three day recap, sort of-

up and down last three days spent between being ok and somewhat depressed. without all of the details at least they are behind me. starting with today on 4 hours of sleep i went out and ran 12 miles in the heat and very high humidity. to highlight just how hot it was, i drank a bottle of water before i went out and three bottles while i was out and then a bottle and two diet cokes after i was done and still lost 5.5 pounds during the run.

a good 12 miles though. my morning heart rate was 52- extremely high and normally i would have rested as i knew i was tired, but not from running, just from the lack of sleep and the heat. if the heart rate hadn't been way too high all week i would have been more concerned, but i figured i was just tired and the heat was driving it up. the last few days have been full of leg cramps and lower leg pain for no apparent reason. i couldn't be drinking more fluids, though not gatorade and maybe i need more electrolytes.

i tried to just run with my monitor at about 70% and let the heart rate creep catch up with me as it got warmer and my blood thickened. that worked pretty well and i was only over my heart zone for 15 minutes of the entire run. went north a bit and then south and headed to ft hunt to run a few loops in the shade without the larger hills. ran 4 of the larger loops in the park that added 6 miles to the run and then a rotary 10k was about to start so i headed back down to the trail towards mt vernon and that was ok despite the heat. i stopped twice to refill the water bottle and kept going. and i had 12 miles in when i got home. unlike oxford the trails are marked here so it is easier to tell how far you went, though i do prefer to just run for time.

then home to work on house stuff and lawn stuff and run to the store and get what i needed. what a pain it is to go anywhere here and it does take a lot of time to get things done. funny comparing that to oxford.

ate too much just trying to recover and refuel. then later after dealing with bank stuff i went to the driving range and the storm hit while i was on my way. still got to hit but i was truly horrible and after a second bucket of just doing drills i gave up and went home - to deal with the flood in the basement again. the two fans seem to have no impact on it but i will keep trying.

the last two days are hardly worth noting, but mostly because i am too tried to deal with their futility. ran 4 miles and rode 21 miles both days for exercise. don and i played 9 holes of golf at jefferson on thursday with kim and paige. then worked on the house and tried to get things started for our return trip- getting no help at all from various contractors and just finally decided to do what i could and deal with everything when we get back. still, have to deal with the mold and decide what to try and save and what to just toss out.

time for some sleep- maybe things will look better when i am rested. in reality life is good. the house will be dealt with at some point. will do what i can - with just a couple of days left it is time to decide what must be done before i leave and what can wait.

can still hear thunder outside though i thought the rain had finally passed through. fortunately the house didn't lose power for the fourth time since i have been home.
will see what tomorrow brings and maybe my spirits will be better.