Just wanted to say that I am so busy with work that I cannot train due to the time involved in building a new bakery kitchen. It is also so humid here in Japan. They announced over the loud speakers the other day here warning everyone to not to exercise during the hottest time of day. Is anyone else in the same situation? I think it's okay to stop sometimes and take a break. I have a HIM (half Ironman) in early September so my training will start again in August. I just plan to take my time and enjoy the race, not worry about my time. I have been thinking about Lifesabeach, how are you doing?

I am tyring to decide what my next event will be. I am running a 10 K in two weeks and am looking at running a half in Sept or Oct. Until then just having fun running when I can. Hope everyone is enjoying the summer. DB

My body has made me drop back. I took a week off due to a groin/abdomin issue and then two weeks after that my body just said "thats enough". I went back to a "Novice" marathon training plan. I just can't keep up with the 35-45 mile weeks. If I want to make it to my October marathon I need to take it easy. It sucks when you can barely move after a 12 mile run. Getting old...

I have a tendency to do too much exercise sometimes. When I got sick with a cold, I realized that I exercised for longer than 2 weeks straight with no rest days. It also seems that I get a pain or warning signal that I need to cut back usually 3 or 4 weeks before a marathon. I too have a marathon on November 25th, but I am going to work on building up my mileage again slowly. With the hot humid weather, I finally started getting up at 5am to go running on the beach. As db7 said, have fun running - this is the most important thing to never forget. Slow and Steady, sometimes 35-40 miles per week constantly can be too much - for me too! I think running just 26 miles per week is perfectly fine. There are people out there who that can't even walk one block or run 400 meters. So don't be too hard on yourself!! Just a little mileage makes a big difference in the long run. Listen to your body.

I had an unplanned break last week when my wife had our second baby. I should have learned from the first one that this would cause an interruption in my mileage, but for some reason I thought I'd be able to keep it up this time. Oh well, hopefully I'll be back to my normal running self in a couple of weeks. I don't know when I'll be back to my normal sleeping self.

Congratulations!! That's something definitely worth missing miles over.

Congrats on the new baby Michael. TIme to get out the two seater jogging stroller...

I had an unplanned break last week when my wife had our second baby. I should have learned from the first one that this would cause an interruption in my mileage, but for some reason I thought I'd be able to keep it up this time. Oh well, hopefully I'll be back to my normal running self in a couple of weeks. I don't know when I'll be back to my normal sleeping self.

CONGRATS!!!!!!

To make matters worse, I hit my little toe on the leg of a chair in my house. It hurt but not that bad, so I just thought it was a bruise. Then I went to the doctor's on Friday and the xray showed that my toe was broken in middle. I had tears in my eyes when the doctor told me his diagnosis. He said I wouldn't be able to do the 2.5k ocean swim at Enoshima this weekend, nor would I be able to do the Sado half ironman in early September. The time necessary for healing 1-2 months! This year, I am going to take a break from racing, and take it easy. The day of the Enoshima ocean swim race, I got a call from my sister in South Carolina that my mother was admitted to the emergency room for a severe infection. What I want to say to everyone is don't push it to race when you don't feel like it or have some sense of apprehension. My bread kitchen is finally set up and it is time for me to concentrate on baking, not triathlon training. There's always another race, and another chance next year!