Fast Week

Morning weigh-in: 183#, 12% BF
No blood pressure measurement.

Well, in terms of antibiotics at least, I am now officially drug-free: last Ceflex dose was yesterday. Now I just have to wait and see: if the infection comes back over the next few months (or years, or ever) the hardware in my ankle will have to be removed, otherwise not.

Did a towpath ride when I got home yesterday -- since yesterday's weather forecast for today called for thunderstorms (and with Dawn in Aspen I have no trainer appointment), I switched my gym and ride days. 'Twas a very pleasant ride, warm & sunny and great trail conditions. The towpath was in somewhat better shape than the last time I saw it, but it was still pretty beat up from the flooding, so it was pretty interesting riding. I pulled what I thought was a pretty hot lap, but my time was 1:42 -- not bad, but certainly not "hot lap" territory for the towpath when it's back to "straight, smooth and flat" conditions.

Got home, showered, and blew off the Bavarian Pork in favor of a trip to Which Brew. I was so hungry I ate an entire white pizza. Tonight is the gym, then tomorrow is trail maintenance at Allamuchy; if Sunday's nice I may do a towpath/Sals extravaganza.

Oh, Those Alps!

Morning weigh-in: 181.5, 9.5% BF
Blood pressure: 134/78

Well, looks like Floyd un-cracked himself overnight, and everyone else cracked today... He's not quite back on top but at least he's within striking distance.

Meantime, Chain Gang meeting last night at the Workman's. Cool vibe, tacos & salad for dinner, got to hear Karen's new recordings -- she's a damn good singer, does her own arrangements on her Mac, and it's virtually professional quality. Meeting was quick, then we got down to watching the Tour...

Tonight is the gym, maybe a bike ride beforehand if things work out. Dinner will be the last of the Bavarian Pork.

Ka-BOOM!

Morning weigh-in: 180.5, 11.5% BF
Blood pressure: 124/78, 59 BPM

Looks like it was a tumultuous day in the Alps today, Floyd cracked big-time...

Gave a friend a ride home last night, same guy who was with me for the "wrong way granny" incident... On the way home this time, we drove through the absolute worst storm I've ever experienced -- ever -- while driving. Blinding rain, high winds, hail, it pretty much shut the highway down for a few minutes...

It passed through pretty quickly, but left a lot of evidence of its violence: leaves & tree branches were all over the roads. When I got home, I saw a bunch of neighbors standing in the street, near one of the big old trees on the block. I walked over and they said that the tree had been hit by lightning, which traveled down from the top to the bottom, cracked the trunk and blew the bark off, and shattered some of the concrete sidewalk. (That tree will probably be removed by the town, it's now pretty dangerous.) Meanwhile, so much hail was on the ground -- some pieces big as ice cubes -- that it looked like snow. Power was on in the house, but you could tell it had been knocked out: the computer was off, and all the clocks were blinking.

Dinner was more Bavarian Pork Chops, then I went to the gym, but it was closed because the power was out. The rest of the night was spent on the porch, reading High Fidelity.

Hot Hot Hot

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 14% BF
Blood pressure: 120/76, 65 BPM

That Bavarian Pork was OK last night, but not great, mainly because the meat, while soft enough, actually came out a little dry & stringy. Maybe I should fry the meat for a few seconds, to seal in the juices, before putting it in the crock pot; that's what I do for the chili and it seems to work. Meantime, the apples really didn't change anything one way or the other, maybe next time I'll add more. The house smelled pretty good when I got home, but I couldn't eat right away...

Before dinner I took that yoga class. Different instructor, different routines and agenda, I think I like the Saturday class better but it was still pretty good -- mostly it was just a little tougher, and run at a more advanced level. (I also had a surprisingly positive experience with the mental aspects of the exercises in the Saturday class, and there was less of that kind of thing last night.) I think I'm starting to get the hang of some of the routines though, their names, nuances of position and movement, etc. I was pouring sweat in the middle of the tough parts.

Back home, dinner on the porch while finishing William Gibson's Pattern Recognition, and watching the rabbits run around the lawn. Monday night was watching some sparrow/finch-like birds eat grass seed at my feet, last night was rabbits playing, tonight's visitor will be -- what?

I Think I'm Back To Normal

Morning weigh-in: 181#, 12% BF
Blood Pressure: 125/74

Friday night was Which Brew after a road ride. The ride was my old "northern benchmark," the standard or shorter version: up Rt 611 to Mud Run, then back along Rt 191 & Sullivan Trail to Bushkill. I didn't feel particularly strong or fast, but my final time was 1:36, which is actually not bad. WB wasn't so good though; I had some kind of heartburn or irritation going on, had only one beer, doggy-bagged my dinner and went home. Too bad, because there were a lot of cool people I would have liked to hang with...

Saturday morning was an Allamuchy ride. I carpooled down with Doug, stopping for breakfast at key City Diner which was better than I would have expected. In the woods: I felt strong for the first hour or so of riding, but then faded fast. At about the seven mile mark, I took a shortcut back to the trailhead for a total of 10 miles -- actually, that's the furthest I've ridden so far on "real trails."

Doug & Rich stopped by my place later in the day (after they finished the rest of the ride, and got some lunch) and we went to Which Brew for an after-ride beer and some of K-Jo's signature abuse...

Saturday night, back to WB, I think mainly to prove a point.

Sunday was a ride at Jacobsburg, followed by chores (laundry, shopping). For dinner I made tuna scampi w/ wilted greens, followed it with a dessert of strawberries, blueberries & grapes -- I'm all about the modular fruit -- and prepared Bavarian Pork Chops in the crock pot for tonight. I added some sliced apples and a little beer to the recipe this time, we'll see how it comes out. Between work and dinner though, will be "active rest" with a yoga class.