Cardiologist Visit, ExercIsing, Baseball, TV, Beach, Depot Parkrun, Typing

 This morning I visited my regular cardiologist at northern Gainesville's UF Health Medical plaza in Spring Hill. He endorsed prescriptions to help lower my recent high blood pressure...and the exercises continue! I also did a good amount of rock-running, mainly while watching baseball games on TV. Also, I slow-ran for 40 seconds across the back yard.  It's now early in he evening following sunset, and I'm ready for more television.  As for tomorrow, we'r e still considering a brief stay at the beach..Depot Parkrun is now "off the table." My typing accuracy has worsened a lot, so, I'll leave it for you to read the best that you can,errors and all. So for the time being, good night, everyone..sleep well...

Stubborn about Fighting Cancer for Extended Lifespan and Healthspan

 This morning Melissa and I exercise-walked north from our house  along NW 27th terrace..then turned around and walked back home.  i'm not happy that this walking of mine for distance is such a tiring grind, remembering how easy it used to be: I want to go back to being a power walker, challenging the 40-minute mark for 5K's.With slow running I want to be like Ralph the Ageless Runner on YouTube..I love his shows.As for me, I strongly want to become confident in my proven ability to slowly runfor long distances as I live through this unwelcome era of sudden cancer diagnosis bombs dropping on me and disrupting my life, physical mobility and hopes for my future as I want to live on a high-functioning level throughout my seventies..and possibly deeply into my eighties..The marker of my level of stubbornness that I embrace, without self-shaming, on the present moments of my immediate physical environment, is  and should be a highpriority for me, and for you...

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...

(Slow)Running to assume more active Role in Future Races and Events

 On this morning for which is forecast a 90% probability of rain, I am certain that we will be witnessing some stormy weather.  For the Depot Parkrun5k, I didn't feel remotely adequate to the task ofcompleting the entire course, but Melissa walked the first and only lap with me.  I was a bit irritable and grumpy, but toward the end of the looped trail...when it leveled off...Iwas able to lightly run down the pathway...it was an unexpectedly pleasant and empowering experience!I think that, on a gut-feeling level, Martinus Evans has it right with his "slow AF" run club. In the future i'd like for Melissa to drive me down to a nearby running track for me to train there and see how far I can jog on it...I feel quite optimistic being able to cover a good distance.  Now let's see how this day goes weather-wise, and how much training will help to improve my overall c-v fitness and endurance.  Also, I'm planning to use that running training to boldly 'step up' my running contiributions to future Parkrun events and races...

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...

After Medical Consult, Looking Ahead for Fitness Rise

 This morning I had my medical appointment, seeing oncological nurse practitioner Amy at the UF Neuromedicine building off Archer Road.  I first had my blood drawn and analyzed (results encouraging) and provided their customary urine sample.  Knowing beforehand the often fickle, arbitrary and cruel way cancers can intensify and spread, I felt that the best strategy for this meeting was to be talkative and upbeat about engaging in life, particularly focusing on improving my level of physical fitness.  When I'm sitting at our dining room table looking at my reflection on the facing wall, I look a lot like John Lennon of the Beatles from early 1967 when he was making the controversial video for his song Strawberry Fields Forever that revealed how much he had already aged...appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show with Penny Lane and confusing and riling my parents at the time: they wouln't be buying any more Beatles albums after that!. Yet in spite of my more worn-out appearance, I feel that I have the potential to improve my endurance and fitness against the sometimes discouraging conclusions of physicians and their staff assigned to diagnose and treat my brain cancer, which can be aggravated by aggressive glioblastoma.  I can't rightly predict my exact lifespan, but then who can with their own?  My consultation went quite well, and I spent a good part of my time at home exercising, either running in place on the carpeting or emulating running advocate Martinus Evans in our backyard, slowly jogging back and forth across it from privacy fence to privacy fence.  Now, where I stand, I just might be able to transform this challenging athletic activity into something fun.   The morning after tomorrow has yet another Depot Parkrun 5K scheduled.  If rain and storm don't wash it out and the asphalt and concrete surfaces stay dry, I I'll have a good chance to walk the whole course...and get scanned and posted online.  My plan...should weather permit the event to go off and continue to its proper conclusion...is to listen to a lengthy recording of rock music I like a lot: Led's Zeppelin' first boxed set, which was originally released in 1990 and drastically improved my opinion of Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham.  Maybe my Amazon Music account will permit me to listen to many of its tracks while on the course.  And a good degree of self-control is in order.  I won' tbe able to keep others from being irritating during the Parkrun, but I can control how I react to them.  Right now our living room TV is set on a live baseball game, and I just brewed some flavored decaf coffee.  May tonight be enjoyable for you and yours, and that your lives have much in them to be grateful for.  Good night!

Slowness in Fitness Recovery Tied In with Cancer Prognosis Uncertainty

My path to return to my previous level of cardiovascular fitness, as evidenced by my participation and finishing times in a number of long-distance races, has recently been slow, irregular and halting...causing some discouragement.  On Depot parkrun 5K Saturday mornings, I gradually increased my number of laps finished and, on April 25th, managed to walk the whole course.  But I only got through a single lap of their last race, feeling a bit too tired to go the whole distance on that one.  A couple of hours ago today I walked...at a reasonable pace...around my own neighborhood block.  On the backstretch homeward I would deliberately start some very brief, slow jogging.  This helped me gain some confidence about running.  Sometime around sunset today I'd like to try some slow running across our back yard, and see how long i can manage the effort.  i realize that i am being daily reminded of my medical status, and that the struggle to make progress...or even overcome...treatments for this unfortunate brain cancer condition is fraught with concerns about their effectiveness, and possible side effects.  I know that it's probably a good idea to be bold with my athletic training, and one of these weeks I'm going to let go at a Parkrun event and try running for as long as I am able to manage it...maybe this coming Saturday will work that way: if I tire out too quickly, I should be able to hobble over to Melissa and the car.  I don't like this cancer role in life i've been consigned to for a while.  I do know that my life...and my eventual passing through and beyond it...are in my Lord's loving and powerful arms...He brought me in and He's carrying me through it all!  I'd still like to be able to frame my own Earthly future in terms of relations with Melissa, family and friends, and athletic and intellectual pursuits.  And I'm still interested in what's going on in the world!  I can't properly boast about tomorrow(read the Book of James Chapter 4), or about the future in a personal, worldly sense...only God has the power to determine it all.  So instead, to the degree that uncertainty still maintains a vital role on this Earth,,.  I'll hedge my comments about the future with 'if the Lord tarries", recognizing that His timing is the correct timing...

I am a Runner in the Mold of Martinus Evans

 Martinus Evans wants us to come on out, feel it,and declare openly, "I am a runner!", even if we're a bit reticent on signing up and taking part in races.  I remember how I would use our spacious back yard to design feasible, relatively flat running paths in order to enhance my  endurance.  After 2009, i would get home from work.  Rebecca and Will, at home, greeted me.  but then I'd dress up for a short night run and then go out and tackle it...I did this more or less regularly for several days.  Then, in 2016 after David Bowie's passing in January from liver cancer, I rediscovered his vast catalogue of excellent music and put past albums I liked on my mp3 player.  Then I'd go out into our back yard and spend time (and dry-hacking) running back and forth for months, thoroughly  unpleasant from my irritated throat and esophagus but still able to cover the longer runs (and enjoying David's musical treasures).  And now here we come to mid-spring 2026 and the back yard is now even more open and available.  I'm still struggling to regain my running endurance after surgery and some cancer treatment, and I've found a champion in Martinus Evans, who has informed and encouraged me through his recent book that I just checked out from my public library...and the audiobook version on their Libby app.  Now that I've finally recovered enough to finish a Depot Parkrun 5K and get scanned and posted online, it's time for me to reclaim my identity as a runner.  Running a little during the day will doubtless challenge me, but my intention at this stage is to wear the good Brooks running shoes I've been using and jog on the uneven grass, challenging my mind and body to grow.  Then once Saturday morning rolls around again...it'll be May 2nd...I can strive to maintain progress walking the Depot Parkrun 5K course,throwing in some small jogging stretches at the end.  The worst case scenario? I'll poop out during the race and have to cut it short.  But now I think it's a foregone conclusion that I'm a runner.I'm back in business with my early morning rising, coffee brewing, home exercise and blog writing.  Now it's time to return to the back of the house and rile up sweet Peewee Daisy (who wants to get riled up) after I flick on the air conditioning...

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...