A Jog in the Sunshine

After the success and failures of Tuesday, the family spent Wednesday shopping.
Ah retail therapy.
We started by finding a replacement for Sam's towable trailer. After parting with a little over $135 we had a replacement for the old one with the disintegrating straps. All is not lost however. The old one is to be converted into a Scottie trailer for use later this year. Al has a cruising bike and this will go behind her. It will be for comfy trail use only!
Sam was very against going out today. I think he was needing a break after the previous two days.
I changed into my Hippo gear and after a reasonable amount of stretching while the Garmin figured out where it was, off I went.
I decided to be a little adventurous and take to the less prepared trails where I could. I set out along the earth dam again and then hit the hard trails.
I was again following the FatLoss4Life.com plan. Kind of. If I felt I could I went further jogging than the plan called for, if the legs were getting tired, then I went short. Let's just call it an adaptation.
What I realized as I went on was that I rely on the speed of the music to really pace me. Some tracks on the MP3 get skipped while others are sought out to help with a difficult stage. I think I need to start a "What got me home" music list.
I felt winded pretty early into the trip. after about a mile and a half I was hurting. I couldn't figure out why but felt a little congested in the upper airways. I though my allergies were done for the year. Maybe not.
I pressed on.
I went higher up the valley and found a gravel trail I had not used before. This is another treat of living here. Lots of places to explore.
I selected a Norman Cook remix of a Tim Deluxe track and went for it. About half way up I spooked a whitetail doe in the long grass and she bounded away. Rabbits were out and the sun was sitting just above the western hill. Magic.
I finally turned for home and was back in 1:06 after 4.38 miles.The pace was not stellar, 14.51. That winded section really did me in. The Garmin claimed 817 Kal so a lot of good hill work on this run/walk. BGL pre was 146 and post it was 100! Way to bring down the A1C.

Introductions all round

As a husband, a father and someone who has changed careers in the past couple of years, I decided I should also change my lifestyle. At 46 I now have a career (RN) that requires me to be able to respond to my patients needs at a moments notice. After 22 years in my previous career (broadcast engineer) that involved mostly sitting on my duff with brief spurts of activity, it was the rising of my HgA1C that truly led to this 'new me'.
I have done something so radical, it's almost funny. No it IS funny. I have taken up running. Ok, I will repeat that, RUNNING.
Now ANYONE who knows me knows I do not run anywhere. For anything. Seriously. It's just not me. From an early age I have been "large'. Ok. Overweight, Fat. Big. I was the kid who would sneak whole cans of baked beans, puddings and other assorted stuff from the larder. I drank Coke. Ah, Coke. I loved Coke. I could drink a 6-pack a day, sometimes more. All through my adult life I could not really understand just why I always was sweating. Always just leaking sweat. Well my blood glucose was probably up in the 200's. My body was trying anything to rid itself of this sugar stuff.
This sudden urge to better myself has come at a cost. My immediate neighbours and fellow inhabitants of this part of the fair State of Colorado have had the unfortunate vision of a large, adult hippo waddling around the neighbourhood. For this sight I can only apologise. Profusely.
Ah well. So much for the past.
I have been married for 12 years to the love of my life Alison. After a number of losses we were able to have Sam. Samuel James was three years old back in March and is the apple of his mom and dad's eye. He has three 'fur siblings'. Angus (10), Ivy (13) and Hamish (11 ish). They are all Scottish Terriers. Angus came with us from England while Ivy and Hamish were both born in the States. Both were rescues from puppy mills. In spite of the two rescues terrible starts in life they now have been with us longer than they were in the mills. All 3 live and play together as if they were all from the same litter. Ivy though is in charge. Scottie World is matriarchal.
We all live in the Foothills to the west of Denver, Colorado.
The purpose of this is to share this journey with those who may be coming along after. After what I am not yet sure but; here it goes.