Good news from Altair He’s in recovery from surgery. YAY!! Great way to start the month!!
Altair: thank you for the update …. So glad you’re doing well after surgery. That’s great news too regarding the short time to resume some activity.
This morning, I ran the Sedona Stumble 10k 😊Like I mentioned, I’m not a 5k or 10k sprinter but needed to test myself. I ended up finishing 2nd in 60-69 age group 🤩 I think finish time was 1:10. Wow, didn’t expect that. I think 1st runner finished 3 or 4 minutes ahead of me.
Got a $15 gift card to a local running store.
The trail course was great!! 2 loops for 10k. Most of it was single track, rocky, hilly. Didn’t take any photos. Had to keep moving even on the ascents. Fast runners, WOW!!
I met Hosava Kretzman. He is the Navajo/Hopi runner who was the first American, 6th OV in the LA marathon last month. His FIRST marathon!! He works at Northern Arizona University. Such a humble and nicest person. And how many such amazing runners volunteer at a small running event?!? No one really knew who he was …… except for the few like me. Took before and after photos with him. The best day ever.... so far!!
Runs in the rain
Az - Congratulations on the 2nd in AG and finishing the 10k quicker than expected! I think your March 11 HM was good training for the 10k. How was the weather? It is great that you recognized Kretzman, was it by appearance or did you know his name? I should be more familiar with the top athletes in the running world.
After my surgery I spoke with my sister on the phone, she lives in North Carolina. Her 70th birthday is in May and the day after she would like to run her first half marathon. I wish I could join her, but don't know if I would be able to get back in shape in time to run that distance. She also said she is going to Vienna to see her daughter in August and may travel to the Alps.
Although the surgeon said I could do walking right away it is inconvenient with the catheter tube and collection bag. I know Di has much more to go through with her dialysis than what I'm doing, but it is awkward to deal with. I've been an indoor couch potato since the surgery. I'm reading a fantasy series by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana Paxton about the fall of Atlantis and the rise of Avalon. I started watching on Blu-ray the science fiction series Firefly. I started another chess game online, still trying to improve my rating. Haven't had the ambition yet to start any of the other projects I intended. Tomorrow I can remove the catheter and perhaps will do a short walk outside.
Weather is all over the place with highs in the 70's yesterday and then some cold fronts moved in with high winds. Right now it's 32 degrees and sunny, but temperatures will alternate day to day between warm spring days and winter cold, maybe even some snow! Still, I want to get outside on nice sunny days. I think I will get back to exercise carefully and just start with walking increasing distances.
Long distance runner, what you standin' there for?Get up, get out, get out of the door!
Saturday morning did 4.5 miles with exercises. Then the usual stuff around the house. Got a new hi torque starter for the Jensen since the old one was acting up. Smaller and lighter unit. Of course the connection for the battery ended up being farther away so I need to get one a few inches longer.
Sunday morning did a 15.7 mile bike bagel run. Got a longer battery cable and will finish that later. Need to work in the garden some. Lots of stuff to pick and I need to plant some seeds for the next round.
AZ - Great job doing better than expected in the 10K. And a 2nd place finish! Way to go! It's always nice to be able to recognize someone from any field. Was he surprised that you recognized him?
Altair - Sounds like you're recovering fine right now and taking it easy for a couple of days. I wouldn't be surprised if you start with slow runs by this weekend. It's that time of the year where the weather can't make up its mind yet.
Art in AZ
Mesa, AZ
Altair: it’s wonderful that you are recovering very well from a successful surgery. Is GF helping you at home? Being a couch potato has its moments especially with some book reading and watching a series. Isn’t it typical that we get bored quickly? Baby steps first. Hopefully the weather is what your area normally is for spring for longer runs. Hosava Kretzman has been in the local newspaper so I recognize him from that. But to make sure, I asked him when he handed my race shirt. I actually didn’t train for the 10k as much as I wanted after my March 11 HM. Had the endurance and strength but not the speed. But I’m satisfied with the result. There were/are some super fast runners in each AG , male and female. Even in the 70 AG. Very impressive.
Art: way to go on the LONG bike ride. And, keeping up with the short runs. Sounds like the Jensen will be cruising around soon. Do you go on long drives outside of the city?? The local paper, NAU and local running community were featuring Kretzman after his accomplishment. That’s how I recognized him but I was still surprised he was volunteering at the race. I don’t see or hear too many elite runners volunteer at races. Gosh, I need to start planting some seeds. Bought a bag of seed planting soil. We still have crazy weather here…..it’s sunny but windy today, that’s my excuse.
Today: rest day. Was hoping to go for a short hike with Bones but it’s pretty windy. DH left early this morning for Phoenix for a steering wheel for sale, it’s for the ‘55 T-bird; he returned around noon. Our neighbor is helping DH remove and replace the door frames in our master bedroom. The neighbor offered to help so he could use his new wood working machine and tools It’s coming along pretty nicely. Can’t wait to put everything back in the master bedroom. We took apart the king size bed and have the furniture all over the house. It’s organized clutter. I’m catching up on the men’s and women’s NCAA tournament. Lots of nail biter endings. So my next races:
April 16, Sunday. The Vail Scramble, the HM, just south of Tucson, it’s all on the AZT (AZ Trail).
May 6, Saturday. Shiprock Marathon….but I might switch to the HM. I can’t imagine running on road for 26.2 miles, ouch.
Art - You're keeping busy with walk/runs, repairs to the Jensen, garden work and bike bagel runs!
AZ You're busy too with the bedroom renovations! I don't have much interest in basketball, but it is hard not to catch some of it on TV. Great you have more races planned! Good luck with the seed planting! Yes, GF has been helping me, but a lot of work remaining I need to do myself when I'm ready.
I removed the catheter today, felt more comfortable and I did a short walk, a 'baby step" like AZ said to get back into exercising. Maybe Ill be doing increasing walks for a while before I attempt running. It was 64 degrees, sunny, warm with some breezes. I walked to Highland Park, the one with the exercise station. Not ready yet to use them, but walked path around perimeter. Lots of kids playing games in the park. I wore a hoodie sweatshirt, but soon got too warm. Walked home, total distance 1.6 miles. Good to be outside again! Sat on my deck for a while looking at deer and listening to birds sing. Part of the gravel path, here is where it exits the park
Star flowers now blooming in my yard
Here's one of the deer out by my shed
Still recovering but have a plan of adding a mile each day to a walk. I'd like to at least get to six mile walks before I attempt to resume with running and when I do it will be a short run at an easy, slow pace. Rain this morning and overcast at 11 am when I did my walk. I chose to walk down a busy street with shopping centers and lots of stores, a change from my usual runs down lonely farm roads! Adding another mile to yesterday's distance gave me 2.6 miles walked today. I took a lot of pictures and since I don't have much I can work on now I'm posting all of them!Even on this commercialized road there are expansive green areas. The town offices are in the low brick building on the right.
In front of those buildings, I saw another historical sign. Glad I'm not in a poorhouse.
Livingston Lanes. I'm not a bowling enthusiast, but I have bowled a couple times at this facility.
It was 50 degrees, but very damp after the rains. Here, by the entrance to a shopping center parking lot, is a puddle next to a bush.
At the end of the driveway a man with a shopping bag is waiting for a ride. Across the street are a McDonalds and a Wendys.
A few seagulls were hanging around the parking lot. Here is one walking on the asphalt and another atop a light.
I don't usually post pictures of garbage, but I was struck today by how much litter I saw. This glass bottle, a little green from algae growing in the inside water, looks kind of pretty, but when I'm more recovered, I intend to pick up whatever trash I see along my street. People throw stuff into the woods, why don't they try to keep the environment clean?
Warmer today and some sun, but with a threat of scattered thundershowers this morning and later a strong storm with high wind warnings will pass through. To play it safe I did not go far away from my home on my 3.6 mile walk. Appropriately today is National Walking Day! Saw people out in the 60 degree weather - kids playing, people walking dogs and working in their yards. I saw some daffodils blooming, but the ones in my yard are not ready yet. I always liked this metal fish silhouette attached to a mailbox on nearby street.
I tried to go into the Chanler preserve on my walk, but the paths looked flooded.
Robin in my rock garden
Monday did 4.4 miles with exercises. Weather was nice but cooler weather coming overnight.
Tuesday morning was sunny but cold (low 40s) again and windy. Had to get out the sweats and long sleeve shirt and windbreaker. Yesterday was in the 80s and today in the 60s. Did 4.8 miles.
Wednesday morning was sunny, cold and windy (low 40s). Since I had a 8:00 web session I didn't get out until about 9:15. It was a little warmer when I left so no windbreaker. Did 5 miles with exercises. Tomorrow should be back in the 80s. Slowly moving to the 90s by the weekend.
AZ - I haven't been out of the Phoenix area per se yet. Longest ride so far is 125 miles driving around on the highways checking everything out. Plan on some longer trips soon. Hopefully. It was nice that he volunteered at the race. I worked in the garden a little today. Pulled out some beets for dinner tomorrow. I have more lettuce than I can eat right now. Are they making the door frames from scratch? Curious since normally the frame stays and the door gets replaced. I'll be thinking of you on the 16th. Wave as you go by.
Altair - That deer looks like its thinking, "How do I get into that garden later". Sounds like your walks have been good with no issues so far. I see the same thing here with people throwing their trash wherever they want. Sometimes I'll pick it up if it's close to the trash bin in the park. Aluminum cans I crush and throw in the can at home so I can recycle them later. Lots of ducks along the canal now. Saw a couple of ducks and they had 9 ducklings with them. Scattering all over as I got closer. The parents just looked at me.
Trails
Well I booked my flight to go see my mom in May. I used to book a flight, pack a backpack, get on and then off, easy peasy.
Now, I had to coordinate with the dialysis center in order to have boxes of solution shipped to my mom's house, let my boss know I want to take a week's vacation and because of all the days I've had to take off let him know I'll have unpaid PTO as I don't have enough. Then to book a flight I had to find one with a long enough connection time that I could make the connection (and pray everything's on time and not cancelled). My dialysis center has to write me a letter so I can get through TSA with what I have to bring with me. Let me mom and brother know I'm coming and to expect a shipment of solution for while I'm there.
I thought planning to do an ultra was bad but this is ridiculous. I can't wait for a transplant.
Art - Seems the temperature varies widely this time of year, quite a change from low 40s to the 90s. 125 miles is a fairly long car ride, must be fun cruising around in the Jensen! The garden is not secure against squirrels, but the deer can't climb over the fence. The deer was just keeping an eye on me and deciding if to go off into the woods with the others or stay put and eat more grass. They move so quietly, this one disappeared when I turned my head away for a few seconds. Good for you you pick up some of the trash. When out running I don't usually have a trash bag and there can be a lot of garbage to pick up. I feel at least I can work to clean up my own end of the street.
Di - Good you have plans to visit your mom. Arranging to continue with your dialysis while away is a major pain. Hope your transplant comes through soon.
Went for a visit with my primary this morning. He was happy I got the prostate taken care of and said my bloodwork looked good. I asked about some test that would indicate kidney issues if the value was below 60, mine was 58. He said not to worry, now that the prostate is not blocked he expects the levels to increase to normal range. I asked about some arterial plaque that was seen on a recent ultrasound. He recommended I start taking statins. I decided I first want to do some research first about natural alternatives. Turmeric, garlic, omega 3 oils, and B vitamins all seem to help.
After my run it continued to warm, getting close to 80 degrees yesterday! The heavy thunderstorms never arrived last night. I heard some distant thunder about 3 pm and the sky got darker, later some showers passed through. The weatherman said the water in the great lakes is still at 40 degrees and works to stabilize the air against the storms. Heard the spring peepers for the first time in the water soaked woods next to my yard. Today was much colder, overcast early in the day and only getting to the mid 50s. We will have some frosty morning coming up, but should be sunny and in the mid 50s on Easter Sunday. Next week the warming trend should continue and no rain is forecast for a while.
So I went for a walk at 2 pm. It was overcast and 54 degrees so I put on a sweatshirt. My original plan was to do 4.6 miles, but I decided to extend my turnaround point so I would be doing one of my mapped courses and did five miles total. Easter decorations on this gate.
Fronds of decorative grass.
"Went for a visit with my primary this morning. He was happy I got the prostate taken care of and said my bloodwork looked good. I asked about some test that would indicate kidney issues if the value was below 60, mine was 58. He said not to worry, now that the prostate is not blocked he expects the levels to increase to normal range. I asked about some arterial plaque that was seen on a recent ultrasound. He recommended I start taking statins. I decided I first want to do some research first about natural alternatives. Turmeric, garlic, omega 3 oils, and B vitamins all seem to help."
Altair: Sounds like the dr. checkup after surgery is coming along well. I'm sure your body has to 'reboot' itself before it shows normal levels of anything. Yes, do research on statins. My cholesterol level is high but I've managed to keep it pretty near the 'normal range' ........going on for almost 15 years. I decided against statins as I was running more. Research and other runners' experiences at the time showed a major negative effect on muscles. I think it's less now with better RX meds and if one changes diet and goes the alternative route. I totally was off red meat by then and started more on plant-based diet. Occasionally eat chicken which I'm eating less and less now, and to go off it totally. We do eat salmon about 2x/week.
Your active lifestyle will definitely be the biggest positive and being a vegan should certainly be an asset to your diet. Not everyone can be that impressive.
Love the vibrant star flowers and Easter decorations. Looks like Spring is slowly finding its way to your area.
It's so frustrating to see trash along the trails here too but it tends to be more on urban trails. With all the hikers we have on dirt trails, they seem to make the time to pick up any trash along the way. Not so much with mountain bikers.......don't have time to stop, I guess. When I run long, I wear my hydration vest so I will pick up what I can and stash it in my vest or waistbelt.