Not much witty to say, so I'll count on Teddy Roosevelt for our inspiration this week: “Far better it is to dare mighty to win glorious triumphs though checkered by failure than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much for they live in that gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” OK, the rest is up to you......

Thanks for kicking off the week Carol. 7 miles yesterday morn about 70 deg on the way to 102. I was pretty sore believe it or not after that little race so cut my LR short. Had to laugh @ the little girls comment, I started out so fast just knew they would blow by me when I coasted midway. Awesome pics Kelly, looks like a life preserver and climbing harness could be standard equip for that one!!

Mornin', Folks! Cindy - Martina McBride is one of my favorite singers. Such a powerful voice from such a tiny person. And Jimmy Buffett . . . well, how can you not like Jimmy Buffett. His live album, "Feeding Frenzy," is one of my all time favorites. Farmer Jim - See, you try to show up the youngins and look what happens. Tsk, tsk, tsk I had planned to do a progression run this a.m. instead of my scheduled strides, but got to a flat spot about 2 miles in and thought, what the heck. So 5.11 miles total with the strides (1 min strides w/45 seconds rest in between) in the middle. Counting the 2.7 minutes of rest between the strides, finished it all in a respectable 54:10. Kelly - Don't know if you've read this, but check out www.ultrunr.com/crew.html - Crew Handlers and Pacing your Runner. Some of it's pretty funny, like CREW - An acronym for Crabby Runner, Endless Waiting. Later!

The only "funny" story is the poor folks we cornered at a bar called the Pearl. A lady came and sat on the benches by us and was sort of spreading out. Said she needed to save the seats for her hub and another couple. I asked her who her husband was and she pointed him out, his name was Joe. I walked up, poked him on the shoulder and told him he needed to get his a$$ over to his wife 'cause she was really POd at him for making her wait, then I went off to the bathroom. The look on his face was priceless. We ended up spending some time (how long, I have no idea . . .) with them, then we all went out in the alley to listen to a band that was playing, danced around a bit, then headed home. Let's just say from that point on it is a total and complete blur. The coo coo story. Didn't happen to me, but it is very funny. Here it is again, if anyone's wants to read it: Girls' Night Out The other night I was invited out for a night with "the girls." I told my husband that I would be home by midnight, "I promise!" Well, the hours passed and the margaritas went down way too easy. Around 3 a.m., a bit blitzed, I headed for home. Just as I got in the door, the cuckoo clock in the hall started up and cuckooed 3 times. Quickly, realizing my husband would probably wake up, I cuckooed another 9 times. I was really proud of myself for coming up with such a quick-witted solution (even when totally smashed), in order to escape a possible conflict with him. The next morning my husband asked me what time I got in, and I told him midnight. He didn't seem disturbed at all. Then he said, "We need a new cuckoo clock." When I asked him why, he said, "Well, last night our clock cuckooed three times, then said, "Oh, shit," cuckooed 4 more times, cleared its throat, cuckooed another 3 times, giggled, cuckooed twice more, and then tripped over the cat and farted."

Soooo if any of ya get really bored and want to run a 5k or 10k and take in the Chase County fair, listen to Alice Cooper, Mark Chesnut, or Miranda Lambert and meet the editor of Running Times Mag check this out. http://www.chasecountyfair.com/controller/1005/entertainment.html?inet=aD1yYWdyZWdudmF6cmFnLXlheCZyaD1mcHVycWh5ci15YXgmcnBsdWdpbi1hY3Rpb249cmVhZA for race details click on schedule - Sat Aug 16.

but.....this is a running forum and not a soap box forum.

Hey - We love gossip and dirt! Okay, maybe I'm only speaking for myself . . . Farmer Jim - Looks like fun, but, alas, I don't believe I can get the time off from work. Have a corn dog for me! (I love a good corn dog. Yum!) 45 minutes of stationary bike riding (oh, my new seat ) and 45 minutes of core/strength. My legs are pleasantly pooped. Later!

Kelly - Just watched the video of your last race. Man, what a monster! The ending of the video was pretty cool, too.

Joe-No offense taken about the accents. You must be referring to southern NH (I grew up in Concord, NH myself) where there would be that Boston influence. Here in northern VT the accent is a bit different-maybe closer to how people from Maine speak but you also get the Canadian influence where they speak English with a slight French Canadian accent. As far as fuel for my race-I had Amino Vital Endurance Formula in Fruit Punch. It has a higher level of elctrolytes in it compared to their regular formula. It's not a sugary tasting drink and even though the flavor is fruit punch it's still a clear color. I wear a fuel belt with four 8 oz bottles. I started with all four full of Amino Vital and didn't drink much up to the second aid station which includes about a mile and half of running upstream. Funny how when you're in the water you're not that thirsty. I drank more hiking up Jay which at the top is mile 9 and when I reached aid station 4 (maybe mile 13-14) I had one empty bottle I filled with water and from then on kept at least one bottle filled with just water. I eat Vanilla GUs and I tried to eat at least one an hour but I wasn't always paying attention to the time. I made myself a pb&j sandwich and by aid station 5 at mile 19 was hungry so I ate half of it there and I had started having a little bit of coke too (starting before hiking up Jay). We buy the little 8oz bottles since they travel well. This is the only time I drink coke. The food at this race is nothing to brag about so I don't rely on it. I ate the other half of my sandwich at aid station 6 (mile 24) which is after the river crossing withthe rope and that's where I changed my shoes and socks. I emptied the mud out of them before going up Jay as well. I wear Montrail Hardrocks to protect my toes in the river parts wich total about 4-5 miles now-he's added more over the past 3 years I've done this race. Then I change to Brooks ASRs for the last 9 miles in which mud is worst I have to go through. Jack was feeding me ECaps too at the aid stations and at the last one with about 4 miles to go I had 2 small potatoes with my coke. Last year my time was 7:10, the year before 7:42 and this year 7:16 however this year the mud was much deeper as well as the river and beaver pond. Have a good night-it's time for bed! Kelly