Morning Ride Pictures

Some days, I just fail to understand why people drive so much around here.

KY in the Summer (gotta love it)

This will be your encouraging post for the week/month/quarter. It's hard not to appreciate being outside this time of year, even if one lives in a highly urban area. Regardless, it's better than laying on a couch, and it's exceedingly more interesting. So even if it's a walk, go enjoy your life and slow it down with getting out of the building.


These are some pics from the ride home yesterday afternoon. I did beat the storm home.


Kid you not, there were some 7-8' tall corn stalks just a little further down the road...

On tap for today is a brick with the fellas and maybe a few minutes of Tour de France coverage after.

Running in the snow/ice/wet trails

So I decided last week that since it was February, I should probably start doing some training again. And since Febtober is usually the month we get more snow and ice than any other month here in KY, that it was time to construct the el cheapo saucony ice cleat. So I snagged about 50 6x3/8" sheet metal screws and drilled them into the bottoms of my shoes in much the same manner as you see pictured above (those aren't mine, but I liked his craftsmanship, and I think using his pattern on the asics is a good idea).

So last night, I was busy until about 8:30, but was hoping the snow and ice would keep coming, so I could give these pups a try. Mother Nature cooperated with continued snow, and halfway through my run (about 5 miles), it also began sleeting and icing. It hurt a bit on the face, but there's nothing like running in the snow. It's hard to beat.

How'd the el cheapos perform, you ask? Admirably, to say the least. I felt like I was running on an indoor track. Seriously. It wasn't much besides snow at the beginning, but at the end, the only track I left consisted of screw holes entering the ice, and I had great traction with zero slips. One suggestion though: if you're of the male persuasion, make sure you wear some form of insulation around the manhood, else (to borrow the phrase from moonpie), the tip of your bayonet might go numb.

I'm taking these babies camping with me this weekend too for a trail run. It should be muddy, so we'll see how they do. Happy running!

There's a Noreaster moving in...

Sometimes people travel to see friends and still want to get in a little workout. Sometimes they get to said place and the weather has changed. Not wanting to let circumstances dictate behavior, these same people decide to carry on as planned. And oftentimes, these same people have a great time running 7 miles in sleet and wind. The dude in the pictures is Nate, a buddy of mine from college. Nate's getting back into running and is racing a 5-miler in a month or so. This was his longest run in years. Life is good.