Waste of a Shower

I had a good 5-mile run this afternoon in 90 degree heat in a sauna of humidity. After cooling off and eating dinner I took a shower. That turned out to be a waste since I had to clean a broken mirror out of the garage (long story) and get it into the bin for tomorrow's pick up, sweating buckets the whole time. So much for that shower. Again, just part of summer in Texas.

Wet Saturday

Saturday was wet but not because it was raining, it was all about the humidity. Plus hot temperatures in the 80s on a Saturday. I went 6 miles but just like the previous run there was a lot of walking in the last couple of miles. My take is that at least I'm getting out there and sweating. I feel like I'm still acclimating to the hot temperatures since our spring was pretty mild.

Hot Walking

Thursday was in the 90s for the temperature, and very sunny. The humidity was off the charts and my weather app showed a heat index of 114 degrees. That might be a little over the top but maybe not as much as I originally thought. I got out a little after 4:30 p.m. and wisely decided to go just 4 miles. Even so there was a lot of walking in that last mile, probably overall a half-mile for the whole outing. I still sweat plenty so there's that.

Summertime

Back to the regular route today, and regular summer temperatures. It was in the low 90s with lots of humidity. I ran my 6 miles with a walk at each marker. It was also a little breezy from the south, which usually affects the GPS. It was off quite a bit today, about 100 yards at least on the first mile marker, and when I got to mile 3 I went by the regular natural markers that I know and ignored the GPS. It's amazing how much the wind will change the readings, but by now I think I've figured it out.

A Hill or Two

The usual route takes me to a lake and a park, and today the city was scheduled to dedicate the new additions: more trails, new playground, and new amphitheater (I think). So I avoided that scene and for the first time in a long time ran the hill route to the west.

This being a Saturday morning it was humid but not too bad as far as the temperature goes. It's my long run day, but with the hills I kept it to 6 miles, which was just about right. Overall I felt pretty good, although as I came back onto Ridge I walked up the curved sidewalk to the road, and then walked again up the huge hill on Virginia. The first was because I felt like I need to, and the second was more for injury prevention. There was a good wind out of the southwest and that definitely helped keep me cool enough for this outing.

No Bobcat

Ran the regular route today and saw no bobcats. Which is good. The 6 miles went well, with a minute walk every mile marker because of the sun and heat. Even though the heat wasn't bad, in the mid 80s, I was sick late Tuesday and half of yesterday so I thought it prudent to walk occasionally and it proved to be the right choice.

Bobcat

Didn't feel good most of the day yesterday. My throat was a little congested and I felt like I was catching some of the cough The Boy has had recently. But since it was all neck up I went and ran 6 miles. And actually felt pretty good at the end.

As I got to the end of the north side of the bridge on Lake Forest I saw a bobcat down below. It was right at the edge of the grass where the concrete fans out, picking at something. I stopped and watched it for about 90 seconds. I coughed once and it looked up, determined I wasn't a threat, and then went right back to pawing at the grass. I finally continued and as I looked back it had started to walk into the trees, but stopped for a moment to watch me before continuing. I'm wondering what it survives on in this area. Must be a lot of squirrels in its diet. Anyway, I ran my whole 6 miles, and wondered if that bobcat was watching me from the woods as I ran by the area where I'd seen it.

Later on as I was heading upstairs for bed I got the chills and the coughing got worse. I ended up sleeping late and when I finally got up at noon it had broken. It's been about three and a half years since last time I was sick, which means I can't complain about a sickness that lasts less than a day.

Humidity in the Air

The sky was overcast yesterday afternoon, and the breeze out of the south helped, but the humidity was way up and temperature was about 90. I thought about trying to run the whole way, but knowing my Achilles' heel is humidity I decided to walk at each mile marker along the 6-mile route. Plus I knew I was going to mow the lawn when I got home, which gave me more incentive to avoid overdoing it. In spite of the humidity it was a good run.

Back to 7

Got up early this Saturday morning -well, at 7:15, which seemed early - and ran 7 miles. Heading to Oklahoma today for a concert with Old 97's and wanted to run before heading north. It was a nice 70 degrees, sunny, and lots of people out on a beautiful morning. I wore the compression shirt once again and that seemed to help. It was great to get back to a little bit of a longer outing.