F=ma

I felt fast today.  I don't think I really was but I did my eight miles at marathon pace or better, so that is encouraging, particularly since I was fighting a headwind heading south on my usual 2-mile loop.  Heading back north, with the wind at my back, I felt downright speedy.  I love feeling like I'm going fast.  I wish I could experience that more often.  It was pretty cool when the "This is YOUR Speed" sign was up.  Remember in "The Rookie" where Jimmy Morris (played by Dennis Quaid), throws his fast ball past one of those deals?   Same thing.  It's way fun.  Except, of course, I ran by at maybe eight miles an hour and he was bringing the heat at something like 94.

Things that slow me down:

• negative thoughts
• the smell of food (particularly a problem in the PM when Pei Wei is ramping up on the south end and ZPizza on the north) 
• avoiding dog crap, baby carriages, and the old guy with his basset hound
• cars driving the wrong direction on the one-way streets (I see this every single time I run)
• cars not paying attention so I have to stop and make eye-contact before they mow me down at an intersection
• trucks parked across the sidewalk because they are so huge they can't fit into the driveway
• blue recycling bins on the sidewalk rather than on the street at the curb
• kids on skateboards
• bicycles riding the wrong way down the street on the sidewalk (hey, dumbass, there is a bike lane right there, how about using it?!)
• landscaping crews with their friggin' leaf blowers - that shit goes everywhere and is very dusty
• dumpster divers blowin' out of the alleys with their trucks full of crap
• guys with shopping carts
• daydreaming about the good food smells (I love ZPizza and Pei Wei!)

But - to optimize my speed, a, I need to decrease my mass, m, - between 15 and 20% body fat ought to do it, then I will get better results from a static application of force, F - at least that's how I've got it all figured out in my head. 

Right now I'm first in my age group for the AZ Road Racers Grand Prix, and my last 10K I placed 2nd in my age group - earning a silver medal - but I really, really want to qualify for, and run, the Boston marathon. Five minutes and 25 seconds faster over 26 miles 385 yards is what I need to do to get 'er done.  That's totally do-able.

So, work on m and cross-train to maximize F and I'm good to go!  Maybe some new super sweet tights and other running swag would help, too!  You never know!

I'm all in black - the only runner that looks cold.  What's up with that?

Up Over, Down Under, Wherever We May Be...

Where did March go?  No, really?  Last thing I remember it was Home Tour and now I'm looking at April 1st looming in my headlights.  This is good and tragic.  Good, because eventually Steve and I will be on the same continent; tragic, because I had to get up extra early and finish the damn taxes and I have a work project that is seriously making me question my sanity and worse, still, the BevMo! five-cent sale is over! 

Had a lovely blind wine tasting to Celebrate Andy's birthday.  Diane and I had a great time planning the flight (red) and then sampling our selections while our guests attempted to determine which wine was which (with the winners earning fabulous prizes!).  Since we knew which wine was which, we were able to avoid the "two buck chuck!" ha!

 This is Buddy.  I love Buddy!  He is one of the coolest cats!

I spent about a week in Kingman, doing some water sampling.  Stayed at the new Holiday Inn Express, which is quite nice.  It was a good gig and on the drive up I saw the Oscar Meyer Wiener-mobile!

Driving through the desert.  It was quite green and beautiful.

It's the Wiener-mobile!  Not terribly aerodynamic but fun to look at.

Water in the Hassayampa.  You don't see that very often!

Lady Banks in bloom.  The yard smells incredible right now.

Meanwhile, at the antipode:

Steve took a holiday to Sydney.  Contrary to popular belief, the roof is not designed to look like "sails" in the harbor; it is actually sections of a sphere.

The surf at Agnes Water.  Lovely!

Those blurs are mozzies (mosquitoes), hovering around Steve's butt which is saturated in bug repellent.  That part doesn't look very fun.

Not a terribly inspired post but ya gotta start somewhere!