Prevailing Winds

Judging from the sweat puddle under my post-run chair, summer isn't going anywhere fast. But each cold front has been stronger than the last. There is a change in the winds... we can beat this. We will beat this.

Before/After... Part Deux

This will probably be the last of these... at least until the second floor bathroom gets put in. I mentioned that we had a pretty busy week getting ready for my grandma's 90th birthday party and all that hard work paid off. Still lots of little things to do but the images show where it had been (some of which you already saw) and what actually feels like livable space now. For a long time, we were in a weird transition space where progress seemed to actually move backward but now the list keeps getting shorter and the house keeps looking better.

Whitewater

This rave run has been a long time coming and because of that, I apologize profusely to the Miami Whitewater Forest Board of Trustees... if there is such a thing. So, without further ado... I give you Miami Whitewater.

I got a bit of a late start this morning. The coffee was tasty and the air was chilled to perfection. The sun was high in the sky by the time I hit the beautiful asphalt trail that runs through the park situated off of the Dry Fork Rd exit on I-74 just before you get to Indiana.

There is an inner loop (1.68mi) and an outer loop (7.85mi). I hit the inner loop for a warm-up lap and then took it to the outer loop for what ended up being a marathon-paced run. The shin felt good and the air was cool, albeit humid, so I kept those middle 7.5 miles pretty low. I finished with another inner loop that was even faster to put me over 10 miles for the day... 10.41mi to be exact. I would like to start bumping up those long runs but I don't want to re-aggravate the left leg, so I'll continue where I am until I can easily put three days in a row together. I'm still getting in 30-35 miles a week and the Monumental half-marathon is still a ways off, so I've got time. But I digress.

What sets this trail apart from others in Cincinnati is the terrain. It's relatively flat (only 80' difference in elevation along the route) and that's not easy to find 'round here. It's certainly a welcome break from the larger rollers in College Hill. The path is very rural, too. It begins with a wooded section that runs along the Whitewater River I call the lowlands. There are a lot of wild turkey in here and I also have an owl friend that sets up shop along the same tree line each morning. You then make your way up into the highlands passing corn and soybean fields along the way. There are some decent elevation changes in this section as you head into the wetlands. This is where all the birds are. I have to assume that Miami Whitewater is a bird-watching bonanza. The high grasses and wildflowers make it ideal for them to do the stuff that birds do. It's the only place I've ever seen a real live blue bird. From there, you begin your descent to the river before a final climb to the visitor's center. The inner loop is nice because it allows you to tack on extra mileage when needed.

All in all, a great running trail. Not many walkers venture onto the outer loop so you can really let loose and put in some good miles... much like this morning. It's just nice to not have to worry about cars, lights and crap ass roads. You get out and go. And that bottom picture just became my favorite running photo of all time.

Numero 90

We hosted my grandma's 90th birthday party Sunday. It also happened to be Erica and I's very first wedding anniversary. We got back from vacation and quickly realized there was a lot (insert understatement) to get done. So what did we do? I made a list. Then what did we do? Got off our asses. Long story short, we accomplished more in 48 hours than we had in a month. We worked hard, got lucky in some cases and in the end celebrated with some family. I learned one thing and confirmed two others over the course of last week. One... lists help me organize my thoughts and there is nothing as satisfying as wiping to-do items off them. Two... I procrastinate. And finally, I learned that screwing down hinges is like David vs. Goliath. The tiny hinges with their 48 tiny screws wait to be fit snugly to the top of a window seat. Oh, that's what you'd like to think. Really, they have no intention of making the process so easy. It would be pointless to go into detail, but I'll just say that at 2am on Sunday morning I was ready to take a hatchet to those hinges.

I can't say enough about Clarabel Eleyet Alberts... and anyways, she wouldn't want me to. For me, she defines a generation; hard-working, humble, courteous, resourceful, respectful. The adjectives could go on and on. She proves to me that technology, after all these years has given us one useful thing; the ability to get to one another faster. She proves to me that it's better to sit on the front porch and talk than to watch TV in silence.

So we had a party for her in our TV-less house and no one seemed to notice... except when Joey Votto hit in two runs against LA in the top of the ninth inning. We tossed some bags full of corn, drank some beer, ate some cake, played with the kids and had a great day.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Alberts.

Pure Tim Allen

Tim Allen's right about all the "pure waters" and "endless coastline." We once again took the trip north for our summer reprieve from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

We celebrated Erica's 29th, spent three days in Ludington along Lake Michigan and then an additional five days in Alden, located on the southeast coast of Torch Lake.

This Torch Lake place was something else. The water is Caribbean-blue and the entire south end is a sand bar, ranging anywhere from two to four feet deep. On a kayak trip, we walked out a quarter of a mile in water up to our waists. Nutso. Apparently locals and tourists, alike, have found it a convenient location to set up shop and party hard on popular summer weekends. The water was just unbelievably clear. On that same kayak trip, it was hard to tell whether you were in 10' or 40' of water... the only difference was the color. The place we stayed was a nice little B&B two blocks from the water.

There wasn't a lack of heat & humidity, unfortunately, but it was nice to have a beautiful lake to step into and cool off in after a run. So that was about it. A relaxing getaway that was tough to come home from.

Training Day

Last Thursday was just one of those days. I began a post that was never completed. I had a corresponding image (top) and everything. This is how it began: 

It's been my experience that when it rains, it pours. When you start your day off on the wrong foot, watch out, it will only get worse. Today is one of those days for me.

It really started last night around 6pm. I attempted a run right after a work. A mid-week long run of about ten miles or whatever I could pull off in an hour and twenty minutes. That run was hell. My legs might as well have been attached to my 90 year-old grandma because that's what they felt like. It didn't help that it was 90º with a heat index of a million... combine that with my geriatric legs and you have someone running behind, which put me in a bind in other areas of my life (mostly domestic).

Got to bed at a decent hour, woke up and the coffee was ready to go. Left shin felt o.k. so I was thinking of running for about 40 minutes and finishing up at the track with four sets of 800m or thereabouts. Didn't even make it up the street.

I never got to the part about forgetting to shut my thermos completely and having all of my coffee spilling out onto the contents of my lunch and eventually down my white shirt. I definitely forgot the part about having to work late in order to hit a crazy deadline... or finding out that my "chisel through the window" accident wasn't going to be cheap.

All I know is that I'm glad I didn't post it. Bad days are like farts in the wind. Yeah, they stink... but eventually they go away and give you something to laugh about later.

I wandered around today looking for a specific photo for a specific job. I've always liked this particular spot in Cincinnati. I think of it as the great divide between two very different trains (no pun intended) of thought. Looking south down ye ole Mill Creek and one of the biggest railroad transfer stations in country. The skyline off to the left, Kentucky on the horizon and the western hills to the right.

The first shot was from Ryan's wedding weekend. It was taken from the third floor in the Natural History Museum and overlooked Central Park with the buildings of 5th Avenue in view.