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...

Considering Fitness and Brain Cancer this Very Early Morning

 Praise the Lord and Melissa, since last October when she insisted I go to tht NW 39th Avenue UF Health emergency roombecause of headaches and incoherent behavior, resulting in emergency extensive brain surgery leading to an aggressive brain cancer diagnosis, chemotherapy and radiation. I've been enthusiastic and prompt about accepting my oncologists' prescribed treatment plans. T o be sure, there have been some side effects from all this, including a lowered level o cardiovascular physical fitness that has limited my endurance in general life, especially with regard to Saturday morning Parkrun 5K events. Last Saturday morning I finished walking my first full 5k since January 10th, and This coming event, come rain or shine, promises to be another successful finish.  I like to keep an optimistic perspective on my health and fitness...yet I feel that a  bomb was randomly dropped on me just to thoroughly disrupt my life and hopes for a future self,alive and thriving on this Earth at my ageof 69.  I've heard from doctors and a nurse practitioner doleful predictions of just a few months more life expectancy for myself due to past rapidly growing gbm malignant tumors...will they start up again, escalating to another crisis?  This spring and summer, if I am assiduous in my training and careful about hydration and recovery, promises me a lot of progress with running strength and walking power and endurance, enough to successfully handle upcoming long distance races... including those run by the Florida Track Club, not just the Parkrun organization.  I know that, going through the tragedy of my son Will's passing in 2024, i was then in sound physical shape if you account for my cancer alarms starting to go off.  I know that glioblastoma can come back, and my UF Health physicians need some close consulting in case they decide to embark on a path of further treatments, which could well entail more surgery.. the idea is to fight this scourge and not just survive, but to thrive.  Well, it looks like the back yard is calling me out to run like Martinus Evans.  Gradually  building back up my time spent running (slowly) sounds like a good idea...This morning I arose between 3:30 and 4, and I ran-in-place in the living room for some 16 minutes...then I brewed some coffee and wrote this.  Look like I'll be returning to theback of the house soon, agitating my sweet Peewee Daisy in the process...

Warm-to Hot Saturday Afternoon with Additional Backyard Exercise

 Now that it is mid-afternoon, 80+ degrees outside, I'd like to report that after Melissa so lovingly and graciously drove me out to Depot Park, just a few blocks south of downtown Gainesville, I walked one solid lap during that Parkrun 5K before returning to the car.  Early on, E,J., one of their volunteer parkwalkers, got a nice, friendly conversation going with me.  We talked about the birds at the park and their beautiful and sometimes funny songs.  I brought up the fact that before my brain cancer diagnosis and surgery late last year, I had achieved a pretty fast speed-walking pace for Parkruns.  Now, I said, I can't even keep up with 80+-year-old visually-impaired Jon, whose walking pace seems nearly effortless as he seems to float along the path.  Next weekend I'd like to try the same course and extend my walk, hopefully for the full 5K distance.  Now I just came in from our back yard, immersed in the afternoon sunny heat, where I walked its inner perimeter for six minutes while our dog Peewee enthusiastically ran with me...it was pretty tiring! during this effort I listened in on Sufjan Steven's opening segment to his album-concluding track Impossible Soul. That 25-minute song now stands as my "Song of the Month" for March 2026 although it is now 16 years old. Now I'm sipping on some recently brewed coffee typing this after the close of my Saturday home exercise.  i plan to relax and watch some TV, maybe looking a bit at Khan's Shadow Magic novel...maybe not.  Let's all enjoy the rest of today and be thankful for the wonderful things we've been blessed with. Happy new spring season...

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...

On This Labor Day Starting Off September

Welcome to the month of September on this Labor Day Monday.  The Weather Channel meteorologists seem to be enjoying going to pains to explain that today marks the beginning of the meteorological fall season while the astronomical fall begins on September 22nd.  I'm not sure how that affects my life, but it continued to be very warm and humid outside as I walked around the neighborhood earlier this afternoon. I'm not counting on any sustained cooling in my surrounding weather.  No, it's tropical storms and hurricanes I'm on the lookout against, and the "experts" don't seem to think that anything of substance will develop within the next week or so, although they say there is a "robust" tropical wave out there.  We've had a pretty light Atlantic hurricane season so far, with the only developed hurricane staying clear of land, far out in the Atlantic Ocean...may the rest follow this pattern.  Melissa and I would like our planned cruise into the Caribbean Sea in early October to go off without complications. Not only do I need to take the weather into consideration about this, but apparently our mentally ill, creepy drama-queen of a president seems to think it's a good idea to manufacture yet another crisis by amassing warships just off the Venezuelan coast to provoke armed conflict with that nation...we're scheduled to cruise to the nearby islands of Aruba and Curacao. You probably voted for the felon: what excuses are you making for him this time? In any event, there's a limit to what I have control over in my life...let me focus on today and what it may bring...

Welcome to "Official" Summer

Welcome to the "official" beginning of summer, 2025, which according to the TV meteorologist began this evening with the summer solstice at 10:42.  Of course, we've been feeling the summer heat for weeks, so that crossing over is merely a formality. In my musings about the lack of long distance races in Florida this time of year I've investigated more northern locales that still hold marathons and/or half-marathons and came up with a few events.  The only problem with that is when heat waves sweep over those areas, which is what's going on the northeastern part of America.  Florida, by contrast...although still hot...seems more hospitable... 

Ran Gainesville's Depot Parkrun 5K This Morning

At 7:30 race time this morning, it was another very warm and muggy Depot Park, at 75 degrees and 96% humidity, as I ran the Depot Parkrun 5K, a free and volunteer-supported event held Saturdays there, a few blocks from downtown Gainesville.  As with last week, I first gave myself the option of going it slow as a "continuity" run because of the adverse weather, but once again when it started I went all out to run a fast race.  Unlike last Saturday, though, I started out a bit faster and it paid off with me getting a personal best out of my 48 Depot Parkrun finishes so far...at 27:01.  I know my mind is more on the pace than the distance when I drive away from there after it's over and realize that I hadn't heard any of the many beautiful bird songs I've grown accustomed to in this nature park. There were fewer people out there today, but still more than 100...plenty of room for more, and walkers are very welcome! This coming week I signed up for a Florida Track Club race I've run in years gone by, The Melon Run three-miler held each Forth of July at Massey (Westside) Park.  That's on Thursday morning, leaving the next Depot Parkrun two days later up in the air as to what I will do with it: Run? Speed-walk? Volunteer?  Guess I'll figure it out eventually.  Click HERE to see today's Parkrun results...

Enjoying the Change of Weather, If Only Briefly

The weather here in Gainesville has turned interesting, with yesterday marked by overcast skies and cool mist condensing out of the air with temperatures staying in the sixties.  At this writing today it's continuing like this, although I expect the sun to start peeking through sooner or later.  Rainy days are on the menu for this week at least, at least according to the sometimes-flawed weather forecast I got off the news yesterday.  I'd like to see this somehow finally leading to more seasonal, cooler weather with clear skies...I miss those good old crisp autumn days.  In any event we're enjoying a respite from the extended summer that looks to finally be packing up for 2023. As I was expecting warmer weather yesterday during my race, I'm relieved for the change.  I've always kind of liked dreary, cool, overcast weather as long as it doesn't rain, although I'm realistic enough to expect some showers if not outright downpours. That's okay, too: I'm a Floridian, after all...

Truly Pleasant Fall Weather Day Here in Gainesville

This morning I walked out in the back yard and marveled about the coolness...so pleasant, for a change!  I checked my phone weather app, and it said here in Gainesville it was 58 degrees with a humidity of 77%...this a little past 10:30. I think we may now be entering a "Goldilocks" zone with the weather in northern Florida...not too hot and not too cold, with rain at most presenting occasional umbrella opportunities.  On the other hand, I would probably like it even more if today's "high" were 58, with the nighttime lows dipping into the upper 30s...yes, that's my Goldilocks zone.  Still, I'll take any break from the unbearably hot and humid year we've been experiencing.  Hopefully, the cool weather break will extend into a properly autumn seasonal trend and stay with us for a while without reverting to the months-long stagnation plaguing us this year...

My September 2023 Running and Walking Report

This morning I took a break from actively participating in the weekly Depot Parkrun 5K held Saturdays here in Gainesville.  Instead, I volunteered there, standing at the table sorting out finishing tokens according to their barcode system for recording the times of the runners (or walkers).  It was interesting watching the race from the perspective of someone on the sidelines...I don't think I had done that since I was on my high school track team in 1973!  Next week I'm planning to be at the beach with Melissa and on October 14th I'm already signed up to run the Florida Track Club's 10K race to be held on the Hawthorne Trail, starting and ending at Boulware Springs Park in the southeastern corner of town.  As for this past month, I've been active and injury/illness-free: whoopee!  The temperatures have begun to turn cooler and the humidity drier after a bear of a sweltering, swampy summer here in northern Florida...it's about time! My ultimate goal for the fall and winter is to run a number of races at 10K (6.2) miles distance and higher, even considering a possible stab at the marathon event to be held next January in Hawthorne.  But first things first, and more than the races themselves, I value simply being able to run and walk daily.  As for that walking, my speed at which I've been working on, I'd like to mix it into my races more and more as the years go by...I'll be turning 67 this week... 

Season Changes, Still Could Use Some More Cooling

The season has officially changed from summer to fall, but not fast enough of me as the temperatures, while slightly better in the last few days, are still too hot.  And this hurricane season won't go away as there always seems to be something brewing either in the Gulf of Mexico/Western Caribbean, Atlantic, or both.  I'm looking forward to the time when, as the sun sets, I'll feel comfortable putting on a light sweater...looking forward to that first full cold front of the autumn season!  Until then, I'll be continuing my indulgence in (and appreciation for) air conditioning...

Constellation of the Month: Corona Borealis

 

Corona Borealis, although a small constellation, is easy to spot in the June evening sky at northern temperate latitudes...if the skies are clear, that is.  It's situated between Boötes to its west (left) and Hercules to its right (east), with the rough u-shaped crown studded with stars...a very easy pattern to make out.   Easily the brightest star in Corona Borealis is Alphecca (also called Gemma), a binary system about 75 light years from us.  The simplest way to find Corona Borealis in the sky is to first find Arcturus, easily the brightest star in this part of the night sky and go a little up (north) and to the left (east) from it.  Corona Borealis is, in English, the Northern Crown, and it is fun to see as it passes directly overhead: maybe an hour or two before or after it hits the zenith might be the preferred observation time to avoid straining your neck! Now we're officially entering the summertime, and if you can stand the mosquitos, enjoy clear skies and are free of obstructing streetlights, then get hold of a star map and see how many summer constellations you can recognize...Corona Borealis should be one of the more obvious ones to find.  

Next month: another constellation...

Plan to Enjoy Our Long, Hot Summer

I'm gearing up for a long, hot summer, briefly interrupted by a planned Alaskan cruise with Melissa late in July...assuming they don't cancel out.  I say that because two of the excursions within Alaska that we signed up for were canceled on us, and I have yet to set foot on foreign soil after our last cruise in 2020, which featured a stopover in the Bahamas, that excursion unceremoniously canceled as well.  This time around the foreign country in question is Canada, which I am frankly more enthusiastic about visiting.  In the meantime, my intention during the grueling Florida heat in the weeks ahead is to get outside a lot, stay hydrated...and get a lot a walking in, mixed in with a little running.  I heard that the pool at Westside Park here in Gainesville has reopened after a year of renovation...maybe a little stopover there with my senior discount would be a fun thing to do as well...

This Winter Ridiculously Warm Here in Northern Florida

It's hard to imagine that we're still in the middle of the winter as February winds to a close with daytime temperatures in the upper 80s day after day...ugh.  I would have thought that we'd be seeing temperatures dipping in the 40s at night with highs in the 70s...but no, this 2023 winter has got to be the record-setting warmest, at least in my memory, for northern Florida.  Of course, I grew up in South Florida, living throughout childhood without any air conditioning at home, so I'm at least a little conditioned to stifling heat...but now I can find refuge indoors with the AC cranked up to high.  I was watching the Weather Channel this morning...they were deploring what they (and they alone) were calling "Winter Storm Piper" as it made its way with snow and icy conditions across Wisconsin, headed toward Michigan.  It's funny: I had all my winter clothing ready to go in anticipation of getting at least some use, which mostly now involves throwing on a light sweater when the house gets just a little too chilled.  I hope this all doesn't portend a record breaking hot summer...

Ran the Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon Yesterday Morning

Yesterday morning I ran my fourth Tom Walker Half-Marathon race here in Gainesville, and weatherwise it was easily the worst by far.  There's a reason that long-distance races just aren't offered across Florida during the late-spring-to-early-fall months: the heat combines with the high humidity to produce a very difficult running environment as it tends to interfere with the body's capacity to perspire effectively, commonly resulting in overheating.  Although I signed up to run this event during the last week in October, it wasn't until a few days later that I found out the temperature and humidity would be the worst, in the 70s and 90s respectively...ugh, this just isn't supposed to happen in November!  To further aggravate the situation, the clock was moved back an hour Sunday morning, meaning that the sun would be that much further above the horizon at the 8:00 race time. Still, I gamely got up early yesterday morning and made my way down to Boulware Springs Park, in southeastern Gainesville, where it hooks up with the racecourse, the Hawthorne Trail.  I pre-hydrated and carb-loaded on Saturday but knew this run of 13.1 miles over a lot of sloping trail would be a challenge.  The Florida Track Club, which organized this race, provided pacers, with the slowest one going at a 2-hour 20 minutes finishing time; I thought that was a little too fast for where I was at, but for the first six miles I kept up with the pacer.  Then I had to have a conversation with myself about how I would continue, with the heat/humidity really starting to take a toll on me.  I decided to go Galloway Method for a few miles, running for one or two minutes and then walking for one.  This I did up to about the ten-mile mark, when I decided to simply walk at a brisk pace...this is how I finished the race, in my easily slowest finishing time by far, 3:05:29...yet I won my gender/age group (because I was the only finisher in my gender/age group).  Still, I covered the distance...this was my 14th half-marathon since I began running them in 2010.  In retrospect, I probably should have run from the start at a much slower pace instead of trying to keep up with that pacer...maybe I wouldn't have had to walk as much at the end.  After the race was over, the good people at FTC who were managing the finish line let me sit for a few minutes on one of their chairs...thank you!  It's Sunday afternoon as I write this to be posted early Monday morning, and I feel a lot better but still predictably tired and sore.  I'm going to need to look at how I tackle this distance in any future races...I had actually skipped running the Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon in an earlier year just because it was too hot and muggy...which proves that growing older doesn't automatically translate into growing wiser!  Still, am I glad I ran this race under such conditions? Hell yes!  Would I run it the same way again? Hell no! You can read the 2022 results by clicking HERE...

My April, 2022 Running and Walking Report

Let's just cut to the chase and say that I walked a lot in April and ran much, much more, doing both on all the days of the month and running the Florida Track Club's Headwaters 5K race on the 9th here in northern Gainesville.  With walking I'm not intentionally doing anything other than accumulate mileage on my Fitbit...most of it comes from my workplace, which is a nice-sized warehouse that demands a lot of steps over the course of a shift.  The running I have to purposefully set out to accomplish, mostly during the morning, but seem to be increasing my distances and endurance quite well...no adverse effects that I can detect.  Unfortunately, the seasonal change here where I live in northern Florida spells out an immediate future of hot weather for several months...inhospitable for outdoor distance training and no distance races (10K or longer) in sight until October.  So, in all likelihood I will probably taper my running a little and intentionally walk more.  Also, since Gainesville's free 5K Depot Parkrun takes place every Saturday morning, I'll try to get in at least one race in May.  There is supposedly the Mayday Glow Run 5K scheduled in Jonesville (just west of Gainesville) on Saturday, the 7th, but I plan to be out of town then and, besides, this race's organizers don't seem to be too interested in providing needed information about its scheduled time and registration.  Oh well, maybe they'll figure it all out in time, good luck with that...  

My September 2019 Running Report

In September my running picked up as I worked to increase my single run mileage, looking ahead to entering a local half-marathon race in November.  I amassed a total of 104 miles for the month and missed on running for only two days...my longest single run was 10 miles, done just this past Saturday on a convoluted course up and down the streets of my neighborhood and the adjacent one in the heat of the afternoon (mid-to-upper 8os).  My pattern of running involves a long Saturday run, a mid-length mid-week run, usually on Wednesday, and primarily indoor training the rest of the days...seems to be working out so far.  I'm also building up my distance by taking short walking breaks interspersed throughout the run...when I get to half-marathon distance, hopefully in the next week or two, I'll start to diminish those walking breaks.  I've also been going on some increasingly lengthy weekend evening walks with Melissa...this will further my progress as well...

The weather's finally beginning to at least marginally get a little cooler...although the forecast is for low-90s today.  That will help with my running, too...if I can keep away from injury or sickness it should be an interesting, fun time from November through early next year as I try this time to achieve and maintain half-marathon readiness year-round...

Annoying Seasonal Respiratory Allergies Appearing

This past Saturday I went on one of my four-mile runs through my own neighborhood, the adjacent subdivision, and down NW 53rd Avenue and back.  It was a good run, but afterwards I began to show the signs of seasonal respiratory allergies...sneezing, sniffling and coughing...which have bothered me over the course of several years.  I took a Zyrtec that night, and it alleviated my symptoms.  I've noticed some others in my workplace and in stores and church in different states of allergic distress as well during the last few weeks of this extremely early spring season...my heart goes out to them.  Last night I sat out on my back porch to keep our dog Freckles company as she roamed sniffing around the yard.  No mosquitos yet, thankfully, but I could sense those little particles of plant emissions that have plagued me so much in recent years...time for another Zyrtec.  Still, I enjoyed it out there with the bright stars, a misty fog beginning to sweep in, and the pungent smell of flowers permeating the air.  I'm not going to allow respiratory allergies to ruin my spring...the temperatures are warm but not excessively so and I've noticed that I run the best under these conditions.  With a little help from the pharmaceutical industry to treat my allergies...and possibly a little later from the companies making mosquito repellent...I'm determined to spend more time outdoors during the upcoming weeks...
 

Cold Weather Burst and Upcoming 5K Race in Tioga

I'm sitting here in my living room looking out the window...it's around 50 degrees and lightly raining, a brief respite from the overheating we've been experiencing here in northern Florida during this supposedly "winter" season.  The temperatures aren't expected to rise today and then they will dip for the next two nights to near freezing, just when I thought we were through with cold weather for the year.  I used to be able to go throughout the winter without having to mow my lawn...now it looks like a cornfield out there and it's already been mowed a couple of weeks ago.  Well, I actually like getting out the push mower...and so does our fourteen-year old dog Freckles, who goes into an exuberant barking, tail-wagging fit whenever I pull the contraption out of the shed...

On a different subject, I had previously decried the ending of the Run for Haven 10K/5K running race that had been held at the Tioga Town Center annually around St. Patrick's Day.  Well, although that particular race is gone, a new race, called Miles for Meridian 5K, will take place on Saturday, March 16th at Tioga...again with a St. Patrick's theme.  Although I preferred the 10K (6.2 miles) distance and the 4 pm starting time with the Haven races and Meridian's is only for 5K (3.1 miles) and starts at 8:30 am (ugh!), I'm considering entering it in hopes of resuming a tradition in March at Tioga, a pretty residential community with shops a few miles west of Gainesville off Newberry Road.  True, I can go to Depot Park any Saturday morning and run a timed and posted 5K race without an entry fee and Miles for Meridian costs a few bucks, but it's all for a good cause...Meridian Behavioral Healthcare treats mental illness and substance abuse...and a change of venue is always a good thing...

Saturday Afternoon with Starbucks and Football

I'm sitting outside for a few minutes on this late Saturday afternoon at the brand-new Starbucks off NW 43rd Street in far northern Gainesville, the closest one to my house.  As a matter of fact, I am looking out across the street at one of the running routes I would regularly take a few years ago when I was training for the marathon and put in several 15-plus-mile runs.  I'm not in shape now for any runs that long, but would like to get back up to that level.  I do know that if I were in good enough condition for it, this weather would be perfect: overcast skies, a nice little breeze, and moderate temperatures.  Finally it looks as if we are going to start getting autumn weather conditions: temperatures will be dipping into the 40s next week and peaking in the 60s...now that's the way u-huh u-huh I like it...

Speaking of late Saturday autumn afternoons, it's the middle of football season and my Florida Gators have a bye week before they head off to Jacksonville to try and upset Georgia.  I wish them well without my hopes getting too high.  UF isn't the only Florida school with football issues this season: Florida State, initially ranked number three in the country, fell today to 2-4 after losing a heartbreaker to Louisville 31-28, after it looked as if the Seminoles were in position to close out the game with an easy field goal...but their talented freshman quarterback James Blackman fumbled the ball away and the Cardinals went downfield to win it.  The University of Miami is still holding on to a 13-6 lead over Syracuse...I root for all my in-state teams as long as they aren't playing against Florida.  With the Hurricanes, though, it feels a little awkward after all the years of pulling against current UM coach Mark Richt when he was in charge of Georgia.  In the pros, the Miami Dolphins seem to have finally woken up and are playing some pretty good football of late...especially on the defensive side.  Their next game will be a rematch with the New York Jets, which they lost to miserably the first time around 20-6...

Well, I think I'll get up, go down to Publix and pick up some groceries, and then head on home...