I just renewed my webhosting with GoDaddy for three years. It reminded me that I have not posted anything here for nearly a month. I did a lot of indoor running in April, thanks to this strange spring. So thankful that we bought the Zero runner a few years back. Here’s to catching up.
Friday, April 10, 2020 Thursday I was on the Zero watching the latest Survivor show. This season is really wild and wicked – all the contestants have won on a previous season and are very crafty. Too bad there isn’t a Survivor show for five days a week – keep me occupied while I get my “run” in.
Today it is still windy and cold. I saw a few snowflakes come down in between sunny periods. We are being given an April coming in like a Lion. My poor daffodils got really beaten up yesterday with the wind. And the dead/dying Maple tree in the little foal paddock dropped a branch. We were expecting that. And more to come down.
Enough about that. Roger went out to run, but I opted for the Zero again.
Saturday, April 11, 2020 The wind has calmed down a bit so I went out to run. Still not warm so wore my wind suit zip leg pants and the yellow wind jacket that I bought for Wendy years ago that she never wore. It’s a good jacket – makes me very visible along with my orange hunter cap. Now that we know that the hunting lands have not been closed by Governor Murphy that is where we can go.
I ran a combination of railroad bed – two miles and then a mile on the powerline trail and a mile back on the powerline trail. I did some trail maintenance on the crossover trail to the powerline trail. It was once clear enough for maintenance trucks to cross at that point, but now has Russian Olives and brambles and vines taking over. I had considered taking pruning clippers with me but I didn’t want to run with them in a pocket. I had to rely on my faithful pocket knife. I sharpened it just a couple of days ago.
I complained to Roger that my miles are horribly slow – that I can’t get into a true running pace. I am shuffling along. Of course he reminded me that it has only been ten weeks since I got out of the hospital, and have only been running (barely running) for 7 weeks. He refrained from reminding me that as a person gets older it takes longer to get in shape.
Thursday, April 16, 2020 I’ve been very lazy about logging in. I have been going out for my runs on the Chester trail and up on the Power Line trails. Sometimes I have stayed out for well over an hour. Yesterday though, I did not go out. I am getting discouraged by the March-like weather – windy and not very warm. Today I stayed inside and watched last night’s Survivor episode and stayed on the Zero for an hour.
Friday, April 17, 2020 It was down to 30 this morning and a heavy frost. It did not warm up very fast. I went out at 10 and carried my radio and listened to Mark Simone. This morning I went another quarter mile down the rail bed trail before turning around. I took splits and I am getting slower, not faster.
Saturday, April 18, 2020 Rain today. And not very warm. I know others are fighting the malaise that is going along with the Coronavirus quarantine. A sunny warm day would help me a lot. I am trying to stay focused – not necessarily on running, but on any of the tasks that I am working on. I almost didn’t go into the exercise room – Sandy calls it the gym. But I did. Tired of watching the news. Found Rocky III and watched the beginning, but really the early Rocky movies were pretty campy.
Sunday, April 19, 2020 It was 32 this morning and heavy frost. I had to go out to the garden and give the lettuce the frost recovery treatment. When I did go out to run it was 50 and that was nice. It is supposed to get up to 60 today and maybe it will feel like spring.
I felt good and actually ran as opposed to shuffle. This was very encouraging. This is the first time that I was running and not shuffling. Still very slow but it is progress. Eleven weeks since discharge from the hospital.
Monday, April 20, 2020 I stalled around until it was 10 so I could listen to Mark Simone. But I didn’t feel as good as yesterday. The hidden trail beckoned and I went up, and then had to decide if I wanted to stay on the hidden trail or go all the way up to the power line trail. That’s what I choose. A good hill workout. Came down on the Coyote Trail and here’s where I found out just how bad my run was.
A Morris County park police officer was waiting for us miscreants who were going on the trail and under the yellow police tape at Pleasant Hill Road. I crossed over and talked to him. I got his warning that I am not allowed on the trail, but mostly we just talked. He has a thankless job and his own concerns about the virus.
Wednesday, April 22, 2020 On the Zero today. So damn cold. Where is Spring?
Thursday, April 23, 2020 Cold again and signs of impending rain. Plus there was a fresh Survivor episode to watch.
Sunday, April 26, 2020 Roger and I went for a hike on the Chester trail. He tripped and fell last week and is still hurting – hip and shoulder so not able to run. It was an opportunity for us to be together – something we cannot do as my pace is too slow to stay up with him when we run. We cut to the power line trail and all the way to the crossover at the water crossing and explored a little there trying to find the dirt bikers trail. In all we did probably four and a half miles and in two hours. I had not dressed warmly enough and got a bad chill that lasted for several hours after we got back.
Monday, April 27, 2020 Did not run. Still cold and windy. Getting very discouraged.
Tuesday, April 28, 2020 Very nice today. No excuse to not run. I stayed on the railroad bed trail out for 2 ½ miles out, so got my 5.
Wednesday, April 29, 2020 I went out on the Chester trail again and did a lot of power line. I went up the Coyote trail and then down the power line trail. It is really steep going down. I went to the water crossing but was too timid to try to cross it. So backtracked and bushwhacked to get down to the railroad bed trail. At the 3 mile post I crossed over to the power line again and then crossed back at the dirt bike cutover and down to the water crossing and back to the power line and headed back. I was doing a figure 8 and it was kind of fun to do that. I crossed back to the rail bed trail at the dirt bike trail and back to where I started. A total time of 1:30. If I had a Garmin, I would know how much distance I covered. But can only guess that it might be five miles or more.
Thursday, April 30, 2020 Rain, and more rain.
Zeroed while watching Survivor. What a show!
Friday, May 1, 2020 Rainy and gloomy. Roger went out but I stayed in and Zeroed for an hour.
Saturday, May 2, 2020 When we heard that Governor Murphy was going to “open” the New Jersey parks on Saturday, I said that I would be up at dawn to go out and rip off the police tapes that were strung on either side of Pleasant Hill Road. But I didn’t and when I went out around nine the tapes were all gone. Too bad I couldn’t have a wonderful run to celebrate but I didn’t.
I ran for about three quarters of mile on the MUA trail, but turned back and then went out on the Chester trail. But only hiking.
Sunday, May 3, 2020 I started out on the Chester trail and I was fine with a slow run pace. I felt good and kept going until I reached the AT&T cable crossing that is three miles or more out. I used to do that routinely. Today I went up the hill – more like a mountain. I used to run up to the post midway up the hill before I had to hike. Today there was no running. I guess a few years have passed since I could run up that hill. Once up there it was glorious. I was the only person on it and the trail belonged to me. I’m not antisocial but I like my lonely runs – love them even. I took a split when I started up and I had been out for almost 55 minutes at that point. I didn’t take a split at the top but it took me about ten minutes to get to the power line trail.
I didn’t try to run on the trail. It is too rough and embedded with rocks and roots. For me it is strictly a hiking trail. When I got down to the water crossing, I was not interested in trying to get across as it is running too fast. I pushed through a few yards and picked up the trail that the dirt bikers have made and followed it until I was near the rail bed trail and pushed through to the rail bed trail, and began my journey home. But the power line trail lured me back and I crossed over again until I had to come back. Then finally back home for a total time out 2:16: My estimate is that I did six and a half miles, or even seven. That is pretty impressive, I think. The farthest I’ve gone is last Wednesday when I did five miles.
Monday was cold. Back on the Zero.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 Back to the Chester trail and did the figure eight in reverse. No speed but I sure do have endurance. I was out for about an hour and 20 minutes and most at my slow run pace.
Thursday, May 7, 2020 Nice day today. But I didn’t feel like running. I went over to the power line trail and up to the first water crossing where the tree service trucks have made really bad ruts and diverted the water coming down. What a mess. I was looking for a stout stick and found instead a small steel ladder. Unbelievable! I was able to use it to make some ditches and try to drain the ruts. But I wasn’t able to re-direct the water back over to the water crossing. I need a shovel, not a ladder. LOL
Friday, May 8, 20120 Cold out and windy. Back on the Zero.
Saturday, May 9, 2020 We had a snow overnight and cold – down to 30, and very windy. I did the Zero again and watched the first half of the two-part Survivor episode from Wednesday.
Sunday, May 10, 2020 It is actually a nice day now, after that weird snow storm. Sunny and little wind. But I know that a lot of people will be out on the trail today and I also want to finish the rest of the Survivor episode. Next week is the finale. I stayed on the Zero for almost an hour.
Monday, May 11, 2020 Fun day yesterday with the family coming to visit while not touching each other. We set up lawn chairs for the Weavers together, Roger and I together and for Wendy, arranged in a broad circle. It was sunny out and about 60 degrees but was chilly thanks to the wind.
This morning Roger and I were both almost out the door when it started to rain. I didn’t go out, but Roger did. The rain stopped after about ten minutes so he had a good run. I also had a good “run” on the Zero while watching the RideTV channel program.
Today has been strange, as have many days this year. Sunny and then cloudy with sudden rain storms. This afternoon a big one came with really heavy rain. But it only lasted a few minutes and then got sunny again until more clouds rolled in. Go figure.
Tuesday, May 12, 2020 At least it wasn’t brutally cold this morning 41, but, with a wind. I opted for the Zero and after a brief look at the news I switched to RideTV to watch the second leg of the big three-day event series in Wiesbaden Germany. Three-day events are pretty intense. The first day the horse does dressage, which is kind of like gymnastics, with the horse having to respond to hidden cues to change it’s gait and direction. The second day the horse is asked to jump in a small arena, over various jumps and not knock any rails down while trying to beat a time. On the third day the horse does another time trial out on a cross-country course with hill and dale, with a water crossing, and oh, more jumps. Talk about fitness!
I can only envy that level of fitness.
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