El Gaffney

Marathon Update

Two months and one day left until I Run the NYC Marathon to Stop MS.

Perfect time for an update. Well, to be honest, tomorrow would probably be the perfect time given it will be exactly two months. But since I can’t guarantee there will be time write this post tomorrow, I’ll say today is the perfect time to write and tomorrow is the perfect time to read it. I’m glad we were able to compromise. Wait, but then I wonder if I should change that first line to address the many readers (double digits at least), who have better things to do than read this on Labor Day. At least those New Yorkers, who have been blessed with a beautiful one for tanning and barbecuing. (Okay, “blessed” is a bit much). And especially those people, who’ll be headed back to an office with a desk in it with a computer on it that they’ll be sitting in front of all day tomorrow. Or is it today? Tuesday? You there? Here?

Exhausted yet? Confused perhaps? I promise there’s a complete sentence. In the future. The update:

Since I (officially) started training on July 15th, I have run approximately 130 miles. That includes everything from my first 4 miles with the Run MS crew on that Tuesday night to yesterday’s 10K (6.2 mile) Nike+ Human Race, a global race which I ran solo on the West Side Highway and in which I’m currently placed 2936th (out of how many I’m still unsure). My longest distance has been a little over a half marathon, so I’m going to have to step up the mileage in September in order to have a nice taper toward mid October. That means stopping drinking and wearing white pants. (I don’t know which will be more difficult!)

In addition to training, I’ve raised $3,345 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society—only $105 short of reaching my total goal. And with 2 months left, while I’m hesitant to explain why I chose $3,450 as my initial target (fine, it was because I’m aiming to finish the marathon in under 3 hours and 45 minutes), I’m less hesitant to shoot for a new fundraising goal of a nice even $4,000.

That’s right. Four large. (I think that’s what large stands for but if not, just refer back to the four thousand dollar figure.) Before running at that goal, I want to thank all the people who have helped me to (just about) reach my (old) donation pledge:

Jess April, Stephanie Redlener, Andrew Tchabovsky, Hara and Michael Cohen, Matt O’Laughlin, Robert Nelson, Lisa Michel, Kirsten Shiroma, Eric Friedman, Kim Nguyen, Jeff Friedman, Jason Brupbacher, Steven Krammer, Sherri and Jeff Feinman, Matthew Jung, Mark DiMassimo, Vince and Ila Gaffney, Paul Garvey, Zach Lev, Eric Mishlove, Tom Theys, Larry and Linda Fields, Erica, Dave and Noah Ellenbogen, Barry Blyn, Jen Giroux, Eve Silverman, Jason Oke, Pete Brown, Justin Eshak, Ron and Diane Kaufman, Michael Katz, Matthew Johnson, Steven Fields, Leah Zamkow, Donna and Ed Mishlove, Tori Greene, Marie Shadi, Lee Goldstein, Chad Blakenship, Slyvan Garfunkel, Arthur Marino, Phyllis and Jarrett Pikser, Aki Spicer, Noah Brier, Evan Schepps, Sarah Saline, Sean Cox, Kamila Prokop, Genna McKeel, Steve and Patti Cohen, and David Buxton…so far :)

Once again, I really appreciate all of your support. It’s both touching and motivating. Almost as motivating as my new “Power Song” (which may or may not have been featured recently on The Hills - don’t judge):

For anyone else wanting to make a donation and see their name in the bright shining lights (read as: text) of this blog, you have plenty of time. Just click on this link to donate.

Thank you.

Tags: charity, marathon, ms, nike, nyc, running

Just Blog It

Inspired by the image below (via tokyohanna) and of course this Nike commercial (via our Portland office), I made that note to self (and anyone else needing a reminder) above. That’s about as artistic as I get. (Though did I mention I have commercial-worthy handwriting?) That’s all. Now, how about that kiss.

Tags: advice, blogging, nike

The Girl Effect

You know I don’t often post Wieden work here but I just an all-agency about something compelling our team has been working on with The Nike Foundation. Asked to brand the idea of investing in adolescent girls, they—partnering with Glow Interactive—came up with The Girl Effect site and this video below:

Tags: charity, girleffect, nike, wk

Do Day: Become Legendary

Here’s our W+K NY’s most recent spot for Jordan brand. I would not be posting if it did not include some tight Hoyas footage of JTIII. Also, I’m trying to get over the fact that I’m missing tomorrow’s game at MSG because I’ll be out of town. Thanks to George for reminding me by passing on images of these Georgetown kicks.

Tags: gtown, jordan, nike

Do Day: Nike+ Follow-Up

So I finally got my Plus calibrated correctly. (Now that I know it can work, I can call it by it’s nickname.) Just a quick history: My first run was outside along the Hudson River on MLK Jr. Day when it was a little under 20 degrees. I ran about 6 and a half miles at a pace I estimated to be between 7:45 and 8 minutes/mile. I “ended workout” to hear the surprising results—distance clocked in at 1.11 miles and average pace at approximately 46 minutes/miles. Chilly Vanilly-stle, I blamed it on the cold, yeah, yeaaaah. But after checking out the problem online (through various sites (not WebMD) and im convos), I came to realize the issue may have been two-fold:

1. I did not calibrate my Plus pre-run. (This is especially important for people with the sensor pouch tied to their laces vs. owning Nike plus sneaks.)
2. I had the sensor turned the wrong way. (It should be facing up—orange side toward the sky.)

Feeling lack a jackass, I went to the gym last Tuesday evening after work to give it another shot. I got chivaned again. (For those who don’t know, “chivan” is a word I came up with in high school. It means dissed and can be used as a verb in any tense. Most often I’d call out a friend’s name, he’d turn around to find me gone or talking to someone else. He’d look around confusedly until I’d suddenly acknowledge him and hit him with a proud “Chivan.” Get it? I was 7 years old in high school.) Anyway, I attempted to calibrate on the treadmill 4 times in a row using 1 mile as the distance each time. The closest I came to correct distance and pace was .15 miles shaved and :50 added, respectively. I certainly was not going to upload these runs to nikeplus.com, and honestly, I was ready to give up.

That was, until this past Saturday afternoon when I was home on Strong Island for my girlfriend’s mother’s 60th birthday party. It was a surprise and deserves an entire post, which I’ll never write because having our relationship status visible on Facebook is more than enough info for everyone. Either way, I wanted to be relaxed, energized, and looking thin in the face (immediate results seen) so I decided to take it to the streets (yes, the streets of Dix Hills). I calibrated like a good boy should and was, as you can imagine, shocked to hear the right distance and pace. And then I was inspired to go double on my 2.5 mile training for soccer season loop. (I’ll run you up quick…two times!) Here are upload- and post-worthy results:

I’m still expecting some trash talk from Adrian, who called Mike and I out by challenging us (as you can see on the link) to beat a 4 miles at 6:15 pace. Anyone who runs knows I’m not even close. That minute-ten per mile is probably not going to happen. Thus, I may just ignore that pace thing and counter with a distance-focused challenge. (Of course that won’t happen until he heals—can’t take advantage of an injured old man. :)) Also of note, the next time I got on the treadmill the distance (and thus, time/mile) was off again. I’ve heard this is normal. Is this true even for certified Nike plus shoe wearers? Either way, it still sucks for the winter.

Regardless, this week’s Do Day is a follow-up to the last line of my first DD post. I think every other week will feature a different doer. (And while running may be a theme as I am most likely going to train for the NYC Marathon, the doers will be diverse.) Profiling people on a weekly basis is a bit too much—I wouldn’t be able to carve out the time to do them justice or keep my life open to spontaneity. Which sounds like a line for the ladies (they love spontaneous dudes), but as you see I have a woman, so you be sure it’s about protecting Seth time.

Tags: marathon, nike, running