Where they're out there having fun

Well I'm going out west where I belong. Tomorrow I'm off to California to join Bex and five other athletes she assembled to run a relay race around Lake Tahoe on Saturday. The last three times I ran on a team with Bex, we won the competition. This time I think we're going to run into some real pros. It should be fun. I have the first leg of 9.6 miles, running through the town with casinos, with Big Blue always to my left.

Where the days are short and the nights are long. The elevation for my leg of the 72-mile relay is over 6,000 feet, with two hills in the latter part. That has me a little concerned as my training has fallen off recently due to an injury. My conditioning has seeped out of my body. I was sucking wind at the end of my 10-miler on Sunday and there was no altitude to contend with.

Out on the coast. Bex is already out west training at altitude. She ran a race in Taos on Sunday at over 7,000 feet and was sixth.

Wherever you go. This morning I ran over my hill here in Falls Church and back, two miles, in 18:40. My hill is the best hill in the DC area and it's only one half mile from my front door.

And I'll fly. Yesterday I ran two and a half miles on the Mall in 21 minutes, finishing off with a charge up Capitol Hill. The last time I went up that hill, at the end of a 10K race last month, was just awful. It felt like I was running underwater. Yesterday I was able to go up it steadily.

And I'll shimmy. I want to thank my anonymous benefactor who pledged two dollars per mile for my charity when I run Chicago in the fall. Until yesterday, the charitable total stood at pledges for A of over $700, the entire rest of the charity team zero. Now it's not quite so embarassing. Thanks, H.

Well, the girls are frisky. Jeanne is back to running. She went three miles yesterday. Go give her a hug. She commented on my last post about the best Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich and said, "Tofu." Huh. There is no tofu on the Geno's or Pat's menu links I provided. However, if you want to play tourist and go to Jimmy's on South Street in Philadelphia, there is a vegetarian offering on their menu link.

In old 'Frisco. I saw how they prepared that offering when I was at Jimmy's two years ago. They moved the mound of meat they were cooking on the grill over a couple of inches and plopped the tofu down right next to it. The tofu didn't stay vegetarian very long, simmering away right next to the running meat pile.