Normal as it gets

Darrell is 19 today. Holy crap, time flies.

Slept in this morning. At least until Lance decided it was time to get up. For such a little dog, he sure is a persistent little pest. Ran 6.4 miles from Fleet Feet. First 2 miles were with R. I haven't seen him in awhile. We went out pretty slow, but before we hit the 2 mile turnaround he had picked up the pace to around 8:15. Felt really good. I only planned on doing 4 miles. Told R. I was feeling good and he headed back to Fleet Feet and I continued on to add more miles.

See William smashed his goal. From the workouts he's doing it would seem he's going to get sub 19 before I do. Lots of raw speed. Must be fast twitch fibers, and I'm more slow twitch, with a little sissy on the side. I just don't like to hurt and cave when the going gets tough.

Typical Saturday, running around town from sunup till sundown. Got Dylan a street hockey puck at Dick's Sporting Goods. There's a store I could spend hours browsing. We left PJ home to make that trip. Met PJ's folks at Macaroni Grill to celebrate Darrell's birthday. PJ got them to sing to him. That young lady had a beatiful voice, and she sure could hit the high notes.

Back in black, ....its been to long, I'm glad to be back

Yesterday did the bike again. About 30 minutes worth. Really wanted to run, but resisted. Ankle still has a little bruising and very slight swelling. No were near as tender, still stiff. Self massage of the area last couple of days.

Ran this morning. Started off with a slow shuffle, no discomfort. Planned on going around 3 miles or 30 minutes whichever came first. At 1.5 miles I was feeling pretty good. Decided 4 miles would be plenty. Ankle felt pretty good, no discomfort, just a lack of flexibility.

Exactly a week today from ankle roll and sprain to back running. Four days off completely with no running and two days of bike. Ice afterwards as a precaution. Did I come back to quick? I don't think so. The best rehab for a sprained ankle seems to be using it. Should I have stayed off it longer? Time will tell, but I think doctors tend to be overly cautious.

Ghetto single speed

Schwinn World Sport in front of Darrell's 1986 IROC Camaro



Rode the Schwinn GSS this morning. (ghetto single speed) Only rode for a half hour, for 7 miles at an average 14 mph. Felt great to be moving on the bike, even if it was just laps in the neighborhood. First real ride this year. Thought it would be smarter to try out the single speed versus the road bike to test out the ankle. Ankle still has some swelling and color is almost back to normal. Still real tender and stiff. Bike didn't really affect it at all, very little flexing of the ankle. Actually worked up a little sweat.

Darrell's car never had any brake work done? The right front rotor was shot, the pad was completely gone and it was metal on metal. Both of the rear brake cylinders were leaking. Goodbye, $550. Only upside, complete new brakes all the way around. Probably the best thing to do for a car that's over 20 years old. Sure would be better to have disc brakes on the rear.

Weights

Did some weights today. Trying to get back into a routine, fast and easy. Low reps and light weights for tone only and no mass. The weekends funk is finally gone. I don't get sick very often, so when I do, I'm a pain in the ass.

Going with the boys this morning to drop off Darrell's car to get new brake pads on the front. He's worn them all the way down to the rotor's. Sure hope we can get by with only replacing the pads and maybe resurfacing the rotors. New rotors would add a big chunk of change to the repair bill.

Ankle is coming around. Limp is almost completely gone. Still a little swelling. Perhaps tomorrow I'll go for a walk and test it out.

Weekend

Busy weekend. Went with Bob up to the farm to winterize the coach Saturday morning. He blew out the water lines, while I opened up each of the faucets in the coach. Didn't take long. On the way back thru Carthage we stopped at the stockyards, after he bought my lunch. We were to early to watch the sale, so we went around back to watch them unload the trucks. Lots of cattle.

PJ and Dylan did the easter egg thing at the church while we were gone. When we got back Dylan wanted to practice street hockey in Lavergne. Still little chilly, 50 degrees with a little wind. Watched the "Bee" movie with Jerry Steinfeld and Renee Zellweger, later that night. Great graphics, the movie was ok.

Sunday did the Easter lunch after church. Ate to much. PJ and I must have caught some virus. I thought it was something we ate, but I stayed in bed all the rest of the day on Sunday. Stomach still feels quesy today. We both had low grade fevers.

Ankle swelling is almost gone. Peak of the color probably, lots of purple and green. Optimistic that a couple more days off and I'll be good to go.

Injuries

Day 2 for the sprained ankle. Got home from work last night and the swelling was grapefruit sized on the lateral side, mild swelling on the medial side. Iced for awhile and went to bed. This morning the swelling is down significantly. Not near as bad as when I broke the 5th meta-tarsal. PJ is mocking me, asking when I'm going for a run again. She'll get hers when I start getting grumpy because I haven't been for a run. I was in a pretty foul mood at work, yesterday. Mainly, because I hate being hurt. Even Dylan is picking up on it. His ankle hurt last night to. So he had to ice his as well. I try not to, but I'm a grumpy old SOB when I'm hurt.

I was afraid something like this would happen to jeopardize my pacing attempt at the Country Music Half Marathon. Last year I broke my big toe 2 weeks before race day. I took off every day except for the last couple before race day. I was able to pull that off without any problems. This time arouond, I have a better base and more time before race day. Shouldn't be much of a setback, only a frustration.

Looks like I missed a great day for a training run on the course with the Nashville Striders. Damn.

!@#$%^&* hole

The golf course kicked my ass this morning. Damn, the Rock was right, "I'm not going to run around the golf course in the dark, I'll step in hole or something". Yep, that's exactly what happened. Cruising along talking with Speedy and wham, I'm on the ground. Hit hard, even my hand hurt when I hit. Jumped up and tried to shake it off. Nope, this seemed pretty bad. To top it off, its the same ankle I rolled in 2002 when I broke my fifth meta-tarsal at the Country Music Marathon. Almost exact same scenario, step in hole, roll ankle on both the lateral and medial sides. Sitting at home with ice, it doesn't appear to be a grade 3, I'm hoping grade 2. Week off and I'll be good as new. Still, *&^%#@! pisses me off.

Talked with EB yesterday. She was frustrated having to take it easy coming off an injury. I can relate. Doesn't really matter how careful you do your training, the potential for a injury always exists. I've altered my training to avoid injury from overuse injuries. Also, I second guess stupid training decisions that seem to lead to injury. For example, mayb I should run the Striders 21 mile training run on Saturday. That would be foolish, considering my longest run has only been 14 miles in the last 3 months.

Getting closer

Workout today from Jack Daniels. Forty five minutes at adjusted threshold pace. Call it 6:40. Perfect day, 32 degrees, little or no wind, road and greenway was still wet in spots, but the headlamp illuminated any of the puddles. I ran a out and back from the house to the greenway. Added benny, no tights, naked legs.

Little better effort than the last solo tempo run. Splits came in at: 6:45,6:45,6:44,6:52,7:01,6:50. Just couldn't get the rhythm going. Plenty of energy, drank a slim fast before hand. Really lost focus on the 5th mile with the 7:01. Pushed the pace on the last one to try and get back to the 6:40 without going to hard. Didn't happen.

Part of the workout is 6 x 200 meters at R pace. I did 3 instead. The first 100 meters it seemed like my legs were stuck in the pavement. I couldn't get them going. Cruised into pace on the final 100 meters. I can see the benefit of this fast stuff. It really helps with the running economy and efficiency. When I get tired the form starts to fall apart and pace drops. By focusing on economy and counting the form doesn't falter and I'm able to drive through the repeat.

PJ is in her 2nd week of resuming some exercise and watching what she eats. She seems to be focused this go around. Showed my a good looking reduced calorie cake she's going to make for easter brunch. Don't know where we're going yet. Darrell shaved off most of his beard, only leaving some porkchop sideburns. (Brian Sell, now that dude has some serious facial hair going on.) He's going to a job interview today. Dylan is back playing T-ball this year. He's been skating around on the in-line skates practicing hockey. I don't think they have a league for his age. There is a outdoor rink in Lavergne. It isn't ice, only ice is at Centennial park I believe. I sure don't want to drive to Nashville another trip every week for practice or a game. Geez, its already a 64 mile round trip everyday. But, I do plan on doing the Strider training run on Saturday. I want to run the half course one more time before race day. I'll park over by the stadium and run the 3-4 miles to Centennial park and meet up with the striders group. When we get close to were I parked, I'll be done. Probably around 16 or 17 miles. Hopefully there will be a group that wants to run a 8:00 pace.

Almost tempted

Speedy emailed yesterday wanting to know if I was interested in a run on the golf course this morning. This is the one scheduled day off per week. But, I really wanted to run. It almost seems like I should be running. Sure do feel better when I'm running regularly. My back doesn't bother me near as much. Allergies are not an issue. PJ has the runny nose and eyes from everything blooming and the grasses haven't even started yet. Dylan, same thing. Even the joints in my legs and ankles feel achy if I don't run. Runners' high, I don't know about that. Never have experienced that. I do like to complain and whine, most every run. Every now and again, though I get the "no chain" effect. Doesn't happen every day or even once a week.


Think I'll get the bikes ready for this weekend or the next day off. Last year I rode on the off days. Not to much on the weekend, it just eats up way to much of the day. The headlamp should work well with the bike. I've used a light that attaches directly to the bike in the past. I'll have to put back on the red blinky light for the rear of the bike.

Back on track

Still don't seem to be getting back up to speed or endurance. Plan today was from Jack Daniels.

2 x 2 miles at T pace with 2 minute recovery.
1 x 800 meters at I pace with 2 minute recovery.
2 x 400 meters at R pace with 400 meter recovery.
2 miles at T pace

Did a 3 mile warmup and decided to use the track instead of the road. The wind was blowing about 10 miles per hour from the south. I figured less wind on the track. It's been awhile since I've scaled the fence at the track. Always afraid I'll strain or pull something while perched on the top of the fence trying to get my footing to get to the other side.

First 2 miles came in right on target despite the effort required in the wind. Half way thru that repeat saw W. come into the track. (yea, not that W., does he even run anymore?) He was running the stairs. We're both the same age and pretty close in most races. I seem to be chasing him more lately. We're both trying for that sub 19 5k. I stopped and talked with him for awhile after the first repeat. But here's the dumb part. I forgot to run my 2nd 2 mile repeat or maybe it's because I didn't reset my watch. Anyway 400 meters at T pace and then stop and restart. But instead of doing my 2 mile repeat I jumped right in and did the 800 meter at I pace. It came in on target. 400's were a couple of seconds slow. The next 2 mile at T, didn't start very well. The first mile was a 6:40, that's closer to adjusted T pace. Got a drink and tried to get back on T pace for at least one more mile. First 400 was off and I called it a day.

Crap another lousy track effort. Don't know if it was the wind that beat me up or maybe I should have eaten something before I started. I'd been doing the tempo stuff with Speedy without eating? Thursday's tempo I'll try a Slim Fast before the workout and see if that makes a difference.

I was all the way geeked out for this run. Headlamp, Ipod, Ironman 50 lap watch and Garmin. Carried my water and a baggie with my splits and workout written down. Looking at the data I know why the run today was only 8 miles instead of the 11 planned. Skipped the 2nd 2 mile repeat and only did a little over half of the 2nd T pace repeat. It's easier for me to go sissy when I run by myself. At least when I do speedwork with someone else, I seem to push alittle bit harder. Sure wish EB would hurry up and heal.

Even effort

Recovery day on the golf course. Speedy pulled me along this morning. He wasn't in any big hurry. Good, 'cause his really slow speed is about the same effort as my 8:00 pace on the road. On the golf course it equates to around 8:20 or a little better. Nice relaxed pace.

Heart rate is almost equal to the effort yesterday at 8:00 pace on the road and hills for 13 miles. Still haven't quite gotten use to the Garmin yet. Forgot to turn it back on this morning, so I was 1 mile short. Had to use Speedy's time and distance.

Speedy reminded me of the one thing I always seem to forgot about in the rain. Chafing. Usually don't even think about it, until you get reminded of it in the shower. Next rain run, definately lube generously in all potential chafe points, and wear some gloves, that are light enough to not absorb a lot of water.

What a difference a day makes

Yesterday, rain and more rain. Today, brilliant sunshine and blue sky. Hello, spring time. Still cool enough to have to put on the stocking hat and gloves but able to ditch the tights. Went out to Spain hill to get 11 miles. Ended up adding 2 more just to make it 13.1 because I was on pace for the magic 1:45. Despite the first 2 miles coming in around 9 minutes. Spain hill was a 7:45 without going anaerobic, just about tempo pace or so. Never really looked at the Garmin except every other mile or so. Basically just tried to get the rhythm for the ups and downs to maintain a 8 minute pace.

Found 3 great blogs regarding the Tom King, held yesterday in a steady rain. One disappointed with the 5k. One just happy to be running without a running nose and the other deciding why would anyone want to run in the rain, when it's lightning?

The fast boys had good times. I haven't really talked with them yet, but one summed up the race conditions, "terrible".

Blah, rain

No getting around the rain today. First 3 miles, just a few drops. Steady rain the rest of the run. Wasn't to bad, not very much wind. Hardly anyone at Bragg's HQ. I went up to Cannonsburg and then back out to Fleet Feet. Started seeing a few lightning flashes.

Andrea and Jim were the only ones willing to run in the rain. Andrea decided it wasn't to smart to run with the lightning. I guess it was kinda foolish, but I still had 3 miles back to the car at Bragg. Jim went with me for 3 miles. He was scheduled for 22 miles. I turned around and was going to end it at 10 miles, but decided I was already soaked and might as well gut it out and at least get 13.

Before Jim and I left Fleet Feet, we discussed whether Tom King would be postponed or canceled because of the lightning. Found out they did get it off. Next rain run, I'm going to get a pair of lightweight gloves. Seems like I'm getting a lot more runs in the rain. Mostly because its spring. But, also because I don't have the luxury of waiting out the rain or taking a extra day off.

Jeff Galloway, blogs, and rain

Jeff Galloway spoke at Fleet Feet Sports in Murfreesboro last night. Jeannie was able to pull that off to help out the Murfreesboro Pacers. Jeff is a entertaining speaker, former Olympian and best selling author. He spoke of his philosophy on a wide range of topics; stretching, walking, hydration, nutrition, role of the local running store and more. He also answered questions. Jeff's in town for the Tom King Half Marathon in Nashville on Saturday, guest speaker tonight for the Striders at the pasta dinner and then Sunday a training class at the Fleet Feet in Brentwood. Very busy man, his running must help keep him grounded.

Dylan went with me to Fleet Feet. He behaved like a little gentleman. We got there at around 5:15 and got home at 8:00. Long time for the little guy to not get to bored and cause a ruckus. He sure does act shy. Must get that from his dad.

Added a stat counter to the blog yesterday. Copied it from LS;) Amazing the capability of the internet. Conspiracy theory, yes I believe big brother is watching. Copied the labels from Boston Dreams. Googled running blogs one day, over 80,000.

Rain on the radar this morning. Drinking my coffee and surfing the net this morning. The rain moved through our area earlier, the streets were still wet. But, there was a gap before the next wave of rain would hit. I was able to finish one loop of the golf course before it started raining. Didn't rain to hard on the second loop, off and on, with varying degrees of intensity. No downpours. Sure hope those racing Tom King tomorrow have good weather. Looks like they may get wet. Lousy day for the volunteers.

quest for the sub 19

I've been trying to go sub 19:00 in a 5k for the last couple of years. This year I've bumped up the mileage, by adding an extra running day. I only take one day off running a week. But, I do at least two recovery runs a week on the golf course, nice and slow. I've been doing some tempo workouts for about four weeks. Tuesday was the first time on the track in over a year. Today's workout was supposed to be the first of a four week build up for another fast 5k attempt.

I have 1,400 meters of straight level road marked every 100 meters to do speedwork. The track is locked and the turns seem to make me accelerate. Today's workout was straight from Jack Daniels. 6 x 200 meters at R pace with 200 meter recovery. 3 x 1,000 meters at I pace with 2:00 minutes of recovery and 3 x 400 meters at R pace with 400 meter recovery.

I warmed up for 3.75 miles on the road. The 200 meters were coming pretty easy. Target was 41 seconds, splits were 41, 40, 39, 40, 40, 41. First 200 meters were little quick, 18-19 seconds and slowing in the final 100 meters. Everthing started falling apart on the 1,000 meter repeats. Started out on target, but was slowing by 400 meters. First one came in at 3:45 versus a target of 3:40. Second one came in at 3:47. Definately, not able to maintain pace through till the end. Started the final repeat and hit 400 meters in 1:34 versus a target of 1:28 and bagged it. Crap!

400 meter repeats didn't go very well either. To hot for the first 200 meters and fading fast for the next 200. Did 2 x 400 meters, way off target and called it a day. Damn, seems like the first time back doing speedwork takes a while for the paces to click. Sure wasn't happening today.

No more tights!

At least for the next week or so. Low temps in the 40's or better in the forecast. Still only March, April usually has a couple of days in the 30's. Won't be able to put away the tights completely.

Glad to have them on this morning, though. Today's run was a 8.2 mile recovery on the golf course. Slow, and then even slower. Legs didn't have any turnover.

Track

Speedy's trying to make me faster. This morning we met at Comcast and ran over to the Oakland track. Pretty easy workout. 4 x 100 meters and 4 x 200 meters. Not quite all out, but darn close. Much as I hate the track, it was a good workout.

I'll be on my own for the tempo workout on Thursday or Friday. Speedy's racing Tom King. Time to change it up. Perhaps mile repeats or something a little bit quicker but shorter distance.

Pure as the driven snow

It was a beautiful day. Blue sky and not a cloud in sight. Two snow runs in successive days. That's a first. Not much snow left today, just the drifts in the ditches and shade. Some spots the remaining snow was over a foot or two deep. Only because it had been blown into the ditch.

Needed to get 16 miles today, but decided 13 miles would be plenty. After 6 miles my water bottle was half empty. I got the brillant idea to fill it up in one of the snow drift banks. Only problem, the drifts now were only a couple inches deep the farther east I ran. Plus, once I decided to scoop the snow up with my water bottle I dumped out another quarter of my water and the snow had lots of "debris" in it. The snow wasn't quite as clean as it looks from afar.

Saw lots more wildlife on the back half of the run versus the front. Pack of deer saw me and instead of running across the road ahead of me they walked, slowly. Ice. This part of the road, had narrowed to one lane and gravel, heading up a hill. It still had quite a bit of ice in spots. This was just a mile and a half section I added to get my 13 miles. Which really ended up to be 14.5 miles because I went all the way to the top of the hill instead of turning around earlier.

Coming up to "coyote corner" I saw a hawk sitting in a tree with two crows in an adjacent tree. As I got closer another hawk that I hadn't seen flew off, but not before dive bombing the two crows. This corner is really S shaped, around the other corner is where I saw a coyote a couple of weeks earlier. I looked in the field to see if he was around. Spotted him or his sister at the far end of the field watching me. When I stopped to see if it was really the coyote, he turned and headed back to the creek.

Later in the afternoon we put the bikes in the van and went to the Stones River Greenway. Dylan and I rode three miles to the dam. Paula walked Lance. We caught up with Paula on the way back, she'd gone a mile and a half. It was 50 degrees and a slight breeze, I wore a windbreaker and was comfortable. Still plenty of sunshine.

Snow

According to the weather folks, last significant snowfall in Nashville was 5 years ago. So, you need to take advantage of the snow when it really does fall. We got around 2-4 inches of snow in Murfreesboro. Hard to say exactly, it was blowing to much to measure. I like to run in the snow, more so when it's actually falling.

I planned on doing a 16 mile run, but because of the wind, cut it short at 10 miles. I stayed close to the house in case the wind and cold was to much. It was 26 degrees and 10-15 mph north winds. I was never more than 2-3 miles from the house at any time, just one giant loop through the residential neighborhoods to try and stay out of the wind and to get as much actual snow as possible.

The horses out at the MTSU agriculture center thought I'd come by to feed them. The roadway is almost a half mile long gravel with cross fenced holding pens on each side. The horses in each pen would start running when they saw me approaching, beautiful animals. Ends up by the time I got to the end of the road, someone was out in a Gator to feed them.

Had fun in the snow on the run. On the way home, ran into Paula and Dylan out for a walk with Lance. He's so short, all of his belly hair was frozen as well as all of the hair around his face. Got back home and cooked up a batch of chili to cook in the crock pot. Then Dylan and I went out to find some hills to sled. Everyone else in Murfreesboro must have had the same idea. We played for around a half hour before most of the snow was about gone and Dylan was ready to go home. 2 hours later and all of the snow is gone.

Gimme a rabbit

Cold rain this morning. Radar showed a solid blob of green with some embedded yellow,(downpours). 41 degrees to start and a north wind, plus temperatures dropped to 39 degrees by the time we finished. I really expected Speedy to sleep in, but he was already at Comcast when I pulled in.

Tempo workout went really well. Speedy pulled me the entire way. Rain never let up until the last quarter mile home. Good thing he was pulling, between the constant rain and the cold wind in my face, it was a miserable morning. But, actually felt good doing the first 4 miles. Mile 5 was tougher, uphill and wind in our face. Mile 6 was difficult and wouldn't have stayed on pace without Speedy pulling me along.

By the time we finished the tempo we were completely drenched. My hands were like icicles, gloves weighed a pound a piece. Shoes were soaked after the first mile. It's almost impossible to miss all of the puddles, especially the ones that fill your shoes with ice cold water. Have to give Speedy credit; he pulled off the rabbit task without a whimper. I started whining from the time I got out of the car. But, it was a excellent workout. Averaged 6:40's for the 6 mile tempo. Not bad for no speedwork since Thanksgiving.

Sweet spot

Found the sweet spot this morning. I figured out why I like the super duper slow pace on the golf course. It's about the pace used on the recovery jogs in between repeats/intervals. Only thing is it took so long this morning to get 8 miles, the sun was already up. Cool sunrise, lots of color.

Course, also a spot when I'm doing a tempo run where the groove is on. Sure hope to hit it again tomorrow. Last week it wasn't happening. Some days it just doesn't click.

Also, another zone is the magic 8:00 minute pace I'm training to lock into. It's right about easy run pace, but a touch quicker. Almost in between marathon pace and easy run pace. If I relax to much or lose focus, I'll either speed up or slow down. Getting better at maintaining the overall effort which is easier than the locking exactly into the pace. That accounts for the ups and downs on the course anyway.

Gnat cloud

Thought I saw a few bugs flying around on the way out this morning on the greenway. Left the house at 4:30 am for 10 miles. Wind was strong and in my face on the way out, but plenty warm. Did see more than the usual amount of rabbits, maybe because I can actually see them now with my headlamp.

On the way back along the greenway I hit 2-3 spots of gnat clouds. Usually aren't this early, though. Yuck, not only sucking them in your nose and mouth but in your eyes. Time to start wearing the clear Oakley's for the morning run. Worst on the bike, but I won't be riding for another month or so.

Able to maintain the magic 8:00 mile overall pace. After compensating for a few slow miles with the wind in my face, I picked it up to even it out. 1:20 and some change for the 10 miles. Think I'll try this approach except on the long run, tempo and recovery days. Ha, that's only 2 days a week.

Smoothie for breakfast this morning, instead of my usual yogurt and granola. I used half as much granola, same amount of yogurt, equal amount of soy milk and a handful of frozen fruits. Yummy! Wish I could whip up one of those every afternoon, with just a shot of caffeine. That'd be the ticket instead of the afternoon coffee.

No, this isn't the smoothie I made

Spring

Not quite, but sure is coming quick. Saturday was nice, but Sunday was a really, really nice. 70 degrees by mid-afternoon. Did 11 miles at Spain hill trying to maintain a 8:00 pace, and dialed it in pretty darn close. Nice to be able to wear shorts and have the sun out, but not to warm. Even Darrell got out and hiked 11 miles from one end of the greenway to the other, plus a side jaunt to MOAB.

Gave Lance a haircut. He's one wiggley little dog. He's a Yorkie and his hair just gets longer. Real fine almost like human hair. I cut off close to a pound of hair. He doesn't get snippy like Tosha used to though. She would hold still, but reach a point where she'd had enough.

Not Lance, but spitting image.

Did 8 supposedly easy miles this morning on the golf course. Ended up with a 7:47 average pace, so much for a recovery run. Speedy pulled me along, otherwise it would have been 9:00 average pace.

Missin' the trails

Got out in the dirt this morning during the long run. On the first loop of Stones River Battlefield, I ran on the shoulder in the dirt and gravel. Instead of going around one more time, I jumped on the trail. Even though we've had lots of rain, the trail was pretty firm and only a couple of mud holes and standing water. Just isn't enough trail to make it worthwhile.



I haven't look at the Garmin data in detail to see how much trail, but I'd guess only 3 miles. What was really eye opening was the amount the pace slowed and the heart rate rose, dancing over and around all of the rocks. Really would have been better to have some trail shoes. Only got close to a face plant once.

Went up to the farm for the rest of the day. Bob was putting some windows in the barn, so we went up to help. Pushed around a bunch of dirt with the bucket on the tractor after we'd finished putting in the windows. Good thing for four wheel drive, the mulched tobacco stalks made quite a gooey bog. Hooked the logging chain up to a VW sized rock to drag it out of the rest of the tobacco stalks that need to be burned.