Den of Thieves

Good morning runners! Here's the daily training thread!

After yesterday's successful 5k race, I've decided to take at least a week or two off running completely. It's been about a 6 week stretch of pretty hard running that sorta resembles a peaking season. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna sit on my ass for the next fortnight. Today I'll be at Susquehanna State Park doing day one of chainsaw training. When I get home I'm gonna do Angie, one of the toughest CrossFit WODs: in order, for time, 100 pull ups, 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, 100 squats (you must finish all 100 of x before moving on to y).

So how is everyone else starting off their week?

And it's Monday so, how was your weekend? Highlights? Lowlights? Whatever you wanna share. The 5k yesterday, JV's race Saturday, & the Stone Old Guardian Barleywine Style Ale were definitely three of the many highlights.



Discuss... and HAPPY RUNNING!

so kylie just started doing this today and she apparently loves it and thinks its really funny (i do too). she has literally been doing it for an hour and i was lucky to get it on film! so here you go, kylie blowing raspberries!



oh yeah, and this was at 5am. fun!

This was my boyfriend (drumnadrochit)'s race really. 4 weeks after the marathon he was still riding that wave of fitness and having spent the intervening period just running fairly low mileage and having fun he was feeling really good. I knew he intended to PR at this race and come in under 2 hours (his previous PR was 2.05). Well, he totally smoked his goal, coming in in 1.50 and surprising both of us!

When I asked him later how he'd done it he just told me that he had run the first (flat) 3 miles with the 2h pace team, but when they reached the hills he felt they weren't attacking them enough, so he took off without them! He's so awesome!

Coming off the back of a nagging foot injury and 4 weeks out of running, my goal for this race was very different: to come in at least 10 minutes slower than my PR. I'm pleased to say that I met my goal!

I started off right near the back, and within half a mile everyone had passed me. I was dead last and it was quite liberating really because it's a situation I'd always dreaded and in reality it wasn't bad at all. I ran the first 3 miles with a lovely lady who was doing her first half and jogged along at 11 min miles, chatting away and enjoying the beautiful English countryside.

At 3 miles the course became hilly and the lady I was running with slowed down. I love running hills so I picked up my pace just a little and started to pass a few people. From this point on I ran on my own, very gradually upping my pace but keeping it comfortable, picking off the backmarkers and chatting briefly to people as I ran by.

I had a really great time. I'm sure I ran negative splits, but I didn't keep track of them as my main objective was to keep my pace easy. The last mile was my fastest; I must have passed at least 10 people here. When I saw the 400m to go sign I was feeling good, no foot pain and I just cut loose and kicked for the line. I hadn't intended to put on a sprint finish, but I had so much left in the tank and I was having fun! I felt a bit nauseous crossing the line, but I put that down to the fast finish!

My chip time was 2.16.40 (gun time 2.18.01) and I was 811 out of 901 finishers. This means I passed 90 people on my little way – 10% of the field!

Overall I'm pleased. Despite being nowhere near my PR of 2.05 I feel like I ran ok. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to jog round a race, but I did it, and considering this is my first proper run in a month I don't feel too juiced. Yay!

has anyone tried using very-fermented kombucha as a hair tonic? if so, let me know how much you applied, how often, and if you noticed any difference. i can't imagine it smelling very good, though i have used apple cider vinegar, and the smell fades once my hair dries.

"I began to view the world at large through borrowed eyes, eyes more like those I wanted to own."

"In my view having babies was supposed to be something beautiful, not a duty. Something incredible, not role-playing. Bringing new life into this dying world, promising hope for a sane tomorrow. As I saw it, any expectation of sanity rested in a woman's womb."

"It wasn't like my life had changed at all, and maybe that was part of the problem. Because something inside me was different. Shifting, like a tide or sand dune. That something was growing, stretching, taking shape beneath my skin. And I wondered if very soon it might blow me apart at the seams."

Alright veganism, I'm sick and miserable and have been for the past three days. I've got to go to class tomorrow and I'm tired of waking up with a head full of a phlegm and a throat that feels like it's been doused in acid.

Do you have any cruelty free tricks for helping out congestion and soreness in the throat?

i love to cook. love love love! i already have a lot of cookbooks, but i figured that there wouldn't be any harm in asking for some more for christmas. i'll be moving out soon and i can't wait to have a tiny library in my tiny kitchen. :p

i've been using amazon as a reference for cookbooks just by searching "vegan cookbook" and then reading through the reviews, but i would love more recommendations! i'm sure there are lots of hidden gems out there. i should also add that i like playing with raw recipes, so long as they're not too tedious. so please recommend other cookbooks i should look into, or give me your feedback on cookbooks that are on my wishlist if you already own them! thanks! :)

( on to my list! )

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."

Indeed, I am nothing but a wanderer and a pilgrim on this earth ! And what more are you ?

Hello, I could really use some help right now.
I've been a vegetarian for about three months, basically I started it because I was raised my whole life thinking it was healthier, and one day I realized I was kind of living a double standard, knowing that veg was the healthier choice but still continuing to eat meat.
So I quit, and it's really been fun finding new ways to cook things and all.

I did it mainly for health reasons.

Anyway.
Most of my family are at least polite about it, but my brother is driving me into the ground. Every time he gets annoyed with me about anything, he has to bring up how stupid it is that I'm now a vegetarian, and I really don't understand why it bothers him so bad... I thought he'd forget about it by now but no...
We were at a friend's house last night, and she asked me if I was still veg. I said yes and so she just made sure she put the chicken on the side to add to anyone's food who wanted it.
I don't think she likes what I'm doing but she doesn't argue.
Anyway... my brother went on an embarrassing tangent about me in front of her last night and I don't really know how to douse out the fire so he'll quit saying things like that.
I really don't want to give him any smart comebacks or facts... he's researched vegetarianism and he's even done it before, which is why I'm really confused as to what his problem is, and I don't really care about all the technical reason... it's food. I just don't want to eat meat.
I don't even wanna talk about it to people anymore because I'm afraid they'll label me somehow.

Sometimes he bothers me so bad I just wanna quit but the thing is, I don't think I could even if I wanted to now. The thought of eating meat makes me almost want to throw up.
People are always talking about the nasty hormones they put in meat these days, and yet they still eat it anyway and I just don't think I could do that anymore...
I'm just really sick of dealing with people's crap and I wish that we didn't have to talk about it at every meal but my brother brings it up constantly.

I'm really afraid one day he's gonna take me somewhere and there won't be a veg option and he'll try to make me eat a meat dish just for the heck of it.

I know he sounds like a psycho but we've been through a lot together and he's the only real friend I've got.
Anybody have a similar situation?

I just don't get it, I mean I never throw food away... as a matter of fact I ate some fermented green beans the other night because it was the only vegetable thing we had left...
I have found ways to order veggie food at just about anywhere when we go out to eat, and I'm not being wasteful nor do I spend more money on tofu substitutes. I make a lot of normal food that is appealing to the rest of my family, even my dad who is a firm believer in steak lol.

And most of all heck I feel better now, and meat is just gross to me. I am thinking about making a deal with my brother since he hunts, I might tell him that I'll only eat deer meat that he brings home or something like that.
Maybe then he'll be appeased....

for others, in spite of myself, from myself.

autrement qu 'être.

No, this isn't the race report most of you are probably waiting for me to post. This is a race report for the 5k I ran this morning. Hey, 5k is 1000% shorter than 50k and THAT race report is currently 10 hand written notebook pages, front and back. So while I have a brief bit of internet access...

( pre-race stuff )

The race

As I expected, blue jersey, Tim (Villanova shirt), adiZero guy, and a few ROTC kids bolted out with me, along with one or two other older runners. I tried to follow travelogger's advice about how to race a 5k, focusing on getting through at least the first kilometer without really feeling like I was expending much, if any, effort. Because of this, I held back a bit on the initial downhill but was still right there in the lead group as we hit the gradual incline. About 3 minutes in two things happened. First, the two ROTC kids who sprinted out with us started to fade, as I expected. Second, I realized that we were running what felt something like, or possibly easier than, tempo effort to me. Looking around I thought to myself that this was going to be a fairly tactical race and I might actually have a shot at winning it. (Keep in mind, dear reader, that the last time I was even in position to win a race was way back in middle school running 1500s on the track so while I might have a decent bit of running experience, my racing experience is considerably limited. This was going to double as a learning experience)

We turned left and ran in front of a barn before turning right and starting a downhill towards a hospital parking lot. At this point there was a group of four -- blue jersey, adiZero guy, another older guy (I'll call him tall guy because he was fairly tall), and myself with at least a 20m gap on everyone else. I still felt pretty good and we were definitely running a pace I knew I could hold until the end. On the spot I decided my gameplan for the rest of the race would be to hang with this group and let them set the pace until we got to the very steep hill, at which point I'd throw the hammer down and take off (hills being one of my strengths) and try to literally run away from everyone, then take advantage of the downhill finish to use gravity to help me keep the lead. I didn't see a marker for mile 1 but I was pretty sure we were running at a pace that would make an official PR (<19:08) a close call for me but at this point I was more concerned with where I'd finish than the time I was going to run.

We made a right and ran along a stream briefly before making a left and running over a bridge, starting another long, gradual uphill. About a minute or so after this, I spotted red writing on the ground that said '2 mile.' I looked down at my watch as I crossed to see 12:36. So we ran the first two miles in 6:18 pace. Like I figured, this was not even close to PR-pace and it WAS right around what I figure tempo pace to be for me nowadays. I knew I had a good bit still in the tank; my legs felt strong and I consciously held myself back from pushing yet, electing to stay behind adiZero and tall guy. Around this point, blue tank top began to fall off the back of our little pack by about 10m.

As we began a brief downhill, I could see the bottom of the downhill where a bridge ran over the stream and the steep hill everyone had talked about. It went up and curved to the right, then did a 180 degree turn, continuing to rise sharply for about 100m before flattening out but continuing to go up for a while longer. When we got to the bottom, right after the bridge I swung to the right of the two lead guys and started pushing, throwing pretty much everything I had at the hill. I immediately pulled ahead by a few meters but I saw the shadow of adiZero guy right at my feet. Despite pushing hard I wasn't pulling away from him, he had decided to go with me. We did manage to gap the tall guy and blue tank top was well back by the time we got to the hairpin. I caught a glimpse of adiZero guy when I made the 180 and he was definitely pushing too. I tried to surge as the course started leveling out and I think I did manage to gain a step or two briefly but he was not going away. At this point I saw Jess in the distance and thought that I didn't want to get passed right there with her watching so I kept pushing, knowing the steep downhill was coming and maybe I'd be able to use that to hold him off. As we turned left and began the descent towards the finish I was at full throttle and still not pulling away. With about 300m to go, adiZero accelerated and passed me on the left. I tried as best I could to counter but he started to pull away. We veered into the parking lot with about 50m to go and I knew I wouldn't be able to catch him and could also sense 3rd place a little ways behind me. I didn't want to get passed by him to so I threw every last ounce of energy I had into those last few steps, crossed the line, & hit my watch. There was a group of volunteers at the finish and one reached out and grabbed my hand to help me decelerate and stop so someone else could tear my tag.

I immediately shook hands with the victor and then turned around to congratulate third and fourth place (blue tank top). Jess came jogging up shortly thereafter and congratulated me. It started to sink in... 2nd overall. In an actual race! WOW! AWESOME! My time? 18:40, the same as when I time trialed 5,000m on the track a month and a half ago. Of course, this race was much more tactical and the course was A LOT harder than a flat track where I could check my splits every 200m. It also means I ran the last 1.1 miles in 6:04, or 5:30 pace (that's with the downhill finish but also with the serious uphill too, so I say that evens out!).

We went for ~20 minute cooldown jog, doing the last half barefoot which felt really nice, wrapped my calves in Ace bandages, then went back to get my hardware. They only recognized 1st place overall male and female so I won the 20-29 age group, but 2nd overall is much more important to me. Thinking back on my overall race afterwards, I think I ran as well as I possibly could have. I could have pushed the pace harder at the start, but I wouldn't have had nearly as much left for the hill or the finish. For once in my fairly young racing career, I was more concerned about placement than time, and to that end I ran a great race. Of course, I ALSO managed to beat my official PR by almost 30 second and match my lifetime PR too, so win-win-win!

"At eighteen our convictions are hills from which we look; at forty-five they are caves in which we hide."

I have a small to medium pumpkin (maybe more medium) that I would like to stuff and roast. However, I'm at a loss, both for what to stuff it with (I'm thinking a savoury rice mixture) and technique. Would anybody have a tried and true recipe? Or any suggestions whatsoever?

hey guys!

I ran the half R&R with my mom today. It was her first half marathon and first real road race. She's a 54 year old with no history of athleticism and I inspired her to start running. She's actually gotten multiple people into running in our small town because they've seen her running around and think "if she can do it I can too!"

I am the best pacer alive. my mom wanted to finish in around 3 hours and our time was 3:00:01. I'm amazing.

This is over an hour slower than if I ran by myself and it was probably twice as painful. My lungs and muscles felt perfectly fine but the change in stride KILLED my ankles. I was wearing nike lunarlites but sometimes wear five fingers. About mile 7-8 I realized I might be more comfortable to ditch my shoes and run in my socks. It was a good decision except for when gu packs got stuck on my sock and then I ran through water stations and my feet got soaked. I was really surprised how much pain was in my ankles. I'm definitely going to need new shoes. I've only got 100 miles on them but it's not working for me. I've got to find what my shoe is. ugh.

I kept my mom excited and motivated and we finished strong, holding hands in the air as we crossed the finish line (an odd site because I'm a foot taller than her).

another race down, another fun day. now to find a new shoe and start training for the austin half!

I'm currently breastfeeding my 7 week old baby and recently ran out of prenatal vitamins. The vitamins I was taking were just drugstore brand cheapies and I realize I could be taking something better.

So..what are your recommendations for a breastfeeding mother? Should I be taking any Omega-3's or vitamin D supplements? How much should I be taking? I live in the northeast and will rarely be outdoors with a baby and a 3 year old so I know I should probably be taking a vitamin D supplement.

Also, my three year old son is an extremely picky eater. He eats a few different fruits and veggies everyday so I'm not worried about that but he absolutely hates dairy (except ice cream). I'm just worried about his calcium intake/vitamin D so any recommendations for him as well are greatly appreciated!

drunk on the dark streets of some city,
it's night, you're lost, where's your
room?
you enter a bar to find yourself,
order scotch and water.
damned bar's sloppy wet, it soaks
part of one of your shirt
sleeves.
It's a clip joint-the scotch is weak.
you order a bottle of beer.
Madame Death walks up to you
wearing a dress.
she sits down, you buy her a
beer, she stinks of swamps, presses
a leg against you.
the bar tender sneers.
you've got him worried, he doesn't
know if you're a cop, a killer, a
madman or an
Idiot.
you ask for a vodka.
you pour the vodka into the top of
the beer bottle.
It's one a.m. In a dead cow world.
you ask her how much for head,
drink everything down, it tastes
like machine oil.

you leave Madame Death there,
you leave the sneering bartender
there.

you have remembered where
your room is.
the room with the full bottle of
wine on the dresser.
the room with the dance of the
roaches.
Perfection in the Star Turd
where love died
laughing

All the world will be your enemy, Prince of a thousand enemies.
And when they catch you, they will kill you…


But first, they must catch you.

A TED talk about a better way to harvest bone marrow. Very cool!

Each man kills the thing he loves.

"That life is difficult, I have often bitterly realized. I now had further cause for serious reflection. Right up to the present I have never lost the feeling of contradiction that lies behind all knowledge. My life has been miserable and difficult, and yet to others, and sometimes to myself, it has seemed rich and wonderful. Man's life seems to me like a long, weary night that would be intolerable if there were not occasionally flashes of light, the sudden brightness of which is so comforting and wonderful, that the moments of their appearance cancel out and justify the years of darkness."

"Passion is always a mystery and unaccountable, and unfortunately there is no doubt that life does not spare its purest children and often it is just the most deserving people who cannot help loving those that destroy them."

What I want is to be needed. What I need is to be indispensable to somebody. Who I need is somebody that will eat up all my free time, my ego, my attention. Somebody addicted to me. A mutual addiction.

Or when, under ether, the mind is conscious but conscious

of nothing-

I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope

For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without

love,

For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith

But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the

waiting.

Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:

So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the

dancing.

hello! i dont know if anyone is going to be able to help me out, but you never know =]

within the last year or so i began eating meat again, but only natural, organic, hunted, or local meat products. i am fine with turkey, beef, pork, etc.. but for some reason chicken gives me stomach aches. chicken broth doesnt affect me as much as the meat itself, but i still react to it. could it be something in the chicken fat that upsets my stomach? i just think its weird and dont really see why i can eat turkey and not chicken. thank you for any help or advice you can give me!

I can tell you quite frankly: even when we were having the most intellectural conversations and I honestly thought and believe everything I said, I still wanted all the time, all the time, to pick you up and kiss you on the lips.

I can't think of a better place to put this, but if you can, please let me know!

I'm not sure if anyone here has experience with food allergies, but neither do I. I've never had a reaction to any food (that I've noticed), but last night I got a headache that lasted about 20 minutes each time I ate a cupcake from Whole Foods (yes, we couldn't resist their little turkey-topped cupcakes while grocery shopping). I thought the headache was odd after my first one, and then later in the night (I told you I couldn't resist them) it happened again within 5 minutes of consuming another. Here's a picture of the ingredient list that I'm pretty darn sure I've eaten everything on there previously. Though I'm not noticing any mention of the chocolate pieces that were parts of the turkeys, so maybe their ingredient list isn't so complete. Thoughts?

I just moved into an old house with poor insulation and my bedroom is freezing! I really don't want to have to just run a space heater all winter long. I'm working on sealing the window already. Any suggestions on what else I can do relatively cheaply and easily that will help? I'm renting and don't plan on staying for more than a year or two, so I don't want to make any large home-improvement investments. Ideas?

Wow, I feel incredible after my run today!! I woke up in a great mood, spent some "me" time reading a great book (Next by Michael Crichton... I'm not done yet so don't tell me anything!), and then went out for 2.5 miles. (I'm still working on getting normal mileage back after a knee thing last week.)

I just planned to go out and run it nice and easy. I looked at my Garmin around 1/3 mile and it was around 11:30. Good, good, slow and steady.

Well when it beeped at me for one mile, it said 10:30 avg pace for the mile so I knew I'd picked it up further than that. I decided to keep going at the quicker pace. A little after one mile, I was going at a pretty good clip (for me) and guessed that my pace was probably 9:45, based on perceived effort (working, but not dying or anything). I looked down at my Garmin and saw 9:20 avg for this split so far. "Shut up!" I said out loud!!

Since I had no pain in my knee and felt great and the effort was not THAT great (again, there, but not HUGE), I decided just to keep at it until mile 2 and then reign it in, turning this into a tempo run. But I was so excited to look down and see 9:07 (!!!!!) that I kept going. It gave me renewed energy. I pushed it a little in the home stretch too.

So my splits were:
Mile 1: 10:31
Mile 2: 9:07
Mile 2.54: 8:53
Avg pace: 9:37

I sat down for a minute outside my house but it did not take long for my heart rate to slow down. (Also, my avg HR was only 161... for reference, just 3 weeks ago I did a 3 mile run with an 11:20 avg pace with an avg HR of 163, and a 3.3 mile run with a pace of 10:28 and an avg HR of 168.)

I was on CLOUD NINE from those paces!! For a frame of reference, my best race pace is a 5K at 9:16 mile pace. I did not have the Garmin at that time and have no idea of my splits. I'm running the same race this year and am now hoping to beat that!! (Also my best 10K pace is 9:53 and my best half marathon pace 11:03.)


So I guess only time will tell if...
1- this run was just a fluke, a good day??
2- it cam be attributed to the caffeine that I drank before running?
OR....
3- the speedwork is actually paying off and I'm actually getting faster??

Let's hope it's #3! And if it's #2, I'd better start including caffeine in my running routine! Haha! I am psyched. (I'm sure you couldn't tell!)

I feel like my running learning curve lately has been going straight up and it's in great part due to everyone in this community! Thanks!

I went to a friends house yesterday and they gave me a bag of farm fresh peppers, all sorts of bell peppers and something called a sweet tooth pepper which I had never heard of before. There is likely enough to feed me for a week. I want to do stuffed peppers obviously, and I was thinking of a roasted red pepper hummus.

Any other ideas?

'You come out; it is still dark. The door creaks, or perhaps you sneeze, or the snow crunches under your foot, and hares start up from the far cabbage patch and leap away, leaving the snow criss-crossed with tracks. In the distance dogs begin to howl and it takes a long time before the quieten down. The cocks have finished their crowing and have nothing left to say. Then dawn breaks.'

What are your favorite online shops?

I'm asking in here, because all of you have great taste. I swear I've posted this topic before, long ago, but...here it is again.

(I know many of you will say Etsy!)

What Horace had in mind was that you should gently pull on the day's stem, as if it were, say, a wildflower or an olive, holding it with all the practiced care of your thumb and the side of your finger, which knows how to not crush easily crushed things - so that the day's stalk or stem undergoes increasing tension and draws to a thinness, and a tightness, and then snaps softly away at its weakest point, perhaps leaking a little milky sap, and the flower, or the fruit, is released in your hand. Pluck the cranberry or blueberry of the day tenderly free without damaging it, is what Horace meant - pick the day, harvest the day, reap the day, mow the day, forage the day. Don't freaking grab the day in your fist like a burger at a fairground and take a big chomping bite out of it. That's not the kind of man that Horace was.

-The Anthologist, Pg. 127, Nicholson Baker

I'm in Utah, and winter just hit, so we've had really dry air here. And either because of that or for some other reason, static has hit me really bad. My pants are sticking to my legs (just made worse by my hairy legs). My hair is also sticking to my face.

What are your ways of stopping static? I am going to do my laundry in a few hours, so tips for that would be wonderful. I also really need to stop using bounce sheets and all that, so those tips would be most wonderful.

Thank you so much!!!

I've been on very low-dose oral contraceptives since I was 15 (I'm almost 24 now), and over the past couple of years I felt it was necessary to try something with a higher dose. (The women in my family can feel ovulation, and I noticed that I had been ovulating every month, which made me nervous to say the least.) I talked to my doctor and went on Seasonique (with the main appeal being fewer periods, of course) about 7 months ago. Around the same time, I started having pretty bad headaches, but I didn't really make the connection until recently. Since they started, the headaches have gotten significantly more frequent and more painful- to the point where I've been in debilitating pain every single day (but not constantly) for the past 3 or 4 months. I've been to several doctors and tried all sorts of things and nothing has helped. I finally realized that the headaches started around the time I started taking Seasonique, so I called my Gynocologist and made an appointment for next week. I also talked to the nurse, and she said she suspects the estrogen, and told me to just stop taking the pills- which I have done, 3 days ago. Unfortunately, it seems like the headaches have been even WORSE since I stopped taking it. Has anyone else had this problem with Seasonique or other estrogen-containing pills?? I'm worried that my pain keeps getting worse, even though I'm not taking the medication anymore. That being said, I realize that it could also be a withdrawal symptom. I've been doing some research and so far I haven't found any information that pertains to my situation. (I apologize if this post rambles or doesn't flow well- my head feels like it's going to explode..)

EDIT: Just clarifying some details..

So today I ran in the Iron Girl 10-mile race in Tempe, Arizona. This was my first ten mile race ever.

My friend Mary, who was going to walk the 5K race that was being held at the same time, came to my house the day before, and we went to the expo to get out bibs, chips, and goody bags. Just like last year, the set up thing to "Make your own goodie bag." In other words, they laid out whatever was going to go in the bags, and we got to choose what we wanted to go into them.

After getting home, I cooked a pasta dinner for us, and then set up my gear for the race. I showed Mary what to do to get ready, this being her first event ever. We went to bed by 9 PM, and I was asleep by 9:30. I woke up at 4 am, before the alarm went off, and took care of my morning stuff. I woke Mary at 5:30 (she had less to do because she was walking in street clothes and didn't want to eat breakfast), and were out the door by 6:05.

We drove to the light rail station, and took the 20-minute ride to our destination, thus avoiding the problem of finding a parking space at the race site. It was probably the most stress-free trip to a local race I've ever had.

I found a vendor who would store my sweatshirt hoodie in his booth; this race doesn't have drop bags. Right before I took my warmup run, I left the hoodie there.

I ran one mile for a warmup, did a few strides, and it was time to get into the starting corral. This year, the 5K and 10-mile racers all started together; in past years, one or the other group started 15 minutes before the other.

The 10-Mile race was two loops around Tempe Town Lake, essentially between Rural Avenue and Priest Drive, on both sides of the lake. That meant we went over two bridges, twice each. (I found that I don't care much for races that do two loops around the same course.)

The loud speaker sounded "Ready, set, AFLAK", and we were off!

[Edit] The race had an official time limit of 2:30 (15 minutes per mile). Only three finishers took more than 2:30; the last runner finished in 2:45:00. In previous years, the cutoff was 2 hours (12 min/mile); that's slightly faster than my 6K PR, which is the reason that I haven't run this race before. One of the race organizers told me last year that if you finished the first 5 miles at or under the pace limit, you would be allowed to finish the race; they had a timing mat at the five mile marker. Only three runners took longer than 2:30, with the last runner finishing in 2:45:00 [End of edit.]

My goal was to finish at 2:05 (12:30 pace), and I would have been ecstatic to finish at 2 hours or under. By the same token, I would have been really bummed out if I had taken more than 2:10 (13 min/mile).

My Garmin said that my time at 5 miles was 1:02, so I knew that I was on track to meet my 2:05 goal, but I also knew that I was not going to have a negative split, so the 2:00 goal was out the window.

My official time was 2:05:08, as Maxwell Smart would say, I missed it by that much. But that's so close to my goal time that I consider that I met the goal.

I finished 580 out of 621, and was the only runner in my age group. In fact, I was the oldest runner in the race by three years.

There were a few young women (my guess is that they are in their early to mid 20s) who were playing leapfrog with me during the las few miles of the race. At about the nine mile mark, I told them, "Are you going to let a 67-year old woman beat you?" That spurred them on, and all five of them finished ahead of me.

I am so proud of my friend Mary. I had given her a walking training plan four weeks ago; it was fairly simple: walk three days a week, with a day of rest after each walk (which meant that she had two rest days after the third walk). The first week was 20 minutes, and increased 10 minutes a week, culminating in one hour in the last week (but for only two days). She told me that she had measured the distance at 2.8 miles the last day. She said she expected to walk the 5K in about 1:10 to 1:15, but I told her that she would finish it in under one hour. Her time was 57:50, she came in 66 of 75 in the 45-49 age group and 727 out of 783 overall. As I said, I am so proud of her for sticking with the program and finishing the 5K. What makes me even prouder is that she said she is planning to keep on training.

I went to a wonderful Regency style tea the other day and realized that a couple of the photos I took as well a few one of my friends took would work for the theme of Food this month. I hope y'all enjoy it (I did! The food was great!).


( +3 more pictures )

Когда-нибудь мы все будем иметь массу свободного времени. И сможем тратить его, как захотим. Никуда не идти, если хочется просто поспать...
Или по другому - она летит, летит себе на облаке, и ей снится, что она может никуда не идти, если хочется просто лететь..
Или еще так: лежащая женская фигура, возможно спит, скорее всего, масса под фигурой напоминает облако..)
18х30х12 см, 2009г.
крупнее тут http://www.skulptu.ru/images/galery/skulptur/Son.htm

People are stupid: given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true.
Wizard's First Rule (The Sword of Truth), by Terry Goodkind

I am 26 years old. Recently, I was diagnosed with PCOD and am on medication, namely Novolone, and Glycomet. I really want advice on natural foods or herbs that will aid in keeping my condition under control and help with weight loss, because that is a major concern for both my doctor and me. I would also love advice on any kind of yoga/Ayurveda which is helpful in my condition. I am pretty sick, obese,have high pressure and asthma, which is making hard gym-work very problematic and want to start easy but immediately. Please help.

I attempted making veg*n gummi worms and it was a total failure! Disappointed, I scoured the internet. And placed an order.

SO. I'm eating these gummi worms right now.... How, you ask? Is this possible? YES. They are made with carageenan! and by Haribo, no less!

This website called veggiestuff.com that is uk based ships to usa!! The only downside is shipping is like 10 british pounds.. but... Oh my god it is worth it! Having not eaten a gummy worm for almost a year, I am so excited!!

However, It's not vegan because they use beeswax to coat the candies.

LINKS:

http://veggiestuff.com/acatalog/vegetarian_haribo_wummis.html

http://veggiestuff.com/acatalog/vegetarian_haribo_gummy_bears.html

Hey there, I'm newer at using Tofu, and I've been on the watch for some time for a great cookbook. I tend to do more stir frys, soups/stews, deep-fried, and baked casserole-type stuff. I've never grilled but I'd be open to it (hmm...shish kabobs??)

Not really looking to make a whole "tofurkey" or to cook a tofu version of a meat dish, if that makes sense. I'm so overwhelmed with looking at books online, figured I'd just post to see if anyone here had recommendations for a cookbook to match my cooking needs.

Thanks in adv :)

Hey all!

I've been properly vegan for 4 months now, and have been on-and-off vegetarian for the past year prior to becoming vegan. Eventually decided to just go for it, & I'm feeling great! I also have IBS and going vegan has helped my digestion oodles. I've also started doing yoga. So, overall, I feel way better than I used to!

Only one problem which has sprung up around the same time I started eating a healthy vegan diet (not a pizza & french fries vegan diet) - I've started to be unable to tolerate alcohol. Before I became vegan I was a pretty regular drinker with a very high tolerance, and without any adverse effects when drinking (as long as I drank a bit of water before bed I almost always avoided a hangover, no matter how much I drank). Now, all I have to do is have 2 drinks & I'm in the bathroom the entire night, even if I don't feel slightly drunk from those drinks (that's what I'm doing right now basically, just taking a brief interlude to post on here - it's 7am where I am, nope haven't slept, been too sick)!

I'm not too sure if anyone else has experienced this, or if this sort of reaction from my body has something to do with me generally being healthier and my body is rejecting what is effectively a poison (alcohol). I had made a conscious decision not to drink anymore, but last night I decided to see what effect minimal drinking would have (2 drinks over a 5 hour period). BAD IDEA!

This has never, ever been how my body has reacted, ever, not until I began eating a vegan diet.

Not sure if the two are connected. Thoughts?

(I posted this in another LJ community just now, hope that's alright? Just looking to reach as many people as possible to hopefully get some advice/answers!)

Хочу приобрести ф-т Diana хорошего качества за недорого. Но не могу найти таковой. Если кто-то располагает информацией, где его можно поискать...или кто-то хочет его продать-welcome)

Полезную информацию пишите сюда в коментарии, если что-договоримся)

Москва

Do you guys know the Decatriathlon world championships is on in Mexico? There's just a bunch of people doing that crazy thing (ten days, one ironman tri a day) and there are two Hungarians still in competiton! One of them, Ferenc Szőnyi placed third last year and hopes to finish similarly this year.

That guy finished 3rd last year, as I said, and finished strong. He was okay and smiling at the finish, sporting 10 intact toenails and walking fine. The following day he rented a car and went off exploring Mexico with his support team.... The guy who came first was clearly seconds from passing out and all the other competitors had several injuries...

I checked out his blog and found something that felt as if I had written it, apart from the fact that I cannot run hundreds of kilometers :)
(translated here from Hungarian)

I love challenges.
I love testing my limits.
I love looking back and saying I have done that.
I'm a recreational ultrarunner and triathlete.
It feels awesome when you cover the distance, fight the elements, run hundreds of kilometers just on the strength of your own too feet, and when you finish, you still have the nails on your toes, and you can walk up stairs the next day and not look like a 100-year-old....that you are still a MAN(human). A man and a winner.

THAT is exactly what I sorta idealize. To do extreme endurance stuff and remain "human" and "humane" the whole way and after the finish too, in every respect. Not get injured, finish strong and able, and care about the others around you.

I'm not saying it's not heroic or hardcore or both to finish a race against all odds, pushing through pain and ignoring tears and blood, staggering or crawling across the line in agony if need be...Yep, total hats off to you guys ever having done that. But still... :)

I have been vegetarian for coming up to 11 years now. I have tried to make the transition to a veganism about 4 times in the last couple of years and always end up giving in. I am quite happy with alternatives to dairy products and I don't eat eggs or drink milk anyway. Basically, my downfall is cheese! I have recently stopped buying it all so that I can avoid temptation, and have bought some vegan cheese (that I can actually stomach) instead. But my boyfriend LOVES cheese and always has it around so it's impossible to avoid it entirely. I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on making the transition easier for myself?
Thanks in advance :)

Cause there's snow on the ground and we're racing today!! lol Last race in the snow was Valentine's Day...so 9 months ago (user pic). Didn't need the Yak Trax that day but think I just might need them today. So very glad the fall series has an 1130 start time.

Have a great Sunday everyone!!