St. George Marathon or BUST

Most of you know that I am training for the St. George Marathon which is in 2 weeks. Those of you who don't know, guess what, I'm training for the St. George Marathon which is in two weeks! Anyways, as my training come to and end and my long runs are tapering, I thought I'd share a few thoughts about training in Erie, PA. Training in Erie, PA is...interesting. Here are some of my favorites things about my runs:
1. the wind- it doesn't matter which direction I'm running, I'm always running in a head wind.
2. humidity- gotta love feeling all wet within a few feet of the beginning of a 10 mile run.
3. hills- yup, up hill both ways. I never knew Erie was so hilly!
4. road kill- how do I make the time pass on the long run? Count road kill. Living out in the
"county"I have seen dead raccoon, Canadian geese (an entire family), squirrels, muskrats, ground hogs, cats (sad), frogs, snakes, skunks, mice, birds, and probably more, I just didn't know what they were after being run over so many times.
5. dogs chasing me-these country dogs sure protect their property.
6. dog bites- Yes, one of those dogs chasing me finally got me. It actually just happened this past Tuesday. I think it is the first time I have cussed in... well, several years. It did draw blood, but I am fine.
7. Dodging grasshoppers-Where do these things come from? They breed like rabbits. There are days that I spend my running making sure I don't step on grasshoppers. I DO NOT want grasshopper guts all over my new Asics.

Yes, running in Erie is very eventful. But there have been many highlight too like running in the Presque Isle 1/2 marathon, finishing an 18 mile run and feeling good, and getting in shape (I didn't say lose weight, just getting in shape).

Ready or NOT (emphases on the NOT), here I come St. George. What's my goal time: just to finish. Here's a look at the marathons elevation map. I'm LOV'IN the down hill!

Halloween...ALREADY!

We've got the Halloween spirit around here...already! It's hard not to when the stores start selling Halloween stuff 4 months early. We changed our blog header to fit our spirit and enjoy it for a month or two. I will admit, I do love Halloween. It means fall weather, fun decorations, and candy. My kids have already decided what they want to be...until they change their minds tomorrow. I promise, I won't start talking about Christmas until after Halloween!