Welcome to my 1st blog entry. I thought there was no better topic to start this experiment than to introduce you to the crazy girls I run with: MAP, Bengi, Laura and Judy.   I rarely run without them.  RARELY.  I have learned that I have come to need them to have a great run, well, a great run over 20 miles, that is. When we run there is no topic that is off limits. These women know more about me than my closest non-running friends... we talk about EVERYTHING...

Of course, we’ve had runs where we get upset at each other. Ok, maybe I just get upset. With me, if I'm having a crappy run, then I am crappy company.   I don’t want to talk, I dont want to joke, I dont want to talk about how I'm feeling and I dont want to take pictures (and if there’s one thing they like to do, it is TALK and take pictures). They love to take pictures, no matter how their run is going.

Back to the introduction of these tough running machines.  Most of the (mis) adventures that I will write about, undoubtedly, will involve one or all of them.
So, without further delay…

M.A.P. - The Ringleader. I like to call her my mentor. If MAP says to run, I run. If she says to walk the uphills, I walk the uphills. I don’t think I’ve ever questioned any running instruction she has given me. I have only seen her have a bad race once. ONCE!
Oh yeah and she loves to drink. Thanks to her, I’ve had beer by 6am and a mixed drink by 9am. All in the same day.

Bengi - She has a knack for stepping on frogs during lots of our runs. The rest of us have yet to see any of these alleged frogs but she still swears it was there (inside joke). She will tell you what she thinks whether you wanna hear it or not, it’s pretty, it’s ugly. You will never have to try to figure out what’s on her mind.

Laura - My one and only sole sister. Saying she’s tough is an understatement. She’s been to Iraq & kicked ass. She is the only person I know that hates to train but loves to run on race day. It’s not uncommon for her longest training run for a 60k (37 miles) to have been only a 13 miler, yet, she shows up on race day and runs the entire 60k comfortably.  My only pet peeve - she is very good at convincing those she is running with to cut the run short so we can have ‘ritas. Thanks to her, I’ve had to impose a new rule when we run: If we don’t run the mileage we agreed to, NO MARGARITAS!!!

Judy - She kicks ass no matter what she’s doing. Kickboxing, cross fit, weightlifting, its doesnt matter... she’s done it and done it well. Her special talent is keeping me from tripping. durning races, it's not uncommon for her to pick me up off the ground from my camelbak before I even realize I'm on the dirt.

There will be a rotating cast of characters, I am sure, but these characters will remain a staple here.

I expect most of my posts to deal with my/our running (mis) adventures but I will also write about random stuff that I like. I look forward to posting early in the a.m. when insomnia has arrived or when the ambien has kicked in. Enjoy.