My hammie is still tight . . .

Have you ever done the wall stretch? It did wonders for my tight hammies. They used to be so bad that when I'd get up to walk after having sat for awhile, I'd have to stayed in a sort of squatted position and hobble along until they loosened up. My coach gave the wall stretch, and after about a week or so of consistently doing it every day, things started feeling so much better. It's also helped with my lower back, since it's all related. You want to be at a doorway so that the leg that's not on the wall has somewhere to be. Lie on your back, one leg/heel up on the wall, the other leg bent with foot on the floor (this is the one that's in the doorway). For lack of a better way to explain, you want to feel a slight/relaxed, but not uncomfortable, stretch in the hammy on the wall. Stay in that position for 5 minutes then switch legs, which will require you to move to the other side of the doorway. Soon, after a couple of weeks of consistent stretching, you'll be able to do this with your leg straight and your butt up against the wall. At that point, it's a matter of maintenance. All of your guys' talk of marathons gets me wondering if I could do a marathon on the road. Maybe. The one I did last month in Susanville was a rail to trails marathon. Cripes, but I was bored. It was a beautiful area, but the scenery never changed. And it was straight, straight, straight. I guess that's why I like trail running so much. The trail/terrain are constantly changing. Tet, my trail running friend, understands the attraction, dontcha. Well, my boss just came in, said he was going to the bank, and he'd understand if I wasn't here when he got back. So I'm outta here!

Good luck to the turkeys who are trotting tomorrow! Mary, nice dog picture! Do you ever run with Huntley or Hailey, or just Brinkley? r2farm, how close do you live to Ft Collins? I thought you were in Nebraska - that's kind of a long drive to a race, isn't it? Or do you have family there that you're spending the holiday with? Tim - nice cross training! Did your fingers and toes look like prunes after all that time in the pool? I don't do weight workouts much at all since I started running. I do some of my winter running at the rec center so will try to get back to it. My warm up/cool downs are different depending on if I'm running in the mountains or flatlands. In the mountains, I walk up my driveway to warm up, because it's too steep to run up. (0.15 miles, 100 ft up). Then I start my run at the top. It's still uphill on the road, but not as steep. But I run down the driveway at the end of my runs, with no cool down walking. In the flatlands I start jogging slowly right off the bat, but walk at the end, usually after I've reached an even mile or half mile on my Garmin. I haven't had a day off from running for seven days, but it's just too darned nice out to skip it today. It was 62 degrees and sunny at lunchtime, so I went for an easy 4 miles on the Highline Canal trail past all the McMansions. Some of them are true testaments to what happens when you have too much money and too little taste.

6 miles for me this afternoon. Incorporated some hills in the last 2 miles.

if my feet never touched the ground,

"I fly so high when you're around, that my feet don't touch the ground." Well....Tim, that wasn't necessarily meant for you....your post just reminded me of a song.

Fatozzig....I got a vacuum cleaner for my birthday from my husband, back in the first couple years of our marriage....somehow I stayed married to him....

5 miles along the marina with a reduced-in-size running club. Maybe it was the rain? Enjoy the gift all! And have a great feast tomorrow.