The Bumbling Bee

Mark B wrote:

nkrichards wrote:Waiting for the next awesome scenery photo. 

You better take advantage of Alec's interest in hiking with you while you can!!

I think I can help you with that! We went back to our private forest on Sunday. I told the family that if I happened to shuffle off my mortal coil soon and was cremated, they could put at least part of what's left of me in these woods. They feel that much like home to me. (Might be trickier if they decided to bury me, though ...   )







Did about two and a half miles there, with a decent amount of climbing, which is feeling better the more I do it. 

Also walked to work today, with hot sun but a strong north wind. My walk home tonight will be interesting.

You did not disappoint.  Awesome scenery.

We used to joke about spreading Marty's ashes in the irrigation pond but the kids said it would be just like Dad to plug the sprinklers....

nkrichards wrote:We used to joke about spreading Marty's ashes in the irrigation pond but the kids said it would be just like Dad to plug the sprinklers....

Nice one!

So the walk home from work was warm and windy, but delayed because of a couple of wind-driven brush fires that prompted evacuations in two Vancouver neighborhoods. A tad early for this sort of thing, and it doesn't bode well for this summer. Oh well.

Also, I spoke a little too soon about "feeling better" when it comes to my foot. As I walked around the office yesterday, I felt two pops in my right foot - one around the 3rd and 4th metatarsal joint and another on the first metatarsal joint. Didn't feel great. I was able to walk home without any difficulty, but my foot was a little sore last night and this morning. Luckily, it's going to be hotter today and I was planning to drive to work anyway, so I'll give it a rest.

Forgot to mention: I suspect the reason for the "pops" was less my hike yesterday than my experimenting with a longer stride, with more push-off, while I was walking to work. It may have helped me to a tad faster, but I realized later that it was also flexing my foot in the direction that's been problematic for that mid foot joint. Live and learn. (And hopefully not limp!)

I, for one, missed your posts - so thank you.   Thanks also for the beautiful photos and the update on Alec.   Hope the feet are ok so you can continue on your walks.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:I, for one, missed your posts - so thank you.   Thanks also for the beautiful photos and the update on Alec.   Hope the feet are ok so you can continue on your walks.

Aw, thanks, Michele! Can you believe it's been five years since you paid us a visit? I just saw the memory pop-up on FB the other day.

I think my feet will be fine. I just need to remember that I'm still recovering from an honest-to-gosh injury and not push too hard, too fast.

Heh. So I walked to work yesterday, and it felt fine... until we had to make a same-day veterinary appointment and I forgot I'd need to walk home to get the car and drive to the vet! 

Luckily, my boss was happy to give me a lift so I could fetch the car. But that realization was pretty funny. 

The vet appointment is for Callie, who has developed a weird fat lower lip. It almost looks like she's sticking out her tongue. They don't know what's causing it but seem confident it's not cancerous. They gave her some antibiotics and gave us some steroids to give her for a few weeks to see if we can knock whatever it is out of her system. It doesn't seem terribly serious, but it was definitely worth checking out.

Mark B wrote:Heh. So I walked to work yesterday, and it felt fine... until we had to make a same-day veterinary appointment and I forgot I'd need to walk home to get the car and drive to the vet! 

Luckily, my boss was happy to give me a lift so I could fetch the car. But that realization was pretty funny. 

The vet appointment is for Callie, who has developed a weird fat lower lip. It almost looks like she's sticking out her tongue. They don't know what's causing it but seem confident it's not cancerous. They gave her some antibiotics and gave us some steroids to give her for a few weeks to see if we can knock whatever it is out of her system. It doesn't seem terribly serious, but it was definitely worth checking out.

Those cats do keep your life interesting...

Hope you...Alita...Alec...and the cats are all well. 

The cats seem to be doing fine - Fluff is officially not diabetic anymore (woot!) and Callie's weird fat lip is going away rapidly with the medicine (woot! woot!)

And (woot! woot! woot! woot! woot! woot! woot! woot!) we have progress on the job front for the offspring: tentative federal job offers from three different locations! Two of the locations are very desirable and the third is doable, too. Since this is still tentative, he'll need to do some more paperwork and get that all squared away before a final offer. He'll have to decide which one at some point, though we're not sure when that'll be required. We're still waiting for instructions. (Yep. Hurry up and wait.) But we're very happy!

This also means I'm driving to work until we get those instructions so I can sneak out of work on short notice and take him to get fingerprinted or whatever else he might need.

Still waiting for "next steps" so I can get back to taking my own next steps again. 

I'll share more details when it's final and official and a start date has been set - but it's pretty cool.

Mark B wrote:Still waiting for "next steps" so I can get back to taking my own next steps again. 

I'll share more details when it's final and official and a start date has been set - but it's pretty cool.

Exciting for you and Alita...and Alec.  

nkrichards wrote:

Mark B wrote:Still waiting for "next steps" so I can get back to taking my own next steps again. 

I'll share more details when it's final and official and a start date has been set - but it's pretty cool.

Exciting for you and Alita...and Alec.  

Getting closer! Paperwork, fingerprinting, etc. Still not "final" yet, so I'm keeping it vague. Even his (hopefully) future boss wants to know when he might start!

As for me, the sudden lack of walking has let my niggles settle down, but I feel like a slug. But I should be able to get back to it soon - and with school out, Alita can join me in the morning!

Mark B wrote:

nkrichards wrote:

Mark B wrote:Still waiting for "next steps" so I can get back to taking my own next steps again. 

I'll share more details when it's final and official and a start date has been set - but it's pretty cool.

Exciting for you and Alita...and Alec.  

Getting closer! Paperwork, fingerprinting, etc. Still not "final" yet, so I'm keeping it vague. Even his (hopefully) future boss wants to know when he might start!

As for me, the sudden lack of walking has let my niggles settle down, but I feel like a slug. But I should be able to get back to it soon - and with school out, Alita can join me in the morning!

It's amazing to me how quickly the niggles disappear when I take a bit of time off.  

It's also amazing how quickly I begin to feel slow and sluggish.

Enjoy your walks with Alita.

Past a couple of weeks of nonwalking and started again this week.

Which brings me to a topic I used to talk about a lot: heart rate!

I'm a big fan of Maffetone's heart rate training approach. It has served me well over the years, and I've wondered if I could apply it to my current state of fitness.

The answer is, of course, yes. In fact, it's probably best for where I am now.

Maffetone's formula is 180-age, which for me would be a peak of 121 for optimum training. (I used to run at a higher HR due to a higher than usual maximum HR, but since I'm so deconditioned, it seems wise to start conservatively.)

What's this mean for me? Well, my HR varies from about 100 to the low to mid 110s most of the time when I walk. It goes up to about 122 when I go up a gentle grade but peaks in the mid to upper 130s on the ascent from the river level up to my office . My average HR was 115 this morning and 108 last night (no hill to walk up). I can track the change over time, as well as how fast I recover after going up slopes, etc.

I just checked how I did when I resumed walking, back in early May. My average HR was 121. So I'll take that as a sign of progress.

Since I'm not in workout clothes (though I do wear shorts) while walking to work, I obviously don't want to push so hard as to show up to work sweaty and stinky. I change into pants after I've cooled down. I haven't yet had officemates get nauseous at my still-pale legs, so that's nice.

Mark B wrote:Past a couple of weeks of nonwalking and started again this week.

Which brings me to a topic I used to talk about a lot: heart rate!

I'm a big fan of Maffetone's heart rate training approach. It has served me well over the years, and I've wondered if I could apply it to my current state of fitness.

The answer is, of course, yes. In fact, it's probably best for where I am now.

Maffetone's formula is 180-age, which for me would be a peak of 121 for optimum training. (I used to run at a higher HR due to a higher than usual maximum HR, but since I'm so deconditioned, it seems wise to start conservatively.)

What's this mean for me? Well, my HR varies from about 100 to the low to mid 110s most of the time when I walk. It goes up to about 122 when I go up a gentle grade but peaks in the mid to upper 130s on the ascent from the river level up to my office . My average HR was 115 this morning and 108 last night (no hill to walk up). I can track the change over time, as well as how fast I recover after going up slopes, etc.

I just checked how I did when I resumed walking, back in early May. My average HR was 121. So I'll take that as a sign of progress.

Since I'm not in workout clothes (though I do wear shorts) while walking to work, I obviously don't want to push so hard as to show up to work sweaty and stinky. I change into pants after I've cooled down. I haven't yet had officemates get nauseous at my still-pale legs, so that's nice.

The pale legs are probably the least concern after you arrive at work sweaty and stinky.

Why am I not surprised that you've figured out how to use Maffetone's techniques in your current situation?  I do think it's a good idea by the way and I hope you keep us posted on your progress.

I'm jealous of your views as you walk to/from work.  I would be distracted and tend to dawdle rather than walk with purpose...

nkrichards wrote:

Mark B wrote:Past a couple of weeks of nonwalking and started again this week.

Which brings me to a topic I used to talk about a lot: heart rate!

I'm a big fan of Maffetone's heart rate training approach. It has served me well over the years, and I've wondered if I could apply it to my current state of fitness.

The answer is, of course, yes. In fact, it's probably best for where I am now.

Maffetone's formula is 180-age, which for me would be a peak of 121 for optimum training. (I used to run at a higher HR due to a higher than usual maximum HR, but since I'm so deconditioned, it seems wise to start conservatively.)

What's this mean for me? Well, my HR varies from about 100 to the low to mid 110s most of the time when I walk. It goes up to about 122 when I go up a gentle grade but peaks in the mid to upper 130s on the ascent from the river level up to my office . My average HR was 115 this morning and 108 last night (no hill to walk up). I can track the change over time, as well as how fast I recover after going up slopes, etc.

I just checked how I did when I resumed walking, back in early May. My average HR was 121. So I'll take that as a sign of progress.

Since I'm not in workout clothes (though I do wear shorts) while walking to work, I obviously don't want to push so hard as to show up to work sweaty and stinky. I change into pants after I've cooled down. I haven't yet had officemates get nauseous at my still-pale legs, so that's nice.

The pale legs are probably the least concern after you arrive at work sweaty and stinky.

Why am I not surprised that you've figured out how to use Maffetone's techniques in your current situation?  I do think it's a good idea by the way and I hope you keep us posted on your progress.

I'm jealous of your views as you walk to/from work.  I would be distracted and tend to dawdle rather than walk with purpose...

Heh. It helps that I lead a 9 a.m. meeting every morning. It tends to make dawdling impossible, though I will stop and take a river photo from time to time.

No walks to report this week. It's been stinking hot. Not so much in the morning, but walking home in 97 degree heat isn't my idea of a good time. I think the weather will moderate over the weekend, so next week should be a go. (I hope.)

Mark B wrote:

Heh. It helps that I lead a 9 a.m. meeting every morning. It tends to make dawdling impossible, though I will stop and take a river photo from time to time.

No walks to report this week. It's been stinking hot. Not so much in the morning, but walking home in 97 degree heat isn't my idea of a good time. I think the weather will moderate over the weekend, so next week should be a go. (I hope.)

I saw that you were back out there today.  I don't blame you for skipping the walks when it's so hot.  I think your temps the last few days have been higher than ours which is quite unusual.  We've actually had a fairly mild summer but when it does get hot I wilt as I'm not acclimated.  And I don't think old age helps either.

Good to see you out there again.

nkrichards wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Heh. It helps that I lead a 9 a.m. meeting every morning. It tends to make dawdling impossible, though I will stop and take a river photo from time to time.

No walks to report this week. It's been stinking hot. Not so much in the morning, but walking home in 97 degree heat isn't my idea of a good time. I think the weather will moderate over the weekend, so next week should be a go. (I hope.)

I saw that you were back out there today.  I don't blame you for skipping the walks when it's so hot.  I think your temps the last few days have been higher than ours which is quite unusual.  We've actually had a fairly mild summer but when it does get hot I wilt as I'm not acclimated.  And I don't think old age helps either.

Good to see you out there again.

Good to be out there again, though I have to admit, it's a challenge sometimes. Inertia is a thing.

If you saw yesterday's walk to work, you may have noticed an elevated heart rate and notably faster time. It wasn't that I wanted to get to work all hot and sweaty or that I wanted to get in a harder workout... it was because it started to drizzle just as I walked out the door! I was hustling to beat the rain! It let up for about 3/4 of my walk but picked up again, which left me nice and moist when I got into the office. So, not hot and sweaty but still ... damp.  I didn't realize HOW damp until the evening, when I pulled the walking shorts I'd stuffed into my backpack and realized they were still damp from the morning. Mmm. Clammy. 

It was nice seeing my HR right at the Maffetone target range for most of that walk, though. I noticed my HR is getting steadier throughout the walk rather than fluctuating. I'm taking that as a good sign. The other good sign is I think I felt my core engage a bit this morning. My right knee has gotten a little crotchety over the past year or two, and I've been trying to make sure my form is as good as I can get until the shock-absorbing muscles reassert themselves. I've tried a few jogging steps and quickly stopped. Hopefully I can walk myself back into better condition and minimize the barking knee.

Little update: Yesterday, I noticed that my legs felt fatigued when I was heading up the stairs, so I opted to take today as a rest day and drove to work.

As I walk around today, I'm noticing that I'm actually surprisingly fatigued. I know I pushed it in my drizzly walk on Monday, so I guess it could just be DOMS kicking in? 

(My concern would be that it could be a long COVID thing, with unusual fatigue after exertion. That'd be problematic. But honestly, it may have more to do with the accumulated stress of all of us living in the limbo between a tentative job offer and final job offer as the bureaucracy grinds its way through the last bits of paperwork needed before it can become official. Waiting has been torture.)

Anyway, we'll see how I feel tomorrow and maybe walk then. Or not. I'm trying to not let my ambition become self-defeating. At least, not again. 

Mark B wrote:Little update: Yesterday, I noticed that my legs felt fatigued when I was heading up the stairs, so I opted to take today as a rest day and drove to work.

As I walk around today, I'm noticing that I'm actually surprisingly fatigued. I know I pushed it in my drizzly walk on Monday, so I guess it could just be DOMS kicking in? 

(My concern would be that it could be a long COVID thing, with unusual fatigue after exertion. That'd be problematic. But honestly, it may have more to do with the accumulated stress of all of us living in the limbo between a tentative job offer and final job offer as the bureaucracy grinds its way through the last bits of paperwork needed before it can become official. Waiting has been torture.)

Anyway, we'll see how I feel tomorrow and maybe walk then. Or not. I'm trying to not let my ambition become self-defeating. At least, not again. 

So, I'm settling for two walks this week. My legs are feeling peppy and ready to roll, but I know I need to not push the rest of my system too hard, too fast. 

I'll do two and maybe three times next week. (Gotta say, I miss the old old days when I'd just decide to start running after a long break and go rip out a 4.5 mile run along the river in Eugene without a second thought. Just because I'm now nearly three times that age shouldn't make a difference, right? Uh.... right?)

Mark B wrote:

Mark B wrote:Little update: Yesterday, I noticed that my legs felt fatigued when I was heading up the stairs, so I opted to take today as a rest day and drove to work.

As I walk around today, I'm noticing that I'm actually surprisingly fatigued. I know I pushed it in my drizzly walk on Monday, so I guess it could just be DOMS kicking in? 

(My concern would be that it could be a long COVID thing, with unusual fatigue after exertion. That'd be problematic. But honestly, it may have more to do with the accumulated stress of all of us living in the limbo between a tentative job offer and final job offer as the bureaucracy grinds its way through the last bits of paperwork needed before it can become official. Waiting has been torture.)

Anyway, we'll see how I feel tomorrow and maybe walk then. Or not. I'm trying to not let my ambition become self-defeating. At least, not again. 

So, I'm settling for two walks this week. My legs are feeling peppy and ready to roll, but I know I need to not push the rest of my system too hard, too fast. 

I'll do two and maybe three times next week. (Gotta say, I miss the old old days when I'd just decide to start running after a long break and go rip out a 4.5 mile run along the river in Eugene without a second thought. Just because I'm now nearly three times that age shouldn't make a difference, right? Uh.... right?)

I didn't see you on Strava this week...hope it's just old age and you forgot to walk...and not COVID or ??

Take care.

nkrichards wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Mark B wrote:Little update: Yesterday, I noticed that my legs felt fatigued when I was heading up the stairs, so I opted to take today as a rest day and drove to work.

As I walk around today, I'm noticing that I'm actually surprisingly fatigued. I know I pushed it in my drizzly walk on Monday, so I guess it could just be DOMS kicking in? 

(My concern would be that it could be a long COVID thing, with unusual fatigue after exertion. That'd be problematic. But honestly, it may have more to do with the accumulated stress of all of us living in the limbo between a tentative job offer and final job offer as the bureaucracy grinds its way through the last bits of paperwork needed before it can become official. Waiting has been torture.)

Anyway, we'll see how I feel tomorrow and maybe walk then. Or not. I'm trying to not let my ambition become self-defeating. At least, not again. 

So, I'm settling for two walks this week. My legs are feeling peppy and ready to roll, but I know I need to not push the rest of my system too hard, too fast. 

I'll do two and maybe three times next week. (Gotta say, I miss the old old days when I'd just decide to start running after a long break and go rip out a 4.5 mile run along the river in Eugene without a second thought. Just because I'm now nearly three times that age shouldn't make a difference, right? Uh.... right?)

I didn't see you on Strava this week...hope it's just old age and you forgot to walk...and not COVID or ??

Take care.

Old age? HMPH!!

No, it was hot, then smoky, then hot, then .. you get the idea.

One issue is that we're in what I think are the final moments of an extended effort to get Alec his dream job... we're nearly there, but waiting for the final word. It's got us all on edge, and adding any physical stress to that isn't helpful. 

One fun note: When Alec does move out, he's taking the car I normally drive with him (cheaper than buying him one), which means I'm going to have little choice but bike or walk to work. This ought to be interesting... especially when it's dark and rainy (or icy). Now, we'll still have one car, and Alita only needs it a couple of days per week, so I will have some options. Still, it's going to be a big lifestyle change, and I'm still processing it. 

We've been getting smoke here from the BC fires so I can't imagine how bad it is where you are.

I hope Alec gets his dream job and it's all he's hoping it will be!

Best wishes on the car sharing. Brian and I were a 1-car family for 6 years. It worked out most of the time since we were not working away on the same days. It did mean some very cold (single temps) walks with me and our baby or toddlers when I had to get us to appointments and he couldn't bike to work, but for the most part it worked out.

Julie wrote:We've been getting smoke here from the BC fires so I can't imagine how bad it is where you are.

I hope Alec gets his dream job and it's all he's hoping it will be!

Best wishes on the car sharing. Brian and I were a 1-car family for 6 years. It worked out most of the time since we were not working away on the same days. It did mean some very cold (single temps) walks with me and our baby or toddlers when I had to get us to appointments and he couldn't bike to work, but for the most part it worked out.

Hi Julie! We've lucked out on wildfire smoke this year. We've gotten virtually none of the smoke coming out of Canada. It tends to spread east, not south. We had some smoke last week, but only because a paper mill's giant wood chip piles caught fire in a town north of us, and winds coming up the Columbia River dropped it all here. 

I feel sympathy for those folks back east suffering from the smoke. We had it very bad back in 2020, and we will likely get more of it again sooner than we'd like.

We're on pins and needles here for Alec's job. Hopefully this week!

I think we'll be able to manage one car pretty well, though it's going to take me out of my comfort zone. Probably not in single-digit weather, thank goodness!

We went over to Portland's Forest Part for a hike with Alec yesterday. He was wanting to take one more trek on Portland trails.

It was .... fine? We went early, to avoid the heat, but it was still muggy and we kept having to step off the trail for runners. It got a little old. Still, we did about four miles in an out-and-back and were satisfied with that.

Glad you got to hike. 

Do you have ultra training advice? I would, if I can stay injury-free, like to run a 50 miler in fall of 2024.

Julie wrote:Glad you got to hike. 

Do you have ultra training advice? I would, if I can stay injury-free, like to run a 50 miler in fall of 2024.

Good for you Julie!  Okay Mark...you got this started...waiting to hear your advice.