Can you hear me now? Good come pick me up.

Tonight was a 8.4 mile run in over 95 degree heat. Running with a cell phone is smart but sometimes awkward. My running buddy Dan recommends using a hands-free mobile. Usually, I keep my mobile phone stored in my amphipod hydration belt just in case I need to call my wife for a rescue pick up (haven't made the call yet). After the 3rd mile, I felt so bad that I wished it was on me. Since it wasn't, I slogged along with encouraging words from Dan. Sure enough something good clicked and I finished strong and confident. Weird how the body finds energy just when you think it's out. With less than 52 days away, it's time to increase the miles without excuses.

Interesting stuff related to mobile phones.

1. Cell phone throwing championship
2. hold a phone
   
3. The first mobile phone. Wow..how would you like to run with that?
4. iJustine's first iphone bill over 300 pages long.
5. power you cell via wind.
   

Run in Central Park NYC

Maria's father graciously invited us to New York City for the weekend to visit family and attend a Broadway musical, Les Miserables. A bonus to the trip was to stay at the luxurious Jumeirah Essex house located on Central park South. As a runner, in my opinion, there is no better place to stay on Manhattan. You just walk out the front door and off you go on one of the most popular places to run in America. The park itself is basically a 6 mile rectangle packed with various things to do. For me, I ran the outside loop passing the Loeb Boathouse, the reservoir and the Metropolitan Museum of Art running north. Before traveling south I conquered Heartbreak hill, then passed the reservoir again before hitting the Tavern on the Green which is the site of the ING NYC marathon finish line. To make it a 11 miles I finished the loop the back the reservoir before returning to the hotel. It was a great experience to run with several hundred runners on a beautiful Sunday morning. Check out a sample of our New York pics via flikr.

Hot

It has been crazy hot in St. Louis for the month of August. Temps have hovered around 100 but we have relief within the next week. It sounds like an excuse but the heat has hampered my training and motivation. It's just not fun when your hands sweat and your socks are soaked. Two weeks ago I only logged 17.5 miles and last week I only logged 16.28 when I'm supposed to be in the 30 miles. It's time to suck it out and find ways to get the miles in. Team Oregon has some good tips to beat the heat. For me, basically I'm running at sunset and sunrise, drinking plenty or water, wearing light dry-fit clothing, and slowing down.