Goodbye glasses! I got LASIK. Hot today then storms on the way...

So long glasses!  Well... sunglasses and then THIS cool sleeping mask needed while I sleep at night because...  I GOT LASIK!  I was in eye glasses for 22 years and contacts for about 17 years.  I had some eye issues the past couple months and I had ridges and bumps on the underside of my eye lids.  So no contacts for a while and glasses needed while I was on steroid drops.  I would have then needed to switch to more expensive contacts, so I talked to my eye doctor Tuesday about LASIK and they said they could set me up with a free consultation, but it might be a couple weeks for that.  Well... They said they could get me in at TLC Laser Eye Center in Dublin on Thursday... Then Thursday they said they had a cancellation for the Friday LASIK procedures and after that the next procedures would be towards the end of next month.  So I talked to my wife and the LASIK cost more up-front, but with no more contacts it should pay off within a handful of years.  Overall the entire process was very smooth and very quick.  I was in and out in less than 90 minutes and the procedure itself only took about 15 seconds per eye.  I have a LOT of eye drops for the coming weeks.  I also need to avoid any dust, smoke, and debris in my eyes.  No sweat either, so no running for at least a week and I am glad I got in some good runs last week... Anyway, I went to TLC Laser Eye Center in Dublin and I would totally recommend them. Dr. Doyle and the whole team was amazing. I don't get paid for saying that or a discount, but from one person to another, I am very glad I had it done.  Let's briefly look back at my last week with glasses before looking ahead to storms on the way...

I got a solid 13 miles in with some good friends on the trails last weekend.  I ran without glasses and told them to alert me to any big roots or rocks.  HAHA.  No tripping occurred. 

Last Tuesday was a BEAUTIFUL day so I got a nap when the kids napped and the whole family went out to join the Columbus Westside Running Club for their 6:15 Tuesday runs at Westgate Park. 

Wednesday was the opening day for the Ohio State Fair and Good Day Columbus was asked to be the grand marshals for the parade!  So much fun.   

Thursday was my LASIK consultation and I was told I was not able to run for at least a week because you cannot get sweat in your eyes. So I ran 9 miles in the afternoon to try to get a long run in before I got a week of rest.

Friday was LASIK day and this is one of the final photos wearing my eye glasses. There was only one small issue... I had a blood vessel burst in my right eye. I will spare you the zoomed in photo. Which was a possibility they told me about beforehand, but if that is my only issue, no big deal. It will go away in the coming weeks. My vision looked like someone put Vaseline on my glasses heading home. The rest of the day was a mandatory 4 hour nap after the procedure and taking it easy.  My vision was much better after the nap and only a slight bit of haze and smokey appearance, which has been slowly fading.  I went back Saturday morning and had my eyes checked again and got clearance to start driving.  We debated on going to the Ohio State Fair.  The doctor said it was ok, but with limitations due to the dust, smoke, and germs with the animals.  So we decided to take it easy on Saturday midday due to timing with the kids naps.  We will get to the fair eventually...  So a restful midday Saturday before I had to head to the Clippers game for work that evening.

 I love Evan's face in this photo before we left for the game. "Where are my sunglasses?"

Saturday was the WTTE Masked Singer night so we had one of our own singing some songs for people to guess who was singing...

Here is the 7th inning stretch... And the singer inside of Mugsy....

Bob Kendrick!  Lots of fun!  It was nice to see and hang out with the night-side gang.  We barely cross paths, so it was great to spend some time with Bob, Stacia, and Marshall in a fun setting. 

One more hot day before rain will cool us off.  We will start the day with sunshine and a warm temps in the upper 60s this morning.  Humidity will be high today and as we approach 90 for the high temp, it will feel like the lower 90s.  We will have winds out of the southwest between 10-20 mph through the day to help make it feel a little cooler.  There is a slight chance for some isolated showers and storms popping up this afternoon and evening.  More showers and storms likely overnight and Tuesday as a cold front approaches.  Right now the threat for severe weather is low, but a few gusty cells and small hail are possible.  The rain will be on and off on Tuesday with highs in the lower-mid 80s and humidity remaining high.  Our humidity falls through the day on Wednesday with some lingering isolated rain and high temps in the mid 80s. Let's keep Thursday and Friday dry with mostly sunny skies as high pressure builds to our north.  The cold front from Tuesday will stall out to our south and southeast, so there is a slight chance of rain near the Ohio River, but Central Ohio looks to remain dry at this point.  More clouds to the south and east because of that front with more sun to the north and northwest. So warm and mainly dry for Thursday and Friday with low humidity and highs in the mid 80s. That front to the south will slowly shift closer to Ohio for Saturday and Sunday, so let's go with a 20% chance of rain as our temps start warming into the upper 80s and humidity is slowly increasing.  If you have any plans outside next weekend I wouldn't cancel them right now, but make sure to have a back-up rain plan ready, especially for the afternoons since the rain may be the PM pop-up rain.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Staying cool in the heat... for me & kids. Cooler air coming.

The group runs have been starting earlier for the Columbus Westside Running Club because of the heat of summer.  And MAN has it been hot!

Dawn had a bridal shower last weekend so I took the kids for a run in the morning then had some fun in the swimming pool in the afternoon.  Love finding the blow-up pools on sale.  

We have also been doing more fun stuff indoors.  Like the trampoline park with Summer's preschool friends. 

Completely SOAKED in sweat.  I set out a cooler in front of the house to hit-up when I would loop by every couple of miles.

Post-run popsicle are the best!  We picked up a bunch of freeze pops from the grocery last week and very happy that we did that.

Both kids are loving them.  Evan probably loves the cold ice on his teeth.  Be spits it out once he bites it off though.  

EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING  for all of Ohio until 8pm Saturday.  High temps in the mid 90s and heat index between 105° - 110° in the afternoons.

The heat is on!  Today and Saturday our temps will warm into the mid 90s with the humidity making the heat index feel between 105° and 110° in the afternoons.  We will start the days mostly sunny then some clouds will bubble up in the afternoon.  There is a slight chance for isolated showers and storms to pop up today and tomorrow.  The best chance for rain today will be in Northern Ohio.  Overnight low temps only dip into the mid 70s, so staying very warm overnight.

Sunday will be hot as well with highs in the lower 90s as clouds start moving into the area.  We will likely see the heat index in the lower 100s.  There will be an approaching cold front for late Sunday will bring scattered showers and storms.  If the rain holds off then our temps may be a little hotter.  Scattered showers and storms likely for later Sunday, Sunday night, and then on Monday.  Some of the storms late Sunday could become strong to severe.  The Northern half of Ohio is in the Marginal Risk for severe storms.  The cold front and rain will usher in a cool down.

Highs in the lower 80s for the first half of next week.  Monday will be wet with the scattered rain then mostly sunny for the rest of the week.  We will slowly warm back into the mid 80s by Thursday.  Lower humidity next week will make it feel a lot more comfortable.  Overnight low temps near 60 in Columbus and 50s in the outlying areas next week.  A nice break for the air conditioners!  Stay cool the next few days and have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

#HilltopUSA5k recap, switching to glasses, heat & storms returning...

Before I forget, I'm running a 40% off sale on BalmByBuck.com for the next 8 days for a Christmas in July sale. Stock up!

Back to the blog... Check out all my peeps in the top photo! Love my Columbus Westside Running Club! We hosted the Hilltop USA 5k for the second time.  I was the emcee again this year and the community that comes out for this is amazing.  So many people and business out there supporting this event.  We had 500 people sign up for the 5k and about 30 of those did the ruck run.

I did the ruck run this year with a 35 pound backpack.  

Came in second place and it was VERY hot.  My heart rate was climbing to 190 to 195 and I had to take some walking breaks due to the heat and  humidity.  It is amazing how much energy it drains trying to run with that extra weight.  Thankfully the event went off smoothly and only one runner had to get helped off the course from the heat, but no ambulance needed thankfully. Great event and I highly recommend you checking it out next year.

So I obviously had to stay in town for that, but Dawn left in the middle of last week to take the kids back to see Dawn's mom for her birthday, on the 4th. They had a lot of fun in Cleveland checking out all the festivities leading up to the MLB All-Star game. They came back Sunday.

Before the came back, I went running at Clear Creek Metro Park with a friend, Mike.  I love that Metro Park and it has some fantastic hills for climbing.

I took the kids to the zoo on Monday after work.  Evan doesn't like hats, but he has fair skin so I was trying my best to keep him out of the sun.

Speaking of sun... Summer got new sunglasses at the eye doctor yesterday.  Most of us had a great visit... Love these two ladies!

As for me... My contacts have been bouncing around and I have an issue with my eye lids and I have to wear glasses for at least a couple weeks and use steroid drops to try to correct the issues with my eyes.  Hopefully the issue goes away.  I really do not like wearing glasses, but I have no choice right now.  LASIK is a possibility because my eye prescription has been stable for 10 years, but LASIK and the potential complications scare me.  Time to start researching local laser eye doctors...

We will see a few pop-ups today, but tomorrow's storms could be even stronger for us.

More heat and humidity today, along with more pop-up storms, then even stronger storms Thursday.  Today we will be partly cloudy with temps warming to 90 and humidity staying high.  We will have some spotty showers and storms popping up this afternoon and they could have some heavy downpours.  We stay very humid overnight with low temps in the lower 70s. An approaching cold front on Thursday will trigger more showers and storms.  The Storm Prediction Center has N/W Ohio in the "General Thunderstorm" criteria, the I-71 corridor in the "Marginal Risk", and S/E Ohio in the "Slight Risk" for severe weather.  So the strongest storms likely in Southern and Eastern Ohio on Thursday with gusty winds and hail possible, along with heavy downpours.  We could have a few spotty morning showers, but most of the storms will be midday and in the afternoon with clearing skies by the evening with the cold front pushing the rain out to the east. Mostly sunny, warm, and less humid for Friday and Saturday.  The atmosphere heats up more and humidity rising by Sunday and early next week.  With the heat and humidity returning, the chance of rain will return with pop-up isolated rain Sunday and next week. WATCHING THE TROPICS - There is an unorganized cluster of storms off the coast of the Florida panhandle.  The storms are expected to start to become more organized today and could become our second named tropical storm of the year, Barry.  The general track of the storm looks to head west towards the Louisiana and Texas coast later this week.  Since the storm is still unorganized we will need to closely monitor the conditions over the coming days.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Outdoor fun, fireworks, and hot weather.

The rain has been holding off for the most part the past week with just some isolated rain.  So great weather to head to the park with the kids.  Summer wanted to explore some of the trails.

We had some of her preschool friends over on Friday for her birthday party.  It was a LOT of fun.  We had some water fun as well to beat the heat.

I went running with the Columbus Westside Running Club on Saturday morning.  Great group of runners.  I was easing back into running after an early-week minor injury. So I did 6 miles and got photos of some of the runners for our Facebook group.

Saturday night we caught the fireworks at the Hollywood Casino.  They were about 10 minutes long and a lot of fun with the kids.  10 minutes is a great length for the young kids.  And we had a GREAT viewing location! 

Welcome to July!  We are feeling like the middle of summer this week with the heat and humidity most of the week along with isolated showers and storms.  Today will be the least muggy day this week, but still a little humid.  A front is parked between South Bend, Indiana to Dayton, Ohio and down to Portsmouth, Ohio.  On the southwest side of that front is where the muggy and hot air is located.  So we are in the slightly less humid and warm air.  This means that the best chance of rain will be along that front and farther southwest.  The chance of rain is low today, but still possible.  We will see that front slowly dissolve and lift back northeast later today & tonight so the hotter and more humid air will return tonight and into Tuesday.  Mix of sun & clouds today with highs in the mid-upper 80s. Tuesday will be hot and humid with a slightly better chance for isolated showers and storms, 40% chance. That pattern will be sticking around through the rest of the week and into the weekend. Since the rain will be more isolated, rather than widespread, some of us will see rain from time to time this week, but not everyone.  Rain is possible at anytime, but the best chance of rain will be during the hottest part of the day: afternoons and early evenings.  High temps will be near 90 for Tuesday through Independence Day.  We stay in the mid-upper 80s by the weekend as well.  It does appear a large area of high pressure early next week could drop our chances of rain, however for the next 7 days have the rain gear handy and ready to go, along with some extra water to stay hydrated.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael