Final Week

I have just one week before my Marathon. To be honest, I could have trained more for it. I am ready, and I won't die at the end of it like I did for the last one I ran a year ago. At least I hope I'll be okay. I ran this morning for ten miles in the rain and it felt great. I even got totally soaked by that car that drove through the puddle. I think that is the first time that has happened to me. I had to laugh when it happened because I thought it was funny. I bet it was funny to see too. 39 degrees. raining. windy. a poor guy in shorts and a long sleeve tee shirt. all you need to make it a funny sight is a big puddle on the road and a car to drive through it... anyway, enough about that. I was pretty much soaked through anyway. It was toward the end of my run.

I ran 34 miles this week. I felt like it was perfect for the week before a marathon. This next week I'll probably run two or three times and keep them pretty short runs. I'll probably even do a short tempo run on Tuesday or Wednesday.

I guess I'm a pretty bad planner. I called up the other day to a campground to get a cabin for the night before the marathon. They just happened to be closed this weekend. We could camp at the local KOA campground, but it is supposed to get down to about 35 degrees. If it is windy, we wouldn't get much sleep with the equipment we have. We could get a hotel, but that would be like 80 bucks. I think we will just leave on Saturday morning. I figure if I get up at five and leave by five thirty, we'll get there with enough time to pick up my packet and warm up and be ready to run. I get up at five for school anyway. It shouldn't be that bad, except for my family who are used to getting up closer to eight. Maybe I can convince my Amanda to let us go camping. Then we would only have to get up at like 6:30. We'll see. However we end up getting there I am excited for the race. I think it will be a pretty run. I guess for the most part it is slightly downhill. There is one uphill about mile 20, but overall I guess there is several hundred feet of vertical loss, maybe even a thousand. If you really care, you can go look up the course profile and map on their web site.

Oh yeah, a few days ago I celebrated my birthday. I'm not old at all. Amanda and I went downtown and wandered around the market. It was nice to be able to ditch the kids. We grabbed some Russian Piroshky for lunch. I got some cool gifts including, itunes music, an inside/outside thermometer, toffee from English Toffee Anytime (check out the link on the side of my blog), and a flashlight that clips on my running hat for my night time running. Thanks everyone for all of those things. I bought myself some root beer. mmm mmm mmm. I love root beer but don't drink it very often because it is really not good for my, all that sugar and stuff. Amanda made me a great coconut cake too. That was scrumptious. She also made buffalo chicken for dinner. Overall it was a fantastic day. I wish it could be my birthday everyday. oh well.

I guess that's it for now. I'll give you a report about my Marathon next week.

20 Mile Run

This morning I got up at 5:00 to go for a 20 mile run so that I could be back by nine to go and help someone move. It was a perfect morning for running. It was a little cold, but it felt great. I was a bit slow for the first eight miles or so because it was dark and I was running on trails. I think the greatest thing about my run this morning, watching the dark, starlit sky lighten up as the dawn approached. When I first saw Mount Rainier this morning I could just barely make out its silhouette. It was awesome. Then gradually as the horizon started to get lighter, it became a more defined silhouette. Finally I could actually see the mountain and make out features on it. Then the sun hit the top of the mountain and then slowly climbed down the mountain. That was just so cool to see. Maybe I should have had my camera to take pictures. Oh well. Sometimes you just need to enjoy the moment. The run went well. When it was dark I averaged about 9:30 per mile, then it lightened up and I averaged about 8:30-8:40 miles. My overall pace was 8:58. Maybe it wasn't the dark that caused me to go so slow, but the breathtaking views of Mount Rainier. By the time I was finished with my run the mountain was covered in clouds. It was good while it lasted.

I have just five weeks until the Yakima River Canyon Marathon. I just signed up for it today. I'm definetly doing it. There is no way that I would pay 65 dollars then back out at the last moment. I am excited. I think it will be a great run. Maybe we'll go up the night before and go camping or something, otherwise we'll have to leave here by about five in the morning.