I forgot to stop the watch when I crossed the finish line, both times. Therefore, I am entering in the times the GPS counted to the nearest mile. 

1st Run: 3mi = 20:12

2nd Run: 6mi = 45:03

Total: 9mi = 1:05:15

Afternoon****
Okay, I did it. I ran the eight miles. I know that the last couple of days I have been feeling like crap. I even went home at 1PM with the intention of staying in bed for the rest of the day. Work called me while I was napping and told me of a problem there. I got up and headed into work. I was feeling a bit better so I figured that if I could get done with work's problem I would head out for an easy 8 miles. That is what I did. The first 4 miles of the run was into Texas hills (a.k.a. wind). The way back was with the wind at my back. I am not going to count the run towards my BQ scale because I did not have my GPS for accurate time and distance. I do know that it is 8 miles from previous runs and I used the clock on the cell phone to judge time.

Morning****
I woke up with a nasty headache this morning. Not sure why. I'm not feeling much better then yesterday, but I think I will run my 4 miles today anyway. I know I will probably get yelled at, but the rest did not seem to do much good and I lost 8 miles for the week.

Oh, I had forgotten to mention that I had my very first orchestra rehearsal on Monday night. It is a small amateur community type orchestra, but it was fun nonetheless. The music is not too much harder then my playing level, but with practice I should be able to play the pieces. My buddy and viola instructor said that he would help me out on a few of the tricky parts. I'm really excited and need to find time to practice.

I think that my body is fighting off the office flu going around. I can feel a twinge of it, so I really don't want to push my immune system down. I thik I will forego the 8 miler today and allow my body to fight what is going on. See I do listen to my body!!! Even if it makes me feel guilty!

Lunch****
Well so much for "recovery" runs. It felt good, so I ran. It felt better, so I ran faster. 

Morning****
So I have had a day and a half to think about the run on Saturday. Here are some lessons learned.
- Don't eat so much the day before - I think I ate about 5 pounds the day before. I don't think that the body can absorb that much in 24 hours. Which leads me to...
- Start the carb loading more then on day before the run
- Need to use six gels rather then five. I was pretty toasted at the end. If I took one extra and consumed two in the first 13.1 I would have more reserves for the second half. I was feeling pretty worn at the end of 13.1.
- I need to drink a little more water during the whole event. I was getting pretty dry toward the end.
- The biking jersey did great for holding the extra gels that would not fit in the belt, but damn did it chaff.
- The liquid skin stuff did great on preventing the runners nipple I usually get.
- Need to remember the body glide for short's chaffing.
- I need to get new shoes, mine are about done with
- I need to work on stretching when I am done, rather then jumping in the car and driving home

Today my legs are feeling decent, considering. I don't think that I will loose any additional toenails from the run (but I still have one that will be gone in a few days from an earlier run). My feet still feel a bit sore, but new shoes should help that out. My right calf is sore, but not in the "shin splint" sort of way. I am scheduled to run 10K today, but I'll see how I feel later to see if I actually do it.

Can you believe this. My first marathon (2/06) I ran in 4:18:XX. I ran the distance today in 3:34:28. That is just 14.5 minutes from my BQ pace. I stopped once at mile 10 for a pee (water fountain there was broke so no refills). I stopped again at mile 20 for the refill. I walked for a little at mile 23. I think that if I had one more gel I might have been able to breeze past the walk and finish around 3:30. I head head wind for the returning 13.1 miles, but not too bad.

I did finally get to see Jill today. She was looking strong and happy on her way back. Personally I was needing to pee real bad so my pace was up a bit to get to the porta-potty faster. It was nice to finally see someone that I know (sort of) on the trails.

Afternoon****
I was a bit lost today not knowing what to do for lunch. I decided to head downtown to get my race packet. It was my first time to "Fort Worth Running Company". I expected the place to be a bit larger (like along the lines of Luke's Locker). Got the race packet and chip for the Trot on Thursday. I was told that I would use the number and chip for both races, even if the bib says "5K". Guess we will find out.  My battery on the bike is still giving me problems. I am not really sure that it is the battery. I am beginning to think that it is the charging system on the bike. I need to find a DVM and test it.

Morning****
Today will be a rest day for the old legs. Tomorrow I will be doing a full marathon distance as part of the training plan. I am confident that I can do the distance, but this will be a good trial run to work out a run strategy for the planned marathons coming up. It looks like I will be doing the run solo with a 13.1 mile out and back route. There are water fountains along my course so I will be able okay there. My plan is to run the first 15 or so miles without stopping. Around that point I will make a quick pit stop to refill and relieve. Then I should be able to finish my last 11 miles with a full belt. I am hoping that I will be able to carry over this strategy for the marathons.