Productive

Wow. I got WAY more done yesterday than I ever dreamed. I started the day at Dunn Bros. for 7.50 miles with Jim and John ...

Dave and Angie ...

Kristin ...

Jean and Laura ...

and Tom.

We made a big loop around the lake, through Quarry Hill, south to 4th St SE and up next to the river and around the lake again. I ended up feeling really good and I have a plethora of junk miles already, so I turned it into a speed session, running 200's with 200 recovery. I tried to keep the 200s at 6:30 pace. Got down to 5:51 pace for a brief time. I haven't felt much like doing speed work this year, but I have to say I had fun with this. I'm meeting Bri and Joe for a long run this morning. I hope my leg feels OK.  It usually feels better after a few miles warm-up.

When I got home, I decided to start stripping the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room and hallway floor. It's really a job. You do a 3' square section at a time, letting the stripper sit 2-3 minutes and then scrub with a scrub brush and then wash it with water. I was on my hands and knees for 6 hours. Tiring. Then I applied 2 coats of finish. But I have to say it looks great and was worth a full day's effort. One step closer to selling it ...

Jim Parry is beginning his first marathon distance run today at 4 pm, the first of 7 culminating in pacing the 5-hour marathon group at Med-City on Sunday. Feel free to join him for a few miles. More into at Jim Parry's Endurance Challenge.

The weekly Tuesday Night BBQ will again take place on the east side of Soldier's Field tomorrow evening. Feel free to join us. Bring a dish to pass. Liz will be there at 5:30 with the grill being fired up at 6:00. Some will run at 5:30 and some will bike at 5:00. Contact Joe Ryan if you're interested in biking. Running/biking are not required. :-)

From Liz Jaben: In order to honor Paul Melby, many of us are going to be getting t-shirts/singlets to run in. The shirts will have a picture of Paul (thank you, Millie) on the front (see attached) and some saying (yet to be determined) on the back. Many of us will be wearing these when we run Grandma's Marathon in a few weeks, and likely in some future races as well. Because the picture is going to be in color, the shirts/singlets will be white. They are all a technical fabric. Shirts are unisex, but singlets are available in men's and women's fits. The approximate price is $15 (t-shirts are less than men's singlets which are less than women's singlets). I will send a follow-up email with the exact price. VERY IMPORTANT-- We MUST order by the middle of the week, so I need to know BY TUESDAY if you are interested and whether you want a t-shirt or singlet and what size. This is NOT limited to Team RED members, so if you know someone else that may want one, please pass along the information. You can respond to this email address: lizjaben@gmail.com with what you'd like to order. Remember, I need to know by TUESDAY!

As promised, but late, here is a little slideshow of Paul Melby pics. It still doesn't seem possible that he's not going to show up somewhere, sometime ...

Tell someone you love "I love you" today. Give a hug. Enjoy your day ...