Hey, mates.

First day of classes, today, and a quick four miler. This is the second week of tapering... only four miles today, six miles tomorrow, and a measly three on Thursday.

A quick note--ran with the New Balance on the four miler last Thursday... and they actually felt really good! Maybe even more comfortable than my Asics. Maybe it was just running on a treadmill... idk. Treadmill or no, they felt noticeably lighter than the Asics. Stiffer, yes, but not unpleasantly so. I think they might've just needed to be broken in a little more.

Ran pretty fast for part of the four today. Felt good.

PS-Welcome, Facebook newcomers. You're my favorite.

Been a little too long...

20 miles on Saturday actually went very well.

At the end, I wasn't anywhere near as trashed as I was at the end of that hilly 18 miles three weeks ago. In fact, I reckon that I could've run another 6.2 miles...

Running on the Towpath Trail after running on pavement for weeks can be likened to driving a Mercedes or Lexus after living your life in a Chevy Cobalt. Cinders are wonderful to run on. They're so plush... this, combined with the excellent cushioning in my Cumulus', makes for a comfortable 20 miles of cruising. I'd also misremembered the Towpath Trail as being uncomfortably sunny. This couldn't be further from the truth. The shade/sun ratio is probably a little over 50/50 in favor of shade. Most of the trail, in fact, is wooded.

Definitely running here again.

Electrolyte chew strategy: This run, I tried to chew one every two miles, and down the rest of the package at the very end.

Bloks!!!!!

This worked pretty well. I'll probably stick to it for the marathon.

The next three weeks are all taper. i.e. that 20 mile run was the longest I'll run before the marathon. The program is laid out so that my peak milage (last week's) is cut by 25%, 50%, and then 75% in coming weeks. Today is a 5 miler, tomorrow 8 miler... and I don't know about the rest of the week. But next week is much less, and then the week of the marathon I should be running only as many miles as during the first week of training.

Quick update--

This week is my peak week of training... I ran 5 miles today, run 10 tomorrow, and will run 5 on Thursday. The crown jewel is a 20 mile run Sunday, for which I'm planning to run the length of the Towpath Trail.

The Cumulus 11's are kickin' it, and I'm loving them. They're so cushy, and are probably one of the cooler looking pairs of shoes that I've owned. I still haven't yet returned the New Balance... I'm waiting for a short run to test them again. It seems fun to have a second pair of shoes so that I can switch it up every once in awhile... but then I wonder why I'd ever switch if the Asics work so well.

(If you want an answer to that question, I'm considering that I don't want certain muscles in my legs to atrophy as a result of being pampered by one pair of lovely, cushy shoes day in and day out.)

Looking forward to the taper that comes with the approach of the marathon.

One more thing. If you've been reading, and haven't yet donated to the cause, I'd really appreciate if you'd consider donating. The parent site for this is (if you didn't know already) diggsy.net, and there's a link there that'll guide you to the ACS donation site.

Sure, I'm still $280 from my $900 goal.... but more importantly, the American Cancer Society is a seriously important organization, and I'm proud to be running for them.

My affiliation with this group means that this marathon bid isn't just for me and you.

Thanks so much.

Rest day.

Tomato pie is pretty good.

Skipped my nine miles last night to hang with my brother in Columbus.

Back on it tonight, with a five miler.

Excitement is sort of building. And I'm eating and sleeping to excess.

I usually don't post these things, but I just like this picture.

Cecile visited for Labor Day.

Mates--Shhhh. I bought two new pairs of shoes...

...New Balance 758's

...and Asics Cumulus 11's.

The New Balance were purchased first--they're pretty firm, and are actually a little bouncy to run in.

Not completely satisfied with the NB's, I went for the next generation of my favorite trainer, the Cumulus'. 18 hilly miles later, I can say with confidence that the Cumulus is the right shoe for my foot and gait. 50/50 right now on whether I keep the NB's. It's sort of fun to switch shoes every once in a while.

Speaking of those 18 miles. This past Saturday was my first 18 miler.

Stupidly, I chose a really difficult course, ran close to midday, and as a result was totally totally spent by the end of the run. Sidewalks weren't present for most of the course, so I had to jump around treelawns next to traffic. Most of the way home, I was running some variation of uphill. The grand finale 3 miles was basically one big hill, of increasing difficulty. There was even a trail section.

Really, I think the 18 hilly miles ran like 22 flat miles.

Needless to say, the 20 miler next week will be on an easier course.

Pronation, etc.

Decided to go on Runner's World, and found that there's a lot more to pronation than I mentioned:

http://runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-319-327-7727-0,00.html

I don't like to misinform. I think I got basics right... and I provided sources. But I think I'd take this source over those.

If you care, please enjoy.

More later today. 18 miles this Saturday!

Maybe new shoes later today, because my Ghosts have shrunk and now may be cramping my feet.