Thank God last week was a whole lot better than two weeks ago. Just like I planned, I had a great week of training and on Saturday, despite going paint balling I decided to do my long run because the weather was perfect; it was nice and cool. I ran 8 miles straight and felt like I could run even more, it was great. Thanks to all of you who sent e-mails of encouragement. I really appreciate all the support.

Unfortunately this week is shaping up to be a horrible week of training, yesterday I did not train because I had fellowship and I got home late. Tonight is my cousin's birthday, so after work I am going for her birthday dinner so most likely I might not get to train. This weekend I'll be in New York. Let's hope that this bad week won't set me back to much. Race day is exactly a month from tomorrow.

Last week was very interesting, I had an awesome week of training, I pretty much followed the schedule to a T. But unfortunately on Saturday I was unable to do my long run because I went to Six Flags with the family and Sunday was my sister's birthday so I did not get to run. Anyway, I woke up early yesterday to do my Long run. My goal was to run 8 miles in keeping with my training schedule. Unfortunately I have bad news to report; for once I was unsuccessful at reaching my goal, I made a few critical mistakes during my run. First I did not eat anything before my run, secondly, I did not drink enough water, I waited too long before my first water break, and those of you who live in Boston know the kind of weather we've been experiencing the past few days. It’s been really hot and humid. I felt like I was about to pass out so I had to stop at about 6 miles. I ended up walking about 2.5 miles bringing my training to about 8.5 miles but not the way I intended to do it; I felt like I regressed in my training. My plans are to train hard this week and see if I can do better on my next long run. I'll let you know how it goes; hopefully I'll have good news to report.

Though it’s been a few days since my last days, I am happy to report that my training has been going very well lately. My next training after my last post was Friday. My Friday's training involved a 4 mile run and a 1 mile walk, totaling 5 miles. Then on Saturday I went to the Boston Running Company to purchase a custom sneaker for my running, also I purchased some bands to protect my knee while I run. So now as far as equipment goes, I am ready to go. ;-)

After purchasing my new gear, I was ready for my long training. That day I ran 8 miles straight none stop, putting me a mile ahead of my training schedule; by the way the following is my training schedule. I use the basic half marathon schedule:

http://www.hamptonsmarathon.com/Training.cfm

This was the first time I've ever run 8 miles straight. During my race I had to deal with the elements and there was a concert at the beach so there were a lot of people at some spots. Also during the run, my biceps started cramping up, especially when I was running into the wind. I am not sure what that means, does it mean that my biceps need to be stronger or does it mean that I have to reduce my bicep training? I wonder; or maybe I just needed to drink more water, feel free to weigh in. Needless to say after the run I was exhausted, thanks to Gillian when I got home there was great food waiting. I took Sunday off and ran 4miles yesterday. So far so good guys, I gaining more and more confidence each run.

Following the kind of week I had last week, I'll say this week is going great; as far as my training is concerned. I ended up taking Sunday off to help Gillian paint her bathroom. It was a work out, to say the least, you should have seen us. We did a good job though. On Monday I decided to make up for last week so I ran about 6 miles then walked 2 miles, totaling 8 miles of training. It was tough but I was glad I pulled it off. On the onset I did not think I'll pull it off, since I did not really train hard the week before, but I did it, thanks to good music and a cool breeze by the beach. Yesterday I decided to play tennis since I had a long run the day before. Today is date night, so I am off as usual, but I'll be back training again on Thursday. I hope to do 4 miles. Will keep you posted.

It’s been a few days since my last posting. Part of the reason is that I've had a rough training week. After Monday's run I was going to run on Tuesday, but when I got to the gym I could not resist my friends’ offer to play tennis. The same thing happened on Thursday, and I ended up playing tennis for about 3 hours. I felt so guilty that I was missing my training, so I ran a mile after a few long games. Finally, I woke up today looking forward to my long run, but something came up again. I played paintball with a few friends, and it was so much fun, thanks to my friend Oye. Unfortunately, on my way home from playing paintball, I looked down at my knee and it was almost double its size. Needless to say, I ended up missing my training today. Let’s hope that next week will be a lot better than this one.