DONE with geography!

I just submitted our last essay 2 minutes ago for my geography class. It is officially over! If you are interested in the distribution of sport franchises in the US, the ten cities that will gain franchises by 2030, and the 6 cities that might lose them - I have a 12 page paper for you to read!

So even though this week has been busy, with less sleep than I would like, I still ran this morning and did a couple miles on the bike last night with Craig. (My bike is a yard sale junker. Every time I pedal, the foot pedal hits the kickstand and it makes horrible noises when I brake - but it does the job for as little as I ride!) This morning's training was at the track doing 10x400 at 2:05 pace with 2 minutes rest. I didn't wake up Craig to go with me because we were up so late, so I took my ipod with me to be my motivation. However, I must have left it on when I was using it last to take my test, so it was dead. So I was left with the noises from the birds and my thoughts. There is definitely a pretty big component to running that is mental. I usually try to tell myself, "This hurts now, but I need to continue so I can stand at the start line at the marathon and be confident that I have trained well." or "My body is smart. It will learn that this hurts, so it will grow stronger for next time." But a little Kanye West - "Stronger" always helps too.

I decided that I needed just a little more motivation and incentive so I set the goal: for every 100 miles that I run - I earn a 1 hour massage! I have already scheduled an appointment for one on the 18th - my day off. I should hit 100 miles on the 12th. I'm looking forward to it. I had my first massage ever about 3 weeks ago from a great lady that works at the chiropractor office here in town. I highly recommend her.

Also just a quick note about another motivating factor. Another generous person donated to the American Cancer Society through my website, so now I have reached 85% of my goal!