Yet another good day!

I think overcast is good as I didn't think I was going to die of a heatstroke coming up that last big hill. And 6 miles was a nice change although I am exhausted now and want to take a nap. Could be the big old chicken salad bagel I had at Beagle bagel with chips and pickle--breakfast of champions! But, I loved getting to meet a few new people today and putting faces with blogs! And, I am becoming addicted to the blogs now. I hope I'm not missing too many of the names from the MM site--I got weary of the copying and pasting but I do like reading everyone's notes. Each year the blogger method has changed a little and I didn't think I'd ever adapt to this one and become obsessed but it has now happened!!!! And I'm so happy to meet you bloggers in person.

One thing I thought of during my long torture, I mean run, last week was that you should soon be keying in on at least some of what you're gonna wear and use during the marathon. Don't majorly changes socks or other things that are next to your skin the day before the marathon as you body and skin won't be used to them. And, go ahead and experiment now with the gels and different drinks so you'll know what works and what doesn't. I've twice now worn some different socks that made me feel like my feet were getting raw so I'm not doing too good of a job of taking my own advice but it is jogging my memory!!!! I like the Baliga socks from Fleet Feet. I was wearing Thorlos but I find they are too thick and hot during our lovely summer weather here so now I save them for the winter.

I'm seeing 5 am starts in my future!

Now, don't get me confused with a morning person but I DO hate to be hot. And, Sally and I ran at 6 this morning for an hour and we were drenched when we finished. But, maybe it's not much cooler at 5???? I don't know. If this is global warming, I'm gonna have to pick a new sport!!! But, it does feel so good when you're finished although I'd like to go back to bed rather than to work!!!!!!!

Fresh Dog Water

I thank all of you for your responses to my question about how to keep dog water fresh outside. I have my doubts that any plastic bowl will work for my dogs outside as I have at least one MAJOR plastic and wood chewer who has 2 cohorts in crime to aid her while I am at work. I bought a LARGE plastic bowl with slanted down sides at PetSmart and filled it with water and it is pretty heavy when full. It has become quite an outside playtoy so then I started using a plastic bucket with a handle but they turned that over, too--and it is VERY heavy when filled with water. So, ingenious me, I enlarged one of the many existing holes in my backyard, which, by the way, looks somewhat like the surface of Mars thanks to the sweet darling digging and chewing babies, and I sort of sunk the bucket partway into the ground. So far, they have not been able to turn it over although they have snacked on the edge of the bucket. But, I have to lift it and dump it and rinse it out daily as it begins growing mold daily. And the outside of it is muddy so I get dirty and it is heavy, etc. So, I think that the little dealies with the 2L bottle on top or the empty soda bottle on top would be considered a snack item by these guys. I will have to call the vet and ask about the toxicity of bleach or the stuff that goes in ponds. Or, I saw a thing called Waterdog online that you attach to the outside faucet but it looks sort of inviting to chew on, also, so not sure about that. I have bought many chew toys for them to chew on but they appear to prefer chairs and screen and flowerpots and waterbowls and rugs and tables. It's a good thing they are cute!!!!!

Reservoir runs--at 530 am on Tuesdays and some Thursdays

The time appears to be ever changing but maybe they will mostly be at 530 am, uggggggghhhhh, except on the Thursdays that Sally has an 8 am meeting so then they'll be at 5 on those days, double uuuuugggggghhhhh!!!!!! Feel free to come and join us if you'd like. Same place to park as on Saturday AM's! But we don't put out water so you have to bring your own.

Another one of Carol's hare-brained schemes but I survived

What a week I have had! But I did get my 12 miles in, by myself unfortunately. I have pointed out how lucky we are to be healthy enough to even attempt our Marathon Adventure as my brother's health has been going downhill lately. Well, he took a tremendous plunge a week ago Monday while on a trip with some friends in Kentucky. In an attempt to try to help him function better/walk better, his Parkinson's meds had been increased, and they caused him to start hallucinating and falling and essentially being totally out of his head. Was hospitalized in a great hospital up there. My nephew drove up there but then needed help so I flew up there Wednesday to help. He was already getting better by the time I got there as they had stopped the meds. We drove back all night long Thursday night and I stayed in Merigold for the weekend to try to help him get on track with better diabetes control. So, I planned out a 12 mile route. And, I must say, I sort of wanted to be able to say I ran from Merigold to Cleveland. And, I was scared to run on desolate roads by myself due to fear of attack abduction. So, I looked at Hwy 61 with its nice wide shoulders, found that the turn around point was at the local Walmart, and headed out at 640 am Saturday morning, frozen Propel in hand--large one. Didn't take me long to realize that the traffic has picked up considerably on Hwy 61 in the 30 years that I've been gone from there!!!! So, I kept having to hit the shoulder which, although wide, was covered in giant, loose gravel. Sort of like running on the trail in Raymond or on the beach. So, my pace suffered, and I was exhausted by the time I got to Walmart. But, I went in, used their facilities, bought another Propel, and bought a cup of ice from the McDonald's inside, and prepped the old and the new bottles with ice and shared Propel. Dilly dallied around to rest but finally set out to go back to Merigold with TWO large bottles of drink (kind of like running with weights). I stood my ground on the narrow asphalt shoulder of road as much as I could but had to hit that gravel a good bit and had to walk a good bit. And, it was HOTTTTTT!!!!!. But, I did make it, and now I can say I have run from Merigold to Cleveland and back. And that I missed the support of you guys--a lot. I composed many blogs along the way--I guess that is one benefit of running alone--but not a good enough benefit to not make me want to be in your midst for all of my remaining long runs!!!!

A very draining 24 hours and pumped up due to FStops blog!!!

We are so happy that Deb, AKA FStop joined us today at the Rez y for our usual Tuesday/Thursday run! I guess I was running faster than usual today due to the stress of the past 24 hours. I got a very disturbing call yesterday about my youngest brother who had taken ill while out of town with some friends in Louisville, KY. He has recently been getting worse from his Parkinson's disease and also has hypertension and diabetes. He was confused and kept falling yesterday morning so they finally had to call an ambulance and take him to the hospital. He has been my Rock of Gibraltor for years and is one of the kindest and sweetest people on earth although not the greatest person to take care of his own health. He was actively hallucinating all yesterday, all night, and still doing so today. I did not know what to do--drive there, stay here, or what. But, thankfully, my nephew drove up there yesterday so I didn't feel so terrible about not being there. All of his tests have come out fine/negative, and they now think that he just needs a drug holiday from his Parkinson's medication to get himself straightened up. Thank the good Lord that it isn't anything worse like a stroke.

Thursday's run, this week will be at 5 AM----ugggghhhhhhh due to Sally's meeting at work that day. Then, we are either running at 530 or 545 am next Tuesday so feel free to come join us. Despite my reputation as a taskmaster/slavedriver about speed and long intervals, everyone can do their own pace as they like!!! And I even try to run back so we can all stay together!

Off with the new, on with the old---pedals!!!!

Okay, I gave in to reality and reason and got my old regular pedals put back on my bike. Enjoyed a nice long ride yesterday without fear of falling while trying to stop!!!!! Although stopping is a bit tricky even the old timey way or either I've developed a phobia now. My legs were a little sore, I think from Saturday's run, which wasn't pretty for me, by the way. Stomach issues prompted stops at the Chevron and the police station--and wow what wonderful air conditioning in that police station! And I ended up walking more than I would have liked because of stomach unrest. Oh, well.

And, interestingly enough, thanks to my Garmin, my pace with the old-timey pedals was faster than when I rode with the clip-in ones. So, there. And, I got delayed twice on my way home from Saturday's run as the Heatwave Triathlon folks were running the same trail that we ran last week. There was just enough space between the runners that traffic was backed up significantly! And, I went home to get cleaned up and get to the temple for a Bat Mitzvah at 10:15 and there were still police guarding the path for runners! The stragglers, whom I was proud of because, if I ever do that triathlon, that's about the time I'd be crossing that path, I'd be thinking!!!! I biked 15 miles yesterday and cannot yet imagine running 6 miles after getting off the bike so I've got a ways go to before I think about doing something like that.