I guess there's a lot going on these days, but nothing too thrilling.  Marathon training continues, and all goes well.  I have already put in over 130 miles in October, which I believe is already a record for one month for me.  And I still have an 18-miler on Saturday and a 12- or 14-miler on Tuesday to add to the total.  Wow!  Anyway, I can't complain about the training so far.  It's more intense than the training I underwent for my first two marathons, but I think I was ready for it.  Hopefully I'll be able to chop some time off my marathon PR, and maybe make a run at 4 hours...

 

I'm going to be out of town quite a bit over the next few weeks.  This coming weekend is my mom's birthday, and Maggie and I will be in CT for it.  (Somehow I'll work in that 18 mile run).  The following weekend I will road-tripping to Nashville, TN with my one-time frequent road trip partner, Dan Valentine, for the Florida-Vanderbilt football game.  Yeah, a drive from New Jersey to Tennessee for a football game is a little stupid, but we've been known to do stupid things before.  I guess it's been a while since we've road tripped anywhere, and we both feel we're ready for another one...

 

The weekend after that will be my 20-mile training run, which is probably the single-most important run during marathon training.  A week after that will be the Philadelphia Marathon Relay, where I will be doing the 10-mile leg on a team with three other people I have met online thru the Cool Running website.  The week after that is Thanksgiving, and then the Las Vegas Marathon is just two weeks after that.  So none of it is earth-shattering.  But it's enough to keep me busy, for just about the rest of the year...

 

Yup.  2006 has really flown by.  Better enjoy the last couple months of it while it's still here...

So far so good in the month of October, I guess.  First of all, the Aldara cream seems to be working.  I think.  I suppose we'll know for sure after my next appointment with the doctor. Not a big deal so far.

 

Marathon training has continued just fine.  The last couple weekends I cut long runs a little short because I didn't have the energy to complete them.  Of course, drinking beer the night before those runs didn't help, I'm sure.  This weekend, I moved the long run up to Saturday and made sure I stayed nice and dry Friday night.  And it seemed to have worked, since today's 16 mile run was completed without a hitch.  In fact, this was about the easiest run I've ever completed at this distance.  Sure, 16 miles is never really "easy".  But if I can do without feeling like I want to collapse right afterwards, it's a good thing...

 

The Gators have still survived this far undefeated.  6-0 so far, with a couple of big wins the last couple weeks (over Alabama and LSU).  This evening will be another big test, on the road at Auburn.  In fact, this one may very well be the toughest test of the year.  Auburn has not looked terribly good the last two weeks, barely beating South Carolina and then losing to Arkansas, so maybe they're not as good as originally feared.  But it still wouldn't be a shock if they win.  (And many "experts" are still expecting them to do so!).  A win in this game would be another nice notch in the belt for the season so far...

 

The baseball post-season has been a wild one so far.  Not too many people expected the Yankees' quick demise.  Their series against Detroit wasn't even close.  And now Detroit seems to be making quick work of Oakland as well.  Could this be the second straight year where a team had an enormous lead in the middle of the season, then barely hung on to make the playoffs, and then cruised to a World Series victory?  Well, it's a little early to make that call just yet.  But I'll be pulling for Detroit.  It's nice to see new teams in the hunt for the title...

 

So, no thrilling news, I guess.  But it was enough to babble about for a little while...

Last week I spent a few days in San Diego, CA.  It was my first time there, and I was excited to go.  This was for a trade show for work, so it wasn't all fun and games.  I flew out on the evening of Friday Sep 22, and arrived fairly late.  Saturday and Sunday were spent helping to set up my company's booth at the ASIS trade show.  And then Monday was spent at the show once it opened.  I could have flown back home right after then, but I decided to stay out in SD for an extra day and see some of the sights.  I rented a car Monday evening and then spent the entire day Tuesday relaxing and enjoying myself.

 

First, I went to Mission Bay Park, right on the water, for a nice 12-mile run.  It was rather cloudy in the morning, which might have made for great running weather, but I suppose it did spoil the view somewhat.  After the run, I headed back to the hotel for a shower, and I then I went to the San Diego Zoo.  I mean, that's what San Diego is know for, right?  Can't go to San Diego without going to the zoo.  I spent about 4 hours in the zoo and saw just about every exhibit there was to see.  It was just enjoyable.  After that, I found a little restaurant/bar along the Embarcadero, where I sipped a beer and read the newspaper in the nice seaside air. 

 

And that was that.  Not too thrilling, I guess, but a nice time nonetheless.  At least for that one day.  And I'm happy to now have been to San Diego.  It was one of the few large cities in the U.S. that I hadn't set foot in.  In fact, it means that now the only U.S. city with a major league sports team that I haven't been to is Green Bay, WI.  Of course, some cities barely count, becuase there are some I've only briefly stopped in while driving thru (Houston, Denver, Portland) or only in the airport on a layover (Charlotte, Salt Lake City).  But hey, that's something...