20 miler

Running:
Less than three weeks to marathon day. Last week was a pretty good one for me. I was able to ramp up the miles to 63 which is a little low from where I wanted to be, but considering the shortened training period because of the injury I am happy to get there. It’s like the switch was just flipped on the weather. From hot and humid to cool and dry just like that. The days and especially mornings have been excellent. The taper period now begins. This week I hope to be solidly in the 40’s with one long run and the rest of the focus on pace and tempo style runs.

Last week I had no off days. Monday I ran in the morning 6.5 miles from home in 57:57. Tuesday was 5 miles from work in 40.15. Wednesday I ran again in the morning 8.0 miles before work in 1:3:22. Thursday was 7.5 miles during my lunch break in 57:.58. Friday was again the same 7.5 miles during lunch break in 1:2:07. Saturday I ran after the rain storms stopped and got in 8.5 miles in 1:09:48. Sunday was my big run. I ran my 20 mile country road loop in 2:45:36. I started off while it was still dark. I chose to take the iPod for this run. I didn’t use it right away, but it helped a bit during the last half of the run. Overall this tune up run went pretty well. I felt comfortable and ran fairly even pace the whole way. Looking back over my run log from last year at this time I was a full 5+ minutes faster on this same course. Another good sign for upcoming marathon.

Hunting:
Only a few days now from the bow hunting season opener. Still haven’t decided if I will go yet. This week I purchased my license and picked up 4 of the free bonus tags available for this area. I should be set with tags now. I also have two earn-a-buck stickers left from last year so I won’t have to shoot an antlerless deer first. This makes it quite a bit more exciting to get out there. I also got my stands squared away, both in the back yard and on the other property I have permission to hunt. I cleaned up quite a few limbs, branches, and brush that had overgrown sight and shooting lanes. The deer sign looks real promising.

Gardening:

So many vegetables. Everything except the brussel sprouts is either done already or available for harvest. The number and variety of squash this year is incredible. I’m really excited about a new kind called “baby blue” Hubbard. This one looks and tastes like a true Hubbard but is only a fraction of the size. The full size ones are as big as a good size pumpkin. Nice to have something much more manageable. Picked several quarts of fall raspberries. I put the plants in a couple years ago and these are the first pickings. They taste a little different than the early summer kind, but still quite a treat to have at this time of year. Had enough to make a fresh berry pie with some.