I was up at my usual early time in spite of staying up past my bedtime last night! LOL! I got most of my morning routine in and then went on to do my full stretching regimen and 3-mile interval run. I had completed two light stretching days, so today's session was rigorous. I really concentrated on feeling the stretch. This was especially true for my arm and shoulder stretches. The first set of stretching was actually a bit painful, but sets two and three felt great. As I write this, my arm and shoulder are feeling GREAT! When I finished everything, my body was well stretched out and I was ready for my 3-mile interval run.  I had a great run!

Tomorrow I will do another light stretching regimen followed by a 2-mile run! I am patiently waiting for the arm and shoulder to heal. I am very encouraged about the progress I am seeing this week. I hope that the progress continues.

We are almost to the the long weekend and the "unofficial" beginning of Summer! I guess we need to concentrate on getting those workouts in to look our best! LOL! The old man needs to work on that diet more! Everyone have a wonderful HUMP DAY!

Here is what I did today:

• Stretching regimen and rehab exercises
  
• 3 x 15 lateral arm raises with bricks
  
• 3 mile interval run 
  

Had a good night's sleep. I did not, however, catch up on that which was missed. I decided to truncate the usual morning routine and to regroup today. I've also been trying to reintegrate some of those pleasurable things that I normally would do during the course of the day. There is not much television I watch, but I love to listen to music of all kinds. I have been reconnecting with my blogtalkradio.com friends and listening to their shows. Today I enjoyed a show featuring Terence Blanchard! In fact, I did not do any training today until after the show. This was because the weather turned cloudy and stormy. So as I write this, I am only about 30 minutes past completing my stretching, 1-mile walk, and 2-mile run! Yes, I finally got in another 2-mile run and it felt good and "easy." I maintained a good solid pace and finished in 12:40 (6:20 mile pace)! Tomorrow I will hit another stretching regimen and a 3-mile interval run.  Next week I am going to start working on my abs again! LOL! They need the work!

So I am wishing you all a wonderful Tuesday evening! I am about to get in my first meal of the day! 

Here is what I did today: 

• "Light" stretching regimen
  
• 1-mile walk
  
  
• 2-mile run (12:40) 
  
  

I slept about 3.5 hours last night, but managed to get up at 5:00 am. Once I got moving, there seemed to be no problem. I actually did not take a nap until around 6 this afternoon.  In trying to maintain the rehab exercises, but allow the arm and shoulder to rest and recover from them, I decided that I would alternate "light" and "heavy" days. Today I did one set of all stretches and exercises and then went out and did a brisk 1-mile walk, followed by a 1-mile run. The 1-mile runs "feel" easy now. Although I am not pushing as hard as I can, they are still coming in at slightly under or over the 6 minute mark. Today, I purposely set out to run an easy pace and found that I was able to get done in 6:05! Tomorrow I will do full stretches and will hit a 1-mile walk and 3-mile run IF THE WEATHER PERMITS! We are forecast to receive rain every day until Thursday. I got in the walk and run between showers today. The rain, thus far has not been very heavy and has not lasted too long. I hope, therefore, to be able to keep getting in the running. 

There has not been too much pain in the arm and shoulder today. I guess the Alleve may be having a cumulative impact on the pain and inflammation. I will take another dose tonight before bed.

Also in conclusion, I am still very concerned about the loss of friends due to the condition of Bodyspace.com. It is very sad to see folks clean out their profiles and say that "I'm leaving the site" or "I'm quitting Bodyspace indefinitely." The "slow leak" continues. I certainly do not feel comfortable spending any money with a website that cannot maintain its members' webpages and a sense of community. Would my financial transactions be secure? While there seems to be a definite plan for the continued "evolution" of Bodyspace.com. I will say for the umpteenth time that the communication of this vision along with an at least tentative timeline, might encourage people to stay. Right now, we see changes appear out of nowhere and almost invariably, something that worked gets "broken." I don't like Facebook enough to make the groups I belong to over there my main fitness social networks. I do, however, believe that if a viable option comes along, people would flee from here. Let's get it together Bodyspace! We've been waiting the "new Bodyspace" for almost SIX MONTHS!

Here is what I did today:

• "Light" stretching regimen
  
• 1 x 15 lateral arm raises with bricks
  
• 1-mile walk
  
• 1-mile run (6:05) 
  

I woke up this morning with considerably less pain than I suffered with on Saturday. My arm and shoulder hurt so bad on yesterday that I grew a bit depressed and discouraged! I still remain baffled at how the pain could have gotten worse after I STOPPED the workouts to allow healing! LOL! Anyway, I started the Alleve to see how the pain would be impacted. Although not listed as a side-effect, I find that I am very sleepy. I guess it is pretty strong medicine given that one dose is only one 220 mg tablet. I have taken 4 thus far. I will give them a week to see how things work out. I also, however, will begin getting the bad things back out of my diet again. I have been just letting my eating go by the wayside, because of how I have been feeling. I suspect the sweets and carbs may have contributed some inflammation and caused the pain to flair up! 

Anyway, I was up early in spite of feeling tired and got in everything that I needed to get done. I managed to get in the stretching regimen, the 1-mile walk and run in pretty early and after that, I went to the grocery store. I came back to take a few profile pictures and it began to rain surprisingly heavily. So I snapped one and will try to get some better ones on tomorrow. I actually look so bad that it really doesn't matter! LOL! The run went very well. I finished in 5:52 running a very easy and comfortable pace.

I hope that everyone has had a great weekend and am wishing you all a great week!

Here is what I did today:

• stretching regimen
  
• lateral arm raises with bricks
  
• 1-mile walk
  
• 1-mile run (5:52)
  

I am certainly glad that I have been able to get up consistently at 5:00 am on the vast majority of days. However, on some days by 3:00 in the afternoon, I am worn out. I was glad that I had a good night's sleep after all of yesterday's yard work. Today all I had scheduled was a 1-mile walk and run and then errands. I got through the morning ritual, went outside to hit the walk and run. The run was surprisingly good. I easily hit a 6:12 today. Surprising after all the work on the legs on yesterday! After that I was off to the bank, pharmacy and then to various stores. As usual I got bogged down in the Pharmacy. I have yet to go in and come out without some delay. We are still getting my stepfather's prescriptions and medicaid information entered into the new Pharmacy's computers. It has been well over a month since their old pharmacy was bought out. I am still waiting for the improvement in service. After about an hour, I got out and into the various stores to purchase all that was on my mother's grocery list! LOL! I finally got back home around 4:30 this evening. I am ready to sit on my butt and begin my Sabbath rest before sundown! LOL!

Sunday, I may take off to concentrate on getting that last part of the book done. I have not had the time to sit still and get it done. I want it finished before the end of this month. Pray for me to have a good weekend! LOL!

Everyone, have a great Friday night! Is it REALLY Friday?

Here is what I did today:

• 1-mile walk
  
• 1-mile run (6:12)
  

Last night I went to bed early anticipating a busy day today. I had a good night's sleep and woke up feeling good in spite of arm and shoulder pain. I have to admit that I have not been careful not to sleep on the arm and shoulder. It seems when I worry about that I don't sleep well. I found, however, that even when the arm and shoulder are stiff when I wake up that it feels better quickly after I begin moving around. So I got in the morning ritual and then went right on to the yard work this morning. This week I have made a concerted effort to do something out in the yard every day. I have trimmed bushes, worked on my potted vegetable garden, and have cleaned and replanted a couple of flower beds.  Today's yard work "out" mark the culmination of a very busy week. I decided today that I would see how fast I could complete the yard work today. This included the lawn mowing, edging up with the push mower and the weed eating. I managed to get it all done in just under 3 hours. I decided after getting everything done that I would not do the 1-mile walk or run afterward. I figured that I pushed myself pretty hard and that this was workout enough. My mother mentioned to me that the area covered mowing the yard is approximately 2 acres. I guess I never thought about the distance, just that the work needs to be done! Pushing the lawn mower to edge up different areas of the yards, meant that I had covered much more than a mile. And I did not mention weed eating! After I finished all of that I put out a few plants in the front yard. Now I need to do some mulching-----NEXT WEEK!  

Anyway, I managed to get all of the work done with the arm and shoulder in decent shape. It is only now that I feel a few stray sharp pains, but nothing serious. I must also mention that I have not taken any pain medication today, but will take some before going to bed tonight. I have to go out and pick up my stepfather's medications on tomorrow, so I am going to get some Aleve to see how that works on pain and inflammation. Next week, I will stretch the arm and shoulder every other day. I will also resume the other full body stretching, which I neglected this week.

I will end the week with a 1-mile walk and run on tomorrow! Now it is time for my old butt to get into the bed! Have a great Thursday night!

Here is what I did today:

• 3 hours of yard work
  
• Gardening
  

I got up early determined to make sure that I got all of my morning routine done. I was done with everything and ready to get the run in at 8:45. I went out and hit the 3-mile interval run. It turned out to be a very good feeling run and a good set up for the longer distance runs that I will concentrate on starting next week. Tomorrow, because I am going to mow the lawn and edge up everything, I am going to take a 1-mile walk and run only. Today I did some more work on my potted garden, which is looking GREAT! I may take some pics of the veggies I anticipate producing later this summer. After that I took on a plant bed in the front yard that has been needing thinning out for well over three years. I got busy, digging, shoveling, raking and chopping with the garden hoe. I replaced some of the 3 million gladiola bulbs that I dug up! LOL! This turned out to be a pretty good workout and I actually am feeling a bit sore all over. 

My arm and shoulder, as far as pain, has been about 4 out of 10 today. Not too bad. This morning I took my first dose of aspirin and Tylenol early. I purchased some of the new Extra strength Bayer Aspirin with the caffeine adjuvant. This seems to work pretty well. A couple of people have suggested that I use some Alleve. I would be interested to know some people's experience with it as a anti inflammatory. Also, I know now that I will need to pick up the stretching again next week. The range of motion is still there, but there is some stiffness. I probably will stretch the arm and shoulder every other day to make sure that there is some rest between stretching sessions. Today I also tried a few pressing movements and found that there was no pain, although the pain I have had today has been in the shoulder cap. Hopefully, the next three weeks will see more healing and more reduction of pain.

I hope that everyone is having a great Wednesday!

Here is what I did today:

• 3-mile Interval Run
  
• Gardening
  
• Yard work
  

I got up at the usual time. However, I did not feel very rested. Once again, I have been allowing bedtime to creep closer and closer to 11:00 pm, which means less than 6 hours of sleep. This morning, I got through the vast majority of my morning routine, but got back in bed for an hour and a half. After that I got up, got out and after the 1-mile walk and the run. I noticed that my energy was down today and really did not push on the run. I finished in an abysmal 7:33! LOL!  I decided to test the arm and shoulder, which was feeling pretty good, by doing some gardening and part of the yard work. I have been doing more research on the Internet concerning how to grow a successful potted vegetable garden. So far, things are looking beautiful and I want them to stay that way. I put out a few more plants in some pots I found, fertilized them and mulched them. After that I trimmed the bushes around the house.  Interestingly enough, I almost trimmed a green snake in one of the azalea bushes. These snakes seem to be rather plentiful this year as I have run over quite a few of them during my 1 and 2 mile runs. The bushes look good and tomorrow, if the weather permits, I will mow the lawns. The weather, for once, has not conformed to the forecast. It would appear that we are a day ahead of the forecast because we received a small shower and the sky has cleared. We were not supposed to have clearing until tomorrow.

The gardening and the yard work help to augment my 1-mile walk and run. I spent a good three hours outside over and above the time spent for the walk and run. Overall it was a good day. I took my Mom out to look at the potted veggies and we got caught in the little rain shower. LOL! She loves watching things grow and was quite excited to see the green plants thriving...thus far.

After I ate a good meal, I went back outside and tried a regular and reverse pull-up.  The regular pull-up feels really good, the reverse pull-up, was a bit painful. The pain continues to be fairly localized in the arm and shoulder now. There is a little numbness in the arm occasionally, but no more of the throbbing pain up and down the arm. I decided last night to take a really hot shower last night before bed, to rub everything with analgesic rub and to take my pain medication before bed. I believe that was a good strategy and will try that again tonight.

Tomorrow I will endeavor, weather permitting, to complete a 1-mile walk and 2-mile run. I am getting my "old butt" in the bed tonight to be fresh enough in the morning to get that morning routine completely done and to have a good day.

I hope that everyone is well and that Tuesday has been great! Have a wonderful night!

Here is what I did today:

• 1-mile walk
  
• 1-mile run (7:33)
  
• Gardening (shoveling, planting, mulching, etc., etc.)
  
• Yard work (trimming bushes, raking leaves, etc.)
  

Got up early this morning and really got into the morning routine. I was ready to get my 1-mile walk and run in before 8:30 this morning. I certainly can't call it a workout! LOL! I decided this week to concentrate on cardio only and to let the arm and shoulder just "rest" as much as can be expected given how much I do around the house.  In general, things feel better. Occasionally I will test the "pressing" motion with no weights and find that there is still pain in the cap of my shoulder and the top of my bicep. Interestingly enough, if I do more than 2 or 3 reps of the pressing motion, the pain diminishes or disappears! So after 8 weeks of vigorous stretching, week 9 will be to do nothing. In fact, I've now encountered literature that suggests just that---Rest and pain relievers. As far as working out, I have also read that it might be possible to go very light with the workouts while continuing to make sure everything is stretched out. I have to do something in June, I am ready to sharpen up for the summer!

Anyway, the walk and run were good this morning. I decided to start slow and to increase my pace each lap, which meant obviously my second half of the mile run was much faster than the first. I did a good solid 5:55 mile today. Tomorrow, weather permitting, I will get in a 2-mile run. Now I am finishing up my laundry, trying to get it done before it rains, so I guess I will end this blog! LOL! My life is SO EXCITING!

Enjoy the remainder of Monday and have a wonderful week!

Here is what I did today:

• 1-mile walk
  
• 1-mile run (5:55)
  

I want to wish all of the wonderful Mothers out there the very best and happiest of Mother's Day! I am blessed to have been able to have mine in my life and spent a great deal of the day helping her out with dinner and other things that needed to be done. 

Week 9 of arm and shoulder rehab began today. I was up at the usual 5:00 am and got in the morning routine. I had decided on yesterday to take a slightly different approach to arm and shoulder rehab this week after the horrible aching I suffered on late Friday into Saturday. I decided that I would simply rest the arm and shoulder this weekend and concentrate on doing cardio. Interestingly enough, today the arm and shoulder have felt pretty good. I also have not taken any pain medication today. I will take some tonight before going to bed. The 1-mile walk and run went well. My hope is to get in a couple of 1 and 2-milers in this week with an interval 3-mile run thrown in on Wednesday. That is, if the weather holds up. Tomorrow is supposed to begin a rainy period that should end on Wednesday. You all know that I am known to get out there and run in the rain. I will adjust the runs according to the weather. Today I ran 1-mile in 6:40, which was an intentionally easy pace. 

I am trying to patient with my arm and shoulder, but it is getting hard. I have decided even if I have to go very light in June, I will do something. I feel that my left arm is noticeably smaller than my right arm. I need to put the work in to get it back to a comparable size.

Everyone, enjoy the remainder of the weekend and have a great week in and out of the gym.

Here is what I did today:

• 1-mile walk
  
  
• 1-mile run (6:40)
  

I did not blog on yesterday. I did get in my rehab and stretching over the past two days. I am exhausted! 5:00 am seems to come much too early! I have been trying to get everything resolved with my parents and there appears to be a new development every day. Anyway, I am so tired that I am just writing this blog to say hello to everyone and to record my workouts for the past two days---not that they have been different from what I've been doing for what seems like forever! LOL! Next week, I will continue to concentrate more on cardio and may even add some rope jumping and other cardio activities.

The biggest pleasure I've had lately is working on a "potted" vegetable garden. Right now I have a bunch of different plants potted up and growing. I know that I will have to thin them out to the strongest one or two. But there is a great deal of pleasure in watching things grow. Perhaps by early summer, I may have a few fresh veggies. LOL!

Everyone have a great weekend!

Here is what I did on Thursday and Friday:

Thursday:

• stretching regimen
  
  
• 3 x 15 lateral arm raises with bricks
  
  
• 1-mile walk
  
  
• 1-mile run (6:24)
  

Friday:

• arm and shoulder rehab exercises (no stretching)
  
• 1-mile walk
  
  
• 1-mile run (6:40)
  

I guess it is only appropriate that the work I have been doing for my parents has finally come very near to yielding results. In other words, I have gotten over the "hump." Today is Wednesday, the day everyone knows as "Hump Day." I was up early anticipating completing a great deal more paperwork, but received a call saying that only a few more things were needed. I am VERY happy. It has been a mentally and ultimately draining two weeks. I was up at what seemed to be much too early today---5:00! LOL! I got most of my morning routine done. Anticipating the rain, I decided to get in the arm and shoulder rehab exercises and a 3-mile interval run. I wanted to rest from the full body stretching today. Plus, I knew I had a lot of work to do. It turned out to be a great exercise and cardio session. I enjoyed it immensely. 

Tomorrow, it's back to the stretching with a 2-mile run. Hopefully, the course won't be rained out tonight. We are expecting some heavy downpours. Enjoy Wednesday! 

So there is not much more to report today! I can FINALLY take a nap!

Here is what I did today:

• arm and shoulder rehab exercises
  
• 3-mile run 
  

I was up at the usual time. Got in all of the morning routine. I was undecided about what to do for cardio after the stretching today. After some thought, I decided that I would run 2-miles at an easy pace. Even with the easy pace, I was surprised that I was only 10 seconds slower than my last 2-mile run. I finished at 13:10 (6:35 mile pace). Tomorrow I will do a 3-mile interval run; Thursday, a 2-mile run; and Friday, a 1-mile run to end the week. This will be sort of a pyramid up and down for the cardio. Next week I will do the same thing. Then after that I will begin working the 3-mile runs back into the cardio. Right now, the arm and shoulder feels pretty good. I got in some good robust full body stretching and have even added a few things that I do while walking my warm-up mile (front and back arm rotations in circles, pressing movements, and stretching). You'd be surprised what you can do while walking at a brisk pace. LOL! One thing that I certainly know now...my regular workouts will never be the same. The full body stretching will certainly add a new dimension and keep me from injuring myself again. Then there is the Tabata influence. This is just great for overall conditioning and to add more variety to my workouts.

Given the positive feedback I gotten on my last gallery profile picture, I can say that I am confident enough to wait until June to start Cycle 28. The picture that I think I look my WORST in has provided me with some of the best feedback. I certainly thank everyone for their kind comments and "generous" ratings! I don't think waiting until June will be too difficult because the cardio will be up to the "regular" level that I normally do by then. This with a bit of discipline in the diet should keep the "old man" from getting too soft! You all can give me a bit of feedback on the profile pictures I took today. I feel better about these pictures than those I took earlier. I do feel, however, that the left arm is looking a bit smaller than is the right one. Hopefully I can remedy this imbalance. 

I end this blog by saying, I feel pretty good. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's stretching episode and the interval run. I also wish everyone an outstanding Tuesday! Now time for some "Bonanza" and/or a nap!  

Here is what I did today:

• stretching regimen
  
  
• 3 x 15 lateral arm raises with bricks
  
  
• 1-mile walk
  
  
• 2-mile run (13:10)
  

Today turned into a much better day than yesterday. I was up early as usual. I made sure to get all of my morning routine done today. After concluding everything, I hit all of my stretching regimen. This meant that my entire body was stretched properly before getting outside to complete my 1-mile walk and run. Overall, it turned out to be a great way to start Monday! The runs are getting better. Even with an "easy" pace this morning, I was able to run 1-mile in 6:06. Now it is time to get the 2 and 3 mile runs on track. I am glad that things went well today. I did not rest at all well on Sunday night, but have taken a good nap today to make up for it! LOL!

Anyway, there is not much more to report today, except that I have decided to wait until June 3 to start Cycle 28. Although healing, my arm and shoulder is not consistently pain free to allow me to begin hitting the workouts like I want to again. Range of motion is great! The pain seems to be less sharper than last week, but there are times when there is some aching in the top of the shoulder and the blade of the shoulder. There is also a little "popping" on occasion.  Today I have been diligent to get in all of my pain medication. Next dosage will be at bedtime tonight. In the meantime, this week I will continue to do more cardio. As I get closer to June, I will perhaps do some leg and ab work. I feel pretty good about the diet and will continue to monitor it.

Everyone, have an outstanding Monday!

Here is what I did today:

• stretching regimen
  
• 3 x 15 lateral arm raises with bricks
  
• 1-mile walk
  
• 1-mile run (6:06)
  

I just lost an entire blog! I don't feel like rewriting! Up at 5:00 this morning. Had a horrible day. Was worried about Grandmother's condition. Mom went to visit her and found that she is suffering somewhat from a lot of pain (bed sores) and my two DUMB aunts are up to their usual STUPID tricks. Anyway, I did not even complete my normal morning routine this morning. I have not prayed by the day. I have to do better. I generally don't miss many prayer sessions, but at times it gets very difficult for me to do it. I did not do what exercise-wise what I planned to do. The energy--mental and physical--was not there for a run and I just did not have the sense of concentration to complete the entire stretching regimen. I stretched only arms and shoulders, then went outside for a 2-mile walk. I am hoping for a better day on tomorrow!