As promised, pics from today:
View of the station.
Someone was here before me. And they were wearing what I assume are Yaktrax.
And the obligatory sunset. Later and later every day. Does wonders for my soul…
If you’re interested, there’s new pictures of my unusually large orange cat, and my unusually small lazy dog up, too. Just feel free to browse.
Technorati Tags: North Kingston, rail trail, running, snow
First, a bit of cross-promotion – I’m trying to collect jokes about the Veep shooting the lawyer over here. For the record, I wouldn’t be collecting funnies if it were a larger load than quail shot, or if the other guy had been critically hurt.
Second, The Boy (as opposed to The Baby, who isn’t long for being a baby) and I have been digging on the Olympics. Skiing seems to be his favorite – we may be dragging out Massachusetts or Vermont way weekend after next to get him a half day lesson, and see if I can’t break a bone or two.
Friday – well, I didn’t run. Or swim. Or bike. I thought about it, but didn’t want to press things. Glad I didn’t. Part of this fitness thing is knowing when to say “eh”, and get on with life.
Saturday – worked most of the day to get the house ready to have some friends over. About an hour before they were supposed to be here, we wrapped stuff up, and I said “Hey, I’m going out for a run.” Mostly as a trial balloon – there was probably not enough time. But the wife said “Go ahead.” Not waiting for her to think about it, I was gone. Through the woods, past the closed school, over the hill, past the burnt out house. Down to River Road, back through Old Mystic, up the hill, and home. 5.5 miles, 50 minutes or so. Yippie.
Sunday – the blizzard wasn’t by the time it got to us. Bleh. Maybe 7″ of snow. Pilates that night.
Today, I dragged the skis to work and checked Arcadia on the way home, but they didn’t get much more than we did.
So, I know that a lot of you RBF types have been having a great chance to revel in the white stuff.
Us, down here by the coast, haven’t. It’s been long, not-so-cold, and absent any chance to go sliding around. I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to see this:
Call me crazy. I’m waxing the skis (well, not waxing them per-say, they’re nowax, but conditioning the base…)
UPDATE
Going 3 instead of 5 last night was a good idea. I woke up feeling not sore but tight. Did some stretches, and everything is loosey goosey right now. My fear is that I’ll get the PF (the ailment of the lower leg ligaments who cannot be named) again. So, we’ll keep running as it makes me happy and see where that gets us.
UPDATE #2
Revised the image code to resize. After Deene’s comment, I checked it out both on IE and Firefox for PC, and with Firefox, Opera, and Camino for OS X 10.3.9 without issues.
Saturday. Drill.
Slept late and didn’t run first thing in the morning while it was misty and warm. Spent most of the day walking back and forth between the reserve offices, which are on the bottom of the hill, and the hospital, which is at the top. At some point in the last couple of years, the Seabees at the base built an absolutely sweet staircase from between the hospital and the cluster of office buildings the ResCen is in, but nobody ever uses it, ’cause it’s pretty steep, and about 100 stairs.
Nobody ‘cept me. Personally, I love it. It’s cut through the woods, it kind of wanders back and forth from bedrock sticking out of the rhodendrons to another bit of bedrock. Saturday was especially good – I spooked a deer, near the parking lot. Out of instinct, thinking it was a car waking her, she bolted towards the elevated walkway. Then we made eye contact. She did a double take. I blushed and turned down my eyes, thinking she was flirting. Then she turned around and tore around the rocks and out of sight. Good times.
Anyway, PT is at the end of the day. After wasting an entire day at medical and dental (guess what? I still need to floss more. I bet you do, too…), it was time for the monthly paid hour of physical fitness. And right about then, the nice weather gave way to rain.
Butcha know what? I strapped on the sneaks, prayed that the jacket was at least a little waterproof, shoved the iPod in the inside pocket, and hit the road. The other marathoner in the unit had gotten to the gym before me and promptly disappeared (turns out he was running on the inside track. There’s a word for that – smart).
But I did the perimeter trail. Walked a couple of the steeper hills. Reveled in the rain. Was amazed that the new sneaks seem impervious to mud. Prayed they don’t rust…
Sunday? Absolutely beautiful. I was locked up inside all day. We did get out for a family walk/bike ride before folks showed up for the Super Bowl. Nate was beside himself cheering whenever Jake would pass the stroller on his bike. Jake got going by himself at least once. I think it was while he was going down the “big” hill in front of the house. He made it down this time, feathering his brakes. I was proud. Next step is to teach him how to do it no hands, no feet, spread-eagle, and screaming with his hair on fire.
I have much to learn…
As a test of an idea that Brogan kicked out today:
It’s a ways in the future, but I’m looking for suggestions for good places to get Jake hooked on backpacking. Here’s what I’d like:
– less than 2 hours from Hartford.
– Actual backpacking, not car camping.
– Preferrably something cool to do once the hike is over.
– Campsite not more than 3 miles from the trailhead
– Something cool between the trailhead and the campsite
I’m considering Pauchaug State Forest, just ’cause it’s really, really close to Mystic. Looks like Nipmuck State Forest has actual camping, too.
Other areas that I know are large and wild and close-by are Arcadia in Rhode Island (unsure about camping there; know the fishing’s great), and …
Is there anything like this in the Berkshires in Mass? I think the boy’s a bit too small to head up to the Whites in New Hampshire. And I love, love, love the Adirondacks in New York, ‘specially after going to prototype at Ballston Spa, but most of the places I’ve been up there are a pretty good ride in the car, which I think might kill interest on the boy’s part. And completely would rule out taking the two-year-old.
Thanks in advance, Internet. You’re the greatest.
Me: blah, blah, blah, blah
Her: Just a minute – (aside) Jacob, we do not throw food at your brother. Ok, blah, blah, blah…
Me: blah, blah, blah, blah…
Her: blah, blah, blah … (aside) Yes, Nate, the doggie did eat it. That’s what happens to food on the floor. Blah, blah, blah…
Me: Ok, well, it looks like I’ll be home about the regular time tonight.
Her: Whatever. It doesn’t matter much by that time. (aside) Oh … Nate, we do not throw food at anyone. (to me)Yeah, sorry, I’ve got to go if there’s any hope of Jake making the bus.
Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN), today announced that it will immediately begin to make its line of GPS and mobile electronics devices compatible with Mac OS X version 10.4 “Tiger.” This makes Garmin the first major GPS designer and manufacturer to announce direct support for Mac OS X.
Hmmm…. The new 305 is $350, and Tiger is about $100 on ebay. But Google Earth doesn’t look like it’ll run on my G3 iBook in any case (how is this related? Not sure, but it should be), so I’m out another $1K-$2K for a new laptop.
So, looks like I’m out $2,500… Wish I hadn’t dropped my Adsense when I migrated to WordPress.
Wonder if I can convince myself that I need a new bike, too…
At some point last week, I managed to get my act together, and actually managed to get in three runs, one swim, and a meander on the bike in over the last few days. Hopefully I can maintain that; somehow, however, I doubt it. Life has just been too good lately…
Part 1 – Renewal
Anyhoo, having all of my stuff in one sock for a change left me the opportunity to leave the office just after 1 on Tuesday, and finally hit the roads for a run. And run I did. Out of the parking lot, up hospital hill, over the hill, out past the golf course, and back onto the perimeter trail. Pshew – 20 minutes into the run, an excessively steep hill, and I’m saying to heck with this. So, staying true to long, slow, distance, I drop down to a walk and stroll up the hill.
On the other side of the hill, I decide to walk down the equally steep downhill. Hey, I’m strolling. Life is good. Get to the bottom, start running up the steep uphill. Near the first top, prior to the false flat, I briefly think “Hey, I’m going anerobic – better walk..”. Riight – I keep on running, the legs start burning, lungs aching – life is still good, thoughts of Lydiard are all gone.
The rest of the run is just that – a run. 45 minutes. Get back to the office, plug it into Gmaps Pedometer and see – 4.3 miles.
Part 2 – Continuation
Wednesday was a blustery, windy day. The news on the way to the base was all about the powerlines down and trouble with Metro North in the western end of the state. We don’t have all that fancy train stuff here (just Amtrak, which is pretty much worthless at about $100 round trip to either New York or Boston), but it was impressive to hear. Worked, and headed over to Bluff Point at sunset to go run. 45 minutes, the last couple of miles completely lost on singletrack (but totally happy) – good times all around. I’m guessing 4 miles.
Part 3 – Bonding
Wednesday night, got the kiddos in bed, grabbed the swimsuit, and headed over to the pool. Went from being completely packed at 8 to me and another woman swimming at 8:30. 5 laps of breast – nice, felt good to stretch. The first 10 laps of free – good. I was applying the whole sculling concept, carving S’s in the water with my hands, kicking from the belly instead of the butt. Yeah. I was completely getting lapped by the guys in the next lane, but such is life. Started another set of free, but after 3 laps, I thought about getting out, since the “feel” just wasn’t there – I was flailing. Stopped, took a deep breath, and had a great final set of 10. Didn’t push it, just swam nicely.
I did get busted at the end – I did a dive off of the swim meet platforms, and got hollered at by the cute lifeguard. D’oh. Guess those orange cones on them mean don’t dive…
After the swim, I caught up with some friends who’d gone out for supper. They’d had booze, I’d had endorphins. We all had some dessert and coffee, and I was happy.
Part 4 – Family
Real life caught up with me on Thursday and Friday, and I managed to avoid running both days. Stupid dumb dummy… Saturday, I drilled in the morning, but managed to wrap up in enough time to make it home for Family Swim at the Y (’cause it’s fun to play at the YMCA). Grabbed the kiddos, gave the wife the long face, and got the OK to run home from the Y (she works out during Family Swim). Got to the Y and discovered Jake had not brought a swimsuit. Missy had asked him to bring one down for the bag with Nate’s suit, the towels, etc, but Jake had thought it would be cool to take his own backpack. D’oh.
All was not lost, however. We live just far enough away from the Y that we might have been able to make it home and back, get changed, etc, before family swim was over. But, yesterday was beautiful – 40’s calm, and clear. So, we went and just adventured all over the Y property. Rolled down the hill. Ran around on the tennis court. Swung from the chain link fence. Picked up some trash. Threw some logs into the river to launch “boats”. Climbed all the way up the lifeguard tower, and jumped down (not Nate).
The run back was good. No pain, no shortness of breath, just good running goodness. Through downtown, up River Road, through old Mystic. Just felt good to go running. Karen had inspired me to use my forerunner again (no Mr. V, though), which ended up being both good and bad. Good, ’cause it took me mentally back to the days of early 2005 when the 101 and I were nigh unto inseparable. Bad ’cause the forerunner pointed out what I’ve become painfully aware of – I’ve completely lost a step. Short-ish runs which were in the low eights last spring are now in the mid-nines. Not that I’ll ever be 1337, but it’s humbling to realize exactly how much I’ve lost since the fall. I suppose being grouchy will do that to you… And it turns out that I wasn’t lying to Susan at all… Five + miles in 48 minutes.
Part 5 – What goes around
Took down the Christmas lights today. Put the youngest down for a nap. Told the boy to rest for a bit. Jumped on the single speed road bike and went a-ridin’. Down to the Y. Around Mason’s Island. Stopped at Mystic Cycle. Ever since they moved into their new box, I’m wondering if they left their soul back at their old funky place. They definitely left anything that might have been on sale. Loved the Specialized Cross bikes, though.
Road back up River Road, past lots of walkers, but oddly, only one cyclist, and back home.
Epilogue –
One of the things slowing me down might be my shoes. Two marathons and all the intense training leading up to them – think it’s time to retire the Gel Cumulus VII’s. There’s a pair of Gel Helios’ in the mail – think they’re a new style, and they’re about $10 cheaper than the GC’s. Worth a shot – the GC’s are too well ventilated for winter running. (And, no, I don’t really think it’s the shoes)
First real good week in a while. Not that the others have been really bad weeks, but it’s the first one I’ve had that I felt I actually put in an effort. I think I’m going to aim the next month or so for a 20 mile per week running base, and try to get in 2 bikes (probably Monday during 24 and Sunday after church), and 2 swims (Tues/Thurs nights, so Wed/Fri will be easy runs).
Overkill? Possibly. But, I want to maintain an intensity level that keeps me engaged and happy, rather than antsy and bored. I’ll listen to my body.
A wonderful childhood friend and brilliant writer, Jeff over at the Shape of Days, has been gradually coming out of the closet regarding his running habit.
Quick story about Jeff, and how he’s scary smart. Our high school was a Magnet (or Mag-uh-net) High School, meaning that they grabbed all of the geeks out of the other schools in the parish and bussed us off to a school in a not-so-great part of town (believe it was called “Down Bottom) for, I like to believe, our own protection. Of course, the school didn’t have a football team, since, well, frankly, I think the biggest two dozen or so guys in the school could have been literally killed by any JV squad in the parish. Even if you’d gotten the JV squad to give up their guns, knives, etc. and play a fair game of football. But, you’ve got to have some sports for kids to play to put on college applications – we had, honest-to-god, fencing.
Yeah. Poking each other with metal sticks. Great fun.
Anyhow, Jeff fenced his first couple of years at Magnet; I fenced my last couple of years. Jeff and I were buddies for most of school – we rode the same bus, he lived not so far from my house, we both were geeks even among other geeks. So, when I started fencing, Jeff said he’d be happy to practice with me. As this is becoming a longer bit than I’d intended (mostly I just wanted to pimp Jeff’s recent 5K effort), I’ll come to the point:
I like to lie to myself on occasion and pretend I’m a reasonably bright guy. Yet when I do, I’m always reminded that Jeff managed to get me to voluntarily put on a blindfold and let him chase me around his front yard (yard completely festooned with tree roots and, I believe, dog poop) while whacking me with a metal stick. “Training” he called it…
One word to rule them all, and in a mindset bind them…
My word for 2006 is …
Fun
Sure, there’s not a whole lot of challenge or struggle there, but my major goal for 2006 is cementing the lifestyle. I want to have energy, I want to be fit, I want to be “that guy”. Sure, I could pick some tough and manly word, something deep and motivating, but to heck with that. I’ve got enough gut checks in the rest of my life, or have had. This running/swimming/biking thing – I do this to relax, to let it all hang out, to live life to the fullest so that when I die someone will say that he really sucked (the marrow out of life.)
So, my word is Fun.
Fun as in mud.
Fun as in bugs in the teeth.
Fun as in burning lungs trying to go full out with alternating breathing.
Fun as in cornering hard enough to hear the tires start to complain and praying that the April showers have washed all the March sand off the road.
Fun as in buying a pair of size 32 pants, then deciding to return them for a pair of size 30s.
Fun as in seeing how far I can fling the boys into the ocean while we’re at the beach.
Fun as in sunrises
Fun as in sunsets
Fun as in PR
Fun as in “Chicks dig scars”
Fun as in yelling at cagers
Fun as in standing on the road at the Tour of Connecticut screaming “Allez! Allez! Allez!” for the 30 seconds that it takes the peleton to scream by in May.
Fun as in beating my time at the New Haven 20K.
Fun as in finally getting off my butt to run with Susan again. (And the rest of the CT runners, too)
Fun as in getting the kayak back in the water and paddling until my arms ache
Fun as in chinups
Fun as in chopping wood
Fun as in seeing Jeff break three hours at Boston
Marathon year is over. Done. Finished. Water under the bridge. On the compost heap.
Fun year is here.
Now, to start planning another run at Mystic Places ;^) What are you doing for fun?