Six weeks down, one third of the way through the training.

Total number of runs: 30
Total number of miles: 157.19
Total time: 21 hours, 08 minutes, 19 seconds

This past week was not the best for running. There was a lot of snow and ice that caused me to run slower or awkwardly, and I ran on Saturday and Sunday after going out to bars the nights before. Even so, I have still felt great overall and I'm still very excited and motivated about the whole thing.

This past weekend I turned 24. I'm not usually very excited about birthdays and this time around was no exception. Despite my initial misgivings, the weekend was a very good time. Laura and I met up with Steve, Dar, Lauren, and Katie on Friday night. We hung out at the Pour House downtown and I had a great time seeing everyone. On Saturday I woke up early to run and then had brunch with my parents. We all then drove out to Beverly to see my sister in her new dorm room at her new school. She seemed to be doing just fine. Saturday night I went to Our House with a variety of ultimate players, rock climbers, and other people. It was a great night, and the first time I had closed a bar down in a while. Sunday was very relaxing and a good way to recover from the previous days' festivities.

Laura bought me four fillet mignon and Call of Duty 4 for my birthday. The game is a lot of fun (and very hard), but I'm most excited about the steak. I'll have to do some research about how to cook it so maximize the deliciousness of it.

Yesterday I was motivated to get some of my Wood Elves painted. I based all of my Glade Riders and both Nobles, and am nearly done with my Alter Noble. After that I run out of things to paint since it is too cold to prime anything outside.

We are moving our office on Thursday, so this past Friday and today were designated as packing days. I don't have an office per say, so I was assigned the storage closet and work rooms to pack up. With the possible exception of Gerry's office, each one of those rooms probably has more stuff in them than any single office. I finished the storage room at 1pm today, and started on the work room this afternoon. It looks like tomorrow I will be packing up the rest of the work room, my desk, and the work study desk. I am so tired of packing boxes and dealing with the move.

Total number of runs: 25
Total number of miles: 130.51
Total time: 17 hours, 17 minutes, 03 seconds

This past week of training was phenomenal. The six miler on Wednesday was cold but Lisa and I kept a good pace and ran through it with no problems. The other six miler I ran alone on Saturday and found myself at the 3 mile mark a lot faster than I thought I would. Coming off of those two good runs I was feeling pretty confident about the 12 miles Lisa and I were going to do on Sunday. We managed 9 minute miles the entire way, and I felt very good all the way up to mile 10.

I don't think I've ever been in shape like this, and my confidence is through the roof. I am really excited about my training and the prospect of running the marathon; I think it is going to go very well.

Spoony and I played 40k yesterday. It was the first time I have used an Ork list and he beat me. There is a lot more finesse involved in this army than the Marines, or even the Tau. However, it was a very fun list to play and I'm excited about learning how to use it.

I went to Metro with Laura yesterday with the intention of seeing where my top-rope stamina was. I climbed seven climbs (four 5.10's and three 5.11's) and at the end of the day I felt fine. However, on sustained climbs I was struggling towards the end and both Laura and I had to take a break in the middle of our session to let our arms recover. My strength is very high right now but my stamina is not where I would like it to be. That being said, I think it was a very successful afternoon and I know that the stamina issues can be resolved quickly.

Alex Maas was in town this weekend. Laura and I went to a bar with him on Friday night. It was good to see him again and to catch up.

Total number of runs: 20
Total number of miles: 99.28
Total time: 12 hours, 53 minutes, 07 seconds

I was under the assumption that I would top 100 miles yesterday but I'm not terribly disappointed. I spent all day on Saturday at work, so I was not very excited to go out running on Saturday night. It ended up being a great run and I ran consistent 9 minute miles the whole way. Lisa and I finally got to run together on Sunday, and with Culla we had a fantastic afternoon. The 11 miler started off slow, but towards the end we were cruising. I felt great the whole time and could have easily gone for several more miles, but we were all hungry and wanted to get home. I have a whole lot of confidence coming out of that run; I believe in the training and in my ability to see this whole thing through.

Laura and I made a gingerbread house yesterday afternoon. It turned out really well and was a lot of fun to make. When we were done we tried to eat the left over frosting but almost immediately decided it was a bad idea.

I woke up this morning at 7:30 after a huge thunder clap had me sitting bolt upright. After looking outside and seeing sheets of rain I decided to take the bus to work. I saw three or four gorgeous fixes (and their hardcore riders) making their way through the rain and now I feel like a wuss.

I'm currently bidding on some Wardancers on ebay. If I win I'll have enough models to get my Wood Elf army up to 1000 points. I started painting the armour on my Alter Noble last night. Sometimes I think it looks really good and other times I think it looks terrible. The model itself has some funny angles that are casting shadows and tricking my eyes into thinking I didn't paint some areas, so I might just be getting used to it. We'll see.

Spoony and I played a 1500 point 40k game this past weekend. Due to some terrible deployment decisions on my part he was wiping the floor with me and I ended up conceding at the end of the third turn; not exciting.

Running has been a bit of a drag this past week. After blazing through the first three weeks, my legs have felt a bit tired while running recently and I can still feel the fatigue when I bike to work in the mornings.

Total number of runs: 18
Total number of miles: 82.68
Total time: 10 hours, 13 minutes, 45 seconds

Sir Edmund Hillary, one half of the pair of men who were the first to summit Everest, died.

Today has not been a very good day.

I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept at all. That wore off on the ride to work, but it isn't generally a good sign. Despite having a lingering and overbearing feeling that I have a lot of work to do, I don't have anything to do at work. The stress of thinking I have things to do, without actually having anything to do (and therefore alleviate my stress) is making me very nervous.

I found out today that the woman in charge of moving our office ordered furniture in a color that David does not like. No one told her to do this, she went ahead and did it based off of some conversations that this office and her have had. I got to tell David. He wasn't happy. He's now trying to see if the order can be changed, and I'll probably end up giving him the final verdict.

I also forgot to schedule someone into a meeting that will probably have to be rescheduled as a result. Not usually a big deal, but it isn't sure isn't helping anything today.

This is probably the first bad day I've had at work. I feel tired and bored and unmotivated, and even though I don't think I've done anything very wrong (the big mistake was not my fault) I still feel like I've screwed up today.

Three weeks down:

Total number of runs: 15
Total number of miles: 70.34
Total time: 8 hours, 29 minutes, 09 seconds

This entire past week I felt phenomenal. Every time I went running I felt fast and strong and I was able to end each run with a good kick. Next week ends with an 11 miler which will be the longest run I have ever done in 12 years of running; that's exciting. Lisa and I are planning on running it together so hopefully it won't be too boring.

American Gladiators is the best show on television right now. The room mates and I watched the premiere last night and had such a great time that we're all going to watch the next episode tonight as well. Everything about it is ridiculous in the best way possible. If you're not watching then you're missing out.

These pictures are from a graveyard in New Orleans. I took them and my dad edited them.

After two weeks, the totals stand at:

Total number of runs: 11
Total number of miles: 50.76
Total time: 6 hours, 00 minutes, 27 seconds

I did a 9 mile run with my dad in Florida last week which was pretty rough. The running itself wasn't too bad, but after about an hour I was getting bored (we ran for another 30 minutes after that). Lisa suggests music to help break it up, but I always run too fast with music.

My relatives gave me 400 dollars for Christmas, and I'm planning on using it to equip myself as a fully functional climber. On my list of things to buy is a rope, a bunch of carabiners to make quickdraws from, a collection of slings in various lengths, a few long pieces of cord, and some more lockers for anchor building. I also need a new pair of shoes, but I'm most likely going to run out of money.

Laura and I saw Sweeny Todd last night. It was a good movie with a lot of good singing and blood.