Tet that is gorgeous...wow

30 minutes out in the pouring rain..wow do I love to run in the rain. I always feel so alive and can run so much faster...

Read the book The Road yesterday..Cormac's book...kind of a depressing read other than a father's love for his son...but if you put yourself in their situation you could see the same or similiar results...

Enjoy Labour Day..my friends.

Time to make som snickerdoodles...yummy.

Tall

Great pictures Tet.  I was in Seattle once for some meetings and could see Mount Rainer from the hotel window.  I'd love to go back some day and see it up close.

I spent some of my college years working part time at a grocery store in Yellow Springs Ohio.  There was a college in that town (not mine) that was filled with leftover hippies from the 60's.  They had a pretty bad body odor and some of the people I worked with used to try and sneak bars of soap into their grocery carts.  That is how I smelled a couple hours after my run today.  Not sure why it was so bad.  Maybe the shirt was a cheap knock off of an actual "high tech" shirt.

But I digress.

I ran the 39th annual Labor Day Run at the Chippewa Nature Center in my home town of Midland.  It was my 7th time for the race.  This was the first race I ran in Michigan after moving here in August of 2001.  There is a 5k and a 10k, but I always run the 5.  It was a beautiful day for running.  About 58°, cloudy, and windy (but I don't mind the wind.)  

I was feeling unusually good at pre-race time.  No stomach issues, or wishing I could make one last bathroom stop.  I was feeling so good that I was worried that today would be the day I actually drop dead during a race.  I did a little warm-up, but it was a little too early and not enough to be good and warmed up.  I lined up a few rows from the front because the first mile is on a rail trail that can be crowded.

To stay out of the crowds, I took off a little faster than I was comfortable with.  I haven't been doing a lick of speed work and it showed in how hard ot was to move fast.  I hit the first mile in 7:02 where we turned off onto the roads while the 10k continued on the trail.  My heart didn't like going from a total rest state to an all out sprint so it was going, <tt>'hol-y crap, hol-y crap, hol-y crap'</tt>.  I couldn't tell if it was skipping a beat or adding an extra one.  I tried to give it a little rest during that second mile which was 7:25.  But then I was feeling good again, and I wasn't winded at all, so I picked it back up.  The 3rd mile was 7:03.

Normally, I try to just maintain my pace to the end, but I saw 2 people up ahead that could possibly be in my age group so I went as fast as I could over the last few hundred yards.  (Final .1 was in 39 seconds.)

I was 2 of 10 in my age group (50-54).  I was glad to place for the first time at this race because the awards actually have the event name, age group, and place on it.  Everything else I've won just says "age group award winner"  (not that I am rolling in awards or anything.)

Those 2 guys I passed in the last stretch weren't in my age group.  The first one was in the age group below and he took 2nd in the 45-49.  The other one, who didn't let me get by easily, was in the age group above and took 2nd in the 55-59 age group.  So there were 3 of us second place finishers all in a bunch.

The 9 and under winner passed me with a little less than a mile to go with one shoe untied.

The female overall winner finished in 21:24 which is my exact 5k pr I set back in June.

My watch was 22:08.  Official time listed as 22:10.  This was my 3rd best 5k as an adult.

Sweet pictures Tet

I agree Tall. 

..

29min of TOTAL BLISS///////

 

and then

  I could feel the impact

on the hip joints and had to Walk a CoolDown.

 

but NoPain.......

 

 There have been a lot of great posts. This one is over the top.

You ROCK Dave!

Skip's easy 6 is probably my crazy fast.

3.1+ hilly miles with Avenger Doggie and 50(?) of our closest friends. There were a few other dogs. Only one in a cape though. I need to find results. We got 3rd 44-59 AG. Our niece was RD. When we crossed the finish line, I asked if the course was long. She said yeah. It's not certified, so it's not that big of a deal.30:33. Only two people had a sub 24.

...thanks ilene,

 you and SteveP have Made my Day on several occassions......

so have 

every Runner on this board, now that I think about it.

it's a GoodGroup.

Some one was kind enough to share this file from their phone.I hope it works

This is every race we're in together. At races he's a little more worked up than normal.

One arm is longer than the other.

OM  - fantastic PR HM race you had the other day!! - I enjoyed reading about it probably as much as you did running it!

Dave,  I don't think feeling good before a race is a sign of an approaching heart attack!

Steve - that was so funny - you need roller blades then he can just pull you along!

I was up early and ready to run, but the achilles was still hurting.  So I walked the dog instead, and it was hurting by the end.  I've never had an achilles issue before, so I need to read up on it - but I'm kind of afraid to.  I didn't even do anything - an easy 4 miler 2 days ago was all.

 I tried that with my grandmother's dog once. I really thought it sucked until the beast saw a squirrel running through a yard. Then the situation deteriorated.  Friday Avenger Doggie came out of a creek and was shaking himself dry. I yelled, "Ready! Set! Go!" and when he turned and bolted, he ran into a tree.

LOL

I bet he thinks you did that on purpose.  shame on you!  How dare you put that tree there.   I love avenger doggie.  

Weather has been pretty much perfect here.   this was a rest day,  10 planned for tomorrow,  back to work Wednesday AM.