Well, I finally had a decent running week. It has only taken a month to do it. I finished 27 miles this week and even did a speed session. Yesterday was a long run of 10 miles. I have really had a hard time between getting this family settled and this neighborhood. I like the house and the area, but there are no sidewalks and inside the development is only a 1 mile loop. With a very short stretch through the elementary school parking lot on the main road, I can get to the next subdivision and that leads out to a country road. It is very narrow and canted, but very little traffic. I can get about 5 miles out, so 10 max, just me and the cornfields. The other day I saw buzzards circling. I am think they are just waiting for me to keel over from the heat or boredom. Yesterday, Pete drove me out to the Naval Base on the Beach and dropped me off with directions for a 10 mile loop, complete with sidewalks and changing scenery. I was much happier. There are lots of great running areas here; I will just have to be prepared to drive to them. And driving anywhere seems to take 30 minutes. Welcome back to the States.

I am struggling with a dilemma these days. I am registered for the Marine Corp Marathon in October (3 weeks after the 10 Miler). I am not where I need to be in my training for a marathon, nor am I enthused about getting there. I want to do another marathon one day; I am just not sure this is the right time. It takes so much time and discipline, not to mention time on the road in miles. Then, we went down to the Outer Banks, NC this past week for a few days and I saw that they are hosting a 1/2 marathon in conjunction with their full marathon Veterans Day weekend. In addition, there is a cash purse for the Masters' Division (there is one for the Open Division as well, but clearly I am past that). Anyway, there is money for 1st through 3rd places. Last year, the winner ran a 1:36, second place was a 1:41 and third place ran a 1:42. Now, in Prague, I ran a 1:37 on hills, cobblestones, trolley tracks and in the wind. The Outer Banks is about as flat as you can get, although there may be wind. Anyway, I think I can be competitive and if so, the purse is $500 for 1st, $250 for 2nd, and $125 for third. If I decide to race this one, I really can't do the Marine Corp Marathon. You can tell where I am leaning. The training is easier in that I don't have to run near the distance, I could win money (3rd place would cover what I lost from the MCM) and I would get another weekend at the beach. The worst that could happen is I don't place and I still get a weekend at the beach. But, I promised Shelley that I would run the MCM with her and I feel terribly guilty. I would hate to let anyone down. These races aren't cheap, so I would loose my registration for MCM and then invest in another race. The MCM will let me defer my registration guaranteed for next year, but it is not reasonable to think that I will move out to TX, settle my family again, be able to train and then fly back to DC to run. They will not allow transfers of registrations, which is stupid. You see my dilemma?