Oh, it's you.

Yes, it's me. I'm here. I've always been here. Sometimes silence is golden. Sometimes it's a sign that we're just too busy. Forgive me for my apparent lack of conviction to the blog but sometimes what you might find interesting is just plain old plain old (excuse the southern speak).

All kinds of things going on around here. First let me run down the reason we are really here: running and other fitness activities.

Last Monday I ran 5 miles. Nothing spectacular but felt comfortable. It is nice to be able to go for a run and enjoy it.

Last Tuesday I got in the saddle for the first time this year. Yep, met up with some of my old biking buddies and hopped on the bike for a 26 miler. I was a little nervous about the distance considering I had not ridden since last fall. I didn't feel exceptionally strong but I did survive. I did the 26 with the "slow group". Despite my "fast" friends begging me to go with them, I knew much better than to do something like that. We averaged a pitiful 15.7 mph for 26 miles. If it was a flat course I'm sure I could do better but we have several stretches of big hills where you have to get out of the big chain ring and get into a climbing gear. The shortest of these uphill climbs is 4/10s mile according to the bike computer. We have one long grade of a mile. Anyway, I got a decent workout.

Last Thursday and Friday I did a couple of runs but nothing to speak of. I skipped the weekend because of other activities (more on that later).

This past Monday I did 5 miles. 4 miles of it I ran with Dom, my neighbor. He was wanting to run at a slower pace due to his heart fluttering and I wanted to speed up just a tad bit so we made a good pair that afternoon. I broke a good sweat and rally got the heart rate up. I think it took me about an hour to stop sweating.

Yesterday I went for another bike ride. 26 miles again. Same route. The slow group didn't show up so I started off the fast group. Always a big mistake. It was Larry M and biking Susan (not my Susan). Susan has just finished having her bike rebuilt. New handlebars, new seat post, new wheels, new gear set. She replaced everything but her seat and pedals. She knocked nearly 2 lbs off her existing bike weight and she was riding like a fiend. They were doing 35 miles and were trying to convince me to go with them. NOPE. NOT HAPPENING. They pleaded with me . . . "it won't be safe for you ride by yourself after we split off at mile 13". I agree that it is not smart to ride by yourself on some of these country roads but I am a big boy. I have my cell phone and my 38 special (note to self . . . maybe the reason I am slow is because of the added weight of my Smith and Wesson). Anyway, I did 26 and bumped my average up to 16.1 mph. I felt pretty good about this since the last 13 miles were solo and I didn't have a pace line to ride in. It was all me doing all the work. Sweet.

Other activities . . . .

I've spent quite a bit of time working on Susan's girls' fort/swingset/slide thingy-do. I spent about 7 hours last Saturday, 7 hours last Sunday, 3 hours Tuesday afternoon, and 5 hours this evening working on it. That is 22 hours. Of course Susan has been helping but we still have a little ways to go. The main structure is done and I'm about finished with the roof on it. All that is left is the swing set and the slide portion. I've been taking pictures along the way but I do not have them with me at this time. I'll post a series of photos later to show the entier project.

I got a new toy a couple of weeks ago. I got a new Nikon D50 DSLR camera and I really love it! I've been taking pictures of MAC playing soccer, the girls just goofing around the house, Susan, and the dogs. All interesting topics. Here's some of the fun I've been having.

MAC . . . the next Mia Hamm?

Susan and I at MAC's soccer game.

It was a terribly hot day.

Susan and her girls ready to go out for dinner for Mother's day.

Little Bit meets cupcake.

Yes, I am alive

Guess what I am doing right now?

Besides typing?

I am sitting at Susan's computer with someone special in my lap. Not Kelsey. Not MAC. Not E. Enough said.

I am 1 week and 1 day without wisdom teeth. I had assumed that losing the teeth would mean that I would lose weight. That should mean that my running should improve. WRONG.

I have recovered nicely. The surgeon was pleased with my 1 week follow up and released me to do anything I want to do. He had told me nothing strenuous until the follow up visit so I behaved. I was worried about gaining weight but after several day of applesauce and soup, I didn't need to worry about weight gain. I had them taken out on Thursday morning and Susan was a trooper and stayed with me Thursday and Friday to make sure I didn't bleed to death or try driving while on pain meds. By Saturday, I was pretty much back to normal and by Sunday, I was off pain meds altogether except for an occasional visit to the Tylenol bottle.

I ran two miles Thursday afternoon at Susan's house. She joined me for a light run and we spent most of it "girl talking". Just stuff. I ran two miles this afternoon at Susan's house. She didn't join me tonight. Too busy doing Sudoku and drinking wine. Oh yeah . . . . and she had her two girls and two of their friends. BLAH BLAH BLAH. Excuses not to run.

We were supposed to do soccer tonight but we had a great storm blow through. We needed the rain so I am not going to complain. Besides, MAC is having fun playing with her friend. Both E and MAC are having their friends stay over to spend the night and it is fun listening to laughing in the other room.

We also bought a fort/treehouse/swingset for the girls last night at Sams. My parents love Sams. I'm sort of indifferent . . . I always spend money when I go there. Anyway . . . Susan and I unloaded 4 boxes weighing about 250 each last night while the girls were with their dad. The instructions say it should take TWO semi-skilled men 24-28 hours to build this thing. I figure I am SKILLED since I have helped my dad build houses and have built my own. I also figure if I leave out every other bolt I can probably build it in about 12 hours. Of course, if I have a six pack while building it, I could probably get it done in 6 hours!

I still owe you guys and girls a questionairre. I promise it is coming. Don't you love being teased?

Have a SUPER weekend!

Whew!

Hello everyone. I am blogging after my bedtime. And for good reason. I've slept the better part of the day. I'll tell you why in a little bit but let me catch you up on running and soccer.

Of course you knew that I had run on Monday evening. Tuesday, I normally run but I needed to get the grass cut and go to MAC's soccer game so I slid my running schedule to Wednesday. This also worked out good for the next several days (this ties in to my sleeping story).

MAC's game was fun to watch. We played a team that really wasn't that good but like I told her, you have to able to sharpen your claws occassionally and this was a good one for doing that. It was evident from the start of the game that we outmatched them. I think they cleared the ball from their half of the field only two or three times the first half. Our girls got to run a lot of set offense and moved the ball around well. I was there with my SLR and tried to take some pictures. Hopefully I got some good shots. I love my old Pentax Super Program. I've had it around 25 years and though it is ancient technology, it still takes decent pictures if I try really hard. I'm thinking about upgrading to digital SLR. I have a couple of digital point and shoots but to do what I want to do, I need to upgrade. I digress. The final score of the game was 7-1. It was 6-0 at half and the coach just kept running players in and out and trying them at different positions. I guess that's a pretty smart move so you know how to better substitute later in the season. It seems that there are certain combinations of girls that work better. The teams two really good players wrecked havoc on the other team from the word go. Of course one of those two girls is MAC. The other girl's name is Chandler and she may be just a shade better than MAC but they play together very well. They know where each other is going to be and watching them pass and work together is really fun. Chandler had two goals . . . and one was an absolute rocket that would have taken the goalie's arm off if she had been able to get to it. MAC had three goals and was the high scorer. Whoever would have thought I'd get so excited at a 10 year old girl's soccer game?

Wednesday afternoon I came home and got in 4 miles and worked out a little bit. The temp has jumped back into the mid to high 80s and the running is tough and slow. However, I am surviving and I think that I am starting to make a little progress in my return from sloth land. Susan came over and we went out for dinner. My last decent meal for a few days.

You see, I had my wisdom teeth removed this morning. Yep. I am 47 years old and doing something that should have been done years ago. Actually, my third molars came fully in when I was a teenager and I never had any problem. However, my dentist has been after me for a while to have them removed. I had one that was broken badly (but no pain) and two others with cavities. She said in the long run, it would be less expensive and less time consuming to get those puppies out. She referred me to a nearby oral surgeon whom I was comfortable with so I did it. I also had a tooth that had had a root canal a long time ago that I broke off a couple of months ago doing something stupid. Not talking about that!. So I actually had 5 teeth pulled. I will be getting a post and crown for the one that was broken so I won't have a big gap in my grin.

My dentist told the surgeon to sedate me since I am a big chicken. Thank you very much. I was not fully under . . . just sort of twilighting but enough to make me not care about what was going on inside my head. Susan drove me this morning and brought me home. I was in my big leather chair watching TV and sleeping by 10:00 am. I snoozed off and on most of the day and got up long enough to drink some fluids and take my pills. Right now I feel pretty good but I am sure it is the Lortab talking. I am going to sit up til midnight and take another pill before going to bed. Susan stayed over today to keep an eye on me and she's staying tonight in case I need anything. The bleeding has just about stopped but I think I'll go ahead and put some more gauze in before I go to bed, just to be safe. The Dr told me not do any heavy work or exercise until next week so I have an excuse to be a slug.

Wish me well and I'll be posting the next few days on my recovery and if I took any good pictures from MAC's game.