Drought Saying of the Day

As you may have heard on the news (I know if you've watched the Weather Channel they've mentioned this, and I know that the Weather Channel is national--except for Los Angeles where the weather never changes), we're in the middle of a severe drought in the Southeast. The governor of Georgia called for a mandated 10% reduction of water usage, and we recently got a letter from Fulton County (the county we live in, and the supplier of our drinking water) that if they couldn't acheive the 10% reduction through voluntary measures then they would financially penalize the people who were not achieving the 10% reduction. So we're doing our part--the kids take baths in much less water than they used to, and then we save the water to use on the plants (both inside and outside). But the best thing I've heard for saving water is a saying that I heard my mother-in-law say:

If it's yellow, let it mellow, If it's brown, flush it down!

I laughed out loud when I heard that one! I'm not sure where she heard it, so I can't give the appropriate attribution, so if any of my 3 regular blog readers know, please tell me!

Did it Again: Marathon Man Times 2

Sorry for the lack of blogging--like it says at the top of the screen, I'm fairly terse. That translates into, "I dont' blog a lot." So for the two people whom I know check in on this blog on occasion, let me just say, "Hey Cat and Wally!" Yeah, you know who you are. Of course, it didn't hurt that I named you. :-)

Anyway, the big news of the evening, actually of the week or month, is that I completed my second marathon, the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon (sponsored by the Chattanooga Track Club), last Saturday. It was held at, you guessed it, Chickamauga Battlefield National Military Park.

I shaved a full 29 minutes off my previous time back in April (though I didn't blog about it until nearly a month later in May). New marathon record time (for me) is 4:14:24. Yes, that's in hours, minutes, and seconds. That's a lot of running at one time!

Here's the official score for the three of us from the Chattanooga Track Club's site:

MALE AGE GROUP: 35 - 39
Place	O'all	Name	Age	City,St	5mi	Half	2ndhalf	Chiptime	Time
=====	=====	=====================	===	====================	=======	===========	===========	=======	=======
40	230	Steven Jackson	38	Milton GA	49:26	2:07:56.10	2:06:27.75	4:14:24	4:14:36
41	235	Darren Chambers	38	Alpharetta GA	49:27	2:07:57.25	2:09:02.35	4:17:00	4:17:12
58	367	Mark Hildebrandt	35	Alpharetta GA	49:38	2:13:37.20	2:48:40.00	5:02:18	5:02:29

Melissa even brought the kids up the morning of the race, and they made it there in time to see me cross the finish line! That was cool. I had my cell phone with me during the race so I could call and touch base with her while she drove, and again while she was finding her way through the park to the finish line. They got there when I was at about mile 23--just in time!

Here's the breakdown, mile for mile:

Mile	Time	Cumulative Time
1:	9:37	9:37
2:	9:59	19:37
3:	10:02	29:39
4:	9:58	39:37
5:	9:48	49:26
6:	9:30	58:57
7:	10:15	1:09:12
8:	9:44	1:18:56
9:	9:14	1:28:11
10:	8:59	1:37:10
11:	10:17	1:47:27
12:	9:42	1:57:10
13:	9:37	2:06:47
14:	9:44	2:16:32
15:	9:45	2:26:17
16:	10:02	2:36:20
17:	9:32	2:45:53
18:	9:16	2:55:09
19:	9:33	3:04:43
20:	9:40	3:14:23
21:	10:18	3:24:42
22:	10:23	3:35:05
23:	9:43	3:44:49
24:	9:45	3:54:34
25:	9:44	4:04:18
26:	8:19	4:12:38
(Finish) 26.2:	1:46	4:14:24

I'm actually feeling great after this one, unlike the previous marathon. I remember reading in my post from May that my knees hurt for days afterward, but this time around, it was only my thighs which were sore, and only for about a day.

We've already signed up for the Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon, as well.

Darren jokingly asked (at least I think he was joking) if I wanted to do the full marathon on Thanksgiving day, and I just said, "No" right away. But in thinking about it, it would make sense, since we're already in shape to run it. But we're just doing the half marathon--don't want to feel bad (i.e sore) the rest of Turkey Day!

While I've been traveling to Winston Salem, North Carolina, on business, I've been training for this race at Salem Lake. I have a blog post in my head about that place. Hopefully I'll get it written soon... stay tuned.

[Update: I can't do math any more...I shaved off 29 minutes from my first marathon time, not 19 as I had originally stated. The time has been updated above. -Steve]