July 2022 Monthly Running Challenge

Sorry I haven't posted for a few days. I've been so drained lately. I talked to a nurse coworker about it, and I think I am going to get some B vitamins to see if that will perk me up.

@7lenny7 When I worked in a prison, we had a neighborhood right next to it (although I have no idea why anyone would want to live 500 ft from a prison), and as long as you respected the guard line signs and didn't cross or loiter, security wouldn't mess with you.

I did not run Thursday due to said tiredness, but I did hill repeats yesterday. @7lenny7, your 30 hill repeats make me feel like a wimp! My plan called for 5 min Z1, 5 min Z2, then 8x (1 min uphill Z5, 2 min down Z1), 5 min Z1. Those uphills were rough. I could go for about 40-45 sec running and then had to power walk the rest of the way for each repeat.

Today, I made up Thursday's run (5 min Z1, 35 min Z2, 5 min Z1) and did today's 45 min recovery Z1 run, which ended up mostly being walking to keep my HR in Z1. I ended up with 6.1 miles.

Trying to go to bed now so I can get up early and get in my 14 miler before it gets too warm. I also have a lot to do tomorrow, so I need to get it out of the way early.

I haven't posted my activities lately, mostly because every time I sit down at the computer, the internet goes out. I AM REALLY getting tired of that. I think it may be partly because of the modem....may be bad. I'll try to give them a call next week and see. The last time I called, the lady said that could be the issue because she assured me that my line was "stable." Yeah. Right.

Anyway, I have not been following the plan. A little girl at daycare had on a shirt that sums up how I have felt about said plan this week. A picture is under the spoiler.

I have managed to run 8.25 miles and walk 4.45 fast miles total for the week. That brings my total miles for the month to 25.70/70.00 mile goal. Fingers crossed that I can do more next week. At least I am keeping my streak going.

Yes, @kgirlhart, @shanaber is correct. I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2015. I am happy to help.

One thing many people overlook is certain kitchen things will need to be discarded. Anything wooden that had gluten in it. Cast iron pans. Anything that can't be submerged in soap/water. We had to get rid of the George Forman and waffle maker. Separate toaster that has never had gluten in it. I use a pizza pan in the oven since we put gluten pizza on the racks. That's off the top of my head. There's a lot of resources out there. Chick Fil A, 5 Guys, Red Robin, In & Out are great with gluten free options (and all the fries are gluten free because they aren't fried in a shared fryer - that's a big one. A lot of places will say gf fries but they fry them in a shared fryer which then makes them not safe for celiac). I didn't catch who this was so if they are 21 and over, any distelled alchohol, even if wheat based, is fine. The distillation destroys the gluten proten. No beer. There are gf beers, which is what you'd want. Brands like Omission are not safe for celiac becasue they are "gluten removed". Beer doesn't kill the protein like distillation does.

Feel free to message me, ask questions here, or friend request. After the initial 6 months to a year it gets easier.

Oh, and there may be some initial weight gain. And depression (mostly because society revolves around food and most people don't know anything about celiac). But after the first few weeks brain fog and other symptoms should clear up.

Friday, 7/15 - 8.6 brutally humid miles on the local trails before heading to the lake. I wanted double that, but after the first 8.6 loop I checked the weather and decided I'd be better off, for both running and sailing, to end it there and do my long run the next day. This gave us time to have a beautiful sunset sail Friday night that I we would have missed otherwise. I did come across an mushroom I think is edible but I wasn't sure so I left it there and took photos so I could try to identify it when I get a chance. Here's the mushroom, and the sunset sail


Saturday 7/16 - 15.5 brutally humid miles on the trails near the lake. Though it was only 72F at the start, it was also 94% humidity. It was 86F at the end of the run. The area had heavy rains the day before so the forest was extra humid and there were plenty of muddy pits to run through. About halfway through I circled back to my car to change my sweat soaked socks and reload on ice water. For that second half I had my 1.5L frozen water bladder in the insulated sleeve. The insulated sleeve actually worked too well because I ran of water because it wasn't thawing quick enough. Next time I'll freeze it just over half full and fill the rest up with cold water just before I run. It was a great run in spite of the humidity. Raspberries are really ripening all over and I spent a LOT of time picking and eating. I'm not exaggerating when I say I had well over a dozen handfuls of raspberries on this run. So dang good!!! Towards the end of my run I did pick some to take back for my wife. I also crossed paths with nearly 30 horses on the trail. That's one of the things I love about this place is that the trails are shared with horseback riders, they're all friendly, and many of them like to stop to talk to me (and let me pet the horses). Oddly, the last two miles of the run were my best, both in speed and in how I felt. It was good to be done though. On the way back to the lake I saw a momma wild turkey and 8 baby turkey chicks. I've seen plenty of wild turkeys but this is the first time I've seen the baby chicks. Once back and showered we went went for a gorgeous sail but had to come in before sunset because my wife wanted to go to a dock party.

I didn't get a run in Sunday. I had a 7 mile planned, but after the party the night before I thought it best just to sleep in. It was another hot day, but windless so we dropped anchor, swam in the lake and enjoyed a few G&Ts.

I'm now at 114 out of 180 miles for July

A few other things of note...
My finger is healing quite nicely. The finger pad has solidly healed to the rest of the finger and most of the scab is gone. There's definitely still pain, but mostly when I bump it into something. It's also also still swollen and a bit deformed. The doc has me keep it wrapped up with a Coban wrap to help with the swelling and to help shape the finger tip as it continues to heal. There is an odd bump next to the scar that is a cause of irritation. Doc says to give it a few months and he can "revise the scar" later if needed. The nail will certainly fall off and I'm surprised it hasn't yet. It's another reason I keep it wrapped...I want to protect the nail as long as I can.

I just missed getting covid. We were planning on a full week on the boat during the week of the 4th, but I to come back home for a couple of days to help my son get ready to go camping at Glacier Nat'l Park with a few friends. In the time I was gone, my wife and a few friends at the marina came down with covid so I stayed home while she isolated on the boat. She was able to get Paxlovid and that helped tremendously with the symptoms. She was finally cleared to be around people in time for me to go down Friday.

Kody continues to go downhill due to old age, laryngeal paralysis and loss of hind leg function. His breathing is becoming more of a struggle at certain times and he continues to lose control of his hind legs to the point where sometimes he's afraid to go down stairs. Today he stumbled on the stairs going to the basement to go outside and a few times while he was out I saw his hind end give out a bit. Last week we had a nice cool evening so I took him for a walk. He was so happy to go out and for the first mile he was leading the way, but the last half mile he was dragging behind and we had to walk really slow for him not to struggle. He tends to sleep all day then be anxious, pacing and breathing heavy all night (a possible sign of dementia) so we have him on meds to knock him out at night so we get a good nights sleep. Sadly, the end is near for him. It kills me to admit it.

@kgirlhart oh no, your poor mom! Glad to hear she's doing well but that must have been horrible for all of you and especially for her.

@7lenny7 so sorry about Kody, it must be terribly hard to watch him going downhill.
Because we're down at sea level the smoke has mostly gone way over our heads, and the worst of the fire moved over to the back of the mountain so although you can smell smoke a bit sometimes it hasn't really affected our air quality. They finally declared it 'stabilised' yesterday but have yet to get it under control, let alone out completely. I know it happens in many places, but it breaks my heart every time I see the pictures the firefighters are taking. There was one video they made driving up the wide track I love to run on... sickening to recognise the track itself, turns, etc. but surrounded by total smoking devastation.
They still have all the accesses blocked off to stop people going up there, whether to get a look or to 'try to help'. Often well-meaning folks want to go and leave food for animals or something and end up doing more harm than good. The authorities have announced they've set up water and feed in various secret locations. They are also already contacting the provincial authorities about reforesting, I suspect there will be a lot of us up there doing what we can to repair the damage as soon as possible.

6.2 miles this morning. When I woke up and was drinking my coffee at 4am, my phone said it was 90F, so I am very surprised Garmin shows only 84 as the temp during my run. But honestly, after about 80 it all feels pretty much the same.

July Goal: 110 Miles

7/1: 2.02 miles
7/3: 10.26 miles
7/5: 6.02 miles
7/6: 6.02 miles
7/7: 7.06 miles
7/10: 10.02 miles
7/12: 6.02 miles
7/13: 6.02 miles
7/15: 2.52 miles
7/18: 5.26 miles
7/19: 5.26 miles


66.48/110 miles completed for July

Thanks for your comments @quilteryoyo, @Martindale @shanaber, @teresa502 @runsonesspresso and
@Eleanorhawkins

@7lenny7 So sorry to hear about Kody.

@mari33a How scary about your son. I hope he makes a full recovery.

It was 89°F when I got up at 4:45 this morning. The humidity was low and the dew point was 52° so it could have been worse. We actually need the humidity to be higher because of the extreme heat and fire danger. I ran 5 miles again. Other than being ridiculously hot before dawn it was an OK run.

Mom is doing well. She has been cleared to be released to a rehab facility and now we are just waiting on the insurance approval.

My daughter got her biopsies back and even though it looked like celiac, the biopsies were normal so now she doesn't know what to think.