The Ice, The Dryer, The Little Rock Marathon.

Running in Cold and Ice

Well,  Walking over the ice

Cheryl has been kind of bummed this week because she has had fairly bad running conditions.   Mostly,  the Ice refused to melt on the days where it warmed up to 24 degrees!  ( I wonder why?)   This forces us to run/walk over large patches of ice where the plows and salt spreaders miss.   Not a very good training opportunity.

The GUTS of the Dryer.

Lots of Ice Patches. 

And then yesterday,  the Dryer in the apartment started squealing very loudly.  I Set out to fix it...knowing little to nothing about how dryers actually work.  ( They spin...and dry clothes....  that is about it.) That is not entirely true.   I took our dryer apart once, and cut my hand in the process.  In a sense,  I learned what NOT to do.

Kinda Dirty in here

HUGE lint Build up

But the "squealing" mostly sounds like a cleaning and lubrication issue.   Perhaps a bearing is going out in the motor, but let's hope for the best.   I popped open a couple of the panels and discovered huge layers of lint covering everything.  A quick vacuum and things should sound a little better.

Baseball sized chuncks!

The Motor looks dirty too.

Not quite,  so break out the WD40.   Hose down everything that looks like it moves and the squeal becomes an intermittent squeak.   Still,  I'm positive the problem is in the motor.  I disconnected the belt and spun the drum around freely...no squeaks there.   So only the motor was making the noise.   Looks like the landlords may have to solve this problem long term.   At least the sound is not ear piercing ...for now.

This is where they put Arkansas on a Map!

And lastly,   We are in Arkansas.  Add a new state to my total states visited!   For those of you from a Public High school, 
Arkansas is this state... above Louisiana and below Missouri.

It's Below Missouri

 We only just arrived and already I have been called "honey" by the lady attending the Register.  Must be that Southern Hospitality they sell on TV.

Destination:  Little Rock.   No Singing,
Please!

Finally!   The State Line.

But what brings us to this state?   Randomly?   Why,  They Little Rock Arkansas Marathon!  Tomorrow is the packet pickup and Expo.   The medal is the largest finishers medal in the US.   IT is about the size of a dinner plate.   We have had our eye on this for several years.   Cheryl's injury prevented her from going last year, but they offered us  the opportunity to push our race back to this year.   Lucky Us! 

Our Digs for the next three days. 

And I thought Iowa was Flat!

Well,  Cheryl does note that her training has been lacking this year.   Winter being so hostile compared to previous years means we are going into an unknown race without the confidence of completing a bunch of long training runs.   I point out that those Hypothermic half marathon and WTF runs were 13.1 miles and under grueling conditions.

Rock Hound in Little Rock.   Makes
sense.

Can't wait to sample it. 

  The goal is to have fun,  see the sights,  get Bill and Hillary's Auograph,  and possibly eat some  Gumbo.  ( I don'r really know what gumbo even is...)  I'm just kidding.  I'm not a big Bill and Hillary Clinton fan.  And I doubt they live here anymore anyway.  Still,   the people seem friendly,  the Weather is nice,  and I get to add another state to my list of Visits.   We shall see what tomorrow brings, but for now,   We  will be enjoying a Local IPA  brewed here in Little Rock.... I think.   Thanks for stopping in.