Mornin', Gang ~ Five miles this a.m. with 10 hill repeats - 5 long, 5 short - with nothing malfunctioning. Yea! Hub's stress test is today. I asked if he would mind if I went with him. Can you guess the look I got? Think I'll just ensure I'm by the phone in case anything happens . . . We watched "Awake" last night. Don't waste your money. The concept was good, but the movie sucked. Well, gotta get going and finish up end of the month billing. Later!

Leslie - just a tip - unless you have really strong hands, spring for kevlar-beaded rather than steel-beaded tires for your bicycle. They are MUCH MUCH easier to take off and put back on in case you need to fix a flat. I also carry a spare tube, because it's a PIA to patch a tube and it doesn't always work very well. You'll of course also need a pump (or CO2 cartriges) and tire irons. I also carry a small multi-tool in case something gets loose or needs adjusting. And you *are* wearing a helmet, right? OK, I'll take my "Mom" hat off now. Cindy - send pics of the paint job! Sounds nice! Jim - glad to hear you dodged the hail bullet. Saw some pics on the news showing enormous hailstones and thought about you folks. Jewels - you and your crazy schedule! I can't believe you've added all that coursework Have a slightly sore left achilles today after going for an earlier-than-usual run, probably didn't warm up slowly enough. Ice pack tonight. Going to have to re-learn how to ease into these early am runs, it's been a couple of years since I've jumped out of bed and onto the road. Arla

Hi Guys! I don't have time right now to catch up with everyone but I will. Life is still crazy but I'm going to try to whip out a race report for you...here it goes. The Nipmuck Trail marathon in Ashford, CT went really well for me. I had done it last year so there wasn't too much that was new. It's an awesome course in that it's all in the trees. It's a single track hiking trail for the most part and you have to follow the blue blazes painted on the trees. Rolling hills, nothing too big but big enough that I did do some walking. You actually start in the middle and go out the trail in one direction for a little over 6 miles and turn around and then go through the start area again and out the trail in the opposite direction for a little over 7 miles and turn around to come back to finish. It's actually 26.4 miles (the last .8 are marked). My strategy this year was to start closer to the front so I wouldn't get caught up behind slower runners and not be able to pass them and lose time. So we started and I was right near the front, going faster than I would have liked but I new I would level off soon. I was behind this woman and tried to pass her when my toe caught a stick and down I went! Teach me for passing within the first couple miles! I was fine and only fell back one spot and then shortly later she pulled off to let a couple of us by her. I made it to the turn around and since it is an out-and-back was able to count that I was in 7th place for the women. Cool! I was only out to beat my time from last year-a top 10 finish is extra frosting on the cake! Along the way, I caught up to a woman and passed her and she told me I was now in 6th place-I didn't make a big deal about it-I'm running my own race today. Then a woman passed me and I promptly told her she was in 6th place! Jack was running too and we had put coolers in the woods at the start area to restock out fuel belts with our drinks. If I carry my own stuff then I don't waste time at aid stations. I made a quick stop and kept going. By now it's 10:30am ish and getting a little warm but luckily I was in the trees. I was by myself for the most part. I think I passed a couple guys along the way and made it to the turn around. The last woman who had passed was there eating. I got some water and couldn't decide what to eat so I just left. The other woman saw me leave and I think she got going soon after but I wasn't looking back and if she passed me then all the power to her. It must have been around mile 20 but I was really feeling good-I was taking little shots of coke at the aid stations. I just cruised-I didn't want her to catch me and then around mile 23ish I caught another woman. We were walking up a hill and I asked how she was doing-she was having some cramping issues. Too bad-see you later! She wasn't walking very fast so it was easy to get ahead and I had seen the other woman a little ways behind me.... Got to go to work...I'll finish it later! Kelly

Excellent Kelly !! Way to go !

Jewels- copy and paste to this post the link that says "img" in it. I think that's how I do it, but they often come out too big.....

Here are some pictures-photobucket isn't shrinking them so I have no idea how big they are and I haven't done this in a while... Here's the Portopotty.. On the table to the right was rolls of toilet paper in case you didn't want to wait in line and go al fresco. Here's the inside.... Jack and I with the finish award or even the start award-you can take it whenever.. Some action shots.... I got the picture thing figured out! Thanks for the help! Kelly

Kelly - Way to go, girl!! You fairly blew that trail away! (Love the porta potty pic ).