Sunday Jul 1 |
 | tennis 1:00:00 [1] | |
| |
| With Adam. Not very aerobic, just tiring. |
| Trail/Road Run 40:55 [3] 4.9 mi (8:20 / mi) | |
| |
| After finishing tennis midday, every time I thought about doing more exercise I had to lie down. But finally, around 7:00, I got up the energy to put on some running shoes and head out the door. Jog to the Smith fields, four laps around the dirt outer track at an 8 minute pace, then jog back. Very tired from the last two days of running. |
Saturday Jun 30 |
| Trail/Road Run 2:25:00 [2] 13.0 mi (11:09 / mi) | |
| |
| Convinced Peter to do some LSD (as they used to say: long slow distance), the kind of rogaine training where you don't chase a little white ball. Peter wanted to check out Hawley State Forest (aka Kenneth Dubuque State Forest) in the northern Berkshires. It was very nice with an extensive network of trails and unused dirt roads. We took off with no set plan and toured a good number of the trails and roads east of rte 8a. Perfect conditions for it with temp in 70's and low humidity. I wore a camelback, and had plenty of liquid. The pace was relaxed throughout, walking even moderate uphills; and I felt good to the end.
Forerunner lost the satellite in a deep reentrant, so not sure of the mileage. From where I restarted, Forerunner said 7.77, sportstrack said 8.52. Who knows?
I got my revenge today: Blue hat 25, FDF's 0. They never bothered me at all. Combination of duct tape and a hat with better grip worked fine. |
Friday Jun 29 |
| Trail/Road Run 1:21:00 [3] 8.0 mi (10:06 / mi) | |
| weight:142lbs |
| The Headline: FDF'S FIGHT BACK! It's a long story, so hang in there.
I went to Mt Tom, but did something different. From the Lake Bray parking lot I took the trail along the right side of Lake Bray, then over the bridge to the trail on the hillside left of the marsh, then along the river to the open area, to the ski area parking lot (closed off for work on the quarry), to the road, down to Whiting Reservoir, one loop around (about 2.7 miles if I remember; last time I did this was probably doing the Holyoke Marathon ten years ago), then back the same way. Unfortunately, my Forerunner battery died before I got started (so now I know it only goes about 3 hours on one charge), and I had no watch. Time is from the car clock; distance is a guess.
I chose this route partly because I've run into serious FDF activity down along the lake and the marsh, and I was ready to do battle. So I plunged into the belly of beast, but without fear, because I had my blue shield to protect me. But, first, let me back up a bit. I had read J-J's comment about using blue painter's tape instead of blue duct tape and, as it happened, I was in CVS this morning restocking my Advil supply and I noticed they had blue painter's tape (but no blue duct tape), so I bought some and decided to give it a try. But I was a bit nervous preparing the hat at home because painter's tape doesn't have much adhesive strength. Still, it seemed reasonably secure when I set out.
Within minutes of my run, I heard some buzzing, but - not to worry - I had my blue shield. I checked the hat, and there was already some carnage on the backside. Awesome. But then, something totally unexpected happened. I felt a a pinch on my neck. Slap! Got the bugger, but not before he got a piece of me. And then, on the other side, another pinch. Got him too, but this was disconcerting: these FDF's were putting up a fight. But that was the best they could do. When I climbed out of the open area and checked the hat I had 14 kills, making the score 16 to 2 (16 because the two that scored on me also bit the dust). I figured I was still way ahead, and there was no FDF action on the road or going around Whiting Reservoir.
Then, just as I was finishing the very pleasant loop around the reservoir, I saw my shadow and something was sticking straight up off of my hat. WTF? I grabbed the hat to look and, alas, the blue painter's tape had come completely unstuck except for a bit in the back. The top of the hat had soaked through with sweat, and the tape wouldn't stick anymore where it was wet. It was hopeless. I had to just take the blue tape with its 14 kills off, bury it off the side of the path, and continue on, sans protection.
What to do now? They were surely waiting for me back on the Lake Bray trail, and they were going to be pissed. I thought about taking the road all the way around, but no, that would be cowardice. So I plunged back into the belly of the beast, prepared to do battle the old-fashioned way, with my hands. Well, I guess the FDF's won that round, since they annoyed me the whole way with their buzzing and knocking up against my face and neck, and they got one good bite off my shoulder, without me getting any kills in return. (They also raised the intensity of the rest of the workout.) Final score: 16 to 3 in my favor. But they got me rattled: a moral victory for the FDF's.
And next time? Blue duct tape and a different hat. And don't listen to J-J.
|
| |
| C • Glad it was you trying out the... 1 |
Thursday Jun 28 |
| cycling 1:03:14 [3] | |
| |
| Westhampton-Leeds loop. 18.12 miles, 3:29/mile. Easy at first, then gradually harder but never all out. I'm feeling some strength in my biking legs; wish I could say the same for running. 24:32.
The rear tire was totally flat when I pulled the bike out the garage, but it seemed OK after pumping it up. I figured since it took four days to get flat, the leak was slow enough not to be a problem. Then, when I was in Westhampton about 9 miles from home, I realized how stupid my reasoning was. But I got lucky. |
| |
| C • blue hat 6 |
Wednesday Jun 27 |
| Trail/Road Run 48:20 [2] 5.4 mi (8:57 / mi) | |
| weight:143lbs |
| Outer loop from home. Very hot and humid, though it cooled just at the end as a thunderstorm approached. Very slow, and didn't feel there was anything I could do about it. |
Tuesday Jun 26 |
| Trail Run 44:39 [3] 5.3 mi (8:25 / mi) | |
| weight:142lbs |
| After lifting at the Smith gym, I jogged to the XC race course, where the Tues. night race was just finishing, ran the course at about 8:15/mile average pace, then jogged back. It was hot, very hot, too hot to run any faster. |