5:20AM

5:20AM
Dark outside
5 miles in 10 minutes

I have to get a physical today so nothing to eat or drink until 1:00pm . . .I do not know suffering.

I went to the Y yesterday. I am still at 177 pounds. Instead of complaining about what I am NOT - -lean and fast . . .I need to be grateful for what I am - -alive.

17 miles in the rain . . .

I ran 17 miles in the pouring rain.

I was not sure if I was mentally tough enough to beat the crap out of myself again for another marathon. Fortunately I jumped over a ton of mental walls this morning. It rained hard enough from miles 9 to 14 that I had to run without my glasses on . . I cannot walk around the block without my glasses on. The interesting thing without not having my glasses on (and not being able to see!) was that it heightened my other senses immensely . . .I will enter the gates of heaven to the smell of wet bark.

Running in the rain for 3 miles is "life" giving. Run 17 miles in the rain is "life" sucking.

I finished this week running 41 miles. 41 miles is alot of miles for me.

When I got home I sat in an ice bath . . . .I tried to freeze my pain! I have 3 phenomenal blisters now as a result of running in wet socks and shoes.

26.2 miles seems like a daunting task.

5:35AM . . .17 miles in 25 minutes

I woke up at 3:45AM to eat a breakfast bar and drink some more water.

When I went to back to bed I started thinking about this website and how stupid it must seem to people who don't know the original intent of it. For those of you (112,000) who have hung on over the last year (including my unknown friends in Germany and Austria!) . . . I started doing this last year as an online training journal. That is still ALL that it is . . this isn't my personal journal, or my autobiography--this website (blog) isn't my anthem to the world - -it is my training journal.

Believe it not . . .my life is much deeper than what makes it to the pages of this website. My life is 200 times deeper than running. Running enriches my life . . but it does not define my life. The LOVE that God has shown me . .to LOVE and BE LOVED .. that defines my life.

With this being said . . .I must leave for a 17 mile journey.

17 miles in 8 hours . . .

8 hours from now I will start on my 17 mile run. It is suppossed to be raining. I will run in the rain Sam I Am. I just finished a HUGE bowl of oatmeal loaded with fruit . . . I took my family for a nice dinner tonight and ordered salad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I would have eaten crap like I usually do I wouldn't have a good idea tomorrow on my run where I am at physically. This way atleast I will be fueling myself with decent food including a couple of protein bars that I have been jamming down my throat today. I do not take 17 miles lightly.

My plan is to have gels at miles 4.5, 9 and 13.
I need to drink close to 30 ounces.

Miles 9 through 13 are going to be in the park where it is hilly. I need that . . .

Running long distances is really a lifestyle. This is so good for me. You cannot believe how much I have poisoned myself over the years with bad, bad things. I am only a shadow of my former self . ...believe me.

7 today . . .17 tomorrow

2pm
7 miles
over 90 degrees
humidity suffocating

Today was the 2nd toughest run that I have had during this marathon training. I fought demons the whole 7 miles. I couldn't get enough to drink. The water in my handheld water bottle was hot within minutes of going outside. In all honesty, there wasn't a whole lot enjoyable about this run . . .except for that it was TOUGH and I can draw from it at about mile 22 of my marathon when I want to stop and quit.

17 miles tomorrow morning at 6AM. 17 miles! We will see what happens . . .

5:30AM . . .this is where it gets tough

5:30AM
Dark
8 miles
Didn't get home until 9:15 last night
Rough day of work ahead of me

This is the time that I would like to go back upstairs and crawl under my covers. However, I know that in about 15 minutes I'll be pounding the pavement and which each step I'll be improving the quality of my life . . .though the first mile or two may not feel like it.

I went to the Y on Tuesday and Wednesday to run on the treadmill . . .I am still hovering at 177 pounds.

The trains are in surround sound outside my window this early August morning . . .

___________________________________________________________________________
7:19AM
Back from my run. I am a better man physcially, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

This could be it . . .

Everyone who runs knows that we are only one step away from disaster . . . torn acl, blown achilles, stress fractures on anything that can get fractured. With this being the case, I personally do not take ANY run for granted. One of these runs, hopefully later rather than sooner . . .will be my last. If by chance, this morning's 13.1 mile run was the last . . .it would be the perfect one to leave on.

Weather perfect. My body held up perfect. Everything clicked the whole run. My mind was right. My heart was right. I could feel God looking down on me saying, "that's my boy."

It was Heritage Days at the park I run in (where people dress up for 3 days like Civil War Soldiers and Frontier type people and sleep in tents!) . . .I love it . . .I ran through "camp" this morning at about 7:30 . . .it was like I was transported in time running in 1847.

We love Heritage Days because these people have passion! It is refreshing to be around people with passion (even if it's not mine). Tanner said that it feels like a Marathon because everybody is into the same thing . . .good analogy. I think I'll keep him around.

This is what I ran through today:

7 miles in the dark with a hurt heart . . .

5:20AM
7 miles in the dark
Home in time to spend some time with our son who started high school today.
My heart hurts with the passage of time.

2 ties lay on bed in my office.
Left there by a certain 6 year old girl in our house wanting me to dress up to take her to her first day of first grade. Evidently the 2 ties mean that I get to pick!

I ran hard today because my heart hurt for my kids growing up.

Shin Splints . ..

I haven't had shin splints for 5 years. I do now. I am running 7 miles tomorrow morning . . .I am going to run in a different pair of shoes to change my stride. You run different in different shoes . .might be a nice change on some of my overused tendons . . .

I haven't eaten a ton of crap this week. Trying to stay as much away from bread and pop as I can. I am really starting to drink more water and figure out a nutrition/hydration plan. I have read that the dreaded wall is avoidable . . . .however, I am not as scared of it this go around since last time I ran straight into it with no helmet.

It is getting hot again. I am OK with that. If it gets cold I am OK with that too. I am just grateful and praise God that I am alive and able to put one foot in front of the other. ...even if the pace is slow and my body screams at me.

The long run this weekend calls for a Sunday only 13.1 mile run.

This is what I have been listening to: My Body - -Young the Giant (my brother got me into this . . )

1100 miles driving . . .15 miles running

Got back today from South Carolina.

2200 miles driving

I ran 30 miles while I was there. . .including 3 miles last night in Lexington, Kentucky on a treadmill at the Sheraton 4 Points.

Drove 7 hours today . . . Ran 15 miles this afternoon at 3:00pm.
I was fueled by 3 bowls of oatmeal and 40 ounces.
On my run I drank 20 ounces and had a GU at 45 minutes and 90 minutes.

I think I was hallucinating at mile 12 . . .very Pink Floyd-ish.
15 miles is the farthest I have ran in 2012. I feel pretty good. Upon returning home I stretched at my usual spot halfway down the block and then hopped into a cold bath . . .cold as in zero hot water. The cold bath came a lot closer to killing me than the run! I recover 2 times faster when I man up and sit in a cold tub.

I have a ton of insights but not much time to mention them....congratulations to a friend who ran 8 straight hours and ran over 45 miles!!!

South Carolina . . .

I have been in South Carolina this week. I have run every day. It is the kind of hot that sticks to your skin hours after the run is over. I ran on the beach for just a couple of miles the other day . . .far too hard on my ankles so I have run on bike paths, soft beds of pine needles and shady roads under oak trees covered in spanish moss. I am on vacation so my eating hasn't been very good but I have continued with my training. Last day here . . . only 4 miles. I have run 27 miles here in South Carolina. As pretty as it is to run here . . I miss the familiar sights, sounds and country roads of home.

I'm Still Here . . . .

I'm still here pounding out miles in the dark and quiet mornings.

I am to the point in my training (it happened last year) where when I wake up in the morning I dread my run. The mental part of breaking through that barrier is just as important to finishing a marathon as putting in the miles.

It is 5:20AM now . . .it is still dark. I have 6 miles this morning.

The last time I weighed myself (Monday) I was back down to 177.