I need to apologize for the starting time on Saturday.  It was the latest we started a run in over three years.  We started running at 7:08.  The story was not too long in an effort to wait for more of you I just started it too late. I was there by 6:30am.  I should have started a little earlier.  I will finish the story next week.  Unknown to me Jen has taped some of my stories and last week she put it on the website.  You can now hear my stories by clicking on “cartoon Joe”.  If you missed last week and want to hear the first part of the story
check it out.   

What a great day for a little run of 18-20 miles Saturday was.  I heard that it was not only in our group that the conversation was lively.  What a great way to get some miles behind you then by exchanging ideas about what direction our country should take with our fellow runners.  I did miss Larry and his opinions. 

We had good weather and two bee stings were the only problem we encountered.  A HUGE thank you to all our friends and their loved ones who manned our water stops.  We appreciate all their efforts and their signs offering us encouragement.  Many of you ran further then ever before.  We will only ask for one more run further then what you did Saturday.   That run will take place on the lakefront on Sunday September 21.  If you have any questions about how we will handle the buses let me know.  It is our plan on September 21 to have a charcoals burning to grill whatever meat you bring.  We will be on the lake with a sandy beach if you dare to take a dip.  Packet pick up for this event is on the Cara website.  The closest site is Tinley Park Saturn on Wednesday September 17 from 10am – 8:00pm.  On September 27 after our run of twelve miles we encourage you to bring a snack to share after our run. .  Don’t forget our “bike with Spero” next Sunday.  I know of a couple friends who have a couple spots on their bike racks still open.  If you can get your bike to the Tinley area perhaps they can help get it to the start.  Let me know.

You are nearly where you need to be in order to face the enemy that is waiting on October 12.  I am only asking for a few more long runs.  Don’t forget the Tuesday runs now start at 6:00pm in order to get done before it gets too dark. 

Miss a day and you miss a lot.  If you were not with us Saturday you missed yet another day running in the rain.  The rain was not too bad but there were many times when the water flowed like a river over the path.  The distances were not too severe being only 12-14.  Think of what you just read ONLY 12-14. You are growing stronger every week. You are near ready.  Even the enemy knows what a formidable foe you will be on October 12 when we come together to finish this part of our journey.

You also would have missed seeing our runner of the week; of course with Jen’s hard work you will know who she is.  I finished the second part of my story and with the rain I do not know if Jen recorded it or not.  I reminded runners to have a plan for getting to the South Shore Cultural Center on time next Sunday.  The buses leave at 5:15am. We have arranged for a third bus so we have seats open.  Invite whoever you want just tell them to bring $5.00.  I will collect tickets or cash that morning.  Please car pool.  Parking will be an issue, Cara wants us in the front lot and the SSCC want us in the back lot.  I will be looking for a few people to direct runners where to park.  We should try to get as many cars in the front lot as the SSCC allows.  The rest we need to park as tight as possible in the Northwest corner of the back lot.  It is still my intention to have grills available for your grilling pleasure.  Bring whatever you want to grill.  We will not fight the rain to do this.  If we have fought the rain during the run I don’t think too many runners will want to hang around in the rain after.  The building will be open for our use but I don’t think we can grill inside.

I know a few of you plan on running at Yankee next weekend.  Let me tell you what else you missed.  After talking to the police for over an hour with the aid of several influential members of our group I was issued two tickets and must appear in court on October 10.  It seems in some people’s minds that I knowingly and unlawfully had a running event with no permit in the forest preserve.  Furthermore I knowingly and unlawfully had set up illegal different running stations (structure) and had no permit to do so. He called them structures I call them water stops.  I told the officer that you guys are hard working lawyers, Dr’s, businessmen, policeman.  I told him you are taxpayers the very backbone of this county.  He was unimpressed he told me he would see me in court.  October 10 presents some challenges besides being a workday I am supposed to work the pacers booth at the marathon expo.  We are working on that.   Needless to say I have already secured proper permits for our last two runs September 27 and October 4.  I will pay any price to ensure our last two training runs go on as planned.  Heck those are the fun runs we will be TAPERING and on the 27th if you want you can bring snacks.

NEWS FLASH: I am going to hand out a homework assignment, which needs to be done by Sunday September 21.  I want you all to listen to two songs.  The first one is “Like a Rock” by Bob Seger.  The other one is “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen. 

Our “Bike the Course with Spero” was rained out on Sunday.  Spero has rescheduled it for Saturday September 20 at 7:00am.  The ride will start from Columbus and Jackson.  Spero will have maps and highlight sheets for the course.

Let me start right off by telling all of you that Larry is doing fine.  He thanks all of you for your concerns. He was in pretty bad shape and will follow up with his Dr. to make sure everything is okay. He suffered heat stroke and was dehydrated. The fact that nobody at the finish line (yes he did finish) thought about a IV for some time may have made a bad
situation worse. He said once he get some attention at the hospital and that shot of morphine he came right around. I spoke to him just after the Bears game was over. He recorded it and was planning on watching it.  I did not have the heart to tell him the result, I did not want to send him back to the hospital.

You never know how a run will go until you do it. I don't care what the weatherman says before you go to bed, you just never know. You do whatever you can to put yourself in the best position and then you do your best. Some of us may have ran too fast for the conditions. Some of us found that running a pace that was too slow was just as bad. You have to run your race, find your pace. Personally I am a social runner, I feed off of you but I understand why you sometimes leave me behind.

I hope everybody took advantage of the grilling opportunities. Ricster had the charcoal red hot when we arrived and they did not go out until the last of our runners triumphantly came across the finish line. I want to give a big thank you to all of you who made our picnic a huge success.  We already have ideas to make it better next year (if there is a next year).

The last 20 miler is over and now come what we live for the TAPER. Next week we run 12 on Saturday and 4-6 on Sunday. Go to the events page for details of Sunday's run. Unlike our bike ride of last week, Sunday's run is a rain or shine event.

Don't forget Saturday is bring a snack to share day.  In order to prevent me from going to jail we are going to implements a few new rules for whenwe gather before we start. They are very simple; we need to keep three parking spots open in front of the picnic table and three spots open across the lot from the picnic tables. The spots in front of the table will be for people who want to hear whatever announcement there are, the three spots across the lot are for people like those on the first bus. This will allow traffic to get in and out. I have gotten very much from my role in this program and I try not to impose on any of you I am asking for your cooperation in this matter.

Don't forget that tickets to our post marathon banquet go on sale next Saturday and will only be on sale for two weeks. Vist the Events page for more details.

I want to thank all of you for the snacks you brought yesterday.  I must admit that I was prevented from enjoying them as I normally would by the police that were looking for me.  I finished 11.85 miles when I was stopped by a friend who informed me the police were waiting for me.  It seems they knew we had a picnic permit when what we needed was an events permit.  I hope to have all of that worked out by next week.  If I don’t then I will park at the golf course and at 6:50am in the pavilion I will lead short prayer. Then if I have anything to add I will do it there. I will have tickets on sale for our post marathon banquet; check our events page for details. Next week upon completing our simple 8 miles I will count on my fast friends to inform me of any conditions in the parking lot.  If there is a police present there I will continue the loop back to the golf course and change cloths and then drive to Yankee and again go the pavilion where I hope to speak with each of you and wish you well.  

I may have been unable to enjoy the snacks as normal on Saturday but let me tell you in the company of some good friends I enjoyed them as we bused home from the finish line.  From the homemade cookies to the M&M peanuts I enjoyed it all.  I will run a couple extra miles this week.  It was decided after this run that this run is something we will put a higher priority on next year.  We believe as a group that many runners could benefit from it.  Those of us who know the course and don’t necessary need to see it again, well we just enjoy being there.  We saw the mile marks and saw the new 26-mile mark on Roosevelt instead of on Columbus.  We will market it better next year.  Perhaps we can invite Ryan Hall to attend.  I hear if we did that we might get a few more runners to participate.

Enjoy the TAPER it is what I live for.  I look forward to seeing each of you next week.