It's all in the hands of the gods.

Three weeks from now I will have completed my first full marathon. Hopefully I will have done it in under 3 hours. I've had some workouts in the last few weeks that have let me know the fitness is there; they were also great confidence boosters as well: a 16 mile long run with the last 13 miles at race pace (6:50s), a 22 mile long run with the last 6 miles at race pace, and 10x800 on the track in 2:50 with one lap easy jog active recovery. I've prepared as well as I can, now it's, "all in the hands of the gods," as they say.

In 11 days I'll no longer have a cell phone. In 24 days I'll be on a plane to Europe. In high school I would never have imagined what twists and turns my life would take up to this point. What wonderful surprises they have been. I made it through college, somehow became a bass player, made some of the best friends in the world and then spent years making music and touring with them. I've been just getting by, but I've never felt poor. I became an endurance athlete - first a runner and then a triathlete. I've never had a "real" job. I look back on all of these things and smile. Now I'm moving to Budapest with one of my best friends. I can only shake my head and wonder what the future will bring. Although this isn't the path that most people take, I feel like I'm doing it right.

T-36 days to liftoff.

With this one way plane ticket in my hand, I know there's no turning back. I'm starting to count down the days. I stare at empty bookshelves and for the first time I feel the weight of leaving, and of what I'm leaving behind. I'm finding it harder and harder to fall asleep. I'm having dreams of airplanes crashing in reverse. The plane flies tail first out of a fiery explosion, like a phoenix. It takes me through the clouds into the clear, blue sky. I always wake up before it sets me safely down back home. I'm starting to look at the city and imagine how it will look in the future. I'm starting to see things as "staying" or "going." I'm starting to count down the days. I've started missing my friends while I'm hanging out with them. I pay more attention to their details, as if I'm storing them up - saving them to get me through a long winter. Every time I've ever seen the ocean it looks like it goes on forever, but I'll bridge that horizon and forever will end on another continent. I've stopped buying things I can't take with me. I'm missing you already. I'm starting to count down the days.

In case you missed it.

I don't know how many people read my blog who don't read my facebook, but in case you missed it I quit the band. There's really no good way to explain why, so the short version is that it just became more stress than fun.

Also, I'm moving to Budapest, Hungary with Johnmark. Best idea ever? We'll see.

I typed an entirely different update here...

then I deleted it. You want to know what I've been doing? Honestly, I spent 47 miles this week trying to outrun my problems. So far it's not working, so next week I'm shooting for 50.

Yeah, it's been a while.

In my defense, I was on tour for a month. Or, I'm lazy. :P Now I'm home, so I have no excuse. Here's the tour recap:

Week 1:

Lincoln kickoff show was rad. Played a house show in Omaha with Houston Calls (great band. awesome dudes.). Two days in Springfield with our good friends. Went cliff jumping (50 foot cliffs) at a lake and grilled in the evening. Hot Springs, OK with The Last Slice (great ska band. crazy kids.). Another couple show in Oklahoma.

Week 2:

Dust storm in Lubbock, TX and friends. Show in a weird metal venue/practice space and friends. Day off at Elephant Butte Lake with Mike's relatives. Awesome relaxations times. :) Tucson show where kids were singing the words to our songs. Tempe with Nebraska friends. DISNEYLAND!!!

Week 3:

San Diego - got to eat at Sombrero's! Couple shows in the L.A. area. Awesome backyard house show with our Claremont friends. Concord show with our NoCal friends. Beautiful drive through northern CA kind of reminded me of home. Hotel in Oregon upgraded w/ a pool! Beautiful running trail. Portland has the biggest bookstore I've ever been in. <3

Week 4:

Unexpected Nebraska friends in Seattle. Met Mike and Tom from MxPx in Bremerton (Tom was our bartender at the venue)! Super nice people made us feel at home. The Pacific NW is beautiful. It's a crazy, mountainous forest! :) Boise is an AMAZING town with really cool people. Two shows that night. Todd was super great to us. Logan, UT is quaint. Slept in the venue. Had a great (and hilly) run there. Beautiful views. Ft. Collins show was a bust, but got to see old friends. Fun show in a weird venue in Denver. Drove home that night. Blew a tire on the trailer at 6:30 in the morning. Made it back alive!!!

Came back to my job at The Lincoln Running Company. Love that place. Picked up a second job at the YMCA (so I can do swim workouts again). :) Ramping up my training in hopes of doing the Des Moines marathon. Will be my first full if I can make it without getting injured. 36 miles last week, 42 this week. 14 mile long run this morning with Ben. Went in the country where it was SUPER hilly. Both of us felt bad. Averaged about 8 minute pace. That's not going to cut it, but I'll worry about speed later in the training (and on a day when I'm feeling better). Top of my right foot has been hurting a bit. Don't know what it is, but it's not slowing me down so I guess I won't worry about it for now.

Now you're all caught up.

Wicked

     I've had some good times since my last post.  Got to hang out with Evan Bovee.  It was good to see him, and I'm excited to hang out with him again in a few weeks when we play Springfield, MO.  Kate and I skipped the Jason Mraz show and just hung out.  That was probably the best decision of my week.  I always have a great time when I'm with that girl.  Thursday I packed a bunch of friends in the van and we headed to Lawrence, KS to see NFG with Bayside, Set Your Goals, and Fireworks.  NFG played for well over an hour and didn't play a single bad song.  It was a great show.  Last night I went to Omaha with  my brother and some friends to see Wicked.  It was absolutely amazing.  We went to Old Chicago and got some food and drinks after the show got out.

     The band has been stressing me out lately.  Between single-handedly booking our month long June tour to the West coast and spending all of the money I have, and some I don't have (I had to sell my bass cab) to order new t-shirts and reorder our CDs, I've just been going crazy.  I feel like I'm not getting any help at all.  So it goes.  We've got a few things in the works that might turn out to be good for us, so I just need to keep it together and get through this.  

     Guess that's about it.  Nothing fun specifically planned for this week, but I'm sure something will come up.

-E

...and then Kate called me out.

So now you get another update.  It's been just over a month since my last blog.  Here's what you've missed:

We went on a short, week-long tour through the Midwest.  Didn't really make  much money, but we had a KILLER time!!!  :)  Lots of fun and friends in the Midwest

I can run again (kind of)!!!  My IT band is still really tight, but I've been  stretching, strengthening, and using the TriggerPoint on it (this stuff is AWESOME), and now I can run pain free for about 30 minutes.  Slowly but surely, I guess

Because of said injury, I was unable to run the Lincoln Marathon today, but I went out to cheer on all my friends.  It kind of bummed me out being around all the excitement but not being a part of it.  However, I saw my friends go through some amazing and heart wrenching things today:  Kate ran the half really fast and hit her goal time!  Ginni ran her first marathon in 3:31 and qualified for Boston!  Ben, founder of Market to Market, killed the half with a PB 1:27!  My training buddy, Jorge, had a bad day - he's a new daddy :) - but still ran a 2:53 marathon!  Mark's legs shut down around mile 22, forcing him to mostly walk the rest of the race.  I saw him break down in tears after crossing the finish line, only to learn later that he was on pace to run 3:25 before mile 22, but ended up running 3:34 and missing his qualifying time by 4 minutes.  

This week I'll be seeing Jason Mraz (yeah, you read that right, Barrett) and The Plain White Tees with Kate.  Mraz is a little chill for my tastes, but he's growing on my.  Plus, I've always wanted to be just like Barrett.  That show is on Tuesday.  

I'll stay in Omaha Tuesday night and drive to Ames, IA to pick up our new trailer.

Thursday night I'm heading to Lawrence, KS with some friends to see New Found Glory, Bayside, and Set Your Goals!!!  Can you tell which show I'm more excited to see?  Ahaha.  However, I'm more excited to go with Kate on Tuesday than with the pop punk friends on Thursday, so it all evens out.  :)

Friday?  Maybe a date...maybe.

Saturday I work all day.  15 hours.  As usual.

Sunday just might bring a long bike with Jorge.  Looking forward to getting out on the bike more now that the weather is getting nice.  

Guess I have a busy week, but I'm looking forward to all of it.  Other than that, it's been business as usual.  Booking our June tour to the West Coast is stressing me out.  Working too much.  Not working out as much as I'd like.  Finished reading Once a Runner.  Good book.  Started reading Slapstick by Vonnegut.  So it goes.