With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams...

4 mile run with MR, then when we got home, he hopped on his bike and I ran another 4 in the hood while he kept me company on the bike.  Everything is in blossom right now, and other than the stinky smell of the bradford pears, it is a delight for the senses.

Ran my 10k route to the blinky light and back.  MR rode his bike and we discovered that in the same area I'd found the cane, there was a huge part of a car (maybe a rear bumper?) and this made me wonder even more about my old person in the field being eaten by vultures theory.  But the vultures were gone, so I'm guessing so was the old person.  Either way, the cane is safe :-)

The vultures were out on the road though, a mile or so further down, and munching away on some sad little raccoon.  

Ran with MR to the RR tracks and back.  Found a treasure!

For those of you not familiar with the 504 Boyz, I can only say that they've got swagger.  And by that I mean, "I have no idea what I'm talking about."

The CD is now attached firmly to my treasure box with a nail through the disc so no one will ever know what they're missing out on.  Sorry folks...it's the music that shall not be played.

Enjoyed another morning of sleeping in and running while the sun was up.  At least I'm supposed to believe it was up, because it was so cloudy that I'm not convinced it was actually anywhere in the sky today.  

MR rode along even though it was cold and windy, and even sprinkling a little bit.  He's a good first mate!

Rained the rest of the day.  Which is good for spring, but not spring break.

Decided to take a break from running today (planning a long Saturday run) and went for a "hike" with MR.  There wasn't a lot of elevation change, but it was full of mud, sand, and tree roots.  We took the lakeview trail to see the dam.   The dam wasn't really what I thought it was going to be, but the views of the cypress trees growing along the shore with Spanish moss hanging off the branches was beautiful.  

At the end of the hike, there was a boardwalk that connected the trail to the parking lot.   I  don't know how or why, but as I was walking back to the car on the even, dry boardwalk, I felt a painful jolt in my knee.  My good knee.  Stupid.

I put a light weight knee brace on it and iced it when I got home.   6 miles of gnarly roots, and I get hurt on the safe part?  What's up with that?

Still having pain in my knee from who-knows-what happened yesterday.  Kept the knee brace on, iced it off and on, took some pain meds, and went to see a Civil War re-enactment.  Bit of a mixed bag going to those here in the south because despite their best enthusiasm and efforts, you know they're still going to lose.

Best quote of the day, overheard from a woman who was staying in the Union camp.  A visitor was walking through her camp and jokingly said, "y'all better be careful- those rebels are getting awfully close!"  The woman replied, "Actually ma'am, I myself am a rebel.  I am being held here as a prisoner of war for the weekend."  

Best part of the battle was at the end, when the field was littered with bodies from both sides and the fighting had stopped, all the casualties stood up and walked back to their respective groups to re-join the ranks.  I wish all battles could end that way.

In the afternoon, I went out for a bike ride with MR.  I was worried my knee wouldn't cooperate, but the bike ride didn't cause any pain- and it was wonderful to get out and move my legs and feel the breeze on my face.   We went just over 10 miles- it was wonderful!!  Then we made eggrolls and hushpuppies to celebrate :-)

Morning bike ride with MR.  11+ miles.  Beautiful day out.

90 min on elliptical in the morning then I rode the bike 5 miles to work and 10 miles home.

Knee was a little "off" today.  Took some pain meds to try and help.  I did pilates in the morning and then rode the 5 miles into work.

After work, the weather was beautiful outside so I decided to take an extra detour on my ride home.  I ended up with 14 miles.  I know it seems like small beans for all the hard core bike riders out there, but it was a good ride for me.  The wind was blowing around 13 mph out of the Southwest (the direction I was riding into) so I was pushing into the wind most of the time.  I was tired when I got home, but I had a wonderful surprise on my front steps- my shoes finally arrived!  So I had to put them on and take them for a quick run around the block.  It wasn't easy for me to make the transition from bike to run.  I can only imagine how that would feel amplified for someone who had already swam before biking.  Kudos to those of you who do!

I felt like I was running very slow.  I was surprised that I wasn't and my pace ended up being pretty good considering how I felt.

My tired legs were very tired after that.  I was cooking dinner when mini-me came home and asked me to go on a bike ride with her.  So I turned off the stove and got back on the bike.  We went around 5 miles.  I was having a tough time keeping up with her, but we got to enjoy a little bit of time outdoors together.  I think between 6 and 7 is a scary time to be out on the roads though.  Lots of traffic and the sun is at the angle where it's in the eyes of the drivers and makes it hard for them to see me. 

The prettiest little flowers (they look like bluebells) are flowering on my walkway now.  They're a better spring-time photo than the dead critter I saw on the ride home.

I haven't been sleeping well, and last night was the worst of the week.  If I would have gotten up to exercise this morning, I would have only gotten 4 hours of sleep.  So I stayed in bed and settle for 5 1/2 hours.

Afternoon was shopping with mini-me and visiting a good friend in the evening.  I'm sure another day of rest is probably not going to hurt my knee either.

Finally got some sleep last night.  It was awesome.  I would put a photo up here of how awesome it was, but my camera doesn't have an "awesome" filter on it, so it wouldn't look right if I were to post it.

After school I got to run home- it was in the 70's and beautiful.  I took a little detour to run down into a new neighborhood they're building.  The sign says there will be running trails in the community, so I hope they start working on those soon!

When I got home, I was feeling good and took the mile loop around the hood.  It was great to be able to run again!  My knees cooperated and I didn't have any problems.  It was a slow start for my pace, but by the end I was on target with where I'd like to be. 

The azaleas and dogwoods are all in full bloom right now.  It is beautiful.  The cherry and pear trees are almost all full of green leaves now, but I love the dogwoods and the bright colors of the azaleas.  Here's a photo of one of the dogwoods in my backyard.  I took it after my run.  I love spring.

Knees felt good after the run yesterday, and I want to do a long run on Saturday, so I took the day today to let them recover and rest.... and to let myself get some much needed catch-up sleep.

A simply wonderful day for a run.  I took mini-me to her ACT test and then drove to p-town for my run.  I'm getting tired of the same running routes, and since my mileage isn't long enough to go too far away, I went 5 miles from home to enable myself to run new roads.  

I'd taken my bike on the roads a couple of years ago, so I knew pretty much where I was going, but it was still exciting to be on a new route.  The roads were very runner friendly, and I didn't have much traffic at all.   I did get to an intersection at mile 6, and I wasn't sure which way I should go.  I've never figured out how to use the map portion of my garmin, but I decided that if worse came to worse, I would just turn around at mile 7 and back track.  Lucky for me, just before mile 7 I realized where I was and I got to run a different road back, keeping the whole run fresh and new.

I did go into a little redneck gas station around mile 9 to get some water for my water bottle.  The gas stations I've been in have always been really nice about letting me grab some tap water for my water bottle, and this was no exception.  I'm grateful that they're willing to let me steal a couple cups of water for the run back.  I had a couple dollars in my running belt, but I was happier with free tap water than paying $2 for a bottled tap water.

On the road home, I found my treasure for the day.  It is titled "Sounds of Blackness - Africa to America- the journey of the drum." 

It's scratched up pretty bad, so I won't be able to listen to it.  And since there's no shosholoza on it, I'm not feeling like I'm missing out on anything either.

I did miss out on sunscreen though, and wasn't prepared for the skin crispining I got.  Time to get the sunblock out.

Best part of my day- when RAD finally answered her phone and I heard her voice say, "I'm Okay!" 

I'd just been checking her stats online when Wyatt and MR both called me worried about her.  I'm running into the middle of the school atrium (where I get phone reception) and crying while I am trying to get her to answer her phone.  It just happened to be at dismissal time, so the whole student body got to see me have a crazy moment.  It was another hour or so until she told me that she'd found Smooth, and then my worries were all at an end.  

Prayers of comfort and blessings to all those who are in Boston tonight. 

Oh, and I ran home from work.  Cried most of the time trying to come to terms with my emotions.  It was an emotional day!

I cried watching the women's and men's top finishers live online.  I had everyone in the office watching it with me.  It was such an amazing happy time!

I cried with worry and torment waiting to find out if RAD & Smooth were okay.

I cried with relief when I found out they were safe from harm.

Now I'm crying thinking about all the crying I did.  Pirates aren't supposed to cry, but today was a dark day and this pirate didn't feel much like a pirate, more like a jelly fish.

Morning run- really foggy out.

Not sure what I did in the morning, but I'm pretty sure it involved sleeping in.

After work, mini-me decided she wanted to help with stage crew for our school's musical that opens on Thursday, and she was going to be out all night, so I went for a run.  Why not?

I did my 9 mile swamp run.  It was beautiful out.  Spring is everywhere!!

elliptical

Didn't want to do nothing, but didn't want to do much of anything either.  So I settled on something.  Quick run in the hood before work.  Nice to have the sun coming up early again.

I enjoyed running out away from my normal roads last Saturday, and I wanted to do the same thing again today, but I wasn't feeling as "crazy adventurous" as I was last week just going out and hoping I could find my way back.  So I tried out mapmyrun.com  and I loved it!  I was able to switch things up enough to get some brand new roads and just the mileage I was looking for.  It was pretty spot-on with the estimated mileage too.

I ran past an old country store along side some train tracks that reminded me of the Whistle Stop Cafe in "Fried Green Tomatoes."  I wanted to take a photo, but it seemed like such a hassle at the time that I didn't.  I'll be back down that way again since it was such a cute little area (and not a lot of traffic).   As one of the roads I was on intersected a local highway, there was a biker's group doing a ride for charity with police escorts and everything.  I used it as a chance to stop and wave at the parade of bikers and policemen.  Reminded me of all the support I saw on the tv the night before when the law enforcement finally caught the brother in the boat.

It was windy the last 4 miles of the run.  All head-on 15 mph winds.  Woof- that's a tough way to end a run!  Or should I say AARRRRGGGHHHH?

5.6 in the morning and 5.13 in the afternoon.  It was actually cool again today and I had to wear gloves in the morning and long sleeves/jacket in morning and afternoon.  I'd brought my gloves in the afternoon but didn't wear them.  I put them in my jacket pocket and when I got home, they were gone when I got home.  I had to bribe mini-me to go drive and see if she could find them for me.  She actually found them- and they were less than 1/2 a mile from home.  I could have walked back and found them myself but I was done being out in the wind at that point.  The wind was 17mph.  Getting tired of the wind.

Morning run.  Where is the moon?  I haven't been out every morning like I used to, but I miss the moon all the same.  

morning elliptical

after work, ran my 9 mile p-town loop.  I was excited because the wind had finally shifted and was blowing from the SW instead of the NW.  I was glad to have the wind in my face the first half of the run instead of the last half.

What I hadn't planned on was someone being out spraying herbicide/pesticide in the fields on a day when there are 15 mph winds.  I kept smelling something different in the air, and I just couldn't figure out what it was, until after smelling it for 2 miles, I finally saw the tractor spraying the fields.  I'd been breathing that crap for 2 miles!!  No wonder I was feeling icky!

The good news was that after mile 3, I got completely behind the fields (from the wind standpoint) and had a really good 5 miles of fresh pollen-filled air.  The last mile I was back in the windfall from the fields, but I was almost home and didn't care as much.

I saw my first road-kill snake of the season.  It was a good 2 1/2 feet long, so not a baby snake at all.  Oh goody!  On the railroad tracks, there was a short train stopped and it had a real old-fashioned caboose.  It was bright red and said "Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road" on it.  I tried so hard to get a good photo of it, but the trees made it difficult.  It made me happy to see.

I was excited to see that the insecticide was working, because when I got home all of the gnats all over my face and neck were dead. 

Ran home from school.  Enjoyed the nice weather, the lack of wind, and fresh air without pesticides.  Of course when I got home I had to apply bug killer to my own backyard, but it was granules and I didn't breathe any of it in either.  The fire ants are already out and building mounds of potential death traps on the sides of the roads.  So now I've got snakes and fire ants on my list of running hazards for the week.

30 minutes elliptical.  I had plans on running home after school since mini-me had the car with her getting ready for prom.  But then I realized I needed 2 binders full of papers for checking kids in at prom and didn't want to run home with them.  So I got a ride home and ate chocolate covered strawberries and candy covered apple slices all night while I sat on my tukus and played bouncer at the prom doors.

I had so much typed up...but when I went to spell check "repertoire,"  it all disappeared.  So I'll sum up.

1- sat outside in pollen land for 4 hours last night before going to bed, too tired to shower, woke up with my eyes glued shut and throat on fire (after taking the zyrtec)

2-woke up feeling like an ornery pirate.  For my "day of service" contribution, I did everyone a service by staying home and resting & reading.

3- drug myself out around 2pm.  Went north-east (into the city instead of away from it like I always do) and got to do some hills.  Good run.

4-the "tobacco and groceries" store I stopped at for water (got it out of the sink in the bathroom) smelled like they'd had a hookah party back there recently. 

5- saw a car get pulled over on the by-pass road.  There's a photo of it I'll put on here... it's the only place I ran that didn't have businesses or homes, but did have a sidewalk.  Why?

6-local fauna for the day-  super dead & flat snake, flying grasshoppers, black butterflies, gnats, and huge dogs that didn't understand they were taller than the 3 foot fence keeping them in the yard.  Dogs can jump, can't they?  No one told these dogs. I wasn't going to be the one to do it either.

7- **bonus**  Sonic has brought back it's coconut cream pie shake for the summer.  Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause.  He came in April this year.

Photos:

The bypass road with a sidewalk, but no houses for 3 miles.....

Wildflowers blooming along the side of I-95

Wisteria.  It's a weed out here.  People from this area don't understand why anyone would want to plant it in their yard.  But this time of year, it's beautiful!

And here's my attempt at capturing the cute little caboose from my Wednesday run:

and last but not least, there's also this cute "little caboose"

Love you, RAD.  She'd kill me if she saw this, but she's too busy to read blogs anymore so I'm going with it.  

it's not a fracture

maybe it's a stress fracture, but too early to tell

take it easy, run a little if it doesn't hurt and come back in a couple of weeks for another xray if it's still bothering you

suck

Pilates in the morning.  

After work, I used the recumbent bike and pushed the pedals with my heels.  Managed almost 18 miles, but it made my back hurt.  Totally worth being able to sweat.