Orange Street Loop/Levy Loop

At 9:15 a.m., it's overcast and 67°F in Levy. It almost feels like football season. I walked the Orange Street Loop this morning in 43:41. This evening, through the lightest of drizzles, I walked and jogged the Levy Loop in 26:02.

OVERHEARD
"Hitting the ball."
—Little kid on the Reds-at-Miami Marlins game after the Marlins announcer asked him what he "liked best about batting practice?"

Ghetto Cat Loop/Humpin' Hash

I walked the Ghetto Cat Loop this morning in 31:17. This evening I jogged and walked nearly three miles with the Humpin' Hash in 38:48. We went to E.J.'s and a nearby sushi restaurant and had a crowd of about thirty.

OVERHEARD
"It's Miller Lite."
—John Kelley, after Pete took a drink of Katy's beer and said, 'Hey, this is good. What is it?", thinking, hoping, it was one of those $12-a-six-pack microbrewed beers

Maple Street Loop/Ridge Road Loop

I walked and jogged the Maple Street Loop this morning in 26:53. My plan to do either the 33rd Street or Park Hill Loop was thwarted by legs deader than the frozen yogurt industry. It's 78°F in Levy. The high should be 84, with highs tomorrow and Thursday forecasted to be 78 and 71. Those would be appropriate ways to end this crazy July.

It got to 86, in fact is right now at 6:12 p.m. But weather.com says that it "feels like" 85. Now they're saying 81 for the high tomorrow, and 68 for Thursday. I'll believe it when I see it. I just got in from walking the four-mile Ridge Road Loop in 1:04:38 and I'm bone dry.

Levy Loop/Levy Trail

I jogged a total of 17:45 to complete the Levy Loop in 24:45. This afternoon I walked two miles on the Levy Trail in 34:10.

33rd Street Loop

I alternated one-minute jogs with four-minute walks to finish the 33rd Street Loop in 1:09:00, with splits of 13:54, 13:44, 13:32, 14:02, 13:48. Weather.com says it will get to 99°F today. It's 85, with a RealFeel of 91 at 10:04 a.m. We'll see. All I know is that this is the first time this year that I have come in from a run and subsequently hung my entire running costume, including socks, on the shower rod.

Levy Loop/Maple Street Loop

I alternated two-minute jogs with three-minute walks to complete the Levy Loop late this morning in 24:49, with splits of 12:34 and 12:15, and felt great. Starting at about 7:45 tonight, I walked the Maple Street Loop in 29:46.

35th Street Loop/38th Street Loop

I alternated one-minute jogs with four-minute walks to complete the 35th Street Loop in 55:16, with splits of 13:53, 14:06, 13:19, and 13:58. A big, badass black dog sent a jolt of fear through me close to the halfway point of the first mile by barking, growling, running circles around me, and generally taking the pose of animal intent on eating someone. This was the first time I'd seen him.

This evening I walked the 38th Street Loop in 31:26.

Levy Trail/38th Street Loop

It's hard for me to not gawk at this weather. Yesterday it got to 91°F, the seventh time this month, this July, that the temperature has reached ninety or above. This afternoon, at 2:26, it's 83 in Levy. I alternated one-minute jogs with four-minute walks to complete two miles on the Levy Trail in 25:55, and ten minutes later I'm already dry. Crazy. They say it will reach the mid- to high-nineties this weekend.

This evening I walked the 38th Street Loop in 31:35.

DID YOU KNOW...

...there's a brand of women's underwear called Spanx®? That's great. I saw a display in Dillard's, or JCPenney last night. What are some potential rival brands? How about Spitz? Or maybe Spelunkers? Tap?

OVERHEARD

"You steppin on out, ain't ya?"

—one of two sixty-year-old men sitting on the open tailgate of an almost antique, orange-and-white Chevy pickup that was parked on a dirt driveway off 37th Street. "I'm trying to," I responded. He said, "I heard that."

Cooks Landing/McCain Mall

I walked 6.2 miles with the Geezers on a loop from Cooks Landing this morning in 1:51:56. Though it was still under ninety degrees, everyone complained about the heat. This evening, as the rain poured, I McMain-Mall walked for 35:21. Please don't tell anyone.

Levy Trail/Orange Street Loop

I alternated one-minute jogs with four-minute walks to complete two miles on the Levy Trail at lunchtime in 29:27. It's 87°F. Now they're saying the high today will be 89, which it was. The air dried up today. If feels nice out at 5:57 p.m. There's nice breeze. I walked the Orange Street Loop this evening in 47:22.

Ghetto Cat Loop/Chandler Street Loop

I walked the Ghetto Cat Loop this morning in 31:48. Ninety degrees, here we come. I guess that's what we get for living in Levy—occasionally in the summer it gets over ninety. Early this evening I walked the Chandler Street Loop in 48:50. The forecasters were off; the high today was 86°F. They say it'll get to 94 tomorrow. For the first time since nine days ago, the humidity is back to normal.

Levy Trail

It got up to a blazing 83°F today. This evening I walked two miles on the Levy Trail in 34:16.

Orange Street Loop

For the second day in a row, the temperature hasn't reached the 80s. Yesterday's high was 71°F, and today's 78. I had to put on a sweatshirt this morning. This afternoon I walked the Orange Street Loop in 47:46. I have enchiladas in the oven. This is the first time I have made them, and feel confident they'll be good.

OVERHEARD
"Give them an inch, they'll take a yard."
—newscaster on KATV-Ch. 7, the ABC affiliate in Levy. She was commenting on someone's complaint that the temperature might reach into the 80s tomorrow

Levy Trail

My hip feels much better. I walked two miles on the Levy Trail this afternoon in 36:09. At 3:19 p.m., it is 68°F in Levy, which is 25 below the average high for July 18. I turned my air conditioner off Wednesday night, and it's almost uncomfortably cool in my house.
Ruth meowed at my backdoor this afternoon for the first time in ten days. I was afraid she might have died, but she looks fine. I wish Jo and Samantha didn't hate her so.

Five years, eleven months, and twenty-five days

My left hip hurt too much for me to walk or run today or tonight. Consequently my streak of at least walking two miles, begun July 19, 2008, ends after five years, eleven months, and twenty-five days. However, my MLB All-Star game watching or listening-to streak, begun in 1968, continues. The cats are sleeping—Pam on my lap, Jo on the fancy recliner, and Sam right behind me on top of the couch. They don't care, but I'm cheering like heck for the National League, since I truly believe the Reds have a good chance to play in the World Series. It's the top of the fifth inning and the score is 3-3.

Orange Street Loop

It started raining harder than two motherfuckers a mile and a half into the Orange Street Loop this evening. You know, the kind of rain that gets you wet to your underpants in about a minute, so that there's no point hurrying. I completed the loop on very sore legs in 47:38. My official time for the 25K was 4:34:42.9.

Levy Trail

I'm tired and my feet hurt. Nevertheless, I walked two miles on the Levy Trail this morning in 34:16.

OVERHEARD
"The Dutch have just rubbed rock salt into the wound that was once Brazil's national pride. What embarrassment; what humiliation for all of Brazil."
—ESPN radio announcers after Holland scored a goal in the final minute or so to build its lead to 3-nil in the the third-place World Cup game with Brazil. Pete listened to them as he drove to the start the Midnight 25K

Midnight 25K

WILLIAMS JUNCTION, Ark.—My feet hurt a bit, but I am otherwise undamaged from walking and jogging the Midnight 25K tonight in about 4:34:30 (I forgot to stop my watch, but that's pretty close). As unfit as I am, I was pleased to have finished feeling as good as I did, regardless of the time. It's nice now in Levy, on the couch watching the Reds with Pam and Jo.

Levy Trail

I walked three miles on the Levy Trail late this afternoon in 48:31. That's about the effort I intend to exert during the first half of the Midnight 25K tomorrow night. I might jog a bit coming back. The start has been moved back to 7 p.m., so my goal is to finish before midnight. I think I can do that without hurting too much.

Lakewood Lake No. 3

Ron Gimblet and I walked for 1:06:33 this morning around Lakewood Lake No. 3 and through adjacent neighborhoods. The three women Geezers alternated two-minute walks with one-minute jogs, so we didn't see them after the first two minutes.

Levy Trail

It's a good thing I walked with the Geezers this morning. They told me the Midnight 50K is this Saturday, not two weeks from Saturday as I had thought until about an hour and a half ago. So much for putting in a long run. We walked for 1:19:07, with several stops. It was fun.

Orange Street Loop

I alternated one-minute jogs with four-minte walks to complete the Orange Street Loop this morning in 39:56, with splits of 13:40, 13:25, and 12:51, and imagine I looked kind of silly walking so fast the final half block to break forty.

OVERHEARD
"Men. They're all the same. They only believe what they want to believe."
—actress on an old black-and-white movie, heard by Pete this morning from the bathroom of his mother's room at Nashville Nursing and Rehabilitation

"My biggest fear is dying in a hotel room on the road."
—Marty Brennamen, Cincinnati Reds radio announcer since 1974, as reported by the Chicago Cubs announcer during the broadcast of the Reds-Cubs game Tuesday night

Ghetto Cat Loop

After picking up rib bones and beer bottles from my yard this morning, I walked he Ghetto Cat Loop in 30:04.

Results of the Levy Faster than Two Motherfuckers 1K
MEN
1. Jeff Thostenson 4:20
2. John Kelley 4:23
3. Michael Harmon 4:27
WOMEN
1. Patre Williams 5:06
2. Kaitlyn Bradley 6:05
3. Susan Irwin 6:09

Levy Faster Than Two Motherfuckers 1K-Levy Loop

I walked 2.62 miles early this afternoon. I think the first 0.62 miles took about ten minutes and the final two about thirty-two. Drunk people praised my ribs. I will report on the race winners when I find the result sheet. I think the man winner was close to four minutes and the woman close to five. Goodnight.

Burns Park Loop

I walked and jogged the Park Hill Loop this evening in 1:23:58.

Firecracker Fast 5K

I didn't run the Firecracker Fast 5K. I watched, and then walked with Bob McKinney and Bob Rooke back to our cars parked on Kavanaugh Blvd. in the Heights. I went about three miles in about thirty-three minutes, all uphill. I walked fast, until I caught up with the Bobs a little past Walt Webb's old house.

OVERHEARD
"That sound fine, but I don't want to put up with no bullshit. Know what I mean?"
—40-year-old woman in the Kroger Parking lot, with two boys, ages 5 and 7

Park Hill Loop

Man, the weather is fantastic here today. At 12:18 p.m., it's 79°F, and dry as gin. I hope this holds up through the Levy Faster than Two Motherfuckers 1K. I walked and jogged the Park Hill Loop at lunchtime in 1:05:38, with splits of 13:12, 13:23, 12:50, 13:31, and 12:42.

I PLAN TO STAB...
...the next person who says, or writes in the script of a contemporary television show, "Get a room."

33rd Street Loop

I walked and jogged the 33rd Street Loop tonight in 1:04:29. I would guess I jogged for a total of ten minutes.

Levy Loop

I jogged and walked the Levy Loop very late tonight in 25:53, having discounted the Reds' chance of victory.