1. What is the name of the marathon you will be running? Where in Europe will it take place? (Where does it start and where does it end?)

            The name of the marathon is "In Flanders Fields Marathon," which takes place in the province of West Flanders in Belgium. The race starts in Nieuwpoort and ends in Ypres and follows the Yser River and runs along part of the WWI front lines in Belgium. The marathon is named after the poem written during WWI by a Canadian soldier and physician, John McCrae, who noted how poppies quickly grew around the graves of those who died at Ypres. That's the reason that the poppy is the flower associated with Memorial Day. The marathon director who started this race 18 years ago did it as a tribute to his grandfather, who grew up on a farm near Ypres just a couple miles from the front lines. The race director's grandfather and all 4 of his brothers who served in the war survived.

2. When is the marathon?

The marathon is on Sunday, Sept. 10, and it starts at 10:00 am local time, or 3:00 am here.

3. When did you first become interested in running it and why? What draws you the most about the race...and is this your first marathon?

            I became interested in running the marathon after my wife, Kate, and I decided to go to Europe. Her brother lives in the Netherlands, and we wanted to visit him and also see where Kate's ancestors are from, which is in Ireland. I thought it would be interesting to run a marathon on a different continent, and after looking at a few different options, decided on this one.

There are 2 reasons that I became interested in this specific marathon. First, I have an interest in history, and Ypres and the surrounding area obviously has major historical importance. Also, we are in the 100 year window of time since WWI, so there has been a general sprucing up of the WWI sites as well as additional exhibits in the local museums. Second, the marathon is referred to as the "peace marathon." Many runners from several nations choose this race as a way of commemorating family members who died during the war and use this as a platform for promoting peace in our world today through camaraderie. Even though I don't have any known relatives that fought there (although there were 37 German soldiers who died there with the last name of Hartung), I wanted to be a small part of continuing the tradition of the peace marathon.

This will be my 5th marathon in total, but I haven't run once since 1999. The only other marathon I have done is the Twin Cities Marathon.

4. Do you have a time-goal or any other specific goals you want to meet that day?

            My time goal is 4 hours, 30 minutes. More importantly, I want to be able to take in the history of the area in a way that can't be done by driving and maybe make a few new friends.

5. How many months have you been training and what do you do for a training regimen? Did you have to change your diet to prepare for the race?

            I have been training specifically for a marathon since the end of May, but I have been running consistently again for about a year now. I did a 10 mile race and half marathon earlier in the year, so the training was tailored more towards shorter races.

I have been running almost every day, with varying distances from 5 to 7 miles on a normal day at an easy pace, with 2 days per week of quality runs, which are longer and/or faster runs. The easy pace and long runs are to build an endurance base, while the faster runs are designed for improving speed and efficiency and help simulate how your body will feel during a race.

My diet has not changed considerably as far as what I'm eating. I am still guilty of eating things that aren't good for me, although I have made more of a concerted effort to eat less of that and more of what I should, like more fruits and vegetables, leaner proteins, and good fats.

6. How has the training affected your lifestyle? Do you plan to continue to keep up a running regimen after the race?

            My lifestyle has changed somewhat over the last several months. Since I've started doing more serious marathon-specific training, I am running approximately 10 hours per week on average. On the weekends, I typically have been getting up around 4:30 to 5:00 to do my long runs in order to get done before it gets too hot. In order to get enough sleep during the week, it means going to bed around 9:30 and then getting up at 5:30.

I definitely plan to keep running after the marathon. My ultimate goal is to qualify to run the Boston Marathon by 2020. I plan on doing a couple marathons per year and do a few other races such as half marathons and 5k or 10k races.

7. As you come to the end of your months of training, do you think you would recommend preparing for a marathon to anyone else? Why or why not?

            I would absolutely recommend marathon running to others. I have talked to several patients who have said to me, "I could never run a marathon." My response is, "If it's something you want to do, you'll find a way." Obviously, there are people who have medical conditions that would prevent them from doing the training necessary to complete a marathon, and those who are interested should be checked out by their health care provider before starting a training program. For those who are interested in doing it, it shouldn't be taken lightly. My suggestion to a new runner or someone who hasn't run in several years is to do a run/walk/run combination during early training sessions, just to get the body conditioned to handle the increased workload, and then gradually increase the length and intensity of the workouts. The nice thing about running is that it's something that can be done without the need for other people, but it can also be done with others if that's what it takes to get motivated to get out there. Whether it's a marathon or shorter running distances, there is research that shows that running not only keeps your weight down, it also decreases the incidence of lifestyle diseases such as type II diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and even some forms of cancer; and it can even add years to your life by slowing down the aging process. Plus, it's a myth that running in and of itself is bad for your joints and that it actually has a protective effect.