Training Log Archive: PG

Maps/routes from Clint's meet yesterday at Crandalls --

Sprint 1
Sprint 2

Progress report on the G since 3/1/09 using my new metric (pounds of butter instead of 5-pound bags of sugar) --




And my pants actually fit again.

Cold and windy outside, so just a few relaxed miles on the treadmill with Click and Clack. Time passed quickly, legs felt ok, pulse low 130s, good workout.

5 minutes before and after, 5%.

Tori's AP entry on yesterday's MoboGoGlobo, for her on the scene report.

Event: WCOC Season Opener
 

Event: MoboGoGlobo! 2009
 

Time for a three-month post-surgery report, rather brief....

Things seem to be going well. The only complaint is that my bladder still has a mind of its own when I run, or maybe more accurately, the muscles that are supposed to close things off aren't quite strong enough yet. But the rest of the time there is almost no problem (any "accidents" are very minor). And I do my exercises every day.

The incision points, though still obvious, are all healing well.

My energy level continues to improve. I'd venture to say that I wasn't making an allowance in the first couple of months for the effects of the surgery, and maybe expecting more of myself than warranted under the circumstances.

My mental state continues to be astonishingly good. I find myself in a good mood almost all the time, getting less upset (or not at all) by things that would have bothered me in the past. And, overall, just getting pleasure out of lots of things.

It has never been so easy to "get out the door" for exercise. I think I've missed one day in three months.

I think it can all be summed up by a phrase that was running through my head back in January -- you have a second chance, don't blow it.

Trying not to.

C • your entry fees at work.... 14

C • situps 3

Clint's WCOC sprints at Crandalls, also a Team fundraiser, thanks Clint.

First sprint -- nice course low down, nice woods, reasonably easy orienteering. Very nice and enjoyable course. Had a good run, no misses of any consequence and ran at a nice pace, moving pretty well but careful enough to keep from doing anything stupid. No falls!

Second sprint. Started up top, lovely terrain, first leg was especially fine. Another good run, except I botched the next to last one, a minute and a quarter, just a mental disconnect, turned a good time into a mediocre one.

Still, such a pleasure to be out running, and running not so bad, and orienteering, and orienteering not so bad. And Gail along for the trip too. And no apparent damage to the body.

Continued my regular warm-up/warm-down routines --

5 minutes walking, 5 minutes jogging before sprint 1.
5 minutes walking immediately on finishing.

After a while, a long uphill walk (15-20 minutes) to the start of sprint 2. Perhaps should have jogged a little there, but felt warm and loose.

And then 5 minutes walking, 5 minutes jogging immediately on finishing sprint 2.

Legs ok.

And then on to the main event of the day, the MoboGoGlobo.

The course.

Too late to get home, so we stopped at the nearby Dunkin Donuts for a place for Gail to hang out and not have to listen to me try to direct Tori Borish around the course.

And we did really good except for, well....

I try to cope with new technology, I really do. But sometimes it still gets the better of me.

The new technology in this case was the plain old simple cell phone.

We were doing great, she was zipping around the course, spiking all of them, until on the windy uphill trail run to #10, she disappeared. Up until then, in addition to lots of talking back and forth, I could hear her breathing (she was definitely putting out a good effort). And then, suddenly, nothing. And when you are doing a MoboGoGlobo and suddenly you have lost cell phone contact, that is not good.

What to do? There was no plan B. There was no consideration of a need for a plan B.

I keep talking a bit. No response. Did she fall? Did her phone get crunched? Or maybe just lost the connection?

After a bit I hung up, tried to call her, got her voice mail. Did that again. Next time the phone rang a couple of times, then nothing, like someone had answered, but no one there. Did that a couple of times.

Morale was plummeting.

Ran into the DD to borrow Gail's phone to call. Same results.

Then my phone makes a funny noise. A text message, second one I've ever gotten. Takes a while to find it, but I do, and it's from Tori says -- I can hear you.

We have by now blown off pretty close to 10 minutes. And now I'm supposed to give directions without knowing where she is.

So I give directions to the next couple simple as I can make them, and then ask her to text me when she gets there. And shut off my phone and wait.

But not long. Because Tori is no dummy. Now she's talking again, and not only that, she's two controls ahead of where I thought she was! Seems at some point someone else came along and she hooked a ride and got back to where the course passed by the start and borrowed a cell phone, and, well, which way is 14?

And we're off again, she spikes the last four controls and finishes strong.

We did ok. Met both goals (didn't finish last, first team from Western Mass.)

And for me, at least, it was really really fun. Would do it again gladly. Thanks, Tori, and thanks also to Patrick for organizing it to raise funds for some promising juniors in the Seattle area to help them come to the Interscholastics at West Point.

C • trifecta 7

sprintA - Splits

SprintB - Splits

The usual 5 minutes before and after, 5%.

And another mile to warm up.

And then the hard work, a mile at 10%, 5 mph, pulse about 155. Took a little bit of will power to hang in there. Note: the AP software says this is equivalent to a flat mile in 8:00, but for me right now the latter would be a lot easier.

And then a flat half mile easy, was going to be more but this seemed like enough. So 2.5 miles running, 25:10.

First client this morning was a geography professor. In the course of a lot of conversation and a little bit of work he mentioned this web site for older editions of topo maps, A quick look shows it has possibilities, although for my local quad it is missing the 1970s version that is what I would prefer.

And we talked about GPS gizmos, including one you can put on your cat so you know where it goes. I keep wondering if I should get one (a GPS, not a cat).

And we talked about running on the ridge and he said he often runs out to Sachem Head.

So I ran out to Sachem Head a few hours later. Still some ice, mostly ok, I went down once, but very gently. Leg feeling a few twinges just the last couple minutes, but I think it's ok. And entertained the whole time by wonderful stories on This American Life with the general theme of Human Resources.

C • GPS gizmos, including one y... 2

C • map quality 4

Back inside, first warm-up.

And some more warm-up.

False start -- hit the reset button by mistake....

Tempo run, 5K, 8.2 mph, a little quicker than last week. Pulse up to mid 150s I think. Still felt ok, under control, and enjoying it a great deal, felt good to be moving better.

And then a slower mile.

And then a last bit of therapeutic walkning, 5%. Helps undo the damage of the running.

A short outing on Greenfield ridge. Maybe half of it was icy, but the footing was fine. The uphills were another matter. One day at a time. Route.

C • Short biographies 3

From the Body Shoppe, Lovers Lane loop counter-clockwise. Beautiful day, but the hills are still hills, even if they are pretty small. Struggling. One hill at a time, I guess.