Make it 150

This morning's 5.5-mile run through Piedmont Park and in the neighborhood cut my total needed for 100 miles this month to under 2 miles and made it 150 consecutive days of running.

Yay, cat!

Maybe it's just the camera angle

But today I was looking over some photos for an article that's coming out with one of our photographers and noticed I didn't look really huge in them.

So that's a plus.

This morning, some guy in his 30s-40s jogging crossed the street on Virginia and stepped in front of me.

Why do people do such stupid things?

I turned it up, full bore, passed him and sprinted up the 3/4-mile hill back home.

Of course, later on, the last thing I wanted to do was get on a bike and go to work.

But then, I'm the type of cat who routinely does the last thing he wants to do just because he can do it.

A bike inspection, a playoff run

Last night, with the Pistons-Cavaliers playoff game booming from my HDTV, I turned my Trek hybrid upside down and tried to see if the rim was visibly bent from the other day.

I spun the wheel, ran my fingers along both edge of the Bontrager wheel, applied the front brake with my foot.

I feel like maybe the front brake got knocked out of alignment somehow. When it's applied, both sides of the brake come together, but only one side snaps away from the bike when the brake is released. We'll see.

I took a broken screwdriver and removed months of muck off of the gears, used a flashlight to inspect it for other damage, such as cracks in the aluminum frame. The poor bike has a hard life on Atlanta's streets, under my hands. But it's dependable, a hard hill climber.

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Running again has become like a playoff game. Yesterday I had to do about 20 miles in five days to clinch another 100-mile month. I ran in the evening when the haze and smoke from the Georgia wildfires went away and cranked out the Middlebear H-Loop run. It was awesome. Now about 13 miles to go in the next four days...

A busted rim?

Yesterday as I was making my way on East Ponce to Little Azio in Decatur, I came across a huge, square pothole in the road that almost made me wreck my bike.

I thought for sure I had lost the tire by way of bending the rim but tire cohesion remained and I made it into Decatur -- and back home again.

I couldn't find any obvious sign of rim bendage but my front brake makes a horrible sound when I use it and I can feel the wheel bumping into the brake every resolution when it's applied.

Hopefully it won't be an expensive fix. Those Bontrager rims are like $300.

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Today I was hoping to go for a run before I came into work but the haze and smoke from the south Georgia wildfires are back. Had to take a pass.

Smokin' (literally)

This morning I heard the birds chirping and opened the back door so Clonie could peek at them through the screen.

But the haze from the Georgia wildfires down south had returned and it wasn't too long before I had to scoop her up and move her from the door.

A few hours elapsed and I totally forgot about it and went outside to fix my front door. The haze hadn't gone away.

I hope it'll clear up enough for a run later on. Hate to end a streak because of it.

In search of...

...a new rocket. I can't believe I'm looking for a road bike, but I am. Must be Tour de France season is approaching.

32 Weeks Later

I thought this would be a "28 Weeks Later" post like the movie, but I went back and counted and I'm actually on 32 weeks since my big running push after I broke up with Kelley in mid-October.

So where am I at?

-6 consecutive 100 mile months
-138 consecutive days of running (every single day this year, and have missed only 7 days since mid-October)
-About 16 pounds lost
-And I can fit into nearly everything I used to be able to fit into but couldn't.

I now run in the morning and I find it's 1). much cooler than running in a hot afternoon and 2). Doesn't give me the excuse not to bike to work (to save energy for the afternoon run).

Back on the bike

I'm waking up too late to get any really long run in, most I've been able to do because of the time is 2 miles. The weather was really cool, almost cold this morning when I was out.

That, plus the high price of gas, plus eating a ginormous Ghetto Burger the night before put me back in the saddle this morning to ride to work.

It was pretty pleasant. And I'll be happy to avoid gridlock on the way home.

Summer bonus

I was happy to discover this morning when I opened a box of summer clothes and found the pair of regular shorts that I use when I ride my bike to work that they fit well -- last fall they were tight!

Almost made it worth it breathing Georgia wildfire-laced air this morning on a short 2-mile run in the neighborhood before work.

Vegas -- Morning run

The intersection of Flamingo and Koval, where Tupac Shakur was killed in 1996. 5/11/07

LAS VEGAS -- It's a little after 9 a.m. and it's already brutal. It's so bright running on the Strip and my mouth feels both dry and full of fine desert dust in the area.

I set off from Planet Hollywood east to the MGM Grand near Tropicana before turning north and rounding the block at Koval. I plod along past Harmon Ave. and then on to Flamingo, where I recently learned this is the intersection where Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by in 1996.

The ground, of course, is flat and pretty boring. I normally dislike running in Las Vegas but I have to continue the streak!

After a while I trot into the Bally's sportsbook and back into some really nice A/C. LOL.

The crying tree

Today I decided I would get a good run in before heading off to Vegas later this evening. I ran just a few hours ago and already it was hot.

As I entered the PATH near Candler Golf Course, I came around the S-turn and then saw a crying tree.

The golf course's sprinklers had drenched the area before actually going on to water the course. And droplets of water were still falling from the tree.

I was glad I did the 7-mile run, but am wondering if I need to do longer runs in the heat. May scale back.

What's cooler than being cool? (Ice-cold)

This morning I had to put my right wrist behind my back as I ran in Piedmont Park because it was ice-cold! Temperature was under 60 degrees and although my wrist was chilly, it was a real blessing to run in this kind of weather.

Not sure why, but my split time down to the dog park (14 mins), which is all downhill, is longer than my return trip uphill (12 minutes).

It's cool to be cool

This morning was a real gem -- it was about 57 degrees out. Being super-cooled really helps a cat and I tore up my 4-mile loop that I do when I don't want to do the whole Middlebear H-Loop course.

It's hard to get started in the morning, but once I'm up I really don't mind it. Have to continue this in the future, since it'll get super hot in the summa.

Around, without sound

Yesterday evening, with the remaining sunlight dwindling away, I was out the door and working on the Middlebear H Loop without even realizing I wasn't plugged in.

I think it was the first time in a while that I wasn't wearing my iPod. I was only a few minutes into my run and I totally could have turned around but decided I would just run without it.

And you know what? It was fine. I ran about four miles, ditching the Middlebear course as it got dark and came back along the rolling hills along Ponce. I was happy that I ran them without effort and not even wanting to stop.

This morning, with better light, I completed the Middlebear H Loop. It was cool and misty, about 62 degrees, which made for excellent running weather. I was pretty happy that my run up L3 was nearly a sprint. I did have my iPod on for that run.

Love those carbs

I've had to be up and at work early this week to sub for someone else so I haven't been able to get up early and go running like I would have liked.

In the evening, it's really hot out, which makes running not-so-pleasant. Even worse is knowing that at 86 degrees, the weather will only get hotter. It's only May.

The running recently has been pretty effortless and I enjoy that aspect of it. I just cruise along and end my run when it's time to stop, not because I have to.

I crave pasta a lot, however in the evening...

Don't pass if you ain't got the gas

Yesterday, I'm plodding along in the 86 degree heat along Ponce when some guy with much less body fat than me passes me before Lakeshore.

Nothing like a challenge. I step it up. He turns on Lakeshore. I turn on Lakeshore.

I'm by him before the Viper Tube.

I felt good about the run, although I really needed some water halfway. I had already come back from biking to work. Love the rocket ride that's pretty much downhill into work -- and the unfortunate climbing on hills on the way back.

Now there's a purpose -- K Rose is coming to town mid-May. Guess I'll have to make these workouts count before I see her.