awwwwwwwwwwww Jake is such a cutie!!! My puppy Kallie is a Golden Retriever. She LOVES the water!

Hey Bob! Since you sent us your link, I actually just sat here and read through the entire 12 pages of posts Can you tell I finished the first part of my exams? I love reading what you write about your runs! I couldn't agree more about your musings on sweating- I grew up in FL and our cross-country team would train after school and we'd have to literally wring out our shirts before our parents would let us in the car after practice. Also, love the pictures- fabulous! I went to college in Ithaca so felt a lot of nostalgia seeing NY country again. Very interesting that you pass workers in the vineyards... well, that's a social justice/"On the Road" tangent I sholdn't start up here... And your dog is so cute! I kind of want a Garmin now from what you and the other fellow say about it- sounds like a great tool. Well, more to say but I'll reply in another fashion. Thanks for the link and keep up the great work!

Hi Katie! What, are you nuts??? You are in the middle of these do or die exams, and you use your little bit of free time to read my training nonsense? You should be out running or doing something fun! Thank you for dropping by, I am honored that you did and appreciate it very much! You've been around! You seen extreme heat, extreme cold, flat terrain, hilly terrain (Ithaca!). I did a triathlon in Ithaca, funny (or not so funny) story there I'll have to tell you about sometime. Those vineyard workers are my early morning buddies, social injustice aside. With as little of tangible value that they have, they seem to have something better, and that is a bond and friendship and happiness that seems to be lacking in a lot of places. Every spare moment that they have, they set up makeshift soccer fields out in the fields and go at it! It's a lot of fun to watch them in action, both on and off the field. If you ever met Jake in person, I'd like to see if you think he's still cute! He's 120lbs! Jake is a big boy. A big loveable mush! It's neat because when he's with other dogs his size, he can hold his own. Put him in with a tiny puppy, and he knows to scale his playfulness down to their level. I'll bet you would have a lot of fun with a Garmin! Maybe as a reward for kicking butt on these exams! Thank you again for stopping by, and good luck with part II tomorrow!

Damn!! Well I'm sure you'll make the most of your down time and will be back running faster and stronger because of it!! I saw that you biked to work AWESOME! Try to enjoy your forced rest!

Well, since I'm not running, there isn't much to report. Mowing the lawn last night was bad, it hurt like heck afterwards. It was still pretty achy this morning. I gave it a good massage and ultrasound treatment last night, and have been icing the heck out of it. Sunday's 10k is questionable. I'm not too worried about this getting better, I'm just wondering now what the cause is. I hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

Ughhhhhh! I was hoping to hear that its feeling better and that your just taking a bit of time off to make sure it stays that way. Glad to hear your doing what you need to though! BTW do you have your own u/s machine at home? Wish I knew what was causing it! Hope you have a great weekend! I know if it was me, you would probably tell me to forget about the 10k. Hope you don't have to!

Hi Pam! TGIF!!! Thanks for the well wishes, I really appreciate it. I do have my own U/S, electric stim combo machine at home. It was pricey, but boy has it gotten used! I don't know what the deal is in PA where you live, but in NY, you can't buy one unless you are a medical professional. Luckily, my physical therapist agreed to get one for me, because he knew I would use it responsibly. If those things aren't used properly, you can really mess yourself up. I got mine from Ebay, btw, at a much better price than my PT could get it himself.

YES TGIF!!!! Sure hope my well wishes help with your quick recovery! Well sounds like you have a great PT! Nice to be able to do some of your own therapy when needed! I could of used one from 2002-2004 for my neck and back issue's. Hopefully the need will never arise! *knock on wood*

I'm knocking on wood for you too! If we cross paths at Steamtown, you'll have to tell me about your neck and back issues. Two years dealing with it? Yuk!

what are you prepared to do.... It's over. For now. I can't swim. I can't bike. Heck, I can barely walk. I have nothing to blame except for my own stupidity. Somehow I thought I could run a marathon competitively with just 14 weeks of accelerated training, after having to take 6 weeks off from a foot stress fracture. I was wrong. Any flexion or dorsiflexion of my left foot, with or without pressure on it, is incredibly painful. I took the dog to the lake and tried swimming, we did about a mile and the kicking motion was very painful. Got home and tried to go for a bike ride. Turned around after 5 minutes because it felt like I was gonna rupture something. Ice doesn't even make if feel better, even for a short while. My chances of doing well at Steamtown were pretty slim as it was, even if I got through the training. I have a feeling this is gonna take a while to heal, so I've decided to bag Steamtown, and look ahead to something later, perhaps Philly. If Philly doesn't work out, I'm already registered for Disney. That one was to be for fun, but perhaps I'll make it a goal race. We'll see. I don't know who I was kidding here. I have to start acting my age, and not 20 years younger. This marathon stuff is nothing to take lightly. Patience is needed to do it right. I'm prepared to do it right when I get better. Thus endeth the lesson...

(((((((HUGE HUGS)))))))))) PLEASE don't just dissappear for the next month or two! Sending you lots of postive and healing vibes hun!!!!!!!!!! I know you'll be back stronger , better and faster! Thinking of you!

oh no, Bob! So sorry to hear about your foot Sounds like you have a very good attitude about it, which is wonderful and a good sign of how you've learned to deal with the ups and downs of running. Still, sorry to hear about the pain b/c I know what a huge drag that is. Hopefully you can use the time to do lots of yoga (still possible with the foot?) and other things that won't aggravate it. Very cool to hear your vineyard pals set up impromptu soccer games I admire that energy and playfulness- its great when adults don't lose that. My 2nd exam got pushed back to Tues this week so I used my extra "study" time to do something more interesting - ha ha.