Lots of great banter here in the 40s and up crowd! 

Nice racing Arla!  Tough 10 spot Jim....take a rest.  Joe still gettin' it done on the mill no less.  Stumpy...please let me suggest....to go farther, go slower.  Once you get the distance then work on speed.  (I know it makes little since for me to give advice about speed  ) But nice going...You'll do great on your half.  Enjoy it.  Leslie....Hubs gonna love the work you've done in the yard!  It's Jewels...hey Jewels!  Carol, you getting this lovely weather?

I've been hangin' out in the frontyard flowerbed, and then the backyard flower bed and then the backyard lawn.  All with shovels and rakes and chainsaws and wheelbarrows and implements of destruction and construction.

But then the best part is after all that I've been hangin' out on the back patio with LMD in one hand and a margarita in the othr.  And I've been wearing short pants for going on 5 days straight!

It's the anniversary week for us.  Lots of married couples have an anniversary day, but  we got a whole week! 

At some point it'll all get back to normal and I'll tell some running stories. 

PS...    I had no idea Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Tom Brady were ultra runners?  Who knew?

Enjoy!

Hey Guys-

Arla- you sure do have some diverse footwear.Unfortunately, humans are not allowed in the reservior or I would be joining Buddy for his swims.They let boats in there (which makes little sense since they are dirtier than dogs or humans). Anyway ,being that I live in Nazi Jersey where there's rules for everything, I don't even think Buddy is allowed to swim legally. But we make it quick and get moving.

Leslie- Good luck with your crewing adventure. That course is unbelievable. I suppose Jurek will be the favorite on the mens side?

Jewels- good job getting out in that steamy stuff. It sure is draining.

Carol- nice job on your consistency.

Ev- Happy Anniversary!

Jim- Your job is a bit tougher than ours.

Splendid trail run for me yesterday. Got started about 7pm just as a gentle rain started falling. Quite unusual for me to be there without the Budster and I really enjoyed just ripping through without a bunch of stopping.Got to8.5m when my loop was done and the light was running out. Headed from there up a short distance to the bike path. There I was treated to one of the coolest lightning bug shows I ever saw.The path rolls through some grassy meadows and there were a gazillion of them. That and the half moon breaking through the clouds made for a very picturesque scene.

Hey All - We're in Squaw Valley.  Made it here in the late afternoon yesterday.  It's a longer drive than I thought, but even though we stopped for lunch and groceries, it was a 9-hr drive.  It's gorgeous here.  Everyone is up at the moment, so I hope we get out for a short run here soon.  (I like to get up and get them over with, but my peeps here don't have the same feeling, unfortunately).  Karen and I have to attend a mandatory crew meeting at 2:30, and we're all going to take the tram up to the top for some kind of ceremony at noon.  I have my camera, an empty 2 GB photo card, and my clicking finger and ready to go!

Arla - Safe travels, good luck, and HAVE FUN!  Of course, how could you not have fun in Hawaii?

Ev - Sounds like a good time, even with the hard work.

Joe -  The end of your run sounds spectacular!  I've only experienced fireflies once, and that's when we were little kids visiting relatives in Ohio.  I remember running around the yard trying to catch them to put in jar.

Ev - Oh! I never would have figured that out.

Leslie - Very exciting! Can't wait to see your pics and RR.

Joe - I remember seeing lots of fireflies outside of Chicago, but that was 30 years ago and I understand that there are fewer of them nowadays.

I'm outta here, going to go home, get in a run, finish packing and head to San Jose for the night. Plane leaves early in the AM, so by this time tomorrow I should be all checked in to my room! Wow! It's all very exciting to me, I have not been to Hawaii for years and have never been to the Big Island - there's so much to do there!

I'll have a mai-tai for everyone after the race.

Aloha,

Arla

Pomaika`i  to Arla & Stumpy!!

Yes, Ev, the heat is definitely on here.  Got in a sweaty run outside this morning, followed by yard mowing.  Heading to the treadmill tomorrow, though not for anywhere near as long as Joe.

Good luck Stumpy and Arla.  Woo hoo!!!

Today has been a good day, except for the headache I've been nursing due to the altitude and lack of water.

Anyhoo - Kate, Karen and I went out for a 5-mile run this a.m. and, even though I know Kate was running pretty easy and it was fairly flat, I was able to keep up with her most of the time, which felt good.

We then took the tram up to the top of the mountain for a really good ceremony they do every for WS, which included honoring those who have been involved who died this past year.  I'd say there were probably 60+ up there.  They asked where people had come from, and as far as other countries go, the following represented at the ceremony were: Tanzania, Ireland, England, Australia, Holland, New Zealand, Portugal, and . . . . . TEXAS!

We're all standing in this big group listening to the folks who are doing the ceremony, and they say we're going to sing "America, the Beautiful."  "Do we have a music teacher or musician who can get us started?"  Karen and Kate both literally push me out front and say, "She can do it!"   I get up front in everyone and say, "You gotta love your friends."

Me, Karen, Kate, Rodney

The trail has been lowered due to the amount of snow still at the higher elevations.  It's gorgeous up there.

1 mile warm up on the streets then to the hs track with a 400-600-800-600-400 meter @ goal 5k race pace with 400m recoveries in between and another 1 mile cool down around town. Went pretty well, wore my most stable shoes for the warmup, put on my perf trainers (elixars) for the track workout and then the flats for my cooldown jog. Last real hard workout and all the parts are still functioning. Checked irrigation on the way into town and some on the way home. I better get back to it.. More later, wild day yesterday have to tell u all about it.

Kewl Pics Leslie!!

AaaaMerica thuu BEEuuuTiFull I can hear it now.