Good morning Penguins!

Scotty-- Do not use a timmynoggy while trying to improve fitness.  See I used it in a sentence!  I love Olive Garden.  I hope you had a nice meal with wine.  Sounds like you had a busy weekend and really needed a night out.

kristin-- hi hope your shin starts feeling better.

Jerry-- Welcome home.  YAy@ the PR for both of you.   That's awesome.  Its over 70* and beautiful here.  It seems weird hearing you talking about the snow and freezing temps.

Dave-- You'll do great with the marathon training.  Normally I'd tell people to take it easy with the speed at first in the FM training, but you're such a machine, its no wonder you love it.

Mitch-- your next weekend sounds lovely!   Yeah, there's no reason to rush things if your foot is still bugging you.  Better to be patient.  Nice RR and race this weekend.  (You hate the beach? Is that possible?)

Awood-- you must be doing great to already be thinking about racing!   Glad you're doing well enough that you can use the fitness you gained during marathon training on other runs.

PAD-- I hate cold, windy runs!  Sometimes i guess you just can't avoid them.  Good for you for even getting out there.

Docket-- sure take enough vacation day, and come and visit me!  :

Stone-- Hi ya!  Be careful out running on that snow.

Jack- we're almost there.  I'm tired, too.  The last few weeks before taper are always just the hardest.  I rather think the exhaustion in the last few peak weeks is what helps us finish the race.  You've done marvelous with your training though, and probably have whined a whole lot less than I have.  BTW, is that another of your kids in your new profile pic?

Obie-- LOL@ a little frost in your blood!  Hehehe, I guess it is cold there.

HsM-- oh, how nice singing for the vets last night!  Hope you have fun tonight.  Your DH sounds like such a sweetheart.

Zelanie-- welcome back to you, too.  Hope its not too hard getting back into things.

Tracilynn-- where in AL are you?  Years ago we used to live in Andalusa, AL.  Although it was a bit cooler than it is here, most of the time it wasn't bad in the winter.  Occasionally however, it'd be quite cold.  Hope you don't freeze too much during this cold spell.

Bin-- that picture is way too adorable!  I'm with your boy, I think Iron Man is pretty darned awesome.  He's sure lucky to get such a neat cake.  Glad your baby is doing better.  You and your wife look really rested up now.   (Love your mask too!)

jimmy-- danged, sounds like a tough workout!  The anti-inflammatories are probably a good idea after all that.

Margo-- good luck with the run tonight!

Lauren-- great job running in the snow!  Don't work too hard.

Well, I got in 10 miles today,  I was supposed to do 8 today and 10 tomorrow, but I switched it around.  Hoping that it might make a slight difference with the HM I'm supposed to run on Saturday since I won't get a chance for a real taper before it.  Hope nobody freezes.  Wish i could share some of my warmer weather with the rest of you.

She Can:  Thanks for the kind word.  I've done a mini-taper with some success for a half.  I hope you can do the same.  Either way, enjoy the race.

Jack: It sucks, but part of me is glad that I'm not the only one that felt that way by the end.  It's weird, because I didn't mind the mileage or the workouts.  It was something about all of it rolled together, and knowing that there was this giant final exam at the end.  It started to take a toll, but only when it was getting to be about a month away.

Cherie, good luck this weekend! If I were to go to the beach unprotected, I would look like a well done lobster in about 5 minutes. My skin is very pale and I sunburn really bad in a really short amount of time. I have been cooked on 2 different occasions(think hospital cooked), and I will not be cooked again!

Me too, Damaris, I want another vacation day!   Enjoy your workout tonite.

So what goes into the crock pot, Stone Fence?

Mitch...Gatlinburg is a tourist spot?  Why is that?  I'm the opposite, I love the beach.  I really miss Hawaii.

Wow, Jack, all that running really has changed you, from your new avatar photo! 

obiebyke, where are you that it is so cold?  Hope the shin and knee behave!

Our singing for the vets last night was wonderful  And, HsM, did the doggies of the vets sing along with you? 

Bellevue?  Your Turkey Day is at a mental hospital, Zelanie?  That's terrible!    I could understand if it was my family though, we'd all fit right in at that location. 

Alabama gets snow, Traci?  I need to note that....only do events in Alabama in the Spring, Summer, and Fall.  No winters!   I hate snow!   Traci, it WILL get better for you.  I don't know when, but it will get better.  Keep calm and carry on!

Happy birthday to your son, Bin, belated!  Hope he had a great one.  "Horny Stark" lol...reminds me of a guy I knew in my military days...

Hope your routine is working for you, Jimmy!

Dang, windchill in the 30's!  I can't emphasize this enough, Margo, if you do go run in that:  PROTECT THE GREAT LEGS!   No windburn, no chafing, or wind-chapping! 

Snow for you too, Lauren?  See my not above to Margo. 

Congrats on getting your 10 in, Cherie!   Good luck with the upcoming half!   No wine...Gail had some and I was the designated driver.  Which is okay, I'm not really that much of a wine drinker.  Like a few white wines, don't like red wine at all.  I'm more of a beer drinker than a wine drinker.

Must be fun trying to get back into it, Robert, after 12 days off!  Good luck!  And finally, someone besides Damaris and me that also has some warmer weather.  Although our temps here in San Antonio have already started to drop.  We're in the upper 50s now..and the flippin' wind outside is blowing about 30 mph!  I noticed the difference from our 60s this morning when I went outside to go to lunch. That darn Canadian cold air!  Take it back, Canada, take it back, pleeeeease!

Oh, I forgot to tell y'all this morning:  

My run yesterday morning in the park by the Zoo was INTENTS!  And no I did not spell that wrong because.....I was on a trail by the Zoo, very nice paved trail that goes along the river.  There is this one part that has a sharp curve to the right, you can't really see what's around it till you get to the other side of the curve.   So there I am zipping around the curve...and WHAM!!! Ran right into the canvas of a big ole Exposition Tent the Zoo folks had set up.  "Bounced" myself back about 2 feet, and right onto my keister.  WTH?  This tent was HUGE, both width and length and covered the WHOLE trail across and went right up to the Zoo fenceline. When I finally continued my run, I had to go left and work my way across the grass on that side and down the length of the tent to and then behind it to get back onto the trail.  Sheesh!

Meanwhile, before my run continued...the Zoo Workers inside the tent setting up everything were about falling down laughing watching me 'trampoline' myself off the tent material.  To their credit they did come check on me to make sure I was okay, and helped me up.  I found out the tent was for the exhibit that day of the Sumatran Tiger Cubs which had been born at the Zoo in August and Monday would be their first 'showing' to the public.   Well that's all nice and everything - and the Tiger, by the way, happens to be my favorite animal - but sheesh put a warning up on the trail somewhere ahead of the tent about the thing being RIGHT THERE around the curve.

Well, no harm done, and I had to laugh with them, I must've looked pretty darn funny, canvas careening.   The rest of my run, thankfully, was uneventful.

Ha, Scotty! Glad you weren't hurt, but that's funny!

 

I'm in Minneapolis. It was 23 when I ran yesterday. When I left for work this morning, it was in the single digits.

Wow...that is just sooooo wrong!

I feel for ya.  It's been a long time since I've been in any REAL cold weather. But I have run in it. When I was in Ohio, yeah, that was REAL winter and I remember 'layering up" with all my winter stuff, my Gortex jacket and gloves, and so forth, and doing some runs when it was 10 degrees out with a wind chill that made it feel even colder.  Yeah, I was hardcore back then, lol.   Don't think I could do it these days, my old bones seem to feel the cold more as I age.  So I like being in Texas with the warmer temps and no "real" winter here in San Antonio.  However, I can empathize with what you real winter folks deal with.

4miler at 9:52.  Didn't even try to run on the bike path with all the frozen leaves. Nothing like cold weather to run fast(er). 10:15/9:57/9:44/9:35. Should have kept going until under 9:00.  FMAO.

LOL Scotty...you have so many adventures on your runs.  Glad everyone got a chuckle out of it, and that you're okay.  I hope you told them about posting that warning.

HsM-- :-(  I'm sorry you're feeling so poorly.  Man, I hope its nothing serious.  Take care.

Well, I feel like my head is an overfilled water balloon.  It doesn't hurt, per se, but it feels really weird.  Anyway, I'm bailing on the lecture and heading home to a hot cup of tea, a bubble bath, and a bedtime as early as I can make it.

 I feel like my head is an overfilled water balloon.   

My prostate feels like that sometimes.   Is that TMI?    Well, I'm at 'that age"...

Hope you feel better, HsM!