My July 2025 Running, Walking and Swimming Report

For the month of July I persevered with my running and (speed) walking, cutting back some with the swimming.  I participated in three different racing events, running two of them (Melon Run, Depot Parkrun) on consecutive mornings early in the month. My intent this month...in which we've been experiencing a record-setting heat wave...was to balance my running and walking training while trying to avoid overexposure in the heat (and humidity) of the blistering day: I think it's worked so far. In the middle of July Melissa and I went on a three-night Bahamas cruise, but apart from expected extensive walking I didn't exert myself much, and the ship's pools were too crowded and small to be of any use.  The second half of the month I began to use my gym's treadmill to work on increasing my walking speed.  And the past week saw us using our local YMCA's swimming pool, with me getting in some practice.  At this stage, I am dissatisfied that I have gained some 20-plus pounds since this time in 2024.  Back then I had a built-in daily structure...going to my regular post office job five days a week...with which I could implement habits moderating and spacing my food consumption while maintaining physical activity.  But I retired at the end of November and with Melissa we seem to be focusing more on the next meal we're to eat, while much of the time I'm content with just eating light although I often go along with her recommendations and, quite frankly, have my own high-calorie favorites (like pancakes and hamburgers).  I don't really need that much food to get by, and I think that my general health and fitness (and running and walking speed) would be better were I to proactively assert myself more around eating time.  That said, I'm happy with this past month and have high hopes for August.  During my last two neighborhood 3.3-mile training loops I walked briskly until 40 minutes went by and then I ran the rest of the way back home...I think I'll adopt that pattern into my regular training regimen.  With swimming, my goal is to get myself comfortable using the 25 yd swimming lanes and thereby avoid depending on the shorter and more shallow half of the pool, which can get unpredictably crowded.  August 2025 has five Saturdays, so there should be plenty of chances to do 5K races next month, especially now that there are two Parkruns in town now.  I'm thinking of "officially" running my first West End Community Parkrun in a couple of days.  Although I disliked the course when I test-ran it back on July 13th, I like that it's directly across the street from Gainesville Health and Fitness (Tioga branch) and Patticakes coffee shop...

This Morning at the Lab

After spending more than an hour waiting for my blood to be drawn at my pathology lab this morning, I realized that it's not always prudent to get there the earliest.  Many other folks are following the same reasoning...either to just get it done with or to fit it into their tight schedules...so the "early bird" rush is in effect.  Not only that, but they had only one person to draw the blood in the lab.  By the time my name was finally called, they had three on duty...I think from now on I'll wait a little while before going down there. Despite the wait, the people around me were friendly and patient, as (hopefully) I seemed to be toward them. I tried the "early" route because getting there right after awakening was the most convenient way to get my blood drawn after fasting...now I can enjoy my iced coffee at the nearby Dunkin' Donuts while musing about the month about to end.  Yesterday Melissa and I signed and initialed the contract for the sale of our tragically deceased son Will's house...the closing process is now essentially in the confident and capable hands of our real estate agent, bless him.  Then the two of us made plans for another cruise, this one in early October.  That should be fun as well.  In the meantime, I'm having to continue my follow-up medical visits, in August to check my heart status, in September to my urologist/surgeon following prostate cancer surgery, and in October to consult with a dermatologist.  I guess I'm now in the permanent medical rotation, but I feel fine and intend to continue doing so...   

My Song of the Month for July 2025

Scottish alternative rock band Franz Ferdinand gets my nod in July for my personal favorite "song of the month" with the final track of their January album release (The Human Fear), titled The Birds.  It has a relentless guitar riff/hook to it, and Alex Kapranos, the lead singer and chief creative force behind their music and lyrics comes off sounding quite a lot like the Doors' Jim Morrison...I mean they sound like audio doppelgangers!  This is the second straight month in which I listened to a recent release by a group I already liked, sadly disliked almost the entire album but then suddenly bonded with their final track...for June it was Arcade Fire, their Pink Elephant album and the song Stuck in My Head.  The Birds contains simple lyrics, with Kapranos expressing gratitude to the listener for "accepting him despite what he has done"...that's repeated throughout this catchy tune.  So now here are my songs of the month so far for 2025:

July        The Birds   by Franz Ferdinand

June        Stuck in My Head   by Arcade Fire

May        Walking on a Dream   by Empire of the Sun

April       Nothing I Need   by Lord Huron

March     Under the Rug   by Arcy Drive

February  Starburster    by Fontaines DC

January   Everyone Out   by Diiv

Now, it's onward to August...

Record-Hot Day in Gainesville Today

Looks like Gainesville is going to set a high temperature record for today, hitting three digits.  It's already 100 and there's plenty of time for it to get even higher.  I got up early this morning and did a walk/run around my 3.3-mile neighborhood course, and then went with Melissa to my local pool to do a few laps...all before the sun had risen to any appreciable extent.  Even then, though, conditions were stifling due to the humidity combined with warmth. And now it's all "hunker-down" in air-conditioning for the remainder of the day.  This is when I really appreciate the warnings that go out for employees exposed to outdoor conditions, like letter carriers for example...

Vacation Plans, Gym, Old Starbucks Store

If it's one thing I've learned well over the past two-plus years, it's been that it's fine to make vacation plans, but that whether or not they end up cancelled is another thing entirely.  So as Melissa and I ponder future out-of-town travel adventures, I thought it would be nice to revisit one of my old Gainesville haunts: the Starbucks at Magnolia Parke on NW 39th Avenue, which first opened back in 2000.  Other Starbucks stores in town have closed or moved to other locations to accommodate drive-through ordering, but this one seems so far to have lived a charmed life.  I knew the first store manager, Marty Bower, who was so polite and considerate that he'd give me coffee on the house if he thought there was ever any delay.  He's also the dude who inspired the wonderful Lifesouth Marathon/Half-Marathon Five Points of Life annual Gainesville tradition, begun in 2006 and ending three years ago.  The story is that he had transferred to managing the (now-closed) Royal Park Starbucks on Newberry Road when one afternoon a couple of LifeSouth employees, on a jog from their nearby office, came in and the idea was born with Marty making the suggestion to stage such races.  Marty once again transferred to another Starbucks, the one on 13th Street and 16th Avenue, before I ever got around to entering one of these races in 2010.  But by that time he was no longer around...too bad, I hope he's doing all right.  I used to come by this Magnolia Parke location on weekday mornings after dropping the kids off at school...they had a long counter facing the front window to sit at.  Today may arguably be the single hottest day of an already oppressively hot year, and instead of walking and/or running around my neighborhood I decided to make a rare visit to Gainesville Health and Fitness Center.  That was a pleasant experience as I used their treadmill to speed-walk 3.3 miles, increasing my speed a tenth of a mile every half-mile, starting at 4.1 mph and ending at 4.8.  I remember often stopping off there right after getting off from work at 10 pm, sometimes even venturing into the swimming pool (now nearly impossible to access for its overcrowding).  I probably should cancel my membership to GHF, since the other gym I subscribe to is available...along with a swimming pool...the other six days of the week.  But today was a fine experience.  As for those travel plans, Melissa and I both enjoy the Royal Caribbean cruise line and have used them three different times.  There's another cruise of theirs this October that we might be signing up for if our schedules permit and things come together right...

Volunteered as Tail-Walker in Today's Depot Parkrun 5K

When I pulled into the Depot Park parking lot this morning a little past seven, it was 75 degrees with 93% humidity.  These inhospitable weather conditions were expected, though, especially in the middle of these summertime dog days.  Last Saturday at this time I was on the cruise boat, docked at Nassau in the Bahamas, so of course there was no Parkrun for me then.  And even today, I volunteered as a tail-walker, so I wouldn't exactly be testing my ability to withstand the conditions...this past week I've done the equivalent, though, with my neighborhood walk/runs.  My main concern with being a tail-walker was to make sure I was the last person in the field, so at the start I waited a couple of minutes so that anyone who was going to be in the race was already "in"...and then I started at a slow pace.  Another volunteer was a "regular" park-walker, and she stayed back to photograph the other runners and walkers for their Facebook event photo feature...this was nice, although it also held me up, making me walk even slower than I had planned.  The spirit around this event was sweet, and it all seemed to go off without a hitch.  I finished 82nd out of 82, which of course is what I was supposed to do, at a subdued time of 1:11:38.  If you'd like, you can click HERE to view today's Depot Parkrun 5K results.  One of the nice things about volunteering as a walker is that I get credits both for completing the course and for volunteering.  Maybe next month I'll volunteer again, but I'd like to wait a bit before then...

Oven-Like Conditions Outside in Summertime Dog Days

Early today...real early...I got up and went with Melissa to get one of our Toyotas repaired at the shop.  Returning home, I was very sleepy and didn't wake up until mid-afternoon.  I checked the current weather conditions here in Gainesville at 3:00 pm: 91 degrees, 68% humidity, and "feels like" 108 degrees!  Stepping outside was like stepping into an oven: I promised Melissa I would be doing my exercises indoors, in the air conditioning...

Star-Gazing on Cruise Ocean Balcony

During the evening after sunset on our recent cruise, since we had a cabin with an ocean-facing balcony I spent some time there looking out at the sky.  Although there were a few clouds scattered about, I had little trouble making out the more conspicuous stars in the visible constellations.  Friday and Saturday evening offered a good view of the southern sky, and at this mid-July that meant that Scorpius was clearly the most notable and recognizable star pattern out there, vividly presenting the stellar image of a giant scorpion, with its first magnitude red giant star Antares standing out.  But below Scorpius and to the west (right) was another easily visible clump of stars...not quite as bright as those in Scorpius...that intrigued me.  I suspected that what I was viewing was mostly the constellation Lupus, with the standout inverted triangle of 2nd-and-3rd-magnitude stars and a smaller, fainter triangle to its left (east), and a couple of stars trailing off to the larger triangle's west.  After returning home I referenced a star chart and found my triangle...the bottom and top-left stars were indeed in Lupus while the top-right one was part of Centaurus, and the two trailing to the west were also in Centaurus.  As a matter of fact, had we been a little further south in the water at the time, I could have traced straight down from my triangle and reached the first-magnitude stars Alpha and Beta Centauri just above the southern horizon.  My personal star-pattern of triangles wasn't an official constellation but rather an asterism, which I called "Daisy-Doo" because it reminded me of our pet rescue dog's head.  I think tonight...if the rain clouds disperse, that is...I might just go outside and see if I can't find my Daisy-Doo hiding out there on the other side of the trees south of my house...

Back from Cruise, Routines Returning

I am a creature of deliberate routine, having normalized several different daily habits over the past months and years.  That's not to say that I'm going to stick to them all for the interruption that a three-day cruise creates, and this is good to know in advance.  For example, this past weekend I let go of my routine of listening for set time spans to different languages as well as doing writing exercises in them.  I relaxed my exercise workout standards as well, along with the limits I usually place with my eating.  After all, I'm focusing on the cruise experience, right?  But today is the second full day back and the old routines are returning to form, and that is a good thing. And what do you know, in only the span of one week the front and back yards look like they're ready for yet another mowing: back to that routine...      

Back From Our Little Cruise

Yesterday morning our three-night cruise returned to Port Canaveral and Melissa and I embarked on our sometimes harrowing ride home to Gainesville on the long stretches of interstate and turnpike roads.  Late morning today we're both recovering...from both the cruise and drive home.  The cruise was on Royal Caribbean's big boat, Utopia of the Seas, and it was likewise packed with a big concentration of travelers, spanning generations.  These cruises try to accommodate diverse interests, and they have a heavy emphasis on making alcohol available for adults...along with a casino and opportunities for night clubbing.  The pools on this boat didn't fit the bill in my estimation, nearly always overcrowded to the point that when you're just standing in one spot (maximum depth 4 feet), you stand a good chance of others carelessly colliding with you...which is what happened to me.  Our itinerary on this short trip had us stopping Saturday at Nassau, capital city of the Bahamas, and then on Sunday at Coco Cay, a little island owned by Royal Caribbean and transformed into a beach/pool/water park destination for its clients.  When we docked at Nassau, we noticed that there were, in plain sight, four other cruise ships there.  And the businesses we encountered after we left the shop that morning were nearly impossible to navigate, with so, so many people crowding around us and the shop owners/employees nearly always employing an aggressive sales strategy whereby they would approach one of us and feign interest in what we're doing but waste no time in switching over to what they wanted...which of course was our money.  It got very old very quickly out there in this little tourist trap corner of Nassau and we were only too happy to return to the ship after just an hour or so ashore.  For Coco Cay, we decided to avail ourselves of our ship's swimming pools...without all those people who we assumed went out.  Still, it was hard to swim to any degree there because, well, kids being who they are, just don't look out for others and were constantly getting in the way.  We did, though, enjoy some time in the pool and the whirlpool as well.  Utopia of the Seas boasted several water slides, none of which I went down...but I did go down their dry slide "Abyss", which shot riders quickly in a twisted tube down ten levels...from 16 to 6 where I slid out of a chute, climbed out and slowly walked away.  The above photo is of me at the entrance to the ride. There was also rock climbing, which I'd like to try out closer to home, but didn't this time around...although I observed how others were doing it.  For Melissa and me, we enjoyed just hanging out on the ship, walking around together exploring the different levels dining at their nice restaurants and cafes, and sitting on our cabin's oceanfront balcony.  I also used their fitness room once, walking a brisk 5K on one of their many treadmills that featured a nice virtual video to accompany my activity.  We were a little disappointed in the ship's adults-only Solarium section after enjoying it on our previous cruise ship, the much smaller and older Enchantment of the Seas. Solarium's pool was basically very small and just for standing around in...why bother!  I also liked Enchantment's little open snack bar, which I though would surely be available on the larger boat but wasn't.  I did like the free ice cream cones served on Level 15, just outside the Windjammer (the large indoor buffet cafeteria).  Upon returning to Gainesville, we've been adjusting back to our "regular" life...which is pretty doggone good as well.  Speaking of "doggone", it was also very nice to see our own dog again, Daisy.  I'm also interested in more travel opportunities with Melissa (facing me below at the Windjammer), including more cruises as well...

Upcoming Weekend Cruise

Tomorrow Melissa and I will be leaving on a brief cruise to the Bahamas.  We should be back sometime late Monday.  Until then I won't be writing any blog articles.  Tomorrow is the first anniversary of our son Will's accidental death.  We both grieve and miss him.  This outing should be an enjoyable break from some of the trying circumstances we've passed through the last couple of years.  In any event, I wish you all well...

People Under Pressure to Conform to "Gulf of America"

Our evil clown president, Donald J. Trump...move over, Pennywise...early in his second administration after my fellow citizens inexplicably voted him again into power, decided to ratchet up the xenophobic jingoism by renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America".  This is forcing companies and employees to be under pressure to adopt the tin-pot dictator's petty decree. The two major weather TV stations, the Weather Channel and FoxWeather, have "Gulf of America" on their maps, and the latter's announcers seem to be quite happy with the new designation, especially Haley Meier who seems quite giddy about it all.  But the Weather Channel's meteorologists aren't all exactly on board with this change, particularly Greg Postel who is sticking to his guns with Gulf of "Mexico",  And why not? The presidential proclamation only renames the part of this body of water under the United States' jurisdiction, which is absurd considering that we're talking geography, not international political boundaries.  I like "Gulf of Mexico" more anyway, since when you are standing on that gulf's coast whether it's in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana or Texas, chances are that the land facing you on the other side of the water is, indeed, Mexico.  Of course, Trump in his supreme ignorance and narcissism is only trying to stir up controversy with himself as the center of attention. What a creep... 

Waiting for Afternoon Storm, So What's New

I've been watching the Weather Channel this morning as they explain how a circulating tropical low pressure storm system will be passing over where I live in Gainesville, Florida this afternoon, westward toward the Gulf of Mexico. Once there it will either develop over the next few days into a depression or will divert itself more northward into Georgia.  So I'm getting the storm, but the main thing is that on the eastern coast around Cocoa where Friday's cruise ship will disembark with Melissa and me on board should be relatively clear of weather trouble at that time.  Good.  In the meantime, I'm sitting here writing this, waiting for the morning dew to evaporate from my yard before going out to mow the lawn, before the afternoon storms strike, that is.  The grass here grows so quickly that just a couple of days after mowing the lawn it sometimes looks like it needs another trimming...sigh.  But that's summer for you, and we have very, very fertile soil up here in far northern Gainesville...

New Franz Ferdinand Track Works for Me in July

Since we are now getting into the middle of July, I'm starting to see whether I can't find a good "current" song to theme this month after.  Let's see...the Scottish alternative group Franz Ferdinand this past January came out with a new album, titled The Human Fear.  I listened to it the other day, and, just like when I listened to Arcade Fire's new LP release Pink Elephant, the entire album seemed like a dud...that is, until the very last track, The Birds.  And finally, I heard a really good song.  So for the time being, at least, The Birds is my song of the month for July, unless another tune comes along to replace it.  Check it out on YouTube...

About My Dear Departed Sister-in-Law Krista

Krista Jane Bailey, my sister-in-law, passed away last Wednesday evening, July 9th, at E.T. York Hospice Center in Gainesville after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.  She was a devoted mother, wife, grandmother and sister and will be terribly missed by all of us in her family.  Krista was my wife Melissa's little sister by thirteen months...she was 62.  Krista is survived by her daughter Amy Holley, sister Melissa Irwin, brother Keith Jones and granddaughter Tabytha Holley.  Her husband James Bailey had tragically died in December 2021...the two were inseparable, life-long soul mates.  I miss Krista's wonderful sense of humor and love of life...she was a great source of comfort to Melissa after the tragic death of our own son Will last year.  She was a licensed Certified Nursing Assistant with an associate degree, and spent many years employed in retail management.  For much of the last two decades she had lived in Lexington, Kentucky with James, who had many of his own family living there. I am tired of losing family members, and the loss of Will, James and Krista has been difficult for me to accept.  I have never experienced anyone like Krista before who was so positive and gracious during her final weeks and days, when hope for a cure for her leukemia dwindled and, finally, was relinquished when she was transferred to spend her final days at Hospice.  God bless her, and may God bless you as well...

Speed-Walked Today's Depot Parkrun 5K

Today is the first official day for Gainesville's second Parkrun, held at West End Park.  I went there for a trial run last Sunday, but decided to go back to my traditional haunt, Depot Park (near downtown), this morning to do a 5K speed-walk.  The temperature at 7:30 race time was 72 with 99% humidity...typical summertime muggy discomfort.  The "regular" Parkrun leaders were over at the other place, as I'm assuming were several "Depot Park" runners and walkers.  I had wanted to break 40 minutes with my finishing speed-walk time, and I tried to walk as fast as I could.  But it was to no avail, with me finishing at 41:44...click HERE to view today's results.  Next weekend I'm planning to be on a brief cruise with Melissa, and for the 26th I volunteered to be a "Tail Walker", i.e. the designated last person to finish the Parkrun.  They encouraged us participants to meet up at the food court on NW 4th Avenue near 6th Street at 9, but I finished the walk hot and sweaty and was in my car driving back by 8:15...can't wait 45 minutes, at least today.  I instead drove down to my nearby Dunkin' Donuts for a pistachio-flavored iced coffee, studied some foreign languages there and then wrote this article.  I used my Alpha-Smart portable word processor, which is completely off-line and automatically saves my writing...running on AA batteries: really old-school!  I don't think I'm going to make any substantial progress in walking or running faster until I regain control over my weight and eating patterns, which I know I will do. I can still cover the distance, but with each step I'm lugging twenty extra pounds of body weight from this time a year ago...

YouTube Channel Shows Making of Great Old Rock Albums

I've recently been checking out a YouTube channel, titled Film Retrospective, that covers the making of different famous albums by sixties rock groups.  The most notable ones are the Beatles and Rolling Stones.  Each posting covers an album in a chronological order, discussing the different tracks in the order that they were recorded, with a lot of footage showing the band members, producers, sound engineers, or anyone else who happened to be in the picture. I am the most interested in how the Beatles went about developing songs and recording them, as well as how they got along with each other and others.  With them, it seemed to me that the biggest change occurred over the years with John Lennon, who was very negatively affected by the torrid, whirlwind pace of concerts, public relations events and recording studio sessions that manager Brian Epstein imposed on him and the rest of the band.  Lennon had for years been floating around the idea of quitting the Beatles...it's really amazing, especially seeing him in an unstable state on some of these videos, that he waited until near the end of 1969 before pronouncing himself "divorced".  As for the Rolling Stones, they had their own problems with founding member Brian Jones, who like Lennon did not have the emotional constitution to handle the fame and limelight and allowed himself to become heavily dependent on mind-altering drugs. Watching these YouTube videos starkly exposes the frailty of human existence...these folks were the success stories that others only dreamed of becoming, yet there was a great amount of sadness and resentment with them that their striving never seemed to help with.  I think that so far my favorite video in this series was the one about the Beatles' making of the Magical Mystery Tour album in 1967...click HERE to see it.  I have a theory about Lennon's developing strategies of dealing with the stress placed on him, too.  He, in my opinion, came to collect people around him like Yoko Ono, Yannis "Magic Alex" Mardas, and their second manager, Allen Klein, to shield him from the pressure and influence of others (such as Paul McCartney, George Martin and the media).  But that's just my theory.  Check out some of these videos, especially if you know and like the Beatles and Stones...

My Dear Sister-in-Law Krista Passes Away

My dearly beloved sister-in-law Krista Bailey sadly passed away yesterday evening at 10:47 due to complications arising from an aggressive form of leukemia.  She had been staying at the ET York Hospice, Care Center off Northwest 39th Avenue here in Gainesville.  Krista was a beautiful person and a blessing to Melissa as her little sister.  She had such a wonderful, refreshing sense of humor, a direct way of communicating and in her own way was quite brilliant.  Her husband James, her true soul mate, had tragically died four years ago, and she moved back to Gainesville from Kentucky less than a year ago.  Krista is survived by Melissa and her brother Keith, as well as her daughter Amy and granddaughter Tabitha.  For me the month of July is becoming a rather dark month, with Krista's recent passing and my son Will's accidental death on the 18th last year.  May all who knew Krista derive comfort and peace from God in this time of mourning.  I am truly saddened by her absence.  Once again I'm a "survivor"...and it brings more grief...

Style Over Substance: Presidents Carter and Trump

When Jimmy Carter was running for president in 1976, he used a lot of symbology to carry him on to a narrow victory over incumbent Gerald Ford in November.  Jimmy was "plain folk" like you and me, not a privileged elitist, and he was a peanut farmer to boot, along with being a nuclear engineer should you begin suspecting him of being a country bumpkin.  Growing up in Deep South Georgia in Plains, just a few miles from where I was born in Albany, that very small town enhanced Carter's image of being accessible and "one of us".  His administration was going to be open and ethical, although not much in the realm of specifics was put out during the campaign.  Instead it was "style over substance"...even to the point where in the minutes preceding his inauguration to the presidency, he walked down the street with his wife Rosalynn, a refreshing symbol of open fearlessness that impressed many of us who were still fresh with the memories of recent assassinations.  During press conferences the "style over substance" questions kept surfacing, and apparently the new president was sensitive to this, transforming a promising, interesting presidency into an almost covert endeavor, replacing that corny-but-endearing wide, toothy grin with chronic frowning.  I'm writing this in reaction to Donald Trump's obvious "style over everything" presidency that, while polarizing intense opposition from large sections of the country, is also sealing fervent support among his base...unlike with Jimmy Carter, who found himself unpopular across the board.  With his tendency to exaggerate and boast, Trump is like the liar in that classic old Twilight Zone episode Hocus Pocus and Frisby, except that in no way is he to any degree likable like that episode's adorable protagonist, ably portrayed by Andy Devine.  Whenever Trump goes off on one of his delusional rants or boasts that terrible things will happen to his perceived enemies, the opposition press and opinion makers go to town against him, taking literally everything he says.  Inevitably the narrative goes back to the 1930s, the rise of Hitler in Germany and the lack of resolve of that nation's population to see what was happening and stand up to the dictator. I have no doubt that Donald Trump, who has no sense of compassion toward others that I can see, would gladly take on the role of a Hitler or Stalin had he the opportunity, but I'm convinced that he has the mentality of an underworld crime thug...for some reason the Woke community disapproves of that four-letter word but it fits him well, as far as I can see.  So Trump, unlike Carter, is promoting style deep into his administration.  Also, UNLIKE our late president, his style consists of being mean, self-congratulatory, oversensitive and vindictive...

Time Takes on Urgency During Aging

As I age, now into retirement for seven-plus months, my changing perception of the passage of time is causing me to reevaluate how best to spend it.  For one, with me it no longer seems that the future is as vast and wide open as it was during my youth...that's being pretty realistic, I think.  You can be pretty healthy...even athletic in your "golden" years, as Paul, an acquaintance in his 80's, demonstrated, and then quickly succumb to an aggressive cancer, organ failure or other ailment.  After my open-heart surgery four years ago, I recovered to the level of being once again able to do Parkrun 5Ks.  On one such run the following year, Paul and I found ourselves running side-by-side, and he revealed he had run many marathons in his past. He seemed very fit and at the close of our little talk, he then sped off and finished the 5K well ahead of me.  I hadn't seen Paul in a long time and just recently discovered that he had died this past February from pancreatic cancer.  Very sad, but that's a common part of being a senior: you're going along just fine, with what seems like an open future stretching out before you...and then, poof!, just like that, you're gone.  Well, that's one rapidly shifting perception of time that's recently affected me.  The other is my increased sensitivity to how, with each new day, I have things I want to do and how so-called "urgencies" that crop up tend to crowd them out, making me feel selfish and guilty should I assert myself and carve out my own time for them.  This also has to do with my sense that I don't have forever in this world to pursue my own interests and goals in spite of how well I physically feel or what encouraging words my doctors say...I'm developing my own personal sense of urgency regarding these things...

Sense of Community Important in Old Age

When my sister moved with her family to Texas in 1984, while I was living here in northern Florida, it left my parents by themselves back in my childhood home in Hollywood (near Miami).  My mother passed away in 2002, and that left my father living alone in the old house, albeit with a lot of stray neighborhood cats he took in and cared for.  But Daddy did not take to forming supportive relationships with others outside the immediate family, and as his vision and coordination gradually deteriorated with age, he found himself increasingly more in isolation, with my visits or those of Anita being special times when we could help him out with things. As Melissa and I are now the oldest surviving generation in our families, it gives me a sense of gratitude that she has some very good and deep connections with others.  For myself, though, on the other hand, it isn't quite so simple as I have almost instinctively been reclusive instead of pursuing a probably healthier level of social interaction. So although I'd rather spend time alone or with Melissa, I think that...at least while we're both still "up and about"...it just might behoove me to proactively engage in a more sociable context even if I start out feeling a bit critical and negative.  I think that's one reason I do the weekly Parkruns, but there are all kinds of groups like that get together, in real time and space, to unite around their shared interests.  Time for me to get down to figuring just how I'm going to step out of my isolationist comfort zone... 

Drove Out to West End Park, Joined Trial Parkrun There

The good folks at Depot Parkrun had mentioned more than once that on this present Sunday morning, six days before the inaugural West End Parkrun 5K gives Gainesville the status of a two-Parkrun town with its first race, they would welcome anyone to go to that park to check out its course and give feedback.  West End used to be a golf course before it became a community park, situated in the unincorporated town of Tioga just west of Gainesville on Newberry Road .  It's a bit out there from my house, which lies in the far-northern fringes of Gainesville.  I timed my drive to West End this morning.  It being Sunday morning around 7, it didn't surprise me that it only took 22 minutes, with much of the time spent waiting at traffic lights that stayed red for no apparent reason.  The people assembled there at West End were a mixture of runners and walkers...and some of the organizers, including the Depot Parkrun director...a fast runner in her own right. We were shown course maps, which displayed a course that wound through the park like it was still a golf course, with a lot of twists and turns.  There was plenty of concrete sidewalk, which alternated between stretches of grass connecting them.  It was also considerably more sloped than for the Depot Park course.  And there were no repeat laps here...you just stayed on course here until you finished it.  The West End Parkrun course reminded me a little of the old track/cross-country runs back in high school, near our campus, that would go across fields and down horse trails...that was cool.  But you do need to keep your attention on the ground ahead of you to avoid slipping or tripping.  Especially at the beginning, the sidewalk's concrete slabs were often a little out of place and easy to trip on.  And with the grass, on our trial run it hadn't been cut for a while and was overgrown and slick with dew moisture.  I had hoped to be able to keep up with the director on the run but even though she said she took it more slowly, there was no way I could gain any benefit from trying to stay even with her.  Eventually I finished the run after a long struggle trying to keep up with its meandering nature...one false turn and you're lost.  At the finish line I checked my Fitbit to see the mileage: 3.48 miles, some .38 mile longer than a 5K, or more than 10% too far.  Our director had asked for my feedback with this and I told her.  I don't know if they'll try to do anything to shorten the course between now and when the first "official" run is held next Saturday morning.  As for me, it was a good training run that I frankly hadn't been preparing myself to do this morning: I wasn't dressed for it and my clothes were soaked with perspiration after it ended.  I kept up a reasonable (for me) pace while attuning myself to the course, finishing at 31:44, a relatively slow time for me until you consider that I did say that the course was over 10% too long.  Next Saturday, though, if I do a Parkrun, I'm pretty sure that it will be at Depot Park again...and most likely will be a speed-walk...

Ran Today's Depot Parkrun 5K Here in Gainesville

This Saturday morning I once again arose before six...then I promptly went back to bed with the alarm set at 6:05.  Sure, I could have slept through today's Depot Parkrun 5K but that would have broken with this constructive personal habitual routine.  So I drove on down to Depot Park, a few blocks south of downtown Gainesville, to try my hand once again at their little multi-looping race course.  Before it started, I was uncertain whether I'd run it or speed-walk, seeing that the day before I had exerted myself a bit running the three-mile Melon Run at Westside Park.  But while standing there at the countdown to the "start" signal I made my decision: run that sucker!  The temperature/humidity combination was typical for North Florida summer mornings: 74 degrees at 98%...not conducive for setting any personal bests today.  And so that's how I handled the run, trying hard enough to finish below 30 minutes while not worrying about particulars.  I never was able to settle into a good running groove, but at the same time...compared to other runners who were clearly running out of gas early on...I managed to keep up a steady pace and even speed up a bit at the end in spite of struggling in my mind to continue on and resist the almost overwhelming temptation to just walk the rest of the way to the finish line.  As it was, I ran well enough to finish at 29:25...hooray!  I remember how, for years since I began doing the Depot Parkrun in 2019, breaking 30 minutes seemed an impossible dream.  But since I managed to cross over that threshold, the opposite has happened: same 30 minutes, but now it's a goal to consistently avoid finishing slower than. Of course, when I'm speed-walking, I have a different standard.  You can view today's results by clicking HERE. I noticed a few of the runners from yesterday's Melon Run race were present at today's event... 

Ran Gainesville's July 4th Melon Run

As alluded to yesterday, this morning I ran the Florida Track Club's annual 4th of July three-mile race, called the Jack Gamble Melon Run.  Held at Albert Ray Massey "Westside" Park off NW 34th Street here in Gainesville, I've run it a number of times in the past and have come to accept the sad truth that since this event seems to attract the most hard-core, competitive entrants, then there's no point in hanging around after it's over, hoping to get an age-category award. Besides, it's summertime and this hilly race course, coupled with the expected heat and high humidity, tends to test the ability of many naive runners to simply finish it. The race began at eight, but I got to the park at 7:30, just in time to snag one of the last available parking spots. Just walking around the place amidst the 73 degree temperature and foggy, 100% humidity, I could portend a challenging race since there seemed to be an inordinate amount of people there.  Then I discovered that they had changed the course...but in the end that was all right.  Since they don't time runners at the start...only the end...it took 14 seconds once the race began for me to actually get to the starting line, so in my mind at least I deduct that amount from my recorded finishing time.  I ran the first mile or so just to lightly run and get into a nice, easy groove.  Once that was accomplished I found myself gradually picking up the speed and passing lots of people.  By the end I was pushing hard and was tired, finishing with an official time of 28 minutes 31 seconds, some 1:36 slower than last year's Melon Run time when I weighed about twenty pounds less.  I will say this: I could have gone out running harder and maybe finished closer to my 2024 time, but I'd also be more exhausted while facing a more demanding recovery.  That's significant since I intend to run the Depot Parkrun 5K tomorrow morning, and then explore the new West End Parkrun course with others Sunday morning.  All in all, this race was a pleasant experience...the volunteers were great!  And along with the celebratory Independence Day vibes, plenty of chopped-up watermelon slices were there for everyone.  You can view today's results by clicking HERE. By the way, I noticed three other Depot Parkrun "regulars" besides myself who were in attendance for today's Melon Run...let's see if they also turn out for tomorrow...

Is Parainfluenza Infecting Our Community Right Now in Summer?

I'm not exactly sure what "para-flu" is, but earlier this evening a nurse used it to describe "what's going around everywhere"...including my dear sister-in-law Krista, who is now all-but-bedridden at our local Haven Hospice with terminal-stage cancer.  Melissa thinks she may have had it, possibly me...and, apparently half the people I run into in public are coughing and sneezing and sniffling.  Not that it's all the flu, or some related variety of sickness...I'm leaning toward the theory that I have seasonal allergies combined with post nasal drip issues.  I'm not going to let this annoyance keep me from my running or speed-walking, either: tomorrow morning it's the three-mile Jack Gamble Melon Run "run" by the Florida Track Club, of which I am a member with a "geezer" discount.  My plan: treat it, at least at the start, as simply a slow workout jog while trying to avoid getting trampled or doing likewise myself.  And immediately afterwards get the fudge out of there, as South Park's Eric Cartman would put it...   

Happy Hump Day of the Year

If Wednesday can be called "hump day" for the week that starts on Sunday and ends Saturday, then July 2nd can likewise be termed "hump day" for the year...that is, for non-leap years.  For exactly 182 days precede today and 182 are to come in 2025.  This morning I was watching the Weather Channel and the good meteorologists sitting around on the curved blue couch, apparently with nothing better to do, posed this question to the viewing audience: what is your favorite "half" of the year, January through June or July through December?  The poll's answer was that more thought July through December is better...I wonder, though, what the response would be if the question was posed at the beginning of January! For if you're standing smack in the middle of a calendar year, then one half is what you've just lived through and the other is right in front of you, about to happen.  So I suppose the responses that most folks gave...at least those who watch the Weather Channel in the morning...showed that they are generally optimistic about the future, that the next six months will be better than the previous six.  As for me, I am personally so much bound to focusing on each single day as it comes that I don't allow myself to get too hung up on "favorite" stretches of time.  I can find good and bad in every month and season I've lived through so far, and I'm guessing that that's probably going to continue.  This July, though, is considerably more trying for Melissa and me than in the past because our dear son Will passed away last year on the 18th...but that wasn't not July's fault, and I'm looking forward to good times and experiences on this early side of the "hump" in 2025... 

A Final Jeopardy! Answer, and Lifespans

The final Jeopardy! answer on tonight's episode of that long-lasting game show series concerned a topic I had no reason to be knowledgeable about: who is buried in England's Westminster Abbey.  It is where British royalty has historically been interred, but there is a place within, called "Poet's Corner", where standouts in the arts, most notably literary, have also been accorded burial spots.  I'm not sure exactly what the wording was in the Jeopardy! answer, but it did include the year of burial as being 1991...and I came up with the correct solution: "Who was Laurence Olivier?"  In case you didn't already know, he is widely acknowledged as being one of the greatest actors of all time...although, I'm sure to my own loss, the only movies I remember seeing him in were Marathon Man and The Boys from Brazil.  Yet in only those two films his performance was dazzling, especially in the former.  Being a dweller of the year 2025 as I write this, I was convinced that Olivier had already passed away...but was a little surprised that he died sometime in 1989, some 36 years ago.  As each of us passes, riding the "now" moment, through our own individual lifespans, we can only perceive the subjective reality of the years we remember being alive through our own experience and realities, depending on others' records and memories of those times preceding our births.  I don't know how long I will remain on Earth, but I'm confident that 36 years after my passing I will in no way be weighing in on the passage of time in that as-yet unknown, but inevitable year.  For each of us individually, as far as our own subjected perception is concerned, there is only one time, and it is now.  The nearly universal biography statistic of lifespan...the birth year, a hyphen, and the year of dying...is one of objective perception from outsiders.  Each of us can play a little at this and see ourselves as our birth years, a hyphen...and nothing, but never with that final year.  We belong to our lifespans, and that will always be real, as it has always been for every biological entity that has ever been.  The big mystery, which religion and philosophy tend to address, is what happens to that personally-experienced "now" at death.  If I say that I am defined for myself as being the "here and now", then not only does that mean that your "here" is by nature different from mine, but also that your "now" is different as well in spite of it seeming the same.  So my "now" doesn't depend on you or others or the so-called objective reality that trudges on ahead through time.  But enough of this metaphysical speculation, time to go get another coffee...