There's name for this

One night a week or so ago I arrived home to find I had a package from my brother Mike waiting for me. It was a CD. Mike is a prolific collector of music and occasionally he puts together a thematic mix tape (I'm sure that's not what you call it these days) for me. A few years ago he put together a collection of songs that were centered around the North Country of Upstate New York. The disc that arrived recently looked to be another such effort. Take a look at the song list:



I was especially excited to get the disc because I had to travel to to Newark, Ohio the next day to conduct an interview of the candidates for Sate Attorney General. It is about a 90 minute drive.
I left the next morning and tuned into NPR radio for the first 45 minutes. When I got bored with the news, I pulled out the disc and inserted it into the player.
This is what I heard:

Was it only 12 years ago?

It was May 25, 1996. The day was as cold as the beer.

Weigh-in day for week 48

Get your own graph at skinnyr

It is weigh-in day for week 48. I only have four weeks to go to complete my year. To reach my goal I have to lose 12 more pounds. That’s sort of a tall order, but I think I can get close. Today my weight is at 212 pounds, that’s a four pound drop from last week. I think I owe it all to yoga. I did four yoga workouts this week. I also did one bike trainer workout and completed a three-mile run. My body fat reading is at 28.9 percent. That’s down from 29.7 percent last week. My BMI is at an exciting 30.4, that’s down from 31.1 last week. When I break 30 I will move from being obese to overweight – hurray! I am not sure what the weekend holds. I really want to try running more than three miles. We’ll see how that goes. I also might start riding the bike trainer in penance for wearing out the couch watching football. And, no snacks.

exercise slug

I have been a total slug since last Tuesday. I have made excuse after excuse. Although, I have to say that I have had work commitments that have made things difficult. Still, I could do better.
I finally got out for a run this morning and finished my three miles in 29:09. I was really sucking wind when I finished. I don't know that I will ever be able to run more than three miles.

I shouldn't be too disappointed it was two years ago when I was happy to be walking around the perimeter of my yard three times without stopping.

Easy Bake Oven Fun

Also, notice Lucy's new hair cut.

I miss Asheville

Remnants from a simpler, binge drunkier time

I sold some LPs at the Relay For Life garage sale we had at our house last summer. As much as I hated to part with my copy of Joe Jackson's "Mike's Murder" or "Neil Young and the Shocking Pink," I like raising money to fight cancer. While I was reading the liner notes from the Nils and fondly recalling the Hawaiian Pups on vinyl, two slips of paper wafted to the ground. I Laughed when I saw them and then set them aside. They, obviously were not sale. I post them here in an effort to preserve them. I will stick them in a book and then someday donate that book for the library book sale.

From the Cramps Biography page:

Rockabilly -- the sound of southern culture falling apart in a blaze of shudders and hiccups.

It's True!

A Friend's Cancer: Good For Your Health?

Easy Bake Oven Time

Lucy broke out the Easy Bake Oven the she got for her birthday to bake some sugar cookies!


It's a hands-on job!


In this house we only use star shaped sprinkles! Because dad works at The Marion Star! Get it?


One sprinkle at a time!


The final product!

The cookies aren't done until the wash up is finished!

Race report

Lucy finished toward the back of the pack, but well ahead of last place. It was her first race and she ran with several kids at least a year older than her. She ran the entire course, only slowing down once because she saw something in some weeds that interested her. They turned out to be burdocks which she brought back stuck to her gloves.
I ran my three-mile route this morning and finished with a personal best of 28:47.

Race Day

Lucy is participating in an elementary school cross country race at the Harding Invitational Cross Country Meet today. The race is one half mile. Last night she ran a half mile in 5:15. That was with me running with her. Should be interesting to see how she runs with other kids.

Rick Rolled Debate

This was just before the debate started.

yoga

On the left is me in the downward facing dog position this morning. On the right is me in the downward facing dog position late last winter. I still have a long way to go, but I have made some improvements.

Bike ride story coming

meanwhile here is my latest weight blog entry
What a day! So far. My streak of personal bests continues and despite a few days of illness induced laxity I am back on the weight loss track. I went for a three-mile run this morning and felt awful. While going up a hill about half way through the run I couldn’t fill my lungs completely up. Now, one thing for sure that nine months of yoga has taught me is my lung capacity. I was sucking in and running out of room long before I should have. I figured it was another manifestation of my recent mystery illness. Towards the end of my second mile, when I am usually feeling strongest I felt very weak and I really thought I was slowing down during the third mile. I was incredibly surprised to stop the clock at 30:12. That’s 15 seconds better than my best time. Weight-wise I am back to 215 despite a dinner out last night with the American Cancer Society. Peer pressure kept me from ordering dessert. It was 50 degrees when I hit the street this morning. The first song on the MP3 player was “Barstool Blues” by Soul Asylum from “The Bridge.”

Time coming down

I turned in another personal best on my three-mile run. This morning I came in at 30:25. That's almost two minutes better than I ran last Sunday.
whoo hoo!

Swell Season in Columbus

Bad video, OK audio.

school photo

Another PR

I finished my 3-mile loop in 31:32. That's about 50 seconds faster than last time.

Today's Plan

We are going to see Swell Season in Columbus! We have had the tickets for ages!

Personal best

I ran three miles this morning in 32:23. That is a minute better than my best time! I feel pretty good too.

Birthday Cake

Mary did a wonderful job painting a Pikachu on to Lucy's birthday cake, that she shared with friends at her birthday party.

Later, when we got home. Mary made some quick alterations and the cake became one for me!



I love me some Pikachu cake!

Award inflation

looking back, I realize that I have won a few awards.
I am an award-winning Chicken Wing Eater, an award-winning Writer, an award-winning Manager, an award-winning Runner, an award-winning Bowler, an award-winning Tight Head Prop Forward, an award-winning Nose Guard, an award-winning Online Editor, an award-winning Newspaper Managing Editor and an award winning Cancer Survivor.
When you consider my talents and skills it is obvious that I have spent my entire life in the Everybody-Gets-A-Trophy Universe.

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