Only when I stop to think about it...

How busy was my week? I didn't have time to write a simple "GO STATE! BEAT THE BUCKEYES" post, but it didn't really matter anyway. Ohio State scored 38 points and only allowed 7 (pity) points in the last minute of the game. 0-3 in the Big Ten, 3-4 overall. What now?

Let's see....Thursday I went 4 miles on the elliptical but I did intervals - 2 minutes easy at low resistance and 2 minutes hard at high resistance. Twas a vicious cycle, for sure. Friday morning I jumped on the treadmill because a) my hip was feeling fine, and b) it was damn cold/windy outside and I was miserable, so I didn't wanna exacerbate the situation. Things went well, and I had no problems for the rest of the day. Yesterday during the game though, my hip just seemed like it was burning all through our pregame routine, just like last weekend. I've been icing it and massaging it like whoa, and taking some advil every now and then, so I know it's slowly getting better.

This morning I went 12 miles with Krista, though she dropped out at 10 because she had to go to work. It took my mind off the pain for the most part, but I could still feel a bit of something in my hip when I was thinking about it. But, just like last Sunday, it only hurt for the first 3-4 miles and then faded away through the rest of the run. I forgot to take splits when I needed to, but we were pretty much around 8 minute pace +/- 15 seconds for the whole run, which was just fine with me because I'm in the taper phase and didn't wanna do another hard long run. I felt great after finishing, took an ice bath, and now I really feel fantastic. My legs don't feel like they're gonna be sore at all tomorrow, which is a big plus. I guess that's what all the marathon training will do for you!

In continuation from my last post, it was literally freezing when we started (about 32 degrees), so I wore spandex with shorts on the outside, and a technical t-shirt and technical long sleeve shirt on top with gloves too. I was fine for the first 8 or 9 miles, but then I just got hot at the end. Then again, it was sunny and the high was supposed to be 55 today. I think what I'm gonna ultimately do, depending on the weather obviously, is wear shorts on race day but also buy some cheap pants that I can just throw to the curb during the race if I have to.

Speaking of taper phase though...yesterday was our 7th Saturday in a row that we (marching band) had to play at the game. That's 5 home games and 2 away games, but now we get the next two Saturdays off. I probably won't even know what to do with myself this Saturday...but it will be great to have the next couple of weeks toned down a bit.

Yesterday was the Greater Lansing Cross Country Invitational where basically all the high schools around here battle for local bragging rights. My HS, Okemos, was heavily favored to win the girls race and was expected to contend for the boys race. Here's what went down...for the boys, Okemos and Howell both placed 4 guys under 17:23 and in the top 28, and both were tied with 72 points. Ok, so the 5th guy in will decide who wins it....Howell got their 5th guy in 58th place (17:57) while Okemos had to wait a while for their 5th guy in 109th place (18:36), so Howell ended up placing first, an always powerful Williamston squad (for whom my buddy BJ ran for) came in second, and Okemos settled for third. On the girls side, the Okemos girls placed second and got upset by an East Lansing squad who just happened to have every runner run a great race on the same day, which has been their problem all season. Interested in all of the results? Go here.

Marathon fever is really starting to hit me! On Thursday I went down to Detroit with my father to see how to actually get to where I'm supposed to go, as well as scout out the parking situation. Yesterday, Jess ran the Baltimore Marathon, and as I was checking out her race report, it just got me much more excited for mine. This Sunday brings the Chicago Marathon, which I know Zeke and my buddy Steve are running, so good luck to them.

Two weeks until race day!! And I can't end this post without saying GO TIGERS!!!!!!!!! WORLD SERIES, HERE WE COME!!!!!!!