Working My Way Back To Me

Rudy and Oscar have been with us for 11 months. Because they were strays, I sometimes wonder how they came to be abandoned. The scenario I've thought makes the most sense is that their original owners moved out of wherever they were living at the end of May and turned Oscar and Rudy loose when they left. They may have been on their own for a week or two before some kind person was able to get them and take them to the Humane Society. They were initially adopted by a woman, but she returned them after five days. They were probably too much for her. That's when we were contacted. Because I'm curious about where they were left to wander, I asked the Rochester Humane Society if they could provide us with an address for where they used to live. They're unable to divulge that information. I get that. It was worth a try.

I've been a member at Planet Fitness for not quite a year. It's such a good value, and it's never overly crowded when I'm there. It feels great to say that I'm a regular at the gym again after being away for too many months recovering from knee replacement surgery (I'm sure you're all tired of hearing about this, but I make these notes for myself). I had to ease back into it, as I had lost a noticeable amount of strength during my time away. However, I'm making progress again as I work to return to the level I was at last November. I try to get to the gym three times a week.

I had a breakthrough walk this afternoon. My goal since beginning rehab was to complete a walk at a pace of less than 15 minutes per mile. I did that today with a 5.77-mile (9.3 km) walk at a pace of 14:48 per mile. I had to focus to keep my speed up, and I did. Before surgery, I generally walked at a pace of around 14:20 per mile. 

I have a new wallpaper on my phone. A photo of Cliff and me taken on Mother's Day. It makes me smile each time I look at my phone and see him sitting next to me with his little hand on my pants pocket. 

I've limited my riding to rides on my gravel bike for now. I plan to be on my mountain bike riding the river trails later this summer, but I'm not ready for them yet. Riding more technical trails, such as Murphy and Lebanon, will have to wait until next year. 

I have a friend who's taking over for me, giving trishaw rides to the residents at the assisted living facility in Farmington. The trishaw bike is an e-bike, but given the load I sometimes carry on it, it can be more than I'm ready to push for now. It's mostly a matter of strength at this point. I can push my new knee hard when I'm cycling and not feel any pain in it. It's an odd feeling to not have pain in my right knee. I try not to overdo it, though. 

I went out for a 47-mile (76 km) gravel ride on Memorial Day. It was such a nice day to be riding gravel roads, and it felt good to be doing something I've missed doing regularly for too long. I have two new pieces of technology accompanying me on my rides: a new Insta360 Ace Pro 2 front-facing camera and a Garmin Varia radar/light combination for the rear of my bike. I'm very impressed with the Varia. If I had any criticism, it would be that I would like it to give me a heads-up a little sooner. I'm accustomed to using a mirror that allows me to easily see traffic a quarter to half mile away, or even more. The Varia notifies me of overtaking traffic at 153 yards (140 meters) away. But I like it. 


Politics Chat with Heather Cox Richardson.

That's all I've got.  
     

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