Well…damn, it almost 1:30 in the afternoon and I’m still drinking coffee since I did the three rides indoors without stopping to have coffee in between them…and that gets me down to 64 miles left to go and I’ll only have 18 to do Friday to make it…I did wash the outdoor bike yesterday and didn’t want to get it dirty so I left it at that…it is sprinkling out here and I sure didn’t want to get wet at 40 degrees…I did run out and get the ingredients I forgot for the two batches of soup I’m making this week starting with the turkey soup tomorrow…was going to experiment a little on the turkey soup but it is already great the way it is so the experimenting will wait until I do the ham soup over the weekend…going to use some new kinds of beans instead of the kidney beans I normally use…I have cans of great northern, black, and garbanzo beans…or chickpeas that I’m going to put in and that will be one more can than I normally use…needless to say, this batch is going to be extra hearty with extra ham, too…might end up more like a stew but that’s okay…I did find a Larry Niven novel in the books I bought last year called “The Mote in God’s Eye” that has a forward by Heinlein who called it the best sci fi novel ever…so that gets started today along with Heinlein’s “Friday” that I got this year…so with all of the groceries I got today, I don’t have to leave this place for a couple of weeks and I am looking forward to that…just cooking, cleaning, and reading…maybe that will help my BP…

Well..I never knew how much pain the daily ibuprofen was masking until I stopped taking them Saturday and then rode outdoors for a couple of days….everything hurts and I really do mean everything….and I’ll have to deal with that on the indoor bike rides today…cleaned the outdoor bike yesterday so I won’t be riding it again for a week or so when it warms up again after the extreme cold that is coming in Thursday…I did sleep better last night but was up again at 2:43 but today I was able to get back to sleep and not out of bed til 6:10…but yesterday took a lot out of me and today I need to lay low and rest a bit…I have that 10 buck coupon from Meijers that needs to be used so I may go out today and get some chicken thighs with it…or maybe the second ham of the season…I know I shouldn’t be eating ham with my BP so high but damn, protein at 89 cents a pound? Can’t pass that up…think I’ll make the turkey soup Thursday and then ham over the weekend since I do have ham bones in the freezer I can use…only have 90 miles left to go to the goal so that times out to Friday…and that means I need to get going after one more cup of coffee….more later…

Well…had the doctor’s appointment this morning and while the BP machine checked out, my BP was quite high, over 160, so now I have a treatment plan going forward where I have to get data by taking my BP only once per day for two weeks and the going in on the 23rd to discuss the plan…I really do like my doctor’s office and the people who work there…once they determined that my BP was considered high, they snapped into action and a team of 4 people worked with me to diagnose and put together the plan…pretty sure I will be on meds but the dosage will be tiny so no side effects..the LNP who saw me told me to take the BP once a day and then put the machine back in the bag and to not freak out about the readings…I’m well under stroke risk numbers…and I got the medicine for my toenail fungus and that treatment will last a year…11 refills on the medicine in that time…every day for a year…oh, well…went under 100 miles left for the goal today…

Well…up at 2:45 this morning and then tried to go back to sleep and gave up at 5:30…so I’m here early and am waiting for the coffee to brew so I can get moving today…it’s going to be a busy one with the two indoor rides and then to the DR appointment, over to Meijers to pick up a prescription and some ingredients for the soups I want to make over the next week…the BP is still nuts so it looks like I’ll be taking some meds for it…I wish they would just get that started so I don’t have to think about it anymore…have already stopped the allergy meds and ibuprofen and no salty foods but that has made no difference at all so lifestyle changes aren’t going to do it…oh, well…I do need to get on the bike indoors by 6:30 to get two rides in before the appt. and that will be followed by two outdoors after I get back here for 41 miles today…then I need to wash the bike since I won’t be outdoors again this year…and I have the last of the flowers that need to be removed and put out in the trash tomorrow…the math works out that I will hit the goal Friday even without extra rides so after today, back down to three indoors…it’s raining out there right now so the outdoor rides may wait til the afternoon or maybe just three indoors…we’ll see…will be making turkey soup later in the week and then ham soup next week…more later…

Well…after getting the three rides in downstairs, I took a look outside and it was warm enough to go out so I suited up and took off…most of the trail was clear and it was nice to get outside and some fresh air…Muskegon Lake was even lower today and rocks that I have never seen before are emerging from the water…and the coastline has moved out about 50 feet from where it was along the bridges on the south side of the lake…much of the trail is now covered by a sand dune and I think they are going to stop clearing it and the beach road this week…I think I’ll do two outdoor rides tomorrow if the weather holds up and pair that with two indoor…with the 36 miles today, I will go under 100 miles left to the goal with the rides tomorrow and that feels good…9,881 miles right now and that means I’ll hit the goal Friday and still have two more weeks left to ride…yay!

Well…not sure if it’s depression but I am just so damn tired of doing the things needed to maintain this body as I age…I mean I’ve lived out here for almost 4 years and I don’t know where the McDonalds, Burger King, or Taco Bell even is…and it’s been over 7 years since I’ve had any fast food…and I can’t even try my favorite foods anymore…chips…have loved potato chips since I was little but can’t tolerate the salt with my BP so high…and I spend my days figuring out how to get at least three rides in every day…I long for the days when I could just let it unfold and fool around…but that won’t be today…I don’t have to cook with the last of the potato soup to use and still lots of the big ham to have for dinner…probably shouldn’t be having ham either since it is salty, too…but where do I draw the line? Think I’ll steam some cauliflower with the ham for dinner later…yeah, that’s where I’m at now…it is just so much work to be old…and I’m tired…more later…

Well…damn, running late already and it’s only 6:20 and I need to get on the bike by 6:30 to get the first ride in before the F1 race comes on at 8am….I did check my BP when I got up and it’s in the 130′s but the coffee and rides will raise that into the 150′s and I’m not sure what the heck that means…I need to stop obsessing about it or maybe it will just kill me an put me out of my misery…didn’t get much done yesterday and the only thing I’m going to do today is the rides to keep piling the miles on and get to the goal…this is the third day of no allergy meds and I really can feel it…have had a low grade headache since I stopped them and I guess that’s what I’ll live with from now on…the wind was howling again last night and I can’t remember a time out here when it has blown this much for so long…was really thinking about getting on the outdoor bike today but not in that wind…it stayed over 40 all night last night so the snow should be mostly gone today and I’ll be able to get out for the appointment tomorrow and I need to hit Meijers for a prescription but then I’ll be in for the week and probably for the rest of the year…going to be in the 20′s for a high later in the week and that’s disheartening…oh, well…on the bike…more later…

Well…it’s a little after 1pm and I am done for the day with only the weight work to do and I’ll start that after I do this…okay, I have a little bitch about continuity in tv shows…have been rewatching “Goliath” and they started the first season with a beat up 66 Mustang that Billy drove that had full hubcaps…and that turned into a 65 Mustang GT with bullet shaped rear view mirrors and dual exhaust that came out through the valence below the rear bumper for the second season and through the next to last episode of the third when it changed back to a non GT with flat mirrors and single exhaust…they were all red but that was the only thing that stayed the same…they must have used at least three different cars that could have been 4 and being a car guy, this bugs the hell out of me…I know they employ continuity managers on every show but whoever it is isn’t too good at it…okay, that’s my bitch for the day

Well…I tried the new BP machine as soon as I got up this morning and getting a reading of 134/69 gives me some hope that I can do lifestyle changes to keep me from stroking out….started a little experiment of not taking any allergy meds last night and I can’t feel any difference this morning so I guess I’ll stop taking them…not sure if that had any effect on the BP but the ones I was taking do tend to raise it so I’ll see…slept okay last night but I’m pretty worn out today and have only 15 minutes before I need to get on the bike…down to 179 miles to get to 10K so I need to keep grinding it out 24 miles at a time to get done before Man U plays at 12:30…it didn’t snow last night and it’s already above freezing so we’ll start seeing the snow go away and that will continue until Wed next week until the temp drops into the 20′s for a few days…but no really cold weather til the end of the month and that leaves only January and February to endure the winter weather and I can take that..especially with the new boots…not much to do today…just going to do the rides and then figure out the cleaning that needs to be done…it looks like the turkey soup will wait for a few days since I still have potato soup to use up before I make it so it looks like Tuesday will be the day….more later…