Aamos, thanks for the update on your husband! I'm glad he's doing well. I'm SUPPOSED to be packing, ha, but I had to post my mileage. 7 miles this morning, at 11:08 pace. Now a 7-mile run feels like a 5-mile one used to! DH can't believe that it's so bread-and-butter for me now. We're off to the Boston airport tomorrow at noon. DD is flying to London with my parents on American, and I'm going British Air (had to do with frequent flier tickets). A whole 6+ hours to myself! That may be my favorite part of the entire trip! Our next flight to Johannesburg will be together. Hoping to get one more run in tomorrow morning, since I'm at only 20.5 miles for the week now. I would love to get 30 miles in for a third week in a row! You guys are such a bad influence on me...

7.5 miles in steady rain, I stopped because I really had to go to work. Am I the only one out here who loves running in the rain..? Have a good day everyone! Francesca

Wow, Amy, so soon? Guess he is really, a healthy guy. I'm paraphrasing from something I read on the internet " the pain associated with low back strains can sometimes be very intense. This is a good thing, as the pain acts as a "brace" or "splint" to prevent the spine from moving into vunerable positions." Now isn't that a clever way to spin the patient's pain into something good? My "pain splint" is still attached. I wonder when I get to remove it. Doctor's appointment isn't until Friday, so I really have nothing to say. After the first two days of this strain, I stopped taking anti-inflammatories. That was a mistake. Yesterday was no fun but today I'm doing better. On the bright side, the weather has been dreadful here. Rain, wind, floods. On the bright side, I read two books this week. Holly - she sounds so similar... I had an interesting parent teacher meeting for my DD recently. I told the teacher I didn't know if DD could read much more than the simpliest words, like K level (she is in Grade 1). I said she refuses to read the take-home books to me, won't even try one word. Teacher said, wow, interesting, yes she can read, she is a pretty good reader (meaning average for her grade), sometimes even helps the other kids. We were both stunned. I guess my defiant little DD knows who she can manipulate.

Am I the only one out here who loves running in the rain..? Francesca

I love running in the rain, unless it's a torrential downpour. I find that to be a tad unpleasant.

Am I the only one out here who loves running in the rain..?

me too coming from a cooler rainy coastal climate, I love doing anything in the rain, especially when it's a nice warm rain in the fifties like now and not down in the low forties and thirties and worse like some of the winter events.

How about one of those little hats with the umbrella attached on top? Seriously, I would still wear a hat. Use extra vaseline on your feet. I would for sure wear a pair of injinji socks--they have toes, sort of like gloves for your feet (if you think of regular socks as mittens). The best advice is run with someone to run with who doesn't mind that the plastic runner's rain cape you are wearing that makes you sound like a very crinkly and noisey running loaf of bread as you slog along. If that person knows the course and is kind enough to steer you around it because you can't see/are directionally challenged, you are a very lucky person. Having been so blessed once in my life, I now have the good graces to respond with good humour to my good friend who did all that and more for me in Abilene some whiles ago that "No, I did not get lost this year in Okoboji!" grins, A ps: Pedey is short for Pedroia, the Sox 2nd baseman.

Hey Tramps, a little tip that Steve gave me about protecting I Pods and such from sweat and rain....plastic wrap. It has worked well for me .....well hypothetically speaking of course Yeah, wearing glasses in the rain is a pain in the rear, and sweating too... especially sweating a lot like I do. Tim