track fan

1:04:38.  Very very slow recovery run up the Yeatman trail.  Saw a huge buck -- I told him to run, it is hunting season for another 2 weeks in the park (bow hunting only for javelina and deer).  

I am very tired, a little from yesterdays run and a little because we stayed up late (we watched Julie and Julia -- good movie, I thought) and I had to get up early to pick my Mom up from the airport.

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's Day -- happy 2010! 

AM: (9 miles, 1:17:58).  Still feeling Thursday a little, but I just took it easy and felt pretty good by the end of the run.  Ran the hilly loop and then ran 8 x 100m strides.

We are going to hang pictures today -- my Mom is here to help (right now she is soaking up some vitamin D).

PM: (4 miles easy).

Enjoy the weekend bloggers!

1:54:53 (50:37 +20:05, 44:00).  WOW!  This was my hilly route that I run in the Saguaro National Park.  The loop is a little more than 5.5 miles -- I am not sure exactly how long it is, I just know it is not quite 6 and more than 5.5.  It is uphill for almost 3 miles then downhill for a little more than 1.5 miles and then flat to uphill for the last bit.  I added on 20 mins in the middle of the first loop, I ran out and back on a long road that goes out to a trailhead - I did this 2.5 times to make sure I got in 14 miles.  I ran hard the last loop, mainly pushing it a little on the uphills and then just running comfortable on the downhills and then about 1/2 marathon pace for the last 20` or so; I am pretty sure I have never run this route this fast, and it did not feel hard (except for some of the hills during the last 10 mins).

It was such a beautiful day -- I had forgotten how pretty this was, I am hoping to be able to take 1/2 day off this week to take my Mom to the Desert museum and if I get my new camera in time I can take a couple of pictures on the way there.  The whole drive and run is just breathtaking.  I am sure that the beauty has healing properties, I felt fully recovered from Thursday. 

Have a wonderful Sunday bloggers!!

AM: (10+ miles, 1:33:25).  Nice hilly 9 + 8 x 100m strides.  I must have felt really good because I hit all my usual landmarks faster.  I just ran longer and turned around after a while ... I am hoping it was closer to 10.5 today.

PM: (4 miles easy).

Two more workouts until my race!!  Ok, I am ready to say it out loud.  I will be happy with anything under 44 mins, but I would LOVE to be closer to 43:30.  There you go.  I said it.  Based on my 1/2 marathon last year I should be able to hit a 43:30, but speed is not my forte so things will have to align just right ... I will just do what I can to allow for the best (recover well, eat right and be healthy, and work hard - in that order) and then what will be will be ...

I hope you are all staying warm, and running well!

1:04:50.  Beautiful run on the Yeatman trail -- I know, I am sounding like a broken record!!

AM: (10+ miles, 1:29:34). 31:15 wu/31:21 cd.  5 x 800m @ 10K > 5K pace w/400 recovery.  Target pace (3:21 - 3:29/ 6:44-6:59).  Actual pace: 3:23 (2:19), 3:21 (2:18), 3:23 (2:19), 3:23 (2:18), 3:20 (3:22).  Not bad ... especially because it was VERY windy today.  The whole time down to the track I was trying to estimate how much the wind was going to cost me ... and I was actually quite angry about it after thinking about it for 30 mins ;-).  But I just tried to relax and not over do it into the wind, a good strategy I guess.  I was sort of surprised when I saw this workout, I thought it was a little easy compared to the past couple weeks -- but it wasn't really that easy, just shorter than usual.  Next week are more 400's so it is nice to have some slightly shorter workouts thrown in ... but I guess 2.5 miles at 5K pace or thereabouts really can't be thought of as easy ;-).

PM: (4 - 4.5 miles easy). 

I have a lot to do today - mainly because I am trying to get some work done so I can take my Mom to the desert museum.  The wildlife is not being cooperative - not one sighting while she has been here, despite her diligent watchfulness ... so, I am going to cheat and take her to where we are guarenteed to see some animals ;-).

Happy Thursday bloggers! 

1:02:45.  Early morning run on Yeatman Trail.  Like sunset in reverse, orange glow on the mountainsides ... sillouette of the saguaros against the mountains ... awwww.

I did get my new camera (Christmas present from Dean's Mom -- well, 1/2 of it was), I now have a tiny little Sony Cyber-shot!  I have not had a chance to play with it yet - we were supposed to go to the desert museum yesterday but I had some work stuff come up (grrrrrr, I won't get started on it) and then I went into a panic because I have somehow lost my drivers license!!  Darn!  Utah is no longer replacing them via mail, so I have to try and get a copy of my driving record to prove I have a license, OR I will have to apply for a "new" license, which is really a pain - and will take a whole day (which I don't have).  And, classes start next week -- not good timing.  Anyway, I spent an hour scouring the house, instead of strolling through the wonderful desert museum ... poor Mom. 

I discussed my training with Greg, and I feel better about things today.  I was a little frustrated yesterday, not because the workout went badly - but I thought it felt harder than it should have.  I had done a Yasso 800 workout last March at almost the same pace (10 x 800).  Why would 5 x 800 feel harder?  Well, duh.  I actually was about 3-5 seconds faster yesterday, and my recovery was a little more than a minute less.  That extra minute of recovery really does help ;-).  Anyway, I feel a little better today, and Greg assures me, I am right on 'training-wise'.  The race I am running has an interesting prize structure, $100  under 31:00 for men and under 36:30 for women in the 10K and under 15:00 for men and under 17:30 for women in the 5K.  I think many of Gregs elite group may be coming down for this race ... so we will have a full house!  And they can cheer me on at the finish -- since they will have finished their race and cool down by the time I am near the finish ;-) -- one of the good things about being a slower runner!

Enjoy your Friday bloggers!! 

AM: (9+ miles, 1:21:56).  8+ miles + 8 x 100m strides.  I am not a morning person, but 7:30 was a perfect time to run this morning.  The sun rise over the mountains was stunning and the temperature was more perfect than perfect.  We went up to Phoenix yesterday afternoon to see the magic doctor, John.  He worked on my back and shoulder (not running related but an injury that has been bugging me for months now -- probably due to long hours on the computer coupled with carrying a laptop around too much.  Anyway - on the way home we took my Mom to the petroglyphs ... I got some awesome pictures that I will try to upload some time this weekend, it was cloudy last night so there was quite a sky show with orange streaks ... I hope they come out even half as nice in a picture as it was in person!

PM: (4 -4.5 miles easy).

I have to go to Michaels to get some pictures framed, and then I need to work a little today -- I am really hoping to take tomorrow off off off!

 Happy weekend bloggers!
 

maybe closer to 14.5.  1:59:19.  Ran my "flat"route in the valley of the Tucson Mountain Park.  I tried a little variation of my normal route, so I am pretty sure it was long by at least 1/2 mile ... maybe more.  Since I wasn't sure where I was -- though I had an idea -- I wasn't sure when to start running hard (was supposed to run the last 20` hard) -- so I just ran pretty hard for about 30` and just kept running a little harder until the end -- when I found the "main" trail I knew I still had 10` to go -- I ended running the last 45` hard.  I would estimate I was running a little faster than marathon effort, finishing up at a little faster than 1/2 marathon effort to 10K effort.  Felt good to finish ;)

Took my Mom to the airport yesterday -- then took some paintings that we got in Australia over 4 years ago to be framed -- not an inexpensive venture I have to say ... but it will be worth it when we hang them up!

Happy Sunday bloggers!  Rest well!

AM: (13 miles, 1:46:27). 33:27 wu/28:34 cd. 16 x 400 @ 10K>5K pace w/ 200 recovery. It was brutal, it was ugly. The wind was blowing so hard that I was going sideways a few times -- despite weighing in 3 lbs heavier this morning ... All the way down to the track I kept telling myself not to compare todays workout with the one I ran a few weeks ago, I figured the wind was going to cost me at least 1-2 secs/lap. I ended up running the first lap too hard, but tried to just relax.

Summary:

1st 1600: 1:39, 1:40, 1:41, 1:41 (6:41), ave recovery 1:08

2nd 1600: 1:41, 1:42, 1:38, 1:41 (6:42), ave recovery 1:08

3rd 1600: 1:38, 1:39, 1:41, 1:39 (6:37), ave recovery 1:12

4th 1600: 1:39, 1:40, 1:39, 1:38 (6:36), ave recovery 1:10

I ran a littler harder than I meant to, because of the wind (did I mention how windy it was? :-) ) - but all and all, I have to be happy about the weather here, and my improvement this month (last month I ran 6:52, 6:35, 6:49, 6:49). This was the last hard workout until my race ... the goal is to have 10K pace feel "easy" (at least compared to 5K pace ;-) ).

PM: (4 miles super duper easy).

Alas, my blogger friends, my cat Titus has struck again. He was obsessed with the laundry room since Sunday -- I told Dean that he must have brought something inside (from outside), I saw little blood stains on the floor yesterday morning. So Dean moved the washer, dryer and all the other things around last night but did not find anything. This morning I saw the mouse/desert rat ... I told Dean that we needed to catch it (while it was alive) because I did not want Titus torturing the poor thing any more. Well, when I got back from my run Dean had left me a note "I caught and removed the mouse, unfortunately, he did not survive". RIP little fella.

1:05 or so ... I did not really time it today - ran up the Yeatman Trail.  A deer and I startled each other ... he was way close.   I felt really good this morning on my run, I was surprised, and a bit nervous so I made a very conscience attempt to run as slowly as I possibly could.  They say you never get injured when you are running badly (because you push yourself when you are running well).  Anyway -- it was weird, I had something happen last night that hasn't happened in a while, I had bad night sweats.  I used to have these all the time nights after I did really hard track workouts.  I guess yesterday really was harder than I have been running in a long time - guess that is good ;-).  

Anyway, classes started today, I am teaching an early class on Monday and Wednesday and did not have time to get to blog until now.  And so it begins again!

I hope you all had clear air, sunshine and happy running today bloggers!

AM: (9.5 miles, 1:32:43).  8.5 miles + 8 x 100m strides. 

I hope to get a PM run in, but I am not sure.  Our water heater (brand new, manufactured in May 2009) broke yesterday when we were at work.  Flooded the house caused substantial water damage.  We did not sleep last night (water damage restoration people were here until 11PM - and we have huge noisey industrial sized blowers and dehumidifiers everywhere). We still don't know if our tile and carpets are salvagable at this point, and about 4 ft or so of wall might be compromised too.   The insurance company is moving us to a motel for 3-5 days ... I have a grant due tonight, so I am not sure I will be able to move and get my work done let alone go for a run.  But I am hoping to try for at least 3.5 miles tonight. 

Stay toasty and safe bloggers (and don't get water-logged, it is not fun).

 PM: (4 miles).  I snuck in a run, now I am working in our quiet, dry motel room.  Sleep tight bloggers.

59:52.  Our hotel is on the "other side" of town - actually much more populated (and some would say the "nicer" part of town -- I liken it more to more and less populated.  There certainly are more stores and resturants over here.  Anyway, I ran over to a park about 2 miles from the hotel.  The run over there was not really pleasant, mainly a sidewalk run next to a 6 lane road.  The park was ok. I was able to find a series of trails that ran around some sort of a dirt/rock facility ... maybe a dump?  Anyway -- I followed  a series of trails left by other people and their domestic animals (dogs) - there might have been some javelina around, it was certainly close enough to people (and more importantly, garbage).  

I got up early and worked, so I could send some grant stuff out before the day actually started, so it was pretty warm by the time I started.  Good thing, since I forgot to pack my gloves, although I am not compeletely adverse to using socks on my hands, I was glad I didn't need them by the time I ran.

Happy Friday bloggers! 

AM: (9 miles, 1:17:53).  8 miles + 8 x 100m strides. I ran Sabino Canyon + one of the lower trails off of the visitors center.  Sabino Canyon is a beautiful place, despite most of the run being on ashpalt. I have heard a lot about it since moving here, but had never actually been there (since it is on the North East side of town and I live on the West side).  Rocky canyon that snakes up about 600ft (start is at 2800ft, so low to you high-landers, but higher than sea level).  The road is closed to cars, though they have a tram/bus thing that takes people to the top and stops at 8 different stops over the 3.7 miles up.  Not a really steep uphill (~3.2%) but steady uphill out and downhill back - I liked the uphill part, it was a good workout.  I did not like the downhill part, I tried to take it really easy, but I swear with every footfall I felt my body go 'ouch' ;-).  I am spoiled I know, I like my dirt trails and I like rolling hills.

PM: (4 miles, easy easy easy).

Happy Saturday bloggers -- I hope you all had nice runs and awesome races!

2:12:59.  Ran on the Rillito trail -- I actually started at the turn-around point when I did my 20 milers last year.  Kind of weird running it backwards!  My legs were pretty sore today, the downhill really did a little damage.  Since I ran harder than I generally do, and this close to the race there is not anything to gain, I decided to take it a bit easy today, I still ran a little harder the last 20' - but ran slightly faster than MP rather that the 1/2 marathon pace I usually do ... I have one more little speed session this week, mainly just to keep my legs "snappy", but this week is all about recovery recovery recovery.

I got a really late start because I was live-streaming and tracking two different races this morning.  First off was the Houston 1/2 and marathon.  Brett Gotcher of McMillanElite ran an awesome 2:10:36 in his first marathon! I am not positive, but this might have been either the 3rd or 4th fastest debut ever for an US runner (he was 7th overall, with 5 guys coming in sub-2:10! wow).  Paige Higgens, another McMillanElite runner, was 4th in the womens race with a 2:33:32.  Shalane Flannagan got the course record in the 1/2 and ran her first 1/2 marathon in 1:09:41.  Meanwhile, here in Arizona, Alvina Begay (another McMilllan Elite runner, was 6th in the marathon with a 2:37:low.  Deena Kastor shows us all that she still has it going on with a stunning 1:09:low win in the 1/2 marathon. 

What a great morning for road racing!  Meanwhile, on the track, Alan Webb is getting ready for some fast track times this spring with a 3:45 time trial!! It will be so good to seem him back this year!  World Champs are going to be good!!

Happy Sunday bloggers.

AM:(7 miles easy, 1:03:48.  Raining but nice morning.  My leg hurts, but less than it did on Sunday.  I have been trigger point balling it and rolling it for 2 days.  Dean said, "it doesn't matter if it hurts, you just have to run fast".  I also have been using my "salonpas" patches (a mixture of menthol, camphor and methyl salicylate - they work wonders for my PF, well that and using Birkenstocks).  I told Dean last night, "I feel like I am being held together by scotchtape and menthol" -- he said, "you are ready to race" ;-).

PM: 3.5 miles easy (~30`)

We are hopefully moving back into our house tonight - the contractors won't be finished fixing things until late next week, but they think they will be able to remove the equipment tonight so at least we will have 1 room to live in (just like the hotel).  Very busy day at work ... I hope I can get out in time to meet the insurance adjustor tonight ...

I hope you are all having a great running week bloggers!!

11 miles, 1:29:48.  28:20 wu/29:06 cd.  Cruise interval workout: 5 x 1000m w/200 recovery (4:18-4:22/K pace, 6:56-7:05/mile) + 3 x 200m w/200 recovery.  I call this my "internal garmin calibration" workout.  Greg *always* has me run this workout 4-5 days before a race.  I had to teach this morning, and had some meetings in the early part of the afternoon, so I actually did this about 2PM ... not an ideal time because I can't eat before I run, so was kind of hungry around lunchtime ... but skipped lunch.  Good news was that I was able to run down to the track a little quicker than I usually do, because my legs were more warmed up, just from walking around for 8 hours.  I usually do my "track workout" warm up, where I jog to the track (~3 miles) and then run 800-1600 meters worth of strides before the workout.  Today I did more of my "pre-race" warm-up where I run easy for 1.5 miles and then run hard for 1.5-2.0 miles instead of doing strides.

Splits: 4:22, 4:18, 4:22, 4:20, 4:20 w/average 1:10 recovery + :46, :47, :46 w/average 1:07 recovery (man do I suck at these or what???  A mediocre 400m runner could run 400m by the time I run my 200's - and I was running hard!!).   It was windy, not quite as bad as last week, but these were slower than last week so it did not really have much of an effect.  I was really trying to remind myself - you need to run 6.2 miles at this pace (twice as long as today) with no 200 m breaks ... seems a little intimidating to me. 

I hope you are doing well, very busy day today with work, so I will read you blogs later.  Happy running!

AM: (5 miles easy, 45:04).  My internal garmin is calibrated ... I ran 23:12 out and 21:51 back - I knew the out portion was going to be a little slower because it is uphill and hard on the rocky parts, so I guessed when to turn around that would get me closest to 45` ... pretty funny.

PM: (2 miles easy).  Just keeping the routine.  No PM run per PT - not a bad choice since all heck is breaking loose at work today.  There will be some long workdays in my future for the next few days.

Happy Thursday bloggers.

I am meeting a new PT today ... to see if she can help me with my leg -- that still hurts after Saturday. 

43:12.  A little longer than 4.5 miles ... very very easy.  I got worked over pretty good.  My leg is still sore, but more from the therapist than the big ole' knot that was in the belly of my quad.  She said to take it really easy today, and no hills, so I did.  It was a mudfest, but fun as long as I kept it pretty slow.

Happy Friday bloggers.

Had some errands to run before I got to work so I ran near my old neighborhood (~30`).   Because of the rain and snow the past couple of days the Rillito River was flowing!! Pretty cool, it was always a dry wash when we lived there ... Snow on most of the mountain tops ... very pretty.  The wind is still blowing (a couple of days ago they measured 56 mph at the airport) -- I really hope it dies down by tomorrow.  It is supposed to be ~35F at the start ... I am thinking it will be warmer than that.  My leg is sore most of the time, but did not bother me too much while I was running (jogging really).  

Happy Weekend bloggers!  Looks like Painter's was exciting, I can't wait to see all of the race reports come in! 

Yea! It hurt, just like I thought it would, but I made my target and I am happy. The age groups were 40-49, I actually won my age group - because they took the overall masters winner out. I missed overall masters to a 40 year old, who beat me soundly (by a whole minute -- a huge amount in a 10K). So, my prize was nice as  I got "first age group winner" (a very very nice pair of gloves), but I am counting it 2nd  in my age group.  The woman who beat me was in the 50 year old age group -- how great is that???  Not only that, but the 2nd woman in the 50-59 year age group beat me too!! I was 9th woman and 58th overall (out of 221).

 I overslept ... I don't know what it is about me and 10K's  - this time MichelleL was not here to wake me up.  Luckily, I only woke up 35 mins late, so it was ok.  I ran 3+ miles wu and 3 miles cd (much more slowly than my wu).  It was about 35F and a little windy, but not as bad as it was during my track workouts.  It was a flat course (a few blips but nothing to complain a lot about, but you felt them). 

The mile markers were off, I tried really hard to not get freaked out and just run by what I knew I could do. I knew the course was certified, so I suspected that it would turn out ok. My strategy was to run the first 3-4 miles under control and then start racing, "run the first 1/2 of the race with your head and the last 1/2 with your heart" (I think Jack Daniels said this). My "wrong" splits were: 6:54, 7:25 (wrong - someone around me said it was a 7:11 split - it was uphill with a tough headwind, but not 25 seconds!), 6:58, 6:08(wrong), 7:51 (wrong - average of these two miles would be 6:59), 6:52 (hurt hurt), last .2 6:45.  I think the last .2 was actually slower than the split showed, even though I was racing a guy that was right off of my shoulder (those 100m strides paid off today -- I beat him over the line by a stride) - it hurt. Did I mention how much it hurt? ;-).  At 4 miles I saw Dean and he said "Ok Bon, you are doing great, now start passing these guys in front of you".  Being the "follower of directions" that I am, I did.  I just concentrated on picking off people, even though it hurt.   My friend Merry passed me in mile 2, but I passed her at mile 4 - and according to her she tried to keep up with me but by mile 5 I was speeding up (it did not feel like it to me - though I was breathing hard by mile 4).  Even though my splits were off my average pace was 7:00.5 and that is all I care about overall - well, that and that I did not slow down at the end ;-).

Ahhh. it took 4 years, but I finally did it!  Thank you for your kind words and encouragement bloggers!

Happy Sunday bloggers.

53:36.  Beautiful run on the Yeatman trail.  I stumbled twice today -- weird.  I felt really good today, but I still followed directions and ran very easy.  I might jog a little tonight - but I might not.  Depends on how things go at work today.  And whether I have time to eat lunch or not.

So, I was remembering something this morning that I did not share with you all on Sunday (since my race report was already too long for a 10k ;-) ).  It was about 5-8 mins before the start of the race and people were starting to line up at "the start" (no markings and the race was not chip timed so there were no timing mats) ... I ran off to find a VPB - I ran up the street about 1/4 of mile and found a nice patch of trees.   Just as I am "finishing up" and coming out of my bathroom, I realize that EVERYONE in the race was right there.  Apparently, the start of the race was a little further back than the earlier people had estimated.  Pretty good timing - but I was pretty surprised to see everyone outside of my potty.  What can I say, when you have to go you have to go.

Happy Tuesday bloggers!

Another nice easy run up Yeatman trail.  I felt really good today, could have run longer, but a little recovery is good before the next "push".  (53:29).

M-W are my absolute busiest days, even more so during grant deadline push.  I will be checking on you all as soon as possible ... until then, Happy Humpday!!

NOTE:

Greg McMillan and Brett Gotcher will be airing a training segment tonight at 8PM EST.

AM: (7.5 miles, 1:06:34). Another comfortable run up Yeatman trail.  Still feeling good, running-wise - very sleep deprived in general.  It was a little chilly today because it was wet -- drizzle/sleet at the beginning of the run and then more rain-like by the end.  The trail was slippery in spots, luckily I wasn't trying to go very fast.  Greg wanted me to take it really easy this week, so that is what I am doing, and it doesn't bug me much at all ;-), my true lazy nature is showing itself I guess.

PM: (3.5 very easy).

I hope you are all warm and dry bloggers!

Some highlights from the interview/training podcast with Greg and Brett Gotcher from last night ... the interview went for 90` instead of 60`, I haven't had a chance to listen to the whole thing yet -- hopefully this weekend.  Definitely worth a read/listen.

1:05:something.  Same run as yesterday.  I spent the run thinking about recovery and trail running.  Regarding recovery, I truly believe it is the most important part of training.  Recovery from hard workouts on easy days and also recovery from hard training cycles after key races.  This week was not about recovering from a race, it was a little recovery from a hard 4 months of training.   Secondly, I like running my Yeatman trail on my easy days because it keeps me running slow (because the footing is bad and it is hilly), but at the same time I am working my stablizer muscles and balance/co-ordination (which I desperate need help with ;-) ).    Nerd that I am, I felt much better knowing that I had a rational reason for my run today!

Another nerdy thing - we got a new scale this week (Tanita Ironman Body Composition Monitor).  It measures all kinds of stuff (probably not accurately): weight, body fat, water and muscle mass and some sort of "body type" and "body age" thing that is scary because it says I am 13-15 years old, luckily Dean is equally young so we are ok there).  Anyway - body fat wise, the recommendation is for women to weigh themselves in the evening (at the same time), not too close to finishing a workout.  Well, I always used to weigh myself after runs (I liked the weight then ... dehydration and all) ... so all week I have been weighing myself in the mornings (like I used to) and again at night (which they reccomend) ... surprisingly enough both my weight and body fat calculations are "better" at night (even though I often feel fatter then!).  Difference is about 2bls and 3%!!  That said, my morning readings and my evening readings were pretty close to other (difference ~ +/- .5 bls and +/- .5%).  Just so you know, I did not make my target weight goal before my 10K -- I was shooting for 125 and only got to 129/130.  But, I still ran ok ... so, I guess my "target weight" should have been higher ;-).

I hope you all have wonderful weekends and to those of you that are racing -- Go GetUm!

REMINDER: track fans, tonight Millrose Games will be on ESPN at 6PM mountain time.  Of note: Bernard Lagat is going for his 8th Wannamaker Mile win!!  GO BERNARD!!

My throat is sore from screaming at the TV last night -- GO LAGAT!!  8 Millrose Mile wins!  He makes it look so darn easy.

AM:(8 miles, 1:11:45).  Nice easy pace, hilly route. I am a little tired today, we stayed up too late last night.  Beautiful day today, overcast but a warm 50F.

PM: (4 miles easy easy).

Happy weekend bloggers!

1:57:46.  Wonderful trail run on my "flat" trails.  I parked in a different spot, hoping to figure out how do this in laps so that during the summer I will be able to drop water.  It was about 1:10 to do the whole lap once -- I got water and then wound around a bunch of other trails to find my way back.  Greg said I could run the last 5` at 1/2 marathon pace if I was feeling "frisky" - I actually ran a little hard the last 10` because there were some mountain bikers on the trail - they were stopped at the bottom of a hill when they saw me coming and jumped on their bikes  in front of me, well, of course, I *had* to stay as close to them as  possible.  It was uphill the last mile and they finally stopped and pulled over and let me pass ;-).  I will admit, they weren't exactly true competitive mountian bikers (who would have kicked my behind) - but I was pretty happy to have "beaten" them anyway - especially since I wasn't even breathing hard!!

I hope you are all having a wonderful day with friends and family!