Its finally Friday, and a day off as I prepare to get back to the LONG runs on the weekends. Its expected to be cooler and possibly rainy tomorrow for my 20-21 miler, so we’ll keep an eye on the forecast and dress accordingly…

The VIA Lehigh Valley Marathon is just 36 days away now according to my countdown timer, I received the first of many emails from the race committee reminding me why i’m running the marathon, as quoted from the email:

“Via provides service for children and adults with developmental disabilities like autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. Together we can help build a stronger community, a community that provides opportunities for children and adults of all ability levels, a community that provides resources to help people live, work and connect in their neighborhoods, and a community that embraces all of its members.”

For anyone reading, my daughter has Down Syndrome and although she is highly functional, we understand the challenges of raising a child with disabilities in the current day. Services like Via are critical in her success as she gets older, so that she can become an active part of the community.

Anyway, back to running … I feel i’ve healed up pretty good since my report last week. My shoulder is feeling much better and i’m catching up on my sleep finally… I don’t feel quite so burnt out anymore, which is good. My toe that I stubbed is doing fine, the abrasions around my waist from the fuel belt are gone and my left hamstring seems to be doing just fine… So I consider it a good week so far. My times have been considerably better as well, gaining 15-20 seconds per mile each day this week, we’ll see if that helps the long run this weekend. Most importantly, seems the weight is coming off (especially the ‘binge’ weight from vacation).. I weighed myself yesterday and are already a few pounds down from Monday (although it could be dehydration).

I’m getting excited as we head into the marathon season next month. I expect more emails from Via, and another Steamtown email this weekend I would imagine, they are always funny and keep you in the spirit ..

Off to rest and prepare for the long run tomorrow …