Clouds

It's weird what captures social media attention. 

Wednesday, as we were having dinner, I couldn't help but notice a partial view of a cloud to the east of us. Even with the limited view - stupid houses blocking it - the thing seemed enormous. And bright. 

Shortly thereafter, my nephew-in-law (is that a thing?) texted the title image. 

He and my niece live about 2-3 miles from us, so they saw the same thing - albeit I'm sure the cloud changed a bit, but you get the idea. 

The thing was formidable and kind of an awesome sight. 

I didn't think it was a storm cloud. Just a big summertime one, but later weather outlets defined it as a cumulonimbus cloud - or one that are capable of producing lightning and other dangerous severe weather, such as tornadoes, hazardous winds, and large hailstones. 

As far as I know, neither of us saw any of that. 12 hours later we'd get a pre-dawn t-storm which was cool, but nothing major. 

Still, what little I looked at social media yesterday, there were tons of people who saw the same thing. 

Quite impressive. 

There wasn't to be a tie-in to this above post, but as I was drafting, there were multiple NWS warnings coming across my phone. 

I'm putting this post to bed before we lose power. And I'm 95.4% sure we WILL lose power. 

And I'll take my chances, but my crippled ass is not getting into the basement. 

Song by: Milky Chance

Smoke It

Remember the other day when I identified as a "moron"?   Yeah - hold onto that thought. 

As Canada seems like a stand-up country, it's difficult to be upset with them and all their wildfires. 

You can see that the air quality in the Great Lakes region is less than subpar. It's actually dangerous. 

The powers that be are telling people to stay inside and keep the doors and windows shut - and even with that "efforts to minimize effect, even indoors, may be difficult to impossible." 

Well, that's not good. 

It was not as bad the day prior but I was 'warned' about running outdoors and maybe keeping it to less than 3 miles. I thought.........eh.....I can do 4.  But Cleveland is built around a major river with bridges that go up and down so freighters can pass. As luck (?) would have it, I ran into three of those, so I changed direction multiple times. I ended up running 6. 

Yesterday, I went out before sunrise, though seeing sun wasn't on the docket for yesterday. 

As we have to have the central air running constantly, it ended up giving me a splitting headache, but I thought I better get out there now - or never. 

Both temp and humidity were at 87 - degrees and percent respectively - but the air. The smoke. The heaviness of it all. 

Still - I went. I figured I'd cut five miles to four. And the first mile was very very rough. It was there that I realized I neglected to bring water. 

You can refer back to that 'moron' reference earlier. 

I could have - and maybe should have - turned back then, but ehhhhhhh........I'm already out here. 

There would be no other walkers, runners or dog walkers on my time out. I did eke out five, but it wasn't pretty. I'm considering it "heat training".  I mean you just don't know what conditions a race will be like.

710 would tell me I shouldn't be out there running. 

Ummmmm.........too late. 

It's supposed to rain for the next 5-6 days. Hopefully it will help dissipate some of this - the heat. the humidity. the smoke. 

Song by: Dandy Warhols 

Cool Cat

The heat continues. 

I was hoping (against hope) that it might abate for the first part of yesterday. It did not. 

Well it did. Kind of. Momentarily. 

I went to help the run club set up for the morning race. It was only 73°F !!!  And it was cloudy. Fully cloudy. Sure, a bit humid but I could work with this. It was 25°  cooler than the day before. 

Blobby's shirt was kind of soaked through after setting up for 90 minutes. As I headed to the start line, I looked up and not a cloud now remained in the sky - and the temp was cranking upward. 

Drats. 

This race is historically hot and humid, and I am not quick on learning my lessons. 

The run felt miserable. It kind of was too. I knew before I got to the start line making any kind of personal record was unobtainable. That wasn't just me talking myself out of a good performance - just a fact. 

For starters, I ripped my last existing pair of contacts earlier. I don't usually race in glasses, but I was forced this time. With the sweat, they consistently slid down my nose. Annoying. 

My time wasn't horrid, but it felt as such. I should weigh a lot less than my 12.9 stone with how much I sweat. Granted, I did have TWO popsicles afterwards. Once past the lips.........

As luck would have it, a company set up next to our food tents happened to be a cold plunge company. 

Mind you, these were portable tubs that were hose water filled supplemented with ice (and I think chlorine). My earlier attempt at a plunge pool was one at 42F°.  Yesterday was at 50°, and it made all the difference of what I could tolerate.  And also this day was hotter than it was on my first try. And there were people standing around, so I had to be tough and brave. 

.....yet still didn't think to take off my medal. At least my shoes, watch and glasses came off. 

Actually, it felt so good I did it a second time about 20 minutes later. Sure, I didn't have a towel or a change of clothes, but who cares?  My car kind of smells like wet Shep and wet Blobby anyways. There is only so much Febreze can do. 

This was my last race until September. From here on out it's just training runs. 

Song by: Queen

Too Darn Hot

I'm still on a nothing kick - this the last day of the first half of 2026. 

My anxiety has been up and down (currently up!). Right now we are just looking at heat.  .....well, and anxiety.

Walt lived through their heatwave in France a week or so ago - we are just starting ours. Two nights ago was probably the last night for a while where we could sleep with the windows open. 

We are currently in the 90s and will be inching up to triple digits - higher with the heat index - by mid-week. Still, it might not be as warm as Europe got. At least not yet. 

Marathon training starts tonight, but I'm not going. 

They're running three miles only - which is good for the heat, but I haven't run "only" three miles in months*. Today will be a treadmill day at the gym run - which I haven't done for weeks. But even 05:00 will be prob too warm to do 6.2 outside.  ...and worse luck - no one around to find my body for another 60-90 minutes.  ....should I succumb to the elements. 

Actually, I won't be doing training with the marathon group this weekend either. A. it's the 4th of July.  B. I have a race that day**. C. the marathon group is doing four miles. For my weekend runs I'd be adding at least 10 to that.  Oh, and it'll be in the high 90s. 

Yeah yeah, I gotta train in that, I get that. But I have two and one half months to train in the oppressive heat. I think I'm good not running with them two or three times. It's not like I'm not doing the work. 

* I laugh at myself when I way "only" in terms of miles. How did I become 'that guy'? 

** I gotta stop signing up for this race, when it's always 90+ degrees. Clearly I'll never learn. 

Song by: Erasure

Mother Nature's Son

I sit here in a Panera ordering a bagel just to use their "free" wifi. 

A brief, yet powerful, storm rolled though NE Ohio Sunday afternoon - taking down tree after tree and well, the electric lines under them. Over 100k without power. 

As of this drafting, we still have no power, though crews have FINALLY been dispatched. Maybe we will have power late yesterday evening, or not. I couldn't take the chance, which is why I'm at Panera. 

There was no bother on my part to look at news orgs to see what it all was that contributed to the destruction. I don't need a news site and well, I'm not sure it matters retrospectively. 

No one has uttered the words 'tornado' or 'microburst'. I think it was just the 60-70 mph winds that kicked up for about eight minutes. But it was long enough. 

As we walked Shep through the 'hood on Sunday, it was just one tree after another. And two power lines that I had to call into police. 

710 and I discussed that we were glad we took down those three big trees last year. I believe at least one of them would have succumbed to the winds. People two streets over had both their cars crushed by a huge tree that fell from a neighboring yard. Hood chatter says they are none to pleased with their neighbors, as they should have known the tree had weaknesses.  

I don't think anyone will be borrowing cups of sugar anytime soon. 

The title image is from two streets over. 

This has all seemed to happen a lot in the last 6-7 years. But whatta gonna do?

Song by: the Beatles

Winds of Change

Well, I kind of thought today might be a pass day, which ironically should have been Monday. 

But Mother Nature provided a slight topic. A Spring storm. A strong one at that. 

710 was coming home early (well, for him) so I could go on my training run, but as he was halfway home I got a notice that the run was cancelled due to possible bad weather. 

So we thought we'd get in a quick dog walk before the rains. 

Immediately we passed our neighbor Sam - who has serious Pedro Pascal vibes - who was doing doing the same. He goes, "yeah, we have about an hour".  I'm like......we have 15-20 minutes. It would be at the low end of that timeline too. 

We hadn't walked inside when we felt the first raindrop. We weren't inside for two minutes before our iPhones, Apple Watches, MacBooks and iPads all threw up the messages to your left. 

.....along with screeching alarms. Alarms that would freak out anyone x 1000 for a pet. Poor Shep. Apoplectic. 

Before going down in the basement, as suggested, I stood in front of, and looked out, the window while 710 checked the tv. That was all of 30 seconds before we thought it best to go. Me texting my niece and then sister-in-law to go. They were already on their ways (or there). 

Oddly, as far as I can tell at drafting time (18:34), I can see no debris and we still have power. But that's why I'm doing this now. Losing power is still a possibility with t-storms supposed to be happening all night. 

The winds were wicked. 75 mph. That we don't have branches down is kind of amazing. The rain and lightning were chaotic at best. 

The really bad parts lasted like 20 minutes only, which felt so much longer when you're stuck in a basement with an anxiety-ridden pup. 

Oh, and it turns out we had yet another alarm go off, which took us a few to locate. 

Our ADT system, it seems, just doesn't warn us about unlocked door, windows or break-ins. There is a fire, carbon monoxide - and weather !! - warnings too. 

We've been here six years. This is the first time it's gone off at least while we've been home. But at least it is one additional way to get warnings, I suppose - as if two watches, two phones, and other devices were not enough.  

.....and at least it didn't happen like at 03:00. 

Song by: Jefferson Starship

a Trans Woman Saved My Life

It was going to be a 'nothing' post today - as the muses seemed to be on PTO, should they exist at all. 

It could have been a weather post, as NE Ohio was just whacky yesterday with wind, torrential rain, lightning, and a temp drop of 30 degrees yesterday. But I just did a weather related post to fill air space not that long ago. 

So, I'll just leave it with this. 

 It seems as logical choice of the dozen the Dept of Defense has given. 

The only reason they haven't given is: Epstein File Diversion.  That would be too on the nose. 

Song by: the Path

Snowed In

It's been days since I've drafted a thing. 

Food, Pet and Music posts can be done well in advance if necessary, so in a way, I've had days off. It's been nice. Yet now the pressure is back on to perform. 

Olympics?  Nah. 

BLOTUS stealing $10B right in front of us and no one does a fucking thing? No. 

Puerto Vallarta being under siege after a cartel boss is killed?  Interesting, but it means I'd have to go beyond Morty verbally telling me about it to speak on it with quasi-authority. That seems unnecessary. 

Weather?  

Safe. Topical. Relatable. 

NE Ohio got snow, but not like New York, Massachusetts and parts of the northeastern seaboard experienced. 

While I can't speak with full authority, I have been texting with friend and former blogger, Mike. He of the Cape. He of the town of P. 

I shot him a message before the storm and it seemed he was prepared. He said he had an adequate supply of tequila, so I don't know what else he could have done to get ready. All bases seem to be covered. 

I didn't hear from him most of yesterday, as he didn't answer my texts. I reminded him what the "I" in "IM" meant. He finally shot a message back. 

26" of snow and counting. No power. But they have a propane powered fireplace and stove so they have heat and can eat. 

He sent a pic of them digging out - which I said was adorable, as there was nowhere to go. But I get it, Ollie has to go out to go, so even though he's taller than Shep, I don't know he's 26" tall. So dig out they must. 

I did tell him I was stopping texting, as I'm sure he'd rather not waste what phone charge he had left conversing with me. He didn't fight me on it.  I'm somehow offended though. 

I've seen pics of deserted avenues in Manhattan. I didn't see their snowfall. These last few days I've really tried to steer away from most social media. The NYT is for crosswords, Spelling Bee, Connections and Wordle. Oh, and Strands. 

I don't ever have to leave the Game page. It's perfect. 

But we are two-thirds the way done with Winter. 

.....in theory. 

Song by: Mindy Smith

Oh No

Winter still plagues us here in NE Ohio. 

At least for the next 10 days we still won't get above freezing, which will make it like three weeks in a row. Bother. 

And it won't stop snowing. 

Mind you, it's not inches upon inches like last week, but there is always a new covering - which for aesthetic purposes is nice - it covers all the grey and brown slush. But one-quarter to one-half inch daily starts to add up. 

Not enough to pull out the snowblower and well, shoveling is now off the table for moi. 

Last week did me in. We couldn't get the snowblower to work, so Blobby did it all by hand - all 15-17".  And then, out of the kindness of my heart (no honest!), I did it for my sister in law. 

My core was sore for sure. Painfully sore. Until it wasn't. 

.....then all the pain centered in my lower back, which manifested when I bent over to pick something up. 

As Dr. Zachary Smith might have yelled - "oh, the pain!". 

The weekend consisted of naproxen, flexeril and heating pads. And no running. 

Things were better when I moved. Sitting and getting up from sitting were the pains - literally. I was doing so well - until yesterday morning. Another crouch to get something and wham-o. 

Granted it's not AS bad as Friday, but it ain't great. More of the meds. More of the pad. None of the running. 

Technically half / marathon training started last week (though cancelled due to horrible weather). Actually it now starts this evening - which I'm not planning on attending. A 3 mile run in single digit temps isn't going to put me that far behind. The drive each way would take longer than the run. 

710 was so worried about me having a heart attack by shoveling, no one saw the back thing coming. 

Insult to injury?  After I finished with that 15-17" clearning, 710 got the snowblower working. 

Bother!

Song by: Don Dixon

Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow

Everyone's talkin' about the weather..............but no one is doing anything about it. 

Well, that's not exactly true. 

I had gone out to meet my training group on Wednesday evening. One beer only, because it was my first drink in a month and the weather was turning crappy. It was a slow slog home, taking double the time it normally might. 

While it looked like I was Han Solo jumping into hyperspace on my drive, there was only about one-quarter of an inch actually on the ground. So I didn't worry about it too too much. 

Yesterday morning however was a different story. About another 7 and 3/4 inches of snow had fallen and was still steadily coming down. No one was going anywhere. All schools had closed before 06:00. 710 had tried to let Shep out who went off the porch into a drift that completely covered him. This was not going to be fun. 

I finally got motivated to start clearing the drive and walks. But to get to the snowblower, I'd have to shovel enough to be able to pull out my car to get to said blower. That would take me 40 minutes of heart attack inducing work. 

Even WITH the snowblower, it would take me another two hours to clear our driveway. Places were so deep that this behemoth of a machine wasn't able to keep up or make it's way through on a first go-round. And we were running out of physical places to put the discarded snow. 

Oh, it was also 17° but felt like 6° .  F. Not C. 

Oh, and from the time 710 let Shep out, there was now 2-3 additional inches of snow.  Bother!

My first duty (hehehehe.....I said "duty") was to clear a path for Shep. But being the good Dad #2 that I am, I built him a motorway.   And that was by hand, because you can't really do a snowblower on a lawn. 

The rationale was even if we could get him out to walk, there were no clear streets or sidewalks that didn't have snow higher than himself.  And he LOVED it.  He has gotten zoomies a few times there. 

Since the blower was fully gassed up, I took it down our side of the street and did everyone's walk. I'd like to say it was altruistic but in reality, I needed to be able to get Shep to walk. Someone else did the entire length of the other side of the street. 

I did end up clearing another 2" shortly before sunset. But it had seemingly stopped snowing, so......yay. 

....and just an FYI - no one has plowed the street(s).  The next 10 days are going to be cold to super cold. So......yay. 

Song by: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Thanks

I'm drafting this earlier than I normally would. 

Thanksgiving weather here looks possibly bleak. 

Snow advisories (blah blah blah). Something about 3-14" of snow. I'm guessing 1". 

Winds winds winds. Big ones, apparently. They barred "high profile vehicles" from the Ohio Turnpike. 50 mph gusts. But steady 20-30 mph just going on.  FYI trying to get the remains of the leaves seems silly now. 

I am zero ashamed of this. I read that quote to 710 and he goes......"yes.....tractor trailers". Apparently they mean "high" (height) "profile" (from the side). Or vehicles that tip. Not Maseratis and Porches, like I assumed - which I didn't understand why they'd be not allowed on the road. 

Running friend Joe has already cancelled on me for the Turkey Trot that is to run today. "Running in wind chill in the teens is not my jam" he texted. Man, what a pussy.  I'm thinking I'll win my age category just by showing up. 

We have a fridge full of food. I gassed up the car. Snow brush is now in the backseat. Snow blower ready to roll out if needed. As SpongeBob might say, "I'm Ready". 

I'm mostly worried about power. High winds meeting power have never been great here. 

BTW - this is all being written earlier on Wednesday, on the possibility that we will lose power and I can't write later. 

That all said - everyone have a great Thanksgiving.   Thanks to all of you for continuing to stop by and humour me. Have a great holiday, and I'll see you back here tomorrow.

.....assuming we have power. 

Oh, and it's just the two of us for today. But I would KILL to be at a Thanksgiving with Leslie Jones. 

Song by: Shelby Lynne

Raining

It rained yesterday. Poured actually.

I'm not complaining. 

We haven't had rain for weeks. The weather has been nice - if not unseasonably warm. Some days out and out scorchers......in October!

Last evening was also the training groups Tuesday run. I thought the rain was over for the day. I was wrong. 

Just due to might-be bad weather, only a handful of us showed up. I'm not sure if that makes us more dedicated or more foolish. Maybe somewhere in between. 

It was only a four mile run, so it was fine. In case of a thunderstorm though, I did four miles at 05:00. So technically I did eight yesterday. But it was the first time (I think) since June that I ran in the rain. 

I get many don't like it, but I am good with running in the rain. More importantly, it's a good training tool. You don't know what race day will be like, so you should plan for this. Autumn almost especially. Wet leaves? Slickery. One must be prepared. 

Everyone was soaked. I didn't have a change of clothes or a towel, so my car is gonna smell icky today. Wet, sweaty Blobby on leather seats that is now sitting in a garage overnight.  Ick. It's as bad as wet dog smell.  Maybe worse. 

The rain is supposed to cease before most of you read this, but the water was welcome, especially from the plants. 

It also makes for good sleeping weather. 

Song by: Susanna Hoffs

Weather with You

I would really rather not comment on the Texas girl's camp that got wiped out by a flood and killed all or most of the campers and the staff. 

I mean, it is fucking horrifying, no? 

Surely some of them were going to end up in STEM classes, while some would have grown up to oppress women's rights. I mean, it was Texas. 

STEM would have helped them better. But you know......science. What's it ever been good for? 

In an even semi-perfect world, we, the U.S., would learn from this. These were somewhat preventable deaths. 

DOGE laid off 880-1000 (or more) folks at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in March of this year. More than 10% of their staff 

Some say it was for Musk to get his Starlink the contract for satellite control. Doubtful we'd get a confirmation on that possibility. In reality, it's probably due to BLOTUS being ridiculed for inaccurately drawing on a hurricane weather map and the NWS correcting him. 

You and I both know that butthurt him. And he is very very very prone to retaliation. 

Those layoffs include meteorologists and the National Weather Service, which includes early warning systems. 

Ohhhhh......so sad.  

Wouldn't it be weird if the girls who were killed were the daughters of the Tesla employees who had to relocated to Texas because of their boss?  The same boss who was the one who cut those NOAA jobs?  It's creepy to say, but it would be some kind of delayed karma. 

I mean it is all sad. And I'm 100% certain that no one in this administration will take any blame or responsibility for this. Why start now?

.....and just look at the fucking blog image. Julie (official!) 

I mean, you cannot argue with her logic.  

Really. I mean, you can't. It is impossible to reason with someone like this - and there are millions of someones like this. That it took someone a few days to blame Pappy Joe is more the amazing part. I'd have thought that'd be in an instant. 

So far, I have not heard Marjorie Taylor Cunt weigh in on the Secret Jewish Space Lasers that cuntrol (not a typo) weather. 

Oh yes, she did once say “Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”.  While she did not say who "they" were, I'm guessing it's a few guys at the JCC who meet on Thursday mornings for their shvitz.......and hurricane planning. 

Speaking of............Dave Richardson, the BLOTUS appointed head of FEMA, said - just last month - that he was not aware there was a hurricane season. 

Holy Fuck Balls. 

Maybe I shouldn't be so worried about SS / ICE. Maybe Mother Nature will end it sooner - and more humanely. 

Song by: Crowded House

Heat Waves

Like many places in the U.S. this week, it has been a tad warm in the 216.

.....and I'm underselling it. Some of our lows have been the lower 80s. Our highs are the high 90s with a "feels like" heat index of over 100. Fun. 

Like the frigid temps, dog walks have been very shortened. The heat is too much on the dog's paws and we have to carry water everywhere. I've been doing the one long walk before the sun rises. 

Runs have been slightly miserable. Some are taking place inside on treadmills, but I'm still doing about half outdoors mostly for the social aspect....like last evening's pub run. Last one of these I fell down and go boom. Not so much this time. 

If you go back in this blog - and I don't really suggest it - I'd bitch about winters. Not as much anymore. I find as I age it is the heat that more difficult with which to deal. At one point we considered retirement someplace warm like the shores of North Carolina, but that is off the table. A week a year in that heat is fine - more than that, not so much. 

I've said this before too:  running in winter, I can warm up in 0.25 of a mile. There is no cooling down in this kind of heat. 

I have never been the guy who lays out at the beach or pool. I'm too antsy for that, and I don't know I was ever into getting a tan. 710 was when I met him. The idea of just sitting there seems crazy to me - even with people watching. 

The above image I took when it was almost 100 - at noon. A young woman on a towel, on a black rubber track at the school. Not a beach. No water. No one around.....except the creepy guy taking her pic through the fence. 

It's unfathomable to me to do such a thing - even if I was promised to be melanoma free. Good thing no one was running an 800 relay. 

She probably had her squeeze bottle of baby oil. 

Looks like we have a few more days of this at least. I mean, whatta gonna do? 

Song by: Glass Animals

Slip

This theme is like Groundhog Day - but not as funny. 

Leaving for my run this morning I had to kick our gate open, as it was iced from head to toe and not wanting to let me out of the drive. 

On my travels to an eastern suburb to meet up with the training group, I just talked myself into that it'll just be a cold run, but fine every other way (except for the first two miles which is all up hill). 

Again, I am NOT an optimist, so I think I was just trying to psych myself into the run. 

I entered the metro park a certain way, so I could see the conditions in which we would partially run.  

I was not pleased. 

This was the road. To the left, is where the paved path is supposed to be. And it turns out, this wasn't even the worst area.  Bother!

While the scheduled run was for eight miles, I already knew I'd be attempting nine. I really need to increase my distance. The back of my mind still crawls with worry of my last injury, and on my last group run I ended it with the "what makes you think you attempt a half marathon?" thoughts. 

Mentally, yesterday's run went better. Possibly physically too - ice and snow aside. 

Don't get me wrong, there were treacherous spots, but I navigated it all - save once - for a decent run and a decent time. Not a great time, but considering the conditions, I was "happy". 

Mind you, I almost killed myself hitting ice when running back into the parking lot. 

As soon as I composed myself, my cousin happened to drive by and flip me off. 

Honestly, he probably wasn't even the first of the day to do that - just the first one I saw. 

Song by: Linkin Park

Weather

We had a hint of Spring, and then the rug was pulled from us. 

Wednesday - two days ago - it got up to 63°F .  The evening before was 54°F.

Both days I got to run outdoors.....in shorts! I haven't worn shorts outdoors since maybe early November. 

Of course, it was too good to be true. 

Temps started falling late Wednesday afternoon. By the time I woke at 05:30, it was 25°F and snowing steadily.  

I watched my neighbor, Andy, pulling out of his drive when I awoke. It didn't really look like it was snowing hard until his headlights hit the flakes.....and you could see how the snow was more horizontal than vertical. 

It never did get above freezing. Nor was there even a peek of sunshine. The winds were harsh and it was cold. I took my running to the gym.

For all my other depressive shit, Seasonal Affective Disorder doesn't seem to be one of them, though I'm so ready for this Winter to be over. 

We have another round of snow scheduled for today, which means cold, snowing and what have you for my long run on Saturday. Even if it should warm up (and it's not supposed to make it past 30), my run is early enough in the morning that any temp elevation won't matter to me. 

I don't mind the cold for running, but the slush and ice are a drag. 

I'm just kvetching right now. It'll pass.                         Eventually. 

Song by:Meshell Ndegeocello 

Ice

Dr Spo calls Michigan "the Land of Perpetual Snow and Ice".

One could argue that Cleveland is the same. I mean, there is only a lake separating us - and at the far western corner of the state, not even that.  

Where I went to the first half of kindergarten, it's been told that while the school was in Ohio, part of the school playground resided in Michigan. But I don't claim to me a Michiganander - or whatever they're called. 

Yesterday, on this the 173rd day of February, it was more of the same. 

Oddly, no new snow or ice, but no warmth either. The blue sky is just a ruse. Lake Erie is 90% covered in ice. This what I call "Hoth in Summer".   

Yesterday's a.m. run was cooooooold. 14°F. Felt colder. The plan was to run south but the paths were bad, allegedly, so we ran north. The path was spotty at best. As far as I know no one fell, but as I didn't run the minimum or maximum amount - like the 3rd bear, my distance was jusssssst right - at the turn, I ran by myself. Which was fine. 

Today's a.m. run looks to be 25°F.  I might push the distance to meet yesterday. I know that I'll be running alone. The Sunday crew never goes above 5.25 miles. 

Sweat wicking clothes or not, while I am warm running, afterwards in that temp, you get pretty cold. The wet on your back is not all wicked away. 

Ice is still ever present on our drive and dog walks. 

If the weather people are to be believed, on Tuesday we will be above freezing for the first time in weeks. Maybe even the first time this month. I'm not holding my breath. Maybe we will turn a corner on this. 

It is time this week to make some determination about springtime races. I think I have a plan, I just need to sign up and commit. 

Song by: Daniel Lanois

Snow Tunnel

Coming?   COMING?

Fuck man - it's been here since December. Literally and figuratively. 

2024-2025 Winter has been somewhat unrelenting here in the 216. 

I used to bitch about the cold. I've been better about that. When it comes to running, I even prefer it. 

As long as one can get around enough, I don't mind the snow that much. 

Ice? Not a fan. Especially at my advanced age, and the fact that I'm a falls risk. 

This season it's been all three, all the time. Or most of. We didn't even have our "January thaw" this go round. 

The title image was taken on my drive home from Sunday's run. When I left for said run, it was misting. Halfway there it was more than that, but not quite rain. By the time I parked it was snowing.  This was over the course of 22 minutes. 

By the time I was done with my run 50 minutes later, we had 2" on the ground and it was still coming down.  Saturday's run wasn't much better, and it was two miles longer. 

22 minutes travel time to the run. 75 minutes on the way back. 

If nothing else, we fired up the snow blower for the first time this year. I had been clearing the drive by hand (well, and shovel) because I could do  2-3" at a time. When it got to 5-6" and heavy on Sunday, it wasn't worth it - carbon footprint be damned. I had another 3-4" to clear yesterday morning. 

I've run in temps as low as 12°F  but I don't make a habit of it. This evening's run it is calling for low single digit temps, but it feeling well below 0°F.  I'm not one for being a baby (ok....maybe), but should it really be that bad, I'll go indoors for a treadmill. 

Last evening's walk with Shep was literally to the end of the block and back. It was so fucking cold - the tips of my toes were in pain. We were out for 8 minutes. A 5 mile interval run seems just torturous to me. 

I'll just stay home and make meatloaf or something. 

Song by: Watkins Family Hour

Warmer Climate

We are nearing the end of 2024. I'm trying to put the finishing touches on my last two posts of the year and to start thinking about my first post of 2025, which pretty much sums up 2024, but in text form. 

Expect a few #@&!$ to be thrown around. 

We are ending the year with unseasonable weather. 

62°F was the high yesterday. I think the low was 51° .  

It was great weather in which to do a 5 mile run at 07:30.  T-shirt and shorts in late December. My hands were the only thing cold, but they're always cold. I just couldn't see running in gloves in 50+ degrees. I took it like a man.  <insert eye roll emoji here>

On our dog walk, we went to Lake Erie. So did 1,003 other people and 412 dogs. 

....and two dolts. 

Yes, you can see them there in the lake. SOOOOO manly, but not enough so to go all the way under. Pussies. As we were leaving others were putting paddle boards into the water and were ready to get out on the water. 

Today the temps look to be the same, but with lots and lots of rain. I'm skipping running. I'm easing into this. I normally run three days - rest one - run two - rest one. As I'm still in PT, I am opting for just two days per week so far. I'm babying myself. 

The stride seems fine. I'm finding that my breathing is gone. I never had a good technique with which to begin, but it kind of worked. Muscle memory is not bringing that back, so I struggle a bit. I'm sure I'll get back into the swing. The Old Man's Running Group was thrilled to have me back. That was nice. 

Ok. off to finish those last two posts of this craptastic year. 

Song by: Snow Patrol

Cold as Ice

Technically it is not yet Winter, but don't tell anyone in NE Ohio that. 

710 said Wednesday he'd be coming home early if it started snowing. Yes, there were 'warnings', but nothing I saw made it seem like any storm would hit us.  .....and it didn't. 

Well, it did, but after we went to bed. It was spitting rain while I grilled out, but no flakes. 

Wind would keep me up most of the night. Starting around 02:00, we were getting sustained winds of 40 mph and gusts of 60+.  I just kept thinking 'downed trees' and 'power lines'. 

We woke up to snow, but not a lot. I'd say 2" worth. I could still see parts of the drive. Yet almost all the schools on the east and south sides of town were already closed. It seems everyone was staying in and working from home. Daycare was notified Shep would be staying home as well. 

The a.m. dog walk was fine. It wasn't horribly cold or anything. The ground was a little slick, but that stood to reason if rain turned to snow, ice was in there somewhere, right? 

After I toweled him off, I just thought I'd do a quick clean of the drive and walks. 2". pfffft. I can do that with a shovel, I don't need no stinking snow blower. 

Let me just say due to that rain-to-snow thing, yes it was only two inches, but heavy AF. And not quick. 

I totally get why old guys get heart attacks shoveling snow. 

I cleared as best I could. My antidepressants might be working better. I had wind and falling snow, but I did not curse at the elements as I did with the leaves a week or so ago.  

Progress!

All I really did was expose a LOT of ice. But now we could see where we were going to fall. Well - could. New snow has taken care of that. Still it's lighter, fluffier snow. 

I was drenched. Gloves and hat just filled with sweat. I had to change clothes. 

After lunch we took Shep for a short jaunt. Somewhere the temps dropped. Whatever the actual temp said (16?), the weather apps said it felt like 3. I think they were being generous. 

We are in 'winter storm watch' mode for another day, but make no mistake, winter has arrived. 

Song by: Foreigner