Marathon Maniac #957
I'm sorry about your stubbed toe! Nothing hurts worse than that.
Actually, I can think of several things that would hurt more than that, but still, badly stubbed toes are indeed painful.
Jay - thanks for the mower explanation.
Leslie - if we get hit by a car, I will likely be a projectile flying 100 feet or more, so a helmet is not likely to save me from the snapped neck or back. However, we mostly drive the quiet country roads at fairly low speeds, enjoying the countryside. Any time we are going to have to use the busier or faster roads, and always on our rare rides on the freeway, we have full helmets that we wear. I'm still trying to work out how to set up the bluetooth system we bought for them that will allow us to speak to each other, listen to music and answer our phones while wearing the helmets - plan to get that done this weekend. Plus we have a set of the half-helmets that we occasionally wear for longer but still local rides. Also - check your messages...
Murray - taking your time for the drive sounds lovely, and awesome that you can see relatives as well. Here's hoping for some cool and dry weather for your race.
Enke - that seems like a long walk to the bus stop. She didn't have to go that far when she was in elementary and high school, did she? And the matching shoes, well, we have another pair of matching Vans, too.... I prefer Converse Chucks, but DH doesn't like them much.
Roch - the orange barrels seem to be a permanent fixture on the highways, and truck traffic on I-75 and I-70 is nonstop, it seems.
Starr - Happy Birthday!
So, I start work tomorrow, just a half-day beginning at 1pm to 5, and then 8:00 to 5:00 from there on out. I really wanted to start on Wednesday, because after so many weeks off work I expect the first week will be kind of exhausting, but the woman I am replacing has Wednesday as her last day, so this will give her a day and a half to show me the ropes.
Given that this job offer was a bit sudden, I spent today doing a number of things I really should have done while out of work, but was so down and low energy that I kept putting them off. First was a trip to Midas for an oil change. DH told me to show up when they opened and they would get me right in. NOT! So I made an appt for 12:30, then went to my PCP to drop off a form for our insurance wellness program that I forgot to bring to my physical, then to a hospital outpatient imaging lab to have x-rays done of my lower back and hands, then back home for an hour where I helped DD pick out some frames online and order a new pair of glasses for her, then back to Midas for the oil change, then off to get a pedicure, so I can start my new job with pretty toes, and lastly, back to the PCP to pick up the form.
Diagnosis is that I have arthritis in the joint at the base of my thumb (apparently the most common place that people get arthritis) and some arthritis and degenerative disc disease in my lower back. Well, bleck. I was sort of hoping he would say that the back pain was more muscle related and that I need to stop slouching at the computer desk. Oh well.
So, I did NOT have a workout today, but will get something in tomorrow morning.
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."
Holly, I think we all have a little arthritis somewhere in our bodies at this age. Mine is a big toe.
I was wrong, the bus stop is about 0.7 miles away for DD, so round trip walk was only 1.4 for me. It is the express bus that goes downtown to her summer job, not a local milk run bus, so that is why the stop is a bit further way.
She and 5 other girls have put an application in to rent a house together one block from the UW Seattle campus in the fall, instead of living in the dorms, which she doesn't think she'll get into anyway this year. Some drama as one girl's father would not agree to cosign the application for his daughter.
DS has no summer job or internship lined up yet. I suspect he will end up working at Nordstrom again, perhaps the local Rack store just over a mile away. Last year he was at the Vancouver BC downtown store, and hated it for whatever reason (filling online orders).
"During a marathon, I run about two-thirds of the time. That's plenty." - Margaret Davis, 85 Ed Whitlock regarding his 2:54:48 marathon at age 73, "That was a good day. It was never a struggle."
fatozzig that is a truly horrible accident.
About helmets. The point of a helmet is to protect you at low speeds, not high ones. If you are traveling over about 17 miles an hour and hit your head you are done. No helmet, you will die due to your skull getting crushed in. Hemet, you will die due to your neck breaking. The problem with bodies is that the neck is a weak point. But, tons of people die in low speed accidents. Most when I last checked. A bike (motorized or not) is standing still, a car makes a turn right into the bike. The bike falls over, the person's head slams into the ground. No helmet? Likely dead. Helmet? Get up yell at the driver. Go home and bandage up skinned parts of your body. Oddly, people often go without a helmet when biking, where the evidence that it helps is really strong and wear one religiously when skiing, where the evidence is nearly non-existent. For skiing, most accidents occur at way faster than 17 miles an hour. Plus, if you body slam a tree at 30 a helmet is just going to make it easier to identify the body. All of which is why my DW and I always wear a helmet when biking and do not bother when skiing.
On a less macabre note, I am totally ticked off at my Garmin. Sunday, I went to run with the local running club. My first visit to the group in over a decade. There was just one pack going out so I went with them. They were slow, 12 minute mile slow. I did not want to be rude and just split so I ran with them. That was not easy, as you may know if you have ever tried to run with people that are going way slower than your natural easy pace. What did my Garmin do? It took 3 points off my V02max and told me my training was unproductive. Harrumpff!
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/
MM#209 / JapanJoyful#803
Twocat / Holly - I have always worn a helmet, even from my first road bike, a used Raleigh at college in 1967 with the leather Brooks saddle I still have to go with the leather tube helmets they were then. A more modern helmet definitely saved me in 2003 when I cracked it instead of my head when, because I had a marathon the next day and wanted to be careful, I slowed way down, maybe 4 or 5 mph to lift the front tire up a sharp curb to the sidewalk but went over the handlebars to loud noise of the helmet cracking plus big bruise on my hip, just right for practicing running 26.2 miles anyway to see if I could do the same if I got into a bike mishap in upcoming first IM since 1987 and still be able to complete the ensuing marathon. Oddly enough, it only hurt for the first 10-12 miles when thereafter everything hurt enough anyway from just running that far not to notice.
ps Enke / Holly - trade you for a right or left shoulder, or right or left knee.
. . . we all have a little arthritis somewhere in our bodies at this age. Mine is a big toe.
"Enjoy yourself. Your younger days never come again." 100yo T. Igarashi to me in geta at top of Mt. Fuji (8/2/87)
MM #5615
Hello everybody!
I got in 10 miles, which included my last "strength" workout before my marathon. 6 x 1 milers around 6:37, or so.
I'm taking these two weeks, before the marathon, off from lifting weights... I miss my lifting partner already.
Good luck with your new job, Holly!
Okay--gotta go.
See ya!
Happy birthday Starr. May ones are the best as winter's finally over and summer's just starting to get underway, . . except in Seattle.
Smash the thing, twocat!
Out there running since dinosaurs roamed the earth
pps Leslie - very tragic but, unfortunately, all too common driving around the Seattle area so, especially after two broken windshields from flying rocks a couple of years ago, I stay an extra distance from potential sources, even though it means letting drivers who don't cut in front of me that I usually don't like.
happy B-Day, Starr!
4.1 hill miles, search miles? Looking for evidence of the reported mountain lion at Pt Richmond, so I did all the trails on the hill. I'm very skeptical an actual cat was seen, it would have to cross two 6-lane highways and go through miles of urban neighborhoods to get there, or be very good about following train tracks and using underpasses, as if it had Waze. However, I did find two suspect tracks in a sandy section. No claw marks I could discern. Every couple years chicken little cries "MOUNTAIN LION!" in Pt Richmond, and it never pans out. There are deer, and gray fox there, though.
Helmets? Yes on bicycles, meh on motorcycles (reasons already mentioned). Besides, we're low on organ donors nationwide. When the helmet laws came into effect, there was an instant decline in available organs for transplant, so I guess that's anecdotal evidence that they DO prevent death in motorcycle accidents. I had a Lambretta Li125 in college, before OR had helmet laws. I decided to ride it home to Central Oregon over the pass from Eugene one Summer. It was great. Coming back, going down the pass at 70mph wearing just shorts and shoes and sunglasses, I went around a pothole (saw it coming a long way ahead of time), but I looked at it as I went by, and it was half as deep as my tires were tall. If I HADN'T seen it and hit it, I would have died. I slowed way down the rest of the way back to Eugene.
60-64 age group - University of Oregon alumni - Irreverent and Annoying
Surly - riding a color like that in those days would've been like wearing a helmet. ps - nice, safe riding. . . . especially when it counted most.
ps - sorry I miss most of the shoe discussions as, though I haven't worn running shoes since 1990, since I wear shoes that have always matched for everything else, I'm glad Holly does too.
Same with the subsequent lawnmower explanation probably because, since the first time sounded more like me than Jay , I didn't want to find out it wasn't.
Besides, we're low on organ donors nationwide.
45 min of stat biking and 30 min of core/ST/PT.
Holly - Sorry! Emailed you!
You don't realize how much work your toes do until you stub one of them.
I'll just say that Coros doesn't give snarky remarks about your workout.
Arthritis, Fibromyalgia - In my research about PF, I came across some great information from Northwest Foot and Ankle and sports podiatrist Ray McClanahan. One of the things he recommends for PF is a product called Sombra Warm Therapy, a natural pain relieving gel. When I read reviews of the product on Amazon, it was nothing but rave reviews, including people who have arthritis and fibromyalgia. I ordered some for my foot and am going to try and get The Hub to give it a go on his thumbs, which are getting pretty arthritic. I'm very interested in seeing if it helps us.
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
Hello everyone. I don't have time to comment since it is past my bedtime, but I wanted to thank you all for the birthday greetings. That was nice of you. We are leavingup early tomorrow for our first trip up north. The camper is there on a seasonal site so after this first time, we'll be fine to just take the little car back and forth. I think diesel prices are over $5 now, yikes! We have to go through the Cities, a little out of the way, to pick up our electric bikes and a pontoon we bought. We are so anxious to get up there and relax. Doug, we ended up getting Pedego Bomerang editions. I was sold on them from when I first looked online. We got the helmets so we can talk to each other too, or listen to music. There are so many trails in the Brainerd area, it should be fun. There is a State Forest just across the lake so we can go hiking too, and fishing (once I learn how).
I am on the second week of C25K, just 90 seconds running and 2 minutes walking. When she tells me I am done, I continue the repeats until I get home to get a longer workout. I may have to try Run Zombies again, that was kind of fun!
“Courage is not defined by those who fought and did not fall, but by those who fought, fell, and rose again.” — Adrienne Rich
Hey, my PF has been acting up, I think because of the shoes I've been wearing to work in; longer days on my feet seem to be worse (Altra Lone Peak with Superfeet Green insoles). But, I broke out the "orthopedic shoes" and runs are pain free. Hoka Stinson ATR-6. Factory insoles. I dunno if the Bondi are similar but with road-specific outsole, I kinda doubt it. Besides, the Stinsons are supposed to be "all terrain" road/trail hybrids, and they are just fine on pavement. Might not work for you, but they do for me.
I wonder if these foot massager things work? And you don't have to put up with their bad jokes!
Jay - Ouch!!! I hope you kept your streak alive. You made the right call about not keeping one of the mowers. Even if it never caught up to you , karma baby.
I thought I posted! I'm losing it!
Welcome to my world.
Leslie- That story is sad.
Happy Birthday Starr!!!!
Doug - Good luck down memory lane.
Holly - I'd dislike using the phone while out enjoying riding on the bike. The degenerative disk diagnosis sucks.
TwoCat - Have a little chat with your Garmin while holding it over the garbage disposal. It will see things your way.
Thank you. I'll take a look.
I got 5.4 miles in. I left work only an hour late in time to catch GS#1 in a few heats during his hometown track meet.
SteveP