My coffee game hasn’t been that dynamic, as I’m trying to drink down my supply of beans.  This morning I’m drinking Counter Culture Fast Forward, given to me as a gift by my buddy Dave.   It’s good, but doesn’t really stand out in any particular way.   Maybe my pallet is just getting flat, and I need to mix it up more.    I’m down to one cup per morning (from two), and follow up the coffee with some caffeine-free tea.  I find the caffeine in one cup is about right…two cups is too much.

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I’ve stepped up my physical therapy discipline in recent weeks.   I’m still not quite doing it every day, but I’d say 5 days a week is average, for 30 min at a time.

My hip is still not doing well.  It has good and bad days, but overall it’s much worse off than it was this past summer or even last spring.   I got a little antsy and went out for a 4-5 mile run this past thursday.  The first two miles felt ok, but after that the pain started to increase, then radiate down my leg and into my lower back.  The last 2 miles were miserable.  To think that just three months ago I was peaking for a 100 miler, and now I can barely eek out four miles at a 9 min pace.   So it goes.  Equally concerning is that I’m almost certain that I’m compensating, even though I’m doing my best to keep an even stride.

I’m going to keep doing my physical therapy routine but once we get settled in Hawaii if things stay the same, I do think I’ll start looking at the surgery options again.  I’ll definitely talk to an ortho and see what he/she recommends.   My mindset is shifting a bit too….ultimately I’d like to run ultras again, but if returning to ultras and 100 milers is too ambitious, I’d be happy to be able to run pain free at the marathon and below distances.

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I graduated on Friday and got my master’s, so I’m officially done with school.  It’s been good, but I’m glad to be done with it.  18 months of academic focus is about right…I’m ready to go back to work.

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I’m reading two books right now: Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, and Michener’s Hawaii.   I’m enjoying both….the Michener book is a longer project so it’ll probably take me a couple of months.   I just got The Social Leap by William vom Hippel in the mail, and I may throw that into the mix as well, for a little non-fiction balance.

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While we’re on reading….If you’re like me and like to read in a chair, I highly recommend this thing:

https://levostore.com/products/levo-book-holder-floor-stand

It’s an adjustable floor based book holder, made by Levo.   I read in my recliner in the mornings, and before getting this holder I had noticed that I was getting a considerable amount of neck pain after 20-30 minutes.   There really wasn’t a comfortable way to hold the book that allowed me to relax without craning my neck forward.    So, I decided to drop $170 and invest in this Levo Hands-free book holder, and it’s been a game changer for reading.    Because I can fully relax, my focus is improved and I can read longer, and there is no neck pain at all anymore.   It’s full adjustable, so if I wanted I could fully recline and read like that.

This isn’t an ad, just trying to get the word out on this.   I wish I’d gotten one years ago.