109 on a 100 Base

Today's temp got up to 100 degrees with a heat index of 109. Par for the course these days. I went on another 3-mile walk that felt much like the one a couple of days ago. I have to say the only other people I saw out were the guys doing lawn care work. 50 minutes or so for a walk feels pretty draining; I can't imagine doing it all day. God bless those guys.

Heat Index

This is about as high as the heat index has risen, at least while I've been paying attention. It was 102 degrees with heat index of 116 when I left the house for today's walk. Strangely enough, it wasn't really that bad. A breeze from the southeast helped, as well as shade at various points along the route. I walked 3 miles and then came home and mowed the lawn. Yeah, I'm kind of stupid that way.

Water in the Creek

There's water in the creek again after a surprise thunderstorm late yesterday afternoon. I thought the storm was going to stay north of us but we caught the southwestern edge and got hammered for a good 45 minutes or so. We needed it. Of course, that made this morning humid but that's fine by me. I walked 3 miles. I'd rate it as a good walk since I was in no hurry and had no place to be. Lots of stray thoughts throughout the walk, which is probably better to do at noon than in the middle of the night.

Walk and Mow

Yesterday the temperature plummeted to the low 90s and the humidity actually kept the heat index below 100. I still walked instead of running and went 2.5 miles. When I got home the lawn needed a trim, so I got in a little more walking. We're headed to the century mark over the next week, which means I'll likely continue the walking with little to no running. 

See Randy Walk

Maybe I should rename this website. When it's 97 degrees with heat index of 115 outside, there's not gonna be much running going on. I needed to get outside, though, and do something. I walked 3 miles and generated a nice bucket of sweat. It wasn't that bad. Really. I knew I would walk the whole way and no pressure to run. Summer is here, although it officially starts tomorrow according to the calendar. Either way, it's arrived in Texas already.

Running While Smoking

Today I put a pork shoulder on the smoker, and figured even though that requires attention I still needed to get out for some exercise. I went 3 miles, half of it running. Still very humid around here, and I heard that Wednesday and Thursday were some of the most humid (humidest?) days on record in the Dallas area. I believe it. At least I got in my exercise for today as well as mowing the lawn. Now it's time to enjoy the long weekend.

Welcome Back, Summer

Yesterday we hit 94 degrees, a nice jump up in temperature. A nice breeze out of the southeast helped, at least when running against it. I went 4 miles total and ran half of it in half-mile blocks. All the walking in between helped me make it the whole way and also seemed to keep my heart rate from getting too high. Plus the areas of shade along the route were also most welcome. I've been wearing a hat due to some spots on my forehead (more like a six- or seven-head) that had to be removed last year, and the hat is supposed to keep more from developing in the harsh Texas sunlight. At least in the areas of shade I was able to take off my hat and that helped cool me down in those instances.

Misty June Day

Definitely not a normal June day. It was cool, only getting up to about 80, and cloudy all day. It finally rained about the time I was heading out, although it was more of a mist than actual rain. Maybe a little more than mist. Whatever the case, it wasn't too bad. It picked up a little bit around the mile mark, so I ended up going only 2.5 miles. The good news is that I ran 1.6 of that with a pickup at the end. I got in some sweat regardless of the weather. The forecast looks like after tomorrow we start getting into real summer weather. This might be the coolest run I have for a while.

Disassociated 5k

Another day, another 5k. That's 3.1 miles out of the 5-mile outing. It was another nice Saturday morning with clouds on the horizon but nothing overhead. Fortunately, there was a very nice breeze which kept me cool. The temperature was in the high 80s and it looks to get hotter over the next week. I appreciate the chance to acclimate to the upcoming warmth. Or hotness. Whatever you want to call it, it's summer in Texas.

1 of 3, 2 of 4

The 1 of 3 in the title refers to the baseball games I attended the previous three nights. The good guys (Cardinals) were in town to play the bad guys (Rangers). The good guys won only 1 of the 3 games, which was actually better than I expected since the bad guys are playing lights out so far this year and the good guys...aren't. Had fun anyway, although it meant missing my Tuesday outing.

Today I ran 2 of 4 miles, the latter half of the title above. The temperature is still hovering in the upper 80s with a nice touch of humidity. I ran four half-mile intervals with a pickup the last quarter-mile or so. It was good to get out and sweat again. This time the heart rate seemed reasonable although I wasn't watching it that closely 'til the end.

Someone asked me the other day if I still run and if I want to do any more marathons. Yes, I still run, I replied, and I'd like to run more halfs and fulls. The problem for me is the time commitment, which first of all means getting into good enough shape to be able to start a real training program. Something to consider.

Another 5k

In today's 5-mile outing I ran 3.1 miles in intervals. Interestingly, I cut short the next-to-last interval because my heart rate seemed too high. It got up to 165, and as I've mentioned before, that's above the max heart rate if you use the normal calculation. At the very least it was in the 90%+ range. It got up to the same rate toward the end of my final half-mile interval, but I stuck it out so I could get to the 5k mark in running. I didn't feel horrible during any of it but I did feel like I was laboring a little more than usual. Temperature was about 80 degrees but humidity was way up. Or maybe it was tougher because I didn't find a hundred-dollar bill this time. 

Feeling Like a Hundred Bucks

I actually found a hundred-dollar bill on my run today. Yes, I searched around quite extensively to see if someone was looking for it, but I saw not a soul. Like nobody was out today running or cycling. Yes, I kept it. I've found a twenty and once a fiver on previous runs, but this one takes the cake.

What's interesting is that if I'd given in to a shorter run like my mind kept telling me, I wouldn't have found it. The money was almost at the turnaround point for two miles out and then two back. In fact, I didn't see it when I passed it the first time. It was on the return. I considered turning around at 1.5 miles, and then had almost convinced myself to turn at 1.75 and do a 3.5 mile run, which I rarely do. Instead, I thought another quarter mile out wasn't that far.

I know, I'm making too big a deal of it. Especially since it's going in the offering plate at church to help the food pantry or the local homeless ministry. Hey, it wasn't mine to begin with and it's a chance to pass it along to someone who does.

Running? Yeah, 4 miles total with 2.5 in intervals. The temperature was in the mid to high 80s but a breeze out of the southeast kept things reasonable. Still recovering from the wedding weekend and sweating for an hour or so felt good.