Senior Olympian Sprinter

I found out my Mom reads my blog, so I am doing this one in her honor--Hi Mom!  Linda came home from the hospital a day early, she only stayed two nights after having a new knee put in.  The staff said she was the "star patient" because she was very up to date on what they were doing and was really getting her legs back quickly.  She walked and did steps the day after surgery--pretty darn good in my opinion. Although we have only been home one full day, she is progressing well.  After her physical therapy (PT) today she was walking around the house without her walker.  Just like taking a diaper off a kid, they have to run off to show off a little.  We have a one hour PT session on Friday and four days next week,  I think her walker will be gone by late next week.  The pain is slowly going out of the leg, we use ice quite a bit to take care of the swelling and it is really helping. Buck, Linda's brother will be in town next week making a furn...

Today I am hanging around the waiting room at Vanderbilt Hospital waiting to see Linda after her new knee has been installed.    Get here early and wait, it is in many ways like an airport.   A little different crowd than an airport, much fewer professional people and a lot more people eating nervously and going out to get a smoke.   I went out to breakfast after Linda went into the OR, but I could probably bore through plenty of cookies or potato chips just like the rest of the crowd.   Linda  was in the OR about 3 hours and the doctor talked to me and said they got it finished.  His only comment was about a large amount of arthritis in the joint.   But her knee is done and we get to get healed up and on with life.    The knee has been a real problem for several years and we hope they is now in the past.   There is no way to be prepared for this waiting activity.    The nervous edge is just brutal,  you hope, ...

I am well into my off season for track.   But that does not mean that all physical activity just stops.   I have not trained at all for several weeks and I and feeling pretty good.  My feet are doing fine and I have not worn any KT tape since the District meet in September.   Overall my health is solid and I could train if needed, but I have instead worked on several projects at the Fly Farm to eliminate large quantities of overgrown landscaping and replace it with something that Linda likes and it much easier to maintain.  The picture is a creation by Linda using mostly our own garden materials and 3 bales of straw we rounded up.  She has been really busy getting Fall flowers in place.  Her knee surgery comes up in 9 days and she wants to have her outdoor landscaping finished.   I have have been planting trees and also removed several yards of dirt that was piled next to a root cellar--aka "Bomb Shelter" or "Dorothy's Hou...

This weekend was the Senior Games District track and field qualifier for next summer's Tennessee  State Finals, which qualifies you for the 2015 National meet--Ponzi would be proud.  You can't get out, because you can't get back in! The meet was next door to our place, at Ravenwood High School.   As a note, Ravenwood lost this weekend in overtime to Overton in football.  It was probably the best high school game I have ever watched.   A real barn burner that came down to a failed 2 point conversion on OT.  It had everything, what a game. Overton is your traditional run team with only 5 passes attempted all game with 1 converted.  Ravenwood is up tempo, no huddle passing attack, with some really good skill players.  45 yard field goals and even a kicker that can send kick offs thru the end zones!! Overton is 6-0 and Ravenwood is 4-1.  Both will make the playoffs in my opinion.  Both are great prog...

The kitchen paint has been completed and it looks great.  New curtains, updated lighting and some slide out cupboard trays are on the way.  Things are looking better inside the Ole Fly House.     I am also working on some outdoor projects just to make sure I get to do a little sweating. These projects require shovels and pick axes.  Last week I was in Memphis and did some running in Shelby Farms and also on the local sidewalk.   I did got in some good workouts with my run the walk methods.  Run at a brisk pace and then when the heart rate gets to 98%, walk until it goes back down to 80% and repeat, repeat, repeat....    Next week I will be in southern Arkansas and next weekend is the district qualifier.  So, I hope we get some cooler weather and I can find some where to do some speed work if I feel good.   So, I have another week to stay fit and then I think a break may be taken f...

New Kitchen paint!! I am traveling today and have three hours to kill in the Las Vegas--aka lost wages airport.    This is a really really busy airport, but the eating choices are quite limited.  I was looking for a 'sit down' restaurant that would be good to get some brunch and while away a little time.   Sammy Hagar's Bar and Grille is close as I got.   Oh well the eggs were good.    I also inhaled a bear claw for a follow up snack.   They do have slot machines in the airport, which take up a lot of prime real estate needed for walkways and seats. The engineering crowd is always looking for the free flow of materials and that does not happen here, the people are always crowded in the areas that accumulate and get stuck-- bad engineering at its finest.   This place is crowded enough without the one armed bandits getting in the road.  I wish they would outlaw them and smoking all in...

Linda and I participated int he Franklin, TN  Franklin Classic 5K race today.  It is run through the streets of downtown Franklin starting and ending on the town square.   I was trying to break 30 minutes for a 5K which has been a goal of mine for several years.  I came up a little short of my goal, but put in some great effort.   I ran a 30:53.  Here are the excuses--it was humid, really humid and race traffic was pretty heavy for the first 1/2 mile.   But, I doubt I would have broken 30 minutes in perfect conditions.   I ran most of  race at 98% heart rate and had to do a fair amount of walking to get the heart rate below 165.  169 heart beats per minutes is my calculated maximum.   I enjoyed the race and there was a lot going on with different groups cheering on their runners.   There was around 3000 people running the 5 and 10 K events.  Linda walked the 5K.  She has been having s...