My Longest Long Run, Part 3

Hey, I just noticed my countdown clock is down to 31 days! Holy sh*t! Time is a-flying. It's a good thing too, to quote one of my life heroes, Jimmy Buffett...

And now I must confess I can use the rest...
I can't run at this pace very long...
Yes it's quite insane...
I think it hurts my brain...
But it cleans me out and then I can go on

It's been quite a ride, and as we move through the heart of this thing and the highest mileage, I feel more prepared to take this on but even more ready for it to be over. It's not the race itself-- it's the training. Our "medium" run in the middle of the week is up to 9 miles this week, 10 next. It's hard to find an hour and a half after dark to go run, especially for poor Erin who is rushing home from work busting her butt to meet me on time. I thank Adam for being so gracious and supportive of my running, and be willing to take extra Anthony care time so I can get 'er done.

We did our 18 mile training run this past Sunday. Only one more big run to go: the 20 miler in two weeks. The 18 wasn't bad, but I'm a moron and ate food court chinese food the night before, so I spent the first half of the run battling a sour stomach and heart burn. Then, my left knee started aching a bit around mile 15, and later that night I had quite a bit of pain on the back of that same knee. I iced it down and stayed off of it yesterday, and am skipping a 4 mile training run today in order to take the extra day of rest. It's feeling better today though so I don't think it's anything to be overly concerned about. I'm not taking any chances though, I've devoted way too much time and effort to this to get sidelined in the homestretch!!

Erin told me she was planning to have a picture of a friend of hers who had died in Iraq this summer screen printed onto the back of the shirt she's going to wear for the marathon. I'm going to do the same thing with a picture of Bill. I've thought a lot about him during my training. Nothing makes you more aware of your breath and of being alive than endurance training. When it's just you and your breath out there on the open road, you have nothing to do but think about it and be grateful for it. I remember 3 years ago when Bill was sick at Christmas, and a week later as we sat by his bedside in the hospice... how he struggled to breathe his last breaths. I don't think we ever take enough time to be grateful for every clean and easy breath we take, and this training has made me so aware of that. I dedicate this run to him.