Two Rivers Park

I walked and jogged for 1:27:47 at Two Rivers Park this morning. Bill Brass, Bob McKinney, and Sandy Venable met me on the Little Rock side of the Two Rivers Park bridge, and according to Brass' and McKinney's GPS watches, we went 5.137 miles. We jogged a total of about five minutes, and otherwise walked a leisurely pace, stopping occasionally to look at stuff, and once for Sandy to use the bathroom.

178

Burns Park

I walked a very nice loop at Burns Park with Ron and Elaine Gimblet this morning. We were out for 1:40:41. I might start doing a bit more with them. They were nice company, and the time and distance flew by.

NO HATS OFF...
...to the motherfuckers at the New York Times who put together the ten-minute movie starring a bunch of brainwashed teenagers and twenty-somethings going on and on about why people should vote, without bothering to get one person to say wake the fuck up, votes don't make any fucking difference, unless the race ends up tied, or the person someone would've voted for loses by one, and even then they don't unless the winner has promised the voter at least one drink or meal, and pays off, because people who run for office are jack stains

173

Chandler Street Loop

I walked the Chandler Street Loop this morning in 45:29.

167

Hash/DFL

I jogged and walked for 39:17 through Burns Park this afternoon with the Hash, after which Elaine Gimblet somehow managed to at least cause me to think about starting the 50K in Russellville a couple of weeks from now. For one thing, she told me there's no entry fee.

The Democrat Football League Green Bay Packers were led to an 84.41-81.29 victory over K-Squad by Denver Broncos' wide receiver Demaryius Thomas this evening. Thomas had seven catches for 138 yards and a touchdown to score 22.01 fantasy points, and help the Packers overcome a 15.40-point deficit after this afternoon's games. The victory moves the Packers (6-2) back to first place in the sixteen-team DFL. The NFL Packers beat the the Jacksonville Jaguars and improved to 5-3.

164

Levy Loop

I walked the Levy Loop tonight in 30:54, full of steak and baked potato and apple pie eaten in Hot Springs with Richard, Jim, Lillian, and Karen Perkins.

161

Maple Street Loop/Orange Street Loop

It's interesting, indeed fundamentally ironic, that ya'll move to the Gulf Coast just about at the same time hurricanes start blowing the hell out of Nova Scotia. Anyway, it turned winter here last night. Yesterday it was 82°F. This morning, at 10:45, it's windy, wet, overcast, and 48. What sucks is that Samantha's been gone since Wednesday. She hates this kind of weather. I looked for her along Orange Street as I completed the Maple Street Loop in 31:04. I hope she's inside somewhere.

One thing that never occurred to me until this afternoon, when Samantha appeared, walking south on 35th Street toward the house, is that neighborhood cats, including mine, probably read this blog. I mean, of course, right? If you look back, you'll see a history of Sam reappearing shortly after I expressed concern about her on Pam's Boy. What's funny is, three hours after her return, as I turned onto Orange Street off 43rd, about a hundred yards away from completing an easy jog of the Orange Street Loop in 32:27, Sam meowed to me from the lowest branch of a tree across the street from the Chiropractic Clinic. She then jumped to the lawn below, and followed me home.

HATS OFF...
...to Evan Osnos, for writing a story about corruption in China—in The New Yorker—without using the adjective "rife." It is the first time since the end of the Nixon administration that anyone has written or said anything about organizational corruption without using it. All previous such stories are, in fact, rife with it

159

Hardcastle Loop

I walked the Hardcastle Loop this evening in 45:30.

154

38th Street Loop

I walked the 38th Street Loop this morning in 32:27.

151

Levy Loop/DFL

I have callouses on the balls of my right foot that hurt almost as though they were blisters, which I overcame to walk the Levy Loop this afternoon in 33:49. This is one of those rare days when I walked solely because of my streak. I am, however, surprised to not be any sorer than I am after walking and jogging twenty miles yesterday. In fact, I am not sore at all.

The Democrat Football League Green Bay Packers lost to the Cavemen, 124.26-116.98, and are now 5-2 and in second place. The NFL Packers beat the St. Louis Rams, 30-20, are 4-3, and playing at least as well as any team in football.

149

River Trail/DFL

There is no fucking way I'm going to finish a fifty-mile foot race three months and a week and a half from now. As of about noon today, my new goal for Feb. 2, 2013, is to finish the Rocky Raccoon 20. I think I have a chance of being good for that by then. Today I walked and jogged twenty miles on the River Trail, from the I-30 bridge to Two Rivers Park and back, in 5:03:16, and am currently a vegetable. My splits were 15:15 for the first mile, 45:10 for the next three, 14:52 for the next one, 32:21 for the next two, 45:10 for the next three (which put me at ten miles in 2:32:50), 42:04 for the next three, 31:35 for the next two, 14:15 for the next one, 46:05 for the next three, and 16:27 for the final mile. The final ten miles took me 2:30:26. There's no way I'll try twenty miles again until I have lost at least fifteen pounds (I weighed 177 this morning).

On the positive side, my mind remained clear throughout. My blood glucose was at 135 when I left my house this morning, and at exactly 100 a couple of minutes ago, after I ate three PowerBar Energy gels en route to the twenty miles, and shopped at Kroger for frozen pizza and Milwaukee's Best. I now am on my couch excited about baseball and football; baseball so I can cheer like two motherfuckers for San Francisco to keep St. Louis out of the World Series (Game 7 of the National League Championship Series is tonight in whatever the Giants call their stadium, in San Francisco); football so I can cheer for Mikel LeShoure, who has a very outside chance of scoring enough points for the NFL Detroit Lions to lead the DFL Green Bay Packers to victory over the Cavemen. The Cavemen currently lead, 113.27-106.70. The Cavemen have a running back named Matt Forte who will play for the NFL Chicago Bears tonight. He's much better than LeShoure, so I need him to get a concussion on the first play, or somehow run his hand through a meat grinder this afternoon. You know, something gross would be fine for most of us here in Levy.

147

Levy Trail/Hash

I walked two miles on the Levy Trail this morning in 33:02, and late this afternoon walked and jogged about three miles with the Hash through Gilliam Park, which is out by the airport.

127

35th Street Loop/Orange Street Loop

I had about a third of a mile to go on the 35th Street Loop this morning, when I wondered, in no particular order, if I could go a long way tomorrow morning at the pace I was on, if it was OK that I'd just lied to two young people that I planned to vote for Tracy Steele in the coming North Little Rock mayoral election, and what kind of reaction I'd get if I mailed the Vratils $15 in cash and told them about the ease of Flat-Rate Boxes, new to the post office since they moved to, and subsequently to Texas from, Canada. You know, so they could mail me the clothes I left at their house. Anyway, the answers are no, yes (since it was none of their fucking business), and puzzlement, since a Flat-Rate Box packed with my clothes was on my front porch when I finished in 56:41, with splits of 14:08, 14:20, 13:52, 14:21. Thanks, ya'll.

This evening I walked and jogged the Orange Street Loop in 43:41.

OVERHEARD
"I will leave you two alone, so you can strangle him."
—clerk to man and woman at Hobby Lobby

122

Maple Street Loop

I walked the Maple Street Loop this morning in 29:38.

115

Hardcastle Loop/33rd Street Loop

I walked this course, formerly known as the Sweetheart Loop, on Monday, and for the first time in close to twenty years saw Sam and Donna Hardcastle at their house in Park Hill. Sam and I talked for ten or fifteen minutes. On the other hand, I haven't seen Sweetheart, a cat I saw on this loop the first time I walked it, in March of 2010, since that first time. I think her family might have moved. So, I decided to change the name, this morning, as I walked the Hardcastle Loop in 45:35.

I jogged the 33rd Street Loop tonight in 51:01, with splits of 10:01, 9:46, 10:03, 10:30, and 10:41. I had to slow down to remain comfortable, but that was OK. That's still my fastest five-mile run since early in the winter of 2010.

112

Chandler Street Loop/Orange Street Loop

I walked the Chandler Street Loop this morning in 46:33, and this evening walked and jogged the Orange Street Loop in 39:31.

OVERHEARD
"Baseball is a game of firsts. Think about it: First hits, first runs, first outs."
—Tim McCarver during this afternoon's National League Championship Series game in St. Louis. Play-by-play announcer Joe Buck blew his opportunity to gain credibility in Levy by not saying, "What the fuck are you talking about, Tim? I mean, c'mon, if you break it down like that, every game is a game of firsts. Think about it."

I PLAN TO STAB...
...the next person who says, "This could be the most important presidential election..." (National Public Radio played a recording this afternoon of a woman interviewed last night at Hofstra, after the President Obama-Governor Romney debate; she said: "I truly believe that this could be the most important presidential election of my lifetime.")

103

Park Hill Loop/Senior Center/Levy Loop/DFL

I walked and jogged the Park Hill Loop this morning in 1:11:06, by alternating one-minute jogs with nine-minute walks. My splits were 14:11, 14:46, 14:03, 14:43, and 13:23. That's an average of 14:13. A sub-twelve-hour fifty-mile run would require an average mile of under 14:24. I don't think that's probable for me.

Once again, I accidently erased the results of a swim. I swam 500 yards at the Hays Senior Center this morning in about 12:30, and knew I was too tired for much more. I did five 50s in between 55 and 60 seconds, and finished with an easy 250. Late this afternoon I walked the Levy Loop in 30:46.

Demaryius Thomas did not come through for the DFL Green Bay Packers. He scored one touchdown and somewhere around ten points last night, not nearly enough as The 546 Posse held on for a 137.46-118.83 victory. I am consoled to know my team scored at least five more points than any of the other fourteen teams in our league. It just picked the wrong week to play The Posse (better known in Levy as, of course, The Pussy), and therefore seeing its record fifteen-game, regular-season winning streak come to an end.

OVERHEARD
"I have two things to say about that, Jerry: 'Thank you,' and, 'Liar, liar, pants on fire.' "
—Woman in the Hays Center pool, after a man walked past and said, "Clara, you're the prettiest woman in this whole building."

94

33rd Street Loop/Senior Center/Orange Street Loop/DFL

I walked and jogged the five-mile 33rd Street Loop this morning in 1:09:26, and at lunchtime swam exactly one mile at the Hays Senior Center in 46:37, with 250 yards splits of 6:32, 6:45, 6:36, 6:44, 6:45, 6:40, and 6:26. I swam the last ten yards in 9.93 seconds. I think this was the first time I ever swam exactly a mile. I remember once swimming 2000 meters, in I think the fall of 1982, at the old YWCA pool by Boyle Park and the Rebsamen Tennis Center.

This evening I ran the Orange Street Loop in 29:01, with splits of 9:58, 9:49, and 9:14, and felt great every step. They were all easy.

The DFL Green Bay Packers are in trouble with one game left in Week 6. They trail The 546 Posse, 137.46-108.47. The Posse is done. The Packers have one player remaining—Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas. He's Peyton Manning's top receiver and has, I'd say, about a five-percent chance of scoring twenty-nine points tonight. He'll need two or three touchdowns and at least one-hundred yards. We'll see.

The NFL Green Bay Packers defeated the Houston Texans, 42-24. Aaron Rodgers threw six touchdown passes for the NFL and DFL Packers. Unfortunately, three of them were caught by The 546 Posse's Jordy Nelson (also known in Levy as Backstabbing Shit Ass).

87

Sweetheart Loop/Hash

I walked the Sweetheart Loop this morning in 43:14, and late this afternoon walked and jogged with the Little Rock Hash House Harriers from East End Park for 49:38, to cover a little over three miles. East End Park is close to the airport, and right in the middle of Little Rock's poorest district.

79

Chandler Street Loop/Senior Center/Levy Trail

I walked the Chandler Street Loop this morning in 44:40, accompanied the entire way by a perfect, twenty-pound brown dog. She was in the Taylor's yard when I started. She looks a little like a doxon, but almost certainly isn't, at least I don't think. For one thing, she has disproportionately large paws. She might be a puppy, and behaves as if she's been trained, at least a bit. She was perfect on my walk. She barely strayed, except a little when other dog-walkers passed, when we passed yards with dogs, and to chase squirrels up trees, which she loved. That was her favorite thing. Perhaps what stood out most was her graceful walk and jog, which reminded me of those I watched during equestrian events at the Olympics. She has a red collar, but no tags. I hope she has a home and will soon go there. At the moment, an hour after I returned from my walk, she's sitting on the front porch.

I swam 1000 yards at the Hays Senior Center in 25:25.

A bit after my last entry about the dog, before I left to swim, what I think was her father appeared. He looked like her, except much larger; I'll guess he weighed sixty pounds. They ran up and down the street together for a couple of minutes. I walked into the yard, and the little dog ran to me. She leapt up and put her dirty paws on my jeans. I petted her, and she rejoined her dad, and they jogged away, north on 35th Street.

I walked the Levy Trail this evening in 30:41.

73

River Trail

I walked and jogged ten miles on the River Trail this morning, out and back from the downtown, I-30 bridge. I jogged almost exactly seventy percent of the time going out, and it took me 1:02:29. I walked almost exactly all the way back, and it took somewhere close to an hour and twenty minutes. Overall, it was an encouraging effort; it encourages me to start training for 5Ks, and hope I can walk fifty miles come Feb. 2, 2013.

68

38th Street Loop/Senior Center/Ghetto Cat Loop

I walked the 38th Street Loop this morning in 29:02, and swam 1000 yards at the Hays Senior Center in 25:12, with 250 splits of 6:03, 6:21, 6:28, and 6:20.

There's still a place for slow walks. I, for instance, just walked the Ghetto Cat Loop, in 33:41, to keep from falling asleep at 4:30 in the afternoon.

58

Levy Trail/Senior Center/Levy Loop

I walked two miles on the Levy Trail this morning in 29:01, and saw a guy on a trencher digging a trench right down the middle of the trail. He said it was for a cable for lights which will reach the length of the trail, from I-30 to Camp Robinson.

I swam 5x100 yards at the Hays Senior Center, with one-minute intervals, in 2:00.9, 2:00.9, 1:59.9, 2:03.1, and 2:01.8. I swam 250 yards up and 100 yards down.

This evening, right after the Reds got thumped, I walked the Levy Loop in 28:24, and felt great. I walked in a pair of Tredz®, which I believe are Academy Sports® generics. I know they cost less than $20 when I bought them in the summer of 2011. I bought them for walking, but they got tucked under my bed and forgotten about until a month or so ago. Now I love them. This will sound crazy, but they feel as though they rock forward from heel to toe and then nearly catapult me, even though they weigh thirteen ounces (according to my very cheap, plastic kitchen scale). I might try running in them. I might also soon try taking one day off between runs, rather than two. Maybe. We'll see.

54

33rd Street Loop/Maple Street Loop

I added a mile to the 33rd Street Loop, and jogged and walked the six miles this lovely morning in 1:08:48, with splits of 11:24, 11:17, 11:22, 11:34, 11:10, and 12:01. The last mile took a little longer since I stopped for water at my driveway, and attempted to test my blood sugar. That attempt failed. It was the first time, I believe, that I have tried to run with the glucometer I now use. It wouldn't turn on. Maybe it was too cold. It's working fine now, on my couch, with Pam and Jo watching. My blood sugar was at 168 when I started, and is at 111 now. That stuff aside, I alternated four-minute jogs with one-minute walks and felt strong every step. That was a 9:33:20 fifty-mile pace.

The Cincinnati Reds will attempt to sweep the San Francisco Giants this afternoon. I can't wait to watch.

With the score tied at 1-1 in the sixth inning, I decided to go for a walk, and walked the Maple Street Loop in 28:41.

50

Ghetto Cat Loop/DFL

I walked the Ghetto Cat Loop this morning in 28:27.

The DFL Green Bay Packers pulled away from the Complete Sellouts to a 138.23-118.48 victory on Monday night, and lead the league at 5-0. The NFL Packers fell to 2-3 with their 30-27 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

42

Levy Trail/Hash/DFL

I considered yesterday that I might not be walking fast enough in my training, so, this morning, I walked 5.2 miles on the Levy Trail, from my house to Camp Robinson and back, in 1:12:59. That's a 14:02/mile pace, which would work out to 11:41:45.77 for fifty miles. I wonder how that would stack up all-time for someone from Levy. I mean, the fifty. I'm pretty confident I just set the 5.2-mile, Levy Trail record for walking.

Tom Zaloudek and I jogged and walked about two miles on today's Hash run, which was set from the parking lot of the old YMCA on John F. Kennedy Blvd. in North Little Rock.

The DFL Green Bay Packers lead the Complete Sellouts, 115.10-105.48, after Sunday's play, and should wrap up their fifteenth consecutive, regular-season victory tomorrow night. The Sellouts have two players left, a kicker named Shayne Graham, and defensive end J.J. Watt, who are projected to score at total of 12.41 points for the Houston Texans against the New York Jets. The Packers have Houston running back Arian Foster left. He is projected to score 22.32 points. The Sellouts defeated the Packers in the 2011 Cooper Bowl.

39

River Trail

It's 49°F at 11 a.m. The Ghetto Cats are confused, since the high yesterday was 84. I walked and jogged thirteen miles this morning, out and back on the River Trail from the downtown I-30 bridge, in 3:04:28, or an average of 14:12 a mile. I didn't keep splits. That's an 11:49:29, fifty-mile pace.

32

Sweetheart Loop/Senior Center

I jogged for a total of eight and a half minutes and otherwise walked the Sweetheart Loop this morning in 42:34, or at an 11:49:26.7 fifty-mile pace. This afternoon I swam intervals at the Hays Senior Center. I did 10x50 yards with thirty-second intervals, but failed to save the times. They were between fifty-five and fifty-seven seconds. I swam 250 yards as a warmup, and 100 down.

19

38th Street Loop/First Tee

I walked the 38th Street Loop this morning in 29:52. This afternoon I played nine holes at First Tee with Jeff Krupsaw, and Martha McAlister, who once played as an amateur in the U.S. Women's Open, in 52, with 2 pars, 2 bogies, 2 doubles, 2 triples, and 1 quadruple. I used 14 putts. I tied Krupsaw to keep the Levy-Broadmoor Cup on Orange Street. Martha was a joy to play with. She hit every shot with a slight draw, right down the motherfucking middle. She, too, is a big fan of Na Yeon Choi.

16

35th Street Loop/Levy Trail

My legs turned dead about half a mile into the fourth mile of the 35th Street Loop this morning, so I stopped at four in 42:35. My splits were 10:48, 10:29, 10:36, and 10:42. I felt great the first three miles. Three days ago, on Sunday morning, shortly after I finished my nice four-mile run in St. Louis, I noticed cold symptoms, which were severe by bedtime. They remained that way through most of Monday, but had begun to taper by the time we got to the baseball game. I'm still sniffling a bit, and hope that this dead-leggedness is a result of whatever I've had.

This afternoon I jogged for a total of five minutes and otherwise walked two miles on the Levy Trail in 28:25.

14

Foggy Bottom Drive Loop/Senior Center

FLORRISANT, Mo.—I walked the Foggy Bottom Drive Loop this morning in 29:20. It's 55°F at 8:41 a.m. I was cold as I walked in a golf shirt and shorts an hour ago.

I drove from Jim's driveway to mine in 5:28:54, and then swam 1000 yards at the Hays Senior Center in 24:50, with 250 splits of 6:04, 6:20, 6:20, and 6:06.

6

Central Parkway/Busch Stadium/DFL

FLORRISANT, Mo.—I walked two miles out and back from Jim's and Karen's house on Central Parkway and Shackleford Road this morning in 31:30. It's overcast and cool, football weather for tonight's baseball game between the Cardinals and the Reds at Busch Stadium, where I walked four laps around the lower-level mezzanine in 36:15, before the Cardinals' 4-2 victory. Our section was packed with cheerleaders and dance teams from John F. Kennedy and Lakeland High Schools, so the Miss Busch Stadium Pageant was vicious.

The Oklahoma Joes made an impressive comeback attempt tonight, but the Green Bay Packers held on for a 139.74-110.93 victory to improve their record to 4-0, and extend their regular-season winning streak to a DFL-record 14 games. We haven't lost a regular-season game since the third week of September, last season.

4