Hi Craig! Nice to see you roaming the RA halls... I'm a cross-poster, myself! More kudos to Steve for his amazing run, and I'm with Lou on the NUTS comment. But then again... the recovery run does have it's place. But you should rest tomorrow (but probably won't, hence the NUTS comment sticks). Hi Roy! I agree... I'd go crazy after 12 days. Hopefully a longer trip than Sarge needs... Holly! Can't tell you how relieved I am to see you taking a step back. Kudos to you, I know it's hard... but believe me I think you'll be fine. You have an amazing base and will come back strong. Nono, I remember one time my oldest and I took a nap together. Well, I must've been pretty tired cuz he got up and was busying himself around the house when DH got home. I think he was about the same age as your son. We have a local bagel shop on the other side of town that's really good but I don't get there often. I took Friday off work, so drove DS1 to work at 7, and had some time before my 7:30 haircut so visited Lu Lu's. Yum... Having the last cinnamon raisin bagel toasted and smeared with peanut butter and homemade currant jelly.... I had the same thing before yesterday's great hilly trail run I figured why mess with success? I'll be heading out in about an hour... but it just started raining! Hmmmm, sun was shining just minutes ago!

Hi all.. Roy, thanks for starting. Glad you're back. Holly, I'm sorry. good call. ! Perch, you are my hero. Nono, that was great. good ol renee the dog. TPFD! Hi. . Careful on that bike. I'll try to help enhance your non productivity. If you were going to order whatever day you could possibly want, this would be it. unless you're weird & prefer winter. . enough excess greatness that i'll even share if it's needed. I ran by the river this morning. I wished I had a video camera stuck on my head. sort of. I'm just saying, it was very pretty today. And there were baby bunnies all over the place. I might have pushed it a little too much but I really didn't care. Run was 5.3 miles, average pace 10:37, max 8:31. Probably wouldn't have passed Ribs & the Saint. HR high. By supreme effort of will I stopped before the really fun downhill into the shade part, because my foot was hurting a lot. But it's ok now. After 2 weeks off this week has been Sun., 200 meters, Wed, 1 mile. Fri. 2 miles, then 5 today. I don't know how fast it's ok to come back after that brief a layoff. Last night I dreamed I ran a marathon. sort of inadvertently. started out just to see what I could do (thinking about today with high hopes, I think) & before I knew it I made it to the end. Just before they packed up the tents. I'd had to stop midway for a podiatrist appt., & a pit stop, which of course set me back. .

Hi Pro... Nice walkin' Ribs... 14 mile lope this morning around the town at an 8:30 pace,going to meet a high school buddy for lunch... I hope everyone enjoys their Sunday... 2 people I'd really love to run with...SpareRibs and Tom White...at the same time would be real fun...the third guy would have to be Bregger...and of course I can't forget about WRFB...but he's much too fast for me... I'm thinking of getting another tattoo...this one on my kankle...26.2 with some sort of design...any ideas...

Hi Sue! I meant to get back to you the other day... thanks for your kind encouragement. The feet did survive. The heart rate is something other than H & H (although that definitely doesn't help) but I haven't figured it out yet. Thanks for asking. The doggie camp sounds great...focus & attention would apply in so many ways. ( I wish I'd done something like that.) I'd had this image of the 2 of you in your sleeping bags in tent... . Very nice trail run today. That sounds H & H to me, even with the 'lower' 87%. Pants off the seagulls. .

dicky - people sometimes attribute me to being a Kenyan when they look at my bare feet at the starts of various events. Doesn't happen much when they see me running though. good morning pro - are you gunna be able to do any tri's this year? You, econo, and tim are our IM candidates someday now so keep us up-to-date. tim/tim/tim - though your run didn't turn out as planned yesterday, it's probably going to be the best training run you will ever have, especially if you have full or half IM distances in mind. . . and is proof that you have the constitution and fortitude to do one. It is not uncommon to lose seven - nine pounds in those things when they happen for real but you were lucky to be able to replicate it in a much shorter undertaking and have a chance to try to figure out needed countermeasures without having to have it ruin the real event. In particular, you learned an important lesson about hydration (which, with nutrition, is responsible for virtually all IM DNF’s) as surely the source of all your concerns about high HR, disastrous unhydrating, cramps, etc. In this regard, in many events, even up to marathon, it's okay to try to prehydrate enough not to have to un it until the end. However, though 20 ounces of liquid (bottle-and-a-half) and 40 grams of carbos (energy bar, two gels, five clifshots, etc.) are standard recommendations, my 45-time Ironman mentor takes one energy bar and one bottle every HALF hour. It works for him as he's won his IMH AG 12 times in the last 22 years. For me, though I can still run an whole marathon without pit stops, if I'm not stopping (well, it's not always necessary actually to stop) at least once an hour in a 50 miler (and usually more), I'm probably not going to make the cutoff, if at all. However, though you've got to figure out these things on your own, there's no excuse at all for a six hour delay after finishing. Skipping replenishing hydration after it's all over is a good way to ensure the ruination of your kidneys, if not yourself. you had a great discovery run so be happy, be very happy, . . . and lucky. Enke/enke/enke - with stomach cramps, headache, sleeplessness, to say nothing of so many impressive long runs this week with no tapering and then encountering the steepest ascents Cougar Mountain has to offer, you can be sure that with all the exhaustion, walking, whining, scary, and nearly DNF’ing, you learned a powerful lesson that such challenges are the best way to make you an even better runner than you are. However, there is a big difference between regular road running, trail runs and mountain runs. The Cougar Mountain 5 and 7-milers in May and June are trail runs; the 10 and 13-milers in July and August are mountain runs with steep ascents and screaming descents nothing at all like the first two and it is not only okay but necessary to walk up steep climbs that would have hard enough to hike. I’ll try not to get lost on the way over next time and look forward to a good 13 mile hike with you in August.

CRAIG! Or should I say caiGr! Odd that you should pop in today, because I was JUST NOW looking at your photo, as I edited my collection of Boston photos and family photos from spring finally (!), and sending off for prints. Great to see you! Here’s one with Craig and PDR: And I have to add a cute shot from a lovely day in April when DD learned to ride a 2-wheeler. Notice the for-sale sign in our yard?

Thanks for your encouragement Tet / tet / tet! And Holly and everyone else. Garmin said 5144 feet of ascent over 10.2 miles. But the RD said it was about 2100 of total climb. I am going to dig out my contour map of Cougar Moutain so that I can re-live the run from the comfort of my couch. When I told my husband I was not going to run the 13-miler trail race in August, he said I have to do it. Funny how he has changed his outlook on my "hobby" and is pushing me more than myself. Maybe he enjoys seeing me suffer? A slave to the numbers, I ran 6.3 miles today so that I could log 40 for the week. If you add in one more day from last week, I've run 56 miles in the past 8 days. This might explain my dead-leg-itis. It was a bit too warm and humid today, so I cut my outdoor run to 4 miles and finished up 2.3 on the treadmill at the gym, which in the first time I can remember, felt refreshingly cool and comfortable. It's all relative. Hi Pro! Cute picture Holly!

13 miles today... one more than the 12 I had on the plan. I've figured out I can run a little farther on the "out" part of my run so my "back" can end before the road home gets too steep. Cheating? Maybe a little, but I did walk the last 1.5 miles vs. calling for a ride. Felt really humid out (well, to me) but weather site said 61F and 65%... I was pretty drippy though. Legs felt good considering yesterday's run and other stuff. Minor shin soreness, ditto right foot. Mile splits: 8:28, 8:12, 8:13, 8:26, 8:25, 8:29, 8:15, 8:18, 8:14, 8:04 (mile 10, worked for this one!), 8:21, 8:22, 8:36 for last mile starting back up road to home. Legs were stiff enough that I filled up my trash can with icy cold well water and had a 15 minute soak while reading parts of the Sunday paper and drinking water and coffee. Need to get some ice... but at least I've finally cleaned the thing out and filled it up so I'll use it more now. Not feeling 100% confident in next Sunday's Gold Discovery Race, but we'll see what happens! Tallrunner... out for a 4.5 hour dinner, up till 1 or so... Feel like crap and you wonder why? Sounds like you had a lovely evening and that's worth a crappy run in my book. Holly, your daughter resembles you in more than just looks!