I'M BACK!!............Almost

     So much for daylight savings time and getting an extra hour of sleep when you have a puppy.  Yesterday I had a really long day working a little over 12 hours and I was hoping to be able to sleep well into the morning, but Jedi had other plans.  We played with him for awhile till we could get him all tuckered out, but by that time I was wide awake, so no more sleep for me.  I took this picture of him just after he woke from his nap and it was so cute I had to share it.

     What a great run I had today and I owe it all to the clock that I forgot to turn back for daylight savings time.  I recently renewed my track membership at the YMCA and I had planned on going in at noon for an easy run and to calibrate my foot pod.  I got all geared up and ready to go when I saw the time on my phone and realized I still had an hour and a half till they opened.  I didn't really want to wait and it didn't feel as cold outside as it said on my phone, so I said screw it, outside run it is.

     For a cold day the weather was absolutely gorgeous.  The sun was shinning with not a cloud in the sky and barely a breeze to even mention it.  I was feeling pretty good, but I really didn't have an idea on how this run was going to go.  I planned on doing four miles and stretch it to six if things were going well and as far as my pace goes I though I would let how I felt dictate it.

     Within seconds of starting this run I felt like my old self again.  My pace immediately was hovering around the 8:50s without feeling like I was putting in much effort.  Once I hit the first quarter mile I told myself that if I still felt this good by the first mile mark I was going to go for the full six miles.  Surprise, surprise, I was still feeling good by mile one and so my run went from four to six.  As the run went on I picked up the pace taking the next two miles into the mid 8:30s.  When I hit mile four I was starting to get a little light pain on the front of my leg just above my ankle.  I slowed the pace into the 8:40s and then into the 8:50s.  The pain started to subside and I got a little over zealous and pushed it back up to an 8:30 pace for the last mile.  I got through it just fine, but sitting here typing this the pain is back and hurts when I point my toes and then bring my foot back toward the front of my leg.  I am gonna give it some ice therapy, rest and the next couple of runs I won't push the pace either.  After the run I stretched out and did my push ups, first set 40 reps, second set 20 reps and the third set 10 reps.  I think I am gonna try and hit 100 reps by the end of the year. 

Wednesday Weigh In & Long run??

     I am not really sure what happened this week, I thought to myself, after what I saw on the scale this morning.  The reason is because I have drastically decreased my running mileage and increased my food consumption as well.  I haven’t gone overboard with my food, but I have increased the caloric intake with the majority of that increase coming from high carbohydrate foods.  I have added a lot of potatoes, brown rice and pasta to my diet this past week, mainly to load up on the carbs for the marathon.  To be totally honest I figured I would be up a couple of pounds because of it.  I’ll gladly take the drop, but sometimes the body really doesn’t make any sense to me.  Anyway, a loss is a loss and I will celebrate it like all the others, and keep working towards my goal!

10/15/14 official weigh in

178 lbs

Change: -1.5 lbs

Total loss from heaviest: 139 lbs

Current BMI: 27.8 (overweight)

Change: -.3

Not much of a long run, hahaha!  A three mile super easy pace run would be my last of my marathon training schedule and last run before Sunday's race.  Normally I post about my Wednesday run here as well, but since I will be posting my last training recap tomorrow instead of Sunday I figured I would just post it there. 

Marathon Training Week 14 Recap

     

      This week has seen a lot of changes to my usual routine that I have been maintaining.  Sunday I was originally scheduled to run a local 15K race that I won a free entry to, but unfortunately that race was cancelled.  When one door closes, another one will open because I found about a cool 5K happening the same day so I headed out to that one.  All I have left is one 6 mile run and two 3 mile runs next week.  I am starting to get that nervous excited feeling, more excited than nervous, but I am sure that will change the closer we get to Sunday.  This week also saw a sad day in my life with the loss of our beloved chihuahua Stinka.  It was hard to say goodbye, but it had to be done to end his suffering. 

Sunday:

     I decided late Friday night to participate in a 5K that my sister was volunteering at.  My sister got involved with a charity group called The Arms Forces that raises money and helps veterans with "invisible" wounds like PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), brain injuries and any other non visible injuries.  My sister isn't a veteran, but she is a stroke survivor and has been looking to help those that are going through the same issues that she has had to face.  This group put together a 5K that took place on the runways of the Toledo Express Airport.

*********Click Here for the race recap!*********

Monday:

     A normal rest day for me, but after my 5K yesterday, a day of rest was totally welcomed.

Tuesday:

    Not a lot to truly tell on this one.  It was a 4 mile run at my easy pace, and to be honest it was a little hard to keep my pace slow, and I guess that is a good problem to have.  The weather was nice, a little on the cool side, but made for an enjoyable run.  I did have my first close encounter with a deer today.  The moon was pretty bright and I had my headlamp fired up, so about a half mile in I see two glowing eyes that were almost as tall as me about 25 yards ahead.  I could tell they weren't human, but it caught me off guard.  I clapped my hands a couple of times real loud and all of a sudden they vanished.  I caught a glimpse of a white tail hopping away from me just before it turned into the corn field and disappeared.  That was the only heart stopping part of the run I had to deal with.  When I got back to the house I stretched out and did three sets of 20 pushups.  Yeah that's right I did 60 freaking pushups!

Wednesday:

     I stayed up a little late last night watching tv and I really was feeling tired.  I gave myself the opportunity to sleep in about twenty five minutes later than I normally would despite the fact I was scheduled to run a race pace 4 mile out and back route.  I decided in the grand scheme of things one mile isn't gonna make or break my training and I didn't want to leave myself with less time to get ready for work.  When you have a puppy you need all the time you can get when getting things ready for you to leave.  I know this is a training journal, but there really isn't anything to report on this run.  I felt good for all three miles and was able to keep my pace splits nice and close.  
 

Thursday:
     Taking a taper period rest day :)

Friday:

     I went for my final double digit run of my training.  I used this run as my test run for all my equipment and what I am planning on wearing.  I set up my route to be mostly flat with only one overpass because my right foot is still slightly bothering me and I didn't want to over do it.  I did want to get one more longer distance run in that was right in my race pace window.  By the time I was able to get out it had warmed up considerably.  I felt pretty good for the whole run, but my inner thighs were feeling a little tight.  I got a little lazy on my stretching the last few days so I am gonna guess that is the problem.  Anyway, I held my pace pretty well except for my 9th mile.  I got a call and wasn't paying attention to my pace as I let it slip.  Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to speed up and save that mile, but no worries, its just a training run.
  

Saturday:

     No run scheduled today since I am cutting back during my taper.  I have 3 more runs early next week and that will be it for this training journal.
 

Week 15 begins now

* For quick access to my entire Marathon training journal click the "Marathon Journal" tab just below the Running In The Fat Lane header

Marathon training week 12 recap

     This week saw it's share of highs and lows in my training.  If I break the week into halves using my 20 miler as the halfway point, the first half of the week went pretty darn well.  I had some great paces going and felt good for all of them.  On my long run, I changed my hydration plan and only slightly modified my nutrition plan to coincide with the final map released by the marathon.  I also tried out a new piece of equipment for the marathon.  The second half was the low for the week.  I developed foot pain towards the end of my long run and the pain has continued right through the weekend.  I just hope I can get enough rest in to heal before the marathon.  That is a long way to run with foot pain :(

Sunday:

     Today's run was 10 miles at my race pace or slightly above race pace.  The skies were partly cloudy with nice temps but man was it windy.  The goal for the day was to keep may pace below 8:59 a mile.  I felt pretty good at the start, but the first couple of miles my legs were feeling a little tired.  Probably because I ran so late in the day yesterday.  I had the wind at my back for the first couple which helped deal with the tired legs and that's why may pace was so good.  No complaints here though, I'll take it where I can get it.  You can see when I had the wind in my face because my pace took a freaking nose dive on miles 4, 5 and 7. 
     It was grasshopper city out there today, and I hate those damn things.  They would just jump out of the grass and with the high winds they would fly right into me.  Other than food for other animals and wrath of God type stuff what the hell is a grasshopper good for anyways!?  I digress, my pace was quite good on the last three miles, but I have to be honest, I planned my run to have the wind at my back for them.  :)  When I got back I hit the deck and did 2 sets of 20 push ups.

Monday:

     rest rest rest rest rest rest rest rest rest rest rest rest rest!!!!!!  Did I mention it was a rest day :)

Tuesday:

    So before I went to bed last night I checked to see how many miles I was running this morning and I was super excited to see it was only 4 miles.  Even though it was at my slower easy pace the lack of distance allowed me to sleep in almost a half hour longer than I have been.  I got up and took the dogs out for their morning potties and did my morning pre run ritual, which basically consists of eating 2 triscuits, taking two bee pollen capsules and drinking a half bottle of water.  After that I played with the puppy and talked to Mandy for a few minutes while I got ready to go.  It was another chilly morning so a skull cap instead of my visor and I added a pair of gloves and a hoodie as well.  Once I got going the cold didn't really bother me all that much.  If there was a moon out this morning I couldn't see it, and with a clear sky the stars were shinning quite bright.  I wish I would have stopped to take a picture, but I didn't think it would really show up that well on film.  The run itself went good.  Ever since the temps and humidity have dropped my runs seem to be getting better and better, which is no surprise, but the confidence is coming at a great time.  I kept my pace pretty steady and didn't really push it to hard because tomorrow is my final 20 miler and I really want it to go well.

Wednesday:

     Today was a little bittersweet for me as I had my last 20 mile long run for my marathon training.  The weather was the absolute best I could ever ask for.  Clear blue skies, mid 50's for temps and little to no wind all morning so I think God was treating me for all my hard work I have put into my training.  

     Last night when I put together my route for today, I really wanted to challenge myself a little and get as much out of this run as I could.  I designed my route to give me as many hills and elevation changes as I could make.  I ended up hitting 4 highway overpasses and a few roads with some rolling hills.  The other thing I planned out was my nutrition and hydration plan.  The final map for the marathon came out yesterday and has the location of all the hydration stations listed on it.  I have been eating a Clif Shot Block and drinking water at 2 mile intervals.  The hydration stations are not at even intervals so I need some advice.  I spoke with my buddy Thomas who has a couple marathons under his belt and with his advice I decided to keep my nutrition plan the same, but I changed my hydration to match where the fluid stations will be during the race.  I also got a new piece of equipment that I now plan to use for the race.  I was hearing good things about the Flip Belt and it definitely lived up to it.  It is basically a infinity belt that you step into and slide on like a pair of pants.  It is made of a stretchy material that is sewn into a hollow tube with slits for you to slide all sorts of things into it.  Once you fill the belt with whatever you need to carry, you just flip the belt so the slits are now on the inside which keeps everything from falling out.  I had my phone, two packs of Clif Shot Blocks, two granola bars and a pack of gum.  Everything stayed right where I put it, I hardly noticed it the entire run and it was very easy to access what I needed once I got use to it.  Below is a picture I grabbed from their website to give you an idea of how it fits.  If you wanna check it out click here  Flipbelt.com 

     As far as the run goes, well just like the other two, it was long.  I think the first mile was a little suspect as far as what my pace shows, but I am sure it's right I was feeling pretty good at the begining.  As the run progressed I was feeling really good, and obviously my pace shows it.  I wanted to stay around 9:45-9:55 per mile, but as you can see from my pace chart I was actully sticking to the low 9:40s to high 9:30s.

     I ran into an issue at mile 12 with my right foot.  I was starting to climb one of the overpasses and I started getting pain in the ball of my foot.  It wasn't to bad but I had to slow down a little bit and eventually the pain went away until I hit the top of the next overpass on mile 14.  The pain was probably a 4 or 5 out of 10 and was right on the ball of my foot behind my big toe again.  I almost slowed to a walk, but I changed the way my foot was landing and kind of scrunched up my toes to take the pressure off the ball of the foot and that seemed to help.  Once I got back on level ground and got another couple miles, the pain seemed to be gone.  As I continued on for the last few miles, my pace slowly increased and I gave myself the my signature little push for the last mile. 

      As I write this my foot is still aching and slightly hurts when I walk around normal, which comes at a bad time because I have an event at work tomorrow and will mostly be on my feet working a 12 hour shift.  I plan on wearing my super cushy shoes to try and give my foot the best chance mend itself.  If I had to compare it to something I would say it feels like I pulled a muscle or something.

Thursday:
     It was a rough, rough day.   My feet are aching, especially my right foot.  I must have over did it yesterday by running that far and that fast with all the hills.  The aching pain is centered in the arch and a little bit in the ball of my foot and the one thing I need to give them I can't, rest.  I had an event at work tonight and we stayed open till 9 when we normally close at 6pm, so twelve hours on my feet just did not help at all.  I took some ibuprofen and iced them down during my lunch, but I am not sure if I can run tomorrow.   

Friday:

     Well I didn't get home last night till almost eleven and I pretty much walked in the door, changed my clothes and went right to bed.  I made the decision to not run this morning mainly because of my feet, but I needed to get some sleep as well.  The sleep did me some good and I did my best to work at my desk as much as possible.  I continued taking ibuprofen and I iced my feet during my lunch break and while relaxing at home.  I also used a tennis ball to massage my feet as well.  As of right now they are feeling a lot better and I am going to run tomorrow, but I will stay on the flat bike path and take it nice and slow.  

Saturday:

     I got up and went for a 4 mile easy pace run.  As it has been all week, the super thick fog was back and as much as I don't mind running in it, I hate being out there and not being able to see what's ahead of me.
     I have been so worried about this run because of my recent foot pain.  I know I need to give it time and rest them, but time is something I really don't have right now.  I have looked over my next weeks of training and made a couple of changes that will cut me down to 4 days of running instead of 5 and dropped a couple of miles off as well.  Hopefully that will help.  
     During the run my right foot still had a little pain but was manageable.  I got my new shoes that I will be wearing for the marathon and they need to be broke in, so I wore them and that seemed to help with the pain.  I am assuming it is because the cushioning hasn't been broken down and is giving me the best support.
     Lately my "easy pace" has been around the 9:30s, but this morning I told myself my feet and my body would dictate my pace.  I started out around a ten minute pace in the first quarter mile, but slowly my pace seemed to increase.  I seemed to hold steady and hover a little above or below a 9:45 pace, which was fine with me.  I really didn't want to push it and the pain in my right foot never seemed to get any higher than a two out of ten and didn't give me any sharp pains just an aching feeling.
 

      Tomorrow is a 8 mile race pace run and I am a little nervous to run it.  I want to get the miles in, but I don't want to prolong this injury.  As of now my plan is to run it on all flat ground, start out around a 9:30 pace and slowly increase it over the first 2 miles till I get to race pace, unless my feet have other ideas.

Week 13 begins now

* For quick access to my entire Marathon training journal click the "Marathon Journal" tab just below the Running In The Fat Lane header

Marathon Training week 11 recap

     

     Pretty much everything I want to say about this week is written below.  I am starting to get down to the wire here and I am now in my game day planning.  Thinking about my fueling, what I am going to wear and of course second guessing my final weeks of my training plans.  I need to just relax and stay the course and all will take care of itself.  Next week is my final high mileage week before my taper and the weather is looking quite good!!!

Sunday:

     I really gotta get this skipping days and rearranging days under control.  Yesterday's 13 mile, above race pace, run and the wedding really tired me out.  I slept in and I had to work so no way I was getting in 8 miles before work.  So after work it is.  Well, Mandy's cousin came over for dinner and I totally forgot about the run till after I ate a big dinner.  Plus I had a major bee problem and had to go to the store to get some bug spray to try and take care of it. 

Monday:

     Today's run was amazing!!  The temp was in the mid 40s, so it was quite cool when I headed out.  Since I didn't get 8 at my easy pace yesterday, I planned on doing 4 at my 8:20 tempo pace.  My first mile ended up being a 8:30 and I was feeling great, so I pushed it and the last 3 miles were between 7:25 and 7:40 per mile.  The reason I don't have the exact times is because I got to button happy and deleted it off my Garmin.  Rather convenient huh!  Well despite no proof and no data to really analyze my run I will just tell you it felt freaking fantastic!  I seemed focused while my form and my stride felt good as well.  When I got back I did 2 sets of 15 and 1 set of 10 pushups 

Tuesday:

    I have been feeling a little run down lately.  We have a cold virus going around work and I am trying not to catch it.  I double dosed on the vitamin C to help fight it off.  I got up with 5 miles scheduled and I headed out for an easy pace run.  I pretty much paid no attention to my pace on this one, but I would glance at the watch just to see where I was at mileage wise.  I really didn't want to do 5 miles so while I was running I talked myself into just doing four.  I really didn't want to cut back on my mileage anymore this week so I justified it by adding it to tomorrow's race pace run of 13 miles.  So 14 miles it is!!
    The run was a 2 mile out and back route on the bike trail.  It was a cool morning again, but a little more moisture with all the rain we had last night.  I had to keep my eyes and my headlamp focused on the path because of some tree debris that was laying on the path that tripped me up a couple times.

Wednesday:

     My running schedule is all kinds of jacked up this week due to some rearranging I had to make the last couple of weeks.  Normally my run today is my long run which usually is the longest mileage, but it also means I would be running it at 9:50-10:00 min per mile avg pace.  This week my Wednesday run is my longest mileage, but it is also wound being my race pace run for this week.    Now I am sure my regular readers have noticed I've been getting faster during this training cycle and that my original race goal was between 9:00 and 9:10 per mile  Lately I have been running slightly above race pace at 8:50-8:59 avg mile which, one, I think will better prepare me, and two, my body just naturally seems to wanna go faster.
   
     Today's run was 14 miles and it felt pretty darn good.  I did the same route I did for Saturday's 13 mile run, I just turned right instead of left towards the end to add that last mile.  The weather was really nice today, almost a perfect day to run.  It was a little chilly when I left so I wore a thin pair of gloves to keep the hands warm, but between my long sleeve tech shirt and the sun doing its thing, I warmed up pretty quickly.  By the end of the run it felt really comfortable out.  

     when I sat down to write this I uploaded my Garmin to see how my splits were.  I was really happy with how close and steady they were.  With the exception of the last mile, where I pushed myself to have a strong finish, my slowest mile was an 8:57 and my fastest was an 8:51.  The other thing I liked about it was the fact that there was no big swings in pace.  Its not like one mile I ran an 8:51 and the next was a 8:57 or vice versa.  The whole run felt rather smooth while I was running it and it shows in the numbers.

Thursday:
     A gladly accepted rest day.

Friday:

     Today's run went ok but not great.  I had 4 miles at my tempo pace which I have been doing between a 7:45 and 8:00 minute pace lately.  Today's run I just couldn't get things moving and the entire run I felt like I had a parachute strapped to my back slowing me down.  It seemed like no matter how hard I pushed myself I couldn't go anywhere.  Even on the last mile when I gave it everything I had.  The positives I can take away are; I still ran at a faster pace than what I originally set for myself when I started this training schedule and I could and I kept my per mile pace pretty even.

Saturday:

     I woke up this morning and was just to damn tired to run.  I was up a little to late last night and I couldn't keep my eyes open.  I thought I can run after work so no harm no foul.  The whole way home from work I kept thinking of excuses not to run, but by the time I got home I told myself "you are going to run you lazy ass."  I made myself a deal that if I got out and ran I only had to do 4 instead of 5 miles.  I know, what difference does it make, but in my head it made a lot.  It was a little windy and the humidity had dropped a little bit so it wasn't to bad to run in.  I headed out and I immediately felt so much better.  I got into a nice rhythm early and quickly decided to just run the full 5 miles I had planned to do.  Today's run was one of if not the best feeling runs I have had this entire training cycle and I almost missed out on it just because I wanted to be lazy.  Looking back I feel like when I skipped the run this morning, that was my body truly telling me no, but on the way home was the old me just trying to get a win and I wasn't going to let that happen.

Week 12 begins now

* For quick access to my entire Marathon training journal click the "Marathon Journal" tab just below the Running In The Fat Lane header

Wednesday Weigh In

     Well were back on the scale again.  If I had to guess before I got on, I would have said an increase was most likely.  My routine has just been so out of whack these couple of weeks.  Being out of town most of last week didn't help my cause much either.  This week is no exception either, my work is open on labor day and normally I would be working it, but I made a change so I could spend a little time with Mandy.  This caused me to have to work today so my running schedule for the next two weeks is in need of some adjustments.  I'll explain that in a minute, but let me get this part out of the way....

9/3/14 official weigh in

182 lbs

Change: +2 lbs

Total loss from heaviest: 135 lbs

Current BMI: 28.5 (overweight)

Change: +.3

     Like I was saying, I had to change my schedule around so here is what my new schedule looks like for the next two weeks:

Wed: 10 miles @ 8:55 pace

Thu: 8 miles @ 9:30 pace

Fri: 5 miles @ 8:20 pace

Sat: rest

Sun: 20 miles @ 9:45-10:00 pace

Mon: rest

Tue: 6 miles @ 9:30 pace

Wed: 10 miles @ 8:55 pace

Thu: rest

Fri: 5 miles @ 8:20 pace

Sat: 5 miles @ 9:30 pace

     Today and next Wednesday I am working so I had to shorten my running time so I could accommodate work and running. Next Saturday I am presiding over my friend Jim's wedding and had to switch my day off so hence why I am working next Wednesday as well.  Yes if you were wondering I am an ordained minister and am licensed in Ohio to perform wedding ceremonies.  I have pretty much hung up my collar though because getting weekends off from work are nearly impossible, but I made an exception for my good buddy Jim.  

     So now that you know today I did my race pace run let me tell you about it.  It was scary as shit.  A cold front has moved through the area and made the temperature quite comfortable and even though the weather shows 94% humidity, it sure didn't feel like it.  It did however cause some major freaking fog this morning.  I took a picture before I left but it really doesn't do it any justice for just how bad it was.  To be honest it was as thick as peanut butter as good old Yukon Cornelius would say.  I stuck to the bike trail for safety from cars and what not, but with all the trees along the path kept me feeling like I was running through the woods.  It was truly like a scene out of some horror movie!  I was wearing my headlamp and only being able to see about five feet or less in front of me, woo that is scary.  I ended up packing a little high velocity protection with me just in case ;) but of course I didn't need it.  Better to have and not need than to need and not have!

     Despite the lovely picture I just painted for you above, the run went quite well.  I managed to keep my pace right were I wanted to through out the entire run.  I basically did a 5 mile out and back and only got off the trail when I reached the neighboring town and had to run about a quarter mile on the streets before I hit the five mile turnaround mark.  I wore my Camel Bak, mainly because it has a lot more storage room, but it provided me with more than enough water.  I also used my Clif Shot Bloks chews every two miles as well.  I wanted to simulate eating on the run in my marathon pace.  No real issues with it, now I just have to figure how I am going to carry them, because I can't and won't be using the Camel Bak for the race.  Anyway, the sun finally started to lighten things up for the last two and a half miles and even then the fog kept my visibility down to about fifty feet or so.  For the last mile, as I always do, I pushed the pace and had a nice strong finish.  When I got back I stretched out and did two sets of 15 and one set of 10 push ups.

     Tonight Mandy and I are meeting up with Jim and his fiance for dinner and to discuss how they would like the ceremony to go.  We are meeting up at Frickers after I get home from work so I am already trying to figure out what I am going to do for food.  I think I will get the grilled chicken sandwich and maybe eat just the bottom half of the bun and get the BBQ sauce on the side so I can control how much I eat.  One thing is for certain, NO WINGS TONIGHT!!!!!!! and I am sticking to it!  

 

Marathon Training Week 8 Recap

     

      This was a very busy week for me, and the fact that I was able to get in 30 of the 37 miles I was planning to run this week isn't to shabby.  Traveling to Nashville for work was fun, and seeing all the new product really got me pumped for another year.  

     We stayed at the Gaylord Opryland hotel and convention center where the show was being held.  The Gaylord is a gigantic facility and you have to do a lot of walking to get where you need to go.  I am not exaggerating when I say it is at least a solid mile from one end to the other.  I was lucky enough to get a room very close to the convention center and right where I wanted to be to get out for my morning runs.  I was quite proud of myself that I stuck to my guns and got both of my runs in, when I could of said I am to tired from all this walking.  To be honest though I never really got tired, not like I did when I was here for the show in 2007.  I was a lot heavier then and if I had to guess I was right around the 300 pound mark. 

     Monday night the show began with everyone gathering to hear what is coming for 2015, followed up with a welcome reception.  The next day was filled with a 6 mile run, ten hours of seminars and product reviews followed up with the my group heading to a local steak house for dinner. 

     The Next morning I was up again for my 12 mile long run, followed by another 10 hour day at the convention.   One of the highlights from today was getting to meet Willie G Davidson, the Godfather of the Modern Harley-Davidson.  His visions helped shape the company and the styling of the modern motorcycle movement.

     We then decided to head to downtown Nashville to check all the cool night life.  Nashville has some really cool bars and music clubs that always have some really good talent.  We had a horrible dinner experience at what was suppose to be a local favorite.  Bad service, cold food and the inability to cook blackened salmon in a timely manner was not what were looking for.  After our lack luster meal we headed to a local favorite, Wild Horse Saloon, for a few drinks.  After some time there we headed to Coyote Ugly to see what was going on.  It was busier that I thought it would be for a Wednesday night, I think a lot of that had to do with all the people in town for the convention, because I recognized a lot of them.  We called it a night around eleven because we all had an early day tomorrow.   I was done with all of my stuff at the show so I was planning on heading back in the morning.

     All in all it was a great trip and a great ride on the bike.  I wanted to share with you all a couple pictures.  The one from Coyote Ugly was when I was there in 2007.  The other was this year outside of the Wild Horse Saloon.  I look at photos like these and smile when I think about who I have become, but I also think why the hell did I think that was ok for so long.  It really doesn't matter, keep looking forward at where I'm going and not where I've been.

 

 

Sunday:

     I really had a lot to do today to get ready for my trip and to make matters worse I really wasn't into this run at all.  I had 8 miles on the schedule, but while I was out I just couldn't get into a groove and nothing seemed to be going right.  I had been having some chaffing issues and I forgot to use my Body Glide which made things worse and my pace was atrocious.  I wanted to be in the low 9:30s, that didn't happen, and my mile splits were all over the place.  I got to mile three and couldn't take it any more so I turned around destined to only do 6 this day.  After my run, I also had to mow the lawn, wash the bike, wash the dishes and pack the bike for my 8 hour ride down to Nashville.  At the end of the day, missing those last two miles actually helped me with time to finish everything else I needed to get done.  

Monday:

     Today was my rest day from running, but I was traveling to Nashville for the Harley-Davidson dealer show.  I road my bike down which was fine but to stay in a mostly fixed position for almost 8 hours I can't say it was really a good rest day for my body.  However I did have perfect weather for the ride and was nice to put some miles on the bike.  

Tuesday:

     I was up at 5am to get my 6 miles in and holy shit it was super humid even that early with the sun not even up yet.  I had pre planned my route using google maps, but once I got out and started running everything quickly changed.  One of the roads was really an entrance to the Opryland and was closed off.  I decided to take the long way round a local mall and headed toward the road that leads to the running path.  Turns out that road was really a private drive with a large iron gate.  I stopped and looked at the map on my phone, with this new information I quickly realized that there was no direct route to get to the bike path and so running in circles it is.  After retracing my steps a few times I ended up getting in my 6 miles and realized I would have to rethink my run for Wednesday.
   
      After my run I got ready and headed down to breakfast around 8am.  From that point on I was on my feet walking the show floor or from one seminar to another till after 6pm.  So far the show has been great and the food has been plentiful, but I am feeling pretty good about how I have handled my eating.

Wednesday:

     Last night we went out for dinner following a long day at the convention and I was able to get back to my room around 9:30ish to relax.  I attempted to map out my long run which turned out to be another flop.  I had to get a little creative on the fly and retrace my steps to get in all 12 miles.  It was just slightly cooler this morning but man that humidity was brutal.  I headed out around the hotel campus first before heading to run around the mall parking lot.  I then took the long way around to the main road which headed down hill to a nice loop around the local campgrounds.  I was 3/4s of the way around the large loop when I started to realize I wasn't even close to 12 miles.  I ran up and down a couple of side streets and then headed back towards the mall.  I pretty much followed the same route back which when I reached the starting point I had about a half mile left to get in.  I cruised past my hotel entrance and then doubled back till my gps watch struck 12 miles.

     When I got back to the room every article of clothing I was wearing was just soaked with sweat.  I hoped in the shower, got dressed and headed down for breakfast.  I was so dehydrated from the run I drank almost an entire pitcher of water by myself.  I had another full day of walking the show floor and attending seminars.  Despite all that my legs didn't feel all that bad.

Thursday:
     My rest day would have been a little more relaxing if I didn't have 500 plus miles to ride my motorcycle home.  The weather was very cooperative for my entire ride.  I strolled into town around 3:15 and proceeded to unpack my stuff.  I ended up crashing on the couch waiting for Mandy to come home from work.  I was out like a light almost immediately. 

Friday:

     Today was my scheduled tempo pace run and I would love to say yes I got it in,  but that wasn't the case.  I made the conscience decision to pass on the run and take a true rest day following that long ride yesterday.

Saturday:

     It was nice to finally run where the humidity wasn't so high, it made the low 70s feel a lot cooler.  6 miles at easy pace was my scheduled run and I found it a little tough to actually keep from going faster.  The extra day of rest really helped my body recover from all the time I spent on my feet.  The run was pretty routine and uneventful except when I was close to my turnaround on my out and back route.  I saw a pair of eyes glowing on each side of the road and as I got closer I realized they belonged to a couple of raccoons that decided to come out and say hi.  They waited till I was right next to them before they turned tail and ran back into the corn fields.  I kept my pace steady and right where I wanted it till mile 6 when I turned up the heat a little bit for a strong finish.  When I got back I did my stretches and 2 sets of 15 push ups. 

Week 9 begins now

* For quick access to my entire Marathon training journal click the "Marathon Journal" tab just below the Running In The Fat Lane header