Jewels - Dang! And I'd only had one! Okay, it was a pint glass w/two shots . . . but I'm a light weight. Cheap date! Cindy - Great pics! And Mairead looks so happy. Can't say the same about our former feral kitty, BK. He has a really bad eye infection. Hub had to take him to the vet yesterday, and we're suppose to put eye drops in his eyes 3x a day. Ha! Hub had to hold him last night while I tried to get them in, and this morning when we tried the same tactic, he freaked (BK, not hub). He hissed at Shorty and now he won't go near him. I got him to come to me and tried to get the drops in before he ripped me apart. Now he's PO'd at me, too. Poor guy. He just doesn't understand. What a beautiful morning it was! Near my house, it was pretty foggy, which messed with my asthma, but once I got about a mile down the road, it cleared up. Beautiful half moon surrounded by a fuzzy, golden halo, and a jet stream cloud streaking right over the top of hit. Lots of stars and clear sky. Soon I'll be watching the sun come up on my a.m. runs. Can't wait. Did a little under an hour this morning and felt really good. 5.55 miles in 56:10 = 10:08 pace. Haven't had any new blisters in about two weeks, so that's a BIG positive. Listened to the 2/10 podcast by SteveRunner (Phedippidations). He told us to try something new. Smile when running! How does it make you feel? His podcasts are great. Okay, get out there and have a grand day. Spring's right around the corner!

Woo-Hoo! I just got confirmation that I can take Mairead for the Slacker's Half Marathon the end of June!!

Mairead's come to be quite the athlete! <sigh>> I'd love to have a dog to run with. My friend is looking into adopting one. Of course, she couldn't run with us at first, but if Karen does get her, it'll be fun to eventually have a four-legged friend on the trails. We see lots of them out there on Saturdays. And big four-legged friends - horses. Anybody know why when I try to change my avatar it doesn't always do it? I'll do the whole browse, pick, and save thing, and sometimes it just won't do it. Then suddenly, VOILA! It's changed! </sigh>

Where is she looking to adopt from?

Hey! That was quick! It's from someone locally. It's a red-something or other hound. She's one of 3 or 4 other dogs and isn't happy. Karen's been trying to set up a time to go over and see the dog, and if they get along, go back a few more times and take her out to see how the two of them do together before making a decision.

Hi 40's - Just got back from a nice getaway to Charlotte NC. 2 Snowstorms in Albany just since we returned on Friday. SHEESH!

Hi guys from BEAutiful Palm Springs CA, dw and I got in 3.1 on a bike path around town. My garmin was totally confused and took forever to self locate, could be not used to booting up at 70 degrees instead of 12. Anyway shorts and tee weather here, really good to get out after setting in conference most of the day. Half day of conference then to San Diego tommorow nite then to Denver and back to the sticks by thurs nite or fri morn. Its fun to get away but at home I don't have to wait on any traffic lights !

Farmer Jim - I was in Palm Springs last may for a legal secretaries' conference. I love it!! In the "Old Town" section, there's a bronze bench w/Lucille Ball (me and my buddy, Denise): We had a great time there, and it was so nice being warm! Arla - Unfortunately, I'm not the one getting the dog. It's my running buddy, Karen. Yes, I have my hands plenty full with the cats. BK and I have come to an understanding about the eye drops. He wants to eat, I need to get the drops in his eyes. He comes to the food bowl, I capture him do my duty, give him lots of love, then let him go. He gets PO'd and goes outside, but is soon back to eat. With my hub, he still won't go near him. Just goes to show - those critters know who the Giver of Canned Food is! Also, take it easy on your back. I've read or been told both don't run when your back's messed up and run. Who knows. Maybe sticking to power walking for a few days so that your keeping mobile, some good back strengthening exercises, ice, and anti-inflammatories. One of my favorite pics from vacation. Did anybody see the first Mission Impossible? Remember the first scenes where every gets killed? They're in Prague, and this is where it all happened. Shorty (my hub) was humming the theme one day as we were walking across the Charles Bridge. We came across a group of young guys who were looking down on this spot and one of them was humming the theme, too. Shorty's all, "Hey! I was just doing the same thing!" It was cute. Oh, and I exercised today, since that's suppose to be the theme of this thread. An hour of strength training. Kept the squatting to basically zilch because of the knee. Have a great Hump Day!

4 miles on ice and fresh snow along the Hudson River today. 3 straight days of running, although Monday's was just a 2-mile jaunt to encourage a co-worker to get in the lunch-time running habit, and I'll do the same tomorrow if she's game. Good way to get back in the running every weekday groove for me. My two oldest sons went to the Track and Field team meeting yesterday after school. One is in 10th grade and hasn't done a running sport before, but always works really hard in running drills in football and baseball practice. Very glad he listened to me and isn't playing baseball again after the experience we had with the coach last year. No. 2 son is in 8th grade, ran modified (7th and 8th grade) XC last fall, and is waiting to see if he wants to do modified track or Varsity. His dilemma is that his brother and he will probably both wind up doing the mile and the two-mile, so if he runs Varsity they will be competing head to head. These two are VERY competitive in everything they do, and his older brother is not the least bit supportive of anything he does. Every compliment is backhanded. Figures, as they are only 15 months apart (I know, it's my fault!). Anyway, in the end, the younger one is the more talented runner, but the older one is more focused when it comes to working hard for a result. It'll probably be good for them to run the same events, but maybe not head to head. Probably just leave it up to the coaches, or at least let them know what they're in for. Have great runs and workouts everyone. Bike commuting hopefully starts in about 4 weeks.