Anxiety Slowly Becoming Excitement!

2 Days away from my marathon debut at the Chicago Marathon. In fact, as I write this, there are about thirty hours left before the official start to the race. The expo is going on currently and I plan to make my way to pick up my packet, which includes my bib, tomorrow. My bib number is 30001. Having not worked out in a couple of days, I am feeling out of shape. I truly wanted to work out and get a run in over the last couple of days, but I understand that the best option is to rest and relax. I need to stay hydrated and stretch throughout the day. I appreciate the support and encouragement family and friends have been offering. I am looking forward to seeing family and friends who will be showing up at different points along the race course to cheer for me and other runners. I am still quite nervous since I have never run this distance in my life, but I am also confident from the successful performance at the Chicago Area Runners Association's Ready To Run 20 Miler. I have a few more miles under my belt since then including two fabulous runs earlier this week where I sustained a nine minute pace for seven miles. I am excited to get going on Sunday. I am hoping the weather is as warm as is being predicted, but not too warm where there is a chance medical personnel and organizers may call the race. It is getting closer and I am getting chills. This is so exciting! I also wish to thank those who have donated to my fundraising efforts for Team GLASA as I am running the marathon on behalf of sixteen year old twins, Liz and Emily, who have benefited greatly from the programs Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association offers youth and adults with physical and visual disabilities. One more good night of rest is in store for me tonight because I know tomorrow, as much as I try to relax, I will not be able to do so and will probably be up half the night attempting to calm my anxiety and excitement.

Why 26.2? For The Higher Good

Three days away from the 2010 Chicago Marathon. I was told that by now I should not be doing any training. I should simply be resting. I planned to get a few miles in today, but on second thought, I decided to rest. After all, I felt feverish yesterday and throughout the day, I have been feeling a scratch in my throat. I am drinking fluids, stretching, and taking my Reliv nutritional supplements. Family and friends have been expressing support and encouragement. There are a few who have asked why am I even attempting to run 26.2 miles. I made a commitment to do so.

Having of time on my hands today, I reflected on the reason I would ever consider running a marathon. I found myself thinking about my mindset when I sat down to write my full length screenplay of a short film script I had written years prior. During this process, I read plenty of online articles and watched many television programs featuring actors, writers, and other entertainers. I learned plenty from those articles and programs. I fantasized about having my work produced and experiencing great success. I was drawn to the fame, money, and women. Those became my driving forces. I wrote and wrote then began acting classes. After a few years, the first piece I submitted was selected to be part of Prop THTR'S New Play Festival in Chicago. I met with the director, Emily Lotspeich, the dramaturg, G Riley Mills, and the cast.. I listened to their notes and worked on the rewrites. After spending hours at rehearsal, I rushed home to start on more rewrites figuring I would probably get through the first few pages within an hour, but because it was already 11p.m., I would not work on it long. Before I knew it, it was after midnight. Then after 2a.m. I kept working. Then I noticed it was 6a.m. I thought to myself, somewhere out in the world, my parents, siblings, friends, nieces, and nephews were getting ready for a hard day at work or school and here I was pulling an all nighter typing away at a computer. I was not being paid for this work. I was simply doing what I love. I was sharing my story. At that very moment I realized, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life! I want to tell stories, share myself, and evoke a response as a writer, actor, and director. I shared my excitement with my dear friend, Rani, who said, "That doesn't surprise me. You've always said you do it for the fame, money, and women, but deep in my heart I have always believed that deep in your heart you do it for the right reason. You do it for the higher good."

Maybe Rani knew it all along. Maybe other friends knew it too, but I did not truly see it until that moment. I am given opportunities to do special things. I can make a difference. I always thought that once I had the fame and money, I could flex my influence to bring about change. Yet I realized that I need not wait for the fame and money. I simply had to commit to giving of myself. When I have the fame and money, then those will be added bonuses, but at this point, I can still be a light for those in darkness. I can spotlight good causes through my artistic and athletic ventures. I can participate for the higher good. That is why I am willing to take on the challenge of 26.2 miles. As my dear friend, Therese Rowley, said to me recently, "Let your legs run for those who can not." I can speak for those who can not. I can race to raise awareness for individuals and organizations. Along the way, I can lead a healthy active lifestyle while carving out a physique which truly makes me Sexy Isra!

This debut at the marathon distance is for me. I am prepared to push my body and learn something new about my body and mind. This debut is also for a great cause. Great lakes Adaptive Sports Association which is a non profit which organizes competitive and non competitive athletic events for youth and adults who have physical and visual disabilities... On Sunday, I hope to shine for my own benefit. I also hope to shine for the higher good.

Long Winding Road To Chicago Marathon

Then there were four days left before October 10, 2010 and the Chicago Marathon. On Monday and Tuesday I ran seven miles each day figuring those will be my final extended runs prior to Sunday. One thing I have never been good about is following a training plan for any race. I always believe that in a perfect world, I would not train for any race. Instead, I would simply lead an active lifestyle which incorporates weight lifting, biking, swimming, running, stair climbing, and martial arts. The races would just be a part of that established active lifestyle. I do however follow some individuals on Twitter and have friends on Facebook who are experts in the fitness arena. Personal trainers, writers, professional and elite amateur triathletes, coaches, and others from whom I learn plenty by simply observing, reading, and questioning when I can.

With each passing hour and day I am filled with anxiety and excitement for the pending race. This is the biggest race of my life! Simultaneously, I am attempting to remain even keeled and simply viewing the Chicago Marathon as just another race. Sure, this will be my first ever attempt at 26.2 miles. Yet, at every turn I have been faced with my biggest obstacle to date and I always overcome. A friend asked me yesterday, "Are you worried you won't finish?" Not until I was asked that question. I have always finished every single race I started. This will not be any different. Even when I could barely swim in 2008, I made it through the Hudson River at the New York City Triathlon. Even with very few miles under my belt, I gutted out the long distances of the AIA Half Marathon and the Sugar Land 30K (18.6 miles). Thinking about my past races caused me to reflect on this journey to the start line of the Chicago Marathon.

It is easy to say the journey began when I officially registered for the race. It may bee argued, the journey began when I started to train in earnest after returning from my second New York City Triathlon this past July. After some more thought, I concluded that the journey began when I first reached out to Matt Miller of the C Different Foundation to express my desires to join CDF so that, with Matt and CDF's help, I could one day attempt the Ironman Triathlon. As a result of corresponding with Matt, I found myself a few months later at the start line of my very first race in November 2007. The Turkey Trot 5K in Lincoln Wood, Il where I was guided by my dear long time friend, Angela Scheffler. Then Brian Pearlman guided me through the AIA Half Marathon in Fort Lauderdale which was soon followed by Brian meeting me in New york to guide me through my first ever olympic distance triathlon. In fact, it was my first triathlon of any kind and the first time I had ever done a swim longer than the length of a pool. Over the next few years, I raced in local Chicago events such as the C4 Miles on behalf of the Community Counseling Centers Of Chicago guided by James Kolasinski before deciding to take on the challenge of running in the Finish Line Sports Sugar Land 30K when I was guided by Ross O'Dowd whose previous longest run was ten miles. Of course, I did not know, until his wife Jane brought it up, that Ross' ten mile run was accomplished when he was thirteen years old. Earlier in the spring, I returned to shorter distances when Michael Crissie and his brother, Brian, escorted me through the Chicago Spring Half Marathon. Then Michael took on the challenge of guiding once more a few weeks later at the Soldier Field 10. Special thanks to Justine Boney for making that event possible for me. Matt Miller asked me to once again answer the call by returning to New York for another swim in the Hudson as part of the New York City Triathlon. This time I was escorted through the course by Brendan Hermes. After which, my attention focused on the Chicago Area Runners Association's Ready To Run 20 Miler where I was guided by Rich Karnia for the first half and Jennifer Pfaff for the second portion. I met Peter Mullen when he guided me for the Bucktown 5K a few days ago.

It truly has been a long winding road to get to this point. Those races I listed are just the major highlights. I have met some special individuals as a result of my contacting Matt Miller on Memorial Day 2007. Except for three races, my guides have always been first time guides. In fact, the three races where I did not use a first time guide were events where I was guided by Angela Scheffler, Brian Pearlman, and Michael Crissie who all enjoyed guiding me for one event that they insisted I consider them for any future races which I did. Upon further reflection, all these races have prepared me for what is to come on Sunday. Sure, I am nervous, but I think of Brian Pearlman's response on the eve of the AIA half Marathon when his wife asked if I was nervous, he said, "Of course he's nervous. I don't care if you're a world champion runner or a weekend warrior running in your first event, you will always be nervous because it's a race." As the weekend nears, I will get even more excited and anxious, but those feelings let me know I am alive and I care about what I have invested to make my marathon debut. It will be long and hard, but ultimately rewarding. Part of what makes it a rewarding experience is that I am running in this marathon for sixteen year old twins, Liz and Emily, who are two young women who have received so much from their participation in events organized by Keri Schindler and the staff at Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association. Through my running and fundraising for this wonderful non profit, Liz, Emily, and countless other youth and adults with physical and visual disabilities can continue to enjoy a rich active lifestyle while building self confidence. It has been a long road for me, but I can not put a price on the difference I can make for others by traveling down this road.

If you wish to donate to my marathon charity cause, please log on to:

http://www.active.com/donate/glasa2010/fidelertwins

Chicago Marathon: 5 Days To Destiny

It is technically less than five full days away from the Chicago Marathon. 10-10-10. The date to motivate. Earlier today, I logged on to the Chicago Marathon web site and was reading a brief description of each year's event. I grew up watching the television coverage so it was fun to go down memory lane and attempt to recall viewing some of those great moments in race history. I use to marvel as the elite athletes who were flying through the streets of Chicago at about a five minutes per mile pace, but who were so effortless in their motion that it did not seem as though they were moving that fast. After losing my sight, it took me quite a long time to adjust to watching any program on television. If it was a sitcom or one hour drama, I struggled to follow the action. If it was a sporting event, it was difficult to follow the action since the play-by-play announcer did not need to describe the action in great detail since a majority of the audience could see the event unfolding. As a result, I spent many years only watching programs where I had a mental picture of the actors, setting, or location such as TV shows I grew up watching in the 1980s. While away at college, I attempted to watch coverage of the Chicago Marathon, but it just was not the same experience as when I was a little boy sitting in my parents' living room surrounded by my family. Starting in 2001, I found myself drawn to the Chicago Marathon coverage once more. I had been unaware that I could also listen to the radio coverage, but somehow, it too was not the same experience.

In 2002, one woman single handedly drew me to the Chicago Marathon and motivated me to stay. Paula Radcliffe had a beautiful record shattering performance on that October morning that was so awe inspiring that I instantly became a fan while watching her glide through the streets of Chicago. Paula's magnificent display made me a fan of the marathon distance, but I still found myself wondering why people do that to their bodies.

In 2003, I was looking forward to the marathon coverage. Radio personality, Mike North, talked about the race days before then days after as he interviewed a coworker who had run in the marathon on behalf of a charity. The coworker talked about the difficulties of training, running, and recovering from the event. If I remember correctly, she was even hospitalized because she had done some major damage to her body. North asked her and others why anyone would ever put his or her body in that sort of danger and for what reason? I completely agreed with him that doing that to one's body is crazy! I am amazed at the great Paula Radcliffe and other professionals, but there is not a way in which anyone could ever convince me to run a marathon.

I started running on a more consistent basis for the first time since the mid 1990s. I started thinking if I could ever get in good enough shape to run a marathon. I laughed it off because I was not Paula Radcliffe nor Deena Kaster. Then Lokelani McMichael inspired me to seriously consider doing an Ironman Triathlon. The last leg of that event is running a marathon. I began to think if I ever wanted to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles, I should probably attempt 26.2 miles as an individual event first. Soon, the thinking that people must be crazy to do that to their bodies quickly changed. I knew that if I surrounded myself with the proper information, coaches, and training partners, I would be able to pursue marathons in a smart way. A great source of information on healthy nutrition and activities was Fit Nation hosted by Gina Lombardi. I also read various articles which she published online. The more I learned, the more I wanted to learn. Then I discovered the C Different Foundation and Matt Miller. Before long, Matt called to invite me to run in my very first event. AIA Half Marathon in Fort Lauderdale. With only four training runs under my belt, the longest being 4.7 miles, I flew down and completed the race guided by Brian Pearlman. I was proudest that I ran the entire distance and closed the show with a splendid sprint to the finish line. I knew that with proper training I would be able to complete a full marathon in fine fashion.

Then in 2009, Keri Schindler of Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association asked various runners who would be interested in running the 2010 Chicago Marathon as a member of Team Glasa. I jumped at the chance. I would have eleven months to prepare. Of course, I would have other road races and triathlons along the way to aid in my training. As soon as registration opened, I signed up and received my email confirmation that I was officially registered. Reading that email filled me with excitement and anxiety. As months turned to weeks, I began to think more and more about my decision to run in this event. Now, it is marathon week and I am about five days away from toeing the starting line to run in my first ever marathon. Adding to the excitement and anxiety is that this is my home town race. I have walked the streets of Chicago throughout my life and now I will run through them guided by two men, Rich Karnia and Peter Mullen, surrounded by 45,000 other runners and an additional two million fans lining up the streets. My fondest memories of Grant Park were the Chicago Bulls celebrating six titles. On Sunday, I will get a shot to celebrate my own accomplishment when I start and end the race in the very same Grant Park. It has taken many years, inspiration by Paula Radcliffe, and a desire to push my limits for the sake of finding out what can my body handle and how will my mind react. Right now, it is all over the place. Five days left to ride this roller coaster of emotions in preparation for meeting my destiny.

Book Of Liz Industry Night

When I had the privilege to star in the first of my theater pieces to ever be produced, my autobiographical piece, I had the chance to meet so many wonderful individuals in and out of the theater, film, and television worlds. After one of the performances, a young woman approached me to discuss her reflections on my writing style, performance, and show. Her name was Cynthia Shur. I was so thrilled at her kind words because I respected her talents as a writer and actor so much. In fact, as time went on I found myself, as I often do, sitting down to write a new play and from the first scene all the way through to the end, I kept envisioning Cynthia in the lead role. It was a huge thrill to then speak to her, express my desire for her to play the lead, and to find out she was truly interested in the piece. Cynthia is indeed a talented artist and great friend.

Readers and fans can frequently see Cynthia in various projects around the Chicagoland area and elsewhere. She does some fabulous work with Chemically Imbalanced Comedy Theater including tonight's industry night performance of The Book Of Liz at CIC Theater located at 1420 W. Irving Park Road in Chicago at 8p.m.

https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/121020 and type in code Industry for $5 tickets.

Or call 1-800-838-3006

Bucktown 5K

In one week, I will be getting up bright and early to head out the door to make personal history by running in the Chicago Marathon which will be my first attempt at 26.2 miles. Two individuals, Rich Karnia and Peter Mullen, will have the responsibility of being my eyes and guiding me through the course and through to the finish line. On this day, I had a chance to run in one final race prior to the big day when I accepted the offer to run in the Bucktown 5K.

The race began at 8:30a.m. which meant my wake up call was much later than for a typical race. I was up by 6:00a.m. and out the door by 7:15a.m. My brother-in-law, Michael, gave me a ride to the event where I met up with others who were running on behalf of the Blade Runners. As a member of Team GLASA, I was happy to lend myself to the cause. It was a bit cold and windy, but thankfully, it was not rainy. Due to the chill in the air, I decided to keep a sweatshirt underneath my Blade Runner racing shirt. I brought along some running pants, but ultimately felt I would be more comfortable wearing only running shorts. I met Peter Mullen for the first time and explained how to guide. We chatted for a bit, joined the rest of the group for a team photo, and then made our way to the start. I heard there were about 5,000 runners in this event so after the gun went off, we slowly inched our way to the start line. This was good practice for next week's marathon where 45,000 runners will be toeing the start line and it may take up to thirty minutes to finally get going. As we neared the start, the public address announcer stated, "Hey, there is a visually challenged runner and his guide. Good luck to you two. Way to go." I smiled and shook my head. I guess for some, it is nice to be singled out in that fashion, but for me, I do not need that. We finally started running, but immediately it was clear, we would have to zig zag our way through the crowd. sure enough, as we moved through the early stages, Peter had to maneuver us by and around little kids about eight years old, walkers, and adults jogging with baby strollers. I hoped for an opening where we would be able to push ourselves a bit after finding our comfort zone, but through the first mile, it did not materialize. We pressed on as Peter guided me to the left side of the street to continuously pass people. As we made our way, we kept finding ourselves boxed in by walkers and strollers which began to take a toll on me mentally. It was clear through the first mile that Peter had found his comfort level with guiding so I wanted to open it up a bit, but the condition of constant congestion did not allow for it. We made it to the second mile marker. We once again found some opening, but it soon closed. As we moved by a group of folks, I heard a man say, "Oh, that's nice." He told the woman with whom he was running, "That young man is blind so the guy running with him is his guide calling out obstacles and getting him through the course." She responded, but I could not hear what she said because we were soon by and beyond them. The sun made an appearance and I began to feel hot. We headed down the home stretch, but unlike most races, I could not find room to sprint down the final straight-away. My legs felt as though I had not done any work. It almost felt that I had just spent three miles warming up for a solid run. We simply coasted across the finish line and Peter said it was best we did not push it because we would want to remain fresh for next weekend's big race. After all, this event was more for supporting a good cause and ensuring Peter had a chance to experience guiding under race day conditions so he will be at ease when Rich and I meet up with him at the halfway point of the marathon where he will then take control of the tether from Rich to get me home back into Grant Park for what should be a celebratory and emotional experience for me.

Preparing For Bucktown 5K

A week from tonight, I will be anxiously anticipating the Chicago Marathon which will take place on Sunday, October 10, 2010. In that race, I will be guided by two men gracious enough to volunteer to be my eyes, Rich Karnia and Peter Mullen. Until recently, I had never met Rich Karnia. The first time we met was at the CARA Ready To Run 20 Miler where he guided me for the first ten miles of that event. As of this entry, I have never met Peter. That will change in the morning when he and I will take part in the Bucktown 5K presented by Ram Racing. Peter has never guided someone in a race so I figured the 5K would be a great way for him to see what it is like while also experiencing race day conditions. I plan to take it slow the first mile as he figures out how to best communicate the information needed for me to run comfortably. As we move through the 5K course, I am sure Peter will find his comfort zone and we will be able to push ourselves a bit. Then hopefully, by the end of the race, we will conclude with a splendid sprint to the finish. It will be nice to run faster in this event than I did a few weeks ago at the GLASA Twilight 5K, but the main purpose is to give Peter a chance to experience guiding under race day conditions to best prepare him for the longest run I have ever done when Rich, Peter, and I work together to tackle 26.2 miles in one of the greatest races in the world.