it's gettin' hot over here.....

this morning we enjoyed another 4 hour, 20-mile training effort as miz pokey continues to gain steam; this jaunt in all the heat and humidity tiny delaware could muster. and, that's plenty this time of year. so the training goes on as we continue to work towards rbc and jfk; if you get a chance click on link on tsi front page and take a peek at the badwater story from the washington post, and the accompanying pics. in there you will find one mister david bursler, who hails from Bear, DE; and ran to a first place tie at the '06 tsi fattest butt, back on new years day. mr. dave is not only a delawarean but a true gentleman, and lucky for us a friend of da' slugs. no doubt he'll bring back an incredible story from death valley, and i'll definitely share the link with you all. from the first state, john.

running through the heat and into the fall...

....another great week of running as time draws us closer to the fall running season. here in central delaware we're especially excited about the upcoming rbc event; mostly just because i look forward to seeing some old friends, and welcoming some new slugs. we have had some incredible heat this week, and yet this morning had some powerful thunderstorms/rain roll through. it was fantastic and lowered the temp a good fifteen degrees. it shoved my workout into the gym though. i quit running in lightning after the little incident in pensacola, florida in 1999. i still have scars from that. i hope all of you are enjoying your summer running. while rbc is officially closed, if you have a deep down desire to earn your own "slug shirt" shoot me an e-mail and we can work something out. have a great week, john.

chasing buffaloes in delaware.....

pokey and i skipped our long run out in the slug forest; and traded it for a road 20k, actually the 28th annual great buffalo stampede 10k in wyoming, delaware hosted by the downstate delaware striders. we just did it twice. we started in heavy fog with absolutely no fellow competitors and were off flyin through the peach trees of kent county, dodging farm trucks and ymca buses. the ymca guy just about took off my ear. that definitely would have put a cramp in my fall marathon plans. pokey and i are making great strides as we continue working towards the longer fall runs. this morning early we enjoyed narrow lanes and aid station workers that seemed mystified as to what we were doing out at the turnaround so early. it's hard to imagine a couple of slugs could be leadin....no, that couldn't be it; so we just smiled at 'em and kept movin. thats always the key, whatever the distance, and in the heat/humidity this morning we maintained a good pace and even finished strong. if you're looking for a good, fast, hometown 10k, this is it. the folks are friendly, and mercifully allowed our finish to be official. we came in at 2:21:03, much shorter than our normal long run; but still a worthy effort. pokey-slug managed to finagle the "crazy horse award" by finishing dead last. she's my hero. slugs, i hope all is fantastic with your running and your life this beautiful summer day. happy days, john.

baseball in the first state....

I had the good fortune to spend last evening at a minor league baseball game. the wilmington blue sox were hosting the frederick keys during a hot summer night baseball classic in northern delaware. i'd never been to that stadium before, but have loved the minors all my life. being there is much different than being at a major league game. the fans seem more enthusiastic, more interested and more fun-loving. the promotions may be corny, but they are interesting. one of my favorites last night was when a new car was driven around the field, and fans were allowed to try to throw rubber golf balls into the sunroof. or, when they brought out three large trash cans, and some lucky contestant got to choose one to pick up a prize. interestingly enough, the prizes for every contest seemed to be free tickets to the next home game. baseball is surely a deep reflection of life in this free country. and, at a time when the dollar (and, steroids) has shaken the integrity of the game it is refreshing to be sit and watch the young and old, men and women, spread out in the bleachers enjoying the sport the way it should be played. so today if you're reading this and you want to enjoy a cross-section of american life, go to a game; a minor league game. if you want to get on the field that's easy too. during the month of may the final couple hundred yards of the frederick marathon are run around the outfield grass and finishes at home plate. now that's a marathon :)

i hope your running is going swell this summer season. rbc is now just 78 days away, and we have 18 confirmed entrants. whooo-hooo. that's a big field for us. while "running man" has officially closed all entries, if you really wanna come and run an ole-time, real life ultra, please give me a call. i could squeeze in another or two. take the app seriously, this is not a serious run. it'll be a nice little gang of adventurers chasing yet another wild dream. kind of like the young men on that northern delaware baseball field last night. traveling around the east coast, playing for peanuts, all sharing a dream that their hard work and talent will get them to the next level. keep dreamin' and enjoy every moment of your life. happy days, john.

cool air at 1400 feet in my maryland....

my weekend long run was perfect....out on the catoctin loop; straight up to wolf rock and around the upper perimeter, thurmond overlook, hog rock, cunningham falls, and back to the start. my ole budd, carolina blue, was out with me (in the cool air---low 50's early a.m.) and reminding me to start taking better care of myself. he said, "...the years between 44 and 54 are critical; everything starts to clog up and slow down..." and i'm taking his advice. additionally, the internet has allowed us to communicate immediately and across the miles---and this allows us to find some fellow humans with similar dispositions. that's what we've tried to do at tsi. attract and surround ourselves with positive, kind, loving, and motivated people. accepting anything less is not being fair to yourself. so please today and always be kind to yourself and those around you. i always try to remember, when it's hard to be loving, that each fellow human being is doing the absolute best that they can in that given moment of time. it may not be very good, and it may be hurting you or others, but in that moment they're doing the best that they can. the clear air up there in northern frederick county made for a perfect running day that facilitated a lot of clear thinking. i hope that each of you are happy where you are in your lives. if not, please heed one of my absolute favorite quotes ever spoken by one mister timothy leary, "if you're not happy with your life, just pick up your needle and move to another groove." happy days from the first state, john.

From the ROK: Firing Missles at da' Slugs.....

ok, so North Korea is now launching missles at da' slugs and i know why. he is still pissed because i wouldn't give him a slug-shirt and name him an honorary member during TSI's "Run to the DMZ in 2003" team trot. now he's takin it out on my budd, the animal, and i assure you tsi is takin it seriously. the white house is aware of the situation and is working with japan on settling this issue. in the meantime my bro, d'animal, promises me plans are well underway for the fall run. it'll be in conjunction with the rbc50k, and finishers will receive the original slug-shirt. so shoot all you want crazy man, team slug will not be deterred!!!!!! happy days, da'hitman

The Bird tried to Kill Me; or My Best Run Ever!

ok slug fans, so our (me and pokey's) training has not been particularly hard, or fast. that's true. but what our training has been is steady and regular. and, we all know that steady and regular, combined with refusing to quit, gets ya to the finish line. and, for runners like us, that remains priority number 1. yesterday was our best training day of the year as the time climbed to four hours, and the mileage to over half of the 50K+ course. the humidity was down, but temps were still well into the 80's and with the diving red-winged blackbirds coming literally within inches of us, it made for an unforgettable long morning jaunt. delaware is so unusual, in a good-way of course :) ms. pokey continues to work hard, and remain a positive delight during the long runs. she's coming into rbc, having never run a marathon. and, while i don't normally think that's a good idea, right now i'm beginning to understand that maybe it doesn't matter in what order we approach these long runs. we just need to keep doin it and get ourselves prepared. ms pokey believes in herself, her body and mind so much, that she will finish. no matter what it takes. it reminds me of an old t-shirt lost so long ago, put out by a running company; "all it takes, is all you got." and she's got it, and i'm just along for the ride. it's an exciting year. so many changes and all of them good.

Other news; i received a nice note from the "All-Nighter" as he continues to mount TSI's next attempt at jfk. He's hard at work recruiting some of the "finest slugs dat ever wobbled." We have a chance to not only pick up the Individual Crazy Horse Award, but are the favorites in the Team category as well. Could be a clean sweep!

I hope each of you are having the finest running & life days of your entire life. Stay kind and positive, and take care of yourselves. I'm looking forward to the day when we will each/all meet again. happy days, john.