Favorite Trail Is Open Again

Sort of. Almost. There is a narrow sand/gravel road along the railroad tracks in Lake Woebegone - my favorite run. No hills, of course, but the road is soft with rocks strewn about, and thereby takes a special little toll of its own. In fact I may be the ONLY one who appreciates it :-) Today it was extra soft, moist underneath, but no standing water. I spent most of the run on the edge between the road and the rocks that slope down from the track itself - a little more firm. A lovely run. I felt energized on that trail. No trains passed today, but I’ll see some this summer.

Fifty degrees with a modest wind. Six miles in 52:30, pace 8:45. Splits: 8:47, 8:50, 9:06, 8:52, 8:31, 8:24. Plenty good, no pains, it’s a masterpiece. 12 miles coming up soon.



Today's breakfast: Irish oatmeal with organic flame raisins and cranberries, banana, organic strawberries, cantaloups, blueberries, organic nonfat milk, Dove dark chocolate, pure organic pomegranate juice. Ho hum, a typical "Don" breakfast.


Today's lunch: Homemade mac & cheese with organic gluten-free brown rice / wild rice pasta and parmesan cheese, orange, more parmesan cheese melted onto part of a gluten-free brown rice rollup, organic chard with cranberries, homemade guacamole, organic braeburn apple. We use a lot of tasty cheeses like parmesan and asiago because we get plenty of flavor with less cheese.


Tonight's dinner: Organic chicken breast with shredded cheeses, organic beans and organic corn with delicious homemade pasta sauce a la Sunshine containing interesting ingredients like cocoa powder and cinnamon, organic romaine lettuce, organic yellow mustard, all on a gluten-free brown rice rollup. Plus a nice porter.

Five Miles with Friends

St Croix Valley Runners 5 miles in 43:30, pace 8:42. Good enough! My legs felt heavy today for some reason. Could be the dexamethasone I took last night, though dex is supposed to make me “peppy.”

Good company though - very enjoyable run, with Wayne, Candy, & Roy, chasing after Steve, Tom, Jim, & new Dave. Roy & I left Candy & Wayne at about midway & had a nice chat. Hope to run a 12-miler this week sometime - having to schedule that around a trip to Mayo where I will find out if the new CC-4047 study protocol is helping against my myeloma.



Saturday's breakfast: Irish oatmeal with organic flame raisins, banana, organic strawberries, organic walnuts, blueberries, organic medhool date, organic nonfat milk, Hershey dark chocolate, organic pomegranate juice.


Saturday's dinner: Organic brown rice and wild rice pasta with wonderful homemade pasta sauce and assorted cheese, asparagus, leftover rutabaga, organic beet, & organic sweet potato, organic squash, cantaloupe.


Friday's Tex/Mex dinner: Organic romaine, blue corn chips, homemade guacamole, organic cashews, organic medjool date, organic sunflower seeds, mango, organic red wine vinegar.

Successful Ten Miles

Yee-haw! Longest run since mid-January, getting back in the groove! Ten miles in 1:28:56 for an overall pace of 8:54. No pains whatsoever. Steady as she goes, not fast, but that’s the way to build the base. Hopefully a 12-mile “long run” next week.

Splits: 8:59, 8:47, 8:58, 8:48, 9:12, 8:47, 9:01, 8:49, 9:04, 8:31. Water & brief walk after each even mile, gel after mile 4.


The food, by the way, is all prepared by Sunshine. I assemble it on the plate, take the picture quickly, then sit down and devour it!

This morning's breakfast: Irish oatmeal with dried cranberries, organic strawberries, Don's nut/fruit/berry mix, organic walnuts, blueberries, organic nonfat milk, banana, Hershey's dark chocolate, pure organic pomegranate juice.


Tonight's dinner: Moroccan lamb tagine (potroast) with organic brown rice and organic carrots, cucumbers in organic red wine vinegar, roasted organic beets, good brown ale.

Carbon Copy

Of yesterday: NSPCC indoor track, four miles in 34:13, pace 8:33. No hint of any pain or cramp, nothing! Very nice. Felt better as time went along. Splits: 8:52, 8:39, 8:29, 8:13. Ten-mile run next.

Tinnitus is loud today - probably because of the aspirin that I’m taking with the myeloma treatments. Might have to cut back on the aspirin.



Today's breakfast: Irish oatmeal with organic flame raisins, organic strawberries, organic dates, Don's nut/fruit/berry mix, organic walnuts, organic nonfat milk.


Today's lunch: Organic brown rice with organic raisins and dates, almonds, organic cranberry jelly, pineapple, mango, honeydew melon, papaya.


Tonight's dinner: Wild-caught Alaskan salmon (product of USA), with organic yogurt and dill, organic sweet potatoes, organic parsnips, organic blue-corn chips, homemade guacamole, organic rutabagas, another kind of organic sweet potatoes, organic baby peas. Yum!

Another Four Miles

NSPCC indoor track, four miles in 34:24, pace 8:36. Slow at first, felt better as time passed. Maybe a little warning from the left achilles tendon, but I hope it was just a little cramp. Fine now. Hoping for a 10-miler later in the week. Building back ...

Splits: 8:59, 8:40, 8:38, 8:06. It’s a masterpiece!

Some recent meals below:

Breakfast: Irish oatmeal, banana, Dove dark chocolate, dried dragon fruit, Don's nut/fruit/berry mix, organic walnuts, blueberries, nonfat organic milk.


Lunch: Organic wild-rice and brown-rice macaroni with organic mixed vegetables and a homemade jarlsburg cheese sauce, cantaloupe, pure organic pomegranate juice.


Dinner: Fish boil a la Door County with wild-caught haddock, sweet potatoes, onions, & melted butter, organic brown rice pasta with cheese sauce, asparagus, excellent porter.

Successful Run

No Pains! NSPCC track 8 miles in 1:10:36 for a pace of 8:50. Not too fast, but breathing was rapid because I had recently eaten. I tried to keep the breathing rate to four footfalls per full breath by reducing my pace, but after mile six I had to let it slip to three some of the time or let my pace drop well below (slower than) 9:00 minutes per mile. I think this is because my stomach was full of popcorn, which I had eaten not long before the run in an attempt to settle an already unsteady stomach. It did seem to help, but I won’t do it again because it made me run slower and I have a VERY unsettled stomach now after the run.

Last night’s dexamethasone may play a part here too, because upset stomach is the first-listed side effect of dex, stomach irritation the second, and vomiting the third! So far only upset stomach. Happily, I only take the dex once a week and tomorrow is likely to be better.

Why did that hip bursitis not appear today? Thursday the pain felt like an ice pick in the hip joint, then Friday morning it was much better and got better still all day, and today it was gone. Bizarre. If it goes away so easily, why does it appear at all? It’s really quite disabling when it does appear. If it happened in a marathon I’m afraid I might not even be able to walk to the finish. I’ve never been a DNF in any race, but that might do it. Need to google this ...

Splits: 8:50, 8:38, 8:50, 8:56, 8:53, 9:03, 8:53, 8:34.



Today's breakfast: Irish oatmeal with organic flame raisins, banana, Sunshine's teff bread with organic dates and nuts, clementine, organic walnuts, Don's nut/fruit/berry mix, organic nonfat milk.


Recent lunch: Organic wild rice and brown rice pasta, homemade organic pasta sauce, parmesan cheese, stuffed olives, cantaloupe.


Tex-mex dinner & salad: Organic romaine, cashews, organic blue corn chips, homemade parmesan garlic spread, corn bread with local honey, watermelon, homemade guacamole, organic red wine vinegar.

Ouch

Nuts. Seems like it’s always something! Earlier this month I had a short episode of very sharp pain in the right hip, right at the bursa. In fact it came on while I was walking the halls of Mayo Clinic of all places. That showed up again today, when I briefly slowed to walk a few feet up a steep hill. That’ll teach me to walk! It feels like an ice pick in the hip joint.

Today it came and went, I could even jog a little now and then, but pretty soon it would bring me up short, hopping on the other leg. So I walked (limped) the last three miles or so of an eight-mile run, after running a decent pace of 8:30 or so for the first five miles. Disappointing. And cold!

The good news is that if this pain behaves as it did a couple of weeks ago, it will be gone by Saturday morning. Just bursitis. I just wish I knew what brings it on. I tried some new stretches Tuesday - perhaps I will forego those for a while.



Today's breakfast: Irish oatmeal with organic flame raisins, organic walnuts, cantaloups, mango, blueberries, banana, papaya, Hershey's dark chocolate, organic nonfat milk.


Today's lunch: Organic chard with dried cranberries and spicy cashews, organic vegetable mix (carrots, squash, sweet potato, onion), organic brown rice & wild rice pasta with homemade pasta sauce, oven-baked parsnips with organic catsup. Those are Thai lemon/pepper cashews from Trader Joes, and they are GOOD!


Tonight's dinner & salad: Organic romaine lettuce with sliced cucumber, "natural" kosher turkey breast, organic cranberry jelly, macadamia nuts, blueberries, clementine, organic red wine vinegar.