Mornin' everyone!

Great action shot, Biyll!

Mary, that pond is gorgeous! How much does it take to keep it looking so good?

Denise, I meant to tell you a couple of days ago that our huge family reunion last Oct. was at Sandbridge Beach, and we had a blast there. We'll likely be back in '13.

Happy 15th anniversary, Jlynne! I hope last night's celebratory dinner was a good one.

How'd the donuts come out, C-R?

You are a lucky man, Ribs! And a talented one too.

Mike, some challenges are good ones to have, and I hope your job is one of those. Saw a news report yesterday that said sitting too much can shorten a life by as much as 2 years - so maybe it's just as well that you don't spend much time at your desk.

Tomwhite, Thanks for the good report about Pickles.

Tet, you're amazing...

Got out the door at 4am for 6.1 RW miles: 60F, a little more moisture in the air, and just a whisper of a breeze. The moon was still high in the sky, but there was less of it, so it felt dark. I took a different route today and toured some neighborhoods I haven't been through in a while. Well, I toured them, but I didn't 'see' them, except for the occasional street light, house security light, or light from within announcing that someone else was starting their day. Aside from my footsteps and breathing, all I heard was the measured thunks of pulse sprinklers, the hum of window air conditioners (JUST OPEN YOUR WINDOWS, PEOPLE!! - at 60 degrees, you don't need A/C), a few dog barks in response to some motion in the street (oh, that was me), and an infrequent car or motorcycle. I thought I heard the footsteps of someone coming up behind me at one point, but it was just my footsteps echoing off the parked cars on the other side of the road. No metronome today, but I got into a real nice rhythm, and felt like I could go for a lot longer. But I had to get back, stretch, shower, get the coffee started and be the alarm clock for DW.

Enjoy today!  -  Jay

Jay, nice race walking this morning.

Avenger Doggie, tell Dad I think he's mean for not letting you keep those kitties.

Ribs, let me know when your friend posts her Blogs.  I wouldn't want to get confused and read yours by mistake.

Mike, hope the job goes well for you.

Last evening after work I went to the pool and swam 1600 meters.  I thought about going for 2000, which I've not done before, but on that last 100 meters I started to feel it in my shoulder a bit, so I shut it down.  Good enuff.  They say if you feel it in the shoulders the pull and catch is not quite right.  So I have some work to do to get my lats more engaged.  Not really a surprise because I'm quite slow.  Since swimming is so technique oriented there are many flaws in my stroke apparently.  This is one of them.

Then this morning I got up and ran 6 miles mostly easy with 3 or 4 striders near the end.  It's about time to add some Tempos to my weekly training and I gotta get the feeling for speed back again first.

Here is another picture taken at the end of last week's Sprint Tri.  Note the look of complete peace and relaxation.  

Bill

Bill, you take the best race pictures. Mine always look like I'm near cardiac arrest. Great workouts this morning, gentlemen. And Tom - glad to hear that Pickles is doing well.

Mary - your pond is beautiful! I can't believe you just put it in. It looks like it's been there forever. And the water lillies are gorgeous. It looks like the perfect place for relaxing with friends and a nice glass of wine (hint, hint)

Tag - sorry your mean dad wouldn't let you have a kitten!

Hi Mike! It sounds like you're being sufficiently challenged at your new job. I hope you'll be happy there. And keeping up a 40 mile week in spite of everything else you've got going on? Amazing.

Have fun with all of the goddesses this weekend Tet. No wonder you're training hard these last few days.

Mrs. Ribs sounds like she could have her own fix-it show on HGTV. What a woman!

We had a wonderful dinner at a "fancy" restaurant last night. Steamed mussels for an appetizer, Chilean sea bass with mango salsa and wild rice and a great bottle of wine. I got a nice card and two boxes of golf balls to replace all the ones I've been losing lately.  I have today off so I rode my bike to the Y, used the eliptical for 45 minutes and did weights for 30 minutes. Then rode home (about 5 miles round trip) It's a beautiful morning here but it's going to get back into the 90's with high humidity again this weekend. We are in desperate need of rain - I guess 3 inches below the normal rainfall for June and nothing yet in July. The corn crops look like wilted sticks out in the fields.

Good luck to all the weekend racers!

For all us us that melt in the heat, here's a little more detail on why and at such a relatively low termperature.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/07/my_body_temperature_is_98_6_degrees_so_why_is_98_6_degree_air_unbearable.html

I own a bike,

but I don't swim (well, I can actually float)

.therefore...tri is out of the question for me as well 

Great pictures Byll...you tri folks really impress me! 

So...TriBee is going wild on us! she is amazing!

Taper boy is TRAINING???? no way! (My DH and I can't wait to see you this weekend crazy young man!)

Ribs, one lucky guy you are! That Saint is impressive!

Mary, thanks for thinking of me with the water lilies...yes! I love them.

Jlynne, happy anniversary. That dinner sounds delicious.

Ileneforward, that hill is intimidating to me as well.

Day off for me, since it is taper week I can't really do much around the yard, so I decided to BBQ ribs this afternoon for a special treat, but before that, my DH and I are taking a few truck loads of yard debris to the dump (I borrowed a girl friend's truck, so this work will go fast).

Oh, DH woke me up for an early 4 easy miles this morning!

Sorting through some old photos and saw this:

Ribs, you're going to have to ID that photo. I think I know who the other guy is, but don't want to risk a guess.

Nice straight-arm in yesterday's pic, Byll! Who were you blocking out?

Having been pretty busy for a while, I'll have to summarize the week to date since this is my first rest day in a while.

Sunday, ran 8 miles on my Lower Bloomer Park route. Having ridden on the C&O towpath recently, I could now see that this path was also obviously a canal towpath at one time (150 years ago on a canal that was never close to completion). This was the first day after the hot weather finally broke, and it was quite a relief. We were back to our typical mildly hot days (low 80s) with cool evenings and perfect open-window sleeping weather.

Monday, rode 22 fast-paced miles at Stoney Creek. I sought out the one really steep road to compare it to what the Tour de France riders are doing. It turns out to be about a hundred yards at a bit over 8% and I'm in my lowest gear. That day on the TdF they rode several kilometers at 14% ... and then they got to the steep part!

Tuesday, my wife and I drove up into the mid-Michigan area and rode about 30 miles on the Fred Meijer Heartland Trail between Edmore and Alma. A very beautiful ride on a perfect Michigan summer day.

And yesterday I rode 44 very fast miles with a small group on the Macomb Orchard Trail -- another smooth, flat, paved rail-trail in the area. I was a bit over my head in this group, as we were mostly at 18+ mph for much of the distance, but I managed not to get dropped too badly. After all, it was supposed to be a friendly, casual ride.

On Saturday, I'll be riding with a group of friends on the 65-mile route of the One Helluva Ride event in Chelsea, which is just west of Ann Arbor. dAAve said he'd be there as well, but is riding the 100-miler (what else would you expect?) and will be starting earlier, so I'm not sure I'll see him at all. I'll give him our regards if I do!

Nice pics Byll. I've did my 2 tri's 10+ years ago-and that was before I took swim lessons. Although I was last out of the pool I did ok because of my cycling and running (I was faster then). However, I didn't enjoy it. Now that I swim better I use it as cross training.

10 warm miles this morning. Started at 6:30am and it was low 70's when I finished. Getting ready for our 10 miler in 2 weeks.

I ran a fairly new route (for me)

- a corridor in a park through Jamaica Plain and Roxbury (south end of Boston) and was passed by scores of cyclists-apparently it's a major commuting route for cyclists. It's a pleasant route that ends up in Boston's Back Bay. I finished at a subway station and took it home.

Off to the Berkshires tomorrow for the weekend, mostly to hear my BIL at his choral camp (Beethoven's Missa Solemnis). We'll get some short hilly runs in too.