Uneventful

I haven't been posting lately because not a lot has been going on. That's kinda good. With so much happening in the next few weeks it's nice to have some good down-time.

Last weekend's run was almost wholly uneventful. I did three loops on the bayou trail with some mandatory walk breaks where the trail was excessively mud-covered. I'm not talking about a little of the ordinary stuff. This was several inches thick and of the slippery-slimy variety that you can't run in and can barely walk through without having a foot slide out from beneath you. So I walked these parts. Carefully.

When Dan decided not to go to his cousin's vow renewal ceremony that afternoon, I shed no tears and gratefully settled in for a long Saturday post-run nap. We watched an old German movie later in the evening and stayed up late. We felt no need to hit the hay eary because we didn't like the look of the weather forecast for Sunday's Katy Flatlands ride and figured we'd just stay home instead. It turned out to be a good call because thunderstorms moved into the area around 11 the next day and my massage therapist (a Cat 3 cyclist) told me that they hit Katy around 10:30 as she was getting ready to head home. Since Mary is much, much faster than I am, I can safely assume that I would've been caught in the storm had I done the ride.

My workweek was meeting-rific, but low on boss interference. One boss was in meetings most of the time and the other was on vacation. We finished getting our current fiscal year records audit-ready and are starting on last year's records now. Ho-hum. How many more years of this before I can retire?

I got my hair cut, but I'm not sure if I like it. The guy cut it a lot shorter than I really wanted and about an inch shorter than I thought we had agreed on. He fixed the bangs though, which means when I brush them out of my face, they stay that way. That's pretty cool. And the hairstyle is really quite nice, modern and versatile. It's just shorter than I've had it since '98 and I still find it a bit weird. I don't freak out over these things like I would've when I was younger, though. Age, experience and a nice assortment of hair products really boost a gal's confidence. I can style almost any cut a hundred different ways, and at least a dozen of them are sure to make me happy.

Today's long run featured a baby bunny and... turtles!

I did my old Memorial Drive to Chimney Rock route after a loop around the bayou trail, which was where I saw the tiny cottontail learning where to find the best grass. Then I ran up Memorial Drive, past the bike and running loops. Just beyond the railroad tracks, I noticed they had leveled and laid down some gravel on the little unofficial trail that some of us have made between the official park trail and the turn off Memorial to the polo grounds. Having a finished trail was nice because with all the rain we've had I was expecting that portion of the run to be like soup. Instead it was nice, well-drained gravel with no sucking mud or branches to trip me up. When I got to the intersection of Memorial and the 610 Loop I found the streetlights out, which made crossing a bit of an adventure, but the run up to Chimney Rock was nicer than I'd remembered, not having done it for awhile.

One problem I kept having today involved my fuel belt. I've had it a few years and one of the elastic bottle holders has gotten loose and misshapen. Today it was at the point of no return and I kept losing one of my stupid bottles. On the third time, about half a mile from Chimney Rock, I decided enough was enough. I carried it in my hand until I reached a little office building with a pond and benches that I had passed many times before. I figured it would be a good place to stop in case I needed a bench to set things on while I devised a temporary fix for my fuel belt. As it turned out, the bench was too wet to be of any use and I didn't need to set anything down after all. I had a baggie in my fuel belt pocket that I always keep there in case I run across some nice looking clover or dandelions for the bunny. I made a few strategic tears, twisted it into a long cord and wove it through the faulty bottle holder in a way that I can't really describe except to say that it held the bottle nicely. There's a reason my husband calls me MacGyver.

As I was leaving the little park I noticed a turtle sunning itself on a rock in the pond. I had no idea there were any animals in the pond, so I stopped to look at it. And almost immediately dozens of little turtle snouts appeared at the surface from points all across the pond and started moving toward me. Moments later I was surrounded by turtles, all looking at me expectantly with their solemn, hooded eyes. I guess now we know what the office workers there do with their leftovers from lunch, don't we? "I don't have anything for you," I informed them. I felt a little bad disappointing them, but life can be tough in a small pond.

And that's about all I have to say about anything tonight. I'm not feeling particularly philosophical, I have no words of wisdom for anyone, including myself. I'm still pondering and parsing a dream I had last weekend, but that's a matter for another time-- a time when I am feeling philosophical. Right now I'm just glad it's the weekend, glad Lance has won his last Tour and we can watch some real competition next year, and glad the random violence of the world has yet to happen here in my city. It's really not such a terrible thing to have a dull week.

Recent Workouts
Last Saturday: 15 mile run
Last Sunday: 1.5 hour bike, Spinervals 9.0 Have Mercy (skipped last 30 min of 2 hour video)
Monday: 45 minute core and strength training, 4 mile run (speedwork)
Tuesday: 1000 meter swim, 1 mile run (brick), 45 minute bike - Spinervals 3.0 Suffer-O-Rama
Wednesday: 15 minute core workout, 45 minute elliptical
Thursday: 1000 meter swim, 1 mile run (brick)
Friday: 45 minute core and strength training
Saturday: 15 mile run