Welcome, Month of May. New Parkrun Strategies

 Now that I woke up around 3:30 this morning and have already done my 16 minute routine of running-in-place on the rug on our living room floor, I am now seated at our dining room table, sipping on some freshly brewed coffee in front of this computer console. I'm looking ahead at the day to come.  Some more reading is in order, and it's a distinct possibility that Melissa and I will be heading down to our community pool to hang out and walk (and possibly float on my back) while the country music on FM 103.7 booms in the background on this first of weekdays. We might also just pay a visit to the post office I once worked at to check into a money matter we were contacted about. I intend to do some more slow-as-all Bowie running in the back yard, letting the day slowly envelope me without letting time constraints stress me out.  Reading, a little bit at a time, is something I can easily handle, as long as I bookmark my progress with the chapter and pages read...with today's date.  As for running, I will run my yard laps nice and easy, keeping track of the time i take to accomplish them before my mind counsels me to cut them short before i get too uncomfortable.  There's more live major league baseball in store on television, so I'll be able to groove into that.  I'm keeping up with Mr. Martinus Evans by working on my running without trying to lose weight or pigging out on sweets.  As for this approaching Saturday morning's Depot Parkrun 5k in Gainesville, my plan is to run when I can...slow AF...and be willing to end my run/walk with my head held high.  In other words, I want to show up there and, to my limiting mind's greatest extent possible, follow through and just see how far I can go.  I don't care how long it takes or who the other people are, i'll just try to avoid colliding with them. If my slow running efforts lead me to mentally interpret it all as too stressful to my body, then this will be a successful, albeit learning, experience no failure here.  Looks like I'll be trying some more Amazon Prime music albums, and foreign language and self-help podcasts, perfect for a weekly Parkrun.  And I'll be sure to be amenable to walking a lot of it, practicing a better attitude and keeping properly hydrated carrying a small Propel bottle... 

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...

Heated Up Back Yard Offers Walking Training Opportunity

 Now I'm in the middle of mid-afternoon.  Had I still been working for USPS, I'd be returning from my first break to receive registered mail from the first trucks.  But I am retired since November 2024, so none of that figures into my life now.  I just put some flavored decaf coffee to brew, and will soon venture into the backyard...with our rowdy, excitable muttbutt Daisy...to try a couple of slow, timed walking laps.  Speed does not matter here...I'm just dealing with the uncomfortable resistance factors involved in the workout.  Eventually I should be making some fitness progress, but for now it's all a matter of discipline, doing the little things that place me squarely in the discomfort zone as I navigate the weeds and uneven yard surfaces.  My goal for the next few minutes...they're forecasting record high temperatures for this date in Gainesville...is  to complete the two inner-perimeter laps and record the time spent doing them. Well, here goes, wish me luck!  Report: Daisy, in the back of the house with Melissa, didn't show up when I went outside and I did the entire 4 laps in 4:15, unpleasant but it worked for me.  A nice, continuing training session for today!  Now for a bathroom break and rest with some decaf. The local news is set to start soon...usually they start out with the negative stories of people behaving badly.  This is a different kind of blog article in that I often feel a bit spent by this time in the grinding day.  Who knows, I might even read some more of that obnoxious novel that seems to be going nowhere, with no redeeming characters and constant conflict...