"Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life." -- Dr. David D. Burns Still learning to be "present" with The Journey! Hope you are all having an awesome weekend!! Beeeoootiful day here on the Front Range! currently 80* F/11% H (none!) DH & I took the big dogs down Highline Canal path for an easy 5 this am followed by quesadillas & beer on the 2nd story bar deck....gettin' ready for the BB next Monday....

6.2 easy pace miles this morning, seems we went from winter to summer in one week. We had frost on the deck last Sunday and today we crept up against 90. Lynda gave me a jumpstart on the road to town as Jonathan said no more than race distance today. I was hot and tired at the end today and ready to call it a morning. I think Lynda and I were both kinda at our limits with work and hard training (for us). Oh ya I did get 21 and change last wk in an obsesive compulsive moment. This next week will be a welcome slowdown. Its offcial as of 6:25 pm Sunday evening we are done planting corn!!!! Woo Hoo......Killing off a bottle of wine with Lynda now!!! The first time anyway some talk of replant as some of the heavy rains were causing some crusting problems. We have been running pivots on the irrigated corn in fast passes as corn nears emergence trying to soften the surface this week. The pivots always want to get stuck on the first passes until they get a track set so lots of tugging on towers with a pickup. I got back in yesterday morning and still a little wet in the no-til wheat stubble but got really good after run time today. With showers back in the forecast for tommorow I'm glad I pushed it a little. Its getting late, another rain on that heavy ground with the residue cover by the time it would dry out again it would be too late to plant corn and we need to be on to other things. Leslie know how you felt walking into conference all sweaty. Lynda and I got back from our run in Palm Springs and went to the happy hour reception sweaty in run clothes and got some looks. All in all the conference was a good thing as they advised us to get all petroleum based inputs bought and basically out of harms way before things took off. Joe I know what ya mean about those easy runs where you just go run, forget about the pace and just loose track of time. Glad you are enjoying them. Arla weird weather this yr, hope it cools and you get out there again. How long is your mom there for? Kelly wow you stay busy, no wonder you are so fit. Moving equipment usually goes pretty well in this area as most know the etiquette. Not too many "late to work road rage jerks" like in the Craig Morgan video Cindy posted. I had a combine die near town one time blocking the whole road on a Saturday afternoon. I had Lynda and my trucker block the intersections. One lady blew right past them and was quite indignant at me for blocking the road...... like thats where I really wanted to be on a Sat aft!! Jewels nice gesture to the fire folks, hope your world gets a little more back to normal. Carol you sound refreshed and renewed whats 2 weeks in a Lifetime of Running, you'll get back there!! Cindy will send you an email later in the week, like your training program today, got a little early carb loading in with the beers I see

Hi Kiddos- Great quote Cindy, thanks for starting us up.Sounds like the training regiment is nearly complete. Nice to find you and Hubster relaxing. Carol- Welcome back. Farm's right, there is no finish line. Downtime with your Hubster is more important. Glad you're feeling better. Jewels- That's really nice what you did for them folks. What a great family you have. Kinda choked me up. Ditto to you for not running.You're excused this week! Kelly- amazing what you can get done .I'm through the "running kids around " stage as the youngest is now 17. I remember it well tho, it gets crazy. Farmer Jim- You and DW get the cross- training award for this week! Wow, that sure sounds like alot of work. Happy you're able to kick back some and take it easy . Race time is almost here....... Very physical weekend for me. Fri night was a very pleasant 7m in the drizzle at the reservoir on the way home from work. Yesterday's cross-training consisted of loading over a ton of old wet leaves and branches from my yard into a rental truck, hauling to dump, then unloading said truck. Today was 15m in the trails with my favorite four legged friend. Whew, comfortably numb and headed for bed!! Happy Monday Kids!!

Hey Leslie that's Great News for you!! Congrats to ya. Who needs those weights to carry around?! BTW-that's got to be the longest job title I have ever heard! Way to go!! How's our racer's doing?... Cindy? .....Hope Farm's not working too hard......

Cindy, I forgot to ask, do the dogs get quesadillas and beer too? Sounds like you are recovering nicely for the upcoming Boulder Bolder. R2, congrats on your 21 miles! Sometimes that OCD stuff can work in your favor. The work that goes into your farm is amazing, not just the physical part, but the thought that goes into it. My little garden in the back yard often seems like a daunting task, so I stick to simple stuff. But alas, we are enjoying fresh green beans aplenty right now. Kelly, girl, you don't have TIME to argue! Congrats on the 1K miles year to date! Our old trainer at the gym said the no-show rate for personal training is really high. Guess it just comes with the territory, but to me that is just rude and inconsiderate. Do you go to your clients, or do they come to you? Guessing that could make a lot of difference. Joe, you're not exactly slacking in the cross training department either. Your mileage is looking pretty high these days, but sounds like you're holding up well and even thriving. Here I am arguing with myself about whether to do a 3 mile route OR mow the yard this morning before starting to work. Hmmm. Leslie, that is AWESOME about the open job offer! I would imagine you apply the same energy and tenacity to your job that you do to running, so it's no wonder you are in demand. It's also amazing how we sometimes fool ourselves into thinking that our current jobs are the ONLY jobs. If you have a marketable skill and a good work ethic, there's a whole world of possibilities out there, and friends and colleagues are usually happy to help. Jewels, I'm so sorry that you and your neighbors have been so drastically impacted by the fires. Great that you could help them out. That's just the kind of thing that you never dream could happen. We just got back from the other side of Florida, and I was struck by how big the trees were compared to where we live. What a tragedy to lose pets, homes and forrest. Hopefully no people lost their lives, though they may have lost everything else. Reminds me that it's relationships that count so much more than "stuff" in the end. Katy the dog is getting impatient, so I guess it's time to take her out for a spin. The yard work will have to wait. Later 40 gators!

Cindy - Well, it goes without saying that I'd be more than up for a trail run gathering. Joe - The new title. Sounds much more impressive than it is. However, I'm told that margaritas a necessity at the planning meetings, so things can't be all bad! Carol - Consider mowing your cross-training. Kelly - 50-60 mile weeks? 60-70 mile weeks? Holy Rutabaga, Ultrachick! How do you find the time?? I don't have kids and I don't know how I'd do it. Get up at 3:00 a.m.?? (I don't think so . . .) Well, I am quite enjoying taper week. Today musta been one of my shortest workouts ever (besides when I didn't workout at all ). Five minute warm up/cool down, and in between did six 1-minute strides/intervals. It helped to do those on a treadmill this past weekend. I was able to play around with the speed and find a consistent pace that let me run hard but not kill myself. I felt like I was able to incorporate that new knowledge this morning. Well, I gotta make some reservations for August conference then get to work. You all have a great day!

Good morning to everyone.... Good luck to all the weekend racers. Yes, pictures and great reports are mandatory. Good Luck and mostly just a have a great time. Leslie...For the past 20 yrs. or so I've pretty much done administrative type duties. Filing, bookkeeping, accounts payable/receivable. I'm an office manager at a Financial Firm. But....my "secret desire" was to work for an attorney/lawyer and do more legal type administrative work. I'm actually going back to school this summer! Gotta get to work so, happy runs to everyone doing 60 mile weeks to those on taper modes and to those just plugging away at it. I'm a plugger at the moment. Did get a run in yesterday though. Woohoo! Carol....if we chose a trail race that wasn't to technically difficult I think we could all do it without any big change ups in our training. We could find one that had a 10k, 20k, 30k and a 50k. That way everyone, no matter what there level, could pick the distance that suited them. No mountain climbing for me. But a few rolling hills might be doable. Leslie, look for a few for next year that would be enjoyable for all of us! O.K. now I really have to go......Jewels

I prefer "Farmer Jim." Jim's too formal. Your dream cracks me up. When I have a running dream, I can't get going and I have to bend over and use my hands, as well, to get any kind of momentum. Luckily, in the dream last night, I was trying to run up a hill, so I didn't have to bend over too far. Jewels - Look in the phone book, do a Google search, call your local bar association, or contact someone in the court administrative office of your local courthouse and ask about a local legal secretaries or legal professionals association. They are extremely helpful, and some (at least in California) put on beginning legal secretary training programs. Here's our web site: www.hclpa.org. We're going to be putting together our first beginning leg sec program this next year. We have a real need for it in this area, as neither the community college nor the university have any type of legal education programs anymore. I love my job. I especially like working in the areas of probate and estate planning, and would only do family law or civil litigation if I couldn't find anything else. Family law is ugly, and in civil lit, there are too many deadlines that, if missed, could blow up a whole case. Too much pressure, but a know a few secretaries who love their civil lit jobs. Ugh! Carol - If you all are interested, yes, I will do some digging re easy trail runs in the middle of the country. They do exist. The Bizz Johnson Marathon I'm doing in October is a trail run, but basically on a flat, wide "road." Also, I know how hard it is to find good house/pet sitters. You sound like someone who cares more about the animals than almost anything else. Keep up the good work. Yep, my big run, the 50k, is this Sunday in Portland, OR, and I am trying really hard not to be nervous. One major problem has reared it's ugly head (boys - close your ears), my "time" hasn't happened yet this month, and you can bet dollars to donuts that it does in the next day or two, which will suck big time. It just absolutely wipes me out. But I'm usin' positive visualization as much as possible, and am looking forward to calling the Hub and saying, "I DID IT!!" Farmer Jim and Cindy - I'll be thinking about you on my drive home Monday. GOOD LUCK!! Well, my desk is loaded, so I should probably get something done. Happy Hump Day, Everyone!!