Hurricane Ike

Surprisingly, we still have power here on the west side of Houston, at just after 1000P Central Time, on Friday Sept 12, with Hurricane Ike just hours from coming onshore. Already, there is significant flooding in Galveston and other coastal communities. We will not have more details - or pictures - until tomorrow. By then we may not be able to see the TV pictures, as we are likely to lose power some time tonight. A minor inconvenience compared with the real hardship suffered by hundreds and possibly thousands of other Texans. The story of this hurricane will not be wind damage, which is not likely to be severe, but it will be the storm surge which is coming at a very bad time (high tide tomorrow morning at 0200A) and with a huge, widespread hurricane which has been pushing a veritable wall of water towards the shoreline.

I can hear the wind picking up now, so I had better get around to a quick running update, while I can still publish the post:

Total mileage for the week ending on Saturday September 6 was 41 miles. Highlights were a strenuous hill workout on Tuesday and a hard 10-miler on Saturday morning in hot & humid conditions. So far this week I have logged 31 miles which may end up being the grand total for the week, as our long run tomorrow morning (Saturday 13 Sept) has been cancelled. Unless I'm able to put in a few miles tomorrow afternoon, after the storm has cleared the area, this will be it for the week. Best run of the week was definitely Thursday's speed/interval workout, in George Bush park. A few of us from the KatyFit Green group ran 5 X 800 meter intervals, with a short interval of just over a minute between repeats. I ran four of the half miles at around 3:17 to 3:19, while the last one was closer to 3:25. Felt very strong and hardly any discomfort from my usually balky left hamstring.

What I need to guard against over the next few days - especially if we do lose power for an extended period of time - is 'stress-induced' junk food consumption. There is nothing like the anxiety of dealing with a hurricane to bring on an attack of the munchies.

Kathleen and I and the boys have our water supply, batteries, candles, lots of food (of course!), radio, flashlights and propane stove ready. If we have to do an urban campout over the next week or so, we're ready. ..