I get out for a three mile run on Monday and my right hamstring is hurting and/or cramping. I'm able to finish the run, but I wonder where that can from all of a sudden.
After work on Monday I stop off at the grocery store and then work up a good sweat as I try to de-thatch the front yard. I only get about a third of the way through when I decide to call it quits. But it's a great workout.
Wednesday is a good day! I stay away from Northrop Grumman because I'm getting close to my maximum allowed vacation accumulation and need to take some days off. (I've been saving it for the bathroom remodel.) I get out for a 3 mile run and the hamstring hurts and then just aches. I change clothes and continue de-thatching the front yard. This is hard work and I'm sweating all over the place even in the 7 am morning chill. I finish de-thatching most of the front yard (except for the part between the sidewalk and the street) and decide that I am tired. Thus I mow the now de-thatched lawn, drop down some fertilizer, and give it a good soaking of water. After a shower I call my 91 year old aunt and we have a long conversation about health and places she lived and other things. I go out ins earch of reading material and find a number of magazines and books to grab at Borders. When I return home I relax for an hour and then jump on the mountain bicycle for the aquarium ride. There's a headwind going towards the ocean but it helps push me back home. I make a uick trip to the grocery store and that is it for a majority of Wednesday's activities.
Later On Wednesday I start thinking about all of the pants and shoes that I've worn today. There would be running shorts, gardening shorts, Levis, casual shorts, cycling shorts, Levis again, and casual long pants (as the day chills). There would also be running shoes, gardening shoes, casual shoes, cycling shoes, and casual shoes again. Hmm.
Thanksgiving starts out foggy and wet, so I get out for a long walk and buy the newspaper to see what's on sale on Friday. As the Detroit Lions' football game starts the weather is clear enough to ride, so I get out for the loop ride. It's a nice sunny day, there are runner remnants left from the Long Beach Turkey Trot 5k/10k run, and there's a cool coean breeze today. What better way to spend Thanksgiving morning? After a shower I cook lots of spaghetti and relax with the Lions getting blown out by the Falcons. Oh well. I return two phone calls today - one from person T* and one from Person C_T. Their original calls came in on Wednesday night after I had gone to sleep (early).
On Friday I get out for a run and have just a bit of pain/discomfort from the hamstring. I then proceed to de-thatch the last remaining strip of the front yard and, again, it is a good workout as I'm sweating up a strom even in the cool morning hour. After cleaning the area up I fertilize this last strip and give it a good soaking of water. After a shower I relax for a bit and have breakfast and then realize that I should try and get my Hepatitis A and tetanus vaccination. So off I drive to the medical facility for my shots - one in the left arm and one in the right arm. And I program my Palm Pilot to remind me to get the Hepatitis A follow-up shot in May 2006.
I get out for a bright sunny bicycle ride and get cleaned up in time for Person C_T's arrival. We watch two movies - Born into Brothels and Dot the I. Both are interesting, though for different reasons. The first is political in nature dealing with the children of prositututes in India. (I missed seeing this at the theatres about two years ago.) The second has all sorts of twists in the plot and is fun and intriguing. Later we watch some television movie before I'm heading to bed at 10:30 pm (and Person C_T joining me about an hour later).
On Saturday I get up late and go for a long walk, spray the front shrubs again for spider mites, feed and water the roses, and then do some abdominal work. By now Person C_T is awake and doing yoga to a DVD, so I join him as it concentrates on stretching and then later on back health. Person C_T is leaving for work near 11 am and I do the laundry and some grocery shopping. Is it now time to go visit a series of stores?
I visit one store and pick up a video adapter. Later in the midst of the heavy wind I get out for a run to make my quota for the week. It's a reasonable run though the right hamstring hurts a bit. During the run I notice a huge tree that has been knocked down by the wind and has missed both the neighboring house and parked cars. Person T_U calls and twists my arm to head for a club tonight.
I arrive at the club early and run into Person Ray (and his partner Neil) and Person P_P (and his partner, ummm...Greg?). I had not seen Person Ray for quite a while but it sounds like things are going well for him with a new job. Person T_U arrives just before midnight and we hang out, listen to music, and talk with people together. Person T_U seems to be interested in a person that he went out with before, so I tend to leave the two of them alone. I just go mingle with the crowd and realize how tired my eyes are. Each time that I get ready to leave the music gets a bit better and so I stay longer. I stop the ChiChi with the diagonal, asymmetric streaks in his hair and tell him how much I like his streaks. And then I move on. There are a couple of offers being prepared tonight, but I manage to fend them off with the "big smile, negative head shake" technique that has worked well in the past. At 1:25 am on Sunday morning Person T_U and I leave the club. When he heads for his car I just hang out on the sidewalk for a few minutes. And finally I leave.
I take San Vicente south to the 10 freeway in order to avoid construction traffic jams on the southbound 710. As I'm driving south I see a sobriety checkpoint up ahead. Whereas oter drivers turn to avoid the checkpoint, I see no reason to avoid it. When asked by the officer if I've been drinking, I respond with "Red Bull and 7-Up" and he echos this back to me as he issues the "follow the moving pen with your eyes without turning your head" sobriety check.
As I'm ready to drive off, the police officer says, "Hey, this is one of those _________, isn't it?" (I don't even insert the name of the car that he mentioned here because it doesn't deserve to be dignified here.
And I just respond (fairly sharply) with, "Excuse me! This is the STi version of Subaru's World Rally Car".
He starts checking the car out and says, "Oh yes, this is the really fast one." And he keeps checking the car out and then he says, "Oops, they're yelling at me because I'm taking too much time. Drive safely." And with that I have my police officer directed command to get home fast (but safely). So I push a bit to 90 or 95 mph and get home (to a very cold house) by 2:10 am on Sunday morning. The house is very cold because I'm playing the game of not turning the furnace on until December 1st and this is the first cold night that we've had.
On Sunday I'm up near 7 am to buy the newspaper and some groceries. When the sun has come out and the air has warmed up a bit I jump on the mountain bicycle and do the aquarium ride. As I'm getting onto the Los Angeles river trail I catch up to another cyclist who has slowed down because there is a dog without a leash running around and he's a bit nervous of the dog. So we ride together and talk about cycling, places to cycle, racing, the weather, health, and other things. Before I know it we are at the aquarium and I turn around as he continues on his way towards home.
Late in the afternoon I get out for a long walk and mail some rebate forms. The tree that was downed by the strong wind is still down. In order to get a good start on Monday I'm laying down for sleep near 9 pm on Sunday night.