Good morning folks. No recaps, just getting us started. Lots of great racing yesterday (congrats Erika) and interesting discussions on climate change and retirement. I love Wisconsin. No. Really. Winters can be a little long but I would never want to live anywhere else. The change of seasons and the unique things each one brings makes me want to stay. We don't mind getting out of winter for a few weeks each year, but the cost of living is reasonable, the people are super, and there's lots of large cities easily accessible from here.
It's raining here but supposed to clear up later. The colors are at their peak right now so I'm thinking a trail hike later. Our DGS is turning 9 today. I'm baking his favorite chocolate cake to bring to his party later.
Have a great Sunday everyone.
Mornin' Jlynne and all to follow.
Sounds like a perfect day (after the rain stops) for a trial hike, Jlynne. Chocolate cake - yummm!
DW and I moved to NH 20 years ago for a variety of reasons. We embrace the weather; love that we are out of the path of most severe weather and weather-related events; love the scenic variety, activities available to us, including entertainment and education options; love the people; and like the proximity to Boston and Portland, ME (each about an hr away). I'm retired, DW is not, but when she does bite that bullet, we have no interest in moving, especially not to warmer climes. As Tramps pointed out, many people are moving from warmer and/or more risky climate areas (that Climate Migration thing...).
As a side note, my group has a grant from the Climigration Institute, but that deals more with people who are very vulnerable to significant weather forces and might have to move for long-term safety reasons. I'd surely hate to be in that situation, but more and more people are facing that decision these days.
No workout for me this morning, as I'm still enjoying the aches from yesterday's half. Full report in the weekend RR posts, but suffice it to say that I started easy, raced well in 4-9, and then hobbled the last 3+ with an injury and fatigue. Maybe I'll do some EZ walking and some lawn-mowing (the last time?) cross-training later today.
Have a greta Sunday.
Jay
Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.
Marathon Maniac #957
Well, I am perfectly happy staying in southern Ohio. We have the four seasons, but winters are not terrible, usually not a huge amount of snow, and the cost of living is low. (A dozen eggs is $.99 and a gallon of milk is $1.69 right now - what do they cost where you are?)
I set out for my run this morning but I am having foot pain all across the top of my left foot - I have no idea why, it was fine yesterday - and it hurt enough that I decided not to run today in hopes it will be okay tomorrow.
Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, "Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapenos."
Very interesting discussion about retirement and where to live. I struggled for many years with where to live. Finally accepted the fact that I love cities and the variety of opportunities they offer. We live in a “suburb” which is only 2 miles from downtown Boston. Cost of living is high but, if one can afford it, it’s a great area for retirement and aging in place.
Easy 3.2 run this morning in fall weather circling around Fenway Park. Go Sox!!
My DW suggested last night that she wanted to rent homes in various spots for several months at a time that are retirement candidates. Then move to the winning location full time. Not all that different to what Surly Bill plans to do, minus the RV. My DW and and RV are unlikely to ever meet up for a trip. All of the places we are thinking about are near a beach down south. My old training partner moved to Naples Florida and that is one of DW's picks. Personally, I want to spend time in Jackson Hole as well, which is my favorite place to visit in the US.
This morning I did my now 10 minutes of recommended exercises. DW and her friend went out for a run. The rain has finally stopped. Alas, it is now horribly cold out. It is not even January! How am I going to survive?! While they were out I baked up a batch of drunken pumpkin bread. Turned out awesome! I have no idea why this batch is particularly good. It just is.
Live like you are dying not like you are afraid to die.
Drunken Irish Soda Bread and Irish Brown Bread this way --> http://allrecipes.com/cook/4379041/
Erika--I don't know Alaska but I wonder if this has something to do with the extreme weather that was already there. That is, in some areas climate change will destroy existing extreme conditions but create new conditions that are perfectly livable. This is especially true in cold and wintery climates. That EPA model is not just about change but about the likely resilience of communities to survive those changes.
2cat--LOL. No, nothing to do with longevity. (And you may want to check on the likelihood of coastal properties flooding before you buy! Here's an easy tool.)
Bill--Interesting list; I like it. I have very little experience with the West, which likely biases my thinking about it. I do sometimes wonder though about the "crowded" East issue. (Sell the property in Hawaii, though; it's doomed! )
Interesting that this evolved into a "where to live in retirement" thread. That's part of it for us but the discussion we've had was sparked by the weather extremes that seem to be coming much more frequently here. I used to think of serious climate change as something that would affect the next generation. But the past couple of years here, coupled with what I read and conversations with folks who study this stuff (my department hired an environmental sociologist a couple of years ago who studies the social impact of climate change), have combined to make it a sobering realization just how immediate some of this is very likely to be in some areas. It still feels a bit odd to openly discuss such concerns concretely, like I'm a doomsday nut or something. But the scientific community (and the military and insurance industry) is well past that so I feel like I should pay attention (even if our political leaders seem mostly oblivious) if we're planning a life decision that could last 20-30 years (if we're lucky!).
On a brighter note, it was gray and overcast but a wonderful 50F with low humidity this morning. Got a 50-mile ride in through the remaining mess from this week. Lots of tree branches piled by the side of the road. One stretch that is the lone road for a peninsula is eroding away with huge cracks forming in the pavement lengthwise; they've already announced emergency repairs will be starting this week. Still a fair amount of gravel, mud, and standing water in the roads. My bike was filthy by the end. Felt great to ride in cooler temps, though.
Be safe. Be kind.
Is that what Barb meant by we were all missing the point? Maybe.
Tramps, the north and western coastal areas are under huge threats from melting sea ice and permafrost. Many villages are facing total destruction and need to be moved, or the people need to move. Maybe the "resilience" comes from the stubbornness to stay and find a solution. But the melting permafrost is a huge problem many people just don't understand.
I like Surly Bill's approach and list, but I'm really not a hot weather person (imagine that). I can't do humidity at all. DH went to school in Tucson and he loves that area. A little too desert-y for me, I love trees. Big trees. A friend of mine from the university retired and she and her DH spent a little over a year traveling the U.S. in their little travel trailer (she called it her retirement pod). They found a place in Oregon (sorry, can't remember where) and bought a house. Nice to have checked out so much before deciding.
Holly, make sure your laces weren't too tight, or even a fold in your sock. Those tendons along the top of your foot can be so sensitive and when they're inflamed it really hurts! Hope it's just a passing thing.
Good to get out and get it done, Jay. Although hope you didn't aggravate anything. Nice job on the trail race, anneb! I really don't like wet feet so trail races with water crossings are not my favorites.
Will get out for a run later, but this is a nice weekend day with no rain so a "last chance" to clean up yard stuff.
Meaning, it's really about climate change and not where-we-want-to-retire?
I have no idea what I did to my foot, but you are right in that it is the tendons on the top of my foot where they attach to my ankle/shin. I hate to lose my LR, but don't want to push anything this painful, especially when my next marathon is far enough away that I don't need to worry about my training just yet.
40 minutes on the Arc trainer at the gym. Wasn't going to do that much, but I watched the NBC Ironman coverage from yesterday's race and I wanted to get to the end. I didn't realize Lange proposed to his girlfriend at the finish line after he won and set the couurse record! Very cool.
Weights after the Arc.
Holly- I hope you don't have a stress reaction like my foot. That's exactly how it felt but wasn't quite as high on my foot as yours sounds. I think I am ready to be out of the boot (on pain) but not ready to run yet. I just need to wear firm soled shoes to work tomorrow. Tuesday will be 3 weeks.
Out there running since dinosaurs roamed the earth
4 miles this afternoon. I'd call myself slow, but that would be insulting to slow runners everywehre.
Interesting morning. My wife and I met a small group to go canoeing with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The trip was down a small tributary near a town south of us. Anyway, while waiting for folks to arrive, a young bunny rabbit hopped across the parking lot then right off the edge of the dock. We rushed over to see it and it looked dead; laying on its side on the surface. Then it kind of came to and swam to shore.
The rabbit must have been an omen. After paddling less than 5 minutes we heard a huge splash and a canoe behind us had capsized. It was carrying a very tall heavy-set guy and an older woman (not a husband wife) and the big guy had ducked as they went under a bridge and I suppose he bent sideways instead of forward. Our guide talked him to shore hanging onto a canoe, but once he got on land he stumbled badley. My wife, who is a nurse, kept telling him to sit for a minute, but he seemed very shocked, and tried to rise a couple more times, stumbling each one. Finally he got it together and walked back to his truck. Water was pretty chilly and I've no doubt it was quite a shock.
Tailwinds!
MM#209 / JapanJoyful#803
Having enjoyed residences from the East Coast (MA/MI) to Seattle, Alaska (2) and on to Japan and Singapore, I must not be very fussy and seem to like wherever I am. However, I think the butterflies have given enough to Eastern WA and need to go somewhere else, or move around, to share themselves and their community service with other places. .Kind of nice to have all the golden leaves against the azure sky on a beautiful fall weekend, though, just right for a cycle across the lake and back for a planned circuit of the island but crunching through the crackling leaves on parts of the bike path marked for a local Friendship Circle or something 5K later in morning enticed me to turn around and go back to DOR so my feet could feel the leaves and not just the bike wheels. Talk about low key: with only about 50 runners, they only recorded times for the top three men and women runners but, with the next oldest runner being 59, I guess I aced all the AG’s from 60 to 75 and above.
.
ps joe - contrary to the February '78 SI only taking a couple of months before I got in my first triathlon, another one that got even more deeply engrained was the September 1960 issue about Abebe Bikila that came to mind 30 years later when, worrying about running the Goodwill Games Marathon in Seattle at 97o, and sweaty, blistering, feet, I got to wondering if it might be possible for a regular runner to run a marathon barefoot, too. Yep, on only a two training run sine shoes, it was.
"Enjoy yourself. Your younger days never come again." 100yo T. Igarashi to me in geta at top of Mt. Fuji (8/2/87)
Holly - and Jay - hope the foot aches are nothing too serious. I’ve got a few aches and pains from my race yesterday, but I don’t think anything I can’t jog through the next few days.
On the topic of perfect fall weather, I was going to go to the gym but upper 40’s and sun is hard to pass up. Instead, went out for an easy 4. First block or so felt a little dicey but otherwise just the usual few sore areas that seem to improve with slow running. Enjoy the rest of the weekend all.
Anne
Cost of Living in Humboldt County: Dozen eggs - approx. $2.39. Gallon of milk - approx. $3.59. Gas approx - $3.67 a gallon. Rent averages over a $1,000 a month for a small, one bedroom apartment. If you want to rent a house, a minimum $1,200 to $1,600 a month for a small 2-bedroom. And then there's the fact we live 4 hrs from any significant town/airport. (Santa Rosa to the south, Redding to the east, and Medford, OR, to the north). We have an airport here, but you pay through the nose to fly out of here.
45 min of core/ST/PT this a.m., then we went grocery shopping, then I cleaned my car inside and out. It was still a mess from our trip, which included lots of dirt road driving. Now I get to work on The Hub's invoices.
Last night Eureka High School and St. Bernard's High School - located about a mile from each other - play football against one another for the first time since 1962. We left at half time when the score was 38-7, Eureka. I don't think they'll be playing each other again anytime soon.
Later ~~
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
I will tolerate the less than ideal weather here and stay put...at least for now. Low cost of living and lots of outdoor activities sold me. It is a sad thing that there is no Trader Joes here Speaking of less than ideal...72f with 82% humidity and I decide to go out and run. Overheated and cut my planned 6 to 5. Did a 10/2 run/walk that I had programed to my garmin (first time) and it worked out pretty good. 5.1 in a 13ish m/m. some hills...yes there were some hills. I wanted to quit way sooner than my 5 miles. Almost an hour later and my face is still all red and hot...I'm a red hot runner!!!
Trails Rock!
I'd call myself slow, but that would be insulting to slow runners everywehre.
Glad the canoe mishap turned out okay.
Leslie - Yikes! That is expensive! Do they raise your salary to accommodate that cost of living? (Gas is about $2.79/gallon here today, btw.) We are so fortunate to have a low cost of living here, and a hospital is only 3 blocks away. However, you do have some gorgeous wilderness nearby.