This past Saturday, I ran my final long training run, grinding out 20 miles in and around Tanglewood Park.  I managed to get my average pace down to 9:56/mile, which should get me to the finish line on race day somewhere between 4:15 and 4:30 (which is a marked improvement over my Big Sur time, so I'll take it!).  I did reaffirm that the end of any long run for me is just tough.  It doesn't seem to matter how fast or slow I start, but by those last few miles, I'm cooked.  I'm hoping the nearly 2 million people in NYC will help keep me motivated when it gets to crunch time.

While running those 20 miles on Saturday and staring down the New York City Marathon which is now less than 3 weeks away, I asked myself some hard-hitting questions that I'll now also pose to you.

Question #1:  Are you deeply concerned about the worldwide bacon shortage that made the national news rounds a couple weeks ago (don't judge me, I have to run through the campground right around breakfast time and almost always smell bacon)?  Fear not, thanks to this informative PSA by none other than Ron Swanson himself.  Prepare yourself:

Question #2: Have you been thinking to yourself, "Self, I've really been meaning to donate to Bryan's marathon fundraiser for breast cancer, but I'll just do that tomorrow, or wait until the end to make sure he still needs donations."?  If you answered "yes", then you're in luck - here's that absolute last minute chance!

Our final planned fundraising event has hit a bit of a snag, and due to unforeseen circumstances has had to be canceled.  So that leaves me teetering right on the edge of making my goal, OR being on the hook to pay out the difference myself.  I sure could use the help if you can manage it.  I'm close enough to taste it, but these final $200 seem to be the toughest.  Here are all of the details to make a donation online, and of course feel free to contact me with any questions.

My Fundraising Page: http://www.crowdrise.com/t-ingnycmarathon2012tpr/fundraiser/bryantimmons

A little background on why this is important to me: http://goteamtimmons.blogspot.com/2012/04/i-need-your-help.html

Think Pink Rocks (Federal Tax ID Number 26-4789024): http://www.thinkpinkrocks.com