots of effort to improve my best time by six seconds and I wasn’t getting there. But I was doing things like running a 3:04 on Saturday and a 3:09 the next day. And ultimately, it hit me — I’m wasting so much effort over six seconds when I have this gift of recovery I can use somehow to do some good with.

So I sat down and talked to my wife, Tiffany. I had an idea — I could run 60 marathons in 2010, try to use the natural abilities I was given to raise money for charity and make some good out of what Jack goes through. This wasn’t something I was really asking her about, though. It was an idea, and it either had full immediate buy-in or it would never be brought up again. This wasn’t a weekend in Vegas with the boys that I beg for permission for. This was a year-long family commitment. I’d still work my job full-time and do everything I could with the family, but the travel and the work towards the charity efforts would be a grind.

She didn’t even blink. “Do it! Don’t NOT do it and always wonder, ‘what if?'”

So, I created a foundation, the Operation Jack Autism Foundation, and got 501(c)3 status from the IRS. And to be very clear about the foundation, the money raised all went to autism-related charities. It’s never benefitted Jack or my family. The purpose was to help others, through Jack, so that the struggles he will always face will ultimately help other kids.

I launched my site on July 1, 2009 announcing my goals for 2010, and started working on logistics, fundraising, social media — you name it, it became a job on top of my job. I ran the first race on January 1, 2010 in the Houston area and more-or-less tackled the year without a plan. It was an exercise in faith for me. I trusted God, and just went with it day by day.

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

1 Peter 4:10

I was out of the office 19 days that year traveling, but worked remotely and got my job done. I was home for each of my kids’ birthday parties. And my anniversary, Valentine’s Day, my wife’s birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter. I was so fortunate to meet so many wonderful people all over the country. It was an amazing experience. I was fortunate to stay healthy. I did the best I could to manage my body and held up fairly well. My median time was a 3:21, which is ok, but it showed that I was going all-out every time. I felt like that was my job that I owed to my donors — they were in awe of what I was doing, the least I could do was give it my best every time out.

The tally for the year ended up being 61 marathons, because I added Memphis in December and raised money for St. Jude’s while I did that. In 2010 I raised about $88K (with costs of about $25K). At the end of the year, the last race I had on the calendar fell through and we put on a marathon with about two months of planning to make sure there was that final race on the final weekend. We named that race the Operation Jack Marathon. It was an amazing day. December 26, 2010. We needed 10 people out there for it to be an official race, about 30 people for it to be a breakeven financially, yet we got 151 runners out there. It ended up raising about $10K of that $88K.

I went into the year thinking it was a one-and-done, and I was excited to get my life back when that year was over. But at the race, somebody asked me if I was going to put it on again the next year. I hadn’t even thought about that, but … why not? So I did it again in 2011 and got 350 people out there and it probably netted $20K or $25K. At that point, it just became an annual fundraiser.

I started working with organizations in different parts of the country to put on races. I had a race in Kansas City. Another in Las Vegas. I helped jump start somebody in my current home state of Pennsylvania to put on a race to benefit local autism-related charities and she’s about to put on her 9th annual race. I created fundraising teams at races on the east coast after my family relocated to Pennsylvania (solely because of autism) with proceeds going to local beneficiaries.

Tiff told me at the beginning, “don’t NOT do it and always wonder ‘what if'” and I’ll never wonder. But now, I know the final extent of the reach of this endeavor, because it’s over.

I’m going through the legal process of shutting down my foundation for three reasons, which combine to make the decision pretty straightforward for me. In no particular order:

1. It’s extremely difficult to put on a race in the Covid era. I’m a small non-profit, my margins were already pretty thin by the end, and I’m not in a position to be able to withstand a cancelation or postponement. Runners look to the cancelation/deferrment policy when registering now, and that’s just not something I can do, making my sole fundraiser — a marathon — virtually impossible.
2. Tiffany and I amicably separated in July after 22+ years of marriage. This was a family endeavor from the beginning. It would have been absolutely impossible for all of this to happen without her rock-solid support, and continuing with us not being together any more is just not something I have any desire to do.
3. Today is Jack’s 18th birthday. This started when he was 5 years old. He’s now legally an adult. Everybody initially rallied around the cute little kid, I feel like that “kid” era is over.

To me, combining those three, it’s just clear to me that it’s time to move on. It’s my past and it’s time to move to the next chapter of my life. It’s been an amazing dozen years. It would take me forever to recall all the people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had as a result of this, and I don’t even want to start listing things because I know I’d leave somebody out. There were so many of you wonderful people! However, I do have a great memory and every time I see a comment or have an interaction with somebody I met along the way, I remember exactly when and where I caught up with them.

In all, I think the fundraising we did (both here and things I’ve done personally thanks to the network I’ve built through this) has resulted in about $200K going to small charities that benefitted from the help.

So, I don’t have to wonder what if. I’ll always know. And I’ll always be grateful to every one of you who participated or supported my efforts in one way or another.

That’s all I’ve got. Thank you all for everything.

I stopped doing my training blogs a little while ago. I dunno, I knew people said they wanted to follow along on my journey, but it just felt too narcissistic for me and I just stopped. I’m writing this on my plane flight out for the race, though, maybe a retrospective on this training cycle. I don’t know. I’m just gonna write, we’ll see where it goes.

My first exposure to the Badwater 135 came around 2008 when I got Running on the Sun from Netflix (when they used to send out DVDs). I watched it and didn’t understand how anybody would ever want to run it. 135 miles in temps exceeding 120 degrees. Whyyyyyyyyy???? In November 2016, my Buddy Jonathan Gunderson asked me if I would crew for him. I was initially concerned that I would die, but he assured me I’d be fine, there’s a method to the madness when it comes to heat training and he’d help me through it.

I went in 2017, but my wife Tiffany told me not to get any crazy ideas. I was amazed at the experience, such magnificence in that desert. Gives you perspective of how small you are. Death Valley is not compatible with life (hence the name?) and I’ve never seen people working so hard as I did when I was out there. When I saw runners finish, I wanted to know what it felt like. Two years later I went back and crewed again and Tiff told me if I ever got in, she’d let me run it. “I’m sure you’d be fine if they were willing to take you, and you shouldn’t ‘not live’ because you’re afraid of dying.” Goals!!!

Anyways, I got after it, and really accelerated my chase when my mother-in-law died too early in February 2020. That showed me that there is no guarantee of tomorrow. Chase your dreams today. And that’s what I did. I applied and was accepted into the race this year and was over the moon. I was also immediately nervous, though.

I’ve seen the runners at Badwater and I’ve always known that they were different than me. I run well, I train hard, but they’re a different breed. They’re leaner, tougher … I knew that if the day ever came, I’d have to take my fitness to a completely new level. I hired my coach, John Loftus, in April 2020. I knew I needed somebody to keep me on track. He’s a longtime friend and an amazing runner and coach and he knew from day 1 that Badwater was my goal. We started working over a year ago on getting my cardio and low heart rate running to where it needed to be. Lots and lots of grinding last summer. Lots of patience.

I started hitting the weights harder last summer — I just wanted full head-to-toe strength. I need to be iron to do this thing. I made progress and stated feeling pretty strong.

One key part I knew I had to work on was my weight. I’ve more-or-less carried 225 pounds for the past 5 or so years. I’ve gotten down to 210-215 briefly, but 225 has been where I’ve lived. Back in the day I was usually around 205. I went with a sports nutritionist who has worked with Olympic-level endurance athletes … I started with him at the end of January and that’s been huge, too.

Anyways, I ran a 100-mile PR of 21:07 last December. That was my closing argument for my Badwater application. There’s a lot that goes into the Badwater app and you need to be well-rounded in lots of areas. On March 6, they called my name on the selection show. It was unreal. I thought I had a chance but now it was real. Excited, absolutely. But I had 19 weeks to get ready. My first run was an easy run in the morning on March 8, but it was so exciting … I was TRAINING FOR BADWATER!

My weight was dropping and I had really adjusted to my new eating routine. I was running exactly what my coach told me to, lifting 4-6 times a week, and I’d added a new element into my training — power walks on the treadmill at 12.0 incline. I alternated wearing a 20-pound weighted vest every other time. Badwater ends with 5,000+ feet of gain over the final 13 miles so that incline training is huge. Also, my heart rate was getting lower and lower on my runs so these were a good opportunity to push it and get a hard cardio workout in.

Maximizing the effectiveness of my time was key throughout this. Every day, I wanted to lift, hike and run. I need to be home at 7 a.m. before my son Jack (for those of you who don’t know, he’s 17 and severely autistic) goes to school. I have a full-time job. I need to be home at 7 p.m. to give Jack a shower. I need to help my wife with her small business. I do the dishes and cook my meal and tried to spend time with Tiff whenever she wasn’t busy. It was a grind, no question about it.

I signed up for a 100-miler in Kansas on March 27 to see where I was at physically with my training and my new nutrition. I went out there and that race went smooth as silk. I stayed strong, really didn’t have any problems, was running sub-10-minute miles after mile 90 … it was amazing. I finished in 17:56, which is actually a pretty good time. I had to pinch myself, I didn’t think I’d ever be capable of that. And at the same time, I was excited — I knew I still had close to four months to get better. My weight the day before was 214, I figured I’d have more to drop.

I kept on grinding and embraced it. My buddy Jon told me about Badwater … “everybody wants to get here, but most people don’t want to do the work.” I loved how hard I was working and how locked in I was. This is a blessing and a privilege, and nothing motivates you like having your back against the wall.

I added a heat race in May, Keys 100 in Florida on May 15, and started back up with my heat acclimation. I sat in the sauna about three times a week and started doing all my runs on my lunch break when it was hottest. Florida was a mess and I dropped out at mile 53. I learned the hard way that I needed a better grip on managing electrolyte depletion. I’ve thrown up three times in my life after running, and two of those times were after Keys.

When I got back, I did some lab testing to find out exactly how much sodium I lose when I sweat and in hindsight, it’s alarming to know how poorly I managed myself in Florida. Better to learn that lesson there than in Death Valley, though. I also added the rowing machine when I got back. I knew I was in the final two months and I wanted to push as hard as I could.

My daily routine was basically 10k on the rower and then weights before work, run at lunch, I attempted to get the treadmill hikes after work, and I tried to increase the frequency of the sauna. It’s a weird mindset waking up daily and hoping to get 4+ workouts in, but as I’ve been telling everybody … I have a date with the devil on July 19. I need to be the best I can be from head to toe.

Ultimately, it’s just impossible to do everything I wanted to do, and I let go of the rowing and lifted a little less starting in maybe mid-June. I started doing sauna sessions every day, though, and did incline hikes as often as possible. Stuck with my diet and the weight kept coming off.

On June 26, three of my four crew members came to my house (two of them from out of state) and we did a trial run of a marathon, testing the recommendations from the lab testing I’d had done, as well as pacing, supporting, charting, etc. Better to figure out what the routine is going to be in advance than during the race. It went pretty well and it was definitely useful.

Ultimately, I got to taper and I’ve been getting excited. Doing my runs, the incline hikes, lifting, sitting in the sauna every night (got up to 1:07, I feel pretty good). I’ve been distracted with several challenges in my life, but I feel like I’ve stayed on track.

I ended up getting my weight down to 199. I’m a lot thinner in the face and I won’t lie, I kinda like how I look at the pool for the first time in my life. I feel strong, I feel good, I feel fit. I feel ready to attack this. I know I have a huge challenge ahead of me, but I knew going into this I’d have to transform myself physically and mentally, and I’ve done that.

Those runners I saw at Badwater in 2017 and 2019? I’m one of them now and I’m ready to show I belong. I started running 16 years ago. I’ve always pushed myself to try to get better and this is as better as I can get. Tiff has said it’s seemed like I’m training for the Olympics. This IS my Olympics.

Oh and one more thing. On November 7, 1991, I broke my neck and praise God I wasn’t paralyzed. I’ve always been grateful for my second chance, I celebrate November 7 gratefully as a birthday for my legs. You know that scene in Saving Private Ryan, how that soldier tells Private Ryan “make it worth it” and he shows up in the cemetery with his family and says, “was it worth it?”

This is that for me, I’ll forever feel like I did enough with the second chance God gave me if I finish this race. I’ll finish achieving my dream I’ve been chasing for my mother-in-law. I’ll hopefully show my kids that they can achieve anything they want if they’re willing to work hard.

It’s been a long road, a lot of work, but I’m ready to get it!

Thanks for reading if you actually got this far. Also, side note … I’m fundraising through this for a pair of small charities that help people with autism and other special needs, the Michael Lisnow Respite Center and the National Autism Association (Pennsylvania chapter). If you think I’ve worked hard and want to give me a pat on the back, there’s no better way than to make a donation of any size at https://bit.ly/sam-badwater … thank you!

Week 13 of my training for the Badwater 135 was fairly uneventful — just another week trying to grind it out as hard as I could. I wake up every day with the hope of getting four workouts in — a run, rowing, an incline hike on the treadmill and weights — plus time in the sauna.

My miles are more limited than you’d think, but I like the plan because I know I’m not going to overtrain. My fitness is coming along well, though, because in addition to decent run volume, I’m working pretty hard with the cross training.

The rowing is bonus cardio that’s really a pretty good full-body workout, the hikes are insane for the cardio (especially when I do them with the 20-pound weighted vest) and also really strengthen and fatigue my legs. Getting used to running on fatigued legs is critical for longer races, and I feel that the incline hikes really helped me take a big jump in Kansas in March when I dropped my 100-mile PR from 21:07 to 17:56.

The upper-body lifting keeps me strong, but it’s also good for me mentally. In the past, when I’ve gone through stretches of only running, I feel out of balance with an upper body that’s going the direction of atrophy. That’s probably just mental, but I like lifting and I know that with the amount of cardio I do, I’m not going to bulk.

Anyways, I had three good heat-training indicators last week, which is pretty critical because the first 85+ miles of Badwater are going to be in temps well over 100, at times likely exceeding 120.

1. On Friday, I did 50 minutes in the sauna and went straight to the treadmill for a 3.0-mile hike at 12.0 incline. It was tough for the first mile, but I picked it up and was running the incline for the last .75 miles or so. This beat me up pretty well, but it made me feel like things are coming along pretty well.
2. On Saturday, I ran at the hottest time of the day intentionally just to continue to work on the heat adaptation. I had 18 miles on the schedule, real feel was 99 and I averaged 9:38s at 132 bpm. For context, I have absolutely zero aspirations of going sub-10s in the heat at Badwater, and 132, 133 is my target heart rate to stay below. In the past, during marathon training, I’ve tried to keep my heart rate below 145 for easy runs on cool days. So being able to stay down at 132 was pretty encouraging. The heat didn’t feel bad at all, and I went straight from that run into a 58-minute sauna session.
3. On Sunday, it wasn’t as hot — it was 91 at the start of my run and 86 at the end, probably 5 degrees higher for the real feel. At 129 bpm, I got 9:31s for 12 miles. I’m feeling pretty good about being able to stay under control in the heat, which is going to be critical. I’m putting a lot of focus into maintaining a low heart rate on inclines and figuring out that sweet spot balancing high enough effort to move at a decent pace with low enough effort to keep the heart rate low.

This week I’m taking a sweat test to figure out the exact electrolyte replenishment levels I need and I’ll continue to test that in training. I told my dad about it and he said, “that sounds very scientific” … yep, it is. There’s no shortcuts getting ready for Badwater and I’ll use every bit of information I can to prepare for this. Getting to the start line is not enough.

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A post shared by Sam Felsenfeld (@operationjack)

Also, we ordered a sauna and that is coming in on Thursday, so that should make it a lot easier to get those sessions in to really get my acclimation going.

That’s it for this week. Four hard works of training left — I’m feeling really strong and I’m recovering from workouts very well, although I’m starting to feel some cumulative fatigue in my legs. Taper will be nice!

Training Log

Monday
– Run, 6.04 miles, afternoon.

Tuesday
– Rowing, 10 km, before work.
– Weights, chest/arms, after rowing.
– Run, 8.00 miles, lunch.
– Treadmill 12.0 incline with 20-pound weighted vest, 4.0 miles after work.

Wednesday
– Rowing, 10 km, before work.
– Weights, back/shoulders, after rowing.
– Run, 8.25 miles, after work.

Thursday
– Rowing, 10 km, before work.
– Weights, chest/arms, after rowing.
– Run, 8.31 miles, lunch.
– Treadmill 12.0 incline with 20-pound weighted vest, 4.0 miles after work.

Friday
– Rowing, 10 km, before work.
– Weights, back/shoulders, after rowing.
– Run, 4.06 miles, lunch.
– Sauna, 50:07, after work.
– Treadmill 12.0 incline, 3.0 miles, immediately after sauna.

Saturday
– Run, 18.03 miles, afternoon.
– Sauna, 58:04, after run.

Sunday
– Rowing, 10 km, early afternoon.
– Weights, chest/arms, after rowing.
– Run, 12.14 miles, late afternoon.

Totals:
– Running, 64.83 miles
– Rowing, 50 km
– Treadmill 12.0 incline: 11 miles (8 with weighted vest)
– Sauna, 2 sessions, 54:06 avg
– Lifting, 5 sessions

Quick plug, most of you know I’m a charity runner at heart and I’m trying to make the most of my participation in the Badwater 135 by raising money for the National Autism Association (Pennsylvania chapter) and the Michael Lisnow Respite Center. If you ever think I’ve worked hard and want to pat me on the back, the best way to do so is with an easy $5 donation that will be split between those two organizations! Here’s the fundraiser link.

Week 12 of 19 training for Badwater was decent, but I definitely have room to improve — not only my fitness, but my training patterns. I feel like I’m getting into pretty good shape and I’m making better use of my time, but I’m in the final stretch, with five hard weeks left before taper time. There is no limit to how hard I can push, because I need every drop of fitness I can get.

One thing my coach, John Loftus, has reassured me of, is that I will not show up overtrained. With what he’s done with me over the past year — getting my heart rate down from the high 140s to the high 120s on easy runs and getting my 100-mile PR down from 21:39 to 17:56 — I have complete faith in everything he tells me to do. He’s good with me rowing, lifting and doing the incline hikes as cross training, so I do those. But I won’t run a single mile more than he prescribes. As us Sixers fans say here in the Philly area … trust the process!

I got into a routine that I like that works for me — 10 km on the rower followed by upper-body weights every morning (alternating my back/shoulders routine and my chest/arms routine). Upper-body lifting after rowing isn’t easy, but this isn’t supposed to be easy and the point is to build strength and upper-body endurance. I run on my lunch break, which is usually when it’s fairly warm outside, which is what I need. Then after work, I go to the gym for my incline hike (12.0) on the treadmill. John is ok with me doing the weighted vest on alternating days.

Not surprisingly, nutrition plays a big part in all of this. I need to eat (but not over-eat), I need my whey isolate protein after workouts, I need my protein between meals, I need to hydrate, I need a casein shake before bed, I need to make sure I replenish my electrolytes … I’ve really had to lock in to make sure my body can get through everything I ask of it. But it’s getting stronger and I’m feeling really good. I don’t feel sore at all from my workouts and my numbers are getting better.

Mentally, I visualize Badwater a lot when I’m training. I also think a lot about my crew — they’re training hard just to crew me, and they’re sacrificing six days to support me, so I need to do my part and show up ready to go. They motivate me and my personal accountability to them keeps me pushing on. I have no doubt I’m in the best shape of my life and I know it’ll be even better after these final five hard weeks. I just hope it’s enough — we’ll find out.

Here’s my embedded post for the week, sauna session on Sunday night … heat game is getting there and I think the sauna I ordered is coming in this week. I hope. Also, check out the caption in there about my mother-in-law … her memory is a huge motivator for me with this. I’m living my life today, because I’m not guaranteed tomorrow.

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A post shared by Sam Felsenfeld (@operationjack)

Anyways, here’s the training log for this week … running volume isn’t too high — John spends 2-3 weeks working me back from a race and two weeks ago I had that miserable 53-mile DNF down at the Keys 100 that thrashed me a little bit. But I did my best with everything else. Life was a little challenging this week, but I’m optimistic I can be more consistent with the treadmill hikes this week.

Monday
– Rowing, 10 km before work.
– Weights, chest/arms, after rowing.
– Run, 5.14 miles easy at lunch.
– Treadmill 12.0 incline, 4.0 miles after work.

Tuesday
– Rowing, 10 km before work.
– Weights, back/shoulders after rowing.
– Run, 7.22 miles after work

Wednesday
– Rowing, 10 km before work.
– Weights, chest/arms, after rowing.
– Run, 8.27 miles at lunch. 98 real feel, this is what I need!
– Treadmill 12.0 incline with 20-pound weighted vest, 1.5 miles after work. Cut short, didn’t feel well.

Thursday
– Rowing, 10 km before work.
– Weights, back/shoulders after rowing.
– Run, 7.07 miles at alunch.
– Treadmill 12.0 incline with 20-pound weighted vest, 3.0 miles after work. Limited time.

Friday
– Rowing, 10 km before work.
– Run, 4.01 miles after work.
– Sauna, 45:05 minutes after run.

Saturday
– Rowing, 10 km, in the afternoon.
– Weights, chest/arms after rowing.
– Sauna, 55:03 evening.

Sunday
– Run, 14.01 in the morning.
– Rowing, 10 km in the afternoon.
– Weights, back/shoulders after rowing.
– Run, 6.12 miles after dinner.
– Sauna, 1:01:12 after running.

Week totals:

• 51.84 miles running
• 8.5 miles on treadmill at 12.0 incline (4.5 with 20-pound weighted vest)
• 70 km rowing
• 6 lifting sessions
• 3 sauna sessions (avg 53:47)

OK, that’s it for this week. Quick plug, most of you know I’m a charity runner at heart and I’m trying to make the most of my participation in the Badwater 135 by raising money for the National Autism Association (Pennsylvania chapter) and the Michael Lisnow Respite Center. If you ever think I’ve worked hard and want to pat me on the back, the best way to do so is with an easy $5 donation that will be split between those two organizations! Here’s the fundraiser link.

I guess now that there’s only eight weeks left until Badwater (basically six weeks max of hard training), I’m in the home stretch and I’ll blog every week again. Nobody probably reads this, but writing this will keep me accountable. If you’re one of the seven people who are interested, I guess you can see what’s going on with my mind and my routine as I prep for what I think will be the toughest physical challenge I ever take on.

From a running standpoint, last week was pretty light, although that was planned. I ran in the Keys 100 on May 15, and while I got sick and dropped at mile 53 to enable myself to resume hard training sooner rather than later, I still did run 53 miles in 87 degrees and humid, so my coach has me recovering. I still did a fair amount of cross training, though. I added the rowing machine into the mix, figuring a different form of cardio (in addition to running and the hikes on the treadmill with the 12.0 incline) will only help my cardio and the rowing will help my upper body and core endurance.

I locked in on my diet a little more and dropped down to 204 pounds, the lowest weight I’ve been at since … I don’t know when. Probably 2012, when I got down to about 198. I’m also starting to work on the electrolyte issues that plagued me in Florida last weekend, mixing more salt caps into my workout routine and starting to work with Liquid IV, a product I know I’m going to need to get used to so I can use it during Badwater.

I had a call with my crew on Wednesday and we spent some time talking about some tweaks to nutrition and supplements, along with how we’re probably going to manage my fluid/food/supplement intake during the race. It’ll actually be nice for me — they’re going to have a clipboard and tell me what to consume based on time and my feedback. I’m not going to have to think about anything at all, which is nice — I’ll be able to just focus on moving 135 miles on foot in 120-plus degree temps in Death Valley.

The DNF was a bit of a confidence-killer at the time, but overall, I’m feeling pretty optimistic. I’m in the best shape of my life right now, and I know I have six weeks to work hard and make that even better.

One fun thing — we talked about it and on June 26, I think either two or three of my crew members will come here for my last long run. Distance TBD, but we’ll set up shop in my driveway and simulate race day. They’ll take turns pacing me, manage my hydration/nutrition/supplements and since the loop around my neighborhood is one mile, it’ll be one mile at a time between aid/feedback, which is how far the crew van pulls up each time during the race. And ideally it’ll be plenty hot in Pennsylvania on June 26; we’ll be doing the run mid-day, not when it’s cooler in the morning!

OK, that’s my recap for this week. I feel like I worked about as hard as I could with the cross-training last week. I made an adjustment to my routine this week … I’ll report back on that next Monday. Anyways, here was last week:

Monday
– Treadmill 12.0 incline, 4.0 miles, morning. Recovery at my hotel in Florida, felt fine.

Tuesday
– Rowing, 10 km after work. First try at this, felt decent.
– Treadmill 12.0 incline, 4.0 miles. Immediately after rowing. Brick workout, I guess.

Wednesday
– Treadmill 12.0 incline, 4.0 miles before work.
– Weights, chest/arms, after work.
– Rowing, 10 km after dinner.

Thursday
– Treadmill 12.0 incline, 4.0 miles before work.
– Run, 5.07 miles after work. First run post-Keys 100 (well, Keys 53).
– Rowing, 10 km after run.

Friday
– Treadmill 12.0 incline, 4.0 miles before work.
– Rowing, 5 km at lunch. Worked with my neighbor, a world-class rower, who coached me on my form. Can’t get injured!
– Weights, chest/arms, after work.
– Sauna, 55 minutes, after weights.

Saturday
– Rowing, 10 km, morning.
– Run, 10.26 miles, afternoon. 88 out, kept my heart rate low (126) at 9:13 pace, I was happy about this.

Sunday
– Run, 4.01, afternoon. 96 real feel, kept my heart rate at 130, feelling decent about the heat.
– Rowing, 10 km after run.
– Treadmill 12.0 incline with 20-pound weighted vest, 3.0 miles after run. Felt really solid.

Totals:
– 19.34 miles running
– 23 miles on the treadmill at 12.0 incline (3 with 20-lb weighted vest)
– 55 km rowing
– 2 lifting sessions
– 1 sauna session

As an aside, most of you know I’m a charity runner at heart and I’m trying to make the most of my participation in the Badwater 135 by raising money for the National Autism Association (Pennsylvania chapter) and the Michael Lisnow Respite Center. If you ever think I’ve worked hard and want to pat me on the back, the best way to do so is with an easy $5 donation that will be split between those two organizations! Here’s the fundraiser link.

Thanks for reading, have a great week!