I haven't been up at 4:30/5:00 in quite awhile. Not sure I like it anymore.
i did some yard work at the church on Saturday, then we went and met two new clients of The Hub's, then home and church Saturday evening. Sunday it was grocery shopping, some cleaning and laundry while The Hub made apple bread, then I made a big pot of beans. It was a productive weekend and went by way too fast. *sigh*. Now it's time to get back into a workout routine and back to work.
Just had a frigging scare - fed the cats, am sitting here in the couch wasting time, the slider is cracked so the cats can go in and out, I hear "someone" eating, look over . . . and it's a skunk! In my house!!
And just how to do you shoo a skunk out? Veeeerry carefully. You make a few very quiet noises, he ignores you and continues eating, then you slip up and slide the door open even further, he turns around and sees you, you try not panic and move out of side - VERY FAST - sneak around the end of the couch, and hope he leaves. When you don't see him, you creep around the kitchen island praying he's actually gone. And when he is - you run over quickly and shut the door! . . . . . My heart is still pounding. I think I'll wait another minute or two before I go outside to my workout room . . . . .
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
Wow good morning Leslie, skunks can ruin your whole day! So glad it left without incident...
Congrats Holly on your successful 17 mile race!
Good 16 mile run on Saturday and 10 easy on Sunday 19 days until Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
Elliptical today...
Have A Great Day!
Courage ! Do one brave thing today...then run like hell.
A skunk in your kitchen?!! THAT would wake you up for sure. Thank goodness you got rid of him before he decided to "leave" you something! Sounds like a nice weekend Leslie. And they always go by too quickly.
Tet is starting to scare me
Congrats on your DS making NHS Holly. And it's so nice your DD wants to be baptized.
Happy belated birthday Erika - hope there was wine and cake!
Some great running again this weekend. Karin, IBleedUnionBlue, and waiting for OM to report in on Chicago. It looks like they had spectacular weather.
Ran 5 miles yesterday and spent this morning doing 4 miles on the elliptical, 3 miles on the bike and 45 minutes of weights and core work. My dear grandson Will turns 4 today. After his turbulent start in life with open heart surgery a day after he was born, we give thanks that he is healthy and well.
Have a great Monday everyone.
Way to handle that skunk Leslie. Yes, it is best to remain calm...If he had triggered his defenses in the house...oh my!
What awesome weather we have been having. We won't see much fall color around here this year but we certainly get to enjoy some very nice days.
34 degrees this am for my run...loved it!
Off to get this week rolling...take care all!
King of PhotoShop
Leslie and the skunk! Great story!
Haven't been out to run yet as it's raining hard. Wouldn't bother me none, but my RP hates to get her hair wet, so I guess we'll go out later. Got 8+ in yesterday on a cool, humid morning.
Set a world record last night! Most food consumed at a football game. I'm sure it's a record! Went to the Cowboys-Redskins game with Prime Rib, and guess what the entrée was in the restaurant adjoining our suite? Prime Rib! So I had this humongous dinner, then at half time we went back in and hard hot dogs, fried chicken and a plate of sushi! Oh, and the game was fun too.
Today's DMN blog contains a Lydiard tip on anaerobic work, involving blood pH. I imagine it will generate some feedback:
http://runningblog.dallasnews.com/2013/10/a-tip-from-lydiard-on-speed-and-some-shout-outs-from-the-weekend.html/
Spareribs
Leslie—wow, a skunk? Glad you kept your cool and didn’t get hit. Maybe the skunk liked the food and took pity on you.
Ribs—that is a lot of food!
Great racing this weekend.
An Econo sighting! Sweet.
A belated happy birthday to Erika.
Enke—wow, that’s is a good night’s sleep. Maybe you were just worn out.
I had intervals scheduled this morning (5x600s) and a Pfitz 14 for tomorrow. But I have to be at a conference early tomorrow and there was no way I’d fit in those miles tomorrow. The solution? A Pfitz 14 with intervals today. Whew. Glad that’s over with; thankfully, the rest of the week is a cutback.
Be safe. Be kind.
Marathon Iowa 2014
Ran (sort of) 26.2 on Saturday. 3:44. Was on a perfect 8 minute per mile pace for the first 18 miles, but the internal combustion from the jester outfit was too much. TMI alert - hurled in the porto-potty, and got several muscle cramps (including above the knee? That's a new one). So I walked/ran the last 8. Should have respected the weather. Feel fine now - was able to lift/step/spin this morning. I should be good to go in NYC in 3 weeks.
Carolyn
Dang, Leslie, you're getting up almost as early as Jay! Glad the skunk found its way outside without incident! I've had birds and squirrels in the house before, but never a skunk.
I slept in this morning -- I woke up at about 7:30 to the sound of thunder, and saw that it was snowing hard! But it didn't snow much - maybe an inch.
OrangeMat did great at the Chicago marathon, but I'll let her give the details. Congrats, OM!
Jeanne, happy birthday to Will/Leo! Four years old already - wow!
PBJ, Nice to see you posting, and congrats on the first 18 miles of your marathon! Not so much on the last 8...
I ran 60.6 miles last week - my highest weekly total ever - but it was because I did last weekend's long run on Wednesday of this week, since I was out rock climbing last weekend. I ran 10 miles on Saturday and 20 yesterday, and feel pretty good. I'm really glad it wasn't thundering and snowing yesterday!
I hammered down the trail, passing rocks and trees like they were standing still.
......waiting to see if SteveP is still Halucinating from his Mushroon Experience////////
==========
working all week, no day off...............meh
begin regular training tomorrow..........so, RestDay
.............................good running guys...........
..nothing takes the place of persistence.....
Yikes! What a wake-up fatozzig! I am glad the skunk didn't leave a present and I bet you are glad too!
Tramps with the rocking combo workout. I'll have to do that later this week with lots of client travel on tap from mid-month onward. Nice miles!
JLynne! Four years since Will arrived? wow! HBD to him. My Will is 17 and four doesn't seem THAT long ago. Whoosh!
Econo!
Wild looking mushroom SteveP, but cool too.
I survived the back to back racing weekend and had such fun. I think I race better when I have an assignment. Saturday's assignment at the half-marathon was to stick to a pace and keep at it, no matter who passed me or whatever. Then on Sunday at the xc race (5k) the assignment was to group up and stick as close to our fastest masters team member and stay ahead of all red jerseys to keep our first place position in the Grand Prix xc series. Tough little course in eastern MA (and Alberto Salazar's HS alma mater) My first mile was a 6:52 but then overall a 7:15 mile pace (22:27) as I slowed on the hills in the woods---short and steep chin scrapers with lots of roots and rocks and then the last half mile around a field with the final 300 meters on the track. I even wore spikes! Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DIVBiWkPTdk
The overall winner is from my team and ran his first mile in 4:52 (you can hear the splits as they are yelled out) He's also in his early 20s and just clinched the USATF-NE road series Grand Prix---looks like he'll win the xc series too. I come along at about 2:00 in this video---you'll hear someone yell: Way to go Tom---I am right behind with one of my teammates right behind me--in our baby blue singlets. Our pack strategy worked as our masters are still in first with two more xc races left---both in Franklin Park in Boston. roar
Today is a glorious day for a run! peak colors, great views of the Holyoke mountain range on my route and bright and sunny. 8 hilly miles for me without a watch.
Great running Holly!
Good day all!
MTA: That freaky clown got in there while I was typing! Ack! TomW!
...it was a BadTrip Man......
Wow. Good racing and running folks.
The skunk story was both good and alerting. We keep our door open for our cats.
Nice blog ribs. I really like Lydiard and his approach to running. Reminds me to re-read Nobby posts. Hope he posts more.
No running hardly at all this weekend. Big soccer tourney for my boys and the girls team I coach. Plus reff'd six more games. Ugh but what a great time. Girls almost made the finals and got knocked out on pk's. It feels really great to watch the kids work hard and get results from that hard work.
I have a question. My one son is showing some real enjoyment in track and XC. He was invited to join a local running club. They focus on Junior Olympic and USATF races. We went to the call out meeting and the commitment is not so much (3 training days per week). This is uncharted water for me. I know soccer and golf development programs that saw me through to playing in college but never encountered running stuff. Any thoughts of what to look for? Questions to ask? Expectations? I want to keep fueling his fire in the best way to keep him running until he's posting in here as a Master.
Cheers.
"He conquers who endures" - Persius "Every workout should have a purpose. Every purpose should link back to achieving a training objective." - Spaniel
http://ncstake.blogspot.com/
Hey C-R! Lots of great soccer refereeing.
I don't know if this will help as your son gets into the running world, but I'd ask about the balance between skill development and racing. I was lucky enough to link up with AAU and then USATF thanks to a local coach who was a great advocate for youth sports---equally so for girls and boys and that was awesome back in 1976. Most of the youth programs here work on drills, and as much play as they do racing and competition. As a parent now I watch for that with my running club's youth programs so that the joy and discovery about how to run or jump or throw is the priority. Maybe ask about the program goals and what they hope the kids will learn? Some of our young speedsters go on to competitions at the regional and national levels, but even the 14 year-olds are focused on sportsmanship and learning the sport as much as they are about winning. So I'd also ask questions about what's emphasized and how competiton is handled. I believe that kids need to know winning and losing and how to balance that---no trophies for everyone, but support for effort is essential. I ran club nationals before I went off to high school and I think I learned more at that stage than I did in HS or college even with fantastic coaches in my later years. A lot will depend on the coach and other parents and I am sure you see that with soccer---I certainly do with youth hockey (most times I want the parents to stay home!).
The USATF youth running programs are extensive and well organized at the national levels as well as in the regions. Even though ice hockey is my kiddo's first love, he got into coaching as a volunteer for our local USATF youth program and is going for his Level 1 certification this winter---lots of options for your kiddo.
Anyway, my .02
At yesterday's xc festival they had a 10 and under 3k race as well as 11-14 and there were kids in spikes alongside the kids who were skipping and running all over the course just having fun. Made me grin.
will run for popsicles
hey, guys. my name's gary and i'm new. Actually, I'm old. But you know what I mean.
Full disclosure: I'm 57, and I have no skunk in my kitchen as far as I know, although we have a female cat who may have Pepe LePew stashed somewhere. Or that could be me. I don't wear socks when I run.Anyhow, hey! (and I work until 2 a.m. most days, so don't start up with this 5 a.m. run stuff. thank you very much.)
Marathon Maniac #957
Indeed!
Jlynne - Happy Birthday to Will!
PBJ - FWIW - I would love to have that finishing time......hurling in a Portopottie,though, has to be one of the grossest experiences ever...
Karin - nice racing!
No run for me today, just a light weights and core workout.
Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, "Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapenos."