Track Usage

I added two links that should be helpful in determining when our favorite tracks are available. The high school sports link should be good for any high school facilities. And the CMU one should be good for that. (You need to look at the upcoming events on the right-hand sidebar.) I was also glad to see that the CMU track is officially open to the public. I always wonder if we are technically allowed to be there since we don't have any affiliation, but I figure no one enforces it. Well, it looks like we actually ARE allowed to be there!

900% Price Increase in Swimming

I went to the Downtown Y to swim this morning. Since the price I've been paying for swimming jumped from $1 to $10, that represents a 900% price increase! Yikes! Glad (well, generally) that nothing has changed in the four months since I've been at the Y. Same door code; same guys that flirts with the lifeguard, distracting her from saving my life; same cleaning lady. Only different thing I noticed is that somehow they increased the water pressure in my favorite shower.

On another note, I think I'm ready to bump up my swim plans. I had it set on a 30-45 minute workout and I think today is the first time that I finished under 30 minutes, so I figure that I'm outgrowing the level I am at. Might do another time trial next time I'm in the pool and figure out where I'm at.

On another, completely unrelated note - I saw a guy wearing a Santa tie this morning. He didn't look crazy or anything though. Maybe he just put it on in the dark.

www.pittsburghmarathon.com

I was excited to hear that registration is now open for the Pittsburgh Marathon, but a little disappointed that they don't have their website up and running. Since they had contact information at active.com, I was able to get in touch with the office and find out that it will be available in about three weeks. Since they already filled the first 50 slots that get Dick's gift cards, I'm boycotting registration until the website is live. Not that there's really any question whether or not I'm running it!

The Final Swim of the Summer

Alas, the days in the outdoor pool have drawn to a close. Lisa and I did our last swim of the summer at Avalon last night. The pool will be closed next week since kids are back in school and then it will be open for Labor Day weekend before they shut down for the season. We have been starting to get a chill in the air on our recent swims - incentive to jump in and start swimming fast!

From Dawn to Dusk

After we decided not to do our 13-miler together on Sunday morning, I knew that I was going to have trouble fitting it all in one chunk. I did a quick calculation before I went to bed on Saturday night, factoring in how early I was willing to get up and how much mileage I was really willing to do later in the day. The plan was to do 6 in the am and then 7-8 in the afternoon. (I figured I would add in an extra mile since I was giving myself the benefit of a break.) Well, as the afternoon task list grew, I was comprising with myself, saying, "OK, you can get 6 miles in this afternoon and then do 2 more tonight with Fresca..." Then it trickled down to 4...and eventually I got out the door and did 2 measly miles in the blazing sun. It was pretty hot, so all in all I'm glad that I didn't do a lot of mileage in the afternoon. After the sun went down and we returned from Church again, I headed out the door to do my final 5 miles for the day. (Fresca finished the last 2 with me.) I have to say, even with breaking it up, my legs were feeling pretty heavy by the end of the run.

Swimming with Sarah

OK - I WENT to the pool tonight, but didn't end up actually swimming. My friend Heather called to see if she and Sarah could come along tonight, but we forgot that Tuesday night is Adult Night only at Avalon, so we ended up going over to Avonworth. I ended up being in charge of camera duty and since they don't really have a separate lap lane, I just headed home to start my Olympic watching! Tomorrow will be my speed workout!



Aren't they just the cutest pair?

Lithuania v. Argentina Basketball

If you happen to be getting up for a 12 mile run early on a Sunday morning, this might be your only Olympic watching availability...though I think Lisa actually got some good LIVE action pre-6 am while it was still being broadcast on NBC before it switched to USA coverage.

What a gorgeous Sunday morning long run! Perfect weather and we both felt great on the run!

Once a Runner - REPRINT

After the release of Again to Carthage, by John L. Parker, Jr., I really wanted to read the first book, Once a Runner. Only problem was that it was out of print and the cheapest price I could find for a copy was about $200. Looks like based on the success of Again to Carthage, that they are going to have a reprint of Once a Runner, so it is due out April 7, 2009 at a very reasonable $16.32! You can pre-order now!

The Best Place to Get Hit by Lightning

While doing our speed workout last night, Lisa and I discussed the topic of lightning strikes and we agree - the best place to get hit by lightning would be the track at CMU. While, it is highly unlikely that you actually would get hit due to the number of large metal objects (goalposts, stadium lights, etc.) sticking up into the air that are much taller than a human, it is the ideal place as there are always a lot of people in the vicinity and you are so close to all of the Oakland hospitals - just a very short ride in an ambulance!

This topic came up since a storm was brewing and, quite ideally, started dropping rain on us during our 4th of 5 1k repeats. It started out with a nice, cooling sprinkle and then as we were doing our cooldown it dumped pretty hard on us. It stopped and as we were doing some stretches we saw Erica Howard, who we had just been talking about the other day when we ran past her condo - how ironic!

[Even though we were discussing lightning, there actually ended up being no thunder and lightning in this storm - just rain!]