Life Without Running

Trip Prep 😳 Getting ready for another extended road trip with Charlie. It’s getting harder to think about all the driving and time on the road for a trip to Florida again but I really want to try to see everyone again.  It doesn’t help that the entire western United States is on fire again this summer. We’re just going to head out Saturday after my treatment Friday and take it day to day and with the fires maybe even hour to hour. Age is a deterrent to travel for sure but it’s really compounded by illness. It’s Monday the 29th of July right now as I write this and I may try to write a little each day until we hit the road Saturday.  Last night Charlie and I went to Smitty’s and had a nice dinner and visit. Tonight I’m supposed to go out to eat with Donna and Brandy for my birthday.  I’ve tried to get ahead of trip prep with the hope of being all done packing and mostly loading tomorrow before my Lab and Doctor appointment Wednesday. So far today is off to a rough start w...

Carol surprised us with a visit for a few days. It’s the first time since Patterson that the three of us have been together. We had a good breakfast at TJs one morning and it was good as usual. That was just one meal we went out to eat and visit.  I had steak and eggs which was really good and a tequila sunrise that was too sweet. 😋 Jack came with Carol and while it was good to see him it was sad seeing how bad off he is physically. He can’t move anything below his chest. Mentally he is doing great so Carol is struggling with the decision to let go. 😞 The trip over to Florence was short but it was a lot of fun and laughs being together with friends. The first night after Smitty, Joe. Charlie and I got back from a quick trip to the North Jetty beach I even got out of my comfort zone and at the shrimp scampi that they fixed for dinner. All of the salad ingredients as well as the zucchini noodles and the pesto came from their garden. And the biscuits were the Red Lobster Cheddar Ba...

A tradition we share annually when a pandemic doesn’t interfere is doing the Butte to Butte race and then meeting at Skinner Butte Park to have breakfast. Smitty makes blueberry pancakes with sides and we have mimosas. It’s always a fun day for whoever can show up.  The race this year was the toughest yet for me. I was almost six minutes slower than last year and my time is getting closer to the 60 minute 5K that I said would probably be when I stopped even trying to do races. 🤷‍♂️ After already being tired from the Trials and Spell’s visit getting up before 6 and doing the race took a lot out of me but sadly that’s the norm. 

The Trials were made better sharing them with my good friend and fellow running enthusiast Robert Spell from Denver. Besides going to the Trials together each of the last four days our days started early when I picked him up so could run some of our iconic trails and then to take him around to some of the key track history locales.  After I picked him up and he checked in at his motel we went to The Paddock a restaurant/bar with a connection to PRE. It was a good meal and a nice kickoff to a very busy six days.  The next morning I picked him up so he could run PRE’s Trail. He saw Mary Decker Slaney while he was running and we both saw Olympian Emma Coburn training while still recovering from a broken ankle.  Between the run and the Trials we went to PRE’s Memorial Rock and Track Town Pizza. Can’t believe it was the first time I’ve eaten there. The pizza was outstanding. Then we went and walked around U of O before going into the Trials. I was able to take a picture with O...

The first day of the Trials started with me sitting in a chair at Willamette Valley Cancer Institute getting my treatment and ended at Hayward Field watching America’s best athletes working to make the hardest team to make in the world. Neither the meet or the athletes disappointed.  Another World Record for Sydney!