Evnin', Folks - Dragged my butt out for a tough 5-miler this a.m. It was such a gorgeous day, I had to. I don't think I've been eating enough the last couple of days to sustain a good workout, but I made it through in just a little over 50 minutes. One good thing about not knowing what I can and can't eat - I've lost 6 pounds in the last almost 2 weeks. Yee haw! Also got to use my new G305 today, and am playing with it tonight, trying to figure out all the stuff it can do. Fun! Jewels - The outfit sounds cute, and it's even cuter with the great price! But I echo Kelly - no pumps, chicky, only tennies. We have crappy shopping here for women, unless you're retired or 18 and under. And no one - I mean no one - carries women's slacks with an inseam longer that 29". A few years ago, I actually took a measuring tape and went to every single store in our crappy mall and measured anything that looked like it'd pass for work slacks. I have a 31" to 32" inseam. Can you say, "high waters??" Ev - Are ya doin' yer shin exercises? Sounds like the DW is doing great with her running! My brother came up from Healdsburg yesterday to help my dad work on his VW today. I went down and spent about 4 hours with 'em, watchin' the progress. I know my dad enjoyed having his two kids together, even if only for a short time. Joe - You're right. Whether or not you're happy with who our new President is, this country needs everyone to ban together and turn things around. It's going to be a long hard road, so prayers for our leaders are important. Here in California, things are so bad, we may end up with IOU's from the government for tax refunds. Does that mean I can give an IOU on the taxes I owe?? Probably not.

Hi there 40's, Arla, I don't think I ever congratulated you on your awesome Marathon debut! You did all the right things to prepare, and did it up right. Not that many people recover as well as you did, but I know it's because of what you put into it up front, and that you were smart about how you ran. Way to go, and sounds like many more to come! Thanks for starting us off Joe. Nice 1/3 Buddy run you had there . Sounds like you're enjoying the ride. Leslie, glad you have found a silver lining in the form of the 6 lbs. That 305 is pretty cool. Have you tried uploading to the motion based website? Kind of cool....gives you your "moving" pace vs. total pace, whereas the regular software does not. Glad it's working well for you in the trees. Took yesterday off, and not sure about today. Having what I think is some IT band issues outside rt. knee. Have had a few twinges of that before, but this time it's more noticeable. Also bottom outside of rt. foot was painful after Sat's run and house cleaning marathon. It's a little better after a rest day and some ice last night, but walking still not great. I just ask hubby if he want's the aches and pains report and he kind of gives me this "why do you do this to youself?" look. Co-worker is coming over to train with me today so she can take some of my accounting work, I've stopped pet sitting, and our church finally got the database (with web access) up and running so I can abandon the spreadsheet I've been using for the last 6 mos. and recruit some helpers on that front as well . Soon I may go from too much to too little work, but right now that sounds good. Hope to do a better job of keeping up with you this week!

Morning Gang! Thanks for the start Joe! Give the Budmeister a scratch from me & Mairead! A similar quote that I like: (interpreted, modified & unk source) "What you do screams so loudly at me that I can't hear what you say!" Love those shirts Arla! Will have to check that place out....we got a couple from www.onemoremile.com too...."Kick Assphalt" "Running My Mass Off" "Got Toenails?" & "Sorry, I've Got to Run (with my Dog!)" & pawprints all over it....smaller selection than cafepress...but still some fun ones... Leslie: AVOID THE CRUD!! Zicam, EmergenC in orange juice, NyQuil/DayQuil, Gatorade.....whaddeva it takes! while I didn't full on get it, it did kinda take the stuffin outta me! & I guess the current style w/those pants is to wear them baggy (longer options) & down around your hips (I just can't get into that!) Ended up passing on covering yesterday's shift for a co-worker who's slacking in Cali recovering from the Holidays - traded it in for marathon house cleaning! Been much warmer here of late (on track for 64* later!!) which makes thick soup outta the yard & having 3 "little" doggies in this house & 2 in the other...... thank goodness for my Dyson! + just trying to put everything back from the holidays' disruption...wound up the day w/movies, popcorn & beer w/Doug... ...all day long, we kept saying, "we need to go for a run!...as soon as we get this one thing done..." which of course (per Joe's list) didn't exactly happen that way! So, movies it was! ....& further house remodeling discussion/planning....seems the kids from Hastings are considering our offer to move in here for awhile....better access to support goods & services...specifically, the Colorado Commission for the Blind, which is located right here in Littleton & offers more stuff than Nebraska's (course it does, we have a bigger tax base!)...& they kinda liked seeing everybody & having help w/the babies, etc.....the open basement needs to get finished in this Winter/Spring..... Gotta go - or I won't get a run in today either! Ciao!~ Cindy

Joe - looks like you've got 40 - 49 in the bag, you're gonna do fine upping that weekly mileage - watch out for Kelly! Bet you'll slaughter your PR! Leslie - I hear that you can opt to apply your refund to next year's taxes. Better than getting an IOU that will come who-knows-if-or-when. Jewels - OK, flip-flops get the green light You'd be cute in that outfit with tennies, too. Carol - take care of that IT thing. Ask hubby to get you a massage as an early Valentine's Day gift I'm chasing 2000 mi this year, off to a bad start what with tapering and then un-tapering...trying to resist overdoing it...but man it's a gorgeous day for a long run! Arla

Long story short just got home. Did a pretty nice off trail snowshoe tour with a friend of mine. Didn't really think I was tuned up enough to do backcountry Randonee skiing this trip. I did a short little recovery run this morning, apparently running and snowshoeing use different parts. more later Chaos Canyon Rocky Mtn National Park another on the way up

Just back from dinner and sitting by the fire with my 1/2 marathon friend. Came home with 1/2 a foam roller (cut in half with electric steak knife), a foot roller thingie, and a tip on where to get a nice wraparound knee icer thingie. So I should be set to cure whatever ails me. All parts feeling better after 2 rest days, so I'm ready to run again tomorrow. My friend's hubby is a Ft. Worth police sarge and is in DC working the inauguration. As Joe said, love our new prez or not, it is an historic event, and I'm really happy for him that he gets to be part of it. Arla, sorry I forgot to mention before...the "Why is everyone following us?" t-shirt has made the cut Jewels, yes, please explain "slaps"???? Cindy, yer making me feel like a slacker...dang...you got a lotta irons in the fire. Arla, I have no doubt you'll make that 2,000. Did you give in to that long run temptation? Salty, sounds like you're getting back in the flow. New shoes never hurt R2, jealous is all I can say. Wow! Leslie, your pancake story made me laugh...how many times have I done that! We must stop multitasking and focus on the cakes. Ev and Joe -- hiya!

Fatozzig - congrats on the 6lbs! You're right. If you're losing 3 lbs a week, chances are you could add a little more quality calories for your workouts. Do you use FitDay or DailyPlate? Nice job!

No, I don't do any calorie counting. I'm confident that once my medical issues are figured out, it'll come back with a bang. Carol - You have enough "thingies" now that you should pert near be feeling mighty fine! EG - I think that extra sleep was well deserved. Did 5 miles this a.m. with 6 steep, long hill repeats. Ended up with the following results: 1. 10:29/9:04/138 2. 10:00/8:32/150 3. 9:23/8:33/155 4. 12:45/8:00/149 (hill repeats started) 5. 9:56/8:32/152 6. 9:41/8:38/153 (.25 miles) I decided last week that I would start tackling the The Hill right by my house. Well, last week was all well and good because we had a full moon. I got down in that area this morning and was like, "Crap! There's no light! Ah -no full moon this time." Decided to run the other one right there that at least has one street light. The problem would be the cars flying over the top on their 100-mile an hour descent. Only a few cars went by, but I kept a sharp ear tuned to any engine sounds. I had also forgotten my reflective vest and felt quite nude and exposed without it. Yesterday morning I forgot my inhaler and had to go back for it. What gives? 40s dementia?? All in all, a good workout.