Faster Than Your Couch!
G'Day,
whirling by again.
Lucked out at work by checking my phone as soon as I got off and finding that DD had fallen sick and needed to be picked up from school. Lucked out because just as I had confirmed I'd pick her up, my boss asked me if I could stay another 4 hours... No, thanks. I rather go for a run instead...
So now I'm getting ready to head out into the sizzling heat of 72 degrees for a few miles. Hoping for a better run than yesterday, which should not be too difficult to arrange, I guess.
moon: Great run, and yes, extra credit to you for pushing 2 kids!
traildc: I hope your day gets better as it rolls on.
AT: LOL. I must be getting older, too.
LB2: Great miles! Good luck with the dentist!
Jamie: Here comes the therapist. Choose your wife's first trail wisely, definitely something with no rocks and roots on a downhill...
XT: Either your trails are more frequented than our trails here, or you are just one popular guy. I rarely ever see anyone on a trail, let alone someone I know, and if I do, I get so giddy about it I bellyflop right in front of them.
warden: Enjoy your run!
DD1: New welder, sounds magic. New toys are always fun. Shall I say now I hope you'll get many opportunities to use it, or is that overdoing it a bit?
NHLA: In my area, the autumn foliage is not as great as in some other years. Many trees (especially the red-leave ones) have lost their leaves already, while the yellows are just coming up nicely now. But, still gorgeous, and good enough to enjoy on a run. I hope you'll get a nice peak in your area on the weekend!
Mandy: one of my headlamps also corroded on the inside. The batteries had leaked. I removed the rust and debris with alcohol wipes, sandpaper and a knife, and got the lamp working again. Maybe worth a try.
Queen: Now that reminds me of my dog, years ago. She must have been a landscaper in a former life. And she was super speedy at digging, only took her a few seconds to make a huge hole. And she hunted for mice (and then devoured them).
QOTD: Hey, you guys all got new gear, and nobody said a thing. A few reviews, or thoughts on the selection process would be nice, and fluff up the forum a bit.
I need new shoes. Did I mention I need new shoes? I've been running in my road shoes (Brooks Ghost 4) for 3 years now, and my trail shoes (Brooks Cascadia 7's) for 2+ years, including 2 100-milers, and the training for them. Now they are falling apart on the upper, and getting slick on the soles. My backup trail shoes (Brooks Trailblades and Pure Grit 1's) are showing signs of excessive wear, too, so they are not really an alternative any more, either.
I'm thinking of new Cascadias for trail, maybe something else, depending on how the new model fits me. For the road, I'm clueless. Need something a tad longer, but less than 1/2 size, so I am not sure what to get. Most road shoes are too tight for me, so I'll have to try a few models to find a good match for my feet.
Maybe a new pack, too, with more storage room and bottle holders in the front, but then, I use packs almost exclusively for 100M races, so I could just as well us my old one again without getting too upset with it.
Run for fun.
I ran 6 yesterday after a meeting with my daughter's school officials/teachers. It felt great to be running again. It's been a month since my 100 and I have something jacked up in my right hip (think it's a hip flexor). I can run but after 4 or so miles it shows up....I can continue to run but the more I do, the more I can feel it (still low on the pain scale). I'll get another short run in today 4 or 6 or 2 depending on how the hip flexor feels.
Warning - parent bragging here - The meeting yesterday was about my daughter, who is currently in kindergarten, skipping 1st grade next year. I was against it, then for it, but now I'm back to against it again. They are going to start pulling her out of class everyday for math and reading. They really talked her up. Saying how super smart she is, how much of a leader she is, how she's everyone's best friend, how encouraging she is, etc. They asked me where she got her brains and I told them, "She must get them from her father....whoever that is", HA! If she skipped a grade, she'd go from the oldest in her class to the youngest and I'm not sure she would necessarily get the same classroom dynamic being the youngest. Plus I feel like keeping her where she is, she gets to be a kid for another year. Can any of you folks offer any insight?
QOTD: I just bought a Outdoor Research Helium Hybrid Jacket from Amazon for $75 thanks to mtwarden's review. Are you working on commission?!?! ha. I've been thinking about getting a decent lightweight, running jacket for a while and I had an amazon gift card from work. Kind of an impulse buy.
LB2 - sounds like you are well trained and ready for your PR.
Mandy - I have a Black Diamond Storm which works great (although the advertised battery time is BS). A little plastic piece broke over the weekend so it wouldn't stay on my head. The light still worked fine. Anyway, they are sending me a brand new one; no questions asked. Great customer service.
Tim
If she skipped a grade, she'd go from the oldest in her class to the youngest and I'm not sure she would necessarily get the same classroom dynamic being the youngest. Plus I feel like keeping her where she is, she gets to be a kid for another year. Can any of you folks offer any insight?
DD#1 was pushed ahead, and she did very well (at a small Catholic school). She was very outgoing and social and that helped. We didn't notice too many problems until HS when many of her friends were driving and she felt left behind. She said she sometimes felt silly being the youngest, but after finishing college in 3 years (at age 20), she said it was great choice.
DS was advised to move ahead, but we kept him in his class because he was not as outgoing. It worked well for him because he came out of his shell a bit, and if he were a class ahead it might have not happened.
Good luck. Those days are long gone for me.
“Paralysis-to-50k” training plan is underway!
Le professeur de trail
I agree with AT in that each kid is different whether it would benefit them or not. My oldest (almost 11 now and in 5th grade) was reading at age 3. I wanted so bad to get him in Kindergarten the year before he was eligible in public school. We could have if we paid for private schooling. We did not and he remains in the grade he is supposed to be in. It was all for the best because he is super immature and would struggle with that if he was in middle school right now. We had him tested in 2nd grade and he measured gifted (not surprised) and had a Gifted IEP. It really wasn't much to be honest but was some extra stuff to challenge him. We moved last year and looked forward to the new school district that did something called cluster classrooms in elementary school. That meant they took the top students (3rd, 4th, 5th grades) and placed them together for each grade. Last year was the first year for our oldest DS for that and it was great. BTW - he is ADHD and we took him of his meds during the middle of the year and it went ok - IMO due to being challenged more. This school year the district did away with the cluster classrooms. Needless to say I was not a happy camper. But it all seems to work out I suppose. I say all that to say that I think the personality and demeanor of the child should be a piece of the decision making process. If she is a leader, that is a good sign that it might go well. Now is the time to skip ahead. The later they move kids up, the more they tend to struggle with the social aspects.
Our second DS is also very smart and thinks he should skip a grade. He's smart but not that smart. He's in 3rd grade. Then there is our 5 yr old DD who is the opposite. She has struggled big time to identify very basic things. The school district assessed her before Kindergarten and did not see the need for extended day even though I was sure they would. Long story short, she is doing ok now 2 months in and catching up. I actually think she is "normal" with her learning levels - it's just hard in comparison to her brothers.
Anyways, good luck!
My favorite day of the week is RUNday
I agree with AT's and Jamie's comments.
Our oldest DS, who is an adult now, was a very smart kid, but was not allowed to skip a grade. In middle school, he started missing homework because he did not see any point in it. His grades dropped. Eventually, my husband took him out of school and homeschooled him for the rest of the year. He changed schools and now was much more challenged in the new school. This sparked his interest again, and he graduated from high school and then college at the top of his class. That said, he was having a difficult time socially in middle school, it seems this was just not the right place for him.
I would definitely also consider the school in general, and his current class, how they are scoring, and how they are integrated in the social context.
Our middle DS, he's 9 and in 4th grade now, feels underchallenged at his current grade level. However, he is already one of the youngest kids in his class, and I don't think skipping a grade would do him good socially. He is also physically small, very thin, and I think he would just be run over by the bigger and older boys one grade above, and this would become more of a problem as he gets older.
Another fact that makes it easier to "settle" with the choice of leaving him in his grade is that his class has very many high-level students, who really raise the bar for the whole class. More than half of the students in his class are way ahead of their grade level in math, reading, writing, and languages (Spanish, Chinese). So he is in good company, recognized among his class fellows, and he can step up and have math only one grade level above. He's about to be tested for this soon.
The youngest DS is small, but loud, strong, and strong-willed. He has no problem making himself and his needs understood and met. He gets along well with older kids, and actually gets a lot of respect from them when the various grades have some time together (sports, recess, after-school activities). I would not hesitate to have him attend classes with older students.
He is advanced in math, but only slightly above grade level in reading and languages. The rest of his class is about his level, too, so it's not a question (yet?) whether he should skip a grade or not. All is well right there where he is.
Long story short, in my opinion it depends on the child, their social and physical features, tendencies and abilities, and also on the class they are currently attending, their fellow students, and their abilities and social make-up.
I ran 6 yesterday after a meeting with my daughter's school officials/teachers. It felt great to be running again. It's been a month since my 100 and I have something jacked up in my right hip (think it's a hip flexor). I can run but after 4 or so miles it shows up....I can continue to run but the more I do, the more I can feel it (still low on the pain scale). I'll get another short run in today 4 or 6 or 2 depending on how the hip flexor feels. Warning - parent bragging here - The meeting yesterday was about my daughter, who is currently in kindergarten, skipping 1st grade next year. I was against it, then for it, but now I'm back to against it again. They are going to start pulling her out of class everyday for math and reading. They really talked her up. Saying how super smart she is, how much of a leader she is, how she's everyone's best friend, how encouraging she is, etc. They asked me where she got her brains and I told them, "She must get them from her father....whoever that is", HA! If she skipped a grade, she'd go from the oldest in her class to the youngest and I'm not sure she would necessarily get the same classroom dynamic being the youngest. Plus I feel like keeping her where she is, she gets to be a kid for another year. Can any of you folks offer any insight?
I had a similar issue after my first 100 miler. It ended up being something to do with my piriformis muscle. Jonferg showed me some stretches on youtube, and that helped.
That is good that your daughter is in a position to move ahead like that. In college, I met a kid who had moved up and finished high school at like 14 or 15. He was out of college by the time he was 19. I didn't start until I was 21 because I was in the Marines for 4 years. Anyway, that kid was pretty well adjusted, and I am sure he went on to be a doctor or something. I was in grade school with a kid, though, who was in 2nd grade, and his parents thought he was so freakin' smart that they initiated him moving up. He didn't do so hot, and he was right back with us after Christmas break. He did eventually become a lawyer, and he is still just as much a douche bag as he was in 2nd grade; that is just his nature. Anyway, it sounds like your daughter is well-adjusted and has a true ability to perform above and beyond the grade level.
LB2
AT/Couch - I'd say my people encounter are pretty low to non-existent during the week, except for running the trails at Green Lane. I know a few ultra folks who frequent that place but I have not ran into them out there since last spring or fall. It is a busier place though with hikers, anglers, even times another runner and horsey people on the weekends.
Couch - I hope you are enjoying the heat!
Slosh - Tough call.. I am sort of with you on letting a kid be a kid. I tested high reading skills in second grade (read like a 5th grader) but was not pushed up. I ended up being a smart alec though..
In dog beers, I've only had one.
Refurbished Hip
FYI, speaking of gear, I got a pair of Altra Lone Peaks 2.5 from Amazon for 20% off today. In case anyone else wants to use the discount code, it's: FALL20OFF
Running is dumb.
Supposed to run this evening, but my out of shape quads are still sore from Sunday's 30k (I did a pool run yesterday since I needed to be home with the boys). We will see.
QOTD: Trying to avoid new gear .... it helps Sportiva stopped selling the shoes I generaly run in as they prep for version 2.0 that will not be available until spring. I could always get a new road bike, though
I thought you were a biker.
Mandy, thanks for the discount code, I just pulled the trigger and restocked. I love this shoe.
bunch of over-achievers in this forum. Thx for the insight. We don't have to decide until next year so I'm sure I will change my mind 27 times by then. I'm more concerned when she would get in jr high and/or high school. Right now I think she would totally be fine skipping 1st grade. She is mature for her age and gets along well with older kids. She got into the gifted program at school which isn't much in kindergarten but will be one day a week starting in 1st grade. I agree that if we are going to skip a grade, now is the time. I believe that either way we go, she will totally be fine though. If she was born 2 weeks earlier or we lived 20 miles away in the neighboring state, she would be in 1st grade. Again thanks for the insight into your experiences.
Lb2, I'll have to google the piriformis. Much appreciated.
Sue
I broke up with Cascadia this year because the upper of the shoe became too stiff for me. I bought the NB Leadville and love them.
I need new shoes. Did I mention I need new shoes? I've been running in my road shoes (Brooks Ghost 4) for 3 years now, and my trail shoes (Brooks Cascadia 7's) for 2+ years, including 2 100-milers, and the training for them. Now they are falling apart on the upper, and getting slick on the soles. My backup trail shoes (Brooks Trailblades and Pure Grit 1's) are showing signs of excessive wear, too, so they are not really an alternative any more, either. I'm thinking of new Cascadias for trail, maybe something else, depending on how the new model fits me. For the road, I'm clueless. Need something a tad longer, but less than 1/2 size, so I am not sure what to get. Most road shoes are too tight for me, so I'll have to try a few models to find a good match for my feet. Maybe a new pack, too, with more storage room and bottle holders in the front, but then, I use packs almost exclusively for 100M races, so I could just as well us my old one again without getting too upset with it.
05/13/23 Traverse City Trail Festival 25K
08/19/23 Marquette 50 dns 🙄
You recommended a handheld flashlight and I bought it even though it was $50. I used it no more than 5 times and it quite working!!!
QOTD: Well, I returned the Osprey Exos I ordered and now have a ULA Circuit on the way. (Backpacking packs...Warden will know!) As for running, I need to buy a new headlamp soon, as my old one rusted out from the inside. Not sure how that happened. I want to pick up a pair of Altra Lone Peaks too...
Got up and did 5 mi early this morning. Still a bit humid which is a bit strange for this time of year over here.
slosh, we moved back and forth between TX and NJ and due to our DS' birthday, when he started up, and his 'smarts', we had a choice of putting him in 1st or bumping him up to 2nd grade. We ended up keeping him in 1st, which seemed to work out just fine.
qotd: nothing planned at the moment.
tbd.