Hi! I'm back! Just flew in from Florida and I teach a night class in about 20 min so I'm a bit rushed! Got up at 12:30 am California time, a little loopy now, my students should get a kick out of me I promise to work on a RR, but the bottom line is that it was impossible to do more than a crawl in this race, it was unbelievably crowded!! I felt stronger as the race went on, but it was impossible to get through the crowds. HOWEVER, this was a good thing, because I really needed to be cautious on my first race of this distance...finishing up and feeling like I just had a hard long run has been a great confidence-builder! Hit the parks all day Sunday and Monday - no problems with aches and pains...back at it tomorrow...signing up for the LA marathon next (yeah I know...but it's my hometown and goes right by my mom's house). More later! Arla P.S. E-A-G...oh, never mind...

P.S. E-A-G...oh, never mind...

Thanks for not saying that Arla! Glad you're back and feeling strong. You're a marathon chick now! Good gym work Jim, Jewels, and some to you too Ev. Hills for Leslie on her new shoes. How are they treating you? Now you're committed Carol! Not to the funny farm, to your half! That should get your consistency back. Good to see you Salty! Feel free to post no matter how much you're running! Got back most of my missed Sun long run tonight. Warmest night of the week at 37* ,put down 13.3m. Going to be down to single digit temps and 45mph winds by Friday......bigtime brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Don't see many people charting their courses around here.I always had a thing for maps and charts myself and have mapped most of my runs. Well we got a smokin' fast laptop for Christmas (from DD and SIL God bless em') and now I can't get enough of messing around wirh Google Earth. You can set the terrain to be 3D and really feel just like you're flying over anywhere on Earth! Last night I flew from San Fran to Reno across Rt 80 and the Donner Pass! So cool!! Tonight I'm heading to Russia! See ya later comrades !!!

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Thought I would share this. Unfortunately, its got me written all over it......... Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests: I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing. As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table, and take out the garbage first. But then I think, Since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk, where I find the can of Coke I'd been drinking. I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. The Coke is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye -- they need water. I put the Coke on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I'd better put them back on my desk. But first, I'm going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water, and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight, when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den, where it belongs. But first, I'll water the flowers. I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels, and wipe up the spill. Then, I head down the hall, trying to remember what I was planning to do. At the end of the day: The car isn't washed, The bills aren't paid, There is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter, The flowers don't have enough water, There is still only 1 check in my check book, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses.... And I don't remember what I did with the car keys. Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled, because I know I was busy all damn day. And I'm really tired. I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, But first, I'll check my e-mail.... Do me a favor. Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember who the hell I've sent it to. Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!

Dang Leslie, that's awful! Sounds like the test they do as a last resort to determine if you have epilepsy - make you look at a strobe! Joe - too funny. It's sorta sad that we think that's funny OK, so I posted a brief RR over at the racing section of the main forum. But I've got a question for you more experienced folks - if I felt really fresh at the end of my marathon (fresh as in, gee, how's about 5 or 6 more miles?), did I just run WAAAY too slow? How much faster should I try for? Or are there simply no answers to these things? Arla

A month, eh? I was thinking a couple/few months. Need to look around for something in driving range... Arla

It reminds of the time I was going out for a.......oh, look, a bird. Evryday and his oneliners again......THAT is funny! Joe, that is so true for so many people. Dang Leslie, another test? It's good that they haven't found anything but discouraging at the same time I'm sure, especially when you know somethings not quite right. Hopefully they will pinpoint it soon enough. Thanks for the tips on the exercises. I'm willing to try any of them. Super race Arla, especially knowing you still had some gas left in the tank at the end. You are going to have a fantastic year! Congrats.....you're a marathoner! So did it stink going by the Animal Kingdom section like everyone says? Gotta get moving this morning, later all..........Jewels