VRB w/o 5/21

[Leslie Ferguson]

It looks like I'm starting this weekend too. It's been a busy day and I actually have a run to claim. The day started this morning with a pick up for departure from Alexandria on an 8:40 flight. Then a 2+ hour flight for the weekend stay. But, after all is said and done I actually ran this afternoon - although it was terribly hot when I went out. Still picked off a 35 minute run starting and ending at 27 06 N 082 26 W (you might want to put that into Google to figure out where I am).

Fading fast... hope you're well. It will be a fun weekend with lots of miles to be covered (sadly, not many running either).

Happy trails all,
Les

[VictoriaL]

Wow, Les, you've had a whirlwind couple of days (although probably a more enjoyable whirlwind than that of the research papers-write papers-submit papers variety). And I am impressed-- after graduation on Thurs, an early flight on Friday, you still had the energy (and desire!) to run yesterday afternoon. Well done! Have a successful weekend.
Oh, and for those who have no way to "look up" those coordinates, Florida east coast or west? Just a hint... ;)

Again, it's raining. But I guess that we are "stocking up" because it is to be sunny and in the 80's for the all of next week. So, today I am making stock from the carcass of a roasted chicken, and a couple different types of bread.

No exercise at all. I don't know what's going on, but the cold seems to be in a holding pattern at this point. I am trying something different and instead of running to force myself to get better, I am being a slug. Drinking lots of hot liquids, resting, etc. It's kind of nice, and yesterday was the only day I could have gone out but I didn't. I'm still doing light weights, stretching, and yoga though. Don't want to turn into a big ol' slug... :rolleyes:

So what is everyone else doing this weekend???

[SusanMac]

Les - Big time congrats on your graduation this week!! That is such a fantastic accomplishment. We are all proud of you. It must feel very gratifying. I assume the FL trip is a celebration? Is LW with you? Are there interviews involved in this trip?? Inquiring minds want to know. Nice job on the run. Love the graduation photo!

Vicci - I think it's great you're still doing a few low-aerobic things while you're sick. I usually just lay on the sofa! This seems like an unusual time of year to have a cold, but I know several people with one right now (myself included! I now feel OK, but the nose & throat don't know it yet)

Don't remember the last time I posted? So here goes...
Thurs - 22 mile bike ride w/my club. Felt very good. I was very encouraged with no pain in my knee

Fri - I could feel my knee up & down the stairs, so decided to hold off on running. And, my nose is running too much for a swim. So, it was a rest day.

Today - 55-mile bike ride on an old favorite route I hadn't done in years. It felt great! Some tough hills & my quads feel like noodles. Me, DH and my 70.3 training buddy. DH is a very good coach, which helpd my GF a lot. The weather was perfect.

Tomorrow I'm going to give running a shot w/my running club. I hope I don't have knee issues with the group & have to turn back early! I have a trail race coming up in a few weeks, and I think it's going to be tough w/out logging more miles.

Hope everyone's having a stellar weekend! We are headed down to the lake for some outdoor music & adult beverages :-)

[Leslie Ferguson]

Vicci - Sorry your cold is hanging on like that. You've got rain too? That's too bad. Keeping hydrated and moving is important to recovery I think. I think Susan is right, it is an unusual time to have a cold but the conditions have been really yucky this spring and lots of people are flailing with allergies and colds right now. And you're right - FL west coast.
Susan - Kind off a celebratory trip but mostly interviewing. A very good prospect in the works and after a day and a half running around I'm feeling more called to come down here although it will be a culture shock - hot and lots of sun but I'm ready for a little change. Good job on your 22 mile ride on Thu and 55 miles today. Quite impressed.

Spent most of the morning getting the grand tour of Venice and Sarasota and meeting the Bishop. Now Kath and I have a couple hours to decompress/process the information of the past couple days before dinner.

I'm contemplating another run of sorts to do some thinking about what I've seen so far. Trying to not get overcome by the urge to nap right now.

Whatever comes in the next hours I'll still see you later. Probably get out in the 90 degree conditions for a bit.

Happy trails,
Les

[VictoriaL]

Susan "you now feel okay" enough for a 55-mile bike ride?!?! Wow. :) Enjoy the lake (and beverages)! And good luck (no pain) on your run tomorrow.

Les I forgot to mention the photo-- loved it. I dare you to find me another seminary grad who wore a twirl-top beanie! ;)
Ah, Sarasota. No more running in the ice and snow for you, then (although you probably had quite enough for a lifetime this past winter)! Did you get in a run (90 degrees...oy...)?

I've been taking a few deep breaths this afternoon and not a smidgen of a wheeze (yay!), and I can also now breathe through my nose, so I must be getting better. Finally!

[Kathy B]

Garage sale is done, leftovers boxed and back in the basement, boxes broken down and tables returned to the church. I'm beat! We cleared $400, though, and the weather cooperated, so the girls are happy.

Hoping to start (slowly) back with something tomorrow...

[Leslie Ferguson]

Yes Vicci I got a run in this afternoon and yes it was 90 again. :rolleyes: Honestly, running in the snow, at least once in a while and when the snow isn't a foot deep is a lot of fun in my book. That dare wouldn't be too much of a stretch either - I can't think of anyone who would try to pull that hat off. Glad you're on the mend a little - soon you'll be fine and back in battery.

As I claimed, a run of 40+ (4.75) miles today. "Slogging" and wishing I hadn't gone out at one point in time. Still it was nice to get some air as I did some contemplation.

To bed - the last big day down here tomorrow. Happy trails all and have a great remainder of the weekend.

Les

[Robyn1007]

Vicci so glad to hear you're improving.

Les I cannot fathom running in a Florida summer but more power to you if that's the right place for you.

Kathy glad the garage sale went well.

Susan nice job on the rides!

I was able to run today! My foot felt fine during the run. Stopped a couple of times to stretch the peroneal tendon but it went pretty well. I know myself and know that I don't do very well taking more than a couple of days off from running so I wasn't surprised that it felt a little more difficult than I would have liked. And it was warmer than I've run in yet this season so that was an adjustment as well.

With the heat of summer coming I could feel my very long hair on my back while running and knew I couldn't deal with it so I headed for a haircut today and took about 4 inches off. This should help me deal with it better for the summer. But part of me wants to go even shorter. :p

[SusanMac]

My run went well today, too! The group did 8 miles, which consisted of 2 loops. I did good & wasn't temped to bail after the first loop. After a few seconds of stiffness, my knee felt just fine. It was a packed dirt trail course, which probably helped. The knee felt achy on a few downhill sections, but other than that, no issues. I iced it when I got home to be safe, since I'm sure there was a bit of inflammation.

Les - it's good you're running down there right now, as it's a good gauge as to whether or not you would like the weather. And it's still Spring! Very glad LW was able to join you.

Robyn - kudos on the foot improvements

Kathy - $400 is wonderful! You work so hard for those girls

Vicci - Glad you're feeling better. Maybe a walk with Spooky is in the cards for tomorrow?

[Natasha]

Hi everyone!

Susan, sounds like your training is going well! :)

Robyn, that's nice that you were able to run!

Vicci, hope you start feeling better soon. Are the fluids, relaxing, and light exercise helping? Cooking therapy is always good.

Kathy, the garage sale sounds fun and like a big success.

Les, thanks for the report on your trip. Hope you and LW are now safely back at home and relaxing. I can only imagine the heat and humidity - "slogging" is the right word for that kind of run.

Hi to Jennifer, TKay, and everyone else :)

I've been having a lovely long weekend so far. Most relaxing weekend in quite some time. I've trained every day and done lots of other stuff.

Friday night we stayed home and took it easy. Saturday we cooked up a storm and had a friend over for a potluck. On the menu:

- Bruschetta with roasted peppers and gorgonzola (Barefoot Contessa) - I made this
- Middle-eastern spiced pork - friend made this
- Indian kheema (paratha filling without the parathas) - friend made this
- Black bean and coconut-lime rice (Southern Living/CLBB) - I made this
- Spicy ribs - DH made this
- Zucchini-yogurt sauce - friend made this

Everything turned out really well and we had a lovely time. It's been a long time since I've been inspired to spend hours puttering in the kitchen. We've been cooking, of course, but pretty simple things (lots of T&T and improvised meals).

Last night we saw Invictus. Very highly recommended if you like political or sports themes. And happily, those are two of my favourite themes so I loved it. Will buy it when the time is right. I made Anzac biscuits (Donna Hay) as we watched. Those were good - subtly flavoured and not too sweet.

It's Victoria Day today so DH might go golfing, and tonight we're planning to go out for dinner with some friends. I'm no golfer so another run is on the agenda.

Whew. Sorry to ramble. Hope everyone is doing well! Next weekend you guys get the long weekend!

[SusanMac]

Happy Victoria Day, Nat! I forgot it was a holiday weekend for you. I have a big crush on Matt Damon, so am looking forward to seeing Invictus :-) The menu looks fab! I've had my eye on that bean & coconut rice dish for a while.

I have cooking club tonight & need to find a Thai recipe. If anyone has one, send it my way

[Natasha]

Thanks Susan! If you're a Damon fan you'll definitely like this ;)

Supper club sounds fun, especially with Thai food. Have you tried the squash tofu (or chicken, or shrimp, or...) red curry from Canadian Living? I've plugged it on CLBB before, but not recently. It's likely not that different from many other Thai curry dishes (for example, I tried one from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone that was quite similar), but it's versatile - you can sub any veggies or protein - and I've always been happy with the results.

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/thai_tofu_and_squash_curry.php

[TKay]

Another Matt Damon fan here. I'm looking forward to Invictus. Glad you liked it, Nat. Your menu sounds divine, by the way. :D

Susan - Glad your knee did fine, but good that you iced it anyway.

Robyn - It's good that you're careful about your foot. Glad it cooperated for your run. I am envious about your haircut. I've been growing mine since pony tail season is about here. I got it colored and my girl singed my ends. Now I can barely stand it and am tempted to do the hair chop too. I bet it feels great to have it off your neck.

Les - You just never slow down, do you? :D Nice slog? Is that the correct response? Glad you're getting some head space in spite of all you've had going on.

Kathy - Congrats on the results of the garage sale. Ds is constantly asking me if we can have one. I think he envisions making thousands and doing little. However, I know how much work they are. Bravo to you for getting it done.

Vicci - How are you? Less sluggish, I hope. (Sorry. I'm a dork. :rolleyes:) Hope you're well.

I feel like I'm finally getting my head above water again. I feel much better (had a chest cold last week that knocked me down a few rungs). Got in a decent, if truncated, run on Saturday. Rested yesterday. Did about 50 on the TM today. I feel good as new!

Forgive me for not keeping up with my posting. I did lurk as often as I could. I hope I'm back to being a regular again. :) Hi to all those I failed to mention by name.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Kathy - Sorry to leave out congratulations for raising $400 in your yard sale - that's impressive considering how much stuff I sold and only made ~$50. Hope you're bouncing back a little after a busy weekend.
TKay - Nice slogging is an appropriate statement/compliment, at least in my book. I realized that my post was a little whacked a 40 minute run was the last one I accomplished. I looked back and it looked like I had run 40 miles in the heat. NO WAY. Good job getting 50 minutes in on the TM today.
Nat - Happy Victoria Day! I hope that DH had a good golf game and you had a good run. Your dinner the other night - everything sounds lovely.

Good runs to Susan and Robyn. If I do actually head south I was tempted to figure out if my beard may come off - it's really warm with a beard in that weather.

I had a nice first day back in Alexandria, got a lot done and even got an hour plus ride in. Nothing terribly exciting but nice to get back out on the roads. Especially considering it was in the middle 70s (freezing compared to 90s this past weekend).

More pictures have come out from graduation. I love the one attached below.

Happy trails all,
Les

[TKay]

Les - That photo is the best one I've seen. Fantastic! Thanks for posting it. It really brightened my day.

I'm going for the combo workout with weights (hand-held while I walk/run/lunge/squat). I'm going to go light today since my shoulder has felt a little off. Then it's off to the school, scouts, karate...I may make dinner in there somewhere as well. :rolleyes:

Happy, happy.

[Kathy B]

Good morning all! 3 miles outside yesterday, and another 3 (maybe a little over) today. It was much warmer today...by the time I got back from walking the dogs to cool down, they were as hot as I was! :D Think I'll try to do weights tomorrow. I did get some yoga in both mornings as well, so I am getting back on track!

Great pictures, Les, and it looks like it was a fabulous day! So you are thinking of Florida, eh? It would definitely be a change, but then, that is part of what makes life interesting, don't you think? A new adventure, for sure!! :)

Natasha, your holiday weekend sounds like it was quite relaxing...very nice! And your menu for your potluck sounds great! I love meals with lots of new things to try. The movie sounds familiar, though I haven't watched it. I'll bet DS has seen it as those are a couple of his favorite themes, too. I get most of my movie recommendations from him as I can never remember what any of them are about when I look at the list on PPV or at the video store.

Susan, wow, you are logging some heavy-duty workouts! Hope you really enjoyed your time at the lake. Sounds like some well-deserved relaxation!

Tkay, the garage sales ARE a lot of work, but they have proved to be the best fundraiser for the GS over the years. When you have several families contributing stuff, it makes for a large sale. Even though nothing costs more than a few dollars, it all adds up. The good thing is that there are several people to help with all of the set-up and clean-up!! Good luck with your to-do list today. I am making leftovers for supper myself.... ;) (A little pizza, a little Chinese, salad, flat bread with dip, and whatever else I find that needs to get used up..)

Vicci, glad to hear the cold is waning. We have the warm temps here as well, and it is supposed to rain the next few days off and on. Good idea to make bread before it gets too hot.

Robyn, glad your foot is better. I love summer haircuts! :)

Jennifer, hope you are hanging in there with Oklahoma's crazy weather!

Hope everyone is having a good start to the week! I'm off to run a bunch of errands. I have a lot to do this afternoon, but I need to be sure I get home in time to warm up my leftovers!! :p

[VictoriaL]

Kathy, $400 sounds like a quite acceptable take at the garage sale-- congratulations! Good to hear that you got out both yesterday and today. Making up for lost time, perhaps? ;)

So how does it feel without so much pressure on you these days, Les?! Enjoy those 70-degree bike rides, too, soon you will long for such freezing" temps! And please tell me that you are doing something wonderful to display your graduation photos (esp the one of you blowing bubbles)-- that one was so very cool!).

Robyn, it looks as though you took good care of your foot since it's no longer hurting, and good job on the run w/o a problem. That first run in warm weather is a little difficult, isn't it?

Susan, glad to hear that your knee problem wasn't an issue (icing afterward was probably a very good idea, though). What Thai recipe did you end up making, and would you recommend it (Thai is a favorite cuisine of ours)?

Nat, that menu sounded absolutely delicious! Hope that you enjoyed your holiday (and, perhaps, the run as well?). :)

Tkay, isn't it great when the crud finally leaves? It sounds as though you got back into the exercise stuff easily, though. Let's hear it for less sluggish-ness! :D

Things have become wacky again. MIL is in the hospital, and it's way too long to post about here, but she may be released in the next day or two, either to rehab or perhaps back to her apartment. So we've been busy with things related to that.

My cold is almost totally gone and, having a free 15 minutes this morning before having to get ready to run up to the hospital, I went out for a (mostly-fast-walking) run. ;) Better, that nothing, I figured. It was quite warm, low 80's, but the heat just intensified the incredible fragrance of the blackberry blossoms in the meadow and the wild roses in the woods. Good heavens, I stopped at the roses several times and just buried my face in the blooms and inhaled. Allergies be dam@ed, it was glorious!

With any luck, I'll be able to stay home tomorrow and get something done (other than MILs laundry). I weeded the flower beds tonight after dinner until it got too dark to see, and then at least I felt as though I accomplished something . Perhaps, if I can get out early enough, a run before the temps hit 80.

Happy Mid-Week to All!

[Leslie Ferguson]

Kathy - Glad you're back at it with 2 runs. I'm not sure that Florida was on the scope for me but I'm certainly feeling called to serve there. Life is exciting and going where the heart leads is a lot of fun too.
Vicci - (not TKAY) I'm glad you're feeling better and had such an aromatic walk before the day got totally kicked off. I hope you have a good day around the house tomorrow and get a lot of stuff done. I'm going to put most of the graduation pictures in a good frame in presentation. I especially love the bubble picture and need to thank the photographer for taking it (he's one of my classmates - graduating in 2 years). Those pictures are definitely something to be proud of, they are good shots of a wonderful day.

I'm definitely loving the down time. I'm sleeping in a little (necessary after the last 3 weeks) and getting all kinds of runs and rides in. I did ~66 minutes today in perfect conditions - a slight mist. I may be setting up for a really long ride this weekend, although I don't think I'm ready to make an 80 mile ride -one of the Assistant Deans has said he would like to have me ride with him to Purcelville and back, ~ 40 miles each way; mostly because my longest ride is about 30 miles.

Oh well, time to turn in and see what tomorrow brings.
Les

[Leslie Ferguson]

Sad update... I just got a call from the head pastor at the church I felt really good about. It looks like I don't have to figure out how to run in the hear just yet. And the search goes on...

I feel a long ride in my future.

Happy trails,
Les

[TKay]

Les - Bummer about your phone call. But as you know, one door closes... Hang in there until the next one opens up. Hope you get in that long ride.

Vicci - I think Les's post to me above was meant for you. ;) Did Smoky join you on your walk by chance? Sorry about the MIL thing. Hope things smooth out soon.

Kathy - Did you get all of your errands done before heating up those leftovers? I'm cooking tonight with the intent of making the meal work for both tonight and tomorrow night. My family better cooperate. :rolleyes:

Planning a run today. Yesterday's weight-walk was great. I think these runs/workouts are keeping my head on much straighter than it would be otherwise. I've been crazy busy with the kids lately.

Cheers all!

[Leslie Ferguson]

Vicci - I think Les's post to me above was meant for you. ;)

Quick post... I fixed it - I can't believe I missed it in the first place.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Claiming for yesterday. I did 24 miles on the bike. With the exception of Susan and (maybe) Natasha, I'd call that a long ride. ;) It felt good to get out - kind of cleared the brain a little. Today, on the other hand, wasn't the greatest day. No motivation, no energy - kind of grieving I would guess. To top it off there was humidity to beat the band so I did a little shopping and cleared my head a little. Tomorrow - will depend on the weather but I'd like to run since I plan on riding long on Saturday.

See you all on the flip side tomorrow - thunder and lightening right now... it's neat to be inside during the storm.

Happy trails,
Les