Trying to Withstand Heat and Humidity on Parkrun Day

 I woke up this morning with no intention of completing our local Depot Parkrun 5K. In fact, after an elevated blood pressure reading of mysel, Melissa and I had a brief discussion as to whether we would even  try..but in the end we decided to show up and she volunteered to do  a lap.For me, walking on such a hard, rough surface for that distance wore badly, and the few seconds of very light running near the end was a kind of relief for me.In the backyard I ran slowly for 40 seconds...maybe rock-running on the living room floor in the evening will add a good amount of steps to my recorded daily total. A little while ago while sitting outside on the back porch I found the heat(nineties) and humidity to be almost unbearable..maybe some rain will improve conditions.  I am now going back to the bedroom (withA.C.).to rest some.  All the best to you and yours...

Parkrun Tomorrow Morning , No Plans ro Complete It

 During the previous 2 dawns, I arose and promptly navigated my way around my home block, walking most of the distance and slow-running the rest. I took this as simple exercise.  It's supposed to reduce my blood pressure,yet when Meliss takes my readings (sh does them often) they tend to come out high.This morning...if it doesn't rain.. we should have the chance to go down to Depot Park together and get in a short walking...and possibly a slow jog...workout. The idea of completing the race course by covering the stipulated course distance of four laps seem a bit out of reach for us right now...I have fresh memories of speed-walking throughout several Parkruns during the hot and humid summer o 2024 and 2025 while barely breaking into a light sweat...where have all the memories gone? My objective for tomorrow morning is to do some walking exercise out there with Melissa...and then we get back into the car whenever we're ready to call it a morning.  Completing the Parkrun..which requires taking some time to accomplish...is only a secondary goal to getting out there and showing up...let's get some training done...

Athletic Training Prospects with Uncertain Medical Future

 ALTHOUGH I am grateful((to God) for the time and quality of life He has so graciously granted me for this limited season, I get the disturbing impression that somehow the the clock is ticking down on me. Before the cancer bomb hit me in October,2025with no forwarning, my fitness level was sky-high...now when I walk I often feel as if I'm kicking down into the pavement with each walking step.  I'm still fighting the good fight with my training, practicing slow running in the back yard and rocking simultaneously back and forth on my feet...running in place seems to have slowed down, however, as a regular workout routine. Depot Parkrun 5K is a fitting challenge if I want to finish walking or running the course to completion....I just need to make it a priority.     This coming Saturday morning could well be too wet with the high probability of rain that they're forecasting.  The time is now approaching midnight...and I hear thunder in the background outside.   Tomorrow I'm going with Melissa to get blood drawn and another chemotherapy infusion session, to last much of the afternoon.And then later in the week I have another MRI to undergo.  That procedure, along with its analyzed results, could drastically change how stable of a life I have to expect at least for the short term, looking at my pain here with headaches, with me longing for release from having to pay attention to them and communicate my feelings to Melissafor for some relief and added life quality.  I just need to put everything about myself into the hands of the Lord...He's the Boss and has everything covered...                                                       

New Parkrun 5K Completion Strategy

 As a personal journal entry of this blog,my report today concerns my feeling of physical tiredness on the eve of yet another Parkrun 5k running and walking fitness event, which quite a few participants treat competitively.  I just want to complete a full Parkrun 5k an get it 'officially' acknowledged through timing, scanning, and posting online.Walking seems right now to be the most feasible strategy for me to get through it all instead of stopping before the whole 4-lap course is covered, but even now it seems like the task is too formidable.I have my wristband with the barcode, on my left wrist.My stopwatch should do the trick or accurately record my finishing time, whether or not I actually complete the prescribed Parkrun 5k course.  This evening I am completing my TMZ chemotherapy dose.. I'm currently on the fifth cycle of chemotherapy(orally administered), prescribed against gbm brain cancer discovered and diagnosed during surgery on  October 24th, 2025.I love so much how Melissa is so caring and tender with her love during this ordeal of mine...God bless her! I'm looking at tomorrow morning and see an opportunity for me to design my own physical fitness program. I've divided  it all up in my mind into 3 parts:1:show up, 2:follow through, and then 3: reward myself. But hydrate a lot out there. Have a wonderful weekend, everybody...

My Ongoing Walking and Running Training Activity: Going for the Steps, Slowly

Today I exercised out in the back yard [soft running] and on the living room floor rug rock-running.  The other day I watched a YouTube video extolling walking for fitness' sake.  It touted doing up to 10,000 steps per day.  I have been monitoring my Fitbit and Angel Sense watches, and watched some live major league baseball innings while simultaneously rocking my feet forwards and backwards, in he process adding steps on my wrist device.  Yesterday I amassed 7,500 steps while, with today's sunset, I went over 8 thousand. Well, let's see how tomorrow goes.Becoming fitter with walking and running may, at my age and with this gloomy medical condition, have slowed down a lot.  but it won't be until Saturday morning, May 23rd, when I test my training progress during Gainesville's next Depot Park 5K.Speed doesn't matter here, only distance covered. Just call me the "slow AF geezer"...Funny, a little while ago I searched on my phone's Facebook for photos taken at last Saturdays'West End Community Parkrun 5K west of Gainesvilleon Newberry Road, but the pictures hadn't been processed.  Well, I'll check it out again tomorrow or Wednesday...

About YEeyerday and This Morning, Parkrun, and Training

 Yesterday for me at Gainesville's Depot Parkrun 5K,  didn't feel empowered enough to go beyond one lap...I even cut it short enough to circle the course once.yet i regard it all as a good walking exercise training session...my first of two today.  The second involved me walking with Melissa around our home block, just before twilight...the day's temperature had risen to 97 before dropping some into the upper eighties. While returning, i would break into a slow'Martinus Evans' jog spanning a couple of homes down our residential block...sometimes a little more.  Today, if the weather and my body [and mind]  decide to cooperate, I'll try mixing a little more running into the training session. This morning I arose early,but it took me a good while to do it completely...I'll brew some coffee and finish writing this article before running in place in the living room. In yesterday's photo from the Parkrun, as I was crossing the e first bridge I came away looking like a semi-zombie, trying to avoid falling forward...but I did get around to saying good morning to the nice lady taking the pics for the Depot Parkun to put on Facebook, posted last night. Today is Sunday, and Melissa and I plan to stay around the house with our beautiful, funny dog Peewee.  Life is precious and good...may you enjoy it and prosper...

This Morning's Overly Unpleasant Depot Parkrun 5K Walking Challenge

 Each week I think ahead to the next Saturday morning when they plan to hold another Depot parkrun 5K, an event i've completed since 2019, approaching 100 times.  Now, recovering from a steep dip in fitness and endurance after some strong treatment for recently diagnosed glioblastoma brain cancer and subsequent brain surgery[10/14/25], radiation and chemotherapy, I am still pushing to complete one full race at a time.  After finally reaching my comeback milestone of a completed course...scanned and posted online, I was skeptical this morning about being able to walk all four laps..I felt too roughand curbed the effort..  and today turned out to be another struggle as I struggled to complete most of just one lap before I went to the car. Maybe later this afternoon I'll make another venture around the block for purely exercise purposes, tTheMLB.tv channel looks like a good choice when I do decide to give training an overnight break. Melissa is now at UPS returning an unwanted item, and then we'll have some lunch...followed by sitting out on the back porch while Peewee Daisy runs around the backyard, mouth wide open like a sweet fool.The weather this afternoon will be hot and humid...let's be congnizant of that.  To you and yours, I wish you all a very happy Amy's birthday...

On Training to Cover Future Long-Distance Races

 This early Friday morning i woke up between 4;:30 and 5, and brewed a pot of caffeine, hazelnut-flavored coffee while I performed ten minutes of running-in-place on the living room rug floor...now I am writing out this blog article. i am thinking about how prepared (or not) I"ll be to completing this Saturday morning's 5K Depot Park walk..or walk/run..which will take me four laps to get through[ afterprobably 60-70 minutes.  I do have a stretegy for success here, which consists of me walking most of the race course and slow-running small s stretches that are relatively level. I'm open to the possibility of being surprised with extra energy...looking forward to the shock!  it will be the day when my dear niece Amy turns 42...she was born May 16th, 1984 and is turning 42 years old. As for myself, ii want to stretch out my days to reach 70 years in a sta te of strong physical vitality and realistic hope. Running slowly for 10K distances to 15K to half-marathons,  along with entering and finishing public races of these distances, are strong personal goals of mine.  Bring on the medals!This weekend promises to be yet another challenge as I repeat my attempts to successfully cover [by walking] Gainesville'sDepot Park 5Kcourse...andthen get back in our car and enjoy the rest of the weekendafter the volunteers time me, scan me and post my results online  As for you and yours, why not enjoy it, too...

Slow Running public Races, overcoming Embarrassment about Awkwardness

 When I was a kid (fifth grade at Nova Elementary) and my class's p.e. instructor had us, as a group, run an extended course,, it would usually come down to a rqce. We'd heqd off campus toward the northern palm trees, which w'ed circle an thenreturn 'home. Brooke, as naurally talented as she was...and hopefully still is...would gracefully run away from the competition; she'd kick eveyone's ass if it were a Parkun!  i was a quick, short-distance sprinter with a long way to go on the endurance running side.  According to slow running (AF) advocate Martinus Evans, running competitively in public, under everyone's gaze, is an integral element of the activity.  This coming Saturday's Depot pqrkrun 5k is basically a publicly staged event.  So if i have any self-conscious issues involving feeling embarrassed over others observing my obviously flawed attempts at running for a sustained distance...forget the palms...looks like no one is in danger of confusing me with Brooke. Training for Saturday will necessarily involve me very lightly running downa dry stretch of qasphalt road,assuming i actually get a dry stretch of road with all this rain we've been having lately. My plan is this:after we've started the upcoming race for about a minute, I kick into slow AF running and see how long I can stand it...there ain't no shame in going back into walking mode, at least for a little while. I can also cut across the park's course to the car should I need to 'drop out' early...Still, unlike the case with our Florida Lottery, it should all be 'good fun'...