Long time, no post (again!)

(Truly, random brain dribbles follow. Just being true to the blog's name, honest. . . .)

OKay, so it's confession time. The only running I have been able to do since Monday(!) was a dinky little 3.2ish mile run yesterday. It was going to be longer, but it was hot and humid, and until I get acclimated to it again, it's going to be a problem.

I was planning on running this morning, but woke up feeling terrible (and I still do), so I'm skipping today in order to get well for tomorrow's run. I have to get back in shape fairly quickly though, since it's already July, and my fall races are going to be here before I know it.

Update on the skunk situation - they're gone, and without having to call an exterminator (yay!). I had called around, and all of the extreminators charged in the neighborhood of $500 and up; most had a base fee plus an additional fee per skunk; which, with at least four of them, added up to a lot. So, I played some loud music and generally made a racket on the patio for a couple of days. Then, I poured gravel down the holes that the skunks (and chipmunks) had been using, and covered them with large rocks - like, 15 lb rocks, no pea gravel or 3" stones here. I also laid gravel and big stones around the entire perimeter of the patio, covering any area where an animal was going to be able to dig in and live. Then, the waiting began. It's been almost a week, and aside from one attempt by a chipmunk to dig through, the gravel and stones are undisturbed.

The big pile of rock is still there, and still impeding my running. On the other hand, it's certainly not hurting my cardiovascular fitness to move rock for an hour or three every day. And, the front yard is certainly looking much nicer than it used to, at least in the areas where I have laid new weedcloth and rock.

And, I'm in the market for a heart-rate monitor/GPS system. Any recommendations? I'm leaning toward the Garmin 305, but haven't really made a decision yet, so, if you have one that you like, let me know!