August Summary

August was a great month for running. The predominant weather was sunny, hot, and humid, with a little cooler weather sneaking in toward the end. I was running relatively injury free, with the exception of the ITB flare-up, which is about already healed and feeling fine. I attributed the ITB problems to biking, so you'll notice in my summary table that the biking miles are way down. I took nearly two weeks off the bike to let myself heal, and I adjusted the seat to the correct height which seems to have helped as well. While letting the bike collect some dust, I kept running, motived by the need to get my training miles in for the Punxsutawney 50k, which is now just a five days away. I regret not having done a long run of 22 miles or more, but I am happy that I was able to run through the ITB issue so I could keep my total miles up. I ended the month with 244 running miles.
Yesterday was interesting. I cut my usual long Sunday run down to only 12 miles, with Punxsy less than a week away. After finishing, I went immediately to the soccer field and played for two hours. I played right back, but I regularly sprinted forward to try to create some pressure on offense. After two hours of running in cleats on very hard, dry ground, my legs were ready for a rest. It did feel good to kick the ball around. I made a couple of well-placed passes, but I missed so many opportunities because I could not put the ball where I wanted it to go.

Plan for the next few days is for low low mileage. I won't push too hard, rather I'll let my legs recover and get ready for Punxsy.


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It was a warm, muggy, foggy Saturday morning. I arrived at Lock 29 about an hour ahead of the group, allowing me to run Pine Lane loop and take a few photos.

The forest has nearly completely reclaimed this disused brick road. Picturesque, but those bricks are very slippery on a damp morning.

Moss-covered log


A blue blaze on the Buckeye Trail


A little, white house just south of Peninsula