Happy Monday everyone
Friday: I posted about the LOUD thunder/lightening. Right after that, IT POURED!! Rain going all different ways from the severe wind gusts. Storm was expected but it still looked like it came out of nowhere and sudden, oh my goodness. DH is at the gym for his swim. I was amazed how quickly it was happening and just when I grabbed my phone to take photos/videos, I heard a loud thud in our backyard. We have TALL trees and one of them snapped in two, just missed taking a photo/video by 5 seconds Storm lasted about 30 minutes, electricity went out for about 10 minutes. DH gets home and we surveyed the damage, 5 trees down, top heavy so most broke about midway, scattered branches everywhere. They are not too close to the house, thankfully. The two trees in the front broke another tree, the top of a what was a nice spruce tree, one that we decorate w/ lights during the holiday.
Saturday. Didn't run. We spent most of the day cleaning/picking up debris, DH had to use his chain saw. There are about 3 trees in our neighbor's backyard that fell on the enclosed fenced garden (no planting so nothing lost). Such a nice fence too. DH will use the chainsaw to cut them up in smaller sections and neighbor's grandson (teenager) will do the rest. It was HOT AND SUNNY, we were drenched. About every hour, DH takes a break and goes for a short Harley ride in the neighborhood to cool off, LOL!!
Sunday: got up early and drove to the 'maze' .........might be muddy and if so, will go to state park instead. Mtn bike trails are damp, but runnable. But about 1/2 mile in, huge broken trees/branches are blocking the trails. Some I can walk through or move but others, I had to turn around. I left my phone in the car or I would have taken some photos. Anyway, I didn't want to go to the state park so after finally finishing the large loop, decided to check out the damages on the smaller loop.
A few areas w/ fallen trees but I could go through/over. After 4 miles, I got back to car to hydrate and saw 3 bikers getting ready to get on the trails. Told them about the broken trees blocking the trails, they were gonna take their chances they said. After that I just ran on the X-country trails, they are wider so I could run around/over the few broken trees, nice short gradual hills. The overcast sky and slight cool breeze made it more tolerable to withstand the humidity. Finished, YAY!! I earned the 8.1 miles for sure!! Met up w/ a friend to stroll the art in the park event afterwards.
Today: been raking/picking up rest of smaller debris in the yard since early morning. Hope to make it to the gym for a workout. Have dinner w/ friends this evening.
az2mntrail Thats quite the storm you had! Sorry to hear that you lost trees. We need the rain here, .They will soon tell us to conserve water on the lawn.Nice to get rain ..but not trees toppling over! YAY for Harley rides! Goo for you to persevere on the trail!
justrundan The end of Barnum and Bailey is certainly the end of an era. Nice of you to see it. My grandmother's family were Barnum's (Michigan) back in the early 1800's and she said they were all acrobatic, walking on clotheslines and such, doing balancing tricks. Us younger ones in the family wonder if they were really circus people oe just amusing themselves doing tricks.
I hope your wife is enjoying her retirement.
NH Runner Good for you to be able to get to a better place to ride Isabel.
Art in AZ Any runs in your weather are great in my book.
3 mile run outside
30 minute walk.
40 minute yard work.
I tried to post a photo for over an hour.
"dancing on the path and singing, now you got away,
you can reach the goals you set from now on, every day"
Sonata Arctica
5 mile run outside at 6:30 am. Cool, windy, felt like rain, but none yet.
Chantilly: sounds like a wonderful early morning run in the coolness! Do you run outdoors more than indoors? I can't remember the 'steps' to upload a photo. I think NH might be more helpful. I hope you get a chance to run another CA race .......This is on my bucket list for 2018: https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=37086
Monday: didn't make it to the gym. Spent most of the day raking/picking up debris. It was HOT, sunny most of the day w/ barely a breeze. Had dinner w/ couple who bought a second home in west Phoenix, they have a home here too.
Today (Tues): drove to gym for workout. 20 min elliptical, 1 mile interval on TM, 1 mile run on indoor track, 1 mile interval on TM again, then 1/2 mile running drills on track, 30 min weights, stretching, sweating buckets!! icky!! Got home and finished raking/cleaning up debris from trees that DH cut up into logs. Cloudy so it was nicer but it's humid, still anticipating the predicted 'storm.'
Tuesday, 7/25... decided yesterday to run again after just one day off since my last run and increase the distance to 6 miles. Seemed doable, but 4.5 miles in my heel started to complain, so I eased up the last 1.5 miles. It's probably progress, but didn't feel like it at the time...lol Today was kept to a short 6 mile trail ride on the tryke, spent a good share of the day doing yardwork and struggling with a mower that didn't want to run...
Dan... sounds like a great weekend in Baraboo, nice!
az... it's a couple mile drive to where the better conditions for rowing start on the trail. I actually head back towards my place once I start the ride, but turn back at the mile mark where conditions for rowing deteriorate in a hurry. What I like about mixing it up between running and rowing is the break each muscle groups gets after a workout, like weight lifters who never work the same muscles 2 days in a row. I'm stronger all around because of the tryke, but not sure how much it actually helps running...lol What a wild storm you had, eh? Trees down is similar to what happens to the railtrail here after a storm, but the state doesn't take long to clean up the mess. Lots of cross training with yard work, a gym workout and a trail run, you've been busy lately!
Chantilly...there must be a tutorial somewhere on the net for posting pictures, I'll see if I can find something tomorrow. I know how, it's just tough for me to explain. No let up in you, I like how you just keep plugging. Congrats on that early morning 5 miler...
I posted the photo!
The above white rose bush(Oscar Peterson Rose...named after the Canadian Jazz musician from the 1930's to1970) has 3 big bees on it. It is a fragrant rose. Very hardy in cold temps.
az2mntrail Good w/o for you at the gym.
I would like to run under the redwoods, but don't see it happening. for me.
I run indoors on the track probably 75% of the year. I hate cold, wind, uneven pavement, traffic, heat, etc. I have been outside lately due to finances.
I can't decide about NM until later. (fitness, finances)
NH Runner Good run, but are you still going to the therapist and doing the exercises?
Wednesday, 7/26... beautiful day for a bike ride today, dew point in the lower 50's and temp in the lower 70's. 10 mile mtn bike ride on the trail, met a couple of bikers, but that was it. Tackled my lawn mower motor later in the day, ended up taking the carburetor apart and giving it a thorough cleaning, nice to be able to fix a few of these things myself, (I got it running again) but it's till a pain in the neck...
Chantilly... nothing to posting pics., eh? lol Nice to see the bees working your flowers. Right now cucumbers, squash and pie pumpkins in the veg. garden are all in need of a bee or two, they're blossoming like crazy. The only roses we have here are the wild ones with pink flowers that spread like crazy. They're close to being a nuisance, but too nice to get rid of...lol
Thursday, 7/27... 5 mile gallop on the railtrail this morning. Seeing horse flies (another name for deer fly) buzzing around me as I ran, I was curious just how fast those things can fly, so I looked it up. Take a guess, then click this link... https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/aprilholladay/2005-02-11-wonderquest_x.htm You're not going to believe it!
NH Runner Good run and bike ride for you. Trying to outrun those flies? ...not even Usain Bolt...
On the forums part of this website, go to the General Running topic and then scroll down to Deer Flies are here. You may find it interesting. Photos of flies that runners have caught by wearing fly tape on their hat are on there.
Yesterday 40 minute walk before supper.
Today 3 mile run and 1:15:00 walk.
Back to work.
5 miles yesterday. Sunny, hot and humid out so was drenched in the end. Heck, I was pretty drenched after about 3 miles.
6 miles this morning in the same conditions.
Ray - I've gotten acclimated to this weather so while it is still uncomfortable after a while, it's not too bad. It's a shame the circus ended but I understand it because of the circumstances.
AZ - Good combo of exercises and cross training for you. We finally had a good storm come through here Sunday night to Monday morning. Not one of those where it all comes down in an hour. This was pretty steady with periods of heavier rain. Rain totals around here were 2.5 - 3". The usual water retention basins were filled with water for a couple of days. So with nothing in the garden but a few basil plants we finally get rain. To bad on the tree lost. They take so long to get to a good shape and size and then so quick for things to change. Well some people will appreciate the firewood.
Chantilly - Nice picture of the rose bush with bees. Sounds like the planting you did is going well.
Rich - Nice combo there as usual. It's frustrating when things aren't working but you feel better when you can fix them without having to take it somewhere and have to pay for it.
Art in AZ
Mesa, AZ
YAY Happy Friday everyone!! Another sunny morning, barely a breeze.
Thurs (Yesterday): woke up hungry!! Ate/stretched, made chocolate milk for post-run. Was around 70 degrees at 8 am!! Drove to different part of state park where I can run in more shade along the route. Lots of cyclists out. Only 2 other female runners. Took two frozen water bottles. The first 2 miles were tough, sluggish but finally got into a steady pace. Took 30 sec walk breaks every 2 miles. Around 5 miles, hid one of the frozen bottles. At 7 miles, turned around. It's HOT and full SUN though, can feel heat through the trees, taking 1 salt tab every hour. Picked up hidden water bottle at 10 miles. Mile 14 is my slowest. Only 2 more to go, somehow/somewhere, I got energized and picked up pace. Last mile was my fastest, WOOHOO!! Finished 16.1 miles!! I'm totally soaked w/ sweat and HOT. Grabbed the half frozen water bottle in car and dumped it over head, stretched abit, drove home. Stretched again, drank the COLD chocolate milk, showered and took a nap!! DH had got done early at work and he went for a swim. We went to late lunch. Ran some errands. I rarely drink regular coffee but we had a dance event so I had a cup to stay awake. Dance was fun, great band/singer.
Fri (Today): feeling good, a little stiff. Will go to gym for workout later today. Hope to get in another run tomorrow.
NH: sounds like your tryke riding in getting in some long miles. So 5 miles felt good on your feet? Maybe you should stick w/ short distances, sounds like when you start running over 6 miles, your heel gets very unhappy. I started w/ a mile, then 2, etc. Most of the time, I thought they weren't worth wasting water by showering but that was the least of my problems. It's good to be mechanically skilled, they do come in handy and can save $$. DH does alot of his own repairs but knows when to take it to someone else.
Chantilly: love the photo of your flowers. Good to see bees taking advantage of it. We planted a couple of 'hardy' rose bushes but they died after one winter!! However, one of them is showing some life so giving it TLC. Hope you have shade to run under when you're running outside but then, you are an EARLY EARLY bird. Well, we'll keep NM race in mind. I will run the Bataan Memorial in March 2018 though, registration opens Oct. 1.
Art: heat acclimation takes so much longer it seems .......at least to me but I guess not too much when you live in region that's pretty warm/hot most of the year. Good job on getting your runs in in that heat. Not much shade along the canal from what I remember. Sounds like you all got some much needed moisture. Hope it helped w/ the wild fires.
Went to gym, 20 min elliptical, stretching, 2 mile intervals on TM, 30 min weights, stretching, WHEW!! I'm drenched. Great workout tho', muscles feel so much better. Hope to get in at least an 8 miler in the MAZE tomorrow. The high is 83 degrees but feels so much hotter, humidity is low, dew point is low but it's still HOT!!
Ran 1.5 miles to high school and did 15 sets of up down on the bleachers and then did 3.5 going back home. So 5 miles for today. Was cloudy out so a little nicer without the sun but still soaked at the end.
AZ - Nice couple of workouts for you. It would be nice to run in 70 degrees now. Even for just a couple of days. This morning it was 85 degrees, 29% humidity and 60 degrees dew point. Speaking for myself and being acclimated it's just this time of the year, monsoon season, that I really feel the heat. From what they say it's the combined temp and dew point that we really feel and indicates how uncomfortable it is. Hopefully only another 6 weeks or so to go. Yum on the chocolate milk.
Happy Saturday!!
DH left early for another car show/swap meet about 2 hrs east of here. I drove to the 'maze' after he left. About 70 degrees already, feels muggy, dewpoint in the 40s, humidity around 50%, guess it's not so bad, mostly sunny but the maze offers much needed shade for most of the run in the woods. DH heard from a friend of a friend that trails have been cleared by the mtn bikers/X-country skiing clubs, wish I knew, would have helped. About 3 other vehicles in parking lot, all have bike carriers. Ran easy, twice on each loop. I'm soaked but overall, felt great, stopped twice at car for hydration. Finished 8.2 miles, yay!! Was 81 degrees when I finished, feels like 85 though!! WHEW!!