Goals Met, Boat Shoes, & Slacks

Today’s lumber was all about hitting my 30-mile goal for the week, and spoiler alert—I did.

I only needed 4.5 miles, so it wasn’t that big of a deal, but I’m glad I got it done. Sure, I COULD somewhat easily hike 30 miles a week if I went by the 7-day week, and at times, I’ve been forced to. However, I’ve realized lately, or maybe knew all along, that doing it in 5 days is not only harder (in a good way) but also gives me some structure to my life as if I had an actual career outside the home, like the bad ol’ days instead of being a dumbass who specializes in cooking, cleaning, lawn mowing, and failure (ha!).

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Toads, Blades, and Auto Glass

With nearly 20 miles in my legs, I was not feeling all that energetic at the start of today’s lumber, but some early critter encounters gave me a lift, and I ended up getting another 7-mile loop in, and now sit at 26.50 miles on the week, and will no doubt hit my 30-mile goal on Friday morning.

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Miles, Nubbins, and Lawns

The woods were a welcome 30˚ warmer today than yesterday, which made things much more comfortable. I also felt pretty good, considering that I did 7 miles yesterday. So why not do it again?

I’m really digging the new course that I’ve been doing and happy with the mix that it offers. All but one trail would also make a great mountain bike loop, but that’s for another day.

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Time to Up The Pace Again?

A chill weekend hanging around the Cul-De-Sac-Shack doing nothing much had me anxious to get back in the woods on Monday morning. And that’s what I did.

Even though the calendar says it’s June now, the temps were in the low 40s when my feet hit the trail at 6:50 this morning. But the sun was shining, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky when I started out, so it was easy enough to deal with some cold digits.

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The Grocery Store Selfie

It’s been a chill weekend, and I now find myself here early Sunday morning with no footy to watch, no hike planned, the grass already cut, and a large coffee in hand, so I felt the need to write about a trip to the grocery store the other day. Because isn’t that what people do on a Sunday morning?

Enter the Soiled Wayback Machine, and let’s travel back to a couple of days ago as I blather on about things completely unrelated to cycling, hiking, or photography.

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Miles In, Pounds On

I was pretty beat after yesterday’s 7-mile lumber but was eager to get back out to try to reach my unofficial 30-mile weekly summer goal today.

I hadn’t even walked 20 yards and I had already seen a rabbit, a deer, and a gray catbird high in a tree as the sun was rising. The catbird shot isn’t my normal kind of shot, but it ended up being one of my favorites of the week. I guess there’s something to say about pushing yourself out of your creative comfort zone.

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Almost There, Again

The central Michigan area got some showers overnight into this morning, and I was looking forward to getting in the wet woods to lumber ASAP.

Sadly, the rain had pretty much stopped by the time feet hit dirt at 6:51, so there would be no hike in the rain to provide the mental rub and a tug I crave. But the peacefulness of the bright green wet woods and some luck with my camera proved a worthy surrogate.

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Another Normal Month?

Tuesday was one of those days that I woke up at 5:30 AM and pretty much went non-stop until around 1:30 PM.

First, I was in the woods for a 5.59-mile lumber with my camera. A lumber that yielded next to nothing in the way of photos, but it was still nice to get out in the woods.

After the hike, I made breakfast, ate, cleaned up the dishes, and then rinsed my hulking bodice off with a quick shower before heading for the week’s groceries, lawn mowing, trimming, cleaning up, lunch, shower #2, etc.

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Forest Fuzz & Deer

After last Friday’s lumber, I was at 26.21 miles on the week and could have easily completed my third 30-mile week in a row. I did not.

26+ miles of lumbering, nursing a slight calf issue, Cul-De-Sac-Shack duties, and the emotions of sending B off for six weeks in London really took it out of me, and I thought it best to take a mental and physical break for the weekend. Despite a few moments of boredom when the footy ran out, this proved to be the correct decision.

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