Training Log Archive: Rosstopher

Orienteering map exercise with CSU crowd. Alexei marked a trail run route and our exercise was to work very diligently to anticipate what we would next encounter along the trail. In areas without many features to anticipate we tried to visualize ourselves as a moving point on the map, and think of ourselves in relation to the next junction or big feature that we would come across. So think "okay I'm this far away, now I'm only this far away, now I'm... wait, there's the junction" and to practice knowing where you are on the map this way.

I found it hard to stay focused for the entire time, I got mentally tired and since there was no worry about getting lost there was really no direct punishment for losing concentration. Also I was catching myself reacting to as opposed to anticipating features. I'd see a cliff and find it on the map, instead of the other way around. So I was constantly reminding myself to look forward.

C • That sounds like a great ex... 2

Super gorgeous day. I went out in shorts and my CSU vest with hat and gloves... shed the hat and gloves along the way.

hips are still feeling a little strange when I run, which isn't ideal but is a pretty small nuisance all told.

Can't describe how much nicer it is to run without a backpack :) and I'm really looking forward to my first orienteering of the new year at tomorrow's Orienteering training, courtesy of Alexei.

TGIF and all. A run home in the rain has a very cleansing symbolism. Mother nature washes all my professional cares away as I exit stage right. Of course the rain was cold.... I suppose it's still an apt metaphor for life.

I didn't feel all that enthused about my run until nearly home, and then I got into the swing of things. I pushed hard from newton highlands home which felt very good. Sadly I also gave myself a sharp twinge of pain as I rolled my ankle on one of the dark streets a few minutes before that.... it hurt enough to elicit obscenities but not enough to stop my run. Even more of a pain, these past few days, has been an obstructed feeling in my upper airways ( feels to be just below the level of my adam's apple) and it's a nuisance. I'm chalking it up to recovering from a cold that I got while traveling... but it's been getting more noticeable since Wednesday, and since it only affects me when I'm running I'm trying to avoid the thoughts of exercise induced asthma or something similar. When I clear my throat, the feeling leaves..... for about 3 seconds until I next swallow. Oh well. Rest and fluids I suppose.

Yawn. man sometimes all I can think of after work is how much I'd appreciate a nap. being sleepy and weary meant that I didn't have a lot of gumption on the run home.

soreness is fading, and I'm enjoying the routine of running every day. I think I'd like to bump it up to the point where I'm running both ways on some days. Not tomorrow or Monday though, most like.

Today my boss told me that I needed to have more than one breeding pair of mice in one of my colonies "in case the female doesn't get pregnant". So, since she's the boss, I trekked down to the animal facility, and set up another pair. As I placed the cage on the rack I was pleased to note that my original female was quite pregnant. My mice love me.

C • Let's face it, the mice loo... 3

quite deliciously warm tonight on the run home. I really like the feeling of running in shorts, and that helped me maintain the energy needed after a day of working. I'm seriously spoiled if I get wiped out after a grueling 3 days of desk work :)

I pushed a little bit harder at the beginning of the run tonight and was enjoying myself so I sprinted the homestretch down Erie street.

now I must go make myself pretty for Trivia night.

Heat Wave! the blazing warmth that spread over our fair city did much to alleviate the ice mounds.... but not enough to make my running commute home tonight ice-free. My hips were still sore most of the day, but the ache had much attenuated by the evening when I ran home. This evening I stopped off at Trader Joe's and picked up some mascarpone. I was unable to resist getting some dried mango as well, but I kept the impulse buying to just this.

C • dried mango 3

Wow, I feel a bit overwhelmed by the idea of trying to get back into the swing of training and also logging that training. That being said 10 days of relative inactivity in the Galapagos islands left me craving some good old running.

Today I ran to work. The sidewalks are still icy, and I kinda resent the homeowners that decided not to clear their walks.

After getting to work the muscles along my hips started to feel quite sore. and they remained sore all day and into the night. I'm not sure if this is a reaction to merely running after such a long break or if there is some contribution of running on ice. Either way, I'm going to have to remind my body not to freak out every time that I put on sneakers :)

By the by, the Galapagos were amazing.

C • Any Galapagos Pictures...? 8