Trending in the Right Direction

Last week, I put over 38 miles on my feet. That's the first time I've done more than 32 miles in a week this year.

Also, I ran my easy 3-mile loop at faster than the necessary race pace to hit a 2-hour half marathon.

IF (and that's a big if) I can keep this up, I just might be able to do the US Half in under 2 hours.

Wish me luck...

Read More

Out and Back

In 2009, I ran 4 half-marathons and a 17K, but none at less than a 9-minute mile pace. In 2010, so far, I've done a hilly but gorgeous local 10K at a 10:23 mile pace and supported a friend through a run-walk of the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon.

In truth, I haven't actually truly trained for a race since 2008.

And, as usual, our annual trip to the capital of fried food, has coupled with the blessings brought by barbeque season to give me the gift of more mass than I want to carry.

Oh, and I've taken to listening to Spanish lessons on my runs, which requires me to slow down so I can concentrate (or at least that's what I tell myself).

This is all a very long way of saying:

I'm in the worst cardiovascular shape that I've been in for quite some time.

So, it should be no surprise to me that when E2 and I met up at the Lexington Reservoir for a long run today, I had my work cut out for me. This route is great for training because the way out is mainly downhill and the way back is mostly uphill.

8.79 miles later, I am whooped.

I originally told E2 that I was going to try to break 2 hours at my 5th consecutive participation in the US Half Marathon. I suspect I may need to modify my goal...

Read More

Food is Love

After many false starts, Brother has hired two dependable nighttime caregivers who alternate to care for him in the evenings.

One is the wife of a man who owns a taqueria.

The other lives with her mother who makes homemade Mexican food in bulk and sells it as a side business.

Brother has stopped losing weight.

And, tonight, I paid an awesomely reasonable price for hand-delivered home-made pozole.

Like his father before him, my brother is a genius when it comes to people and food.

Read More

Spam

It's not pretty.

No one wants it.

And yet, despite requiring approval for comments, my professional blog has become an unwilling target.

Thank goodness for Akismet, who says:


You are using monochrome theme with 0 widgets. This is WordPress version 2.5.1.

Akismet has protected your site from 8,592 spam comments already, but there's nothing in your spam queue at the moment.


Ahhh.... that's relief.

Read More

Fraud Alert

Arvay's post on Active.com's fraud is worth reading if you ever register for races with them.

Read More

More Southern Snippits

Today, I took a client call from a London client (yay EST instead of PST!!!) for 40 minutes at 9 AM and went for 2.5 mile walk in Grant Park while chatting. I was warm upon my return, but okay. Then, I headed out for 3 miles of a slow running with S and had to call it short at 2.25 miles because my body just really didn't want to go any further in the 90F+ heat with 60%+ humidity.

Late this afternoon, I actually needed to take a nap to recover.

Thankfully, here in the South, they have professional solutions to this problem. Like the super-fancy awesome popsicle man, the King of Pops (I opted for lemon-basil from the King of Pops' selection of dozens of options, how awesome is that?):



and his unfortunate side effects:



At home, this summer, when everything has been cool and calm and chill, I've had no problem busting out 6-9 miles without planning or training or struggle. For we have no king of pops.

Acclimatization is no joke.

Yesterday, I struggled to jog through a rough 4 miles in 89F with 70% humidity in rolling hills and very little shade. Then, after a shower and some work, E and I walked the 1-mile route to Alon's for a delicious French/Israeli-inspired lunch. MMMmmm... We walked home and I was exhausted, ready for another shower followed by a nap. Damn, the heat and humidity here just kills me.

In other Southern news, today's awesome lunch was sandwiches at Star Provisions followed by stocking up on various meats for the labor day weekend gorging gout-inducement feast.

From there, we went to The Dekalb Farmers' Market, which, frankly, is the opposite of what I think of as a farmers' market.

There was a clear landlord, who controlled the check-out, and photography was not allowed, and many imported items were sold on shelves that were stocked, Costco-style. It was huge. Organized. And, amazingly well stocked. A better selection of lentils then I've ever seen in my life in one location. An impressive meat section. A staggering seafood section -- live crabs, clams, lobsters, fish of many varieties with signs warning "children may not handle live seafood" (only children? SWEET!).

Overall, if you had to pick one place to shop for the rest of your life, this would have to be in contention for the number one spot. I mean, the watermelon selection alone was so amazing that I broke the photo rules and took this photo:



The love of food here is something I can't help but support. In fact, if you are interested in molecular gastronomy, our last night's dessert with friends was an epic commitment to science and food that you should enjoy.

Tonight's dinner was a wonderful evening of conversation, drinks, and food at Leon's full service with the folks I love from the first company I successfully counseled to a positive exit as a solo practitioner -- ShootQ.

Overall, the South is treating my quite well, and I cannot complain. I hope your holiday weekend is shaping up accordingly.

Read More