Friday, June 30

A need for speed

Today I had a good morning run. It was a day when I didn't really want to roll out of bed. I went to a restaurant last night and I ate too much. The number on the scale told me that this morning. But that also helped me getout and do this six-mile run.

As I ran, I kept remembering how I could hit an 8-minute mile on the treadmill with relative ease. However, on the streets, my mind wanders and I go, arguably, too slow.

Perhaps I just need to focus more. Anyhow, I've got a new goal, to find a good 5K race and do it in under 25 minutes. It's a pretty ambitious goal since my previous PR in the 5K is 28:36. But I know I can do it if I work at it.

Thursday, June 29

Lou again

This blog should get back to basics. Seems like it's been over a month since I posted a quote from former Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz.

Maybe thinking about what Holtz has to say will help me get focused on some exciting goals again.

Here's a good one: "If you get people to believe in themselves, they'll set bigger goals."

Here's another: "Motivation is nothing more than a sense of purpose."

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Wednesday, June 28

Mile repeats

Today's topic is mile repeats.

The marathon recovery plan I'm following prescribes has me doing mile repeats.

And today I did them at my 5K pace. That means I ran a mile at my 5K pace followed by a quarter mile of running/easy jogging. The only question is what is my 5K pace.

The easiest way I knew to do this and get in a hard workout was to do it on the treadmill. And my 5K pace was 8 minute miles. I've never done a 5K that fast but it worked out pretty well today. I finished and had a good time.

This is thrilling for me. I'd love to do a sub 25 minute 5K. This helps reaffirm for me the idea that it's possible.

What a great workout I had today. Not to mention that I ran twice today. A quick two miles in the morning and then these three mile repeats. It was a very satisfying workout.

Tuesday, June 27

Feeling blah

Everything feels a little out-of-kilter right now.

I've rearranged the furniture in my bedroom so that I can sleep better without the sun shining through the skylight onto my face.

I used to run in the mornings. Lately, I've run in the mornings, after work and in the middle of the day. I'm a creature of habit without habits at the moment.

I guess I'm just feeling a bit run-down after last week at the office, one person doing the work of two-people again.

I don't think I've been running enough to be overtraining, but perhaps. I'm adding a couple of rest days into the schedule this week so that my legs can be fresh. Then again, maybe it's just time for some new shoes.

Monday, June 26

New links, new links

I call you attention to new poetry links on the side of the blog. Perhaps you could even say it's a change of direction for the blog.

I don't know. I'm tired right now. Actually, feeling run down might be a better description of my current state. No running today. No cross training. Just rest.

Anyhow, about the links. I've been thinking a lot about poetry lately and there you have it. New links.

For your enjoyment.

Sunday, June 25

Nacho Libre

I saw Nacho Libre this weekend. It was a decent sports/comedy movie. It didn't really provide great motivation for running or training like other movies I've seen. But it wasn't that bad. The subplot of falling in love with a nun was funny. Especially a nun who labored so hard over brushing her hair.

Yeah, the movie was good if I turned my brain off and didn't think things like why are they speaking Enlish now and Spanish now. And why were their accents so bad?

In other news, I'm dreaming more and more about running. And I'm dreaming about running in Santa Fe, New Mexico . The dreams I have. Go figure.

Saturday, June 24

500 miles

There's something about nice round numbers, the thrill of seeing the nines turn over on the odometer. It reminds me of the glory the ancient Greeks saw in the perfect S curve.

That was the ancient Greeks, right?

Today I pumped out five early morning miles, taking my total for the year to 500. Wow. That's definitely got to be one of the joys of keeping a running log - watching the miles add up.

Thursday, June 22

For the next slam

Here's a promise. A prediction, actually.

I'm working on a poem for the next slam.

It's going to be hot.

It's called 26.2.

The first shall be last

So the poetry slam was tonight. I didn't perform up to my standards.

By the luck of the draw, I wound up going first. My hands were shaking as I did my poem. It wasn't a good start.

I can tell you this though. I'm hungry for next time. I'm going to bring it.

Anyhow, after the faltering first round, I scrapped my plan and pulled out my best poem. But I was nervous about going over the time limit so I edited it down a bit. People didn't notice, but I did.

Since you weren't there, I'll type down the whole thing right here. I mean, that's not a bad idea is it. I need to get my stuff typed up anyhow.

Call Me

Call me crazy, if you want.
Call me lazy, if you must.
Call me country, goofy, loopy -
Here I am, dreaming of saying something groovy.
Call me gravy and pour me over everything.
Call me a long tall drink of water, a drop of rain falling to your ocean.

Call me the not unlike the unlikely not I is unlikened to.
Call me Courvosier, falling all over your body.
Call me Guiness, the creamy blackness that knocks you off of your feet.
Call me a tequila sunrise at midnight, call me a bloody Mary in the morning.
Call me vodka, the mixer that wants to get mixed up with you.
Call me a margarita, a whiskey sour, a gin and tonic, a toddy for the body.
Call me the pill, the prescription you need filled, the medicine - no wait -
the mega sin, the mortal sin, the failing failure, the heretic, the anti-Christ, anti-Messiah, anti-rapture,
antecedent to the Myth to the legend to the Scripture, to the Word.
Call me the verb, the bird, the sound, the horn,
the hope of those who can't cry so they scream.
I want to evolve and not revolve,
I want to see and be a part of a big love, a love supreme.
So call me the train, Coltrane, saxophonic winds blowing down the track
coming and coming and coming in sheets of sound
and sounds
the overwhelming guttural primal sounds
the drums beat
and I want to be at one
with someone or somebody
but I hear a voice calling me Miles

And I know that I'm miles and miles and miles from home
And I'm trying to get back in the black, in the money, making sketches of Spain
with crayons and selling them for a ticket to the seance, to the big dance
because I'm trying to find some kind of Fame!
I want to live forever, I want to learn how to fly.


Now call me Sly
Stone because I want to want to want to
take you higher

Yeah, what I really want is to get you to be down for the upstroke. And so on and so on and Scooby Dooby Doo.

Call me the contrast of brown on brown, black on black, trying to take you back to the ships, to the villages, to the jungles, to the temples, back to the end of time.

So call me the golden one. Hell, call me yellow, call me blue. Put 'em together and green.
Call me clean, call me dirty, call me flirty, call me shy.
Sall me that guy. Call me the damn thing.

Yeah, the damn thing.

You can do me in the morning, you can do me in the night.

Call me in the morning while my voice is still deep, call me a promise you don't know if I'll keep.

Call me the heart of darkness, the question, the answer, the jungle bunny, the funny money, grinning and spinning, shucking and jiving.
Call me the underachiever, the unbeliever, the unborn, unworthy, mongrelization of the races. Call me a big disgrace.

Call me the greatest, call me Cassius, call me Muhammad, call me Malcolm, call me El Haj Malik El Shabazz, Call me tiger, Call me Eldrick, Call me Martin, Call me Shaft, the spade detective, the black private dick whose a sex machine with all the chicks, call me trying to take these chains off of my legs.

Call me the slave, the field hand, the house negro, the uncle dom, call me daddy, call me Mufasa the lion king, call me Hailie Selassie the lion of Judah, Call me the bedouin, the tribesman, the arab, the scarab, the latino, the Italian, the Native American Indian Man, the time traveler travellng time.

Call me September 11, the date, the second, the shock, the moment you thought you caught a chance to grasp the hem of his garment.

Call me the relic, the scrap, the tunic, the toga, the swimsuit, the towel, the do-rag. Call me the collar, the zipper, the rag. Call me the dirty drawers, the granny panties, the silk thong, the blue sarong, singing a brand new song, trying to get next to you.

Call me the highest of the high, the lowest of the low. Call me mediocre, call me the best you ever had.

Call me the way, the day, the hour, the power, the flower, the meat of the plant, the artichoke heart, the celery stick, the sugar cane, the collard greens, dandelion wine. Call me something please.

Call me the corn tortilla, the refried beans, the black olives, the fiery salsa, the spicy guacamole, the hot sauce, burning your lips, making you smile. Call me something sensual and french. Au bon pain, the good pain. No wait - the good bread.

Call me making your bed and lying in it.

Call me something you ain't never seen or felt or smelled before. Call me the mystery, the page-turner turning your pages to get to the good part. Call me the last new thing that you just might have seen before, call me a calming thought, a relaxing need. Call me a farmer planting a seed.

Call me a litany, a fantasy, a libation, a dream, a supplication, a repetition, a mantra, a prayer. A prayer to you.

Call me an insistent prayer that you, my friend, would call me.

Wednesday, June 21

POETRY SLAM!!!

The second Well Fed Head poetry slam is tomorrow. The Summer Solstice Slam.

I've got to defend my title.

Here's a preview of the first round:

Fireworks, fireworks fire works
full-time, overtime, part-time.
Fire works three jobs
And volunteers on the weekend.
Fire my role model
Burning, burning, burning and earning.
I feel fire in my bones.
I see flaming ice cream cones.
In my eyes I see my goals.
Aqui estamos a la copa mundial.
He shoots. He scores.
Goal! Goal! Goal!
The crowd goes wild
for fireworks, fiery words
firing squads and dictators
handcuffs and blindfolds
12 men pull the trigger.
Shots are fired
but yet the mother fucker lives.
The shot is wild
and he's thankful
for wild shots, buckshot and wilderness
burning and churning
wildfires, wildfires, and forest fires
can you see the
forest and the trees?
Please, please, please.
Go to the fireworks with me.
Make some fireworks with me.
Fireworks like the bomb on that terrorist's head.
This is love.
Fireworks like when I touch your hand.
This is love.
Fireworks, fireworks, fireworks
like when I kiss your neck.
This is a labor of love.

Tuesday, June 20

What a week

Boy, it's been a long week already. And it's just Tuesday.

This week I've been thinking that I don't do a good job of dealing with stress at the office. If I didn't run, I'd probably have had a heart attack in the last couple of months.

Fortunately, I'm going to keep running.

Monday, June 19

Rowing on a river

This might not be exciting to anyone but me, but I did 45 minutes on the rowing machine at the gym just now. It was great. I've got a goal of going for an hour on the rowing machine and today got me just a little big closer. It was a great workout.

Sunday, June 18

More on the name change

So I've changed the name of the blog and also the frequency of the blogging. Without the marathon to blog about, there's not as much to say.

Well, I still have lots to say, but I guess I want things to marinate. Don't necessarily want to just write something new here everyday.

But I'm thinking I do want to share more poems or excerpts of poems.

Here's the first stanza of Goethe's poem The Holy Longing

Tell a wise person, or else keep silent,
because the massman will mock it right away.
I praise what is truly alive,
What longs to be burned to death.

Mirror, Mirror

Now that I've run the marathon, I have one fitness goal I'd like to achieve. That's in addition to keeping running. I'd like to be able to do pull-ups and dips. At the gym, there's a weight assisted pull-up and dip machine. I'm fairly close but not close enough. I'm setting my birthday as my goal date. It seems reasonable.

This may require me to spend more time lifting weights, which can be depressing. Part of the reason for that is no matter how much I lift weights, no matter how much muscle I gain, it seems like no one ever notices. That's part of the reason for giving up on trying and finding another way to be in shape. It's still depressing though. Maybe my life would be simpler if I never looked in a mirror.

I was at a baseball game recently and an older woman was talking about her niece's boyfriend, a lifeguard and a bodybuilder. I know I'm nosy bu I would have rather not heard her anyway because it was one of those conversations that reminded me why it always seemed that no girl was ever interested in me. It reminded me of being in college and how every girl was interested in a football player or a guy twice my size.

I know this was long ago. I'm older now and that was long ago. I wish I could forget. Or have a better way of moving forward.

But, I suppose it's like that old Faulkner quote, "the past is never past."

Of course, it's part of the reason I like running. Extra weight slows you down. You can't always look at a person and tell who is fast. And there are straightforward concrete ways to improve on past performances.

Saturday, June 17

Happy

I'm trying to go slow with the running, easing back into it so I don't injure myself.

It's hard to believe that tomorrow's going to be a long run of 5 miles with the schedule I've laid out for myself. But it also seems right at the moment.

It's been a slow week or so here where I live. This is the end of the first week back, although it doesn't seem that way. It seems like I'm in the middle of a long, boring rut. It's the first full week of training after the marathon though.

It's kind of amazing that I'm not injured. Everyday I get out of bed and just walk or run a little bit is amazing. I'm trying to remind myself to be happy about that.

Who knew I could run a marathon? I want to do it again and again and again. And faster too.

Friday, June 16

Poetic Feet

Writers often think, "Gee, I wish I would have thought of that."

That was what I thought when one of my friends linked to my blog and called it "poetic feet."

I referenced it way back in an earlier post about this poem by Stephen Dunn that pretty much explains why I'm not going to begin any conversations about running with non-runners at work.

Anyhow, I like Poetic Feet better than Running to Infinity. After all, if I got to infinity, how would I get back.

Sunday, June 11

Wild Geese

With all the focus on the marathon and everything, I feel live I've been posting too frequently, logging on too much and getting too caught up in the minutiae of daily mileage.

I need a break. I need a change of perspective. The marathon was good, but until race day it wasn't very relaxing. Thank goodness that the race itself was pleasant.

So it's my goal for the next couple of months at least to post less, to stare at computer screens less and to relax more. I've got another vacation coming up and hopefully I won't post quite so much during that week away.

Anyhow, here's the first few lines of a poem I've been thinking about today.

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

Saturday, June 10

Raising the bar

Driving around South Bend the other day, I saw a bar called the 19th hole. A golfer's tavern, eh?

It got me to thinking.

What would you call a runners bar? The 27th mile. Mile 27.2. The 6th K. 11K.

These numbers are so arbitrary because you can run a race of almost any distance.

Perhaps The Finish Line.

I know. I've got an idea.

Pheidippides' Place.

I suppose that could work. Those who know would know. Others could just come in and enjoy the atmosphere.

A month of rest

I just read an article where a champion Kenyan marathoner said that after a race, she goes a month without training.

She also gets by on five hours of sleep when she's not training; six or eight hours when she is.
And she typically does 100-110 miles of running a week when she's seriously training.

Amazing. I'll never have time to run that much and I'll also most likely sleep a bit more than that. Or perhaps do I sleep too much? I'll have to think about that. Maybe I should start staying out later.

Glorious Day

I woke up today feeling like I could run for miles today. Emphasis on the word could. After yesterday's run quickly turned into a run/walk, I'm resting for a few days.

Just sitting here resting my bones....

Meanwhile, I'm sitting here in my sister's Chicago condo. It's relatively early but these time zones keep wreaking a little havoc with my sleep cycle.

I must tell you about the wondrous Chicago restaurant we ate at last night. Tucked away in Logan Square, it's called the Atlas Cafe. Or more completely, the Atlas Cafe International Kitchen.
I had an appetizer of Zalouk, which is tomatoes, eggplant, garlic topped with kalamata olives. Then my entree was a pasta dish called Salmon and Eggplant. Amazing. Mouth-wateringly good. It was the restaurant's busiest night ever with a party of 15 taking up the middle table.
It was the best food I've eaten - or expect to eat - in Chicago this vacation. If you're ever in Chicago, you ought to try it.
Full disclosure, one of the owners is an old friend of mine from Notre Dame. But my sister thoroughly enjoyed her meal, the chopped chicken wrap and she would have let me know if she didn't like her food.
There you have it, my first ever restaurant review on this blog.
The Atlas Cafe, 3028 W. Armitage, Chicago. Open Monday through Sunday from 11-10.

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Friday, June 9

First run

So today I thought about running to Michigan. I went for a quick drive and found that the quickest way there is to go throgh a gated community.

Interesting, right. So I get home, take the key I think I need off my key ring and head out the door. I turn the knob to make sure I can get back in the house when I realize that I can't. There are two locks on the door and the wrong lock is locked.

Through a series of fortunate occurences, I was able to get back in without too much trouble. But it was an interesting bit of mental stress to deal with before going on my run. And as I ran, my joints told me not to go too fast or too far.

So my first workout after the marathon was a fairly gentle run-walk. But here I am back at my parents home uninjured. And being uninjured is always one of my goals.

Thursday, June 8

Goals

An interesting quote was in the story about the winner of the Sunburst Women's Half-Marathon. It's been rolling around in my head ever since I read it on Sunday.

The runner up in the race, Jacki Wachtel said: "That (time) was a 'moon' goal for me. There's 'moon,' 'star' and 'I'd-be-happy' goals. Today was definitely a 'moon.'"

Reading and re-reading that makes me examine my goals for the race. I guess 4 hours and 30 minutes would have been a moon goal. Under 5 hours was a star goal. And just finishing would be an I'd-be-happy goal.

Basically I trained to finish and I did that. But I feel a bit conflicted. I know I could have run faster and part of me wishes I had. But I can't redo the race. I had a good time and that's the most important thing.

However, now I'm hungry to run another one and run it a lot faster than I did the first time.

A link to photos

I've got a link to race photos today. You can click here. (If I had Rebecca's blogging smarts, I might just post my favorites. But I haven't figured out how to do that yet.)

The photos are cool, although I'm a little disappointed there aren't any photos from the finish line. Oh well. I'm thankful to have been able to run the race. I won't complain.

Change, change, change

I've been thinking a lot aboout changes this week. Personal changes. Blog changes.

I've been tinkering with the blog some, adding links, taking links away. Browsing marathon web sites. They're such fun spots on the internet. Here's one passage I found particularly interesting:

The truth is (our town is) at sea level; we have really no noticeable elevation changes. However, we do have to have a way to get from one beautiful piece of land to another without getting our feet in the water. Description of bridges (on the course) or as we say in (here) "hills":


What hills? No hills? But a few bridges, yes. Can you name that marathon?

Anyhow, I had a post earlier this week thinking about that saying finishing the marathon changed my life. For me, not yet? It was something I wanted to do and I did it.

But if a change happened, what would that be?

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world" - Mahatma Gandhi


The thing that springs to mind first is that I'd like to be more confident around women. But then perhaps I just want to be around more women and confidence would naturally follow?

Wednesday, June 7

Wszystkiego Najlepszego Natoushka!

Supergreat but I'll get better

I'd like to go running today. But I won't. My knees have been talking to me this morning and they're saying wait. So I will. I'd like to run to Michigan before I leave. Two days are left for that. So I'm not going to push it by trying to run too soon.

So I sit here relaxing. Resting. Reflecting on the race that was run.

The best thing about it was the battle with negative thinking. On the drive up here I listened to audiobooks by Zig Ziglar and Norman Vincent Peale. They really helped me get my mind in gear.

Zig was best. I remember he said that positive thinking won't enable you to do anything. You can't jump off the house and fly just because you think you can. (Positive thinking isn't LSD.) But positive thinking will allow you to do everything (and he paused) better than negative thinking will.

The other thing I really liked was when he talked about how people answer the question, "How are you doing?" Get an index card, he said. On one side write, "Outstanding, but I'm improving." On the other side write, "Supergreat, but I'll get better."

I used those phrases during the race. Especially near the end when I passed a couple of people who looked like they could use a short motivational speech. I explained how I was feeling and said that the root was the Zig Ziglar cd.

Now, how are you doing?

Tuesday, June 6

Soreness equals satisfaction

After running the marathon on Saturday, at times I felt that possibly the marathon was too easy. And for various reasons I didn't have a major rush of endorphins like I had after finishing the two half-marathons I did.

But Sunday I was sore.
Monday I was sore.
Today I woke up a little sore, but I've got the feeling that tomorrow I won't be sore anymore.

But I like this soreness. It's the feeling of satisfaction. I was able to do an extraordinary physical feat. This soreness I've had reminds me to be thankful for the ability to run a marathon. Nobody ever gets sore sitting on the sofa watching tv.

Monday, June 5

Changes

I'm contemplating making some minor changes to the blog. Regular blog readers may notice small differences.

This has basically been a running journal about my resolution (my resolve) to run the Sunburst Marathon on June 3. I've done that now. The main focus won't change. But, what exactly will the future hold?

The Fountainhead

I remember reading this book and enjoying it immensely about 10 years ago. Now, however, as I watch the film ( see previous post ) it is a caricature. It's extremely preachy and poorly thought out.

I like the theme of an extremely talented individual, a genius of sorts, succeeding and doing his best because he knows what he believes is the best course of action.

But the folly of the film is in this statement: The world is perishing from an orgy of self-sacrificing. Certainly this must be what Ayn Rand thought. And lots of people think it today. The whole Ayn Rand Institute, I would guess.

But that's just pure idiocy. Look at the marathon. I could have charged ahead, never talking to others, determined to push out my peak performance. I could have run the race perhaps 30 minutes faster. But I wouldn't have had as much fun talking to other runners. What would that headline have been? The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner. The Loneliness of the Transcendent Individual. And, of course, my race wasn't much. Just a fun goal I set for myself. But there are all those other people who run races to raise money for cancer research or honor the memory of loved ones. Sacrifice.

And, of course, sometimes we have to make sacrifices for ourselves as well. Self-sacrifice for yourself is still a form of self-sacrifice.

Marathon Recovery or What Next?

Well, I was ready to run through pain. I was ready to hit the wall and fight through it.

It almost seems too easy. Except for the long weeks of training. The work getting mentally ready. Fighting negative thoughts.

I trained to finish and I had a great time.

And my legs are a bit sore right now so clearly I put forth a good physical effort. That's one of the rewards of being sore. You hardly ever get sore by sitting around watching television.

I'm watching the Fountainhead on Turner Classic Movies right now because I can't sleep. Daylight savings time. It's hard to sleep for me sometimes when the sun is up and the birds are singing. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book about 10 years ago and it's interesting to now see the movie.

There are two important new links on the side of the page. Perhaps the next marathon I'll train for.

And MarathonGuide.com, a fascinating online resource. It's interesting to see the comments online about races. Reminds of a comment I heard in the bathroom before the Sunburst. There was a long line for the toilets (no line for the urinals). Some guy said, "well this is a crappy race." Was he complaining or making a joke, a bad pun? It was strange.

I just kind of shook my head and walked outside smiling. Getting ready for the race. The beautiful day.

Sunday, June 4

A change in me?

I'm trying not to think about how in some ways the marathon was easier than I expected. How I didn't hit the wall.

I mean, I know I can run faster. I've got the bug. I'm planning my next marathon right now, actually. I'm hoping to be a runner for some time now.

Maybe that's the change. The change. I've heard that a lot of people say that running their first marathon changed their lives. I don't feel particularly chnaged.

But if I were changed, what would I be like?

Pictures/Results

I don't have much profound to say yet. I'm still thankful that I didn't hit the wall and didn't feel too much pain during the run.

I got up this morning and saw my picture in the paper. That link will take you to the South Bend Tribune's photo galleries. Click on the one for the Sunburst Marathon and my photo is 18 out of the 28 in there.

Funny, the photographer didn't even ask for my name. Maybe he knew this blog is semi-anonymous. HA! The other photos in the gallery are pretty good as well.

You can search for race results here.

As I've told several people. I didn't have a fast time, but I had a good time. And I know I can run faster. And if you're really interested in that type of thing, the time was 4:56:50:20 according to the newspaper. Down to the tenth of a second. I suppose it's simpler to say 4:56 (rounding down) or 4:57 (rounding up). I could say just under 5 hours but then someone might think I ran a 4:59:59:59 and I'm not quite that slow. HA!

Saturday, June 3

I have finished the race

I finished the race.

I did not hit any wall.

I had a great time.

The race took me just under five hours. The memories will last a lifetime.

It was beautiful. You should have seen the mist rising off of the St. Joe River as the sunrise.

More marathon thoughts to come in the next few days.

Friday, June 2

A perfect day

Some days you wake up and everything is perfect.

All the tension left your body while you were sleeping.
The weather feels just right. Not too hot, not too cold.
You have the feeling that you can rise to the occasion and complete whatever task confronts you.

I believe that is how tomorrow will be. I am convinced that it will be a great day.

One more post

Here's a link to info about the mindful marathoner. Fascinating.

However, it's time to refill my glass of water and pin my number to my shirt and relax.

Going to sleep in five hours

So, I'm staying out of the sun. Drinking water. And surfing the internet.

Here's a link to interesting marathon tips for someone like me.

Hello from South Bend

Hello. I just ran two miles, a loop around the road that snakes through the subdivision here.

I'm pumped and excited. This time tomorrow, I'll be in the second half of the marathon. I'll still be feeling good. I'm going to be running conservatively. I'm not going to set any records. I'm just going to finish, which will be a personal best for me.

I may hit the wall, and I may not. But I will be determined. I will keep running. I've run 20 miles twice and now it's time to do the marathon.

Thanks for all your support.

Thursday, June 1

A marathon vacation

Well, I'm packing up and getting ready to go. Gotta drop off my rent and then I'm pretty much hitting the road.

No promises on blogging while I'm gone from here, but we'll see how it goes.

The days may be packed. Saturday I know will be busy.