Category: Run

Gotta soggy notion…

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…

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Best choice I’ve made all week

So, I almost didn’t run today. Almost.

Was one of those busy, stressful days at the office, with a full plate for getting home tonight. I’d bought a printer that was going to cause stress with the wife if I kept it, ’cause we really don’t need three printers for two computer users. Still with the potential sickness from the kiddos, etc, so on and so forth.

But, it was a beautiful day, I wrapped up work on the earlier side of a typical day, and, on the way home, realized that I did have time to stop and hit the trails in Arcadia State Forest. Best decision I’ve made all week. Heck, it might be the best decision I’ve made all month.

Keeping with the “keep the mileage down a bit and try to avoid re-initiating planar fasciatis” theme, I was going to do 15 minutes out, 15 minutes back. But, the trees grew, the breeze blew, and the sun beat down on my ears. Life was good.

There was a time in my life when I was always making time to be back in the woods. Not sure why I don’t do it so often any more. Probably has to do with growing up, all that Christopher Robin allegory and such. But, I need to do better this year. Puts life into perspective and all that stuff.

Anyway, I ended up going “out” for about 21 minutes, with a couple minutes of walking, just ’cause it was that nice of a day to be in the woods.

Best part? the “back” was only 18 minutes – baby, I was flying. About halfway back, whatever weight I was carrying went away, I felt light in my shoes, and got that “flying” feeling. The one where you head down the trail as fast as your legs can turn over just ’cause it’s cool to see the bushes flying past. Where, no matter how rocky the trail, every footfall is just right, where your legs are moving around the rocks and finding the four flat inches to take the next step.

I was a giant Yawp tearing through the Rhode Island woods.

I get to sleep in Friday morning – Sitting in for the Mrs. with the kiddos, and only working half a day in the afternoon. Which is all good. Will probably do the long loop on Jamestown on my way into the office. Why? ‘Cause I can.

I’m a runner.

Funny how the marathon made me forget all that…

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30 minutes makes a difference

Jamestown from first beach, January
Stopped at First Beach on the way home from the office today. There’s something about winter that really perks me up, ‘specially when the weather is reasonable. Foggy days, especially, really, really make me happy. During my drinkin’ days, a nasty, foggy day was a good excuse to find a deep red wine, or better yet, a stout as black as the secret parts of my soul cut off from the rest of my mind. And there are few spots in the US as good as Newport for having a foggy winter bender, complete with singing and dancing in the street.
Cliffwalk in January - 2
Continue reading 30 minutes makes a difference

7 Good Miles

Friday Afternoon – out of the office by four, past the other office to pick up someone’s pay stub, and over to Jamestown by about 4:30. Strap on the new sneaks, fire up the Forerunner, fire up the iPod, and bang out 7 miles in 62 minutes. Not so bad.

The upside is that the run was outstanding. Hit the runner’s high again. Again, heck – this was the first one in about nine months. Audioblogged it.

Nothing earthshaking this weekend. Messed about with the kids. Messed about with the house. Didn’t clean up nearly as much as I wanted to.

Last week – not quite so great as I’d hoped. One bike, one swim, two runs for 13 miles. Such is life.

Next week, my goal is to get something done every day.

Got to be the shoes…

Broke in the new Gel Helios’ today. I think I like them; however be advised – what Asics calls “lightning” really means shiny silver.

Have I mentioned that there’s this feeling in the back of my head that life is going to be good? Today, I sat down with my client and got an absolutely great project. I’m doing a pretty wide-ranging strategic plan for our program. Good stuff, great combination of digging down in the technical weeds, wading through the swamp of finance, and in general pulling the whole thing out of my butt. And here I was bashing grad school the other day – turns out that two years of learning buzzwords and BS is going to pay off for the next couple of weeks. Vision…

Today was 5.4 miles on the north end of Jamestown in 46:17. Pace back down under 9’s without feeling like I was going to die. Saw bunches and bunches of deer. Not the tiny puppy deer like they’ve got in central Texas, but real, big Yankee deer, the kind that total cars. Great run, didn’t feel winded at all, and the only reason I didn’t push out to the 6 mile loop was because the wife was bringing home food from her trip to Hartford, and picking up a new computer. Best part is it’s her company’s policy to let her keep the old one… But I wanted to get takeout while it was relatively fresh…

Tuesday? Hit the pool. The lifeguard was a guy, and he spent the whole time walking laps around the pool. Kind of distracting, but I’d probably do the same thing. 2000 yards total (2000 meters for you north of the border folks with a brand-spankin’ new government, as I understand from NPR). 250 yds breast to open up, a pretty good set of 500 yds free, 250 yards of decent free, another 250 yards of flopping and twitching – just couldn’t find a groove. Stopped, took a couple deep breaths, and did at least 10 laps – man, I really got into the zone. Life was good.

Running gets its stuff in one Sock

Much like the UCI’s attempts to make pro cycling appealing on the same big-money level as Formula 1, the “Big 5” Marathons (Boston, London, Berlin, New York, and My Kinda Town) are putting together an overall marathon champ pot of up to <pinkie>One Mill-i-on Dollars.</pinkie>

I mention this only to say that this is good news for us all:

– There were just under 400,000 people who finished marathons in the US last year. The odds of winning the PowerBall (6 numbers, one through 60, chosen in order) are one in Thirty Six Billion.
– Two new pairs of running shoes a year are $120. Two PowerBall tickets a week? $104
– Training? Kills about 6-10 hours a week. PowerBall drawings? Five minutes, late at night twice a week

So, see? You’re more likely to hit the million dollar jackpot as a runner than as a lottery player.

Happiness in five parts…

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.

Mud!

So I’m taking this “FUN” thing about as seriously as I ought to. Did I sweat not being able to sneak out for more than one workout last week, despite a cold and a bunch of work? Nope – I hit my priorities, spent great time with the kids, and got a bunch accomplished at home.

Did I sweat that I had probably a couple too many cookies out of the galley while out on a too-small boat in the middle of january? Nope, figured that all the rocking and rolling was somewhat akin to doing crunches all day, and ended up back at 172, from a post-Christmas high of 174.

And this afternoon – had a couple of bang-up meetings, cleared out of the office early-ish, and headed to Bluff Point for what’s probably the best run I’ve had by myself in 2006.

I suppose the weather should have fallen into the “sucks” category, ‘cept any time it’s over 50 in January, it’s hard to call suckage. There was an especially cool mist in the air – absolutely spectacular New England gloom, straight out of the first chapter of Moby Dick. But, it’d been warm and sunny all week, so the trails at Bluff Point were solid.

The run was fun – fired up the Nano, clicked on the cruise control, and just kind of let go. The tri book I just finished is big on aerobic base, and going back through last year, I was happiest and making the most progress when I wasn’t fooling around with fancy workouts. So, I ran. Didn’t (much) charge hills. Didn’t (much) try to chase down people. Spent the run reveling.

Got about halfway to the point when I decided to shake things up. Took the fork up to the Winthrop foundation, ran down to the shore, did a little singletrack, looped back around, took another detour, and pretty much just kept running.

Walked for a few minutes when I got tired. Ran somemore.

Flipped on “A Ghost is Born.” Tried to make my ears bleed while listening to “At Least That’s What You Said.” Completely exploded down a hill, through the woods, over rocks as the guitar and keyboards played around with rhythm and melody, always staying on the finest edge between control and chaos. Seriously. Flying.

Wow.

Darn, I love to run.

50 minutes. A couple of miles (I’m guessing between 5 and 6).

Jake’s decided it’s fun to do calesthenics, too. Yesterday and today before the boys’ bath, we “worked out” in the living room. Nothing much – a dozen or so jumping jacks, situps, pushups, crunches, flutter kicks, triceps dips. Pushups were fun tonight – the little boy (Nate) decided he needed to sit on my back while I did them and say “giddyap”. Laughed when I realized that I was doing pushups with as much total weight on my arms not much more than a year ago.

So that’s pretty much it. If anyone hits the powerball this weekend, or is just feeling particularly generous, I’d love a new MacBook. Not that I’ve got $2K lying around. I’ll probably shell out for a new machine once the iBook goes Intel. Either that, or snag a G4 PowerBook off the refurb line – they’ve got a 12″ w/SuperDrive (DVD RW) coming close to $1000. But, I’d be exceedingly grateful …

That’s about it. Goals for the weekend are two good runs, a clean basement, clean singlespeed and swap out chainring and pedals, new bookshelf for the bedroom, and dinos in New Haven. Oh, and catch up on blogs. I’ve also decided that I’m on the trainer for all of this season of “24”. Not necessarily hitting the trainer hard, but got to give it something.

2006 rocks. Thanks in advance for the MacBook.

Happy New Year!

It’s been a great week. Finished building the old Trek frame up as a single-speed. Didn’t have the sack to use the lockring and go whole hog fixed gear, but it’s now running a 39 tooth front, 16 tooth rear. Good stuff.

Took it for a brief test spin Tuesday night in the rain and wind – felt good; made it up the driveway hill no problem.

New Year’s Eve – went over to Essex with my folks and the boys to see the Connecticut River Museum – Model train display, model of the Turtle (First submarine – wooden, hand cranked, attacked a British Ship in New York Harbor during the Revolution). Stopped in Old Saybrook at the “train pizza restaurant” (Pizzaworks) for lunch. Great mozzarella salad.

Home, ran some errands with the wife. About 4:15, I take a look at 2005 drifting off into history, catch a glimpse of my rebuilt Trek at the bottom of the basement stairs, and say “Hey, I’m going to take a quick spin to town and back before supper.” Before I could hear an objection, I was gone…
Continue reading Happy New Year!