Day 1,904: Publix Georgia Half Marathon

This race was interesting because of the lead up to it with lots of warnings about heat and severe weather.

Even the local news was harping on the expected heat at race day, the only thing was ... it was exactly this warm last year (61 degrees). How quickly we forget.

Like many races, I had no expectations starting out. The one advantage of having run in LOTS of races is that I wasn't too worried about race day. I even ate food I don't think I've ever eaten before a race -- fish -- and for once went to bed early and actually could sleep.

For this iteration, we booked a relatively inexpensive room at The Omni, right across the street from the starting line. This time around, I ran with my cell phone so I could meet up with the wife after the finish.

My plan for the race was to try to take it easy in the first part of the race. There are nine of what I call very major hills on this course and really they come every few miles.

My dilemma was when to really open up but after a while I decided that I liked my pace and I knew what I would get from it.

Even though it was warm and the humidity was up there, I drank no water or Gatorade during the entire race. I'd done this before along this course. I even delayed eating a pack of GU -- usually in a half marathon I'll eat it at Mile 9 and it will be good for about five miles. I ate mine close to Mile 10, on Juniper and 5th Street. I'd forgotten though that they give out the GU gels on North Avenue closer to Mile 7 in this race.

It turned out it seemed that I had maybe too much energy at the end, because during my last mile, I passed everyone I could see -- there were a few people I'd hoped to just fall in behind at the end but I ended up passing them, too.

The course changed in a few places, probably to eliminate a bottle-neck between marathon and half-marathon runners in Piedmont Park. It also had an extra block in Georgia Tech, probably to add to whatever distance was lost running through the park.

The food situation was a little different this year, too. This year they gave you a food ticket and you turned it in for a reusable bag that contained: a banana, a bag of pretzels, a bag of something else and M&M's. I drank a bottle of chocolate milk and a bottle of water before I'd even gotten there.

All in all, a great race, although it's probably the hilliest one that I've run on in Atlanta.

Time: 7:01 a.m.
Temp: 61 degrees at start
Gear: Tech T, short (CS yellow), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+ 28.

Day 1,902: I've registered for the Peachtree Road Race 10K lottery!

This year I decided to forego joining the Atlanta Track Club for a guaranteed entry into the July 4 Peachtree Road Race 10K.

Instead, I decided to throw my hat into the ring with thousands of other people vying for one of 66,000 spaces in the race's free lottery. The lottery began yesterday and goes through next week.

I heard last year only 10,000 people did not get accepted, so hopefully my chances are good.

I probably should have joined the track club but I delayed until the last moment, and that moment came at work and I was too busy at the time to join and the time ran out.

We'll see what happens. I'm 0-3 in lotteries (2010 Cherry Blossom Ten-Miler and the 2011-2012 Virgin London Marathon races, although that race only accepts 1,000 non-UK entries).

So we'll see if I will be able to run in my eighth Peachtree 10K (2003-2004, 2006-2011) this year.

Day 1,893: Missed by minutes

The registration for the Marine Corps Marathon opened today but I forgot about it until I was at work. By then, it had been open for less than 3 hours.

When I remembered and tried to click on the link, it said it was sold out. I thought it was some kind of malfunction on Active.com because the marathon website still said it was only 98 percent full.

Shortly thereafter the website updated saying it was full. It filled up more than 30,000 spots in less than 3 hours!

From what I saw, the marathon was a good deal -- only $92. That's about the price you'd pay to get into a Rock'n'Roll half marathon event.

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon costs about $140 or so. But it takes about a week for those 45,000 spots to fill up. I'd actually passed up on registering for the Chicago Marathon because I thought I would try the Marine Corps Marathon.

With a baby on the way in April, doing an October marathon isn't really too likely. But I might have signed up.

I'll just have to keep my eye on the calendar next year.

Day 1,869: Cold again!

After enjoying temperatures well into the high 60s, it's cold again here in Atlanta. When we got up it was 20 degrees outside.

Procrastination always helps and by the time we set out for a run, it was ... 31.6 degrees!

I wore my typical setup for that kind of weather -- running pants, two technical long-sleeve shirts and a windbreaker. By a mile into the run, I had unzipped the windbreaker and, just as the run was about over, at 2.75 miles, I put it around my waist.

No need for a hat or gloves. I'm glad I didn't bring them.

Time: 1 p.m.
Temp: 31.6 degrees (rose to no more than 35 degrees)
Gear: Technical T-shirt, long (x2), running pants, Nike windbreaker (red), Nike Air Pegasus+ 28.

Day 1,853: 12-mile run

After lots and lots of procrastination today, went out for a 12-mile run to catch up on my miles for the week.

Run was extremely pleasant, despite the fact that I didn't want to run today. The weather started out at 48.6 degrees and climbed to 64 degrees. A single long-sleeved technical T-shirt worked for the entire run. I'm glad I didn't have a second shirt layer.

In races I usually eat a gel at about mile 9. Today I didn't have any energy gel or water but I could tell that I felt a little more tired than normal at about 11 miles or so.

Given my stiff shoe problems with my new shoes so far, I decided to wear my backups, my Adidas running shoes that I bought at Costco for $30 and use for walking/caching. They did fine.

Time: 11:30 a.m.
Temp: 48.6 degrees (climbed to 64)
Gear: Technical T-shirt, long (Atlanta Half Marathon '09), shorts, Adidas running shoes.

Day 1,849: Run in the rain; 500 miles

It had been raining pretty steadily the last few days and today was no different. The weather really reminded me of when I lived in the Pacific Northwest. Over there you had to get used to running in the rain -- or you didn't get to run.

At least over there, I had a pair of waterproof Nike running shoes that I'd bought at a Sports Authority in the Chicago suburbs.

I didn't have that kind of luxury today but I wanted to run in my regular running shoes anyway because logging about 1.8 miles today would mean I would put 500 miles on them -- that's usually when I retire them for a new pair of shoes.

It's taken me a while -- and lots of money -- trying different windbreakers to find out which one can protect me the most during steady rain. I finally found a good one -- a yellow Novarra windbreaker that is used for cycling -- it has a zipper pouch along the flat of the back.

Wore it today. My shoes got wet quickly and although it wasn't the worst thing in the world, my legs were kind of tired so I opted for a 2-mile loop instead of the 4.2 mile regular course that I have.

Although wet, my shoes were able to retire today knowing that they've put in 500 good miles of running the last few months.

Time: 11:00 a.m.
Temp: 49 degrees, light rain
Gear: Technical T, long (Atlanta Half Marathon '11), shorts, Novarra windbreaker, white Jager hat, Nike Air Pegasus+ 27/A.

Day 1,841: Return to the Riverpark!

After 3 years and 7 months, I finally made a return to the Tunica Riverpark. Instead of having to run in casino parking lots, it's been a great place for me in the past to get in a 2-mile run on a nice trail through woods.

This time around, there was an added bonus: It was filled with geocaches. I drove over there in the crisp morning. It was about 36 degrees out. I bundled up appropriately!

I didn't park where I'd normally parked, opting for a slightly longer run along the river.

I don't think people have been around this nature trail for a while because the first thing I noticed was long pieces of animal droppings on the boardwalk. There was water underneath the boardwalk but not the flooding that I saw in 2008.

The trail has been upgraded from just a path to one with nice little pebbles that possibly could be traversed with a wheelchair.

It was cold and in the end I got a 3.5-mile run in along the entire complex.

Time: 9 a.m.
Temp: 32 degrees
Gear: Technical T-shirt, long (x2), running pants, gloves, Marmot windbreaker, Adidas running shoes.