The "Penguin" daily threads were originally conceived to emphasize that all members of the community have a place on the boards. Encouragement, motivation, a little love nip (you will love one, give it a try!) or even a little kick in the pants when needed -- it can happen here. Basically, we celebrate just getting out there and moving our tails! What is "slow"? "Slow" is a perception but one of the common benchmarks is the 10:00/mi pace; but there's no firm line. In fact, there are many of us that have slipped past this, and just hope that no one notices and revokes their "igloo privileges." And some penguins don't run at all, we just hang out for the company! It can be confusing for the forum newbies, but we're not one of the teams in any of the fine games. It's a totally open group, so stop lurking, post an introduction of yourself dive in and join the fun! No application necessary! There might even be a lovely picture for Scotty (we love pics!)

Morning Pens!

My arms and shoulders are definitely reminding me that I went for a swim yesterday, but my legs feel pretty great.  I think the swim really helped loosen them up.  Anyway, today I'll try for something outside between the raindrops.

3.6 miles done in a local park after work yesterday and had a lot of fun testing out my "Flash" socks with capes....my fellow runners were laughing and giving me lots of comments about them, they were a big hit; and actually quite comfortable to run in too.

Today after work, packet pickup for my 5K on Saturday at San Antonio Sea World, followed by an easy run on the San Antonio Riverwalk.  Nice today...sunny and nearly 70 degrees.

Finally have internet access after several days without.  I haven't run since my race, though I intended to start up again at the end of the week.  However, the day after the race, I pulled a muscle in my back which became sciatica which seems to have become a really bad hip/piriformis/ITB problem - or maybe it's still sciatica, just off to the side.  I can walk without pain, but sitting is very painful and running impossible. My fear tells me it could be another stress fracture, but since I can walk okay, I think that's wrong.  I've also been dealing with a bad cold, so didn't really care for a while. We spent a few days with my brother in Phoenix, while Jim dealt with the worst of his cold, then I started feeling sick just before we left and headed to Tucson to see my sister, so we cut our visit there short and holed up at a state park for a couple of days. Short hikes and time in the sun more or less baked the cold out, but now that we are travelling again, the back issue is starting to become a real problem. We were waiting to visit my Dad until we were healthy (Dad is 92) so we'll be wandering around Texas for the next few days, just to be sure we don't pass on any germs.  The weather is perfect for running, so it's frustrating not to be able to do any.