The major aerial attack took place yesterday evening when I was putting my kayak away after the float trip on Saturday. I flock, swarm, herd, gang of horseflies the likes of which I cannot remember seeing tried to have a feeding frenzy on me. I left the truck and got back in the house until after dark. I figured I would allow them to establish a "no-run zone" for a few days. I hope they leave soon. I lifted weights this morning, and it was great.
Sandy: The only 50 mile race I ever ran is the only ultra I have ever won. I was the first place finisher with a course record as well as DFL. I was the only one who finished the race. Everyone else dropped to the 50K. I will never run another 50 miler again. I plan to remain undefeated in the distance. LOL
QOTD: How have the flying insects been in your neck of the woods this year?
Up until yesterday evening, they have been pretty manageable. They usually leave some time during the first couple of weeks of June, but they showed up a little late this year. I don't know if that means they will stay a little later. Other than horseflies, we haven't had much of a bug problem in my immediate area.
LB2
I did 12 miles yesterday on the hills behind my house. About .2 miles of the loop crosses private property and there was a hullabaloo this past year when the property owner put up barriers to keep people off. Plus threats of prosecution for trespassing, etc. So, I haven't been there for a while, too much drama. The barriers seem to be down for now, so I went for it. And ran as fast as I could over those .2 miles.
SRD today. Might go for a walk after work. I got a notice for jury duty for tomorrow, but I'll find out tonight whether I need to show up. I'm among the .01% of the population who actually hopes to get picked for jury duty.
Sandy, sounds like you and Devan had a great weekend!
QOTD: The only aerial offenders around here are inside our house. We bought a bag of sunflower seeds for our parrots from the feed store since they were a lot cheaper than the seeds from the pet food store. Well, we learned our lesson. The cheap seeds soon yielded larvae, followed by an infestation of moths in our house. I think we've finally gotten rid of most them but it was quite annoying.
5/11/24 Grizzly Peak Marathon, Berkeley, CA
7/20/24 Tahoe Rim Trail 56 miler, NV
9/21/24 Mountain Lakes 100, OR
I like to get picked for jury duty, except for the last time. I was picked the very week I took off work for the annual veteran's deer hunt, which is the first week of November. It was a trial about a cop using excessive force. I did the only thing I could think of when I was asked the obvious question by the defense. My answer, "Generally, I don't like the police. I think they overstep their boundaries." Generally, that is a true statement, but I have absolutely no problem distinguishing the difference between right and wrong based on the facts. There was a black guy seated behind me. His answer was that he had been profiled by the police on multiple occasions. We took a recess, and he came up behind me and said, "I just want you to know that I think what you did in there was genius. No way you get picked." Then he said, "I think I should be okay, too. I have never felt like I have actually been profiled; I have been pulled over. My dad is a retired state trooper, so I been around cops my whole life. But I got a bunch going on this week." We both got dismissed after that and spent a few minutes outside celebrating our freedom. I killed a deer two days later while the jury was deliberating, and I hope he got all his work done. It ended up being a hung jury; I don't know if it was revisited or not. I am now on the federal grand jury, but it was all postponed for a month.
Gatsby - Did you take the bag of seed back to the feed store?
I'd love to get on another jury, but it's been years since I've even gotten to a jury pool. The 2 juries I've been on, it was interesting. One guy was obviously guilty 'cause he'd been caught red-handed, but it was his third strike, so he had nothing to lose going to trial.
5 EZ miles this a.m. with 4 x 30 strides toward the end. AND, thankfully I made it to the 24 hr grocery store bathroom before there was an incident.
I tried to get our old kitty into the vet today, but they were extremely short-handed. I do have an 8:00 a.m. appt for him tomorrow, but given he hasn't hardly eaten since Saturday, I'm not feeling good about this. I think it's his mouth. He tried to eat yesterday afternoon, but gave up after a few bites of canned food. Cats can get something called fatty liver disease when they don't eat. It's bad, and if that happens we are not going to do a bunch of heroics. He's too old.
QOTD: Mosquitoes are the worst things around here. And since the field across the road from us has weeds that are 3 ft high and it's damp, they're bad.
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
No run here, or since last Thursday. Just some short walks. My right leg/knee has gone on strike again. Something going on in there. Happened earlier this year but went away. Came back on Friday on of all days a rest day from my jogging routine. Pain was pretty bad, bad enough that I resorted to Advil. I don't like to take the stuff but was over the edge. Needed a dose yesterday too as I could barely move the leg to walk.
Better today but I still scheduled a visit to the orthopod for next week. It will be probably be fine then but I can always try a run next weekend to set if off. Location is hard to describe. Feels like a wicked case of ITBS, but pain area a bit lower and some swelling behind the knee. Feels like a giant knot in there at times.
Did manage to power wash and clear seal the lower portion of our deck over the weekend. It's probably the last rodeo for this deck as it's 25 years old now. Get a few more years out of it but next time it needs cleaned and sealed probably time to replace.
QOTD: Deer and horseflies not too bad yet, but I was out for a short walk on Saturday. I am sure they are winding up. Baker hates any kind of flying bug. When they get bad he just sits down on the trail so they don't bite his backside. It is sort of funny.
In dog beers, I've only had one.
running under the BigSky
Sandy congrats to you and your DD- nice work!
5 miles 1300' hill workout w/ Tiny Elvis; we left for the trail at 10:00 AM, tomorrow we'll go a little earlier- neither Tiny Elvis or I do well much above 70 degrees
qotd: Not a flying bug around here; in the Bob the mosquito population seemed to be pretty healthy
2023 goal 2023 miles √
2022 goal- 2022 miles √
2021 goal- 2021 miles √
Had to share this picture taken over the weekend and shared on a local FB page.