Congrats to Spain

 

over the night's course.In today's final round game, played in New Jersey, The Spsin nationl soccer team w on over  Argentina 1-0 in extra time to claim the 2026 WorldCup title. again, congrats to Spain...

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Happy Independence Day

 Happy Independence Day..

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...

With Today's Chemotherapy Experience Comes Hope for Future

 This morning I walked around my home block (.7 mile). At first there was an elderly man ahead of me walking his old dog, which often would stop and sniff around in the off-road grass.  Finally, along the street after rounding the block's far end, he took his buddy back up, into ttheir house...leaving me alone to complete my exercise chore.  I slow-ran the last half-block, jogging past houses with brief walking breaks.  This strategy looks to be very promising..I wonder if it will help me complete Parkruns in the reasonable future. Later this afternoon Melissa drove me down to the UF Health Davis Cancer Pavilion off Gale Lemerand Drive.  There they drew my blood and took a urine specimen, then provided an IV chemotherapy Avastin infusion.  I'm back home now, feeling fine except for creeping anxiety about how my medical providers see the extent of my brain cancer, along with future prospects for my life and its quality.  I deeply wish that there will be no explosive growth of tumors like what happened to me in September and most of October last year, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens in the weeks and months to come. So I'm still hanging in there, wishing and praying for your health and, God willing, that my cancer will diminish and that my daily life will be fulfilling and marked by a high level of muscular  energy and cardiovascular fitness.Stay healthy, friends...

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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...

ON Cancer, Late-NIght Political TV "Comedy, God in CONTROL, Mortality, Gratitude

 Today I made an earnest attempt to be more physically active with home-based exercise, combining walking, slow running and non-impact 'rock-running designed to increase my heart ratewithout putting strains on my soft leg and feet tisssue...total measured steps for today surpassed 14,000.  Now I'm being involuntarily exposed to TV news and so-called "comedic" late-night shows in which the hosts take potshots at our own depraved "leaders".  I am NOT a Jimmy Kimmel fan, and I've never been one.  And that Stephen Colbert..forget him!  I'd just like to live my life training for better fitness and endurance, and to train my reactions to others during my daily existence whenever processes test the limits to my patience. As a matter of fact, it's not the provocations I pass through that matter so much, but rather my own chosen reactions to them. I watch the local Gainesville-area news and am saddened by the stories about different folks who hurt others with  a kind of violence and abuse indicating that they've lost their minds.And there are the typically ugly mug shots I see                                                                                   slapped across the TV screen..no, they have taken leave of their senses, thoroughly impulsively reactive people that I deeply wish to avoid like the plague.  Well, now we have an ebola outbreak, a new variant of COVID, and the hantavirus scaring the general population.  And cancer is slipping in quite easily among the population, my own body struck with prostate and aggressive brain cancer varieties.  The medical care here provided in the Gainsville area by UF Health is state of the art, and the BOSS is my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, running the entire show: I follow my health and medical providers' instructions and am at peace accepting that my physical life is limited by time and that I am in God's loving and powerful hands.  I am deeply grateful for the many wonderful blessings in my life and in those of my loved ones.  So I"m about to head back to the bedroom and briefly agitate our dearly beloved Pewee Daisy...may you all sleep well and enjoy tomorrow to its fullest...

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HeadacheThroughout Day, No Early Rising Planned

 It's now early evening here in gainesville, Florida, which went through a very uncomfortably hot stretch in the low nineties.  My exercising wasrestricted to rock-running in the living room, amassing~4,500 steps. Now the baseball channel is showing the tail end of a tied  gamethat is going to extra innings...I don'r care who wins, as usual.  I putout some K-Cup flavored decaf coffee to brew a pot...now I"m sipping from a small Mario Brothers mug.  I have been  sufffering from headaches for most of today and still feel their effects, moderate in intensity but not going away. I'm still speculating on last October and the worsening of my headaches back then, which I think may have intensified due i major part to the rapid growth of cancerous brain tumors that the surgeon generally removedo n October 24th, more than 95% of them according to his own account.  I don't want these tumors to return, and i really want the neext MRI's I undeergo to reveal that my tumor growth has stalled out, at least for the next few months.  Waste removal and recycling are scheduled for pickup in my neighborhood tomorrow.  I don't have plans to get up hours before sunrise...a good night's sleep would be in order.  Well, i can adjust the air and rest on the living room couch for a while before heading back to stir up Peewee Daisy.  Y'all have a good night tonight...

Looking Ahead to Today, Structure or Not

 I finally awoke and got up this morning as the time was approaching six o' clock...completed ten minutes of running in place on the living room rug floor as the coffee was brewing.  I don't know about any appointments or planned visits. There's no discernible timstructure or schedule ahead for today, other than reading, more physical training, or rest.  Ive grown to appreciate sitting outside on our back porch when it isn't raining, the chairs are dry, and Pewee Daisy seems the happiest.  From time to time I find myself with a mild headache...Melissa encourages me to be forthcoming about expressing my physical feelings to her. Beyond the gloomy, degrading news cycles i'm exposed to on television with this very disappointing, mean-spirited president and his soulless sycophants, it looks like old recycled movies, along with live major league baseball games on the Baseball.tv channel, are the only ways to go nowadays in this incrementally degrading society and culture.  Melissa is now up and about, and I am sipping on this tasty coffee, topped off by butterbeer-flavored creamer.  As for training goals, I want to keep my total dailyaccumulated steps at 7500-10,000.  Walking around our .7-mile neighborhood block and brief interspersed slow-running breaks, seem to fit the bill...as long it doesn't storm much and th temperatures can be endured..Good morning on this fine day to you all and enjoy it...God bless you....looking forward to hearing all the mourning doves, blue Jays, and crows...

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...

More Morning Sleeep Plans and Wishes with Melissa's Appointment Ahead

 I  woke up early this morning, at 4:30.  The A.C. seems to be on overdrive, and some more home exercise is in order for me today, as Melissa has some important medical diagnostic activity scheduled ahead.  I think a little remedying for a headacheshould work for me, and today's weather should provide some dry outside surfaces on which to walk, run, or sit and observe with the company of Pewee Daisy,our Big Baby. yesterday evening was a bit frustrating with me lying on the living room couchwaitin for time to pass to enable me to sleep in the chilled air through a significant amount of a night's sleep.  Looks like i'll soon be returning to the back where our little dog can start barking, growlingm shaking...and talking. I may be spending spending some good time tomorrounder the blanket sleeping and resting, hoping an praying that Melissa' appointment goes well and that her procedure goes off well, with a good and promisin diagnosis.  So it's now back to bed, and may you all enjoy a good, healthful amount of quality rest...

Happy Mother's Day, My Sweet Melissa

 Right now, about three hours before sunrise, it's five and I'm sipping on some freshly-brewed coffee, about 30 minutes after performing some running-in-place exercises on our living room floor. While watching the news on TV I found a dearth of attention about the serious international hantavirus problem to be remarkably disturbing.  They say this affliction, picked up from rodent droppings and difficult to become diagnosed with, carries a very scary 20-50% mortality rate.  And the cycle from initial infection through to slow recovery is very daunting.  i very much don't want for this pestilence to hit me or my family, considering the medical troubles I'm already facing.  As for the so-called news, CNN seems obsessed with the Iran War and cease-fire negotiations which seem a mixture of Trump's boasting, bluster and speculation about how closed are the Straits of Hormuz to oil transport.  Yesterday afternoon, when a substantial rainstorm broke out over Gainesville, Melissa left me in custody of big baby peewee Daisy while she test-drove new cars...our dog is one monumental crybaby! I managed to rise early, run--in-place for 12 minutes, and get started with this blog writing and coffee. Oh, and my YouTube account seems to be stuck with over-speedy, jumpy posts that interfere with my understanding and enjoyment.  i'd appreciate a little more steadiness there, thank you. May today go smoothly for you and your fqmily.  i'd just like for things outside to be dry enough for meto be able train with slow AF running..I want a better Depot Parkrun next Saturday.  As for this new car in our picture, it looks like i won't be driving it around for a while. And, my dear Melissa, Happy Mother's Day!!!...

On This Early Friday, with Regular Routines Looking to Weekend Opportunities (and Storms)

 I have already slept most of the night, and the next day (Friday, May 8th) is about to unravel before me.  We're approaching the weekend, and part of it has me set up to try out yet another Depot aparkrun 5k,along wtih around 100 or so participants, including many seniors and a lot of young folks.  They like to proclaim that this isn't a competition, but you wouldn't know it if you saw it!.  To me, finishing it

with energy to spare is my overriding concern.Tomorrow it will be primarily a matter  of taking things lap by lap,restraining myself from letting my overcautious and comfort-seeking mind from prematurely deciding to quit too early, when my body still has plenty of juice to conquer the course.  Well, this morning, a couple of hours or so before dawn, I mentally wrestled with the idea going ahead, getting up, going to the bathroom, and getting started running in place in the living room while waiting for the coffee to brew.  I finished my mini-workout and am now writing this out.  Then I'll kick on the air conditioning and go back to bed, stirring up Peewee Daisy's excitement. today there should be some baseball action to follow on TV, and I wish you all a wonderful, fulfilling time as we head into what promises to be a rainy and stormy Saturday...

On Eve of Tomorrow's Medical Appointment

 I have a medical appointment for tomorrow morning at the UF Health neuromedicine building, right next to SW Archer Road, to see a nurse practitioner relating to the brain cancer trials I am passing through.  Sickness is something that I have, but I don't intend to be governed in my life by denial.  "Tell me something good" is something I feel I have the right, if not my duty, to bring up in conversation during our consultation.  The crucial question I feel that I'm left with regarding this horrible brain cancer situation is what do I do if and/or when the shoe drops about my condition and future prospects.  Feeling some hope and optimism about the future...knowing that I'm not going to physically live o this Earth forever(no one else will, either)...is something that I want to have coming out of tomorrow's appointment.  Well, my body resists but I still have hope.  There are still some baseball games on TV this evening, and before it turns pitch black outside I just might (or might not) do some slow AF running back and forth for a couple of minutes in the back yard.  And...I'm looking forward this evening to some good rest before I go back and get Peewee Daisy to bark and talk at me. Rest well, everyone...

Good Day Today, With Moderate Physical Training

 Well, I'm midway through today's evening, having passed up on early rising.  I was a bit restrained with my running/walking training but managed some Martinus Evans-level "slow AF" brief runs back and forth across my backyard, along with a few minutes of running-in-place.  I'm brewing a pot of flavored decaf coffee, and then I'd like to get through a few minutes more of ipf and/or rock-running.  I still feel like I'm encountering an undue amount of resistance to my workouts, bu I'm sticking to the late Jesse Jackson's immortal quote: "Keep hope alive!" Earlier during the afternoon while Melissa was having her teeth cleaned, I lied down in the back and listened to the entire Sufjan Stevens album (from 2006) titled The Avalanche..my favorite tracks from it are The Henney Buggy Band and Pittsfield and the title song.After 9:30, I'm shutting things down in the front of the house and watching baseball with the sound lowered...and the air conditioning on while I bundle up and hide under a blanket. Getting up early tomorrow morning may well be a "hit" for me, for I could well do some more exercising and writing. Hope you all had a wonderful day as it is now winding down, and that tomorrow carries with it many blessings and things to be grateful for...Sweet dreams!...

Reading, Running, Training, Optimism, Baseball

 I have been enjoying living through the past few days, without pushing an agenda about rising early before dawn and pushing myself to engage in "constructive activities" of the sort that the late personal development coach Jim Rohn would assiduously  promote on his podcasts, many of which I listened to on youube...and still do sometimes, with some anxiety.  I am no bigshot personal achiever, content for the most part with developing new, positive habits that fit into systems that take care of me and my loved ones...no loud publicity necessary!  Martinus Evans is a self-identified runner who pushes this notion, and advises his readers to see themselves as runners, no matter how little or slowly, no matter how embarrassed they fear they would feel under the often critical public observations of others.  I have a humble praise report about my meager running experiences today...I ran back and forth, very slowly, from one end of my back yard to the other...no one saw this but myself, timed at two minutes.  Come this approaching Saturday morning at Depot Park...just a few blocks south of downtown Gainesville, my plan is to cover that Depot Parkrun 5K's course by walking and running the four prescribed laps though that park while enjoying the often very funny and loud bird calls like grackles, crows and red-winged blackbirds.  Still, I know in advance that, compared to the other participants, I will be very slow, with that volunteer tail-walker most likely making a prominent example of himself. I already told Melissa that I won't care how slowly I navigate the Parkrun...only that finishing it is at the top of my  priority list..  I am now feeling the frustration of my feet and legs quickly tiring as I move my body forward, either by walking or light running. Progress in training can seem awfully slow in coming. Martinus Evans has proven to be a genuine inspiration, and I wholeheartedly agree with his disdain for eliitists within the distance running community who seek to marganalize my efforts,passing their own judgments on me as being unqualified for consideration as an athlete.  Well, the die has been cast, for from now on, if the Lord tarries about lovingly taking me back home with Him, I am indeed an athlete in the mold of Mr. Evans. I checked out the hardcopy edition of the  2023 book titled Slow AF Run Club and listened to the Libby Audibooks version, which I just checked out from my local public library. Earlier yesterday Melissa and I went to the Friends of the Library book sale, final day.  All books were ten cents, and I left there with 5 interesting books for a total of 50 cents, hauling that weight to our car. Well, that's all for now.  I'm getting ready to enjoy some evening MLB baseball. Have a good night...

Watching a Little Baseball with Some Exercise

 Well, we've made it so far though most of this day.  Melissa and Peewee-Daisy are already settling down for the night, and it looks like I'm in store for some more hours of live Major League Baseball. I didn't exercise much more than 20 minutes today, but I guess that counts, anyway.  I'm going to post this article and enjoy some baseball.  You have a good night, too...

On this Sunday in my Life

 

This morning I skipped on rising hours before sunrise. Now it' early evening and all they want to talk about are drought-induced fires in the northern extreme of Gainesville.  Melissa and I will need to keep posted on events as they try to control the fires and keep them from threatening my home area.  If there are evacuation orders, then we will need to scramble to find suitable accommodations for ourselves and our dog Daisy.  Other than that, I have been a bit on the lazy side today, skimping on exercise.  My intention is to run in place for a little bit before finally calling it a day.  Earlier I was watching major league baseball games live on TV, and there's still one left between Atlanta and Philadelphia...the former with an excellent season win/loss record so far and the latter on an extended losing streak.  I often find it difficult to orient myself about the instant game graphics display, keeping up with who's at bat and where they are in the inning.  Maybe tonight it'll go better...I really don't care who wins. Having just eaten what I regard as the equivalent of my dinner, I'm done with the food until tomorrow morning. I think I'll brew a pot of flavored decaf coffee and enjoy the evening.  I wish that for you as well.  Well, if the Baseball Channel doesn't visually show tonight's Braves/Phillies, then Fox should do so on my "regular" YouTube TV, giving me a chance at a little intellectual brain activity.  As for you, have a great night...

Checking Out Library Audiobooks, Exercise, TV, News

 This morning I avoided getting up super-early, and ended up getting a pretty reasonable night's sleep.  During the course of the day, I did some 32 minutes' worth of running-in-place...add to this that I walked a couple of inner-perimeter backyard laps.  Now it's around 7:45 and darkening into the evening time.  My intention is to throw on a light "Mister Rogers style of sweater and sit around on the front or back porch.  Baseball is on the TV schedule and I'm looking forward to enjoying some of it.  Tomorrow morning they're holding another Depot Parkrun 5K.  I'd like for Melissa to drive me down there, and it sure would be cool if I were to manage completing the entire four-lap 5k course,without any attempt to be fast.  I've also been trying to check out on Libby an audiobook version of D.S. MacHale's fantasy nove Pendragon1: The Merchant of Death.  So far I haven't been successful with this clearly-flawed app, and that book remains unloaded.  I do have a couple of old Hardy Boys adventure books ready to read, along with the original Foundation novel from that classic old Isaac Asimov series.  I think tomorrow morning during the 'race' I'll try listening in to a story.  Well, tonight I'll be tuning in to our MLB Channel to watch a couple of live contests...their presentation has been very good so far since the 2026 regular season began late last month.  I'm tired of all the war news and how our politicians and media hounds are trying to manipulate my emotions while offering little-to-nothing of value.  So, I wish you and yours a great day if you're "down under' and a wonderful, blessed weekend...