Training Log Archive: Work4justice

Really wanted to "run" run, but getting a cold and breathing sucks. Looks like the early HR data ran high...or if I have a cold will I have a higher heart rate? Woods were beautiful and snowy.

Got to say hi to JustMe as she was transitioning in the parking lot! Good to see her, been too long!

12 lb pack...flour, water, big Gatorade and some other stuff to make it heavier.

Downton Abbey PT 2 intervals. Edith and Mrs. Patmore. Some parts felt like I was pushing and HR didn't budge. Gr.

HR ran about 10-12% high. Maybe the new shirt? Neuroma kicked me off early.

HR seemed correct here.

Downton Abbey intervals. When Isis or Grandmama came into the pic, had to get bpm up 20ish and stay until scene ended. Early part HR wonky.

Spinning with the new instructor that makes me puke. :) I had a hard time getting my heart rate up. Will download data later. Keep leaving my ant stick on my desk.

C • He makes you wanna puke and... 2

Neuroma still throbbing and I think I left my orthotic in Hoosier National Forest. Or somewhere. Ordered another...can't really have a quality run until I get that thing back. The numb is awful.

Flys, captain chair, rows, lifts and chops, pull downs. Added about 5-10% on the weights.

I kept track of time, but not distance or HR. My 13 y/o has been talking about going to the gym, so off we went! I got him settled on a bike, and was trying to pay attention to him so I hardly paid attention to what I was doing.

Admittedly, he's not allowed "screens" during the school week, but I told him if he's on a bike or a treadmill, and his homework is done, he could play his video game. I'm not sure if its evil or brilliant. He lasted an hour, and went I think about 13 miles. So proud.

Yelped on the first hammie stretch.

You tube lied. Said it would take 2 hours for a project. Nope.

Headed out with Mr. Wonderful. Super psyched to try an adventure ski through the trails. Soon, very soon, I realized that my old school Rossignol 3 pin Cheyennes weren't up to the task and I was thankful thankful for the tread on my ski boots.

The woods were just beautiful. Met up with a local outdoors group and saw someone I recognized as we were trekking our skis out of some hills. At the road I buried my skis in snow and trekked back.

We were duly impressed with some vertical tracks on some hills.

Aaaannnd to save the day, went to Peach Mountain. I was proud that a couple of lengths that I used biff on I could hang on by doing my wall sits. :) Jens offered many helpful suggestions off of his observation of Igor...but I kept forgetting. Crapton of fun.

C • Anyone telemarking through ... 2

C • You guys 6

This new spin teacher is awesome. I have never worked so hard in a spin class. I almost puked at the end, it was awesome. I swear he's JayXC's doppelganger.

On another note, I am so shocked that I am feeling so good.

C • must be magic in them hoosier hills 4

Flys, single leg deadlifts, captain's chair, rows, pull downs, chops and lifts and planking my way home.

Slip slidin slow run. Was thankful for the yaktrax but the ice out did me and headed back.

Bike trainer at gym. Phew that was nice.

Lovely time with Rick and Mr. Wonderful paddling the Huron out of Proud Lake. We headed upstream first to the portage, bumped around and noticed the missing boat! Bushwhacked to it...and then as I got closer it started to float away so in I went. At the end of the paddle the puddles in my boot started to be a bit of an issue. :)

Fun fun breaking ice. Like being 10 again.

Feeling good!

Event: POCAR 48hr Rogaine
 

POCAR update. It was held at Hoosier National Forest, first 24 hour attempt. Was thrilled to have Britt (britty327) and Dusty from Rev3 to invite Maria and I, we added Brenda Carlson as well. Unfortunately, Maria could not go because a work test got rescheduled because of the ton of snow we got in Michigan. We were sad about that!

The race was a lot of fun, and learned a lot. And if Britt and Dusty get a chance to read this, I hope they comment with what I forgot or just plain got wrong!!!!

The race is operated by a group of college students (Purdue Outdoor Club) and is revealed in stages. I arrived with my pack ready for 12, not really knowing how TA or access to supplies would work. The day began with registration at 7:30, where we were asked if we wanted a 10a or 10:30 start time. We requested 10a, got our maps and were instructed to highlight certain roads and mark the out of bounds. We organized our vehicles for a TA. Then at 9ish, learned we were not coming to the car for TA and the team was allowed one bag. Surprise! Scrambled our stuff into one bag and called it good. Our cabin was next to WABAR...and don't tell them, but in addition to Dusty and Britt's mojo, I secretly tried to telepathically get some of WABARs too.

The weather forecast was perfect. 50 and sunny! At 10 we opened our envelopes for the plotting. And, I had plot block! COULD NOT REMEMBER! After a couple, got the swing of it. Britt called out, Dusty and Brenda plotted, and Britt and I checked and highlighted. We were off! Brenda and Britt started with the maps, and Dusty and Britt led the nav and Brenda and I supported. Decided our order would be Y3, W7, M9, Q5, W4, O4, A3, Fire Water (mandatory check in), then RL, S5, Z0, L7 then Headquarters. (At least I think I have the CP names right!)

Out to the first CP was a fast pace and spent a little time settling into the map and with each other. I had chosen my Cascadias to wear thinking I needed all I could get to keep up with my teammates, but 10 minutes in wished I had my O shoes. The ground in areas with southern sun was super slime, and other areas frozen. On to the next CP... and Brenda took a tumble and nailed the right side of her right knee HARD. After a minute or two, she was up and we had a slow pace to warm it up. Continues on with great nav from Britt, Dusty and Brenda. I took a tumble after another couple of hours--turned ankle. We made it to FW, and had a very speedy water refill. Then on to the next 4, which had some long legs inbetween.

Got to HQ, and while Britt, Dusty and Brenda plotted and checked, I wrapped my ankle, filled everyone's water and pulled food from the bag to replenish. We were, to the best of the organizer's knowledge, in 4th. We assumed WABAR was in 1st, and the Russians were inbetween. They staggered teams going on to stage 2 and 3. For example, we went to 3 first. When it was only 6 points, we thought something was up, so added a little extra food. We set off, and at this point I backed the nav. We went to the Firewater after just a couple of points because we wanted to know what was up. At FW, there was a spider web challenge about 40-50ft long that was about 3-5ft off the ground. A teammate had to go through the web. So, we hoisted the smallest teammate (hint: NOT ME!!) into the web and used flat backs for her to crawl over. Then we got the extra 8 points. Saw the Russians come back through FW, and never figured out why they came back. We headed out for the big loop, and Brenda was still powering through. She is PURE GRIT. Our plan was W3, M8, S4, X4, R1, G1, S3, R8, D4, X8, T9, and X9.

We started to lose light and the headlamps came on around 6p. (BTW for those privy to the great ZebraLight discussion in Michigan, it worked GREAT. 6 hours on Medium with occasional high beam and shout out to Mr. Dubs and Tone for battery supply-only needed a second for a couple hours.) Wound up going back to FW when we realized how long the leg would be in that we slowed in the dark. Discovered the first couple misplaced CPs. The clue was correct, but the plot coordinates were wrong. We heard from WABAR on the other stage there was a problem in the cemetery.

Made our way back to the last 2 CPs near HQ, and I have to add a sidebar that we had some really fun conversations. (How did you get into AR? Who's the best looking guy to ever race on Tecnu? What was the craziest CP?) But what is said on the course, stays on the course.

Around this point my garmin died, no surprise. Figured it had about 14 hours-ish in it. Dusty tracked too, and will update when her data comes along.

Brenda was really hurting no matter what, and we decided that we needed to talk at HQ. I took her pack, then Britt had it. We got to HQ and found out we were still in 4th. What I learned most here, is that in our team, Brenda really needed to be the one to make the decision. And, knowing her, I can only imagine how much she struggled. After about 20 minutes of looking at the map, knowing we were in 4th by a length, talking to WABAR about stage 2 and considering her ski race season, we decided to pull. It's hard when it's an all or nothing race, but nonetheless, I was super proud of what we had accomplished. At the end, I felt great physically. And since, I have felt a little stiff.

Hands down, I would go anywhere, anytime, in any condition with these folks. Super stars, indeed.

Shout out to WABAR for their very nice congratulatory note. Love those guys.

Suggestions for me in the future:
1. Thin red and black sharpies for O kit
2. No matter the length of a Rogaine, O shoes are best.
3. Monkey Butt Paste is a miracle worker on chafing. And good for preemptive too.
4. Green tea extract was great for caffeine.
5. Practice plotting just before a race. But I don't need rulers anymore.
6. Check out sustain instead of ecaps.
7. Night nav should dial to the next bigger feature to attack from in some cases.
8. Burned about 4500 cal, so this is a good measure.
9. Don't use compression socks, use merino or swiftwick. I think this contributed to the slip slide issue in my shoe.

C • bummer but awesome 2

C • zebra 2

C • AR technu hottie 6

Spinny, Spinny.

Warm up, run, played with inclines, cool down.

This was after shoveling my ten thousand million mile driveway up hill both ways.

C • yowsa!! 3

Set out with Scott to do blue/yellow at ILRA--pace goal was 13-15. So pretty...Slowed at the end...stupid neuroma. I'm convinced it's the Kahtoolas. Lots of step offs for fat bikers. Last bit I think I bumped my watch.

Placeholder, left my ant stick on my desk at work. Bummer! Slippy deep snow, and ice underneath...holy moly! Glad I had my kahtoolas.

C • Not as deep as last year th... 2

Big Bang theory is awesome. Like I am always laughing. That Sheldon.

Ventured out on this frozen tundra to tackle Mount South Lyon.

Crummy icy weather combined with anticipated lengthy funeral means going to the gym...on a Sunday!

C • looks like you are going to challenge KP's 2015 climb goal 1

Holy cats...snow, sleet, rain, and pending darkness, perfect weather for POCAR training! Woods were slippery slick, when it was light the ice looked pretty cool. Seemed to get dark early, pretty foggy and rainy. Hmmm....my Zebralight did was Jens' did! And before it was fine for almost 4 hours! It was charged to the green, wonder if dampish...cold conditions made it go? Gotta figure that out. caused me to end the party early. Stayed pretty comfortable, but was soaked to the bone, even with rain gear on. Sometimes the hardest part was finding the disco balls. Bumped my watch which shows the straight to 61 area...but that didn't happen. :)

Sorry Jens, I couldn't find 2 of the disco balls. I'll email you about it...

C • cold weather 25

Will upload deets later. 1st AG, 34 OA out of maybe 200/250ish?

C • Congrats! 9