The pooch had a great, but soggy 7 mile trail run. It was a bit above freezing and a light snow was falling, but melting as fast as it fell.

QOTD: Pass

Not scary, but surprising morning shuffle--thick fog and three folks with shotguns

appear on the trail--there is no hunting allowed here.  I skidded to a stop.  The guy

in the lead smiles and says they are just walking the area because they heard a

rumor it will open for hunting next year.

QOTD:  My wins were at things that don't even show up in Google searches, but

so was the DFL.  The closest I came to a World Class event was a 10k XC thing

at the University of Arkansas.  It was a four-lapper and after many hours of thought

I decided a good goal would be to see if I could get through the third lap before

the lead speed buggies passed me, i.e., do not get lapped.  I made it by about

forty yards is all--one of the only two times I have gone under six minutes for a mile.

I just use a wildly sliding scale that is adjusted as the day unfolds.

Greetings from Abu Dhabi.  Looks like some fast times in the UAE half marathon yesterday.

Unfortunately my DD didn't fare too well in her race. The vets decided that her day was over after 40 miles.  Her horse developed a slight limp (lameness) and they pulled her from the race.  She took it well and as is her usual way, she pitched in and helped crew for the other US girl for the rest of the day and evening.  Unfortunatly the other girl also got pulled, but she was at mile 90!!!!  In her case it was a high heat rate the vets didn't like.  In both cases, as always they are very conservative and err on the side of keeping the horse in good shape - no argument - just part of the sport.  But it is still dissapointing.   They both said that even so they had a great time and really enjoyed the experience.

I also had lots of fun bombing around the desert in a 4x4 chasing after the riders.

Oh yea, I took a SRD from running today.

Here are two photos I took of helping out the other rider.

Sandy, sorry to hear about her horse.  Hopefully she still had a great time and gained some experience.  Way to go Team USA.

I noticed the horse is riding in the soft sand and not on the packed sand of the "road".  Soft sand has to be trouble for a horse not used to that surface.  Is that why DD's horse was limping?  Enjoy the rest of your trip.

sun is shining, it's 53 degrees, had a great long run planned and got a stomach bug last night   so I'm trying to rehydrate and not anything that will further upset things

interesting factoids - it's almost impossible to tell the source of your gastroenteritis (w/o a test)- it's usually either a viral stomach bug or food poisoning- the viral infection- sometimes incorrectly referred to as the "stomach flu" (it's not an influenza) is usually norovirus in adults, food poisoning is usually brought about by a bacteria

not sure where mine came from- could have been the takeout Chinese food last night (rice that is held at room temp is a common source a source-Bacillus cereus), could have been when I was in Billings the other day or even our office- guess it doesn't matter, either way it sucks!

qotd: clearly finishing a prestigious race dfl, I'd get more satisfaction finishing a grueling 100 miler than winning some local race; I should add I'm probably more apt to finish a grueling race than winning one- local or otherwise

<--- tortoise, not hare

 

Jamie and AT: I was thinking about going down to the AT then decided against it. I have a love, hate relationship with that trail. It's a nice trail at a lot of spots and challenging but for some reason I fall a lot on it. Last year I thoght I may have broken a hip in one fall and in another I skinned my face up quite bad.

 

 

I forget where you told me you live but I do remember you work in Harrisburg.  There are some great trails with killer hills (to get you ready for Hyner) in north Harrisburg in a state game lands area.  These are trails that connect to the AT off of RT 325.  I access them from Fishing Creek Valley Rd.  This was the area I did today.  I ran/hiked a bit over 17 miles with (3) large climbs and some great downhills.

I plan on getting out there a few more times before Hyner (I am not fully committed yet but today was a good sign).  Let me know if you want to meet up sometime for a run there or if you want info about the trails.  Lots of Hyner type hills (1000 ft gain in a mile type deal).

Howdy all.  I was able to get a good 5 mile run in this afternoon with no belly problems!  Hooray!  It's been about a month since I was on a regular running schedule, and I'm hoping that things are on the mend now & I can get back up to my previous mileage soon.  It's amazing what medicine can do!

QOTD:  I think I'd rather come in 1st at a small race.  I prefer small races, and in fact I was pretty bummed when my favorite, local, small 5k added chip timing this year.  I'm not big on crowds.

Sandy-2:  wow!  Just wow!

Daydreamer1:  It isn't a hunting issue.  There is a lot, some, a bunch... whatever, of guns being shown on the island.  There were a lot of guns displayed in a recent city council (Oak Harbor, I think it made national press) meeting and again in a county commish hearing (or meeting).  There is an antiquated, or just outdated, law about carrying guns.  The desire now is to push the envelope for gun presence everywhere in the county.  It appears we will lose a few trails that were on private property because of it.

With the current push against guns it's understandable that there will be pushing back in support of guns. Unfortunately there are too many idiots on both sides of the argument and no one wants to use their brains. The same attitude has resulted in private land being closed to all access here in Pa. Some people felt that their right to shoot trumped the landowners right to limit access and they couldn't use common sense.