Sunday, 10/21/12 to Saturday, 10/27/12

I ran 4 times this week, 16.7 miles

Sunday, 10/21/12: 6.6 miles, 1:09:32, 10:32 pace, 60F, sunny, a bit breezy.

Garmin Connect Activity for Communing with nature at Mendon Ponds Park

Christine and I lazed around on Sunday morning but I did get down to Mendon Ponds Park for a really nice and easy tour of the usual blue and green trail. The woods were quite busy: I saw Joe M and several runners, numerous walkers and 9 horses. My right achilles felt OK for the most part. The down was OK but the up was harder and hurt a bit. But I did get my running endorphins!

When I got home, I watched the tail end of the Tennessee Titans - Buffalo Bills game live from the Ralph. The Bills gave their loyal fans hope but due to a porous running defense (last in the NFL) and a costly 4th quarter interception ended up losing by a single point, 34-35, link here. The Bills fell to 3-4 and will have a bye week next week followed by 2 away games. So .. a 3-6 record in three weeks time is a definite possibility. But on the plus side, Christine cooked up her luscious BLTs for supper ... yummy!

Monday, 10/22/12: Rest day

Just your usual rest day. I didn't limp during the day ... a plus!

Christine cooked up spaghetti with homemade sauce. I couldn't cook a homemade sauce if my life depended on it but Christine makes it look so easy and it tastes so good!

Tuesday, 10/23/12: Physical therapy day.

I discovered that I have a week right side during physical therapy today. Interesting! I was given some exercises that should help strengthen my hips and help me balance better. Now if I can just make myself do them!! Christine dyed her hair during the day. She is a natural blonde but she enhanced it with Loreal Excellence 80 Pure Medium Blonde. Then we went out and got her a flu shot.

Wednesday, 10/24/12: Another rest day.

I really wanted to go out and run after work. But I had a really long day at work ... about 8000 steps worth. Christine also had a reaction to dying her hair and getting a flu shot the day before. She was really itchy during the day and dosed herself with Benadryl. She was really sleepy when I got home and I really didn't want to leave her.

Thursday, 10/25/12: 6 miles, 1:26:50,  14:27 pace, 78F, sunset, a warm breeze.

Summer made a probably all too brief return to upstate New York. My phone said it was 81F at 5PM. I brought my running gear to work so I was more than ready for a trail run. First I stopped by Fleet Feet Ridgeway to pick up my Pumpkins in the Park 5K packet. Then I headed out to Lucien Morin Park by MacGregor's. As I geared up, a guy expressed amazement that I was hiking into the park even with a headlamp. I told him, "You just have to be careful". I should have told him that I was running not hiking!




I headed in solo at sunset. The white trail was leaf covered so I took it really nice and easy. The roots and the leaves were almost the same color. I soon turned on my headlamp. I didn't have any trouble for about two miles ... past the white gazebo and past the narrow section by the creek. Then ... it started to get dark and I lost the trail. I knew where I wanted to go but couldn't find the trail to get there for a bit. Finally I did and make it to the end at Old Browncroft, 40:10 minutes, 3.08 miles, 13.02 pace. I didn't dawdle and headed back in.

Nightfall came and things got worse. Luckily it was a warm night, no creatures stirred and my headlamp was at full power. I got lost numerous times going back. I spent a bit of time walking and looking around with my headlamp for the trail. Every trail looked equally good. I really think that there are more white trail marks on the trees going out than going back because I spent a lot of time looking back and saw white trail marks to keep me on the white trail and not the salamon trail. Finally I got back to an area above the white gazebo and knew where I was. I took a shortcut that I knew out to the stone road and bailed back to my car, 2.93 miles back, 46:40, 15:56 pace.

Luckily I didn't beat any of my limps up, I wasn't attacked by any wild animals and I had a mini adventure. Perhaps I should have ran down in Mendon Ponds Park where the trails were much wider. I called Christine and asked her to do a bit of grocery shopping though. I was hungry and thristy and really didn't have any more energy. I went home, warmed up leftover spaghetti and put my feet up for the night.

Friday, 10/26/12: Rest day.

I just chilled the night before the Pumpkins in the Park 5K. Christine whipped up another creation, steak over mushroom risotto. I had seconds, yum! Per usual, we stayed up too late the night before a race!

Saturday, 10/27/12: 1 mile warmup and 3.1 miles, 22:46, 7:15 pace, 51F, cloudy, real light mist, no stops, usual right achilles pain.

Saturday morning dawned cool and moist. I'm not one to wear Halloween costumes so I just wore my usual running garb: Brooks shorts, Brooks Racing Team t-shirt and arm warmers along with light Brooks gloves and my lucky orange Fleet Feet hat. We got down to the Riley Lodge at Cobbs Hill at 8:24AM with plenty of time to spare before the 9AM start of the Pumpkins in the Park 5K.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Pumpkins in the Park 5K
Just your usual 1 mile warmup at 8:20 pace to get my legs warm before the race.

The Start!

Ellen announced that over 900 had registered for this 4th edition of this race. She also told us that the race was 2 miles up and 1 mile down. I lined up near the front as per my norm. I started out at a nice and easy race pace. The first mile was at the end of a short uphill on Cobbs Hill Drive, 7:13 pace. We continued up to the Cobbs Hill Reservoir for mile 2, 7:48 pace. My right achilles was complaining but I just noted the discomfort (or pain). I kept pace with the woman just in front of me as we came down from the reservoir and then down Culver Road. I passed her as we transitioned to the grass. I vaguely heard Christine yell as I concentrated on passing the runner in front of me ... which I did.

Joe M in full roar!

Kid in pants!

The sushi kids!

Superdad, Superboy and Supermom!

Sprinting for the finish!

My right achilles ached so I limped afterward. I asked Christine to go out to our car for some ibuprofen, plus I changed out of my wet running top and arm warmers. Later, I found out that I did OK. I finished 47th out of 790, link here. I finished 1st out of 15 in my M55-59 age group, link here. Christine drove home. Then we just lazed around and took a leisurely nap. Sweet!



Chilling with Fleet Feet Pete after winning my M55-59 age group!

Some would ask "Why I do I run even if I am hurt?" Well, it's what I do. I can run nice and easy ... and limp afterward. I can run trail but I can't really push off on my right foot when I go uphill ... and limp afterward. I can run at race pace ... and limp afterward. So I run and limp afterward.

Sunday, 10/14/12 to Saturday, 10/20/12

I ran 1 time this week, 4 miles.

Sunday, 10/14/12: Limp day.

I limped all day. I limped to get the Sunday Democrat and Chronicle newspaper from the 7-11 at the corner of N Clinton and Ridge Rd E. Once there, I splurged on a cup of Pumpkin Spice coffee and two donuts for Christine and I. When I got back we read the paper and had breakfast in bed. Just a simple, quiet time with my sweet!

I attempted to clean out our car with a 12V vacuum cleaner ... utter fail! I need to be reminded ... never ever think that a 12V vacuum cleaner will work! So I will either go to Deltasonic or use our home vacuum cleaner with the aid of a 100' extension cord from the apartment.

Then I took our car to Russell's house. Christine had called him and told him that it had a "horrible" rattle and that the Check Engine light had.came on. He let me hang out since I didn't want to run/limp to and from the apartment. He ended up rehanging the new muffle with the aid of 2 wire coat hangers, cleaning out a valve in the emissions to clear the Check Engine light and fixing 2 leaks in the washer washer line around the battery. He makes it all look so easy!

I watched the fourth quarter and OT of the Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals game. The Bills had stayed out in Arizona at a resort after the 49er game last week. It was a nip and tuck game. The Cardinals got into OT aided by a 61 yard field goal and then missed a chip shot field goal at the end of regulation. The Bills won 19-16 on a chip shot field goal of their own after an interception, link here. Unbelievably, they are tied at 3-3 with everyone else in their AFC East division!

Monday, 10/15/12: Another limp day.

I limped all day again. I limped 11,012 steps during the day according to my Casio Commando smart phone. I tried to stretch out my right achilles but to no avail. Though I limp faster with my long legs than some people walk. It really kind of sucks to be a runner who can't run. I did what I had to do.

My darling Christine cooked up a rack of spare ribs from Skip's in Fairport along with a sweet potato and coleslaw. Yummy! She certainly tried to cook away my blues about limping!

Tuesday, 10/16/12, Wednesday, 10/17/12 and Thursday, 10/18/12: Yet another limp day times three.

The days are all starting to blend together with no joy of a run to make a day any different than the one that precedes it. The good thing is that I am not limping as much but I couldn't run if my life depended on it.

Friday, 10/19/12: A walking day.
 
I called my primary physician and talked to a nurse who didn't know that I had been going to PT. She suggested that I take 600 mg of ibuprofen four times a day for inflammation. It did seem to help since I walked all day without a limp. I didn't want to push my luck by running so I had to get my endorphins elsewhere, ;-)

Later, Christine and I headed out to the Burger Stop in Gates. I had bought a Groupon earlier in the week for 2 hamburgers, 2 sides and 2 milkshakes. A lot of people showed up at this small hamburger stand. I must say that the Texas Burger (ham, fried egg, american cheese), sweet potato fries and strawberry-banana milkshake that I had was quite good. Christine enjoyed her Greek Burger (zeta cheese, tzatziki sauce, baby spinach, tomato, onion), sweet potato fries and chocolate-cherry milkshake.

Saturday, 10/20/12: 4 miles, 34:24, 8:36 pace, 55F, sunny, a bit windy, no stops ... and no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Around the block in Irondequoit

Christine and I just lazed around all day. She had a headache so I let her sleep for a while. I saw that some of my fellow Sehgahunda Training partners were Facebooking about heading down to Letchworth for a 3 hour trail run tomorrow. I wished I could have joined them. So I needed to head out for a run to see how my right achilles felt. I headed out at a really nice and easy pace. My right achilles kind of ached but I felt no pain ... which is a good thing when you love running as much as I do.

Christine cooked up a post run meal of salmon, fries and salad, yummy! Later we watched "Pride and Prejudice" with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. Quite the romantic movie!

Sunday, October 7th to Saturday, October 13th

1 ran 5 times this week,  15.99 miles

Sunday, 10/7/12: 2 runs of 3.4 and 3.5 miles

Christine and I slept in until 10AM. It felt pretty good to just sleep with no set time on the alarm clock. My right achilles ached but I limped out and back to get the Sunday Democrat and Chronicle.

I thought my exertion was done for the day. But ... Russell, our auto mechanic, called and said that he could take our car for him to look at. It needed a new muffler and an oil change.

Garmin Connect Activity for Russell's House to Home

3.4 miles, 29:45, 8:45 pace, 52F, cloudy, calm, no stops, a bit of right achilles pain.

I drove up to Russell's house to drop off the car. I stretched out and set off. My right achilles ached and I ran with a limp for a 1/4 mile before I settled into a really nice and easy pace. I felt my right achilles complain but I controlled my run and didn't let my body argue with me.

I watched a bit of the Buffalo Bills - San Francisco 49er's game. I just knew that game was over when the 49er's went up 3-17 with a TD just 0:20 before half. The final carnage was 3-42, link here. The Bills fell to 2-3 while allowing the 49er's a franchise record of 621 yards. Plus the Bills were the first teame ever in NFL history to give up over 300 yards rushing and over 300 yards passing in the same game. Again, ouch!!

Garmin Connect Activity for Home to Russell's House.
3.5 miles, 28:37, 8:10 pace, 45F, cloudy, light sprinkle, calm, no stops, slight right achilles pain.

Russell called to tell us that our car was done. I headed back out in a light sprinkle up to Russell's house. I ran at a slightly fast pace since it was a slight downhill. My right achilles reminded me a bit but kept quiet. But, a run is a run ... I enjoyed it.

Monday, 10/8/12: Rest day.

Just your normal rest day. I was quite tired since I went to bed at 2:30AM. I only got 4.5 hours of sleep before I got up at 7AM. But a full day of work ensued, of course.

Tuesday, 10/9/12: Another rest day.

I felt like my day at work worked me out enough so I declared another rest day. My right achilles stiffens up when I sit down ... so I limp quite noticeably when I start to walk. If I walk long enough I stop limping. Then when I sit down I stiffen back up. Rinse and repeat all day ... exciting stuff.

Wednesday, 10/10/12: Yet another rest day.

I walk at least 5000 to 9000 steps a day. When I get up from sitting down, my right achilles is stiff ... so I limp. When I walk far enough I walk without limping but I can still feel an ache. So do I run or don't I?? I have races that I really, really, really want to run coming up!!

Thursday, 10/11/12: Trails at Lucien Morin Park, 5.44 miles, 12:40 pace, 55F, dusk, calm.

I had a good session at my PT (physical therapy) session. Chris showed me how I cheated on my calf raises. I did 50 of them plus 10 minutes of cardiac before and after. My right achilles ached but in a good way. He did say that I could stay at 3-5 miles/run but I can pick up the pace. Well ... progress!

Garmin Connect Activity for Trails at Lucien Morin Park

I took my running gear to work so I was more than ready to go for a run with the Trails & Ales gang at Lucien Morin Park. We set out around 6:15PM for a nice out and back on the white trail. I went nice and slow. I tripped and almost fell in a hole ... but it was with my left foot so it was all good! By the time I finished my right achilles was complaining ... but what was a runner to do? Afterward, I bypassed the Ales at Applebee's and went straight home for a nice recovery supper of pizza ... yummy!

Friday, 10/12/12: Rest day

I did pull the trigger on Saturday's Safe Journey 5K in Fairport and the Pumpkins in the Park 5K in two weeks by registering at Fleet Feet Brighton. How I have missed going to the store ... where everyone knows your name! I will run tomorrow without a time goal ... but if I feel good I may just put the hammer down! But if I don't, I will just enjoy the run and try not to beat myself up. I looked high and low for my cold weather tights ... Christine found them in 30 seconds! My defense is that she had washed them inside out so I was not looking for an all black pair of tights which is what they are if they are inside out.

Saturday, 10/13/12: 2 runs of 0.55 and 3.1 miles

I was up early and got ready for the Safe Journey 5K. It was cold, 28F and sunny with a slight breeze. I wore my tights, my Brooks Racing Team short sleeve shirt and arm warmers along with light gloves and my lucky Fleet Feet orange hat.

I thought Christine dawdled while getting ready ... somehow she kicked in the afterburners and was ready 5 minutes before I was. Anyway we got down to Fairport at 8:22AM with plenty of time to spare before the 9AM race start.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before the Safe Journey 5K
28F, sunny, calm, no stops, just a warmup. I felt a bit off and sluggish.



I met up with some members of the Brooks Racing Team, Jim M and Jennica, before the race. I lined up towards the front as per my norm. I started fast and enjoyed the downhill start and then a gentle climb to the 31F bridge over the Erie canal. My first mile sped by at 6:27 pace as we eased onto the Erie canal path. I was keeping pace until the turnaround at 1.65 miles, the half way point! I could feel my right achilles start to complain and knew I couldn't hold my pace. I eased up just after the 2 mile at 6:58 pace. I almost stopped but instead soldiered onward. I just coasted in, mile 3 was still a 6.59 pace. The last tenth was a 6:27 pace, for a total time of 21:08. I heard Christine yelling, "Go, Doug!" as I ran by. I guess not too bad for my first race in a month and first race as a 55 year old.

I did OK, I was 45th out of 575, link here. I placed 1st out of 18 in my M55-59 age group, link here. I won a $15 gift certificate to Fleet Feet so the race only cost $5, sweet! Afterward, Christine and I exchanged pleasantries with Congresswoman Louise Slaughter who had stopped by to congratulate all of us on our efforts. My right achilles did stiffen up after the race. All in all, it was quite the beautiful morning along the canal. We saw several rowing boats on the canal: 3 eight woman rowing boats and 1 four man rowing boat.

I limped back to the car, drove straight home, took a hot shower and bath. My right achilles was painful to touch. I spent the rest of the day icing it and limping around the apartment when I did have to get up. I guess it can't take the pounding of a fast 5K. It does seem to handle a gentle pace though.

Later, I received word around midnight that my youngest son, David, was lost in Rochester after a Flow and Glow concert at the Main Street Armory with no wallet and a dead cell phone. Christine and I headed out to look for him in the dark for a hour with no luck. The next morning we received word that he did make it home that night. I am quite sure that there is a story here somewhere ... and one of these days I might hear it.

Sunday, 9/30/12 to Saturday, 10/6/12

I ran 3 times this week, 11.72 miles.
Month of September: 12 runs in 30 days, 45.4 miles, 3.8 miles/run
So far in 2012: 160 runs in 273 day, 1004.21 miles, 6.3 miles/run

Sunday, 9/30/12: Rest day.

Christine and I got up early. We heard the rain but it stopped before we headed out to volunteer at the Rochester Autumn Classic Duathlon held down in where else? Yes, Mendon Ponds Park! It was around 60F, damp, a bit dark but the rain held off while we helped man a water stop by the boat launch. We definitely did earn the 2 hot dogs that we grabbed when we got back up to Stewart Lodge! The sprint results are here and the F1 results are here.

Once we got back, Christine took a nap while I watched the Buffalo Bills play the New England Patriots. For a while, all looked well. Hey, the Bills had a 21-7 lead early in the 4th quarter. Then ........... the Patriots scored 6 straight TDs while they shredded the Bills defense with 2 running backs over 100 yards and 2 receivers over 100 yards (first time ever for the Patriots). The Patriots scored 45 in the second half (most ever surrendered in a half by the Bills) and 31 in the fourth quarter alone. The final carnage was 28-52, link here. Spanked aside! The Bills have sunk back to 2-2 and the Patriots have risen to 2-2. Ugly facts: The Bills are 2-22 against the Patriots since the year 2000 and are 4-22 against the AFC East since 2008. Getting in the playoffs after 12 straight years ... don't bet on it.

Maybe this is NSFW ... but Christine playfully tied me up for a bit today. Maybe she had seen a bit too much of Basic Instinct. But nothing like either you or I think might of happened transpired ... she used the opportunity to grab a tweezers and plunk some eyelashes out of my really insignificant "unibrow". I do take care of it with the "Man Groomer" that she got for me ... but really? I soon got free ...

Monday, 10/1/12: 3.3 miles, 28:28, 8:38 pace, 63F, sunny, calm, no stops, no pain.

I had a physical therapy appointment in the morning at 8:30AM. The traffic on I590S was terrible last time so I headed out at 7:30AM this time. Same thing ... just a tad lighter. I got there at 8AM and went straight in. I was pretty limber even without doing very many of my prescribed exercises. I was given another exercise to do and told to go my running volume down to less than 4 miles per run.

Garmin Connect Activity for Around the block in Irondequoit

I encountered stress when I got home so I headed out for a run. So ... I just went around the block. I kept it really nice, easy and short just like I had been told. When I got back the stress was there but it dissipated as the evening wore on.

Tuesday, 10/2/12: Rest day.

Just your average rest night. In better days, I would have gone out for a run. So I curled up and made the DVR spit out Castle, Hawaii Five-O and The Mentalist.

Wednesday, 10/3/12: A "should have been" a run night but ...

Laundry trumped running. I got sick of wearing the same clothes three days in a row to work so I washed our clothes all by myself. A pizza for supper, whatever. It was what it was.

Thursday, 10/4/12: Trails 'n Ales, 4.32 miles, 48:44, 11:17 pace, 70F, dusk, calm, no pain.

Garmin Connect Activity for Trail & Ales at Lucien Morin

I really wanted to get a run in so I brought my running gear with me to work. The first time in a very long time ... much too long. I heard through Facebook that there was a Trails out at Lucien Morin Park and then Ales at MacGregor's, also know as T & A. So ... I changed at work and was there by 6PM ready for some trail running.

Lots of trail fun ensued. Mark M showed off his brand new mountain bike, already muddied. Slowly a whole crew showed up: Stacy, Andy, Carl, Don, Krista, Jim A, Jim M, Laura and Saz. Jim M had already rode 93 miles on his bike! The weather was perfect: 70F, sunny, calm and little humidity. We set off around 6:30PM and headed out nice and easy behind Stacy and Laura up the hill on the white trail. We stopped periodically to gather everyone back up. We started back in the gathering darkness after 30 minutes. I turned my headlight on to see better on the way back. No one got injured or fell on the way back and no zombies were encountered! A nice run of 4.32 miles, 48:44 moving time, 11:17 moving pace, just nice and easy.

Then we headed next door to MacGregor's for some dinner and ales. Lots of bike and running stories ensued. Interesting ideas were batted back and forth: Muddy Sneaker or Sehgahunda on snowshoes, for instance. A good time was had by all! Though we may not be back for a while since Jim A's order was screwed up two weeks in a row.

I did miss out back at the apartment. My darling Christine was baking up some bacon when I called to say that I was eating at MacGregor's so ... sniff .... I will have to wait until another time for some of her luscious BLTs.

Friday, 11/5/12: Rest day.

A long way at work. My right achilles ached a bit during the day. We watched "The Avengers" via On Demand twice. The first time was loud which Christine did not like. The second time was quieter with captions which allowed me to catch the words I missed.

Saturday, 11/6/12: 4.1 miles, 33:05, 8:04 pace, 50F, dusk, calm, no stops.

We woke up to a cold rain that slowly turned into a cool, sunny day. I thought of the runners that were running either the CanLake 50K or 50 Mile race down in Canandaigua. I wished I was there but right now I can't run that far. I woke up around 7:30AM and puttered around for a bit before I took another nap. Christine needed more sleep and slept in. Later during the afternoon we lazed around and caught up on some of our DVR'ed shows: Last Resort, NCIS and NCIS: LA.

Garmin Connect Activity for Around the block at dusk in Irondequoit

I started to get cranky so I slipped out around 6:30PM for a much needed run. I wanted to get my run volume above 10 miles for the week. It was a bit cool and windy, around 50F. I thought it was a bit chilly so I wore a long and short sleeve tech plus light gloves and a hat. I just headed out at a nice and easy pace. My right knee hurt at the 1/2 mile mark and I thought about starting back but I continued onward and it went away. My right achilles just ached a bit. I warmed up and then hiked the pace up from mile 2 to 3 at a 7:20 pace.

Christine made chicken, baked potato and salad for supper ... yummy! Later, I watched "How Playboy Changed The World" off of the History Channel. My sweetheart Christine had recorded it on the DVR. We had a slight tiff when I got up to wash the dishes a couple of hours after supper. She went out for some air ... but no worries about a while.

Sunday, 9/23/12 to Saturday, 9/29/12

I ran 2 times this week, 9.96 miles.

Sunday, 9/23/12: Rest day.

I didn't set my alarm so I didn't make it down to see the Rochester Marathon. I felt bad about not watching. I did enjoy reading all the Facebook updates later. It kind of sucks to not be able to run the way I want to run. My right achilles is limiting me to less than 5 miles at a clip. Plus I don't do my exercises the way I should ... I suck at rehab! I should have ran today!

Anyway, we watched the Buffalo Bills play the Cleveland Browns ... carefully since I root for the Bills and Christine roots for the Browns. But we survived and the Bills won, 24-14, link here. Afterward we headed out to Wegmans for supplies and some fresh scallops. An allrecipes.com recipe search ensued and soon we ate Deb's Scallops Florentine. Mmm! Then we watched a free Redbox.comwww.redbox.com DVD, Iron Lady, with Meryl Streep, who knocked the role dead! The movie depicted Margaret Thatcher as an old woman with flashbacks to her younger self. It vastly overlooked her contributions to England and made her like a bystander to history rather than a forger of history.

Monday, 9/24/12: Another rest day.

When I got home I had another splitting headache so I just went to bed for a while. I really should have sucked it up and gone out for a run. Well ... at least I did some of my right achilles exercises later.

Anyway ... about a hour later ... Christine made a nice supper of chicken, rice and peas. We continued our "Modern Marvels" kick while the DVR recorded new Fall programming: Mob Doctor, Castle and Hawaii Five-O. We have already given up on Revolution after one episode.

Tuesday, 9/25/12: Cobbs Hill, 4.16 miles, 43:33, 10:29 pace, 68F, sunny, calm.

Garmin Connect Activity for Cobbs Hill - 4 x switchback and diagonal green hill

I heard about a hill workout from our Sehgahunda Training "private" page on Facebook. So I headed down to Riley Lodge at Cobbs Hill around 6PM. I stretched and headed out slowly to the tree at the base of the grass hill. I ran 1 loop of the switchback along one up and down of the diagonal grass hill before I met up with 4 of last year's Sehgahunda Training group. I ran 3 loops ... just nice and easy before calling it a night. It felt great to get some endorphins plus my right achilles tendon didn't really bother me.

Christine cooked up a meat and potatoes meal when I got home ... hamburgs and french fries, mmm! Meanwhile the DVR played back Mob Doctor, Castle and Hawaii Five-O.

Wednesday, 9/26/12: Rest night.

Christine and I caught up on all our DVRed shows ... NCIS and NCIS LA. We do get a bit boring at times. Yawn!

Thursday, 9/27/12: 5.8 miles, 47:19, 8:09 pace, 60F, sunny, calm, no stops.

Garmin Connect Activity for Around the streets of Irondequoit

I really needed a run so I got out just before sunset. I warmed up with a 8:23 mile just nice and easy. I sped up a bit with a 8:01, 7:45, 7:57 and 8:05 pace. I started to feel the familar tightness in my right achilles tendon and backed up with a final 8:54 pace. It did feel good to get out just before dark. I did get my endorphins but paid for them the next day.

Christine and I chowed on DiGiorno's pizza while we watched live TV, Last Resort and Grey's Anatomy. How weird not to be able to fast forward through the commercials!

Friday, 9/28/12: Ouch day!

I certainly paid for yesterday's endorphins all day. I limped at work unless I limped enough to loosen up my right achilles so I could appear to walk normally. But then when I sat back down I stiffened back up. It was a long day. My smart phone told me that I walked about 12,000 steps during the day.

Saturday, 9/29/12: Grape day.

Christine and I headed down to the Naples Grape Festival. We didn't get there until just after noon ... just as hundreds or maybe thousands of other people descended upon Naples. It certainly looked like it. There were a lot of people and a lot of vendors. We went down the east side of the main drag (Route 21) and then back up the west side. We bought a grape pie, a loaf of grape bread, a grape bar along with a couple of white hots for lunch. It was a nice day, around 60F with mostly clouds, a hint of rain and a bit of sun. Some people dressed like it was almost winter, lol!

We headed back up towards Newark on Route 21. We passed Bopple Hill Rd of Canandaigua Lake 50  fame ... and just had to drive down it. Wow ... what a descent! I can't imagine either running or bicycling up it! Maybe someday I will! We made it up to Newark to see my daughter. Her kitten, Boots, were very well behaved this time and didn't try to bite my fingers. Then it was over to Lyons to see my father in the Wayne County Nursing Home. He still didn't have his bottom teeth and his glasses were not on. It was extremely hard to understand him.

Finally, we were home after a long day ...

A word about physical therapy ... I just don't do it religiously. I have good intentions but rarely do they translate into doing the exercises. I know I should but I just don't ... maybe next week.