meeting dan

connect.garmin.com/activity/95847211

i gave out my first business card at the end of today's ride. i gave it to a fellow cyclist i'd met out in the middle of nowhere south of town. let me tell you how i got to where dan and i met.

i took off this morning, knowing i needed to ride west and south into the wind so my ride home would be pleasant. what did i do? i rode east and north. silly man! i figured out after a few blocks that i was headed the wrong direction, so i turned west and zigzagged my way across town. i wanted to hit the side road out of town. i got there eventually, but i'd never noted what street i needed to take, so there was a little hit and miss before i found 5th street and the road i wanted.

i rode out past skyline school where my wife was hired yesterday and connected there with old highway 50. i rode it to 50th and turned south. i'd wanted to explore this road a bit, so i cruised along discovering beautiful rolling hills and a dog. thankfully the dog was the live and let live type. he just watched me roll by.

when i hit 50th and 50th, i turned around and headed back toward town. that's when i met dan. we slowed down to meet up and he decided to escort me back to town. he'd just left the other dan, the one i met when i was here on vacation, so we decided to try to catch him. we didn't, but we had a great time riding along at something north of 20mph most of the way back to town.

when we crossed the city limits, we wound our way back toward my house. we rode past several cyclists' houses and even stopped in to meet brandon. he, dan and i are going to ride together tomorrow morning at 6:00. better set an alarm!

so that's how i got to meeting a new friend and handing out my first business card. (23.98 miles @ 17.1mph)

first ride as a prattan

my garmin battery was dead when i pulled it out this morning, so i grabbed my stopwatch and headed out on the road. i headed south into the wind down howard and after a couple of turns, hit country club road and it's hills. woohoo! (passed someone from my new church out running just before i started climbing. hi roxie!)

i rode south as far as the pavement went, then turned west on 30th and headed over to 281. i took 281 south to 60th and then turned around to head back to town.

rather than turn on 30th and retrace my route back home, i rode straight down into pratt on 281, then turned east on 6th street. i turned north on commodore, hoping for a different way home, but i ran into the backside of the hospital and had to turn east to get around it. the next street was howard, so i just rode back up howard and around to my starting point on edgeford. home! (14.67 miles @ 16.6mph)

2.56 miles in 31:14

i got back from my ride this morning and my wife wanted to go for a run, so i posted my ride, then changed to my running gear and headed out again. it was considerably warmer than when i left for my ride. the sun was intense. we walked a few blocks to warm up and then ran a loop starting at belmont and maple and ending there. the distance is approximate since i didn't have my garmin and i had to guess the route for the new road that google maps hasn't found yet. a good run with a couple of walk breaks.

last minute errands

had to ride here and there today to take care of business before tomorrow. you know what tomorrow is? it's moving day! can't believe it's arrived. i sleep in argonia tonight and in pratt tomorrow night. weird. (5.48 miles @ 10.0mph)

1.00 mile in 10:08

connect.garmin.com/activity/94840710

i thought it was time for a walk. my wife thought it was time for a run. i guess you see who won. a pretty quick mile for her! woohoo! nice to blow off some steam before what i'm sure will be an emotional last sunday at my current church.

ten times the pain

connect.garmin.com/activity/94674099

the wind was back this morning. yippee. i started to ride south into it, but couldn't muster the mental fortitude needed to go teeth first against a gale. i turned around, rode to the highway and headed east.

just before the two-mile mark on this ride, i realized it had been awhile since i'd done intervals. i guess enough time had elapsed that i'd forgotten the pain, because i decided to give them a whirl this morning. don't ask me how i can lack the mental want to for a headwind and then choose intervals. it's inexplicable.

i did five quarter-mile sprints with 3/4 mile "rest" between each of them, spun it out and got my heart rate under control for three miles and then did five more all-out efforts on the miles. whew! that was crazy!

i finished the ride with a leisurely spin into town, taking main street south and then circling around to home. (15.38 miles @ 16.1mph)

trying for rain

connect.garmin.com/activity/94484752

i've done all i can do now to bring the rain short of carrying an umbrella to work. i've prayed for rain and i've ridden my bike 25 miles with dark clouds looming on the horizon the whole time. still no rain.

my ride this morning was amazing. after yesterday's lazy "stroll", i had the energy in my legs to hammer a little. i rode south of town into a light ESE wind. the clouds off to the west were ominous. i was fully prepared to get a little wet. i picked it up after two or three miles and zoomed along the road keeping constant pressure on the pedals, pushing my heart and lungs. i was still aerobic, but was close to the edge.

i hit the 8-mile mark at highway 44 and turned east. i still had time to ride a few more miles. i wanted at least 20, so i figured i could get at least two more in before i had to turn around. turns out my legs carried me four and half more miles toward the sunrise before i forced them to let me turn around.

headed back west, my speeds picked up. the wind, light as it was, gave just a little push. i love it when that happens. the trip north was much the same. a tailwind to make life pleasant.

somewhere around the five or six miles to go mark, i got into a little race with myself. i'd just seen my time on the last mile and decided to see if i could beat the time i'd just viewed. i did it and then did it again and again for the next few miles. i finally "lost" to a mile when i had to ride on the flats after descending tracy hill. my tracy hill mile was 2:32. my flat mile afterward: 2:37. when i saw i'd lost by five seconds, i sat up and spun my way home.

a super fun ride...wish you'd been there to enjoy it with me. (25.00 miles @ 18.0mph)

lazy 10

connect.garmin.com/activity/94293176

it was a beautiful day for a ride, but didn't feel like doing much. i was just too tired. i decided to ride a lazy ten miles - 5 out and 5 back. i hit the road with the sun was shining, the wind at dead calm. white puffy clouds dotted a blue sky. a deer darted across the road a quarter mile away. perfect! i did put in a bit of a dig on the way back home. needed to test my time trial legs. it wasn't an all out effort, though. too tired for suffering. hit the driveway at 10 miles. parked the bike. time to get ready for work. (10.00 miles @ 16.6mph)

2.00 miles in 14:42

i waited to see my wife off this morning before i took off for a run. that meant i didn't have as much time, so i grabbed my tunes and ran hard. i ran so hard at the beginning that i had to back waaaaay off for a bit. my heart was going to leap out of my chest if i didn't. thankfully, i recovered quickly and hit a rhythm i could maintain at a decent pace. i ran a complete scottie dog route with tail and to get to two miles started a second loop. when my garmin chimed two miles i was grateful. i was spent! a nice walk home helped get everything back under control. checked and this is a PR at two miles. who knew?

cool riding

connect.garmin.com/activity/93881700

i enjoyed this morning's out and back to danville much more than yesterday's. the wind died down overnight last night and the temps dropped. instead of a muggy 80 degrees, i had a nice cool, crisp 65. it was beautiful. my legs responded nicely. not that i broke any records or anything. (16.37 miles @ 16.5mph)

3.89 miles in 35:56

this was hardly a run, more like a plod. my legs felt like lead from the get go. ugh! i ran out to main street and then headed south into the blustery wind. crazy stuff! i ran down to the river, over the bridge and up the slight incline to 30th street where i turned around and retraced my steps back home. the heat and humidty were almost unbearable, but somehow i made it. (garmin was still dead, so no data to share.)

in your face, hurricane!

i'm especially thankful for one thing this morning. i'm thankful that Bryan J. and i did not choose today for our "man up" ride. the wind would've killed us for sure. i can't say that the weatherman didn't warn me. the national weather service has issued a wind advisory for today. it's in effect until 7:00 tonight. wow! i seriously have not had to deal with this kind of crazy wind in awhile. i was nearly knocked over a couple of times and it was a constant fight to keep off the road or out of the ditch. why do i go out on days like this? it's fun! my children unplugged my garmin so they could charge their mp3 players, so less than 10 minutes into this ride i had no gps info. grrrrr! (15.92 miles @ 13.6mph)

a jaunt around town

after waffles for supper, my wife and my youngest daughter went for a ride around town...literally. we stayed to the outside edges of argonia and enjoyed the warm, but not unpleasant evening. the wind gave us a little workout going north, but it all evened out when we turned south. hopefully this will be enough to put me back ahead of Bryan J. on my leaderboard. (6.52 miles @ 9.0mph)

keeping up with bryan

connect.garmin.com/activity/93127803

got up early - we're talking 4:30 - this morning to put in some miles. Bryan J. told me he was going to ride 40 miles to put himself over me in the week's standings, so i decided to show him what's what! i rode into the wind for what seemed like forever, finishing the first 15 miles at 12.1mph. it was a slug fest! then i turned west and the wind aided me. i rode along parallel to argonia road and turned south, then took in an extra two miles at the end to bring me up to 32, enough to be ahead of bryan. ha, ha! i pulled into the garage and then went for a run with my wife. (32.14 miles @ 14.8mph)

2.75 miles in 31:58

connect.garmin.com/activity/93137582

i had time enough to take a short run with my wife this morning before leaving town to go pick up a bunch of junior highers from summer camp south of arkansas city. we ran north out of town on argonia road, slowing down to walk a few times here and there, then turned around and ran back home. it is so humid out. ugh!

the dad life

thought i'd share this with you dads! hope you have a great father's day!

last time up 9-mile?

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/92950027

i couldn't go out until after 6:00 this morning because i was on call with EMS until then. i actually slept almost until 6:00 anyway. that was pretty awesome!

i rode north up pine and then turned into the wind. it was awful! i tried to keep my legs spinning in circles, but they insisted on squares. grrrr! i settled into a rhythm and slowly made my way down the road. i had planned to ride 15 miles or so, but when i saw nine-mile hill in the distance, i decided i needed to climb it. with a move in the near future, i never know when the last time to do a favorite hill or route will be, so i'm taking the chance when i have it. nine-mile hill is a special one, so i went for it. i stayed seated and ground it out all the way up. it was beautiful!

when i turned around, the wind suddenly turned wonderful! it pushed me back. i seldom dropped below 20mph the whole way home. my effort was halved. it felt great! i returned home with plenty of time to clean up and eat breakfast with my wife before work. (18.11 miles @ 16.0mph)

here and there

rode my bike on a few more errands yesterday and today. with the wind it was a bit of a workout to go here and there to the bank and other locales. (3.95 miles @ 10.6mph)

4.11 miles in 38:15

connect.garmin.com/activity/92757511

after running two miles with my wife, i continued on and ran four more on my own. the wind picked up a bit during this trek to the river dam and back. i'd forgotten how much sand there is on that "road" to the dam. slow going...but a lot of fun! i wasn't feeling a lot of speed with the humidity, so this was a nice easy one.

2.09 miles in 24:08

connect.garmin.com/activity/92757515

my wife got up early with me to run. we walked up to our usual starting point and then started south toward the river park. we made it to just south of the city limits when she decided she was too tired to go the whole way, so we turned around and ran back to the house. still a nice 2-miler.

3.13 miles in 35:37

connect.garmin.com/activity/92354470

i went out for a short run with my wife this morning to work the kinks out of my spent legs. 112 miles on a bike can make you quite sore, but i've learned that if you don't get out and do something the next day, you'll be sorry you laid in bed. the exercise clears out the acid or something.

bryan and mike's epic adventure

connect.garmin.com/activity/92246828
bryan and i have been talking about riding his "man up" route for months. i think he mentioned it the first time we met up to ride together. we finally got it done...sort of.

we took off from my house around 6:00. it was a pleasant 72 degrees with a moderate south wind. the humidity was low too, so we flew along the road headed for harper. that early in the morning, there's not much traffic on u.s. 160, so we rode side by side and talked most of the way. it was enjoyable.

when we got to harper, we stopped in at a convenience store to pick up more liquids. we knew the temps would be soaring into the 90s, so we didn't want to dehydrate.

after this brief stop, we headed back out and soon turned south. that's when the real "fun" began. the wind was in our faces now, so we settled into a two-man paceline, rotating lead every mile for the nine miles to anthony. our average dropped some, but not as much as i'd expected. we were still riding pretty fast since our legs were fresh enough to push a little.

in anthony, we stopped at the park and stretched a bit, then made another hydration pick up. a short ride east into town, brought us to our next southbound section.

we turned onto ks-179 and again faced the wind. we switched lead off and on and made pretty good time to manchester, oklahoma, where we stopped at the post office for a stretch break. there's no store in manchester, so after we'd stretched a bit, we rode on.

a few more miles south on ok-132 - same road with a different name in our new state - and we turned east. our next stop would be in wakita, ok, the town where the movie "twister" was filmed. there's a small museum there with movie memorabilia, but it was closed. we opted for a pit stop at the grocery store, refueling before heading out again.

our spirits were high as we left wakita. we knew that the next five miles into the wind would be our last miles straight south. they were hard miles. the wind was picking up speed and our legs were feeling the effects of the previous headwind miles. three miles south, we could see ok-11 and i thought it looked closer than two miles away. it wasn't. you can see a long way in oklahoma.

we hit ok-11 and headed east. it was awesome to ride with the wind pushing us a bit. we rode the miles to medford with ease. it was getting warm when we pulled in at smrcka's cafe for lunch. the hot ham sandwich i ordered was the best i'd had in years. bryan's hot dog was, according to him, equally good.

finished with our meal, we rode across u.s. 81 to the convenience store for more gatorade and then headed north kansas. we zipped along with the wind pushing us. even uphill we were riding over 20mph with no problem at all. we crossed the border and took the downhill to the city limits of caldwell. we were up and over 30mph with no effort, so i put in a little dig and hit 40.2mph. that made me grin as i rolled into town and turned to take in one more convenience store knowing the last 25 miles there would be no opportunity for replenishing our liquids. we decided then that our original route was going in the dumpster. we weren't going to go for 135 miles. we were content with the shorter, 112 mile route. no need to die in the heat.

after our last rest, we left. the going was still easy with the wind at our back. we cruised along at over 20mph most of the way to ks-44. it was awesome!

when we turned west onto the highway, we were knocked for a loop by the force of the wind from the southwest. it felt like coming to a complete stop after the ease of the last 30 miles or so. we struggled up the hills. at some point along the away, around 15 miles from our finish, bryan bonked. i didn't notice right away, but when i looked back, he was a football field's distance behind me, maybe more. i slowed my pace a bit hoping he'd catch back on. when he didn't, i u-turned and rode back to him. making another u-turn, i rode up beside my friend. he was spent. a few yards later, he pulled over and pulled out a b-vitamin pouch.

that break and the energy he took in helped. he was soon speeding ahead of me. it was my turn to die. the heat was draining me. i was drinking like crazy, but i had no umph at all. my legs were toast and my mind was a bit addled.

somehow, we made it to argonia road and headed north toward town. i had thought that having the wind at my back and knowing i had only 8 miles to go would help. it didn't. i was spent. the last 8 miles wer awful. i just kept turning the cranks around and around. we were cruising along at 15mph or so only because the gale was forcing to. the heat was oppressive and i was nearing the bottom of my second water bottle.

we pulled into town and headed for my house. i felt like i couldn't go another inch. we turned into the driveway and stopped. 111.93 miles. don't even ask why i didn't go out and get the extra .07 miles to make the ironman distance. i think i would have died in .03 miles.

we survived, pulled each other through some tough spots, kept moving. what an adventure. as bryan put it, "it was a good farewell ride." even though we don't ride together often, i'm going to miss riding with my friend when i move in a couple of weeks. farewell, bryan. see you in pratt sometime! (111.93 miles @ 16.5mph)

3.10 miles in 23:19

connect.garmin.com/activity/91571676

arriving back after a week of painting our new home in pratt at midnight, i wasn't sure what to expect at this morning's race. i was stiff and sore when i got up. my stomach was having issues. i was sure i'd never PR.

my wife and i ran up to the school about twenty minutes before race time. (it's awesome to have a race in your own town!) we checked in and then stretched out a bit. i ran a partial lap around the school to test out my legs and lungs. i was still pretty sure the day wasn't going to be special.

at 8:00, we gathered at the starting line and listened to final instructions. not sure how many of us there were, but 57 had signed up. a few were missing.

finally, at 8:04 it was ready, set, go! i took off with a bunch of kids sprinting around me. it was crazy! i had to yell at some of them who thought the route was going out onto the highway. they made the turn and i took the lead. that was the last time anyone was ahead of me. (i must say, small town races held on the day of big races nearby are the best chance most of us have at anything like this!)

i was feeling good, so i looked down at my garmin. i was shocked! i was running at 6:01 pace! for the first mile almost every time i took a peek, my pace was sub-7:00. normally, i'd be puking at the speeds i was doing. i finished the first mile in 6:57. the fastest first mile in any race i've ever done! it was amazing!

my second and third miles weren't quite as amazing as the first one, but they were still pretty quick. all of them were sub-8:00. i struggled for a little bit in the third mile, but pulled through.

i crossed the finish line in 22:33 and kept running. my garmin only showed three miles and i wanted a 5K PR! i ran on up and around the corner again and hit stop at 3.1 miles. my time? 23:19! my old PR was 23:44! i kissed 25 seconds goodbye!

1.10 miles in 10:16

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/91571669

after running a PR in this morning's 5K, i ran back along the course to pick up my wife and run her in. i caught her quickly as she was running well. i turned around and ran her to the finish line. a little while later i went on a search and rescue mission for an older woman who was still out on the course. the organizers were a little worried since they hadn't seen her yet. she was found while i was running south. someone came and found me so i ran back to the school.

first ride to cullison

connect.garmin.com/activity/91368161

a cold front came through last night, so it was cool when i went out this morning. if i'd been at home, i'd probably have pulled on a jacket when i felt the air, but i didn't have that option.
i wanted to ride to cullison and back to see how that ride would be. i plan to make it a regular route when we move here, so i had to check it out. i was a little concerned about the wind, thinking i might have to deal with a headwind coming back, but i was committed. turns out the wind was my friend today and cooperated with my wish for an easier return journey.
when i started out this morning, i was shocked at how far i could ride on brick streets. the brick starts a few blocks from our house and goes all the way to the west edge of town. on the way back, i checked the distance on the bumpy stuff...1.75 miles!
well, it's 10.5 miles out to the stop sign in cullison. perfect for summer rides if the wind cooperates. can't wait to ride it again...maybe with a friend.

1.00 mile in 10:46

connect.garmin.com/activity/91368165

when we finished up painting for the night, my wife and i decided to blow off some steam with a mile run. we walked a block south and then walked back north to our house before beginning our run. the first quarter mile we pushed pretty hard and my wife had to walk for a bit to catch her breath. after that, we ran just a little slower and finished out the mile with no more stops. this is one of her fastest miles since starting to run last year.

3.50 miles in 30:58

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/91179772

a flat tire kept me from riding this morning. well, sort of. a flat tire and some lousy self-sticking patches that didn't work kept me from riding. i decided that i could get some rubber cement from wal-mart. since wal-mart isn't far from our house, i pulled on the green swarm and made, very literally, a run to the store and back. on the way out, the clouds darkened, so i located what i wanted as quickly as possible and ran back a slightly different way, hoping it would be quicker. it was about .05 mile shorter. not much. i made it to my front sidewalk before the rain and lightning hit.

3.10 miles in 24:55

connect.garmin.com/activity/91003010

i finished up riding around and took off on a run around our community. i ran on roads i'd covered before and a few new ones too. i happened past the house where, yesterday, my wife and i were offered coffee. the same guy saw me, laughed and waved. he might as well get used to me. i'm going to run that hill often. i ran through a small park north of our house and then ran as far east as i could before dipping south again. one more hill and a jog down howard and i finished up 5K. felt pretty good about my pace considering all the hills.

naming hills

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/91003018

had a great time exploring the country roads to the south of town this morning. i climbed some of the nasty hills going that way. i even named a few of them. on lake drive i climbed nash hill, which made me gnash my teeth, and kramer hill. mailboxes give names when other ideas fail me. on 30th street or avenue, don't remember which, going south from the lake, there's cook hill and then gnad hill. east on 30th avenue or street - see why there was confusion? - there is that 1 hill and acid hill. acid hill was named for the burn of lactic acid in my quads as i climbed it. it almost got the name, "wish i'd seen those stupid dogs before i climbed it" hill, but the dogs ignored me, so acid hill works. i'm going to try to ride to coats tomorrow morning. anyone in the pratt area up for an early morning ride? (21.60 miles @ 15.6mph)

3.10 miles in 35:35

connect.garmin.com/activity/90801010

i got home from my ride around town and my wife was waiting, ready to run. we walked a few blocks and then started running. she did much better in the cooler air. the breeze kept the heat under control. later today it's supposed to get up to 104F! ugh! glad the AC's working in our house. my wife did a great job, running the entire first mile without stopping. we walked for a bit and then ran another mile without stopping. after another short walk, we ran on in to the finish of 5K. we hit that near our house and walked around the block.

exploring pratt

connect.garmin.com/activity/90801017

if for no other reason, i'm excited about moving to pratt to cycle! (i am excited about it for other reasons!) this morning's ride was amazing. i rode all over town, up and down hills! yes, i said hills! it was a blast. i discovered bike paths through parks and brick streets! then i left town and, gasp! i found a fellow cyclist out riding! i chased him down and rode with him for five or six miles. he took me out into the country on a nicely paved road that i can ride for miles on without having to ride on u.s. 54 which has crazy traffic. not so bad at 5:30am, but ugly later on. can't wait to explore more! (21.23 miles @ 15.1mph)

5.25 miles in 40:41

connect.garmin.com/activity/90004364

after floyd, my mountain bike, started things off with a fast first mile, the green swarm took over and dominated. floyd may have covered the 5.25 miles faster, but the green swarm finished stronger. floyd set the route ever time and the green swarm answered. my goal was to keep my green swarm going at a sub-8 pace and they came through! there were moments when the pace slipped, but with the green swarm's help, i recovered every time. i'd tell you what my splits were on each mile, but i forgot to turn off auto-lap, so the numbers on each lap are not helpful. the green swarm made floyd look like a recovery machine. they may have taken longer to finish each loop, but they were definitely stronger. the green swarm loses only in the pack mule and foot protection categories. i didn't carry a drink with me on each mile in them and they hit a sharp rock that, with their thin soles, made me wince.

floyd vs. the green swarm

floyd, my mountain bike, started the hosilities. he took off like a bat out of an old rusty car and tore up the first mile loop, forcing the green swarm to step up to the plate. after the first mile, however, he showed his true colors. he slowed from a 13.1mph average down to, in the end, a 12.0mph average. all he could do was carry me around each successive loop and provide me with gatorade to drink. so in the pack mule category, floyd's the winner tires down. he wins in the foot protection category too! (5.25 miles @ 12.0mph)

6.20 miles in 58:04

connect.garmin.com/activity/89817589

ugh! this was a slug fest. i started running right off my bike and my legs were already feeling like lead. no zip in them at all! ugh! (i repeat myself because today is "repeat day repeat day". never heard of it? me neither. but it's on my calendar.)

i ran up the "hill" from sharon's house (if you don't know who sharon, don't worry about it!) on the beautiful dirt surface. with each mile i got slower. this is not the way to do it right. i'm just reporting what happened. i turned around at 1.55 miles and returned to sharon's house where i ditched my shirt. it was too muggy for confinement.

my shirt deposited on my bike's handlebars, i repeated the same 5K, running up the "hill" from sharon's, turning around when my total hit 4.65 miles and running back down the hill. i hit the 10K mark just past my bike, returned to the wheeled contraption, pulled my shirt, helmet and gloves back on and rode away.

repeat day repeat day ride

ugh! that's what this ride elicits from me when i think back on it. there was no pop in my legs. no shazam! it was all i could do to keep moving. ugh! (i repeat myself because today, according to my calendar, is "repeat day repeat day".)

i rode out to sharon's house to begin with. some of you might remember sharon from the bicycle "theft" incident last year. she was the one who picked me up and took me back to town when i had a flat south of town. i went back and couldn't find it, assumed it was stolen and called the sheriff's office, the national guard and the marines. then sharon found my bike up the road a bit further than i thought it was. false alarm.

i stopped and left my bike at the end of her driveway and started running. after running 10K - 5K twice, really - i got back on my bike and rode back to town. then i rode out to sharon's and back again because, well, you know...it's "repeat day repeat day"! i hate this day! good thing it's donut day too! (13.86 miles @ 13.7mph)

around town

i ran a few errands by bike today - to the bank and post office, to the convenience store twice - and then, since it was rocky road day, i took the looooong way home from work riding on as many gravel roads as i could. there are quite a few in argonia. (5.76 miles @ 10.3mph)

i found the corners of my mouth drifting up more and more often as this morning's amazing adventure went on. i made careful observation of my surroundings as i rolled along. what i saw and heard and felt was amazing. it's "rocky road day", so i took my mountain bike out on the dirt roads south of town. i rode all over the place, taking in roads i hadn't been on in months. i even went on a road i'd never been on before. the dead end sign had always kept me away. it was amazing! my favorite sighting? the 32th avenue sign at the end of the road. 32th? hilarious! do you pronounce that "thirty-tooth" or "thirty-secondth"? here's garmin data to show you where i went - connect.garmin.com/activity/89614519! i have extra miles on this post because a trip to the library last night is included. (22.09 miles @ 12.0mph)

3.10 miles in 36:32

connect.garmin.com/player/89538555

my wife says this was "slow!" it was pretty muggy, so no problem there. ugh! we walked several times, but "at least we finished" the whole route. well, we sort of finished the route. we did a bit of a detour to avoid running past our house. my wife was afraid she'd give in to the urge to stop. i hope the race organizers realize their actual course is a tenth of a mile short of a 5K, assuming they start and finish at the same place. oh, well, they may not care and it's for a good cause.

4.75 miles in 43:46

connect.garmin.com/activity/89440626

i took an early lunch break today since i was in wellington and i like to run in a different location when i can. i took off from the dillon's parking lot and meandered around the residential areas north of the highway. had a great time exploring neighborhoods i've seldom driven through. lots of winding streets that curve this way and that. pretty fun exploring. what wasn't fun was the heat and humidity. ugh! i've got to train in it to race in it, but i don't have to like it! happy national running day!