12 miles, light rain, done!

FTO was well represented Saturday morning as we moved further into our quest to conquer the marathon. Braving the rain were Arena, Dede, Erin, Felix, K2, Janeen, Julienne, Lisa, Lynette, Mitch, and TZ who had some story about getting up early, and being late because of hitting some boundary having to do with a bathroom issue. TMI if you ask me. We were Tom-less as Tom R was at the fire station, and Tom W must be planning a long run Sunday. Lisa said she thought Fast Robert and Jon may have been there, and if they were, well here's your mention. No pix for you!

Our group leaders were scrambling this am....what with TZ being late and Lisa getting her out-of-the-chute pee out of the way.She was hustling to catch up as she blew by me. I was finishing my cup-o-joe and walked most of the 1st mile whilst taking pics of the hundreds of RW runners.

I hope everyone read Lisa's last email, cuz getting all wet on a long run is a recipe for chafing in the netherlands. Bodyglide can be your friend. I plan to post her advice to this blog along with some tasteful photos in the next week or so.

My endeavor at catching up eventually paid off, as I caught up with Lynette. I had met her at the Jingle Bell run, and it was great to see her running with the group today. My BAD....I either did not take her picture, or it escaped the upload from my card. Hmmph!But here she is with her daughter, and her little doggie.

I knew I was catching K2 from about a mile away.K2 is possibly the 2nd most recognizable runner in the whole RW group.

Janeen made the turn at the base of Turkey Mountain and was flying down the trail when she passed me.

Eight miles of pushing the pace finally paid off as I caught the group of Erin, Felix, Mitch, and Julienne.Having a water stop helped my cause as well. Where's Julienne? Oops!Here ya go. Yes, it was for most of the run, but on the return running north, the wind was at our back, the rain slackened, and A lot of runners were shedding layers. I ran most of the way back with Erin, who at half my age is twice my speed. But I kept up and between gasps of air on my part, we chatted all the way back to Veteran's Park.

A quick head count showed we were about 3 heads short, so I headed out to find them (mostly because I wanted some more miles, greedy mileage ho that I am.)Dede and K2 were finishing up. And Arena was about a half mile behind. All accounted for!

Now, time for more important matters....breakfast. We have been in this Blue Dome Diner routine, a literal hole-in-the-wall joint on 2nd at Elgin downtown. Luv it! Best bacon ever, big omelets, pancakes that are bigger than the plates, and awesome french toast!Gotta have my coffee! One quirky thing about Blue Dome is the coffee cups. I have never had the same style of cup twice. I thought for a long time that there were no two cups alike in the house. One time you'll get a little dainty tea cup, and sometimes you get one that could be used as a wash basin. But this day, Jason and Lisa got matching cups.Awwww--isn't that sweet!

More blog stuff later as I search for pictures worth to accompany Lisa's chafing dissertation.