Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

Back in Abilene - I ran an 8:37 pace today.  Last mile was 9:05...I think I need to recalibrate my easy runs until I get back into shape, maybe 9:00 pace for a week or so.

I tried running without a shirt to beat the heat a little this morning.  I think it may have helped a little.  Don't think I caused any major accidents by blinding oncoming traffic with my ghostly torso, but I did run into a cluster of gnats at some point.  They stuck to me.

Got up earlier and started before sunrise.  It helped a lot with the heat.  I ran 8:39 pace but with about half the effort of the last couple runs.  Also, there was a nice headwind coming home which was nice.  It was 78 degrees so the wind was like a fan, not an a/c, but still nice.  I'll run 2 days on, 1 day off for awhile before stepping back up to 6/week.

We're in San Antonio, taking the kids to Sea World.  Before we left this morning, I snuck out of the hotel for a run in the barrio.  It was ok, 8:51 pace and even that was labored.  I thought I was going to get lost at one point since I forgot what street I came from but then I saw the big Virgin Mary display in someone's lawn that I had passed earlier.  Hail Mary, full of grace!  This thing took up almost half the front yard, was enclosed in glass and then had bars around it, presumably so it wouldn't get vandalized.  That, along with the numerous fat guys sitting on their porch giving me the evil eye made the hot humid run go by a little quicker.

Sea World was fun too, the girls made it through 8 hours in the heat at the park with no huge tantrums.

Back in Abilene, I ran in the evening - it was 85 degrees but with the sun hidden behind clouds (possibly for the first time in the history of this town), and a perfect 10 mph breeze, it actually felt ok as I went shirtless again.  Equivalent to a 75 degree, sunny, windless morning maybe.  I ran an 8:10 average pace, so not bad at all.  Afternoon and evening runs always go much better for me.

I think my hip injury (strain) is healed, I'm just gonna have to deal with tight hip flexors, I think.  Weak butt muscles are a contributing factor to that and my injury, according to Dr. Internet.  I've been able to lay with a baseball in certain spots and work out some stiffness along with lots of stretching.  In the meantime, anyone have any favorite glute exercises?