Training Log Archive: piutepro

The river and road loop. The water on the river is absolute still. No more ice, just lingering lazy relaxed water. Doesn't look like a river, is like a lake. The Hudson lake.

Running gets better in the second half. The road allows speed, so I do it.

It got cold again, need time to warm up and a hot shower before stretching. The warm weather makes running easier. The speed changes the tense areas somewhat. Have to watch how my feet respond to the universal world cover, the asphalt.
I am very glad to be back at the river. Running along residential roads and local roads and car roads and city roads is poor. Lame. Even the few weird houses or dogs or people lose their fascination over time. The river and the hills are different from hours to hours, from day to day.

Score-0 at Winding Hills. A yellow course spiked with short side loops posted at some controls, the famous Pavlina B. format. Great for a small area. It required constant adjustments, guessing where there might be another loop and how or when to take controls out of sequence.
The snow was almost gone, the running was fine. Great to have some real racing again. Felt in quite good shape, a little bit rusty at high speeds.
Race head to head with Andis Vitolins for the first half. Then he takes a loop in a different order. We go our own ways. I see him on the last loop again, catch up, closer and closer, but in the end he has 11 seconds left. Was a fun game and being out there with competetion brought up the energy to go faster.

After returning home, tune up and warming up the water logged feet after hanging out too long in mush wet shoes. Feel great after running the race.

Almost no snow on the river trail. Ice float on the water, looks arctic, cool view. I am very happy to be away from the road road road and back to the Hudson and the ever changing moods and the sunlight on the water.

It is very late, despite all the wishful, hopeful, thoughtful, purposeful intention to sleep enough before the local meet. Update the vetter's map, descriptions and start with the symbol clue sheet. So when I go finally go to bed, it is not late anymore, it is early.

Back to the Future. Much less snow. Find footprints of Big Foot, must be a Texan in disguise.
Visit 16 controls, to change, renew, move or check. The 12'' of snow have shrunk to a manageable amount, can run most of the time.
Correct two controls that I put out late in the afternoon at nightfall. They were not that precise. Plus the course comes in from a different direction, so they needed to be reset anyway.
I set a new control, at exactly the western most point of the area used on the map. Which means sloshing back about 3k in the snow. Well, I consider the beauty of things. I consider someone commuting on the Thruway. I consider myself one lucky human with wet wet.

Feels so good, don't even want to stretch. As I do it anyway, I find weird sore spots in the back. Must be the snow sloshing clowning slowpoking shortstepping almostslipping rockskipping mushflapping puddlehopping icecrushing branchflisming sinkholing movements. So stretching is good and dinner cooks, while I am doing it.
Mario announces, he will not eat kale. I cook kale. He eats kale. It all depends, I guess. Or he was plain hungry.

C • kale & course-setting 7

The 'What the heck snow is all over my trails so I run the roads' loop. Ok running with some speed elements to make it more fun and to remind me, that I could run fast.

Easing out the hard roads. I am not used to them. Pounding the legs, hitting the back. Got to learn to run them easy and smooth.

I take the risk of running the snow covered river trail. Frozen glazed snow, with constant break through and getting stuck. This is weird, slow and reminds me of Charlie Chaplin in Alaska. No, I didn't eat my sneakers. But I waddled through the snow looking stupid and ready for a bad comedy. Running is the wrong word, it is slipping sliding sputtering.
This seems to be the only time of the year when it gets really hard to run. The frozen snow makes it hard to move on the trail. The only place to run are the road, not very pleasant. Booooring, too. I hope to be back in the woods and up on the mountain soon. It is so much more beautiful and fun out there.

Working the snow feet and ice bones and winter paws. Spring, where is your equinox? (My beautiful Wyoming calendar with Devils Tower Monument grins at me: "March 20 FIRST DAY OF SPRING") Yeah right, and the Knicks will make the play-offs.

Quick run in a small snow storm. Got to be back soon for Mario's birthday. Make him the special dinner he picked. He is turning 18. He is a grown-up and I am officially released from being a parental unit. Well, I know it never ends, being a parent, but it is definitely a different stage.
The funny thing is, this year I could run green, he is on the green course, on his way up to red. Generation change. But I stay with the big boys for now and keep playing red.

Stretching late night, after the birthday dinner, cake and gifts. Trying to process what it all means, the birthday and the change. See the responsibilities fly away, floating downstream, sinking away. Cool.