Birthday Run

Someone asked if I would run my age in miles today. And while I'll admit to being intrigued by the idea of an ultra marathon some day - I would love to be able to say I had the determination and mental strenght to accomplish that - today is not that day. I forgot my garmin this morning but I know that we ran at least my age in minutes. 53 if you really must know.

Today was the first long run of training for Bob Potts. I put out a call to my running friends to join me and we ended up with a very nice group. Most of us ran 6 miles on the River Trail and three went out for an extra 4 miles after that.

As December should be it was a very brisk morning. My friend Kristie is not a fan of cold weather and so it was extra special to see her. The sun was shining by our 8 am start and it really was a beatiful run. I wish I had taken more photos along the trail but I was too busy listening and chatting. The conversations started out with thiings like "I can't feel my face/legs/hands" and moved on to what everyone had planned for the holidays and into next year. We talked about family holiday traditions both those being upheld and some that were being broken this year and how that was being dealt with - or not. You had to be there and know the people to fully appreciate it I suppose but it was an awesome way to spend the miles.

In addition to chatting and listening I also fell down. It stung and my leg felt a little sore for the next few steps but after a group recovery walk I felt fine and finished the last 3 miles. It is starting to sting a bit now as I sit here and I can feel some tightness in muscles around it. I've already iced it once but I think I will do some more and some gentle strectching as the day wears on.

 

So week #1 is almost complete. I have a 60 minute cross session tomorrow. I hope to spend that on the bike. There is rain in the forecast though. I know at some point I will have to ride in the rain because there is no telling what the weather will bring when I do the goal ride in September but I don't think it's necessary to do that now. The question is what should I do instead.

I'm disappointed that I forgot the Garmin. I don't need it to run - in fact I often take the side of running tech free - but I had wanted to track a few things in this training cycle including heart rate. No harm done there are many more long runs in this program.

Thanks to my friend who ran with me today. I know they all had options. I'm glad the time and place fo my birthday run worked for them.

Easy as Assembling a Bike

Today my work had its annual leadership “retreat”. 25 participants were asked to read The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lecioni. [Editorial note: Very good book. Information that would benefit most relationships in general].

After general discussion of the 5 dysfunctions, the participants were divided into 5 teams each assigned one of those dysfunctions. We were instructed to put the bike together and consider how our assigned dysfunction would or could hinder our success. I won’t go into those details here.

My group was comprised of 3 females and 1 male. I was nominated team leader so I suggested we remove things from the box and lay them out so we could see what we had. The male member of our group chose to read the directions. An irony not lost on anyone.

The handle bars presented our first challenge. The directions said use the appropriate tool. “What tool is that?” “The one that looks like it will fit here” (pointing to the part). We found the correct allen wrench and managed to get the handlebars on and even lined them up with the frame of the bike so the tire was straight. Very proud we were until someone pointed out the handlebars were on backwards. No problem we were good at this by now and fixed that pretty quickly.

Just when we thought we were done – a wise guy from another group came over and suggested we test the brakes. Sure enough they didn’t brake. It took a while but finally we managed to figure out where to make the adjustment. Let me just say that the alleged directions were no help whatsoever in this regard. And no, it wasn’t because we didn’t understand it. The directions simply didn’t address the issue.

We did have a part leftover and after a test ride where nothing fell off or apart we were ready to just toss it. Well, not before accusing one of the other groups of purposely adding an extra piece to our box just so we would be confused. Again, the instructions were no help. This part was not even pictured in the book. . We were rescued by another group who had the same part and managed to figure out where it went.  I’m still not sure what it’s for but it is now on the bike.

I was given the job of taking a test ride. Short as I am, I am not a kid so my knees were almost bumping my chin as I rode but the bike moved and stayed together. I did not fall off but my co-workers did admonish me for riding around without a helmet. I don’t understand all the fuss. There are no gophers in the office.

The five bikes are now put together and will be donated to City Team, Laurel House and one other location whose name escapes me at the moment. We did not contact these entities until this afternoon just in case there were major issues putting the bikes together. In fact, we had already asked Dave to be the backup assembler. He was prepared to come in tomorrow and fix our work. We determined that wasn’t necessary although someone suggested that we should probably buy the recipient’s helmets as well; partly because it’s a good idea but also because we are still a little worried about our product.

All in all it was a great excercise, supported great causes and we had fun doing it.

Break's Over

Well almost over. On December 10th I'll return to running and begin marathon training for the Bob Potts Marathon. The very good news is that I'm itching to get out there again! :) I've been working on the schedule for this marathon for weeks now.

****Warning: Long training rant. If you keep reading, don't say I didn't warn you! ;) *****

I started with Hal Higdon's Marathon 3 schedule because my body works better on a schedule that limits the running to three days per week. I took advice from some fellow runners on things like strength training and the pros and cons of multiple 20+ mile training runs and mixed in my own gut feelings about what I think I need to do and came up with this. This sounds much more simple than it was. You wouldn't believe how much time I spent working on this. Ok some of you would.

One thing that concerned me is fitting my long runs into weekends where I know in adance I'm going to have issues. The last long run of the schedule was originally three weeks out. This coincides with State History day championships. I was a volunteer judge at this event last year and knew I wanted to do it again. It's two days - Friday and Saturday - and I was really tired when it was over. The thought of going out on Sunday after that was not sitting well. At some point I noticed that this weekend and two others that I will have issues with fell in to a pattern. They fell on week 7, 14, and 21. I LOVE symmetry!!! An idea popped in my head to take those weeks off. Not couch potato off...but just a week of no schedule to follow. A week of activity I feel like doing. Giving my body and - probably more important my mind - a break from the confines of a schedule.

So I adjusted the schedule to allow for that. The way it worked I'll build to 12 miles in the first segment; 18 for the second; and finally 24 before a 4 week taper. I plan to tell myself that sticking to 6 weeks of no excuses training is not that difficult and if I do it, I get a week off.

And 'no excuses' training is what it must be. If I want to be successful in this marathon I have to do the work. In addition to no excuses I also have to be flexible. I have a tendency to get it in my head that a workout is going to be at a certain time and place and if that doesn't work out I bail rather than re-adjusting my sights. I have to quit that.

This schedule is more aggressive and busier than any I've followed before. It has more days of work but there is also much more variety in those days. The bottom line though is I think I need to do it this way.

I need to work on hydration and nutrition. I've succombed to bonking in all 4 previous marathons. While some of that is mental, I know that poor planning of my food, water and electrolyte intake also played a part. I've planned the three 20+ milers to deal with the mental aspects. I have to eat and hydrate better on a daily basis - not just during runs - as well. With cold and flu season coming into their peak I need all the health and energy I can muster to stay on the trail.

My cross training of choice (weather permitting) is biking. I hope to work up to three hours in the saddle by the end of this training schedule because after this marathon and some well deserved (I hope) rest. I will begin training in earnest for the MS Bike Ride.

So there you have it. If you are still with me.....

What are your keys to success in training?

Horshoe Trail Part I; Valley Forge to Great Valley Nature Center

This morning Maryann R., Mike K. and I hiked the first 7 miles on The Horseshoe Trail.

When I was training for the 2007 MS Walk I did a lot of walking out at Valley Forge and saw the signs for the Horseshoe Trail. I purchased a guide book in the visitor center bookstore promising myself to hike some of it some day. That was 6 years ago. Better now than never I suppose. :)



The trail is marked with yellow blazes
Some were more difficult to read than others

The trail begins at the intersection of Route 252 and Route 23 and continues for 141.3 miles where it joins with the Applachain trail in Dauphin County. At 7 miles per trip it will take 20 hikes to do it all. Today's hike only took 2 hours and 45 minutes. So, assuming accomodating access points, I think it will be possible to tackle slightly larger pieces at one time in the future. Or maybe take on a two day venture?

We parked a car at the Great Valley Nature Center in Malvern. I've been told this is a neat place to visit and it appeared so. I think I'll have to go back someday when it is open. We met up at the Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge park to begin our hike. It is only a few minutes walk from there to the start of the trail.

About a half mile in are the remains of the Colonial Springs Bottling plant originally operated by Benjamin Franklin Fisher in the 1800's. In the early 1900's - the guidebook says - the property was purchased by Chares Hires of Hires Root Beer fame. Click here for a history of Valley Forge Mountain where much of our hike took place. The link includes mention of the bottling plant, the trail, how Mount Misery and Mount Joy got their names and other neat stuff.


Colonial Bottling Plant ruins



Another view of the Bottling Plant

Near the 3 mile mark of the hike we passed the Wharton Esherick Museum. It is housed in a very interesting looking building which according to the website is a National Historic Landmark. Mr. Esherick was a wood sculptor whose motto (according to the website) was "If it isn't fun, it isn't worth doing". This looks like another place worth visiting.

The trail follows paved road in a few places but is still mostly on trails through wooded areas. At some points it goes between the boundaries of private property. We saw houses and barns of varying sizes. We passed an Alpaca farm. I wish I had read the guidebook more closely before going out. Apparantly we passed very near some interesting sites that would have required only a small detour.

Just before the end of today's hike
we crossed this abandoned rail road.
I wonder what it was for? We surmised
it was to transport supplies for
the various forges in the area but
I haven't found any confirmation of that.

Here is a link to our hike as recorded by my Garmin I forgot to switch the mode so the watch thinks we were on the slowest bike ride ever but the distance and elevation profiles are accurate. :)

This was a fun hike and I look forward to Part II. If you are interested in hiking with us next time let me know and I'll keep you informed.

Watch Out For Flying Rolos



In our family we play group trivial pursuit where - unless it's a pie question - you can get a little help from the peanut gallery. Four teams of two and 9 on the sidelines makes for a very noisy and extremely fun game.

 

It's the 80's version so geography is a category that often requires careful thought. What was true then isn't necessarily true now. 

Personally, I stink at the literature category but most of my family - especially my nieces - romp in that one.  

Here, my brother is trying to get the answer to an entertainment question. The answer was not "The Beatles" and he swore the answer was near the tip of his tongue. He wanted quiet to try to shake the answer out of his head. There are 17 people playing the game and he wants quiet? He didn't get it and for just for the record - because you know this will come back to haunt him - the answer was Charles Laughton.

The purpose of the gathering was the annual family cookie bake. For the third year we gathered on Friday evening for a giant sleepover and all went to Shady Maple for breakfast on Saturday morning. 



Ya gotta love Lancaster County. Gift certificates for sod and see REAL haystacks..not the hayrolls I am used to seeing.



Time to get down to the business
of making cut out cookies

Bruce turned out to be the best roller
and a pretty mean decorator too. He likely colored inside
the lines in his coloring books.



Hard at work icing the gingerbread men

However, different than past years we baked the rest of
the cookies in advance and swapped before heading home.
This photo really does not do justice to the volume of cookies.

And what does this have to do with Flying Rolos? In group trivial pursuit when the peanut gallery gets the answer right they get a rolo of course. Catching them before they bonk you in the head takes skill.