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I think I've lost the same 10 pounds about 10 times. Lost enough weight to have won the biggest loser if it weren't the same poundage over and over. When I read my journal from years past, it is always the same. I don't know if there is much I can do to overcome it. Perhaps the best way to overcome would be to remain injury and illness free for a full year. I have dealt with an injury earlier this year which limited my running and then just when I really needed to get busy with exercise, I was hit with a summer cold and lost 2 weeks of valuable training time. My time spent working in Cullman has cut my workouts. I will have to find some balance to get that time back. So right now I have gone back to my diet. I have run two days this week and if all goes well, I'll get some training done all week.

Looking back, I see where I had this summer cold stuff back in 2007 at this same time of August. Here I am with it again. Last night hit me particularly hard. I awoke with painful stuffy sinuses. I made my way to the shower and stood in the hot water, trying to loosen the grip of the mucus. I was partially successful. A chunk moved down and blocked my breathing. I thought for a minute or two, I was going to have to go to the emergency room. But finally I budged the blockage enough to breathe. Then I spent my morning resting. A short walk outside put me back inside on the couch. I just couldn't get enough airflow. But tonight, I feel a little better. Probably because I'm medicated with decongestant, mucolytic, nasal spray, and antibiotic. Maybe I can get myself through to another morning. This illness has hijacked my week I would have spent getting back in shape. Monday I did a wonderful trail run of 5.6 miles. I felt as though I could run on and on. I doubt I'll be back ab

Being laughed at is painful. This is particularly true when it occurs at a very sensitive moment. Compound that with the laugh coming from someone with whom you are open and vulnerable and the hurt is compounded. The most common theory of humor is the theory of incongruity. This would be where the outcome produces a twist from the expected. This might actually be similar to the relief theory. Then there is the superiority theory. This would be where the laugh is derision. One is reminded of schadenfreude. If one laughs in private, it would merely be an indication of a shallow soul. To laugh in someone's face, could only be intended as hurtful. That's certainly how it feels.

Just as predicted, temperatures have soared over 100. As I rode my Honda in to work, the local bank thermometer read 107°. Now that's in town where there are few trees anymore and lots of concrete parking lots, but still, that's pretty hot. Tomorrow's prediction is no better and now they've upped the prediction for Saturday and Sunday too. If the extreme heat from the mid-west has come out way, we can probably see the rest of August being this hot. Not very good for riding bikes at mid-day but makes kayaking more appealing.

After the luxury of the vacation, I found I'd gained 3 pounds of the 4 that I had worked hard to lose. So its back to the discipline of the prior weeks. Today's discipline included a 3 mile run and a kayak around Lake Howard. Today's run was harder than usual due to the high heat and humidity. This summer has been a hot one. At this point, with August and September to go before any relief, it just isn't comfortable to do the training necessary to stay on track for optimum weight loss.

In years past, Bev and I took the children to Florida at the end of summer. Usually we were there for both my and Nikki's birthdays. Then we came home in time for a week of preparation, and school began. It was always a little sad as we left Navarre Beach because it mean't summer and summer vacation was over. This year we took our Grandsons to the beach this last week of July. That has left me a little off because I still have another HOT month of summer left. And boy is it looking like a scorcher. The predicted high over the next 3 days is 100. Then the heat index will make it feel much, much worse. And I suspect that September and possibly October will be above average temps. So there's no relief in sight. Fortunately, I have my kayaks. This should be the best time to avoid the heat of the road and get in some water-sport.