Morning penguin friends!

Jerry, just read your RR.  Again, great job on the PR.  I'd just come in from running in the heat, so your report made me feel cooler as i read it.

DR---   nice getting those miles with your DH!   It's so wonderful that he's following your healthy example.

Bin--  you're just getting right back to it after your HM!  Good job on getting in the 8!

Scotty-- glad they have things worked out with your mother's ashes.  Yes, totally agree about the airline having a racket.  Sometimes I wonder why I even bother looking up rates, I'm always disappointed.  Hope your "cooler" weather lasts!

Awood-- that's behind?  It sounds like you're getting miles whenever whereever you can.  LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the wedding pic that Pew posted yesterday!  That's so super cute!

Dan-- Hi ya!  84* sounds absolutely heavenly right now!  Good job on the 4!  Hopefully there will be a pic of you and your DD together from the race.  She's lucky to have you as a role model.

tracilynn- shred level workout?  What's that?  Well, whatever it is, good for you for putting in those extra lunges!

hopesmom-- glad you got your escape artist doggy back.  Hope you get back to health this week.

Mitch-- good job on the 3.  Take care of your foot!  You don't wanna be off your feet for many weeks.  Still feel for your family.  I had the hardest time sleeping the other night, just thinking about what your poor family through, and those dogs.

Zelanie-- best of luck with the knee tonight!

Jack-- nice getting that massage and working out some of those knots!  When is your trip to Montana?

Baconista-- That race sounds like it pumped you up with motivation!  Have you started looking for another race yet?

DAve-- Ohhhh@ you doing the all stars miles this week!    I'm always sooo  blown away by the numbers y'all put up.   Can't wait to see what you end up with.

Jimmy-- sorry you're having that leg pain.  Do you think it's an injury or just a bit of soreness?

I did 6 today and kept it really slow and easy.  Felt happy yesterday when the dentist asked me if I were a runner.   I was so tickled that I must "look" like a runner, but then later realized I also have a runners tan line at my ankles and on my wrist where i wear my Garmin!  But at least I was able to say yes, and that I'd ran 15 miles that day!

Jerry - nice race report.  It sounds like a good one if the weather behaves.

Damaris - enjoy your miles and weights.

Bin - good job on the easy eight.

Scotty - my aunt is also buried at Arlington.  She was buried months after she died as well.  Did you ask about a bereavement fare?  There used to be discounts if you were heading to a funeral, but I don't know if that still applies.

Margo - are you still doing your track work with the club?

Awood - good job on the double.

Dan - that foot sounds painful.  Is it only speed that makes it swell?  Do different shoes make a difference?

Tracilynn - your rest days tend to be pretty strenuous.  Good work on the garden.  Six holes is a lot.

HopesMom - hope you get a chance to swim today.  Did you find where the dog was escaping?

Gustav - good luck on your miles this evening.

Mitch - hope the knee and foot continue to behave.  Sounds like a good time to volunteer.

Mel - hope the knee allows you a good run.  Are you doing the track because it's flat?

Jack - I've thought about doing a race while traveling, but our trips are always so fluid, it makes it hard to plan ahead.  I love Montana, there's so much beautiful country to hike in.

Dave - are you trying to catch up for lost time?  Be careful.

Jimmy - what's happening with the leg?  Tight or did you pull something?

Cherie - that tan line on the ankles at least says that you do something active outside.  Good job on the six today after yesterday's long run.

fitfatboy - congratulations on the big mileage week, even if it did wear you out.  When is your relay?

AFM:  it's a beautiful day outside, (high of 75 with a DP in the 40's)  so I'll probably do a few easy miles instead of taking a rest day.  I'm stiff from yesterday, even after our morning walk, so I need to take it easy.  One problem with driving to do a run is I don't do a proper cool down, and I always pay for that later.

Cherie, yup!  It's gonna be fun.  I'm keeping the mileage super easy, and splitting it up to help.  I won't end up with triple digits like some folks will, but should still be a really good week.

Ginny, it's allstar week for the mileage game.  Don't worry, hip is feeling great and I'm keeping it extra easy to be safe.  Plus I'm rolling/stretching twice a day to keep everything loose.

Dropped the truck off to get inspected and ran back home, just like I did in Feb with my wife's car (except I didn't step in a pipe and almost break my leg this time lol).  I absolutely love that I can do that, it just blows me away when I think about it.  In the past, the thought never even would have been entertained, now it's the obvious and most logical answer.

This was also my first very public shirtless run.  I've had a couple of shirtless runs prior, one through the neighborhood with minimal traffic, and one at night a few days ago.  It's so much more comfortable with the heat, and you don't have to worry about chafing.  So today I decided I was just going to stop caring, I dropped off the truck, took off my shirt and ran down the busiest road in the area, at lunchtime no less.  And you know what, I'm pretty sure no one cared, no one honked or said anything, and I was as comfortable as you can be in the midday heat.    This might not seem like a big deal to some, but as a former fat guy, being shirtless in public was something I used to dread.

Hope everyone has a great day!!

Awood: nice work!! Man, that is impressive!!

She Can: I think we are leaving on 9 July.

Ginny: I LOVE Montana. It will be our third trip there. Our older DD loves it so much she wants to go to the University of Montana in Missoula.

D2: thanks for the In-n-Out reference, I am now going there for lunch!

P3: well done on the wedding. Awood is a quality guy and I hope to run a race and drink some beer with him someday.

Our vacation plan is to leave on 9 July and take three days to drive to Missoula. There, we will stay in a hotel for a few days and run in the Missoula HM on 14 July. DW and I hope older DD runs with us but I don't think she will. On the 15th we will drive to Kalispell, pick up a motor home, and then camp in Glacier National Park for a week or so. It should be a great trip.

Dave - I know what you mean.  I used to be extremely fit; a college athlete.  Then, I went through powerlifting, and then couch sitting.  After seeing a few pictures of myself with my shirt off, it started to stay on more an more.  It was really hot a couple of weeks ago, and I was trying to do speed work.  I thought I was going to die, and then I remembered...hey...you've worked hard to get this weight off, and you're working hard now.  If someone doesn't like it, just remember that they're probably in an air conditioned car eating taco bell.  It was a good feeling, and I imagine that anybody that saw me with my shirt off probably thought, "Damn that's a big dude, and he's running pretty damn fast".

Dan: I've run shirtless a few times and the only heckling I get is from my DDs. They laugh, make hacking and vomiting noises, and yell "Put it on!"  When I threaten to walk around the house in my running tights they usually leave me alone. Ah, the joys of parenthood!

Awood - That cake looks really great!

Those who asked about my leg - I don't know what it is to be honest. Its a wierd pain and some days it worse than others. I ran the 10k Monday and did another 6 miles Sunday and although it was sore it didn't interfere with my run. Yesterday however was a run/walk 3 milers because of how it felt? The pain is in the back of my leg and it starts at the knee and runs about 2 inches down my calf and then moves more toward the side of my leg and down almost to my ankle. The pain isn't in my knee but feels more like a tendon or muscle that connects behind my knee. Anyone else ever experience this? I have had IT Band pain before but that was the side of my knee and ran upwards.

Speaking of being shirtless, I got out and did yard work the other day for the first time in a very very long time shirtless and boy did it feel great. Sure I'm not a lean mean 8% body fat, but you know what, I've come a long way! The only self conscience issue I have is the cyst I have on my back that's been my companion for many many years. I guess now that I'm in better shape I am going to go get that sucker removed as soon as we get back from the beach. I would do it know, but pretty sure I wouldn't be allowed in the ocean then, infection wouldn't be fun.