Monday Update

I made it back from Oklahoma City on Thursday in time to do four miles with the RunnersWorld group. I actually made it back after they had left on the run, and I nearly sprinted trying to catch them. Finally caught Kathy about a mile into the run. She was pushing a stroller, so her pace wasn't that fast. Did quite a bit of walking during the run after I caught up. On my running log, I classified the run as a fartlek.

I didn't run at all on Friday through Sunday. Friday I helped my oldest daughter, Melissa, move into an apartment. I slept late on Saturday, then cut the grass and went to a graduation and a wedding. Sunday I didn't do much of anything except go to church in the morning. Robert Provost of Slavic Gospel Association was the speaker at church, and he was telling about how the doors are beginning to close to Russia. The government, together with the Russian Orthodox Church, is doing all it can to close down Protestant churches, schools, orphanages, etc. That's too bad. Just a few years ago I went to Volgodonsk and taught in a Bible Institute there, and it seemed like there was quite a bit of religious freedom.

The good news from the weekend is how Paula and Jennifer did in their half marathons. I looked at the race results from the Aquarium Run, and it looks like they both met their goals. Way to go Paula and Jennifer!!! Paula even finished in the medals, getting second in her age group!

I ran for a little over an hour on Turkey Mountain today and felt pretty good except when my shoelace got caught in a branch, and I stumbled. And then as I was trying to catch myself, I felt sort of a twinge in my back, which repeated itself (the twinge, not the shoelace getting caught) several times during the run. Perhaps my back was still a little tired from moving Melissa on Saturday. I'm sure it's not a bad injury. It may keep me from doing my speed work tomorrow, though. I'll just have to see how it feels.

Tomorrow I will be going to Little Rock. If my schedule allows, I plan on doing speed work with the Little Rock Road Running Club tomorrow evening, riding a bike with the Little Rock Bicycle Club on Wednesday evening, and running with the running club (but probably a different group) on Thursday morning. I'm not sure what next weekend looks like, but I may do a 5k, either on Saturday or Monday.