Round and round, 102 and .2, bearly

So originally I was going to go run with the club at 6am Saturday morning.  Sometime Friday night I thought to myself that it would be nice if I didn’t force myself out of bed at 4:30 am.  Sure it’s nice to have moral support doing a long 10 mile run but I don’t require it.

I knew I needed to get the mileage in though, it would probably be my last “long” run before the 12 mile Mudder race.  I came up with a different way to do it, 400 meters at a time.  I thought it would be an interesting experiment running the 10 miles around the track at the local middle school.

The weather Saturday morning was beautiful but on the chilly side.  The thermometer was in the mid-50’s when I started.  I actually ran the first three and a half miles in my hoody.

As I expected, it was mentally grueling going around the track so many times.  Towards the end, after lap 34 I actually missed a lap so technically I only ran 39 laps.  Still it added up to 10.20 miles.  How do I know I missed a lap you ask?  Because I had the Flip Cam running of course…

Even though I had nobody to push me I managed to cover the distance in an average pace right around 8:45 per mile, about the same clip I ran my PR half marathon at.  It was an interesting way to cover 10 miles.  Now I know how Nascar drivers feel.

When I got home I dove hard into my house chore duties.  I was supposed to drop Ali off at the airport late in the afternoon so my goal was to have my chore slate basically clean by then.  With the glorious cool temps and low humidity it was almost fun to work with the doors and windows wide open.

I asked Ali if she minded that we take the Volt to drop her off at the airport for two reasons.  First, if I take the van I will spend somewhere around $15 in gas just to get there and back.  Second, I wanted to drive the Volt, duh.

Driving the car is really sweet.  It scratches every imaginable geek itch I have.  The electric motor is smooth and powerful.

This was the first time the Volt has been on I-75.  We discovered that maintaining 70+ mph will burn through your battery much quicker than around town driving.  It looks like the Volt can maintain optimum battery usage at speeds of up to 55.

Ali wasn’t happy when I told her that by the time I got back to her place with the car I had used a whopping .2 gallons of gasoline.  Right now her overall gas mileage with the car is 102 mpg and still rising.

When I was paying my bills this week I ran a report on my gas costs for the last 7 months.  It averaged out to $458 a month.  Depending on where I am financially and geographically in several months I would totally consider a Volt as my daily commuter.

When I took the dogs out to the house Nicki was acting a little weird.  It seemed like she was looking for Ali.  Eventually she chilled out a bit. It didn’t take long for her abnormal shedding left it’s mark on the carpet.  Her hair is literally falling out in clumps.  I am 99% convinced it is all because of the thyroid meds she has been on for the past few months.

My Sunday was very enjoyable.  I took the dogs over to the swamp early in the morning.  On the drive there we had an amazing sight.  I saw a large bear by the side of the road.  As I got closer it ran into the brush but I was happy to see he was just standing there watching us.

I stopped the van and took a couple pictures.  The bear looked pretty much full grown.  He seemed intrigued at Sadie perched out the window barking.  He hung out for a good minute or so before jogging deeper into the woods. It was very cool.

The last time I was at the swamp the water levels were still low and the grass on the path was very, very high.  Neither of those situations were the case on Sunday.  Thanks to the frequent rain the last couple months the water levels were very high, as high as when we first discovered the swamp.  I was happy to see that someone knocked down the grass as well.

The higher water meant I had to be more diligent with watching the dogs.  They wanted to meander close to the water where a potential  gator could be in wait.  Eventually they understood I didn’t want them by the edge.

I thought more water would also equal more wildlife.  Unfortunately it didn’t, I only saw one small gator during the 3-4 mile walk.  We did see a potentially dangerous small snake on the path back to the parking lot.

The rest of my Sunday was very enjoyable.  I spent some time out in my bar park, played with the dogs, did some minor to do’s and even took a brief nap.  Not having the Eagles on the schedule cleared out a big block of time.

This morning I dropped off the girls at the dog daycare place.  It is nice to not have to worry about Nicki’s bathroom issues at least and they both seem to actually like going there.  When I handed them over to the girls inside neither of them made a fuss.

Tomorrow the madness ends, finally.  The republicans are definitely in the lead as far as annoying the shit out of me goes.  I would estimate the republican to democrat robocall ratio is somewhere around 5-1 and the junk mail has been overwhelmingly republican biased.

I read about SEVEN HOUR wait times to vote early in the Miami area.  Part of this has to do with the totally ridiculous move by our slimy governor to reduce the amount of early voting days from 14 to 8.  I mean what in the world could be the logical justification for such a move?  Why would you want to make voting MORE difficult and less convenient unless it serves your personal political agenda?  It’s sad just how manipulated our society has become.