Thursday

This morning I ran with Karen Call's running group in Little Rock just as I had planned. The group was a little smaller than last time I was in Little Rock. Dave, who I ran with the last time was there, but he hurt his foot falling off a ladder, so he just walked. And it seemed that there were some fast marathon women that were missing from the group this morning. So, I headed out for a 4 mile tempo run with Karen, Steve, Alison (I think that's her name), and a couple of others.

After about a mile into the run my left shoelace came untied, so I stopped to retie it. Had to work hard to catch up with the group on the gradual incline. Usually I double knot my laces, but this morning I was rushed to try and meet the group at 5:30, and I neglected to take that step. Oh well, I was running with the group and feeling good. Then about 3 and a half miles into the run my right shoelace came untied. I stopped and retied it, but lost heart and ran the last half mile a lot slower. Still, I finished the four miles in 31:56, just under an 8 minute pace.

At that point it was just Karen, Steve, and me. We then started the next phase of our run - the hill. We ran UP Kavanaugh, which was a pretty good grade for a half mile or so, and then more gradual of a hill. On the way up we passed the radar gun sign just before the curve. It was sort of neat seeing our speed register between 5 and 6 miles per hour. At the half mile point I let Karen and Steve go on. I was starting to tire, so I started walking back down the hill. After a minute or so, I ran into Alison, so I ran back up with her till we got to the post office, which is the mile point. She kept going while I turned back. I think I ended up with a little over six miles. The last two were just over a nine minute pace. When I got back to the parking lot, I waited for Karen and Steve and took there picture. I also got a picture of a newbie named Ken. I was able to encourage him by telling him about Bobby's progress in his running.

I've included a couple of pictures in this post. First is a picture of Ken, Karen, and Steve, and then a picture of me with Karen and Steve. I had a great time running with them, and can't wait for my next trip to Little Rock.

I got back from Little Rock too late to run with the RunnersWorld group, but I did make it in time to cheer them on from 56th and Riverside. It seemed like everyone was doing great tonight; the temperature was a bit cooler. Coach Kathy was missing due to a case of the flu. Get well soon!

Now, the bad news. I have a friend who was going to have a biopsy of his lung today, but they couldn't do the biopsy. He has tumors all over his upper left lung, and whenever they would touch one, it would burst and bleed. Looks like he is going to have to go to surgery, and they are going to remove a large portion of his left lung. Please pray for Danny.