The dreaded ordeal

No, it wasn't the hail from the big thunderstorm last night. Linda was worried what might happen to the garden, but there was very little hail. The plants loved the rain. The worst that happened was that some of the white lilies had their blossoms a bit battered, but they were nearly there anyways.

There is a polymer sand between the slabs of patio stone in the back yard. The rain from the downspout overshot the catch barrel, and the force of it eroded some of the sand away. No biggie. I've got more, and I just did some repairs. Some places the sand is as hard as the stone around it, and some places are not. I guess it's exactly how much water the polymer gets, or something.

The dreaded ordeal was shopping. As my long time readers know, I hate shopping. I begrudgingly put up with buying. Advertising is beyond the pale. I've known my current run shoes, Asics Nimbus, purchased way back here, were slowly dying. There is just under 400 K on them according to my app, but I'm pretty sure I started the shoes before that app, and I can't remember if I started the clock properly. Plus I'm a big guy with lots of impact on my shoes. Now that I put the link there I realize those shoes are more than a year old. By running shoe standards that's even more ancient and decrepit than I am!

Enough teasing, here's the new shoes. Let's hope they last as long.

The important part of the day is that Linda made date square. A big pan of awesome datey goodness. I dare not post a photo of it for inducing paroxysm of ecstasy in my readers, and overloading the roads here as you all rushed over.

In the thinking department, I'm contemplating the raptures of taper. Yes, my big race is in a couple weeks! I can scarcely believe it. I wonder if I can get a swim lesson from Andy Potts while he's here. He's only usually the first guy out of the water at Kona, so I suspect he knows a thing or two about swimming in open water. In the mean time I need to think about how much I'll swim over the next couple weeks. I want to maintain my water feel and form, (such as it is), and yet not tire myself out. I want my taper to soak up and embed all that good fitness I've been working towards.