Archive for July, 2008

Lunch Run

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

Back in the swing today.  4.75 miles, just over 41 minutes.  Felt good, but good golly was I wet when I got back to the office.  IT must have been 95% humidity out, and near 85F.  The humidity was killer however.  IT felt like I had returned to South Louisiana for the day.  Unfortunately we still haven’t gotten any rain out of the clouds though.

On another note, looks like the pro testing still needs to get better.  Ricco was tested about 10 times, and only 2 popped positive.  That make me feel better about the prospects of a clean race.

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Lunch Run

Friday, July 25th, 2008

Went out for a 4.25 miler at lunch yesterday.  In the heat.  Actually pre-heat of the day, as it was only low 90’s.  Felt good up to 3 miles or so, so I ventured into the convention center downtown to try to find a water fountain.  Ended up walking the entire length and width of said building before finding that lovely water.  But it did help cool me down.  Was surprised to see numerous groups of walkers hitting the large loop inside the building.  Great way to get some exercise without getting the heat.  After finding my water, headed back to the office.

Earlier I had thought about running down to the river, but then realized that the road to said water is under construction and a tight 2 lane mess with high barriers on each side.  So strike that idea.

Off to Dallas for a wedding this afternoon.  So looks like another weekend w/out a run.  Oh well.

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21 Corners to Heaven

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

Basketball was good last night.  Actually, my team for the night lost 4 of 5, but hey, what are you going to do.  There was a lot of running and gunning, playing full court 4 on 4 with 1 sub.  Played for 1.5 hours, so was pretty beat afterward.

Today is without a doubt my favorite part of the Tour.  L’Alpe.  Can’t be beat.  14km of pur climbing.  Average gradient of 7.9%.  Brutal, exhilirating.  I’ll say it again, but someday I want to ride that beast.  Give me a couple of hours and meet me on top with a bottle of vino if you prefer, but someday.  Put it near the top of lifetime dreams.

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Summertime

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

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.

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Friday afternoon

Friday, July 18th, 2008

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.

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Newsletter: 10 Months

Friday, July 18th, 2008

So I’m half a month late.  We’ve been very busy, with guests and out of town the last two weekends.

But your ninth month was full of fun.  We managed to get a trip to visit Grammy and Grandpa in Spring Branch.  Mommy and I even went out for a nice dinner with friends and spent the night in Austin while you 2 stayed at G&G’s house.  You did wonderfully of course, and we were so happy to see you the next afternoon at Oma’s room.  And to top it off it was father’s day.  A great first one for me seeing as how I got to paddle at the Buena Vista play park the day before.

Ab’s is now all over the place, crawling as fast a child can crawl.  Also pulling up on everything and standing for long periods of time.

Geo is getting more adventurous leaning way over and even getting on you knees and using your hands to pull your upper body in the direction you want to go.  And you’re very proficient at rolling to what you want.

You’re still getting new finger foods, such as green beans, peaches rolled in wheat germ, yogurt, plums, bread, and pizza crusts, and loving evry bit of it.

Sorry for the short update, but I’ll get more next month.

love,

Daddy-Doo

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Le Tour

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

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.

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3 outta 4 ain’t bad

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

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.

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Tuesday Morning fun

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008

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.

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