Green Flash

Last night was another run in the rain. We've been having rain for the past few days, and there's no sign of it letting up. At least it wasn't too hot out, and the predicted thunderstorms never materialized.

Somehow, I decided to run last night's run on the faster side. Even including my walk break, the first mile was sub-8. Made me reflect on the fact that before I started running, I ran a sub-8 mile once in my life. Now, I'm walking part of the mile, and still wound up there.

The beginning speed wound up sapping the life out of my legs for the last half mile. I still wound up with 3 miles in, at least. I know I shouldn't be running fast while rebuilding my base, but I figure once won't hurt me (as long as I truly do keep it to a very limited once-in-a-while).

Lovin' the Galloway method still. I'm still lacking some calf power, as I feel like I need to walk after running a mile or so, just to take a break. That works out for me, at least. I wonder if that feeling will go away, and I'll have to force myself to take breaks, or what. We'll see.


I've been lacking a bit of my blogging mojo lately. Blah. Thankfully, I've got a product review coming up (sponsored, even!), maybe some books to talk about, and some new CDs I bought. (I know, CDs. So last decade.)

Today's Alcohol Tuesday entry is Green Flash Brewing's Trippel Belgian Style Ale.




Hailing from the San Diego area, this is a bottle-conditioned Belgian style ale. At a sporty 9.7% ABV, it's got a bit more kick than the average bottle of beer.

They call it a "fiery, golden brew", and I certainly agree with that in regards to color. A decent amount of carbonation, and a moderate head when pouring.

Sipping it fresh out of the fridge yields a high alcohol taste.. not something you really want from a beer. A lot of the trippels have that taste, but it's undesirable (in my opinion, at least). As it warms, the scent and taste of some fruit and spice comes out. It has a slight orange smell, according to Mrs. Raul.


.. Side note.. What is it with the sense of smell in pregnant women? Holy cow. One day, she was picking me up at home. I had a couple of beers in the last hour, but nothing too serious. I had just sat in the car, not even shut the door, and she says "You've been drinking, haven't you?". I mean, wow.

(She doesn't pick up on vodka & tonic, I've found. I only discovered this for the sake of science and experimentation, of course.)

OK. end of side note..


It's a good, but not great beer. I did like it more as the evening went on, due to the different flavors being released as it was warmer. Unfortunately, I do like pulling a beer out of the fridge and starting the consumption right away.

Of course, with a big bottle like this, you're obligated to finish it in one sitting.. I mean, you can't just recork it or anything. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

All in all, glad I tried it, probably won't pick this one up again, however. I'm not opposed to trying the other beers from Green Flash, though.

As always, keep on rockin'..

Us strange runners

Not a lot going on lately. I've been keeping up with running every other day, and my leg/knee/ITB all seem content.

I did take an extra day off on Wednesday, but opted to do a nice lengthy hill walk instead of running. I've been wanting to do hill runs (I know, so weird), but figured that was a better approach to getting something like that in.

On Thursday, there was a hellacious storm that was going to come through. I proved, once again, to my wife that I am a nut, and went out anyway. The weather was hot and humid, and the wind was fierce. Big dark clouds on the horizon, dancing with internal light. A storm was a-comin'.

Of course, while out there, I saw another runner, and we gave each other the knowing nod & smile. I mean, what nuts would be out there with a thunderstorm on the horizon? Me and him. Us strange runners. (You know you'd be out there too.) He was a pro.. he had a Camelbak on. I saw that and was wondering, "Hmm.. what's in there?" I probably would have taken a sip, it was so humid out. (I could have brought my own, but alas.. I didn't.)

Other than that, the run went well. I lengthened my run time and was a bit more methodical in mixing in the Galloway walk breaks. It was a run one mile, walk one minute ratio. All in all, the run went well, and the pace was still pretty decent. I made it home, dry and un-electrocuted.



Has anyone tried the 'Tacos at Midnight' flavor of Doritos? (I know, not exactly healthy eating fare, but that's how I roll.) All I have to say is this.. they nailed it. Totally good taco flavor on a chip.

I tried the 'Last Call Jalepeno Popper' flavor, and it was ok, but not stellar. The taco flavor, though.. Wow. Really good. Definitely worth picking up a second bag. Takes me back to the days of eating at Taco Maker, which is no longer in our area (and hasn't been for years and years. :( ).

Alright everyone, have a great weekend. Keep on rockin'.

Lemony

I was reading an article about sponsored blogging. Here I am, just hoping for free beer and the like, and people are getting cash and trips to Hawaii. I need to set my sights higher.

Last night, I ran 3.5 miles. I listened to a little bit of the Runner's Round Table podcast during the run. All in all, an uneventful run, but they can't all be exciting.

I tried something a bit different for today's Alky Tuesday entry..

I give you..



This is Saranac's Summer Brew. The beer is a lighter beer, with a light yellow color. The description of it is "a refreshing blend of lemonade and lager".

With a description like that, I figured, I'll give it a shot. Plus some guy at the grocery store was talking about it. Not that I should take beer thoughts from a random stranger.

Yeah, well, it's lemony. Damn lemony. Sweet lemony. Sweet, too. But 'sweet' not as in "Oh, an extra day off? Sweet!". No, sweet as in sugary sweet.

Truthfully, after the first couple of tastes, all you get is a sweet taste.

This may be a good beer for a non beer drinker. Once mini-Raul arrives, I've saved a bottle of this for Mrs. Raul. She'll be a good litmus test for this hypothesis.

It's an interesting taste, but not really to my tastes. It really doesn't taste much like beer at all.

I see it's in their 12 pack sampler.. That would be the way I'd recommend it. A 6 pack was an awful lot.


That's all.. looks to be a nice day today, so if I can find some food for my wife, and she's agreeable, I might try to go to a ballgame tonight..

Keep on rockin', everyone!

Long run, rest, all sorts of good stuff

Back from the weekend. What a weekend. Before I get into that, here's something interesting..

I took a page from Lacey on Friday.. I went and sent Jeff Galloway a friend request on Facebook. A few hours later, I got the confirmation message that he is now my FB peep! Woot!

So, going into the weekend, the plan was this.. Lamaze, all day Saturday. Probably some Father's Day shopping. Sunday, there was a Father's day get together with the extended family. (I think there were to be 5 or 6 Dads there.). The weekend was booked solid.

I was a little apprehensive, to be honest, just because it was filled up. I don't know.. I like to take it easy on the weekends, do some unwinding from the week. Having every minute more or less planned out just isn't very fun for me.

That was going into the weekend..

We started off the weekend on Friday afternoon with a trip to the doctor's office.

"How did that go?" you might ask..

Thanks for asking!

It went well, but it appears that Mrs. Raul is starting to develop preeclampsia. As a result, she now gets to see the doctor twice a week, in addition to being put on bed rest. He also indicated that if we get 3 more weeks, we'll be lucky.. Mini-Raul is coming soon, it sounds like. So, if my posts drop off, that may be the reason why..


(For those that are not in the know about preeclampsia (and I wasn't either), it's really not too big of a deal if you're being actively monitored)

So, bed rest took the plans for the weekend, and threw them out of the window.

As a result, we stayed home. I think I traveled within a two mile radius of the homestead all weekend.

Yes, it would have been good to see the fam on Father's day.. That kind of stunk that we missed out on that.

But, I must admit.. a weekend of staying home (minus a trip to the grocery store and a last ditch effort to get all needed supplies for the offspring) was absolutely wonderful. I feel bad my wife is on bed rest, but I *loved* just staying home. Loved loved loved it. I got to do some stuff around the house that I wanted to do, and I got to take it easy. My wife was armed with the phone to page me when she needed something, and life was good.

I went for a "long" run this weekend, Galloway-style. 4 miles done in the rain, and no ill-effects afterward. I took Sunday off, and am ready to go back out today.


Other than that, not a lot going on. You know what to do.. Keep on rockin'!

Skidmarks

Ah yes.. skidmarks. I left 'em yesterday.

No no, not these skidmarks. I left a set with my tires.

I was driving along, minding my own business, and I saw a dear bound up the hill near me, and jump the guardrail. Now, I grew up driving in the "country", and have had a number of close calls. I generally think I do pretty well in spotting them in the turf ahead, etc.

When I saw the deer coming, the thought ran through my mind "Ah shizzzz... Here goes my record for missing deer." I know my day is coming, as there are just so many out and about.

So, I slammed on the brakes, left a portion of my tires on the road, hit the horn, and waited to see what happened.

Inches. That was it. I missed him.

I honestly thought that I could have brushed him with my car. I got out to look later, just to see, not quite believing it. (I did see that I really need to wash my car, however. Wow. What slob takes care of this machine?)

(Coming home later, I got to see my skidmarks, and was all "Ooh, I made those".)


I did go for a run last night, and included my walking in the run totals and time for the first time. Before I get there, I'll talk about the run.

I was going along, again, minding my own business, and feeling great. 3/4 of a mile into the run, I hear a dog barking and making a bee-line for me. Oh, great.

I'm not an animal person. I never had a dog growing up, and I don't really know how to approach a situation like this. I don't know the dog's intentions. I'd prefer him to do his thing, and I'll do mine.

The owner just sort of stood there yelling his name, not really moving. So, I decided to do the "flight" choice of "fight or flight". Not that I can really outrun many of the creatures here on Earth. But, what are you supposed to do?

So, I hauled it, dropped a few vocal choice words toward the dog and his owner, and off I went.

No harm done. Except, it just really turned the run into a crap run. A skidmark run, if you will, since we're in the toilet on this post. After that, I just wasn't feeling the groove. Sure, my numbers were OK, but I just wasn't feeling it.

I punched out 3.56 miles at a 9:20 pace. That included the walking. I'm really surprised it really wasn't too much slower than normal.


All in all, two potentially disastrous situations avoided during the day. Not too shabby at all.

Alright, that's all for now.. keep on rockin'!

Running, thoughts on Galloway, Guinness

Running over the weekend went very well. I did two 3 mile runs, with no discomfort (apart from my calves, which are just plain out of shape now). The only interesting thing I saw was a policeman who had pulled over an old lady for presumably speeding.. (I'm familiar with the stretch and know my time will come, given that I speed through there twice a day).

The problem with that was that it's right in front of a known large abandoned property. I sometimes cut through there for my runs, but recently some "No Trespassing" and "Posted" signs had gone up. With the law right there, I figured I shouldn't risk it, even though the odds of him leaving his vehicle were low.

The Galloway thing seems to be working for me. I spent some time on his page and poking around various forums on the Interwebs, and my main problem with his plan is my own mental hangup.

I had always told myself, "If I run a marathon, I'm going to run the whole thing". Now, I read about his plans, and I'd be walking in it. That's purely a mental block on my part. There's no shame in walking part of a marathon, and who's to say I'd be able to run one myself? It's not just the marathon, it's races in general. I'm sure I could go through a 5K doing 100% running with little or no ill effects, but what about a 10K? According to him, that would be a no-no.

But, maybe I'll continue with his plan. I'm going to start including my walk time in my mileage calculation and see what my pace really is. I'll keep track of total distance covered, and see where I am.


And, without further ado, here's today's Alcohol Tuesday entry. It's beer, but I'll try to include a couple of tidbits for you non-beer drinkers. (And maybe I'll grab some wine for next week.. )

Today's entry is Guinness, the 250th anniversary edition.

First interesting tidbit for non beer drinkers: in 1759, the man, Arthur Guinness, signed a lease for the brewery. The interesting part? He signed it for 9,000 years. Not only that, the annual fee is £45. That's a man with some vision.



The above pic shows two glasses, one a good pour, the other, well, not so much.

The astute Guinness drinker will now say.. "What? You're not drinking it from the bottle?"

Indeed not. This was the first thing that I noticed was different in the 250th anniversary edition. There is no rocket widget in the bottle.

Second tidbit for non Guinness drinkers.. The bottles and cans typically have a 'widget' inside of them (a rocket widget for the bottles, a ball for the cans). This is so that when you drink from the bottle, you get a consistency similar to a draft pulled for you at a bar.

The beer itself had more carbonation than the standard Guinness. I'm not sure, but maybe the nitrogen aspect of the carbonation was removed (also explaining why the widget disappeared).

Compared to a standard Guinness, this was a little more malty. Also, disappointingly, the somewhat smoky flavor that exists in regular Guinness was not really present in the anniversary edition.

Change the carbonation, add the malt, and remove the smoke, and you've got yourself a stout which is OK, but not great.

The anniversary edition will run you about 10 bucks for a 6 pack of bottles.

My take on it is this. I'm glad I tried it, but I'll go back to the regular Guinness. (The 250th edition will only be around 6 months or so, anyway)

Ah, if only I was as knowledgeable about something more useful than alcohol. Oh well. :)

Keep on rockin!

Snuck away

I snuck away for a few days from this here blog. lol.. I'm back, fret not.

To recap, on Tuesday, I went for a run, and I got 2.9 miles in. It was probably the most humid run I've had since last summer. Wow. It wasn't particularly hot, just humid.

Wednesday was a rest day (legitimate!) and I went out to the local ballpark. It was an absolutely perfect night to take in a baseball game. There's really not a bad seat in the place (cliche, I know), but we upgraded (unofficially) our already really good seats just a bit and sat near a couple other people we knew for a view like this:



(Does this count for Foto Friday?)

Like I said, a beautiful night for it. If I could do that every night, I probably would.

Thursday I had severe motivational issues and wound up taking the day off from work, after not a lot of arm twisting from my wife. It was a quiet day around the house, but I did go for a run, and finished a whole 5K. I felt no knee/ITB issues during this, nor do I feel any after-effects today.

My ITB feels pretty solid right now. I'm going to keep the Galloway thing going, and try to keep all my runs around 3 miles for the next week. After that, we'll slowly increase the mileage and see what happens.


Anyone have any plans for the weekend? I'm not really sure what all is going on, but it's the weekend, and that makes it great, no matter what.

Keep on rockin', everyone!

Running and Mint Juleps

Last night I managed to get away from work before the rain came. I managed 2.5 miles, with minimal issue. It was a pretty non-eventful run, but I did frighten a groundhog. (Felt a little bad about that. :( )

Today my knee feels a bit tender, but I've been very very lax on doing my leg exercises. Need to get on that. In the end though, I'm definitely feeling better about this ITB, and I'm glad.


And, without further ado, I bring us to today's Alcohol Tuesday entry, the mint julep! It would have been ideal to do this the Tuesday before the Kentucky Derby, but alas, I was out of town. So, after all 3 legs of the triple crown are over, I bring you this entry. Better late than never!

The mint julep is a drink that really isn't that complicated to prepare, yet people are afraid of it. Don't be. I bring you instructions, complete with pictures, to make a killer drink.

Here's what is needed:



We need fresh mint, some extra fine granulated sugar, a little bit of water, ice, and some Kentucky bourbon whiskey. In addition, you'll need either a muddler or a spoon, a cup or glass, and optionally a measuring device such as a jigger.

The cup I use is an old-school traditional mint julep cup. It's pewter. As a side effect (one that is desired), the cup frosts up as it gets cold, due to the ice. If you go to Churchill Downs, you'll get a mint julep in a Collins style glass, just a taller and more narrow glass. Anything works, of course.

As far as bourbon goes, you'll want a Kentucky style, to be authentic. I'll typically opt for Knob Creek or Maker's Mark. Try to stay away from something really dirt cheap.


(One more side note.. You may note the mallet in the picture above. It will come in to play, but may not be necessary for you.. )



First up, take a teaspoon of sugar, and put it in your cup/glass. Then, follow that up with a teaspoon of water, enough to dissolve the sugar. This is the part of the recipe that is "to taste". If you want it sweeter, add a bit more.. less sweet, add less, of course.

You could use something like simple syrup if you have some on hand.



Next up, pull out 4 to 6 mint leaves. Put them into the sugar water, and gently muddle them. You only want to bruise the leaves, not crush them. Bruising the leaves will release some of the oil in the mint.. If you wind up crushing them, you'll pick up some extra flavors that are not becoming to the drink. You can use a muddler for this if you have one, or I just use the back of a spoon.

Stir the bruised leaves around in the sugar-water solution and let them sit for a few minutes, letting the flavor seep out.



Next up is the ice. You're going to want to use crushed ice for this drink. While I absolutely love my fridge, the one thing it can't do is make crushed ice. Hence, the need for a mallet.

After banging away on the counter for a bit, you'll be left with some crushed ice:



Crude, but effective.



OK. So you fill your cup with the crushed ice. Pour a jigger (1.5 to 2 ounces) of bourbon in the cup. You'll note that this settles and melts the ice a bit. You'll want to top the cup with some more ice.

Finish this off by retopping the cup with bourbon, garnish with a sprig of mint, and you're good to go!




That spoon I included in my julep is peer with my cup. It actually serves as both a straw and a spoon, as the handle is hollow. Really killer. So you can sip, stir, and have something fun, all in one. :)

Alright everyone, that's all for today.. Enjoy responsibly, and keep on rockin'!

2 Years?

Wow. I've been running for 2 years. Looking at my log, I realized that on Friday, it was my 2 year anniversary.

Of course, how did I honor that? By not running. All weekend long. Way to go, self.

I mean, really, wtf is up with that? Ugh. Schedule and laziness got in the way. (More of the latter, if I really wanted to be honest with myself.)


But, 2 years. Wow. I laced 'em up thinking I'd give it a try, and I've actually stuck with it.

Highlights from the year were my first 5K, which I ran with my running buddy. The other highlight was running 15 miles (during which I realized I really need to learn about fueling). Epic. The only injury I had in my second year was another case of ITBS, which is all due to poor muscle balance, poor flexibility, and the main contributor of "too much, too soon". My high point in mileage was in January, where I punched out 99 miles for the month. Had I been more alert, I would have done that one extra mile.

Training went really well this past year, apart from the last few months. The summer and fall had a decent amount of mileage, and I really ramped it up over the wintertime. I didn't really enjoy running the indoor track that much, but I made sure I got to the gym 4 or 5 times a week.

I think back.. uhm, a lot of years. Back in the 7th-8th grade timeframe, I ran cross country for a season, and it just didn't agree with me. I ran track for another season, and I didn't agree with it.

What would have happened had I kept running? If I had actually worked at it? If I had 15 more years under my belt of running, where would I be now? (Oh, wait.. It's more than 15. Hrms. 17. 18. Something like that)

Of course, at such an age, I didn't have the mental strength to run. It hurt, and that was it. Hurt='stop and walk'. Or, at the time it did.


Anyway.. goals for the next year are to make sure I don't do too much again too soon. I'd like to run a couple of 5Ks this year, along with a 10K which usually crops up around here in October. If my ITB stays really really good, I'll toy with a half marathon in November. I think I'm throwing my marathon plans out for the year. I had toyed with rolling down to Philly, but I should really make sure that I'm strong enough to do it.

My main goal will be to get back up to the 20-25 miles a week I was doing over the winter time, and try to maintain that sort of quantity. With the little one coming along soon, I don't know how I'll do as far as keeping a schedule.. (that's another reason I'm going loosey-goosey on my goals right now)

I'm going out tonight, rain or shine. And that's that.

Keep on rockin'.

NRD results, Marcy

For National Running Day, I made sure I got out there. The weather forecast was not what I predicted. Not at all. In fact, it was pretty much ideal running conditions. Slightly overcast, probably in the 60s.

I kept with my run some, walk some approach, and banged out 2.75 miles. Furthermore, I went longer before mixing in the walking. Today, the knee/ITB feels fine. I think my stretching and muscle toning regimen is starting to work a bit.. whoo hoo! Maybe I'm on the mend..?

So, I take my whopping 2.75 miles, and I donate them to Mel. You go girl!

And, for those of you who don't know, today is Marcy's last day. A sad day for all of the blogosphere. While I can't write true sentiment like my bro G did, I'll share my two cents.

Marcy's blog was one I thought where all of the cool kids hung out. I lurked there for a long long time, pretty much from near the beginning. I have no proof of that, as I was shy and lurking. (Not stalking, just lurking, mind you)

I always enjoyed reading her stuff, but with her massive blogroll and number of active commenters on her blog, I figured she'd never never notice me, never mind swing by here. And, yet, here she is. She's funny, entertaining, and a really nice person. (And if I were better with words, I could come up with better adjectives)

Happy Birthday Marcy.. it's been fun. Hope to see you around.

Alright everyone.. keep on rockin'.

Running, Drinking, Tao, Pooh

How's that for a title?

Last night, I went out and did my pseduo-Galloway thing while I work on recovering. I dare not jinx it by saying too much, but I did get 2.5 miles in.

Don't forget, today is National Running Day!¹



I plan to get out there, dodging the lightning bolts that are supposed to be coming down this afternoon. Should make for an interesting time.

As far as Alky Tuesday goes, yes, I'll be keeping this theme going.. It appears to be reasonably successful, and I'm planning to mix more things in than just beer. (Next week is the construction of a good mint julep, for instance.. I have the pictures ready, even. :) ). I know a couple of you wanted a beer Thursday as well.. I'm not opposed to it, and I'll try it for a bit.. not sure how long my waistline and my wallet will handle it, but I'm willing to give it a go.

So.. on to TFH's 'Literary Wednesday'. In order to have a quality post for you, I took the time and finished my last 15 pages before work. Yes, I'm willing to do that for all of you. (yeah, ok, so I'd be willing to do any semi-reasonable thing before work, just to delay that)

Today's entry is...
The Tao of Pooh.



Laugh if you want, but this is probably the closest I'll get to what TFH intended for LW. This book was not only great, it was one of those books that gets you thinking and does something for you.

I'll preface this by saying.. I don't know a lot about Winnie the Pooh. Sure, I know who he is, and can pick him out in a crowd. But, I've never read the stories. Similarly, I don't know a lot about Taoism. It is a philosophy which intrigues me, though (and always has).

The book is written to use the two themes (Taoism and Winnie the Pooh) to explain each other. Now, you might say, that's just silly, and it can't work. But, it soooo does work.

The book is funny, cute, and really deep. To really take away everything from this book, I'll need to read it again (and probably will at some point). The book uses various excerpts from Pooh stories to explain Taoist concepts, and various extracts of Taoist texts to talk about the characters in the 100 acre wood.

It's written as the author talking with Pooh about different concepts, and then jumps into story fragments to back up the point. Truly a fascinating read. It's a quick read, but I think you'd need to read it multiple times to get everything out of it.

Not having read other Pooh stories, I was laughing while reading it. ²

Alright.. that's all.. ³

Don't forget to get out there and do some running today, everyone.. keep on rockin'!

---

¹ I didn't know it until I saw it on FB a week ago. I guess FB is good for something, after all. :)
² That didn't work out so well while proctoring a test, but, well, that's their problem. :P
³ I see why G does these footnote things.. They're pretty nifty and fun

Alky Tuesday

I'd talk about running, but I didn't run last night. I did a little foam rolling and some leg exercises, but that was it. There was a nice lunchtime walk mixed in during the day, so we'll call it a day of cross training.

I should also remind every one that tomorrow (Wednesday) is National Running Day. I don't think my area has an organized run, so I'm just going to hit the pavement on my own. Just make sure you get out there for a mile or two at least.


So, with nothing else athletic to say, I turn to today's Alcohol Tuesday entry..

This one comes from a recommendation from of Sun Runner. (I do keep track of all of the drinks recommended, and get to them all eventually).



She proposed I give 'Arrogant Bastard' a shot, from Stone Brewing. With a name like that, sure, why not?

Not only do they have an interesting web site name, the aptly named www.arrograntbastard.com, they have an interesting and amusing label on the bottle.

Here's the text of it:

• This is an aggressive beer. You probably won't like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We would suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory -- maybe something with a multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it's made in a little brewery, or on e that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beer will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think multi-million dollar ad campaigns make a beer taste better. Perhaps you're mouthing your words as you read this.
  

I found it amusing, at least.

So, the beer itself? It's a darker colored amber beer, with a light to moderate amount of carbonation. I think it's classified as an American Ale, but is truly the epitome of what microbrews are about. A smell of it yields a decent hop smell, but the taste of it has a underlying malt taste mixed with the hops. The malts really cut the intensity of the hops, and yield a pleasant taste overall.

The beer is very smooth, and packs a decent punch at 7.2% ABV. There are a lot of complexities to this one, and I'm willing to be a student and study it for rounds to come.

This is actually my second bottle of it. I tried it a few weeks ago, and really liked it. This one makes the rotation.

Keep on rockin'!

Weekend running and the avatar

Well, I went out 2 days this weekend. Both days I left my knee strap at home, and tried a different approach to my running. I took up a Galloway-style approach.. I'd run .5 or .6 miles, then walk a block or so. Repeat. That *seemed* to keep the ITBS at a manageable level. I also stuck to flat routes, and I limited my runs to 2.25 & 2.5 miles. (The running part was those numbers, I don't count the walking).

The other thing I did was to pick up my pace a bit.. (mixing in walking allows me to run fast for a short period of time.. lol). I think that causes me to run more on front part of my foot, and it doesn't hurt the ITB as much. I know running faster leads to more injuries, so I'm hesitant to keep with this aspect of my weekend runs.

Today I feel pretty good, and I'm happy about that. I think I'll just go for a walk today and not try to push it to 3 days in a row.

Props to joyRuN, who correctly identified my avatar's origin. It's from Doctor Who.. It's a 'Dalek'. Wikipedia has a lengthy article on them here, because what else do sci-fi people have to do, but write detailed articles on Wikipedia? The long and the short of it is, it's an "evil alien race".

I really didn't know what to choose for an avatar, so that was it. I'd put pics up, but then people from work might stumble across this, put 2 and 2 together, and that just wouldn't be good.

That's all for now... I need to find something for tomorrow's alky Tuesday entry..

Keep on rockin'!