Mornin' Masters.

Good kettleballing yesterday, Dave. I hope the X-C Championships today deliver exciting races.

Good 70 minutes work on the elliptical and stretching and with upper body weights at the Y, Jlynne, followed by immersing yourself in the wonderful world of candy.

I hope you had a good trip home, Norm, We also loved the Nepali coast and the Waimea Canyon on Kaui when we were there about 35 years ago.

Good 4.2 miles in bizarre weather, KSA. I'm glad Ken is getting off to a comfortable start in his recovery. Would putting a pillow under his leg raise it up as needed without having to raise the foot of the bed for both of you?

I hope you got your post-work run in yesterday, Tammy.

Tet, do you know that there is Astronomical Twilight, Nautical Twilight, Civil Twilight, and what we call Sunset? Here, the times yesterday ranged from 4:19PM for sunset to 5:50PM for Astronomical Twilight. The same happens in reverse each morning. So which sunrise are you seeing being reflected off those buildings?

Good 24.7 mile ride, Tramps, even if slightly overdressed for the balmy temps.

Nice 5-miler ahead of the rain, Holly. I remember those leg photos. Pretty scary when you first see the difference, isn't it? Thanks for the contrasting Hawaii photos, and more boots.

You certainly kept yourself productive, Leslie. I'm glad you are feeling better and that you got out for 2 walks. And good for Carole (but hard on everyone else) for remaining cantankerous, even in her short remaining time.

Thanks Tammy. I like it when an obit is reflective of the spirit and personality of the person being described. Good 7.3 mile afternoon run.

Busy and fun (and tiring) day, RCG - well expect for Mrs. Lloyd barreling down the road, Sheesh!! I do the grocery shopping (except when I am hobbling on crutches), and always have a list on my phone - it it isn't on the list, chances are good I'll forget about it when I get to the store.

Good work on the StairClimber, Tomwhite.

Good core and stretching work, moebo. I'm glad you are getting excited about Thanksgiving this year. Sounds like you'll have a great crew. Get some "measure for measure" gluten-free flour at your store, and use that in place of reg. flour whenever you need it. We do that all the time, and it works just fine.

Good and quick 4 mile fartleks with no PF pain (yay!), Surly Bill. If you died in your sleep last night, at least it was after a good run. thanks for the terrific photos.

Early PowerZone ride and core class, Deeze. I hope your race in Boston isn't too wet this morning.

BTY, I continue to be impressed and amazed at how far you have progressed with your swimming. Workouts that used to be a challenge for you are now what you do on moderate workout days. You are so much stronger and technically-proficient now. Keep up the great work. There are so many factors that can impact BP readings that (for me, anyway) it is almost impossible to be real consistent. If my average over a short period is where I want it to be (and it is), then I'm good with that.

Good 5-miler, Mariposai, and what great news from your docs!!! Congratulations on graduating to 6-month check-ins.

"Our company recently started paying year-end bonuses for unused sick days. Bad plan." Isn't it interesting, Steve, how our perspective on taking sick days has changed for some people, but clearly not for all.

I had a good PT session yesterday, and learned that the range of motion of my knee has increased from 90° (which is usually their 3-week goal) to 113°, meaning that I'm able to bend my knee a little further without any discomfort. The practical meaning of that is that it is now easier to reach and put a sock on the foot of that leg - it's the little things that matter... I also did 2 circuits of the driveway yesterday afternoon, and crutched about .8 mile for the day which is also progress (which would have seemed silly to me a couple of weeks ago, but is something I'm happy about now). And I started today with 45 minutes of stretching, knee exercises, and core work. I'll try to get out for another driveway circuit (or 2) today, and will also try for another knee session. But first - coffee...

Have a greta Saturday.

Jay

0549

52F

3.57 swamp miles

Okay Sub

You may ask yourself, well how did I get here?

And you may ask yourself, how do I work this?

Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down

Letting the days go by, water flowing underground

I am able to be educated.  This morning I got out of bed dragged a comb across my head and donned my running skirt and my 3 Bridges Marathon running shirt.

Grabbed my gear, hopped into Sparky (my red Prius) and drove 1.5 miles to the neighborhood with the access trail to where I want to run.

Walked to the big bridge and then "ran" to the farmer's field to witness yet another awesome pre sunrise moment.

not quite sunrise

Then continued on the all purpose trail to tractor path that takes me along the tree line back to the swamp trail. Turned left after entering the woods and ran back to the big bridge to the boy scout bridge.  The fork. In the path. Light bulb moment. I veered right and ran to the drainage pond near the track. Because. The other day Birder Dave told me there were hooded mergansers there if you got there early. It was. Early. And sure enough I saw the hooded mergansers. However. I did NOT see the hooded mergansers because I didn't have my glasses with me. I saw objects moving like mergansers in the pond. And I was elated.

After that I had to try to figure out how much mileage I should get. My right hip was already protesting. So I hopped on the access trail back to the trail to the boy scout bridge. Now the devil on my right shoulder told me to take the left fork and go around the other drainage pond and to the damn bridge and to the big bridge which would get me another mile. The angel on my left shoulder told me "Don't do anything stupid."  Then I told myself don't be greedy. The Sub7 said, "If you should run less than 5, don't run 6"

There was a lot of noise in my head. I kinda felt like all y'all were riding up in mi cabeza

I heeded the good advice and aimed myself toward where Sparky was parky.

HOWEVER. As I was running toward the boy scout bridge I heard what I thought was some huge vehicle behind me!  It was not. It was a giant flock of starlings or blackbirds or whatever avian terror floods the sky this time of year.

I decided to walk the boy scout bridge because there was a gent with an unruly dog approaching me. And then.

Hopefully you can open this to see what happened next

Good morning folks. Thanks for the start and great recap Jay. You have such a positive attitude about your rehab. That will serve you well in the next few weeks. You're making great progress!

Hiya Tramps! Enjoying that faster internet speed much? 

RCG! Talking Heads! Love those guys. And your video? Where's Tippi Hedren when you need her? I was expecting Alfred Hitchcock to come walking across that bridge!

Great news for Mariposai!

29 degrees and wind this morning. I drove to the Y, parked, and ran/walked 4 miles in a different neighborhood today, then went inside and did 20 minutes of upper body weights, some core and stretching, and then checked my balance capabilities on the Bosu ball. I took a 10 pound medicine ball and gingerly stepped on the top to get balanced, then lifted the ball over my head and did some squats. I didn't fall off! Not too shabby for an old lady.

Well, we watched the first of many "holiday" movies last night. "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." One of my favorites, and a great one for the weekend before Thanksgiving. Steve Martin and John Candy? It doesn't get funnier than that!

Off to watch grandson basketball. Have a great Saturday everyone!

Hello everybody!

That is such great news Posie!  I can't even imagine how much of a relief that must be.

Well, I went to Urgent Care.  And, while checking in, I remembered that I have gone on Medicare and Ucare, since the last time I hade been to that location and I figured I'd better make sure the would accept my new insurance.  She said, "We accept all insurances but you should vjeck with your clinic to make sure."  I wondered why I would need to do that, since she just said that they accept all insurances.  But, since I had an hour and half to wait, I figured I would give them a call.  Well... I'll just make a long story short because, after speaking to five different people, including the insurance company, I didn't feel comfortable that I was not going to be charged 1000 bucks to be seen by somebody there.  So, I made an appointment with my clinic for Monday afternoon and went home.  I don't know why I don't get this stuff.

In the meantime, I will do nothing.

Okay--I gotta go to our great-grandson's birthday party.  See ya!

Jay, thanks for the GF flour suggestion. I will look for some "measure for measure" GF flour this weekend. Good that you are making progress!

Mariposai, so happy for you!

Mike E, it's crazy how hard it can be to know what you'll have to pay for medical care. Good that you were able to get an appointment for Monday.

RCG, thanks for that video!!!! That must have been even more wonderful in real life.

It was raining when I was ready to go out this morning, and even though I knew it was going to clear soon, I just couldn't wait any longer. So yes, I vountarily broke the first rule of running. And I don't regret it! The warm-ish wind made it feel almost like summer, so I just kept going and going.

13.1 miles in all.

Great 5k time Deez.

7.1 miles this morning. Almost didn't run. I went to the park and it was dark, cold, windy, and misty. I seriously considered quitting during the first 100 yards. But I hung in there and got it done. Pretty slow except for the last mile where I finally started feeling good. 

Rained all day yesterday. The path at the park was a mess. I spent a lot of time picking my way around mud holes. 

This morning was the peak viewing time for some meteor showers but the sky was overcast so I didn't get to see any.

We don't travel much and when we do it is usually part of meeting up with someone. Trips are to our daughters or sisters/brothers, or friends. Even when I do a race that involves travel there is almost always someone to meet with. That is part of the reason I was trying to get to the half marathon on the big island of Hawaii. I knew a couple there who had a condo on the ocean and I already met with one of them at the JFK 50 (where I was crewing for someone).  I have pretty much lost contact with them except for Facebook where none of us are overly active so I don't know what would happen if I showed up and said, "Surprise. Remember 15+ years ago when you said to come visit?"

Jay/Tet - I have a free app on my phone (Android) called Sunrise Sunset that can tell me the official times based on my GPS location. For example, today the Official Sunset here is at 5:07P, Civil Sunset 5:38P, Nautical at 6:12P, and Astronomical at 6:46P. It can also show this as a 3D graph showing the apparent path of the sun and moon and where they currently are.

Another beautiful day today but chilly and I might go out later for a short walk. This morning I did the Weekly Challenge virtual ride: 15 miles on a fairly tough route with over 1000' of climbing, mostly in one brutal climb that topped out at an 18% grade where I was going about 3mph! I also had another rider ahead of me by a couple of minutes when I started and I was exerting myself more than usual to catch her (I didn't know that it was a woman until I checked the results later). I finally managed that with just a couple miles to go and ended up with the highest average HR that I've had this season.

My DW was out with her walking group at lunchtime and I didn't feel like fixing more of the usual, so I tried a new franchise that recently opened close by. It's called Breadless (anyone else seen or tried this?) and their specialty is wraps that are wrapped in various greens instead of bread. So they're gluten free but not necessarily vegan or even vegetarian, although they have selections that are specifically called out as such. But some do have cheese, chicken or even bacon. My selection today was called "Jerk City Chicken" with jerk chicken, bbq sauce, mangos, cucumbers, etc. wrapped in a collard green. Except for the collard green it was quite good. Also it was certified as Halal, which I guess is sort of like Kosher? Interestingly, it's right next door to the Panera Bread where I have coffee several times a week; there were a lot of people at Panera while Breadless was completely empty when I picked up my order.

Posai - wonderful news!

Deez - you did well in the rains this morning.

jay - nice improvement

Mike - listen to your body until you see the doc

leslie - feel better

several short walks this morning as well as trips to hardware store with DS - problem fixed (mostly user error)

we’re off to Big Island in late January with stops in Seattle on the way there & LA on the way back.  We were there about 10 years ago and had a great time.  Now, I have a cousin there & Henry has a GS and GGD.  Hopefully we can meet up with Surly Bill!

marj