Runs in the rain
Welcome to August! Rain again on Monday and I did not go out for a run. I need to get back to putting on rain gear and running when it rains rather than skipping a run because the weather is bad!
Today, Tuesday, I made up for it with a ten miler! It was partly cloudy, 73 degrees and there were some winds. Despite the cool temperatures I was sweating by the end!Taken with the cell phone camera, some of the big clouds.
Long distance runner, what you standin' there for?Get up, get out, get out of the door!
not bad for mile 25
Welcome to August! Altair, your picture looks like a painting! I liked your previous set of pics, too. Hope your stomach is all better by now.
We've had some heat and some rain and some nice days, like today - 71F. Humid, though. Weekend activities limited my mileage, but I did a bit more - eight miles - yesterday. You'd think I wouldn't need recovery after only eight, but today was a slooow 5. Word of advice to dog walkers: You probably shouldn't be walking three 70 pound dogs simultaneously. Woman yesterday was doing that as we passed, some 30 feet away, minding our own business, but the dogs came after us, dragged their person down on her face as she tried to hold onto them, and we had a bit of a dog fight until Sage and I could get some distance. At around 50 feet down the trail I stopped and turned to see if she was alright. Shaken, I think, but seemingly okay. I obviously couldn't go back to check more closely. They were gone when we passed the same place on our way back. Sage seems okay.
School starts in a week and a half, and I'm rather dubious that all the construction will be done by then. It may be a mess. For one thing, they still need to pour concrete in the school's driveways where they dug the big holes, and concrete takes some time to cure. Oh well, not my problem, unless people are blocking our driveway because they have no place to park.
AZ - Nice you have your mom with you - it's gotta make her happy to be with you.
Happy August
Altair: nice photo! Good job on the 10 miler!! Yes, keep a running rain jacket with you just in case. 10 miles, my goal within the next 2 weeks.
Led: yeah, family events, etc can take up training runs time but somehow we manage a run in. Hopefully, the 3 dogs lady learned the lesson. That’s scary! Glad you and Sage are fine. I’m sure Sage was a bit upset. It doesn’t happen much with my running with Bones but I always pick him up and stand still when other bigger dogs come running. Owners always apologizing and that “they are friendly” ….. I don’t know that and use the damn leash!! But sometimes, dogs have leash on but owners aren’t holding them, duh!! Fortunately, most of the trails we run are just Bones and I. So when and where is your next race??
Saturday (July 29) 7 miles solo, early morning. It was a surprise to run into my neighbor couple on a hike on my way back. They couldn’t believe I ran by myself in the mountains. Mom and I went for a nice scenic drive to the Grand Canyon. Hot on the way there but cooled off and ton of rain on the way back home. It’s only my mom’s second trip to the Grand Canyon. Had her walking, albeit slow, along a couple of rim viewpoints. Don’t think she’ll be able to in a few months.
Sun and Mon: should have run but it started to rain a lot and windy.
Today: early morning run and Bones was all ready for it too! Ha! 6.1 miles on AZT and around Picture Canyon ‘loop’ …… cool and humid. Rain from yesterday. Using deet-free bug repellent spray and thankfully, it works. Mom and I went for another scenic drive to Lake Mary, nice cool cloudy day. Thunder and lightning and rain predicted today again. Then dry days for a few days.
I did post inviting new people to visit or join us. I got over 50 reads, so welcome if you are a visitor and please say hello!
Led - If you haven't done long distance in a while "only eight" can take more out of you than expected! See comments on my own experience below. I worry when a person is walking just one big dog, three of them is just out of control! I would like to draw a cartoon of a runner and a person with a leashed dog that it going bonkers, barking in fury with fangs gleaming and the hair standing up, just straining to get at the runner! And the person says "Oh, don't worry, he's friendly!" Glad Sage was alright. So, I gather you live across from a school? Hope the construction does not interfere. The cell phone camera must have a program to enhance the low res images that makes them look like a painting.
AZ - So why the blue face for August? Let's try to have a good month! Nice 7 and 6 mile trail runs! Sometimes I recognize another runner, but never seen a neighbor when out on country roads or trails, that is except ones who are driving by and honk the horn! Great you are treating your mom with scenic drives. Sad if in a few months she would not be able to walk to the scenic views.
I had to order a new pool. The bearing in my pool filter were making loud noises and it would have cost me $200 just to replace the motor. Additionally I did not add enough chlorine and had an algae problem. Plus, the pool is like 15 years old and the vinyl and metal frame are wearing out. It being mid-summer I got a new pool for half price, $300, and it comes with a filter! It was delivered today! It's 15 foot diameter instead of 12 and is 4 1/2 feet deep instead of 3 1/2. I took down the old pool today, but will have to level out a bigger circle to set the bigger pool on.
The ball of my left foot felt sore during the 10 miler yesterday, I took off the shoe during the run, but did not see what the cause was. Later, I saw a 1 1/2" blister! Unusual because that part of the sole has a callus. I find that if the skin has not broken the fluid usually drains out of a blister overnight, leaving a tough area. My foot was fine during today's run.
Another relatively cool day with low humidity and I wanted to take advantage of that by doing another 10 mile run. Legs felt tired already, not used to doing back to back ten milers! The route had no big hill, but a lot of small ups and downs. I did well for the first 8 miles and then my legs felt like lead. I took many rest stops, even sitting down twice for like 7 minute breaks, total a whopping 25 minutes of rest time during the run! A car stopped when I was sitting on a lawn and a lady asked if I was alright and if I would like a ride, I said no thanks, I'm only a half mile away from home! Interesting that although my legs were shot near the end of the run, my pace was a lot higher than usual! I rested and drank fluids when I got home, was very worn out. Like Led said about his run following an eight miler, with only ten miles the day before I did not expect difficulty with doing another ten, but found I was not as recovered as I thought! Good news is to reach my 30 mile goal for the week I only need to do two five mile runs! Tomorrow I plan to walk as cross training, it will be a return to high humidity.
Did a walk today, legs were still sore and recovering from the long runs! It was sunny and 77 degrees. I started in Vitale Park by Lake Conesus, walked along the west side of the lake where there are many lakefront cottages. I would love to live on the lake, but even those small homes are expensive! I returned to the park via another road slightly further from the lake. Found a dollar bill in some bushes! Total of 4 3/4 miles.Vitale Park is on the other side of this creek, I took this from a fishing area I found as I began to walk along the road on the west side of the lake. This creek drains from the lake.
Now returning on the road a bit further from the lake I passed Deer Run Winery. I have tried bottles of these local wines. I was tempted to go to the Café for a wine cooler, but carried on with my walk instead.
Now walking around in the park, This is one of the flowerbeds.
And looking out over the lake. Some colorful wildflowers along the shore.
Basically, the same Monday through today, Thursday. 4.4 miles with exercises 3 of the days. 4.2 miles the other. Weather has cooled? off a little. Past couple of days have been below 110 degrees. Mornings have even felt nicer. But the temps are going up again this weekend.
Altair - The expected monsoon weather for the weekend never materialized. Which is fine. No need for the high winds causing trouble. I plan to start running again soon. The few people I have seen running really look to be fast walking. The parts I am making is a way to both earn some extra car money and help other owners looking for these parts. Since they are not made anymore by the original companies. The tree picture is nice to look at. Not many areas like that around here. I would need to take a trip up North some. Or even South to some areas around Tucson. Nice increase in distance, but doing 10-milers back to back seems to be less than ideal right now. Getting a newer and bigger pool while its still summer was a good idea. Just think of enlarging the circle as cross training and the grass as more material for the compost pile.
Led - Good that you and Sage weren't hurt by the other dogs. From what I remember about concrete. Normal mixed concrete reaches full strength in about 30 days. Based of normal weather of around 70 degrees and 50% relative humidity. You could use it earlier depending on weight. During the summer we would pour a patio and 4 hours later it was hard. And a driveway could be driven on in a couple of days.In the colder weather there are chemicals that can speed up the process.
AZ - I see you're getting some better weather mixed in. Those drives with your mom will be memories you both will cherish.
Art in AZ
Mesa, AZ
Still having pretty cool and moist weather. Nice runs this morning, but with another dog incident! Sage and I were at the dog park where we met a pit bull/boxer mix and her people. The dog was young and friendly and bouncy. Stopped and chatted briefly with the people, then started to run again, and their dog bounced between my legs and knocked me down. Neither the dog or the people had done anything wrong, but the people were mortified. I said I'm okay and got up and ran on. Skinned my knee. It looked kinda bad. Glad the people didn't see it. And yeah, I'm okay. Reasonably happy with having 36 miles in the last 7 days.
Concrete got poured in the lot across the street, but there's another school lot that has been practically demolished by the roofers' trucks and equipment. Wondering what they're going to do about that. Looks today like they're wrapping up their project, at least. The electric co. is carrying on with their preparations - still boring northward and eastward. I think that may go on for months, because the main part of their project is on a major street four blocks east of us. They had to cut some limbs off one of our trees - they were too close to a pole.
AZ - So nice you are taking your mom to some of the beautiful places in the SW. It's gotta be good for her mind and body. My next race should be the 5 mile hilly Buffalo Run, Sept. 17, but that's two days after we get back from Alaska.........oops, cat's out of the bag! We (DW & I) are going to Alaska in September! With a lot of luck, we'll be seeing moose, caribou, bear, whales, northern lights, Denali. Realistically, we may not be so lucky as to see all of the above, but we shall see what we shall see. We should at least be able to see a glacier or two, and local museums/attractions. Not taking a cruise ship - not excited by the floating hotel concept - but we will be riding the Alaska RR and a small boat for the glacier/whale tour. We have about a month to prepare. Buffalo run? Just maybe.
Altair - I wonder if dehydration caught up with you on that 10 mile run. It's a little worrisome that you were so beat at mile 8. Sorry about the big blister. Hope it forms a big, tough callous. I'd love to see the cartoon you proposed - you've got the talent to do it! Great you'll be getting a new and bigger pool!
Lotus bloom on Holmes Lake this morning:
Closer:
Art - So feeling cooler with the below 110F temperatures? I think because the body has to work cooling you down you get a bit of extra exercise running in the heat and will be faster later in the season once it cools down.
Led - Good the injury was minor from your fall! At least the dog was friendly and did not mean to trip you up! I haven't drawn in a long time, but the angry dog would be a funny cartoon! The Alaska trip should be fun. Interesting that a local runner I follow on Strava is visiting Alaska right now and has done runs in Denali and Tongass National Forest. The Holmes Lake Lotuses are beautiful! I think my difficulty with the 10 mile run Wednesday was because I'm just working up to longer distances and had not recovered fully from the other ten miler the day before!
Speaking of traveling, my sister is visiting her daughter in Vienna! She did a run along the Danube Canal, I don't think she will mind me sharing her canal photo!
My run today was 5 miles down by the flat river plain. It was 77 degrees with a sun hazy from wildfire smoke from Michigan this time. Some more cell phone pictures and you can see the haze in the distance views:
Friday morning just 4.4 miles around the neighborhood.
Saturday morning did 5.3 miles with exercises. It looked like the high school runners were out practicing. Saw a lot of them on the other side of the park going in the opposite direction.
Led - Thankfully your dog incident wasn't more than a skinned knee. The trip to Alaska sounds like great. Hopefully you will see all that and more on your trip. I like the picture of the flowers.
Altair - The mornings are now in the mid to upper 80s instead of the lower 90s. So a little cooler. It's enough that I can notice it.
Art - Glad mornings are cooler for your runs and exercises, the mid 80s would be a very hot day for me. So far this summer it's cooler than usual.
Another 5 mile run today, with the two ten milers and the other five it gives me my goal of 30 miles for the week, actually 30.8 since my distances are usually slightly more than the goal miles. It was partly cloudy and in the mid 70s with some breezes, very nice for August!
My run started and ended here with a lap of the high school track!
Now out on the road approaching a curve
Turnaround point was Jaycox Creek which had these cat tails and thistles near the bank
Small planes flew overhead giving rides from the airport, saw a biplane and here is the Whiskey 7
Thurs: 5.1 miles on AZT trail, gain/loss 800 ft. Very early (5:45 am) morning run with Bones, grumpy b/c he rather sleep in . Returned home just before DH left for his 2nd day of classes for recertification PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support). He passed, woohoo!!
Sat: decided against my better judgement to join a hike group. The Saturday running group canceled due to their support for a 5k/10k road race in town, and most of the runners either ran it or volunteered. The 9 mile group hike was a fiasco. I was surprised to see LC there. She is a runner with the Sedona group and caught a ride with the leader who volunteered her to be the sweeper. 1. it started at 8:30 am. Too late and predicted heat made it tough for a few, 1100 gain/loss elevation. 2. Two older experienced hikers left and turned around after 2.5 miles. Another couple, younger left after 4.5 miles, too hot and steep. The Iowa hiker needed frequent breaks, had a blister but didn’t take care of it till 5.5 miles. He felt pressured to not say anything and to keep up. 3. DH thought it would be good to take Bones. It’s only 9 miles…..I shouldn’t have. He got too hot even with frequent water breaks and 5 minutes rest. This kept us behind by about 1/2-3/4 mile. Not a big deal as we would catch up by running.
4. The leader was pretty arrogant and impatient. I stayed with LC to keep eye on the slower hikers. The faster hikers made a turn around mile 6.5, on a trail LC and I were not familiar with. They didn’t wait for the rest of us. So, the slower hikers stayed at that junction with Bones while I ran down about a mile. Finally, saw one of the hikers. I ran back up and we continued. One of the faster hikers finally came back to make sure we were ok. Once we got back on the AZT, I told them to go on without me. I knew the way back. Bones needed to cool off. Thank goodness I brought 4 extra frozen bottles of water. Wiped down Bones w cold wet bandana as he rested under a tree shade along the trail. We made it back to TH. LC stayed with the leader and he got an earful from her. A couple of other hikers got headaches towards the end, I heard. It took 5 hours for a 9 mile hike. It was not fun. LC hiked with the group before and the leader always hiked too fast for the group, she says. He needs to post the hike as a ‘fast and furious pace’. LC and I could keep up but we were not leaving any one behind. Anyway, I should have run my long run instead; I would have been done by 8:30 am.
Altair: trying to run back to back 10 miles ….. usually doesn’t work out when you’re already feeling tired on the second day. I think it would have gone better if you incorporated the Galloway Run-Walk method on the second day. It always works for me. Thoughtful of a driver stopping by to check on you. Heat and humidity is always a concern on a run. A dollar found, wow!! Hey, next time, cool down with a cooler at the winery, yummy!! LOL! Smart to get a new pool. A cool dip after your runs sounds great. Weird about that blister. Glad it didn’t affect your run. Oh, my mistake on the blue face ….. didn’t notice till you mentioned it. Wildflowers photos are pretty. Thanks for posting an invite, fingers crossed.
Led: oh my gosh!! Relieved you weren’t hurt seriously. And, Sage was fine. I have to be careful with Bones’ leash sometimes, it gets caught between his legs and/or mine when he takes off after a squirrel. Woohoo, Alaska trip. Nice!! I’m (we) are not cruise ship people. It’s a gigantic pitre dish on water, yikes! Talk about construction……. all summer, we’ve had flood mitigation work around our neighborhood. Lots of noise and truck traffic Mon-Sat ….. the channels got pretty full quickly during and after one of the larger rainstorms. It was the biggest one so far so it’ll be interesting how well the construction hold up. We’re renewing our flood insurance. Other neighborhoods are already putting sandbags around their property. I like the photos of the lotus blooms. Very colorful.
Art: good runs despite the hot temps there. Smart idea to build parts that companies don’t make anymore. It’s nice to cruise around with my mom but she doesn’t remember it the next day ….. even though I show her the photos I’m glad she walks ….. more of a shuffle….. and each morning, she enjoys watering the plants and garden. I found DH’s father’s cane. My mom is trying it out. She keeps forgetting it but it seems to help with her balance.
If there is anyone checking us out, say hello.
AZ - Good 5 miles on the AZT, should have let Bones have his coffee first, would be less grumpy! The hike did not sem to have good leadership. I suppose group events have to take place later in the morning because like Bones people like to sleep late, but of course it's nice and cool earlier. He should have made the difficulty of the hike clear to all participants and modified his ambitions if many hikers were having trouble, headaches are a sign of overheating. Dogs can overheat too, good you let Bones rest, kept him hydrated and had frozen water bottles. Congratulations to your DH on the recertification! I knew it would be difficult, but the back to back ten milers were harder than expected! I considered walking, but in my mind that's like giving up! Still, spent a lot of time not moving and resting. I think I would have toughed it out and not done any stops if it had been during a race. Too bad your mom doesn't remember the walks, but still they are good for her health and spirit! Garden work is very peaceful. A cane or walking stick does help with balance. Over 70 reads to my invite, but few or no visitors so far.
Ended the week with a 7 1/2 mile bike ride! Mostly sunny and 83 degrees. Was going to do 12 miles, but plans were made to have a barbeque, some veggies and shrimp! So I road the bike out for a half hour and this involved a few hills to climb! High point was 260 feet above the start. The return along the same route took only 17 minutes! Got up to a fast 32 MPH on a downhill!One of the hills, but biggest climb was later on!
A green field
One day at a time
I'm doing more biking than running these days. My husband and I just got back from 2 1/2 weeks in France and Spain. My Apple watch tells me we walked 96 miles, including the equivalent of 201 flights of stairs. My feet felt it! Now I'm back to the real world. I made it to the gym this morning and will start indoor biking again tomorrow. I use Zwift and FulGaz.
Welcome Teresadfp! I'm glad someone responded to my invitation post! Some of us here also do cycling. I am trying to ride my bike outdoors once a week as a cross training day and Art in AZ often does long rides along a canal, sometimes to get bagels! I looked at your log and see you often do twenty mile rides and have done 30. Is that all done on a stationary bike? So I guess Zwift and FulGaz simulate onscreen a bike ride, that makes it more interesting! Would like to have that for the treadmill I sometimes use at the fitness center for running. Dirigo Strength I assume is a fitness training program. Kayaking something I'd like to do, love the water. A lot of walking on your France and Spain trip, about five miles a day! Thanks for sharing your post and I hope to hear from you again!