The Houston Heights

Our 4:30 pm appointment yesterday was sort of a last chance "date night". Andrea has been spending a lot of time preparing the house for the baby, and we felt it would be a good time to take a quick break away from home.
We found a Bed and Breakfast in the Houston Heights. It was a whopping four miles away. The Heights is just one of the neat places in Houston. The first day Andrea and I met, we ended up in the Heights at a very cool restaurant called "Shade". Coincidentally, we ended up there last night for some phenomonal dessert! If you are in Houston, I'd recommend it!

I woke up early and actually RAN home to let the dogs out. There is a dirt trail running through the middle of Heights Boulevard, so I followed the trail until it ended, and then followed some sidewalk until I arrived at another running trail along Memorial drive. I ran a tempo pace and finished in about 30 minutes. It wasn't hot, but it was humid! Our dogs Penny and Paxton were glad to see me, and after taking them outside, I refueled with some gatorade and started back along the same route. The way back took about 32 minutes. All in all, just over 1 hour running. I had a little fatigue from yesterday's "wannabe" long run. I was practicing a "high leg" stride and faster turnover. It was hard to do since my overgrown, God-given calf muscles weigh 16 pounds each. Helpful on the bike, but not great for running!

After a nice breakfast at the inn, Andrea and I ran a few errands together, and I was released to complete a swim. The first few hundred meters was drudgery, but once the blood got flowing, I managed to complete about 3300 meters. The pool started getting crowded, and I wanted to finish before I had to share a lane (sharing a lane screws up my concentration). Had it been a perfect swim, I would have only done another 600m, so I was happy with it. There is always the constant overlying fatigue, but I started to feel pretty good, and managed a few 1:36 100's. Yes, that is good for me. I am still not working on "speedwork" right now, just strength and endurance; I don't expect much out of my swimming, so I can only hope for progression, and I felt a little of that today.

Finally, yes! I was able to ride today too. I rode on the trainer, and if you think its boring reading about it, its worse actually doing it!! Two hours was the goal, and I completed it. I actually watched the "What it Takes" video for about the 50th time while riding inside. If you are unfamiliar, "What it Takes" is a pretty interesting documentary about a select few pro triathletes preparing for the Hawaii Ironman. It has always been great motivation and I used it alot while riding indoors this past winter. What is really neat about the video, is recognizing that some of these athletes were pioneers in the sport. One of the athletes, Heather Fuhr, has won 13 Ironman races, including Hawaii once. Peter Reid has won HAWAII three times.

I think the highlight of the day was cleaning the microwave after trying to make soap. That glycerin will "pop" if left in there too long!

Tomorrow, I will play it by year. Definitely a swim and at least a small run. Maybe a long run, maybe long ride. We'll see.

Have a great evening, and thanks for reading!