The second annual Runyon 5K, a cancer research fundraising run/walk that uses Yankee Stadium as its course, is taking place on the morning of Sunday, August 15 – the first day of Affiliate Summit East 2010.

I ran the Runyon 5k race last year, but won’t be able to do it this year, since I’ll be tied up with last minute details for Affiliate Summit.

But if you’re a runner and you’ll be in NYC on August 15, I’d definitely recommend taking part in this 5k before hitting the Hilton New York for Affiliate Summit East 2010. It’s a really neat course throughout Yankee Stadium, including a couple times around the field.

Registrations for the Runyon 5k just opened up, and they limit the number of runners to 4,000, so you should sign up ASAP.

Check out some pictures I took during the Runyon 5k last year.

I ran the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5k in Newark, NJ last Sunday.

It was a rainy, cold day, but the crowd of runners were upbeat and sunny.

In addition to being uplifted by the many survivors running the race, I was elated and humbled by the generous support I received when raising funds to support the North Jersey Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

My goal was to raise $2,000, and I ended up with $2,500. Big thanks to the following for their generous donations:

• Vanessa Branco
• Gauher Chaudhry
• Eleanor Chin
• Bevan Clark
• Vicky Collins
• Mike Collins
• Jennifer Goode
• Chris Knight
• Brian Littleton
• Sharon Mostyn
• David Troop
• Missy Ward

If you would like to help in the fight, my business partner, Missy Ward, is organizing a team for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Chicago. The walk is June 5-6, so there’s still plenty of time to donate to the Affiliate Marketers Give Back team to help them reach their goal.

My run today was a personal record for a 5k race. Maybe I should run in the run more often.

I’ve been running for about a year now, and while it can be a solo sport, it’s also fun to run with friends and family.

So, I was excited when I found out about Girls on the Run, a “a life-changing, experiential learning program. The program combines training for a 3.1 mile running event with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting workouts. The goal of the program is to encourage positive emotional, social, mental, spiritual and physical development.”

My oldest daughter tried some other sports, like basketball and soccer, but didn’t develop much of an interest.

However, she has really embraced Girls on the Run, and she looks forward to each lesson.

It’s great to see the fun, positive workouts that end with a big cheer.

Also, there is an adult charity running program called SoleMates that benefits local Girls on the Run chapters.

I’d definitely recommend this group, and they have chapters all over the U.S., for anybody looking for an uplifting, healthy hobby to share with a daughter.

Check out this video for more on Girls on the Run:

I am participating in the 2010 Komen North Jersey Race for the Cure and I’m hoping to get your support.

The 5k run/walk is taking place Sunday, April 25, 2010 at Essex County Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ.

It would mean a lot if you made a tax deductible donation in support of my fundraising efforts. Any amount would be a great help.

For more than 25 years, Komen for the Cure has played a critical role in every major advance in the fight against breast cancer – transforming how the world talks about and treats this disease, and helping to turn millions of breast cancer patients into breast cancer survivors.

Over the next 25 years, an estimated 25 million women around the world will be diagnosed with breast cancer if we don’t find a cure. Komen will not stop until they discover and deliver the cures. Will you join the cause?

And if you are interested in running, join Team Affiliate Summit to help fight breast cancer.

I had been struggling with breathing sometimes when I ran, so I wanted to get checked out. First, I went to get my pulmonary function number, which came back fine.

Then, I did a treadmill stress test, where I had all sorts of stuff attached to me to monitor my pulse, blood pressure, etc. as I went from a slow walk to a run over about 20 minutes.

At the end, I was at nearly 100% of my maximum heart rate, and the great news is that the doctor couldn’t find anything wrong with me on the heart side. So, hopefully I’ve got some annoying seasonal allergies.

Anyhow, as I was chatting with her, I mentioned that my heart rate gets to around 170 when running an average of 7.5 miles an hour. This puts me at or above the Anaerobic Zone, a point where the amount of fat being utilized as the main source of energy is greatly reduced and this level of exercise burns muscle components (mainly glycogen, water and minerals).

I don’t want that. I had been pushing myself to get faster, but I’d much rather burn fat that muscle if given the choice.

So, I’m going to slow things down and see if I can keep myself in the Aerobic Zone (70% to 80% of maximum heart rate), which develops the cardiovascular system.

By the way, my resting heart rate is 59, and I’m pretty happy about that.

Yesterday, I completed my first triathlon, and I’ve caught the bug.

I was nervous about completing all three events, and whether I’d be zapped of energy when it came to the run.

But it all worked out well. As I expected, swimming was the biggest challenge for me, and this was accentuated by having to share a lane in the pool.

Also, the first transition was a little tricky, as I went from being soaked to putting on my Nike Dri-FIT two-in-one running shorts. Note to self – they’re pretty hard to put on when wet.

But after that, it was smooth sailing with the bike and run.

It was so gratifying to complete it, and I’m going to look at a schedule now for future events in the area.

Tomorrow I am taking on my first triathlon. Now before you even have to wonder, I’ll tell you – no, it’s not an Ironman Triathlon.

The Ironman is the one you see on TV sometimes, and it consists of a 2.4 miles (3.86 km) swim, a 112 miles (180.25 km) bike and a marathon (26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 km) run, raced in that order and without a break.

My triathlon is an Indoor Tri at my gym and it’s significantly scaled down.

This triathlon consists of a 10 minute swim in the lap pool, a 30 minute bike in the Cycle Fitness Studio, and finally a 20 minute treadmill run.

I get 10 minutes of transition time after the swim and 5 minutes of transition time after the bike portion.

You think it sounds easy, do you? I did, too. Then I started training for it a month ago. This is a tough task for a fat dude.

But I’m up for it, and I can’t wait to be able to say “been there, done that, got the t-shirt.”

I am swimming a few times a week these days in preparation for a triathlon in less than two weeks.

But there’s a problem. I taught myself to swim as a kid, and I don’t think I was a very good teacher.

I’ve noticed when I am at the pool that everybody else seems to swim fast and efficient, while I am slow and clumsy.

And I get tired really easy – like I need to take a short break after each 25 meter length kind of tired.

So, as embarrassing as it is to have to take swim lessons, I think it’s time. Ugh.

I’ve created a profile on dailymile to track my progress as I train for my first indoor triathlon in the coming month.

It’s a neat community where you can sync with Nike+ for runs and manually input details for swimming and biking.

The site includes an option to have each update automatically post to Facebook and/or Twitter. I have my account set to post the updates on my Twitter account @thefatblog.

See my profile at http://www.dailymile.com/people/affiliatetip.

Just a couple weeks until my triathlon.

I just signed up for the Life Time Fitness Indoor Triathlon, taking place March 14, 2010 in Berkley Heights, NJ at Life Time Fitness.

Granted, this isn’t an Ironman Triathlon by any means – it only spans an hour total, but it’s a new challenge and I’m excited for it.

This particular triathlon consists of a 10 minute swim in the lap pool (good this is first, because it’s my weakest area), a 30 minute bike in the Cycle Fitness Studio (probably not so bad, but I never really ride the bike), and finally a 20 minute treadmill run (should be a piece of cake, though I always run fresh, and I won’t be here).

Time to add in some swimming and biking to my exercise routine.