Mornin' everyone!

Isn't there a name for what today's date numbers do: 7 + 7 = 14?

I'm so sorry about your DS's knee, Ribs. i hope the Dr. can work some magic for him.

Funny stuff, TW! I'm so glad that you and the DM have such a good time together. And I'm also glad for her that she learned to swim at a young age. There was a story on the news just a couple of days ago about the wisdom of teaching infants to float/paddle so they can help save themselves if they get into trouble in a pool.

Holly, I'd also invest in the implants. As Steve said - it's a quality of life issue. I think you are right, and DD will have an easier time being away for a week than you will for that same week.

'Way to show the ladies how hills are done, Stumpy! I'm glad you and DW had such great seats for the fireworks.

Enjoy your paradise, Mariposai!

I HATE black flies, Mike! Mosquito bites calm down after about 20 minutes, but black fly bites can itch like crazy for days. Nice run in spite of the flies.

I'm algae-averse too, Starr. Good luck to Mr. Starr with whatever bike he buys. Great shots of the dogs and fireworks!

I'm glad that the nephew's wedding worked out, even in the unusual location. Nothing like getting dressed up in the heat, eh? Nice 20-miler yesterday - I'm glad you took good care of hydration/nutrition issues.

Nice grilling (and running), Irishguy!

Good comments on Starr's photos, Tet.

Lego cross-training is good stuff, Steve!

I moved a heck of a lot of mulch yesterday. After struggling to pull 2 wagon-loads up the hill from the back yard to the front (and after my legs were already tired from the morning's workout), I had the brilliant idea to ask our neighbor if I could borrow his John Deere with it's cart. He (thankfully) said yes, and it made moving the next 8-9 loads so much easier and faster. I finished weeding and mulching the big bed in the front, and 2 smaller beds in the back. Now I'm about 2/3 done with the project. Even with the Deere, I was toast after about 5 hours of work in the sun. I showered, and then DH and I went for pre-dinner drinks at a favorite bar on the water. That hit the spot, as did dinner of a huge salad with grilled chicken tossed in. Thankfully, today was an SRD because I was still feeling fatigued. So I got up and (yep, did it again, Ribs) read for a while before getting the day going.

Have a greta Monday!

Jay

Good Morning!

If we didn't have Monday mornings, we wouldn't enjoy the long weekend nearly so much......and Monday afternoon will arrive, and soon!

Greta long runs over the weekend.  Glad you got in a better effort, Erika.  And 23+  miles with black flies deserves....ice cream!  (Glad the weekend was otherwise good, Mike.)

....glad you got some Dave.  Be careful around mangoes; some folks, including my boss, are very allergic to the leaves, sap, etc. and suffer intense itching, swollen eyes, etc.   Which leads me to my ethics query:

Am I a thief?.....there is a mango tree on one of my am routes that is loaded with mangoes.  These mangoes are really, really good: better than I can find in the store.  So when I run by in the dark in the am, I have be known to lift one off the ground, and even at times, purloin one dangling very near my hand (the mango branch hit my hand as I ran by in the morning breeze).   Yesterday, there appeared a crudely lettered sign on a torn square of brown cardboard, pleading: "Please let the mangoes grow."

So am I correct in interpreting that to mean that so long as the mango has fallen from the tree, we passing mango lovers are ok if we choose to pick one from the ground to carry home with us?  (And there, deeply appreciate said mango, givng it all due respect.)

I might add, these are healthy (i.e., heavy, dense) mangoes, and carrying one home (it's about 3 miles) is no easy task, as I'm juggling it with the water bottle and sweat hankerchief.    I mean, I am working for it.  And then I invest in it, as I have to tend to it, turning it so it ripens evenly and fully.

Today's temp stayed below 75 for the entire run, so I got in 9 miles at about an 8:40 pace.  WIth mango for the last 3.

grins,

A

ps: How come we don't have an August holiday?  We really need one, right around August 12th, I'd say.

 

 

ps: How come we don't have an August holiday?  We really need one, right around August 12th, I'd say.

Yes, we need a holiday in August!

4 smiley miles for me today. A great way to start a Monday if you ask me.

Aamos -   If they're on the ground and looking unloved and under-appreciated, well . . . .

I have absolutely no idea what's going on in here, except it sounds like Holly's getting implants and it's gonna take about a week for her DD to get used to the idea.

I've been enjoying my taper and am as ready I guess I can be for Mt. Hood 50 coming up this Saturday.  Tomorrow, I leave in the predawn hours for the 8-hr drive to Portland, then Wednesday, Karen and I will head up to the Mt. Hood National Forest to camp for a couple of days.  Her sister, Kate, will join us on Friday, Saturday we run, Sunday Karen and I head back to Portland and Kate to Astoria, Monday I come home.  Will be a whirl-wind few days.

Supposed to be in the low 90s on race day.  Ugh!  I'm considering putting a hand-held in one of my drop bags and carrying it just to have water to douse myself with.  I don't like carrying anything in my hands, but besides the aid stations, there's only one creek on the second half in which you can douse yourself.  And depending on the snow pack/melted snow, who knows how deep it'll be.

Anyway, I doubt I'll get another chance to get in here before I leave, so you all behave yourselves while I'm gone.

Happy Monday Friends!!

I just love being at OOB as a seasonal this year!!  Thank goodness our camper was up here because last Sunday dh's truck broke down and we would have had to borrow a truck to tow the camper for vacation -- YIKES!!  He has a little sports car for his regular wheels so he's not stranded either!!

Amy - great racing on the 4th!!  Can't wait to meet you again in Philly!!

Ribs - hope your son's knee isn't as bad as it sounds

C-R - glad to hear your wife's surgery went well

Kirsten - hope you get to spend some time at OOB this year, would love to meet up with you anytime in Maine or Boston

Robin - hope you're enjoying your vacation - can't believe how close we are vacationing!

Holly - sweet car!!  Best of luck with it!!

Posai - love your hiking pics!

Milktruck - we should try to meet at Portland next Sunday .... I'll be wearing my MVS/TriFury red/black singlet with black shorts, white hat

Yesterday started off as a rough day --after church went to a local farm stand and somehow lost my keys, they eventually were found under a pile of cantelopes but that was after I tore my car apart, emptied my purse, searched the grounds and broke down crying

Then later was heading to the beach with one of my boys and just after leaving the campground the passenger front tire broke off -- well I guess the ball joint or something snapped but I have no clue what that is   Waited for AAA to tow it away then we walked to the beach!!  Feel bad about his car, but we did have a nice night together -- went for a drink at the pier and watched the best firework display on the beach that I've seen in ages.  Today his gf is heading up along with my youngest son and his gf -- will be fun to have them all here!!  DH has to head home later today but not until after we spend some time celebrating the youngest's 20th birthday!!

Oh ya - running ..... I've been running and biking or walking every day -- feels so good not to have to schedule it around work, could get used to this!! 

Happy post holiday Monday everyone. Trying to get my life back in some type of normal routine these last few days. I've been reading the daily posts and have lots to comment on, but I think I'll just say "what Jay said."

Back to the grind of getting up at 3:30 for work which was worse than normal today. Why is it you can get up at 4:00 to go run and be totally excited about it, but working not so much?

Lots of great running and pictures from all of you over the holiday weekend. Thanks for sharing. My sister's funeral was Thursday so it was a little quiet here. Managed a few rounds of golf, some runs and a cookout with my kids and grandkids.

Holly - good luck at the dentist this afternoon. I say go for the implants. I think the money you spend would be well worth it.

Ribs - good luck to your DS. What a rotten time of the year to have that happen.

Amos - eat away. I think it's just sad that those people don't want to share their bounty. It's not like you're climbing over their fence and picking bushel baskets full of the mangos.

4 miles on the elliptical, 10 minutes on the rowing machine and 45 minutes of weights today. It just felt good. And, I signed up for a "Tough Mudder" race in September. Who would believe I'd spend $150 to have someone hurt me when I could do it for free by myself?   If anyone has ever done one of these and has a training plan, I'd appreciate any thoughts and ideas you could throw my way.

Carpe Diem.

coastwalker I would say you have filled your cross training quota for the week.

Dave59 instead of pulling hair out by the roots around your writs (even if the gloves have a good grip) you might just try shaving.  I do hope you skin feels better soon.

AamosY you might just try knocking on the owner's door and asking if it would be okay to gather fallen mangoes.

stumpy77 and tetsujin209 no presents!  Especially since guys tend to end up on the short end of the present exchanges.  (I am not making this up check out what the average family spends on mother's day and father's day gifts.)  Otherwise a fine idea.

Mariposai why is it I suspect even while running in a rain storm at night you are smiling.

fatozzig sounds like a fun trip.  Well except for that 90° thing and that 50k in the mountains thing.  But otherwise!  

C-R well join the Rosie Ruiz Fan Club's Reach the Beach Relay Team.  Show up a couple of days early, and I while I deeply regret that it is highly unlikely Spareribs will be there (of course if he joins the team too . . .) you can get a sample from what half a contest would be like!

deez4boyz for a snake bit day it should ended up well!

Holly S. FWIW I am on your side regarding saving your teeth.  We have to live in our bodies every day.  In my view, no inanimate object should trump feeling as good as we can in our bodies day-to-day.

Spareribs best wishes to your DS on his recovery.

tomwhite yes you were on the losing side, but I suspect you were pretty happy about it!

Mike E those mileage totals for two days are just insane!  Just how much have you been drinking?  

StarrRuns around here Arthur caused total 4th of July fireworks scheduling havoc!  My town postponed theirs to today.  The neighboring town to yesterday.  Things are all over the place here.

evanflein wow that is warm!  Where in Arizona are you hanging out at the moment?    (What am I going to do for bad weather cracks if you ever do leave Alaska?)

irishguy nice super easy trick for the sausage.  I have to try it.

SteveP have you tried Lego movie watching?  I saw a review when it first came out and was surprised at how positive it was.  Mind you, not positive enough to induce me to see the movie as yet, but it is on my to rent list.

Saturday the local crazy distance race was 3.04 miles.  I skipped it.  I was off from running for 6 weeks and figured one day back prior to the race was not enough to rebuild my legs to the point where I should risk pushing them in a short race.  Yeah, I could just jog the race.  I could do a lot of things, like not pig out when an ice cream sundae is put in front of me.  Better, to just go out on my own, which is what I did.  This morning it was up and out for a 7 mile run.  I had intended to go 6 but my routing was off.  Good run though.  Things seem to be progressing just fine.  Yesterday, was a non-run day but a lot of cross training in the kitchen cooking.  I smoked some ribs, and made a few other dishes to go along with them.  One was a kale salad that I made with a cherry vinaigrette dressing.  It is easy to make.  Start with some dried cherries and soak them for about 20 minutes in red wine vinegar.  If the cherries are really dry then heat the mixture in a microwave for 20 seconds or so.  At the end of 20 minutes strain out the cherries and chop.  Combine the red wine vinegar, a teaspoon of sherry vinegar, a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and olive oil to taste.  Toss the dressing into some chopped up kale.  Let sit for at least 15 minutes.  The acid in the vinegar will help soften the kale.  Next add the chopped cherries and anything else you want to add.  In my case it was some candied pecans I had made the day before and blue cheese from a local farm.

 

Mangoes, papayas, chestnuts from the fire, the food is so good you will wanna stay.  Okay, who sang that song?  Spareribs

Rosemary Clooney - "Mangos"

Happy belated Independence Day, everyone.  So much going on, and as usual, I've been away so long it's impossible to touch on everything.  Dave59, Jay, wildchild, Tet, c-r, Ribs, Amy - nice racing.  If I missed anyone, please know that it was not intentional and accept my apologies.

I'm in for the August holiday!

Pinecrest Patriot 5k race report - Somewhere around 185 runners for this one.  It's a fundraiser for the high school track teams, and for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.  Temp was about 68 degrees at start time of 7:30 am, and pretty humid.  The course started in the parking lot at the high school, then out onto the road in front of the school.  this road is about 1.5 miles, steady uphill in one direction.  I ran with my GPS this time.  First half mile was out of the parking lot, then to the low end of the street.  Ran this half mile at about 7:45 pace.  Then we hit the turnaround, and started the 1.5 mile climb.  At the turnaround, at the top of the hill, we hit the 2 mile mark, and my average pace was about 8:15.  Caught up with a friend at the water station, where we both walked long enough to take a few sips of water.  We decided to finish together.  Last mile was easy downhill, and we finished that mile in 8:07.  Final time was 24:48...a new PR, but with a caveat.  My gps showed the course was really short, even though it was certified.  I talked to several others that also ran with gps, and they said the same thing...about one-tenth short.  Based on my average pace, I still would have set a new PR at 3.1 miles, but would not have broken 25 minutes.  But they don't post results based on my gps...so it's officially 24:48.

Did not run Saturday, but did a little yard work, and helped DW and DD2 putting up corn.

The friend I finished with in the 5k invited me to run with his group on Sunday.  They have asked me before, but until now, I wasn't sure I could keep up with them.  Took him up on it Sunday morning and joined four of them for what they call "The Bacon Run."  About one mile into the run, we passed one of the local golf resorts, which has a nice restaurant that serves a great Sunday brunch.  We ran close enough to get a good whiff of...you guessed it...BACON!  Over the course of the next 3 miles, we passed at least 2 other places that were also getting ready for brunch and were cooking bacon.  Great 4 mile run, good conversation, and a little "aromatherapy" to boot.

Spent Sunday afternoon picking blackberries from my patch next to the driveway.  I usually make a cobbler, but decided to switch it up this time.  Made a Blackberry Buttermilk Cake, and it turned out delicious, if I say so myself.  Hoping to get one or two more batches from the blackberry patch, and will still get a good cobbler or crumble.

Monday morning, 3.25 miles.

Hope everyone has a great week.  Happy running!