Wow, summer is in full swing. It is hot. Spent the weekend painting the shed. Paint was drying extremely fast. I was sweating, and the dog was panting.
Last night got out for a run around 9:15. Put in 3.3 miles in a hair under 28 minutes. Felt good, even though it was still baking outside. The temp sing said 84, but the radiant heat from the concrete/asphalt felt a lit warmer.
Tonight-Basketball.
Went for a run for lunch. It was warm. I think my future lunch runs need to be down to the trail along the Oklahoma river, as downtown is just getting so stinking hot. They just re-blacktopped a lot of streets downtown, and geez do they radiate some heat. Mid-90’s plus radiant heat with very little shade=very warm, sweaty, draining run.
The river on the other hand is usually breezy, and there is no traffic putting off heat. But there is no shade, and there are no hills, so what am I to do.
Anywhoo, the run was a nice 4.5 miler. just a shade under 40 minutes. Still sweating though.
So I haven’t been too psyched about Le Tour in a couple of years. Call it the let down after LA if you will. But with all the doping allegations, and positive pops, along with not having VS. to watch it on, I just haven’t gotten too pumped about it. But I decided to check it out yesterday, and googled live TdF feed, and found a free streaming site. Wow! What a great stage. You can’t beat a 4 man break that survives on an early, flat stage. And the finish was a mad dash all out sprint for darn near a full 2km. Exciting to say the least. Plus, one of the boys in tin foil (my new team to watch, Garmin/Chipotle) finished 2d, a half wheel off the line.
Even better, I figured out we have VS. on the satelite channels at work, so right now, the first individual TT is going off. Jens Voight is fast. Love hearing Phil and Paul. Best commentary ever. Its great listening to Phil trying to say Chipotle. If you ever saw the Jack in the Box commercial about 5 years back where they introduced som chipotle sandwich, you have the idea. It comes out different every time.
There is an ad running throughout the tv broadcast which slaps Jan, Floyd, and Vino smooth across the face. It has them all going in reverse and finishes with the podium shot of Floyd with the winners jersey coming off (rather than going back on). It is for Take back the Tour which is run by VS. Pretty good idea. And a good reminder that those guys are still amazing on their own, for the most part.
Only real disappointment is that Chipotle changed the jerseys pretty drastically when Garmin became the lead sponsor. Dropping the orange/blue argyle for a blue and black kit, with a small patch of argyle. But what are you going to do?
Went to the Y yesterday and did some stretching and lifting. Was running a bit late, so didn’t get a run in.
This morning I did get out of the house for a run. Put in a strong 4.1 miles in just under 36 minutes. It was a bit steamy outside, but still a great feeling.
So I made it back to the Y this morning. Started with another good run. 3.75 in 32 min. Again looped through the neighborhood. It was a bit warmer today, but that may be due to not getting out the door until 6:50am. Oh well, but I still made it. Continued the stretching, incorporating a few yoga poses from the yoga for paddlers vid. And finished with the standard (or soon to be) back, abs, chin-ups, and dips.
Now if I can continue and throw in a few laps in the pool next week. Hoping to hit the road bike at least once over the weekend. Would be a nice feeling I’m sure.
Got out the door again for a workout before work. Another beautiful morning. Mid 60’s warm sun. Hit the pavement for 3.5 miles in 29 and some change. Really cooked the last .5 miles. Ran from the Y down by our old house. Was fun to be in the old hood, and I expect I’ll add that to the normal route instead of just running along a busy street the whole time.
Finished up with some stretching followed by some backwork, ab work, chin-ups and dips.
To make it bookends of exercise, I ended the day mowing theyard until about 10pm. Good stuff. The compost pile is really stacking up.
Wow, its a Monday, early afternoon, and I’ve already run and done some ab and shoulder work. Woo-hoo! This morning was one of those that allow summer to be bearable. On my way to the Y by 6:20 and showing 64F on the temp gauge. Can’t hope for better weather, and it was clear with a gentle breeze from time to time. Couldn’t help but be excited by the rising sun and glistening dew. Put in 4.3 miles in a little over 39 min. But everything felt good. Followed up with some crunches, chin-ups and dips.
Funny scene as I was apporaching the Y. There were 2 huge jackrabbits that were flying across the field and about 75 yards behind and losing ground was a standard poodle, followed shortly by an english pointer. The Y sits on the site of the old naval airfield and is complete with a couple hundred acres of empty fields. As I was about 1.5 mi into the run, the pointer came back across the field and hopped up into its owner’s truck. No idea where the poodle was.
On another note, harvested the first of a hopeful crop of zucchinis. It is a very nice footlong specimen with a girth near 3.5 inches. Can’t wait to grill it up. Pics to come on the other site.
Finally got back out for a run this weekend, Ran from the house to meet Carrie, G&A at Target for some groceries. Left in the heat of the day around 12 noon. Got in a solid 3.5 miles. Felt really good. Wished I had taken some water with me though as I was extremely parched when I arrived. No pain, and actually had decent time, around 9:15/mile. Can’t wait to get some more miles under the belt.
Also got a short ride to church and back last night for VBS. Felt great coming home around 8:30ish, with the cool breeze of the evening setting in.
Had a good weekend. Went to some friends’ house for dinner and swimming Saturday night. Actually, Carrie and the kids swam while I enjoyed a pleasant evening. Finished the day with a 3.1 miler. Didn’t want to get too fired up so close to bed. Good run, missed the heat of the day, but the concrete still had all of the day’s heat stored up and kept the evening fairly warm.
Sunday we rode to church. Actually, I rode about half way before blowing out the front tire. I recently got a new pair of tires for the road bike from performance bike. Kevlar and wire and supposedly great for cut protection. Most of the comments about the tires were good, with an exception of them being excessively narrow. I’ve been running 700×19 lately and really enjoy that width (makes me feel a little faster than I am). But I took heed and ordered 700×25. They are actually narrower than my previous tires, and that led the the blowout. I think I was running them at too high pressure and I noticed after about .75 mile that I was getting a bulge on the front tire. Slowed down and thought the sidewall of the tire had blown, but kept on as we were a tad late. Bulge got bigger and, BANG! Tire blew. Moved the trailer to Carrie’s bike and walked home. Noticed that the side wall was just fine, so the tire must have come unseated from the rim. Definitely have to run lower pressure in them.
Anyway, got the other bike ready to roll and headed off the church. We had a Sunday School picnic afterward and thought it was at one park (south side of town), when in actuality it was at another (north side of town). So we got in an extra 5 miles or so of riding before getting to the picnic. But it really was a great day to ride even though I was in long sleeves and pants.
Dear Interwebs,
Hi, I’m back. Been a little while. Life has been hectic. The kiddos are both teething. Abs began actual crawling yesterday. They have decided that a 5:30am snack is a good thing, when in fact it is not. Additionally, we hosted a crawfish boil this past weekend complete with 80 lbs of mudbugs and all the trimmings. Good stuff, but a lot to plan and do, and even harder to do it while juggling the kiddos. Plus work has been super busy.
But I’ve been slowly getting back into the workout routine. Over the last week I’ve clocked 4 runs, a couple of walks, an evening lake paddle, a few weights, and this morning my first swim in, oh about a month. Highlight of exercising was probably the Sunday am bike to church with the kiddos in the trailer. Great fun, even though it was getting fairly warm by the time we headed home. I’m moving for a vote on the appropriateness of shorts in church during the summer months.
I pledge to be more diligent, interwebs, that is after this weekend’s trip to Houston to sweat, sweat, sweat.
So, I’ve actually been running again lately. At the OKC 1/2 Marathon Expo, I went on the prowl for a new pair of kicks. I had been looking for a while, but couldn’t decide on what I would end up with. I had whittled it down to a new pair of Saucony Hurricane or MC5 or MC6, or Brooks Adrenaline GTS, Addiction or Trance. I was leaning toward one of the Brooks as I’m still digging on the Beasts, but wanted something a little more streamlined (so the Addiction were low on the list). The Brooks have lasted extremely well, and I think I’ll still keep them around for walking and light running as they don’t feel worn out quite yet.
I also hadn’t written off a pair of Pearl Izumis either, but hadn’t been able to get much info on them. But they had a booth at the expo advertising a sale, so I stopped by. The very nice lady sent me toward their other station which had their motion control/stability shoes, so off I went. But I ran across a stand of sale shoes on the way there and low and behold, in my size at over 1/2 off were a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS. Tried them on and was immediately sold. Extremely comfy, great cushioning, and solid in the right places.
I’ve now been on 4 runs in them (2.5 miles, 3.5 miles, 4.2 and 4.7 miles) and am really digging them. They are not the plushest ride, but they are solid and give great support. There is a fair amount of cushion, but like the Beasts, it is definitely more of a thick cushioned material that, as the Beasts have shown has lasted for a long time. So I think I may be becoming a Brooks man. Sorry Saucony. You shouldn’t have messed with the Omni 4 which sent me off on my search.