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...

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...

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...

Tried to Make Something of This Sunday Despite Feelings

 After what amounted to a poor night of sleep, I managed to get on with today, Sunday, the last day in November 2025.  Our friend Lisa paid us a wonderful visit and, after some rest, I set out on my neighborhood walk.  While on the course, I decided to slightly extend the distance to 4.8 miles.  It wasn't a speed walk per se, but I gave it an honest effort as brisk exercise, listening to my phone collection of some favorite songs, arranged as if they were tracks on a double album.  The whole walk was an exercise in fatigue, although the outside temperature remained moderate around 79 degrees with a dry 42% humidity.  Melissa has everything set up now to where, as long as I'm carrying my phone with me, she can determine where I am I on a map...that's reassuring for me.  After the walk (and a deliberately light dinner) my heart rate is getting close to dipping below 90, which is the boundary of Zone One.  Now I've eaten enough for myself and would like to settle down for the evening with a cooler home environment.  Tomorrow I'm due to resume chemotherapy in the morning and radiation treatments in the afternoon. I'm skipping the news, which I think is pretty crappy: is our national motto Make America Grim Again? The wise words of Sting ring out: Our so-called leaders speak.  With words they try to jail you.  They subjugate the meek.  But it's the rhetoric of failure.  MY so-called leaders, that OTHERS elected.  I'm grateful that. at least for today, I didn't have to go out and meet any appointments.  But tomorrow presents a completely different picture.  Not fun, but it's life...