A very gratifing hurt but hurt none the less.

Thursday night was another all night session at work (the last for a few months). Worked all day Thursday and rode the bike home at around 4:30 PM. Drove back to work at 8PM and ran some errands with Kyle.

Kyle ended up buying a bathtub full of tuna at discount retailer - something line 60 pouches of plain tuna in water. As a side note he would have to have all of this fishy food in his carry-on bag for his flight home on Saturday.

Got back to work at about 9:30 PM and did not wrap up and finish until 5AM. I drove home just in time to grab the first cup of coffee. I was able to get about 2 1/2 hours of sleep that morning. Friday was also going to be a demanding night at work. I arrived at work at around 1PM and did not leave until after 11PM. To decompress we went to a local tavern to have a drink - I only had a Diet Coke. Got home just before 1AM.

Slept like a rock until 6AM. I had agreed to do a 'Coastal Clean up' in Gulf Port about 60 miles away. I'm just glad that I did not have to drive. Made it to Gulf Port and picked up trash for about 2 hours and then I had to go and lie down in the car. I was exhausted, my stomach hurt and just did not feel well. So much for exercise and working the plan for Friday and Saturday.

I was also damn sore from the weight traingin work out from Thursday. The chest was aching, the shoulders were damaged. A very gratifing hurt but hurt none the less.

Got back on the horse on Sunday with a brisk (55 degree) run to Epley and Back. This run is just over 12 miles. Started out with a comfortable pace (Heart rate in the 140's) of about 8 minute miles. I ran this for the first 6 something miles and picked the pace up just a little as I turned to home. Ran the next 4 miles at 7:30 - 7:40 minutes per mile (150's). On the home stretch I again pushed the pace a little with close to 7:00 minute miles (160's). I ran past the house to get a full 13 miles - I stopped just short at 12.9x miles. I finished the run at 1:39:41 for an average pace of 7:44/mile. I do not believe that I will be able to finish the Gulf Coast 1/2 Marathon at my goal pace.

Just for clarification, I always pick my goals in a fashion. I pick the Gold Medal - this is out of reach, it will take a miracle to achieve this goal, it will not happen but it is the ultimate goal. The Silver Medal is achievable but everything will have to go as planned, no mistakes, just hard work and perseverance. And the Bronze Medal - Train hard and smart and this one is possible, but not a given, it will require work.

My Gold medal goal for this 1/2 marathon (which I have not taken as serious as I should have and only have 5 weeks left) is a 7:00/mile pace and finishing at or below 1:31. I guess I also have a super goal of finishing just below 1:30. I am going to use the results of this 1/2 marathon to plan the paces and workouts for a full marathon early next year. A Boston qualifing time is a dream in a full marathon but once again that is a gold medal goal.

The Silver medal is the low 1:30's. Finishing at 1:35 or less. This is going to be damn hard. I am really going to have determine my max pace for 13.1 miles and execute to achieve this goal - I can do this one.

The Bronze medal is 1:40 or less. Not a given but I think that I can do this one with a hard but not killer effort. I have never run a foot race of anywhere near this distance but I do have confidence.

I am trying to catch the excitement for this race. The water is hot but not yet boiling. Waiting for the steam.