Bend it Like Brian

This afternoon I found a park where I could on a soccer field for the first time since IM indoor at Carolina. It felt good to get out and kick the ball around except it was insanely hot; probably wasn't smart to go at 2:45 but it made for a good sweat. I ran around the pitch and did some dribbling drills as well as practiced some juggaling and set pieces.

While I do feel the biking has helped my fitness it's a different type of exercise than running so I realized I'm going to have to start running again and probably alternate that with some biking and with the little weight lifting I do, that should be some good cross training. Hopefully I'll start to see some results.

Another realization is that I need some new boots (figured I'd say that instead of cleats since I've already said pitch and set pieces) as I developed a couple of blisters. I think I'll hold off on buying some until I actually get picked up by a team. In the meantime my turf boots should work fine. The highlight of the afternoon was when I did set up a shot similar to Beckham's amazing free kick during the World Cup (I forget which game) and it curved right into the upper left corner, I can't get the dip and curve but it was a good feeling to know that I could do something at least somewhat like it should be done (of course I missed probably 5 more of the shots I tried again from the same place).

In other news, contininuing my infatuation with the Food Network you should join me in watching Alton Brown's new show Feasting on Asphalt which began yesterday. I'm sure it'll be replayed many times so just set your DVR. The show is a simple concept of him riding his motorcycle across the country while avoiding interstates and all chain restaurants, sounds like a good plan to me. He started in Charleston, SC and then headed to Savannah. From Savannah he traveled up to Washington, GA then to Taccoa then to Spartanburg then to Charlotte and the first episode ended. I was hoping he'd end up wondering through Carrollton but it doesn't look like he will. I really enjoyed this first episode as it was all about the south and our good food and down home ways. Take that Yankees! His final destination is Los Angeles so it should be interesting to see the different food he finds across the country and to see if anything really is that different 3,000 miles away.