I'm retired from racing. Really.

AM- legs were sore and tired after 2 hours at a trampoline park last night. Slow- 5 miles at over 9 min pace average.

Happy New Years, everyone!

Lunch- field is still muddy so we moved frisbee to the softball field. 6v6. My team dropped 3 passes in the endzone so were soon down 0-2. We then scored 5 out of 6, so won 5-3. I played pretty well- a couple bad passes but generally reliable, throwing a few points and catching at least 1.

AM- legs, specifically quads, even more sore and tired today. Almost feels like I ran an ultra recently. Plodded along on the treadmill for 4 miles at slower than 9 min pace. GE trail is still closed, track is flooded (with 2 to 3 more inches of rain expected by Fri night), and I don't want to run busy roads in the dark, so treadmill is the best option. Tired today, only 5 hours sleep the past few nights.

AM- I wasn't sure how I'd feel today give the soreness and tiredness of the rest of the week. It is a cold, rainy morning so I hit the treadmill again wanting at least 6 miles. I felt good enough to extend to 7, then 8. 68 min. Less sore and tired, but still not great.

There's over 4000 people who started accounts on FRB. I remember back when you could reasonably comment on all the blogs, or at least all the new blogs. Well, FRB is back to that point- there are exactly 4 people who joined within the past year and have posted within the past month. There are 89 total people who have posted in the past month, in fact. The days of so many people being on it are over.

Breakdown of active people (active meaning posted within a month)

Joined in 2018: 4

Joined in 2017: 0

Joined in 2016: 6

Joined in 2014-15: 11

Joined 2009-2013: 34

Joined prior to 2009: 34

It's amazing to me how many people have left. To us few who remain, well done.

lunch 4 ez. Nice day, sunny and 60. Finally didn't rain today.

Finally a nice weather day for frisbee. 60 deg, sunny- we went to the baseball field. 7v7. I didn't throw too well but otherwise was fine. My team had some drops, too. We were down 2-3 when I had to leave for a meeting. I guess my team then lost 2-5. 

50 deg and a bit of a breeze for frisbee. 6v6. My team got whupped the whole time- we were slower, didn't do good cuts, bad throws, and dropped some passes. Lost 5-1.

Am 6 miles on treadmill at around 8:30 pace

Lunch- 6v6 on a sunny but cool day. Teams were not split evenly- my team was me, Travis, Haley, Claire, Ty, Joe T (back after 6 months of injury). Other team was Adrian, Kevin, Sam, Dave, Verdin, Tom. The other team had more speed and the 3 best throwers. Sure enough, in the warmup the other team scored the first 3 points and whupped us up and down the field. Then, just when we started game to 5, our only good long thrower, Travis, left. I told the other team if they let my team score more than 2 points, they were slacking. But, somehow, we did a lot of precise throws and hustle (multiple goal line stands), plus them doing some hard throws and some drops. We won 5-3! One of the more surprising scores in a long time.

6v5 frisbee on an overcast day with damp ground. We actually played all 11, with my team a bit faster but only having 5 players. We held our own and perhaps were even winning. Just as the game to 5 started, Dave twisted his ankle from my team and left. We picked up Verdin for even 5v5. Other team scored, then Jeff dropped an easy pass, and we were down 0-2. Played pretty even from there on, although overall the other team played very clean game and we made a few mistakes- I had a bad turnover when we were down 3-4 and we quickly lost 3-5. I felt like we let one get away as we could have won but had too many self-inflicted wounds.

AM 9 miles on treadmill, 8:30-8:00 pace.

Great day for frisbee- 50 deg, sunny, slight breeze. 13 people, other team had a sub. My team was struggling at first with poor throws and drops. Sam got on a tear and threw or caught 4 or 5 straight points. In the game to 5, there were no turnovers at first till 2-2 score. Then it got a bit sloppy but my team won 5-3 in the end. 12 people stayed for another game. The other team scored first, but then we scored 3 straight to win 3-1.

AM 6 ez, around 8:30 pace

Had cake and ice cream after lunch with a bunch of coworkers. Out of the ~15 of us there, 3 will be gone from the company this week and 2 more by end of the month. My inbox is filled with emails from other people saying it's their last day. Sad times. But really not much to do other than buckle down and get to work, while realizing that it's just a job so keep it in perspective. But the amount of empty cubes around here (heck, whole empty rows) is stunning. My best friend at GE, and the only guy I can really talk to, is leaving for another division this month, too. The only thing constant is change. 

It's been said more games are lost than won, and my team proved that today. 18 people, 2 subs per team. We did fine in warm up, but then during game to 5 we were doing hard throws, stupid throws, and hard AND stupid throws. Predictably, we had a lot of turnovers. Lost 5-2. I even bruised my thigh on Alex's knee, so I'm pretty sore. After, we had 6v5 game to 3, my team won 3-1 (having an extra person helps). 

Run in a drizzle. Quad is fairly sore so only ran 2 miles. It hurt a bit less by the end.

9 people showed up for frisbee on a cold (just above freezing), breezy day. The sun was out, though, so temps really didn't feel too bad. We split teams 4-5 with the smaller team having more speed (my team). The other team started wupping us by the end of warmup as they used their extra person well, so we changed to zone as the game to 5 started and had lots of success with it. We were up 4-1 and won 5-2, which was surprising. Then we won second game 3-1. Not often the team down a person wins with that big of margin. My team was me, Dave, Tom, Kevin. Other team Sam, Jeff, Simon, Haley, Alex.

AM- as the trail is still (!!!) closed, ran on treadmill again. Temps in the 20's so I didn't mind being inside. Felt terrible at first and considered a short run but kept plugging along for 8 miles.

8 people for frisbee on a cool, overcast day. The rain stopped just before we played. My team probably had a slight advantage which was exacerbated by the other team making more errors. In the warmup, we actually did such things as only allowing 2 people to touch on offense, then the other 2 people, then requiring 20 straight passes before scoring. In game to 5, we won 5-2, then won second game 2-1.

AM Trail still closed. 10 miles. I only planned on 8 but felt good so kept going. Most of it 8:30 pace, up to 8:00 by the end. My longest run since Feb last year, I believe.

Lunch- mid 40's, sunny, a little breeze. 8v7, my team had the sub. The other team had more speed so we did an effective zone and won 5-3. I caught 2 or 3 scores and generally threw well, though missed 1 catch I should have made. 8 people stayed for game to 3. I was covering Kevin on the other team, and he had 3 ridiculous, diving catches for scores. The other team won 3-1.

Sunny day, breezy, 50 deg. 6v6. I threw terribly at first (first 5 or 6 throws were comically bad). Then calmed down and did better, but not great. My team won 5-3. Then 4v4, my team played poorly and lost 3-1. 

AM 8 miles. Tired and slow- 8:30 pace the whole time. But I got it done, so at least I can say that.

I've been very lacking on sleep for a long time. I was proud of myself for getting in bed by 10 pm last night with 6:30 am alarm, but then couldn't fall asleep and woke up far before alarm so still only got 6 hours. That's a lot better than normal, but I'm still tired. Someday I'll be able to sleep.

9 people on a cool, very windy day. Sunny but in the 30's. It was the windiest it's been in a long time. My team had 5 with more speed, the other team has 4 with better throwers. They scored the first 3 and we were overall pretty even in warmup. In the game to 5, my team won 5-2. Interestingly, 6 of the 7 points were INTO the wind, not with the tailwind. Some crazy throws, as expected. Fun. It would have been better if we had even teams.

AM 9 miles on the treadmill. They've cleared all but 1 downed tree on the GE trail so hopefully it will reopen soon. Felt good today- started at 8:30 pace but kept bumping it up to 8:00 pace, then last 2 miles were 7:53 and 7:45. First sub-8 miles of the year. Then chiropractor for my neck/back/shoulder before heading to work.

AM only needed 4 hours work so decided to do a little morning run, then frisbee. 4 easy. Found out the GE trail is now open- I'll start running it again next week. I've missed it.

Lunch- sunny, 50's, and again windy. Not as windy as Wednesday, but still windy enough that it played a significant factor in the game. I think we had 14 people, though 1 left halfway through so my team had a sub. The other team had 5 fast guys plus one guy good at throwing. My team had 3 fast guys. Lots of turnovers due to the wind and crazy throws (which are related). We went up 3-1, then it was tied 3-3, then 4-4 before my team pulled out the win. We actually won twice, with me catching the first winning point before the other team belatedly said we fouled them and asked for a redo. Several other fouls were called before my team won. Fun day, kind of crazy with the wind.

am upper 50s and sunny. Slow and easy 4. Biggest weekly mileage in seven months. Strange, as I used to be at least 2-3 times higher each week. 

Lunch- perfect day for frisbee, 65 deg, sunny, a little breeze. My team had better throwers, the other team had a little more speed. We ran a hard zone and the other team was ill suited to break it, so we killed them. 5-1, then 3-1. I had a few bad throws at first, but then just did easy throws, had some good catches (several long scores), and some good def with several knockdowns in the end zone. 

Lunch- great day for a run for 2 reasons. First, after almost 2 months, the GE trail reopened so I ran on my beloved dirt again. Second, it's sunny and 75 deg. Wonderful. I did 9 miles on the trail, at least half around 8 min pace. No animals, lots of people as I ran at lunch instead of my typical morning slot. The thing I found most interesting is that there are 2 new large areas of standing water (aka swamps) complete with lots of croaking frogs. It hasn't rained in 6 days, so it's an overall reflection of how wet the past year has been and how high the water table is.

Lunch- a small rainstorm kept people away but 6 brave souls showed up today. Granted, it was still 65 deg, so good temps. Windy, but not as much as last week. 3v3. My team was a bit faster, the other team better throwers. The other team got up 0-2, then 4-2, then we tied 4-4 before losing 5-4. Lots of turnovers. I had lots of defensive plays but not quite enough. Wind always makes throws an adventure.

AM working from home the next few days as Marci and my two oldest are going to Orlando. Grabbed a quick run from home before starting work. Well, not quick regarding speed- 5 miles around 9 min pace. Pretty slow and tired.

15 people for frisbee, other team had sub. Sunny, breezy, warm. I played pretty well, minimal bad throws. Lots of hussle. We won 5-3, then 3-2.

Wife and 2 oldest kids are at Disney World for the weekend, so I'm home with 3 younger kids. No chance to run. I did take my son to see Monster Jam, so that was fun.

It was overcast and rainy last night and this morning but was not raining at lunch. 48 deg, little breeze. 10 people played but Travis tweaked is knee and left, so my team had a sub. We were getting stomped during warm up and then were down 0-2 at the start of game to 5. Then the other team started having more unforced errors and we played better, scoring the final 5 to win 5-2.

AM- It's been raining all morning so it was muddy. Rain was fairly light/intermittent when I ran. 9 miles, 8 deer, plus something small (quick glance of a small 4 legged creature- maybe a fox, coyote? Don't think it's a skunk).

Sunny, breezy, 50 deg. 13 people, my team had sub. Wind played a factor. I played ok- had a few terrible throws, 1 bad drop, but lots of good throws. In the game to 1, the other team scored first, then we traded points till 3-4. Then Travis threw a hard catch to me that I had to dive for but scored. 4-4. Final point, my team scored.

Late morning run, 50 deg and sunny. 10 miles on GE trail- I usually see animals only on sunrise runs and people later in the day, but I saw 2 deer and 6-8 turkey today but no runners. I felt good, starting just over 8 min pace and increasing from there. Last mile was 7:26. 78.5 minutes total.

50's and overcast, 5v5. I felt tired- my legs didn't have the regular kick today. My team had a speed advantage and did better in the warm up. I had some bad throws but also some good throws. Game to 5, my team was up 2-1. From that point on we imploded, dropped catches, stopped running to the disc, with lots of bad throws. We never scored again and lost 5-2. It was a massacre.

AM planned on 4-6 mile run but had a run in with a dog just before 1 mile. It wasn't resolved until a car came by to help out. I went home and called animal control, but found they aren't open on the weekend. I wasn't in the mood to run more after that.

No frisbee today as some of GE was on holiday, some (including me) had bring-your-kids to work day (I brought 4, and they loved it), and the rest were hampered by muddy field due to weekend of rain. After my kids left at 2 pm, I have 8 miles on GE trail. Saw 8 or so turkeys in the trees, no other animals or people. 68 min or so. Mid-60's and sunny, nice running weather.

AM upper 30's and rainy (ridiculously rainy- it's rained 4 inches this week with almost non-stop rain predicted through Sunday) so I did 7 miles in an hour on the treadmill. 30's and rainy is my last favorite running weather.

AM mid 30's and rain, so I assumed no frisbee today. 6 miles easy on the treadmill.

My wife has been training for months for a half marathon this Saturday. It's predicted to be rainy and low 40's, which is not ideal. I told her that at least she isn't running the 40 mile Mt Mitchell Challenge this weekend, which runs to the highest mountain on the east coast. They currently have a winter weather advisory with 30 deg temps and freezing rain predicted for Friday and Saturday.

AM Thunderstorms and below 40 temps led to another treadmill run. Seriously, how often do you have hard rain and lightning at 7 am? 8 miles at 8:30-ish pace.

Lunch- frisbee was cancelled due to extreme rain, so I went running. Even though it was mid-40's, I was sick of treadmill so went outside, and convinced John Korsedal to come with me. I probably haven't run with him for 2-3 years. Very muddy and wet, lots of puddles to splash through. John did 7 miles, then I did 3 more. Generally 8:00 pace, last mile was about 7:45. Felt good and thought of going further but decided to not push it as my achilles/foot is still iffy.

AM- Marci was gone all morning at her half marathon (she ran 2:02 despite wind, cold, and rain- good job). I snuck out for 4 mile run and felt fine. No watch. Breezy and rainy. Since Jan 2018, this is only my second 40 mile week, which is funny since I used to be at least 40-45 miles by Tuesday of each week.

55 and sunny, little breeze. First frisbee in a week so lots of people showed up. Grass was wet and soft. My team had 2 subs, other team had 1. I had a few bad throws, 1 drop, 1 awesome diving catch, and generally played ok. But we got down 4-2 before losing 4-5. 10 people stayed for second game which we lost 2-3. Doh. Still fun. I tossed a high one to Alex, saying "I like my odds" before he did indeed catch it for a score over Keven. Fun.

Frisbee Tuesday as we missed last week and it's supposed to rain the rest of the week. 12 people showed up in beautiful, 60 deg and sunny weather. My team was getting stomped in the warmup but, sure enough, we won the real game 5-2. We got down in the second game 0-2 before tying it but then losing 2-3.

Lunch- it didn't rain too much, so we played frisbee. Upper 50's, overcast, little breeze. 11 people showed up, so my team had the extra player. The other team was stacked and really pushed us around. In the game to 5, they scored, then us, they scored again. Then, with the wind at our back, it took us 5 min or so to finally score- it was brutal. The other team scored 2 quick points so we were down 2-4, even with the extra person. Ouch. We scored, by which time they were exhausted from the extra running. We got a turnover to tie it 4-4. On the last point, I intercepted a pass, then immediately threw a terrible pass right by their endzone. Fortunately, Adrian then threw a bad pass and we got it back, but Scott had to throw a miracle pass over 3 defenders right to Dave. From there, we worked it down for the winning score. Considering we had an extra person, they did awesome. Teams were me, Scott, Elisha, Dave, JP, Travis against Sam, Adrian, Verdin, Kevin, and new guy Nick (who is super fast, aggressive, and good catcher). Kevin knocked me down once with a brutal bicep to the head but I'm ok. Good, tiring game.

AM- gym closed at work so I ran 6 slow miles (9:00-8:30) around home before heading to work.

No frisbee due to more rain so I ran 1 loop of GE trail at 8:45-8:30 pace. Saw about 22 turkeys. One was stuck on my side of the fence so he freaked out a bit.

AM 4 easy

Rain again today. We signed my second daughter up for soccer. In a month so far, she's had 3 practices and all 4 games have been cancelled due to rain. Hopefully it will dry out at some point so they can actually play. They have 6 more Saturdays for games and are supposed to have 12 games in the whole season. 

Today is not a frisbee game for the highlight real. 7v7. Lots of drops, bad throws, etc- by everyone, including me. I had 2 drops and lots of stupid, bad throws. My team was whupped in warmup but then were ahead 2-0 before losing 5-4. We did win the next game 3-1. I was tired today but generally just played pretty poorly.

Left foot has been acting up with a touch of pf so I skipped the run today and did an hour of xt.

Realized something today. I have a coworker who is also a professional nature photographer- in the past few years, he spent a week by himself taking pictures in Norway, another week in Iceland, plus LOTS of days camping outside taking pics. When I look at my vacation from the past 4 years, almost all my days out of the office are either me working from home when my wife is out of town or travelling with or to extended families (2 trips out west, trips with families on east coast, etc). The ONLY time my immediate family (me, wife, 5 kids) have travelled by ourselves is a one day trip to Great Wolf Lodge last year.

My time off is already booked for this year- another week home while Marci is at girls' camp, 1.5 weeks with Marci's family in upstate NY, 1 week with family coming Sept/Oct, plus a few days in July when my sister comes with her family. 

I really need a vacation. Maybe I'll quit my job and go hike the Appalachian Trail by myself. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy seeing family, but for that to be my ONLY time off for 4 years...

Lunch- 11 people for frisbee, my team had the sub. We were probably a bit better but lost terribly. I actually played well- no drops, very few bad throws. My team self-destructed, though- so many throws right into the ground or drops. Today is Tom's 45th birthday and he is usually Mr. Reliable- he tracks his turnovers and usually has 0 or 1 most days. Today, he had 3 during the first 2 points. It was comical how bad my team played, plus the other team was making all kinds of crazy/lucky catches. At least 2 of their points came as my team turned it over right by their endzone. My team went down 0-2, then scored 1, then we were down 3-2 before they scored 2 straight to win 5-2. I just laughed how many unforced errors my team had, and it wasn't me for once! Fun, crazy game.

Lunch- rain expected tomorrow (or maybe not?), so we played frisbee today instead. 7v7, which is a bit more crowded then I like. I had 1 drop at the start of the game and a few stupid throws, but generally played ok. Very competitive game. My team was up 2-0 and 3-1, then it was tied 3-3 before we won 5-3. The highlight was Dennis (on the other team) catching a beautiful long bomb just short of the endzone, then throwing a nice pass... right to Graham, who was not on his team. It was so funny we took an unplanned break and Graham fell down laughing. We've all done it, but that was hilarious and very impactful.

Well, it rained with 45 deg temps but 6 people still showed up for frisbee. First time ever with 4 games the same week. 3v3. My team had a bad case of butterfingers, with many, many drops (Sam dropped 2 sure scores and a bunch more not in the endzone, Dave dropped all over the field, and I had 2 or 3 near the start). We lost 5-3. Still fun. I had 2 great scores at the end, both toe draggers.

Found out today that the past 6 months (Sept to Feb) are the wettest on record in 145 years. 2018 as a whole was the 6th wettest on record. And there's still more rain predicted. Given the amount of rain today, I'm pretty sure my daughter's 5th soccer game of the year will be cancelled (i.e. all of them). It's pretty absurd.

Lunch- great weather today (minimal wind, overcast, upper 60's) so 18 people showed up. I guarded Graham all game. Everyone played much better than last week- fewer drops and bad throws. A lot of the turnovers were off contested throws rather than bad plays. I had 2 blocked throws and 1 or 2 bad passes but otherwise played great- some good long throws, good short/medium throws, no drops. Even teams, but my team won 5-2. 5v5 for the next game, with me and Dave switching to the other team. We got down 2-0 (mainly due to a few key mistakes by Claire, plus I overthrew Tom once in the endzone), but we scored twice and made a defensive stop on the last point. However, we immediately turned it over near their endzone and they scored for the win.

It wasn't supposed to rain today. But then it did rain. Again. Of course. One of my coworkers told me it's rained every Friday since November.

AM- first run in 1.5 weeks. PF isn't feeling a lot better but I figured it was time to go anyway. I brought my headlamp but didn't need it. 8 miles on wet/muddy GE trail. Saw about 18 turkey and 8+ deer, no people. Good to be out there again.

Nice day for frisbee, slight breeze, sunny. 12 people showed up, though Benson hurt his hand and Dave left early so we ended up 5v5. My team was generally playing well but started making some mistakes (bad throws) during the game and were soon down 3-1 and 4-2. We rallied with 2 points (4th point was a beauty throw from Graham to Sam). Lost 5-4 in the end. Tom (other team) made some nice defensive plays on long throws to Sam. I played well- 1 or 2 incomplete passes, but otherwise no real mistakes. I did miss a very hard hammer catch and landed with my elbow on the lip of the disc, which hurts. But fun day. Looks like rain again Friday, so probably won't play.

AM 50 deg morning run. Saw a few GE workers but no one on the trail. Several groups of turkeys, including a big Tom, who I haven't seen in a while. 7-10 deer. 8 miles or so

AM- strong thunderstorms today (I got soaking wet in my 15 second dash from car to office) so I ran 8 miles on treadmill. Continues the tradition of rain on every Friday. I just hope my kids can finally play their sports tomorrow (T-ball tonight for 2 of my kids is already cancelled, meaning they have not even had a practice yet- every practice has been cancelled!!!). It doesn't look good as it rained hard in the morning and it's raining again for a few hours at lunch. It's rained 80 inches in the past year, folks. 80 inches. It's absurd. 

Lunch 6v6 frisbee. Other team had more speed, we were a little better throwing. I played well- a couple bad throws but generally good. My team was up 3-1, then had a few turnovers near the endzone and it was soon tied 3-3. We scored, other team scored, we got near the endzone but had an incompletion, then they won. 4-5. More running than usual today. Then game of 3v3 which my team won 3-1.

AM- Temps around freezing and I didn't feel like getting dressed, so TM run. 7 miles. Sore and tired the whole time, especially my lower back. Not the best run but got it done.

Lunch- 50 deg and windy, a little nippy for frisbee. 13 people, my team had a sub. The wind played a big factor in both short and long throws. My team wised up by the end and did smarter throws, hence fewer turnovers. We won 5-2.

AM- 8 on GE trails. Saw 8-10 deer and lots of turkey, 20+. On the final return trip, the turkeys had moved onto the trail and a tom was puffing up and then charging me. I wasn't in the mood to fight him so routed way around the rain ponds, which included 5 minutes of mud and water, and then briars. One shoe was submerged in mud up to my ankle. Fun. Slow today, 8:30-9 pace.

AM 7v7, sub on my team. Pretty even teams, windy. My team made more unforced errors. Some were ok throws that the wind impacted, but a lot were just hurried/unwise throws. We also had a LOT of drops. I played pretty well, though I did have a few throws the wind caught. We lost 5-2. Pretty good whupping. We did have a 4v4 second game which we won 2-1.

Lunch- mid 60's and windy. 8v8. My team did good in warmup. Game to 5, we got worked- lots of dumb throws, some drops, etc. I also felt like there was a lack of effort on defense, so they kept having throws to wide open receivers. I got a bit frustrated, for the first time in probably a year. We were down 0-3, then scored one, then it was 1-4, then we scored 2 straight. Down 3-4, they had two super extra lucky catches and went on to win. Frustrating. 4v4 for next game, my team was up 2-0, then 2-2 before we finally won. Thank goodness. 

AM- 50 deg, a bit muddy from rain last night. My quads were sore and I felt ploddish all ran. Did 9 miles, 8:15-8:30-ish pace. Saw ~20 turkey (had to bushwack and jump a creek once to avoid an aggressive tom), 5 deer, and a coyote. 

Lunch 6v6, then one guy left from my team mid-game. 40's, windy (again). My team had an issue with throwing good scoring opportunities out the back of the endzone so were down 3-1. Then we stopped doing that and scored 3 straight. Eventually won 5-4. Second game 4v4, we lost 2-3.

AM- a bit chilly out this morning, just above freezing. 9 miles on GE trails, 8:00-8:45 pace. Saw about 16 deer and 10 turkey. Right quad feels sore and weak still.

70 deg, sunny, windy. 7v7, other team had 1 sub. My team had better throwers plus we ran a good zone, and the other team couldn't break it with the players they had. It was a 5-0 shutout, first once since Sept. We stomped them, and that's even with making some mistakes. They did have chances to score, but never did. Next game we won 3-1. 

AM 4

I've been getting very little sleep so collapsed into bed last night at 9:30 and was asleep soon after. Unfortunately, my body decided it had slept enough at 3:41 am. Oh well, I tried. 

Lunch- 6v6 on a cool, windy, sunny day. Good competitive game- I covered Graham all day with mixed success. Had a couple terrible throws but the rest were passable. No drops. My team was down 0-2, then tied 2-2, then 4-4, and we eventually won although both teams had a chance on the last point. Game ended on a bomb from Sam to Julian that seemed uncatchable but hung up just enough with the wind for Julian to run under it.

AM 7 miles. Felt terrible right from the start and decided I'd stop at 4 if I didn't feel better. I didn't get a lot better but slogged through 7 miles.

I ran on the treadmill because it was supposed to be cold and rainy. Come to find out it actually snowed a bit during my run. Snow in South Carolina in April. 

Perfect weather for frisbee- 65 deg, sunny, not much win. 6v6 with a sub on my team. I'd say my team was a bit better. I played subpar with too many bad throws. Jason tore up his arm and had to go get bandaids from Dave's car, so my team played down 4 players vs 6 for a few minutes and almost stopped them- kind of fun to try. For the real game, we won 5-3, then switched it up and won 2-1 with 5v4 (I was on the team with more once I switched sides).

Lunch- rain predicted tomorrow so 10 people showed up for frisbee today. Gorgeous weather- sunny, 70 deg, a little breeze but not so much to stop throws. Pretty fun game with lots of long throws. Elisha caught 3 of our points plus another long bomb just outside the endzone. I had 3 or 4 defensive plays I'm real proud of, each saving a point, including when where I was guarding the thrower who had an open receiver and I made him misfire. I had one bad throw but otherwise was accurate enough. Tom had a long, arcing bomb to me as I split two defenders in the endzone but it came in at ankle height and bounced off my fingers- that would have been an awesome catch. Next time. We played well (Tom said we only had 4 turnovers all game?) and won 5-3. Tired, but it's a good tired. Tom finally broke his losing streak, which had started March 6 on his 45th birthday.

Felt pretty tired today (maybe donating blood contributed). I've also been feeling weakness in my right inner hip flexor and lower back. Due to steady rain, I ran on the treadmill. Started slow and didn't pick it up much, but I did extend past the planned 5 miles. Stopped at 8 miles, 8:40-8:25 pace.

I had my body fat measured today. Back when I was training a lot and running ultras, I was generally 6-8%, which is very thin. As I ended my career in 2014/15, I had inched up to 10-11%. I'm now 20 pounds heaver and measured 17%. I guess that's still less than 82% of population, but higher than I'd prefer. Donuts just taste too good, and frisbee doesn't burn as many calories as straight running.

AM 6 miles, 8:40 to 8:15 pace

Lunch- in the 70's, overcast, a bit breezy that increased as we progressed. 15 people, other team had sub. Good back and forth game, my team won 5-4 (I threw winning pass to Julian). Then 4v4 second game. With game tied 2-2, my team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory- we had 5 or 6 passes into the endzone that were incomplete for a wide variety of reasons (carried too far, curved the wrong way, hard to read, dropped). We found every way to NOT score. Other team finally won 3-2.

AM- 7 holy-slow miles on muddy GE trail. 9:30-9:00 pace. 1 deer, 1 group of turkeys with a male, and 1 coyote. Slow, tired, sore, old. Blah. Staying up till 1 last night watching the game probably didn't help. It was exciting, though.

Lunch- 75 deg, sunny, a little breeze. GRRR- we definitely let the win get away from us today. My team was playing well and up 3-1. Then, we started doing horrible turnovers- drops, blocked throws, and mainly bad passes. I think 3 or 4 the other team's points came when they turned it over near their endzone, but then our thrower was SUPER slow in picking it up, letting the D get set up, and then we did a bad throw and immediately turned it right back over to them. Definitely more a case of us losing today than them winning. It's ok to get beat, but it's frustrating to beat yourself. We lost 5-4.

Lunch- 80 deg and sunny, touch of humidity. Rain tomorrow so we had 12 people for frisbee today. My legs are noticably more tired and sore with no days rest- it was rough. My team was whupping on the other team in the warm up- we probably scored 5 straight points and were generally doing whatever we wanted. Sure enough, per tradition, the real game started, we made a couple quick mistakes and were soon down 0-2. We fought back to a tie, then alternated points with the other team always scoring first. They made very few mistakes. We ended up losing 4-5. Doh. Whoever plays worse early usually wins in the end.

Lunch- the rain actually held off but not enough people interested in frisbee today so I did rare lunch run. Upper 70's and humid. Felt terrible, stopped to stretch and walk a few times. Thought of stopping at 3 miles but kept going to 6. Blah. Felt a bit better by the end. Say a small group of turkeys, 5 or so.

Well, I've finally done it. I'd been having quad/back pain for a while, and I think the Wed/Thursday back to back frisbee games pushed my pains too far. While throwing some frisbees and playing soccer on Saturday, my right ham and quad started hurting so bad I could not run. I did foam roller yesterday, and today I did elliptical, stretch, and some drills while watching the marathon. Hopefully a few days or weeks off will get me back on track.

PM- did some elliptical and stretching after work. Legs are already feeling much better, enough that I gave them a little shake out on the treadmill. Later, I tried playing tag with my kids but still felt enough soreness to stop. No frisbee tomorrow.

AM xt and stretch

AM- XT then stretch, then a trip to the chiropractor.

Black Thursday- Mass layoffs among engineers at GE Power today. My team lost 40% of fellow application engineers, the guy sitting 1 cube down is gone, 2 former teammates, 4 people in the team I work with... it goes on and on. 17 in my department. It's an absolute bloodbath. There were 11 engineers doing what I do on my team 3 years ago. Now there's 3 of us, and I'm the only one with more than a year on the team. And the amount of work has increased significantly. I will miss all the people that are leaving- so many good, hardworking, nice people. 

Lunch- beautiful weather, not beautiful frisbee. 7v7, other team had a sub. My team got stomped- turned it over a lot. Lost 5-1. 12 people for second game, we still played poorly but won 3-2. My back/quad/ham are super sore again afterwards. More layoffs again at work today, too, including the guy in my building who I'm closest to and talk to a lot. He's going through a nasty divorce and now he's been laid off. Brutal.

only slept 2 hours last night. Figured working out this morning was as good of use of time as anything, but very sore from frisbee yesterday. 30 min elliptical, stretching. 

Very sore and tired today. Did 20 min very low on elliptical. Back hurt all day today- I think last year when it acted up was during layoffs, too. 

lunch- due to expected rain tomorrow, 6 of us showed up to play today. I'm less sore than yesterday but still far from 100%. 3v3 is LOTS of running. We started the game to 5 early as we were getting tired. My team won 5-3. I played pretty well, although had a couple very hard (but catchable) catches I missed. Then we did hot box just for fun- we didn't keep score but my team definitely scored more.

No workout of any kind. The lack-of-motivation continues at work. A coworker and I decided to go see Avengers midday. Good movie. Then watch daughter's soccer game right after work. 2 more soccer games tomorrow, then wife and oldest gone the rest of the day with church stuff.

My right quad/groin was still a little tight but feeling better so I decided to play ultimate. However, it twinged on every step and, after about 10 minutes, started getting more and more painful. After 20 minutes, I quit, limping badly. Really tweaked my groin. This stinks. I'll limping all over now. I've never had much of a muscle or groin issue, but this feels pretty serious. It will stink if I'm out of commision for a while. As my wife said, 40 has not been kind to me.

In some happy news, my 6 and 7 year olds are on a baseball team. The 7 year old hits the ball almost every at bat. My 6 year old had never gotten a single hit in the first 6 games, and only hit a foul tip in the most recent one. She is so happy and bubbly even though she wasn't hitting it, though. But she's been practicing, and today she got her first hit! She was so happy, and her team was doing well so hit her all the way home. Then she got her second, and then third hit. She scored on all 3 at bats today, and was literally jumping up and down. So cute. After, she was singing a song about how she can't believe she actually hit the ball. Gotta love kids

Tried stationary bike. Hurt. Tried elliptical. Hurt. Threw in the towel for who-knows-how-long.

A little bit of crosstraining

XT and stretch

AM some elliptical. Tried biking, but it hurt so stopped. 

XT and stretch

40 min xt, interrupted for 30 min to talk to a coworker. Then stretch/strengthen.

AM 30 min elliptical, then tried a mile running, which was slow and painful (not sure if pain is just from lack of use or injury- we'll see how I feel tomorrow)

No running today- being cautious. Some xt, stretching, strengthening. This might be my modus operandi for a while.

XT and lots of strengthening/stretching

Nothing yesterday except some walking. 30 min elliptical today followed by almost an hour of strengthening/stretching.

AM 2 plus S&S

Laid 28 bags of mulch on Saturday, and then about 55 bags Monday. Pretty sore and tired from that- it's about 38 pounds per bag. That's 1.5 tons of wood. Oofdah. 30 min xt and some stretching. Weights again tomorrow.

Am 3 plus over an hour lifting

xt and stretch

Read some of my old FRB posts from 2007-09. I used to have some funny things to say, and there was a lot more comments back then. 

For example, my comments on Paul and Logan pacing me: http://jon.fastrunningblog.com/blog-Top-of-Utah-Marathon/09-15-2007.html

or these:

http://jon.fastrunningblog.com/blog--Multiple-choice-test-today-You-k/10-31-2007.html

http://jon.fastrunningblog.com/blog--10-miles-around-Logan-with-joggi/10-16-2007.html

Ahh the good ole days when the FRB was popular and growing, and I was fast.

XT, lift, stretch. Did some hard work this weekend (moving people from church) and definitely set back my leg recovery.

xt and a little foam roll

I obviously haven't been at frisbee for a month due to my injury, but our group is dwindling due to people moving, leaving the company, injury, or just not coming. We had a long stretch of 10-15 most days. Lately, they've frequently had 6-10. 10-12 is ideal, but no real prospect for new people.

AM- felt tired so cut my normal XT to 10 min, then weights.

Left work early to head to a restaurant for social gathering with a bunch of coworkers, including 6 of whom are laid off (tomorrow is last day for most). Sad to see them go. Then donated blood in the evening. I should have eaten dinner first- got very lightheaded in the breakroom after, so they wheeled me back into the donation room, put my feet up and ice packs all over. That was fun. At least I didn't pass out, which I've done once or twice. Had a headache the rest of the day.

 weights and elliptical

A twenty year old young man from my church was killed in a car accident today. I was his scout leader, young men leader, and home teaching companion for years. Sad. So unexpected. Hug your kids tight tonight, parents. And wear a seat belt. And all my co-workers I talk to were laid off last week, so I had to mourn in silence all day at work Surreal day. I really feel for his parents and siblings. I love that kid. 

PM- did a bit of an elliptical interval workout, with 10x1min hard. Had some sore muscles from the new weightlifting I've been doing recently. I just want to get my legs better so I can run and play frisbee, honestly.

AM- I was pretty tired today so I only did 20 min slow on elliptical, but then I did an hour of my hardest weights yet. I'm doing more and more lifts each time. Today I added bicep curl and 500m rowing.

xt

XT and weighlifting

I'm working from home while watching 4 kids next week as my wife and oldest kid are at girls' camp. I can't run and don't have a gym membership, so really won't be able to work out till the week after.

It rained today, the first significant rain in 2 weeks. Poured during the evening, up to rainfall of 4 inches per hour. This happened while attending an outdoor funeral. That made it exciting. Totalled 2 inches of rain. My grass sure needs it. Although it's supposed to rain every day till mid-week next week, so I guess our mini-drought of 2 months is over.

I had hoped 1.5 weeks without working out would help my leg heal but it didn't seem to do much. Lifted twice this week, elliptical every weekday (10-30 min), then ran 1/2 mile on 2 days.

Running while watching World Cup, then some lifting. I think I ran half a mile, too

XT, run 1 mile (longest in a long time, actually felt ok- plan to do more), then weight lifting

AM- elliptical, then ran 2 whole miles- longest run in 2 months. Woohoo. Then tried lifting- on the hip abductor maching, I could barely push due to pain/weakness/soreness after that run.

Work is now comical. The last remaining regular person on my cube row quit so I'll be alone most days (one guy comes in about 8 hours per week). And another person on my team quit (YTD 2 laid off, 2 voluntary leave). 4 of us left, doing more work than when we had 12. And, good news, I finally got the LONG promised promotion to Senior Engineer today- yeah! But the promotion money increase is pathetically small, low single digits. Like I said, comical/ridiculous now. Things just pile on. I'm still at work today, it's 6 pm, I've been here since 7 am. I really need to stop working so much. I just find it hard to walk away from work or give a B- effort instead of A+ effort on everything.

Jeff, no need to comment about your condolences. I appreciate the thoughts. At this point, I'm just laughing to myself and shaking my head. It's funny.

Gym at 3 pm to try to watch world cup soccer. Satellite was on the fritz so I only saw about 5 min of the first half, then the first 15 min of second half before going back to work. Elliptical plus run 1 mile. No lifting, as I felt sore/tired and didn't want to push it. I'll do it tomorrow.

Went to the gym and saw a yoga class was doing, so decided to do that. Then some elliptical, then weights. Now going home to watch USA vs France

Elliptical, a bit of a run, then a lifting for upper and lower body, 3 sets and high weights- most I've done.

Went to the gym to watch the world cup, but the dish was on the fritz again so maybe saw 5 minutes of the game, 5 minutes of jumpy video, and 40 minutes of black screen. Annoying. Did run 2 miles, at least.

elliptical and then weights, heavy weight low rep

2 miles with Aspen as Zach biked along. First miles not on the treadmill since April.

Ran at GE for the first time in months. 3 miles on track. Doozy of a day- humid, sunny, heat index over 100F. After work, played 18 holes disc golf with friends- the motion showed my groin is still not healed.

2 xt, 1 run, weights. Groin is improving, hip feels ok.

2 mile run, xt, felt ok. Going to try frisbee tomorrow for the first time since April.

Played ultimate frisbee today- purposefully only jogged, but it generally felt ok. My throws were actually decent, too- I think I threw 3 or 4 of the 5 points my team scored. We won 5-4. Wife going to Idaho for wedding tonight to Monday, so I'm working from home. Might not get many workouts in.

Planned to go paddleboarding with the kids today but it was cold and a bit rainy, so we cancelled. I went to frisbee at work, instead. 5v5. My team was down 2-3 but scored 3 straight to win 5-3.

Frisbee again. Played harder than last week and felt it- my groin is a bit touchy today, I likely won't play Wednesday, and maybe Friday. 4v4 with lots of scoring and turnovers. In the game to 5, my team kept turning it over right on the goal line between drops and bad throws. We were down 0-2, fought to 3-2, then gave up 3 straight and lost 5-3.

elliptical and weights

2 miles elliptical, 1 mile run, while watching ESPN the Ocho

Busy, bad day at work (advice: Don't buy any GE stock... which means it will probably go up)- finally got away to the gym at 5:30. Planned to run a few miles and weightlift but felt terrible, sore, tired so stopped just a few minutes in and did a little elliptical, then back to work.

AM ran 1 mile, xt 2, then lift. Left work at lunch to head to a lake with the family for some paddleboarding. I sure got a workout pumping up 2 paddleboards then paddling around the lake. Definitely building some upper body muscle.

Am 2 miles run. Had to twice stop to stretch my quad/groin, but I made it. Then quick weights as I had a meeting.

My grandpa passed away today. Now I only have 1 grandma left. He was 90 and had dementia for a number of years. I'll be flying to Colorado for the wedding.

2 mile run on GE trail. First run there since April, I think. A bit more sore after. 

no workout, but I did go to the lake and paddleboard with my family before heading to the airport.

AM 3.5 with my dad in Delta Colorado. Longest run in a while. Felt ok. Might work up to 4 miles or so in the next week.

Ran 2 miles on GE trails. Felt ok. 6 deer. Then weights.

XT

AM 3 miles in 28 min on GE trail. 6+ turkeys.

Lunch- hot and humid, decided to see if my legs were up to frisbee. Definitely didn't go all out, and they were generally ok. 10 people. My team lost the first point, then dropped the kickoff and were down 0-2. We then scored 3 straight, gave up 1, then scored 2 to win 5-3.

AM 4 miles on GE trail, longest run since April. Felt pretty good, did about 8:30 pace the whole time. Left Achilles is sore all day after. 5 turkeys, 3 deer. Then weights. There was a stretch where the weeds had grown and some stinging grass made my shins swell up and itch for a while.

Another 11-12 hour day at work. I did sneak in 30 min elliptical at least

Lunch- frisbee. 7v7 with a sub on my team. I didn't run much but was throwing very well right until my last 2 throws. My team won 5-4.

Been working very long hours recently, and sleeping poorly. Last night, though, I was tired at 9 pm so actually went to bed (which I usually don't do till 11:30 or midnight- and if I try to go to bed earlier, I toss and turn for hours). I fell asleep at 9:15 and slept till 6:30. 9 hours- wow. Still tired, but that felt nice.

It's my dad's birthday today. I won't say how old he is. But he's pretty young still. And good looking, of course.

AM run on GE trail 4 miles (8 or so turkeys), then weights. Now that's I'm running a bit again, my left achilles hurts again. 

xt

AM 4 on GE trail with about a dozen deer and half dozen turkeys, then weights.

Tossed and turned in bed for 4 hours last night, finally fell asleep after 3 am.

Lunch- hot and a bit of a breeze- 6v5 frisbee. My team had more throwers, the other team had a lot more speed. They were whupping us during the warmup. Once the game started, we did a zone and it actually worked fairly well. Tied 2-2, we finally forced some turnovers and won 5-2.

Snuck out between meetings for a workout. 30 min elliptical, 1 mile run, then back to work.

AM 5 miles on GE trail. Longest run since April. Slowish, 8:45-9:00 pace. Saw 1 deer, 3 turkey, and heard 2+ coyotes howling. Felt ok, not great. Ankle/achilles sore. Lifted afterwards.

Hot and humid for frisbee. 5v5 plus my team had a sub. My team also had a very new guy. We were semi-competitive but made some mistakes (I had a few bad throws after having very few the past few weeks) and we lost 5-3.

AM 4 miles on trail. 3 turkeys and a deer. I guess there was a decapitated deer head on the trail yesterday but it was gone today. Then lifting.

My oldest daughter is in 7th grade and had her second cross country meet of the year today. She's generally been 4-8th runner on the team. It was very hot (upper 90's) but I challenged her to start fast to see what she could do. It was a big help due to a bottleneck on the course. She ran hard, pushed through feeling bad, and finished first on her team. It's neat to see her push herself.

Am 5 on GE trail. no turkeys, 3 deer. 8:15-8:30 ish.

AM- Rather than run the trail, I decided to do the bench and run competition at the gym. You bench a % of your bodyweight as many times as you can (I had to bench 70%) then run a 5k. Each bench rep subtracts 30 seconds from your time. I haven't done much benching and no fast running in years so thought it would be interesting. I just wanted to beat a runner who did 4 reps, and Ken (gym manager) who did 9.

I did 11 reps, which I was happy with. I didn't want to overdo the run and injure myself, so started conservative. First mile was 8:06, second was 7:45 (note: I very rarely run faster than 8 min pace these days). I really kept increasing speed on the last mile and was working very hard- at the end, I was running sub-6:30 pace. Last 1.1 was at 7:09 pace, total time 23:43. Long cry from where I used to be, but good to get the legs moving. Who knows, maybe I'll sign up for an actual 5k again sometime soon. 

Frisbee on a hot, muggy, sunny day. 7v7, plus my team had a sub. We kept making mistakes, including a few bad throws by me, but were tied 2-2. They scored 2, then we fought back to win 5-4, aided by a couple questionable calls.

Frisbee day, 11 people. The other team played 6 for a while, then started subbing before the real game. It was a pretty well played game- I don't think there were any turnovers for the first 6 points. My team finally broke the other team and went up 4-3, then won 5-3 when Dennis dropped a kickoff. We didn't want him to go out with shame, so we played an extra point and almost scored, but the other team got it. I played fine- I honestly can't remember a single bad throw or missed catch today, though I may be forgetting one. Not a spectacular day for my play, but solid. Fun game today. I'm definitely lacking endurance compared to what I used to have. 30 extra pounds and 10% as much running will have that effect.

AM- it wasn't pretty, but I ran 6 miles today on GE trail. 8+ deer, no turkeys. Sore today, including a balky knee. Weights.

My daughter's school hosted their cross country meet today. I was the lone timer. Fortunately, I didn't mess up.

AM easy xt only

Stretch and weights only

Just foam roll/stretch. Going to dig out my patella tendon strap to see if that helps the knee.

Knee feeling a bit better with my patella strap so played frisbee. Didn't play particularly well- quite a few bad throws. 5v5, other team had a sub. Hot and sunny, a little variable breeze. My team was down 4-2, tied it 4-4, but lost.

AM- figured I'd try a run. It didn't go well. Quad was really sore/tight/painful- ended up walking the last mile. I did see 8 deer, 6 turkey, and there was a coyote 10 yards away at the start that didn't even notice me till I called out, at which point it scampered away.

elliptical, stretch

XT, weights.

Spent Thursday through Sunday in Charlotte with my wife as my parents watched our kids. Enjoyed the Whitewater Center (rafted twice, and have the bruises to prove it), Aladdin, a comedy show (I had never heard of Preacher Lawson before but he was one of them and was hilarious- easy to see why he was a finalist on America's Got Talent... though, as he said, he lost to a 12 year old ventriliquist), Billy Graham Library, and enjoyed the NASCAR hall of fame a lot more than expected. I even won the NASCAR simulator race my last time. Now back to the grind.

My middle school daughter had her last cross country race of the season. She ran pretty well. Her team got 3rd, and the boys won conference. It's fun to cheer for them and watch them run.

AM first run in a week. Wasn't sure how my quad and knee would do, so first ran 2 miles on GE track. Slow but felt ok, so did 2 miles on the GE trail. Saw 2 deer.

97 degree high today. Tomorrow is 98. That's 20 deg above normal, and 5 deg above record highs from the 1930's. Isn't it supposed to be fall already?

AM humid day, very sweaty run. Felt ok, wasn't moving too slow- 8:15 or so. 4 miles, 2 turkeys, 1 deer. Plus weights. High is 98 deg today, which will set all time October temperature record in Greenville by 5 degrees. Old high was from 1884.

Lunch- 95 deg and sunny for frisbee (on a related note, the high tomorrow will be 69 deg. That's a big difference around here). 11 people. My team went up 1-0, then someone from the other team left and I swapped teams. Were down 1-4, fought back to 3-4, but then lost. I don't think I had any bad throws or drops, but could have done better on defense and the other team was pretty good.

Frisbee on a 75 degree day (finally)- 6v6 with a sub on my team. The other team was killing us in the warmup, then started pulling it together, but made some bad throws and drops in the game so lost 5-3. I don't think I had any bad throws or drops, but could have done better on defense. My pulled groin is hurting a bit.

xt and weights

PM ran GE trail after work. 6 turkeys. Felt ok- less niggles than I expected, well enough I may try frisbee tomorrow.

6v6 frisbee. My team was really struggling- I think the other team scored 4 or 5 to start the warmup. We switched to a zone and started having more luck by taking away the long bomb and forcing the other team to make lots of throws. The disc point took over 5 minutes. In the game, the other team scored 2, then we scored 3 straight, then tied 3-3. We scored, they scored, then we closed it out with a 5-4 win. Hard fought game today with some long points and lots of running. My legs felt pretty good. I played well, too- I don't think I had any turnovers or bad throws in the game. Fun times.

Today is my 41st birthday. I guess my bithday is bad luck for frisbee. 10 people, 70 deg and sunny. My team was doing better in the warmup, including some hard hammers. In the game to 5, Sam kept throwing hard hammers that we weren't catching, Tom missed 2 knockdown on long bombs, I threw a disc at Chris's feet, and we overall did our best to lose. We did, 5-2.