Only in my dreams

Have you ever dreamed about other running bloggers? I hope this doesn't weird anybody out, but last night I did. It kinda weirds me out, because I have never met any of these bloggers (I have actually met one running blogger in person, but he wasn't in this dream).

So, this dream involved RazZDoodle, Vanilla, and some other nameless runners. The only reason I can think of why these guys is the half dozen post-marathon posts each of them has written over the last couple weeks and the multiple pictures of each other in them. Come to think of it, I think they were wearing the same clothes in my dream. The pieces are beginning to come together...

So I was meeting up with Razz and Vanilla (and the others) at some place for a run. It reminded me of a college campus... lots of people, courtyards, old buildings, etc. While we were waiting for everyone to get there, I had to use the restroom so I excused myself. When I came out of the restroom, I walked into a large theatre. I had to walk between rows of seats to get out. Just then, people started filing in for a symphony wearing tuxedos and fancy dresses. I had to squeeze past them as I was trying to get through and even had to climb on the seats to get out. Needless to say, with the small delay, my running buddies left without me with no indication of where they went. I decided to start running and see if I could track them down. I concluded that there were only two ways they could have gone. Either into the city, or down the country roads into the mountains. I chose the country roads because they would have been better to run on because there would be more traffic in the city. After running for a while, I realized that I must have gone the wrong way (surely I would have caught up to them by now), and decided to turn around. That's when the doorbell rang and woke me up (at 5:45 AM). How disappointing! I wanted to find out why the left me. Were they in danger? Were they kidnapped? Was a loved one kidnapped and/or in danger and they had to go in a hurry? Did they just not like me? Where did they go, and what adventures were they having? And what happened to me along the way?

Now, if I was really creative, I'd make up an ending to this dream, but since I'm trying to quickly eat my lunch at work, I'm going to make this a "choose your own adventure" and let you finish the story for me in the comments. I can't wait to read your ending!

Quick update

Hey folks, sorry about the delay in posting. Here's what I've been up to...

• The running group hasn't panned out so far. No one showed up that first Saturday, and I wasn't able to do it the next Saturday. I haven't gotten a response from anybody, but I am not giving up. I think I'll have to talk to people in person and let them know about it and spread the word.
• I volunteered at the RNR AZ Marathon Expo the Saturday before the race. That was a lot of fun. I couldn't believe how busy it was the entire 5 hours I was there! I was at the tables handing out the goodie bags. I was hoping to see some fellow blogging buddies, but there were so many people, the chances of that happening was very unlikely. I sure had a blast though! I'll definitely do it again.
• My knee has started bugging me again. I've been icing it almost everyday, sometimes twice. I've been taking it pretty easy. Not a whole lot of running lately. Hence the lack in posting here. It's been pretty frustrating, but I'm trying to stay optimistic about it.
• Lani and I have been taking a lot of walks lately with the girls. We are loving the Arizona sunshine and just soaking it up. I feel for all you folks who have to deal with the cold, cold winter, but it really is perfect here. Sorry.
• We're down to about 2 months until the baby is due. Lani says he seems a lot more active than the girls were. Hopefully, we'll be able to channel all that energy into running and exercise as opposed to other mischeif little boys get into.
• Since I haven't been running much, I've started some strength exercises. Whenever we take the kids to the park, I always look for some bars on the playground to do pull-ups and dips. I'm also doing push ups and working on my core in hopes of being a stronger runner when I get over this injury.
• Things to look forward to: I get to volunteer at the NBA All-Star Jam Session next month. I've never been involved in anything like that. It should be a lot of fun. Track season will be starting in about a month, I think. I'm hoping we'll have a lot of our kids return and bring along some new faces.

That's about it. Thanks to everyone who is still keeping tabs on me. I appreciate the comments and support.

I'm starting a running group!

I've made the announcement, we'll see if anyone shows up on Saturday.

I've talked with a few guys at church who have expressed interest in either starting to run or wanting a group to run with, so I finally took it upon myself to set this thing up. I know there are several runners around, so hopefully we'll have a good turnout. I'm really excited about it. This is something I've wanted to do for a long time. I tried once before we moved here, but it just didn't work out. Hopefully this one will be more successful. I'll let you know how it goes.

New Year's Day 5k

Sure, it's a little late, but I haven't written a race report for a really long time, so I had to get it in here.After we had registered for this race, I realized that I had only done a total of two races in 2008 (not counting the virtual races). There was Boston in April and the 1 Mile Race in August, and that was it. I did a lot of running, made a lot of progress, reached an awesome goal, but only ran 2 actual races. So, I was really looking forward to racing again. I sort of felt like a newbie again. A little bit of nervousness before the start, but after the gun went off, it was all familiar territory.

This race was a lot of fun. We had Lani's sister and her family in town for a visit. Her husband, who has really gotten into running last year (and gotten really fast, and possibly more obsessed with running than I am), also ran it with his 16 year old son. Lani and my oldest both ran the mile, with the youngest in the stroller. My daughter got to try out her new running shoes she got for Christmas (unfortunately, she was a little grumpy that morning and didn't actually do a whole lot of running).

The race started in Papago Park and headed out along a canal in an out-and-back course. My goal was to keep my mile splits under 7 minutes. I felt that was pretty attainable despite only returning to running from about a two month layoff about 3 weeks before. That turned out to not be much of a problem with all three splits being around 6:40. I was pretty surprised when I only counted about 11 runners ahead of me at the turn around. A couple sped by me shortly after I made the turn, but I caught both of them before the finish (I also caught up to Lani and the girls as they were finishing the mile. I could tell my daughter wasn't too happy as I got no response to my cheering her on). I ended up with a time of 20:42, good enough for 10th overall and 1st in my age group. Not too shabby. I really wasn't expecting to be first place. But hey, I'll take it. It wasn't too long before my bro-in-law and his son finished. My nephew was obviously feeling it, but his dad enjoyed a nice easy run before his first marathon, which took place on the 3rd. I was actually going to do it with him until I hurt my knee and had to postpone that idea. Sorry about that. That race didn't go as well as he had hoped. He started feeling really sick the day before, and still wasn't feeling good during the race, but he still did it! The first time is always a learning experience. I'm just glad it didn't turn him off from marathons. I still want to run one with him someday. His new rule: "Never eat egg salad sandwich the day before a race."