To Theresa, Phin, Marsha, Wbertha, Mary, in fact everyone who lives in the north, a few more weeks and we will be enjoying spring rain, and daffodils. Keep pushing through the winter, we're almost there!

Yep, even now I notice the difference in how much warmer the sun feels. The days are quickly getting longer.

My half is tomorrow: wish me luck!

Been offline a few days, and your race is over by now. I hope you enjoyed it. Let us know how you did. I got 14 miles in today, and finished the week at about 37.5 miles.

I did it! It was an absolutely beautiful course. It was so great to see the sea of people running ahead of me, and hearing their footfalls . . . though I hear it was a small race, comparatively (4000 runners). Forecast called for a hot one, but mercifully we had a lot of cloud cover and a nice breeze as we hit the ocean road. The one bridge was very short, and the rest of the course was flat and every bit as beautiful as promised. The first water station felt short because we were all still packed pretty tight, but the others felt great, and they were every two miles, so I hit every other one. Though I'd heard crowd support was sparse, I have no compaints: there were bands or DJs at four spots along the half course--I don't know what else awaited the full-ers. We ran miles 9 through 10.5 in a shady state park, but leaving there and heading back on the ocean, the breeze had turned into a full-on gale, and that was tough. Still, I ran pretty consistently at 9:20 until the miles 11 and 12, which I did at 9, and mile 13, which I did at 8:42--that was all I had left! My final was 2:02:14. I'm proud of myself. Thanks for your support and good wishes. I'm bushed, and I don't think I can run another mile in those shoes--my left knee is killing me and I've got a good blister going in my right. But hey--pain is temporary and my medal is shiny! I think I might the fourth toenail on my left toe. It's all purple and yuck. What's that about? Who's next? K

Vixi GREAT job! Way to finish strong that always feels good "Proud of yourself" that's what it's all about..... Again CONGRATULATIONS!

Great going, Vixi!! Sounds like a wonderful race! I'm glad all your hard work paid off. Teresa

Good preparation and smart pacing, great result. Well done! Take a few days off and enjoy it. Simon.

Been out of the loop for a couple of days. Our most recent weather situation took our our phone & internet connection for the last couple of days. But now I'm back. Congratulations VixiDu! Great race report and fantastic time...now when's the next one??? Stuck in the gym AGAIN for the past two days. But hey, at least I have a gym to go to and am starting to get use to the running track. Any idea how an indoor track compares with running outside??? It seems more "real" than running on the treadmill. Did four miles yesterday and then 4 more today. Doing a combination right now of the track and the treadmill. I really like the track better but 14 laps to a mile is rather daunting. 4 miles = 56 laps. wbertha

Got me some new shoes today--Nike Air Structure Triax 11. Nice shoes--soft but supportive, and apparently will compensate for my mild pronation. I went for a run today on the 'mill but only got two miles in . . . I'm sore! Is that pretty normal after a long hard race? Thanks for all the cheers . . . I'm looking for a 5k next . . . K

Your advice is always so good, MrPH--I'm sure glad you're around so I'm not out there hurting myself. Tim, how'd I miss your race report? Sorry I was so self-centered. Congratulations on breaking 2 hours on your first half! That's incredible! And it was great of your wife and your kids to come out to see you (mine wouldn't hug me, either--though there was no blood!) My 10k is my worst race--I still can't figure out how I managed to keep a better pace in the half than a in a "measly" 10k. Not worrying about it for now--I'm looking for a 5k to run just for fun next, but I do need to find a 10k to run just so I can put a better PR time up there. Shaunna, I'm sorry you're on the bench--did I miss an injury report? What happened? Sally, how's the weather on the western side? You guys get any of this cooler air today? And thanks for giving me credit for that tenth of a mile--it's so funny--I told a friend the old line about how the mile after the big "12" sign was the longest of the race and she said, "well, yeah, it wasn't a mile, it was 1.1 miles." Oh, yeah. Duh! Wbertha, did you read about the guy who did 110 laps on a cruise ship to get 10 miles in? Ugh! I feel for you; between the short track and the dreadmill, I'm not sure what's worse . . . Hang in there, guys, spring is coming . . . K