Superfluous, Partially Running Related Dribble

I’ve been living with a hole in my heart for the last couple of weeks. My old Nike Dri Fit running hat morphed in grossness to the point where it was getting up on it’s own to run at 5:30am everyday. It ended up in the trash – it had to be done, although it was difficult nonetheless. So imagine my glee when I was leafing through the clearance pages of the latest Road Runner Sports catalog and happened upon the hat of my dreams. Hidden amongst other clearance gems like the Nike HatPhone and the Adidas Toiletry Kit was the IntelliSafe ID Hat. It’s bright, fluorescent, lime green, yellow, something or other with a spot for an id on the bottom of the bill and (wait for it) a blinking red light on the back. It’s tacky, it’s cheesy, the only thing it’s missing is a little propeller on the top – I think I love it. And I was able to wrestle it away from Road Runner Sports for $4.98 + free shipping. I am pretty cheap – I would run with a dead chicken on my head if it was only $4.98 and had sweat wicking properties.

So last weekend I went to open the slider to our patio to hit the barbecue and was greeted by a 3 inch Praying Mantis on the glass part of the slider. Being the youngest of three boys, I grew up keeping a weird assortment of things as pets that most people would probably dispatch with a rolled up magazine. So my knee jerk reaction to the mantis? I quickly retreated to one of the cricket strongholds in our backyard and snagged it a meal (after rallying my kids to watch this marvel of nature). I must have opened and closed that glass slider a dozen times while barbecuing, and that damn mantis never blinked, he was so focused on devouring that cricket (probably a proverb in there somewhere, feel free to dig it up for me). Anyway, my wife was even weirder than me and managed to snag it on video – this youtube clip is not for the faint of heart:

The only Grand Slam tennis event to take place on North American soil starts this week. I am taking the day off on Friday and will be at Flushing Meadow in NY to take it all in. Hopefully we can see some American tennis players advance into the later rounds in the only American Grand Slam (no chance any US men get into the quarters based on recent events, I dare you guys to prove me wrong). So, next weekend’s dream schedule looks something like this:

Fri – 6 mile tempo run in the AM
– US Open in the PM
Sat – Saturday in the Park 5K (wife’s inaugural race event)
Sun – 1st 20 mile training run of the Philly Marathon training schedule
Mon – Labor Day – Pier Village 5k (not sure if either of us are running this, game day decision)

Go MICHELE (6 days and counting)