Summer breezin

Watching the TDF has helped dial-in the endurance vibe (along with the crazy mountain running I witness via Hang Nine and Justin Mock). But something else is transpiring. I haven't been watching Sports Center. I am not interested at all in "American sports." Catching a glimpse of the All-star game Home Run derby was so lame. NFL? Who cares. Just recording this trend in my life. When I move to the Italian Alps in the next 5 years, don't be surprised. Btw, how do I pull that off?

The text from a Versus commercial:

"here is the thing that makes life so interesting
the theory of evolution claims only the strong shall survive
maybe so, maybe so
but the theory of competition says
just because they are the strong doesn't mean they can't get their asses kicked
that's right
see what every long shot come from behind underdog will tell you is this
the other guy may in fact be the favorite
the odds may be stacked against you, fair enough
but what the odds don't know is this isn't a math test
this is a completely different kind of test
one where passion has a funny way of trumping logic
so before you step up to the starting line
before the whistle blows and the clock starts ticking
just remember out here
the results don't always add up
no matter what the stats may say
and the experts may think
and the commentators may have predicted
when the race is on all bets are off
don't be surprised if somebody decides to flip the script take a pass
on yelling uncle
and then suddenly, as the old saying goes we got ourselves a game"
_______________________________________________________________________________

Well, the beat goes on. I wanted 50+ last week. I got in 45 on 5 days of running. Monday was off and Friday was a 3+ hour bike ride. So, it's not just 45, but I was a little disappointed. I could have done more if I felt I had to, but then there's life, the beach (the freakin weather!), cold beer, etc.

Also, I got a little touchy about potential injury on the right foot. The bottom of the front of my foot was getting a little tender and no I do not want any of that shit. Culprit is the shoes. They're worn-out and running on pavement does not help. Besides, although I've been active for months, the build in volume has to be putting a little stress on the feet, etc. 95 in two weeks. That's okay. And the consistency is THE MOST IMPORTANT element, so I backed-off.

And the other culprit (I think where I might have really done the foot no good) was a MAF run mid-day in THE HEAT. So what? No biggie? Well, let's just say that heat kills the "quality" and since I was HR training, I was running very very slowly. And this was a big drag on the body. GZ talked about low HR running having the potential of wreckage (I can't find his comment about that but it had something to do with running downhill). But he did not explain that very clearly. This is what I hope he meant because this is the case actually. If one runs too slowly, the entire gait is awkward, unusual, different and therefore potentially injurious.

Nate Jenkins talks about this very thing in a podcast; during his "shake-out" runs, the pace is so slow that he has to be careful. Kinda rang a bell for me. Heat KILLS the HR training. So, other than some morning runs (and a few mid/late day runs) outside, I've been hitting the treadmill. It's awesome. Since I'm about a month out of Malibu, I will get to some local mountains for a few longer runs and climbs, but the aerobic training just ticks along in the cool of the gym. And say what you want about the fraud or difference of the tready, but I can run and run and not melt-down in the scorching heat.

Take today for instance: Avg. ~8:20 10 miles, avg HR 141. When I was done I was thirsty and my legs felt a couple of twinges, but really I could have done it again. That's MAF.

Race specificity arrives this weekend.

Oh, and Le Tour is pretty lame (unless the Schlecks can unhinge Astana tomorrow).

No I'm not a big fan (I just call them like I see them), but Contador will win more than 7 tours. Word.