Thursday, August 29, 2019

You're born to run.

Actor-Teachers 2019-2020
We are in residency rehearsal process. I don't really think about training moment to moment, there are far too many other things to occupy my mind, notably the end of all things.

Even in the midst of attending curriculum night at my children's high school (children plural, they are both high school students now) I am aware that this will end, that a day will come when neither of my children are engaged in lower education.

All good things.

Distance: 7.5 miles
Duration: 1:07:20
Pace: 8:57
Route: Cain Park Loop (2x)
Temperature: 59°
Climate: cool, ideal
Mood: not good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Good run, not bad. I have a lot of things coming at me all at once and finding it difficult to cope. Keep your head down. Keep moving forward.

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 166.5 lbs. (-1.0)
Goal: 160 lbs.

Eating in the rehearsal hall for me has become impulsive. That's not accurate -- it's impulsive everywhere. Got to finish that beer, yes, I will have that pie, handfuls of kettle popcorn and gummy worms. It's obscene.

Not eating is also a thing to do, you can choose not to do that, not to compulsively eat, and in its absence feel that you are accomplishing something.

What's That Lyric?
Come Home With Me Baby - Dead or Alive

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Hear the highway breathing.

June 2019

"How beautifully leaves grow old. 
How full of light and color are their last days."
- John Burroughs


Cris Dopher died on Sunday evening. I have mentioned him here a few times. He came to see And Then You Die (How I Ran a Marathon in 26.2 Years) at the NY Fringe ten years ago this month. He commented on my blog and we began a sporadic correspondence. We met up to chat in Chelsea the following year, he gave me my first tour of the new High Line.

Cris was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was five, they said he had another five to live. He was forty-seven when he passed.

In 2013 I asked him to design lights for Double Heart at the the Fringe. He used to run, but by that time he was carrying oxygen, and had to take a break every half block. That was the last time we met up, though we stayed in touch.

Since then he had a lung transplant. During that experience he met a woman who is also living with CF and they fell in love and got engaged. He was in a horrific motorcycle accident which almost killed him. He survived liver cancer, and recently had started chemotherapy for cancer in his new lungs. That was the fight at last he couldn't win.

Cancer, again. After all that, fucking cancer.

Like I said, we communicated sporadically, through social media. I kept up with his blog, and through long detailed posts on his Facebook page. He started his running blog a year before I started this one. This photo (at right) has always been a great inspiration to me.

He had cystic fibrosis, and he ran.

Cris was very generous. Cris had an attitude. Cris spoke his mind. Cris was an artist. Cris was a biker. Cris was a runner. Cris was a marathon runner.

I'm going to miss Cris.

If you wish to make a donation, his favorites were:

Distance: 4 miles
Duration: 35:42
Pace: 8:55
Route: Boulevard Loop
Temperature: 66°
Climate: cool
Mood: as you would expect
Stretches: yes
Water: no (crap)

What's That Lyric?
And She Was - Talking Heads

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 167.5 lbs. (+2.5)
Goal: 160 lbs.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

In space no one can hear you dream (and others.)

Lying awake at 3:30, not able to get back to sleep. Knowing there are a million things I could do this morning instead of running for two hours. The enthusiasm I was feeling just two days ago (or was it mania?) has given way to malaise and a doubt.

So, I could listen to anything for two hours. Podrunner, Spotify playlists, "1619" ... instead, it's all Improvised Star Trek. Because I need some serious distraction.

I choose improv comedy. Who knew?

Distance: 16 miles
Duration: 2:36:50
Pace: 9:48
Route: To East 55th via MLK and back.
Temperature: 59°
Climate: cool & groovy
Mood: angsty
Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Snack: granola bar

Yep. Sixteen miles. Did that thing. The comedy was quite enjoyable, and it kept me from going very fast. A nice trot down MLK Jr. Blvd. and back. The One World Day festival is today! As I headed back earlybirds were setting up tents and tables. Should be quite an event.

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 165 lbs. (+0.5)
Goal: 160 lbs.

Improvised Star Trek has been around for ten years, but I just heard about it. I listened to a few episodes last week and got hooked. Then they announced they are ending the show. I hate my life.


Week Eleven Total: 31.25 miles
Total To Date: 248.25 miles

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Afraid to lose.

So this is where it gets a little crazy. I am slated to run sixteen miles tomorrow. Remember how hard thirteen was? Didn't I run fifteen just a couple days ago? Didn't I run eight just yesterday?

Running all the time. I do not know where I have the time or energy or anything for that. But here I go.

After my eight mile yesterday, I drank so much water, all evening. It was a compulsion. More water!

Distance: 3.25 miles
Duration: 26:32
Pace: 8:09
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 64°
Climate: bright & sunny
Mood: surprisingly good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Tore that up. Feeling the weight of everyone around me, their pain, loss, disappointment, so much anxiety and fear. So I have a slight pain in my head, I have no right not to push myself, and I ran. I ran well. It felt good. Lightened the doubt.

But Jesus, have you ever listened to the lyrics of Good Girls Don't? My laws, that song is filthy.

"New Wave" Playlist
Rebel Yell * - Billy Idol
It's My Life - Talk Talk
Good Girls Don't * - The Knack
Drive * - The Cars
Heart of Glass - Blondie
My Sharona - The Knack

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 164.5 lbs. (+3.0)
Goal: 160 lbs.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Carrie A. lays upon the road that I must travel.

This is Nina.
Rain yesterday, a lot of rain. So, you know. Fuck that, I'm not doing it. I'm not heading out in the dark to get sopping wet, running eight miles and tearing up my feet. Once upon a time I might have done that, felt compelled to do that, because training. But I'm getting older and I just can't be bothered. I don't run in cold temperatures as much as I used to, and I hate getting cold and wet.

Speaking of putting up with shit, Nina has written another dynamite article which is (ahem) getting a lot of traction. A Lifelong Runner, Sidelined By Disability was posted on Folks yesterday, and you should read it. Nina has a rock and roll attitude, and she has chosen to express recent (and in some cases, life-long) pain and hardship and translate them into essays devoid of self-pity that resonate with honesty, anger and gratitude.
"I’ve been running since middle school. I was never the fastest, never ran the longest distance, but I placed occasionally and enjoyed it immensely. I had to quit the track team in high school because we couldn’t afford the costs of participation, including expensive new running shoes." [READ THE REST]
Distance: 8 miles
Duration: 1:08:22
Pace: 8:32
Route: Forest Hill to Cain Park to Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 69°
Climate: sunny!
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

What's that mondegreen?
Kýrie, eléison, down the road that I must travel.
-
"Kyrie" by Mister Mister

So, I did it. I listened to a playlist made of the top 100 Billboard hits from the year 1986. While I understood why it has been deemed the most bland and tedious year in popular music history, I never really understood. The music I like is actually diverse and interesting, if heavy with synth horns and that irritating stuttering effect they used on all the remixes.

No, it's the ballads. Then as now, when either That's What Friends Are For or The Greatest Love of All begin, you don't know which song you are about to hear. Secret Lovers sounds like Friends and Lovers sounds like The Glory of Love. It was a real education, and let us never speak of it again.

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 161 lbs. (-3.5)
Goal: 160 lbs.

Uhm. Okay?

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

How the strong get weak.

Inside voice.
Yesterday was the first day of school, so I did not run.

Not sure what to write.

My knees hurt yesterday. I ran thirteen miles Sunday and then my knees hurt yesterday.

I've lost my enthusiasm for this.

Distance: 4 miles
Duration: 36:38
Pace: 9:09
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 68°
Climate: dark
Mood: also dark
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 164.5 lbs. (+0.5)
Goal: 160 lbs.

What's That Lyric?
Slave to Love - Bryan Ferry

Sunday, August 18, 2019

You can run to me.

To run or not to run. It's a question. You make plans to run early, because there is a full agenda for the day, and when you rise there is very loud thunder. As you prepare to leave, pulling on your kit and making coffee, the wind begins to rise, the wind is so loud that it sounds like the rain that you know if coming. And then the rain does come, just as you are prepared to step outside.

This isn't the race. This is training. You don't have to go. It's not safe. And yet, you were psyched, prepared to run fifteen miles this morning. It's disappointing, and very disappointing.

But really. Lightning. We do not chose to run in lightning.

Week Ten Total: 33 miles
Total To Date: 217 miles

Distance: 13.75 miles
Duration: 1:57:39
Pace: 8:33
Route: Forest Hill-Cain Park-Neighborhood Loop (2X)
Temperature: 72°→68°
Climate: distant thunder and light rain to bright, blue skies
Mood: all right
Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Snack: banana

Left later than I would have, for safety reasons, and cut the run short because I had a phone date with my brother at 9am.

Started out in the thunder and rain, which cleared up shortly thereafter. A nice, coolish morning, the BPM kept me moving briskly for the first half (or what was supposed to be half) when I stopped back at home from water, the bathroom and a snack.

The second half was more difficult, plodding, my shoes were wet so that didn't help. But my mind wandered many places and figured a few things out on my way. Mostly I just wanted to be done. I am disappointed not to have run the entire fifteen but I'll get there.

First Hour
Podrunner: Sky Ground Wind Go (167 BPM)
Second Hour
Spotify Duran Duran Playlist

What's That Lyric?
Liberty - Duran Duran
(Not actually the correct lyric, sometimes I think I heard the word "run" in songs when it isn't there.)

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 164 lbs. (-4.5)
Goal: 160 lbs.

Man. The indigestion yesterday. Crazy.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Coming through. How do you do?

First day of soccer practice, 2010.
We proceed. Missing Chris on our runs, is currently side-lined by a hip injury. The summer draws to a conclusion, we prepare for school, for work. The weather is very pleasant.

Dug up photo from my daughters first practice with Rec Soccer, from nine years ago. Today is the high school team's first regulation game. The girl, now a junior, is in as goalie. Should be a real barnburner.

Distance: 4 miles
Duration: 32:40
Pace: 8:09
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 73°
Climate: bright, sunny & humid
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Big appetite yesterday. Burger and fries for lunch, the boy and I went to the Feast of the Assumption of cavatelli, cannoli and Coke, and before bed I consumed a slice of pizza. That last was a bad idea, I was up half the night with my stomach burbling. Had to get up and drink water and chew a few Tums. At least I didn't get a salt-induced headache. 

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 168.5 lbs. (+5.0)
Goal: 160 lbs.

Listening to The Current this morning, "Teenage Kicks." And so should you.

What's That Lyric?
Celtic Soul Brothers - Dexy's Midnight Runners

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Won the race but you lost your mind.

Air cools, a jaunty trot around my part of the city. Staying out of the streets, I do not trust my balance.

Distance: 7 miles
Duration: 1:00:41
Pace: 8:40
Route: Forest Hill-Cain Park-Neighborhood Loop
Temperature: 65°
Climate: lovely & clear
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 163.5 lbs. (+0.5)
Goal: 160 lbs.

What's That Lyric?
Superman - Lazlo Bane

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Your feet were so heavy.

Smooth and oily.
Good morning. Still coping with the fallout from last week's drama. Yesterday I was feeling ill all morning, but I couldn't tell whether that was related to my issues, or if I had just picked up a bug from my wife, who had spent Monday morning feeling similarly unwell.

Regardless, no run yesterday, so no "cross-training" today, as if I've done that in weeks. I'll take my three mile, then run a further distance tomorrow.

Received information from the Chicago Marathon the other day; course map and corral confirmation. Also, made my reservation for the night-before party with the Team Challenge team. This is actually going to happen! In Chicago!

Distance: 3.25 miles
Duration: 27:58
Pace: 8:36
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 66°
Climate: cool & HUMID
Mood: in the mood!
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Good Lord, that was a sweaty run. Cool weather, high bpm, top sweat. Crazy. Feel good, though. Hope I stay that way.

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 163 lbs. (-1.0)
Goal: 160 lbs.

What's That Lyric?
In the Mood * - The Glenn Miller Band

Monday, August 12, 2019

I'll never be the same.

#goals
Morning meet-up. Must think I am made of something special, running twice in twelve hours. We had family movie night, the wife chose Bonnie & Clyde. Never seen it. The whole family stayed up to watch, it was incredible.

Distance: 5 miles
Duration: 45:28
Pace: 9:04
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 67°
Climate: cool but humid
Mood: all right
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Chris has been off for three weeks, it's his hip. I hope today was not too much effort.

What's that lyric? From Spotify "Yacht Rock" playlist. You Make My Dreams by Hall & Oates. It's a bop.

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 164 lbs. (-5.5)
Goal: 160 lbs.

Another side effect of the medication? Weight gain. Gained five pounds, just as soon lost five pounds. Surprised to be 164, though. I have been eating with impunity to quell the nausea. I hope everything is good from here on out.

Sunday, August 11, 2019

Man in the making.

New Exercise Guidelines: The American Heart Association Has Announced That That Guy Who Runs At Like 9 P.M. Every Night Can Cool It - Clickhole 9/28/2017

That used to be me.

The day in question.
After that horrible unpleasantness on Wednesday, where I attempted to run but could not breathe, I decided to let the drugs take their course. I was able to get to work and accomplish basic tasks, but by Friday evening I was just not in the mood to do anything. I spent most of Saturday in bed.

I believe it was the Famotidine that really put me out. They were prescribed twice daily, and the side effects included: fatigue, dizziness, weakness, diarrhea, mood changes, insomnia, muscle pain, headache, joint pain, and dry mouth.

There are other possible side effects, those are the ones I experienced.

The air has cooled, and I we should be gearing up for long distances and great things and I have been sidelined and depressed. I do need to connect with a new doctor, to screen for whatever allergy it is I have developed at this stage in my life.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Duration: 28:35
Pace: 8:47
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 77°
Climate: delightful
Mood: overcome
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Did it. Felt amazing. So grateful.

What's That Lyric?
Number One - Chaz Jankel

Listening to Erie Effusion on WRUW!

Week Nine Total: 6.5 miles
Total To Date: 184 miles

Thursday, August 08, 2019

Interlude

The reality is I should be intensely grateful every day for my health, which is entirely free from disorder or disease. I am a very healthy man, my own weaknesses, when I have them, are my own, based on poor diet, lack of exercise, or some freak momentary lapse due to an accident or situation.

So, when a doctor prescribes medicine, I just take it, and don't think about it. In the past I wasn't even very good at taking it. When I had my vasectomy ten years ago I was lackadaisical about the antibiotics I was meant to take to prevent infection. Long story short, I learned my lesson there pretty fast. But see what I mean? Careless. And then I was okay.

I had a severe allergic reaction to something on Monday, and thought I was going o die. I got a steroid shot which brought down my symptoms and was prescribed a series of pills which I have been taking faithfully. But I don't know what they do.

This morning I went out for a run, and felt horrible. Worse, my chest was tight. Not painful I just couldn't breathe. I could not take a deep breath. This was new to me, and so it was unsettling. I don't imagine it's any easier for someone for whom this is a daily reality. But my ignorance left me first wondering if I was having heart problems.

So, what are my pills? What are they doing? Here is a basic run-down:

Prednisone: An anti-inflammatory which suppresses the immune system. Makes sense after my body tried to kill me.

Side effects: rapid weight gain, high blood pressure, shortness of breath, chest pain -- see? Sometimes it's good to know what the fuck you are putting into your mouth.

I took the last prescribed dose of that this morning.

Cetirizine: Commercially, it's Zyrtec, it's an antihistamine, again to bring down the symptoms of the allergic reaction.

Side effects: rapid heartbeat, also confusion, depression, weakness, tremors -- all good reasons not to run today, right?

Famotidine: For indigestion. Again, side effects include weakness, fatigue, dizziness.

Basically, I am on a brief series of meds which, in the course of suppressing my allergic reaction, make me weak. I should not be running, not until this is out of my system. The wife suggested I take a walk, which I did, but even that felt like overdoing it.

Tuesday, August 06, 2019

Put your feet into the groove.

Not my skin. But it looked like this.
Hi. I'm a mess. A three-mile run was in order for Monday morning, but I pushed so hard on Sunday, I was up most of the night with aches. Didn't get up to take pain reliever until five am and then crashed for almost another two hours, so that was nice.

However, I did not plan to eat something at lunch which gave me a severe allergic reaction. I mean, it wasn't severe, severe. I wasn't having trouble breathing and I wasn't itching. But my pulse suddenly went up, I developed blotchy red skin, I could feel my heart throbbing in my ears.

Co-workers took me to urgent care, which was very, very wonderful. Thank you, Stephanie, and Kelly, for taking such good care of me.

Did you know ..? The Clinic has an urgent care facility at East 4th Street? Enjoy nationally renown celebrity chefs and the check into the Cleveland Clinic! They were awesome, too, by the way. Took great care of me.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Duration: 30:18
Pace: 9:19
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 70°
Climate: bit muggy
Mood: not bad, considering
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

This morning I noticed the sun rising later. No hat, no sunglasses at six in the morning. Wasn't sure the night before if I would run today, either, but here we are.

Bit winded, weak, not too weak. Great run, very humid already, before sunrise. Did not stop. Saw a beautiful heron in the park, I love that guy.

What's That Lyric?
Street Dance - Break Machine

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 169.5 lbs. (+4)
Goal: 160 lbs.

I have eaten a lot the past couple of days. After the race I just wanted to eat. Yesterday I didn't feel hungry as I started to recover from the reaction, but once I started I found it hard to stop. After all, it wasn't food poisoning. I kept thinking that it was, and expecting to vomit or something, and I kept reminding myself that wasn't it.

Today, I pack my lunch. No grocery store sushi for me!

Sunday, August 04, 2019

2019 Hofbräuhaus Cleveland Half Marathon

Finish line refreshment.
The course for the Hofbräuhaus Half Marathon is like they took the second half of the former route for the Cleveland Marathon, before they decided to ignore the east side of Cleveland and concentrate on the exclusive west side neighborhoods of Edgewater and Lakewood.

Starting at Hofbräuhaus, we headed through Asiatown, and Hough, down and up Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., and back to the restaurant.

Official Time: 1:43:00.7
Avg. Pace: 7:52
Overall Finish Place: 73/335
Place Men 50-54: 9/21
Personal Best Half: 01:41:21 (Cleveland 2016)
Temperature: 71°

I had no intention of making a personal best. For that matter, I hadn't considered my time at all! The original plan was to run this with Chris, and we would do what we would do. That last two half we have run together it snowed and rain, in May, respectively. Shitty, shitty days.

Fabio & me.
I made my personal best in 2016 because it was so cold and I was so wet I ran faster just so that it would be over. Also, Chris and I were pushing each other forward.

But Chris has been side-lined with an injury and is maintaining his marathon training via swimming pool. Seriously, while I was not doing twelve miles last week, he spent two hours running aquatically.

This morning I was very happy to receive a ride to the race site from Fabio -- he and Chris did a trail run a few weeks back when I was in New York. Chris and Allie also came a long, for moral support, which was greatly appreciated.

I decided to stick with the 7:30 (minute/mile) crew for as long as I was able. My goal, when I decided on one, was to beat 1:45. That's good, right? I paced myself by following this bickering couple with  headphones. At the first miles she was like," WHAT'S OUR TIME," and he was like, "WHAT?" and she was like, "OUR MILE, TELL ME OUR TIME," and like that. This happened every mile.

Meanwhile, behind me was coughing man. Or rather, coughing and spitting man. He appeared to be ten years older than I am. and everything thirty seconds or so he would cough up something and spit. I mean, more power to him, running the race, but I had this disturbing sound behind me for most of the run.

Feeling good.
Until he was next to me, and then in front of me. Not sure what his deal was, but if I need to cough and spit and run this fast when I am sixty, well. All right.

The first half (of the half) went well. The turnaround at the end of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard messed me up in a number of ways. I grabbed a water -- but I missed the gel table. They weren't handing them out, they were just sitting there, spread out on a table.

I actually doubled back to get one, because I had already been feeling like I hadn't had enough to eat. I was feeling drained in that way. And because I was hungry, I ate it right there, and it was awful because it was like this raspberry chocolate flavored thing and that is awful, and I had blown one of my basic gel rules which is hang onto it until you have about a quarter mile to the next water table so you can slam it and wash it down fast.

Instead, it's like I had this gooey cakey chocolately berry phlegm in my mouth.

Whatever, I kept going. I was tired. It was warm. And I kept fearing the inevitable, that the 8:00 pace guys were going to pass me. Because eight minute miles is a 1 hour 45 minute run. And they did, just as I passed the eight mile mark. Five miles to go, chasing the 8:00 signs just so I could clear 1:45.

It's Laura!
But I did. I followed them. I did not pass them. And I kept thinking, "They're lying. They're not going 8:00, they're going 7:55 or something. If I can just not lose them, I'll be fine."

And they were lying, they were going 7:55 or something, because that was my pace.

I was delirious at the finish, in a manner I am not accustomed to. But I was no so out of it that I didn't recognize an old friend from high school as we were getting water and bananas. And then Chris, Allie, Fabio and I grabbed a table to enjoy our beer and brats.

Week Eight Total: 29.35 miles
Total To Date: 177.5 miles

Saturday, August 03, 2019

In the streets.

Ran to the park with the girl, she was meeting up with teammates for Saturday morning conditioning. I will pick her up after, if she doesn't choose to run home. We live a little over one mile from the park.

Short run for me, tomorrow we do the Hofbrauhaus Half Marathon. All part of the training for Chicago, we move on from here to even greater distances, but Chris and Allie made it a real goalpost, almost halfway through the training, a race! Then we get beer and brats.

Thirteen years ago I ran my first half marathon -- not a race, but the thirteen mile mark in training for New York. It was also a Sunday. August 5, 2006. I weighed 165.5 pounds, exactly what I do today.

At that time I was suffering regular migraines, and taking medication for it which generally did not work. At that time I had only just learned that you must drink your coffee before a long run, and wait until you go to the bathroom before heading out.

These days I believe my headaches were caused entirely by the broken schedule of sleep necessary to change the diaper of an infant child, coupled with a marathon training schedule which required my waking up at 4:30 am. I rarely get migraines these days.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Duration: 28:15
Pace: 8:41
Route: Forest Hill & back
Temperature: 66°
Climate: clear & bright
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

As everyone knows, MTV debuted on August 1, 1981. I was surprised to discover no one had made a Spotify playlist of the songs from that day, so I made one myself. I wasn't surprised by how banal it was, the 80s hadn't really started yet. There were a couple songs by David Bowie, The Pretenders, Talking Heads ... but also a half dozen different tracks by Rod Stewart and Iron Maiden. So much Rod Stewart!

And absolutely no black artists. I mean, none.

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 165.5 lbs. (+0.5)
Goal: 160 lbs.

What's That Lyric?
Message of Love - The Pretenders

Thursday, August 01, 2019

Running just as fast as we can.

Signed up for the Hofbrauhaus Half Marathon, which takes place Sunday. Should be another hot summer day, so I hope that goes well. I'm not feeling great, as over the course of the day yesterday my right ankle began hurting more and more. I hope running on it work it out, but who knows. Longer distances, more fatigue.

Distance: 6 miles
Duration: 51:12
Pace: 8:31
Route: Forest Hill/Cain Park Loop
Temperature: 66°
Climate: sunny & bright
Mood: very good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Beautiful morning, just perfect. Sunny and bright without being too hot. Lovely trot through the park, and across the city -- to another park!

My ankle bothered me not at all, I am prepared for it to ache through the day, however. Could be wrong about that.

One thing that has been troubling me lately, is my balance. Not running, just walking. I make turns and lose my center, getting out of cars, walking up stairs. I think I am anticipating something that is no longer there.

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today:  165 lbs. (-1.0)
Goal: 160 lbs.

What's That Lyric?
I Think We're Alone Now - Tiffany