12 degrees this morning and snowing 

hit the gym this morning strength training- I'm using a very effective program (thus far anyways) Wendler 5/3/1- it focuses on the top four compound exercises- deadlifts, squats, bench press and overhead press; it's based on a % of your 1 rep max (easily calculated by higher reps than 1)- it progresses slowly, but with clear cut goals on a four week cycle (the last week of the cycle is a "deload" week and the weights are cut way back); eventually you will probably not be able to progress any further, but I'm roughly 20 weeks in and still rolling

going to get Tiny E out this afternoon, hoping it warms a little and snow lets up a little

Did 20 at Huntsville this morning. Really nice weather, 50 deg at the 6am start, I think it was about 70 at the end. Did a hybrid loop somewhere between the RR100 20mi loop and 25mi loop versions.  Had to because some of the trails are still closed from the hurricane washout damage. I know the trails so well that it’s easy to string different ones together.

Been running in the park for 15 years and in the pre-dawn darkness I saw my first alligator!!!  It was early and I was going along Lake Raven looking to the west as the full moon was going down. It was absolutely breathtaking, serine and peaceful. Well at the water’s edge I caught a glimpse of these two red dots reflecting back from the glow of my headlamp. I stopped to get a better look and when I got about 5 or 6 feet away, there was this huge swooshing sound, a wave of water and in a flash something really large turned 180 degrees and dove under.  I only caught a glimps of darkness moving.  Only afterwards I thought that it might not have been a smart move to get too close, but in my defense there was a big tree by the water’s edge that I was sort of shielded by.  Anyway, the encounter only added to the beautiful setting.

I saw the alligator a little south of where mile 1 is indicated. I guess this is an old google map image, as it currently has clear water, with only a little green growth upstream.  When I went along the same trail later in the light I didn’t see the gator, but I did see ripples and bubbles in pretty much the same spot.

After that the run was pretty uneventful, saw some deer and rabbits and a bunch of squirrels. Just another day in the park. I should add that because of the thunderstorms I mentioned the other day, the trails were pretty soggy. It’s also interesting that due to the hurricane washouts, the areas that are soggy have moved around a bit.

Qotd:  much the same as Bert-o, but also throw a 15’ sailboat into the mix. We used to think nothing of sailing the 5mi across the bay or 15mi to the one of the towns along the shoreline. Half the time my parents didn’t know where we were going or when we’d be back.

21.7 miles on the mountain. Mostly dirt road.

QOTD:  Road my bike everywhere. Ran all over thru the woods.  Oh yea, we even made mountain bike trails for our banana seat bikes.  Some kids still do stuff like that, but most just prefer to sit and play video games.  In my area the old order Mennonite  kids still walk and ride everywhere.

Warden: That's an early April Fool's joke, right? 

But it's supposed to snow tomorrow night here, too. Hard to believe when today it was in the 50's. Still a nasty cold breeze, however.

3.1 miles on the bike trails with the kids. It was fun, and I even managed to go a little faster on some short intervals. Felt great, and it seems to loosen up my back which is a bit out of whack, just at the edge of getting really bad.

Sandy: That gator encounter sounds pretty impressive. I guess you were lucky that the gator didn't decide he wanted an early morning snack. Something protein rich...

QOTD: Riding my bike all around the area, about 10 miles radius from home when I was 9 or 10. Walking to the forest, about 10 minutes away, and spending most of the day there. Going to the public pool (5 or 6 outdoor pools in a hilly grass area) by bus (45 min bus ride one way) and spending the afternoon there with friends. Hiking in the mountains around town, sometimes 12+ miles, for hours. Taking our inflatable boat to one of the rivers that run through the town where I grew up and let it take us down the river for about 5 miles, stopping in between to snatch some cherries off the trees in the gardens along the riverbank. All these things without our parents - sometimes they knew where we were, sometimes they didn't.

Skiing with my sister all around a huge skiing area (about 65 lifts across 5 or 6 mountains in the main Alps) all by ourselves, always (well, almost always) making it back to our base station in time before the lifts closed at 5 p.m.. I only remember us twice having to walk up two longer hills (about 1000 ft elevation gain each) because we had missed a connecting lift and there was no other way to get back to base. And our parents waited there, patiently. No cell phones, no problem.

17 miles on the AT today in shorts and tee shirt. Beautiful day.

My girls spent nearly 3 hours at the track with their brother, a college track coach, learning different event technique. I joined them for about an hour. Lets just say they may not have gotten their brother's track talent. But they are all-state swimmers, so they have that.

QOTD: Like the others, we used to take off on our bikes, ride 10 miles to some lake or woods and go fishing and poke around. Never occurred to us to tell our parents or for them to ask about it. As long as we were home for dinner all was good. Weekends and summers you just headed outside, ran around the neighborhood and saw who was doing what, played, and got home by dark and/or meals.

Chores... we have three "ponds" the size if a jacuzzi ..they cascade down from a waterfall.. so spent the day draining them and then scooping out the mud.. it's been a few years.  Added the mudd to my garden beds..thinking that mud has to be filled with good shit. Tomorrow long run then manure snd grass seed.

Qotd:  pretty much the same..total freedom..we had a train track that gave us a shortcut from home to town ...it was three miles but parents had no problem with us hiking to town.  We also were placed on the Grey Hound once a year to visit our cousins in the city who had a doughboy pool (sweet) starting at 10.  Got kicked out of school for not having the proper white blouse...Mom said is was the proper blouse when I left so I can walk home...bit of a snow storm going on so I stopped a a beauty shop we used to warm up (I was wearing a school uniform, no pants) they ended up driving me home because my legs were turning white  but I derseved it!

this will also be my last post as well; I'm not running much either and am starting a smile challenged forum

Happy Easter (and April 1) everyone

this will also be my last post as well; 

Dang. Well, I may as well quit too.