Go, you chicken fat, go away!

I wanted to congratulate Merri and allie on their races, but more importantly on their contributions to humanity.  Peace and goodwill.  And Merri, just because you got it, doesn't mean you should flaunt it.

***********************************************************************

It was overcast and 80° this morning, so I knew it could get sweaty.  I threw in a quarter mile surge in the fifth mile.  I got up to a 5:08 pace.

Time - 47:10 (avg. pace 8:33)

Splits - 8:36, 8:25, 8:35, 8:45, 8:33, 4:17

Finally made my way out to Las Sendas for the group run.  It was me Marilyn, Liz, Glen, and Glen's daughter Tamryn on the bicycle.  We saw three bunnies.  No javelinas this time.  We also saw hundreds of owls.  I thought they were bats at first, but I could see the feathers.  Then I realized they were burrowing owls.  It was pretty cool.  We ran thes 6.33 mile loop.  No matter which way we go we end up on an uphill.  It's a great workout.  No stroller this time.

Time - 59:15 (avg. pace 9:22)

Splits - 8:53, 9:17, 8:59, 9:12, 9:47, 10:00, 3:08

If you get a chance, hop on over to Steam8's blog.  She's been feeling a little down lately, and could use some encouragement.  She says she feels like Snap, Crackle, and Pop.  I think she's right.

I was riding my bike home from work yesterday, and I was thinking about my run the other day with Glen.  I asked him if he was still planning to run the Senior Games in St. George in October.  Then Liz said, "Ha ha!  You can't do it.  You're a baby!"  But I was thinking I'd be there soon enough.  So, as I pedaled along I started wondering just how close I was.  I realized it was June 3rd.  My birthday is December 3rd.  Mark your calendars.  So, that's 6 months away.  And I'm 37 years old now.  Add the six months, that's (um, the sum of the square roots of an isosceles triangle multiplied by the derivative of sinx, carry the one) 37 and a half years old.  That's 75% of the way way to 50.  3/4 of the way to 50.  Needless to say, I suffered a minor unnecessary midlife crisis.

Today is my daughter's 14th birthday.  I'm sure she didn't mind that I took my woes out by going for a nice long run.  It was 92° when I started and 98° when I finished.  I knew I better take it nice and slow.  I ran from my house down Broadway all the way to Power Road and back.  The only time I stopped was at an occasional stop light.  And I took no water and never stopped anywhere to get some.  Some people say I'm stupid.  I say I'm old, but I'm aging gracefully.

Time - 1:40:07 (avg. pace 9:40)

Splits - 9:22, 9:24, 9:33, 9:41, 9:47, 9:40, 9:43, 9:46, 9:49, 9:49, 3:35

There were a lot of walkers out this morning. 

Time - 49:34 (avg. pace 8:57)

Well, I woke up late yesterday but planned on running that afternoon.  Some time around 1pm my neck and shoulder on the left side (trapezius muscle) started to hurt.  This isn't the first time.  I don't know if I moved wrong or what.  But when I finally left work at 5pm it was a very slow and painful bike ride home.  Last night I was able to sleep but I never moved from my right side.  I ended up waking up real early and mopped the kitchen floor.  That hurt, too, but it's not quite as bad as yesterday.  Anyway, I'm not going to run today either.  I'll just read the Book of Mormon instead.

http://goo.gl/doodle/2xeW

Finally I got a run in.  It wasn't pretty, but I did it.  There's still a slight crick in my neck, but it's manageable.  Also, yesterday just sitting in church my knee started hurting right on top.  What the heck is up with getting all these injuries while I'm just sitting doing nothing??  Is it a sign?

Time - 26:17 (avg. pace 8:38)

Splits - 8:46, 8:36, 8:33, 0:23

Temp - 90° and it wasn't even 8AM yet!

Two days is a row!  I'm on a roll!  Okay, sorry to all you commuters, but it's long been my feeling that only crazy people ride the public bus.  I saw this lady at the bus stop this morning.  From her uniform she always wears, I know she works at the hospital.  She's a good looking lady, too.  But this morning she was talking to herself.  And she seemed mad at something on the ground.  As soon as she looked up and saw me she was somewhat embarrassed.  At least she recognizes that she's crazy.

Time - 38:45 (avg. pace 8:52)

Splits - 8:55, 8:42, 8:50, 8:58, 3:20

Temp - 91°

I need to get up earlier.  It was 95° by the time I got out the door.  But a 6:46 mile was encouraging in that heat.  Third Thursday Adventure Run tonight.  It's gonna be a scorcher.  Glad I'm just volunteering.

Time - 24:25 (avg. pace 8:04)

Splits - 8:34, 6:46, 8:52, 0:14

Last night was the Third Thursday Adventure Run.  Of course Merri and RAD already know that.  Nice "seeing" you ladies there last night.  The one blogger that I did see was JamesW.  He hasn't blogged in 8.5 months, but he was one of the first on the blog.  He's an original blogging gangsta ya nizzle.  Or for short, OBGYN.  Anyway, I got a new T-shirt, three pairs of socks, and some calf sleeves for helping out last night.

My knee started hurting after my run yesterday.  The same knee as as Sunday but in a different spot.  It's always something with me.  So, I'll take a break today. 

I admit, I only did this run because Flatlander dared me to.  My knee's not 100%  better, but when you have a chance to run in 105° weather, man you gotta take it.  I did take a water bottle with me this time.  I'm sure I would have been fine without one though.

Time - 26:37 (avg. pace 8:53)

Splits - 8:59, 8:45, 8:54

The dogs woke up me up a little before 5am this morning.  That's a good thing, I guess.  It was 72° when I left at 5:45ish, but it was 90° when I finished at 6:30am.  There were a lot of people out riding bikes this morning.  I made sure to say good morning to them all.  Some of them were kids.  It seemed strange that kids were up so early and out riding their bikes somewhere.  They're probably drug dealers.  Although drug dealers wouldn't be caught dead in those polyester rags.

If I'm lucky tomorrow I'll be adding another blogger to the Bloggers I've Met in Real Life list...

Time - 48:45 (avg. pace 8:50)

Splits - 8:45, 8:42, 8:52, 8:45, 9:01, 4:40

...and the latest blogger I've met in real life is......drumroll please.......Tracy!!!  Can I just say how delightful Tracy is?  I think she said good morning to more people than me!  Tracy is on vacation and is working her way across the country from Illinois.  She has a cousin that only lives a few miles from me, so naturally she has to see Arizona's favorite son.  Me.  Since she's been here before but has never run here, we went to South Mountain so we could see all of Phoenix.  It's a tough climb, but only 2 miles up.  She did great!  I'm not sure if she had to stop and walk because I just left her in my dust and made her find the way to the top by herself.  It was kind of warm.  I hope she didn't get a sunburn.  But she is going to run with me tomorrow, so I guess the climb wasn't too bad.

Look at Tracy.  Nicest smile on the blog.  Except for Scott Wesemann, of course.

I promised her a nice flat run for tomorrow.  Thanks Tracy!
 

Yikes, it's been forever since I blogged.  Sorry, I've been uber crazy busy.  Thanks for worrying about me.  You guys are the best.  Although, Merri was more worried about Tracy disappearing for a few days.  Rest assured Tracy is in a better place.

So, clearly I didn't scare Tracy too bad.  She came back to run with me this morning.  We met a 5am.  So early, but good because I had to drive 12 hours to San Juan, CA.  As promised I took Tracy on a flat run.  We just went running down the canal.  She was surprised at all the horses along the route.  We had the best conversation about sweaty dust.  Thanks so much for stopping by Tracy.  Next time I'm in Ran Tool Academy, IL, I'll drop by to see you.

I spent most of the day driving to CA.  We got to the hotel in Santa Clara.  Then we drove to San Francisco and went to Pier 19.  Then I drove my 12 passenger van down Lombard Street.  That was awesome.  What a day.  Running with Tracy and driving on Lombard Street.  It doesn't get better than that.

Time - 33:50 (avg. pace 8:57)

Splits - 9:05, 8:55, 8:57, 6:53

Running in beautiful Santa Clara, CA.  Our hotel room was about 3/4 miles away from the Yahoo! inc GA-3 building.

I was breathing pretty hard the first half mile which I thought was weird because I was only at 24 feet above sea level.  But after that it felt great and I pushed the pace a bit.

Time - 48:41 (avg. pace 8:07)

Splits - 8:32, 8:04, 8:12, 7:45, 7:57, 8:13

Hey Burt.  Wake up earlier.  I got out the door at 7:45am to go for a run.  It was 99° out.  I saw three cyclists.  Only one waved back at me.  I saw a 7 or 8 inch fish jump completely out of the water in the canal.  I wished Tracy was with me to enjoy that moment.  I saw one duck.  And I was at a 10 on the Sweat Level Chart.

Time - 27:12 (avg. pace 8:59)

Splits - 8:54, 8:50, 9:12, 0:16

Hey Burt.  Remember that time you told yourself to get up earlier so you could go running earlier?  YOU FAIL!  At least it was only 97° this morning.  Also, stop eating so much ice cream at night.  Just because you got it at the 99 cent store doesn't mean you should eat as much as you did!

Time - 26:50 (avg. pace 8:53)

Splits - 9:03, 8:42, 8:53, 0:12