Mary: I find that sometimes a slight soreness in my knees means it's time for new shoes. Bill: I hope it was a mild case of road rash -- it can be quite painful to lose a lot of skin off your knees and/or hands! CNY: I just discovered that I have a tooth that's suffering from "root resorption", which is difficult to fix. So I might have to have an implant. Hope your solution is easier (and less expensive). Ran 8 miles today for my first run of the year eastbound on the Clinton River Trail. The footing was a bit tricky due to ruts from bikes that had frozen into the mud, but I managed a 9:44 average to finish off a 20-mile week. I'm taking the plunge to enter the Dexter-Ann Arbor HM on May 31st, hoping to see the AA gang while I'm down there. Good luck to the weekend racers, whoever you are!

Steve, we have a 4 mile race here SUnday, too. Odd, not a typical length, is it?

Around here a 4 mile race is very popular. Finding a 10k is nearly impossible. I just checked my clubs race calendar......Since Feb 7th there has been Four 4 mile races. There are only Two 10k's for the entire year.

Ladies and Gentleman....please meet my new idol...............The woods lady aka MaEcono I met maEcono in Florence, OR last November where we both participated in a small local race. MaEcono is an inspiration to me. Her vibrant and joyful spirit and her eagerness to improve her race times makes her my new idol and I am just so happy she decided to keep us company around here. She is new at posting, but slowly we will bring her here. You all will love her, I just know it. She posted the following in my "Florence, OR turkey trot and econo hugs"thread. "Thank you all for the welcomes. I am honored! Tammyin, I really enjoyed meeting you and your nice family. Hope to see you in Eugene one of these times. Hey. I read that you liked the gum droppy things - so did I, and will keep my eye open for them. What are they called? Also, I am in your photo of GP at the finish line - in the far background in a blue jacket. Tetsujin209 Yep - those head high ferns grow in an area of my woods pretty close to our house, and the trees and underbrush are getting closer to the house every day. I am very lucky, I do almost of my walking/running in the woods, and see that several times a week. Today I found a 5 point elks rack on my Forest Service road, and lugged it home! We know a man who makes pens out of that , and will give it to him. Ileneforward, thank you. I am not yet sure how to post things, other than to answer like this, or on my log, which is all messed up, but plan to keep poking around until I get it right. Mariposai - Yes, I'd love to do the beach run, and also to show you my trail and Forest Service Road place. Any of you runners would love it, and I can show you a coupple of ways to get there - easy. Stumpy77 - so you also run to keep up with your daughter! And I love your saying that running is a new way to identify yourself. That is just the way I feel. That and freedom! I have read "Ribs" and also admire him. Econo - run like heck - remember your committee. My committee now has specialty sub committees, as suggested by Gavin. I did better today, and for the first time, went up the trail for about 3 miles, and had a great time. MaEcono" Seeeeeee, I told she is fun. For me today, nada...opted for beauty rest instead of a predawn run...will run later as body dictates.

Wait. Wait. "Woods Lady" is Econo's mother? No foolin. I better cut back on the colorful language and metaphors then. I'm supposed to run 9 miles this morning (8x1000 I pace in the middle, but I'll probably treat that as 8x4-minutes 'cause I won't be running a measured thingy) and 4-5 this afternoon. We'll see. I'm more likely to do this afternoon run than usual because it is to the post office and back. And I need to go to the post office! Tomorrow is a 50k held on a 3.2 mile loop. Actually, it's the same loop on which I'm about to run my 9 miles. Anyway, it is accurately called "Dizzy Daze". And of course, the weather has been wonderful for a couple days but will be pacific northwest March terrible tomorrow.

Tim-Did you hear what happened?....He's here everyday folks, have the veal!!!! Welcome to MaEcono, post often we are a very friendly group of people. I had a great run today in IRC. No running rash, no teeth problems. I did 8 miles in 1:17:48-9:43/mi. Have a great day everyone, Bruce

Somehow I feel better about myself today.

Karin - (((((((tooth))))))) - congrats on the weekly mileage - it's so good to see you running again! Nono and henrun - congrats on your miraculous healing and subsequent good runs! dg - your running rehabilitation is going so well - your speed is definitely picking up. Mine has deserted me for the time being, and I'm not going to push it before Boston. After Boston I'll get serious about training for a fall marathon. I need to start carrying a camera on my runs. There were some interesting ice formations on the cliffs along the trail last weekend - big enough to kill me if they decided to fall down. I would love to have had some photos of those. We have a local 3.45 mile road race here in May. It's billed as a 5K+ race. I thought that was a little strange. I managed an hour of core and upper body weights over my lunch hour. I'm ready for pizza..............