Something to Blog About

Hey everyone. Sorry I've been AWOL from my blog. Lots has been happening, but I haven't been able to sit down and write about it.

First, I had a mini RBF meetup last Saturday! Jessica moved from Minnesota to Orange County, which is where I moved from when I came to Minneapolis lo those many years ago. I made a comment on her blog and told her to contact me if she was ever in Mpls., so she did. We didn't run together, but we met at the new Michael Graves wing of the Institute of Art. Over lunch, we talked about, what else, YOU! It was fun to talk to someone who reads the same blogs I do. She even knows some of the bloggers--I asked if Jeff is as nice of a guy as he seems on his Boingo blog, and she assured me he was. We talked about how many comments Runner Susan gets, and about Back of the Pack's heart challenges (Jessica had an aortic valve repaired a few years ago and has communicated with Michelle about it.) And when I told her about a girl wearing an orange cap running past me and how it made me think of Diana, she knew I was referring to the Running Chick with the Orange Hat. We talked about running and security and not letting fear get in the way of our running. I enjoyed meeting her, although I was a little nervous beforehand--I even put on makeup!

Earlier that day, I ran nine miles, which is the most I've run since Grandma's. I "carbo-loaded" at the State Fair the day before (Sweet Martha's chocolate chip cookies and all the chocolate milk I could drink.) It felt good to run that long and I didn't have any problems. I've been keeping up with the O2 training, and running on my own on the other days.

I'm in California now, always searching for new running trails. I ran five miles yesterday in Monterey, along part of the route of the Big Sur Half-M. I started at Fisherman's Wharf, ran south along the trail past barking harbor seals and a yellow submarine. I ran through Cannery Row, immortalized by Steinbeck, past the awesome Monterey Aquarium to Lover's Point in Pacific Grove. They were setting up for the Pacific Grove Triathlon, which I assume is this weekend. Imagine running for a half-hour and seeing banks of porta-potties with no lines. A dream come true! Alas, it turned into nightmare--they were all locked! Lucky for me the public bathroom at the park was open. I'd rather have running water anyway, so there!

I'm further south now and ran another 4.5 miles today and plan to run 10 miles on Sunday. I've been going into the local sport stores, asking about running routes. I think I found one for me; nice and flat, with bathrooms at the trailhead and awesome views (so I'm told.) It sounds great. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for all your comments. The Dori Plan seems to have overwhelming approval and I haven't come up with anything better, so I'm sticking with it for now. :-)

Finally, check out the revised Complete Running Network. They have some dedicated people writing good articles, edited by none other than Jeanne. Check it out and leave them some comment love.