They all can't be "easy" runs.

Hood route. 6am start. Smooth like butter.

3.5 miles. Hood route. 6:30 am start.

3.5 miles. Fruit cove. Then Mimi and I drove to Savannah. Went to the expo. Toured Fort Pulaski again. And went to Tybee Island. There's still a lot of damage from the the hurricane a month ago.

As far as expectations for tomorrow go, I hope to beat my Sugarloaf time. I would like to get back down to around 3:15 again, but that seems ambitious, given how my training went. On the other hand, the weather is much better this year. And I'm familiar with over 85% of the course. I'm just going to do my best and see what shakes out.

Georgia done. Much better weather than last year. I got beat up by the wind on the way back from Savannah State University. How did Yasir and Dan do?

Okay so...THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED AT Savannah                                  

3.1       3.1       0:07:19             0:22:40

6.2       3.1       0:07:19             0:22:41

10        3.8       0:07:15             0:27:32

13        3          0:07:40             0:23:00

20        7          0:07:49             0:54:45

26.2      6.2       0:08:40             0:53:43

            26.2                              3:24:21

For comparison, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED AT SUGARLOAF                   

16.88    16.88    0:07:39             2:09:15

26.2      9.32      0:08:44             1:21:24

26.2                              3:30:38

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED AT LOUISIANA                                  

6.2       6.2       0:06:48             0:42:12

13.1      6.9       0:07:10             0:49:28

20        6.9       0:07:41             0:53:00

26.2      6.2       0:07:45             0:48:06

            26.2      0:07:21             3:12:26

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED AT STEAMTOWN                              

18        18        0:07:12             2:09:45

26.2      8.2       0:07:44             1:03:25

            26.2                              3:13:10

My finish time at Savannah was right about where I thought it would be. As I found out last year, this race is a half marathon with a few people running the full. As scenic as the first half is, the second half is interstate overpass, with a brief stop at Savannah State University. As promised by the race officials, there were more bands than last year. I heard more Skynard in my race than any man should be forced to bear. Sure, you could hear covers of Black Crows and Georgia Satellites, and. of course, OutKast playing. But Skynard ruled the day.

Early on in the race, I noticed an older woman yeling "Don't Stop!" at people at water stations. First, let me say that I give her all of the credit in the world for running 7:15 pace for the half. Really solid. After a couple of water stations, I started thinking "Is this her thing? You know, sign up for races to yell at people?" Then she yelled at me. I yelled back "I didn't stop." She yelled again "You dang near stopped!" I said I barely slowed down. She was really not going to let this go. This goofy interchange got my mind off of running for a bit. Our pack for the first half included the eventual overall women's #2 and #3 for the marathon. Also, There was a woman with one leg doing the hand crank cart, that would pass us on the downhills, and we would pass on the uphills (not that there are many hills to speak of). She was near me for @ 20 miles of this race. Anyway, at the very next waterstop after fast crabby old lady yelled at me, hand crank woman had to lock up her brakes behind the crabby lady. I didn't need to say anything. The moment was delicious.

Last year, we stayed next door to 2 women that were running the half. The husband of one of those women was in a bluegrass band that was playing on the portion of the course that i was cut off from last year, so i never saw him. He was playing in the same spot! As i passed by him this year, I pointed at him and yelled, and he yelled back.

When we decided tht my family wasn't going with me to this race, there was a while there that i had planned on going solo. My mother in Law said she wanted to go, and man, I'm glad she went. There was about a half hour of just me being dumb after the race, and it was really good to have someone that likes me at the finish. I needed someone to tell me to put the banana down, so that i could open the water bottle. Or to put the water bottle down, to peel the banana! Seriously. The post race headliner was "The Old Crow Medicine Show." I am not a country or bluegrass fan, but they were amazing! what a show! We toured Fort Pulaski on Friday, and it was crazy to see the fort last year before the hurricane and this year after.

I wonder if I would have a better opinion of this race if I had run it only once. Because this year was really good.

I don't know what race is next for me, and I don't think I'm going to decide until I get back from arizona.

Thanks to all of my friends here for the suport.

And thanks to Sasha for putting this blog together.

Hood route to Legacy Trail and back. 6 am start. pretty smooth. great weather.

3.5 easy on the local trails. Very nice this morning. I played soccer with the boys for and hour and a half last night.That will wreck your legs in new spots.

3.5 miles. Hood route. Cooler weather this morning. Fog coming up off the Lakes.

Tweaked my back lifting our riding lawnmower to take it from the repair shop Wednesday. I haven't thought about running since then. In the airport on my way to AZ with the fam. I'm not sure how much running I'll do next week.

Drove the white knuckle apache trail with the family. Checked out roosevelt dam. Good day.

We cheered for my buddy, Mark, as he completed his first full Ironman. 12:26:xx. I have no idea if that's a good number. He's happy and that's all that matters. The family held up pretty well for cheering for 12.5 hours.

Drove from Phoenix to Page. On the way, stopped at Montezuma 's Castle on the Way. Pretty cool.

Glen Canyon Dam tour. Horseshoe Bend. Antelope Canyon. The boys loved all of it.

Drove from Page to south rim of the Grand Canyon. The Florida boys have lost their minds! I'm getting big hugs for taking them here. My wife and i came here 23 years ago, when we were married @ 2 months. We saw a couple today that was recently married. And he was jumping from rock to rock, like i did back then. I wanted to shake him and tell him YOU'VE ALREADY GOT THE GIRL! STOP IT!

Me and the boys hiked down South Kaibab Trail to Skeleton point. That's three miles down, 3 miles back. 2040 feet down, 2040 feet up. We did it in 3 hours and 40 minutes even with stopping to eat and drink. I feel like that's pretty good. The boys were pretty excited when we finished together. Then we had thanksgiving dinner with my brother and my sister in law. Then slept like it was my job.

The whole family (including my brother and sister in law) took the tram to the easternmost Edge, Hermits Rest. Then we walked on the rim trail, or took the tram back. Then we drove back in for sunset at Grand View Point.

Got up early to watch the sunrise over the GC with the family. It wasn't as cool as the sunset the night before, due to some cloud cover, but still really awesome. We watched at the overlook with the "duck on a rock". Then we drove south through flagstaff, and saw the snow cap peak of snowbowl. Continued south to Sedona, and had lunch. So many people have told me to visit Sedona, that we had to, at least, stop by. It was amazing, and i would someday like to spend more time there. Then we continued south to Phoenix, and somewhere along this drive spouse and I got a cold. The altitude change in the plane ride was awful. Landed in Tampa, listened to my Gators lose on the radio on the ride home. What an amazing week. I wouldn't have traded any of the experience for running. I am kind of bummed that I can't get rolling with running right away because of the cold.

Guess who ran this morning? THIS GUY! Stretching was a bit rough, but the running was pretty quick and easy. The cold is still hanging on. But aince there is no fever or GI issues, i could run.

so what's next? Either Jackson, MS in January, or Brookings, SD in May, I think. Leaning towards SD right now.