Heat Wave

It's hot in the 'loo. Today's heat index is over 100...not a good day to be an English Mastiff--just ask Karl.

In running news, things are good. We leave for Chicago for the R & R Half Marathon two weeks from today. My training has looked something like this lately:

Mon: 4-5 miles
Tues: 7-8 miles
Wed: 4-5 miles
Thurs: 7-8 miles
Fri: off
Sat: long run of 10-12
Sun: off

I've been trying to get out in mornings to beat the heat. I think I have finally turned the corner to become a morning runner for good.

I have a new pair of shorts from Nike that I've been wearing for running (the Nike Tempo Track Running Shorts). Although I don't like the look, I've been wearing spandex-y biking type shorts for the past few years. They've been the only kind I can find that I don't have to constantly mess with when I run. However, I have now found a pair that I can say I only have to mess with minimally when I run:

http://store.nike.com/index.jsp?sitesrc=uslp&country=US&lang_locale=en_US#l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-89630/pgid-104064

Now that I have a couple of pairs, I've noticed that it seems EVERYONE is wearing them. I guess there's a reason. They have about a billion colors--maybe that's an exaggeration. I even bought some for my mother-in-law, Denell, for her birthday.

Now, I should say I only have to mess with them A LITTLE to keep them from riding up. I have figured out a secret. I wear them down low, way below my waist, and I yank the drawstring as hard as I can to tighten them. I do sometimes have to pull them out of my crotch, and I think I still prefer my spandex-y ones for long runs to avoid chafing, but these are great for when I go running on campus and don't want all of my students to see me in "biking" shorts.

I've been thinking about expanding my blog into a website where I reviewing running clothes, shoes, gadgets, books, magazines...I need a new hobby that is unrelated to my job. Every once in a while I get into a funk where I realize I don't know what to do with myself when I'm not working, and I'm in that funk right now. You can get a website for about 8-9 bucks a month...Hmmm....