Storm, exercise, Steps,Baseball Commentary Over"Stepping"

 I regularly exercise indoors, in air conditioning on my living room floor, doingrock-running. By this way my heart rate gradually climbs over 90 beats per minute, reaching a low "zone one" of cardiovascular stress that physicians recommend to their patients for walking and light physical exertion.  Yesterday I earned a little more than 23K (23,000) steps training this way while watching TV, usually major league  baseball games, half-inning by half-inning.  MyFitbit watch has an annoying tendency to reset the step total to zero every few hours..and whenI've already done a few thousand steps, I try to remember to write down that number; I have credit for 2511 so far today.  Last night Gainesville had a tremendous thunderstorm that went on for hours..before today's meteorological activity I observed the clouds build up while sitting with sweet Melissa and Peewee Daisy on the back porch.  Maybe later today I'll be able to enjoy sitting outside some more with them.Yesterday evening I watched some baseball on the baseball channel we're subscribed to. I enjoyed the game but not the commentary during the final innings. The dude who thought he had all the important opinions came across  as cynical, hypercritical and disrespectful to both the game of baseball and to me as a fan who, ironically, has never played it.  Maybe if this continues I'll use the "mute" `button more.  More games are on tap today and into the evening:enjoy...

This is Memorial Day weekend, so with it I would like to honor Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in times of conflict to protect our blessed freedoms.  None of us, myself included, will live within our mortal bodies forever on this Earth.  Those who bravely sacrificed their precious lives for our sake are especially worthy of our respect and honor. May GOD bless them all...

Walked Gainesville's Depot Park 5K This Morning

 Again demonstrating that my progress in recovery for both walking and running endurance isn't exactly linear, about 3 hours ago I, for the 4th time this year, successfully completed their 5kcourse, which goes for 3.1 miles.  To accomplish this I needed to cover 4 park laps, which I managed today without too much trouble and suffering.  It took me about 64 minutes to get through it all...click HERE to read the posted results.  Throughout the race I felt weary and unable to keep up with other parkrunners.  I was also frustrated with my Android, which didn't play the music I wanted it to.  The pictures I took didn't transfer over to Google photos, either...i'll need to depend on a different photo source to be able to decorate this blog with a pretty picture.  Looking back on the experience, i am very grateful for Melissa's support and enouragement, and to God for giving me the fitness and physical...and mental...energy needed to complete this course, which I want to be in the habit of doing on a regular basis.  Later today  we're predicted to be experiencing rainstorms for our Gainesville area.  i'll be spending most of that period at home...baseball has loaded up our tv schedule.  If dryness prevails, then maybe i'll try doing some more laps of slow AF running in the back yard. If all I end up doing in the future is slow running for long distances, then that's O.K. with me.  By the way, do you know what "AF" means?...

Walked Today's Depot Parkrun 5K

 Up until today I had been "showing up" at Gainesville's Depot Park, with the outstanding and selfless driving of Melissa, who has been very, very supportive of my efforts to recover physical endurance fitness after suffering the limiting side effects of recent brain cancer treatments.  Until this morning's Depot Parkwalk 5K, my previous successful Parkrun 5k effort took place on January 10...I managed to walk it in a little over 78 minutes.  So for the previous few weeks I had gradually been incrementing my distance covered, getting through three of the course's four laps a week ago.This morning I resolved to use all of my mental powers to finish the race and actually accomplished the deed, with Melissa always there to supply needed hydration, encouragement and photos to yours truly, who felt (and probably came across as) a grumpy old cuss.  I prepared for the Parkrun by starting toplay Sufjan Stevens's great 2003 album Illinois (~77 minutes) on my smartphone. My walking pace was slow, but not excessively so, so it was a bit of a surprise when, at the two-thirds point, I suddenly stopped, turned abruptly around, and complained at the volunteer tailwalker that they were following too closely and should have passed me long before...they responded sweetly, saying that their tailwalking assignment mandated that they remain behind in last place.  After I finally completed the course..the first time I did so in 3 1/2 months...I let Melissa prop me up and guide me as I staggered over to the lady doing the scanning.  I finished today with a time o 65:16: click HERE to view the final Depot Parkrun 5K results.  As for photos, I had difficulty uploading some previous ones Melissa took that she tried to send to my phone.  In the races's aftermath, I feel proud that I got mental AF and stuck it out to the end, but a little chastened when I expressed frustration at other participants who seemed to be getting too close to me, especially on laps #2 through 3. Now I'm resting at home and looking forward to upcoming Parkruns. Well, if I only cover the distance,nice and slowly, following the examples and suggestions of Martinus Evans...

Wednesday's Final Book Sale, Mentally Preparing for Upcoming Parkrun 5K

 Retirement for me has given way largely to a lack of time management structure in my daily life, with medical appointments providing a sense of having to be somewhere by a certain time.  Otherwise the day has opened up...that is, until the day before yesterday.  The Alachua County Friends of the Library Wednesday  finished their twice-annual used book sale, hopefully (for them) clearing out their warehouse offering books for a dime each.  Melissa drove us down there near Main Street and downtown Gainesville, and we walked an uncomfortable distance from the car and back.  The foreign language book section had already been completely cleaned out.  I quickly found some Junior-level novels and a copy of Marilyn Ferguson's 1980s' fad best-seller The Aquarian Conspiracy practically lept up at me from the display...it sure has declined in influence and availabilityover the years.  I remember once going to the public library decades ago, picking up a copy, and comfortably sitting down with it, reading for a few hours.  Now it's again in my possession...no telling where I'm going with it.  Tomorrow morning will be the weekend again, Saturday and (at 7:30) time for yet another Depot Parkrun 5K event.  If things go according to design (that is, Lord willing), we'll be there as I try to cover, mainly walking slowly, the park's four-lap course and then get scanned and posted.  My main aim is to show up and give it all a good effort while maintaining civility among the event staff and participants without trying to "beat" anyone.  Just enjoy listening to the loud, silly birds and keep trudging on ahead.  I exercised a bit today, but feel that progress at improving my endurance hasn't been as forthcoming as I have hoped.  Recognizing that there is a huge mental component to giving up during races (Martinus Evans and Andrew Huberman concur), I have decided to take it all one step at a time and to extend my efforts tomorrow long before my mind convinces me to stop.  Well, sleep a bit tonight, get up early enough tomorrow, and keep a positive mental attitude toward things.  And you, too...

Walked Three Difficult Depot Parkrun Laps This Morning

 This morning was another installment of the DepotParkrun 5K odyssey that Melissa and I have been undergoing here in Gainesville in recent weeks.  Getting through the entire event was something I knew would be quite challenging.  I wanted to complete the four laps required to get my wristband scanned and my finishing time read and posted online.  Only thing is that in order to accomplish this, I needed to complete the four prescribed laps, either through walking or running.  In previous recent Parkruns, a completed event has been very elusive for me because I have tended to tire out too quickly to finish.  Today I started out all right, but felt crowded out by other, more pushy contestants...they wouldn't leave me alone!  And then some stern-expressioned dude comes up right behind me and Melissa and introduces himself as "my"tail walker! I think his idea was that I stood out as an impaired, incompetent walker, whom he was babysitting...that didn't hit it with me!  I managed to struggle through three laps (2.3 miles), and although I felt it (barely) possible for me to walk that last one, I let it ride after three laps and got into the car.  Maybe I'll swing the whole course next week, after today's particularly annoying Parkrun. I wondered if the others creeping on past me would ever let me go in peace, instead of inflicting themselves and their children on my presence and threatening to knock me down in the process. It seemed that although I deliberately held back on my walk today, I was constantly being approached and passed throughout the course...very irritating, and scary because I dared never to veer at all in any direction! I did get some exercise from the Parkrun experience...maybe things will turn out well next week.  In all, I did the three walking laps in exactly one hour, and Melissa helped me a lot by providing some electrolyte hydration after each completed lap.  My intention is to enjoy the outdoors for a little while this afternoon, inserting some backyard walking and/or light jogging into the mix, which I plan to keep short for the unseasonably hot weather.  Later on I'll check my Facebook to see if one of the Parkrun folks got a pic of me in that race...my suspicion is that they're deliberately shunning me. I'm still getting the chemo treatment for my brain cancer that was identified last October...let's see how the Lord gets me through it all...He's in complete control...  

Pre-Depot Parkrun Awakening, For What It's Worth

 Here we are again at a little past six on another Saturday morning.  The plan is to go to Depot Park, a few blocks south of downtown Gainesville, on this cool time in the fifties.  So I'm going to walk a little, to see how far I can take this Parkrun experience.  Then, going back home to sleep some more sounds like the thing, doesn't it?  I haven't been enjoying rising up early for the past few days, have I...let's see if we can't just swing things back into the right direction. Time to hear some cool birdsongs...

Showed Up, Trudged a Lap at Today's Depot Parkrun 5K

This morning, as almost always, I awoke hours before sunrise.  I put on some coffee and did some floor exercise on the living room rug, this time running in place for seven minutes.  Between six and seven I managed to talk my sweet Melissa into driving me over to Depot Park to be in time for their weekly race, involving four laps around that park just south of downtown, Gainesville.  I didn't feel up to the task but had decided beforehand to just attempt a slow one-lap, about .7 mile.  Well, she didn't feel good and remained in the car.  It was a grueling, punishing experience, walking that lap, and I felt my struggling, slow feet with their Brooks running shoes were hitting the asphalt too abruptly as if I were kicking into it.  I got through it feeling pretty crappy and angry, not at all happy with the social tribalism at the park.  Melissa was very positive and congratulated me on my efforts.  It's now mid-afternoon and I've recovered to the point that I think I could stand a little more exercise before resting for the remainder of the day.  No official result for me...I did it in 24 minutes.  Maybe next Saturday I'll try it again, if signs indicate a "go" for me.  I have no plans to push myself hard, though.  Tomorrow marks Rebecca's first wedding anniversary...love you, Sweetheart.

This month, today excepted, I totally skipped out on Parkruns, confining my exercise to the living room and always enjoying indoors climate control.  Running in place in socks (ipf) and rock-running (rr) were the two exercises I did, and I was careful to write down my times spent doing them.  I rested a lot and was careful not to overdo things.  If God permits and circumstances allow it, I plan to gradually increase my time and efforts in this direction.  And may future Parkruns go much better for both of us.  Yes, that one lap was indeed a "victory lap"...

Skipped Parkrun. Song of the Month.

 Click HERE to view today's https://www.parkrun.us/depotpark/results/latestresults/parkrun  results. Melissa and i skipped the event this week. If we feel better and the weather cooperate, we'll consider returning to it. in the meantime I ipicked the 1984 alternative rock son How Soon is Now, bythe Smiths, as my Son of the Month fo January. I really enjoy hearing it over and over...Morissey's lyrics are profound...

Showed up with Melissa to walk Today's Depot Parkrun5k

 I walked, with Melissa, this morning'sDepot Parkrun 5K, held just a few blocks south of downtown Gainesville.Click HERE to viewtoday's posted results...Next Saturday should be colder here, so showing up will be quite an accomplishment..I'm stiill taken aback at Parkrun's refusal to recognize my latest volunteering effort there, which would be my tenth overall... that sounds a lot like ghosting (or shunning) to me and sadly diminishes any trust I feel for this group's leadership...'

Walked Nearly All of Today's Depot Parkrun 5K

SHOW UP,

FOLLOW THROUGH

Well, after what I thought was a reasonable night's sleep, Melissa drove us down to Gainesville's pretty Depot Park, located just a few blocks south of downtown.  The sky was overcast, the temperature was a tolerable 63 degrees, but the humidity was very muggy at 99%. Before today's "race" started I told Melissa that I was going to try to walk the 4-lap, 3.-mile course as fast as I could.  But once it was ongoing, it didn't take long for most of the Parkrun participants to walk easily ahead of me.  Even the more casual runners seemed much more physically fit than me, so before long I had to reassess my goals for today, which came down to simply crossing the finish line. For a substantial portion of the fourth and final lap, I broke into a casual, light run  That I did, with a personally timed finish of 54:26.  Click HERE to view the posted results, which I think the timers and processors in good faith botched to my disadvantage.  The New Year's Day morning Parkurn 5K will be a combination of Gainesville's two Parkruns.  West End Community Park will host this one, temporarily skipping Depot Park for this special event.  As for me, I am beyond being bound to a competitive spirit that involves me comparing myself to others...I no longer care.  I just want become more fit, and I have the means to achieve much of this in the face of potentially distracting and debilitating complicated medical treatment for my stated bummer of a diagnosis.  But today's Parkrun goes down as a  personal success story because I showed up and followed through. This was my 99th Parkrun finish.  To attain Parkun #100, my intention is to go with Melissa to walk their special New Year's Day Parkrun. For the precious two days I had been skipping exercise sessions, but this afternoon and early eveninI willed myself to "rock-run" up to a day's total of 12.5 virtual miles (added to the Parkrun distance) while following Peter's slow-but amazing exploits during the 2022 New York City Marathon.  And now the living room gym is closed for the night as I allow myself to enter rest/sleep mode.  With more activity anticipated for tomorrow, i quote Morgan Freeman from that recent pharmaceutical commercial,;"Time to get busy living"...

Walked with Melissa in Today's Chilly Depot Parkrun 5K

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I'm writing this from the perspective of a tired guy early in the evening.  For the day, exercise-wise, I did a total o 8.4 virtual miles (v-miles). This morning,  after a lackluster night of fitful sleep, I awoke early and then went back to bed after Melissa administered my daily dose of Zofran. Planning to bundle up in order to withstand the low forties expected at Gainesville's Depot Park at 7:30 this morning, I had my alarm at a short snooze time span set to give me enough time to avoid getting there late.  But even with the clothing that was available, when today's (#317) Depot Parkrun 5K began, I felt very, very uncomfortable.  With no concerns about my energy level, I wondered whether the nasty cold morning conditions might force upon me the decision as to whether I should continue. Nevertheless, the two us stuck it out to the end, even though I thought that it was annoying that, from time to time, there seemed to be a lot of Parkrunners "sharing" the immediate course around me.  Toward the end of our walk I broke out ahead into my own modest version of race-walking.  My finishing time was 1:09:35...you can view the posted results by clicking HERE I've long given up on the hope of achieving fast finishing times at Parkrun events.  For me it's come down to two simple themes: SHOW UP and FOLLOW THROUGH.  This event marks the 98th one i've entered and finished since I began Parkruns in January 2019.  The goal is to do Parkrun #100 on New Year's Day at West End Community Park on January 1st, 2026. Be there or be square...

LifeSouth's Chronic Ghosting About its "Race Weekend"

 For my daily existence following the big diagnosis, exercise into Zone One is an important activity.  However, in rocking forward and backward simultaneously on my feet, I don't think that in doing so I am making it easier to run stretches of races, such as the Parkrun 5Ks.  Only actually getting out there and taking the steps will help me in this regard.  With winter almost here, I am also keenly aware of the seasonal time pressure to take advantage of the sparse opportunities offered for meaningful long distance races.  Several years ago I had as racing options the January Ocala Marathon/Half Marathon...they're long gone, sadly.  The LifeSouth Five Points of Life long distance events were consistently held from 2006 to 2020...until COVID hit and ruined everything.  When they resumed in 2022 with a half-marathon, the low number of entrants apparently disappointed the organizers and the non-profit blood-donation organization enough for them to stop holding it.  Only they never announced that the races were over, and didn't respond to queries about this decision.  That's called ghosting, and it's a highly disrespectful, deliberate breach in communication.  Earlier this year I had discussed with my cardiologist possibly going back to donating blood to LifeSouth...I'm O+, the "universal donor" designation, with my cardiologist.  But because of the medications he has me on, his answer was squarely "NO".  So when LifeSouth pestered me with another annoying plea for blood donation, I replied with my medical explanation.  No response.  Then I wrote them how I felt about their "race Weekend" cancellation and their refusal to be up-front and candid about it.  No response.  Hey, you bloodies, you can stop holding your running events, and I'll be disappointed but still supportive, if only you just make the expected announcements.  Now I'm seeing stuff on the Internet about how the Five Points marathon.half-marathon has been announced without any sign of detail regarding the February 2026 dates and sign-up information.  My take is that they're (expletive deleted) on us, or ghosting, and that they'll let the anticipated "race weekends" pass by with no communication from them. Yet they will still continue to harass me with accusatory emails and text messages emphasizing that (MY) desperately needed blood donations to them aren't just the most important thing: they're the only thing!  Well, with quickly fading hopes of getting some information about a potential Five Points Gainesville race in February, I went to my YouTube account and searched for information.  The answer directed me to a channel run by ultramarathoner Wes Plate.  Now I like ultramarathon runners like Dean Karanazes who are upbeat about promoting their sport: I like to hear their stories.  Plate's video was 8 minutes long, giving him plenty of time to mention LifeSouth and what their intentions were.  Only he did nothing of the kind, and all I got was a discussion of ultramarathon races to come, including a 300K event (180 miles) in steamy Tennessee.  Plate's video saddened me, and in my own state of medical health I don't see myself training up to being able to cover distances in excess of a marathon (26.2 miles) length.  The Florida Track Club Marathon next month to me is a dud event, and I resent the organizers' half-assed time restriction of six hours beyond which they reserve the right to refuse to time and post for entrants who are on the slower side of that figure.  My idea and estimation of public racing have greatly shrunk over the last two or three years, with LifeSouth going into Ghost Mode (aka giving us the Finger) and Florida Track Club dropping the ball, marginalizing runners and walkers while pampering those they regard as "elite".  And the non-profit side of FTC, along with its president, clearly holds aging people like me, fighting cancer and with diminishing athletic abilities, in contempt.  Well, ghosting can be a two-way street... 

Covered Today's Chilly Depot Parkrun 5K

This morning when I woke up between three and four I could tell that I had been able to sleep a reasonable number of hours, for which my FitBit gave me due credit.  Then I decided to do rok-running exercises on the living room run while watching the final 1:33 of the NYC Marathon, from the perspective of a friendly and talented young Chinese athlete.  That accomplished, Melissa then awoke and furnished me my daily chemotherapy capsules.  My watch gave the temperature first at around 40 degrees, then jumping to 43 and sticking there thoughout our cold Depot Parkrun 5K experience...it's showing that figure now with the real temperature in the seventiies!  I walked the course with Melissa until the final two laps, when I did have to take a jogging break to the bathroom.  She suggested I finish the event by running some, which I did with a finishing time of 1 hour 4 minutes 58 seconds.  Click HERE to view the posted results.  We enjoyed some Dunkin' Donuts afterwards and I'v just risen from a mid-day nap.  The four-lap walk through the park on this cold morning, which stung my hands, wasn't a very enjoyable physical experience to endure, but I'm happy we did it and entertain hopes of injecting some more running into future possible Depot Parkruns,  I do think that indoor virtual training is helping me. Right now it's close to 7:30 pm and I've just eaten a modest dinner that friends brought over.  No more appetite for a while...maybe a little more living room exercise and it'll be time to close shop for the night...

The Weather Channel, Named Winter Storms, and My Day Today

 Sometimes in the morning I watch The Weather Channel, which disusses the ongoing national weather, a long with making forecasts.  This is especially pertinent to our current late fall/early winter season, and I enjoy seeing meterorologists like Paul Goodloe or Molly McCollum reporting from a windy, snowbound location such as Minnesota or the south Chicago beach on Lake Michigan.  I was concerned that the bigshots in the studio were deliberately shunning the channel's own system of naming winter storms...so far we've gone through "Chan", with "Devin" next in line.  I Googled this concern, and their response was that no one's avoiding anything, just applying a more rigorous standard to what constitutes a "winter storm" in their minds.  We'll I guess that before long we'll see some morning show headlines highlighting more named winter storms.  In the meantime temperatures here in Gainesville are slated to dip into cold zones, maybe down into the thirties.  Today I took my chemotherapy dose of capsules and showed up at radiation therapy, happily meeting with three different excellent oncologists.  At home I intentionally did indoor exercises for an equivalent distance of thirteen miles.  It's been a good day, and I'm looking forward to more of them...

MIxed Walking and Running in Today's Depot Parkrun 5K

I don't like fog, but I can get through it.  What concerned me about this morning's race offerings was the forecast rain possibility around the 7:30 race time for Gainesville's Depot Parkrun 5K.  My phone weather app reassured me that I would (probably) be dry for much of today, so Melissa...although she was going to sit out this particular event...drove me down there in time for the race.  At its start, it was very, very foggy, 71 degrees and 100% humidity.  I had openly intended to lightly jog the distance, but soon after the start I felt compelled to settle into a brisk walk.  After doing this for much (if not most) of the first of four laps, I developed a strategy of alternating running with fast (for me) walking.  It worked, but it certainly was NOT comfortable.  I picked out different stretches of the race to walk and then resumed some light running.  Thankfully, all went well and by the event's final stretch I was running at a nice, moderate pace.  I finished at 42:55 and Melissa helped me with the post-race recovery before we headed down to Dunkin' Donuts for some treats.  That was fun, and it was also Parkrun #96 for me...four more to go before the next tee-shirt!  You can view the results by clicking HERE.  Last night I didn't get much sleep, which is nowadays pretty much "par for the course" preceding running race events I'm entering. I was disappointed in being largely stymied from sustaining any level of light running early on, but was encouraged by how well I had recovered by the final two laps, finishing relatively strong.  Let's see what happens in the races to come...

Walked Gainesville's Depot Parkrun 5K This Chilly Morning

Sometimes on chilly mornings like today the temperatures go down to an uncomfortable level, but throwing on a little cover like a sweater, sweatpants or light jacket will make everything all right.  And then there are times like now when the cold wind probes around my body, inevitably finding the one spot that brings misery.  That's what this morning was like for the Depot Parkrun 5K.  It was around 40 degrees with high humidity and swirling wind when we left for Depot Park, a little south of downtown Gainesville.  Although before leaving home I found a nice protective coat, it still let in some of that piercing cold.  Melissa and I had independently decided to walk today's event, and we stuck together the whole 3.1 miles.  I was in a bit of a grumpy mood, but did what I could to restrain myself from cynical talk.  Folks around at this event were cheery and encouraging.  I liked that the attendance number was much lower than two days ago, but on the third and fourth laps we had to contend with runners doing their laps coming head-on at us along the same narrow path...that was annoying.  Doesn't anyone ever tell these people that they have to share the park with US? I'm so proud of Melissa for braving the elements with such a positive, friendly spirit.  I crossed the finish line at 1 hour seven minutes 38 seconds...you can view the results by clicking HERE.  The night before I suffered from my typical insomnia, which convinced me to show up and walk the race, forgoing running. Next Saturday maybe we'll tackle Depot Park again or try out the Tyler's Hope race, which is a Hawthorne Trail event that starts and ends at southeastern Gainesville's Boulware Springs Park.  Hopefully I'll be in better shape by then and we'll make the right decisions together...

Walked (and Ran) This Morning's Depot Parkrun 5K

 

It's Thankgiving, so Happy Holiday!  After a night of little sleep, Melissa and I woke up early and readied ourselves for today's special Thanksgiving Thursday edition of Gainesville's Depot Parkrun, taking place just off Depot Road a few blocks south of downtown.  Although I had intended earlier to run the event, I changed my mind before the race and decided to speed-walk as much as feasible.  It was a chilly morning with high humidity when it started, and I'm guessing that well over 150 folks entered and finished it.  My walk was brisk, but apparently not enough for other walkers, one over eighty, from catching up and beginning to pass me.  That's the moment I decided to (moderately) run the rest of the course (minus the hills).  This was uncomfortable and unpleasant, but I felt I could manage the grind to the end.  At the close I finished with a time of 44:21...click HERE to view the posted results.  Melissa drove us down there, and she completed the course with me...I'm so proud of her.  This was my 94th completed Parkrun, and I'm looking forward to making a stalwart attempt to run the next one here on this coming Saturday morning.  It's looks to be an especially cold one this time around...

Walked Gainesville's Depot Parkrun 5K This Morning

This morning the weather was clear, humid and in the upper fifties when Melissa drove us down to Depot Park, just a few blocks south of downtown Gainesville, to participate in the weekly Depot Parkrun 5K.  The good people who run this event emphasize participation over competition, and in my condition, at age 69 with a serious medical situation to contend with, just showing up and taking part is a noble project.  The bird were very, very noisy: lots of crows, grackles and red-wing blackbirds sending out their special, sweet songs.  We decided at the start to walk at a moderate-but reasonable pace.  But this didn't keep the volunteer tail-walker from rushing up and trying to force conversation upon us with aggressively personal questions.  I quickly picked up on this tactic, but sometimes others don't and I think some private medical information about myself was openly divulged...and without my permission.  Anyway, we eventually shook off that dude and did our walk.  At the finish, my time was 1 hour ten minutes three seconds...close to last but not quite.  You can view today's results by clicking HERE.  This time around they got the times correct, and they did credit me with my overall 93rd Parkrun finsish.  This coming Thanksgiving morning on Thursday Depot Park is hosting a special Parkrun, bringing in folks from the West End Community Parkrun area.  I'm looking forward to it...

Today's Depot Parkrun 5K: Showed Up, Followed Through

 

After skipping Gainesville's free weekly Depot Parkrun for two weeks in a row (morning after brain surgery on 10/25, staying home as cautionary measure on 11/1), Melissa drove me down there this morning to walk the 3.1-mile course.  Meeting us there was our dear friend Kim, who is in great shape and had no trouble keeping up with me throughout the event.  It was around 60 degrees with near-100% humidity...a little chilling to begin with.  There were a lot of folks there, making it often a little tedious going down the path while trying to avoid others.  Kim is a great conversationalist, meaning that she is a great listener.  I talked a lot, but found over the span of the race that it kept me from accelerating into my current fastest walking pace.  Hardly sweating any, I finished it with a time of 56:06 with my weight gain into the 180's holding me back.  I'm guessing that I could have lightly jogged through most of it and garnered a better finishing time, but I'm also being cautious about any possible jarring to my head.  Afterward, we went to our nearby Dunkin' Donuts for some coffee and doughnuts.  I'm very glad for this experience and look forward to the possibility in going at it again a week from now.  I did notice during our walk the very noisy grackles and red-wing blackbirds, who were concentrated in tree branches in the nature section of the park.  You can view today's results by clicking HERE.  Instead of straying into too much competitiveness regarding this event, I focused on the priorities of showing up and following through to the end, which I think I succeeded in accomplishing this morning...

Looking Forward to My First Walking Parkrun Following Surgery

As I tackle each day in my post-brain surgery life from early morning onward, I find that I always have choices about how I live.  For example, today I got up and dutifully engaged in about one hour of zone one cardio level while listening to foreign languages on TV.  Later, Melissa and I together did a moderately-paced 1.4 mile walk around the adjacent block in our home neighborhood.  Throughout this time, I felt quite fit enough to walk a 5K event.  That's interesting because, the way I've been seeing it, my medical providers have lately been taking an overcautionary, almost enfeebling approach when it comes to giving me the "OK" for publicly-available racing events such as Parkrun.  They are held each Saturday morning (two locations in the Gainesville vicinity) and stress attendance and fitness over competition and eliteness.  Under pressure for the sake of my medical state, I skipped this past Saturday's Parkrun although I was confident of being able to complete the course without negative repercussions.  This coming Saturday morning will also have Parkrun, and I'm hoping that my health provider won't stand in my way of participating in it.  My intention is to simply walk the Depot Park 4-lap course at a reasonably brisk pace...no running to happen here anytime soon.  Also, my planned ventures are confined to Parkrun events and will exclude others conducted the the Florida Track Club and Tyler's Hope.  We'll see what happens...