Praying Mantis, N. Concord Bart

Noticed this one on my way out Tuesday night. Tried to scoop him up with the phone. He ended up on me. Finally got him into a bush and off the sidewalk.

--
-Lee
 
Sorry if this is terse. I'm sending it from my phone, which encourages brevity.

Marathon Man - 16 Miles and what do you get.

Yesterday was a 16 miler. In horrible heat. Did ok for (what I think) was the first 12 and then got into slog mode; but I finished. I'm still a little wiped as I write this. And, we all picked up the schedule for next month.  Three 18 mile runs! Oh, and a marathon on Oct. 4.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

If you're just joining us, this is all about me running the CowTown Marathon this October as a fund raiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Details can be found here.  You can make donations here.

Marathon Man - Special Report

A couple of things.

First off, the donations continue to come in. I think that's terrific and I want thank the folks that are contributing. It's really great.

The second thing has to do with motivation. I truly feel like I'm running for the people who will benefit from the research and support that your donations enable. And that focus really helps. 

Tonight I started training with a two-bottle water belt. That's one more bottle than I had been running with, but it might as well have been another gallon. Picture Luke running around with Yoda on his back. It was just a five mile run, but I want to get used to the setup, because I'll need it for the 16 miler coming up on Saturday. Anyway, I'm a mile in and I'm whining to myself about the damn belt and it's slipping and blah blah blah. 

Then I thought of the first wife's nephew. Andy (or Drew as we called him then) as a two year old was the ring bearer at our wedding. A cuter blonde, tousled-haired  boy you could not find. Great kid. Time passes, folks drift and I don't seem him again until a few years ago at his cousin's wedding. Good lord, the two year old was a man. And charming and great to re-meet. Sadly we saw each other again over the past year, as his grandparents passed away. Not the best circumstances, but still a pleasure to see him and his brothers.

Andy was diagnosed with Leukemia a week or so ago. Today he had a spinal tap as part of the diagnosis and treatment for said Leukemia. So, Andy, the first mile tonight was on me, and you got me through the last four. Running five miles in a cool delta breeze as the sun sets, on your behalf, is a privilege. Thanks.

Frankly, I could do with a little less motivation.

If you're just joining us, this is all about me running the CowTown Marathon this October as a fund raiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Details can be found here.  You can make donations here.

Marathon Man - Practically took the week off

I only ran 15 miles last week - I spent four days out of town and I chose to drive down for each day's activities rather than setup shop in the Bay Area. That left me too tired to run most nights, although I got in 5 miles Tuesday night.

I got 10 miles in yesterday and 6 this morning, so I seem no worse for (lack of) the wear, which is good because next Saturday is a 16 miler.

The Cowtown Marathon is in 6 weeks; holy cow.

If you're just joining us, this is all about me running the CowTown Marathon this October 4th as a fund raiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Details can be found here.  You can make donations here.