Hi all and especially Linus, I noticed the shout-out! 

I was away on vacation all of last week and missed 5 pages of updates which I will likely never catch up on however I will still say CONGRATULATIONS to all who raced in my absence, I know you all did great

Melody, I read somewhere that it's common for runners to get sick after their goal race is completed.  Hope your cold passes quickly.

Well, while on vacation I brought my running gear but did not manage to run a single step but DAS and I did walk quite a bit seeing all of the beautiful sights in eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  When I got home I jumped right back in and did 4 mi on the 'mill on Monday, neglected to stretch afterwards, and gave myself stiff quads, smart eh? 

So, now that my first Half, and my vacation, are past, I'm making plans for the future.

On the fun side of things, my YMCA sent an email announcing that they will be holding a Color Run on New Year's Day!  Don't know if you've heard of these, but they give you a white race tee and then along the course there are stations with various colors of powdered dye that you are bombarded with as you run past, making a very technicolor tee at the end.  It sounds like a riot and I know I already have at least 3 friends waiting for registration to open.  I plan to also get some white/light thermal layers since it's likely to be cold in Wisconsin on New Years Day.

I'm also making plans to run the Arthritis Foundation Jingle Bell run in December for the second year.  It's a fundraising run and was freezing cold last year but my one friend and I made the best of it, and they served some yummy chicken soup at the finish.  Gotta have something to keep me going over the winter! 

Longer term goal is the Oshkosh Half Marathon, this year I'm determined I'm going to run it and not the 5k.  I ran the course while training for the half I just did last month and really liked it.  I figure I'll maintain long runs of 6-9 miles over the winter and then hopefully join with the weekend training runs held for OHM starting in Feb.

Keep on Runnin'!

NHLA Cool about the staircase and two runs in one day? Nice!

Old Coyote So excited for you!

Snerb Thanks!

OshCat Hi! Its been fun "seeing" you on Facebook. I think you're right about runners getting sick after a race. I feel like I held off a cold for weeks before the race. Your "Color Run" sounds fun! Crazy, but fun. Good for you planning out some races this winter.

BigSlade I hope the knee is nothing serious.

Keep up the great work, team!

OC- you are so gonna kill your race!  Me, I just want to finish upright! 

Oshcat-how does the Oshkosh HM course compare to the Fox Cities?  Do they both go along the lake at all? 

DW has come down with a bad cold, so unfortunately I'm having to make her keep her distance.  Praying I avoid it, at least until after the race.

Run strong and safe this weekend!

jmsab:  nice pics of the maine marathon...just shows how hazardoud running can be!  Nice job on the 10+ miler!  Think with some more of these that you will kill your next HM.

francessmom:  I am in Philly now and drove by the Philly RnR HM route today.  Super flat!  I may come back next year to do this one.

melodylea:How you feeling now after the big HM?  Glad to see you have targets already set on next one.

bigslade:  good luck with the knee.  How fragile our bodies become year after year.

oshcat: WELCOME BACK!  Glad to hear you got some down time.  Good to see you have targets already for next year.

coyote:  dude, you are so ready!  Will be thinking about you as I finish my HM at which time you will just be beginning your FM.  Proud of you for all the hard work and dedication to this.  Will try to follow in your footsteps next year.  Run "strong" and "fearless" this Sunday.  Look forward to your race report.

justrundan:  can't wait to hear your race report also!  Have a great race!

nhla:  you make training for a FM seem so casual, like "why doesn't everyone run 65 miles a week?"  Sure you will do great whichever race you choose.

snerb:  Sounds like you were "pulling a sled" again!  Still a good pace all in all.

Did 2 miles at HM pace (9 m/m  +/-)  and 4 striders this morning.  Was cold and windy but felt good.  Until...I got on plane 3 hours later and realized that I forgot to stretch after run.  Suffice it to say that tight hammies pulling on lower back led to long flight.  Feeling a little better now.

Short track workout again tomorrow here at sea level, then off for golf with dad and brother (he's the real runner in our family).

happy running all!  Stay fearless!

justrundan - Fox Cities was entirely on paved streets/roads and finished in Lakeside Park in Neenah, so you did get to run along the shoreline for the last bit.  I don't know if the full marathon has any additional lakeshore miles.

OHM starts and finishes right along the river just before it enters the lake; also the stretch on the Wiowash Trail is along the shore where Lake Butte Des Morts empties into the river.  If you Google either race you can hit the link to the course maps.  Both are flat with only a couple of bridges/overpasses.

I've been cross training the last few days, I realized I need to work on my core a lot more than I have been doing.  Treadmill tonight and long run planned for Sunday since it's got the better forecast of the weekend days.  Now a friend of mine wants to do the Freaky 5k (costume run) on 10/27.  DAS is hitting his limits on my race participation even if they are all for good charities!

Dan, Linus and OC - THREE MORE DAYS!!  Good luck and enjoy your races! You’ll do great!! 

I cannot wait!! although I'm not really prepared. The trail race took a lot out of me. The week after I only ran 11 mi. Then last week was 18 mi. with one 6 mi. run and a 5k. I was hoping for a PR on that course but ran into a lady I coached and opted to run with her instead. It was good. Sunday I knocked out a slow 8.3 at the gym and 3.25 at the gym on Tues. I'll get another run in tonight and maybe a hike on Saturday. I expect Sunday's race is going to hit me like a ton of bricks but I'll take it. At least I don't have to give up the race like poor Scott who was registered for the USMC marathon 10/26 and has Achilles tendonitis from the trail race. He's been training 20 wks. I feel so bad for him and I'm glad that darn race was his idea and not mine!

Enjoy your runs!!

I'll try to post color run pix separate.

OldCoyote, justrundan, linuscatch - good racing this weekend!  I'll be cheering for each of you and can't wait to read race reports.

MelodyLea - feel better soon!

MaryKay - I'm a S.E. PA transplant too,but I headed north rather than west.  Are you from the city or the burbs?

NHLA - all that running and you clean too?  You are amazing.

jmsab23 - love the cows

BigSlade - good luck with that knee.

OshCat - I'm glad you had a nice vacation - it's so good to get away, at least that's what I've heard.  LOL

Tuesday was 3.1 miles - eh - tired legs but I got 'er done.  This morning was 4.5 extra strong miles.  The last 1/2 mile I felt so light on my feet.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

run strong, friends

NHLA - Impressive mileage.

jmsab23 - January in Wisconsin can be a cold b%*th.

5.6 miles at a 9:00 pace.  I couldn't beat the weather this time.  The good news is that it didn't rain the whole time.....When it wasn't raining, it snowed.  The only time it wasn't raining or snowing was when I convinced myself that the weather was going to hold out for me to get 5 miles in.  Cold and wet when I made it home.  Needless to say, the hot shower felt excellent and the 2 cups of hot tea after my protien shake finished warming me up.

I bought Mark Sisson's book The Primal Blueprint.  Anxious to read it and educate myself.  On 12/3 I'm going to start eating primal and going to start P90X again.  I would like to start earlier, but I have three hunting trips planned in November, one in Wyoming and two in Northern Wisconsin, and I know that I won't be able to workout regularly and it's hard to stick to a specific diet during those hunting trips.  So, 12/3 is the date.

Cheers All!!!  Run strong.