It does the thinking for me.

Yep! that's what I need from MY electronic devices! ......With the possible exception of the ragweed, I'm loving the smells of the trail lately! Crab apple trees, hyacinth, tulips, people mowing lawns for the 1st time..... & freshly turned dirt! especially the backside of the Botanical Gardens! Speaking of Spring!....... we've gotten some new "birds" hitting the feeder lately!! It's looking like I'll have to pay more attention to the time of day/temp &/or locations to continue running w/Mairead thru the Summer....She seems to be less comfortable mid-day above 60* than Misty...& she still unsure about drinking out of a water bottle!.... she's still cautious about learning new things! well, some things! creeks seem interesting! I may need to find all the creek-side trails (which would be cooler for me too! ) & I'm hoping I didn't do anything too bad yesterday was feeling really good after Sunday's race/run. I didn't feel like I'd pushed it too hard - & I didn't want to, with keeping in mind the HM this coming Sunday. Had an "awareness" of my quads - but nothing felt stiff/sore...no reason for Vitamin I! So, I went out intending a real easy 3-4 miles & pretty right away I was pretty aware of my quads - particularly the right ~ I believe Sartorius/Medialis ...?...just didn't want to loosen up very easily...so, I just focused on slow & steady....even took a couple of short walk breaks....until Abby called that she'd misconnected w/her friends to walk home from school! Quick assessment of my position on the trail loop put me closer to turn around & run to the school than to continue home, get the car & drive over....by this time, everything is feeling great! ~ loosend up (finally!) soo, I kicked it (mostly) for just shy of 1.4 miles & oh gosh, it felt soo gooood! I think Garmin had my best pace @ 7:08 (on a slight downhill grade! ended up w/5.8m ) but as soon as I stopped to walk home w/Abby, oh my! something isn't quite happy! & it didn't walk out quite so well! By the end of my TNT meeting a couple hrs later, I was limping felt like that muscle group had no strength to hold me up! (controls lateral rotation) doesn't feel like I tore anything.... It's marginally better this am...getting better as I move & took 3 Ginger capsules...schedule has 4 miles...NOT happening! Should I rest all the way to Sunday?? I don't want to move from "pi$$ed off" to injured! ....Thoughts guys?? Cindy

Cindy - Listen to your body and give it a rest. Like Carol said, you've already put in the mileage to build your base. Your running this week is merely to keep you active. Your HM is on Sunday? Take today and tomorrow off, go through two or three 20-minute rotations each of heat and ice (ending with ice) over the next couple of days, then try and ease into things on Thursday/Friday. Don't try running at first, stick with brisk walking and see how your quad feels. If you can, stay on flats, even if you have to go around the same block a hundred times. Make sure you warm up really good on Sunday, and if you need to walk at times, then do it. Remember, there are lots of runs in your future. Go into Sunday telling yourself you're gonna have fun no matter what! PS - Is that a bushy tailed brown squird in that there feeder??? Carol - I'll go back through the last couple of threads and look for the Moab link. Did 45 min with the The Firm gals today and will have my PT tonight. That'll give me more than enough cardio for the day. We had to take our former feral kitty, BK, to the vet today for a tooth cleaning. It was quite the effort to catch him and put him in the carrier. First, we couldn't feed him and he's like, "What the he!!??" Little squeaky meows all morning. I had to put him outside while I fed everyone else. I felt terrible! Then we had to close all the doors to other rooms and bring out the carrier. He knew exactly what was going down. Took all my coaxing capabilities to calm him down enough for hub to pick him up and get him in the carrier. Any other time, he's perfectly fine. But when it comes to imprisonment - nuh uh. Talk about terror in the eyes. Poor guy. The vet people were going to put him in quite isolation to try and keep him calm. I tol them they may have to give him a sedative through the door before they can take him out of the carrier. Good luck! Hub watered the yard really good yesterday . . . so it's raining today. Figures.

There's two of them in the picture! Right?? I thought it was one big one. Thought they grew 'em big in Coleradee

Cindy - the rest is going to do you some good, you're gonna come out swinging!Good to hear that it's already improving, but I think you're taking the right approach with just a little walking. What's the ginger do? Jewels - good news on the audit, bet you're relieved. Leslie - poor kitty! That's gotta be tough for a former feral cat. We're getting a slight break in the heat, but I'm still feeling nervous about getting out in it - gonna try a semi-long run tomorrow but try loops close to home. Arla

Going to try and sneak in a run early tommorow. Catch up with you all when it rains again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1mqOq1cbYQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wLpqG9RTJM

Farmer Jim - Is that inside your tractor? What a load of equipment. It ain't like great granddaddy used to farm, is it?? Cindy - Thanks for the link. I wish I liked the taste of ginger, but it ain't a real favorite of mine. A couple of friends even like the pickled stuff. Yuck! Jewels - Now that the audit is over, you can breath a sigh of relief, huh? The 5k fun run sounds like a good time. By drinks, are ya talkin' water or something a little stronger?? Arla - I don't know how you guys deal with the heat thing. When I visit my in-laws in AZ, I have to get really early or I just can't do it. Tried to do a 6-mile progressive run this morning. Was suppose to do my "usual" pace for 4 miles, then kick it up for the last 2 miles. Well, well, well . . . . about Mile 5 my intestines started grumbling at me. I had to stop 3 times to get things under control, just praying that whatever escaped would live by the creed of "First, do no harm." I haven't had that close of a call in a long time. Geez! Good thing I'm working on the Buns of Titanium, 'cause I had those babies squeezed reeeeeeally tight! (Aren't you glad I'm so willing to share my misery with you?? ) So last night I found some very disturbing news. Did you know that for the first 20 minutes of a workout you are burning no fat?!? None! I did not know this! And then, you have to keep your heart rate up to a certain level (depending on age) in order for fat-burning to happen. Now, I knew about the heart rate thing, but I had absolutely no idea about the 20 minutes. Blew me away! So all these stupid DVD aerobics I've been doing - more than like not burning any fat because my activity level has gone beyond what they can do for me. I can't keep my heart rate up high enough. So figure out what it's like to really work at my target heart rate, my PT, Galen, straps his heart rate monitor on me and sets me on a stationary bike. I only road for 10 minutes, but holy cow! I was suppose to keep the RPMs at about 90 and my HR at about 166. It was hard! After 10 minutes, I was sweating like a pig and it was, "Okay, I'm done." . . . and then I had to do my PT. I am still just absolutely amazed by the difference. So now I want a stationary bike at home, and I'm definitely going to get an HR monitor. Galen spent about 20 minutes with me after my PT explaining all this to me. He also gave me new exercises "for my knee" (at least that's what's in his notes ) to help strengthen my back and hopefully eliminate the problems I've been having. I tell ya, I can't sing the praises of this guy enough. Shucks! I think I have a crush on my PT!

Buns of steel, er, I mean titanium.....that is just too darn funny. Glad you made it back home safely without any well.....accidents! Thanks for sharing