Someone told me that today is the summer solstice, though I am not quite sure that it is. Anyway it was a beautiful day, I have noticed that some local produce is starting to come into the stores, so I get a tasty choice for my raw food meals.
My run this afternoon felt really good, I am down about 5 lbs at the moment, but still a few lbs above what I was at this time last year.

So the government here has given out stimulus checks to those who deserve them, to apparently encourage them to buy something to help improve the economic state of the country. Though I have heard that some people will just put it into savings accounts I plan to spend mine. I have a nice Laptop computer picked out, just have to decide when to purchase it.
I have adjusted my protein intake and that seems to have helped my legs when I'm running

For the last few days we have been experiencing normal temperatures, although here in New York normal is actually the average temperature based on past records. After the warm humid temperatures we had, these "Normal" temps actually feel cool.
I have noticed that while I am on this raw food diet my legs take a few minutes to get warmed up when I go out for my run, but once they do I feel like I have a little spring in my step.

I have noticed this before, but when I am on my raw food diet, my sense of smell seems to be really good. This of course can be good and bad. It not only makes the sweet smells of flowers and trees so much better, it makes the noxious smells of the city that much worse.

I'm on the second day of my current raw food diet and I feel pretty good. I did however feel quite sore still from my race on the weekend. I am not sure if this is also partly because of the raw food thing. Anyway I think it is just a matter of allowing myself the time to adjust. At least the weather has turned cooler

yes I felt some soreness this morning, but other than that I'm OK. We had thunder storms over night, but it was still quite warm and humid this morning.
The world's longest race started this morning in New York, it is 3100 miles long. In the photo you can see some of the participants. I jogged out there to the start and back. I will be going out there everyday for the next almost 2 months to see how things are going on. They run around a scool that is about 10 minutes from my house

Just too hot I woke up nice and early and walked the 3 1/2 to 4 miles out to Flushing Meadow for the 50k race. I got there just in time to see the 100k race start. It was already warm and the humidity was high, but as we started the 50k race an hour later it didn't feel too bad. I was mostly running on my own, though there was almost always someone not too far ahead of me. The weather seemed to be getting quite hot and the Sun was feeling quite strong, but everything seemed to be going OK. At 21 miles I was on pace for a sub 6 hour time. Then I started to really feel the heat. I had been drinking a lot and making sure I was well hydrated, but then I started to feel a little dizzy, then nauseous and in the space of 3 miles I had lost it. As I completed 24 miles I knew it was a mistake to carry on. I discovered that 3 other runners had become sick and on medical advice, the 100k race had now been reduced to a 50 mile race. I spent a half an hour sitting in the shade and drinking lots of fluids and started to recover, but I had no feeling to go out and try to complete the 7 remaining miles. I had a problem with a heat related sickness about 20 years ago and have tried to be smart and avoid that problem since.
Once I felt well enough I packed my bag and walked the almost 4 miles back home very casually, getting more drinks on the way. When I got home 1 1/2 hours after I had stopped and after consuming about 50ozs of fluids, I finally went to the bathroom. When I weighed myself I was down 4 lbs even after re hydrating myself. So a lesson learned.

This guys car was still there today, the plates show that it's from the state of Georgia.

Shortly after leaving my house this morning someone walking in the opposite direction wished me a good morning. This simple act really added a spark to my day. On arriving at work the security guard for the building did the same.
On my way home I stopped in to my bank and as I came to the door 3 separate women were walking also to the door, I promptly held the door open for them and was rewarded with a smile and a thank you. I think it made my day and theirs.
My run this afternoon was comfortable and I feel as though I am ready for the 50k race tomorrow, I hope the weather is good, it's supposed to be a little warm, but I remember that it was a little hot last year for my 50k at the end of May.

This happened a couple of blocks from my house. I feel sorry for the person who is going to come home from work and find this surprise waiting for them. I am not sure if this is considered an act of God by the insurance company, or if the insurance covers it. This car is not going anywhere in a hurry.

Walking out the door this morning into a beautiful breezy cooler morning, almost quiet and peaceful. Only to have the quiet broken by the sound of a Police helicopter flying suddenly near by. After walking a few blocks I crested a hill and came around a corner, to see several police vehicles and several police. Standing with some people in front of a house. Everything seemed quite calm,but the people looked a little disturbed. I continued on, not finding out what had happened. This was a reminder that I live in New York City.
With a temperature in the mid 80's F and 33% humidity I had a pleasant run this afternoon. It happened to be the 50th straight day I have run. My streak is starting to become something.

Oh by the way the photo is of a deer in Italy that was born with one central horn, kind of like a Unicorn. It apparently is quite rare for a deer to be born with one horn and usually they are to one side or the other, amazing !

Such a different day from yesterday. Although the temperature in the mid 70's F when I left for work this morning it felt much nicer. It's nice to work in the basement though it is starting to warm up down there too.
I could feel the difference in the air as I walked home in the afternoon, it was 90 F , but there was a cooling breeze. After a short nap to kind of break the day, I went out for my run. By this time it was down to 86 F ( 30 C), but it only felt a little bit better than yesterday. I was trying out my new pair of Addidas Urahu, which I knew would be good since I had a pair before. Yes they felt comfortable on my feet

After what seemed like a cold Friday night the days began to warm up and the weekend was a little un-comfortable. I guess I adjusted a little and last night seemed to sleep pretty well, but when I woke up this morning it was already 79 F ( 24 C). Fortunately I work in a basement of an industrial building and it was nice and cool down there when I got to work. Un fortunately I only worked for a few hours and had to come out into the heat. By the time I got home it was 91 F ( 32 C ). At the time of writing this post it is 94 F and with 44% humidity they say it feels like 98. This would probably be normal for July or August, but this is just the second week of June and it comes after much cooler temp's last week.
Yes it is hot out there. Maybe this is getting us ready for some hot August nights.

The temperature was already 74 F ( 22 C) when I went out the door this morning and the humidity was 85%. So yes it was a hot run. I had decided to continue following my paln and only run 6 miles today. Utpal is training for a marathon in August so he wanted to run longer, so after about 3 miles we parted company. Shortly after that I had a drop in energy, even though I had eaten a granola bar about 45 minutes before we left. I ran through it and later regained my energy, I was in fact feeling quite strong at the end, though I was sweating a lot.
I like my new Addidas Duramo shoes!

Keeping to my idea of tapering for the race next week, I did not run the 2 mile race today. Instead I went out a little earlier and ran about 3 miles nice and easy. It actually felt good not to run hard and near the end I could feel myself running at the start of the race next week.
It is supposed to be really hot today, but I think it got a little bit cooler in the night than expected, so we will have to see.
The European Football (soccer) Championships has started , so we get to see if Greece can defend there their surprise title from 4 years ago.

Last week I mentioned that I got a pair of running shoes. Well while I was there I saw another pair that were on sale, they were also a model that I like, but I decided not to get them at that time. So I went there today and they had been reduced for clearance, they only had 5 pairs left and one of them was my size. So by waiting a week I got just what I wanted and at a cheaper price. I have to say though that it usually works out the opposite way, I go back and they have sold out, so I was kind of lucky this time.
Today has been very nice, there is a quite strong breeze and the temperature has stayed in the 60's F. It is however supposed to be quite hot this weekend.

I got a message from my agent manager about an opportunity to submit my Dilly and Dally books to a new publisher that is looking for authors. I have to fill out a submission form and then we wait and see what happens. I also have to deal with them directly, but Beth my agent manager will help me out with any advice I need or any questions I might have.
So my plan to run easier this week seems to be going well. I guess I have started to taper before the race next week.

There is a song I remember called "Summer Breeze". Well this morning as I walked to work in the rain, I started singing this song to myself. Though I did replace the words Summer Breeze with Summer Rain. When the temperature is pleasantly warm and it is raining, it is actually kind of nice. Of course I was wearing my rain suite and my wellies. on the way home in the afternoon however, my feet did get a little warm .

The last 2 summers I have followed a raw food diet, I have found that it seems to detox my system and re-energize me. Last year I started at this time, but with the 50k race coming up in 11 days time I have decided to hold off until after the race.
However with the warmer weather coming around, I was inspired to stop at my usual fruit and veg' market and get some nice salad things, so as to start eating a few more salads for lunch at work.

I had a feeling today that maybe the combination of running a hard 2 mile race on Saturday and a long run on Sunday, may be too much. It did feel like my legs were tired today and it has been taking me 2 or 3 days to recover. The only way to really know, is to not run the race the 2 mile race this week and not run too long on Sunday.. I have recovered from 24 hour races and then run 50k races in 6 to 7 weeks, but never tried it after a 10 day race, so maybe I have to adjust something.
I ahve been walking around in my new Addidas Duramo's for the last couple of days. This afternoon I ran in them. They feel very good, I am happy with them.

This morning was the first time this year that it has been quite warm when we went out for our run. It was already 65 F when we started at 7am. Since it had rained during the night it was also quite humid. The run as usual went out to Shea Stadium and back. During the run however we covered about 80% of the course that will be used for the 50k race I will be running in 2 weeks. After about 9 miles I started to get a numb feeling in my left foot, similar to that I had 2 years ago when I developed my foot injury. It did however go away and was fine for the rest of the run.