12K

The weather fooled me today. It looked overcast but dry; however by the time I got dressed and went out it started to rain, and it was 50F (10C). So I went back in and put on my new waterproof jacket and a baseball cap. It didn't rain very hard, but it rained moderately for about 20-30 min of my walk, so I was glad I had the jacket. Then it stopped and was clear. Not too bad, all things considered.

I felt good and walked pretty fast. I got to 5K in just about 30:10 (slight downhill). I figured this would be a good walk, as I was well-recovered from my 20K on Saturday (I took a rest day yesterday) and my legs were barely sore after the 20K anyway. About 10K I saw two girls with a kitten; I turned around just after seeing them (planned) and they were staring up a tree. The kitten had gone higher than they could reach. I asked if I could help, and they said yes. I got the kitten (easily within my reach) and asked if I could help them take it home. They said they were late to school for breakfast, and that their kitten had followed them and they were worried about it. They told me where they lived and I returned the kitten to their house (their uncle answered the door and was quite confused when I handed him the kitten - though he did figure it out!).

This must have been my day for adventures, because around 11K I crossed 700E and said hi to the school crossing guard stationed there. We chatted while I was waiting for the light and he asked me if I wanted a piece of gum...sure, why not? It turned out to be the new Extra dessert gum, mint-chocolate-chip flavor. Mmmmmm.

I went home a different way than usual, and it had a bit less uphill. I might do that again! It was nice!

Total time: 1:13:21 for 12K, 6:07/km and average HR is unknown (I finally have initiated a Garmin service request, so hopefully I'll be able to get a new HR monitor soon). If I had to guess I'd say my HR was about 150, but I really have no idea for sure. I'm feeling good about this walk and hoping for a good 20K tomorrow as well.

Garmin connect data here.

***

In other developments, I tried to give platelets again on Saturday. I haven't tried at all this year because of all the races/business/etc., and besides, I wanted my iron levels to have plenty of time to return to normal. Turns out that my hematocrit, which was as low as 35 last spring, is now 38 :). That's high enough to donate! However, I found out that ear piercing disqualifies you from donating for a year. I had mine pierced in June. Bummer. I was pretty disappointed about not being able to donate, but at least I know my hematocrit is better now.