almost August already ! Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability ~ Sam Keen Summer is a promissory note signed in June, it's long days spent and gone before you know it, and due to be repaid next January. ~ Hal Borland Been moaning about the heat, but it's nicer than winter! Got out at 5:30 am this morning and had a nice 16.3m long run. First 6m w/ Buddy, rest without. C ya's

very Gump-like, I decided to go over the Brooklyn Bridge. There is a pedistrian walkway built above the roadway. MTA- the bridge is not crooked, but my cellphone photography sometimes is.... Lower tip of Manhattan.To the far left is the Statue of Liberty.

Even though I don't know what the stuff is...instead of the attic how about a dumpster? I'm a big fan of dumpsters or recycling if it can be. I figure any inheritance my parents might leave me will be spent on dump fees cleaning out everything they keep "just in case". I'm back!!!!....I had a good race on Saturday. The water was cold, the mud was deep, I wanted to quit right from the start but kept going and ended up finishing about 6 minutes slower than last year in 7:16:43 and placed 2nd Female Master! I got a silver finishers medal and free entry to next year's race! I'll have a better race report this week with pictures. I went mtn biking today for 3 hours-my longest time on a bike in years and go figure in VT it was all uphill! Now I really can't walk downstairs and I wish I had those handles on the sides of the toilet that old people use to help myself get down and up I'm getting a masssage this week-I say this after every race like this but this time I'm going to follow through with it. Jack was my support crew and did a great job-I only snapped at him once at the last aid station-probably why he found the most uphill route possible today to bike. Cool pictures Joe and have fun with that room Leslie-1-800-GOT-JUNK? Do you have this service out there? I'm off to the shower to scrub at two layers of mud residue from my legs-wish I had a seat in there! Kelly

Way to go Kelly....2nd overall masters female!!!! Betcha you're glad you didn't let that early on quit impulse win out. I can imagine that one would get a little testy towards the end of one of those races. I'm sure Jack understands, though with his superman like finish in the last race, he may be one of those who crosses the finish line looking like he was just out for a stroll. Nice pics Joe! Cityscapes can really be beautiful. Always fun to run near water for some reason (not in it like Kelly, though . And what's this about a 16 miler? I musta missed something...like a whole lotta miles! Leslie, congrats on your remodeled office! Free is always good when it comes to furninture. As for the junk, I understand. The office I have now (formerly a spare bedroom), was one of those rooms that we would skip when showing anyone around the house. But it got cleared out when we moved in part of a cubicle that I picked up for $150 at the Comp USA corporate going out of business sale. NEVER thought I'd have a cubicle in my house (afterall...isn't that what we all try to escape), but it's really nice stuff (HON), complete with overhead lighted bins, and a couple of rolling file drawers. Jewels, good to see ya! Given any more thought to the Hal Higdon program? I'm liking the flexibility and variety of it. I kinda jumped ahead a little on my "long" run, so hopefully will be able to build up closer to race distance and/or take a couple of cut-back weeks where needed. Hoping I learned something from my hip injury last year about when to push and when to back off, but time will tell if intellect or endorphins win out Busy weekend for us. 5 miler on Saturday felt pretty good, though slow and hot. This weekend was the launch for our new church, so we were busy with setup on Sat. afternoon, prep Sun. morning, two services, and then some followup paperwork. Really cool though...there was a snafu with the only mailing that went out, so only about half of them made it to people's mailboxes. We thought not too many folks would show up as a result, but God seems to have taken care of that because we wound up having to set up more chairs after the service got started because people just kept coming! Guessing around 200ish. Lots of fun, and can't wait to see what happens next! Well, off to work I go (or stay in my case). Have a trip to the gym planned for this evening for 40 min. of elliptical + weights. Later.....

Happy Monday Gang! Joe: kewl! run, pics..thanks for sharing! ...looks like it might sometimes be easy to "lose the mileage" there. Leslie:...in an effort to contain the amt of "stuff" accumulated around our house, (even though at the moment we have an available spare bedroom), we have opted to park our desk pretty much right smack dab in the middle of the house, whereby we MUST endeavor (in order to protect our fragile ego) to keep the debris piles managed.... and the ONLY things that we keep for "inheritance" would be those things that actually have value as such....family photos, 2 antique shotguns, 2 antique (hand carved in Germany) dressers, a coupla dishes that were my Great Grandmothers, one antique silver table service set, family heraldry/coat of arm....everything else is just "personal comfort" items...I like em, but I'll bet my kids would get rid of them in a heart beat, soooo as I approach retirement, those things will be thinned out via garage sales & whatnots.. Kelly: Congrats on a great finish. Looking fwd to the RR! Aren't you glad you didn't quit Just one massage?!? I'll be right there! Jewels: How's things going w/DD? I remember going through those teenage years somewhat on auto-pilot! some days, you just take a deep breath.....& DONT ask what's next - cause sure as Murphy, you'll get it!!! Carol: What fun!! & glad your running program is coming along!! Hoping things mellow out w/your "challenging" neighbor! Is it wrong to "visualize" evil things happening?! it's not the same thing as hoping is it? I would feel guilty about that....sorta. R2: How long are you staying up @ Estes? Supposed to be dastardly hot & dry @ lower elevations for the next several days....just saying! Mebbe Lynda should just join you up there for a few..... Arla? you recovered yet? Did you take pictures?? ya gotta share so we can "vacation vicariously" Well, yesterday's Golf Tourney/party thingy well terribly awry....Several young people were already quite "primed" @ 7am - & continued drinking - heavily!.... while we didn't have the predicted "cart in the lake," we did have two groups being closely monitored/talked to by the course marshals which in itself resulted in the owners lecturing the whole group on "mature/responsible" behavior...but the worst happened @ the end of the day...one of said 'trouble groups' rolled a cart in the parking lot resulting in an ambulance being called for at least a broken arm & road rash....this morning's update: two plates, 14 pins, several hrs of surgery & off line for min. 8 wks! btw, said young-un is a line mechanic in a major dealership....probably lives too "paycheck-to-paycheck"..... OK, I finally called the podiatrist - he's a distance runner/tennis player who works heavily w/athletes - highly recommended....& I get to chat w/him tomorrow @ 4:00....gonna lay off the foot till I talk to him...Saturday's run was maybe ill advised as I seem to have lost the "feeling better" progress that I'd made....after the big wknd I had (relatively speaking) I'm icing & "resting" (btwn housework) today....

Bump!

psst! Leslie....peeps are still sleeping I'm skipping boot camp this am till after I talk to the podiatrist/sports dude today...Doug just left w/Mairead for a few....Ya know, that feels a little weird!? I even saw him online reading running stuff last night!

what level W3 Joe? I keep re-starting W3/L1 because of the boot camp thing...