Saturday, and early morning 13 mile run.  2 hours & 20 minutes.  Resting today.  Tomorrow, one more early run on the lakefront trail.  Then I'm tapering off in advance of the Half Marathon.

once again, not posting for a mere 3 days has left me almost 4 pages of great stuff to catch up on.

oshcat: too bad that DAS can't be there for your big day, but sounds like a good reason.  Suggest using the opportunity to meet some new people at race and once you settle in to your pace, there will be lots of others there with you to talk to.  If you can do this, will take your mind off the race and the time will pass much more quickly.  Am sure that DAS is very proud of all your training, and will be equally proud when you come home that HM medal!   Keep up the good work!

justrundan:  Grats on making the final commitment to the upcoming HM.  same advice on finding a group to run that first HM with.  There are so many people out there doing exactly what you are doing who love to talk about it...case in point is this group!  Have fun with the rest of your training.

coyote:  hear you about life getting in the way...truly hope that everything is all right there and things return to normal soon.  For rash and anti chafing, I use 2Toms Sport Shield roll on on any/all parts of the body that tend to chafe.  It's water based, and won't stain...supposed to last for a full marathon and was available at local running store.

alniner:  hoep that ankle is feeling better by now.  Good luck with your race tomorrow and let Terranns know we are all still thinking and praying for him and his wife.

degregorious:  hope both the elbow and ego are better by now.  And while I don't like to admit it, it is getting to be time for those headlights again.  Where did Summer go?  Good luck with HM taper.

snerb:  glad to hear the shoes are breaking in, and great that you are still finding the time to run with everything else going on.

debm:  Happy B-Day!  48 years young!  and sounds like you had a good run to celebrate the new year...way to finish strong!  that will serve you well in the HM.

bigslade:  sometimes the hardest runs are the most beneficial, and you finished it strong.  Keep pushing though the training plan and you will appreciate all those runs as you cross the finish line.  Good luck on your long run.

jmsab:  a big "Whoot" and fist pump for your daughter's 5k!  Awesome!!!  And great time for you too!  Some day I will finish a race not too far behind you...and then again, probably not!  Nice work!  Thanks for the update on caleb.  I must admit that it makes me so sad to hear about another child being put through an unfair test with cancer.  We were out with Avery's parents last night for dinner...they miss her so much, as do we all.  Please tell Caleb's family that we are thinking of them and praying for Caleb to pull through this.  Truly brings tears to my eyes...

dobobruck:  welcome back!  Nice bike mileage that I am sure will help your return to running!

Chell:  agree with jmsab about how awesome you are doing, and how your commitment/conviction to keep going is inspiring.  You are on a great journey to improve your life forever...don't ever give up!

NHLA:  the taper is the reward for months of hard training.  Glad to see you are enjoying it, and gotta love those sticky buns, right?  Best of luck in your upcoming race.  I am sure you are going to kill it!

mkay:  great work on your come back from illness.  You are really doing awesome and undoubtedly getting stronger, which will eventually lead to faster, with each run.  Continue to be patient as your running journey is truly that, a long term commitment to feeling better and living longer, no matter what pace you run.  I was a little surprised, and maybe disappointed though that you didn't have an "underwear" update for us today!  LOL!

melodylea:  thanks for sharing some of the highlights of the truly wonderful life that your MIL led.  All I can say is WOW when I read about all that she did while here.  I am sure that her legacy will live on.  Hope that you, DH, and the rest of your family are finding some peace in all this.  And glad to hear that you are still running with everything going on. 

on thursday, ran a planned 8 miles with 6x1:00 sprints at faster than 5k pace.  Really hilly run plus these "fartlek" intervals made for a very tired boy by the time I got home.  Went to the mountains with college buddy for a couple rounds of golf and dinner...man, are the Rockies gorgeous in the summer!

yesterday ran a local 10 mile race with only 132 entrants.  Finished in 1:32:40 for a 9:16 pace which I was really happy with given the number of hills (one was a 9.5% grade that we had to climb both ways) and the fact that the last third of the race was all uphill.  While I was happy with this result, especially given my "hard" run on Thursday, I was shocked that i finished 19th of 26 in 40-49 AG.  Winning time overall was 59 minutes, and 2nd place was someone from my AG with a 1:03 finishing time!  Can't wait to turn 50 next Spring and be on the other end of the group.  All in all, the race accomplished what I needed for 3 weeks out from HM race so was very happy.  Also met some new folks and even ran/talked for a couple miles in middle of race which helped pass the time.  Have to say that now having trained pretty hard for the last  8 weeks, that I am very much looking forward to my taper, and running a flat course for the race.

Out for an easy run today, and then off tomorrow to enjoy the holiday.  Prayers to caleb, and all others that need them...let's run for them this week! 

Stay strong, run free, and be fearless in all that you do!

Chell - you're doing great! 

llinus - thanks

jmsab23 - will continue prayers for Caleb.  Great race and congrats to your daughter!

MaryKay - keep working on it - you'll get there. 

MelodyLea - I hope running on your Berkshires roads with happy memories of MIL will  bring you peace.

I feel like I did everything wrong today.  I slept in and didn't get out of bed until 8:00, which means I didn't hit the road until after 9:00 and it was already 70 degrees ( but dry).  I also should have had my usual cereal with almond milk and not a protein bar. I also should have reviewed the map of my route before I left.  I was hot, tired, and had a little queasiness that fortunately didn't last more than a mile or 2.  By the time I hit 5 miles I was feeling pretty good  though.  At 8 miles my gps quit on me and I forgot which of the 2 routes I had planned (there were only slight differences in the last 2 miles).  I opted for the longer one because I didn't want to come up short, which unfortunately was the route with the big uphill during mile 10.  I had to walk some of it but felt a little stronger after I crested the hill.  The last 1/2 mile was really hard but I made it and then walked an additional  1/4 to 1/2 mile as a cool down before stretching and using my foam roller.  When I logged in to mapmyrun it appears the route I did was 10.41 miles instead of 10.  Hopefully that means when I go to increase to 11 miles it won't be that hard?  All in all,though, I am very excited that I ran 10 miles.  This also ends my first ever week with mileage over 20 with 20.5 miles for the week. 

Chell: great job on the 5 miler straight through!! There's alot to be said when it comes to proving people wrong, but proving something to yourself is most important!! Keep up the hard work it will become easier..

Debm: good job on the 10.41m way to gut it out!!

Melody: your gonna ace that half-your doing what it takes!!

Linus: great pace on the 10 miler!!!

degreg: nice time on the 13 miles, gotta love the taper-means your hard work is coming to a great result!!!

Did a 3.5 mile run this afternoon in the remnants of Issac to get started back into the running after a few months layoff. All in all a very enjoyable run, just gotta get back into the groove again!!!

12 miles 1 hr 42 min.  Only 30 miles this week.  This taper is driving me crazy.  I have walked the toenails off the dog. I didn't run the apple festival 8k for the first itime n 10 years. Can't wait to run the BBR.

Linus: great race!

jmsab I am 56 also.  Times are so different in the mts. 21 would win your ag here. 

Mel: I'm so sorry to hear about your Mother-in-law passing. I pray that God brings you, your husband and all those who knew and loved her peace and comfort in this time of grief. Yes, run through the grief. I recently went through a very tough situation that brought more pain and sadness than I had felt in years. It was quite scary for me to be in such a dark, sad and gloomy place, but I felt like I couldn't get out.....until I started running again regularly. For those of us who love it, there is a spiritual element to running that brings healing, clarity, and strength. Draw from that. Allow your memories to carry you through and know that her spirit will be with you as you conquer your half. God bless you.

WebPro: You're amazing. I just covered my first 20 on Sat--details below. I'll do either 22 or 23 miles on the 15th, same as you, and begin my taper. I'm still amazed that I covered 20 miles, yet there are still 6.2 to go to cover a marathon. Yikes! lol Continue to run strong. You inspire me. Chicago-bound, baby!!

All: Great job on your races and runs, everyone. You all are putting in some serious work and I love reading about it.

I hit a new milestone with my 20-miler on Saturday. This is my first time writing about it because it was really an overwhelming experience. So much so, that shortly after finishing, while stretching, I burst into tears. I thanked God for the strength and endurance it took to conquer that distance, those hills; parts of the run when everything in me wanted to and felt justified in stopping. It was amazing. An awesome reminder of the strength we all possess. I'm actually getting teary-eyed typing this. I did make a huge mistake in my recovery, though: I did too much. Instead of resting and hydrating all day after the run, I ran around and then went to an all day, outdoor music festival where I danced my butt off. All of that was great, except it was 90 degrees and humid outside. I did drink some water and only had one beer, but I didn't account for how much more I should have drank to replenish all that I lost during my run. Didn't get much sleep Sat night either. Got up and had 2 cups of coffee Sunday morning, then rushed off to church where I ran up 3 flights of stairs. While sitting in church listening to an awesome sermon, I suddenly felt dizzy; like I was about to pass out. I got really nervous and walked out to get water. That helped a lot. Once I got my composure, I realized the feeling was familiar, it was how I felt when I was dehydrated. So, I stayed to hear the rest of the sermon then left to get a big bottle of Powerade and some water. I started feeling better immediately after drinking the Powerade. Then I got home and slept heavily for a couple of hours. I guess I felt so good on Saturday after the run that I seriously underestimated the impact the run had on my body. Lesson learned. I'll be sure to hydrate and get some decent rest after my long runs, especially as I cover these new distances.

Hope everyone has a great Labor Day. Happy running, my friends.