Saturday in the Park, Everyday's the Fourth of July!

Wow, had an awesome day today. Today is a cross training day for me, so i did 45 minutes on the elliptical at a low HR.  I kept it between 135 and 140 the whole time and felt pretty darn good. On Saturday mornings there is a boot camp workout at the gym, and they work out in the row that's right in front of the machines I use. It looks pretty tough. I feel like a creep watching these ladies working out in front of me, but its not like I can turn around and look backwards.  right?  I'm really beginning to respect anyone who gets up and gets moving, no matter how they work out.

When I got home, I had breakfast with the girls and then my wife asked me to get them out of the house so she could do some housework. We loaded their bikes into the truck and headed to the park.  There's a loop at the park that's about .35 miles around the soccer fields and they love to ride their bikes around the loop. I brought the new camera and we all had a ball. They rode around and I snapped a few pictures.  OK, maybe more than a few.  OK, maybe 350 pictures.  I got a little carried away with the continuous shooting, but that's the joy of the digital camera, you can waste as many shots as you want. I got some fantastic shots of them too.

Had some lunch and then I headed to the running store to get some shoes. They were very nice and patient with me, and after trying on about a half dozen different pairs I picked the ones I liked. I almost bought a shirt that says "I may not look like a long distance runner, but I sure smell like one," but I decided against it. I got some socks though and now I'm pumped for my run tomorrow.  Yep, tomorrow is the last run of Week 2 of my program. I'm really looking forward to it.

I've been reading some awesome inspirational stories over on the forums at runnersworld.com. There are some great supportive people there who run at all levels. I read some of their stories and they almost make me want to run a marathon.  almost.  Its just a great group, who don't take themselves too seriously but are serious about their love of running. One thing I've seen there several times which really got to me was this: "Even if you finish last, you've lapped everyone who never got off their couch."