Thanks Leslie for starting us off, nice quote!! 2 easy miles yesterday early, 7.3 LR this morn both enjoyable runs. We are needing about 3 good weather days to finish up pre-planting fieldwork, getting several rain and snow events with not alot of moisture but enough to slow us up. If we are caught up next weekend DW and I might do a 5k in Loveland CO. Have a super week 40's folks.

Good Monday morning all.... Back to work this morning after I take the pooch to her 9:45 appt. She is do for everything....yearly exam, rabies shot, flea meds, distemper, kennel cough, hearworm/poop check.....$200 bucks later.....dang that coulda been a NEW pair a shoes! Had a nice long weekend....will share some photos in the next day or two. Thanks for the advice Leslie and to everyone! I really need to incorporate the leg strengthining for sure. That will be my #1 priority. I use to do alot of squats, lunges and overall body strengthining about a year back so it shouldn't be too hard to get back into it. Right now, the running just isn't doing it for me. Although I run mostly for fitness, I do have a little bit of a competitive side so.....having said that I really want to do a half so I think I'm going to sign up for one. Won't find any close by here until the Fall. I should be ready by then. If I'm not running at least 12's and 13 mile runs by then, maybe I better just take up another activity like, "bird watching" or something. Gotta go.......Jewels

Morning Folks ~ Nice quote Leslie,quite relevent to our activities.Had some very nice silence in the woods yesterday morning. As far as the "dull and ignorant" ,we listen to them all the time.They go by another name, it's called the NJ State government. R2-way to go on that long run,.Hope the weather co-operates and you and DW have time to play. Carol- Way to work it out.Weekends can be alot tougher than even the workweeks.Must be fun walking those dogs.Do you have any "problems" with dog personalities and stuff like that? Jewels- Happy Anniversary! Glad to hear DH and yourself were able to enjoy it.Good going with your goals.I have found that having a race goal works well with motivating you a little more to get out there and run. As for me,I had a nice mix of working and running this weekend.Got one good coat of stain on our wooden deck rail on Saturday before the rain moved in.Alot of bending,squatting,up and down stuff.Then yesterday was a splendid trail run in the rain.Planned to do 2 loops on the 4.5 mile trail but cut it out after one.Last half of the loop is mostly downhill and my knee reminded me that it's not quite 100% yet.Only feel it on the downhills,so I'm taking it easy with it.Straight,level and soft this week and hoping to top 25 miles for the week.We sure do love our trails though See ya's later

I'm going to have A LOT of figs. Jam? Maybe I can make some home-made Gu.

Now that could make things veeeery interesting. Arla - The youtube thing was pretty funny. I can't remember where I initially found that poem (or whatever it's called). I have a couple of sites I like to rummage through now and then. This one's pretty cool: http://www.worldprayers.org/. Sounds like everyone's doing pretty darn good these days! No ailments or too many pains (knock on wood). Joe - do you ever incorporate zig zagging when going downhill? It helps alleviate some of the stress on the fronts of the legs and knees. Jewels - Hub's gotta take one of our cats in for his worm pill today, if he can catch him. That little bugger seems to know instinctively when NOT to come home. He's the only one I can't get a pill down. It ends up half dissolved, he's foaming at the mouth, I'm PO'd. Take him to the vet, and we're in and out in less than 5 minutes. It's great! Carol - Yeah, that's a lot of dog walking! And poop scooping, too, I assume?? Farmer Jim - Hope the weather cooperates and you get to to do the 5k. 5 miles this a.m. w/5 steep hill sprints at the end. Those aren't so bad. They're only for 10-15 seconds each. And I could easily climb the rest of the hill at the end. I remember when I could barely walk up the thing only a couple of years ago. Man, that feels great! Overall time: 5.18 miles in 56:13 = 10:51. Best Pace: 5:47 on the sprints. Oh, and I got another, "You're not very visible!" this morning. How is that possible?!? I'm wearing a white hat with reflective paint marks on it, a headlamp, a white shirt, and a reflective vest (http://www.runningunlimited.com/asp/product.asp?pid=972), black running pants w/reflective marks, and shoes w/reflective crap. Cripes, do I need to pin search lights to my boobs and butt?? Maybe I need a stronger headlamp. Oh well - at least people are letting me know. Although the young guy "yelling" at me this morning gave me a strong case of deja vu and still does. I think he's yelled at me in the exact same spot before. Eery. Very eery . . . .

Leslie - please be careful! That guy might be on his normal commute, but still...and what's with the yelling thing? Arla

It's more like a cautionary yelling, if that makes sense. If this is the same guy I saw before, it was many months ago. Maybe I got the whole deja vu thing because it seems like I've had more than my share of drivers lately telling me I'm not visible. Guess it's better than getting run over. And better than that one guy yelling obscenities at me. I think I need to look into a more powerful headlamp and a blinking light that can be attached to the back of my reflector vest. If THAT doesn't work - well, people need to wake up a little bit more before hitting the road at dark a.m. An hour of PT after work last night. Got a new exercise, and HOLY CRAP! You lay on your back, extend one leg, and then lift the extended leg into 3 different positions, each one a few inches higher than the previous, holding each position for 5 seconds before moving on to the next position, then lowering it to the two lower positions, holding for 5 seconds, then resting. So you have 5 positions in all. So he showed me how to do them, then got up off the table and said, "Okay, give me 19 more, then switch legs." It's freaking hard! And this was after all the other exercises. There were other people in the room, and I think they thought I was having a heart attack at one point. Galen says to me, "Do we need to perform CPR?" Ha - very funny. When I finished, I got kudos from a couple of people who'd been in there with me the entire time and had seen all the exercises I'd done. My legs were shaking so bad, I didn't think I'd be able to drive home (I have a stick shift.) Supposedly, I'm getting another new one tomorrow. Is it helping the knee? Yes, I can tell a difference, but I've had some popping issues since my run Saturday, which always makes it hurt some. But instead of the pain being a steady 4-6, it's been around 1-2 1/2. And this a.m .- 45 minutes of cardio with The Firm gals, then a short set of push ups (no, knees NOT off the floor), and a short set of core. Oh, the other thing about those sadistic leg raises - boy howdy, do they work your core, too! Wow! Okay, this is longer than I anticipated. Later, Gators!

I see your Trinity Alps run pic in the photo. Is that the one your trying to delete? Or is that the one you want? Anywho....got a short run in this a.m. Yes....I actually got my butt up early. It's spring break here for all the schools and Community Colleges so around my house this week, it is quite calm in the a.m. cause there still sleepin'! So this weeks mornings are all about me! Weeeeee! Jewels

Hey Kids, Yes Leslie, there you are in the park looking quite Happy. Thanks for sharing those exercises with us.I have been trying some of them and that one sounds good.I have also taken to heart your advice about stretching post run. It's one of the many changes that my running has gone through since rehabbing the knee. Jewels -good job getting up and out.For me it's the first step outta bed that's tough,but can be sooo worth it when it results in a nice quiet early morning run.Watch out for those spring breakers,they can be dangerous. Hi to everyone else that's around.We seem to be on roll lately Longest run for me (and Buddy of course) since the knee strain. Set out to do a 7.4m if all felt good. Well all felt Very good so another 1.4 lap around the fields was thrown in.Ran home very fast and has got me feeling confident again! Spring is in the air, and it's back in my feet as well! Weeha!!