Day 183

I'm not gonna lie...I love Sundays. Many, many Sundays in the past, they were days where I had too much time to myself and I dove into depression while I missed my girls but here in the final stretch, quite the opposite. Not too many Sundays left so they are spent more making plans for home and making Skype calls home. After not really sleeping in, I knocked out 6 miles mid-morning then headed on in to the office. As any Sunday, there are some things that I have due out so I knocked those things out first thing. Throughout the day, though, I was constantly checking in on the Oil Creek 100 Mile trail race in northwest Pennsylvania. The Oil Creek 100 is the last 100 mile race I ran in 2009. As a result, I have a lot of great friendships and absolutely love Oil Creek State Park and the community who comes together to put on a fantastic event. I didn't run it in 2010 but instead volunteered. Thanks to a webcast, I watched closely as friends covered 50 kilometers, 100 kilometers, and the full 100 miles. Just a few minutes ago, the 32 hour time limit expired and the scene at Titusville Middle School is one of cleaning up and the remaining runners eating some lunch and taking showers.

Mid-afternoon, I headed on out of the office to camp out in my room for the remainder of the day. I had a nice long chat with Dorothy and Scarecrow before they headed off to church, too. My free Skype call month is still going which has proven great to stay in contact with all of them. We don't do video much as the connection is so poor but we did today which is ALWAYS awesome and seeing them is totally different than talking only. Can't help but smile! Afterwards, I watched some Jeff Dunham comedy and grabbed some dinner. For now, though, they are broadcasting the NASCAR race LIVE so I'm going to catch the green flag...finally! I might have seen 1 or 2 green flags this entire season so I won't miss this one from Kansas....literally....they're in Kansas this week!

Oh yea....14 years ago today I ran my first marathon, the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, PA. It's a beautiful, fall foliage, point to point marathon. I returned in 1999 to run it again. Amazing how things have changed in the last 14. Now, I have 26 marathons under my belt, multiple 50K trail races, a 100K race, and three 100-mile finishes. Will I return to the 100-miler? Not sure. I'm very curious what kind of shape I can return to after I get home. I am very, VERY out of "ultra" shape but they say the body doesn't forget. We'll see! Oh yea #2: my relief...hehehehe...you've got a plane ride later this week! Combat training wrapping up in the next few days, goodbyes to your drill sergeants, and a big chartered commercial plane ready to bring you across the pond. I'm ready and waiting! :-)

Oh wait....Oh yea #3: I just thought I'd let you know. The 9/11 rocket attacks must have been the Taliban's last effort before retreating into Pakistan for the winter...it's been very quiet in that category since then. I hope I didn't jinx us but the fighting season does appear to be slowing way down.

Goodnight, everyone.