Altair: In a trail race, I enjoy meeting and chatting but I prefer a quiet run; runners talking endlessly annoy me. The photos show a cloudy day which makes it nice for a run. Stupid wind, LOL. I still feel nervous about you running along a road no matter how wide the shoulder. But I reassure myself that it’s not a very busy road. It sounds like your plan to walk each day is going well. Hope the doc keeps you updated with positive news.
Woo!! It’s windy today….a dust bowl if you’re not surrounded by trees. DH is in that swirling dust in the tractor, still leveling his terrace for the dream garage. Tues: Rest Day. Had oil change and tire rotation on my car. Need some major maintenance (it’s time) so will drop off my car Thursday. Parts are ordered and car will be ready Friday. Afterwards, I picked up DH after he dropped off the rental loader truck, drove him around to run some errands. Went to Home Depot. Came home and finished painting and placed the doors back up in the room. After dinner, my calves started to ache. I’m thinking it’s due to the shoes I was wearing. Low heel drop. DH massaged it. But at 1:30 in the morning, my right knee ached so much it woke me up. That rarely happens . Tried stretching and massaging. Darn shoes caused a ripple effect. Found my Tiger Balm muscle rub ….. it helped a lot. Thank goodness.
Wed(today): due to the dusty wind and knee, Rest Day. I’m icing my knee which feels so much better. In between, I’m getting my camping gear ready and making a list of what I need for my trip. Have to vacuum my car at some point. Leaving Saturday, race is Sunday.
Monday morning did 4.4 miles with exercises. Getting out a little earlier because the sun is up earlier and it's hard sleeping in a lighted room. Even though the door is shaded and has a screen on it, the direct sun from the East sure does light up the room.
Tuesday did 4.4 miles doing a walk/run. Mostly run. Enjoying the time outside.
Wednesday did 4.2 miles with exercises. Then headed out for a job.
Di - What a terrible start to the day. Having a great nurse sure helps with the experience.
Altair - Yes, it was a great bike ride. If I brought something to eat I might have stayed out longer. Walking the hills still gives you a good workout. I saw the 90 degrees mentioned and didn't think much about it with the strange weather all of us have been having. Now that we are close to Spring or near it, the weather should mellow out some. Then again maybe not since you might get snow again.
AZ - The canal path or paths, as all of them are like this. Parts are paved or concrete and then parts are hard packed dirt with stones. Some of the canals are dirt on one side and then paved on the other. Most of the dedicated bike paths are paved or concrete on at least one side. Nice long run before your race. Having great weather always helps. I like to think the exercises help with the running, but can't say for sure. Mainly because I have always been doing the exercises. I'm just trying to be real consistent with them now. Though I think my physique has improved some.
Art in AZ
Mesa, AZ
Runs in the rain
AZ - You had a lot of chores to do and then getting gear ready for your trip. I hope you have a good race Sunday! I hope the knee and calves feel better! I am looking at getting a zero drop running shoe myself, I'll see if it causes problems. Must be dry if you have dust blowing around. All my runs for the past few years are solo, so it will be a nice change next race when I'm around people, but I understand chatter can get anoying. The yelling and cowbells from race crowds can be too much, but it is part of the fun. The road I walked Tuesday was busier than usual with like half the vehicles being big trucks! The road is a route to the city of Batavia. It does have very wide shoulders of like 5 or 6 feet and I walk facing the traffic so I can see what approaches. I felt safe, but big trucks make me nervous, I prefer the empty country roads.
Art - Good to get out early for the walk. As the temperatures get hotter I'm sure you will want to do this more often! Weird that the canal paths would be paved on one side only. I envy all the exercises you do, once I recover I do want to work on my strength. Upcoming snow next Tuesday will most likely be a few flakes mixed with rain, don't think there will be accumulation. But the highs for today thru Sunday are to be in the lower 80s!
The Urologist surgeon called me back yesterday with some bad news. The tissue samples from my prostate had some cancer cells. Good news is that the percentage was low and the cells are not a very aggressive type and the recommendation is to just monitor it. The continuing additions lately to my medical issues is worrisome.
On a happier note, more spring flowers are blooming! I was hoping the forsythia would bloom on Easter, I always associate the flowers with the holiday, but this year the blooms came a few days later.
I have a couple of hyacinths.
This small tree has fuzzy catkins like a pussywillow, but not sure if it is a willow. .... UPDATE: The visual search to find similar pictures is very handy! I now think this might be Goat Willow!
I did a short 2 1/2 mile walk. It was sunny and a warm 71 degrees. I decided I'd see if the Chanler Preserve had dried out enough to walk in, and there were just a few wet areas I had to step around. Once in the preserve I'm away from roads and traffic, a lot more peaceful and quieter than yesterday! I kept the walk short because GF wanted me to walk two laps around the block with her later on, but she felt tired and it didn't happen. Here is the preserve with a few trees in the middle of a field of dry grasses.
Long distance runner, what you standin' there for?Get up, get out, get out of the door!
Trails
Altair sorry to hear of the cancer cells, that is upsetting news for sure. I sure hope they don't grow any. Flowers are pretty.
Di - Thanks for your concern, but I think this type of cancer is so slow growing they usually don't operate. I'll discuss it with my doctor next month. Glad you enjoyed he flowers, wish I could share the sweet smell of the daffodils!
Sunny and warm today! I did a wash and hung the clothes outside on the line! Then I went to the Greenway trail. Early sping is a good time to walk these trails before all the annoying bugs come out! Unfortunately I had to drive back to my house because I forgot the Garmin watch. So I intended to walk six miles, but I was expecting a grocery delivery and because of the watch mishap I had to cut the walk short to be home in time. So I did only 4 3/4 miles. It was warm at 80 degrees acording to Garmin website. I did see a mourning cloak butterfly! Mourning Cloak Butterfly Later, I partly made up for the shorter walk by doing another mile with my GF later on, only now Garmin said it was 84 degrees! With the summer like heat it's hard to believe it might snow Tuesday! Here is what this part of the trail looks like
For much of the way you could see the Genesee River
I also saw these flowers by the side of the trail. I am going to post this on the Greenway Facebook page, maybe someone can identify them!........ UPDATE : I did a visual search; I think these are Bloodroot flowers! Although they are sometimes used medicinally, they can be a skin irritant and are considered toxic!
I saw some stonework and thought maybe an old bridge, then saw a sign "LOCK 4", so maybe a canal?
And just about at my turnaround point some views of a big green field.
I don't mind looking at the flowers and the like but keep the pollen away. I have really bad allergies and anything that blooms sets it off.
Cancer scares me in any form. My best friend's husband felt sick in Jan and by Jun he was dead of an particularly bad case of stomach cancer. Some of that stuff grows and you don't know it until it's too late. I worked with him at one point and they had property down the road from us at one point and I'd spend days visiting and the friend and I would go riding on their property. It was tragic. He had retired the year before and they had a house in the Keys they were thinking of moving to.
Di - I also have seasonal allergies. I think it's tree pollen that sets me off. I already had stomach cancer and if you read my profile it's the reason I started running. With any cancer you have to have concerns, even if it's nonaggressive. I know too many people who retired and then died soon after. I hope keeping active and having goals will help keep me alive!
I wanted to do another trail walk. I chose Indian Fort Nature Preserve, about three miles away from home, I've gone by it, but never went inside. It was sunny and 82 degreesthis afternoon. In the preserve were lots of different trails with markers, but I just wandered around. There were some flat areas with roads for vehicles, but most of the trails were ups, downs and curves. Some of the paths I went over twice and I transversed almost all of them. Not a quick paced straight trail like yesterdays, I had to be careful not to trip, especially when the trail went along a ravine! It took an hour and 20 minutes to do 2.85 miles. Saw a woman about to walk her dog and asked where the fort was. She said she looked for it, but has never seen it! Guess after all the years the wood structure built by the Senecas has mostly rotted away by now. I took many pictures! The trails start by this pond.
Some wood structure to help you in rough parts, like these planks over a muddy section,
Steps up and down.
and a bridge over a stream
Several views of a waterfall.
A big tree, the trunk must be 5 or 6 feet in diameter!
At the lower part of the preserve the Genesee River!
Trout Lilies
Flicker Feathers
As I'm walking to leave the preserve some private land next to the road.
Thursday morning did 4.2 miles walk/run. Mostly run. Mostly half a mile with a short walk then repeat until done.
Friday morning did 4.4 miles with exercises. Then some work, a little garden work and cleaning some stuff in the garage.
Saturday morning wife felt like going for a walk. I almost passed out at that. So did one mile with her. First it was too cold, then it was hot out. Temps were in the upper 50s, lower 60s, sunny clear sky. I had on shorts and a short sleeve shirt. After that I went for my outing. Did 5 miles with mostly run again. Feeling better afterwards. So getting closer to full runs. Later during lunch did a 4.5 mile bike ride after cleaning the bike and getting it ready for Sunday's bike ride.
Altair - The canal paths have talked about getting done to create a long multi-use path. It just is taking the city a long time making progress. One section will be paved on one side. The next section will be concrete with lights. Then dirt on both sides. Crazy weather. Right now we seem to be in normal weather, highs in the upper 80s - lower 90s. Really nice weather for doing anything outside. Flower pictures show Spring is there. Does that waterfall run all the time? The lab results weren't what we were expecting. Thankfully it doesn't seem to be something to be concerned about too much based on what he said. But good to know so it can be monitored. Looks like somebody is maintaining the trail some because of the steps.
Art - Good news if you can mostly run on your walk/run! Nice your DW did a mile with you, if she's like my GF I bet it was slower than usual, but best to encourage exercise. The canal path surfaces are a mixed bag. I think that waterfall runs all the time, but there is another in the preserve that only falls when there is rain.
Another warm day, I had time to try a longer walk and went over 6 miles. It was around 80 degrees and sunny, but some breezes made it feel comfortable. I think it's been years since I've walked this far. Some clouds started coming from the SouthEast, some areas nearby got rain, but we remained dry.Just a few clouds in a blue sky at the start of the walk
Some more wildflowers, I think these are Balkan Anemone
Aproaching the village limit and the High School
Here is a big cloud, but I had full sun during the walk.
Saturday afternoon wife decided she would go on a short bike ride Sunday Morning. So I got her electric bike ready. Sunday morning we did a short 5 mile bike ride. When I got home filled up the water bottles, packed some grapes and off I went for my bike ride. Made a big loop hitting several different routes. Finished with 34.2 miles. Then cooked some hot dogs on the grill.
Altair - I encourage her to get out so these two outings are a surprise. Now I'll see how long it lasts. The bike paths are a mixed bag. Once I got to the Mesa bike path it was concrete all the way along the canal into Gilbert. Gilbert's was all concrete with some parts lighted. Continuing into Chandler this canal path was all concrete except for one section that was packed dirt. That ended in Tempe where I had to ride along some streets before getting into downtown Tempe and then Tempe Town Lake area. Then it was all concrete with some lighted sections before getting back into Mesa and getting home. Some sections were really busy and others were empty. Another nice day for a bike ride. I'm sure all the walking I have done has helped with the running. I think of it as a really slow recovery run.
I just finished writing a post on Facebook regarding my grandfather's history running the early Boston Marathons. If interested I think this link will bring you there: Grandpa's Boston Marathons
Art - It is great your wife joined you for a short bike ride! An electric bike ride is good, but some physical effort on her part would be better. Nice you then went another 34 miles solo! Variations in the path make it interesting. Although I've always considered walking good exercise my experience these past two weeks make me think walking is underrated! If soreness is an indication of a good workout I certainly feel it after a long walk at a brisk pace. I do feel like my fitness has improved with the long daily walks as opposed to just a few short runs a week. As you say it is like a slow recovery run, but maybe a six mile walk is as good as a six mile run in many ways without as much stress! My plans are to continue with some walks, even after I start running again
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Today is the last day of the warm spell. Tonight, a cold front moves in with a thundershower and all next week highs will be in the 40s or 50's. So that's why I've been taking advantage of the summer like heat with daily walks! I only wish my pool had been set up!
At 2 pm it was mostly sunny, around 80 degrees with some breezes. The occasional cloud shade kept me from feeling too hot! I drove to Garden Street; I have run on this street once or twice. As the name implies it is a charming street with some residential houses and some small farms at the other end. Not much noise or traffic. A few small hills and a curve to keep it interesting! I walked the whole length of the street, up and back. Total distance was 4 1/4 miles.
This is near the start of the road, some nice houses and the street was lined with trees, some with a little green on them! That's my yellow car on the right.
Further up and over a hill you see some nice green fields.
Some clouds, but it felt refreshing rather than having full sun the whole time.
Congradulations to Evans Chebet and Helen Obiri, winners of the 2023 Boston Marathon! I see Chebet won both Boston and the NYC marathons last year, he's on a winning streak! My sister was a fan of Eliud Kipchoge and said he had at an exposition run a two hour marathon (unofficial) but he must have had a off day in this race and came in sixth! I was unable to watch the race, but heard he had trouble with the Newton hills .
I had posted on Facebook about my grandfather running some of the Boston Marathon early last century and I mentioned I'd like to run it in his honor. I got this reply from my cousin - " Grandpa would be quite proud of your quest but would prefer you remaining his 'living grandson' opposed to 'dead marathoner' ! Remember, he was running in his teens / early 20s (?) You've nothing to prove. Be careful." I just responded that I've been running for many years and know what I'm doing.
Since I had the operation I had not done anything about getting the drive cycle done on my car's computer . Today I went on the internet and found specific instuctions for a GM car. Certain conditions must be fufilled, but the main thing was you had to slowly accelerate to 55 MPH and then set the cruise control and drive for like 5 miles. Then with out braking let the car coast down to 20 MPH or less. It said you might have to do this five times. This seemed to do the trick and the car was ready for inspection!
I left my car the Service station for the inspection and I walked home. I was not sure if I would count this as a walk in my log since I did not have on my Garmin, but I knew the uphill distance was close to a mile and I'd have to do it again to pick up my car, so I typed it in my workouts.
While waiting to hear from the garage I went for a walk around the village. Last night there was a short rain shower as the cold front moved in and it was overcast with some winds and 52 degrees, like a 30 degree drop from the unseasonably warm days we had last week! I did 2.68 miles walking the village sidewalks.This looks like I'm out in the country, but an abandoned Pizza Hut is just to the right of this picture. You can see some green on the trees!
Now this is looking down Center Street, half way around my block. Sometimes we get soft ice cream at the dairy on the left.
I see in front of some of the older houses in the village these raised stone blocks. I think back in the day they were used to help you get up on a horse? This one had a nice pair of black posts with horse heads.
Now coming back up Center Street, this building is the library. The trees in the village seem to turn green faster than the ones in the woods and many have exotic colors in spring like white and red flowers and this pink tree. Made a colorful walk!
As soon as I stepped in my door I was told the garage had called. My car had passed inspection and was ready to be picked up! So another walk, downhill this time, to get my car. I did have my Garmin and recorded another .96 miles with a 160 foot decline.Here I'm about to cross Main Street and the service station is just beyond those trees on the left.
This section is quite a steep drop and I am very careful whenever I run down it!
Altair: The ‘cancer cell’s’ however slow growing still sounds like it was a scary surprise to you ……. and no aggressive treatment except to keep an eye on it? It reminded me of ‘an early tooth cavity forming’ and since it doesn’t hurt …..so will watch it. Then, it turns into a root canal and crown treatment. I’m just curious, not trying to come across as knowing more than your doctor or about cancer. Other than it only takes one cell to differentiate and it grows and spreads (matastasizes). I really hope it’s not as serious as it sounds. I have family and friends who cannot fathom why I run, hike and camp by myself……. running trails in the mountains makes it even more difficult for them. But I don’t take offense to it. I’m still learning. But certainly am grateful that I still can. It’s nice to go for walks with love ones. Very well worth the time. Love the blooming colors of flowers and plants.