hallar, I have a theory (about eveything) but this one is about how looking up further down the road will make you run faster without an conscious effort. Kind of like how if you look to the side of the road your car will veer that way. I had two plod plod plod recovery-style runs Monday (8.6 miles) and today (5.3), but in the most enjoyable setting. Iron Horse State Park (which is not a park but an extremely long section of rail trail). We took the kids camping for 2 days in the mountains. I ran over cushy shaded trail, over the Yakima river, through an old tunnel, past a dam, through a cut out of rock that smelled so strongly of a cave-like mineral dampness that I couldn't get enough of it. Some smells just do it for me, and that is one of them. Wet soil and wet cement are my favourites too. Ok, I'm getting weird on ya, so back to running.... I was so disappointed that I forgot my camera. Beautiful mountains and an ankle soak post-run in a snow-pack fed lake. It just doesn't get any better than that. Now if y'all can lend me $500,000 so I can buy a place up there..... Tramps, oddly I can't say I am all that upset about the singing girls. Look at the US media... who gets to anchor the news??? Ribs - take it easy...you must have lost some blood too. Btw, I am curious as to what tests the docs will do to make sure you body doesn't start to reject the porcine valve. Do you need to take any special meds for that?

Evryday, Welcome back !!!! Glad to see you posting again. Good runs evryday and evryone Larry

Thanks Larry,

Bruce don't fall for it...have you sent your monthly dues to Ribs? I was late on mine and my runs suffered till I got caught up on my payments....he's practicing some sort of Voodoo coaching style. Funny how my heel and paces got better once I got paid up...But hey, glad he is doing well... Tim

7 mile GA run for me today. Trying to get used to waking up early and having long days. Early mornings will soon be my only chance to get in a workout. Sometimes it is frustrating to see all the commentary on women's beach volleyball. Anyone who has played a good deal of beach volleyball knows that a bathing suit is what women wear on the beach, even when they are playing volleyball. A seasoned beach player wouldn't bat an eye at the women's uniforms. As a matter of fact I think you will find many female track athletes with not much more on but they don't seem to generate as many comments. The men usually wear board shorts, and on the AVP tour generally don't wear the basketball style tank top. The FIVB, however, likes to complicate the sport whenever possible and has the men wear shirts so as not to confuse officials when there are only 2 people on a team. Lastly, while these women are great athletes in fantastic shape, to simply objectify them diminishes their athletic ability. As one who coaches college volleyball I felt a need to put forth my opinions. Thanks for reading if you took the time.

I fully understand they are fantastic athletes...but what's wrong with recognizing they look good too. (much like the women do with the male swimmers, dressed in hardly anything) I think you are taking the discussion little too serious ...we are a fairly lighthearted group here Tim

(Warning Tim, "serious" post-- ) Interesting volleyball discussion. I’m no prude and admire an attractive woman whatever she’s wearing (or not). But I think of this in terms of its historical context, of this unique Olympic venue, and of messages to young women, especially. These "small" things do matter. In our culture, women’s bodies have traditionally been objectified and put on display—beauty pageants, fashion, advertising, porn, etc. Women being valued solely for how they look is a part of the history of sexism. In athletics, especially the Olympics, one would hope that the focus is on athletic achievement—what women do. Indeed, athletics is often held up as a positive arena for young women, especially, to gain confidence and battle the culture’s unrealistic, idealized images of women’s bodies (a major contributing factor to the epidemic of eating disorders among young women). Women athletes have struggled for years to be taken seriously. In my opinion, Olympic athletes in bikinis with corporate logos on their bottoms are not a step forward in that struggle. What struck me was that, unlike other sports that I know of, there’s such a big and unnecessary discrepancy between the men’s and women’s attire. This has obviously been used as part of the marketing of this relatively new sport. In this Olympic venue, I just find that sad and would have hoped that athletics could be the focus. Out of curiosity I just Googled “women’s beach volleyball” and on the very first page of results you find a poll about the bikinis, blogs with photos of players with some cropped to include only their butts and this from an enlightened man: “We should just get rid of all the other sports and only have this one. Except they should be naked.” We shouldn't be surprised. And then, to top things off, we learn the Chinese use a little girl’s voice in the opening ceremonies but hide her off camera because she isn’t pretty enough. It’s hard not to think of these things as being related. ETA: A friend--who is using this in a course she's teaching about gender and the media--alerted me to this "informative" feature from NBC. http://www.nbcolympics.com/beachvolleyball/photos/galleryid=122861.html

Nono—I’m with you! Some of the players are complicit in all this and are milking this all the way to the bank. Nothing new about that. When Bush visited the US players the press reported: “Then after a good play, in the tradition of female volleyballers, May-Treanor turned, bent over slightly and offered her bikinied rear-end for the 43rd president to slap. "Mr. President," she said, "want to?"" Great moments in women's history. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/08/bush-olympics.html I predict this whole cheesy affair will become an embarrassment to the Olympics and we’ll see new, more flexible rules in place next time around. The discrepancy is an anachronism in this day and age. (I'm done with this topic!)