Weight is down. So are the times.

Things are indeed looking up. At least a little. It sure helps to run with friends. May our group runs never end.

Much less than a pound a day

I had been telling anyone who would listen that the cost of cruising is about a pound of weight gain per day. I can now say that it's actually much less than that. After 35 days of cruising the South Seas, I gained about eight pounds. That's about a quarter-pound a day. Not as bad as expected. But still bad.

Despite all that poundage, I thought I'd be able to keep up with my friends during my first run in cold weather in a long, long time. I thought wrong. They ran the pace they usually do - about ten minutes per mile - but fat, old Dan was huffing and puffing, and eventually falling behind.

Blame it on the cold weather, not on being fat and out of shape. Yeah, that's the reason.

Australia Running

CHAPTER 1: pre-cruise

Canyon Dan (California)

They call him Canyon Dan. That’s because he is known to say things like, “The trouble with canyons is that when you run down into them, you have to run up to get back out.” Dan is staying in Northern San Diego for a few days before flying off further to Australia. He has a bit of a cold, so yesterday, he only shuffled on the hotel treadmill. Today, he’s shuffling for real (meaning he’s outside), although not all cylinders are firing.

Make no mistake about Canyon Dan. He is running on roads, not trails. But there are canyons galore around here, and it’s impossible to avoid them. Another mistake not to make about Canyon Dan is to believe that what he’s doing can truly be considered “running”. It would be a stretch to even call it “shuffling”. And when he goes this slow, it’s tough to get any kind of decent mileage. He’s already decided that this week will be a bust. Maybe he can pick it up once he’s down under.

Canyon Dan has changed his name. He’s now to be known as Ridgerunner Dan. Make no mistake about Ridgerunner Dan. He is running on roads, not trails. But there are ridges galore around here, and it’s impossible to avoid them. This run seems to go better than the one Canyon Dan did the other day. And the early morning scenery up high is better than that down low.


Dan the Bloke Man (Perth)

Dan the Bloke Man is a silly name for Dan, but it does indicate that he is now doing his running Down Under. Stay tuned, maybe he’ll come up with something more appropriate.
Perth is pretty far away from home. Even Aussies from the rest of the country think so. But it’s a wonderful place to run. Blokeman Dan does his best. And that means running alongside the Swan River. Nice all-purpose trails and beautiful scenery. It’s all great, except that is, for Dan himself. He has a day like his first couple in California; all cylinders are not firing, once again.

Crossing the Swan River on a pedestrian bridge

Sunrise on the Swan River

But Dan’s second day is much better. He runs west along the river this time, and the trail goes on and on. Dan is able to pick up the pace enough to call this an actual “run”. Ten whole miles. Dan gets even more running in later, during his stay in Perth. He could get used to living (and running) here full-time.


Oenophile Dan(Adelaide)

Oenophile Dan (he prefers this name to ‘Wino Dan’) sets out on his second run in Adelaide. He’s here mostly to sample the wine, but also to see the sights in South Australia. His first run had its ups and downs. On the upside, running along River Torrens was scenic and interesting. On the downside, the preponderance of bugs detracted from the experience. Dan thinks they’re like the deer flies he deals with back home. But since there are no deer here, maybe they’re kangaroo flies. Yeah, he’ll go with that. But they’re no fun. This time, Oenophile Dan finds a city park that’s away from the river. Maybe there won’t be so many flies here, he thinks. He thinks wrong; they’re bad here too. Otherwise, the run is okay. After arriving, he circumnavigates the park for a loop of about 1 ¾ miles. Dan decides to do a few more loops to reach ten miles. Early in his first loop, Dan notices some people who appear to be Aboriginal standing in the park as he runs by. Not much else happening at this early hour. As Dan runs by the second time, there are several more people, all sitting down on a nearby hillside. The third time, one of the people, a lady, calls out to Dan, “Hey, are you a marathon runner?” Dan stops, smiles, and answers, “Yes, I do run marathons, but not today.” She mentions something about running around and around. Dan moves on, thinking, yeah, that’s what I do. The fourth and final time, Dan is considering doing only a little more in the park before getting ready to return to his hotel. The people are gone, but a lady (it may have been the same one who called to him earlier) is out in the street, disrupting traffic. As Dan cautiously approaches, he notices that she is naked from the waist up. She’s yelling something at the drivers, who clearly don’t know what to do. There are multiple lanes of traffic, so this is a dangerous situation. Dan is afraid that something very bad may happen, but he is not sure whether to intervene in some way. Then he sees a man emerging from the park. He’s yelling loudly at the woman and walking over to her. Dan is relieved that he’s apparently rescuing her from the traffic, but then Dan begins to wonder if perhaps she was trying to get away from him for a good reason. Dan hopes everything is okay with the people. He’s relieved further as he returns to his hotel.

Oenophile Dan does even some other running in Adelaide, but none of it is so eventful. This is a good thing.

River Torrens pedestrian bridge

Devil Dan (Hobart)

Dan would have preferred ‘Tasman Dan’, but we’re not going to let him get away with this one. He’s here in Tasmania in part to find Tasmanian Devils, so we don’t mind referring to him as such. Hobart is the capital and largest city in Tasmania. The summer weather couldn’t be better – cool, crisp mornings and clear days. Dan finds a nice city park with memorials to World War I soldiers. He enjoys these trails (which, unlike Canyon Dan, he's actually using), even though they’re hilly – something he’s not used to. He spots some lorikeets. They’re stunningly beautiful!

Devil Dan glances at his watch as he begins a new circuit. 6.66 miles. He’s in the same park, but he’s doing different trails this time, including one called “Max’s Infinite Loop”. It’s about 1.8 miles of various surfaces, including dirt, asphalt, and some nice, soft woodchips.
As if Dan needed a reminder that he’s not in Kansas anymore, a wallaby and a few kangaroos cross his path. Then he sees the cool lorikeets again. Although the Roos are fairly close, Dan doesn’t approach them any more than he has to. He doesn’t want them to become “jumpy”.

Devil Dan is now Speed Demon Dan. He’s a speed demon because he has found a 400-meter track, of all things. It’s in the same park he’s been running in, but he hadn’t known it was there. There are several other runners here. He does a Half-Yasso workout, and guess what? It ain’t half bad. Of course, Dan ain’t where he was a couple of months ago, but anything of this sort is encouraging.

Speed Demon Dan does decent. He runs once more in Hobart, again at the track. This time, he does a 5K tempo run there, and it’s not so awful, either. 

Diesel Dan (Sydney)

"I love the smell of diesel in the morning," states Dan in his best Robert Duval imitation. ("I love the smell of napalm in the morning" is an iconic, oft-quoted line from the 1979 film Apocalypse Now, delivered by Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore (played by Duvall). Dan is in Sydney for one night before embarkation to his cruise ship. Thus, he has one run here. Unfortunately, he's staying close to the airport, where there are diesel fumes galore. The running isn't so great, but then, neither is Dan. He gets a few miles in. The good news is that his ship has come in. Time for chapter two.

CHAPTER 2: cruise'n

Dan the Seafaring Man (Sydney and Beyond)

Dan the Seafaring Man does a short run in Sydney before embarking on the Oceania Riviera. This is for a little 35-day cruise from Sydney to Sydney. Dan the Seafaring Man’s running suddenly becomes less adventurous and more tedious. Unless, that is, you consider running around in circles or running on a treadmill exciting. Dan promises not to burden you, dear reader, with tales of his circuitous running. But let's see what other mischief he can get himself into.

Not much. Dan the Seafaring Man does manage a few real runs - on land, that is. But those are merely short shuffles. Nothing to write home about. So he won't.

Dan will say this, however: a sinus infection isn't good for running. Even when it gets better, the running still leaves much to be desired. In fact, that's pretty much the story for the cruise portion of the trip. Let's put it this way: less-than-optimal.

For more about this trip, see Dan's travel blog posts: Part 1 and Part 2.

Playing in the snow

When you're a kid (or a dog, for that matter), playing in the snow is a natural thing to do. Not so much when you're an adult. Unless you're a runner with running friends who apply peer pressure to join them on the Towpath.

There was much fear and trepidation on my part. I've only just begun to get used to running indoors and in warm weather. Stepping back out in the cold didn't sound so great, especially with several inches of fairly new snow on the ground. But Julie Boggs and Theresa Wright were doing it, and that's almost like everybody. Peer pressure applied.

The snow on the path slowed us a little, but not as much as expected. It was soft and quiet - about as nice as a run can get.

Not wanting to overdo things, I quit early, after twelve miles. Only near the end did my feet begin to feel cold. But it was also fun. Now, back to warmth.

Julie, Theresa, and Dan

Finishing up alone

New Baby Has Arrived!

She came into the world in the usual way. And not a moment too soon.

The Landice L7 (and Dan)

Remember the old 23-year-old True machine? My Landice L7 is the replacement. I anticipate that she will last at least as long and get at least as many miles (~10,000) as her predecessor. The first 10.7 went fine this morning.

Hot to trot - running on the Miami to Miami cruise

Note to self: when you're looking at Google Maps for a place to run, and you see a place with "memorial gardens" in the name, that place is not a park-like area where you can run early in the morning. It's a cemetery, stupid.

We're staying one night at the Hilton Blue Lagoon Miami Airport before embarking on our seven-day Miami-Miami cruise. It's a last-minute thing to get away from cold Cleveland for at least a little while. This initial run of the trip is okay, but nothing special. These Floridians ought to do a better job of respecting nature and people's appreciation of it. For example, there should be pedestrian byways near the abundant shoreline areas. There isn't. But... at least it's warm.

And warmth is what we came for. 

Here's a rundown of one of my shipboard runs on the Oceania Insignia. It's not much different from my other shipboard runs for the week, or for that matter, other shipboard runs I've done on these types of ships in years past.

4:40 AM: I try to get coffee from the espresso machine in Horizons Lounge. The machine is out of order. This will not stand. I need my coffee. So I head over to the Terrace Cafe. That one works. I get two - I'll need them after all of last night's Italian food and wine.

4:55 AM: The laps have begun. It's 13 per mile, but less if you run a little way down each hallway, then turn around. This technique also enables one to do fewer laps per mile and to avoid turning the same way all the time. I also temper the turning problem by running clockwise early on, before anyone else shows up. When they do, I have to go with the flow: counter-clockwise all the time. But the stopping and turning are stupid.

5:55 AM: I've been getting a tiny bit faster with every mile. Perhaps the coffee is finally beginning to work. But the splits are still pretty slow. Now that it's nearing 6:00 AM, the fitness room will be opening up. I've been doing fine, but maybe a treadmill will feel better.

6:10 AM: Go better, it doesn't. The treadmill TVs barely work, and the sound through my headphones is even worse. I run less than a mile (a slow one) before going back outside.

6:20 AM: I'm back outside. And I'm running slower than ever. Now, there are more people about, so I have to be more careful about potential collisions. It's a little fun to terrorise the walkers, however. On a break between miles, I speak with a fellow runner.

7:30 AM: I am done. Done done, as we used to say in project management. 12.5 miles isn't bad, but it wasn't pretty today. I jump into the pool. Now that feels good.

After more running in circles, I finally get out into the world for a run in Cozumel. It's midday, and it's hot! The kind of hot that I am not used to. And I'm dealing with thousands (literally) of people coming off the Carnival Breeze. But it's only a couple of miles. Time for a jump in the pool and a beer.

All in all, it wasn't a bad trip with regard to running. I got my ten miles a day in, and some of that wasn't half bad. But dry land and friends are always better.

For more about this trip, check out the travel blog post.

2025 Running-wise

Running-wise, 2025 was an A-OK year. I will qualify that by stating that I have never, not once, been accused of running wisely. Let’s begin by discussing my highlights and lowlights of the year. Then, we’ll do the numbers.

Two pretty good accomplishments were a) breaking 1:50 in a half-marathon for the first time in eight years, and b) running three (out of five) sub-four-hour marathons. I also won some age group awards. I’m also extremely fortunate to have remained injury-free for another year. More importantly, I’m happy to report that I finally published my book, Run a lot: Dan's Guide to Marathons and Marathoning. That was a big deal.

On the flip side, I didn’t get any faster (and actually slowed down some) at shorter distances. Something I tried to do, but mostly failed at, was to get out of my comfort zone. I did participate in two half-marathon races I hadn’t run before, and I ran some (new/unusual to me) evening 5Ks organized by my friend, Ladd Clifford. But that’s pretty much it; I otherwise spent too much of the year doing the same sorts of running that I’ve become used to. I believe this is part of the reason that I didn’t get faster at shorter distances. Running, just like life, is a balance between what you accomplish and enjoy while being comfortable versus when you’re not comfortable. However, consistency is a major key to success, and I’m usually comfortable when I’m consistently running a lot. And vice versa. For 2026, I’m going to try once again to get faster at 5K, 5-Mile, and 10K road races. And to become uncomfortably involved in some track events as I did in 2024.

Here are the numbers.

• Total distance: 3,290.5 miles. I did 3,541 in 2024. Life to date total: 121,177.
• Time spent on all those miles: 632 hours.
• Average Pace: 11:32. This is slightly slower than 2024, but the same as the previous two years.

Here are the full and half-marathons:

Marathons

Half-Marathons

Blown away

I mean, blown away physically, not metaphorically.

The winds are around 50 miles per hour as I emerge from warm, cozy Shortstack (that's my house's name). Some snow is falling, but not much. It's the temperatures that are indeed falling, big time. I had planned to run about 10 miles today, but as I take my first steps in the cold, I know that's not going to happen. 

It's only been two days since the great and powerful Brunswick Marathon, yet I'm not feeling too bad. In fact, I could have run yesterday, had I not encountered other issues. Although I'm not very sore, I am tired, however. More so than usual on a Monday morning.

I start by going North. The wind is at my back. Too bad I can't just keep running in this direction. Alas, I have to turn around at some point. Even going south, it doesn't seem too awful. Then it's time to turn West. Zowie -> I'm stood straight up, and it's all I can do to keep moving forward at all. I have to look down to prevent debris from flying into my eyes. 

Finally, I'm back home again. It's been only 4.03 miles, so we can call this Shortrun to Shortstack.

I have a big heart

 They tell me that I have a big heart.

WARNING: This post will suddenly devolve into potty humor.

“They” are the Cleveland Clinic folks running tests galore on me. I’m in another brain study. This one includes, among other things, an Electrocardiogram (EKG), a smell test, a sleep test, and a poop test. More on the latter ones in a minute, but first, I’ll discuss the EKG result.

Right atrial enlargement/dilation was indicated. My primary care physician was notified, and she ordered an Echocardiogram (Echo), which confirmed the result and provided much more detail. The condition may be caused by my running. Furthermore, it may be the normal way the heart adjusts to heavy-duty cardiovascular training. To ensure this is the case and that nothing further is amiss, I have an appointment with a sports cardiologist. That won’t be until March, so I’ll have to try to survive until then.

My strong belief is that this is nothing to be concerned about. I tell Debbie that it’s a good thing, not a bad thing. But she has me convinced I should continue following the medical recommendations. I’m hoping the sports doc will give me the green light.

Now, about the other tests. The smell test was kind of fun. But the sleep and poop tests, not so much. Trying to sleep with dozens of electrodes attached to various parts of my body was pretty awful. The technicians said they wanted me to get a minimum of 4 to 6 hours of sleep (I was at the Intercontinental Hotel near the downtown Clinic). I doubt that I got that much - I was that uncomfortable.

Sleep study

But that didn’t even come close to my level of discomfort associated with the poop test. I tried so very hard to follow the instructions - use the “feces collector” paper that you attach to the sides of the seat, poop, but don’t pee into the sample, don’t let the sample fall into the water, etc., etc. When finished, you use the tongue depressor (and don’t even think about using it as such afterward) to scoop the poop a fair amount of it into a small jar with a lid. Then you package it all up with an ice pack and ship it to the Cleveland Clinic via FedEx. And don’t get me started on the fact that whatever they pay the folks who open the packages isn’t enough.

My instructions

Now, imagine the worst thing that could happen in my attempt to follow these instructions. Then multiply that by, oh, a million or so. That’s how bad it was when the paper fell into the toilet as I got off the seat, tongue depressor in hand, ready to scoop. It was only one side, so some poop had not yet submerged. I tried desperately to scoop this up before it sank. But it wasn’t enough, and the little bit I got caused a huge mess.

The only thing I could do at this point was to try again. They had provided an additional feces collector and tongue depressor. Would it be okay to pile the new poop on top of the little bit I got the first time? I would need to try. After 90 minutes of additional coffee and waiting, it was time to go again. Guess what? Despite my careful best efforts, the exact same thing happened again! This time, to get enough, I scooped as much out of the water as I could. I know. I wasn’t supposed to - it would become contaminated. But what could I do? I was out of options.

Then the toilet flooded. The paper collector was supposed to be flushable, but why should that go right when nothing else would?

I took my possibly contaminated sample to the FedEx store. It was packaged nicely, and the sample had styrofoam and an ice pack. But I’m sure they knew what was inside, based on the lettering on the box. They said it wouldn’t ship until the next day, Monday. Well, it could only be contaminated so much. I hope it doesn’t smell by the time they receive it.

Now that I've probably failed the poop test, what does that say about my brain?

2025 Brunswick Marathon Race Report

I am starting my fourth of four 6.55-mile circuits. My friends and running partners, Julie Boggs and Theresa Wright, have finished running. It was great to have their company while it lasted. But now I'm on my own, and I just want to get this done.

Julie and Theresa are cheering wildly for me as I run by for the 1-mile lake loop portion of the course. I think some of the other folks are wondering what's going on. I'm finally running a little faster, and this is surprising; I usually slow down when I find myself completing a run on my own. I do miss my friends now, though. I concentrate on my pace even a little more.

It's been a great day so far. Several friends showed up for the run, and they all seemed to enjoy it. Enjoying the rest of the event is now the least that I can do. Even though I'm not able to catch up with any of the fast marathoners today, I happily accept my last-place 4:45 finish. It always feels good to finish strong.

Most of us before the start

A few others, partway through

My victory pose

My splits

Yule like this story

The main reason you will like this post is that it's short.

I'm running down Substation and turning right on Sleepy Hollow. It's early and, except for the holiday lights, quite dark. You guessed it. I'm doing my annual Christmas run. As in recent years, I have a timing deadline: I have to be done by 7:00 AM. That's when the grandkids begin to open their presents. After heading West, I turn North on Metzger, across 303, then out on Myrtle. Finally, I go up Hartneck before continuing through the new subdivision and back home. It's my New Subs 11-mile route, and it's been a while since I've done it.

That's partly due to increasing traffic, at least at certain times of day. But on Christmas Day itself? Not one iota of traffic. Even though it's cool and damp out, this quiet little run is quite enjoyable. Almost so much so that I nearly forget that I have a marathon in two days.

I do make it back home by 7, but the kids have already started without me.

I will get over it.

2025 Frosty Five Race Report

"This will not stand." For the second consecutive race, Theresa Wright passes me in the final stages of a race, like I was standing still. I say something encouraging and nice, but inside, I'm seething. I make it a point to catch back up to her, even with less than a mile to go. I begin to make up some ground, but it's tough with the black ice everywhere.

And I do mean everywhere. It seems there had been heavy fog, which turned into heavy frost on the streets of Hudson. Footing has been treacherous the whole way. It is all any of us 800+ runners can do but remain vertical. (By the way, Frosty is appropriately part of the race name, and Vertical is appropriately part of the race organization team. Just pointing that out.) My pace is fluctuating wildly, depending on the ambient footing, which is almost but not quite uniformly bad.

Do I manage to catch Theresa? Nope. I do get fairly close, though. But I guess it did stand. My time is 43:03. Not nearly as good as last year's 41:41, or the previous year's 40-something. Blame it on the frosty frost. At least I won my age group.

Dan and Theresa

Crunch

Danny-Boy is running loops around Claggett Middle School Track. He'd run with friends and was now attempting to complete an eighteen-mile run just like he did last week. But this time the crunchy ice and snow are not so nice. Will Danny be able to successfully finish his long run amid such adversity?

It's not like he hasn't been running a lot. Two days ago, Danny-Boy had run the Christmas Lights Run in Akron. He'd had tons of fun seeing the lights with all his friends. But that evening eight, along with all his other running was beginning to add up.

With friends at Stan Hywet Hall during the Christmas Lights Run

Danny-Boy gets back off the track with several miles yet to run. He simply can't do it. But he does manage to complete his run by going out and back by Roscoe Ewing Park.

This was a tough one. D-B is happy it's over. He's more happy that he made it.

Long or bust

It's time. Time for a long run, after two weeks of lollygagging. 

It's an early start. Running eighteen or more miles takes time. It takes even more time when you're running slowly because of tough conditions. Running friends come and go, but they're all completely done and on their way home when Danny-Boy is only eleven miles into his eighteen. Seven more. Where, and how, to do them?

Although the City of Medina had made an attempt to plow its all-purpose trails, there was still too much snow and ice. The roads were somewhat better, but there were still some bad spots, and traffic had been building. Danny-Boy heads over to the Claggett Middle School track.

He doesn't hold much hope for this surface to be runnable; there's ice and snow everywhere else. Sure enough, the track is completely snow-covered. Danny-Boy gingerly starts a circuit. The snow is mostly crunchy, but thankfully not slippery. Danny-Boy deems it good for the remainder of the run. Round and round he goes.

He's not moving fast; the pace is slower than before. But at least it's steady, and improving, just a bit. Danny-Boy successfully completes the run. It wasn't easy. Nothing is, these days.

Nope

"Nope" was the first coherent thought of the day. A 5-6 mile group run had been planned for the Lexington Ridge Clubhouse. But from my vantage point, everything was covered with new, overnight snow. I'll just run at home, I think, I won't risk my life to drive down to Medina.

Nope. I'm running in the hood, and it's not going well. There's ice, slush, hard, packy snow, soft, fluffy snow, slippery, sloshy snow. And probably a bunch of others that I can't think of. All this, combined with the cold wind chill, is causing me to reevaluate my life choice. I manage to get five miles in, but the fastest is over fifteen minutes. Some running, eh? Hey, maybe I'll ditch all this and head over to the rec center for some nice, warm indoor running.

Nope. I'm running around and around on the sixteen-laps-per-mile fitness track. After two very boring miles, I simply can't take it anymore. I migrate to the treadmill.

Nope. I can only do one mile on the mill. It's nice to have a couple of TVs to look at, but it's much warmer here, and I don't like having other people around me. Back to the (relatively cool) track.

Yep. Two more miles of sixteen laps each later, and I'm truly done. Got my ten in today, but it took hours and hours and hours. There has to be a better way.

Hey, I know. Move to Florida.

Baby steps

Danny-Boy is taking baby steps as he loops around and around his neighborhood. It's an attempt (a poor one) to remain vertical for ten entire miles. The temperature is actually slightly above freezing for the first time in, oh, eight or ten months. But the cold, freezing rain is still nasty. And there are icy spots on some of the roads. Will he remain horizontal-free for the entire run?

It's the tenth day of this awful December, and treadmill-less Danny-Boy is having a very rough time. He does, however, manage to return home without entertaining the hood with a face-plant. May the rest of the winter be as fortunate.

Rumors of my treadmill's demise...

True to its Name (before and after)

Rumors of my treadmill's demise have been greatly accurate. After 23 years and 9,963 miles (not including Debbie's walking), the old True 550 finally bit the dust. Winter, it seems, is tough on all of us, this December in particular. I spent four days in a row on it, and that was the last straw. The motor began smoking, and I wasn't able to fix it. With a little help (it weighed in at over 300 pounds), it was taken out of the basement, and it's now in that True graveyard in the sky.

Don't worry. Another mill has been purchased and is on the way. More on that later.

Today's "long" 15-miler

We are all well aware that 18 miles or more is a long run, so you don't need to remind us, Danny-Boy. 

But there are exceptions. Right? RIGHT???

Nope. 18 is 18. Doesn't matter how tough the run is; you either achieve the mileage or you don't. You ought to know that, Danny-Boy.

But there was ice, snow, cold, and fast friends who were also having difficulties. Besides, 15 is close enough to 18, isn't it?

Sorry, but no. It don't make no nevermind, DB.

Okay, I guess I get it. This means that today's run was a failure. I guess I'll just go and cry.

Ice-Nine Redux

The subject of Ice-Nine has graced this blog in the past. In case you forgot, here is my description from a 2018 post:

Ice-nine is a fictional material that appears in Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle. In the story, it is invented by Dr. Felix Hoenikker and developed by the Manhattan Project in order for foot soldiers to no longer have to deal with mud. The project is abandoned when it becomes clear that any quantity of it would have the power to destroy all life on Earth, since the entire planet would become frozen regardless of temperature. 

A global catastrophe involving freezing the world's oceans with ice-nine is what we seem to have this morning. It's cold out, and it's slick. The roads hadn't been so bad driving down to Medina, but now that I'm meeting with my friends, things aren't so hunky-dory. Even the Lexington Ridge Clubhouse parking area is treacherous. As we head out on the road, it gets worse. We're all shuffling slowly, except for 4WD Otis. He's happy as heck. The rest of us, not so much. With only a mile to go, two of my friends make full-body contact with the road. Ouch. Otis wonders what the problem is. Somehow, we all make it back. I'm hoping we're all okay.

The best news about today's run is that it's over and that there were apparently no major injuries. AND that it wasn't me who fell... For a change.

Lube: it's not just for breakfast anymore

What's that smell? Oh, nothing. It's just something metallic burning inside the treadmill. Good thing I am nine miles into my ten-mile run. My old True machine might possibly just make it through one more workout. Or not.

It's my fourth mill day in a row. That's because the weather's been frightful. And winter is just beginning. I usually go stir-crazy after milling around so much. I'm about there now. 

Once the odor becomes strong enough, I begin to worry. Is this the end of days (for the beast)? Please, treadmill gods, help this 24-year-old baby get through one more year. I stop and add some lube. Not for me, for the mill. I do this by spreading pelletized wax under the hot (too hot) belt. Then I walk-jog another mile.

Now the smell is less metallic and more like burning wax. An improvement? Who knows. Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow, so I may be milling at least one more time. Then, we will see.