On Tuesday I get out early for an eventful road bicycle ride. On the ride east on Del Amo it just seems like I keep running into small stones and sticks and objects. As I turn north on the San Gabriel river trail the debris field continues and I just keep running over small objects and have them go squirting out to one side or the other. Part of the northern heading San Gabriel river trail is closed, so I have to turn around and I'll add on extra kilometers later. I ctach up to and pass four pretty strong women riders and they grab onto my rear wheel and I drag them along. As we are going past another rider, though I've yelled out "On your left" to let him know we are coming, he still makes a U-turn, or rather starts a U-turn, right in front of us. At the last second he sees us coming and I get past him without any impact but the four women have to brake very hard and almost come to a stop in order to avoid a collision. I hear loud voices behind and no sounds of impact, so I continue on as the women try to catch up to me but don't until they turn south on Pacific Coast Highway. From there the ride is uneventful. I grab a cooling shower and read the news and markets and work on the crime statistics because I think there might be a better way to do it. I take time at lunch to continue watching a Netflix documentary about the Three Mile Island disaster and later work on the Fair Trade Long Beach website per a request for new photos and additions to the events page. Later I just relax since that's four bicycle rides and two run/walks in the last six days - good thing the scheduled Wednesday day off from working the legs is upon me.
Since Wednesday is a day off from cycling or run/walking, I sleep and extra twenty minutes and start my day. I read the news and markets and see what has gone on in the world overnight. Near 9am I get out and have a good session lifting weights where no joints are sore but the lifts are more difficult than usual. Probably because I'm only lifting once a week now and I'm trying to get rid of some Covid weight. After lifting I edge and mow the lown, trim the roses, and trim a front bush. A cool shower refreshes and I start laundry and attend (virtually) the Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force meeting. I had assumed that the LBHTTF core team had dropped the ball on the website, but it turns out that they are gathering information and deciding on changes. So this is progress. Later I watch a truncated version of a mountain stage of the Tour du France - I don't know if a climate change protest at the Tour messed up the television coverage or if my DVR had a problem recording the event. (The DVR has been giving indications of failure. I believe, to the best of my knowledge, that this DVR came to me in 2008 just before the Beijing China Olympics. So maybe it is time for a new one.) And finally I spend a slow day keeping the legs propped up and just wandering through television programs and Betflix and stuff.
Fortunately Thursday's bicycle ride has only one weird incident - as I'm riding home on the Los Angeles river trail a flock of geese decide that they want to just hang out on the riverr trail and not move. So I have to slow to a crawl and talk to them in a friendly manner so that they don't perceive me as a threat and try to bite me. I catch up on the Tour du France and later in the day I trim the roses and water the roses in advance of expected hotter days.
Friday morning is a disaster. I get out run/walking and get to within a quarter mile of home (on the return) and my right hamstring lets out an audible pop and now I can barely walk. I walk on home and immediately take some anti-inflammatory, but I have a hard time putting on my right sock and shoe and tieing the right shoe from so much pain. I've had the hamstrings "act up" before, but I've never heard a pop like that accompanied by so much motion limitations. I get to the store for supplies and get home and realize that I forgot milk. As I'm unloading the groceries the chocolate chip cookies that I bought break open and fall on the kitchen floor. (Serves me right for buying junk food.) But the floor is sorta clean so I scoop them up and secure them and return to the store for a single gallon of milk. After a brief break, I drive to the library to return three books (one completely read and other two half-finished but not doing anything for me) and pick up four new books. Then I relax with the Tour du France and lunch and try to rest the right hamstring while also moving it occassionally so that it doesn't stiffen up too much. I'm hoping that I can cycle on Saturday morning since the hamstring won't be bearing any weight, but we'll see how it feels.
I start Saturday on the road bicycle - thinking I'll give it a try and see what happens with the right hamstring. The first 10 kilometers are pure agony and I almost quit about five times. But I just keep pedaling away and soon the pain is dissipating. By the time I'm past thw WHittier Narrows damn and up near the El Monte airport, the pain is gone. I'm into a decent rythm and continue on for a decent ride of eighty kilometers - again getting tired in the last ten kilometers or so. I take some anti-inflammatory and keep stretching the legs throughout the day and I can feel it getting better alreayd. Though I'd bet that Sunday morning will be a challenge. Throughout the day I take care of business and paperwork and email forwards for various websites and for the Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force. And I finish off a Netflix series about the corruption involved in Muay Thai fighting and almost finish the Netflix series about how the FBI caught the Unabomber.
The next few days are mainly concerned with rehabbing the right hamstring. I get in Sunday and Tuesday bicycle rides with no pain. And on Monday I go walking for sixty minutes (instead of fifty or 55 minute run/walks). In the afternoons I run errands or watch Netflix or track and field World Championships and the last two mountain stage of the Tour du France. I poke around for some other ideas to work on but don't find the magic project that will get me excited.
It's a day off from leg work on Wednesday and I prepare to lift weights a bit later. I'm reading the news and markets and go check my lottery ticket from the Mega Millions game that I bought during running errands. (I only buy tickets when the jackpot is very large.) I'm counting off the numbers and I've matched four numbers plus the Mega number. This has to be a good winning. The California lottery website says it is worth $10089. I have to read the ticket numbers over and over and I even download the lottery app (for five minutes) to scan my ticket which indicates I'm a winner. I figure that after taxes this will almost cover the air conditioning system for the house that has to be replaced. And I recall, coincidentally, how my Mom and Dad won $10000 and change in the Michigan lottery in 1977 or so. I get out and lift weights and trim the roses and cool down with a shower. And settle in to watch an exciting mountain stage of Tour dy France.
I start Thursday with a bicycle ride to the old yach club and back to home. I update some finances and some paperwork and watch the final mountain Stage of the Tour du France - an epic battle with crashes, breakaways, and a super show of sportsmanship when the leading rider waits for his fallen adversary (because you don't take advantage of crashes or mechanical breakdowns if you're a true sportsman in the TdF). Later I get out for a good acupuncture session. I think my problems are almost solved and I'll try to stay away from the acupuncturist for a longer period of time (after the next visit) and see if I devolve.
My blood pressure is a bit up on Friday though I slept well. Either I'm a bit excited about taking the ticket to the lottery office to claim my prize or I ate a bit unhealthy yesterday. Or both. I get out for a good 65 minute walk though it will be quite a while before they turn into run/walks because of the right hamstring. I ride the motorcycle up to the lottery ticket office in Santa Fe Springs and they have moved - the address on the website being outdated. Buts its just a bit down the road and I'm surprised that I can just walk right up to the window and claim my winnings (to be sent in eight weeks). I was expecting long lines and a bureacratic mess of some sort. At home I get some food and watch F1 FP2 from France - a track that I was at in 1985. And later I clean the hardwood and kitchen floors and then call it a day.
Saturday through Tuesday see my typical pattern of long and short bicycle rides, morning walks (instead of run/walks for now), running errands, and slowly picking things off my "to do" list.
On Wednesday I'm out the door on the mountain bicycle for a recovery ride. This morning is fairly cool and I enjoy the ride down to the old yacht club and back to home. After getting cleaned up, I run errands to Staples to return empty ink cartridges, the car smog check center, the library to return two books, Traders Joe's for vitamins, the post office to mail off the car registration renewal, and to the grocery store for supplies. Back at home I read the news and markets and try to start preparing for an (anticipated) long bicycle ride on Saturday morning.
Thursday starts with a seventy minute walk and I think about putting in some running. But I better give the right hamstring at least a few more days of recovery before I try some running. After a shower I babysit the installers with the new air conditioning and attic fan. While they work away I continue the effort on traction circles (for race cars) that I've been playing with on and off for about a week. I use some old Formula Mazda data from 2001 to match traction circles (or really traction ellipses) to the measured data. I'm making progress.
I sleep in thirty minutes late on Friday and walk to the AM/PM mini-mart to buy lottery tickets for tonights drawing of over $1B. At home I download crime statistics and start the crime prediction derivation algorithm. And later upload the new maps and charts. At mid-morning I get out and lift weights and it does not go well. The left shoulder has been tweaked and so many lifts have to have lowered weights. After lifting I take some anti-inflammatory and figure I'll have to take a bit of time off lifting and start back up with light weights and high reps in a couple of weeks. After a shower I start laundry and watch FP2 for F1 from Hungary. In the afternoon I get updated changes for the Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force website and I'll work on those over the weekend. And later I just relax and carbo-load for an expected long road bicycle ride on Saturday.
I've been watching the weather and though it is a bit early, I've targeted Saturday for my 65 mile (105 kilometer) birthday ride (to celebrate 65 years old). I start strong and keep going up to the Santa Fe dam and continue to feel strong. I grab a gel at the dam and head back down the San Gabriel river trail with a short stop for more water and to have a fruit bar. And then I finish off. Today's ride is strong and with a good constant pace. Nonetheless, after a shower I'm a vegetable for the rest of the day but watch an unpredictable F1 qualifying session from Hungary.
I expect to be extra tired on Sunday morning, but I'm not. I do have a one degree fever though - probably from being a bit dehydrated after yesterday's long ride. I get out for the traditional recovery ride on the mountain bicycle to the old yacht club and back to home and feel good throughout. The F1 race from Hungary is as unpredictable as the qualifying was as teams use different strategies and some teams just get the strategies perfectly wrong. Today is a hot day so I turn on the brand new air conditioning and it keeps me cool throughout the day.
I get out for a seventy minute walk on Monday morning. I think another week of walking and I'll very cautiously add some spurts of running in and see how the right hamstring feels. After a shower I read the markets and news and dig up some old routines that I need for the LBHTTF website (for automated response emails). At mid-afternoon I ride the motorcycle down to the chiropractor. The acupuncturist suggested a few visits with the chiropractor to straighten, align, and stretch the neck a bit. Granted to dull aching neck symptoms are gone, but just a little bit of intermittent tingling still exists and the acupuncturist thinks some alignment is necessary. Now I don't have much faith in chiropractors from my past experience, but I'll give it a three visit try.