Just Another Saturday

I had a light workout week, due largely to my inability to decide how I want to restructure my schedule, now that the days are too warm for afternoon runs. I need to make some sort of decision, but I haven't yet gotten over the fact that I don't like any of my options. I'll bow to necessity soon, and in the meantime I'm trying to be patient with myself. And backing off a bit this week was helpful, because I felt a lot fresher than I did last Saturday.

I'm still trying to keep my "long run day" cardio level at my old levels as I back off on the running to let my hip get better. So I started with what I thought would be an hour in the gym, but turned into an hour and a half on the elliptical trainer, broken into 30 minute sets with breaks in between.

Then I changed into dry clothes and hit the trails.

It should be noted that this was my first midriff-baring day of the season!

By the time I got out on the bayou trails, temps were in the 80s-- warm enough that I probably would've needed to carry water with me, had it not been for some cool breezes and occasional cloud cover. Since the Fuel Belt seems to make my hip problems worse, I was glad to be able to run without it.

It was a rather dull day on the bayou. The sidewalk artist had completed her project in front of the Sabine Lofts, so I didn't have to make a detour on my way into downtown. On the way back out of downtown, I noticed someone had strung a clothesline down near the water and hung some shorts and t-shirts. This was odd on a lot of levels, not the least of which is that the bayou water is so filthy that I can't imagine anyone would use it for washing. So why the clothesline?

There were no races, no walks, no nothing going on. In fact, there weren't a lot of runners out on the trails at all. Too hot? Doesn't seem likely. Anyone who runs in this town has to acclimate or take up a different hobby. One of the oddest things I noticed when I did the IronStar Half-Ironman a couple years ago was the way everyone was reacting to the heat on the run course. Given that it was a mostly local field, I just couldn't understand how so many people had failed to learn how to properly fuel and hydrate for such conditions. It was sort of bizarre. How can you train through the summer months in this town and not learn how to handle heat and humidity?

In other related news, registration for the Houston Marathon opens on June 1. I've decided to go ahead and sign up early. The race actually filled up this past year and I don't want to take a chance on waiting. After so many problems over the past few years-- tendonitis, bronchitis and now hip and IT band troubles-- I'm pretty skeptical about this marathon. But since it's on my birthday next year, maybe that will be the charm and things will all go right this time. The last time I ran it was on my birthday too, so what could go wrong?

Please don't answer that!

Today's Workouts
Saturday: 90 minutes elliptical, 7 mile run