From 5 to 50

9:00AM

So we had our 3rd Cross Country meet yesterday. It went well although I had several out sick and it was HOT. I'm about sick of this hot weather. I'm ready for Fall, NOW! But those that ran, ran well and we had some great times. We're still in the beginning meets that don't mean a whole lot. October and November bring the big meets that really count.

Chicago Marathon is less than 3 weeks away. Holy Cow it's close. I really haven't been thinking about this one as much as I did with Memphis last year. I just haven't had time to think about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited. I will travel up on Saturday morning, October 9. My flight is early. I am staying at a Marriott very close to Midway airport. Saturday I will travel to the expo and pick up my packet/info. The marathon is Sunday morning, 10/10/10. I really don't know a whole lot about it except I've heard it's flat and fast. I really don't know what to expect. For some reason, I don't feel as ready for this one as I have in the past. Maybe b/c some of my recent long runs have been a little slower than I want. So I don't know whether to expect a PR or not. I'd like to PR, but I don't think I'll be too disappointed if I don't. I just want to finish and enjoy the race. I'll talk more about it in the coming weeks.

Last week I only ran 5 miles. I was trying to get my foot feeling better. It still hurts in the mornings but maybe it's a little better. Anyways, since I did 22 on Sunday of this week, I decided to make this week the week that I went for 50. One of my 2010 goals is to run a 50 mile week and so this is it. I did 22 Sunday, 6 Monday and 6 last night. So I'm already up to 34 miles. Only 16 to go. I plan to do another 6 today at CC practice. That will leave me with 10 for the last 3 days. I think I can make it. My 22 on Sunday was fine. I had to stop a couple of times for bathroom purposes and another couple to fix my ipod (BTW, I am sick of not being able to turn the IPOD dial b/c of sweat/moisture/humidity/whatever. They need to make an alternate way to move the dial. It's annoying.) But otherwise, I didn't stop. I averaged 8:43 a miles which was ok. I want to average between 8 and 8:30. But I was glad I went for 22 instead of 20. Now I get to taper. I love the taper. I'll do 12 this Sunday.

That's about it for now.

Keep runnin',
Albert