Training Log Archive: BillD

Event: NEOC: Mt. Wachusett
 

Daughter Karen, looking for a woodland excursion without having to think about anything, followed me around the Brown course at Wachusett Mt. A cold, windy day with clear blue sky. Shivering until climbed the first 100m from the start, then didn't think about temperature again. I found it difficult to move through the woods - dense with small deciduous trees with low branches. Spent a lot of time stooped to duck under branches.

For no good reason I still find it difficult to gauge distance using a 1:7,500 map.

I tried concentrating on aiming for interim features, i.e. staying in contact with the map. When leaving #2 for #3 I knew I'd have trouble on compass since there were not helpful features along the way to confirm azimuth. So when I spotted a flag off to the left when distance seemed correct, I figured I again botched holding course and moved left. Wrong flag. Turns out I was on course and would have found #3 up the next contour. By now I was confused whether I was north or south of the correct line and wandered a lot before I could match terrain to the map. On #5 I again lost confidence of distance and course and started the left-or-right search too early. I relocated to the westward bump of the creek, a feature I should have sought in the first place.

The other legs went OK. Between heavy bush whacking and a tender hip, I went pretty slowly.

My route.

Really nice to have Karen along. We followed up with lunch in Leominster and then on to her house in Acton for a visit with Peter and the kids before heading home, driving into the glare of the setting sun. A good day.

Brown - Splits

Fired up the high pressure washer and cleaned the decks and railings on both elevated porches. Much stair climbing to arrange and set up the equipment,but certainly worth the effort. After this fetid summer, all sorts of primitive vegetation was taking up residence in a big way. A sweep of the power spray would leave a swath like a brush full of white paint on a dark green chalk board. Very satisfying.

At PT and met the senior therapist who will handle my case. After a lot of different tests, he opined that my problem is not one of limited range, for which stretching is the usual treatment, but a lack of strength in the right glute and upper right leg muscles, perhaps a result of some strains. He worked me through a good number of strengthening exercises with instruction to discern whether I engage certain muscles (good to do) or fall into compensating motions (not good to do). He made an interesting comment: he said he's treating me as an athlete. I suppose that is in distinction from the slip-and-fall or post-surgery patients. I'm liking this guy. He's more expository and engaging than therapists I have visited before.

Right hip/groin area really hurting, so tried a short amble around Salmon Brook Park before going to the Y. Walked about 500m, limping the whole way. You could have mistaken me for Chester in the old Gunsmoke series.
Stretching hasn't helped.

Experimented with using the updated GPS Tracks app on my iPhone, using my new Apple Watch to start/ stop/ mark waypoints (no lap button). Will inspect the resulting GPX file later to see if this will work more easily than my Garmin watch (my third Garmin where the Lap button failed after just a few uses).

Ran into a good friend at the Y so spent time catching up on things with him instead of doing swim laps (but I did mellow out in the jacuzzi).