Terribly sorry...

Got out for a leisurely amble this morning. My 17.03/mile pace was due more to laziness than the fact that I was carrying an umbrella.

Then a discussion on Facebook wound up in me falling down the rabbit hole of Googling ballista plans on the internet. Turns out there are rather a lot of them. For instance, behold "Mista Ballista"!

Blah...

Thank heavens that spring is just around the corner. I didn't clear space for the Happy Lamp on my desk this year and, in retrospect, the SADs just kicked my ass.

The Friday before our impromptu Louisville excursion, I was still dealing with a swollen lymph node and slightly achy joints and decided to skip the morning walk because it was frigid out and I didn't want to wind up relapsing and ruining the weekend's fun.

When I got back to Indiana, I spent my mornings in bed stewing in lethargy and self-loathing, and then the DST time change facilitated staying up past midnight and sleeping late. The sudden return of winter has kept my shooting confined to the indoor range and scotched at least two planned outdoor range trips.

I'm definitely ready for some sunshine and vigorous movement.
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Day Five:

It is forty degrees colder out there than it was at this time yesterday. Yesterday's walk was in shirtsleeves, cotton socks, and my new Merrell Moab Ventilators. Today's walk I was back in wool socks, thermal underwear, Asolos, and winter coat.

Oh, and there were snow flurries because sure, why not?

The magazine subscription scam kids are out and about in the neighborhood. The Kitanica coat must make me look like someone who should not be pestered, though. They tried to shake down the guy who was walking one block over, but all I got were serious attempts at avoiding eye contact.
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Day Two:

Out of bed with the alarm again today. Didn't jump on the internet; instead I got dressed, and headed out the door. I finally got that interim set of shoes between the Asolo hiking boots and my summertime barefoot trail-running shoes: a pair of Merrell Moab Ventilator sneakers.

So far, so good, although I did take a couple of aspirin with my morning V8, so that could have something to do with the lack of throbbing ankle joints, too.

1.05 miles in 18:05 at an average heart rate of 132bpm.

Back on the horse...

My lungs seem mostly clear. Hopefully I didn't cough myself into a case of bronchitis getting them that way.

Rolled out of bed with the alarm clock this morning, got dressed, and headed out the door.

Excuses.

So, Wednesday morning I reported feeling like I'd maybe dodged Bobbi's cold. That morning I felt pretty good, no muscle or joint aches, no fever...

I went and shot at the indoor range and ran errands like normal. When I got home, I figured I'd head out for my walk. What the heck, it was over 40 degrees, so we'll just keep the barefoot shoes on...

The unzipped hoodie didn't offer any wind protection. Further, the baby steps needed because of the barefoot shoes on pavement never let me walk fast enough to build up any body heat. And even with wool socks, forty degrees was way too cold for barefoot shoes on heat-sucking concrete.

By the time I got home from three laps in twenty minutes, I could tell that I'd pretty well undone any recovery. My throat was getting sore, the cough had returned, and I could feel the fever and achy muscles and joints coming back.

I didn't walk yesterday. I may not today. I feel like a heel having to make this excuse post. Two steps forward and one step back.
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Day Two:

Snowing, but above freezing, so the ground was just wet and not icy. Indianapolis will likely set a record today for consecutive January days above the freezing mark.

Still, it wasn't much above freezing, and the steady breeze from the northwest made me wish I'd worn a scarf for the first lap or two as it blew right down the neck of my jacket. By lap three, I'm usually het up enough to unzip.

1.00 miles in 17:05 at an average heart rate of 134bpm.

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Day Seventy-Three:

Freakishly warm. Took advantage of a gap in rain bands, but carried an umbrella along just in case. Fifty miles northwest of here, it's thirty degrees colder. Breezy.

1.01 miles in 16:30 at an average heart rate of 141bpm.
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Day Sixty-Nine:

Waited until afternoon, when I pulled some fresh toasty clothes out of the dryer and headed out into the balmy sunshine.

1.02 miles in 18:34 at an average heart rate of 127bpm.

Day Sixty-Seven...

Glad I waited until it warmed up out there.
1.03 miles in 19:39 at an average heart rate of 125bpm.
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Day Sixty-Six:

It was cold out this morning. I went and swept the walks free of snow after breakfast. Wind chills were in the single digits. Then I set out for my three laps. For most of the block, I was leaving the first footieprints in the snow.

By the third lap, the wind had died down and it was muy tranquilo.

1.05 miles in 20:54 at an average heart rate of 127bpm.

Day Sixty-Five:

Trying to get back on the early horse. Still ate two strips of bacon and an egg before heading out.

Shemagh, snow boots, and heavy gloves because of the thirty mph wind and single digit wind chills. No jogging. Wore my headlamp.

1.01 miles in 18:20 at an average heart rate of 140bpm.

Day Sixty-Four:

I forgot my phone at home, so no cute map with colored lines. I "jogged" half the south side of the block on each lap. According to the watch, that shambolic shuffle was getting my heart rate up to 166+bpm.

Next project is to strengthen my ankles so I can push off better with my toes and lift my knees more. I am going to be able to run again if it kills me.

1.03 miles in 15:49 at an average heart rate of 143bpm.

Slow re-start...

Part of the whole "walk a mile in the morning" thing was that it was supposed to be the very first thing I did when I woke up. The whole process of exercising volition from the moment I wake up rather than hitting a snooze button was an important component of an improved mood and more productivity. I made an especial point of not allowing myself to check email or internet sites until after I'd done my exercise.

The ice seems to have derailed that, and now that it's gone, I need to get back on that first thing in the morning schedule.
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Day Fifty-Six:

I tried to stay up until Bobbi got home last night, but decided that was a mistake around 0200.

Woke up at 0600 with the alarms, then went back to sleep until 0830 or so. Got out of bed, got dressed, washed a couple of aspirin down with a Spicy Hot V8, and headed out.

Wool socks and the Asolos were a mistake. Warmer outside than in, or at least the humidity makes it feel that way. All trace of ice is gone and so are the puddles. My stride has lengthened almost back to pre-wreck length.

1.00 miles in 18:10 at an average heart rate of 134bpm.

 

Day Forty-Five:

Woke up at 5:30. Lay in bed and read the last chapter of David Drake's Counting the Cost until the alarm went off. Weatherman said the wind chill was ten below. I decided to wait 'til sunrise; it wouldn't be any warmer, but I'd be able to navigate the icy stretches better.

Kitanica, snow boots, heavy gloves, face mask. Went with a wicking base layer today. Good call in comfort vis a vis yesterday. The neighborhood streets are like oiled glass out there, except where there's some snow along the curbs.

1.01 miles in 22:49 at an average heart rate of 129bpm.

Hmmm...

Ice on the sidewalk and a wind chill of ten below? I think I'll wait for sunup again today.
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Day Forty-Four:

Woke up with the alarm clock at 6AM. It was two degrees outside. Knowing what the conditions of the sidewalks and neighborhood streets would be, I decided to wait until the sun came up.

Ate some yogurt, committed some bloggery, and suited up: Kitanica, North Face mountaineering gloves, snow boots, and shemagh. It was icy out there. Worst were a couple homes on the back straight who had decided to clear their sidewalks with salt. At low single digits, that just refreezes your walk into fifty feet of skating rink.

1.02 miles in 23:09 at an average heart rate of 127bpm.

Day Forty-Three:

Awakened before the alarm by roommate bustling about and Huck beating on Rannie in hopes of being fed. Should have just got out of bed then, but tried to sleep through 'til the alarm went off at 0600.

Got out of bed, found that the Clean Long-Sleeved Shirt situation was grimmer than expected, as was today's weather forecast. Wore the shell jacket and Asolos and took the ten pound pack. Legs are on fire between the weather and the boots on concrete. Next paycheck that shows up in the mailbox, I'm buying some walking shoes.

1.02 miles in 19:15 at an average heart rate of 133bpm.

Sorry.

Bobbi's had to work the weird shift the last couple days, and that's resulted in the usual time displacement. I stayed up last night until after her alarm clock went off and had some of the "breakfast" she started cooking at a little after midnight.

This means that by the time I finished eating and headed to bed, it was about half past one in the morning, and Huck started his "feed me!" shenanigans shortly after five. I locked him out of the room when it got too annoying, dozed until the alarm went off at six, fed the cats, and tried to get some more sleep.

It was not really to be, and so I dragged myself out of bed at close to ten AM, got dressed, donned the backpack with the 10# kettlebell in it, and went for my morning walk. 1.02 miles in 18:38.

I got home from my walk, gathered stuff, and headed over to the range to start a new project.

There was a bottle of Snake Oil Prime on my desk, so that's what I used to lube up this brand new, unfired Gen4 Glock 19...

I'll be doing the 2,000 round thing with it, starting this morning.
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