reality

Shan and I had a great run this morning.  We did the 7.4 mile Lamar/ Pleasant Valley loop in 1:13.40.  Very happy with that.  It's a Thursday morning PR by over 2 minutes!!  Yesterday and today's morning runs have gone a bit better due to some early electrolyte intake......I think.  Both mornings I've had a Camelbak tab with a cold glass of water before I left home and I think that's made a bit of difference.   This morning I got up a little earlier than usual so I was able to take my time and also eat a banana along with a Clif Bar.  One of my problems has been that I haven't taken the time do any post run stretching in a long long time, especially after our Thursday runs.  Today Shan did some extra miles so I took the time to go thru my normal stretching routine and my hip feels much better as I'm writing this.  As recently as a week ago I was afraid my goal race in Sep, The Rough Creek 40 miler was in serious jeopardy but is now looking like it can be a reality!!

6am Temp 71 Humidity 93%

feller

Easy 7 miles this morning at Townlake in 1:16.  This past Sunday a light came on in my gourd while I was in the downtown sweat lodge that is Austin Tx this time of year.  I've been having issues with my left hip and piriformis again after all these years.  It's really been bugging me and getting me down and then I remembered how I fixed it ten years ago, walking like a barefoot caveman!!  I immediately started doing it and I could tell a difference right away.  Today, 3 days later my hip is much improved and I think it's also helping my knee!! This morning on my run I carried the caveman style to my running and was relatively pain free the entire run, only some very minor knee ache.  Where I'm really seeing the difference is this morning at work post run.  Lately after my morning runs my left hip has hurt and ached so bad I couldn't come anywhere near walking normally.  This morning post run my hip feels much better than it has in weeks.  So, the hip and the knee are not 100% but they are both headed in the right direction and that makes this old feller HAPPY!!!

21

21 mile weekend with 4:37 minutes on foot.  11 yesterday at Bull Creek/ Forest Ridge and 10 today at Townlake.  I got my new Altra Paradigm shoes and there are great.  My left knee liked them a lot and that's what I was hoping for.  Yesterday's run was late morning/ early afternoon and was good because because the morning humidity was gone.  I started today's run a few minutes before 9 and the humidity really kept me down, but I was happy with 2hrs it took me.   Very happy with this weekends effort!!

10

10 miles this morning around Townlake with Shan in 1:50.  It was a pretty brutal run.  I'm very thankful for Shan's patience because we did a lot of walking today.  I was simply gassed after a few miles.  There are several factors including the humidity and just 2 of us now for conversation.  When we had Mark I could limit my part of the talking and let he and Shan carry on with me interjecting a few words now and then on the 2nd half of the run.  With Mark gone I'm fully in the conversation so it seems after 3-4 miles my heart rate is not catching a break at all.  Oh well, 'tis the season, at least winter is gone!!!

warm

15 mile weekend for me!!  Yesterday Jay, John and John's son and I hiked one Ken's loop and then I did another loop solo.  Today Misty and I explored a trail I've seen the trailhead for and was curious.  It's right where Old Spicewood Springs and Spicewood Springs meet.  It was a very nice 1.2 mile loop.  When we finished that I suggested we go downtown and walk the boardwalk at Townlake.  It was fun but very warm.

#2

Boardwalk run #2 went much better than #1.  My hip and knee felt much better today than they did Tuesday.  Not sure what the difference was but I'll take it.  Shan and I had a good run.  We mixed in 2 sets of walking totaling about 5-6 minutes and did the Lamar/ Pleasant Valley loop in 1:15.  When we got to the Lamar footbridge I asked Shan what the distance was and when she said 7.3 I said I'm done, lets walk in. She didn't complain.  

enough

7 miles at Townlake this morning.  The new boardwalk is super cool.  Looks like I may be walking it a lot.  I think my body may be trying to tell me it's had enough running.  Getting really tired of nursing these nagging aches/ pains/ injuries.  I'll still be aiming for my 20 mile a week goal but with many more walking miles.

friends

My childhood bud Jay and I hiked Ken's in 2hrs Saturday morning.  Even though we just reunited 4yrs ago after 30yrs I consider Jay one of my oldest friends.  His family moved 2 houses from my Grandparents when he was 5 and I was 7.  DD and I spent a lot of time at my Grandparents so therefore Jay and played a lot together.  Mostly front yard football and chasing the ice cream truck.  All very fond memories.  

We moved to the south side of San Antonio the summer before my 7th grade year and my Grandparents moved at the same summer so Jay and I weren't reunited until he was a freshman and I was a junior in high school.  I don't have much recollection of us really being friends again until the next year.  We were both hurdlers and I gave him rides home from school occasionally. 

Flash forward to sometime in '09.  We were hooked up my by old neighborhood pal Chuck Dakin and found out we've lived within 5-6 miles of each other for many years.  We've really hit it off again and become very good friends the last 4 years with many more to come!!

early

Early morning 4 miler today.

car

My car has been in the body shop for almost a month.  We've got a guy painting my car for very cheap on a side job so we're sort of at his mercy.  He first said it should be ready by the end of May, then he said this Thursday.  Now it's been pushed to Saturday or Sunday.  I had been using alternately my boss's 3/4 ton Chevy 4 door truck and his Jeep, both gas hogs.  Yesterday when I found out that my car wouldn't be ready till the weekend I told Misty that I'd really like to get a loaner from her work.  She said I could just take her to work this morning and drive her car and she'd bring home the loaner this evening.

So, as not to put anybody out I decided I'd just run home from work yesterday.  I got on Google Maps and it looked like it was going to be around 8 miles or less.  I went up Balcones Dr/ Mopac access road across Mopac at Farwest and took the sidewalk down to Shoal Creek.  I headed north from there all the way to 183.  I turned left and took the turnaround under 183 and saw a trail that took me parallel to Mopac for a bit and then onto Neils-Thompson the back way.  Then over to Longhorn and on to Burnet Rd north.  Things got a little tight on parts of the south bound side of Burnet but I made it.  Even with my fairly direct short cuts it ended up being a bit over 9 miles in 1:44.  Pretty darn happy with that considering my left knee and left hip were hurting and the neuroma on my right foot was flaring up too!!

cigs

Got in a hung over 5+ at Kens Saturday and a good 7+ at Forest Ridge yesterday in the heat.  Yesterday was the 16th anniversary of no cigs and I also went over 17,000 miles since then.  Pretty darn cool.  I really look forward to this anniversary every year.  It's a nice reminder about me changing my life for the better permanently.  A cool side note is Misty followed suit 3 months later!!