Distance covered 85 miles.
Good to be back on the blogosphere! This blog is supposed to be about running and the thoughts and feelings running through my head and heart while training, but the reality is that I'm running so early these days while the moon is still bright in the sky and my brain is still asleep (and my body is basically on auto pilot) that there aren't many thoughts to speak of! Basically my brain goes through the following checklist each and every morning as my feet are pounding the pavement:
Okay feeling good today... Nice and loose...Crap! I hate this hill...okay that wasn't so bad...Let's get into a good rythm now. Okay...let's see the orphans are A - Alejandro and Aracelli, B - Beto, C - Cristiano, D - nope, E - Ernesto...no ESTEBAN!, F - nope, G - nope, H - nope, I - nope, J - Jorge? Jesus? JOSE!, K - nope, L - Lucio, N - Nichita, O - Orlando, P - Pati, Q - nope, R - Ricardo and Rosa Linda, S - Sarita and Samuel! And all the while I'm counting on my fingers and hopefully end up with 14. If not, I repeat this process over and over again until I either get 14 or until I get back home and can check the poster on the fridge! If I successfully make it through the list of names then it's on to James. Before getting married, while my wife and I did the long-distance dating thing with her here in Texas and me over in China - we committed to memorizing the whole book of James. We both had the first 4 chapters down COMPLETELY when we got married and then forgot (neglected) nailing down that final chapter... a whole year passed and on our first anniversary we recommited our vows and our determination to finish James. So...currently I am quoting James chapters 1 and 2 as I run. And that my friends - orphan names and the book of James - is about ALL that's going through my head mile after glorious mile!

Alan (my friend who's also running the full marathon with me) came over on Saturday and did the 6 mile run with me. Talk about a quick 6 miles. We chatted the whole time and before we knew it 59 minutes (and 6 miles) had passed. Then on Monday night my wife and I hit the street covering 1.5 miles together and once again she distracted me from any awareness of exercise (she's especially cute in her running outfit!) and the time flew! I did another 1.5 on my own in 11 minutes and 20 seconds..I was moving! And I kept up the same pace the whole 1.5 mile lap around the neighborhood...I was missing my wife!

So I learned that in running - just as in life - fellowship is sweet and empowering! Next Saturday Alan and I are meeting at White Rock Lake for our 10 mile run. By the way, Alan has a sponsor who's pledging $2 a mile and throwing in another $100 if he makes it the whole way ($152!). Anyone want to throw out the same challenge to me!?

We're heading to Louisiana for the Labor Day Weekend to visit my parents in Lafayette and I have to run 8 miles down there on Saturday in the muggy swampland! I was driving home from school today wondering how I could figure out an 8 mile course when I walked through the front door and discovered the following message and surprise on the entry way table: ( is my wife amazing or what!!! Yes, I go by "baby" sometimes! :)