Wow Leslie. That looks like tough terrain. Did you say desert or dessert?!?

First you run through the desert, then you get lots of dessert! Take care of that hip and hammie. Give it a coupla days. When's your marathon?

Take care of that hip and hammie. Give it a coupla days. When's your marathon?

Not until Nov 23rd. Plenty of time to recover. The thing that gets me is this: During my whole running career (1.5 yrs) and even when I was a casual runner in my 20's, I had this notion that my left leg was shorter than my right. I feel it in my stride and my aches and pains are always on the left side as well.Shin splints,calf pain,now tension in my left hip and under my hammie where the top of the leg bone joins the hip.I read somewhere that if you have pain in only one side of your hip,it's almost always a leg length descrepency or hip imbalance. I have gone to a "sports Dr." and he kinda measured me but didn't think it's an issue.He says that I'm MUCH tighter on my left side and I should take a break and stretch more. I'm caught in the "chicken or egg" syndrome and wonder if I'm tight only on my left side for a reason? I'm looking for another Dr that's on my plan that's more tolerant of runners. End of rant. Thanks for listening.

Great news Salty.....you'll have that stamina back in no time. Jim, hope the achilles problem gets on the mend soon. I hear/read so much about little injuries here and there just before race events and from what I gather is that it happens to ALOT of runners because we seem to "push it" just a tad more because we know our race is right around the corner. It's not karma or bad luck, it's that little EXTRA umpf we throw in there because we're feeling great. That little "extra" can cost you and set you back a bit. Take it easy Joe......you will bounce right back. Just give it a wee bit of a rest! Arla.....sorry to hear of your loss. Life just isn't fair sometimes! At least that's the way it seems! I'll never forget my friend who passed away just 2 years ago. One day she was here in the office telling me she found a lump in her breast this morning in the shower and 9 months later I was at her funeral. We were just a couple of months apart in age. So young.....she was such a great person! Leslie......go for it! The book that is! That would be a great contribute to your mom! She raised one heck of a tough daughter so I know she must have been a great lady. O.K. enough of that stuff! Jewels

Thanks Leslie for the stretch and compliment.Thanks too Jim and Jewels for the encouraging words! Go easy Salty,you'll do fine! Good Luck to racers Carol and Kelly this weekend!!

So there's this store in town we call the "Banned Foods Store." They always have great deals, weird stuff, etc. The Hub shopped there last weekend and bought some canned peas (among other things). Tonight I go to open the peas, which are labeled "Sweet Peas," and - - - it's canned potatoes! What? Shifted them around a bit to see if the peas were hidden underneath. Nope. Okay. Grabbed another can and - - canned potatoes - again! I was cracking up! Couldn't bring myself to open another can. Hub says, "Guess that's why they were 39 cents." Too funny. Went for the peas and carrots - aaah, yes! Peas and carrots.

Arla: {{{{{ }}}} (hope that makes sense ) Leslie: Adventure of the "canned variety!" as opposed to dessert in the desert......btw, I tried your 'wall-doorway' stretch...I have to drop through the doorway to get anything out of it Jim: I relayed to Doug ~ he's feeling pretty good. Hasn't shared if/what he has for goals, although he really is more of a "Winnie-the-Pooh" personality....lives in the moment w/o expectations (wish I could do that more!) Joe: you have an awesome base & plenty of time till your race!!...that said, try some Yoga classes & see if you get a bit more balanced feeling...(I'm thinking some Ashtanga type for core work, etc) ....often if there's no structural imbalance (Doc woulda told ya) it's a soft tissue & thereby, manipulatable & of course, I'm always an advocate of such things as MAT & Sports Massage! & maybe a little Salsa Dancing to loosen up the hips! .... Diana: Woot! Woot! YAY!! Well, I guess you could say I made my 20.....sorta Had an awful sleep night Thurs night - don't know if it was the Dr Pepper before bedtime or that I was over-working wkend events...got a ballgame added to Friday eve anywhoo, didn't sleep well, so didn't get up till 7:30..no time for a decent breakfast...gonna be 80* by noonish...hafta take the coolie vest & stay shady for Mairead...thought for several minutes about the viability of bagging it until Tues...but then I'd be wiped out from the wknd & wouldn't maybe have good recovery before Weds eve track workout....SO! went out to "do what I could"....made it 21.56 reeeall slow miles avg 13:30 pc - which includes a BUNCH of walking due to foot pain & lack of energy...well, really about 12 of it was decent enough...guess I'll just have to take it at that & move on.....barely made it home before all the folks going to the game - got to ice my feet before heading out...had a good time, Rockies over the D-Backs 3-1. followed by awesome fireworks show....not really stiff this am, which means I didn't really kick my own butt so much yesterday! okay then....off to the shower & enrt Wedding via Expo.... Have a Great Weekend Everybody.....See Ya Sunday/Monday.... Cindy

Race Reports! Race Reports!! Okay - rest a little . . . then, Race Reports!!! Cindy - Nice job on the mileage today. Way for you and Mairead to suck it up and hit the road. Doesn't matter how fast or slow you went, so long as you did it. Arla - Sometimes it does feel like the bad is trying to overwhelm, but you're right. There is a ton of good going on in our lives, and that's what we need to focus on. We have our health, our friends, our family, roofs over our heads, food on our tables - Very good. Very, very good. About 12 miles today at Fern Canyon all by my lonesome. It was really nice. Not another soul around until I was almost done. About 2 hours into the run, I passed a couple going in the other direction. About 40 minutes later, I passed 3 young men hiking in. It was quiet, overcast so cool, but not cold. Absolutely perfect. We haven't run out there in quite awhile, so I had forgotten how rolling it is, lots of roots to skip over, quite a few, well, I guess you'd call 'em corners to go around. It's not an extremely technical trail, but it's more technical the major portions of the Arcata Forest. Used my new 2-bottle set up today. It's a Go-Lite that's made specifically for a woman's form. Absolutely no bounce when running. I'll definitely be using it more than my pack. The pack will be for runs over 3 hours. My legs were really tired after the 3 hours. I was told I should be consuming about 280 calories an hour after the first hour. Consumed a total of 560 calories in solids: nothing the first hour, about 320 the second hour and the rest the third hour, and about 31 oz of fluids (GU2O and maltodextrin). I just feel like with all the training I've been doing that my legs should feel fresher, even after 3 hours. Dunno . . . The Hub's gone to a couple of bday parties, I just got everything ready to can 2 lugs of tomatoes tomorrow, and now I'm in my PJs relaxing and contemplating a nice loooooong nap. (Is 7:00 to soon to go to bed??).

Woohoo!!! Go Kelly! Busy day, so quickie race report. But first, I cannot tell you how much all your well wishes mean. I read them before I went to the race and thought of you all as I was running. I really do wish we could all get together and run one somewhere, or at least hang out and get to know one another in person. Tour des Fleurs 10K Hubby is stressing over some tests at school next week, but was such a sweetie and got up at 4:30 this morning to make the trip to Dallas w/ me Beautiful day at the Dallas Arboretum and White Rock Lake. Fish jumping in the glassy water at the start made me kind of want to ditch the race and grab a fishing pole. Anyway, end result was that I met one of my goals, but not the other. Finished 19 seconds ahead of my time last year (goal #1), but didn't quite break an hour (goal #2). This year 1:00:14, avg HR 182. Last yr 1:00:33, avg HR 179. Still wishing I had found that extra 14 seconds somewhere, but ran a hard effort for me so OK with that. If someone can remind me how to post a picture, I'll let that suffice for the fashion report. Can't wait to hear of Kelly's adventures. Go Kelly!!!