Heavy Weather

Another week begins. Looks like it's going to rain all day today. The weekend was fairly relaxing. Saturday began with a long run. I had planned to do 20, but I knew from the start that I didn't have a lot of energy. Not sure why, but I was still pretty tired and the humidity didn't help. I got myself through 16 before I just felt I couldn't run anymore, so I walked the last four miles home. Deb was worried because I was later than I planned, but I was fine. I just couldn't run and didn't see the point in pushing it. If it was a race, I would have, but not for a long run in July. Not too long after I got back, the weather took a turn towards the volatile, with rumbling thunder giving way to periodic rain for the rest of the day. We all just hung out. I had considered getting together with some friends who were up on the North Shore and also checking out The Simpsons Movie, but nothing materialized. Yesterday, we went up to NH to take my mother out to breakfast, then came back to go to a children's day as part of Beverly Yankee Homecoming. We spent several hours at Lynch Park before coming home. Like I said, very relaxed.

I picked up some new running shoes Saturday because I was way overdue. I'll break 'em in this week with a couple of races: tomorrow's Yankee Homecoming 10-miler in Newburyport and Thursday's 5K in Beverly. Then next weekend I'll cut back the long run to 13 miles while we're down in Joisey.

Summer summarizations:

• Tough weekend for aging rock stars. Paul Stanley, 55, of KISS had to miss a show Friday after suffering a rapid heartbeat. He was admitted to a hospital to get his heartbeat back to normal while his band played its first show as a trio that night. Meanwhile, 58-year-old Ozzy Osbourne was treated in Denver for a "minor outpatient procedure" that some reports said was surgery for a blood clot in his leg. He was also on tour. It ain't easy getting old, or so I'm told.
• People, please don't try conducting exorcisms at home without a trained professional on hand. Look in the Yellow Pages for a certified exorcist near you.