Laughter is the best medicine tomwhite - she's in good hands.

I ran 7.5 miles today, which marks the end of my two week R&R period.  Tomorrow and Sunday I will rest, and then Monday begins a reverse taper leading into a 9-week Half Marathon program, with the final milestone being the Hudson Mohawk Half Marathon in October.  I've enjoyed the break and am looking forward to getting back into some interesting workouts.

Today was a 5-mile progression run with a 1.25 mile warm up and a 1.25 mile cool down.  The 5 mile splits were 8:36 / 8:18 / 7:57 / 8:03 / 7:51.  I enjoyed the run, and the weather was a nice 80 degrees with sun and lower humidity.  I can take that kind of weather any time. 

The progression wasn't really intentional.  Like yesterday, I let the pace come to me as it would.  After that sub 8:00 3rd mile I started to feel as though i was exceeding my easy run effort level a little, and stepped it back a bit for mile 4. I only ran significantly faster than 8:00 pace during the final 1/4 mile of the final mile. Most of the quarters were right around 2:00 and felt really comfortable.

Have a greta weekend everyone. 

Brian

Judge Opie. I like it!

Off work today and Monday for a 4 day wknd.  DH and DS left for Sacramento (5 hrs south of us) for the wknd to see the drag car races. It's DH's bday tomorrow, so a fun bday wknd for him. Normally, I would go with, but well, with 2 little puppies now, it sort of put a bit of an obstacle in our getaway wknds together  for at least this summer. But that's fine with me. I'm looking forward to a weekend home alone. That never happens for me.

went out for a short run this morning. only 3.7 miles. wore my new shoes (gel nimbus) and they felt great! I have close to 500 miles on each of my other two pairs of Gel Nimbus, so it's been quite awhile since I've had a new pair of shoes. what a difference!  These are in black/graphite with some deep purple trimming on it. I don't have any running clothes in purple though. And Ribs would not approve, so I guess I need to find a new piece of apparel too.

Last night was our first night of puppy class. boy was that interesting!  Bailey and Bella were so excited and barky for about the first 20 minutes. The other doggy students are some sort of pomeranian mix (a yipper I call it), a little scottie looking dog (terribly terribly shy) and the tiniest little mini-dach mix I've ever seen. only 3 lbs. Mine were the youngest in the class, the biggest, and the most vocal. They probably didn't know that dogs came in such small sizes.

A number of you (or your families or close friends) are facing some adversities.  It's not the cards you are dealt, it's how you play the hand.  Hugs to you.  You are stronger than you know.

 

Peace.

 

Skip

Skip - what a wonderful way for us to support folks.  Took DD and GD & GS to Swan boats and Chihuly exhibit at museum.  When 3 yo GS saw the glass, he went OOHHHH and all the adults laughed because it's how we felt.  hope everyone gets to see a Chihuly glass exhibit whereever they live, marj

Chihuly exhibit at museum. 

This must be what's hanging from the ceiling at the Bellagio in Vegas.  Definitely, "Ooooh!" worthy.

{{{Extra Hugs for Pickles}}}  Tom, you and I were posting at the same time and I just read what as going on.

Tammy - When my SIL had her miniature Chihuahua and we had our cat Ozzy and came to visit, Ozzy would talk Peso trying to figure out what the heck he was.  Smelled like a dog, but definitely didn't look like a dog since Peso was smaller than Ozzy. 

Thinking the second run would just be an easy 3-5 miles after dinner in place of my walk. Anybody have any experience/suggestions with doubles?   Karin? Ribs?

 

 

Hey Skip! Great to see you here again and I hope as frequently as possible. Good running! When I do doubles I try to do the faster running in the mornings and then the second run in the evening is more of a shake-out run to loosen up the legs while building the mileage. This summer, the kiddo has asked me to join him for some of his summer x-c training schedule. There are days when I'll run easy with him in the morning and end up doing the "workout" during the second run, but that has more to do with timing and schedule (or when group track workouts are in the evening). Your plan sounds like a good one. I've been running doubles 2-3 times a week for a month now and plan to continue for the next few months. Feels great!

Hugs to all who need them---now and always.

Ran 4 .2 miles this morning at 5:00 am before heading to NYC for a day of work---back home at 7:00 pm. Nice and cool this morning and it set the day right to start off with a run.

Tammy--I'll report on Hudson's experiences at puppy school after we go tomorrow. It would be great if all the pups could be together. What a photo! Right now Little H is chewing on a Kong toy even though he worked the treats out of it long ago. He usually starts winding down at 8:30 and then bedtime is 9:00 pm or so---goes right into his crate. I am so tired, I may need to get into my crate at 9:00 pm as well. 

CNY - that's about when B&B are ready to sleep also. Anywhere between 8:30 and 9:30 depending on when their last nap was. They are getting too big now for both of them to sleep in the crate so I leave the door open and one of them usually starts out in there but then they both sleep on the dining room floor. Well, actually, we have a foam mat set up in the dining room for the big dogs to lay on during the day if they want, but then at night, the pups usually end up sleeping on it. How late does Hudson sleep in? B&B are like clockwork and it's 5:30 wake up time. A few mornings has been 5:00! and it's all Bella's fault. She is much more spunky and rambunctious in the morning, so she wants to play. (bella is the one you can see in my user pic - with more white on her chest - she has more of the aussie traits).  Bailey would continue sleeping I think  Lately, I've been going to bed about the same time they do because I know I'll be up so early. Like having a baby I guess. I slept when David slept.

Thanks for the tip Avenger Dog. If I can't find something for me, maybe I can find something for Bailey and Bella.

Nothing wrong, Nancy, just very busy these days. I did get out for a run today at lunch though... 4.5 miles, mostly easy effort with 3 x 60 seconds @ mile race pace (~6:40) to wake up the legs a bit. Got an 8k race tomorrow and the forecast is rain. Oh well.

Carolyn, I have to say, I'd do the same thing. Gotta watch those sticks, ya know.

Nice that Leslie got a break with the girls.

The best news I can share here is we got a new water softener installed yesterday! DH tried like crazy to find a way to fix the old one, but it just couldn't come together in time. This is not a luxury for us, it's a necessity with our bad water. Can't use a run-of-the-mill unit like they have at Lowe's or Home Depot either. So found a pretty good single tank model (old one is double tank, and preferred) and enjoying clear water once again. No more morning showers at the gym before work!