Well the rain stopped so I went for a run. Just in case I wore my contacts for the first time this year, hard to see through glasses when it is raining! it was 1 pm, 70 degrees, overcast and at times windy. I repeated the 3.86 mile run I did also on Monday, did this route for the 4th time this month! Each time I find a slight improvement in my time, at least I am making some slow progress! Still felt myself struggling near the end of the run. GF called at my last mile to warn me that a cougar had been spotted about 50 miles northwest of here and I should be careful! I know the big cats may cover a large territory, but if just spotted I doubt the mountain lion would appear here anytime soon and I think they are shy of people and would stay away from the village but GF was still worried! My runs are automatically transferred from Garmin to Strava and today I paid for a Strava membership, $5 a month. This gives me access to additional features and I created a "Segment" for yesterday's run so when I run it again I can track progress. It also said that today's run was a big leap in my weekly mileage and to be cautious about over training! Well, so far I've only done 14 miles this week and might do another 3 or 4 tomorrow with the whole weekend to recover from running.  It also gave a number rating my effort based on my heartrate and said it was a hard effort, but I'm not sure what the number means. Soon after my run the sun came out. Now I had looked online at several sites for the hourly weather for this area, several because they seem to all give different predictions, anyway, I expected it to remain overcast with a chance of showers with thunderstorms expected around 5 pm! Well, I always say the weather is up to God and to take forecasts with a grain of salt! Going outside to bury some kitchen scraps in my garden, once again I'll have to catch up with posts later on!

Friday, 7/30... 8 mile trike row this morning...

AZ... I forgot to mention the article you posted about the difference between static and dynamic stretches and how they effect muscle performance.  I learned something new, so thanks!

Led... South Dakota eh?   Can't wait to hear what you're up to, what a beautiful trail!

Altair5.. you're a persistent devil, eh?! Lol  WTG getting your latest run in!

Got out at 3 pm for a run! It was a cool 68 degrees, partly cloudy and windy! I did over 3 1/2 miles and this gives a weekly total of about 17 1/2 miles! I have to look back to last fall to see that kind of weekly distance! Did well in the run, kept looking at the nice sky and feeling the refreshing breeze to take my mind off how tired I may have felt. With 5 runs this week I feel more consistent and like I am making progress!
Here is the start of the road I was running on, you may recall some winter pictures taken on the same road that showed the distant cell tower! (here seen just to the right of the barn roof)

And here is looking towards Lake Conesus. You can't see the lake, but the distant hills are from the far side of the lake. The dark bottoms of the clouds were interesting enough for me to bring my camera!
I don't know what is in these fields to give this red-brown color

Wrapped up my July with a little trip to South Dakota to meet up with my two sisters (one from CO, one from Buenos Aires), my 94-yo aunt, and some cousins. Had a lovely visit, and the running was pretty wonderful as well. As I mentioned earlier, my runs were on the Mickelson Trail (a railtrail).  Sisters are not early risers, so I had time for of long runs whenever I wished. The trail is a steady incline going out and a steady decline coming back.  10 miles Wednesday, 4 miles Thursday, plus a short but steep hike up to an overlook with my cousin, 11 miles Friday, and 3 miles Saturday before jumping in the car for the 10 hour drive home.

A few more pictures for you:

I did not pet the fluffy cows.

I like the intrepid tree at the top of this crag.

Same view, wider angle.

It was quite hazy the morning of my second run.

The trail is very well maintained - 109 miles long.

Can you spot the deer?