This morning, I went for my weekly long run and ended up doing my own personal half-marathon (13.1 miles). I had some lingering doubts back when I started training (which I always tried to push into the back of my mind) about whether or not I would be able to make it this far. I know it's only halfway, but it's a big milestone for me. It also marks the halfway point of my training. Although it was only the 7th week of the 16 week program, weeks 15 & 16 are tapering weeks where I drastically reduce the amount of work I do before the marathon (which is the "long run" for week 16), so it's essentially 14 weeks of hard training.

There has been a lot of stuff going on in my life lately, and it's sometimes hard to find the time to get my runs in (especially since they keep getting longer and longer). But lately, when that moment actually arrives when I start running, the rest of the world kind of goes on pause for me, and it's just me and the path ahead of me. Over the past few weeks, I have really been able to get in a zone and actually really enjoy running. Hopefully that is the way it will be from here on out, and possibly for many years to come.

Yesterday I returned from Missouri which I visited for about the 50th time. Usually the trips are to visit all of my relatives, of which about 80% live in Missouri. This time it was a little different as I was helping my brother move. He got a nice apartment out in Ofallon, MO (which is about 20 minutes west of St.Louis) and moved out there because he was transferred with his job. This is the fourth state he's lived in over the past few years, so I hope it works out this time, because moving isn't so fun.
We left Wednesday morning in a 3-car caravan, which is never fun. Especially since my brother was in front with the moving van which lacked cruise control, so we constantly sped up and slowed down. And of course, our entire drive through Ohio (about 4 hours) was rain-filled. But we eventually made it to St.Louis and I got a run in on the hotel treadmill and prepared for the actual move-in on Thursday. The move-in went better than expected. He had a lot of junk, but nothing the 4 of us couldn't handle. On Friday I got to see a number of my relatives and enjoy some BBQ (though it paled in comparison to KC's). Saturday's flight home was uneventful, except for when they started the engine on the runway and it seemingly started snowing, as little white pellets rained from above onto the passengers (self-included). It was apparently ice so it was harmless, though it did make a number of people slightly less comfortable about the flight.
Tonight, Kristy and I caught up on some 'Six Feet Under'. We're only one episode behind now, and I think some big stuff is about to go down. People keep saying this season is bad, but I'm really into it. Obviously the writers have a lot of freedom since it's the last season, but I think they have done a good job of striking a balance and still making it interesting without getting too crazy. I think after watching 4 seasons of it over the past couple years that I'm emotionally invested in the characters (I know, it's just a TV show and that sounds lame, but it's true), and I'm as eager as anyone to see what ends up happening to each one. I really have never followed a TV show as closely as I have this one, so it's new to me to have something like this to follow each week.

The weather outside here in NE Ohio is ridiculous. Even without the sun, it still feels like a sauna outside. But I still went running earlier and was completely drenched afterwards (I know, that's pretty gross). On Saturday I did my longest run yet, 11 miles. My knees were pretty sore afterwards, but I survived. I did a short bike ride on Sunday to try to revive my legs, and it seemed to work pretty well. So I've now passed the 100-mile mark, having done about 116 I believe after today. Over the course of this week, I'll do 26 miles, just .2 short of a marathon. The hardest work is still to come, though it feels good to know I'm almost halfway done.

Overall, the weekend was pretty good. On Friday, Kristy scored some great seats for the Cleveland Indians baseball game from work. Unfortunately they lost, but the postgame fireworks were great. They are seriously better than most community fireworks on July 4th. The only bad part was that we watched from inside the ballpark and ended up down-wind of the "exhaust" and were caught in a big cloud of smoke and the occasional raining down of debris. On Saturday evening, we went out to the Cuyahoga Country Fairgrounds to check out the Cleveland Irish Cultural Festival (Kristy is part-Irish, and I think I might have a bit in me too). It was pretty fun. Lots of good food, music, and people-watching. Sunday was a relaxing day. Kristy cooked up some tasty Indian food, we scored some ice cream at Handel's and settled in for our Sunday evening ritual of watching 'Family Guy', which continues to be at the top of it's game.

This week is going to go by fast as I'm off to St.Louis on Wednesday morning to help my brother move down there. It will be nice to see my relatives as it's been a while since I was last down there. Unfortunately the Cardinals are not in town, so it seems as though I've been to my last game at old Busch Stadium. It's one of the old "multi-purpose" stadiums, but it was a great place to watch a game. I'm looking forward to checking out some games at their new stadium next summer.

The people behind one of my favorite blogs, the Akron-centric RubberBuzz, just started a new blog which is "a new side project that will keep tabs on all the stupid things that Ohio does". It is aptly titled DamnYouOhio. I sort of have mixed feelings on this one because it's now a gleaming beacon of all that is so very very wrong with our once great state. And how are things going to get better when you're publicizing all the things that make us a laughing stock of the country? But on the other hand, everyone needs to be able to laugh at themselves, and we all by now should realize that nowhere are things perfect. New York is insane, LA is overcrowded, Seattle is overpriced, Florida is infested with bugs and blue-haireds, the South is backwards, you get the point. It is all what makes this country so interesting.

As some of you may have noticed, I have not done very well with keeping up with posting regularly on this site. I've had a lot going on with work and my personal life, so free time is at a premium. Plus it's summer - who wants to spend it behind a computer all day? This is the first summer I've actually spent a lot of time outdoors (besides cutting the grass). Between my marathon training (10 miles last Saturday!) and my new bike, I've logged tons of quality outdoor time. I'm even slowly replacing that fluorescent-induced pale tan with an actual real suntan!

And while I have not done well at keeping up with this blog, I have kept up to date with my marathon training blog. It's a guaranteed four entries a week...until the marathon on Oct.1st (unless I quit before then, in which case I'll just makeup a bunch of stuff). Just 72 more days until the marathon! They have a countdown on the marathon website.

While aimlessly flipping channels this evening in search of a distraction, I was reminded why I don't watch much television. This evening's reinforcement of this practice was the CBS show "Rock Star:INXS". It's yet another reality show of the way overplayed talent search variety. It's essentially a rock n' roll version of 'American Idol', except with the added "drama" of having the contestants living together. The grand prize apparently is to become the new lead singer of INXS.

I only bothered watching it because I kept running into promotions for it (MSN is totally hyping it), and the fact that I was a huge INXS fan back in the day. Well guys, I'm sorry to say, but the future of the band does not look too bright. First off, it is nearly impossible to replace Michael Hutchence, who tragically took his life a few years ago. And even if you wanted to, none of these talentless morons on this show are capable of even remotely doing so. It's a mixture of men and women, all under the age of 30, who are 90% image and (on a good day) 10% talent. And the show format is horrible. They intermingle clips of the "drama" at the mansion they're staying at with these live performances of 2-minute excerpts of rock staples. After each performance, the band (all in their late 40s now and still trying to look "hip") along with Dave Navarro (I'm sorry, where is the connection?) whose judging basically consists of things like "nice job dude, you rocked it!". I could only manage to sit through a couple of the performances before I had to shut it off. Maybe I'll dig out a few old INXS tapes to try to erase this from my memory.

Even though I am a sports fan, I've never really had any interest in the golf. Never played it, cannot stand to watch it, and have never had any desire to get into it. However, being a sports fan these days it is hard to ignore the constant attention that 15-year-old golfer Michelle Wie is receiving as of late. Everyone agrees that she is full of potential and is an extraordinary talent for anyone, regardless of age.

But the big attention she has been receiving this month is for her play in mens tournaments. In golf there are separate mens and womens leagues, just as there are in most professional sports. However, golf is the only sport which has seen some crossovers between the leagues...well, at least in one direction: women trying to compete in mens tournaments. So last week Wie tried to "make the cut" in a mens tournament and almost succeeded in becoming the first woman in like 50 years to do so. Well, she's back at it again this week, and some players are voicing their displeasure with it (read story here).

The quote that caught my attention was one player saying "I think she should play in the women's tournaments because they don't let the men play in women's tournaments." I really hope I don't come across as a chauvinist, because I'm not, but I agree with this. I don't see WNBA players trying out for NBA teams, or female soccer players joining the MLS. It's like she is conceding that the women's league is less competitive than the mens, so she needs to play in the mens tournament to be challenged. But the funny thing is that she has never even won a womens tournament! Just seems like a big publicity stunt that is making money for everyone...TV stations making more money with more people watching, the golf venues drawing bigger crowds, and Wie herself milking the old publicity train to build up her celebrity for when it comes time to go after some big advertising bucks.

Even though I am a huge baseball fan, I have zero interest every year in the All-Star Game. Sure, it showcases the best players in the game, but it's not fun to watch. It does not interest me to see a guy who normally bats clean-up batting ninth, facing Roger Clemens who just came in to start the 6th inning, because those are not realistic situations. I'd much rather see Clemens laboring in the 6th having thrown 90 pitches so far in the game, having to face the clean-up batter with two runners on and the game on the line with no one ready in the bullpen. That's a realistic situation and that is when the star players show their worth. Being put on display for the fans pleasure in a showcase game just lacks any sort of drama or intrigue for me.

No running today. I was a bit sore yesterday after running 8 miles on Saturday and biking close to 20 on Sunday (which was supposed to be my "recovery day"), and adding another 3 miles yesterday did not help. The weather is getting very summer-esque around here (90s and humid) which does not bode well for my training, but I'll just keep plugging away.

Sorry for taking a full week between posts. I've been busy with my marathon training and trying to do things other than sit in front of my computer. Last Monday Kristy & I went downtown with our friends and checked out the fireworks down by the Flats. It was really good, and also pretty funny because from where we were at we could also see the fireworks from the baseball game at Jacobs Field which started only a couple minutes after the other ones did.

I ran a total of 19 miles this past week, culminating in an 8 mile run yesterday. So I am now 25% done with my training program with 4 weeks down and 12 to go. I'm enjoying the fact that it gets me more active and outdoors which is something I've lacked for most of the last year.

Friday night we hit up Steak n' Shake and it was good times. Their new "sippable sundaes" are quite amazing, and I really enjoyed the Double Chocolate Peanut Butter one on this trip. Last night we went to see the world-acclaimed Cleveland Orchestra for the first time at Blossom Music Center. It was a perfect night for it and we had a lot of fun. I was expecting a small crowd, but it was almost totally packed! It was crazy to see some of the things people brought. I think there were at least two bottles of wine per person in attendance, and just about every type of food was represented by someone there. I was jealous because all we had was a blanket. Before the show, we hit up this party put together by Cool Cleveland which was a lot of fun. I'm not really clear on what they do and why, but I think their goal is to try to get people having fun in Cleveland and help it grow into the thriving city it once was.

For once I'm actually enjoying a Sunday evening since I'm not dreading the start of the work week. The weekend has been good so far. I opted out of the Akron BBQ on Friday because I wasn't in the mood for a big event, so I headed to a restaurant I've been meaning to try for some time, Udupi Cafe in Parma Heights. It is an all-vegetarian Indian restaurant which I had heard good things about, and it more than lived up to my expectations. The food was excellent and it was really cheap, so it definitely earned a spot on my list of places to go back. Scene magazine had this review a few months ago.

Saturday morning I headed up to Schneider's Bike Shop in Cleveland and picked myself up a new bike. I had been thinking about getting one for a while and had recently begun picking the brains of all my biking friends to get their opinions since I knew very little about bikes since it has been at least 10 years since I've owned or riden one. I opted for the "comfort" style of bike since I don't see myself blazing new trails through the woods and jumping off cliffs. The owner at Schneider's was very helpful in finding the right bike for me, set it up quick, showed me everything I needed to know, and all at a great price.

Afterwards, I headed up to Cold Stone Creamery for their special new summer flavor introduction sampling event where I got to try out 5 new flavors for free. Can't beat free ice cream on a warm summer day. None of the flavors really overly impressed me. The Oatmeal Cookie Batter was the best, and the Wasabi Ginger ice cream was the oddest flavor I've ever tested, and did not seem to go over well with anyone in attendence (including myself).

To work off my ice cream, I headed up to the park and got my run on, followed by my first bike ride in over a decade. I managed not to fall or otherwise injure/embarass myself during the course of my six mile ride on the towpath. Hopefully the first of many rides to come.

Later in the evening, I headed to my friend Josh's house for his annual birthday bash, always a highpoint of the summer. Downed way too many hot dogs, had my first croquet game of the summer, and played some seriously competitive badminton (I'm coming for you Worst Weather Ever!). Good times were had by all.

Today I had my long run of the week, some lunch with Kristy's grandparents, a quality nap, and finally caught up on my internet browsing (and blogging) which I'd missed out on the past week. Tomorrow I plan to get in a good bike ride on my day off from running, and might go check out some fireworks in the evening. Looks like this weekend will continue the streak of good weekends I've been having as of late.