Day 300

• 6.41 miles
• 7:49/mile pace
• 0525
• From/To Home
• 30 minutes easy followed by 8 x 1 minute hard with 1 minute recovery between, concluded with 3-4 minutes cool down/return home.  Felt ok on the hardish minutes, the rest felt stiff and achy.  
• 300 means I will now be somewhat nervous counting down the next 66 days as the streak approaches 1 year. 
• 300 is also an often referenced number -- hitting .300, Crystler 300, 300 the movie, bowling a 300, 300 million people in India without power today...yeah, seriously, they had some major power grid failure yesterday. 

Day 299

• 3.54 miles
• 8:33/mile pace
• 0555
• From/To home
• Shockingly slow this morning, but good enough. 

Day 298

• 17.2 miles
• 8:00/mile pace
• 0510
• Fountain Hills, AZ
• Glad to be done, very glad to have run with Dean again -- hard to beat a long run with someone enjoyable who also plans the run, wears the watch and brings recovery aiding food for after.  That stated, this was another disappointing long run for me...I just hit the wall again and had to walk for a few minutes.   Before this year I could count on one hand the times I have walked during a run, this year I'd need two hand already and it doesn't seem to be getting better, not yet at least.   Anyway, still interested in trying....but not today, instead I'll just watch The Olympics again all day.   I love the Olympics.

Day 297

• 5 miles
• 8:12/mile pace
• 0730
• From/To Home
• Less effort on my part than I probably should've given, plus I think I'm just getting slower -- will have to remedy that...starting August 1...or after the Olympics...or after I turn 40....50?

Day 296

• 2.03 miles
• Slow
• 0625
• From/To Home
• Streak extender.   Legs feeling tired and tight as a result of yesterday's hilly hard running spurts, probably would've been a good day to take off completely, but then what would you have to read about, right?   Anyway, Olympics start tomorrow...well, Opening Ceremonies are tonight, but the actual Games start tomorrow, I am very pumped about them, though I haven't decided exactly how I will follow them yet -- live on-line, or wait until I get home and watch on TV (either recorded or as the network dictates)?   Talk about a 1st world problem.

Day 295

• 6.86 miles
• 7:39/mile pace
• 0603
• San Bruno, CA
• 11 minute warm up, 7 x two minute surges with 1 minute recovery between them, 20 minute cool down.   Ended up doing this on some hilly roads for safety reasons and because there was a golf course at the top of the hill that I wanted to see.
•    http://news.runnersworld.com/2012/07/24/top-u-s-streaker-hits-44-years/   I wonder if this guy started to get nervous as his streak approached 300 days thinking of how tragic it could be if the streak were to end so close to 1 year, but not quite there...

Day 294

• 6.22 miles
• 7:39/mile pace
• 0635
• Richmond, CA
• Running in cooler weather is a much more comfortable experience -- seeing highway signs for Sacramento during my run kept me focused on the California International Marathon that I need to sign up for as well...though it didn't make me speed up at all because, well, I didn't feel like speeding up at all.

Day 293

• 5.83 miles
• 7:48/mile pace
• 0645
• From/To home
• Easy run with 10 x 30 seconds fast with 1 minute recovery.   Felt fine.

Day 292

• 4 miles
• 7:47/mile pace
• 1835
• Arrowhead CC
• Treadmill run, felt good considering how exhausting Sunday was.

Day 290

• 3.74 miles
• 8:01/mile pace
• 0700
• From/To Pat and Kathryn's house -- Mount Pleasant, SC
• Another easy/slow run.   Really amazed at the humidity...I lived in Mt. P for 5 years and just didn't remember sweating so much....I didn't run much then though, so...

Day 291

• 14.51 miles
• 8:27/mile pace
• 0625
• From/To Pat and Kathryn's -- Mt. Pleasant, SC
• Long very slow run that turned out to be MUCH tougher than I could've imagined.   I'm not sure if it was a dehydration issue resulting from the shocking amount of sweat loss the humidity contributed too -- I can honestly say that I have never finished a run as through and through wet as I was, excepting runs that involved rain or sprinklers -- or if it was due to fatigue brought on by the day at the beach followed by kyacking on Saturday, but by the end of the run I was dry heaving and wondering what in the world happened to me.   It was actually kind of weird, but I was happy to have finished the mileage and OK with the pace considering the last mile was painfully slow...literally.   Best news was that once I had some liquid and food in me I felt just fine...the slow speed even seemed to save my legs as I didn't feel nearly as tired as I usually do after a run of 10+ miles, which is fortunate because we had quite a fun day planned with friends going out on the boat etc.
• Multi-sport:   Loosely associated with this running streak, I used to kinda half consider myself a multi-sport guy in relation to endurance sports...I'll always consider myself a multi-sport guy in relaiton to appreciating/enjoying sports, but that's a different topic completely.   Well, it seems that Charleston, SC brings out my interest in multi-sport endurance events in special ways...I did my very first dual sport effort in Charleston years ago, in a neighborhood called "I'on" in an event called "I'on man."   I still have and wear the t-shirt regularly...the event was 3/4 of a mile swim around a lake followed by a 5k and I was barely able to move for the 3 days following the event due to exhaustion, but I was proud to be an "I'on man."   So, now, fast forward about 5 or 6 years to present day and I've done a few triathlon's and then basically given up multi-sport events in favor of the much easier to schedule running streak, but having been to Charleston, SC I thought about multi-sport a little bit.
• Flip flops:   Even less associated, I thought I'd share this little story with you -- so, as mentioned above, after the long run (sorry, I'm trying to tie them together, though there will be no running in the rest of this text), the whole Phoenix Wein family went out with our friends on the Stono River in/around the Charleston, SC area.   It was fantastic and helped by the fact that we have relatives in the area who could lend me stuff, like the flip flops I borrowed from my cousin's wife.   They fit well and were very functional...note the past tense, which I will now explain.   OK, so, our friends live in this amazing house with a view of the marshlands and river, but they also have their own pond/lake in their backyard, which looks very cool and got me thinking about how awesome it would be if I were able to swim every day as easily, potentially even more easily, than running every day -- the pond is maybe a half acre total surface space and shaped a bit like an oval, with the short side being north south from their back door (short side being about 40-45 yards across, length being 70-75 yards long/across),   So, with that in mind I asked my friend "How deep is your lake?"   He said he didn't know, which I thought was amazing since I was certain I would know if I lived there, but he estimated 4 to 5 feet deep because he said it was man made etc.   Well, that estimate didn't really satisfy me because if it wasn't that deep then how could I swim my laps reliably, right?   Anyway, I told him after we got off the boat I would wade out there and check it out for him...and to satisfy my curiousity, of course.   He said that would be cool -- so, after returning from our day on the river, he and his wife went to take the boat out of the water, Becca took the boys into our friends house to get them cleaned up for the trip back to our cousins house and I put my cousin-in-laws flip flops back on to wade out into the lake, since I was concerned there would be sharp stuff on the bottom etc. and then proceeded to begin my depth charting mission.  Here are the results (starting directely from the back of their house -- so, the bisecting the length of the pond/lake):
• First 5 feet from shore:   1 to 2 feet deep
• 5 to 10 fee from shore:   4-5 feet deep
• 10 yards from shore:       6 feet deep   
• 20 yards from the shore:  6.5 feet deep (this is what I consider the dead center of the lake/pond)
• OK, so, obviously, at this point I'm swimming/treading water since I'm only 5'8.5" tall, but it is warm and comfortable, so I figured I'd continue to perform depth charting further along the length to make sure it was uniform depth and because dropping down under the water, letting my flip flopped feet touch the bottom and then resurfacing couldn't be any easier, so why not? -- Well, because after doing the 2nd additional depth checking decent I was treading water facing away from the house towards some marsh grass (2 feet tallish weeds) when honest to God a freakin alligator launched itself straight at me into the water from about 25 feet away resulting in me setting the world record for unaided swim speed while also firing off Hail Mary's at a clip that only priests, nuns and those of us who spent 16 years in Catholic school could possibly replicate.   There is absolutely NO WAY that Michael Phelps could've beat me to the shore, I cannot be convinced otherwise.  I seriously have never been so scared, for my life, in my life.   Upon reaching the shore and sprinting out of the water the much smaller than I originally thought, and infinitely smaller than he will be in every retelling of this story that I author, alligator was circling my cousin-in-laws flip flops in the center of the water.  Hearing my exasperated announcement of "Gator!" Becca then came out to see my adversary and estimates it to be 3 and a half feet long, which I guess technically is correct.   So, obviously, I'm thinking, since I easily set the world speed record for swimming, I should get back into multi-sport endurance events again, right?!  

Day 289

• 1.81 miles
• 7:55/mile pace
• 0705
• From/to Pat and Kathryn's -- Mount Pleasant, SC
• Streak extender, felt rough since it hadn't been very long since my previous run...and I've eaten ice cream 5 days in a row -- it's my tribute to summer, but I really should end that streak.

Day 288

• 7.48 miles
• 7:38/mile pace
• 2034
• From to Pat and Kathryn's -- Mt. Pleasant, SC
• First 3 miles with Becca while cousins watched Finn and made sure Case didn't wake up etc., then cruised around the neighborhood for the remainder.   Felt pretty good and increased speed as I went.  

Day 287

• 4.64 miles
• 7:58/mile pace
• 2117
• From/To Pat and Kathryn's -- Mt. Pleasant, SC
• Easy stroll around the old 'hood...forgot how dark the streets are, but enjoyed the quiet.

Day 286

• 5.09 miles
• 8:20/mile pace
• 2015
• Through Emory campus -- Atlanta, GA
• Ran with Becca again...found more hills.  Steep ones. 

Day 285

• 3.88 miles
• 7:44/mile pace
• 1110
• From/To my parents house -- Atlanta, GA
• Streak extender, tried to find flat route, which isn't easy.

Day 284

• 3.15 miles
• 8:34/mile pace
• 1600
• DHGC to parents house -- Atlanta, GA
• First run with Becca in what seemed like forever, was nice, but absurdly hilly.

Day 283

• 12.85 miles
• 7:45/mile pace
• 0515
• Kiwanis Park and surrounding area
• Another great Dean concept, excecuted excellently by Dean, but not so impressively by Bobby-the-streaker.   We met at 5:15, ran a little short of 10 miles, then got into an official 5k (I was a bandit, but he was offical, as was his wife Kim).   I fell apart somewhere around around the 6 or 7 mile mark of the overall effort and even though I took a bathroom break before starting the final 5k it didn't seem to fix my issues.  Glad to have logged the milage and always glad to see the Rosenlof's, so, overall positive, but I really feel like I need to have a "good" long run soon...we'll see, even though it may make little sense I've decided I'll add something just to shock my body -- thinking push-ups, but that's probably because a set of pull ups would paralyse me.  

Day 282

• 2.45 miles
• 8:11/mile pace
• 0610
• From/To home
• Streak extender

Day 281

• 1.7 miles
• Slow
• 0655
• From/To home
• Streak extende

Day 280

• 5.58 miles
• 7:48/mile pace
• 0630
• From/To Home
• Easy run, new shoes really do feel much better.

Day 279

• 5 millas
• Estimado:  8:00/millas paso
• 0607
• Playa Mujeras, Mexico
• Caliente, seguido por ocho intervalos minuciosos uno con una recuperación minuciosa en medio seguida por fresco abajo.

Day 278

• 3.81 millas
• 7:52/milla
• 1730
• Playa Mujeras, Mexico
• Suplemento de la raya

Day 277

• 11.75 millas
• 7:40/millas
• 1645
• Playa Mujeras, Mexico
• Duradero en la rueda de ardilla -- final hardish de 10 minutos

Day 276

• 5.15 millas
• 7:46/milla pace
• 0605
• Playa Mujeras, Mexico
• Lector fiel, Sr. CMB, me dio la gran sugerencia que debo fijar en la lengua que corresponde a la localización en donde cada uno funcionada se registra.   Necesitaré ir de nuevo a enmiendo algunos postes anteriores, pero hasta que consigo a ése dejo esto ser el primer poste que comienza esa práctica. 
• Esto era un funcionamiento “fácil” en la rueda de ardilla pues el hotel que estoy permaneciendo adentro no sugiere que funcione fuera de la facilidad.   Asombrosamente, yo por lo menos, la exhibición de la rueda de ardilla demostró la medida imperial en vez de métrico -- Habría podido jurar que esa vez última era en México la rueda de ardilla que era encendido era métrico.  De todas formas, más fácil para mí, aunque este funcionamiento no era tan fácil como probablemente debe haber estado.
• http://www.worldlingo.com/en/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html  if desired.
• OK, I just used that in direct reverse and the translation is abysmal, but I found it to be humorous and since it is unlikely that any of my 3-5 readers care as much about whatever I was trying to say as they'll appreciate the butchered translation I will gladly leave it as it is...the alternative would be to just type in English, as I have with this portion, breaking the just accepted rule, but adding "El" before some words and ending nearly all words with the letter "O" as I like to do when mocking my inability to speak Espanol.

Day 275

• 2 miles
• 8:26/mile pace
• 0545
• From/To home
• Streak extender, not in my new shoes though, because I had already packed those.

Day 274

• 8.77 miles
• 6:51/mile pace
• 1635
• Arrowhead CC
• Well, I take back my boastful comments about surely being able to figure out how to use the Garmin 405 on still very appreciated loan from the Rosenlof's -- I haven't been able to figure it out at all yet, so I went to the gym.   As usual, maintaining a sexier than usual looking pace on the treadmill was not nearly as hard as real running, so above figures are to be taken with that knowledge, but overall I'm still happy with the run.   10 minute warm up at around 8:10/mile pace, then dropped it down to around 6:40 for 40 minutes and then did a semi-cool down at 7 somethin pace.  
• This was my first run in my new shoes, which are about a billion times more comfortable and seemingly faster, but then, that could have to do with the fact that I ran in the afternoon when I always find running to be much easier than pre-sunlight.   I do think the shoes made it more comfortable though, which means I should probably switch out my shoes at maybe 325 miles instead of 350 miles...or perhaps I should just go down to 300 miles?  
• This reminds me of my Dad's answer to what size waist he has with relation to buying pants..."I wear 34's, but 36's fit so well, I buy 38's." -- Jim Wein

Day 273

• 2.66 miles
• Easy
• 0840
• From/To Home
• Didn't wear a watch, didn't run very hard.  Have now put just over 350 miles in my current shoes, so I will go out this afternoon to buy a new pair -- I should probably buy 2 pair to alternate as I do believe that is a good idea...and I should probably spend the money to buy shoes that actually fit as opposed to my lifelong practice of buying to fit my right foot knowing that when doing so the left shoe will be a full size too large for my left foot because I believe that is a good idea too.   No, I don't think I'll buy more than one pair of shoes to fit my right foot today, but I know that I should.

Day 272

• 6.13 miles
• 7:40/mile pace
• 0625
• From/To Home
• 30 minutes easy followed by 12 x 25 seconds hard with 1 minute recovery between. 
• About that Garmin GPS watch I'm so thankful to be borrowing from Dean and Kim -- uh...turns out that I thought what Becca and I have was a Garmin 405, like the one I'm borrowing, but in fact we have a Garmin 305...so I have no idea how to work the Garmin 405, yet.   Thankfully today's run didn't require it, so I just need to figure it out by Thursday, which I really should be able to do.

Day 271

• 3.5 miles
• 8:40/mile pace
• 0635
• From/To Home
• "Recovery run."  Shattered my great volume pace for July, now on pace for barely over 300 miles for the month. 

Day 270

• 16.1 miles
• 7:45-8:15/mile pace
• 0520
• South Mountain, AZ
• Another great (thought difficult for me :)) run with Dean, who remains as strong as ever, or at least as much stronger than ME as ever.  We did San Juan's from first parking lot, then back up to the Y plus return.   Only negative, other than my not quite there yet fitness, was that I had to stop at the restroom at the 11 mileish point and I don't like having to stop during long runs.  Overall, happy to have completed the mileage and very happy to have logged another run with Dean, who, by-the-way, has lent to me a Garmin watch he had so no more excuses for me not to stay on the training plan.
• 3 gu's
• 16 ounces of water + 16 ounces of Gatorade
• Feeling healthy, A/C working at the house again, have a Garmin as stated, on pace to run 499 miles in July, so...all is looking up!