Well, I'm sorry I haven't been posting much lately, mostly "lurking", I hate that term.. Anyway, with the voices of Tall and Ribs dancing around inside my head I ambled out for my 20 miler, my last LR before Burlington. It was overcast, cool and wet and actually began to shower just before I left at about 8:10. I wanted to leave at about the same time as the marathon is scheduled(8:05 am). I was busy yesterday leaving 4 water bottles with a 50-50 solution all around the course that I had mapped. Final time was 3:16:23, good for a slow but steady 9:51 pace, down from my pace for 18 two weeks ago of over 10:00 per mi. I was pleased and impressed with my increased endurance and feel as though I am ready for race day on the 25th! Have a great day! Can't wait to read Holly's report as well as those of others racing this weekend. Good luck! Chris Happy belated B-day to Lou!!!

Happy Saturday, gang! Anxious about all our racers this weekend! I hope everything goes well for everyone! Holly- I'm amazed you are doing another marathon! What is this... 3 in six weeks? I'm in awe! SteveP- I'm wondering where do you borrow kids from? Good deal on the theater! YOu can't beat the price, and the experience is priceless! Mariposai- good luck to you! I hope you packed your camera! Sounds like it should be a fun day. annied- don't rush your recovery! Everyone is different. Use how you feel rather that what everyone else is doing. Ribs- good running advice from you as always. Best of luck to the Saint tomorrow! I hope she feels ok tomorrow, and I hope she checks in with a report. anachrotech- congrats with the 4 miler! It's not how fast or slow you go, it's being in the game that matters. Tallrunner- your coach would have to catch you first, with as speedy as you are, that isn't gonna be easy! dg- you and I both were doing battle with those yellow beasts today. Corn gluten in the spring works wonders. And this gizmo is the bomb when it comes to pulling them out. It's made by Fiskars. evryday- no worries about taking it easy. You've earned it! Your upcoming canyon trip should be incredible. Pictures please! rochrunner- congrats on your son's graduation! No crying allowed! Jeanne- Things are looking good for your upcoming half! A little bit of a taper will get rid of those tired legs. Twocat- congrats on your return! You know you'll get it back in no time. enke- SOmebody seems excited about something... I'm glad you are feeling better just in time. WRFB- happy belated birthday! Did you mix up a special batch of something just for the occasion? charleygross- aka lurkerman. Awesome run today Chris! The hay is in the barn, you are ready! runningindc- you really are depriving US by not posting. You bring a lot to this forum, and people would miss the valuable lessons you provide, not to mention the wit and charm of your posts. I reject all the reasons you gave for not posting! :P So there! I have a neighbor Gary who runs, solely for enjoyment and not to compete. Gary is a hippy artist who is stuck in the 1960's. He's one of my favorite people, his attitude about everything is just wonderful. We crossed paths on our runs this morning. He greeted me as he always does, with an enthusiastic huge bear hug. I asked him how things were, and as he pumped his fists into the air and danced around, he said "I'm like a wild deer, man. I eat, sleep, run, poop and pee in the woods and have sex." Then I got another huge bear hug and he sped off. NOt sure what to make of that, but it was fun! Amy update. She is doing relatively well. Lately she has been having eating issues though, and will unfortunately be heading back into the hospital on Monday. Her mom said it's not uncommon for kids with her condition to have these problems, but they have to be dealt with to make sure she is getting proper nutrition. A while back, I posted a picture of Amy at the charity banquet decorating a flowerpot. We later filled it with soil and planted a flower seed. One week later, here is the result: Amy and her dog Mr. Oscar I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend!

Mariposai – somehow I missed that you will be running this – speedy butterfly wings (and feet) to you today! AnnieD – whispering very softly, so as not to jinx myself….so far, other than a minor bout with patellar tendinitis last spring, I have been blessed with injury-free running……don't tell the gremlins....... Jlynne – good quote. Tall – 37K in the rain? Hopefully the weather turns out better than you hope. {{{The Saint’s back}}} CharleyGross – nice 20-miler! Dg – You should see the logo on the tech shirts for the Pig. Very cute. Plus, it’s actually a women’s shirt – no more sleeves to my elbows. I held it up and said, “Finally, a race shirt that I will wear!” Erika- I found one of those Spibelts that you got at the Boston Expo and love it – thanks for the recommendation. CNYrunner - I thought about you yesterday, too! BTB - great pictures!

CNY, what you are doing is closer to the Tinman approach, where he has you do all your quality within two big workouts a week, a long run and a medium-long run. I was doing this last year. In the long run I would do progression, tempo or wave. The medium long run had 800 or 1000 meter intervals within it. That is a good idea. Also, as you point out and what I alluded to last night, is that doing a big quantity of them is useful, so that you are really accustomed to them and trained for them. That was my reasoning behind the 3-hour limit. If you feel it isn't giving you the mileage you need, simply do them more often. Three long runs is probably not enough to run your best marathon. After Boston, you already planned to up your mileage. This is doable only for a runner who already runs a lot of miles and I think it's good planning by you. Chris, good run for you too. Yes, you are ready if those long run paces are coming down. Good luck. Spareribs

CNY, I like your term, "happy distance." For me right now, that is 5 miles. DD10 and I were ready to go for a run while ago when we realized it was raining lightly. I was proud of her - when I suggested we just get our raincoats on, she said, "Sure!" What a trooper she is. Her farthest distance had been 4.1 miles, but she wanted to try for 5. We set out from our house and ran through a couple of subdivisions. She kept trying to figure out where we were relative to home! She got all turned around. I felt wonderful, so I was clipping right along. I checked with her often, but she said she was doing OK. We were close to home at the 5-mile mark, so we just kept running and ended up at 5.2 miles in 54:23 - a tempo run for me at 10:28 pace. I have to say, that's one of the first times I've come home from a run and told DH, "That was FUN!!" Wow. btb, thanks for posting the pics of Amy. She has to be one of the cutest little girls I've ever seen. I hope her hospital stay is very short. Teresa

10K race today...not my best effort,but my first race of the year is done...43:23 for a 7:00 pace...went out tooooo fast with the big dogs and paid for it half way through the race.

Following up Gordon's 10k "race report within the daily" crime, here's mine. Chena River Run 5k, the day was perfect, the run was not. IRC with 51F, light breeze, partly cloudy and bright sun. Legs of lead didn't want any part of my lofty sub-22 goal. Wouldn't even consider a PR today. Kiinda wish I'd had another week after Boston before this, but you get what you get. My first mile was 7:06 and it went downhill from there. Final time was just over 23 minutes, won't know official till tonight or tomorrow (will be in the newspaper, web site may be updated before... we're kinda low-key around here). I had my kids run this one with me. DS1 won his age group last year in this race. He passed me early on looking like a gazelle... but I caught him at about 1.5 mile and he said he was hurting. I told him I wasn't feeling great either, and it was ok to walk. So he did... walked the whole thing in 35 minutes (stopped a couple times too). He felt so bad about his time he took off his number and stuffed it in his pocket so he looked like a bandit. They gave him a blank tab to give to the timekeepers so bandits don't mess up everyone's times. He said he didn't even want his name in the paper. I felt bad for him, but he's gotta do his own race and make his own decisions there. DS2 felt pretty good about his time! He went out slow and picked it up to finish in 27 something. I did a warm up 1.25 mile before hand, and after we got home did another 5k on my hilly roads around here. Legs are tired... nothing hurts which is great, but I have no sproink. Hope Mariposai has an awesome run. MTA: DH bought us tickets to see Elton John!!!!! I'm so excited! I've loved that crazy guy since junior high school. I was bummed because the tickets went on sale the same time as the race start, and were expected to sell out in less than half an hour. DH dropped us off, came back home and got online to ticketmaster and bought seats! Wow, that is so cool. I was just amazed EJ was coming to Fairbanks (it's a stopover on his way back from Japan or some such place) and didn't think we'd ever get tickets. I love my DH!!

You are marvelous Mariposai and thanks for checking in---congratulations!! Ribs---I really like Tinman training and look at his web site all the time for new stuff. My training is a Tinman, Lydiard, Daniels hybrid kind of thing. Nice racing Erika---even if it wasn't what you hoped, you gutted it out and the speed will return. no worries. Sweet run for you lyndenrunner even with a fade, impressive. CNY