MelodyLea that was one great long run. I loved those late mileage posted times. "Your There Already"

NRDGIRL "You Rock" I knew that last long run was going to be awesome. WOW!! If it's not to cold in Chicago, wait for me at the finish line. I 'll be the one that's about 52 minutes behind you. lol it's taper time.

Dap36 that's a fast 5k congrats.....

Coyote any luck identifying the bird. Sure looks like a gray Hawk

CKLindsay That is such great news! Both the outstanding finish to your half marathon AND the all clear health check.

Webpro11 Thanks!

Debm2011 Congrats for being " in the zone." Yay for feeling fit and strong.

For me, I woke up tired, saw 100% chance of thunderstorms ALL day on the weather report and so I'm resting, hydrating, stretching and cross training on this dark stormy day.

Keep it up, awesome runners!!!

CKLindsay - congratulations on the Philly RnR Half!  It was a good day for running.  I was there too, with you and thousands of others.  The race was pretty well run all-in-all.  Good luck et Edinburgh.  BTW, the course used to run the other direction, so that would have been a downhill.

Len

http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0097002/photos/87336439@N02/   pics from BRR. 

NHLA - "4 miles 28 min. In the rain." Sounds like a country song.

NRDGirl and webpro - Enjoy your tapers! I know I'm looking forward to mine. A friend of ours is one of the elite women running Chicago this year. It'll be her first marathon.

MelodyLea - Thanks for the photo. It was indeed a Gray Hawk; the painting in my Roger Tory Peterson book shows a more uniform grey plumage, rather than speckled so I didn't recognize it. Red-Tailed Hawks are much more common around here.

Debm - I hear you about sleep. Sometimes it's elusive.

11 miles, 4:30 am, negative split on the out and back. It's great running weather, about 50 degrees. 2 more long runs and 1 midweek, and then taper. Wow. I'm getting a bit excited.

Run free!

4 miles 26 min. That hurt. I killed those last three hills. HR only got to 160.

Looks like everbody is getting ready for some great races.

Durring my taper I bought a Red Garden Claw. This is a hell of a tool. It will break up ground with rock in it. Kept me from loosing it.

Old Coyote: In the elite group for her first marathon? That's awesome. Great job on those 11 miles.

WebPro: Thanks so much for the kudos. Means a lot. I'm so excited about Chicago. We're gonna rock it.

Melody: I agree! The fall temps feel so good. It's kinda hard to stop running in these temps.

As for me, I'm enjoying the taper. 5 miles yesterday, 4 today, 5 tomorrow and 12 on Saturday. I feel so alive and free. Fall temps have arrived and the breeze on last night's run was heavenly. I ran with a group at a very comfortable pace. An all around beautiful run. Then I scarfed down a veggie burger and some sweet potato fries with one of my closest running buddies. Hey, I'm carb-loading. haha Good times.

I received my confirmation ticket/participant guide for Chicago in the mail yesterday. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. lol Nothing more than a little booklet containing my bib number--not the actual bib--and start wave. I was a bit worried when I saw some of my FB friends posting theirs because I've moved since registering in Feb and hadn't contacted them to inform of my new address, but they found me. Now that's what I call organized. 

Keep up the great work, guys. You keep me inspired. Happy running.

Great TM run today. Instead of riding into town to do my ladder at the track, I did it on the TM. Felt awesome. Mile jog, then 400, 800, 1200, 1600 and repeat in reverse, all with 200 jogs in between, all at 10k pace (7:07). Sprinted the final 400 at 10 mph.

Will try to get in a long run tomorrow.

Melody.... Excellent picture of the chickadee I saw!! How did you know he looked like that?

NHLA..... 4 miles in 6 minutes? That hurts me just to read it!!!!! That's cruising!!

BigSlade..... So glad you're over the leg thing. That stuff can really be a morale killer.

NRDGirl...... Your runs sound so beautiful, easy, and relaxing. You sound like you have a great time doing them.

Coyote.... Go ahead and get excited!! You deserve it after your training prgoram. Best wishes.

Enjoy the weather, runners. Have good days.