Tuesday, 6/23... since last Friday I've run three 5 milers, played 18 holes of golf on Father's Day and taken a day off to do yard work.   The yard work was yesterday and as I was weed whacking after mowing, felt something bite my arm.  Yep, the deer flies are on the prowl again...Lol  This one didn't survive my counterattack, but there's plenty more where he came from.   Sooo, this morning I ran the 5 mile covered bridge road run rather than deal with the blood thirsty little savages on the trail.

And I got to thinking about people putting mesh blankets over their horses in the old days to keep the biting insects away and wondered if they make a mesh shirt we runners could wear for the same reason.   Quick search on e-bay for men's fishnet shirts produced shirts alright, but they're designed as sleepwear for gay men...   Every now and then I'll have a woman with bad eyesight check me out as I run, but I guess I don't need to be wearing sleepwear that'll attract the attention of less than masculine men.

Art... you're getting close to finishing your car!   It must be satisfying when you do a complete makeover like this, it's the kind of thing most people wouldn't even attempt.  Really looking forward to seeing the finished product!   I've done what you described, running down another runner from behind.  Anything to make a run more interesting...Lol  I recall a run on the railtrail where I caught a woman from behind and scared her half to death.  She heard me coming, turned back to look and must have thought her worst fears of running alone were about to come true.  Gawd, I felt bad, she actually broke down and cried, I'd scared her so bad.  Never again...

4.7 miles Monday morning. Went left instead of right at the turning point to add some more mileage.

17.5 mile bike ride Tuesday morning. Went on a route I haven't done in a while.

Rich - Good cross training. You bought yourself a little time with the deer flies. That one you whacked was a scout. Now they have to send another one.  I try to make more noise when I am going to pass someone. Even yelling 'On your left' when I'm close. Of course it would help them if they earphones in their ears. I notice that those without turn around and check sooner then those wearing the earbuds.

Led - I bet you got more exercise Saturday running around with your granddaughter. I'll have to check out that website. Sounds like they put more thought into it than Garmin. I'll see if I can get a couple of pictures with my phone.

Easy 3.6 miles Wednesday morning. Another regular run enjoying the morning.

Rich - I don't enjoy running in those conditions either. But we get out there to get our miles in or a different exercise. I would like to go try some different routes but have no motivation to drive there in this weather.

And for those interested in the car: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AoByLB65LiAjiP9X403isFv-p5sNGg?e=8tbbNF

Ray - Too bad about the wasp sting. That benadryl sure makes you sleepy! You did well in dealing with the calf issue, good to slow down and run on the flat dirt trail. Hope it continues to improve! I'm not surprised that more marathon have been cancelled, hopefully we will all be in real races by next year.

Art - I hear you about the heat, hope you can adapt with time. Anyway the nights are getting longer again, perhaps your mornings will get cooler. Your state is viral hotspot now, I'm sure you take proper precautions. The car looks great! The color looks almost metallic like copper or bronze.

Led - When doing a long run on a hot day I carry a giant, 32 oz. water bottle and it still is not enough! Thinking of getting one of those camel backs. I've put in a tremendous amount of time on my garden fence, but because I planted late I don't expect a big crop this year! Well, the plants grow fast in the heat, so I'll see! The Biden sign was funny. I think he got the nomination because he is popular with black voters due to the Obama association and it was felt that a more centralist candidate will attract more independents. I think it would have made great TV if it was Bernie Sanders instead! Imagine the debates between him and Trump! Anyway, I try not to mention politics on social media, but I will say that I'm an environmentalist and a member of the Green party! It is a great feeling to be able to run around at our age and I'm glad you enjoyed the backyard with your granddaughter. Just putting in some rough estimates I got an age 0f 55 on that site, a bit older than the numbers you and Rich got, but at least almost 15 years younger than my real age! If what Ray says is true I'd get a better number if I lost some bellyfat.

Rich - It is good motivation to try to pace a younger runner, only while we may be struggling they make it look easy! Interesting that your BP dropped so low after the run, must be the dilated blood vessels as the circulation increases during exercise. Perhaps your DW will watch her sugar intake more now that she is monitoring it. That guy put in extra effort I'm sure because his wife was there and didn't want to look like a loser in front of her. This has been a bad year but I've kept busy with work and hobbies and that helps. I think many of the demonstrators just want us to be a better country, but I don't condone any violence. The bike rides are a lot cooler than running aren't they? I probably should do more upperbody training as well, although the building project I've been doing with the garden certainly works my arms! I plan to focus on LSD when I resume training, but may have to modify the 80/20 plan. First of all, I am already very slow so adding speed workouts will be the change for me. Also, because most of my long runs are up and down hills I am sure I exceed what is considered easy on the uphill parts just with a slow jog, and I really don't want to walk them. I may pay more attention to my heart rate. I heard recently that if you buy a bottle of peppermint oil flavoring (or maybe it's just mint oil) from the cooking section, mix it with some water and spray it on you or around your house it will repel insects.

I got the hardwear cloth Monday and have Tuesday through Friday off, so I made great progress in getting the rest of the fence done! The hardwear cloth is a wire mesh with half inch holes and is a lot heavier than the chicken wire I used for half of the fence. I may have to redo that part if the chicken wire proves ineffective. Still have some more to do, but will post pictures soon! Because it was heavier it was harder to cut and put up and my hands and arms have many scratches from the wire. There is a learning curve in these projects, all sorts of little tricks you learn while working. In this case I figured out to hang one corner of the fencing from a nail while I tack the other corner up, too hard to hold the whole sheet up. But after successfully doing several sections it did fall off the nail and hit the top of my head scratching near my forehead! Another lesson to bend the nail up to make it harder to slip off and fortunately it was nothing worse! I also learned to measure and cut it on the ground first, easier than when it is hanging! Unfortunately I often figure this stuff out after the task is mostly done! I've not run since last week, but will try to get out today or tomorrow. It has been hot and dry, some of my grass in front has turned brown, but got rain Monday and it is much cooler now.

3.9 Thursday morning. Just a regular run.

3.9 miles Friday morning. Run felt good and the pace was a little faster. My change that I have been doing is on these runs that go by the park I still do a set of pull-ups on the way out. On the way back I do a set of chin-ups and lately I then walk over to the pushup bar and do some pushups. Trying for a little extra work.

Ray - Nice that your leg didn't bother you the whole time for your virtual half. Still a good time though.

Altair - I know it won't help now, but next time either angle the nails down or use some screws and washers. Our nights and mornings won't start to get cooler for a few months. Morning temps are in the lower 80s and with the Monsoon season season starting soon, it's not uncommon for some mornings being in the low 90s. We just adapt. And sweat a lot. The color is metallic burnt orange.

Rich - I'm liking the color now that the car is painted. My cross training bike ride will be this weekend sometime. Bagel run!

Rich - Good to know the flies aren't out in the cooler mornings! Yeah, I need to mix it up and some have suggested a 90/10 ratio for beginners. Just a little speedwork goes a long way! This squirrel fence is the biggest thing I've ever built.

Art - Great idea to fit pull ups, chin ups and push ups into your run, things should be looking "up!" I don't know if I was clear, the wooden framework is held together with screws and seems solid. What I finished this week is putting in panels of the hardware cloth between the uprights, which are a little less than 4 feet apart and 5 1/2 feet high. The wire mesh is in a roll and comes 4 ft. wide and I would cut 70 inch lengths of that and use like staple tacks, something like you would use for fastening phone wires along a baseboard but heavier, to fasten it to the upright 2x4s, spacing them like 6 "apart so the squirrels could not pull it out to get through. . The hardware cloth is heavy and since it came in a roll it wants to curl up and not stay flat. So the single nail held one top corner in place while I moved the opposite top corner in place and staple tacked it down. Then I would move to tack the lower corners.  Since I spaced the boards 4 ft apart and they are actually 1 1/2 inches wide that means the each side has only 3/4" where it will overlap the edge of the board and can be stapled. That meant that each wire mesh section had to be closely aligned and a few times I messed up and had to use pliers to pull out the staples and start over. So metallic burnt orange is the car color? Nice! You have a nickname for the car? I once had a tan car I called the "Golden Tiger" and a green one I called the "Frog". At one time I had a 1960 Chevy Impala that had big fins and glass windows all around and people at work nicknamed it "The Batmobile" and another car had like a fabric on top of the metal roof that was all torn and they called that one "the Claw".

Led - Good job with the intervals, maybe feeling sluggish two days later was an aftereffect. Making a pet out of a wild rat is unusual! Orion the hunter! My mom said when she was growing up they would catch possums and fatten them up with table scraps for a few weeks before they cooked them!

Was going to run yesterday afternoon, but distant rumbles of thunder scared me off! Had a "honey do" list today, so it was after dinner that I got a chance to do another 2 miles on the same road as last week. 80 degrees and sunny, was a bit slower this time but got 'er done! I know a 2 mile run once a week is not real training, but at least it is something. I ran out of those staple tacks and ordered more today so it will be a while before I can do more work on the fence, but it is mostly done, at least for now.

Quick 3.6 easy miles Saturday morning. Then a little garden work. Picked the last 2 tomatoes. So time to dig those plants into the dirt. Just some onions and squash left now. Working in the car putting things back on the car now.

Led - We all have our ups and downs. There is a Jensen group here. We usually get together a couple times a year. But haven't done anything this year so far. Maybe later in the Fall. So you had a semi-pet rat called Onion. Either a night owl or early riser.

Altair - A 2 mile run still counts. I use screws that have a wide head like a washer. Come with a hex head. Easy to screw in or out when the time comes. I did the nails and staples thing but was more frustrated trying to take things apart when it came time to do something different. Stopped and thought about it some and found those screws to use instead. For me it was easier doing it that way. No name for the car. I'm not one to name my cars.

Rich - Nice run getting finished before the swarm found you. Doing the garden, yard work and working in the garage I get some upper body work in. Some days more than others. Doing the exercises during my run means I am doing body weight exercises so a little more difficult.

Saturday I decided it was time for another tempo run, so after the dog's 2 miles, I took off for a brisk eight miles.  It went really well, a good deal better than I expected. Sunday I kind of paid for it, but made myself do 6.5 miles.  This morning, my Garmin battery was completely discharged for no apparent reason, so I broke out the old Timex Ironman and did 1 dog plus 3 solo.  77 and muggy.

I don't know if I ever mentioned that the first car I drove/learned to drive on, was my family's black Studebaker Champion, a 3 speed on the column with a clutch that barely worked. I got a strong grounding in driving a stick shift on that vehicle!  It didn't have a name other than the Studebaker, but my friends said it looked like a submarine.

Altair - Good progress on the fence. Maybe you appreciate having a little break while you wait for more staples to come in.

Rich - 58F is a nice temp for a run.  Ya gotta get your run done before the deer flies get out of bed.

Art - You're on your last tomatoes while we're eagerly waiting for our local ones to show up.  BLT season!  Nice bike ride.  I miss riding, but don't seem to manage to find time or a reason to ride.

The municipal band has announced that they're going ahead with a reduced season of five concerts in August, and I agreed to play.  The concerts are outdoors, and instead of being in the band shell, we will be placed out on the lawn with at least 6' between players.  We'll see how it goes.