Lucy Celebrates Constitution Day

Lucy won an essay contest and got to read her work in front of the entire school on Constitution Day!

photos from the race

All these folks finished several minutes before I did!



This is just a few yards from the finish. I look a little tired, but both my feet are off the ground.

Something I got going for me

I have some sort of stomach flu, which normally would open up the sluices at both ends.
Fortunately, because of my intestinal set up, I only have one inconvenience.
Most of the time, I have determined, you start throwing up only because you jump up and rush into the bathroom to avoid soiling yourself.
The sudden movement jostles your sensitive inner ear and kicks the nausea into gear.
Because I just have to worry about occasionally voiding my pouch, I take my time getting up and going to the bathroom, hence no nausea.
So, I got that going for me!

More Cartoons

It's true. When she gets tired she stops. She can't see any reason why anyone would deliberately get tired.
She is a stand up comic in this one. Get it? I need to work on my lettering. ... And jokes. ... a lot!

My name is in the Sunday newspaper!

Sarah Palin name generator

Sarah Palin has picked out an All-American set of names for her children. There's Track, Trig, Bristol, Willow, and Piper.

Ever wonder what your name would be if Sarah Palin was your mother? Well now you can find out!

My name would be: Rust Mustang Palin

visit the Sarah Palin baby name generator

Cartoon

Lucy loves to go to the Chinese buffet. I have a hunch it is not just about the General Tso's chicken.

Race results

I finished with a time of 33:25 - a personal best. That's a pace of 5.56 mph and 10:43 miles

I was given a bronze medal. I came in 8th out of 8 runners. Everyone got a medal. I still like it.

I screwed up the start line of the run, but this is the general route of the race.

New, improved, corrected version

It is 11:30 p.m. and I have no interest in sleeping.
Green Camp 5K is tomorrow.
Here are my goals:

No. 1 - Finish the race while running the entire course.

No. 2 - Finish on or about 30 minutes.

No. 3 - Have such a good time that I do another race soon.

the one thing I know for sure is that I will run a personal best. I have never run 5k in my life, that I know of.

I have, in the last two weeks run 3.06 miles two times without too much stress. I don't think the extra few yards are out of reach.

I will post my results tomorrow afternoon when I stop huffing and puffing.

Weigh-in

Get your own graph at skinnyr

Today is weigh-in day for week 43. It’s been a good week all-around. The scale reads 215.5 this morning. That’s a 2.5 pound drop from last week. My body fat percentage reads 28.8, which is down from 30.1. My BMI is at 30.9, which is down from 31.3. ... I had a good yoga class last night and feel ready to go for the Green Camp 5K tomorrow. I am curious to see how that goes. I had promised myself to stay at my own pace at the bike ride last week and then could not resist riding up front for as long as I could. I have never run in a group and it will be interesting to see how my competitive nature presents itself. I would be extremely happy to finish in under 30 minutes but I know it is much more likely that I will finish in something closer to 35 minutes, but I have never pushed myself. I have always run at a comfortable pace. I will need to work hard next week. Birthday celebrations are looming and visitors are coming. I also need to start getting some miles on the bicycle if I want to complete a century ride in September. I know I can do it. Right now it is a matter of will rather than physical abilities.

Lucy walks and talks and talks and talks

You would think she invented streaming.

Ride completed

Phew. I made it in 4 hours and 6 minutes. My average speed was 15.28 mph and that includes the time I spent at two food stops. My first half speed was much faster than my second half speed.
Now I am off to the Popcorn Festival to do some Representin'!

90 minutes to go

Only 90 minutes before I set of on the 62-mile Popcorn 100. I am going to finish my yogurt, drink my green tea, take a fish oil tablet and do some yoga before I don my stretchy black pants, Hawaiian shirt and helmet and peddle out to the start finish line.

It is only about 300 yards from our house which is lucky.
Later today I have to work a few hours at the Marion Star booth at the Popcorn Festival and then take Lucy on the rides and such. It should be fun and expensive - whoo hoo!

Song in my head

This is the song I want in my head while I ride the Popcorn 100. It's "Route 23" by Chatham County Line.

Popcorn 100 route

Prospect loop

this is my short bike ride route.

Richwood loop

This is my regular "long" bike ride route.

My loop

First three-mile run ever!

I just completed my first three-mile run ever! It kind of took me on surprise. I was ready to do the walk/run thing this morning and I just kept running. The sad part is that I only shaved one minute off my walk/run time. I guess I must be a fast walker. You might think otherwise and I am OK with that.

When you consider that last November walking three miles was a big deal, I am very pleased.

Thinking back, I might have run three miles in one go while I was on the high school wrestling team.

I never kept track. I just put my head down and trudged around the gym for an hour during lunch every day. I must have covered three miles.

So, I guess I should amend this to the first time I have ever run three miles intentionally.

Tomorrow I ride the bike. Friday I take the day off to rest up for the Popcorn 100 and then I start to get ready for the Green Camp 5k.

After that I have my self-imposed “Age 50 Century Ride” to plan.

It was 65 degrees when I hit the streets this morning. The first song on the MP3 player was “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” by Richard Thompson.

61-mile ride

I rode my bike 61 miles Saturday. I took a 15 minute break after the 36th mile. My total time in the saddle was 4:15. The last six miles or so were a little painful and somewhat slow. I was grateful to be stopped by a train for about three minutes on Bellfontaine Avenue. Even with the train stop my average speed over the entire ride was 14.35 mph. Not too bad. I think I should have taken it a little easier in the beginning and I might have finished stronger. I was considering taking a ride around the block to get my mileage up to 62 miles or 100 kilometers, but I decided to stop at 61. That will make next Saturday's Popcorn 100 my longest ride of the year. I am still planning on doing a 100 mile ride some time after my 50th birthday but that is coming up quick and it will require some planning that I have been putting off.

Not an endorsement

Picture Day

This is Lucy all dolled up for picture day at school. The plan for her was to let her hair down and brush it out before the picture was taken. Not sure how that worked out. She lost her brush so we, at least, know it was taken out of her backpack. The kid can't take a bad picture, in my opinion, so I'm not worried.

Running a 5k

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I got into a conversation with some one going by the name of Bigoil on my fitness blog and he suggested I sign up for and run in the Green Camp 5K coming up on Sept. 13. I have never run in any organized race of any kind.

I have been doing some running workouts around my little 3-mile route and I know I can cover the distance before the race organizers pack up and go home for the day. So, I signed up.

Last week I did the route by walking the first five minutes as a warm up, then I alternated running with walking in 90 second intervals until I got to the last 2/10 of a mile from which I concluded the course running. It took me 34 minutes.

Last night I decided it was time to see what I could do. I knew I was not going to run the entire course, but I figured I could run more than I had been. So I ran for the first 10 minutes, then I walked for 90 seconds and ran again for as long as I could before resorting to two minute running intervals with 60 to 90 second walking intervals. I ran the final 2/10. It took me 34 minutes.

I guess if I were to be accurate I should go back and replace all the “rans” with “jogged” but I think you get the idea. I am not so much running as I am clumsily walking with little jumps instead of strides.

I am afraid to put too much running (jogging) into my work outs for fear of injury. I need to weigh a bit less before I start pounding my knees too much. I will be there in Green Camp. I committed money to it. I would like to finish in less than 30 minutes, but I am not going to kill myself.

This morning I want to ride 62 miles on my bike but right now it is a bit foggy. I think I need to wait until that clears a bit

Goodbye middle age

Hello old age! My first AARP solicitation arrived in the mail this week. I won't be 50 for about a month. I don't think I am going to join. I have not been to Denney's since the night the U.S. Soccer team beat Mexico 2-0 at Crew stadiumto qualify for the World Cup.


These guys didn't see the loss coming. But then, I didn't see the AARP card coming either.

Second Day of Second Grade

First Day of School

Lucy is a second grader

Lucy dressed up for open house

Vacation Slide Show

I couldn't get the music right and got tired of trying.

Ad libbing on Lyon Mountain

Every movie is unscripted

The movie of our ascent of Lyon Mountain on Monday, Aug. 4 2008.

The girl can climb

Lyon Mountain was the toughest of the three Adirondack mountains we have climbed thus far. She flew up the final, very steep, mile and was full of energy on the top. The crazy hat is worn only on mountain climbing expeditions and has been up all three peaks with us. If she looks a little muddy it is because the entire climb went up a fairly-fast-moving-stream bed. Hurrah for Lucy! More pictures are posted below and there are some videos coming.

A Frog Story

Lucy bought a grow frog at the aquarium. She checks its progress every few minutes. So far, it has not grown much.

The reason for the trip

Front row: Austen, Mom, Dad, Lucy
Back row: Michael, Ellen, Carol, Tom

Ferry to Vermont

We took the ferry from Port Kent, New York to Burlington, Vermont to visit the ECHO aquarium.


Aunt Carol, Aunt Ellen and cousin Austen were along on the trip with us.


On the Vermont side of the lake you see a lot of Lake Monster stuff that you don't see in New York. Is it just crafty marketing or are Vermonters a little more willing to believe? I don't know.


It has been said that the best thing about Vermont is the great view of the Adirondacks. It is a great view, but I wish we had more time to spend in Burlington. I have always had a great time there.

Lucy wants to go back.

Two People, Two Summers, Three Towers

We made it! It was a muddy slog up a mountain stream bed, but we made it. Lucy and I, in the company of my siblings and a nephew got to the top of Lyon Mountain Monday morning.

Back row from left to right. Ellen Schvetz, hiking out of Evergreen, Colorado; Mike Graser, hiking out of Liverpool, New York; Lucy Graser, hiking out of Marion, Ohio; Austen Halpern-Graser and Carol Graser hiking out of Galway, New York. The front row is Tom Graser of Marion, Ohio.




Lucy and Austen were the first climbers to reach the summit. They really pushed hard through the last mile, which was very difficult. They celebrated later in a hotel room party which consisted of root beer, popcorn, sugarless cookies and "American Gladiator""


The top of the mountain was very foggy and the view from the fire tower was no better than the view on the ground. Lucy, however, while gleefully informing us of her fear of heights, scaled the tower to complete her climb.


Uncle Mike was the first one up the tower, but the fourth climber to the summit. He was also the first climber back to the parking lot.
It was the first time the four Graser siblings had ever been on the top of an Adirondack peak together without the aid of an automobile!

Just a draft

Lucy and I will attempt to climb Lyon Mountain on Monday. That will be our third Adirondack peak in two summers. All three of the mountains have fire towers on the top. If we complete our quest I will commemorate it with a t-shirt with something like this for a design.

My talented kin

Latest from Marly in L.A.

see more at yourgirlfriend.org

My far-flung friends

Young Mike Casey gets the troops in line in Iraq

I think Youpi is in this

No one has time for this

I am going to do it anyway.
Which version of this song do you prefer?

biking and running

I biked 60 miles over the weekend and this morning I did a walk/run of three miles. I averaged 15 mph on the bike and 5.29 mph on foot. The gash on my knee came from falling off my bike. Something I do more often than Lucy - as she keeps reminding me.

Another Endo

One of the things you worry about whenever you step up the intensity of exercise is injury. Whether you are just starting out or you have been at it for a while and are moving to a new level, injury can slow you down. I learned that the hard way in the spring when I added running to my regimen. I immediately overdid it, injured my knee and had to slow down for several weeks before I could start progressing again. I was a little worried this past weekend when I did two successive 35-mile rides. I gave myself two days off from the bike and started riding again yesterday. I felt great - better than ever - after completing 15 miles in 56 minutes. This morning I decided I would do 18 miles and ride as hard as I could. I always feel safe riding in the pre-dawn hours. There is hardly any traffic and what traffic there is, is easy to spot because of their headlights. I always make sure I am well illuminated as well. This morning, going hard, I failed to notice a car, hit my brakes and pulled an endo. That is I catapulted myself over the top of my bike. My left wrist is sore, my right shoulder is bruised and I have a couple of good scrapes on my right knee. I crashed, of course, in the first 200 yards of my ride. Being the stupid boy that I am I completed my planned 18-mile route (average speed: 14.21 mph) and went home to nurse my wounds. Everything looks fine, although I am a bit concerned about yoga tonight with my sore wrist. I might have to modify my downward facing dog. I have learned that injury does not have to put a halt to exercise, but it is so much easier and so much more effective if you can remain injury free. It was 59 degrees when I started riding today. The first song on the MP3 player was “The Judgement” by Elvis Costello.

Corlei's birthday

another 35

I rode another 35 miles this morning. I picked up the pace and finished in 2 hours and 17 minutes. That's an average speed of 15.32 mph.
Over the weekend I have gone 70 miles at an average speed of 15.16 mph. My legs are feeling a bit wobbly right now.

From my friend Dirk

Translation:
"And with this plan you can really call for free??"

"Yes, you must only pay for the time you don't speak."

Here is Dirk's site: BSEPlus
It is funnier if you know that Dirk sells mobile phone services in Germany.

Iron and Diamonds

It is important for me to listen to something I really like before I go out on a bike ride. The last song I hear is going to be stuck in my head the entire ride. Fortunately I listened to this Gibson Brothers' gem before I hit the road this morning

Eric Gibson said of the song: "The 'Iron' in the title concerns the mines, (on Lyon Mountain) while the 'Diamonds' is a baseball image. Leigh and I played for the Lyon Mountain Miners of the Champlain Valley Baseball League in the late 80s, early 90s. They were sons and grandsons of real Miners, but those guys all had that same us-against-the world attitude that I imagine their ancestors had."

Saturday morning ride

I rode 35 miles today in 2 hours and 20 minutes. That is an average speed of 15 mph. I was quite surprised with my result. I really expected to be at about 12 mph. I stopped in Prospect, Richwood, Essex, and Green Camp for sips of water and I hit a few red lights in Marion. I did not see the Richwood Opera House. Nor did I see gas for $2.19

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Mileage update

I just rode six miles to get my total bike riding mileage this week to 101 miles!

Finally, my calves of steel are paying off!

Cartoon in progress

I have some work to do on this.

Get your own graph at skinnyr

Today is weigh in day for week 35. The scale is on the light side of 220, which is a 1.5 pound decrease from last week. My body fat percentage is at 29.8, which is up from last week’s 29.7, which was up from the week before that. I am not sure what is going on there. My BMI is down to 31.6. Last week my BMI was 31.8. I am going to rate this week as a good one. It’s the first good one I have had in a while. I had a great week on the bike. I rode 15 miles this morning to make my total since last Saturday 95 miles. If I had figured that out before just now I might have tacked on another 5 miles this morning. At yoga last night towards the end of the class we went into a Downward Facing Dog position and my heels were flat on my mat. It was a moment of pure delight and amazement for me. It gives me hope that one day I will be able to sit cross-legged comfortably. I have a big bike ride planned for the weekend and have a good feeling about next week. It was 66 degrees when I hit the streets this morning. The first song on the MP3 player was “WSM 650" by Chatham County Line.

I have lived on both ends of Route 23 and driven it's length on a number of occasions. These guys have it pegged.

Fun Slide - 100 Percent Fun! Another 95 percent Duct Tape

This is the amusement park ride that Lucy designed at Camp Invention. The Fun Slide, according to the literature Lucy produced, is 100 percent fun. Can't beat that!

Newton's First Law

I think I had a fairly productive weekend, exercise-wise. I rode for about 6 miles Friday night. I had to stop because I was getting bombarded by beetles. Saturday, after working for about 3 hours at the office in the pre-dawn hours, I rode the 25 miles to Prospect and back. On Sunday I rode 15 miles on my little neighborhood criterion route. Today I did my walk/run workout. Saturday, I had my first bike crash in a long time. I was unhurt and my bike was not damaged and I found a little silver lining. Lucy and I have not be on our bikes together for more than week. She had been busy at a science-oriented day-camp. When we do ride I am constantly cautioning her about her braking habits. She has both coaster brakes and a hand brake on her front wheel. She likes to use the hand brake exclusively. ... My accident occurred because I was trying to come to an emergency stop and I used only my front brake while on a slight downhill. The front wheel stopped but the rest of the bicycle and I kept right on going. ... I described the accident to her as a cautionary tale. “I know why that happened,” she said. I was ready for her to repeat one of my admonitions of front brake overuse when she said, “That’s Newton’s First Law of Motion.” Science camp paid off almost immediately! Later she kept poking small gash I tore in my knee. Poke. “Does that hurt?” “Yes.”Poke. “Does that hurt?” “Yes.”Poke. “Does that hurt?” “Yes.”Poke. “Does that hurt?” “Yes.”Poke. “Does that hurt?” “Yes.”Poke. “Does that hurt?” “Yes.” I am obsessed with the song, “Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)” by Peter Sarstedt.

adendum to poll

What about Lyon Mountain?

wacky clothes day at Camp Invention

Lucy channeled Junie B. Jones for Wacky Clothes Day at Camp Invention.

what should we do?

one more camping photo

yeah, we're cooking hot dogs.

backyard camping

Lucy and I camped out for two nights in the backyard this weekend. We ate lot's of turkey dogs. I don't have any pictures of the s'mores we ate... You need two hands for s'mores.

crazy weight since vacation

Get your own graph at skinnyr

With the see-saw week I have had on the scale I am happy with this result. My weight came in this morning at 221.5 pounds - same as last week. My body fat percentage went up to 29.6 percent, that’s a .3 percent increase. My BMI remains at 31.8. I don’t expect anything unusual over the holiday weekend. We are planning a little backyard campout which could result in s’mores consumption, but that’s about it. Hopefully, I will get a lot of bike riding in. This morning I am going to the dedication ceremony at Veterans Park. Maybe I will see you there.

before and after

When I snapped the shot above I didn't even notice the power poles. I didn't do a great job of erasing them, but it still looks better below. This is scene from the east side of Chateaugay, Mary's hometown.