Senior Olympian Sprinter

Finally !!  I finally had a chance to run outdoors and get off the treadmill.   The treadmill work is a great way to get your conditioning in without causing foot injuries or getting dried out by the wind.  When I do my running I typically run with my mouth open--a trice broken nose does not help the situation--and as a result the wind does dry out my mouth and throat and I get pretty raspy.  The treadmill has little air moving so my mouth does not dry out and my voice stays strong.  I will take the weak voice, I finally got to run outside! There is just some sort of freedom to finally get a chance to enjoy the warm air and just have fun running in the grass.   I ran two times in the last couple of days on grass.   Grass sprints are about 100 to 150 meters in length and I get to vary the speed and intensity.  This season,  the ground is very hard already, I am afraid it will be a very dry summer.  I ran in Florence, AL today ...

It is amazing how things can pile up once you reach the "certain" age, say 55 or so when you are officially a senior. I am actually 57 to set the record staright.   I had my semi annual dental check up about a month ago and knew I had a problem tooth before I arrived.  I could feel a 'hole' in a tooth with my tongue and knew it was not good.  My tongue would not lie about something like that.   After the cleaning, the dentist  took a look and showed me a a picture of  the hole and it was finally time to get my first crown.   So, I am officially a mature adult, I am getting my first crown tomorrow.  I have been lucky to not have one to this point because there is a lot of silver in my big teeth. But last weekend, the senioritis, not like in last month of high school or college, hit in a big way.  When I returned from Miami I had a lot of drainage into my throat and then a cough developed.  I take a really strong allergy medici...

Sometimes you have to just have to shake your head or better yet, listen to your wife basically blow material out her nose when precious gem moments occur.    We were going to have a couple over to play some cards, tell stories and eat some Gus's World Famous Chicken last weekend.   Since chicken is slow to cook, I ordered ahead-- 2 dozen wings and a pint of cole slaw. Perfect for a party of four.   Pretty simple  ?? Nope,  it was not that easy.  I turns out that the chicken place did not have any containers that held a pint of slaw-- just 16 ounces!  I repeated this over the phone and Linda overhead it from 20 feet away and something had to have been projected out her nose when she let out some sort of snort.  I couldn't laugh or it would have spoiled the moment.   I said, just give the 16 ounce container and we would be fine.  Whew, got away with that brush with weak math skills.  I asked Linda if I did OK by not ...

Linda and I just finished a week in South Beach for a trade show I attend every other year in Miami Beach-- Tissue World is the show.   Anybody that is involved in the manufacturing of tissue paper or paper towel is there trying to get a bigger piece of the action.   I was working some old relationships  and trying to get some new stuff going and I think overall I was effective in promoting my product lines.  This is the last time we are going to be in South Beach.  In the Spring of 2016 the show will be held in New Orleans.    Changing to New Orleans is not something that I happy about.   I like the warm weather and beach in Miami.   I can run on the beach and enjoy some nice warm weather.   The day this picture was taken, by Linda, we were on beach the in the early morning getting in some running for me and walking for her.  I don't think running will be much of an option in New Orleans.  Hopefull...

I was unloading my truck tonight after working in Northern Alabama a couple of day and I was hit, yes hit, in the eye with a snow flake!!  Ok, no big deal North of the Ohio River, but how rude to deliver such a blow to us poor folks this far South.  I am ready for the warm weather to stay, now!!   The flowers are coming on and if it rains in the next couple of days, it will be mower time as well.   I immediately went inside and stayed there so I would not be accosted by the flying flakes.   I think I pouted a little. A couple weeks ago I picked up my 2014 Silverado truck that is my work vehicle that is sponsored by Buckman- a great perk when they pay for all the bills associated with the vehicle.   I had a 2004 Volvo S 80 that I gifted this week to an organization that auctions autos and uses the proceeds to promote sight and blindness issues. Somebody is going to get a great car.  The gifting is a  really easy to g...

It is Fat Tuesday for the human kind, but for the local fowl, they are just trying to make it to another day.  The Spring weather lasted two days and recently we have had some really nasty ice, snow and cold.  If I was not sure, the border of Wisconsin has moved South about 800 miles.   Linda loves to feed the birds and likes to watch Mr and Mrs Cardinal.  Mr Cardinal  seems to be one of the most dominating bird at the feeder--they are territorial and aggressive.   We have been putting out feed to the birds when the weather gets cold and the birds have been trying their best to keep the feeder cleaned out.  I hope the weather gets back to normal soon.  I have been running a little faster and longer on the treadmill and feel ready to get outside and do some running. I am getting up to the 7:30 minute mile pace for 800 meters without maxing out my heart rate.  I have done two per workout rec...

I have been traveling this week to some really cold places and it is not that pleasant.  I had enough guts or craziness ( you may need to choose) to schedule a 3 city trip in the winter.  Traveling in the winter is a crap shoot at best, a storm somewhere in the US can wreck the best laid plans for connections, but it is so damn cold this year that the weather cannot really mess up the flying.   I was in Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin and those folks have not seen a mud puddle for months, wow !, it is frozen up tight.  I don't miss one second of that stuff.  My rental car had heated seats, so one body part could be kept warm.    I visited a couple of the kids in Milwaukee and they were nearly frozen in place but managing to survive.  I hope they don't lose their will against the cold.  I have been continuing to run on the treadmill and have been upping my speed a little and I am feeling pretty good.  I could h...