We arrived at the fair at around 9am this morning and left just a little after 7pm. I think it was the longest day we have had at the fair. The final reading on my Pedometer was 9.4 miles. But I don’t feel I did as much walking as I have in past years. Oddly enough, my feet don’t ache either. (yet)

I got some good pictures, you can check a few of the highlights out at my Flickr account. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/onastick/ ) The picture on the right is me with the Minnesota Wild Mascot. I will post all of our pictures once we get home.
Some highlights from today:
- Nicole stopped at the MN Lottery both, purchased a ticket and won $50 on the spot. We got $40 in cash and got some more tickets, but did not win much more.
- The following foods were consumed: Hot Dish on a Stick, multiple Pronto Pups, Sirloin Steak on a Stick, Secret Peanuts, Turkey Sandwich and Sweet Martha’s Cookies with all you can drink milk.
- Got some new polo shirts for work.
- Because we are “Friends of the Fair” we got an exclusive tour and reception party at the historic Bailey House on the fairgrounds. We got to meet a bunch of the head fair people and got to tell them all about our obsession. It was fun.

Tomorrow we start it all over again and plan just as much fun. The twitter thing did not work out as much as I would have hoped. I only found 1 open wireless connection near the education building. All of the other connections were locked down. So, I will probably go back to the same spot and twitter a little bit, but not as much as I hoped.

Bags are packed, batteries are charged and the car is fueled. We are ready for the fair.
You will notice to the right I put my twitter feed directly on this page. It shows the last 4 entries from my twitter account. I will keep updating it as much as I can so check back often. I am hoping to have wireless access most everywhere we go and should be able to update often. Hopefully you will get a bite by bite account of our days at the fair. You can also visit the page directly here: http://twitter.com/maslowrun

In one week we will be blissfully masticating on timber mounted culinary concoctions. (food on a stick) The entire State Fair really goes against everything I am doing with my running and eating healthier, but I dont care. I am, however, bringing my workout clothes so I can use the gym in our hotel. But I don’t know if I will have any energy by the end of the day to even use it anyway. I plan to bring my pedometer along to see just how much walking I do at the fair. I tend to have severe Attention Deficit Disorder while walking from one end to the other as my attention goes from one shiny object to the next. I always start out by trying to plan what I am going to do and in what order. But it never works out.

As always, I will try to post pictures from our hotel room. Depending on my ability to find wireless points, I might even Twitter. Though this would be about the only time I would EVER do this. Here is my twitter page you can check next week on Monday and Tuesday to see if I am able to post anything. http://twitter.com/maslowrun

Until then, enjoy our pictures from previous years:
MN State Fair 2008
MN State Fair 2007
MN State Fair 2006
MN State Fair 2005
MN State Fair 2004
MN State Fair 2003
MN State Fair 2002

Nicole had fun showing Dee at the fair, though she misbehaved the entire time. I did get one kind of decent picture of the two of them. I ended up killing my feet by wearing my cowboy boots that I have not worn in about a year. I figured the fair would be the perfect place to wear them, but for some reason they really don’t fit me anymore. They are too big. So by the end of the day, my feet were very sore. After the horse show, we wandered around the fair and got our first smell and taste of grease in preparation for the Minnesota State Fair in two weeks. Nicole had a pork sandwich and I had some BBQ chicken on a stick that was to die for! Finally our local fair has food that is worthy of being called Fair Food.

Tonight I got a good run in again and am getting very excited for my upcoming race. But The Minnesota State Fair comes first, so I have to prep for that too. Walking the grounds at the fair takes a lot of stamina since I am typically on my feet the entire day.

I had today and yesterday off to study for my upcoming CISSP test on Saturday. (glad this thing is almost over) But before I hit the books, I hit the bike trail and improved my 5k time again. I can still do better, but I am happy with the direction I am going. Thursday I got a running hat so my noggin doesn’t get sun burned. It also, conveniently, kept the sweat out of my eyes.

Nicole decided she is going to show her horse this Sunday at the local fair. So while I am testing tomorrow, she will be out at the barn making the horse pretty. She is probably just as nervous about showing as I am about taking my test.

Saturday night we went to a friends house out in the country and helped celebrate her son’s graduation with a picnic and a Bonfire. I have been to Bonfires before, but never to one quite as big as the picture on the right. The burn pile was about the size of a house and the flames looked shot up around 3 stories or so. The food was really good and so was the fire. But the bugs used us as their own personal Old Country Buffet. Yes, we used bug repellent, but it apparently didn’t work.

On the fitness front I got confirmation that this running thing is working. I knew I was doing something right when I had to punch a new hole in my belt and then when I had to go buy new pants because they were just too saggy to be comfortable. The nice gals at my local fitness center did a follow-up body analysis to the one I did back when I first started running. So far I am down 16lbs and lost 2% body fat. That last number is significant because I lost a lot more fat then I lost overall, meaning I have gained a lot of muscle in the process. I am not as far along as I would like to be, but I keep remembering that the Shin Splints took me out for a couple weeks too.

I have also decided to do my first 5k race. It is the President’s Bowl on September 5th. I am getting ready to send in my registration which will make it official. So wish me luck!