Cloudy Days

I love cloudy days. When I lived in Seattle they were a dime and dozen and sunshine was a novelty. But those days are now reversed. I got up at 5:45am to go on a delicious bike ride. It was beautiful and not hot and sprinkled a bit. I looked down at my watch and was already 45 minutes into my ride and didn't even realize it. I love workouts like that...when time passes quickly.

Today I will be swimming a bit and then getting up early for a swim session with my group tomorrow. I am putting two days of workouts into one day because tomorrow mid-day I go to Salt Lake City for the 4th of July. Looking forward to seeing my family and cooler weather.

I always try to be out of town on the 4th of July. Last year I was in Australia running a marathon, the year before I was in Miami visiting my brother, the year before I was in Seattle visiting friends, and so on.

Heat Running Games

Last evening I met my running group at the track, or in our case, the baseball field because the track was being refurbished.

Because of the heat, the coach decided to play a running game of Scrabble. We'd run in circles and everytime we'd pass him, we'd get a letter that we'd then run to another team member who was trying to make words. As soon as she had a word, she'd give it to someone running who would bring it to the coach. Basically running in circles collecting letters is how the game was played.

It was a nice treat that let us forget about time and made me feel like I was 12 again at an elementary school field day.

Creepy man

So back in 2005 I had a creepy man that I met in a salsa dancing club find out where I worked, found out my phone number and found out my work email address. He kept calling, but I said no. Cut to today and I got three dozen red roses delivered to my office. I never ever get red roses and there is no one in my life who would be sending me red roses. They came with a name and a phone number. I thought my father was playing a joke on me, an expensive joke, but a joke all the same.

So I called him to say "ha ha, but thanks." He said they aren't from him.

So I googled the number and lo and behold, stalker is back. Creepy! People wonder why I stay single...because there are too many weird people out there. I haven't seen this guy since 2005. How would he find out where I worked and my address?

Weekend

This weekend I endured a bike ride in 100+ temperatures and my water was scalding hot. I think I may have to do more loops and come back for cold water, not to mention go out earlier.

I had swim practice as well and the waters were cool and inviting. I was put into a group of 3, as the three of us swam at almost exactly the same pace. It certainly made me push harder to finish before them. I am just competitive that way, even when there is technically no competition.

It will be hard to train this weekend with the 4th of July. I am heading to Salt Lake City to enjoy some cooler weather, but will definitely be running. I'll enjoy the shopping of Park City and backyard BBQs without scalding heat.

I have to say I am loving all this Michael Jackson music being played throughout the airwaves and on television. So many of his songs I have forgotten.

RIP



Things generally happen in 3's and this time is no exception. The deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson all happened within days and even hours of each other.

RIP to them all.

It has been non-stop Michael Jackson music on all the radio stations since yesterday evening. His stuff is timeless. I'm sure I will be listening to it when I'm old and gray.

Flats

Saturday morning, all before 7am, I got two flat tires on my bike. I was biking with the triathlon group Racelab and before we even started, I noticed something sitting on my tire. So I brushed it off and wouldn't you know, the tire went completely flat. Apparently a rock had pocked through the tire and tube and having the rock there kept the air in and when taken off, the hole was exposed and the air went out. The coach said this happens and they've even had someone get 5 flat tires all on one bike ride. I said "don't jinx me." Well, not even 60 minutes later I got a flat tire on the other tire. I was now out of tubes and CO2, so I had the Racelab van take me back to my car and my ride was cut short by an hour. I didn't finish the ride.

I woke up at 4:40am for that, only to be done by 7am. So disappointing. I didn't get my long run in either this weekend. I did manage to swim with the group in an outdoor pool. With temperatures in the 100s F, the pool mysteriously was extremely cold.

I have been having a lot of bad dreams lately that feel so real. I wake up thinking that they actually happened. How do you have pleasant dreams or just not remember your dreams at all? Does this mean something evil is going to happen to me? Is it a premonition?

Weekend

This weekend I went to the Arizona Salsa Festival and saw some old friends. I danced just a little with a couple of guys that I've known for years. Most of the men would come by, look at my height and walk away. Typical experience for me in a salsa dancing club. But I had a good time and saw some performances with fancy costumes.

My training this weekend didn't go very well. I think my body is just tired. My training program isn't too ambitious yet, so I don't know what will happen when it gets much more progressive in the workouts. This will be coming soon. I feel like I rest and eat enough, so perhaps I need to do more. Maybe more protein in the diet.

On Sunday I allowed myself to sleep in, which hasn't happened for a while. I actually got too much sleep and I don't respond well to too much shut eye. I am better on 4 hours than I am 10. So I was tired throughout the day, which really threw me off my game.

I have to remember how that makes me feel so I won't do it again because when the alarm goes off and I have no races to get up for, it's so easy to shut it off. But then I spend the day paying for it.

I am still watching Casino Royale a little too excessively.