Red Dirt Harriers

My day revolved around coffee and food. It was a restful day away from the store and I managed to finish a yard project long overdue. I am trying my hand at a little landscaping involving a large decorative pot and a lot of rocks. Throw in a water pump and the possibility of aquatic plants and you've got some wild stuff brewing. This nonstandard type of activity was made possible by my continued lack of running, which has proven to be a necessary precaution in order to be able to walk without MUCH pain and perform normal daily tasks. I have at least been able to sweat a little this week by biking in to work and I think that this week I'm going to alternate the elliptical and the bike. I really haven't done any laudable amount of cross training as far as volume goes because I really couldn't stand aquajogging solo everyday so the first week was bad, but I'm going to push myself a little this week, maybe.

As I came up with this sweet title, I was tuned into OETA and caught the preview for Okie Noodling II, needless to say I will eagerly sitting in front of the telly tonight. The best quote I heard came courtesy of a ragged, threadbare sage who says: "Noodlin- it's like golf, ya just never can git the hang of it." Ah yes, like life itself I suppose, hand fishing certainly never ceases to challenge our psyche and bewilder our anticipatory powers. Alright, next point of business, I've fucked up my foot to some degree. What exactly I have done alludes me, but I'm pretty positive it's a stress fracture. While I'm no MD and I do get my intelligence on human anatomy regularly challenged by customers at the store, I have researched extensively and have come upon no other explanation remotely close to plausible for my ailment. I have alot of trouble walking as midway along my 2nd metatarsal is sore to the touch and lightly swollen. I had a dull ache for about a week...

Training has been going pretty well, all things considered. As of late I've hit the track several times this summer and have put out some good efforts. This week, we did quarters which is something pretty foreign to my training log as of the last 4+ years. I ran alot of 71's before pushing out a 68 and trying to maintain :60 200 recovery jogs. After that, I got back to 71-72 before battening down on the last 6 or so and running 69-70.It was a good workout for me and I should be able to revisit this type of effort and gauge improvement. I am definitely doing a little tight rope walking as far as health so I aim to maybe take an easier week here and there to just run miles. Anyway, working at the running shop has been fun for the most part and I am looking forward to instituting a optional snowcone evening run next week, which could potentially mean either we run over to the snowcone stand or, in some other individuals, thinking may just include an ice cold beer mid run. Either o...

It seems I've taken hiatus so time to get back at it. Had a fine weekend participating in the StuCat wedding in Enid. We managed to consume some alcohol, despite the early concern to the contrary. I was hoping to record a PB at the Knot Trot but the ensuing gamesmanship and jangled nerves allowed Stu and Cat to get away from me in the last quarter mile. Oh well there's always next year, right? Enid actually impressed me as there was no indication that the place was going drying up and blowing away. We found a couple nice eateries and bars and more importantly, the dirt roads made a pretty excellent training venue for a Sunday 16 miler. I even had a great time chasing tail all the way home from the bars on Saturday night, if only it weren't runner girls who set a mean pace all the way back to the hotel. It did offer a great opportunity to return my tux in a highly compromised state that made to attendant question what the hell I did in the thing. I'm unhappy to note the ...

I hit the track this morning for some work. It was another nice morning but I can't imagine the humidity abating for long. Jordan and Meagan had matching workouts of 4-8-12-16-16-12-8-4 w/ 60 second rest. The paces prescribed were quick and I didn't run great but I tried to hang with Jordan on the middle reps. I should hopefully be able to substantially improve on my efforts this morning and maybe feel better doing it. I did something like a 200-500-1100-800-1600-1200-600-200, I wasn't happy with missing out on the first 1600 but I had to break for the restroom and I at least touched on some faster paces on the other reps. The recovery made it a pretty honest effort and I at least was able to sneak below 5:00 pace. My goal for the summer is breaking 15:00 so we'll see what happens. The picture above is my uncle's digital rendering of a wave complete with a frigate bird. I think he used only Adobe throughout the process.

Superb weather for the weekend- pretty much uncharacteristic late May stuff in Oklahoma with low humidity and cool, sunny temps. On Sunday Jordan, Meagan, and yo headed to the Oklahoma River to investigate the scene at the Boathouse International Triathlon. There was elite competition on Saturday but Sunday featured the amateur race. We saw Trey Vernon finish in first, but the results indicate a different guy winning which is kind of the downfall of a race with staggered starts and circuit courses for all three disciplines, making it pretty easy for someone to skip a lap or just have a hard time keeping tabs on your competitors. The "long" run was sort of a start and stop affair because we were kind of confused as to how to get around the place and we wanted to stop and at least see how the thing was playing out. I didn't get to see the state track meet but it seemed kind of slow and other than the freshman girl from Norman winning the 3200 and getting 2nd in the 1600, th...

Spenis mandated more music, and music he shall have. Come to think of it, he should probably be named music director of my blog, for it seems like I have come upon way too many annoying obligations lately. Spence's suggested addendum to my previous blog (I use an old video because it also mentions Zonker Harris day, of which I'm a conscientious supporter... of the cartoon hero): I counter with: Neutral Milk Hotel covered by The Apples in Stereo and...(noting the beer on the table) And finally, I have a tribute to Trevor Gillum. Unfortunately, I couldn't be in attendance for his epic high altitude, off-road, 50k this weekend . The thing looked cool and I would much rather be there than here this weekend unfortunately a variety of issues have prevented me from modilizing. "It's all Good" John Lee Hooker as done by Dylan