Lets get the party started!

Hey there everyone, this is the first blog post of my journey to raise some money for 2 very good causes.

The first cause is the Fallen Firefighter Memorial of Idaho. It is obviously near and dear to my heart being that I am a firefighter, and I know that the beauty of the memorial is only as good as the people that support the memorial. I will post some pics of the memorial later.
The second cause will be for the Lone Survivor Foundation. This non-profit was started by a former Navy SEAL named Marcus Luttrell, who was the lone survivor of a 4 man SEAL team that was ambushed in Afghanistan. The Lone Survivor Foundation is dedicated to helping wounded warriors recover both mentally and physically while at their ranch in Texas. More info on why this charity is close to my heart later.

So, how do I plan on raising this money for these two causes??? Well, by sacrificing myself and my body that's how. Here in Boise Idaho we have a yearly race called the Race To Robie Creek. It is a grueling half marathon (13.1 mi) that bills itself as the toughest half marathon in the North West. It's for good reason to, as the first approx 8 1/2 miles of the course is uphill, followed by an insane down hill that goes for easily a mile to 1 1/2 miles before it starts to flatten out at the end. But I don't plan to just run the race like everyone else, that would be too easy. Besides, why would you want to read this, and donate if I was just doing this race like everyone else? Instead, I have decided to run the race with a weight vest. 40 POUNDS to be exact. Why 40? Well, being a firefighter, our gear weighs in over 40# on any given day, and most combat loads for SEALs are easily 40# or more. So it will be 40 POUNDS for me. I figure that it's the least I can do to help raise money for those who have given so much of themselves already. I plan to split the money raised right down the middle with 50% going to each charity.
In this blog, I will talk more about the 2 charities, why they need our help, how you can help me, and what my training will be like up until race day. I might also talk about how I'm feeling about my training, the nutrition that I will be using, the gear that I use to train with and any other thoughts or feelings or answers to your questions/comments. But for now, that's enough babbling, it's midnight and I need some sleep.