It remains chilly in Arizona. The sun shines brightly but the air feels cold. There is barely any wind to speak of. Late afternoons are a good time to go out running if one can escape from work. I can! I ran for 5.5 miles around my office at a smooth 8:15 per mile pace. […]
parsus
Are all Cadillac SUV owners jerks?
There is a stereotype about SUV drivers. They are widely regarded as American suburban consumerist jerks. North Scottsdale is full of SUVs. If you own a Cadillac SUV, your pig-factor is compounded. Mind you, this is not my opinion. It is a stereotype. I’m sure there are some very nice, generous, considerate and giving Cadillac […]
Let’s be a run culture and not a gun culture
Run culture, not gun culture We live in a gun culture in the USA. Gun ownership is constitutionally protected by the US Bill of Rights. People are passionate about guns. “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people” is a regularly uttered mantra by members of the National Rifle Association (NRA). The NRA is a strong […]
First run since the New York Marathon
I ran for the first time since the New York Marathon. It was an easy, comfortable 4-miler near my office. My heartrate was in the low to mid 140s and I averaged 8:20 per mile on the flat course. I find it puzzling that my heartrate was flirting up into the 150s in the cool […]
How do you describe a runner’s high?
It was perfect running weather almost all day today. It was cool, breezy and drizzling off and on. It was overcast with the sun peeking through the clouds once-in-a-while. Instead of running intervals, I decided to switch it up with an hour-long tempo run around my office. I felt great throughout the run. I started […]
The smell of the desert
Dust storms are called haboobs in Arizona. When the men and women of the military returned from Iraq a few years ago, they brought back some middle-eastern desert terminology. Haboob was one of these terms. This morning was overcast and windy. It was still warm but it was a pleasant change from the unrelenting heat. […]
6 vials of blood; Xarelto, Eliquis and optimism
Early this morning, I had blood drawn; 6 vials of it. My test results should be back in the next few days. The number I will watch closely is something called Factor VIII. Apparently, elevated Factor VII means that blood is more prone to clotting. I read the scientific paper and the most meaningful sentence […]
The Triathlete’s Training Bible
It poured last night. It was stormy and rainy and woke me up at 2AM. The whole house shook a few times. It was quite an electric storm with loud, cracking thunder and bright lightening. I hope it gives us a similar show soon in the daytime! Snapathon sales have reached double-figures. They stand at […]
Africanized bees on the prowl in DC Ranch
Most people who visit Arizona are apprehensive about snakes and scorpions. There are also mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, javalina and a host of other creatures abound. We see scorpions, coyotes and javalinas all the time. Snakes are relatively common in the spring and summer, but bobcats are elusive, and mountain lions are rare. The scare […]
Where should we go from Rhodes, Greece?
It was a bit warm this afternoon to run fartleks outdoors. I opted to go downstairs in the office gym and run indoors. The treadmill is a lot easier than the one at The Village. The run didn’t seem as hard as the one last week. It was the exact same workout with a 15 […]