Foot is moving well, but by tomorrow, I might wish I had an excuse. I'm going to start out very easy and take extra rest every 3 laps (4.5 miles).  Then hopefully I'll be ready to log some good miles after sun goes down.  Some big thunderstorms are likely going to roll through in the afternoon, so that will keep everyone's mileage lower than usual.

Thanks for all who served!

Good luck to all the racers and pacers.  Good luck, Warden!!!

QOTD:  Lost a good friend in Afganistan when he was ambushed. He was a career Army guy and a West Point grad.  Think of him often when I run this race every year.

Started last evening's run a little later in the evening and was glad I did. Heat and humidity slowed me somewhat at the beginning, but by the last 1/2 it was starting to cool off and wasn't too bad.  I was going to go up on the mountain for a long run today, but I have to work tonight so I think I'll do a shorter run around the house today and do back to back long runs over the weekend.  That way I don't have to run when the heat is at it's worst.  So I'll probably get in another 8+ miles today.

Good luck to all the racers, hope everything goes well.

QOTD:  Some years I've almost forgot about the meaning of it. That's mostly because I'd be working over the entire weekend and it didn't seem like a holiday.  There are quite a few times though that I do reflect on the sacrifices that were made by our military veterans.

While I haven't been following the story too much, seeing the President visiting Hiroshima made me think  about the troops who did not have to storm the beaches of Japan. I had a uncle who did mop up duty on Okinawa  and his division was training to be one of the first to assault the mainland beaches. I've often wondered if he would have survived had they not dropped the bombs and went with a conventional attack instead. 

 

While I haven't been following the story too much, seeing the President visiting Hiroshima made me think  about the troops who did not have to storm the beaches of Japan. I had a uncle who did mop up duty on Okinawa  and his division was training to be one of the first to assault the mainland beaches. I've often wondered if he would have survived had they not dropped the bombs and went with a conventional attack instead. 

I lived in Okinawa for a year when I was in the Marines. We used to take the long walk around this ridge to get to our work area; it was probably a mile or so each morning. One day, I noticed something out of place about half way up the ridge. We climbed up and found a cave that opened up to system of tunnels that went all the way through the mountain. It is hard to imagine that no one had officially discovered that place until 1988, but once word got out, they had some folks come up there and do some archaeological work. We had to be sneaky to get a shortcut to work after that. I spent a fair amount of time wondering what it must have been like for the Japanese soldiers using the tunnels and for the American troops who were off the coast. It had a heck of a view of the ocean. We found rooms in there; we found sleeping quarters that were dug into the sides of the walls. It was no museum tour; it was, in my mind, a discovery.

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone.

Good luck mt and AT, and anyone else...

I did 1.5 hours in the stationary bike this morning.  Only good part was my DD facetimed with me for 20 minutes so that was a very nice distraction for a while. Also had the iPod so that helped as well. Foot is starting to feel a little better.

Qotd: first off Memorial Day was always the unofficial start of the summer for us, usually the first big sailboat race of the season. Then there always was a big parade in our town that ended in memorial park with a few speaches so it was always a reminder of the real reason for the weekend. Quite patriotic as well.

By the way President Obama's visit to Hirishima was covered extensively here as well since so many Koreans (who were occupied by Japan at the time) died as well. Quite moving when he mention that and the other losses during the whole of WWII.

Just spent three days at the beAch.  I did get a 7 mile run in on the road and mostly downhill so I am very sore.  My husband and I set out for a 3 mile job but after 1.5 miles we returned on the beach which had totally change from JAnuary... It was sandy then and big boulders now.  I should run today but all that fun has taken it's toll on me.   I also have chores waiting but a nap sounds better. 

Qotd: umm most holiday's have lost their meanings for me.  Just another day off. I appreciate those who have served and especially those who lost their lives and limps...wish we lived in a world where war wasn't neccessary. 

32 miles for me on the trails, 2 long laps around the lake, on a super hot warm humid day. It was 91 when we finished. This was really quite the mental challenge today. I guess physically too but the mind games were the worst. I did a lot of mind games today on the second lap. Run up this hill until that fence and you can a walk break. At that next trail turn, you can take a sip of warm water. If you keep running you will get that sip sooner. A 10 minute positive split, 2:47, 2:57, but that felt like a huge victory. It is time to taper.

QOTD: Memorial day while the official start of summer is for those who served. I did not, my dad was in the reserves and was never called to duty, but thank you to all the veterans out there.

Ran 67 miles in the most miserable conditions that I've ever run.  Was 84* at the start at 10am and reached 94* with no wind and no clouds. Humidity was 62% for a heat index of 109.  Tons of carnage along the way. I decided I would be happy with 100k and would rest often.  Haven't downloaded the Garmin yet, but I took 4 very long stops (2 were over a hour) and we finished 2 hours early because temps were climbing and we didn't need a repeat of yesterday. DW did 57 miles and was happy.  Had one spell with a bad headache and another with nausea when my stomach was sloshing from water and tailwind.  This is my lowest 24 hour total, but I managed the heat very well, and DW and I did better than most, and that's saying a lot since this race seems to draw experienced timed event runners.

Now going to sleep for a while and then a few cool beverages tonight.

Hope Warden made out well.