Only human.

New jockstrap (in the 216)

Yesterday I had the chance to pick up some new gear! Even Under Armour's hats feel like you are slipping on a condom! Speaking of which, I also purchased a much-needed new supporter, because you wanted to know that.

Just goes to show how many years it has been since I purchased any energy gel that I was surprised to discover flavors include salted caramel. But of course they do.

Band-aids: yes
Water bottle: yes
Snack: energy gels
Lip balm: yes
Glide: yes

Had a running dream last night, I never have those. I was out on the street and was unprepared for a long run. I was dressed, but that was it. No bandaids, nothing to eat or drink. It was depressing.

Rained all night, last night's report said it would be raining the entire time I would be out. This morning I got up at 5 am and the report had changed, said it should be cloudy but clear. Took an hour to get ready, including a little yoga. So, yes. Stretching happened.

Distance: 20 miles
Duration: 2:49:02
Avg Pace: 8:27
Route: Cleveland Heights to Lakewood

Clevelamb.
(Urban Shepherds)

That was much more arduous than I expected. Started out great, but I intentionally tried to ratchet up the speed, starting at 160 bpm, then 165 bpm and finishing at 170 bpm. However ... I never got any faster. The higher tempo just made my steps shorter to keep up.

By the seventeenth mile (which included that long incline out of Edgewater Park) I was pretty well exhausted and there was nothing to do but just keep going, straight across those terrible Lakewood sidewalks for three miles.

I hadn't really planned ahead, not like last time, so my folks loaned me some clean and dry sweats, I got to take a shower, down pain reliever, and put ice on my tendon for the ride back home (thanks, Mom!) where the wife had a steaming bath prepared.

It's been almost two hours since I arrived home and only now am I getting it together for the rest of the day.

Temperature: 68° → 70°
Climate: over cast and a little rain
Weight: 159 → 155.5 lbs.
Intake: one scrambled egg, banana
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: yes
Stretches: yes
Upper Body: passing a water bottle from hand to hand for twenty miles

Podrunner:
Monster Moves (160 bpm)
Momentum (165 bpm)
Up and Running (170 bpm)

Week Eleven Total:47 miles
Training To Date: 355 miles

Kyle Jean-Baptiste, July 23, 2015
His first performance as Jean Valjean on Broadway.

My thoughts, on and off for most of the run, were of this remarkable young man. Kyle was a member of the Les Misérables company at Great Lakes last fall. A recent graduate of Baldwin Wallace, this spring he joined the company of the Broadway production as an ensemble member, and assumed the role of Jean Valjean for a brief period between two other contracted leads.

He was the first African-American to perform the role on Broadway, and at the age of 21 he was also the youngest. Two nights ago, in a complete accident, he fell to his death from a fire escape in Brooklyn.

I did not know Kyle. I saw him, I saw him many times, in Les Mis and also as The Host in GLT's production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. He was charming, attractive, very tall and devastatingly talented. Yesterday Facebook was awash with memorials for him, because though I never had the privilege, I have lots and lots of friends who did. And I cannot understand it. There is so much power and wonder in every life, and yet we are all so fragile.