My June 2025 Running/Walking/Swimming Report

In June I continued working out with my running, walking and swimming, not reaching any milestones but rather letting my system and habits fill each day with meaningful activity.  Melissa and I didn't quite make it to our YMCA Pool as often as we did in May...she came down with a bad cold and the weather tended to be uncooperative later on during the afternoon/evening hours.  For the first three Saturdays in June I participated in the Depot Parkrun, running the first two and speed-walking the last.  I had planned to run the US Road Running event scheduled on the 28th at Westside Park, but upper respiratory issues...most likely simple post nasal drip...convinced me to instead sleep through it.  For mid-July we've planned a short cruise to the Bahamas and back, and on the other weekends in the month there will be race opportunities.  I've signed up for this coming Friday's three-mile Melon Run, starting and ending at Westside Park and organized by the Florida Track Club.  On the 5th will be another Depot Parkrun and the next morning interested folks will meet at West End Park to try out their new Parkrun course in an unofficial run...that second Gainesville Parkrun location starts its runs on the 12th.  On July 19th I plan, as stated, to be traveling, while on the 26th will be another US Road Running race at Westside.  I'm seriously entertaining the notion of focusing my running efforts on 5K and 10K races and speed-walking races of 15K, half-marathon and marathon length.  I'm also a little concerned that I've gained some twenty pounds since this time last year.  Sure, I've been doing more resistance training, which can put on some "muscle" weight.  But unfortunately a lot of the pounds I've recently been adding to the scale are due to diverging from my previously established eating pattern.  I need to address this matter before it gets out of hand...it certainly is interfering with my running and walking effectiveness. As for swimming, I have no interest in swimming fast or doing any timed races...which is good since I don't see any being offered anyway. What I do want is to develop a smooth freestyle form and the endurance to accomplish several pool-length laps per pool visit, nothing more...

My Song of the Month for June 2025

We're coming to the end of another month, so it's time for me to come out and announce my "Song of the Month" for June: Stuck in My Head by Arcade Fire. It's the final track on their newly released album Pink Elephant. When I first listened to Pink Elephant, I was full of excited anticipation for some for great Arcade Fire music...only to be greatly disappointed as track after track seemed weak and lame.  And then it came down to the very end, and wouldn't you know it, they came through with a big winner.  Singer/songwriter Win Butler gives a passionate performance with cutting lyrics and a robust, fast pace reminding me of the group's much earlier track Rebellion (Lies).  There are no other songs for June that, to me, come anywhere close to Stuck in My Head.  It's also, in my estimation, the "Song of 2025" so far.  Give it a listen and tell me what you think...

SONGS OF THE MONTH 2025

JUNE    Stuck in My Head by Arcade Fire

MAY     Walking on a Dream by Empire of the Sun

APRIL   Nothing I Need by Lord Huron

MARCH   Under the Rug by Arcy Drive

FEBRUARY Starburster by Fontaines DC

JANUARY Everyone Out by Diiv

Skipped Scheduled Race This Morning Due to Upper Respiratory Ailment

Today I skipped my scheduled 10K race at Westside (Albert Ray Massey) Park and instead slept in, suffering from some upper respiratory ailment that's either viral or allergenic in origin.  Yesterday, for the most part, I felt improved from the day before, going on a 4.1 mile speed-walk around the neighborhood.  My plan from last night was, should I feel up to it this morning, to likewise speed-walk the entire 6.2 mile race this morning.  But I was coughing too easily, although my energy level has always maintained a high level and I had no fever.  The rest of today I did some in-house exercising, and will then take it easy and see what Sunday brings me.  I like the habit of getting up early in the morning and running races on a weekly basis, and retirement has made this much easier since I'm no longer clocking out of work at 10 pm Friday nights.  So for now I'm just going to rest and recover...and enjoy life...

Podcaster's 8 Ways to Alleviate Stress and Anxiety

I usually check in on a daily basis whenever personal development podcaster Rob Dial posts a new episode on his Mindset Mentor show. Sometimes it's a bit wrenching to sit through a whole twenty-odd minutes when he's pondering aloud through the day's topic...maybe other listeners prefer those types of programs. My preference is when Dial picks his topic and then goes down a list of ways to effectively deal with it.  Today's show was like that, with Dial enumerating ways to handle stress and anxiety...he came up with eight:

1) Breathing exercises to lower blood pressure and alleviate stress

2) Focus on gratitude

3) Go for a walk

4) Write it all out, journaling

5) Get blood levels checked for possible imbalances

6) Watch ten minutes of comedy...laughter is a big stress-reducer

7) Ingest less caffeine...even better, eliminate it

8) Start listening to slower, more ambient music.  

I already do much of what Dial suggested...sometimes a different way from his specifications.  My breathing exercises diverge a bit from his, but he's right on target with most of his points. As for the blood testing, good luck with Medicare paying for that if you're like me.  I admire Rob Dial not only for his obvious sincerity in doing what he does for people's greater good: he promotes a healthy, positive outlook on living.  If there's any single one of the above eight suggestions he made that stands out in importance to me, it's #2: Be grateful.  I think too many of us, myself included, tend to look on the negative side of things instead of reflecting on the blessings we enjoy in our lives. Gratitude helps, especially in those areas we think are unduly stressful...

Feeling Better, Summer Pattern Weather Here

Feeling better today than yesterday...although not at 100%...I exercised more and was more generally active.  For the first time in a while, Melissa and I visited our nearby YMCA pool, where I practiced swimming.  We're well-entrenched here in northern Florida in the typical summer pattern weather for our area, with sunniness in the morning yielding to spotty periods of rain and thunder into the afternoon.  I'm wishing you and yours a happy summer...

Feeling a Rare Bit Under the Weather

Today was a rare occurrence: I felt under the weather, with a sore throat, headache, stiffness and a little weak.  My exercise was curtailed at a lower level and I took it easy at home, resting.  Yet no temperature to speak of, and life is good...

RIP, Bobby Sherman

Bobby Sherman was the young, brash-sounding singer I grew to avoid whenever he made one of his regular appearances on the mid-1960s rock and roll TV series Shindig!. No, I just didn't care for the dude although he most likely was doing his job well...forgive me, I was just 9-10 years old at the time and had no sense of musical sophistication.  That series didn't last long, and apparently neither did Sherman's fame...until his career was resurrected with him, as a teen idol, spawning a string of hit singles in the late sixties and early seventies.  His songs seemed to me a bit weak, but at least I didn't have to watch him perform them.  Then, in the spring of 1970 my entire perception of Bobby Sherman drastically changed for the better when I heard his new singles release Hey Mister Sun.  I was thirteen, and closing out my eighth grade year in junior high school, thoroughly depressed and beaten down by life.  But the radio...specifically Miami AM station WINZ on 940 khz...often played Sherman's minor hit, and it stuck with me, lifting my spirits in the midst of a difficult time.  After that I was on board with good ol' Bobby...the next year his song The Drum was another enjoyable, upbeat tune.  I'm mentioning him today because he just died of kidney cancer at the age of 81, and apparently after his musical career decided to devote his efforts in Los Angeles to promoting emergency medical care.  I think I'd like to check out some of those very old (sixty years ago) performances on Shindig! he did and see if...just maybe...my level of musical sophistication hasn't grown enough to at least appreciate his efforts way back then.  God bless you, Bobby Sherman...

About the US Raid on Iranian Nuclear Facilities

The news has just been announced yesterday evening that American forces bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities with deep-penetrating, powerful missiles, taking place early this morning Iran time. Trump used some misdirection, feigning that he would wait a few days...up to two weeks is what I think he said...before deciding whether to use the American military to aid Israel in their mutual bombing exchange with Iran.  According to Trump...who is unfortunately prone to extreme exaggeration with his rhetoric...the facilities were destroyed.  It also looks like all American planes and personnel safely returned from their "outing".  Now it remains to be seen how the Iranians will respond...and you know they will, most likely through terrorism directed at civilians or military personnel. I don't agree with a lot of the Democrats who say that as president, Trump had to consult with Congress in advance...Clinton invading Haiti and bombing Afghanistan, and Obama disposing of Osama bin Laden would render that argument to be selectively partisan.  The problems I have with Trump's decision are that (1) his own Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, had concluded that Iran was far from being able to develop nuclear weaponry, and (2) I think our president, in making the decision to attack, was doing the bidding of another foreign leader, that is, of Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And I prefer that our national leaders act according to our own national interests over those of others, even our own allies. In this I find myself in an uncomfortable, rare agreement with far-right Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who quickly criticized Trump's raid on behalf of his Middle East ally and its leader...

Speed-Walked the Depot Park 5K This Morning

On this hot and humid first full day into the official summer season, I once again moseyed on down to Depot Park, a few blocks south of downtown Gainesville, to participate in their weekly Saturday morning Parkrun 5K.  The temperature was a warm 73 at the 7:30 race time with muggy conditions...although my insane phone app had the humidity only at 55%: no way! I had already decided a while back that I would...conditions permitting...devote one Parkrun per month to doing a speed-walk, and today that's what I did.  I've written before that I seem to have hit a wall regarding how fast I can walk.  My thinking is that were I to fully adopt the race-walking guidelines and commit them to habit, then I could once again start walking for personal bests.  But so far my race-walking form has never been evaluated by an expert and I'm guessing that I have some work to do in that regard.  So when the director started today's run/walk, I shot out of there...walking at (my) top speed.  Which, it turns out, was slower than last month's Parkrun walk...I finished at 41:05, more than a minute slower than May's time and considerably slower than my personal best 5K walk (38:19).  The field this morning was crowded, both with runners, walkers...and runners who were forced to go into walking mode after a lap or two.  I admire all these good people...in spite of our different personal reasons for doing Parkruns, we're still in a sense kindred spirits for getting up early in the morning and doing this thing.  For the whole race, a little boy who may just grow up into a track star, was serving as a Parkrun Walker volunteer and easily kept pace with me. In the final lap he casually walked on ahead...he seemed to have the race-walking form right!  I have a lot in my life to be grateful for, and being in a predicament about increasing my race-walking speed at my age with two recent major surgeries is indeed a blessed level to be concerned about.  Next week I'm signed up to run at Albert Ray Massey (Westside) Park in yet another 10K race organized by US Road Running.  Wonder what the weather will be like then. Click HERE to view today's posted results...   

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... 

Happy Juneteenth

Slavery is bad.  I'm glad it no longer exists in this country, at least not legally.  In 2021, America began a new national holiday, practiced previously in some states and localities: Juneteenth.  On June 19th, 1865, by order of the sitting president Andrew Johnson, the US Army proclaimed the end of slavery at Galveston, Texas, the final rebelling Confederate state to undergo military occupation. When Juneteenth was enacted, I had a new paid day off on my postal job...that was good.  I heard some local people interviewed today on the news and a couple of them spoke as if they were themselves once slaves...one hinted that he was still in the struggle to not be a slave anymore.  I recognize that injustice exists with many groups on many different levels...but let's not confuse that with slavery.  Happy Juneteenth, a good celebration of the close of an evil human practice, at least in this country... 

About Elon Musk

I'm not sure what to think about this super-tycoon Elon Musk and his assorted enterprises.  For years I was fervently supporting his SpaceX's efforts to ultimately send humans to Mars, a very ambitious enterprise to eventually to establish permanent facilities there.  I was also on board with his Tesla development of self-driving cars.  Starlink, a network of communications satellites under SpaceX, has transformed global communications. But after the mega-magnate turned hard-Trump with his politics last year, my inclination to support Musk's projects has taken a severe nosedive.  His rockets keep blowing up, and people who don't like him burn up his Teslas.  There's a conspiracy theory going around that Musk somehow used Starlink to steal the 2024 election for Trump, but I think there's a simpler and more obvious solution: the American voter is typically stupid, driven by emotion and susceptible to manipulation.  His recent decision to oppose Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" for increasing the national debt is laudable, as is his stepping back away from the national limelight as the president's right-hand man with a moneybag and chainsaw.  So what does the future hold for Elon...and me?  My plan is to take it all, one Musk action at a time, for better or for worse.  I really do think he is trying hard to do his best for the greater good...and sometimes he royally screws up in that regard.  One thing for certain: he is indeed a figure of history...

The Decline in North-Central Florida of Marathons and Half-Marathons

It dismays me that, at least in north-central Florida where I live (the Gainesville-Ocala area), a thriving distance-running race scene that enjoyed large public support has dwindled into much-smaller-scale events held completely within parks and on converted bike trails.  When I rediscovered distance running around 2007, Gainesville had just begun its annual LifeSouth Five Points of Life marathon and half-marathon, held each February.  The course wound up and down city streets, and included downtown Gainesville and the University of Florida campus, at one point passing through their football stadium.  At the same time, Ocala had in January its own marathon/half marathon race.  Its course went south of town (start and finish near the Paddock Mall) through hilly horse country, where large estates and fields featured many thoroughbred racing horses.  I ran Gainesville's Five Points races...all half-marathon distance...six times with 2022 being their final year.  As for Ocala I finished its marathon in 2011 and half-marathon in 2013...I'm not sure when they stopped holding their races.  During this time I also drove to more distant locales for their own half-marathons (DeLeon Springs, Palm Coast and Tavares).  None of these are held anymore, either.  The only distance races in my area are organized by either the Florida Track Club, US Road Running, or Lloyd Clarke Sports, and they...as I mentioned before...tend to confine themselves to out-of-the-way places.  I like the buzz of big-city distance races, and I like to jog in my living room watching You-Tube virtual runs of some of these races (NYC Marathon is easily my favorite).  I have yet to run a race outside the state of Florida, but I'm retired now so it shouldn't be too hard to hop on a plane and make a weekend go at it visiting my targeted city.  But it doesn't look as if, at least where I live, public marathons and half-marathons are going to make a comeback anytime soon.  I've tried to get myself into an annual tradition as different organizations like Haven Hospice, Taccachale, the Sarantos and Meridian would start an annual race, only to cancel its continuation two or three years down the line.  That, of course, is their privilege and choice...too bad, though, because I would have liked to continue participating in those runs. Last November I finished my second-ever marathon race with a group that has since ceased holding their events twice a year on the eastern Hawthorne Trail.  They're gone now, but at least I got my marathon in!  Now the only marathon left in north-central Florida is a January event run by the Florida Track Club, but they are elitist about runners who take more than five hours to complete it.  That doesn't work for me, seeing that at age 68 I completed last November's marathon in 5 hours 7 minutes...

Enjoyed Watching Golf's US Open This Past Weekend

I enjoyed watching the US Open in Golf this past weekend, taking place at the Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  It's a very difficult, more traditional course that rewards straight tee shots into the fairway and punishes those who, for the sake of driving distance, shank the ball off toward the left or right into the five-plus inch tall grasses of the rough.  I've seen tournament after tournament in which a golfer sends a tee shot off to the side and has little trouble getting back in line on the course...not with Oakmont! There you have to take each shot on its own individual merits and focus on it...no such thing here as entering a groove state.  J.J. Spaun, who a few weeks ago very nearly won the Players Championship (played at nearby-to-me Ponte Vedra Beach), had what it took to shrug off whatever happened in the previous hole and just focus on what immediately lay ahead of him.  Other tourney leaders like Sam Burns and Adam Scott, on the other hand, lost their composure during the tournament's final holes...especially Burns, who never did recover from his anger at being denied "relief" by the golf officials after his tee shot landed in wet grass on the edge of the fairway on a late hole. Never having played a round of golf in my life...beyond so-called "miniature golf"...I noticed that this sport really does test and showcase the players' mental state according to their level of focus as well as their emotional reactions when shots don't go as they wished.  Spaun was, as they say "cool as a cucumber", all the way to his final, long birdie shot on the last hole when he finally let loose in joy.  Good for him, and good for me...good weekend entertainment...

About Saturday's Anti-Trump Rally

When I earlier discovered that a nationwide network of anti-Trump protests, dubbed "No Kings" and scheduled on the same day the president was staging a large Washington, DC military parade to ostensibly honor the US Army's 250th anniversary, I noted that in Gainesville it was being held at Roberson Park near where I do my weekly Depot Parkrun 5K walk/runs.  I thought maybe it would be good for me to attend this first protest rally of my life, and allowed myself the option...once there on the morning of the 14th...to choose whether or not to go.  After the Parkrun, which I ended up running a little harder than planned...coming out of it hot and sweaty...I changed clothes and headed out, not to the protest but rather to the nearby (to my home) donut shop for some coffee and reflection.  While there I got on my smartphone's YouTube and watched a little bit of one of the No Kings rallies on live-stream.  A woman was on stage with the mike and was yelling repeatedly, "THIS IS THE MEANING OF DEMOCRACY!", with the shouting audience parroting her in unison. That convinced me I had made the right decision in avoiding my home town's version, in spite of the fact that I strongly oppose this convicted criminal felon of a president. No, I absolutely do not trust Donald Trump, but I have even less faith in my fellow Americans for what they did to my country last November when they voted him back into office.  What constitutes democracy in its higher sense is the quiet, informed dignity of a country's citizens as they perform the regular ritual of making the effort to vote for the leaders they deem responsible, ethical and most able to lead their country into a better future, one that optimizes liberty, prosperity, enlightenment and security.  I don't know whether the United States will continue on its current track into fascism, but even if there is a backlash against MAGA in the 2026 off-year elections I don't trust the electorate's collective reasoning.  Go ahead and wave around a sign or an insulting effigy of the Orange Man...it seems folks have to get just as crazy and irrational as his own adoring personality cult idolaters to get them motivated to actually do anything.  And protest demonstrations won't elect anybody, nor will they, by themselves, toss out the worthless rascals from power.  But go ahead and demonstrate if that makes you feel better.  According to what I heard from my local news after our event, there wasn't any significant level of pro-Trump counter-protesters at the rally, just people standing around with signs and agreeing with the speakers.  Come next election day, guess how many votes that adds up to?  

Slogged Through Another Warm and Humid Depot Parkrun 5K This Morning

I woke up this morning with a stubborn purpose: continue my weekly attendance at Saturday morning's Depot Parkrun 5K, which is a few blocks south of downtown Gainesville.  The race, or run/walk as the organizers like to call it to make it seem less competitive, starts at 7:30.  Only problem is that today, less than a mile away, is an anti-Trump protest rally scheduled at nearby Roberson Park from 9 to noon.  Determined to avoid parking hassles from people trying to get there early, I managed to get out of the house in time to drive down and snag a decent slot at the park.  Typical for this time of year, it was warm and muggy with race time temperature at 75 with 70% humidity.  I had decided to run this one, again without the intent to set any personal best but to just "SWOJ", or "summer work-out jog".  My sometimes-bonkers phone weather app had the rain probability at 79% for this morning but the skies were crystal clear. When the race began...and during most of it for that matter...I found myself running in the company of pretty much the same people: that's less common than you might think.  I was naturally very uncomfortable with the heat/humidity combination for the whole run, but compared with others I fared very well, maintaining the same steady pace (or, as I call it, "groove") throughout.  I finished with a time of 28:09...click HERE to view the posted results.  Afterward I took a change of clothes into the park restroom and headed down to the Dunkin' Donuts near my home in north Gainesville, avoiding the protest...more on that in another article.  I have to decide whether to renew my US Road Running membership before I decide whether to sign up for the June 28 race they're holding here in Gainesville.  If I don't, then I still have Depot Parkrun and, starting July 12, another Parkrun at West End Park off Newberry Road in Tioga...

News, Media Manipulation and Protests

It's all-too easy in recent days to get overly wrought about the news hitting the airwaves...the political extremism that's sadly becoming mainstream, and the intensifying international division that includes several areas of armed conflict across the world.  I wrote last Sunday about the nationwide protests being organized against Trump for his perceived overreach with executive orders and his lavish self-indulgence at taxpayers' expense, exemplified by his heavily-hyped birthday/military parade to take place tomorrow.  In Gainesville, as in many locations spread across the land, there will be a protest meeting called "No Kings" tomorrow morning from 9 to noon, taking place at Roberson Park on 600 SW 6th Street.  I've expressed interest in attending it, but we'll just have to see how I feel about it all after my Depot Parkrun 5K race that's just a few blocks down the road.  Melissa thoughtfully reminded me to not get so caught up in the news, and she's right: there's only just so much I can do about what's going down around me.  So I'm keeping my peace and serenity in the face of the confusion, chaos, anger and fear, some of which I suspect is deliberately being pushed in the media to manipulate us...

Enjoying Watching 2025's US Open in Golf...at Oakmont, Pennsylvania

I've been watching some of the US Open, which began today and will run through Sunday.  It's one of professional golf's four Grand Slam events, and the course changes location from year to year.  In 2025 it is being held at the Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania...near Pittsburgh.  The course has a reputation as being very difficult...and the over-par scores in the first round are reflecting this.  There's no telling who will pull out ahead at the end, but for now J.J. Spaun, the runner-up at this year's Players Championship, has played consistently well enough to pull out to an early lead.  Established stars like Scottie Scheffler, Roy McIlroy and Bryson Dechambeau, on the other hand, are having early trouble driving, wedging and putting their ways  through a course that has been intentionally crafted to frustrate the best efforts of the world's most skillful golfers.  Not that I'm planning to stay glued to the TV for the next few days, but this tournament promises to be very entertaining...

Happy Birthday, Mama

My mother, Hilda, would be turning 95 today had she remained alive.  She sadly passed away from complications involving lung cancer in November, 2002.  Back in Mama's teenage culture during the 1940's, smoking was simply something that everyone did, and as soon as you were old enough to light up, inhale and puff without getting sick on the spot, then you were "good to go".  Only we've known for many decades now that this isn't so, and smoking is responsible for many deaths and sickness.  Mama, it turned out, had been suffering from birth with lungs that weren't fully developed, so smoking had a sharper effect on her than with many others.  She gave it up more than twenty years before the tumor was detected, and I am grateful for the time that she took this brave step against an addictive habit that was harming her health and shortening her life.  My mother was one of those warm, real, people who would fully engage folks in conversation and had a natural way of presenting herself...and a strong propensity to see humor in things (and the sweetest laugh).  When I look at myself and occasionally see some good points, chances are Mama had something significant to do with it...  

Discovering Some Limitations to My Speed-Walking

As far as speed-walking is concerned for someone in my age group (I'm 68), I'm a pretty fast walker although nowhere near the level of athletically competitive race walkers.  Those folks will get on a track and out-walk even normally fast runners, leaving people wondering how they can do something like that.  The rules for race-walking are simple but rigid: one, you have to keep the forward leg straight without bending the knee, until that foot passes underneath the body.  And two, one foot has to always be contact with the ground.  I've seen "footage" of actual race-walking and it seems that, at least at regular speed of viewing the contestants are maintaining contact.  But slow the video down and apparently during these high-intensity races there are micro-moments when both feet are (very slightly) in the air.  The operative word with this is "detectable", for judges patrol standard race-walking events and carefully observe the walkers to assure...at least as far as they are able to...that everyone is following the rules.  For me, I'm not even sure that I am keeping my forward leg straight enough to comply with race-walking standards...probably need someone to observe me and advise on this.  I do speed-walk a bit during races, often doing so at Gainesville's weekly Saturday morning Depot Parkrun 5K...I also speed-walked the entire Tom Walker Half-Marathon last November.  I seem to have run into a finishing-time wall with my efforts, and this is frustrating me.  So, I'm going back to You-Tube to see if I can't pick up on something I'm missing with my form.  Summertime...and especially the extended season that pours out into spring and fall in Florida...is a great time for me to explore how far (and fast) I can go with speed-walking (or race-walking for that matter)...