Just returned from Byron and the Team R.E.D. Sunday evening gathering. Tom O' said that he counted about 40 in attendance which is fantastic! It was good to see everyone. On the menu was an appetizer and pizza buffet and Tom O' had some games for us to play  to win some Bear's Den gift cards. Guess what? I won! The Bear's Den has been good to me. :-) To win, I had to answer two trivia questions correctly, or almost correctly: the first was a multiple choice ice skating question (the correct answer was the Hamel Camel); the second was what is the world record for hot dog consumption in 10 minutes (correct answer was 68, which Andrew Becker got exactly right, and I guessed 76 for second place). We also played rock/paper/scissors which was won by Andy Hemenway and Ann Nepstad. I can't even remember if we played a third game ... my memory just isn't what it used to be. A fun way to end the weekend.

Today's workout: my typical Sunday--run to the Y, lift, swim, run home. I chatted with Dan Strain for a bit. He was there splashing around with the family. He's coming back after a hip injury and ran 8 yesterday. Said he feels pretty good today. I chatted with Aaron Benike for a few minutes in the fitness center. Jim and Lorraine (his mom and dad) returned from Curacao, spent the night in the cities at the Jimmy Buffet concert with their daughter, and are now in Florida. It's a wonderful life. :-) We all have those times where we think "woe is me", that we have it "bad". Today at the pool there was a young lady being escorted by what was probably her PCA, across the pool deck. It looked like she had cerebral palsy. There but by the grace of God go I. It really puts a lot of things in perspective.

 A while back, Running Room employees had the opportunity to order Pearl Izumi shoes for 75% off and I ordered these:

Today was my inaugural wearing. It felt absolutely wonderful to have on some shoes with some "cush". I felt like I had brand new legs.

Not too much of an appetite today for some reason. My tummy didn't feel quite right. Didn't have my morning oatmeal until 1:00 PM. Definitely not typical for me. Went to Matt's band concert in Winona this afternoon, which was very good.

He even played the flugelhorn on one piece. Trumpet is his usual instrument.

He's a music ed. major and this semester is learned reeds (clarinet, oboe, sax, etc.) Kind of an interesting interchange when I took my seat in the auditorium. I sat down and the gal in back of me tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and she said, "Are you going to scrunch down when he starts playing? << interject my thoughts here ... No, I hadn't planned on "scrunching down"!! What kind of question is that??!! >> I'm videotaping and you're kind of tall." Well, the lights were down and I didn't say anything--just stood up and moved a couple chairs to the left. Well, I never ...

Tomorrow, I'll run my 11.2 mile Monday hill route. I look forward to it. Here's a map: http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/mn/rochester/681126681083237798

I'm in need of sleep. So I'd best go take care of that. : )

Good night.