Mon 31 Aug 2026 - Less than six weeks until race day! Today starts Week 16 of 21. We've just returned from an extended hiking trip that stopped my running for 10 days -- but nevertheless kept me on my feet and moving (and hauling gear, too!). I've been a little nervous about this diversion from plan (Runna helps me adjust for it), but I'm back on the road as of yesterday and working hard!
Mike Joins Team Chicago Run for the 2026 Chicago Marathon
Mike Donaldson
Mike Donaldson
I am proud to be joining Team Chicago Run to run the 2026 Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday, October 11th! Chicago Run empowers thousands of Chicago youth (pre-K through high school) with equitable access to inclusive running and physical activity programs. Their mission is a fantastic match for the passion I've developed for youth programs in my many years as a hockey coach and Scout leader. I particularly love that Chicago Run brings these opportunities to Chicago communities that might otherwise not have anything like them! Your donations help Chicago Run execute its mission.
Accenture People! If you donate here via the TCR pages, remember to also visit my fundraiser page on our internal MyGiving site and "Log a Donation" (not "New Donation"). If 10 of us Accenture people contribute here (TCR) and log our giving there (Accenture/MyGiving), Accenture will match our contributions up to a total of $1,000 -- doubling our impact! Note: When you log your donation at Accenture/MyGiving, make sure the "Designation" field has some combination of "Mike Donaldson" and "Chicago Marathon" in it (it should default to that).
If you give, thank you!! This is good stuff. Your contributions help a great organization doing great things for our next generation!
Go get 'em!
-Mike.
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Sat 15 Aug 2026 - Long run day! I set out for 27 km and decided to round up to 28 km (okay, truthfully, I took a wrong turn) -- but it's all good because now I can say I just ran 2/3rds of a marathon (17.5 miles)!! I'm also happy to announce that this week, through the kind giving of family and work friends, we passed the halfway mark for fundraising. Thank you, all!
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Tue 11 Aug 2026 - TWO MONTHS to race day!
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Mon 10 Aug 2026 - 14.3 miles on Saturday -- my longest "long run" this year (and first one that was more than half a marathon in distance)! It went well -- good weather, properly fueled, early start -- a good run! I dedicate this one to my "sister-in-law-in-law", Renee, whose life we celebrated Saturday.
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Mon 03 Aug 2026 - 400 miles! I crossed a literal milestone during this weekend's long run -- 400 miles run this year (over 96 runs since March). You know what this means? New shoes!
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Sun 19 Jul 2026 - 800th Strava activity!
Sat 11 Jul 2026 - Ugh! Long run fail! It was supposed to be 15km (9.3 mi) but I cut it short (13km=8.1mi). I had optimistically tried running in the afternoon at 88F and sunny on a new route (a wrong turn didn't help). Okay, "easy run" on Sunday and then Monday is non-running -- so I'll take this chance to rest -- and then get back into it. And maybe stick to the sunrise runs!
Sat 04 Jul 2026 - Got my long run (14km=8.7mi) done in and around Central Park in New York City! It was "only" 79 degrees at 6:30am. Now we'll go watch the Twins beat the Yankees on THE 250th Fourth of July.
Thu 18 Jun 2026 - Got my tempo run done in downtown Dallas,TX. We are in town to knock off another ballpark (Twins @ Rangers -- go, Twins!).
Mon 18 May 2026 - The Chicago plan begins! I'm going to give Runna a try as my training planner. (Garmin seemed to take it a little easy on me -- but it DID get me through Des Moines 2025 in good time and without injury!). This begins Week 01 of a 21-week plan ending on the big day -- Sun 11 October 2026! Here we go!
Sat 02 May 2026 - The Lake Monona 20K is in the books! It was a tough one. I was hoping to run a little faster, but with only two months to train, I think that it's reasonable. I ran almost the same pace as I did the Des Moines marathon (over twice the distance). A step on the journey! We'll keep building on this...
Mon 02 Mar 2026 - I've officially started training. First up, I am targeting a 20K mid-season tune-up race scheduled for Sat 02 May -- the Lake Monona 20K in Madison, WI. I am using Garmin Run Coach to manage my ramp up plan. Once I've completed that, as well as the requisite recovery week or two afterward, I will turn my eyes toward Chicago! More later!
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