Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Easy walk and birthday update

Today I did an easy 6+ miles as part of my taper before this weekend's race (North Trail Half Marathon). It was an interesting walk because I felt like I was taking it easy, even slowing down, but in reality I held steady or sped up for most of the splits. That's a good sign--a faster speed isn't as hard as it used to be.

Also, yesterday was my birthday. I enjoyed a quiet evening with Angela and Lela. After some presents (and a rice krispie treat with a candle!) we went to Gloria's, Salvadoran food--chips, salsa, black bean dip, pupusas, tamals, fried plantain (my favorite!), rice, beans. Delicious!

The best part of all (other than being with my family) was that my wife gave me some shorts, 34 inch waist, and they were too BIG! That's right, too big. About a year ago I was having trouble getting into size 38 pants, and now it looks like I can wear 32. I haven't worn 32 since high school. She also gave me two large shirts and one medium shirt. The medium fits fine, as does one of the larges, but the other one is too big! I love it when clothes are too big rather than too small.

To top everything off I got the results from last week's physical and everything was great--my cholesterol was very low and every other reading was normal. The doctor said to stick with my exercise regimen and dietary changes. It's nice to see a pay off after all of the work!

I'm off to San Antonio for a quick business trip. I'll probably do an easy 30 minutes on the treadmill tomorrow and then no more walking until Sunday. I'll post my race goal later this week, but I'm definitely hoping for a PR.