"thirtysomething"

For the record, I decided not to go to Kemah for that crazy bridge-bridge-bridge-bridge 10K yesterday. I think it turned out to be a great decision for multiple reasons.

(1) I got to sleep in later.
(2) I saved that registration money for another day.
(3) Instead I hammered out a long (and really slow) run of 13 miles on the local trail, which I really needed to advance my running fitness.
(4) When I arrived at the trailhead, I enjoyed some bonus scenery as a woman nonchalantly changed into her sports bra while standing next to her car in the parking lot.

Anyway, this morning's recovery run capped off a 31-mile week, the most I've been able to log in months. There are now 120 days to go until marathon Sunday, and the real fun is just beginning.

For everything there is a season....

In the absence of a powerfully unifying narrative, this Friday brings the return of the rambling bullet-point blog post.

• Last night I found myself contemplating an appearance at the Toughest 10K in Houston. I recognize what's happening: My last running event was the Run Wild 5K way back on July 4, which was more like "shuffle meekly" than "run wild." So two months later "the itch" is back. I consider that as a good sign. However, I do have some reservations about going crosstown early on a Saturday morning, especially for that type of course. I'll probably vacillate on this one all day. If I go, watch this blog for the nutty race report....
• I am glad to report that I'm back to running outside with regularity . . . and certainly enjoying it more with the subsidence of summer heat. I finally acknowledged this change the other night when I noticed that sweat had not permeated through my shirt until mile 3 of that run. During the summer, that shirt would have been damp by the end of my warmup.
• On many of my runs, I find myself pausing at the spot where Jerry the motorcyclist was killed five months ago. The hit-and-run driver is still at large. On the edge of a detention pond, the family has erected a small memorial, complete with night illumination from a pair of those solar-powered landscaping lights. (Anyone that can help resolve the case should call CrimeStoppers at 713-222-TIPS.)
  
• I find myself wanting to believe the hype on the soon-to-be-released Windows 7. The battery on my three-year-old laptop died earlier in the week. While sorely tempted to just replace the whole thing with one of the affordable netbooks that's out, instead I decided to extend its life by buying another battery. I didn't like the idea of disposing of a still-mostly-working unit to just replace it with another Windows XP machine. So that represents both a little less e-waste for the landfill for now and hope that Windows 7 will be a mature platform when I'm finally ready to move on.
• I've become pretty cynical about the entire tech certification industry, but my day job has decided that it would be super if we picked up our CCNAs. For any of my readers that have done the Cisco thing, if you have suggestions or pitfalls to avoid, feel free to comment.
  
• Public Service Announcement: A couple of weeks ago, I put a plate of heat-and-eat wings in the microwave oven. The package directions lited a cooking time for 6-8 minutes, but somehow in my carelessness, I read a "5" there instead. So while they came out hot, but not really hot enough. The resulting digestive distress made for a mighty unpleasant night. So when cooking meat -- make it well-done and right, take it to one-sixty Fahrenheit!
  
• So far the first year with the Quinalt strawberries has been really unimpressive. After delivering a handful of good fruit in May, these "everbearing" plants haven't done much but drop runners over the sides of their pots. I collected a couple of these runners to attempt to start new plants. I have hope that the established plants will deliver a better crop in their sophomore season. At least it's cool enough again to grow beans again on the patio.
  

With the impending arrival of the equinox next week, I really can feel the change in seasons. Summer's definitely gone and autumn is here, bringing with it football weekends, outdoor festivals and even the first mumblings of Merry Christmas merchandising. With the return of the the fall racing season, surely I'll be able to put running-related updates on this blog more than once a month, right?

Now if you'll pardon me, I'll be returning back to my new favorite time-waster, Professor Layton and The Diabolical Box. A true gentleman leaves no puzzle unsolved....