rainbows/tagged

last night I took the ferry over to island beach with Hank and Ike, to drop off Hank on a camping night with boy scouts --it poured for a few minutes and an enormous rainbow came up in the sky -I tried to get photos but it disappeared quickly...when running in the trails on Thursday -late afternoon I felt an achilles pain come up and it is still bothering me after 2 days of not running. I have been lucky since my calf pull this january and have run pain-free since March ---it's very frustrating because I feel as if I am so conservative --easy 5-7 mile runs and alot of rest -even the day after the 50 miler. So we'll see how my body does on the pavement tommorrow.

Frank 'tagged' me with these 5 questions:
1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago?
Summer/fall of 1998 was one of my best seasons -I had just turned 40 and had a nice break of one year from racing and pounding (see -breaks are good) when had my 3rd child in Nov. 1997...was still running 6:20s for 5Ks and 4 milers, and 6:30s for 10Ks, and 1:27 1/2 marathons -I ran 3:12 at Hartford, 3:10 at NYC, 3:14 at Boston (1999), and 3:08 at VT (1999)...I raced myself into oblivion. I was also leaner in the hips and thighs and maybe 110-112 pounds. In a few years I would develop exercise-induce asthma which stopped me cold.
2. what is your worst/best race experience?
my worst races were ones that I got injured in --I have a tendency to pull lower calf muscles as run on my toes. The coast-to-coast 1/2, when I tore a muscle, knocked me out for 1 month...the Boston build up 25K where I also pulled a muscle, left me limping for 6 weeks. and have only pulled out of one race because of pain -Joe Kleinerman 10K (also had to stop running for 4 weeks)--I have had plenty of miserable marathons, where I was tired after 3 miles and wanted to drop out --but i always stuck with it. Boston 2004 with the 87 degree heat was pretty miserable!!
My best race experience include Umstead 2008 as it was my first 100 miler, pacing Frank in the Vt 100 miler, Highland sky 40 miler as it was my longest-ever ultra, Finger lakes 50 miler -my first; running 1:06 for 10 hilly central park miles in winter 2007 and Shamrock marathon 1992 where I set my PR and ran 3:00:29 --I felt good that day and everything clicked. And of course the first big race that I won in Ct was the 1992 Westport Minuteman (29:59) -in a streak i won 5 races in a row.

3. why do you run?
It is for both my mind (keeps me sane and happy) and body (for energy to spare and for weight control) --also, it is so easy -just put on running shoes and go!
4. what is the best and worst advice you've been given about running?
best? listen to your body and run your own race
worst? I hate it when I line up at a race and am told 'you can beat so and so; you'll probably come in 3rd behind xyz; you can run a PR today; you can win' --people are well-meaning but they have already written the race script for me and I never race other people --that is out of my control and it's also out of my control how I'll feel that day:)---what if I just want to take it easy???
5 tell us something about yourself that not many people know.
I was a ski racer in high school and college; I won a state science fair when was in sixth grade with a ocea display and always wanted to be an oceanographer; I was a fine arts major in college and love museums and art.
I will tag
laura and
scott