I hope everyone is having a happy Tuesday so far! My arteries are clogged just from reading yesterday's dailies! from yesterday... Mariposai- that is some hill you climb! Yikes! I would need grappling hooks to get up that thing! And you did it twice! I would say you conquered it! I'm glad you find my posts useful, thank you! Vista- remind me never to play you in golf. The word "ringer" comes to mind! Keep at it with your physical fitness prodding to them. You're planting seeds that may just bloom some day. Ribs- sorry about the aborted run yesterday, but I was also glad to see you rebounded and went to the gym instead. dg- I've thought about bringing a drill to the gym and drilling some holes in the footpods on the elliptical. Aamos- you are the devil. Thank you! jules- you look no worse for the wear after getting blown off a cliff. Nice picture, thanks! SueT- I'm glad I wasn't the only one drooling yesterday. dromedary- potato chips on ice cream? Sounds interesting. I have a small Fuji digital that I take with me on runs that I like. That picture came out very well with just your cellphone though! Thank you for the ankle hug! Too bad your freight train breathing doesn't scare the skunks away. Cmom- a LunaChix weekend sounds like fun! Any word from the doctors office yet? flkjr- Well done on the 5k! That's a great time! Enke- I hope it was low fat mayo. Tall- I hope you share your writing with us, it would be great to read. mainerunnah- well done on your last long run before Boston! wildchild- anything with peanut butter cups in it has got to be good! SteveP- sounds like day 1 was a sticky situation for you. Does that mean the truck never had its oil changed in over a year? Nice run afterwards. wa5yom- glad the shin survived. Promise me the next 2 weeks will be EASY on it! eliz- what a humanitarian you are, putting that poor ice cream out of it's misery, while not exposing anyone to the aftermath. JJJ- thanks for the blog link! Great pictures! Craneium- your voice was lost, but that's no excuse for not typing! Glad you are back, I enjoy your stories about what you're doing with the kids. biketm- that was some bike ride! I tend to agree with your assessment about bikers vs. runners personalities in general, but as always there are exceptions. Keep up the great work! PJH- it's a fine line between telling a kid what to do vs. "guiding" then in the right direction. Good luck with the rest of the negotiations! Neat photo! deez4boyz- sounds like you need something a bit more potent than OTC motrin. Maybe the chocolate will help? from today... hopeful4ever- Mary, what a great message to start us off with! Congrats on taking the plunge. With the training you are doing now, you are off to a great start! Looking forward to following you along and keeping you psyched! Teresa- have a great trip! Enjoy the weather. perch- lots of sproinkiness from you lately! Jeanne- those conditions at the track meet sound rough. I'll bet it felt good to thaw out later. You had a good reason to oversleep, that was some game. Tall- that was some workout! Keep that up, and that masters runner you are seeing tonight won't be beating you in races much longer. Holly- sounds like all systems are go! Just in time for a certain race you have coming up. breger- no TIVO or recording devices in your house? Its a good sign with your running when you feel you have to keep holding yourself back. PeterNC- sounds like you really "cleaned up" during your run! Craneium- I'll bet it feels good to get the bike out again. Don't go getting dizzy and crashing into something! SueT- we'll need pictures of those fish you are gonna nab! Sounds like a great weekend planned! Good running! Twocat- sometimes even easy runs aren't the best thing for you. Be smart about this PLEASE. Do you have access to an elliptical? evanflein- Maybe you can sneak out at some point today. I hope so. Glad you made it there ok. WRFB- how are the temps in Nevada where you are? Mariposai- thats encouraging that you felt good today after the mountain climbing you did the other day! With your asthma, since you know what you will be up against in Wenatchee, can you get anything special to take to combat the problem? Love those Wenatchee apples, in the business I'm in, we buy a lot of them and ship them east here. Ribs- glad to hear yesterday's foot glitch was just a glitch. I'm impressed with how you are handling your comeback. Good luck to the Saint tomorrow on her 11 miler, it'll be good to hear about the day you can join her. vista- I wonder how the rest of that story went... that was a cool video, thanks! enke- Chewsday? That was yesterday, wasn't it, with all the ice cream talk? I don't think I knew about your basketball background. Cool! Tough sport, no wonder you are such a tough runner! breger- I wonder where that guys golf club ended up. Happy anniversary! BCMorant- I can't believe that story about your dad's business partner! I'm not sure if that is dedication, or insanity! Vista mentioned nostalgia. While channel surfing this AM while doing my proprioceptive exercises, I came across an infomercial for the Jack LaLanne Juicer! He ranks right up there with Dick Clark as someone who seems to have been around forever, and is ageless. He was even still wearing his one piece workout outfit. Had a very nice walk with the pooch this AM down on the beach. It was windy and chilly, but still nice. That used to be our morning routine until I started in with Boston training, so it was really nice to be back to doing that again. Funny thing is, when I would get up in the AM, the dog would usually get up too, knowing what was coming. Since we haven't done this in quite a while now, he got into the habit of continuing to sleep after I get up. It took quite a few pokes to get him going this morning! Followed up the walk with some exercises. Went to my GP doctor today to get my ankle checked out. He too is a runner, so for a GP, I feel comfortable going to him with my running issues. He gave me a referral to a surgeon to have whatever the lump is in my ankle removed. It's most likely the cause of my ankle woes, because it is right next to the tendon and is probably irritating it, so it'll be good to get that sucker out of there. He said it should be relatively minor surgery, unless the lump has attached itself to my tendon. So we'll see. I'm gonna have it done sometime in May. You guys would love my job. I'm in charge of keeping the office stocked with goodies. Well that's not all I do here, but that's my favorite part! Just got back from the wholesale store with $178 worth of stuff. Most of it's pretty healthy, but not all of it is.... Let's see what Pooh has to say about all of this... “When having a smackerel of something with a friend, don't eat so much that you get stuck in the doorway trying to get out.” Have a great day, gang!

5 slooow miles this morning. I'm still a little stiff and sore from Sunday's race, which makes me just a tad nervous. This would be a really stupid time for an injury. But I'm sure it just means that the race was a max effort workout, and I just need another day or so for complete recovery. Congratulations on taking the big leap, Mary. We're very excited for you!

Wow - I'm first! Well, then - I'll post a first . . . . . I've signed up for my first Marathon!! The Detroit Marathon - October 19 - Bib #6106. I get all fluttery just thinking about it!! Out for 6 less than sproinky miles with Brinkly this morning. 9:57 pace, 35 degrees, no wind - pretty enjoyable weather overall. 300 crunches and 25 pushups too. Cheers! ~Mary

Cheers to you Hopeful Mary! This is fabulous. We will be running just a few hours west of you in Grand Rapids that same day. Good luck Train well Run smart Have fun Very cool ~ RCG or

smackeral, I like that word. I'm back, finally--it's in the 40s here and guess what? More snow is predicted for this week. Y'know, I'd like to scoop up all the white stuff and smackerall back to the North Pole. 7 miles in a few smackerals under an hour. Hey, btb said I was the so I'm just acting my part here. (Yea, that's my excuse.) grins, a Jesse--you're funny, LaVita! So great to hear from you!

“When having a smackerel of something with a friend, don't eat so much that you get stuck in the doorway trying to get out.”

Oh, great, NOW you tell me.....(I'm so embarrassed)......

Mary congrats on the big jump! If I survive Bayshore I am deciding between Grand Rapids and Detroit in the fall. I haven't decided yet but am leaning toward Grand rapiids. All that talk about ice cream from yesterday was interesting but whats with the peanut butter and whatever else is in the cupboard at the time? I like my peanut butter straight up and neat. jjjessee, thats my favorite kind of runs, just out the door with nothing but a pair of shoes and my shorts. About as necked as is legal. You can concentrate on the world around you and you notice things you normaly would miss. I wanna be like Jack when I'm 100. He must be about that old by now. I remember my mother doing her workout every morning with Jack, That bicycle kick thingy was pretty funny though. 5 tempo type miles for me between jobs at work. 43:00 and a 8:35 pace. This was pretty comfortable but I can still feel the 18 from Sunday I think. Good runs everyone

Posting quickly since I'm still in TX enjoying my grandkids!! GD1 walked 1.2 miles with me and didn't complain once....of course, her mom is a running addict!! I think she is going to be a marathoner...it'll be a few years since she's only 4 1/2! I did another lap for a total of 2.4 miles....it is HOT here for April.....at least it seems that way to me!! Flying home late afternoon tomorrow.