Running
- I noticed about 1 month into this I was very tired and exhausted, I don’t know if it attributed to this but I had a stretch that I was just tired for a good week or so straight almost like my body didn’t know what to do without. I won’t say I was addicted but I do wonder if like taking a week off of coffee (caffeine) sometimes you can get headaches.
- I think from my fitness perspective it has made my longer runs 100% easier and possibly a faster recovery after the fact.
- I have dropped 10 lbs from where I was hovering in all of 2023. Some of this I have changed some eating habits but I do wonder if that habit has been easier by not having some extra endless calories from time to time.
Got this one in before my daughter’s hockey game. She was up and ready to go and gave me a disapproving look when I said I was going to get a quick run in and told me I had 25 min to get back. I got back in 25:26 because I had to take a photo (of course) and slowed to get around a family.
Hills and Heat was the theme of today’s run. I even knew the heat was going to get to me but I pressed on and of course the sun was up high beating down on me. I was glad for the miles in the middle to be back at the Richard T Anderson Conservation Area.
100 days an counting...
Something I didn’t do when I decided to run a 5k a day was talk about or even mention it. Thinking back I believe I told only one person over coffee one morning. 😉
Taking a step back, my goal was at first a week, then a month, then a couple of months but I never was thinking 1 year being the goal.
However, it was never a goal when I started so maybe that is why I didn’t but I know at some point I got it stuck in my brain and I could have talked about it.
So 100 days of what, well 100 days of not having a drink of an alcoholic beverage. I should be clear on the why this is interesting and I am talking about it. Honestly, it is nothing special or big grand reason as to why, I just told myself I am going to give it a try and that is what I am doing. I have been building up some millage running and I guess part of me wanted to see if it would change how I felt or recovered during the week or after long runs. So 100+ days this is my current take aways both from a good or just interesting perspective from my own personal experience (in no order):
I guess I didn’t really touch on has it been hard ever, the answer to this is yes in fact. As I made the decision to just step away for a little while I was very cognizant that I had a week of business travel where we were with our consultants and had many dinners out. I don’t mind not having a drink but sometimes I think if the server came to me first as I was a more seniored person at the table most of the time I set the tone of not getting a drink and then everyone else followed. There was also a parent Hockey party that I feel like 100% of the time involves drinking so I did get a handful of questions as to why I wasn’t drinking anything. No one really cares but it is something to note that people do notice and you 1000% will get a question. This also was noticed but not really asked as we celebrated my birthday a while back and went out to eat with my parents. Finally, I have noticed as time as gone on and further reflection, I have kind of avoid the easy pitfall places like hockey “safety meetings” or catching up with someone after work for a drink. Both of those places I know I do not have to drink so it isn’t that at all. I think some of with this current habit change and seeing it though for a while it was easier to avoid them. I need to get this part out of my head though as I still need to be social with friends and colleagues if this experiment continues.
So that is all I have for now and as I sit over 100 days I am not going to say I might stop today or continue for another 5, 50, or 100 days. Just a reflection point for myself as it has been an interesting experiment.
This post has been sitting in my drafts since day 50 but it is well past that at this point. I think there is two reasons here: (1) I wrote it and was going to post it right away but got distracted and never really came back to it (2) I still was for some reason not sure about posting it out as I didn’t and still don’t have what that end goal is or if there is a reason to this experiment.
This run was saved by Apple Watch notifications… Well more specifically it got me to my meeting on time that forgot about as I thought I still had another 30 min so wasn’t in any rush. Come to find out I had 10 and Siri gave me the heads up in time.
Sun was really shining down for this run but ducked into the trees for a second to get this photo. Just kind of ran on cruise control today and tried not to check the watch except to see how many miles had ticked by.
I realized a couple miles in today that there was still smoke in the air from the fires but assumed it wasn’t too bad. I did get a text from my wife almost when I was done saying her school was not allowed to have kids out today due to the air quality but here I was out there running. 🫣
Portland Observatory
Running the other day I ran by the Portland Observatory which is on my list to actual goto when it is open but I haven’t had a chance as it isn’t open year round.
I find older cities and towns fascinating as the town I live in doesn’t have the same type of historical story or maybe more specifically not as many older buildings still being used today. Granted there is history where I live but not to the same extent as Portland, ME (or other places). There is so many buildings I see during my wandering around Portland that I wonder what it originally was used for and all of that just like the Portland Hey Building and Portland Co. Pattern Storehouse that I only breilfy wrote about before.
So when I saw the picture above on my flight home, I decided to spend some time with this wonderful Free High Speed Delta WiFi while watching movies to do a little digging about the Portland Observatory. This is the summary of what I found.
The tower was built in 1807 by sea captian who turned entrepreneur Captain Lemuel Moody. It was constructed in a remarkably short period of time (4 months from April to July) due to the simplicity of the observatory’s design and the use of local materials and labor. Despite its quick construction, the observatory was a well-built and sturdy structure, able to withstand the harsh weather conditions of the Maine coast.
Photo Copyright of Maine Historical Society
It was a commercial venture to give ship owners a competitive edge if they paid Moody a subscription fee of $5.00 a year to alert them when their ships were arriving. With a telescope at the top he could see incoming ships from as far as 30 miles away and then could hoist signal flags identifying the vessels coming in.
This signal tower also increased the efficiency of Portland Harbor and the Observatory remained a working marine signal tower run by the Moody family until 1923 when the invention of the two-way radio made it obsolete.Â
The original cost of constructing it was a mere $6000 in 1807 and during the peak of the observation towers services it generated an estimated $1,000 in revenue per year from these fees, demonstrating its importance and value to the maritime community.
In 1866, the observation tower actually survived the Great Fire which destroyed much of Portland. This helped solidify the observatory as a symbol of the city’s resilience and determination to rebuild the town after the devastating fire.
The Portland Observatory is the only remaining historic maritime signal station in the United States.Â
Wanted to get a run in this morning before a busy day of work and then flying. Plus how can I pass up one last morning run along the water and then through the city.
Decided to meander around the streets tonight before dinner. Didn’t have a solid plan as I just didn’t want to run too far but the weather was nice.
Went for a longer run this morning as it is going to be a long day of meetings at work. Decided to hit the Back Cove again and now that it is lighter outside in the mornings I ran across a lot of people.
After getting into town so late last night I didn’t think I was going to wake up and run today. However, with it being so much more sunny at 5am here I shot out of bed thinking I overslept. I didn’t and knew I wouldn’t fall bask asleep so I went running.
Writing with Obsidian
For the past couple of posts I have made, everything has been written in Obsidian and then pushed to Micro.blog via Micro.Publish created by Otavio Cordeiro.
Not only have I used Obsidian to create and post those, they have mostly been done on my iPhone as well. I have also found that using Jarrod Blundy’s wonderful iOS shortcut called Multimedia Uploader to get pictures on my site is the perfect addition. I can then copy that link and put it in my Obsidian document, so I can finish any extra writing as necessary prior to hitting publish.
This new process has been working well, and I not only have been doing it for my longer posts as part of WeblogPoMo2024 but also on some of my shorter posts about runs and other random thoughts that would not come through my Status.lol.
Not sure if I will continue with this for the long haul, but right now, this has also renewed my want to use Obsidian as I can use it on my various devices. A great example is this specific post: I started it on MacOS, but I am finishing it up on the plane on my iPhone prior to takeoff.
It was a warner one than I anticipated but I know my body is not heat ready still with all these changes in temps. However, I pushed through the miles for this run as I know my evening will be spent in airports and on airplanes.
The kids slept in this morning so I took that time to quickly get a run in. Legs felt heavy today so probably good that this week had some lighter millage in. I didn’t know how wet the conservation area was going to be but not all that bad on the trail.
Thankful that my early morning meeting got canceled as I was able to actually get a run in earlier than I normally would. It was so nice outside too as it was cool but sunny with a little bit of dew on the grass.
Really I can’t complain how this Friday has started out, I got an early run in and came home to try another newer coffee for me from Groundwork.
WorkOutDoors App
I really do like my Apple Ultra watch and am glad to only be rocking one watch on a daily basis unlike a couple years ago. However, having the Ultra well over a year now and knowing the Apple Watch itself has been out so long I still can’t believe that the missed opportunity to have a route mapping function on the watch with in the stock Workout app. Typically I don’t need it often but when I map out some really long runs on my phone I have to pull it out from time to time to make sure I catch the right trail or street, two things I don’t love doing when I am out running and also further makes me not want to run with out my phone.
Now, yes there are a couple apps out there that can allow you to get turn by turn directions but most are not great or require an additional subscription to use and I had found a hadful of them don’t work that great or are complex to setup. Also, you run into the issue of are you going to run just that or the Workout app as well and how do you flip back and forth.
With all of that said and even with some of the limitations that are still there I was pointed in the direction of WorkOutDoors app from Mat Routley which I have actually found to be a solid running map navigator. I have used it a handful of times now and been running the workout app at the same time but in the background. Flipping between them if I need to for any reason is a pain but I am getting used to it. However, my last longer run I started the Workoutdoor app then started my workout app and then went back to the workoutdoor app until about a mile or so left because I knew the direction. It didn’t kill my battery for being out there for 2 hrs and 45 min of two GPS apps running and timing.
I had to buy this app but honestly I have no issues paying for an app that does what it says and it woeked better than others that wanted more of a subscription base. I will say this app has a lot of settings but I think that is what I like about this, check the settings you want on your phone, load the GPX map you want to follow or map it in the iOS app and go. Nothing to crazy just filling the gap that the WatchOS left in the Workout app. Maybe someday that will be corrected but for now I don’t mid this setup and again it allows me on longer or more complex runs to leave my Garmin again at home.
The start of this run it was very misty out but then cleared up. Overall just plugging away at some miles but being careful of the geese I came across as I saw some little ones out there too, and I know they’re protective.
Bolo
Every now and then I run across something that has me remember something from my past and today it was a computer game called Bolo by Stuart Cheshire. Don’t be mistaken by the 1982 game that was for the Apple II as I am talking about the 1987 game.
I mean what wasn’t there to like about this very basic game, you were a tank on an island for a winner or team take all. In the game you could capture pillboxes (automatic gun turrets), refueling bases, build walls and boats, join alliances, farm trees, and lay mines. You could find other built maps or even create your own to add to the challenge if you wanted to play alone or even with others.
“Bolo is the Hindi word for communication. Bolo is about computers communicating on the network, and more importantly about humans communicating with each other, as they argue, negotiate, form alliances, agree strategies, etc.”
To top if off if you were lucky enough you could play against others on a local network at your school which is what some of my friends and I did. It helped that this was back when Mac computers were starting to show up in school and my dad was the Middle School Principal so he would let a couple of us go into the computer labs after school. Most of the time there was only 2-4 of us so we would boot up as many computers as we could and set most of them to be on autopilot with various “Brains” we had downloaded to the disks we had.
In my stumbling around to find out more about this old game I used to enjoy I found where you can play an old version online in the Internet Archive.
