Did I mention I don't like running?

“Remembering you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose" -- Steve Jobs 

This past month's training totals came as a bit of  a surprise to me. I don't believe I have ever run this much in a month. Almost 100 miles! Wow! Not too shabby for the Plodding Elephant, huh?

July Monthly totals:
    Swim:       15990.42 Yd - 6h 40m 54s
    Bike:        415.02 Mi - 23h 17m 54s
    Run:         98.75 Mi - 19h 12m 02s
    Strength:  7h 30m 

This month should be a challenge - it is so freaking hot! I admit a lot of my miles these past couple of weeks have been on the treadmill. But now comes the time to start getting up at zero-dark-thirty on the weekend to get the run in before church, and to establish my outdoor running pace on longer runs. Last weekend was a 10-mile run and this week will be a 12-miler... yippee!

This past Saturday I rode on the tollway with another IMFL-training friend. His daughter was playing volleyball in Lockhart, so his plan was to ride to the game and then come back with the family in the car. So I rode with him from near home almost to the south end of the tollway. Our outbound ride was steady pedaling all the way, averaging about 15.7 for a little over 2 hours, and it seemed like we were always climbing. But as soon as we split up and I turned around to come home, I knew the ride had just become a whole lot better. With the descents of all the mini-hills we had been climbing and a pretty decent tail wind, the return trip was only about 1hr 25mins. Awesome! What a blast! And the tollway shoulder going north was quite a bit cleaner than the southbound side for some unknown reason. I stopped for a Gatorade and a water refill up north and then tooled on into the parking lot where I had met up with Mike. 

My new sleeveless wetsuit came in, so hopefully I will make it to Barton Springs soon... family stuff got in the way a couple times, but I want to get into the water pretty soon.

Looks like the Ironman folks might be getting involved in our "Racing Hearts" documentary...more on that later.

Rubber side down, folks!