Hi 40s, it's been a while! Leslie Sorry you're sick after your vacation...it kind puts a damper on things huh? (Back in 94 I got pneumonia on a flight from San Francisco to London and was sick for three weeks. Missed my ds's first day at school too, it was horrible.) Get well soon. Farm That's the first time I've heard anyone call the Rocky Mountain national park "dreary." nj joe Yeah! Now that IS dreary! Up here in the Rockies it's bloody cold! I've managed no more than four runs outside since the beginning of the year, and am seriously doubting my ability to train for a full marathon I've signed up for on Jedi Knight day (May the 4th be with you!!!) I dunno who's going be doing a Parade route after Sunday's big game...but it sure looks to be a good one! Go PatriGiants!!!!

Joe, of course it's all in good fun. No bad feelings here toward the Giants. It's not like they're the Jets.... They get a lot of respect here and lots of Pats fans are more than a little worried. last time a team was favored by double-digits in the SB was 2002 (Pats-Rams), and we know how that turned out. Should be a great game and seems to be getting a lot of fan attention. Even from Saph, who is rooting for the Patrigiants! 5 chilly miles along the river.

Hi y'all.. still sniffly, but I think I'm past the worst of it. Ran 5K tonite, now I'm going to sit and have a medicinal glass of wine. (I almost spelled that 'whine.') Take care everyone, I'll try and be a good reader / poster again soon.

Leslie - Isn't the smoking amazing? Apparently, even the runners in Europe smoke - I was just reading a write-up about the Medoc Marathon in France, and at the carbo-loading dinner the night before everyone was smoking! Too bad you don't like beer. There's new research out showing it's a great post-run drink - seriously: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/11/01/scibeer101.xml ...but I think I'll stick to my Ovaltine. Arla

Hey everybody!! Wow! It's been a whole week since I've been on here.....& no "purposeful" runs to report ...(I'll get right on that as soon as I'm a bit more recovered!) ** Grab a LARGE cup of coffee for this one!!!** 1st off, I didn't take my laptop w/me "upstairs"....I probably wouldn't have been on it anyway.....Started out good.....I got a total of 10.3 miles in on Friday last, btwn the run & 3 mi. power walk before scrambling to pack & whatnot for the wknd - including a cooler full of healthy, practical foods - enough for most of the weekend.....DH & I had the opportunity to spend a few days away from the dear children (drama 'n all!) via room special in Breckenridge during the International Snow Sculpture Festival + free lift tickets to Copper Mtn.....both of which are just around the corner from our Mtn house, however, "around the corner" in the winter time still takes 45mins +/- depending on road conditions...whereas a 'nearly free' room IN Breck means that we can have apres-ski cocktails & ride the bus back to the room etc. Sunday was absolutely beautiful! Perfect conditions (as R2 pointed out! ) But! we could see the squall coming in!!! & it cont'd thru Tues am!! didn't prevent us from getting out & about to ride the Gondola, doing some shopping & "sampling" & take in the snow sculptures - here's one from China (or rather, the artists are!) & now....as Paul Harvey says, "For the Rest of the Story......" I shoulda paid attention to the low grade headache towards the end of our play date on Copper...but hey! I haven't been up as much this year, so I'm thinkin' "it's just elevation" so I popped a couple of vit. I's & a 24oz bottle of water & viola! headache all gone. Next! Into town to check in & grab something to eat (lets throw practical/intelligent out the window for now, huh!?) coupla 90-Shillings (darker beer) & some wings... now I'm feeling kinda droopy - hmmm, "how many runs did we do?" I think I'm in pretty good shape, & I wasn't overly tired @ the time.....must be elevation! get a good night's sleep & all will be well! Not entirely - still tired, not quite lethargic, just not spunky....need more water/hydration must not be up to snuff....yeah, that's it! Load up backpack w/some water bottles & head in for "doin' the town" Decided to leave car @ hotel & use the bus...makes parking much easier during special events....(uh, note to self....write down bus schedule!! ) Had a great day - lotsa walking, despite the intermittent activities of the "minor" squall that occasionally made it a bit wicked outside - ya just pop into the next shop to check out their ridiculous t-shirts & novelties, or get a Starbucks, or.... well, by now I'm feeling pretty good - got my energy back...time for dinner....or at least, more wings n beer!! Oh! WAAAY too many beers!! Aaaccckkk!! By the time we left the last bar @ 11:30pm-ish, we were pretty onto sub-zero blizzard conditions & NO BUSSES!! sooo, we snugged up our coats (still wearing the hooded ski parkas) & settled into walking - as fast as we could manage in drifting snow! It's only a mile- mile & 1/2 to the hotel ....A few blocks later, despite the ingested antifreeze, I'm feeling the cold & brought it up to a jog - right down the middle (I think) of the road! We arrived in probably no more than 20 mins (felt like longer) looking like a pr of abominable snowmen!! Terribly bright you say?! me too! Me Too!! for a coupla 18 yr olds! - which we're not! For those of you familiar w/local news up here, that would've been in the approximate time & near-general area that the snowmobilers went missing... I woke around 3 am to gale force winds (they clocked 105 mph somewhere up here!) & sure understanding that it was gonna be a rough day!! (idiot!) 12 hrs later I have full blown chills & body aches....hmmm, maybe it's more than beer & wing stupidity!! Then again, maybe not....by Wednesday, back home.... I still can't get far from the bathroom (tmi) & I still feel pretty soggy (zero energy), but the chills, etc. seem to have abated. (I've had similar bodily responses to beer & grease before ) meanwhile, Mairead is attached to my hip, expectantly! Thermometer says 30* so, I take her to the dog park for an hour - the one w/facilities very near the gate! ....sure felt like 10* to me! Sounds like enough self abuse for one week you say?!? Well, lemme tell ya! Not this chick!! Ha! Thursday I had an "all-day" appt w/Mr. Dentist! 6 lovely hrs of novocaine, drills, yummy mold paste, etc! Oh, half the office is out w/stomach flu, so regardless, I'm not exposing anybody! One more "big" one to set the crowns & top off the implants, then I'm onto just maintenance......Today, is beautiful! 41* F/ 31% H, fairly clear & bright, & I think I'll wait one more day! ....off to the DP so Mairead can get some play time in!

Wow, Mntchk - that's quite a week. How do they make the snow stick together for those sculptures? How many dental implants did you get? Hope you're feeling better soon.

Mtnchk1 Sorry to hear about your dental problems I'm headin' up to Breck next weekend. Leslie Yeah! The smoking in Europe is off the hook! Always make me laugh when people talk about Paris as "the city of love." More like Paris, the city of cigarette smoke stench...not to mention the dog shit stench! Arla Mmmm! Ovaltine sounds good about now! Gonna try and get a run tomorrow...all I need is: NO snow, and NO wind!!! Have a fab Friday and a great weekend everyone. Goooooooooooooo PatriGiants

Arla - I'm more of a coffee/juice kinda gal after my runs. Beer makes me nauseous. Yuck. Farmer Jim - Nice picture! My, but it must be tough having to suffer through such sights. Saph - Your description of Paris makes me want to visit ASAP. Cindy - You are one tough broad. And I say that with all the affection in my heart, little lady. Nice pics, too. I'd love to see a snow sculpture contest sometime. I'm sure all the pictures I've seen don't do it justice. Re doing computer work when sick, I'm over the worst of it. The first 2 1/2 days I couldn't hardly lift my head. Now it's just cough, cough, cough. Cough, cough, cough, and cough again. The downside of all this, I'm tired of being housebound and my ribs and gut are sore from coughing. The upside, I haven't felt like eating and I've lost 3 pounds! I think we also now have a touch of a stomach virus. The lower half of the intestine tract hasn't been too happy the last couple of days. I swear, we can't win for losing right now. I think I'm happy I can't participate in the Clam Beach Run tomorrow. It's suppose to be raining pretty good, and the river crossing is supposedly questionable. The river's the highest it's been in years and is 4-5 feet deep and cold. They've run it through at that depth before, they just have a rope strung across and Coast Guard rescue swimmers at the ready. Hmmm, maybe it'd be fun to "have to be rescued." Yee haw!