I have to admit that fall is the prettiest season of the year. I came to this conclusion while doing my 21.5 miler this morning, as I saw the leaves blowing in the wind as they were falling off the trees and piling in the streets and yards. It was considerably mild today for October 31st, which of course I didn't mind, but was still rainy. This is 3 weekends in a row that i've had to run in the rain on a Saturday. Its okay though because I'll take the rain over the cold any day.

It really hit me this morning that the training season is coming to an end for the year. I ran by the corn fields that are now cut back for the winter, which are the same ones I watched sprout up from the ground just 5 months ago. The temperatures went from cool in late spring, to hot in the summer, back to cool again in the fall ... then there are the trees that are pretty much bare again due to the wind were the same leaves I watched bloom earlier in the year ... well, i'm not sure what made me reflect like this today on the seasons, maybe sometimes I just get so caught up in 'running', I never take the time to really look at things while i'm out running, I guess today I did. I always joke that in just 2 months, i'll be running the same roads and trails in the cold and snow (possibly) .. agh, I don't even want to think about that.

Probably the biggest thing to remind me its fall is that we set the clocks back tonight, so I get an extra hour of sleep and get to come home from work when its dark now. Its funny how since they moved the return of Daylight Savings Time to the last weekend of October, it always seems to fall on the night before the New York City marathon. I'd hate to think of the person who didn't set their clock the night before the race, running around in shambles in the morning after finding out they actually have an extra hour to get ready for the race... reminds me of the Hot Tub episode on Seinfeld, where Elaine has a friend stay over who is running in the New York City Marathon, but Kramer blows the fuses in the building overnight and he oversleeps... its funny if you haven't seen it. I sometimes think of that every night before a marathon .. "what if I oversleep???"..

So anyway, I did pretty good on my 21.5 miler today .. pulled it out in 3:24, which is about 8-9 minutes slower than a 9 minute mile pace. Thats okay though, remember that my goal in Philly is to finish the race, i'm expecting maybe a 4:15 or 4:20 at this point, just depends on how difficult the course is (among other things). I stayed strong through the entire run, despite the low 60's temperature and showers... I had a good playlist on my Ipod, so that always helps.

The funny part about this long run is that once again, my back isn't bothering me afterward. I wrote all week about being basically crippled after running in the mornings, I figured it would be bad today, but nothing. I just can't figure it out, thats two weeks in a row. I still plan to take it easy this week and get the miles in that I have to get in and stay focused on them.

So I have several people to wish good luck to in the New York City marathon! so GOOD LUCK! Its looking like the possibility of rain, but the temperatures are pretty average (mild actually), so it shouldn't be too bad in my opinion. They're airing the marathon starting at 9am on WNBC channel 4 out of New York, I think thats the NBC that I get... if not they'll have a summary of it on at 2pm (which i'll tape).

Well off to rest ...