To all of our new folks, please ignore the jerk who keeps posting demeaning comments.  Must have nothing better to do in his life except bully.  All of us here who are penguins know the tough persistence it takes to keep going.  Don't let him mess with your head.

After a warm (60), windy and rainy yesterday, it is now 34 deg w chance of snow flurries and windy still.  There is minor flooding at the golf course where we are staying near Gatlinburg.  I've been running the cart paths, very slowly, but today there may be too much debris from the storm on the path.  I've got a 5K on Sat but have not been able to do any fast work at all this week.  I had hoped to golf today or tomorrow, but it may be closed cause of damage.

JoAnn:  My wife and I can't travel during the winter because she works during income tax filing season, but the Country Music Marathon at the end of April might be a good trip.  I'll mention it to her.  She's not a runner, but we want to do some trips next year and we've never visited Tennessee.

We're having our first snow flurries/showers here in NE Illinois today as I write this on Wednesday morning, with temps in the upper 20s.  We're having our weekly club training run tonight.  I hope it's not too windy.

Yes, it's the Madison Crazy Legs. My mistake though, it's an 8k. It's a good thing that I've stepped up my daily two mile run to a three mile run. Last year's race was in April. Wasn't it?

I agree miss Jasmine. I cant find the young man's last remarks. I assume it was a young man because he obviously lacks the life experience to realize that people have stories. so the next slow runner he makes fun of my have been the recent or ongoing cancer survivor, or the other guy who  recently went through heart bypass surgery, or the wife running may have spent the last 20 years taking care of a family, putting their needs ahead of her own. or the slow guy i recently ran with was a 24 year old marine who was tired and finally home after 3 tours in Iraq. so back to running, i see you mentioned country music marathon that looks interesting. did you see the women's diva 1/2 marathon in honolulu 4/17 looks like alot of fun!!

Good luck with the sprints, Maria. Those should help warm you up. Where do you do the sprints? Do you have a track you can go to? A lot of the central Ohio high school tracks have locked their gates and I haven't been able to find a good outdoor track to use. I suppose I could find an indoor one that has mileage marked.

We had our first snow today in C-Bus. I took Mr. Dawg out for a very chilly short walk. That's the first time we've been out since the Turkey Trot. This head and chest cold is really hanging onto my body. I want to run, but not until my body can take it. I'm still congested. I guess the road will be there for me when my body is ready.

Happy running everyone!

I noticed that myself, and was just going to say, that the mean post was not yours. You can tell, the account was started today, and the last word has an extra "e" at the end. Dont be fooled. I dont understand what these people derive from cruelty? I really dont.  I too, have reported them both. Is there an "ignore" button?

Smiles in self satisfaction as she sees their cruel posts being systematically removed... Thank you Admin!!!

Country Music is full & half marathon in Nashville.  Don't do either if it is your first because Nashville has LOTS of hills!!  I did Women's HM in Nashville as my first and it was a big challenge. I did one 2 wks ago (still over 3 hrs) and my next HM is in Birmingham mid-February.

They just published the IronGirl schedule for next year (http://www.irongirl.com/Events.htm#axzz16u0seauB) and they moved my Atlanta triathlon from end of June to mid-May.  ARGGGH!  That rearranges my schedule for next year!

After the storm last night here nr the Smokies, it was spitting "snow" but nothing accumulated.  Went for a chilling "run" up a nearby mild hill but very slowly.  The right knee is still having issues, so I think I'll let it rest until Sat's race.

I will probably only stick w HM's for a while, until I get my time down to a reasonable level.  I mean, I know I could train and build up to a marathon distance, but I just don't want to be out there for 6-7 hrs.  There are still plenty of beautiful places with HMs that I could go to.