10,000 Maniacs - These are days

5-15-12  Thirteen painful miles today.  I was really trying to go 16 or 18 miles but didn't make it.  I think there were several things wrong.   First, I waited too late to get started and it was hot.  I started about 10:00, and it was about 65 but the temp went up to 75 quickly.  Second, I didn't eat any breakfast.  All I had was a granola bar at about 7:00am.  Third, I chose a route near my house that was very hilly.  There is a new park that just opened.  It is on a piece of property along Riverside Drive where there used to be a bait, tackle and beer carry out store.  Never went in the place.  Never really had the need plus it looked dingy.  A lady owned the store and one day, she shot and killed one of her employees, a 17 year old boy who was also a father and engaged.  I wanted to run to the park which is about 5 miles away and then run back, adding a few detours along the way.  I had hoped there was some sort of memorial to the boy, but there wasn't anything that I saw.  The park is named after some guy named, Thaddeus Kosciuszko.

The Bait Store, long a thorn in the side of the tiny community's notoriously uptight zoning commission, has been razed to make way for parkland. A house on the property will be demolished soon, said Dublin spokeswoman Cristie Keller-Wilt.
The store at Hard Road and Riverside Drive had run-ins with Dublin officials over U-Hauls from its rental business parked in its lot, but gained the most notoriety in May 2000, when store owner Carol Finkes fatally shot teenage clerk James Coyan III inside the store.
Finkes was found guilty in 2001 of aggravated murder and tampering with evidence and is serving 20 years to life at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville. The Bait Store went into receivership following the killing and later closed.
Dublin City Council agreed in March to buy the property for $1.9 million to develop into parkland. The city hopes to finalize plans for the site next month as part of its 2006 capital improvement package.

So that was in 2006, now in 2012, the park has opened.  Here is the background.
Kosciuszko's Land Grant Turned into Public Park

The City of Dublin, Ohio has officially opened "Thaddeus Kosciuszko Park" on a portion of the land that was awarded to this Polish-American hero for serving in the Continental Army. The 35-acre park truns along Hard Road from Scioto High School to Riverside Drive.

When local resident Deborah Solove realized that she was living near a portion of Kosciuszko's former lands that had been taken from his estate, she talked with the city's Director of Parks & Open Space, Fred Hahn. Hahn said that he had never heard of Kosciuszko, "So I went down to the Dublin public library and checked out a book called The Peasant Prince by this guy named Alex Storozynski and really became fascinated with the life and times of Kosciuszko."

This kicked off a process by the City Council to set aside a portion of this land to be named Thaddeus Kosciuszko Park, which today includes a series of educational signs regarding Thaddeus Kosciuszko, as well as 1.7 miles of trails, fishing ponds and a gazebo.

"Years ago, this land was taken away from Kosciuszko," Solove said. "Now, the city of Dublin gave it back."
Anyway, there are steep hills on the trails in the park.  The park is also close to the Scioto River so that naturally means that I am running downhill toward the river bank and then up and down the trails and then back up to the main roads and my route home.  I looked at my Garmin

my view from the park bench where
I stretched and found a second wind

Dashboard to see what my average elevation gain is when I run in my neighborhood or over at the Olentangy trail.  My average gain is somewhere between 27 and 98 feet. My elevation gain on this day was 419 feet!  No wonder I was wiped out.  I started heading back for home sooner than planned, very disappointed.  How can I even think about running 26.2 miles if I can't run 16 or 18?  At about 9 miles, I got a text from Kai, she said "Can't wait to hear how your run went.  You can do it.  Don't talk yourself out of it."  Okay, so that gave me a extra ounce of motivation and I turned back to take a loop around another lake.  Decided to sit down at a park bench and stretch and then keep going.  I made it four more miles, better than going straight home, but I was really beat.  My left hip was hurting, my right shin was starting to hurt, I was hungry and thirsty.  My feet even hurt on the bottoms.  When I got home, I couldn't get in the house fast enough to drink.  I had a Gator Ade brand chocolate recovery drink and then a Sobe flavored water.  I went to take a shower and felt whoozie standing.  I just didn't feel right.  30 minutes later I was in the car on my way to school to pick the boys up for a doctor appointment and forgot food!!

In the early part of my run, I went through Emerald fields, an area in Dublin with large athletic fields, baseball diamonds and playgrounds for kids.  There is a pond there with huge, loud bullfrogs.  I had to stop and listen for a minute, I love that sound.  I also saw some birds that I am not familiar with.  I got some pictures, not that good but they were so beautiful and there were several of them.  I am pretty sure that they were Red Winged Blackbirds based on pictures and reading I have since done about their habitat.  I think this is the bird that I saw.

10,000 Maniacs is a band that I am pretty sure I first heard when I was with my brother Chris.  I don't mean in concert, just at his house or somewhere and he had it on his iPod, we didn't have iPhones yet.  Natalie Merchant is great, I love her music.  I have her Unplugged CD and love every song on it, but this is the one that I chose as my favorite for today.  Similar to the words in the song, these days that I have been training are surely days that I'll always remember.  I am blessed and lucky to be able to do this.  I don't know if I'll finish the marathon, but I will try.  And if I don't finish, I will know that I did the best I could given the circumstances, injuries and all.  Maybe I'll do another and have more wisdom and experience.  Who knows.  Kai always says that I should listen to my legs.  I think that is the same thing said in this song. "See the signs and know their meaning".  Probably not what Natalie meant, but this is their meaning for me.

These are the days

These are days you’ll remember
Never before and never since, I promise
Will the whole world be warm as this
And as you feel it,
You’ll know it’s true
That you are blessed and lucky
It’s true that you
Are touched by something
That will grow and bloom in you
These are days that you’ll remember
When May is rushing over you
With desire to be part of the miracles
You see in every hour
You’ll know it’s true
That you are blessed and lucky
It’s true that you are touched
By something that will grow and bloom in you
These are days
These are the days you might fill
With laughter until you break
These days you might feel
A shaft of light
Make its way across your face
And when you do
Then you’ll know how it was meant to be
See the signs and know their meaning
It's true
Then you’ll know how it was meant to be
Hear the signs and know they’re speaking
To you, to you

Bob Seger - Beautiful Loser

5-11-12  Short run today, 3.5 miles.  It was hot and I was tired and my legs just felt tired.  I am going to do a really long run on Sunday so I decided a short run was a good idea so I can rest my muscles for Sunday.  Today was a really beautiful day, sunny warm, the bluest sky I have seen lately.  I took a tiny detour out on feather island just to snap a picture.  I am starting to get stressed about this marathon.




When I was in college, I worked part time at the Michigan National Bank of Detroit.  I was a teller, eventually head teller.   Back then we had passbook savings where your actual record of money was entered by hand into a book and the teller initialed and stamped it with the date.  One of our customers was Bob Seger.  I like to follow rules and I took my job seriously.  I can remember ladies that came in wearing their mink coats and wanted to cash a check but no funds int he account.  No can do!  That didn't go over well.  One time bob Seger came in and wanted to withdraw some money from his passbook savings account.  When a customer wanted to do that, you had to verify their signature.  Even though it was Bob Seger and I knew that, I made him go through the process.  I had him sign the withdrawal slip and then I went to verify on the microfiche machine that it was him.  All the other tellers were laughing at me.  Oh well.  I actually got complimented by his manager, Punch Andrews, for having done this.   From what I can tell, Punch is still in business and has his offices on Purdy Street in Birmingham Michigan. 

I listened to a little Bob Seger today.  Beautiful Loser is one of my favorites of his.
I think the first time I ever saw Bob Seger was at the Birmingham Palladium, now long gone (only open 1969-1971).  Found some artwork from concert posters at the Palladium.

He wants to dream like a young man
With the wisdom of an old man.
He wants his home and security,
He wants to live like a sailor at sea.
Beautiful loser, where you gonna fall?
You realize you just don't need it all.

He's your oldest and your best friend,
If you need him, he'll be there again.
He's always willing to be second best,
A perfect lodger, a perfect guest.
Beautiful loser, read it on the wall
And realize, you just don't need it all.
...you can't have it all, you can't have it all,
Oh, oh, ... Can't have it all.

He'll never make any enemies,
He won't complain if he's caught in a freeze.
He'll always ask, he'll always say please.


Beautiful loser, never take it all
'Cause it's easier, faster when you fall,
You just don't need it all
Oh, oh, ... You just don't need it all.

Anna Nalick - Breathe(2AM)

Shamrock

5-8-12  Still feeling good!  I ran 8.5 miles today and it was great.  I felt good the entire run, no aches or pains, no feeling tired, just a pleasurable run.  Can't ask for much more than that.  I ran past a couple of golf courses today.  There are actually 6 golf courses within a 2 mile radius of where I live, so I am usually running by a golf course.  I live in Wedgewood, across Powell Road is Shamrock Golf Course.  The Zoo has a golf course called Safari, then there are the two courses at Muirfield.  They have a course for their members and then the championship course that is used for the Memorial Tournament every Memorial Day.  Just a little ways up Sawmill Road is the Kinsale Country Club.

Kinsale

I took the day off from work, primarily because one of my very dearest friends from my years in Ohio, lost her father this past week.  I wanted to be able to attend the mass for her Dad today without having to worry about getting back to the office.  She has been such a tremendous friend over the years and I wanted to be there for her today.  She deserves lots of goodness right now. This afternoon, I took some time for myself to run some more so that I can get closer to my goal, hopefully.  For the first time in probably years, I did not turn on my computer for work and actually took the whole day off (I did check email for work a few times on my iPhone, but still this was a breakthrough for me).  I usually take vacation days and work for at least 2-4 hours of the day before I go do something else that I had planned.

I know absolutely zilch about Anna Nalick.  This song was on my "Songs from SI" collection that my friend Tom made for me.




2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake,
"Can you help me unravel my latest mistake?,
I don't love him. Winter just wasn't my season"
Yeah we walk through the doors, so accusing their eyes
Like they have any right at all to criticize,
Hypocrites. You're all here for the very same reason

'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button, girl.
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe... just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe

May he turned 21 on the base at Fort Bliss
"Just a day" he said down to the flask in his fist,
"Ain't been sober, since maybe October of last year."
Here in town you can tell he's been down for a while,
But, my God, it's so beautiful when the boy smiles,
Wanna hold him. Maybe I'll just sing about it.

Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table.
No one can find the rewind button, boys,
So cradle your head in your hands,
And breathe... just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe

There's a light at each end of this tunnel,
You shout 'cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out
And these mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again
If you'd only try turning around.


some air is not so good to breathe

2 AM and I'm still awake, writing a song
If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me,
Threatening the life it belongs to
And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd
Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud
And I know that you'll use them, however you want to

But you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button now
Sing it if you understand.
and breathe, just breathe
woah breathe, just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe.

Adele - Set fire to the Rain

5-7-12  Ran 3 miles today.  I was pretty sore from the weekend run and bike ride.  The good thing is that my soreness was not in my shins, it was in the front of my thighs.  Just good old fashioned pain from a little over working muscles that rested too long.  I would not call that injury, but normal exercise/recovery process.  Yeah!  I have done a bit of reading about the recovery process.  This is interesting:

Muscles are among the most metabolically active tissues in our body. They are always trying to tailor their structural and functional properties to the level and type of use they experience. However, when the amount of use or level of stress on a muscle is too great, the fibers that make up the muscle are damaged. When this happens, the cells that make up muscle fibers degenerate and are replaced by new muscle cells. This process is known as the degeneration-regeneration cycle.
Following physical damage to muscle cells in training, degeneration begins with what is known as the inflammatory process. During this stage, various enzymes and immune cells known as macrophages serve as scavengers that gobble up the cellular debris left behind from muscle trauma and consequent muscle-cell death.

During the degeneration-regeneration cycle, almost all cellular structures are affected, representing a so-called dismantling period. This process begins within hours of the initial insult to the muscles trained.

This is so good, I must stop watching
the soaps and start running again!

The next step in the degeneration-regeneration cycle may be the most important. This is known as the proliferative phase. During this phase, skeletal muscle satellite cells begin to appear along the periphery of damaged muscle fibers. These satellite cells represent a muscle population of stem cells that will eventually differentiate into new muscle tissue.
What makes these cells unique is that their proliferation is brought about specifically by muscle trauma. As muscle satellite cells continue to proliferate and align themselves along the outer margins of the damaged muscle fibers, regeneration moves forward and new muscle-fiber proteins are synthesized.
This process continues until the damaged muscle fibers are completely regenerated.
The benefits of this complex process are numerous. When looking at muscle-cell regrowth in sedentary muscles, the muscle fibers seem to regenerate in a random orientation and remain relatively immature.
However, if the muscle fibers are cyclically exposed to various loads of stress and tension, they become well aligned, take up greater amounts of amino acids and synthesize more proteins. Other physiological benefits to training include an increase in intracellular mitochondria (the powerhouses of the cell), the number of capillaries, total blood flow and total oxygen-consumption capacity, leading to a profound rise in muscle metabolic activity. These increases yield a more well-developed and fatigue-resistant muscle.

I like using the word "insult" to describe the damage done to the muscles.  It does feel quite like an insult that my body has done this to me after all my hard work!   I also found it interesting to read the science behind why you go through exercise, pain, recovery, stronger muscles.  It makes sense.

I also went to see my oncologist today.  This is a routine appointment every 6 months.  He has prescribed Arimidex (Anastrazole) for 5 years (3.5 years done at this point).  The severity of breast cancer is increased by estrogen which causes hyperplasia and differentiation at estrogen receptor sites.  Anastrozole works by inhibiting the synthesis of estrogen, so basically a hormone blocker.(studies show that it reduces recurrence by 40%)  A side effect of Arimidex is that it causes bone loss.  I had a bone density test after 2.5 years on this drug and I have mild osteoporosis in my hips.  None of that is new information.  However, when I was seeing Dr. Kourlas, I did mention my training and my marathon.  He said that this is really good for my osteoporosis.  It should help in the process to build new bone mass.  Good!  He also reminded me that the damage done by the Arimidex reverses when I stop taking it.  In the meantime, I take Actonel to try and counterbalance what the Arimidex is doing.  I guess the good news is that those are the only two drugs I take.   (well except for my friend Advil)

I didn't get out to run until 4:00 pm and it was too hot.  The next couple of days are going to be a little cooler, hopefully storm free.  We had a lot of rain and storms late in the day today.  I was fixing dinner and it suddenly got really dark a couple of hours early.  Walked outside just in time to hear a loud crack of thunder.  I love storms, as long as I am not in the car on the highway!  Usually when we have tornado warnings, the whole family goes to the basement and I can't help myself from going upstairs and out on the front sidewalk a few times to see what the skies are looking like.  I usually see my neighbor across the street doing the same thing.  Last night was just thunderstorms and flooding, no tornadoes.

I first heard of Adele when I watched part of the Grammy's.  I am sure that I have heard her music before, but I didn't really know anything about her.  She has won multiple Grammy's and numerous mentions in the Guinness Book of world records: She is the first artist to sell more than 3 million copies of an album in a year in the UK, the first living artist to achieve the feat of two top five hits in both the UK Official Singles Chart and the Official Albums Chart simultaneously since the Beatles in 1964, the first artist in history to lead the Billboard 200 concurrently with three Billboard Hot 100 number ones, and the list goes on.   She also broke the record for the longest number 1 album by a woman in Billboard history, beating the record formerly held by Whitney Houston's soundtrack The Bodyguard.  (with 21 non-consecutive weeks at number 1 in the US) She has a unique and beautiful voice.

Set Fire to the Rain is one of her songs that I like.  All of her songs are 'love songs' so I'm not saying I related to these lyrics, I just like the music and her voice.

I let it fall, my heart,
And as it fell you rose to claim it
It was dark and I was over
Until you kissed my lips and you saved me

My hands, they're strong
But my knees were far too weak,
To stand in your arms
Without falling to your feet

But there's a side to you
That I never knew, never knew.
All the things you'd say
They were never true, never true,
And the games you play
You would always win, always win.

[Chorus:]
But I set fire to the rain,
Watched it pour as I touched your face,
Well, it burned while I cried
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name!

Van Morrison - Bright Side of the Raod

5-5-12  Ran 10 miles today, getting better and stronger.  Many years ago, I ran a good run on Thanksgiving Day.  I listened to a Van Morrison song called the Bright side of the Road.  At that point in my life, some things weren't going too well for me and this song really picked me up.  I have listened to it a LOT over the years, always makes me feel good.  Today, I really feel like I am back on the Bright Side of the Road!  Yeah!

I ran today on the Olentangy Trail.  It was cloudy and a bit foggy on the lake this morning.  the weather was perfect for running, 65 and cloudy, no sun.  funny how your perspective of good weather and bad weather changes when you want to run a long distance vs. maybe wanting to go to the pool!  I have decided that I no longer need to look for other trails.  When you have a good thing, don't go looking for anything else.  Reminds me of a Dorothy quote "if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with!"  Why did I ever go looking for another trail.  All of my bad stuff started when I went to that trail in Westerville!!!  Today, I felt great.  No issues at all.  I wore my compression sleeves on both legs.  I did buy the bright pink ones.  I thought about black and that looks too geeky, like men wearing black knee socks with shorts on.  I thought about white, but that looks too orthopedic.  Pink makes a statement, can't be mistaken for orthopedic or for geeky.  Simply says, I am having too much fun with my 55 year old legs and shins.

Today was so entertaining.  I saw all kinds of people.  I saw a couple that looked like they needed rest, they both had a Tim Horton's cup of coffee and they both had a cigarette in their hand and they looked like they just got out of bed and probably too soon.  Next, I saw two men that had huge beer guts, gray t-shirts to cover their guts and each had a cigar hanging out of their mouths.  They looked like they maybe had too much to drink last night, but they seemed content with their cigar. ( this is on a biking/running trail, think you'd see athletic type people here) I also saw a guy with a bike that had a platform on the front that had a large cooler attached.  It was metal and really looked like a part of an ice cream truck.  He had his whole family with him, several kids.  I also saw MANY people with fake mustaches on their faces.  What's up with that???  I had to laugh, passed at least 200 people with these mustaches.  One lady, had a bright yellow mustache.  I also saw one woman with a black velvet dress and lace collar on a bicycle and a guy with a dress shirt, vest and top hat, all riding bikes.  Then the best of the day, I saw two woman with birds on their hands.  I actually stopped running for this!  Who wouldn't?  I asked if I could take their pictures and they seemed a bit reluctant, but then I told them what I am doing (training for a marathon and writing a blog) and why I would want their picture and they agreed.  They take these beautiful birds on walks.  they have harnesses that fit beneath the wings and then around the chest area, very comfortable.  The birds love the fresh air.  Very nice ladies, I enjoyed talking to them.
Today was the Cap City Marathon.  I expected the trail to be pretty empty, thinking everyone would be at the race.  What I didn't know was that there was a cycling event on the trail, called Market to Market.  The ride was from the Hills Market in Worthington to the North Market in the Arena district, right by downtown.  They have this ride very year and have a theme.  This year's theme is "Mustaches & Monocles" meant to be an historic theme in honor of our bicentennial.  I only found this out when I finished my run and there was a table set up with information about the cycling event.

Here is my Van Morrison song that I really enjoy listening to often.

From the dark end of the street, baby
To the bright side of the road
We'll be lovers, lovers once again
On the bright side of the road

Little baby take my hand
You can help me share this load
From the dark end of the street
To the bright side of the road

And into this life we're born
Baby, sometimes we don't know why
And it goes by so, oh so fast
It's like the twinkling of an eye

Let's enjoy it while we can
Little darlin' come along
Take my hand into that sunny land
On the bright side of the road

Yeah, into this life we're born
Sometimes we don't know why
It seems to go by so terribly fast
In the the twinkling of an eye

Let's enjoy it while we can
Oh my lover come along
From the dark end of the street
To the bright side of the road

From the dark and lonely street
To the bright side of the road
We'll be lovers once again
On the bright side of the road

Jim Croce - You Don't Mess Around With Jim

I love my backyard!

5-4-12  5 Miles today, yeah!!!  I have been so scared to start running, afraid of getting hurt again.  Today I ran 5 miles, no pain.  The biggest discomfort I had was the heat.  I had to work and didn't get out to run until noon.  It was 85 degrees and sunny at that point.  I was only running 5 miles so I didn't take my hydration belt.  Mistake.  Five miles for me is one hour.  One hour in 85 degree sunny weather, means you ought to be taking a drink of water.  I was feeling pretty dehydrated by the time I finished.   Losing my spunk, so to speak.  But the good news is NO SHIN PAIN!

Top right image looks like
 how I strike my foot.

I went to the physical therapist this morning.  She videoed me running on the treadmill.  Here is what I learned.   First, I cross over my feet when I land.  The right foot crosses over a lot more than the left.  She said that it is pretty hard to change that and she doesn't think that is causing the shin problems.  Second, I strike totally on my heel when I land.  So what does that mean?   Well.. think about taking baby steps, you are walking or running pretty much flat footed.  Then, think about taking really long steps, as you reach your foot way out in front of you, your heel is the first thing to touch the ground.  That is what is meant by 'heel strike'.  Now, put your leg out in front of you and flex your foot backwards so that your toes are pointing towards your knee.  Feel how tight your shin muscle is.  When you run with a long stride, you strike more on your heel and your shin takes the brunt of the impact.  There you have it!  While looking at the video of me running (thankfully she targeted just below the butt, mostly legs) she could count how many steps I take per minute of running.  I am running with a cadence of 156 beats per minute.  Ideal is upwards of 180 beats per minute.  Net message is, shorter strides mean more steps per minute which means less of a strike on the heel, more of a flat footed strike, taking the impact off of the shin.  WOW, that is so counter intuitive to me.  I am a short person.  I have always been convinced that I am a slow runner because I have to work harder, take more steps to achieve the same distance as a taller person.  I always thought that I should be taking longer strides to gain more distance, thereby making me more equal with a tall person that naturally moves more distance per stride due to their longer legs.  Now I am all messed up!

Anyway, I worked with her on the treadmill running at the same pace but with more steps per minute.  She has an app on her phone that I used to keep time, called a metronome.  I asked her if that was similar to the metronome that is used on a piano to keep time.  She had no clue what that was.  But actually if you look for a metronome app on you iPhone, most of them will have a picture of the triangular metronome that you use with a piano.  (she must not have ever had piano lessons)  Anyway, it just click click clicks away and you step in time to that.  She told me there are play lists you can get that have the same cadence, will have to check that out.

I used to love Jim Croce and then had sort of forgotten about him for years.  Then, when Natalie was about 7 and Emma was about 5, Chris asked me to come to Hawaii and help him while Melissa went to France with her parents and sisters.  I jumped at the opportunity.  I got the girls off to school each day and then went to the beach, not a bad job for a week.  Chris played Jim Croce while I was there and so it always reminds me of my brother.  This song is just a classic Croce song.  (only second to Big Bad Leroy Brown)

Uptown got it's hustlers
The Bowery got it's bums
42nd Street got Big Jim Walker
He's a pool-shootin' son of a gun
Yeah, he big and dumb as a man can come
But he stronger than a country Ox
And when the bad folks all get together at night
You know they all call big Jim "Boss", just because
And they say

You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Jim

Well outta south Alabama came a country boy
He say I'm lookin' for a man named Jim
I am a pool-shootin' boy
My name is Willie McCoy
But down home they call me Slim
Yeah I'm lookin' for the king of 42nd Street
He drivin' a drop top Cadillac

John Mayer - Why Georgia

5-2-12  Running again! I went to my first physical therapy appointment on Monday morning.  It went really well.  I learned some exercises that are really important to loosen and strengthen muscles.  Funny thing is that the exercises are the exact same ones that I used to do back when I was going to a personal trainer many years ago.  I also learned the same things Kai has been telling me that your hips and core are so important.  If you don't have a strong core and strong hip muscles then the muscles in your lower legs take more of a beating every time you pound the pavement.  She told me that my soleus muscle in my right calf is really tight and I need to work on stretching that.  So until the next visit she gave me  the following exercises to do at home; side lying leg lifts, standing soleus stretch, double leg heel raises, toe raises, and bridges.  She did ultrasound on my shin and also did some deep massaging of the same area.  On Friday they will video me running on a treadmill with a camera that attaches to a laptop and then she will analyze the way I run to see if there is anything I need to change.  She also told me that I could try to start running again but to keep it short at first and close to home.  Go in loops around where I live so I am never too far from home if I start to have problems.  I ran today, only 1.5 miles but wanted to make sure I was going to feel okay afterwards before I start ramping up the distance.  My plan is to run again in the morning before work, probably another shortish distance and then take t from there.  My shin still hurts a little but no where near as bad as last week.  I could hardly walk last week.  I had trouble making it from my car to the building at work!

I don't know what to do about the marathon or what the best plan is to try and ramp back up to the distance that I was running quickly!  I may google that and see what is said about recovering from an injury and getting back up to speed.  I know I can't run 20 miles this weekend which is where I should be.  I don't even want to try for fear that I would just put myself right back where I was a week ago.

My peony bush, that I showed a few weeks ago as it just started sprouting out of the ground, is in full bloom.  This usually blooms closer to Memorial Day.  This year is just all messed up.  I have covered this plant several times when we had frost warnings because it brings me such joy each spring and I would be crushed if it froze and didn't bloom. That did happen a couple of years ago.  I even take pictures of this plant every spring, they look the same, lol.  This is actually two different plants, that I planted together.  The other section of the bush is still in large buds, will probably bloom next week and I'll post those too, they are very different and exotic looking.

I really like this John Mayer song.  I love the music but the lyrics are good too, for a 20 something that thinks they should know by now what their life is meant to be about!  Oh what they don't really know at that age.


I am driving up 85 in the
Kind of morning that lasts all afternoon
Just stuck inside the gloom
4 more exits to my apartment but
I am tempted to keep the car in drive
And leave it all behind

Cause I wonder sometimes
About the outcome
Of a still verdictless life

Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why, why Georgia, why?

I rent a room and I fill the spaces with
Wood in places to make it feel like home
But all I feel's alone
It might be a quarter life crisis
Or just the stirring in my soul

Either way I wonder sometimes
About the outcome
Of a still verdictless life

So what, so I've got a smile on
But it's hiding the quiet superstitions in my head
Don't believe me
Don't believe me
When I say I've got it down

Everybody is just a stranger but
That's the danger in going my own way
I guess it's the price I have to pay
Still "everything happens for a reason"
Is no reason not to ask myself