I let myself backslide a bit this week. My total for the week was 21 miles — three less than the 24 miles I pushed through last week. The breakdown:

• Tuesday, June 24, 4.5 miles
• Wednesday, June 25, 4.5 miles
• Thursday, June 26, 9 miles
• Friday, June 27, 3 miles

Though a marathon week still eludes me, I did manage to hit a new personal best: nine miles. Eight miles last week taxed me more than Uncle Sam. Nine miles this week was a chore, but my body took it better than that eight-mile run. Afterward, my muscles had a tenderness to them, but I didn’t feel like I’d been clubbed. Go me.

Today while running, I cased out a Japanese maple sitting on a curb a few streets from my house. Discarding such a potentially beautiful tree seemed alien to me: Is it diseased, or just gangly? You tell me. The picture, unfortunately, does it justice.

After the run, Mrs. Blocletters and I cruised by in the Saturn. We drove back slowly, the tree sticking precariously out of the open trunk. Now, it lives in the backyard awaiting planting.

The owner apparently though better days had passed this poor guy by. If I have anything to do with it, his sunniest days are yet to come.

Update: Alas, it might’ve been salvageable, but … It was too ugly for the front yard, and there wasn’t a good space for it in the back yard. Out to the curb. Maybe next time I’ll think things through before I go curb-raiding.