Week 10: Feb 11 - Feb 17

Monday - Feeling yesterday's trail run in my quads today. Makes me smile remembering what a fun run it was. Today is a YAYOG day. I chose to do a 36 minute Tabata session. 4 exercises. 20 seconds on; 10 second rest.

The program chose squats, good mornings, arm rotations and crunches. I substituted planks for crunches because I felt like doing planks. The squats were not going to happen with the effects if the trail run still felt in my quads so I swapped those for bent over lateral arm raises.

Tuesday - Legs were still sore from Sunday's trail run. Definitely improved but still sore and stiff after any prolonged sitting. But as I'm only running three days a week there was no reason to bail tonight. I went to the river trail and parked at the Pawlings Road end in case it got darker faster than expected ( or more likely I was slower than expected ). I didn't want to get locked in the parking lot at the other end. My plan was to go 3.5 out and back.

In the first mile my legs loosened up but after the walk break at 2 miles I realized how tired they really were. I made myself keep going and work to keep up my pace figuring this is a good test for the marathon. After mile 20 my legs are going to be tired and likely sore so pushing through is good practice.

I got to the end of the trail and as far as the restroom at that end and was only at 3.15 miles. I turned around anyway because - although I wouldn't get locked in - I didn't want to be out there after dark. The trail has no lights and there were only a handful of others out tonight.

So my total was only 6.3 not the planned 7 but it I'm fine with that. I was careful to stretch when I was done and worked the foam roller when I got home.

Note to self - next time you plan to run a muddy trail after a heavy rain day, bring back up shoes. I drove home in my socks ( which I think is illegal) because my shoes were so caked with mud I put them in a bag to being them home. My car is not the fanciest by a long shot but I really didn't want to have to clean the mud after getting home.

Garmin - Well the numbers support my feeling that I was pushing the pace most of the time. I wish I had been wearing the HRM so I could compare that. The goofy drop offs at the beginning are me trying to figure out the best way to get around the huge puddles.

Wednesday - My legs feel pretty good today. Not perfect but good. Somewhere through the day my shoulders and neck stiffened up. I decided to do yoga anyway - slowly and carefully - if my shoulders or neck were bothered I'd back off. I worked for half and hour and my neck and shoulders feel much looser. Not exactly sure what did it although I suppose it helped to focus on breathing and moving slowly through the movements. I didn't even think about my neck or shoulders until I was done.

Thursday - Planned an hour or at least 5 miles. I managed 3 and walked most of the last mile. Why the breakdown?

- Did I do too much on tired legs Tuesday? Maybe I should have done less or slower?
- Is it because today was a big teaching day at work? I did much better hydrating today but my food intake was not so good.
- Is it because today I ran all on pavement and my previous two runs were on trails?
- Or is because my shoes really are done?

My best guess - and that's all it is - is that it's a combination of all of the above. For now I'm going to shake it off, take my rest day and set my sights on the Frostbite 5 miler on Saturday. I'm thinking about wearing new shoes on Saturday. It's only 5 miles.

Saturday - I ran the Frostbite 5 miler. You can read about it here. I don't wear my watch for races so no stats for this run. I did not wear new shoes as I was expecting yukky weather and figured I'd should at least try to break in the new ones on a clean day.

Sunday - Today it is near freezing with winds about 10-20 mph and gusts higher. So I set up the trainer in the living room and did 120 minutes total. 60 minutes at a time with a 45 minute break in between. Otherwise I would probably die of boredom. But I did it :) One of these days I get the cadence gadget hooked up for these indoor rides. For now it's all about staying in motion.

I am feeling some pain in my left achilles. Not pain exactly but strain when I walk. I felt it slightly after the race yesterday. It went away and now it's back after finishing on the bike. I will baby it this week. I don't think it's serious right now and I intend to keep it that way. Stay tuned.

Frostbite 5 Mile Race

Thanks to Kristi for allowing me to add this photo to my
collection and thanks to the random stranger who took it for us.

Today I had 7 on the schedule and I decided 5 with friends would reap much more benefit.

The race began at 9:00 a.m. which is quite nice for this time of year. I was really hoping for a snow run. Instead it was somewhere between 35-38 and just wet. No rain which was good but heavy moisture in the air. I met up with some running and walking buddies before the race started. The race is sponsored by the Ambler Area Running Club and starts and finishes at Wissahickon High School. The course had some ups and downs but none of them were awful. There is a portion of it the could have been run on a trail - maybe 3/4 mile - but the trail was not in good shape so we ran the entire course on the streets.

I just tried to keep moving for this one. I don't wear my watch for races but there were markers on the street. So I took my walk break at mile 2, another shorter one at the water stop at mile 2.5 and then another shorter one at mile 4. I probably could have skipped the last one but it's sort of automatic now.

Things that made me smile today (in order that I remember them)
- Seeing my friend Michelle in her tutu
- Seeing John C before the race started. John is a new grandpa and life has kept him off the trails for awhile.
- Seeing lots of other fitness buddies before, during and after the race: Sue, Mark, John T. Helen, Brian, Kristi Y., and Julius
- The dog chained up in his front yard who really wanted to be running with us
- The small child - maybe 2 years old if that - standing in the bay window of his house waving at everyone.
- The funeral director watching everyone going by as the hearse waited in the driveway. I'm not sure if they were ready to roll or not but sad as it is to have a funeral I have to say it's funny to think they had to wait for us
- The woman who was a few steps behind me with about a half mile to go. She started saying.."Pregnant going into labor...." which made me and a few others turn around to see if she needed help. Then she says " I survived that I can do this.." . Everyone has their own mantras I guess.
- The guy in the Eagles sweatshirt who I deduced was with the Back on My Feet group encouraging different ones along, He ran backward for a time. He was very peppy. I saw him at the finish too running various of his group in.
- The gooey brownies back at the gym after the race.

My results can be found here. As far as races go 52:47 is a PR. My previous best in a five mile race was the Media 5 miler in 2009 at 53:05. I once did 5 miles on the Valley Forge loop in under 50. Only once. I'm not sure how that happened. I'm pretty sure that the Earth was rotating funny though.

Today was fun. I'm thankful for my friends who talked up the race effectively peer pressuring me into it.

Week 9: February 6 - 10

I just realized I never posted Week 9. Here it is.

Monday - I wasn't up to YAYOG tonight but I didn't want to do nothing. So I found a 30 minutes yoga routine on youtube and did that. I followed that with slowly moving through all three warrior poses on each side. Then feeling just a tad guilty that I didn't do any YAYOG I tried to do as many knee on the floor push ups as I could. That amounted to only 8 but they were all done with a focus on form. It's no secret I need more upper body strength.

Tuesday - 7 miles tonight. This is the most miles I've ever done after work. I knew it would be dark before I finished so I combined some shorter routes that I've done before. I didn't want any surprises. The traffic lights made it difficult to stick to 2 mile intervals but it worked out more or less ok. There was sleety snow coming down at the start and the end but for mile 6 there were big puffy snowflakes falling. It was awesome!

When I got home I did some yoga stretches before showering. I wish I had discovered yoga years ago. Slow movements, focus on breathing and being in the moment made for some very effective stretches. I feel like I was able to get deeper into them and held them longer because my focus wasn't all on the pain or tug of the stretch.

Tonight I'm most proud of not allowing myself to consider skipping it. No excuses is really paying off.

I'm thinking I may have to start breaking in new shoes earlier than planned. I originally thought the end of February. But tonight I had to tighten the laces twice. I so rarely have to do that. Also I have hot spots on the inside of my right foot after Saturday and today. I chalked that up to moisture ( snow and puddles ) but with the looseness tonight I'm not sure now. I'll finish this week and see how they feel.

Wednesday - Tired tonight. I spent 45 minutes stretching. I feel better after that but still not energetic enough to do any YAYOG.

Thursday - I skipped today.

Saturday - I did not work out today either.

Sunday - I substituted trail running for time rather than miles. You can read about it here.

It Only Looks Like I Was Lost

My training schedule called for 15 miles this weekend. A variety of issues - including a viewin :( -kept me from running on Saturday. I was feeling less than enthusiastic about running on Sunday. I couldn't decide where to go - likely alone - that would keep me smiling and moving. I had just been to Forbidden Drive for the 13 miler last week and I didn't want to go there again so soon and the Perkiomen Trail - although I do like it - wasn't doing it for me right now. I'm not sure how I got to my final decision but in the end I decided to go for time instead of miles and hit the trails at Ridley Creek State Park. 15 miles would generally take me 3 hours so I decided to spend three hours on the trails.

Click here to see my route as tracked by my Garmin.

I started on the White Trail from area #16. At area #9 I skipped over to the Blue Trail. From area #9, the Blue Trail is an out and back lollipop trail. Before finishing blue, I came to the intersection of White, Blue and Red and veered off to cover the full length of the Red Trail in both directions. Then finished the Blue Trail back to Area #9 and resumed the White Trail back to #16.

I finished the white(green on the map)
blue and red trails today.

 

I HAD A SO MUCH FUN!

 

In fact, when I got back to #16 I was actually disappointed to be finished. However, I was also tired and hungry and the trails were getting slipperier (is that a word) as the temps rose so I stopped anyway. Better to quit on a high note. :) The total time was less than 3 hours - 2:45 - but I'm very pleased.

The first hour was a bit rough. I was walking more than I had hoped but after my legs became acclimated to the up, down and bumps in the road of the trail I picked up confidence and ran more. The second hour was spent almost entirely on Blue and Red and both seemed more friendly to a newbie trail runner. This boosted my confidence a lot so in the last 45 minutes I was much better at tackling the ups and downs of the White trail better than at the beginning.

I am proud that my butt did not hit the ground once. Of course there was some pretty funny acrobatic flailing several times to make sure that didn't happen. And twice I came within inches of the ground. I will likely feel those saves in my shoudlers tomorrow. :)

There was no way to do this but turn around
and crawl down backwards.

The steps and both sides were ice on top of snow

 



Week #8: Jan 28 - Feb 3

Week #7 was a rest week.

Monday - YAYOG in my hotel room in Harrisburg, PA. Bent knee push ups, squats, russian twists, lateral bent over arm raises. I worked the push ups slowly trying to keep good form. I bailed with a minute and a half left on the timer but I did finish the rest. I did do some morning Yoga today as well but failed to follow through the rest of the week. I'm just not good at that kind of thing in the mornings. I will have to find a way to work it into my day in another fashion.

Tuesday - my REALTOR running buddy, Terry and I did 6 miles along the Susquehanna River. We stayed up on the street level as it was still dark when we headed out at 6 a.m. Terry is a bit faster than I am. We did slow down at the end at my request but I think we went out too fast for me. We took planned walk breaks every 2 miles and a few unplanned ones early on when we approached slushy spots that we thought might be icy. Fortunately they were not and as our eyes adjusted we ran through those. I stepped in one spot that turned out to be a very cold puddle. My legs held up well. The limiting factor after a week off was breathing not legs. I'll need the foam roller when I get home tonight but it's all good. Well it would be all good if I had just opted for the banana at breakfast instead of the large coffee cake muffin. *shrug* Garmin stats Interesting that we did get faster as the miles wore on. The heart rate monitor drops off at the end because I took it off. It was beeping that I as going to hard but I felt fine at that point. I have to adjust the settings.

Wednesday - Yoga. This was the last day for this session. I will have to substitute something else on Wednesdays until the next session starts on Feb 27th. This class was ok. My neck and shoulder ( left) were bothering me and it only got worse. I'm writing this on Thursday morning and I do feel better after some sleep aided by an Alleve.

Thursday - Tonight I met Maggi and Julius at Pawlings Road. I was early so ran 2 miles on my own and then 4 more with them. It was very windy and cold and dark. It snowed in the last mile or so and that was awesome! I ran the first two miles in one piece. The final 4 we followed Maggi's intervals. She is coming back from sickness time off. She is one strong lady. I'm sure I would have walked more if I had been laid up as long as she had been. Garmin Stats The heart rate monitor was yelling at me up the hill to Pawlings Road. I was pushing but not to the extent it thought I was. I really do have to adjust the settings.

Saturday - 13 miles today. I met with the Misery Loves Company (MLC) group at 7 a.m. Technically it was my turn to "host" the run. Fortunately that simply means I chose the meeting place. We met at Forbidden Drive where you can run the more or less flat crushed stone drive along the creek or head up on the more technical trails in the hills along the banks of the trail. 13 miles on a ' normal' trail would take me 2:36 on a good day so I figured I'd start with the MC group and if all went well I.'d be happy with 2:36 of running regardless of the miles. And if all didn't go well I could break off onto the drive easily enough.

Well a mile into it I broke away from the MLCers. I can't keep up with them especially on the rocky trails at Wisahicckon. the challenge got into my head and I need to stay on track for Bob Potts. It took quite awhile to shake that disappointment. I almost went home early. I didn't but it was a close call when I went back at the start after an hour to see if any others had arrived. Kristen said she might. I waited until 8:05 and the took off again down the trail. It was very cold this morning. 18 at 7:00 a.m.! I couldn't wait too long. Kristen is faster than me - significantly. I was kind of glad she wasn't there. I was still shaking the funk from bailing on the MLCers and was worried I would get caught up trying not to hold her back and break down.

I had finished close to 5 at this point so needed about 8 more. I reminded myself I was going to feel much better if I finished than if I didn't. So I tried to relax my shoulders and run at a comfortable pace regardless of how slow that might be. Today was going to be about just getting it done. The next two miles were actually pretty good. At around 7.5 I started to lose focus again and was considering turning around early when Kristen and Roxy passed me. (I told you she was faster than me) Roxy, btw, is a beautiful grey poodle. Their timing was perfect. I started running again and started to feel ok again. Kristen fell in step with me and alternated a few steps in front or behind me the rest of the way. I love my running friends. At 9 miles I turned around. 4 miles to go and about 4.25 miles of trail. Mentally, this was awesome. I knew I would finish before the trail did! :) Shortly after the turn around we caught up John T.

I ran in 2 mile intervals except for the brief stop at 5 to see if Kristen had arrived yet and an extra walk break at 7.5. I increased my fuel intake to about90 calories every 2 miles and was careful to take more water than last week. I didn't bonk. The wanting to quit was all mental. My legs and lungs felt good. I felt slow but I wasn't in danger of stopping because of lack of energy.

I continued to drink on the ride home yet still think I could have used more. I had a bit of a headache within an hour after getting home and failed the pee test. I WAS a bit distracted when I got home. There have been water problems on our street since early Friday morning. In fact as I type this - at 8:00 p.m. the water is out again and instead is gushing out a hole down the street. So after my run - once I started to cool down - I got the chills and was more concerned about getting warm than eating or drinking. Garmin stats I'm surprised that my pace was still 12 min/mile average. I tried to stay relaxed and really thought I was going slower. I didn't wear the heart monitor today. If I had stayed on the technical trails it would have been beeping too much and driving me (and my friends) insane.

Sunday - Thank goodness for the indoor trainer. We got a coating of snow last night. So I pedaled 90 minutes while watching "In Her Shoes" on TV. I enjoyed the Philly scenes and references. The trainier is almost as mind numbing as the treadmill... not quite but almost.