54 days 15h 17m 10s

That's how long until the ING New York City Marathon according to their website. I am in my own little private bootcamp now and Central Park is my private Olympic training center. After 11 days on the DL due to the lower right back/right hip injury caused two nights before the Nike Half, I cleared myself to resume training (three days before the doctor said OK) and am back "in the game." I ran six miles around the park on Saturday morning and was pain-free, which was a huge relief. I thought about entering that morning McDonald's Fitness 4M run with thousands of others, but instead I ran against the grain and watched them, focusing only on my marathon prep. I had some discomfort in my right arch area while running, as I was just unused to my Asics after 11 days off. That resulted in a bruised right arch, so I iced a lot, rested it Sunday, and then this morning I went back and ran five miles on the Lower 5 loop. It was OK, some pain in the last mile and kind of sore now. But compared to the back/hip injury, this is nothing. That's 11 miles in three days, which is a good start getting back on track. I have fallen behind quite a bit and the jury is out on whether I will enter Saturday's NYC Marathon Long Training Run #2 at Central Park, which is anywhere from 6 to 20 miles depending on your preference. My Team for Kids teammates will be running 18 at least. I won't be up for that yet, even though I ran a comfortable 16 a few weeks ago. Lost too much fitness in those 11 days. I'll get there. I am focused. My gameface is on. I'm doing ab work with an exercise ball at home, as well as on the grass off the running path, and I'm back to doing park bench push-ups front/reverse. Lots of stretching. Lots of sweating. Biggest obstacle is controlling my calorie intake, wanting to eat everything in sight because I am working up an appetite. Any members of the "Foodies" group here, I included this post because I welcome anyone's thoughts as I really need to guard myself against overeating and want to lose about 10. I'm drinking over 100 oz water a day, eating chicken, brown rice, too much pasta, too much buttered wheat bread, too many peanuts, etc. Some good, some bad. I'm glad I got the buzzcut, feels great to run and sweat and just pour water over my head and rub it off. Time to run.

Thanks to anyone who has chosen to donate to Team for Kids as a way of supporting my first marathon! I am up to $1,980 I believe, and my required fundraising total is $2500. So I'm getting there, and I am relying on my friends and family and colleagues to help that great cause and make a difference with me. I also encourage anyone who is in the New York City area on November 4 to come on out and cheer! It's going to be an unreal scene. I think about it all the time and keep looking at the course map and videos of past NYC Marathons and everything I am supposed to know. Meanwhile, I am baseball around the clock, and the most historic season in Major League Baseball history is about to have another unbelievably wild finish with a spectacular October. What a life right now...this is crazy.

Just don't let it be a World Series Game 7 on Nov. 1 in Anaheim! I'll need some rest!

Mark