Had to do an early run today. Tried to map out a flat 8 mile course near my house. Found a loop 4963 feet long (0.94 or 1500 meters), however after doing two of them, I realized I did not like it - too many turns, still some uphill, and I did not want to pass the alternative life style smoking house 9 times. So I went to going a mile out mile back. It still rolls, but it is the flatest mile there is near my house of all the stretches I know where the automotive traffic is sufficiently low. Although you do see some fitness traffic in the area, we could use more of that and less of the car and particularly school bus traffic. In Kenya, running 6 miles to school is a norm. Here, walking half a mile to get on the school bus is considered too much - there seems to be a school bus stop every 200 meters on 1350 E. And they wonder why Americans get beat every time a Kenyan wins. Eliminating frequent school bus stops will conserve fuel, improve air quality, reduce childhood diabetis, and take American runners to a new level. I think I am ready to run for office... It took me a while to get going, especially with all the adventures of the course knocking me out of rhythm. However, I finally started breaking 6:00 miles in the middle, and managed a sub-6:00 average of 47:55 for 8 miles. Did some always on the run miles during the day. Ran in the evening with the kids. George and his kids happened to be biking as we got out. The excitement of having cycling pacers led to Jennifer setting a new mile record - 8:00. She is going to be 6 at the end August. Benjamin broke 8:00 (with a 7:58.8) on the track a month before he turned 6, and the fastest he's ever run on that course before he was 6 is 8:21. So it seems like she is ahead of schedule. It looks like breaking an 8:00 mile before the 6th birthday is going to become a ritual in our family. Now if we could carry it to breaking a 4:00 mile before any birthday, it would be just super. When Benjamin was 3, he already looked like a runner - long legs, good form. Jennifer looked like a regular 3 year old, perhaps even a bit clumsy and non-althletic. Now, however, her legs have grown out and are very strong. I tried to get her out of bed one morning, and she kicked me. I felt the power. Total of 14 miles for the day. | 