Quickie Running Update

It's been so bloody hot here - usually in the 70s at 5:30am, and humidity so thick it feels like breathing under water. But, still getting out there. I had a brief interruption when I went to Michigan last week and was in class all day and had homework at night. Oh, and some weird knee pain in my right leg. But plenty of rest has the knee better, even if the STL weather still sucks rocks.

Hey summer... are we done yet?

Sat., June 30: 5.3 mi walk in 1:14:31
Tues., July 3: 6.0 mi in 1:08:16
Wed.: 6.25 mi run/walk in 1:23:36
Fri.: 5.25 mi in 1:04:07
Sun.: 6.25 mi run/walk in 1:22:55

Tues., July 10: 6.0 mi in 1:08:11 (5 mi = 56:40)
Wed.: 5.55 mi in 1:04:59
Fri.: 6.0 mi in 1:08:40 (5 mi = 57:40)
Sat.: 5.5 mi walk in 1:18:49 (5 mi = 1:11:11)
Sun.: 3.1 mi (5K) on the ELM in 43:30

Tues., July 17: 5.5 mi in 1:05:40
Wed.: 5.2 mi in 1:02:29
Fri.: 5.0 mi in Ann Arbor
Sat.: walked 4.5 mi around Art Fair
Sun.: 7.0 mi run/walk at Gallup Park in Ann Arbor

Sat., July 28: 1.5 mi walk with Mom and Madi
Tues., July 31: 5.25 mi back in STL

Oh, you'll notice I stopped recording times. It's hot, and they suck, so no point!

Meet Tess

She is here! Meet Tess. She's a Carson Cooper Sabrina, a small folding travel wheel, made specially for me in birds-eye maple and camphor burl. She's a sweet little wheel.

Tess - a Carson Cooper Sabrina folding wheel

Front view

She's going to accompany me up to Michigan in July, when I head to The Spinning Loft in Howell, Michigan for the first level of the Master Spinner Program. We've already had fun getting to know each other. Again, I seem to default to spinning thing on every wheel.

Testing different fibers

Did I mention she's small but mighty?

Spinning on the deck

Despite the current record heat, I've been keeping to The Schedule. Catching up a bit...

Sunday, June 10: 5 mi on the Elliptical Machine of Death in 68:17
Tues., June 12: 5.5 mi in 5:03:37 (5 mi = 57:17)
Wed., June 13: 6 mi in 1:07:53
Fri., June 15: 6 mi in 1:07:50 (5 mi = 56:29)
Sat., June 16: 5.5 mi walk in 1:16:31
Sun., June 17: 5.5 mi run/walk in 1:08:19 (hot)

Tues., June 19: 6 mi in 1:09:58 (still hot)
Wed., June 20: 5 mi on the EMD in 71:51
Fri., June 22: 6 mi in 1:09:11 (5 mi = 57:03) ... still slowing down
Sat., June 23: 6.2 mi in 1:13:59 (5 mi = 59:30) ... still wfhot
Sun., June 24: 5.3 mi walk in 1:14:31

Tues.: 6 mi in 1:05:56 (5 mi = 55:10)
Wed.: 6 mi in 1:10:17
Fri.: 5.6 mi in 1:04:23

Muddling Through

More fun at the lathe... I made some muddlers (those things you use to smash the heck out mint, in search of the perfect mojito).  And, while I was down there, I had a try at my first spindle. This one is a supported spindle, is 11" long, and weighs 27.5gm.

... so now I guess I need to get better at my supported-spindling.

All in blue mahoe wood from Puerto Rico:

Muddler, spindle, muddler

Spindle, muddler, muddler

Spindle!

Why I kept wanting to type "Mulder", as in X-Files, I have no idea.

Catching up on that avoiding-the-fat thing... running. I'm quite peeved that I'm getting slower rather than faster. So today I went out and walked - as in, WALKED - my Carondolet Park route. More muscle-tired, less overall-tired, which was fine since I spent the afternoon standing in front of the lathe. The summary since last time:

Tuesday, May 29: 5.5 mi in 1:03:22 (5 mi = 56:29)
Wed., May 30: 5.6 mi in ?? (watch fuckup)
Friday, June 1: 6 mi in 1:07:08 (5 mi = 56:03)
Sat., June 2: 6.2 mi in 1:11:21  (5 mi = 57:49)
Sun., June 3: did a 5.5mi run at CCL, then kayaked another 4 mi around the lake

Tue: 6 mi in 1:08:12 (5 mi = 56:44)
Wed: 5.5 mi in 1:03:30 (5 mi = 57:32)
Fri: 5.5 mi in 1:02:49 (5 mi = 57:01)
Sat: 6.25 mi power-walk in 1:24:55

Nostepinnes... get your nostepinnes...

The nostepinne test cases continue - and I think I've hit on a design I like. Up to now, I've completed four of various sizes:

Nostepinnes!

From the top, that's honey locust, osage orange, purpleheart and flame birch. At first I thought the top two might be too large, but then I compared the winding end to my NKK ball winder, and... these are definitely still smaller.

Circumference of narrowest end and widest end of several winding tools.

And, yes, smaller than a Northern toilet paper roll tube, too. (Hey - those are useful for storing samples and small lots of yarn.) So today, I embarked on a quest to try and hit the perfect size. Work in progress...

Making a lot of wood shavings, definitely.

Nostepinne in progress

The final result - good proportions between a comfortable handle and good-sized winding end, along with the requisite yarn-notch for starting the ball, and a built-in half-inch WPI (wraps per inch) gauge just above the handle. And, I just love birdseye maple anyway.

Look at all of those eyes!

Birdseye Maple Nostepinne

I finally finished plying some yarn, too - this is Bugga! Fiber from Cephalopod Yarns in the Panoply of Heaven colorway. Ended up with 558 yds/115gm of 2-ply light fingering weight.

Latest handspun yarn - a superwash merino/cashmere/nylon blend.

 Running... I met Adrienne and Kevin at Queeny Park on Sunday, for a nice romp through the park in the heat. It was about 77F when we started, and when I finished my 8 miles, 90F. It was great to see them both again.

Sunday: 8 mi @ Queeny Park (with Kevin and A) - walk/run

Butterfly Wings

Fate?

On Friday, management said we could log off early for the holiday weekend. I decided to do just that (especially as I'd already gotten my 40 hrs in last week). While the computer was disconnecting from my remote session, I decided to take out some boxes to the bins in the alley.

Walking out, I happened to look over at the pond… and saw something odd. Dropped the boxes and went to take a look, and then realized - a baby bunny had somehow fallen in and was swimming for its life. It came around to me and I lifted it out. I have no idea how long it had been in there, or how much longer it would have been able to swim.

If I hadn’t decided to log off and take out some trash…

Baby bunny I rescued from the pond.

 I dried the poor thing off and made sure it was still breathing. I know bunnies can scare easily, especially palm-sized baby ones, so I tucked it under some plants in my neighbor’s yard (no dogs there), along with a few baby carrots.

About two hours later, I decided to check on it - if it was still there and alive, I'd offer up some of the broccoli leaves that the rabbits have been ravaging this spring. If it didn't make it, I'd be having a bunny burial. I went out, and it was not where I'd left it. I checked around the alley and garages, but no baby bunny. Hopefully it made its way back to its den, or better shelter. (I haven't seen the bunny-stealing crows lately, so I'm hoping it was safe from them, too.)

Catching up on that running stuff... most mornings have been great lately, but just recently it got hot again. I did manage to have Dr. Debbie ART away the glute pain I've been having. Turns out it was my right hip, and everything just went to hell from there.

Friday, May 11:  5.75 mi in 1:03:32 (5 mi = 55:19)
Sat., May 12: 7.0 mi at Queeny in 1:27
Sun., May 13: 4.5 mi in 52:56

Tues., May 15: 6.0 mi in 1:08:11 (5 mi = 56:58)
Wed., May 16: 5.25 mi in 59:00 (5 mi = 56:18)
Fri., May 18: 5.75 mi in 1:04:28 (5 mi = 55:52)
Sat., May 19: 5.5 mi in 1:14:34 w/Kevin @ Fenton City Park
Sun., May 20: 5.5 mi in 1:06:20 (HOT!)

Tuesday: 6.0 mi in 1:06:41 (5 mi = 55:48)
Wednesday: 5.5 mi in 1:02:08 (5 mi = 56:28)
Friday: 6.0 mi in 1:08:18 (5 = 58:48; 5.5 = 1:02:32) - hot and humid

Pretty AND Functional

The grinder is working great - sharp tools are sharp. And, I still feel like a badass every time I use it.

The sparks really don't hurt.

I roughed out a piece of osage orange, and made a nostepinne. Nostepinnes are an old-school way of winding yarn into center-pull balls for use. These days most people use ball winders where you just turn a handle, but nostepinnes are more portable. And it's fun to use one and confuse the muggles.

Osage Orange nostepinne

I'm using this one to refine the design and measurements. I like the handle and the winder-end length seems good. But I'll wind some yarn and see if I need to tweak the size at all.

Running... had a HORRIBLE run last week. Felt like my right hamstring had totally seized up. Got in to see Dr. Debbie, and she performed some ART magic on my right hip. I'm also using a foam roller and doing some new stretches. So far, not getting worse, so we'll see how it goes.

Friday, April 27: 5.5 mi in 1:03: 13
Saturday, April 28: 5.5 mi walk in 1:11:25
Sunday, April 29: 5.75 mi in 1:05:04 (5 mi = 56:42)

Tuesday, May 1: 5.25 mi dreadmiles in 1:07  (rain!!)
Wednesday, May 2: 5.25 mi in 1:06:05... the run from hamstring hell
Friday: 5.25 mi in 1:03:10 (5 mi = 57:20)
Saturday: took a kayak (Anna) up to Creve Coeur Lake for an hour + paddle
Sunday: 7.2 mi in 1:31:43 (hot and humid - walked about 2 mi total of that)

Tuesday: 5.75 mi in 1:05:15 (5 mi = 56:55)
Wednesday: 5.5 mi in 1:03:04

I feel like such a bad-ass...

... now that I can sharpen my own tools. Sharp tools are way the hell better than dull ones, and now I can just run downstairs and play on the lathe any time I want to, rather than try to figure out how much I can do before I need to run off to Woodcraft.

Case in point: before dinner tonight, I ran downstairs and turned another padauk bottle stopper top. The color in this wood is quite interesting - it's a bright orange fresh off the lathe, but after some time and two coats of butcher block oil, it's a deep rust-red color.

Padauk - oiled on the left, fresh off the lathe on the right.

And - I've been spinning! This came off the Lendrum this past weekend, and is now fluffy and dry. That's 300 yds of 2-ply in 103gm of Tunis. (It's from Gnomespun Yarn, if'n you've got a desire to obtain your own fiber.) I don't have as much experience with down-type fiber, but this was a lot of fun to spin and I love how it turned out.

Handspun Tunis yarn - 300 yds, 2-ply, 103gm

My two get-yer-ass-up-at-4:45am days this week are over - awesome.

Tuesday: Garmin says 5.5 mi in 1:03:08 (5 mi = 57:19)
Wednesdays-always-suck-days: Garmin says 6 mi in 1:09:18 (5 mi = 57:22).