Passages

Life is all about passages of one sort or another. Sometimes they're our own, sometimes they're for those who play significant roles in our lives. This weekend, my youngest turns 21. (I'll bring him his favorite dessert--homemade cherry pie. And we'll go out to eat somewhere in Winona.) And my oldest moved to the cities. I went into his room this morning after not having been in there since he left yesterday. Wow. What a difference. Most of his drawers were empty. All his clutter is gone. The house stays picked up, but I'm unhappy. What I'd complained about for so many years now left me feeling totally empty and my eyes full of tears. The house is so quiet. Like they say, the only thing that's constant is change. And change can be so very hard. Especially for this mom today. Once a mom, always a mom.

Morning workout: 11 x 1/4 mile. Splits: 1:29 1:27 1:27 1:26 1:24 1:23 1:26 1:24 1:25 1:23 1:26 Including warm-up and cool-down, 13.42 miles. A good workout. Beautiful morning. 46 degrees. No wind. Perfect with gloves and my arm warmers (both available at Running Room. And the clothes I'm wearing too :-). After 10 hours on my feet yesterday (see below) I wasn't sure that I'd have anything left in my legs. But it worked out OK.

TriRochester has great success with their social gatherings once a month (and they're really fun!) and I'm going to try to organize the same sort of thing for the RTC (members, friends, family, etc. -- everyone is welcome. No running required.). It'll be the same evening every month, same location. Please take the poll at the right as to your preference of locations. Stay tuned for the latest and greatest.

Monday we had a wrap-up meeting for the Rochester Half marathon at Paradise Pete's. Pictured below are Dave Morrill, Jen Woodward (who will be race director next year), Sonja Kranz and Larry Pederson.

Also pictured above, Jean Murray. Overall we felt the race went well. Next year we may tweak some things: lower price for the 5K, more apples :-), more control over finish line food, same course, keep the 5K with the earlier start, ... It's never perfect, but we will try to do the very best we can.

Speaking of which ... it's proving to be a whole lot of work to get the T-shirt "situation" sorted out for the race. I have hundreds of shirts to order and am doing the best I can to get the order right. But I know I won't get it all right. Please bear with me (nastygrams and iritated phone calls will not speed up the process). I can't read everyone's handwriting and I especially can't read writing that isn't there. Some did not indicate a shirt size. Some did not provide an email address and/or phone number and/or street address. And I don't know for 100% sure who actually got shirt and who didn't. Patience is a virtue as they say ... I'm doing my best. I will get down off my soapbox now. :-)

Thank you Ron Giles and Ted Saxman for helping to assemble the newsletter for a couple of hours this evening. I'll finish it tomorrow and get it off to the bulk mail facility. The online version is available for members on the RTC website. It has color photos.

The RTC is in need of someone to be membership chair. The duties include: keeping a spreadsheet of members, reminding them of their renewal dates, etc. The need is urgent! Please contact president@rochestertrackclub.com if you'd like more information. Please consider it--it can be done on your own personal schedule at home.

RTC member, and friend of many, Lionel Cheng is back in Singapore and preparing for his first ultra--in October, the North Face 100k duo, where he will be running 50k on a trail.

Bike shopping did not take place today. TOMORROW. For sure. (?)

OK. Fun stuff. The Great Minnesota Get-Together. The state fair!

What a great day it was to be at the fair and experiencing all the associated sights, sounds and smells. It's such a fun way to spend the day. Brand new little piglets (eyes aren't even open) ...

"Cream Puff" who was two days old ...

a tub of fries (not a day to count calories or fat grams!) ...

old tractors (this was from 1912) ...

art made from seeds ...

and a stint in the "All You Can Drink Milk for $1" booth for the afternoon. Great fun! And very busy. The best deal at the fair!!

The view from inside the booth:

It's late, I'm tired, so I'll sign off. More tomorrow!!