Training Log Archive: ParkSchool

Good news it appears. I woke up without any obvious pain in my hamstring, so after a hearty pancake brunch with the kids, I went out to try a careful run. Returned to Needham Town Forest long loop dressed more warmly than usual in case that made any difference. Started cautiously and was aware of some minor discomfort (which strangely seemed somewhat higher in the thigh than yesterday) but was nevertheless an improvement. Ran a very relaxed pace through midway point, then picked it up a bit as the discomfort diminished and the footing improved. Still suffered a minor slip on the same icy patch, but had been careful to try to make pivot on my good leg and while holding a sapling, so there was no damage done. I even worked up enough of a sweat to feel justified in calling this a level 3 effort, even though I'm not certain if the perspiration was related more to effort or anxiety.

Sixteen consecutive days and another week topping a marathon in distance. Although these accomplishments are unimpressive when compared to recently published standards (PG, 1/29/10), I find them quite acceptable for an ex-wrestler without any running background. Went back to the Needham Town Forest in daylight encouraged by my unexpectedly easy run last evening. I felt as if 30:00 was a reasonable goal. However, halfway through I experience an unfamiliar and unexpected aching in my hamstring. There was no slip or misstep or even change of cadence, but suddenly I was aware of its presence. Throughout the years, I have been remarkably free of muscular injuries, so perhaps this is a common way of tweaking a muscle, but I have always envisioned the process as a sudden significant pain. I probably could have kept up my pace, but it seemed prudent to back off a bit to avoid any further harm. Now several hours later, I am still aware of a discomfort, although there does not seem be any particular action or position which aggravates the pain. For the moment, there seems to be nothing to do except for heat and gentle stretching. I will have to see how I feel tomorrow before deciding whether or not to extend my streak of daily running. In any case, I will certainly not be looking to do a very challenging run if I do wind up back in the woods.

C • unimpressive 2

Weather was definitely brisk, and I did not get out until dusk, so I was somewhat concerned about falling given the low visibility. Nevertheless, I felt really good during the run. I was quite lightly dressed for the temperature, but this seemed to be the perfect motivation for getting around quickly. About one-third of the way through, I began having musings about getting hurt. I have always assumed that I would be able to drag my ass out of the woods regardless of how serious an injury I might sustain, but I recognized that the subzero wind-chill and my skimpy attire might actually make the risk of exposure a concern should I wind up having to crawl out of the woods. For the most part, these thoughts did not cause me to slow down any, but at least I prepared in advance for the most efficient route out of the woods should I need to invoke an emergency plan. Fortunately, I had been on these same trails each of the previous two days under similar conditions, so I had a pretty good idea of where the trouble spots were. Although I did have one moderate slide in a known trouble spots (where I had fallen on Wednesday), I was all set to stabilize myself by grabbing the available vegetation, and I managed to complete the rest of the run without any untoward incidents.

Receiving another dusting of snow as I went out for the run, and was concerned that the new accumulation would mask the icy patches and make the run more treacherous. However, the snow and/or the underlying ice was sufficiently wet to allow for some decent adherence. Run was almost a carbon copy of yesterday, except for the falling on my ass part.

Now up to two straight weeks of formal excercise. Am really pleased with my ability to get out daily despite four successive overnight shifts. Here's hoping the last one turns out relatively benignly.

Was intimidated by the ice at Powissett, so went back to Needham Town Forest long loop. I was pleasantly surprised by the condition of the trails only 3-4 miles from yesterday's icefields. I'm pretty sure that some of the difference was related to lighter packing of the snow from decreased trail traffic and some was due to the southern exposure of most of the steeper slopes. There are certainly other factors at play which I cannot think of for the moment. After some initial hesitation, I was actually able to get moving fairly briskly, although not without suffering the penalty of overconfidence by going down on a patch of bare rock that certainly looked bare but acted as if it had a thin veneer of ice. I was glad to be running in sweat pants, thus escaping with only a minimal raspberry on my right thigh.

Weather vastly improved from yesterday, but footing even more treacherous, varying between sheets of ice and partially bare ground littered sporadically w/ fairly impressive frost cavities eager to give way under the weight of portly runners. Caution seemed to be in order, and I was happy to oblige with a measured effort that did not tax me inordinately in the midst of a busy work week. Was pleased to learn that skipping lunch yesterday and partaking of a modest dinner was sufficient to return my weight below 190. It appears that I have done a formal run for the last 12 days, which I believe is a personal record.

Wet, slow and icy, the run had little to recommend it, except to the dogs, who seemed genuinely grateful to be back in the woods after having been abandonned to Ponsai's care over the weekend. I did at least achieve my three major goals of finishing, running (jogging?) throughout and remaining upright (although not without some notably uncertain moments on the last downhill). And truth be told, I did largely beat the brunt of the storm, which is currently delivering a much more driving rain against my windows than I experienced in the woods.

The diet, as expected, is somewhat in shambles, but on the other hand, I have certainly had more egregious transgressions in the past. And if I can get through the next four overnights without an excess of Coke, I may well get back to last week's baseline.

Same route as yesterday, but without the intensity. Was thinking about a rest day, but then my brother and niece went off to her swimming practice, so it seemed to make sense to put in a couple of miles early with a hard work week coming. I have yet to discover how disastrous the birthday weekend has been for my diet efforts, but I'm not looking forward to finding out.

Visiting my brother in PA, so without the constraint of having to accommodate the dogs. Chose to do hard road run just to see where my conditioning was. Relatively flat course, which I would hope to be able to do in about 31:00 at near peak conditioning, so not unhappy with the effort.

Went back to the Caryl Park middle loop in AM after an evening run yesterday, and my body really noticed the 30% reduction in recovery time. I guess sometimes 50 just feels like 50. On the other hand, the temperature was still below freezing with consequent improved traction, so all in all it felt like a wash. After struggling up the long initial climb, I was pleasantly surprised to find both that I was keeping pace with yesterday's run and that the kinks had largely worked themselves out, so I pushed further with additional vigor. Thought I could likely do 46:00, but as my splits kept improving, I pushed on with even loftier goals, and was very gratified by clipping 45:00 as well. For the first time in a while, I actually outran Fonzie. I am not sure if this was a comment on my improved performance or a reflection of the fact that Fonzie, who is now 7-1/2, may also be suffering from the slower recovery times of middle age. Meanwhile, Piper continued to look with disdain at both of our relatively paltry efforts.

I have noticed with some satisfaction that I have hit the benchmark of a marathon per week. I hope I can keep it going, although next week will certainly be a challenge with a trip to Philadelphia this weekend followed by four successive overnight shifts immediately on my return.

Had a fairly benign night last PM, and actually closed my eyes twice for a total of 1:40 which made the prospects of a somewhat longer run today less daunting. Temperature was just over freezing, but the snow was still fairly firm and my legs felt pretty lively after the first few minutes. Was pleased as well to be back below 190 lbs and no longer too embarrassed to include this stat in my log entry.

Overall, I have been happy with my ability to get out fairly regularly despite a busier than usual work week. I hope to be able to carry through with this effort until the cluster of major events in May. At this point, I plan to continue running Red, although I might as well designate myself as Green for the sprints in St. Louis as the courses are identical and my prospects for glory (limited as they are) are certainly more rosy in M50.

Another post call run, in fairly new snow, but a little better packed than yesterday. A fine snow at the start brightened my mood after disappointing election results yesterday. Although I must confess to a fairly strong liberal leaning, I have been comfortable with a few socially progressive Massachusetts Republicans in the past and have even voted for 1 or 2 of them along the way. But Scott Brown seems to me much more along the lines of the George Bush style, religiously based, socially reactionary brand of Republican that makes my skin crawl. Perhaps I am overreacting to the fact that Brown originally became my representative in the state senate by defeating my personal acquaintance Angus McQuilkin for the seat vacated by Cheryl Jacques perhaps 5 years ago, but I suspect my intense dislike for him is legitimately based on divergent political views. Politics notwithstanding, the run was better than I had anticipated, and although I was unable to obtain my most optimistic goal of 32:00, I was nevertheless not embarrassed by my sub-10:00 min/mile effort.

There is little to recommend a 34 degree rain, but at least it was only a light rain, and it even changed over to snow briefly during the run. About an inch of fresh snow/slush mix on trails made for a sloppy, tiring run, but I was able to keep it under 35:00 despite some stiffness from shoveling.

Shoveled out just in time to take dogs to Needham Town Forest. Normal parking area not plowed. I probably could have used it anyway, but decided not to trust 4WD of my Subaru, so opted for entry off Robinwood Lane. Covered terrain of normal short run but in different order. Added small extra loop to avoid making true U-turn at normal parking area. Ground had 1-2 inches of new wet snow. Was surprised to find that running was better on virgin snow than on areas of light traffic as there was less slippage.

Middle loop from Caryl Park. Slushy and a bit low on energy. Also stopped to return a lost mitten.

Worked again last night and woke just in time for short Caryl Park loop before taking Kyra to riding. Weather a bit too warm making trails slushy.

Had hoped to run yesterday even though I had worked 2 days in a row, but got delayed waiting for Kyra to be ready for pick-up from school. So today ran the long loop to compensate. Weather continued to be perfect with nice packed snow on almost all trails.

Another past call run, but couldn't help but enjoy continued ideal running conditions. Went out for comfortable run, but then felt good enough to shoot for 29:00. Didn't make it in the end, but felt real strong coming in nevertheless.

More perfect weather with moderately hard run delayed only briefly by Piper irritating fellow runner with overly friendly greeting.

Post call, but weather perfect with packed snow on trails.

The Patriots were so bad that I made the otherwise unthinkable decision to stop watching at halftime and enjoy the well packed trails in the Needham Town Forest.