They're bright red, weigh half as much as my regular training shoes, and wearing them helped me to my first age-group placing in 30+ years of running. They are a pair of Saucony Grid Type A2 racing flats. The race was last Saturday's Lunar Rendezvous 5K at the Johnson Space Center south of Houston, where I placed third in my age group, in a time of 21:51. The shoes fit like the proverbial glove, it felt like running in slippers. Or at least what I think running in slippers would feel like as I haven't worn any in nearly 20 years. Kathleen improved her 5K time of three weeks ago by about 2 minutes - she will be contending in her age group soon enough.
On Sunday we spent much of the day at Stewart Beach in Galveston. I had almost forgotten just how much fun a day at the beach can be and how much I enjoy running along the ocean on the firm sandy edge. From Stewart Beach - quite crowded with families as early as 1100A - I ran to East Beach, where surprisingly few of the rented chairs were occupied. Along the way were clusters of people relaxing and reading under colorful umbrellas, or chasing around little kids whose smiles were bigger than their hats. There were a few people with dogs and many more with beer bellies. People who looked like they needed to run more than I do. After my run, Kathleen and I settled down to the perfect beach activity. Which of course is doing absolutely nothing. Our lives have become so crowded that the greatest luxury is being able to just sit and mindlessly watch people go by and the surf rush out and recede, to a soundtrack of seagulls squawking, kids laughing, and some Tejano music wafting in from a family group enjoying an elaborate picnic two umbrellas away. I was so focused on doing nothing in particular, that I hardly opened my book and for once I did not take out the binoculars to scan the sky for a passing Frigatebird. It was enough just to see some Brown Pelicans fishing in the background. Kathleen and I waded in and out of the warm ocean several times, got probably more sun than is good for us, ate lots of junk and all in all, just had the nicest time. We really need to do this more often!
For the week ending on 19 July, my total mileage was 39 miles. So far this week (through Wednesday 23 July) I have logged 24 miles. Tonight we will be running hills with the Houston Striders. And tomorrow I will become a US Citizen!
4 comments:
BERT, thanks for the comments. I always look forward to getting a comment from ya. SO jealous of the fact you were able to just lie on the beach. Some people think it is boring to just lie there, but you can soak up so much more than the rays by sitting on a beach. I usually go to Anna Maria Island, FL in the winter and just love it there. keep running!
Bert,
Congrats on your AG finish, weight loss and racing flats. I love that feeling of speed they give you. We weigh about the same. I hope it helps me too. My marathon PR was at 164(but it was 32 out), so we'll see if lighter is better.
Enjoy the beach.
Congrats on that 3rd place. Beach is always a nice relaxing place.
Hope you're staying dry through Dolly, but I think that is south of you.
Bert,
That sounds like a perfect day! Congrats on getting 3rd in your AG and those are some sexy looking Sauconys!
Post a Comment