Run Run Away

Question:

Event Name: Tour de Pain Time: 7:30 p.m., 7:30 a.m., 7:30 p.m. Distance:    Beach Run: 4 miles    Mile Sizzler: 1 mile    Jacksonville Landing 5K: 5K Location: Jacksonville Beach & Jacksonville, Florida, USA Host: 1st Place Sports Course Layout:    Beach Run: Out and back    Mile Sizzler: Loop    Jacksonville Landing 5K: Out and back Course Terrain:    Beach Run: Beach, a few gulleys but nothing major    Mile Sizzler: Neighborhood streets    Jacksonville Landing 5K: City streets Weather Conditions:    Beach Run: Cloudy, 80F/27C, slight breeze from the north    Mile Sizzler: 75F/24C, no wind, HUMID (fog)    Jacksonville Landing 5K: 76F/XXC, very humid (95+%), rain had just stopped so there was fog rising and clouds lowering Sociological (Fashion, fighting, foolery, and food):    Fashion:       Beach Run: Very few event shirts and no coordinated attire       Mile Sizzler: Quite a few coordinated outfits – more on guys than women       Jax Landing: Lots of event shirts (but they are nice shirts)    Fighting:       Beach Run: One runner was zigzagging all over the beach and cut me off – twice. Pissed me off but no blood, no foul.       Mile Sizzler: Tight pack but no bared fangs       Jax Landing: None.    Foolery:       Beach Run: None       Mile Sizzler: None – too humid       Jax Landing: None that I saw    Food:       Beach Run: Bananas, frozen fruit bars, sports drink       Mile Sizzler: Variety of cookies, bananas, sports drink       Jax Landing: Bananas, sports drink, fitness water (Propel), free pizza, free (lite USA) beer, frozen fruit pops. Here’s the real kicker: They ran out of nothing! I’m talking about plenty of cups, water, pizza, beer, everything. Kewl. Personal Time:    Beach Run: 37:40    Mile Sizzler: 7:38    Jacksonville Landing 5K: 29:14    Combined: 1:14:32 Personal Pace:    Beach Run: 9:25    Mile Sizzler: 7:38    Jacksonville Landing 5K: 9:24 Personal Place Overall (males):    Beach Run: 262 out of 335    Mile Sizzler: 244 out of 292    Jacksonville Landing 5K: 287 out of 334    Combined: 229 out of 281 Personal Place Age Group (males):    Beach Run: 40 out of 49    Mile Sizzler: 37 out of 41    Jacksonville Landing 5K: 45 out of 49    Combined: 37 out of 41 # of participants completing the course:    Beach Run: 532    Mile Sizzler: 478    Jacksonville Landing 5K: 540    Combined: 450 Winning Time:    Beach Run: 21:03 (Zeph Joseph) and 23:52 (Kim Pawelek)    Mile Sizzler: 4:16 (Zeph Joseph) and 5:00 (Kim Pawelek)    Jacksonville Landing 5K: 14:57 (Zeph Joseph) and 17:20 (Kim Pawelek)    Combined: 40:16 (Zeph Joseph) and 46:12 (Kim Pawelek) Last Finisher:    Beach Run: 1:01:56    Mile Sizzler: 13:30    Jacksonville Landing 5K: 42:05    Combined: 1:51:00 Results URL:    http://www.1stplacesports.com/tdp03res.htm Comments:    The Tour de Pain is a 24-hour, three-event event. It has some of the aspects of a triathalon in that the three events are very different kinds of running; beach, mile, and urban 5K. The events are all started at 7:30, either a.m. or p.m. This meant that the tide for the beach run could be high, low, or anywhere in between. Beach Run: The clouds came in about 4:00 p.m. Until then, it was HOT and humid. After the clouds came in it was just humid. There was a threat of thunderstorms (it is summer in Florida, after all). Susan joined me for the Tour *DAY* Pain this year. Our neighbor from the Bridge of Lions run also joined us. I’m blessed with a bladder the size of carry-on luggage but Susan and our neighbor needed to make a nature stop before the run. All of the toilets were padlocked except for one (count ‘em 1) port-o-pot. The line was very long and, according to Susan, the interior was nasty as a north Arkansas outhouse. They returned a couple of minutes before the start. The tide was low but there was a sandbar down the middle of the course. It was not a big deal but there wasn’t much else to bitch about. The traction was nonexsistent – normal for a beach run. The beach was wide so it only took 8 seconds for me to get from the back to the start line. I was running along with Susan until Daniel Boone’s illegitimate relative cut across our bow for the first time. He was heading for the water but corrected his course and cut across us again. I mentioned that a straight line was the shortest distance to the finish (yes, I knew that isn’t always true but I didn’t have time to talk exceptions with the boy). He said something along the lines of "You’re excused." Wrong response. I pulled in behind him and "drafted" for a while – only speeding up when he started blazing a new trail. He asked if I would like to come around and I mentioned that I was very happy where I was, thank you. At the turnaround, he pulled off to one side to drink his water. I was still processing the situation and picked up the pace just a little. Oddly enough, I caught up with people who normally finish 4 or 5 minutes ahead of me in 5Ks. One of them is a friend from UNF. He seemed genuinely surprised to see me – "Hi, Layne. What are you doing here?" About that time, I met Susan who hadn’t reached the turnaround so I cheered for her. It was very weird to be running with this pack. As we neared the finish, the entire group started speeding up (this doesn’t often happen at the back). For some reason, so did I. Some hairy thing deep inside told me not to let any of these unworthy beings pass me before the finish line. One did but I passed 7. Totally breezarre. I finished off the shoulder of my friend from UNF. The number of people with almost the same time as me was very unusual. Another UNF friend had just gotten some sports drinks for us and wanted to know what I was doing up there. We stood around and chatted until I saw Susan approaching the finish line. I grabbed some sports drink for her and our neighbor and met Susan at the end of the exit chute. She got an AG 1st. Our neighbor came in several minutes later and looked like death warmed over. We left early to get him home. Two young women felt sympathy pains for him and fertilized the sea oats. Yep, the Tour dait Pain. Splits: Mile    Time    MHR     AHR Start     :08    67      60 2       18:26   170     155 4       19:13   178     165 (no markers at mile 1 or 3) Mile Sizzler: There were three heats: BOF males, studster males, and all females. I really liked this since I had a chance to see others run. They had the BOFs go first to make sure that none of us kicked off before the event. After last year’s disappointing run I decided to screw the even splits and go for the reguritation. Oops. There really is a reason why people keep going on about even splits. In the last quarter mile, I messed up and allowed myself to get caught in a box. This run is over so quickly that there isn’t time to work one’s way out fo that situation so I dropped back a bit and came around on the outside. I think this was one indication of how out of it I was since watching the interactions among runners is one of my favorite activities during an event. Early on I had visions of a massive kick to the finish since there was an avenue of screaming fans leading to the line. No kick from me which was made even worse by mothers hiding their children’s faces and the horrified looks on the faces of the other spectators. Checked my shorts but they were fine. Susan got an AG 1st. Tough run (it *was* the Tour dhey Pain). Splits: Distance        Time    MHR     AHR .25             1:46    178     120 .5              1:56    173     164 .75             1:54    177     167 1               2:01    174     169 (boxed, my fault) Jacksonville Landing 5K: A few people only run the Beach 4 Miler and one or two people only run the Mile Sizzler. However, a bunch of people usually run the 5K. About noon an East coast sea breeze front collided (or use your favorite violent meteorolgy term) with a Gulf coast see breeze front. In other words, it started to rain and the temp dropped like a calculus book at a frat kegger (sorry, Terry). The conditions were near perfect since the light rain kept the temps down and the blood suckers at bay – it even helped with the mosquitoes. OK, there was a little lightning but some say that a good electric jolt helps with depression. There are some that feel living in Jax is depressing so the lightning was really a good thing. Plus, the light rain ended 30 minutes before the run started. We lined up for the start and noticed that everyone was soaking wet. The humidity was beyond high. Susan and I had crept forward during the prestart position dance. We started in a pretty good pack and stayed there for the entire run. The weather cooperated and no one (that I saw) worshipped the hedges. The first mile had the newbies doing the sprint for 40 feet and then pant for a while, sprint for 40 feet and pant for a while. There were a few newbie DNFs – no medical attention required. The turnaround/water station was next to a park where a Latin music festival was in full swing. I hadn’t considered Salsa as running music but it worked. The trip back was pretty uneventful except for dodging people who were fading fast. We met a few people from out of town who were here just for the event (sick puppies) and ran with one woman for quite a while. She got caught in an unfortunate line around a corner and we lost her. Quite a few of the people around us had a hard time with some of the corners even though they weren’t overly difficult. Susan and I cruised on in (Tour day Pain?) and headed for the grub. Two of our friends were waiting with cups of water (gotta love those speedsters). Susan got a AG 1st. LOTS of socializing while waiting for the awards ceremony (just in case Susan nabbed iron). Before the run I visited with the guy I surprised by running with him at the beach run. He wanted to know if I was going to push it and what pace I was planning. <VBG I told him that I thought I could do a 24 minute 5K if I pushed it. He looked at me but didn’t have the chance to convert my 4 mile time … read more »

Response:

Oddly enough, I caught up with people who normally finish 4 or 5 minutes ahead of me in 5Ks. One of them is a friend from UNF. He seemed genuinely surprised to see me – "Hi, Layne. What are you doing here?" About that time, I met Susan who hadn’t reached the turnaround so I cheered for her. It was very weird to be running with this pack. As we neared the finish, the entire group started speeding up (this doesn’t often happen at the back). For some reason, so did I. Some hairy thing deep inside told me not to let any of these unworthy beings pass me before the finish line. One did but I passed 7. Totally breezarre.

That’s not so bizarre. You’ve had a enough time to recover a bit from Calgary and you’re stronger as a result of that race. And you can stop pretending you aren’t competitive by nature… <g Mike Tennent "IronPenguin"

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Time: 7:30 p.m., 7:30 a.m., 7:30 p.m.   Beach Run: 4 miles   Mile Sizzler: 1 mile   Jacksonville Landing 5K: 5K   http://www.1stplacesports.com/tdp03res.htm these unworthy beings pass me before the finish line. One did but I passed 7. UNF friend had just gotten some sports drinks for us and wanted to know what I was doing up there. We stood around and chatted until I saw Susan approaching the finish line. I grabbed some sports drink for her and our neighbor and met Susan at the end of the exit chute. She got an AG 1st. Our neighbor came in several minutes later and looked like death warmed over. We left early to get him home. Two young women felt sympathy pains for him and fertilized the sea oats. Yep, the Tour dait Pain. watching the interactions among runners is one of my favorite activities during an event. Early on I had visions of a massive kick to the finish since there was an avenue of screaming fans leading to the line. No kick from me which was made even worse by mothers hiding their children’s faces and the horrified looks on the faces of the other spectators. Checked my shorts but they were fine. Susan got an AG 1st. Tough run (it *was* the Tour dhey Pain). a frat kegger (sorry, Terry). The conditions were near perfect since the light rain kept the temps down and the blood suckers at bay – it even helped with the mosquitoes. OK, there was a little lightning but some say that a good electric jolt helps with depression. There are some that feel living in Jax is depressing so the lightning was really a good thing. Plus, the light rain ended 30 minutes before the run started. Susan and I cruised on in (Tour day Pain?) and headed for the grub. Two of our friends were waiting with cups of water (gotta love those speedsters). Susan got a AG 1st. I really enjoy this event. The weather was great although it might have scared off some people. The socializing at the end of the 5K kinda tops it off. Susan won a gold (colored) AG 1st place medal to go with the nice TdP finisher’s medal. We all headed for home happy and a little sore. The soreness was appropriate because, after all, it was the Tour deigh Pain. Layne The rec.running report archives may be found at http://kinder.cis.unf.edu/rec.running

Good grief, Layne, don’t you ever have a weekend off? . But Great job, BTW! I like that idea-having several races over a weekend. And again, an *extremely* fun report to read, thanks! WTH is "fertilizing sea oats" anyway? Just couldn’t figure that one out. Again say congrats to Susan, wow, getting the gold-(colored) medal!! Are you going to have Bob Roll pronounce the name of the Tour for you?? (If you got OLN during TdF..) Teresa in AZ (jealous of your sub-90’s temps!!)

Response:

Good grief, Layne, don’t you ever have a weekend off? . But Great job, BTW! I like that idea-having several races over a weekend. And again, an *extremely* fun report to read, thanks! WTH is "fertilizing sea oats" anyway? Just couldn’t figure that one out. Again say congrats to Susan, wow, getting the gold-(colored) medal!! Are you going to have Bob Roll pronounce the name of the Tour for you?? (If you got OLN during TdF..)

The race slut’s back! The down side is there are also midweek bike races. Ya know, retirement could be interesting. Swimming, yeah, that’s the ticket. I’m glad you enjoyed the report. Thanks! It’s one of my favorite events. Doing three such different events is a hoot. The mile event is getting so popular that they may have to move it to a larger area. "fertilizing the sea oats" is "delivering street pizzas" without any streets. The heat and humidity can do strange things. Bob Roll is a god. I even had velonews.com going on Sunday when USA OLN was corrupted by CBS. Thanks, Layne Teresa in AZ (jealous of your sub-90’s temps!!)

I hope your flood situation calms down a bit. It’s been raining here every afternoon for the last 3-4 weeks but it doesn’t flood much around here – just north where the ground is clay instead of sand. Hang in there, November is coming. The rec.running report archives may be found at http://kinder.cis.unf.edu/rec.running

Response:

As we neared the finish, the entire group started speeding up (this doesn’t often happen at the back). For some reason, so did I. Some hairy thing deep inside told me not to let any of these unworthy beings pass me before the finish line. One did but I passed 7. Totally breezarre. That’s not so bizarre. You’ve had a enough time to recover a bit from Calgary and you’re stronger as a result of that race.

It was just odd being up with the pack. Also, odd that the temper I thought was gone was only hiding. I agree, Calgary has made a huge difference in running but even more in biking. And you can stop pretending you aren’t competitive by nature… <g

Damn! Does this mean that I’m a, I’m a, TYPE A!!! NOOOOOOOOO, say it ain’t so. Hmm, well, actually, go ahead and say it is so. I’ll have to work on it. There’s a 5 mile beach run coming up in two weeks. I’ll be sure to take it nice and easy. Thanks, Layne The rec.running report archives may be found at http://kinder.cis.unf.edu/rec.running

Response:

The race slut’s back! The down side is there are also midweek bike races. Ya know, retirement could be interesting. Swimming, yeah, that’s the ticket.

Oooh, midweek bikes races too? you guys have all sorts of events always going on! I hope to retire some day…. I’m glad you enjoyed the report. Thanks! It’s one of my favorite events. Doing three such different events is a hoot. The mile event is getting so popular that they may have to move it to a larger area. "fertilizing the sea oats" is "delivering street pizzas" without any streets. The heat and humidity can do strange things.

Oh, OK… Bob Roll is a god. I even had velonews.com going on Sunday when USA OLN was corrupted by CBS.

I’ve decided to make some pro cyclist finger puppets for Bob Roll. He needs *something* to do with his hands! But we enjoy watching his commentary also! Layne Teresa in AZ (jealous of your sub-90’s temps!!) I hope your flood situation calms down a bit. It’s been raining here every afternoon for the last 3-4 weeks but it doesn’t flood much around here – just north where the ground is clay instead of sand. Hang in there, November is coming.

We’re in a dry spell now, wind shifted to "from California" instead of "from Mexico". So no more wet until it shifts back (maybe later in the week.) We usually get one or two really good "toad-stranglers" each monsoon season. Just had an early and really hard one this past week! Only trouble is the temps are creeping back up, 103 today, maybe more tomorrow. But drier. I plan to run after work tonight, see how it is. Teresa in AZ

Response:

The race slut’s back! The down side is there are also midweek bike races. Ya know, retirement could be interesting. Swimming, yeah, that’s the ticket. Oooh, midweek bikes races too? you guys have all sorts of events always going on! I hope to retire some day….

I hadn’t really appreciated this region until recently. And, I certainly hadn’t considered retiring here. Still, …. Bob Roll is a god. I even had velonews.com going on Sunday when USA OLN was corrupted by CBS. I’ve decided to make some pro cyclist finger puppets for Bob Roll. He needs *something* to do with his hands! But we enjoy watching his commentary also!

LOL. Don’t he? His TV ads/promotions are classics although I missed the ones from last year. They weren’t finger puppets but his toy cyclists were a hoot. Although I did feel for K. Gum when BR started talking about mowing his lawn "stark raving nekkid." Now there’s a man who *should* be running. While I love USA OLN we need to take their Web people and beat them severely, preferably during a sporting event. We’re in a dry spell now, wind shifted to "from California" instead of "from Mexico". So no more wet until it shifts back (maybe later in the week.) We usually get one or two really good "toad-stranglers" each monsoon season. Just had an early and really hard one this past week! Only trouble is the temps are creeping back up, 103 today, maybe more tomorrow. But drier. I plan to run after work tonight, see how it is.

That’s good news. 103 AND toad-stranglers. Sheesh. We did a duathlon today – swam a long run in very high humidity. With the fires in Canada and France and the typhoon about to hit Japan or China, the Florida daily rains are not too big a deal. Good luck with your repair cross training. Layne The rec.running report archives may be found at http://kinder.cis.unf.edu/rec.running

Response:

I’ve decided to make some pro cyclist finger puppets for Bob Roll. He needs *something* to do with his hands! But we enjoy watching his commentary also! LOL. Don’t he? His TV ads/promotions are classics although I missed the ones from last year. They weren’t finger puppets but his toy cyclists were a hoot. Although I did feel for K. Gum when BR started talking about mowing his lawn "stark raving nekkid." Now there’s a man who *should* be running. While I love USA OLN we need to take their Web people and beat them severely, preferably during a sporting event.

I keep thinking I’d like to look up some pics of when he was a pro. He doesn’t *look* like a pro cyclist (any more at least). But obviuosly knows his stuff! Didja notice how K Gum started usig her hands after being around Bob awhile? That was funny. I had some web page out days, but they weren’t OLN (at least here), it was the TdF iteslf’s web that was down. (Big blank white space on the OLN web page where the TdF stuff was supposed to be inserted- but France wasn’t cooperating). We’re in a dry spell now, wind shifted to "from California" instead That’s good news. 103 AND toad-stranglers. Sheesh. We did a duathlon today – swam a long run in very high humidity. With the fires in Canada and France and the typhoon about to hit Japan or China, the Florida daily rains are not too big a deal. Good luck with your repair cross training. Layne

Ah, but it cools down a lot during the storms. Yesterday it was indeed 103, but the humidity had dropped to only 20%. Now the temps are dropping (high 90’s next few days), but the humidity is going up. I think I actually prefer the hot and dry, except for the fact that we need the rain so badly. I like it- "swim a long run"! I’ve done that before, yick! Teresa in AZ

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – LOL. Don’t he? His TV ads/promotions are classics although I missed the ones from last year. They weren’t finger puppets but his toy cyclists were a hoot. Although I did feel for K. Gum when BR started talking about mowing his lawn "stark raving nekkid." Now there’s a man who *should* be running. While I love USA OLN we need to take their Web people and beat them severely, preferably during a sporting event. I keep thinking I’d like to look up some pics of when he was a pro. He doesn’t *look* like a pro cyclist (any more at least). But obviuosly knows his stuff! Didja notice how K Gum started usig her hands after being around Bob awhile? That was funny. I had some web page out days, but they weren’t OLN (at least here), it was the TdF iteslf’s web that was down. (Big blank white space on the OLN web page where the TdF stuff was supposed to be inserted- but France wasn’t cooperating).

These aren’t old pics but if you get a chance to see the video "Victims of Gravity" take it. Better yet, if your library has it, check it out. Trust me. Evidence of waaaaay too much time on one’s hands: Yes, I did notice that KG used her hands. Did you notice that as the Tour went on she stopped touching him as much <VBG. Of course, she got a good start in NASCAR. The problem I have with OLN (and it’s a nitpick since they carry running events, tris, AND cycling) is the dependence on JavaScript. Not only on JS but on a specific version of JS! For a specific rendering engine! Hellfire and Damnation, there are boys in northern Arkansas who *know* how to deal with those sorts of perverts. That’s good news. 103 AND toad-stranglers. Sheesh. We did a duathlon today – swam a long run in very high humidity. With the fires in Canada and France and the typhoon about to hit Japan or China, the Florida daily rains are not too big a deal. Good luck with your repair cross training. Ah, but it cools down a lot during the storms. Yesterday it was indeed 103, but the humidity had dropped to only 20%. Now the temps are dropping (high 90’s next few days), but the humidity is going up. I think I actually prefer the hot and dry, except for the fact that we need the rain so badly. I like it- "swim a long run"! I’ve done that before, yick!

I can’t even imagine it (20%). During today’s run there was fog coming off the lawns. Fog coming off the streets after a rain is no big deal – happens every day. But, fog off the lawns??? The mushrooms and toadstools have gone nuts. The good news is that my orchids have gone nuts, too. I spend more time on my runs these days looking for native orchids than I do thinking about form. I agree with you – hot and dry is much better for running. Layne The rec.running report archives may be found at http://kinder.cis.unf.edu/rec.running

Response:

These aren’t old pics but if you get a chance to see the video "Victims of Gravity" take it. Better yet, if your library has it, check it out. Trust me.

Hmm, I’ve never heard of it, so I’ll write that down (or the remaining brain cell will never remember!) The problem I have with OLN (and it’s a nitpick since they carry running events, tris, AND cycling) is the dependence on JavaScript. Not only on JS but on a specific version of JS! For a specific rendering engine! Hellfire and Damnation, there are boys in northern Arkansas who *know* how to deal with those sorts of perverts.

Ah, OK. My machine seems OK with it.. I can’t even imagine it (20%). During today’s run there was fog coming off the lawns. Fog coming off the streets after a rain is no big deal – happens every day. But, fog off the lawns??? The mushrooms and toadstools have gone nuts. The good news is that my orchids have gone nuts, too. I spend more time on my runs these days looking for native orchids than I do thinking about form. I agree with you – hot and dry is much better for running. Layne

Believe it or not, 20% humidity around here is considered wet. We have months where it’s single-digit. However, during the summer monsoons it gets more humid, I think it was in the 50%s during yesterday’s run. I have seen the AC in the car spew fog during a t-storm. We were shocked! But I’ll bet the plantlife is spectacular! Wild native orchids, wow! Do they have short needles or long ones? Teresa in AZ (maybe too long now?)

Response:

The problem I have with OLN (and it’s a nitpick since they carry running events, tris, AND cycling) is the dependence on JavaScript. Not only on JS but on a specific version of JS! For a specific rendering engine! Hellfire and Damnation, there are boys in northern Arkansas who *know* how to deal with those sorts of perverts. Ah, OK. My machine seems OK with it..

You’re *still* a nice person. Believe it or not, 20% humidity around here is considered wet. We have months where it’s single-digit. However, during the summer monsoons it gets more humid, I think it was in the 50%s during yesterday’s run. I have seen the AC in the car spew fog during a t-storm. We were shocked! But I’ll bet the plantlife is spectacular! Wild native orchids, wow! Do they have short needles or long ones?

Wow. Anything below 50% around here is worth comment. The AC fog is kinda expected. The orchids here have gone nuts. On my run today, I stopped several times to check out some fallen limbs. Then I took some time to carry the orchids home – good thing it’s a loop route. Toward the end of the run I came across a neighbor who was having some limbs trimmed. They were covered with Green Fly orchids. I talked to the owner and the tree crew about saving some of the orchids. They not only waited while I went and got my car (high tempo run home) but wanted some for themselves. That was great since I’d rather people get involved in saving the little suckers. Here’s a URL for a picture of the orchids. They’re little. http://curly.cis.unf.edu/pics/orchids/epilog2.jpg Some of the spikes this year were almost 2 feet long. Ruuning is a lot of fun when you’re saving endangered species <G. Layne The rec.running report archives may be found at http://kinder.cis.unf.edu/rec.running

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Wow. Anything below 50% around here is worth comment. The AC fog is kinda expected. The orchids here have gone nuts. On my run today, I stopped several times to check out some fallen limbs. Then I took some time to carry the orchids home – good thing it’s a loop route. Toward the end of the run I came across a neighbor who was having some limbs trimmed. They were covered with Green Fly orchids. I talked to the owner and the tree crew about saving some of the orchids. They not only waited while I went and got my car (high tempo run home) but wanted some for themselves. That was great since I’d rather people get involved in saving the little suckers. Here’s a URL for a picture of the orchids. They’re little. http://curly.cis.unf.edu/pics/orchids/epilog2.jpg Some of the spikes this year were almost 2 feet long. Ruuning is a lot of fun when you’re saving endangered species <G.

Nice job, Layne – on both your three runs and saving the orchids Glad to see somebody else enjoys the surroundings on their runs. I finally decided to leave my camera home if I was going to get any continuous hiking / running done on my big hill with the pretty alpine plants in bloom. About 190 pics last time I took it, iirc. Dot — "Success is different things to different people" -Bernd Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

Response:

Some of the spikes this year were almost 2 feet long. Ruuning is a lot of fun when you’re saving endangered species <G. Nice job, Layne – on both your three runs and saving the orchids Glad to see somebody else enjoys the surroundings on their runs. I finally decided to leave my camera home if I was going to get any continuous hiking / running done on my big hill with the pretty alpine plants in bloom. About 190 pics last time I took it, iirc.

Welcome back to civilization. I hear you about the camera. I don’t even take it to as many events as I used to. Good thing memory prices for these digitals have come down. I’ve even looked at IBM’s microdrive ut thought that might be a bit overkill. Also, with the rain we’ve had recently, I’m rusting after my runs so I’d hate to think what would happen to the camera. Layne The rec.running report archives may be found at http://kinder.cis.unf.edu/rec.running

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Believe it or not, 20% humidity around here is considered wet. We have Wow. Anything below 50% around here is worth comment. The AC fog is kinda expected. The orchids here have gone nuts. On my run today, I stopped several times to check out some fallen limbs. Then I took some time to carry the orchids home – good thing it’s a loop route. Toward the end of the run I came across a neighbor who was having some limbs trimmed. They were covered with Green Fly orchids. I talked to the owner and the tree crew about saving some of the orchids. They not only waited while I went and got my car (high tempo run home) but wanted some for themselves. That was great since I’d rather people get involved in saving the little suckers. Here’s a URL for a picture of the orchids. They’re little. http://curly.cis.unf.edu/pics/orchids/epilog2.jpg Layne

Hi Layne- Sorry for the reply delay, I forgot to mention that I was going to be in CA for a week. But I’m back now. So, those little green orchids are parasitic? Thanks for the picture, they *really are* green! And kudos for saving the little guys! We obvioulsy don’t have anything like that here, they’d die of dehydration in no time flat. Are they endangered due to the trees disappearing? Anyway, back to running stuff-Good high tempo run home! Teresa in AZ, desperately trying to catch up the News reading!

Response:

Sorry for the reply delay, I forgot to mention that I was going to be in CA for a week. But I’m back now.

I hear that travel broadens one’s view of the world – or at least provides new running routes. … So, those little green orchids are parasitic? Thanks for the picture, they *really are* green!

They’re kinda parasitic in that the roots go under the outer layer of bark. The question is whether the orchids really do use nutrients from the tree (most people say No). I’ve grown quite a few on mats with no trees. They are also fond of living with resurrection ferns that store water in their roots. The orchids "borrow" water from the ferns during the dry periods. Neat little florals. And kudos for saving the little guys! We obvioulsy don’t have anything like that here, they’d die of dehydration in no time flat. Are they endangered due to the trees disappearing?

They are listed as endangered. The orchid community puts the running community to shame when it comes to over-the-top extremism. Even though I can pick up orchids off the ground in my back yard (or grab some on a run before they are picked up to be mulched), it’s illegal for me to send these to people who would make sure that the orchids survive. CITES. Anyway, back to running stuff-Good high tempo run home!

It was one of the faster runs I’ve done in a while. Teresa in AZ, desperately trying to catch up the News reading!

Good luck with your news-perusing. Between msblast and sobig.f, it’s better to just go for a run. Layne The rec.running report archives may be found at http://kinder.cis.unf.edu/rec.running

Response: