Weekly Training Summary, why Tristan and I might need Children and a few pictures from Last Year's B and A Trail Marathon

Many races have a "Margaritaville Aid Station"...of course I always partake!

With my friend Dorothy who ran the B&A trail marathon last year. We met several years ago at the 24 hour race around the lake in MA and have sporadically run into each other subsequently. She is getting close to finishing a marathon in all 50 states (if she has not done so already)

With my friend Laurie at the B&A Trail Marathon last year after we both finished, Wahoo!

A disburbing scene in our really messy kitchen (although less disturbing then if the cup was "in play". This is Powder Puff (aka Powder, Powdie, Puff, Puffie, Puffle...she has alot of aliases!) our youngest cat. For some reason she hopped in our sink and was casing the joint.

Here it becomes obvious what her goal is...used water. I guess this cat at least has no hygiene standards for tasty beverages (she should become an ultramarathoner!). In fact we kind of have to always be cautious about having open drinks in our house because all of our cats will help themselves, particularly if the drink smells good to a cat. I guess it doesn't bother me too much. But Tristan gets horrified if the cats help themselves to his food or beverage. I figure the second I leave beverage or food unattended, the critters probably swarm it anyway! And it is like an ultra---you have no idea what happens to stuff at aid stations and it is probably better that way!

This week, my running has been a bit disappointing. Two excuses: late days at the office and two runs that were reduced in length from what I was prepared to do.

Saturday: 2 repitions of hill climbing at Sugarloaf Mountain (~6 miles total) followed by 9 miles of hiking (~5 hours)
Sunday: 3 miles in Downtown DC after walking around Adventure EXPO for 3 hours

Monday: nothing (except alot of sitting!)

Tuesday: 4 mile run at lunch and 3 mile run after workday

Wednesday: nothing (well except sitting in my office from 5 a.m.-8 p.m.)

Thursday: 4 mile run at lunch and 5 mile run in the evening

Friday: 4 miles in the evening.
Total weekly mileage: 24 miles

Time on Feet: 18 hours

Time on Butt: 60+ hours!

During one of my runs yesterday, I jogged by a grocery store. This store is about 400 meters from our house (or perhaps 800 meters if you believe in the Garmen). I thought Tristan and I were the only person who walked there, shopped then carried stuff home. Well, yesterday, I saw a cute little family with a mom, a daughter about 6 years old and a son about 4 years old walking across the street clearly after they had shopped. They had a Red Ryder Wagon (My sister and I had one of these as kids!) filled with bags of groceries. And the best part was that the 4 year old little boy was pulling the wagon. It was awesome! At least someone else is making use of free labor: children, like my parents did.

When I walk to do grocery shopping, I have to carry my stuff by hand. And in our household, I am the primary shopper. When I foolishly buy 12 packs of soda (as an addict of Diet Mountain Dew I do this alot), by the time I am halfway home, I can feel the burn! Clearly I am pathetic and need to work on my upper body. Or else I can just feel the burn everytime I feed my addiction!