week 12 recap

Ready for the cooler weather for these long runs. This morning it was 72 degrees at 6 am when I headed out the door. Very humid as well. Planned on doing 14 miles at marathon pace, 7:20 - 7:30. Took a couple of miles to get the rhythm going. Settled in around 7:20 pace up until mile 7. Mile 8 got some weird side stitch in the middle of my gut. Maybe, because I didn't eat anything? Drank some of that Powergel mix up your own electrolyte powder with water. Mile 9 was a struggle to stay on pace. Really struggled with maintaining my pace until mile 11.4 when I caved and stopped. Both glutes were tight and stretched them out. Slogged it home from that point. Still got my 14 miles, but ended up with a 7:39 average pace.

Rest of the week went well. Only down side to the back to back speed workouts and then a trip to PWP is a sore glute. Easy 5 mile recovery on the golf course on Friday was done at a snails pace. Next weeks long run is 20 miles. Hope its in the 60's or cooler.

Busy thursday

Slept in till 6 am Thursday morning. Wanted to get up at 3:30 am and do the 11.2 at Percy Warner Park. Ended up going at 12:30. Only went into work for a half day. Dropped off the canopy and other tail gate supplies at Walnut Grove on the MTSU campus at 7:30 before going into work. All of the spots parallel to the road were already taken.

Run at PWP was awesome. As I passed the 3 mile mark on 3 mile hill, still climbing wondering to myself why I wanted to run the Monkey Marathon, I saw a deer standing on the side of the road. We both looked at each other like, what the hell. Continued to practice running the downhills on my toes. Worked great, average pace for the run was 7:51. Added the Luke Lea overlook, didn't slow down much to look at Nashville. Needed to be back on the road at 1:30 to pick up Dylan at school to head out to the game. Barrelling down hill with the switchbacks, saw another deer on the side of the road. This was a fawn with spots, never have seen one this close. 10 yards farther down the road a 6 point buck and a doe. Crazy, close to the road. Never saw another runner or biker the entire time in the park. Lots of lizards on the road and a turtle about the size of a silver dollar.

Made it back to Murfreesboro, with just enough time to jump in the shower before waiting in line to pick up Dylan at school. Got to MTSU about 3 pm. We were able to park real close to were I'd set up our canopy. Good time tailgating. Speedy showed up around 4 pm. His wife and daughter around 5 pm. Darrell came by about the same time and we got our tickets to the game. The game itself was a bust. MTSU sucked. No offense, couldn't move the ball. Defense was hit or miss. Couple of good plays. We got clobbered 31-17. Dylan played the second half with a friend from school, they had box seats. I watched the rest of the game behind the band. Love hearing the band at the game. MTSU had 21 tuba's, Troy had more according to the kid in front of me.

car repair woes

Ford starter solenoid, easy repair. Chevy mounts it on the starter.PITA

Finally finished getting Darrell's 1986 Camaro IROC Z back together last night. Started working on it Sunday. Figured the starter solenoid or starter was bad. I had spark from the battery to the starter. So, it wasn't the cable between the starter and battery. That cable is a failing point some times.

Everything in the engine compartment on that car is jammed in tight. Removing a starter is usually a very easy job. Two bolts holding it in place, most times. Three with this car. For some reason Chevy likes to mix domestic and metric bolts. Just to make you work a little bit harder? I removed the entire assembly: starter and starter solenoid (its attached on the top, next to the block). Without removing the exhaust headers, the starter must pass through a very tight hole, obstructed by the wheel assembly which has to be raised as well to get the starter out. Took an hour to long and an extra beer to get the starter out and off of the car. Plus, it started raining, and the windows in the car where down. Put up my canopy over the car to keep it dry. Red neck, shade tree mechanic. woooohooooo.

Took the starter to O'Reillys to be tested. Bad solenoid, $13. Holy crap, that's pretty cheap. (Ford's mount the solenoid on the fender wall, picture above) No use replacing the starter they cost around $75, at least the last one I replaced. Two little bolts holding the starter solenoid to the starter housing. Damn head of the bolt broke off flush on one side. The other came out easily. No problem, vise grips on the exposed threads on the other end and I'll get the bolt. Nope, damn bolt broke flush on that end. Sheeeeeeeit. Easy job turning into major pain in the ass. Drill is at work. Used the Dremel to drill out the bolt. Burned up my Dremel, but did get a hole through the bolt. It's hardened steel so it doesn't drill easily, just breaks easily. Threaded a screw in the hole to back out the rest of the bolt and the damn housing on the starter broke. Sheeeeeeit. Now, I need a new starter. It's only $34 at O'Reillys. Damnit, had I know it was so cheap, I wouldn't have wasted 2+ hours drilling and trying to remove the freakin' bolt.

By the time I got back from the autoparts store it was getting late. Tried for awhile to get the starter in that evening, but couldn't get the starter solenoid side to spin around in the small opening to mount the starter. Wasn't until last night, I tried a few more times, but it wouldn't work. Ended up taking the starter solenoid off the starter and that was enough clearance to mount the starter. So, 2 days later the car is back on the road. So much for easy repairs.

training interruptions

Only the second week in and I'm having to make adjustments to the training schedule. Moved the Tuesday evening tempo to this morning and the regular tempo to Wednesday evening. That may end up being a dumb thing. Thursday morning I'd hoped to get in the 11.2 plus Luke Lea at PWP. Depends on how I feel after tomorrow's tempo.

Tempo pace this morning was to hot from the first mile and just hung on after that for another 2 miles. Tagged along with Speedy on his tempo workout. Stayed on his shoulder for the first mile, but it was closer to 5k pace for me. Backed off and kept it going at my tempo pace for the next 2 miles. Lots of wind and a little drizzle. Right glute is still tight.

Yesterday was a complete rest day. Didn't even do any weights. Slept in to almost 6:30. Don't know how I'm going to get a bike ride in this week. Picked up a Park PRS 5 work stand for the bike yesterday off Craigslist. I've been looking at these for awhile. They don't last for long on Craigslist. I'd been using a old trainer as a stand for working or cleaning the bike.

week 13 recap

Great week until this morning. Ran by myself on the Oregon/Lascassas loop, 18 miles. Shouldn't have let Speedy suck me into running faster than I wanted to yesterday. I paid for it today. My right glute was tight before I even started. Carried an extra water bottle, because it was already 72 degrees at 5:15 when I started. Beautiful sunrise for the first several slow miles. I went out real slow and never picked up the pace.

Felt good until about mile 12 and then glutes were really tight from that point on home. I took a powergel at 8 miles and at 12 miles. Planned to take a succeed cap every 45 minutes, but after the first one decided to take them a little sooner. Ending up taking them at 6, 10 and 14 miles. Never did cramp up, just didn't have much energy or turnover. Hot and tired. Good thing the sun stayed behind the clouds all morning and it seemed like the wind was in my face for the entire run.

I've had worse long runs. All in all, not a bad run considering the jump from my longest run of 15 miles two weeks ago. Probably haven't gone over 15 miles, since this time last year? But, this run was on course that is very hilly.

Marathon

Watched the Olympic Mens marathon last night. Great race. The Americans went conservative and finished 9th and 10th. But, a new Olympic record was set in the heat. (86 degrees at the finish) From the start the Kenyans were part of the lead pack that maintained a very fast pace, the lead pack was only about 15 runners. The rest of the field rightfully counted on the heat to knock out the lead pack. One by one they started falling off. By 30k, the lead pack had dwindled to 3 and the Americans had moved up to about 15th place.

Ed Eyestone called the race exactly how it played out. The eventual winner, Samuel Wanjiru was superman today. He put on a surge in the final miles the others couldn't match. Of course the arm chair marathoners on the Striders board thought Ryan Hall didn't give his all. Sheesh. I hate to even read that dribble.

Anyone who runs in the heat knows how much it affects your performance. You can't go out at a pace that is to quick for the conditions, and be around at the end unless you plan on getting some kind divine intervention or something. This race only had one person who had the training, speed and luck to make it happen. The 4th place runner gave a valiant effort, but come up short.

Can't believe NBC gave the zealot who ran onto the course of the Athens marathon in 2004 so much airtime. The sidebar story was cool from the runners perspective. (Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima) I didn't realize the wacko was the same one ran onto a Indy car race. That marathon was a great race to watch. I need to go back and see where the winner of that race finished in today's race, it wasn't the top 10. (Defending Olympic champion Stefano Baldini of Italy, in his final marathon, finished 12th)

My running is coming along pretty well. Friday was a easy 5 miles on the golf course in preparation for a hard workout this weekend. Saturday ran 8 miles with Speedy a little quicker than I wanted especially for the heat, hopefully it won't affect this mornings planned 18 miler. Temperature will be a factor, so I plan to get out running by 5 am and miss as much of the heat as possible.

Hills

Did the closest thing to PWP hills this morning with Speedy. Same run as last Thursday. 11 miles on Spain Hill. Pretty warm morning even at 4:36 am, I was running late and Speedy was about to leave. 79 degrees in the city according to weather.com. Counted on it being a little cooler in the country, it wasn't. I carried a small water bottle and glad I did. Felt good this morning, next week I'll have to run the 11.2 at PWP instead.

Stopped on the way home to get some Gatorade, got orange Powerade instead. Little sweeter than I remembered. But, also picked up a tenderloin, egg, and cheese biscuit. Yummy. Perfect breakfast. Nice treat for a little bit of work on the hills.

Sold my Vitus 979 bike last night. I really liked that bike, hate to see it go. But, needed to make room for the Serotta Hors Categorie. Still have the Ghetto single speed Schwinn World Sport as well. Kid I sold the bike to seemed really excited. Currently a similar bike on ebay at $450, and another never ridden frame with Dura Ace for $2,000.

Lights

Used my headlamp on the bike this morning. Works great for running. Not enough light for the bike. Don't want to mount a light on my bike. I'll have to research a helmet mounted light with more candle power. Really don't like to ride the bike in the dark, but with the shorter days its the only option to get some time in the saddle.

Tried out a new section of pathway directly across from the new parking lot across the railroad tracks from the General Bragg HQ's trailhead. It is paved asphalt with lights, that weren't on this morning. Startled a walker who was yakking on his cell phone. Quite a few benches, but the pathway stopped 20 yards from Medical Center parkway, were it changed to a concrete sidewalk. (sign posted No Bicycles). Hopefully they'll put a asphalt pathway completely around the loop.



New section of trail, just past the stop sign and to the left in the photograph above. Probably a quarter mile to Medical Center Parkway and close to a mile for the loop back to where this picture was taken. Only a quarter mile of pathway, another quarter mile of sidewalk and a half mile of road.

Week 14 recap

Last week was the first week of training for the Monkey Marathon. Already I'm slacking on the long runs. Should have run a 16 mile long run on Sunday, but only did 14 miles. Went out to Cedars of Lebanon with Speedy and FM2. Ended up with to much slowdown on the trails, 4 miles worth. Next time I'm sticking to the gravel. Between the spider webs, rocks and other obstacles the pace was super slow. Hard to get a good rhythm going.

Next weeks long run is a scheduled 18 miles. Probably go out to Spain hill and just add 7 miles. Good thing about adding on the miles in the middle of the run, its almost impossible to bail out of the run and cut it short. Could backfire if it's hot, but I'll just carry another water bottle if its warm.

Spent most of Saturday at the Wilson County fair. Darrell and Dylan rode as many rides as they'd let Dylan ride. Most of the rides had a 48 inch minimum, Dylan is 47 inches. Some would let him ride and others wouldn't. The only ride I rode was the ferris wheel. PJ, doesn't do the rides. I've got some pictures to add when I get back to the house. (typing this at lunch) This is one of the best fairs in the area. Clean and a little bit of something for everyone. Only wish they had more of a variety of animals.


Dylan on a Kubota


Darrell on the ferris wheel


Darrell and PJ watching the dog show


PJ and Dylan in front of a Farmall

Monday was a 7 mile recovery run on the golf course. Tonight, I hope to get in a tempo workout. Have to see what time I can get out of work.

trail of dirt

New trail under construction from Old Fort Park to Barfield Crescent Park. It is another extension of the Stones River Greenway. I started from the parking lot by the baseball field beside the golf course. Walked about a quarter of a mile to the trailhead. Probably a 75 foot drop to river level. They put in concrete footings to have a bridge from the existing road down to river level.

The trail itself has been graded parallel to the river for 2.3 miles. At that point it appears they are in the process of building more concrete footings to cross the river. I didn't feel like crossing the river, it wasn't quite daylight yet. I went up another dirt road that went for a half mile up to Warrior Drive, just off Hwy 99 (New Salem Hwy) From the point where the trail crosses the river back to I-24, another dirt road parallels the trail. Must have been either an old farm road or service road for utilities or the interstate signs. Couple of other shorter trails, that were overgrown.

Not quite as much dirt as I wanted. But, this could be an alternative to the golf course. The trail itself is good for about 2.8 miles, one way. Perhaps a loop of the dirt with another loop of the golf course for a total of 8 miles with 2.8 out and back on the dirt and the rest on the grass on the golf course. I just added 2 miles on the Greenway to get 8 miles this morning. Light rain wasn't enough to stir up the dust on the trail. The trail itself is flat. Very similar to the rest of the greenway paths. Lots of tree cover, so should be shaded for the most part. Some open areas.

Perhaps next week I'll try from the Barfield Crescent end. Or get really adventuresome and just cross the river. Think I'd bring another pair of shoes. I don't care to much for running in soggy shoes.

monkey marathon plan

This has got to be the easiest marathon plan I've ever laid out. Took me 20 seconds. Usually I have a time goal in mind and very specific workouts for the 16 weeks or so leading up to the target marathon. Not this time. This time, its about finishing. That's it. But, this marathon supposedly has a few little hills. I know, I've doubled the 11.2 in other marathon training schedules. This time around I'll just plan on making it out to PWP every 2-3 weeks.

The plan. Hills and more hills. As many 20 milers as I can get between now and race day, it's 6, according to the calendar. That was the 20 seconds of prep time. Down week from 20 miler, 14 miles at marathon pace. That's it. Oh, plus a tempo workout once a week, just to try and keep a little bit of leg turnover. Two week taper. The last marathon I ran was Boston in 2005. Trained for a fall marathon in 2006, but didn't make it to the start line. But, I did a 50k in 2007 and dnf'd another in 2008. This marathon training is fun stuff:)

August 17, 16 miles
August 24, 18 miles
August 31, 20 miles
September 14, 20 miles
September 28, 20 miles
October 12, 20 miles
October 26, 20 miles
November 9, 20 miles

OCD? Perhaps, after all I'm the one the ladies at work move the door mat, just to see if I'll put it back were it's "supposed" to be. This morning was a easy recovery on the golf course, 6.1 miles, plus weights.

ccccccchanges

Coach speedy givin' me the business this morning because I'm changing the focus of my training. Instead of a second speed workout, I did the Spain Hill loop with him this morning. Nice and cool. We started at 4:30, sure were lots of cars out for that time of the morning. Not but a couple on the loop, though.

May try and do the Spain Hill or Lascassas loop once a week, on Thursday, instead of that second speed workout or the 11.2 at PWP. Really need to do something out at PWP at least every 2nd or 3rd week. Only problem is the stinko factor from not having shower facilities after the run.

MUPS

Pet peeves, MUPS. Multiple Use Pathways. I have a love/hate relationship with these pathways. As a runner I love them. Jeez, that's one of the reasons for moving into the neighborhood where we live, the proximity of the MUP or Stones River Greenway. Asphalt pathway for the most part with some sections of concrete and wooden plank bridges. Lots of different trail heads with lots of parking. New section will extend all the way to Barfield Crescent Park with close to 10 miles or more of pathway.

But, this morning the railroad crossing from General Bragg's HQ was torn up going to the Stones River Battlefield. I saw it last night on our speed workout. Forgot about it until this morning when I rode up on it on my bike. So, I was forced to ride the greenway. Not very many runners or walkers. Saw a fox run across by the dam. The greenway is to narrow in spots, plus you have to go slow and watch out for the runners and walkers. I'd rather go ride in the country, but don't really have enough time for that in the morning. Only able to ride for about an hour, before its' time to go to work. Plus, I don't want to deal with commuters more worried about getting to work, than the old guy on the bike. The MUP is great for runs, walking or riding the bike slowly with the kids. But it just doesn't cut it for a training ride on a road bike.

Local biker was killed last Friday. Saw the wreck on my way home. His bike was still on the side of the road, and the police were marking the pavement. Really makes you think. He left behind a wife and two daughters. I've never ridden that road: cars go to fast, no shoulder and to many blind curves. But the local bike club rides there often as do others. It's the road out of the back of my subdivision. I usually ride from the house out the other end of the subdivision. Guess a solo rider is more vulnerable than a group of riders, but I have only ridden with a group on one occasion. It doesn't matter how defensively you ride, one moment of inattention from someone in a car and you can become a statistic.

Next

Busy weekend. Spent all day Saturday working on my car. Didn't finish until Sunday. My independent shop guy was right. It took me every bit of 6 hours. But, I saved $300. I don't mind working on my car. Just wish I'd had known I'd need a 18 mm wrench. Ended up taking a break about 2 hours into the job to go buy that wrench. Actually needed 2, one for each end of the bolt. Went to price it at Sears first. $35 for both wrenches, a open end wrench and a ratcheting wrench.(which ended up not working, not enough clearance). Next went to Northern Tools and bought both of them for half of the price at Sears. Same quality, just without the Craftsmen brand name. I quit working on the car, just after dark. I'd been going almost since lunchtime and ready to call it a day. Course I needed lots of hydration from my race in the morning and to prepare for Sunday's long run. Beer, water, beer, water. Work.

Sunday, Speedy and I went out to Cedars of Lebanon for 15 miles of gravel. We've been starting within the park with about 2 miles of road to the gravel. Decided next time, we'll park either in the middle or end of the gravel road and make it a all gravel/trail long run. We explored another trail to add a extra mile. Nice and soft mostly packed dirt with some mud holes from the 4 wheelers, with side trails around them. We could probably get 20 miles without repeating any of the gravel or the trails.

Monday recovery run on the golf course. Only did 7 miles. Legs were sore from the long run and the glutes were sore on Sunday from the race on Saturday. Slept in this morning. Doing another speed workout in the heat this evening. Won't exactly be hot though. Probably upper 80's at the most. Wouldn't mind if it stayed like this year round. Great bike riding weather. Little cool in the morning for the bike, but tolerable. Great for running. Looking forward to fall.

So, what's the next race? Maybe Fenton Payne, week after next. I'd like to shave a few more seconds off of the 5k time. Shift training focus to endurance. Keep doing at least one tempo workout a week, but concentrate on hills and 20 milers. Run a tough little marathon in the early fall and then a 50 miler in December. Haven't been able to find a 50 miler, may have to settle for a 100k in Chattanooga (Lookout Mtn. 100k). Plus, need to start getting in more miles on the bike to get ready for the Jack and Back? Haven't been able to find anything on the web about this years ride.

18:59 Citius, Altius, Fortius

Pre-race preparation

Wow, finished my cooldown with J1, J2 and EB, thinking I'd run 19:01. That was my watch time. Chip time was actually 18:59. Think it's time to retire:) Monty Perkins puts on a heck of a race each year at the Smyrna Parks 5k and Bill Nash Mile. Even has a great technical tee.

Great day for a race. Nice and cool, brilliant sunshine, but lots of shade on this course. EB and I ran a 2 mile warmup on the last mile of the course. This was a tremendous help in the final mile of the race. The last half mile is shaded for at least a quarter of a mile, with about that much more to the finish.

J1 said he'd go out at a 6:10 for the first mile, which sounded good to me.(he got first in his age group) But, seemed kinda slow once we were running. WH lined up ahead of me and I planned on keeping him in sight. After about a half mile it seemed these guys were going to slow, so pushed a little. First mile came in at 5:45. To fast, and quicker than I'd run the one mile race last year.

Tried not to panic and just maintain pace. WH and AB both came by me before the second mile. I faded to a 6:19. Tried to maintain contact with WH. He was just a little bit to strong. Never let him get more than about 10 yards ahead. These 2 were the only runners that went by me. Not much power left in the final 3/4 of mile home. Only thing keeping me going was I knew the shade would give me a little boost. Still about the same gap to WH and about that much more up to AB. I thought I'd have some kick left with 800 meters to reel in at least WH. The kick wasn't there. Did get a little kick when I saw the clock ticking up to 18: something. Pushed to the line and the clock said 19:02. Sheeeeeeeeeeit. My watch said 19:01.


driving to the finish

Really got to hand it to FM2 and Speedy for time trialing me 2 weeks ago. That helped tremendously. Also, EB even with her sand bagging; she pushed me hard on our last workout. J1 talked smack all week to P, who relayed it to me. All of this helped in mile 2 and 3 when its way to easy to cave and give in to the pain. WH has almost convinced me to run Fenton Payne in 2 weeks. 18:49 seems doable?

PJ was on hand to cheer me on. She took a few pictures. One of me going by at the start, but just got my foot. Oops. Good shot of me driving to the finish. The one picture is an accident? Cool looking abstract thing going on.


interesting shot

clown day

Couple of shots of Dylan for clown day at school.

streak broken

Two rest days in a row. Not by design. Yesterday was a planned rest day. Rode the bike for 16 miles. Changed the handlebars slightly to lower the drops to be parallel to the ground. (per a suggestion from a bike forums member) Made a big difference on getting more aero on the bike. Finally able to get back to 27 mph going down the small little rise out at the Stones River Battlefield. Also found out the "new" 10 speed has an extra gear, I'm not even strong enough to push, yet. It has a 11-23 cassette and I don't even get to the 11 on that small decline. Need to get out on some big hills.

Not really missing the aero bars. But, I haven't ridden over 20 miles yet on the new bike. Never did like the look of the aero bars, but they sure are comfy on a long ride. Plus, they do help to get more aero and increase the average mph on a ride. Downside to the bars has always been riding in groups or descending. No plans to put aero bars on this bike, its a road bike all the way. I've always wanted to do a tri, but just doesn't seem like that is possible anytime in the near future.



Serotta Hors Categorie before moving the bars parallal to the ground



New sign at the new parking lot on the other side of the railroad tracks at General Braggs Headquarters. It shows the extension out to Barfield Crescent Park. That'll be sweet when that is completed. May try and run on the dirt, it looks like they've started clearing for the path.



This morning I just slept in until almost 5:30. Should have run, but didn't get in bed until after 10:00 pm.

"Afraid, a man feels afraid"

Not really, just jammed to Neil Young this morning and heard that line in his live version of the the song, "A man needs a maid". I am getting kinda nervous about the 5k this weekend. Don't know why, training has gone pretty well. Heat should break by this weekend. I've cut back on my runs, and even the speedwork this morning.

Ran from the house to the track, but WH wasn't running so did the road in front of the HS, instead. Made up a workout to try and get a feel for race pace. Two and a half mile warmup, then 4 x 200 meters at R pace. Little quick, but felt comfortable. 200 meter recovery. 2 x 400 meter at race pace. These came in 2 seconds to quick. 1 x 800 meter at race pace, again 4 seconds to quick. Must be the reduced mileage this week and it actually seemed cooler this morning. Not as cool as yesterday, though.

Pulled out my race bib from my last decent 5k, Octoberfest. Ran a 19:22, but caved on mile 2. If EB hadn't come back on my shoulder it would have been worst. Splits were ugly, 6:06, 6:26, 6:15, :33. Mentally tough, I'm not. Need to concentrate on maintaining mile 2 and pushing to the finish, pacman style. Not the ex-Titans loser, but the old video game from the 80's.




I'll obsess over what to wear. Singlet or shirtless? Could wear my Striders Pace team singlet with the Southwest logo, just 'cuz its Jill's favorite airline. Also, need to decide which glasses and whether or not to wear a bandana. Decisions, decisions, no time to worry about the race, except for mile 2. That's the toughest one for me.

Little Creek Half Marathon

Brian and Dylan waiting for the runner to arrive.






Tired old Ford Galaxie



start



aid station never materialized



out and back course, turn around point

change in plans

Saturday was going to be an easy 10 miler. Planned to meet the Rock at 7 am at Bragg. He and J. started at 5:30. I caught them after I'd started back out at 7 am after getting in a 2 mile warmup. Ran back with them about a half mile to return the book "Again to Carthage", to the Rock library. I'd had the book way to long and never could really get into it. Never made it past the first 20 pages or so.

Started back on my run as the Oakland HS kids were headed out. Let them go, but stopped to chat with "puppymeat", but he was into a tale about Mr. Badwater with J. and I went on. Instead of going nice and easy, I decided to reel in the HS kids. Cranked up the pace to about 6:30 to get the stranglers. Slowed to 7:20'ish to catch the main pack and picked it up to about 7:00 to lose them. Pretty dumb. I hadn't brought any water and it was plenty warm. Able to catch my breath as I waited for a train to go by before I made it to the battlefield. The kids never did catch me. By the time I made it to the ranger station, it was time to slow it down. SS and the local HS fast kid were headed back out. Holy crap, if they'd left at the same time as the other kids, they'd been crankin'. Got teased by about 20 drops of rain, just enough to show up on the pavement, but not enough to get wet. Cruised around the battlefield one time, picking it up climbing the rise to pass one runner and then again when SS and fast HS kid were headed my way. Slowed it down on the one mile back to Bragg. So instead of an easy 10 miles, I ended up with 9 miles of marathon pace average.

backside of summer

School is starting or has already started. Dylan is in 2nd grade this year. Thinks he's a big kid. He started reading one of Darrell's "Harry Potter" books the other day. Little to much book for him. I need to dig out Darrell's old books from the attic. Everything Dylan has on his book shelf is geared towards a beginning reader or even younger. Darrell's books are adolescent or older.

Darrell has signed up for classes at MTSU. He's changed his major, English. Doesn't really matter to me what major he ends up with, just so long as he goes to class and passes. This time around he's scheduled classes starting after 11 am. He's definitely not a morning person. He's a night owl. I started out as a Photojournalism major on my first trip through college at Western Kentucky University. Quite a change to the accounting major I ended up with, many years later.

Sun didn't come up this morning until I'd already finished one loop on the golf course. Gray morning, no sunrise but plenty warm and humid. The days are getting shorter and summer is slipping away fast.