I loaded up the dog in our new car this morning (we have a special dog "hammock" that covers and protects the back seat area), and took her for a two mile run on the MoPac trail. Here's a pic of the new car:
I loaded up the dog in our new car this morning (we have a special dog "hammock" that covers and protects the back seat area), and took her for a two mile run on the MoPac trail.
Here's a pic of the new car:
How is DW feeling? NICE ritzy ride and red too, looks like a spiffy little car. Is it all decked out with the latest technology? What was the other car? Is this a big change? First electric? I’m still thinking of a SUV hybrid; easier to go on dirt roads for my camping and hiking. The “hammock” seat cover is a great idea. I have one for Mr Bones for my caddy. Winter temps can really bum us out but high five, you’re still getting in some miles. They count.
Altair: DH watches the weather channel to see how bad the storms are and reminds himself to be grateful he’s not living in the middle of a winter vortex Not wearing a face mask in those bitter temps is aging, and very uncomfortable. I mentioned that I would dress like a pink ninja to get a run in in below zero degrees when living in MN and ND. Neighbors thought I was nuts ….. yeah, it’s stupid but you gotta do what you gotta do. The amount of snow in the Buffalo area was/is incredible, wow!! Having lived in ND & MN, it doesn’t surprise me that something that extreme can happen. And, try not to lose sleep over other peoples’ unused expensive exercise equipment. Be glad it’s not in your house.
I keep hoping DH sells the ‘power tower’ that he’s been lugging around each time we’ve moved. And, don’t get me started with the weight equipment that is sitting in storage I wouldn’t mind it if we had the space for it. I totally get what DI is saying though. But she has very good reasons in her case. Good job on getting some mileage in, no matter the distance, it’s all good!
I just saw that my latest RR didn’t post!! It was great too
Cut to the chase: I finished in 3 hours, 55 minutes. Good grief Was doing well and within my goal of 3:30 but stupid poor knee swelled up around mile 5, making knee support tight which started to cut off circulation to my foot that started to get numb. REALLY?? TODAY?? Never happened before. Anyway, spent too much time stopping and taking off knee support to let feeling back into my foot. And, the distance said 15.4 but my garmin said 16.1. The last mile felt like the longest ever. But I kept moving and passed a few others. Went straight to med tent and iced my knee. Great tough very rocky trail. Beautiful sunny day.
Mon: 8 miles. Wed: 6 miles. Thurs: 5 miles. Sat (yesterday): 10 miles….. slow and easy the last 3 miles. Legs felt heavy as cement. Taper this week. Oh, I registered for another 25k. The Bosque Bigfoot trail run, Albuquerque, Nov 26. No hills. Good training long run for my Dec 10 double HMs.
Busy times during the holidays …… pretty quiet here
Mon: 5.5 solo miles on trail with some short hills. Then, an hour of circuit workout at wellness center.
Wed (today): 5 miles on same trail with Bones.
DH found the huge green lighted wreath in storage. He made it when we were still in MN. Hope it’s not distracting to the drivers on highway, ha! Then, we put different colored lights on our adobe wall. I found our 4 ft lighted tree and skirt. That’s it. We are all set for the holidays. Staying home for turkey day. Then, I’m driving to Albq on Friday. On Saturday, running the 25K.
Art: I’m thinking of running the Santa Hustle HM, Dec 18 (Sunday) in Glendale. There’s a 5K too.
Runs in the rain
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We are going to eat about 2 pm and have salmon, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, Brussel sprouts and pumpkin pie for desert!
Az - Too bad about the knee swelling during the race and the cut off circulation sounds dangerous! Good you removed the knee support and got back feeling and at least you finished a tough race! Good luck in Saturday's Bigfoot 25K! Not sure what a double HM is, looked it up and it seems to be two halves in the same day. I assume there is a break time between them to rest up a bit. Great you are done with holiday decoration.
I have been busy this week, but have not been doing any running despite the sunny weather! Instead I concentrated on cleaning up in the porch, I had a pile of papers to go through and stuff to reorganize. Vacuumed the floor and got the tree set up, it is artificial and 7 ft. high. I put the lights on it, but one string was not working and I did not have enough replacement bulbs so I ordered a new string which should arrive in a few days. The tree needs more lights on the bottom branches. After I get all the lights on I'll finish by putting on the ornaments and trim. It still looks pretty at night with what lights are on it.
I also turned on the outside Christmas lights and replaced a few bulbs which were burned out. Another task was pulling up some dead plants in the garden. Hopefully I'll resume running tomorrow, but rain is predicted the remainder of the week.
Long distance runner, what you standin' there for?Get up, get out, get out of the door!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Again, nothing really new here. Getting in my morning exercise on the usual routes. Only thing different is that my knee seems to be unhappy again. So the past couple of days I have switched to walking. Not sure that is helping as during this morning's walk I could feel some slight knee pain and in my hip area. Maybe I shouldn't have done 5 miles. But it was nice out.
Led - I've read that the Bolt is a nice SUV.
Altair - When you mentioned porch, I was thinking of an open space area around part of the house. Didn't realize yours was enclosed until the Christmas tree picture.
AZ - Too bad your knee acted up. I was thinking of you when the race was held but was busy with family stuff. Not sure about any races right now.
Art in AZ
Mesa, AZ
Did the bank bike ride at 14 miles and added a mile when I veered off and went to the store that has a Starbucks inside. I had a thought to go there and check if they had any Grounds for your Garden. Sure enough there was a bag there. So I took it and continued on my bike ride home. So a total of 15 miles. Sunny out but a little windy. Went into the wind on the way there but had the wind pushing me on the way back.
Checked out the garden and figuring out what and where to plant this weekend. Most of the plants that got shredded from that storm and survived look good. So I lost just a few plants. Already picked through a couple of plantings of radishes, spinach and lettuce. That made a good salad for Thanksgiving meal.
Az - Forgot to mention that I have unused exercise equipment too, a stationary exercise bike that I never use sits in my basement. It has a felt pad that you can adjust to increase the turning friction of the wheel, no way to accurately measure the effort, but still a way to exercise when it's bad outside.
Art - Looks like you, AZ and me are all dealing with knee issues! I have concerns that the cartilage might be wearing out, perhaps my running day are numbered. It might help to take more rest or cross training days. However, my knee did feel better after a few rest days. Anyway, I'll keep moving as long as I can! Walking was a good alternative, and I don't blame you for taking advantage of the nice weather and doing five miles! Good 14-mile bank ride! I used to get grounds at Starbuck, but the local store has closed. Nice to get a fresh salad from your garden! Not sure if "porch" is the correct term for my room where I set up the tree. Sometimes it is referred to as the "sunroom", although since the windows face North the sun only shines through early in the morning. It is a long, narrow room that seems to have been added to the house after it was built. The original owners called it the "office" and as you can see in my photo, I do have my computer desk set up here where I can look out the windows.
After Thanksgiving dinner, we did a short mile and a half walk. Good to do an activity after a big meal! Friday was overcast and since I now had 4 days without running, I thought it best to just do a short course. I drove nine miles to reach some roads I have not run on before, the distance I need to travel to new areas keeps increasing. Unfortunately, when I got there I realized I forgot my Garmin and had to drive back to get it and return, this cost me a half hours' time. I knew the temperature was going to drop and there was a sprinkle of rain on my drive. Luckly, it did not rain again and the clothes I wore were warm enough, glad I brought along some gloves! It was 39 degrees and overcast. I did four and a half miles at a slower than usual pace. Lots of dark clouds in the sky
Most of the snow has melted, just patches in shady areas. In the distance the sun tried to shine though some breaks in the cloud cover.
I passed a dairy farm and then some red buildings where I guess they make cream and cheese.
What a difference a day makes! Yesterday was chilly and overcast, but today was bright and sunny! It warmed to 51 degrees by 1pm when I did an out and back run of six miles. I wore shorts and a tee shirt, but also a light vest in case I got cold. I needed it on the way back when there were some winds. I also stopped and got some wild honey at a farm stand and used the vest pockets to carry the jars. Approaching a curve in the road
Green fields with a lone tree
Today was an overcast day with frequent drizzles of rain. I was going to blow off a run today, but later in the afternoon the sun came out and I decided to get out for a run. But the sun was brief and then it was overcast again by the start of my run at 3 pm. Intended five miles, but cut it back to just 2 1/2 because it could have rained again and would be dark soon. The camera does not take sharp photos in low light, but this shows the overcast skies.
This is an Osage Orange, also know as a Hedge Apple or Horse Apple. Not really an orange or apple, but more closely related to figs and mulberries. Indians used the wood from the tree to make archery bows.
Overcast and 37 degrees with possible sprinkle of rain again today. Decided to just do a short run, which may be for the best since right knee was bothering me again. It felt better after I started running! My route included a short segment of 20A, a busy road, but there was a sidewalk and I needed it to work on filling my heatmap. Distance was 3.2 miles. Batteries need recharge, so no photos! Should have some sun tomorrow and I'll see if I'm ready for a longer run!
Saturday morning did 4.6 miles walking It was sunny, bright and cool with a slight wind. After yesterday's bike ride I didn't feel much pain in my knee or hip. Strangely I felt it during my walk and later. Not a lot, just enough to let me know it was there. Maybe I should ride the bike more.
Sunday was a rest morning as got together for a Sunday morning breakfast and then a movie. The movie was Black Panther Wakanda Forever. My opinion was it was OK. Not as good as the first and it felt disjointed to me. Plus, when I saw the water people the first thing I thought was the movie was trying to get a head start on being Avatar. I mean this as the people were blue skinned in color. The movie didn't have that exciting feeling the original did.
Monday morning did 4.4 miles walking. It takes longer to warm up and finish but it still feels good to get out and move around.
Altair - I noticed the same with the knee issue affecting some of us. Careful as we are I wonder if there isn't something I might have done different or better to prevent this. So I plan to slow down some and see what happens. It could be a sunroom. Sunroom doesn't mean it has to face South. Just have an abundance of window glass and a view of the outside. Here it's called an Arizona room. Mine does face South so it gathers the sun during the day. It works pretty well in the weather we are having now. Temps have been mid 40s at night to 70 in the afternoon. With the inside French doors open the temps in the house rise 6-8 degrees offering free heat throughout the day and into the night. We called them Horse Apples growing up. Haven't seen any here in Arizona though.
Last day of the month! I may point out that although only five of us are posting, (AZ, Di, Art, Led and myself) we did have an additional 6 visitors this month, maybe former members checking in? My own mileage has dropped off the last half of November, partly due to poor weather and low motivation, but also the knee issues which plague some of us. I'm careful not to strain too much on my runs and some light running seems to help the knee, maybe increases the circulation and those endorphins help with inflammation. Hopefully I can increase my mileage for December, I need about another 60 miles to reach 1200 miles for the year! Note that Led, who I was ahead of early in the year, is projected to top 1400! I had a pace bunny set at 2022, but that proved too difficult.
Art - Walks and bike rides are a good way to avoid straining that knee! I found that light running helps, but everyone is different! My knee pain seemed to start after I was working on the floor where my leg may get stiff and twist in odd directions, so maybe it was not caused by running? I was trying to increase pace and distance, so it could be the running after all. Sunroom is a more accurate description of the room, but I think I'll still refer to it as a porch! I did some research on the Osage Oranges last time I posted pictures of them. I recall they do grow in Texas! Black Panther: Wahkanda Forever looks interesting. I collect comic books and the Submariner was a favorite character! The Atlanteans were blue-skinned in the comics as far back as 1939, way before Avatar! Without the late Chadwick Boseman I don't think the sequel could be as good.
Tuesday was another overcast chilly day and I had a lot on indoor chores, doing laundry , grocery shopping and I got the additional light string in the mail to put on the tree. Never got motivated for a run.
Today was windy and raining for most of the day. Late afternoon it stopped and I got out for a short two miler. It was 4 PM when I started and not much daylight left! Rain had stopped, but there was a little bit of snow falling. It was 36 degrees and overcast. I tried to be faster than usual and managed a sub 12mm pace overall. Right now that is good for me to hold for two miles, but I was faster a few years ago and am working my way back.Did not use the camera during the run since I was focused on pace, but took this photo of my house with the Christmas lights, which the timer turned on just before I finished the run!