Labor Day Weekend

Traveling out of town for the weekend puts a cramp in training as many people know.  Heather and I went back to Iowa Friday night which left me with no workouts on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.  Luckily I feel good today despite working out those days.  We had a busy weekend but Heather managed to get a short run in, while I was lazy or claiming to let my legs recover for the long run today. 

We initially planned on going to Iowa City to hang out with some college friends, but plans for that fell through last minute so it is a good thing that my mom had snagged us two tickets to the opening Iowa Hawkeye football game versus University of Northern Iowa.  Since we both graduated from Iowa, we enjoy getting back occasionally especially for football.  I was blessed to get a girl who enjoys college football nearly as much as I do.  We felt old after seeing some people who must have been freshmen because they looked 12!

   I wanted to get some pictures to share, and felt a bit like a tourist, but what can you do.

A picture of the former State of Iowa Capital, located in the middle of campus.  Anyone who knows Iowa, will know the above site is something rarely seen. The capital is not under construction or renovation.  Here we are posing next to a huge inflatable Herkey the Hawkeye. 
 

A shot of the marching band and an upside down tigerhawk formation.  Our seats looked straight out at the 45 and 47 yard line.  Not too bad!

They recently changed from grass to turf.  I must say the field looked great and hopefully will hold up better throughout the season.  I would like to hear what the players thing about the change.  I really enjoy the end zones, although we did not see enough action in them as I would have liked to see.

The weather was quite warm and I ended up with a touch of pink on my face, although it has made me feel hot all the time, especially when I lay down for bed.  There was just a bit of a breeze, but it was often dwindled down by the stadium.
We went home after the game and after I indulged on some Pancheros quesadilla and chips and queso.  It was not quite as good as I remember it, but it still hit the spot.  When we got home it had been a request that we have pot chicken.  Start a fire, get a lot of good coals, and then bread and fry up chicken in a pot of oil with some potato wedges.  So delicious!  We came home Sunday and had a relaxing night, as relaxing as can be knowing I had a 16 mile run in the morning.

I was up about 10 minutes before my alarm went off at 6AM.  I got ready and had a small bowl of oatmeal before heading out to stretch.  I got out just about 6:30, before the sun came up.  The temperature was just about perfect for running.  I set a cutoff shirt out for my second loop as I figured it would warm up as soon as the sun came up.  I wanted to start with sleeves to keep a bit warmer at the start.  As I was climbing the first hill, I saw the sun peek over the horizon.  One of the perks of running early in the morning, such a great sight.  I ran my first half which turns out was around 8.2 miles in 1:23.  I felt pretty strong with only a slight discomfort in my knee so it was a bit easier to cruise out for the second half.  Wanting to run it just a bit faster, I watched my time while keeping my heart rate in a nice low zone.  This was much easier than I expected today.  I rolled through Zone 2 almost the full day except for the end where I pushed just a bit to prove I had some left in me.  Overall finish in 2:44, not too bad!

Ran out and picked up a bottom bracket tool to replace Heather’s crank that got stripped out while trying to change pedals.  Hopefully I will have a fun update this week if all goes well.  Nice easy week with some workouts to prep me for Square Lake Sprint Tri, the final tri of the season.