I hope that all the Veterans out there had a good day, that you enjoyed yourselves, attended gatherings to honor us if you enjoy that kind of thing, but mostly I hope that you looked in the mirror, smiled and said to yourself “Yes, I am a Veteran and proud of it.”

Me, I stayed home, made sure that I was out running on the 11th month, 11th day, 11th hour and 11th minute. Something I have done for a few years now.

Fittingly I was running past the Town Office where a Veteran’s Day celebration was happening. I smiled for a moment when I was running past all the cars parked outside and thought about what I was missing not going in. What would they think if I popped in, in my running outfit – just another old oddball, trying to attract too much attention to himself probably. So I didn’t.

At times like this morning I do question if I am too stand-of fish or is that I just don’t fit in? I am not and have never been big on ceremonies or social gatherings, but as I get older and some say wiser, I do sort of wonder what it is like to be more socially connected to the rest of the world.

Oh well, when I turned the corner, I headed up the hill in front of the Town Office, it kind of took my mind off, going inside and forced me to focus on “taking that damn hill”. But after that, my run was less focused and I thought about “other” stuff.

It was one of those gray days outside where you know that a storm is coming and not just because a weather app or the Weather Channel are saying so.

The pre-storm headache was in full bloom, the ankle and hip both are grumbling and to be honest, you really do not feel like doing a whole lot of anything, but hunkering down and waiting things out.

Planned Workout Description: An easy effort based 5-7 miles

Comments: I started out pretty slowly to do the Middle Road Loop, while I thought about chasing the Shepard Road segment and decided that it was supposed to be an easy run and didn’t. Worked at just running comfortably throughout the run I might have worked the hills on the Middle Road a little harder

Once I got past the Town Office and all the cars parked on the side of Blake, I lost my focus a bit, because I got back to thinking about things other than running.

Although I finished the run up nicely and actually added an extra mile on just because I was feeling pretty good and attempted to chase down Mary as she was finishing up her run. Didn’t do it, but I got closer than I thought that I would.

Variables that impacted the run: Pre-storm headache and other aches and pains, lost focus on running after the Town Office.

• Day: Monday – Veteran’s Day

• Type of Workout: Easy Effort

• Course: Middle Road 6.0 Miler

• Distance: 6.01

• Duration: 55:46

• Pace: 9:17

• Clothes: Adidas socks, NB running pants, Reebok compression shorts, green tech s/s, orange tech l/s, Brooks orange running jacket, orange Nike running vest, running mittens, Asics Beanie, Adidas running hat.

• Rating (1-4): 2

• Running Streak Day #: 18

• Weather: Overcast, 35*F, Feels like 29*F, Humidity 65%, Wind 7 mph from NNE

Shoes: Mileage (17.0) New Balance Fuel Cell Propel – They did everything that I wanted them to. I think that I will wear them tomorrow for my treadmill 5K time trial to see how they feel actually going faster and if they are a treadmill shoe or not.

How did this run move me towards my goal(s)? 6.0 more miles in the book.

Oh yeah, as of today I have over 1,500 miles for the year, so I have achieved one of my goals for 2019! A pretty appropriate day to do it, if I do say so myself. 🙂

Cardio Total: 3.82

Weight: 156 A/R

Non Running Comments: After lunch, a neighbor was gracious enough to come over and supervise me pruning the apple trees out front. The old Mac really needed it and while the Macoun wasn’t too bad, it still had a bit of stuff that needed to go away.

It was nice to have someone that knows what they are talking about help me out versus me just hacking and slashing my way around the tree, like I usually do. I think we both wished it was a bit warmer outside while we were doing the pruning. Plus I learned a lot – thanks so much Karen G.

Then the snow came. Bennie was not impressed.