Mornin' Masters.

Thanks for the start, Hoily. Good plan to avoid a world of hurt.

I'm hoping melting happened so you can get out of CPM (couch potato mode), Tomwhite.

Good 30 minutes on the stationary bike, Holly.

Good work on the stairs, Tet. Sure, I'll do stairs with you although, with living in a ranch house, I'll have to work up to being able to handle 11 floors. As it is, all I have is the 10 steps to the basement (which I've been doing several times daily).

Nice 5 miles and more Beef on the TM, KSA.

Good 10.5 miles on the trainer, with some climbing included, Doug.

Looking forward to reading more about your ongoing journey, Henry and Marj.

Nice 3.4 mile walk, Enke. Sorry about the knee issue.

Good advice about skin care, BTY, but I never considered #3 before. Congrats on the flips without the clips.

Sounds like a colorful virtual bike ride, dnaff, followed by a real Yak-tracked trio of dog walks.

Nice 3.5 TM miles and 5+ bike miles to build an appetite for your client dinner, Norm.

Good 2 on the mill, with 2 kinds of PT, Steve. Sorry that someone warned the hygienist about you - bummer.

Nice 8 miles with intervals and lifting with Zac, Mike.

Yes, today is NH's primary, so I have to get out to vote in a while. We love our primaries, and the whole localized process here. We're very curious to see what the results will be, and what impact that has (or doesn't) going forward. And we're very glad that the phone calls and mailings have stopped, at least until the Fall.

I was up and out at 4 this morning for 6.1 miles with alternating half miles of walking and racewalking, followed by some good and through stretching. My knee is talking to me now, but more gently than it did a couple of days ago. So I think it is good to continue to (finally) slowly keep mixing racewalking into my routine.

DW and I both tested negative for Covid this morning, so that's done.

Have a greta Tuesday.

Jay

Yay, Jay.  I'm glad you are negative!   Steve- I'm sure the whole dental and medical community is aware of you! 

Thanks for the start, Holly, and Jay for the recap.

We've got the proverbial "wintry mix" here (snow, sleet, rain, freezing rain) and the schools and such are closed. Our driveway doesn't look too bad but I saw our neighbors give up on clearing theirs because of the ice that's underneath the thin layer of snow. Still, the main roads have been salted and I might run out this afternoon to pick up my new glasses.

This might be TMI, but I'm just now realizing how much sleep I've been losing over the years having to get up 3 or 4 or more times every night. I've been wearing my Garmin overnight to track my sleep and it's confirming the results. As I'm recovering from my procedure I'm getting up just once or twice in the night, plus the trips to the bathroom are a lot quicker so that I don't start waking up and am getting several hours of good sleep in between. So even though I'm spending the same amount of time "asleep", it's more and better actual sleep, and is better than it ever was when I was on Flomax alone.

I wasn't planning on an indoor ride today but since we're shut in for now I decided to do something fairly easy. I ended up doing two rides for a total of 13 miles. One was a "sightseeing" route in Rome and it was entertaining to see several familiar sights from when we were there a number of years ago.

Hey Tet, is the island that you've mentioned here a number of times Mercer Island by any chance?

Nice workout Holly!!

Jay - glad you are both negative now! So many germs going on around here - one of the night nurses started coming down with the stomach bug right around change of shift. Gross - we used the disinfecting wipes everywhere!!!!

KSA - glad you were able to get outside for a run today too!!

Roch - sorry about the carpy sleep!!

Leslie - hope the test run goes well and your neck feels better!!

I was right up with my 4:20 alarm this morning so I could get a run in before work - so early - I don't know how you do it every day Jay!!

3.1 miles with sort of intervals around the Fenway/Boylston/Comm Ave area then a .9 mile walk from the garage to the hospital.

Had my 10,000 steps in by 10:00am!!

Think I could get used to this 2 day work week!!

Happy Tuesday (Friday for me) friends!!

Doug - fantastic. Though I had to correct "full gas" to I google "Fulgaz Mercer Island," I got a Mike Nelson Seattle/San Diego ride list that not only had a 1:40:04 island one that starts at the Seattle side of Lake Washington up on the East Portal where we used to watch the Blue Angels from and then across the almost 2 miles across the floating bridge I've easily commuted crossed by bike and foot more than a couple of thousand times since we were over there from 2011 - 2023 (and Seattle Marathon route before that) and up to the perimeter road around the island that I used to run the island's half marathon on from 1990 until covid discontinued it, usually with two cycling circuits beforehand in IM days, and would sometimes do on bike too but since it just went around in circles going nowhere except back to where I already was, unless I could fabricate a grocery store stop of something to do on the way, not that much.

However, I know every inch of the video, including after getting across the bridge and going up to and then down the perimeter road, the little side street on the right at 09:20 that goes three blocks down to Calkins Landing (for ferries in the pre-bridge days before the 30's) on the lake where I spent many an evening watching the sunsets and mornings for moonsets, midnight dips, etc. but only one block down and turn to the right to the second house on the right that I caretaked for all those 11+ fantastic island years.

Note also the smooth transition at 7:40 under the big oak tree right past a little bench on the right that used be a bumpy gap in the concrete pathway, . . . until somebody filled it in with concrete.  Also, on the right side at 8:40 is a big fig tree that caused many a pause on the way back to the house every early August.

By coincidence, Nelson also has rides on many of the San Diego spots I used to run in those days when my dad was retired down there and I'd go down for the San Diego and R'n'R marathons including rides up to Point Loma (where dad lived), Fiesta Island, Mission Bay, etc. The other Seattle one that Nelson has is up on the Issaquah Highlands that included the bike route of the Beaver Lake Triathlon that used to be a yearly staple but I didn't find the more popular Lake Washington shoreline route from Seward Park to Madison Park that was a nice flat relief in the old Seattle Marathon route, course for the Shoreline Run, etc.

I can't thank you enough for mentioning it, especially since, like the glacier one from last year that was the exact commute I took hundreds of times over several years were were only a mile away from the glacier up there, it is so neat to know every single inch of the way of such long rides I can relive like I was young again (except Nelson is really, really fast).  Incidentally, at the Henrun/marj gabfes,  . . I mean RA dinner, enke's MBE said that, when he cruised shipped up there with his parents some years ago, he rented a bike and took the same glacier ride too.

If it works out that I take the bus back to South Dakota to visit my sister this fall, I won't be bored watching 'em all.

Thanks, thanks, thanks.

0522

32F

4.41 miles

almost done with the run when I turned around  and the sky was swirly twirly mauvey madness. And it's my BIL's birthday today.

Yesterday's run was  22 minutes earlier and ended before the sun even thought of checking in on the day

Monday

0500

20F

4.43 miles

Yesterday, I remembered with fondness a brief conversation I had with Father Peter after 0700 daily mass a few summers ago. Before mass, I had gone for a run with my friends, it was a warm summer morning. We ran the golf course route in town and as we reached one of the fairways, the sun was just starting to rise and the dew on the grass sparkled. It was magical.

I don't know why I shared that with him at that moment. He was a tall fit man and he smiled. He responded by sharing a story from his home in Africa. He said, "We have a tradition. We go to the hills just before dawn to touch the first morning dew. That dew, that water, is believed to have healing powers of a sort. A gift."

Maybe I recalled that story because, lately, the wooden bridges that connect me to different parts of my route, are sprinkled with sparkling diamond dust when my waist light beam shines upon the planks.

It's frozen dew. And it is healing.

Today. I chided Econo for her previous post about breathing. She was saying how she has trained herself to be a nose breather. So. When I was running along and found myself breathing loudly through my mouth!  I continually tried to nose breathe. Today, I can inhale nasally but, I still felt the need to exhale through my mouth. Although, as I have been typing this wordy post, I've been nose breathing both ways.

I also focused on form. Again conjuring up Deez recommendation to use ones butt muscles while running. If my knee or hip tried to complain, I quickly tucked my pelvis into more of a tilt. I'm unsure if this brings me into better alignment or what. It always helps when my knee barks.

Anyway, two better than expected mornings in a row. And, No attire complaints! I won't go into detail but will only highlight one item today.

My gloves.

These simple knit gloves were given to us when we ran the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. It was a cold morning. There were bales of hay to sit upon while waiting for the start. And some little fires, I think?

I had worn pants under my running skirt that day. But I got too hot at one point and actually shed the pants at an American Legion post and left them. After the race, we went back to look for them and somebody had put them out front and I retrieved them.

Norm, were you at that one?   I did not have a good run. The rs told me he would pace me and then had me start way too fast for my slow self. I spent at least 5 minutes at that American Legion taking off my pants. Because I had to take off my shoes too. And all that goes with changing ones clothes.

Ralph and I finished the race holding hands and looking like dorks.

I told him I would never run with him again.

He was not unhappy about that.

hahahahahaha

Hola, Masters!

Our cold spell sort of eased up for a day or so, and now we have some wintry mix weather going on through the overnight - supposed to get a couple of inches of snow and then a glaze of ice over it.  Fortunately I'm working from home tomorrow, and cancelled my appointment at my GI Doctor's infusion office, where I was scheduled for an injection of the biologic I take for Crohn's.   Funny, the woman I talked to about rescheduling is also tasked with arranging the delivery of the biologic, which helps me out tremendously, because otherwise I'd have to do that myself.  We spoke about how long I'm authorized to take that drug, and she laughed and said I'm all set until 2099 or until I switch insurances from my current PHP.   So I'll need to remember to get a reauthorization if I'm still with this PHP in 2098.  IDK, by then I'll be 130-something and might be a little forgetful.

I skipped the strength workout this morning since I'd done a pull workout yesterday, and a push workout the day before that.   Tomorrow, if it clears in the afternoon, I'll do another push workout.   My swim workout was supposed to be a hard one, and it was, even though I eliminated the kick pre-sets.  I was supposed to do 4 x 100 flutter kick and 4 x 100 backstroke kick, all with swim fins, but I tweaked my hip adductor muscle (groin) two mornings ago - think I probably mentioned it in a post, but maybe not - and realized that it's still tender enough this morning that I needed to just do upper body swimming instead of kicks, or even kicking to assist the upper body stuff.   The hard repeats were the main set of 3 x 100 yard freestyle with hand paddles, and pull buoy.  I had been doing these at about 1:20 swim / 20 second rest interval, and today upped the ante to 1:15 swim / 45 second rest.  The repeats were 1:15 / 1:17 / 1:18, and when I was done, I was done.  I still had a few things I was supposed to do, but left it in the pool.   I am facing the fact that I'm overtraining by doing difficult strength workouts with 5 to 6 swim workouts a week.  One of the markers for me is that when I classify my workouts in my log, after swimming, I'm changing the easy workouts to moderate, and the hard workouts to moderate as well.   I think the latter is an indication that I'm not recovering enough between workouts to put forth the proper effort for a hard workout.  And the former is an indicator that I'm not able to discipline myself to go easy on an easy day.   I'm facing the fact that I probably won't meet my goal of 31 miles in 31 days for January - I' a full mile behind the pace barracuda at 22 miles after today's swim.   "Can I swim 9 miles over the next 8 days?" and "Should I swim 9 miles over the next 8 days?" are two completely different questions, and I'm going to focus on the 2nd question, and I know the answer.