Sun, May 25-Sat, May 31

Sun May 25: AM. Did a duathlon - biked 30 miles to New Glarus, ran a painful 40 mins over trails in the NG Woods State Park, biked back to Madison. The knee was hurting during the run but not too bad when biking. It was sunny with a temp in the 40s on the bike ride over and around 70 on the way back.

Mon May 26: AM. A 35 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path. Knee was achy. It was sunny and in the 40s. PM. Ran 23 mins on the Lake Wingra route until knee became too painful.

Tues May 27 - DNR - Knee is very BAD.

Wed May 28 - DNR - Injured.

Thurs May 29: AM. A 33 min run on the Capital City Trail. Felt sluggish, but knee was ok. It was cloudy and 52°. PM. In Deerfield, A 45 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was partly cloudy and 69°.

Fri May 30: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was sunny and 55°. ~Pre Lives!

Sat May 31: AM. A 60 min run on the Capital City Trail and over trails in Olin Park. It was partly sunny and 53°. PM. A 45 min run over trails in Governor Nelson Park. It was sunny and in the 60s.

This was a bad week. After last Saturday’s “work out,” my knee acted up and forced me to take a couple days off. I’ve been icing the knee after every run and It’s gotten better these past few days, but it’s still a nuisance.

Looking at the bright side, it is significantly better now than it was a few months ago. It used to be, for every step forward, I would take about three steps backward. At least now I think I’m making progress- maybe 3 steps forward and 1 step back. What I really want to do is to take 10,000 steps forward and 0 steps backward. Wouldn’t that be nice.

Sun, May 18-Sat, May 24

Sun May 18: AM. A 2 hour 20 min run on the Capital City Trail and the Lower Yahara Riverway Trail. Mix of sun and clouds, temp around 50°.

Mon May 19: AM. A 33 min run on the Capital City Trail. It was cloudy and 39°. PM. In Deerfield, ran 33 mins in the DF Business Park and around the station at end of shift, then joggled 33 mins on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. Cloudy at first, then mostly sunny. Temp of 55°.

Tues May 20: AM. A 60 min run on the Capital City Trail and Starkweather Creek Path. It was in the 40s and raining. PM. A 65 min run on the Capital City Trail and over muddy trails in Olin Park. It was raining and in the upper 40s.

Wed May 21: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was 44° and drizzly. PM. In Deerfield, A 25 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. Slow. Ate too much before run. It was lightly raining and 50°.

Thurs May 22: AM. No AM run - overslept. PM. In Deerfield, ran 15 mins around the ambulance station until a call came in. PM2 Ran 20 mins worth of loops around the station at shift’s end. Cloudy and 56°. PM3 In Middleton, A 60 min run doing loops around Stricker Pond and Tiedeman’s Pond. It was partly sunny and in the 50s. 

Fri May 23: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was mostly sunny and 45°. PM. In Deerfield, A 45 min joggle on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was partly cloudy and 65°.

Sat May 24: AM. Ran 40 mins on the Monona Lake Loop route to Oneida Park, did the Kent Kretchmar Klassic 5k course in 17:35 (5:42, 5:41, 5:40, 0:32), then ran the rest of the way around the lake in ~45 mins. It was partly cloudy and in the mid 40s. PM. A 25 min run on the Capital City Trail. Right knee was achy. It was mostly cloudy and 64°.

Another hundred plus mile week, though there’s still been a niggle in my right knee. It hasn’t actually bothered me much at all until this afternoon's run. I think running the up-tempo 5k this morning caused it to flare up. (The knee felt completely fine during the run). Hopefully it’s just some minor inflammation and gets better with icing, but probably going to have to cut back a bit in the coming days.

Sun, May 11-Sat, May 17

Sun May 11: AM. A 90 min run around Lake Monona. It was sunny and around 40°.

Mon May 12: AM. A 50 min run on the Capital City Trail and over trails in Olin Park. It was sunny and in the 40s. PM. A 50 min run on the Capital City Trail and on the SW Path. It was partly sunny and 81°.

Tues May 13: AM. A 65 min run on the SW Path, Monroe St, the Wingra Creek Path and the Capital City Trail. It was mostly cloudy and 62°. PM. On the SPHS track, did 6x400m (85, 81, 83, 81, 81, 81). It was partly sunny and 76°.

Wed May 14: AM. A 90 min run around Lake Monona. It was foggy and 57°. PM. In Sunny P, A 35 min run over trails in Sheehan Park. It was mostly sunny and 77°.

Thurs May 15: AM. A 40 min run on the Capital City Trail and over residential streets. It was sunny and around 60°. PM. In Deerfield, An 80 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was in the mid 80s and very windy.

Fri May 16: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was sunny and around 60°. PM. In Deerfield, A 35 min on-shift run doing loops around the station until a thunderstorm hit. PM2 A 40 min run on the Capital City Trail. Mostly cloudy, windy and a few sprinkles. Temp in the low 70s.

Sat May 17: AM. A 68 min run on the Capital City Trail and SW Path. It was cloudy and around 50°. PM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was partly cloudy and around 60°.

I’m getting back up there!! Ya-hoo! First 100+ mile week since October 2024—seven months ago. My right knee has been a slight nuisance on most runs but it hasn’t been getting painful.

Sun, May 4-Sat, May 10

Sun May 4: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was partly sunny and in the low 40s.

Mon May 5: AM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and over residential streets. It was partly cloudy and in the 40s. PM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and around Monona Bay. It was partly cloudy and 64°.

Tues May 6: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was mostly sunny and 45°. PM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and over residential streets. It was sunny and 78°.

Wed May 7: AM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and around Monona Bay. It was partly sunny and 52°. PM. In Deerfield, A 60 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was cloudy and in the upper 60s.

Thurs May 8: AM. A 30 min run on the Capital City Trail and over residential streets. It was sunny and 40°. PM. In Deerfield, ran 30 mins in the DF Business Park and around the station at end of shift, then joggled 30 mins on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was sunny and 64°.

Fri May 9: AM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and around Monona Bay. It was sunny and 34°. PM. In Deerfield, A 45 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was sunny and in the upper 60s.

Sat May 10: AM. Ran the Kent Kretchmar Klassic 5k course twice, the first time in 19:21 (6:21, 6:16, 6:05, 0:37), joggled it the second time in ~21:30. It was sunny and in the 50s. PM. A 55 min run on the Capital City Trail and over trails in Olin Park. It was sunny and 74°.

A memory down trip lane

I am at the Memorial Union sitting in one of those orange sunburst chairs overlooking Lake Mendota. For the past several minutes I have been seriously considering getting myself a strawberry double-dip cone from The Daily Scoop. I don’t need one—I haven’t exactly been putting in the mega miles lately—but wow, would that hit the spot on this warm evening. It really is a gorgeous day. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, spring is here (and hopefully to stay). I can’t think of any place I’d rather be. Of course the college kids are all busily studying for their final exams. Boy am I glad I’m not one of them. Today is no day to be hitting the books.

BAM! Something just hit me on the head! What was that… a book? No. Something worse, something dark and unpleasant. Out of nowhere, a scary memory came crashing into my brain. Seeing all the students cramming away made me think of a particular final exam I took in my first year of college at UW Marshfield/Wood County. Or just “The Wood,” as everyone called it. Here’s a little memory down trip lane…

It was May 2018, seven years ago. My God has it been that long? I remember it like it was yesterday. I had two finals that day. The first final was on Custom Kurmfurling. That one I aced. It was a piece of cake. The second final didn’t go too well. The second final I took was on Zoology. Now here’s the thing. I needed a course that was two credits and the only two credit course that fit my schedule was Zoology. I’d heard from other students that the Zoology professor was a total dick. Well, I decided to take the class anyway. I liked going to the zoo to see all the animals when I was a little kid, so I guess I thought I might like the class. How wrong I was. I ended up skipping most of the class lectures because I couldn’t stand the professor. I should’ve listened to my peers.

I walked into the classroom that sunny afternoon in early May, sat down, and Professor Prick handed me the final exam. I looked at the first page. It had pictures of legs on it. Birds' legs. The instructions read: "Based on the picture, identify the name of the bird". There were at least 30 bird legs. "When am I ever going to need to know the name of a bird by looking at its legs?" I thought to myself. This is ridiculous. I got up, walked to the front of the room where the professor was sitting, and told him, "This is the dumbest test I've ever seen!" He looked back at me with his mean eyes and shot back, "In that case, you fail!" He grabbed my test. I hadn't written a single thing on it, not even my name. "I can't fail you if I don't know what your name is, mister. What is your name?" he asked me. I took a couple steps back, rolled my jeans up a few inches, and replied, "You tell me what my name is!" Then I turned around, walked out, and slammed the door in his face. I was sad and angry but most of all I think I was just relieved to get the hell out of there.

A cloud has drifted in front of the sun. Suddenly I don’t feel so hot. The memory of that depressing day back in 2018 gives me a chill. You know what would cheer me back up? Ice cream. Yes, I could sure go for a strawberry double-dip. Heck, I need one right now. 

Sun, Apr 27-Sat, May 3

Sun Apr 27: AM. A 78 min run on the SW Path, Monroe St, the Wingra Creek Path, and on the Capital City Trail. It was mostly cloudy and in the low 40s.

Mon Apr 28: AM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and around Monona Bay. It was cloudy and 51°. PM. In Deerfield, A 45 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was partly cloudy, windy and 80°.

Tues Apr 29: AM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. It was partly cloudy and around 60°. PM. A 30 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. It was sunny and 62°.

Wed Apr 30: AM. A 50 min run on the Capital City Trail and over trails in Olin Park. Knee was a little achy. It was 39° and mostly clear. PM. Ran 25 mins on the Glacial Drumlin Trail before knee became too painful.

Thurs May 1: AM. Ran 15 painful mins in the rain on the Capital City Trail. Knee was bad. PM. A 30 min run on the Capital City Trail and over residential streets. The knee was aching but not as bad as this morning. It was drizzly and in the 50s.

Fri May 2: AM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail. The knee was a little achy initially, but got better. It was mostly cloudy and 47°.

Sat May 3: AM. In Milwaukee, A 60 min run over trails in the Cudahy Nature Preserve. The knee was ever-so-slightly noticeable. It was cloudy with periods of light rain. Temp of 41°.

I had a nice ten day stretch without any issues. Everything seemed to be coming together. Then out of the blue (and into the black), my darn old knee starts acting up again. Wednesday evening and Thursday morning were painful. I think/hope it was only a minor bump in the road to recovery. God knows this road has gone on too long already. The past few days I’ve toned the mileage back a little and the knee has been feeling better.