Good morning on a wonderful Friday in June. Yesterday was a running rest day for me and this afternoon I will get back on the road with a nice run. I sometimes think that rest days are the hardest part of running because I find myself feeling like I am missing something on that day. However, it is necessary and a part of the plan. An update on my brother is that his biopsy showed that the tumor does have cancerous cells but that it is in the early stages and the cancer has not spread. They finish off red blood cell injections today and next week he starts radiation to shrink the tumor. Then in six weeks they plan to operate to remove the tumor. Of course, with his weakened heart, any operation is a concern and they are hoping that these extra weeks will be used to strengthen the heart. His last test on the heart showed significant improvement there, which is good. As well, they feel that the stroke activity that he has had is reverseable and this was an encouragement. He thanked me yesterday for my letter/article that I gave him that many of you read. He said that it arrived just exactly at a time when he needed the encouragement and that it served to give him the boost he needed. I am glad I wrote it. Good luck to all who may be racing this weekend. Plan your race and race your plan. Then let us know how it goes. Have a great day with enjoyable miles on any run that you do today. Joey

Great news Joey with your brother (or at least a lot better news) - Hope you have a nice run later - Yeah, rest days are hard for me to, especially when I see others out there running. Happy 11th anniversary Holly, that is awesome as I know you are hard to live with Kidding of course. Have a nice bike ride and picnic, and concert later on...sounds like fun. Holly, you are right about Hallar's late post of an excellent fast race, and PR ....here it is for all to read and enjoy today: Decided to run a local 5k with a group from work. I was the only one who showed up though I was really not ready to run a good 5k but was going as support for some newer runners at work. Oh well! 5k 22:44 a 7:20 pace and a 41 second PR ! Got to the 1st mile in 7:05 the second in 14:20 and the last in 22:44 I really slowed on the last mile there is a pretty good hill at the 1/2 mile to go mark and usually I pass quite a few people on this hill but not today. Can't be to disapointed though. I really thought I had a 21:00 5k in me but maybe next time. Larry Was RA very hard to get on this morning for others...took about 10 minutes for me. 7 easy miles last night in IRC....but is suppose to get H&H again next week. Hope all have a good TGIF Tim

Glad your brother got your letter at the right time Vista. Congratulations Holly on your anniversary! Nice 7+ mile runs Tim and Peter. I took everyone's advice to heart today and slept in rather than run. I was awake in time for a 9 miler but decided to catch up on some sleep. I never moved a muscle for the next hour and a half. So my weekly unplanned rest mileage now stands at 9 miles. Tomorrow, I have golf at first light and then I'll run a few on the treadmill and possibly swim a few laps. Wish me luck on that last endeavor. An anchor comes to mind ... Bill

Morning, all! Vista - so nice to have good news on Friday!! Hugs to you and your brother. Holly - congrats on the marrigae milestone. We share an anniversary date - it's our 21st today. We have a 6:00 am flight tomorrow morning, so celebration is limited to dinner in Providence followed by an early retirement to an airport hotel. Erika - keep an eye on the treads on your new Nimbus X's. I only have 29 miles on mine - most if not all on a rubberized track surface - and the tread grid on one of the heels is already worn smooth. I have a pair of Nimbus 7's with 400 miles that don't have this much wear. Can't ask for nicer running weather - low 60's this morning along the Sound. 7 easy hilly miles with a 10:17 average pace - didn't look at the final heart rate average, but I suspect it was in the low 140's. Good runs and a good weekend to all. Best of luck to any weekend racers!

Sue - Happy Anniversary to you, too!

Holly AND Sue... Happy anniversary! Another nice (IRC) morning. Why is it that when a couple days of cool weather drop in they happen on my recovery days... just not fair. 4 Magical Healing Miles with Tory with 4 x 100m strides in 38:04 (9:30 pace, AHR 143). We saw one bunny in the road who casually hopped to the side out of Tory's way as we approached. Tory did not bark or lunge. Just a very peaceful run.... ahhhh. Now for a 31 mile weekend (11+20)... time for the heat to return

Hang in there Joey! Happy anniversary to Sue and Holly. Larry, you did great! Now don't settle for that big PR. You smooth those miles out a bit, and on a course with less of a tough finish you have more PR's ahead of you I bet. Nice job, and as you now have been warned, don't post a great effort late at night where we can't see it! Since we were talking about recovery and pace this week, go back and look closely at Perch's run today. We often marvel at these 13-14 milers he does, and at quite a good pace, but notice how careful he is to set up his upcoming runs and recover from his last strong efforts. Today he did just 4 miles, and look at that very relaxing 9:30 pace. But to prepare for the weekend, he also incorporates a few strides. So he gets some quick rotations, gets the HR up just a touch, and now he is poised to run long Saturday and Sunday. That is a thinking runner. You want to learn something here, don't listen to me, just watch Perch. 5 miles for me today, first four at Heinz ketchup pace, last mile at CO2 cartridge pace (4 @ 10:10, 1 @ 7:36). Spareribs

Holly AND Sue... Happy anniversary! Vista - Hope the news continues to get better. you deserve it. 30 minutes of ez running, just to get the legs moving as I may race Sunday depending on how I feel. L is racing tomorrow in a women's only race that is in memory of one of Canada's premier young runners that died in a car crash last year. In last year's race I believe over 50 women went under 20 minutes for 5K. They are hoping for more this year. So going to support L tomorrow rain or shine.. Tall