Kristmas Kybos

Winterhaven’s a great neighborhood; an oasis of green in the middle of the desert. It can remind anyone of home if their home is pretty much anywhere in the greater Midwest. For the last several years a formally arranged slog  through the neighborhood has been held and this year we took part along with a number of friends.  It started out with a touch of humor as the RD barked his instructions to us in the same manner as the Occupy groups in that we were to repeat everything he said. It went off pretty well; I sure thought it deserved an A for creativity. 

After loading up the truck with more than 1500 lbs. of food for the Community Food Bank we took off on our slog through the neighborhood. A little of what we saw included the most bizarrely decorated yards, homes and other things ever.  Once finished everyone who wanted was treated to mountains of pizza @ Old Chicago; a bonus to end a terrific evening and overall day.

**Update: Actually we ended up going through again several nights later. So many people went the first night it was too difficult to fully enjoy the lights. Second time we went we had a guided tour and a very small group~~ learned all about several of the homes and did lots of stops. One place has complete fountains/waterfalls behind lights and set to music. Absolutely amazing. 

I neglected earlier to give a grade on 100+ Days of trying to get/stay in shape. It’d not be in the spirit of the intent to grade on competitive performance. To me it’s much more about the experiences; reality is that results will never again meet what I’d really like; I’ve finally hit the downside of the curve. That said, it still leaves room to measure effort; the get-out-and-do-something results. Over the last ~150 or so days in the desert I’ve managed to log an average of 5.1M running(ish) per calendar day which bumps up to 7M per day of actually running. Plenty of days off! Plus an average of 5.3M on the bike per calendar day.  Now that’s a little misleading as I’ve averaged really only a couple days on the bike each week. Much less frequent and much longer per time out.  Certainly not the same as the midwest. That said, at ~ 25M/week each of running and riding right out of the gate after relocating I’ve got to give myself at least a B+. I’d probably bump it up to an A- if I’d actually back off a couple days a week to rest; I’ve had several days of a pretty sore knee and keep pushing instead of resting. Try to make some adjustments in the next few weeks to get some of the rest needed.