Food and Running, As Usual

Okay, I have a commitment from Linda for the cupcake throwdown. It should take place on Friday after she visits a famous New York bakery. She will post details later, but I will just say that I think we have a competition brewing!

I am about to head into my taper for Ultracentric, and frankly, I think I'm ready. It will be 4.5 months since my last race by the time Ultracentric rolls around and I think that is just too long. I talked with my coach, Scott, on Monday and we agreed that I should add one more race to my calendar next year. You don't want to over do it (which is pretty hard when you live in Texas because most of the races are way far away), but you also have to have some breaks in the training schedule. One of the cool runners I follow, Ronda, just finished the Grand Slam, which is 4 tough 100 mile races in less than 4 months! Not only did she finish, she smoked it! I am just in awe. She had to travel all over the country and race at the highest level - this is not a woman who just phones it in. She was such an inspiration! Now, it doesn't motivate me to want to do the Slam, mind you, but I think I can add one more race :)

I'm running the Rio Grande Marathon this weekend with my running group, Run El Paso. One of the founders, Bill Barry, is running his 100th marathon, so our group is going to run it with him. Bill helped most of us run our first marathon, training with us, inspiring us, and in many cases, travelling to the event with us. Recently, he has suffered from a heart condition that has left his running future in question. He has had to pull out of several marathons after he has had problems mid-race. Everyone is so happy, and relieved, that he is cleared to run this weekend! Bill is the pillar of our running community, so it will be a great event to run his 100th as a group. After the marathon, we are having a big celebration at a local vineyard - a perfect setting for runners!

I think I have finally figured out how to post photos, so I promise to start adding some. Yesterday, I had the most beautiful canal run replete with herons, ducks, and a beautiful flock of white dove. I wished I had a camera (and that I knew how to post), because I would love to share some of what I get to see every day while I'm running. I love to see where everyone else is running day in, day out. It adds so much to their blogs. Kind of like vacation photos, but interesting :) !