I Got Got Got No Time

"No time left for you
Distant roads are calling me
No time left for you...
I got, got, got, got no time
I got, got, got, got no time
I got, got, got, got no time
No no no no no no no time
No no no no no no no time
I got, got, got, got no time"

(In case you're wondering, the lyrics are copied and pasted from two different parts of The Guess Who's 1970 song, No Time).

A lot to say, and too little time. My 19 days of vacation after summer school ended today, so I'm back to work. Between trying to be creative with organizing my fund raisers for team Autism Speaks and helping my daughter FINALLY finish renovating her condo, I've had time to eat, sleep, and run, and little else. I've been reading your blog posts, I've been reading your wonderful comments on my blog posts, but unfortunately I haven't been commenting on your posts. For that I apologize. You're all wonderful, and as I've said previously, I'm kinda glad I have 25 followers. It's a manageable number as far as me keeping up to date on what you're doing, and you keeping up to date on what I'm doing (like not responding to your blog posts!). First, I haven't talked about my fund raising effort for my New York City Marathon run on team Autism Speaks lately. That's because I've been stuck on $1750.00 raised. I still need to raise an additional $850 before October 17th, so I've been spending too much time with too little results on organizing fund raiser events. I have several pages full of ideas, but nothing concrete. Long story short, I'm getting nervous. Anything short of the $850 after October 17 will be billed to my credit card by Autism Speaks. Talk about an expensive marathon registration fee! For those of you who are new to my blog, please read the Autism Speaks info. on the right, click on the link, and you'll get all the information. Also, please feel free to make a contribution if you can afford to. OK, moving on, my marathon training continues to go well. I have been able to run four of the past five days, for a total of 23 miles. The past two runs have been my best. Monday's run was 6 miles, and all my splits were less than a 9 minute mile. Overall, I averaged an 8:44 pace. Today's run started with a 9:01 first mile, but my next three splits were all in the 8's, and overall I averaged an 8:43 per mile pace for the 4.1 miles. The 85 degree temperatures aren't affecting me as bad as they used to, plus my legs are feeling strong. I believe that the combination of Hammer Nutrition Endurolytes (to prevent cramping in the heat), GU Blueberry Pomegranate Chomps, GU Vanilla Bean Gel, and Hammer Nutrition gels are definitely helping me. Also, having a tool (hydration) belt with two 16 oz. bottles of water is a must in this heat and has definitely helped. One concern I do have that is scaring the heck out of me is the pain I had after my Sunday and Monday runs. I would compare it to someone taking a sharp knife and stabbing it into the outside part of my left knee. The sharp pain came out of nowhere, and repeated itself several times both days at random times while I walked or even if I stood still. Fortunate thing is, it never happened while I was running. I completed today's run about three hours ago, and so far I'm pain free. I'm hoping that yesterday's rest did the trick. My greatest fear is getting injured before the N.Y. Marathon and not being able to run. YIKES! Lastly, I owe the good people at POM Wonderful a product review. Janny was kind enough to send me a complementary package of three of their 10.5 fl. oz. POMx Chocolate Iced Coffee, and three of their Cafe au Lait Iced Coffee. A quick blurb about them from the letter I received: "Made with premium, all-natural ingredients, POMx Iced Coffee is a delicious blend of antioxidants, caffeine and rich coffee." Here's their website if you want to read additional the info. about it: http://www.healthybuzz.com/index.html. If you're a coffee drinker, which I am, you'll LOVE these. The taste is fantastic, especially if you drink it ice cold on a hot day, or after a run. The buzz part is true, since both kinds have 175 mg. of caffeine. Of the two, I liked the Chocolate flavor better. It also has less fat, at zero grams, The Cafe au Lait flavor has 3 grams total of fat, along with 170 calories. The chocolate flavor has 190 calories. So I guess the one downfall is the calories. However, in my opinion, the great taste along with the "buzz" makes it all worthwhile, as does other things explained in their website. Honestly, I couldn't copy and paste the info., and I'm too lazy to type it right now! So go read about it, will you?! OK, I'm done babbling, so it's time for me to go read your blogs. I hope everyone is happy, healthy, and running pain free. P.S. I'm probably going to enter the Hartford Marathon on October 10th. Thank-you everyone for telling me what I wanted to hear: Go for it, but be sensible. I will, and I will. I also will print and laminate everyone's comments and have all of your advice with me as I run-walk-run the 26.2 miles. Slow and steady completes the race! P.S.S. Damn, I shouldn't have drunk the Chocolate POMx iced coffee as I typed this before. Now I'm buzzed, and keep thinking of things to add. The Sugoi (TM) shorts that I trashed in my August 16th post got a reprive. I gave them a second chance. The sweat factor is still a problem, meaning they still kept all the sweat in the fabric, and since they're a lighter color of brown (or "ugly brown," as I called them), there's no hiding the wet look. However, I must say that they are VERY comfortable to wear, and some positive things are a back zip pocket, an inside key pocket, and a mesh liner. I still cannot recommend them as a running short mainly because of the "wet sweat" look. I checked their website, and see that they're also available in a "Tank Green" color, which also looks like it would have a problem with showing sweat; as well as a black color, which probably would at least disguise the wet sweat look. So, instead of a generous donation to Goodwill, I've decided to keep my comfortable Sugoi (TM) shorts, and wear them around the house.