six little goatheads

…one little, two little, three little goatheads, four little, five little, six little goatheads…

Watch out! It's that season again! Those damn pesky little spiky seed pods are ready and waiting to pop your tires. Today was a run day so I had no such troubles but I did notice when I got home that I had six goatheads embedded in my shoes' soles. (I guess this could be a good argument against barefoot running.) 

So don't over psi your tires and bring an extra patch/tube… and ride like the wind!

Sunday Single Speed Solo Spin

1972 Schwinn Super Sport (Fixed)

Finally a photo! from last Sunday's ride up the Arroyo. And finally a ride on the fixie! We got a few nice comments from other riders - she's not exactly the most common sight out on the trails. The trail eventually got a little too rough and bumpy for us and we turned around. With a little more time and patience I think we could make it all the way up to the waterfall. Fun ride.

craving

There's these new shoes that I want! Want, want, want! I've never even tried them on - I saw them on ZombieRunner and I've been craving them ever since. For probably a few months now. But I don't have enough miles on my old shoes to justify getting new ones. So I try to make deals with myself. You can order those new shoes as soon as your old shoes get to a certain mileage. Not necessarily your end miles because you'll want some time to break in the new ones. Not that running shoes require a lot of break in time. However these new shoes are slightly flatter - allowing more heel drop than a standard running shoe so it is probably a good idea to start them in on slow, short runs. 

I've tried low heeled shoes before and I like them a lot. I didn't do the slow break in because they felt so good. I think I went out on a 17 mile run within like a week of running in them. And it totally [ja]cked up my ankles. But that was years ago. And these shoes are so cool! 

My old shoes are dirty and ripping apart. But I really want them to join the 1000-mile Club. They've got about 125 miles to go. I think they're going to make it. But this craving! What is this? Why must I buy these shoes?!

Why must we all buy this stuff? Just because it's new or shiny or a different color scheme or On Sale! 

And so I try to convince myself: Well, I Really need new socks, too. And if I order new socks from the same place then I can get free shipping and since I'm eventually going to get those shoes I might as well just get them all at once. Heck, throw in some shorts and a hat and some electrolyte tablets while you're at it… Now can I get them? Is that a good enough argument? 

But it's the same thing with bike parts, too. I mean, I really should get new tires - if only for safety's sake. And fresh handlebar tape always looks and feel great, too! 

And sunglasses! Mine are scratched!

... 

Patience, grasshopper… Proceed as the way opens… Your shoes are fine. Your tires are fine. You are fine. This is not a race.

ho hum runs

Two mornings in a row. Two very slow runs. Like the slowest ever for their respective distances and routes. I'm not exactly sure why this happened. I felt relatively good through each of them. And they were not slogs. Just slow. I didn't bonk or even have significant stride breakdown. Yesterday was a short run. Today was a long run. It's even been remarkably cool for August. Today, after my long run, I feel fine. I'm not really even tired like I sometimes am after a long run. I guess because I just wasn't trying/pushing very hard. That may be all it is: I just didn't want to run today or yesterday. Or, my body didn't want to run. Can the body get bored? That's what it felt like. I could tell I was going slow right from the start but thought I'd allow myself to warm up a bit before speeding up. And I did try to speed up a few times but it didn't last. I would soon just loose the oomph. In a way it was kind of nice. It was just a stroll through the Arroyo with no place else to be. Totally unhurried. Maybe I am finally turning into a mindful mule...