Training Log Archive: Sandy

Class by anniemac. No idea about the time but 50 minutes sounds about right. Worked hard and was very glad to get down on the mat at the end and give my arms a rest.

A new loop. Hike down to the drive, jog the drive (about 1/2 mile) then the idea will be to build up to jogging the long gradual uphill. We'll see.

C • Welcome home 1

Event: 2015 Gold Rush - USA Ultra-long & Western States Championships
 

My sister had meetings today at Brocket Hall in Welwyn Garden City and we are heading straight to Heathrow when she's done. So I looked at some maps of the area and found some nice walking options. When I searched on Sherrardspark Wood to see if there were trails lo and behold it turned out there was an orienteering map! I was able to download a pdf to my phone but not print it. No matter. It turns out a phone map is just fine if you're just strolling along. Beautiful wooded area with tons of trails all crammed into a small area crisscrossing all over the place. It would actually make a fabulous Sprint venue. It doesn't look like much when you see the map since there's green and green slash all over the place but there are large trails and small trails everywhere and the trails are really well maintained. Definitely worth the hike over.

On the way went through another park. This one had lakes and ducks and boats and some nice paths too. It also had a very large ropes course climbing structure which unfortunately was closed or I would definitely have tried it.

I'll try to post pictures once I'm home.

(added the garmin track)

Event: London Parkrace
 

Sprint course at Victoria Park in London. Fun course in a wide open park but I wasn't up for running much. Stopped at a bathroom on the first leg then made several mistakes but it was fun to orienteer in the city. Took the underground to the overground to get there and back.

Hiking along the Dorset coast. Some fantastic views. Did an out and back of about 6 miles one way from where I'm staying to a spot on the Coastal Walk with a pub where I had lunch. Hardly saw anyone on the way out but the trail was packed near Durdle Door on the way back. Not as relentless as Matterone but the trail was really steep in a few spots and I was out longer so it seemed harder. I'll upload the Garmin tracks when I get home. I'll be curious to compare the climbs.

Hope I'm not too sore tomorrow. I was thinking about doing a sprint race in London at Victoria park.

And then this vacation is over. Boo. Hiss.

C • This is the one . . . . 3

Many hours walking around Florence Friday, yesterday and today. Also took a wonderful tour of some wineries out in the Chianti region and drove around the Tuscan countryside yesterday.

Nice walk around Florence for a couple hours this evening seeing some of the sights.

Can definitely feel yesterday's hike!

Bus to Alpino then trail to Mottarone. It was a pretty relentless up followed by some spectacular views north to Switzerland and the alps and then a relentless down back to the bus stop. Have a garmin track but my tablet won't recognize the ant stick. Will have to check the climb when I get home.

(This time is for the parts where I forgot to start the watch.)

Yup, pretty steep. Forgot to start the watch again after getting down the steepest part of the trail and taking a lunch break.

And as usual, slower down the hill than up.

Hike from Stresa to Alpino, the long way with several unintentional detours as I kept not quite following the signs properly. It is part of a trail marked from Stresa to Mottarone and the plan was to hike to the top of Mottarone and then back down halfway to Alpino and take the bus back down the rest of the way. I still do not know how I took the wrong route out of Levo, but I wandered for about 20 minutes down a lovely road before taking out my phone to figure out where I was and realizing I was not where I wanted to be. I got back to the last sign, and tried again but still couldn't find a sign pointing in any direction other than the way I had just gone. So I took some random twisty roads that went in sort of the right direction (basically up the mountain) and finally stumbled on the trail but from completely the wrong direction. By the time I got to Alpino I wasn't sure I could make it to the top and back down again before the last bus so I just called it a day and took the next bus back to Stresa. I did not have a good map with me as I had assured the trail was well marked. Which it generally was, but buying a good map would have been the smart move.

C • An adventure 1

Actually started in Stressa right on the edge of the lake, but forgot to start the watch until part way up the hill. That time is in the other entry.

Another hike along the beach, this time in bare feet. I would have to work on toughening them up to go any longer.

C • Bon voyage 5

Two 10 minute sessions, one pre walk and the other post.

Early morning walk on the beach.

The new brace only comes in black. I couldn't even pay extra to get it in a different color. :(

Might have to go back to Donjoy next time just for that!

On the other hand, the guy came to my house and measured me for the brace and will have in a few days which is far better service than Donjoy.

C • Brace 5

It was really hot out and I walked a bunch of times. I could have slogged through but it seemed like a better idea not to totally pound my knee and to take some breaks. Not all that much slower.

Meadow loop with Sandy. A minute faster than recent outings. I could tell I was going a bit faster on the flats and downhills but still surprised to see so much of a difference. Cool. Forgot to put on the heart monitor.

With Sandy and Karl. Their GPS tracks say 6.2 and 6.3 miles. Time for a new watch?

Nice evening plod with Sandy. Picked it up a tad at the very end.

Really good class today; worked up a sweat and could feel my legs working hard.

Saw a knee specialist today at the Penn Sports Medicine Center. They did new x-rays and we chatted a while and he basically said there really wasn't much to do other than what I was already doing. He also said that he could see me never having a knee replacement or deciding to get one in the next year or two - it was a more of a personal choice than a medical decision. He said there were a couple of things that they had to watch out for: if the range of motion started to really deteriorate that was a trigger for getting the surgery since they have much lower success operating on joints where there is less range of motion and if the bone started wearing away at an increased rate which would make the surgery more difficult since there would be issues attaching the synthetic joint to the worn away bone. But he said both of those things looked okay for now but they would want new x-rays every 3 years or so just to keep track of things. He also said many patients with knees like mine get replacement surgery but not all. And then I got the always pleasant to see double take when he checked how old I was.

C • cool 7