Mohican Trail Marathon, Summer's new bedroom, & heating up

Took my runs last week pretty easy to rest up before the Mohican Marathon, but Summer and I did get out for some time together.

The flowers in our backyard are looking fantastic this week.  It's amazing seeing things come to life.

We had a great week with our three year old, but this weekend was going to be a big weekend for Summer.

Summer helped me clear out the guest room and we moved the guest bed into the basement and the guest room downstairs.  We will come back to this in a minute...

Back in January I talked with my brother and we decided to run the Mohican Trail Marathon.  The 100 mile run starts at 5AM and the 50 mile run starts at 6AM.  Our marathon started at Noon on Saturday and MAN it was hot!  Carl, the president of the Columbus Westside Running Club, decided to join in on the fun and signed up too.  We are all smiles picking up our race packets before the start.

Still mostly smiles at the first aid station about 5 miles into the run.  Ice in the hat and ice down my back REALLY helped keep my core temperature low considering it was so hot.

Still smiles on the trails.  

We ran into Kathie!  A few weeks ago Carl and I had our final long training run for the race and she showed us the course.  She was doing the 100 mile run and it was nice running into her.

The views were fantastic for the course.

Annnnd.... Done!  It took just a little more than six and a half hours, but we finished!   The fourth guy is Jason.  He was running around our pace and he joined our group.  It was SO helpful running with others.  Something I ate at the 14 mile aid station did not agree with my stomach so I had to power hike more than run for a little while, but then I regained my composure and we kept going.  Same goes for Clark and Carl.  We all had small issues and we all worked together for motivation and powered through as a group.

I was glad to get to share this experience with my brother because he is getting married soon and I am sure his life will get a lot busier.  My shower, Saturday night, was amazing!

Sunday was focused on Summer's "big girl" room.  We got breakfast in the morning and then I had her bed together by Noon... but that was just beginning.  By the way... using a power tool, or drill, makes assembling things SO much faster than doing it by hand.

We then decorated and I made a small book shelf to store toys and books. 

One of her favorite things in the room: the cloud lights. I mounted them just high enough to light up the room and she could reach the switch. Considering we completely re-did the room for her, we really did not spend too much money.  The bed from Ikea was the most expensive thing and even that was pretty reasonable.  Her first nap and night went very well.  She is getting so big and it kinda breaks my heart... But I am excited for her.

Get ready for the heat today! 

National Weather Service issued a Heat Advisory for all of Central Ohio today, until 8PM. This means the heat index will be near or just above 100!

There is also an Air Quality Alert today meaning that air quality may be unhealthy for sensitive groups. This will be caused by high levels of ozone due to our weather and also some extra particulate matter from wildfires. If possible, try to carpool and avoid fueling or mowing during the afternoon. We will see plenty of sun today with just a slim chance for some pop-up isolated storms.

More clouds for Tuesday with scattered showers and storms with a 70% chance of rain. Central Ohio is in the Marginal Risk for severe storms Tuesday. We will keep that chance of rain around for Wednesday. With the clouds and rain our temperatures will be a little cooler for the coming days.

Most of the rain will take a break on Thursday with highs in the lower 80s. We see more scattered showers and storms returning late Friday and Saturday as a Low Pressure system passes by over the Ohio Valley. Try to stay cool today because some milder weather is on the way. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Summer gardening, Arts Fest, Summer's birthday, & heat staying

Last year Summer was 2 and she couldn't tell the difference between the weeds and vegetables in the garden. She would see me pulling weeds and would try pulling the onions. Since she is learning so much more I decided to get her busy in the garden this year. She helped plant nearly everything, including the peas. She has always loved the sugar snap peas, so when we were weeding last week it made me so happy to see her walk over and pull some of the peas to eat them.  Gotta love having an organic garden.

This past weekend was the Columbus Arts Festival so the Good Day Columbus team took the first shift at our station's booth and we had a blast meeting so many people.  Not to mention seeing all of amazing art.

I brought Summer and she hung out in her chair and the Columbus Police deputized her for the day. 

How about that mug!  We briefly went down to the Bicentennial Park fountains, but ran back to our tent to ride out a storm.  Then back to the house to get ready for Summer's birthday party on Saturday.

I had a great run Saturday morning for my final long run before the Mohican Marathon next week. This week will be shorter runs to stay lose and get ready for the long haul.  I hurried home to help get the final touches together for Summer's 3rd birthday party. 

It was very warm and humid, but the breeze was a GREAT break from melting.  We also set up a pool for the kids and it was a huge hit.

Leave it to the grandparents to spoil the grandkids.  Summer got a Disney castle and a collection of Disney figurines and she spent all of her birthday, Sunday, playing with the castle and characters.

We had just enough cake left over from the party to celebrate again on Sunday. 

Dawn's brother bought Summer her first bike and helmet.  We spent part of the afternoon trying to learn to ride a bike.  Overall... I think it was a GREAT first day.  She doesn't quite get pushing on the pedals, but I am optimistic she will pick up on it more as we do short lessons each day this week.   She is VERY excited because there is a back seat designed for her to seat belt in her doll to bring along.  

Grab the rain gear! We are tracking some steady rain for Northern and Northeastern Ohio this morning and some isolated showers and storms south of Columbus. Rain is more likely than not today, so you will likely need the rain gear a time or two. We stay warm and muggy most of the extended forecast. More scattered showers and storms on and off today with severe risk very low. A few spotty showers possible overnight while staying warm and humid. Tomorrow we warm up more and more scattered showers and storms. A brief visit from high pressure on Wednesday and early Thursday will mean a much lower chance of any rain. Looking ahead to the end of the week and weekend, there is still some uncertainty. A couple forecast models are going cooler, with highs in the upper 70s and humidity a little lower. Another outlook is going hot and humid with some pop-up showers and storms. Stay tuned over the upcoming days, but for now we are going to go with warm, mid 80s, and a slight chance for some isolated showers and storms Friday and the weekend. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Weekend wedding, Columbus 10k, cooler temps coming!

Had a fun adult weekend.  A good friend of mine, Luke Marshall, was getting married so Dawn's parents had Summer for the weekend.  It was nice to get to spend some time with Dawn and also friends.  This photo is from the rehearsal dinner Friday night.

Here are all the boys in the wedding.  Quite an honor to be part of the wedding.  

I don't want to steal any thunder, but this is the one photo I took that the wedding party said I could share. Congrats Luke and Amy!

The wedding was at the Ohio State Faculty Club and Dawn and were married just a hundred yards away at Browning Amphitheater.  During the cocktail hour we ran out back to get a photo.  LOTS of construction, but I am sure it will look fantastic when it is finished.

As of Sunday, we have been married 2500 days! 

I would have liked to sleep in more on Sunday, but I was back up at 6AM and ran the Columbus 10k.  Fun race through a fun part of town.  I have a couple of injuries so my two goals were to have fun and finish.  I accomplished both and would HIGHLY recommend others signing up.  Maybe next year I will feel 100% to really sprint it.

What a beautiful day on the way! Today, June 4th, will be the first day with below normal temps since April for Columbus. A few early clouds today then sunny with highs in the mid 70s with low humidity and a light breeze. Increasing clouds tonight and cool, with lows in the upper 50s. Mostly cloudy & windy for Tuesday with a cold front passing through and triggering scattered showers and storms. The rain will be in Northern Ohio in the morning for Tuesday then slowly moving south through the day, so rain for Columbus midday and early afternoon then Southern Ohio by the evening. This will push in even cooler air for the middle of the week with more sun. We start warming back into the 80s by the end of the week and more rain returning as well. Most models are holding off on the rain until the weekend, but we may see a little sneaking in here late Friday. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Running peak week, time with Summer, Alberto heading our way

Man it has been hot!  And humid!  Heavy sweating for my run last week, but getting hot runs in, to prepare for the Noon start of the Marry Mo, Mohican Marathon.

Trying to go down the stairs at 1 AM last week was very difficult. Shins and foot were definitely sore. Decided to go with some cross training and spent the time on two wheels instead of pounding my two legs. Quads were definitely burning pulling Summer against the wind. 

No, this isn’t a tunnel under a road, but a tunnel at a playground. Summer loves this park and it was about 13 miles into the ride. We stopped for a little bit to use the restroom and run thru tunnels before grabbing Chipotle for lunch. Definitely happy with that decision. I think Summer was happy too.

Thursday I took her to the Columbus Clippers midday game and we had a blast at the water park and watching the game.

Fun day with my friend Carl Friday. He borrowed this sweet Sprinter. I ended up sleeping on a hammock hitch attachment.

Made pasta dinner on an open fire.

Which was PIPING hot!

The farm that we were staying at had a natural spring.  Drinking water from a natural spring just topped off the day with the hammock for the night.

Saturday was a great day! It was my first time meeting Kathie. She saw a post of me running the Columbus Marathon a while ago and said high and I knew she was a serious running and was planning on running the Mohican 100 mile race in 3 weeks.  She offered to be a trail guide for the full loop for the Mohican marathon, that Carl and I are running in 3 weeks.

These waterfalls were about 9-10 miles into the run (I think) and were AMAZING! Jumping under the cool water and soaking my hat in the cold water was amazing!

 Beautiful course and can’t wait to run it again.  The hills were a fun challenge, but definitely need respect!

Huge thanks for her giving us a guided tour and tips for the trail.  We ended up running the entire course and now I taper! Which means running shorter distances to let my body fully recover to tackle that monster again, in 3 weeks.

Sunday, I helped emcee the Asian Festival and had a few extra minutes afterward. So I was able to get a quick shakeout run done around downtown. Sure is a lot hotter on the urban pavement than on the shaded trails.

I would like to tell you that I spent most of Memorial Day relaxing in these hammocks, but the heat was building quickly after work, so we ended up retreating inside for most of the afternoon.

Well... We hit 91 yesterday and we will top our near that again today.  Mix of sun & clouds today with a high of 90 and humidity making it feel like the lower 90s.  There is a slight chance for some pop-up rain, but most of Central Ohio will stay dry today. 

Southern Ohio is already seeing some rain from Alberto! Subtropical Depression Alberto is over Alabama now and will track up through Indiana tomorrow bringing rain for Central Ohio for Wednesday and lingering scattered rain Thursday and Friday.  There is a Marginal Risk for stronger storms on Wednesday as well.  Generally, we are looking at on and off scattered showers with some stronger cells with lightning and thunder.  Drier air moves in for the weekend with highs near 80 for the final two days of The Memorial. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael