Catching up....

Well, in my absence, my blog turned one year old at the end of July, and I hit the 50 blog mark as well. Small but significant milestones...

So the Summer is (+/-) over now. What a few months it was. I'll remember it for being hot and humid almost the whole way through. Not that I'm complaining, but the electric bills were about 25% higher than last year b/c the air conditioning was running like 24/7. The end of the summer was punctuated by two fantastic weekends. The August 27th Jimmy Buffett concert in Philadelphia was beyond drunken words, as usual. Beads, Booze, Boobies and Buffett. Can't beat it with an ebony rhythm stick! Labor day weekend was a great mix of PERFECT PERFECT weather, ice cold beers, and two great Buffett shows on the Sirius boombox (from Wrigley Field in Chi-town). I also stretched it into a 4 day weekend, so the liver had a bonus day to workout. Next summer should include another Key West debauchery trip, as my brother turns 21 in July, and I promised him I'd take him there once he's legal. I'm saving up for bail money already.....

On the marathon training front - it's been a bunch of ups and downs, but things are progressing. I had just gotten into the serious 16 week portion of my training, when I sprained/messed up my knee at a Coldplay show. I went to jump over a railing on the way out, and landed on a plastic bottle which threw out my knee pretty badly. It swelled up about 2 times normal size. My doctor diagnosed a grade 1 or 2 ACL sprain, which was well enough to run on after a week. But I still have something "not quite right" behind my knee. It's the same one I hurt last year playing hockey, and it feels like it might be hamstring related. I was worried it might also be a meniscal injury, but I've logged some serious long runs since then, and it doesn't seem to be getting any worse. At any rate, I'm up to a 10 mile run this weekend, and things seem to be on the right track. I'll struggle through it. I figure, after all I've been through in training, the marathon itself might be a breeze!

I was really glad to hear from my friend Tom "Boli, Woody, Uncle Woody" Woodward in Mississippi. After a week of no power, he finally let us Northerners know that he had survived the storm and that his place was in decent shape. Always a scare when you lose contact like that with someone you know. I can only imagine the terror of all the people who still haven't heard from their loved ones down South.

That's all for now. More to come in a bit....

s42