East Africa - Arusha

Travel

So, I went back to Africa.  To East Africa, specifically Tanzania.  Booked a  Safari for like 15 days.  Started in Arusha.  Saw some Baboons.  There are a lot of Baboons in Africa.  We saw many.  Not sure if it was even worth taking a video of them.

Caught this Black Heron grabbing a quick bite.  One of my favorite videos from the trip.

Here is the required Elephant video.

A bunch of Giraffe.

My first trip to Africa, warthogs were hard to photograph.  I got a few on this trip, but they are still pretty elusive.

Even though the foliage got in the way, I like this photograph of these monkeys hanging out together.

A water buck out standing in the field.

We did see other birds, like this immature Spur winged goose.

A bee eater.  We saw a lot of these, probably not the best picture.

And a male Purple banded Sunbird.

Running

I ran no races for 25-26 academic year.  I injured my left knee and just neve could get back into the swing of training.

For 24-25 I ran the Two Cities marathon in Fall 2024, and the Classic Half-Marathon in Spring 2025.

I improved my Two Cities time to 4 hours and 37 minutes.  More importantly, I felt good at the end and not awful like the last time where I maxed out my long run at 14 miles.  Training to run four and half hours really made a difference.

Still trying to get back under two hours for my half-marathon time.  I was unsuccessful at the California Classic, but strangely, managed to finish 3rd in my age group.  

Four and a half hours

 Running

I was successful. I finished a 4.5 hour run.  The first four hours weren't too bad.  I actually managed my 4.5 mile loop 4 times in record time, as in faster then the last time I tried to run 4 loops.  The wheels came off at the end of that.  I had dropped from 10 minute to 11 minute miles, but I really thought I could maintain at least 12 minute pace for my last half hour.  However, I started feeling dizzy.  So, I tried mixing in some running with some walking and headed back to the apartment to refill my bottle with water.  I kept moving that last half hour, but instead of 23 miles, I only managed 22.

I have one more four and a half hour run to do.  Hopefully, I can hit 23 miles on that effort.

Tomorrow, I'm only doing three loops easy (~14 miles) and then adding 3 more miles at marathon pace or whatever I can stand.  I really felt like fast finish runs like this prepared me well for the California International Marathon (CIM), and I want fit some into this training cycle.

Travel

One thing that hasn't suffered too much since retirement is travel.  I've already gone into the whole Panama escapade.  We bought another trailer and traveled to Texas from California, then up to Washington.

White Sands

  We also took a Gate 1 tour of eastern Europe in 2022.  It included Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, and Slovenia.

Tirana

Bled Slovania

Then to the Columbia River Gorge.

Mount Saint Helens

In 2023 we returned to Amsterdam to meet our son during his Math conference that he was attending.

They make some fabulous hot chocolate in the Netherlands.

Then we flew into Portugal, the Algarve

We went to a few places in Portugal, Coimbra, Porto, Lisbon, Nazare, and Evora.  We found some Roman ruins.

Then we took a ship out of Lisbon and did a trans-Atlantic crossing.  

But I'll save the rest for another post

Catching Up

I've been away for awhile.

I'm still running.

I'm still painting.

And I'm still playing.

Running

The Donut Dash 5k (2022)

This was meant to be a warm up in preparation for the Olympia Marathon.  It was a poor pace for me.  Or was it?  Maybe this is the new normal for me. 27:46

Olympia (Capital City) Marathon (2022)

Before I started training for the California International Marathon (CIM), I read an article that basically said that you should get used to running for the total time you think it will take you to run a marathon, but run slow.  I figured, based on my data, that I could run a marathon in under 4 hours.  So during my training, my long run maxed out at 3 hours and 50 minutes.  I managed 23 miles.  On race day, I ran the marathon in 3 hours and 48 minutes.  I didn't bonk, everything went relatively smoothly.  

I ignored that advice in training for Olympia.  I used an easier training regime.  I believe it was a Hal Higdon plan.  I maxed out at 3 hours and 50 minutes for a little over 20 miles.  But nothing I did suggested I could run a marathon in under 4 hours.  Also, Olympia is hilly, not flat like the CIM.  On race day it rained.

I managed 4 hours, 30 minutes and 19 seconds.  The wheels came off at 4 hours - my pace bombed.  Otherwise, I might have managed a sub-4 hour.

Two Cities Marathon

Part 1 (2023)

Training? What training?  For a variety of reasons, I didn't really train for this marathon.  I read some articles about people who were in decent shape, experience runners just running a marathon.  I met someone while traveling who said they did this all the time.  Of course, they also took 6 hours to complete the thing.  I didn't even think I would run this marathon this year.  I was crazy busy building up curriculum for a new job, training, and taking an online class.  The longest run I managed was 14 miles a couple of times.  Nevertheless, I went ahead and signed up 3 weeks before the marathon.

Surprise! It didn't go so well.  Good news, I finished.  Oh, but it hurt at the end.  I had an emetic reaction.  The emergency health professionals came over to check on me.  It wasn't pretty.

Time: 4 hours, 49 minutes and 30 seconds

The course was flat, I just wasn't prepared.

Part 2 (Now)

Going back to that advice.  I have more time.  I'm training.  Last weekend I ran 3 hours 44 minutes for 19 miles.  I'm still much slower than I used to be.  However, one bout of Yasso training suggested I could finish the marathon in 4 hours 25 minutes.  So this weekend I plan to run 4 hours and 30 minutes.

I'm doing some speedwork once a week, but no tempo training.  This might be an issue.  But I don't seem able to do speedwork twice a week anymore.  The last time I tried that was during the 2024 Modesto Half-Marathon...

Modesto Half-Marathon (2024)

In the spring I decided to try a half-marathon again.  It's what I've done the most.  It's arguably where I developed what little speed I have.  However,  I haven't done a sub-8 mile since 2022.  Maybe I need to get on a tread mill and do some hill sprints?

I turned to my old training pal, Hanson.  This training plan is what netted me a sub-1 hour 45 minute half in 2018.  I forgot just how intense it is, with its twice a week speed training.  I hurt my right hamstring.  I thought I was recovering all right.  My speed suggested that I would at least finish the half before 2 hours?

But I didn't.

On race day, I could still feel that right hamstring.  At 11 miles the wheels came off, and I slowed down.

2 hours and 19 seconds.

Miniatures

I've only been playing with other peoples' miniatures.  I went to a couple of conventions in Olympia.  I got to play some Pique there, and crushed the opposition.  I played some To the Strongest.  I've discovered a new gaming group down here in Fresno.  They meet once a month.  My miniatures are still mostly packed away in boxes.  I'm still painting my 10mm Civil war stuff in preparation for a Altar of Freedom game.  I want to give Brent Oman's "Battle Command" rules a go.  It will be interesting to compare.  I know Battle Command will be more solo gamer friendly.

I should be moving into a new house in October.  Then I'll unpack the boxes, set up a new gaming table and painting desk, and hopefully be fully back in business just in time to try Sam Mustafa's "Eisenhower" rules for world war 2.

Wally

 Wallace at Stirling Bridge

aka Wally, Footboy,  Booboo, Mister Blondie, Bubby, Knucklehead, Goofball, Salt to Poppy's Pepper.

Age 12, begging for a treat, and still looking impossibly young.

I first met Wally at age 16 weeks.  He was shy, skittish.  I picked him out and brought him home to meet the family

Wally didn't like squeaky balls.  In fact he generally wasn't interested in toys.  My wife could get him to play with a fluffy squirrel, but she had to run around with it to garner his interest.

Wally's puppy pictures.

Wally didn't like the pool.  He wouldn't jump in like Poppy to chase down a toy, of course, see above.  He hated it when we would bring him in and he would quickly swim to the side, not always quite knowing where the exit steps were located.  At best he would lay on the cement next to me when I sat in the pool, and occasionally give me a lick to let me know that he was there.

Wally was camera shy.  Every time I would pick up my phone to take his picture he would turn his back and slink off.  The above is a rare picture of him at age 4 next to the toy basket.  He is slightly blurry because he was already in motion to leave.

Walking in Cambria, age 6,

One game Wally did like was Rawr-Rawr.  It's hard to explain.  He would jump up on the couch, roll around knocking the pillows off while making the Rawr-Rawr noise.  He used his nose to burrow under pillows.  Sometimes he would try to burrow under me and knock me off.  Later, when I had an exercise mat, he would play this game sans pillow while I rubbed the sides of his head.  

Wally age 8 on my wife's recliner.  He would jump up here and settle against her leg while she reclined.  He did this regularly when the weather was cool year after year, until he couldn't anymore.  This was a stealth photograph, or he would have jumped off.

Wally and Poppy had a simple relationship.  She was in charge.  She would often steal the fluffy squirrel from him.  She would steal his food if she finished hers first.  Where she went, he followed.  But sometimes he would lose her, and she didn't wait for him.  He marked places where she marked, sometimes giving it a double, or even triple tap.

They both loved adventure.  Poppy could figure out when we were going camping, just from our level of activity and the noise we made loading the truck.  Wally would then get excited because Poppy was excited.  

Wally LOVED to run!  I wish I took up running sooner so that he would have had more years of going running with me.  He could really move with those short legs.  I had to slow him down because I couldn't run that fast!

Poppy and Wally age 10, at the beach and with our brand new teardrop.

Age 11, on another camping trip.

Age 11, waiting for treats from dinner prep.

Wally loved to pick fights with other dogs. He tended to also snap at passing runners, bicyclists, skateboarders, anyone on a scooter.  He killed at least one mole that I know of.  He definitely wanted to kill any cats in 'his' yard.  We had our front yard fenced in just so our dogs could go out front while we sat on the porch.

Age 15 still waiting for scraps.

Panama City, age 15.

Wally age 15, loves Papaya!

Wally age 16, still a foot boy.

Wally passed on January 24th 2022.  He couldn't see, couldn't smell, couldn't hear.  In the end he did enjoy one last Rawr-Rawr without making noise and just rubbing his head against a towel, but I knew what he was trying to do.  I'm grateful for the 16+ years that Wally shared with me.  I will miss him always.

Flex and Stretch

I've lifted weights since I was an adolescent.

I started running just shy of 50.

I've done a little stretching off and on for as long as I can remember.  I've never been particularly serious about it.

I'm not sure the exact stimulus that got me thinking that stretching might help me run faster, but that was the motivation for looking at stretching routines.  I found the following on YouTube:

This formed the core of a new stretching routine that I started at the beginning of last year in Olympia.

I began to realize that I had been doing other stretching exercises to strengthen my back.  I also became cognizant of the fact that many of these activities fell into the realm of Yoga.  I soon had my own routine that I blended with my floor exercises.  This became my "Flex and Stretch" routine.

Three to five times a week I add a meditation component, complete with Lotus position.  Meditation usually begins with a focus on breathing, but often includes a body scan component, followed by a gratitude component.

I've identified the following yoga forms in my stretching/meditation routine:

1. Bridge
2. Child's pose
3. Cobra
4. Upward Dog
5. Downward Dog
6. Spinal Twist
7. Pigeon
8. Lizard
9. One leg Pigeon (modified)
10. Warrior III (modified)
11. Forward fold
12. Bound Angle Pose
13. Seated Forward Fold
14. Plank
15. Half Plough pose
16. Wind Removing pose
17. Pancake 
18. Side seated angle pose
19. Marichyasana d
20. Tree pose
21. Dancer pose (modified)
22. Lotus (for meditation)

It looks like a lot when I write it out like that, but it goes by very quickly.

I've been trying to touch my nose to the floor in Pancake. I still got a few inches to go.  The Tree pose and Warrior III are very critical to developing proper balance.

The "Flex" part of my routine is a lot of core and arm exercises.  I do crunches, leg raises, and pushups.  The elastic bands  are used for flexing biceps, pectorals, rhomboids, deltoids and latissimus muscles - at least the ones I have remaining.

400 crunches, and 60+ pushups is a good day for me.

El Valle

 El Valle, Panama is a small town situated in the crater of an extinct volcano.  This mountain peak is part of the crater rim.

The elevation here is about 2000 feet and this makes the region cooler than the coast of Panama from whence we came.  However, the humidity is still quite high.  This combination of cool weather and high humidity resulted in difficulties with drying my running gear.

I managed to pick out a 2 mile loop, relatively pot-hole free, close to our rental that resulted in runs a little over 4 miles.  I even did some intervals, hill sprints, and tempo runs. However, the mask restrictions still inhibit me from trying to do more.

Right down the road from our rental was a butterfly house.

I started going with my wife on her bird watching walks after my run.  I wanted to spend more time with her, and it was a great way to add to my weekly mileage, even if it wasn't running.  I don't have a camera that really does a great job with birds.

I couldn't get a good picture of the crested oropendula either.  But we did find their nests.

During one of these walks we came upon a sloth.  We didn't get a good picture.  But the next day we came upon a second that was much closer, and my wife got a great video.

Wally and I decided to give Papaya another try.

The house we rented had a great outdoor gazebo with a grill, outdoor stove top, and hammocks.  We managed a couple of barbecues.  It was tricky getting a fire started with all the humidity.  I let my wife handle the fire starting part because it's something she excels in.  The resulting food wasn't as great as what I could produce in a Primo or even in my little Weber, but it was a nice change.

I made some meatballs.  I'm in Panama and not Sweden, so these are Panish meatballs.

I didn't take any pictures of the outdoor produce market, but it was nice.  Our monthly food expense  has dramatically decreased in Panama, and particularly here in El Valle.  However, I wouldn't say that I'm eating healthier.

A month in El Valle was fun.  Now we need to return to Panama City to pick up our permanent residency cards.

Panama

So my gut reaction is to say 2020 was a crap year.  Poppy passed away, there's a worldwide pandemic that has limited travel opportunities, I broke a tooth by way of an epic fall while running. 

Still, the rest of my family have our physical health.  I don't know anyone in my family or friends who has passed from this dreadful disease.  So I am feeling a bit grateful for that.  Mental health probably features a little depression all around.

Going a little stir crazy, and hearing that Panama had reopened its borders, my wife and I pushed ahead with our plan to seek residency in Panama.  The rate limiting step was the apostille for our FBI criminal background checks.  This wasn't surprising given the state of the government during the election, complicated by the pandemic.

We hired a pet relocation specialist to help with moving Wally.  That was expensive!

With papers in hand, we contacted our Panamanian lawyer and got the green light to go to Panama.  

We shed most of our furniture and things we could bear to part with, and put the rest into a very small storage space.

We were able to procure a RT-PCR test with a less than 48 hour turn around time.  We bought some KN95 masks.  Finally we rented a car, sold our car,  and made our way to the airport.  We flew first/business class in hopes of maintaining some physical distance between us and our fellow passengers.

There were no major problems in transit.  Passing through customs was a breeze.  We got to our Airbnb by taxi.  We spent a month in Panama City.

Wally arrived safely.  It's a warm place for a little Cairn Terrier.

The mornings are beautiful, but still too warm for me to run more than 4 miles while trying to wear a mask. 

But I did manage one 8 mile run.

We took a boat ride on the Panama Canal and saw all types of wildlife, including monkeys.

After spending February in Panama City, we arranged for transport to a beach resort area.

I brought the necessary tools to workout.

Tortillas in Panama are these little corn cakes.  I like mine cooked in butter with an egg and cheese on top.

I've seen some interesting insects.

We went down to meet the fishing boat and bought some fish.  I think it is a Spanish Mackerel.  We had them gut them for us.  It was 3 dollars for both fish, but I tipped the guy 2 for gutting them for us.

4 miles?

We are leaving the coast soon in order to explore the much cooler highlands.  Hopefully I can get some decent running distance in.