Training Archive: CristinaIn the 31 days ending 2007-01-31:
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| M | T | W | H | F | S | S | M | T | W | H | F | S | S | M | T | W | H | F | S | S | M | T | W | H | F | S | S | M | T | W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wednesday Jan 31 | ||
| Running warm up/down (road) 10:03 [2] 1.1 mi (9:08 / mi) | |
| ahr:154 max:164 slept:5.0 shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| Warm up along the road. On both the warm up and cool down I carried a map for some reading practice. | ||
| C • non-sequitur 8 | ||
| Running (track) 12:38 [5] 2.0 mi (6:18 / mi) | |
| ahr:172 max:189 shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| We broke this morning, so I didn't spend the day in the sim. The bad news is that I will probably sim Saturday now, so no trip (Tahoe or anywhere). Good news - I got to run reps at the track!!! Talk about sweet!
8x(400 R + 400 E). Started slow because of all the stupid wind. Switched start points after two to have a tailwind at the end. 96, 100, 96, 94, 94, 92, 95, 93 It was fairly cold (around freezing) and very windy. And I still haven't slept well. I had a really hard time getting out the door to do this. In fact, even after I got out the door I almost bailed three times - once as soon as I stepped outside and felt the wind, then again when I stepped out of the car, and then a third time as I started to warm up (running into the wind). But I did it, and I'd like to think that this will contribute to my toughness. Gotta take the small victories. Listened to some podcasts wihle running, which was an interesting change from, say, The Nields or AC/DC or Copland. Totally disconnected from the running effort in every way. Not in a bad way. | ||
| C • The Nields or AC/DC or Copland 7 | ||
| Running (track) 25:30 [1] 2.0 mi (12:44 / mi) | |
| shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| Recoveries. | ||
| Running warm up/down (road) 10:03 [2] 1.05 mi (9:34 / mi) | |
| ahr:169 max:177 shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| Cool down. | ||
| DDR 31:30 [3] | |
| I've decided this deserves its own category, if for no other reason as to be able to easily subtract out the totals at the end of the year. And to make it really obvious if I spend more time DDRing than running + orienteering in any given week. Cross training, calorie burning, whatever, but it shouldn't get in the way of the real stuff.
More work on standard level tunes. At one point I had a 200+ combo going. Chizz. | ||
| C • Explain combo 13 | ||
Tuesday Jan 30 | ||
| DDR 45:00 [2] | |
| slept:5.0 | ||
| An attempt at doing all of the Plaguemix series in Standard. Got all but the two hardest ones, and I think it'll be a while before I can get those. I can't believe I had the energy for this at all, long day of mission prep and I still haven't slept a solid night since... sometime last week.
Wintry weather. Nothing serious, but the track will be a mess tomorrow. Reps on a treadmill? Is that even worthwhile? Maybe I'll swap with the intervals. Either way, I can't let tomorrow's sim drain me to the point that I bail from the workout. How can working be so tiring if I'm not going anywhere? | ||
Monday Jan 29 | ||
| Running (trail) 47:00 [3] | |
| ahr:165 max:183 shoes: Asics Trail | ||
| Three for three. Today I hit the Cedro Peak area (just S/SE of where I rode to yesterday). Talk about hidden gem.
Nice day, fairly chilly. First order of business - Cedro Peak itself. Parked on the service road and ran the rest of the way (it wasn't very far) to the top. Lots of snow, about a foot in all but the sunniest spots, but there were some vehicle tracks that were runnable. The peak is only about 7700', but there are some freaktastically awesome views in all directions. On the way back I turned down the Cedro Ridge doubletrack for a while, but it was pretty tough going in the snow, even though it was slightly *downhill*, so I knew it would be nasty going up. There was just too much snow, and nothing but animal tracks. I coudln't believe it - no skiers, snowshoers or hikers! People are missing out. Unless they're just using the rest of the huge area and I'm missing out. Also test-drove my new iPod. Works great, probably because of the divine intervention. Neck still hurts. At least while running I don't have to turn to look at overtaking traffic. | ||
| DDR 29:30 [2] | |
| Short little evening session. Went through and passed all of the DDR 1st Mix songs on Standard. All on the first try, though none with flying colors. Next time I'll go for the Plaguemix set, which will certainly prove to be much harder.
I almost forgot from the past few days: America 101 (0) Stepford Wives (0) | ||
| C • DDR? 5 | ||
Sunday Jan 28 | ||
| Cycling (road) 1:31:00 [2] 20.3 mi (4:28 / mi) +400m 2:37 / km | |
| ahr:152 max:172 slept:4.0 | ||
| Nice day today, temps flirting with 50, so I went for a ride. 2 for 2 on "explore new territory" this weekend. My time here is limited, I need to keep this up.
Started at home and rode up Tijeras Canyon to Tijeras on Old Route 66 (which winds around I-40). Pretty nice and mild climb (a gentle ~800') for a mountain pass. From Tijeras I started to make my way up and south along 337 into the mountains, but it was flippin' freezin' and I wasn't dressed for it. I figured it had been about long enough for a turnaround, so I did. Wore long sleeve shirt + jersey, shorts + knee warmers, socks + shoes, and half-fingered gloves. This was fine until the shady stuff. It was okay on the way down, but wouldn't have been too warm with more, especially given the strong headwind. Yep, a headwind, though I can't really complain since it hit me on the way down. Didn't work too hard, ~52 min up, ~39 min down. Definitely need to get over there on some trails, and more riding as it gets warmer. | ||
| C • Is your heart monitor working ... 4 | ||
| Note | |
| At first glance, this chart looks like an interval session, sort of like this one.
Yeah, Garmin finally released Training Center for Mac, the day I (grudgingly) went to download the Windows version. Graphs are fun! | ||
Saturday Jan 27 | ||
| Running (trail) 33:00 [2] 2.8 mi (11:46 / mi) +125m 6:26 / km | |
| ahr:156 max:173 slept:4.0 shoes: Asics Trail | ||
| Very low on energy this afternoon - probably a combination of being tired from yesterday's intervals + getting crap for sleep. So the plan was something very easy and very short, just to get out and move. Went to a new place to keep myself motivated, the Manzano/Four Hills Open Space. Just about as close as Copper, but very different. I'd say it's definitely the area NMO should look into for their next abq map.
Cloudy and low 40s. Shorts, long sleeves, wind vest. Plenty warm. The trails in the area aren't as cool as in the Sandia foothills, but the terrain itself is pretty neat. Some really big, rocky hills, but mostly subtle rolling stuff with a few washes. Not too much prickly stuff, several areas of intricate rocks, and even a good helping of real, bona fide trees. Not sure if they could get permission here, but it's more worthwhile than the Elena Gallegos (though arrest is probably at least as likely here as there... at least it would be for a better piece of terrain). | ||
Friday Jan 26 | ||
| DDR 15:00 [3] | |
| ahr:135 max:177 | ||
| A little morning sweatfest. Mostly played "Bitches - µ-ZIQ Remix" on Light, with a couple rounds of "Paranoia - 180" on Light and Standard to "rest". Yet to get an "A" on this version of Bitches. Avg HR seems low, must be that the short rest between each song allows it to drop before I start up again. | ||
| C • How many feet? 14 | ||
| Running warm up/down (road) 31:00 [2] 3.2 mi (9:40 / mi) | |
| ahr:160 max:174 shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| Warm up and cool down on the streets. The N-S streets around here are named after states. Been running down Pennsylvania to Hardin and then back up... wait for it...yep, you guessed it, Texas. I can never get away. | ||
| Running intervals (track) 17:32 [4] 4 km (4:23 / km) | |
| ahr:181 max:189 shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| Afternoon intervals on the track: 4x(1000m I + 4:00 E)
Time / avg HR/ max HR/ 4:24 / 176 / 187 4:23 / 183 / 189 4:23 / 184 / 189 4:24 / 181 / 189 So the pacing was even, but these felt really hard. I don't know if that's because they're too fast for I pace or whether I just need to suck it up. If this is a good pace at this altitude, then I'd expect to be able to run them 4-5 seconds faster at sea level. That seems reasonable. Or maybe I'm running sea level approrpriate pace up here. I guess I'll figure it out as I go along. | ||
| Running (track) 16:30 [1] 1.53 mi (10:46 / mi) | |
| shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| Recoveries. I lost track of time on the 3rd one and went a bit long.
Temps today like yesterday (around 40), shorts and ls tee, and I even forgot gloves again, though my hands weren't too cold. | ||
Thursday Jan 25 | ||
| Running (trail) 1:05:00 [3] 6.0 mi (10:50 / mi) +270m 5:54 / km | |
| ahr:171 max:182 slept:5.0 shoes: Asics Trail | ||
| Sunset run in the foothills. Beautiful day today, got up to the upper 40's, and there was a giant line of cars parked along the street as overflow from the Copper parking lot. Never seen so many people out there!
Starting to get dark by the time I started, and it got cold fast (30s?) once the sun dropped away. Shorts and long sleeves okay (a bit too warm, actually), but I probably would have been comfortable with gloves. Ran harder than usual. Or rather, I covered a lot more ground in the same amount of time. It didn't really feel hard, just faster. That's a nice feeling. And that's despite thinking I'd be a bit dehydrated from the morning's long mission - we're not allowed to bring food or drink into the simulator. Kind of funny when you consider what goes on inside *real* 130s. Neck still hurts, though it seems to be getting better, in a decaying sinusoid kind of way. Maybe a decreasing decaying sinusoid? I should have taken more math in college. | ||
| C • What goes on 2 | ||
| DDR 44:00 [2] | |
| max:159 | ||
| Only counting time spent at a reasonable heartrate. Approximately. Almost hit 160. Almost. I think I need some double length songs. | ||
| C • uh-oh 4 | ||
Wednesday Jan 24 | ||
| Note | |
| (rest day) | ||
| Inadvertent rest day. To make up for it, and as a representative of some of my ridiculously productive behavior over the past several days, how about a media bonanza?
The view from my balcony after a recent snowstorm: 
The true definition of "addiction": 
And, since the new semester is well under way, my midterm and final projects from last semester. They're not "finished", but they're done. | ||
Tuesday Jan 23 | ||
| Running (road) 22:20 [3] 2.27 mi (9:50 / mi) | |
| ahr:157 shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| Warm up (~12 min) and cool down (~10 min) on base roads near the track. Ran at about 1930, after attending the Intro to Avalanche Clinic at outdoor rec. Very interesting. These serious mountaineering dudes study snow the way geo nerds study dirt. | ||
| Running intervals (track reps) 12:29 [5] 2.0 mi (6:14 / mi) | |
| max:189 shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| Repetitions on the base track. 8x (400R + 400E). Last week I said I was shooting for an R pace of 98. Well, I was this week, too, but it never worked out that way:
94, 95, 97, 93, 93, 93, 93, 91 I think low 90s are probably a lot closer to "current mile race pace" than upper 90s, so I think these are fine. A very satisfying workout. | ||
| Running (track) 28:00 [1] 2.2 mi (12:42 / mi) | |
| shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| Recoveries. A bit more walking and the beginning and end of each. | ||
| Strength/Core (stretching) 15:00 [1] | |
| On the track right after running, looking at stars. Well, looking at *some* stars, since you can't seem to see many from Kirtland. Hips, baby, hips. | ||
Monday Jan 22 | ||
| Running (trail) 1:00:00 [3] 8.5 km (7:04 / km) +215m 6:16 / km | |
| ahr:169 max:185 slept:7.0 shoes: Asics Trail | ||
| Midday run in the foothills. Copper, the usual, except added a jaunt up to the top of the big hill by Indian School. Hovering around freezing but it felt quite cold and breezy on my balcony so I wore a shirt and a windbreaker. Turns out it was way too warm out for two long layers. Blergh.
Legs felt pretty beat up as I started, but I guess they weren't that bad since it felt great to run... and the climb to the back of U-mound took less than 8 minutes. Neat. Neck is almost better - just mild stiffness and achiness, like I've been sitting funny in front of a computer all day or something. | ||
| Orienteering (mapping) 1:00:00 [1] | |
| UNM. | ||
Sunday Jan 21 | ||
| Note | |
| Ouch. My neck was bothering me all night (enough to disrupt sleep) and hurts more this morning than yesterday. Supposed to go ski with Stacie this morning, though I'm not sure that's a great idea - I don't want to make it worse. I'll keep stretching it and see if it gets better. (?) This is weird. | ||
| XC Skiing 2:40:00 [3] | |
| ahr:156 max:181 | ||
| In at attempt to have a true HTFU attitude, I sucked down some extra-strength pain relief and headed out with Stacie. I bumped into her at REI yesterday and got her to rent skis for an outing. Finally, someone's in town who will go do things outside with me!
Parked at Ellis and headed up the criss-crossing trails to the Crest House parking lot. She stopped babbling about not having skied in 10 years once she realized that a) I'm no expert and b) her little short skis with nice sharp edges certainly don't hurt. Crossed over to the N Crest Trail, which was actually quite skiable. Down, down, down to Del Agua Overlook, both of us taking our share of spectacular spills along the way (though more for me). I did much better this time, even successfully tackling some very long twisty descents. I think the fact that the snow could not have been more fantabulous helped a bit... slowed me down, at least. On the way back up to the parking lot we reached a point where no one had skied and couldn't find the trail. Luckily, the trail we wanted cut right across the mountain, so we just pointed our skis downhill in beautiful powder until we reached it. Very nice. Unfortunately, the ski back up was tough, the clouds rolled in and it started snowing, and Stacie was getting pretty tired. Fortunately, we made it back just fine and rewarded ourselves with a stop at Sandia Crust Pizza! Neck didn't bother me as long as I didn't look left. Stacie: "I can see why having telemarketing skis would be useful here." | ||
| C • Neck 2 | ||
Saturday Jan 20 | ||
| Running warm up/down (road) 16:00 [2] 1.78 mi (8:59 / mi) | |
| shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| Warm up. Couldn't stand the idea of running around the track to warm up, so I ran around the super secret looking DoE complex with the 2m barbed-wire fences. I want to know what they do in there. There are at least a dozen cute little (yummy) bunnies living on the other side of the fence. I wonder if they have security clearances or if they are bribable. | ||
| Running intervals (track) 17:33 [4] 4 km (4:23 / km) | |
| shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| Long day out to Santa Fe and back, so late night intervals on the base track after dropping off Melissa at the airport. Not surprisingly, no one else at the track at 9:30. Dark, breezy, some ice, 29F. This is totally what I like to do with my Saturday nights. I blame AP.
4x(1000m @ ~4:21-4-26 + 4:00 E) Ran 4:24, 4:24, 4:21, 4:24. No HR info because I forgot to charge my watch. I had a lot of trouble with consistency on the pace, which I think will come with practice. These felt very hard, perhaps too hard, but they really shouldn't be. I think the difficulty may be linked to whatever caused the very obnoxious pain in my neck. The pain began after the first interval and increased after each subsequent one, which leads me to believe that I am tensing up as I run. Dork move of the evening: I wore a headlamp for the entire workout but forgot that it was on my head, so I never turned it on. | ||
| Running warm up/down (track) 20:00 [2] 1.9 mi (10:30 / mi) | |
| shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| Recoveries (run very slowly) and cool down.
All the Kings Men (0) | ||
| C • Tensing up 5 | ||
| Strength/Core (stretching) 10:00 [1] | |
Friday Jan 19 | ||
| DDR (StepMania) 1:10:00 [2] | |
| slept:8.0 | ||
| Preliminary heart rate monitoring indicates that this is much more intense than indoor cycling. Sweet. | ||
Thursday Jan 18 | ||
| Running (trail) 44:00 [2] 3.5 mi (12:34 / mi) | |
| ahr:161 max:180 slept:7.0 shoes: Asics Trail | ||
| Melissa's in town, so we went for a light sunset run in the foothills. Did the usual neat-o Copper - U-mound route. I was impressed at her climbing stamina - she made up to the first saddle in just over 9 min (usually takes me ~8).
Nice out, about 30 and basically no wind. Since people seem to like sharing their clothing choices, I will add that I was perfectly dressed in tights, long sleeves, wind-breaking vest and gloves. And socks and shoes. Checking Out (0) | ||
| C • For me the clothing list is a ... 3 | ||
| DDR 45:00 [2] | |
| Bought another dance pad so we could both play at the same time. I'm such a sucker for quick fixes. | ||
Wednesday Jan 17 | ||
| Running warm up/down (track) 20:00 [2] 2.1 mi (9:31 / mi) | |
| ahr:165 slept:7.0 shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| Running intervals (track) 12:52 [5] 2.0 mi (6:26 / mi) | |
| max:195 shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| 8x(400R + 400E) at the track on base. Shooting for 98s:
101, 100, 97, 96, 94, 99, 97 and finished with an 88 just for kicks. Not a bad evening. There was some wind, but it was blowing towards the McD's so at least I only had to deal with a headwind and not the smell of America's Favorite Fries. First one felt easy but after that I had to walk a bit during my recovery laps to make them full recoveries. Didn't think I'd make 8, but obviously I had plenty of legs left on the eighth. I guess I'll stick with this speed for a bit? | ||
| C • Geez, you actually try to get ... 7 | ||
| Running warm up/down (track) 25:00 [1] 2.1 mi (11:54 / mi) | |
| shoes: Kayano XII (pink) | ||
| Recoveries. Typically a few walking steps right after each rep and then a slow jog to feel fully recovered.
Three cute little bunny wabbits hanging out in the infield. I think one of them felt left out because the other two seemed to be engaged in some kind of intense flirting. A bit early in the year for that, but bunnies are bunnies. | ||
| Note | |
|
Full disclosure time: I've decided to give a generic training plan a try, since I seem to have trouble structuring my workouts. I've been a Daniels fan for a while, and he has some nice, well-rounded plans in the second edition of Daniels' Running Formula. So, I'm going to give the Blue plan a shot. It's pretty straightforward - a fair amount of running, with a long run and two other "quality" workouts a week. I don't expect I'll stick to it day for day, but it's a simple guideline that doesn't change too much week to week. It's a 16-week plan, so if I keep it up it'll take me up to team trials time. Those of you able to follow on at home can feel free to give me crap if I slack off. ;-) I'll start with a vdot of 44, though that might be a bit high, especially with the slight altitude surge that I've experienced. That takes care of pure running. Now I just need a "blue" plan for navigation. | ||
Tuesday Jan 16 | ||
| DDR 25:00 [2] | |
| Too tired to run, and it turns out too tired even to put up a decent effort at StepMania. Flight überdelayed last night and an early + long day today. Wuhu. | ||
Monday Jan 15 | ||
| Orienteering 1:45:00 [2] | |
| shoes: Integrators (orange) | ||
| Scavenger-O. Seems like my "no strategy" was a decent one. Took it easy, tried to use the time to read details and plan at a slower run. Concentrating and making sense of the map on the run is obviously a huge weak point. (Isn't that the basis of orienteer? shoot!) But I think it's something I can work on without actually having to be in the terrain. I just have to make sure I do it. | ||
| DDR (DDR Extreme) 15:00 [1] | |
| Had some time to kill before our flights, so John and I took the trusty ol' PT Cruiser (why do I keep getting those?) down to the beach in San Diego and found ourselves a DDR machine. I'd like to be able to say that I kicked his butt in something, but unfortunately the music was so hard to hear that neither of us were really kicking anything. I'm ready for a real competition. | ||
| C • Music? 6 | ||
Sunday Jan 14 | ||
| Orienteering race 1:50:10 [3] *** 10.5 km (10:30 / km) +305m 9:10 / km | |
| shoes: Integrators (orange) | ||
| "Classic". Started out similar to Sat morning. Basically being very undisciplined, running in essentially the right direction and relocating rather than planning ahead. Somewhere in the middle I started to really concentrate well. After one nicely executed leg I thought to myself, "that's more like it!" and continued better from there. That's the leg I need to remember.
Pam in 83-ish, Sandra was sick. | ||
| Orienteering 45:00 [2] *** | |
| 4c shoes: Asics Trail | ||
| Maze-O with Viktoria. Here's a good note for the weekend - I actually went out there and found controls! I still don't like the crumbly rock cliffs of death, but at least I've done it now. Besides, I don't think Viktoria was any more eager than I was. In fact, she may even be a little wussier. (But you didn't hear that from me.) Though I'm not sure I can count this as "orienteering" since she did most of the navigating. Maybe I'll just give it to myself as a fuzzy bonus. | ||
Saturday Jan 13 | ||
| Event: Anza-Borrego Desert O-Fest | ||
| Orienteering race 59:29 [3] **** 4.03 km (14:46 / km) +265m 11:06 / km | |
| shoes: Integrators (Red) | ||
| Day 1 at Anza-Borrego. "Medium". No disasters, but not very inspiring, either.
This is tough terrain, but I knew what to expect. Guess I was really rusty. Blergh. Pam and Sandra in at 45-46, Viktoria a bit behind me. | ||
| Orienteering 15:00 [3] *** | |
| shoes: Integrators (Red) | ||
| After waiting around for a while for the sprint to be "fixed" I went out and had a bad time on the first three controls. Looked at the rest of the map and had no desire to go back out into the terrain from the morning. One of the very rare instances when I just wasn't in to orienteering. Jogged back, trying to make sense of the map along the way, but my brain wasn't working at all. Very disappointing. | ||
Friday Jan 12 | ||
| Note | |
| (rest day) | ||
| Travel to Anza-Borrego! I just scored a much earlier flight, so I might even get to set up my tent before dark. Well, probably not, but better than rolling in at midnight like last year.
First O of the year. First O in a while. Not an A meet, though I think I'll treat it like one because I focus better that way. Just to see where I stand, what areas are weakest, what I need to work on. Sort of basic assessment as I start the year. Last year I had a lot of trouble on the first day. I was moving too fast through stuff that I couldn't really read on the map at that speed. (Duh. Total n00b behavior.) The second day, which was in simpler terrain, went much better. Probably partially due to the lessons learned the first day, not just the terrain. I know what to expect this time, terrain and map-wise, and not being surprised by the course is a very good thing. So, what I hope to see from this weekend is a dramatic difference from last year - less (and smaller) mistakes, faster per/km time. My calves are stiff and sore. Must be DOMS from the 3+ hours of StepMania on Wednesday. D'oh. | ||
Thursday Jan 11 | ||
| Note | |
| Oh snap! | ||
| C • countdown 2 | ||
| Running (snow/trail) 42:00 [3] | |
| shoes: Asics Trail | ||
| Basically the same as yesterday, just a bit shorter and a bit slower because of the mushy snow. Really warm today (low 50s). Felt great. Again! | ||
| DDR 17:00 [3] | |
| Note | |
| Test. | ||
Wednesday Jan 10 | ||
| Running (snow/trail) 48:00 [3] 4.2 mi (11:25 / mi) +100m 6:37 / km | |
| slept:6.0 shoes: Asics Trail | ||
| Even spunkier today. Meant to do only 30 min but felt too good to stop, even though I think I was a little dehydrated and tired from playing ~2 hours of StepMania earlier in the afternoon.
Copper. Cut to the chase and surg...I mean, ran at a decent pace up behind U Mound. Ran north, out and back, on the foothills trail with a little southern extension at the end. Less snow on south slopes, north ones still look like a winter wonderland. Crazy. Saw lots of bunnies again. | ||
| DDR 2:40:00 [2] | |
| C • Help Needed? 20 | ||
| Strength/Core (stretching) 12:00 [1] | |
| WordPlay (1) | ||
| C • I second your vote 1 | ||
Tuesday Jan 9 | ||
| Note | |
| Nerdgasm alert - this Apple iPhone thing is cooler than I would ever have thought it would be.
And it seems that I'm not alone. | ||
| C • Nice GUI... 7 | ||
| C • Is it a HID? Is it a GUI? Is... 1 | ||
| C • Is it a HID? Is it a GUI? Is... 1 | ||
| Running (snow/trail) 1:02:00 [3] 8.5 km (7:18 / km) +150m 6:42 / km | |
| shoes: Asics Trail | ||
| Waited until after class to run so that I could go in shorts. Awesome weather and setting - mid 40s plus a few clouds for a sweet sunset. Parked at Copper and ran north along the western trails (401 and co.) to Indian School, then up up to the eastern trails (365) and back behind U Mound. I had only meant to run for ~40-45 minutes, but it was so awesome that I just had to keep going.
Stepper south slopes had little snow on them, but north/shady sides sometimes had around a foot still. Trails were mostly several inches of mush. I felt much perkier today than yesterday, but it was still pretty slow going through the snow. | ||
| DDR 1:20:00 [2] | |
| Whoops. | ||
| Strength/Core (stretching) 10:00 [1] | |
| Hips, especially. Mmm. Finally picked up at A-B maps today.
The Family Stone (1) | ||
Monday Jan 8 | ||
| Running (snow/trail) 44:00 [2] | |
| slept:7.0 shoes: Asics Trail | ||
| Morning run in the foothills. Parked at Copper and ran south, heading for snow-free trails. Turns out they weren't as snow free as they looked from the highway yesterday - most of the trails were still covered with several inches of very solid snow, sort of like a northeastern dh ski slope. And I was very tired, I had to walk up some of the hills, which is not normal. Guess skiing takes a lot out of me. Either that or all that StepMania has worn me out. | ||
| C • Oops, wrong place. 6 | ||
| Note | |
| I received a very suspicious package in the mail today. It was exactly what they tell you to watch out for in all those mail bomb classes: the address was handwritten, there was no return address, and it was obviously bulkier and more shapely than a financial report. So, I did the obvious - I concoted a home explosive by mixing various liquids from my toiletries kit and destroyed the package safely in the parking lot. Nice try, whoever you are! | ||
| C • blowing things up in parking lots 5 | ||
| DDR 53:00 [2] | |
| My calves are sore. | ||
| C • uh oh 2 | ||
Sunday Jan 7 | ||
| DDR 10:00 [2] | |
| In a move that will surely later be described as "impulse buy of the year", I hopped out this morning to buy a RedOctane Ignition Pad 3.0 to play StepMania on my computer. The game's free and is a very convincing DDR clone (at least to me).
Good cross training? I played for about half an hour, and had stripped layers and worked up a sweat by the end. I think if I put it on some kind of continuous mode rather than stopping between songs then it would be much like an aerobics-type cardio class. Even if it weren't sweat-inducing, it's addictingly fun. | ||
| C • DDR clone 7 | ||
| XC Skiing 1:00:00 [3] | |
| Stopped playing StepMania long enough to go out for a ski. Since the road looked good on top yesterday I decided to drive up. Not too bad. Parked at the Ellis trailhead and skied Ellis/service road south, then up in the jumble of trails above/west of Ellis. Really nice little collection of ski trails... now if only those snowshoers would stay off. (I've decided that snowshoers are the new snowboarders.)
I didn't fall even once today! Part of that was actual improvement, part of it was staying away from some of the steeper stuff. It was very very cold and exposed places were nasty windy. The snow is already all old and cold in many places, but there's definitely no shortage. Hopefully I'll be able to get back up there later this week. | ||
| Strength/Core (stretching) 10:00 [1] | |
| Scoop (0) | ||
Saturday Jan 6 | ||
| XC Skiing 2:10:00 [3] | |
| slept:9.0 | ||
| Having learned my lesson about trying to drive up the Sandia Crest Highway after a snowfall, I took the tram up to the top this time. It wasn't nearly as much hassle as I thought it would be - basically no wait, and I could start skiing right near the upper terminal.
The snow was delicious. Unfortunately, I think I have regressed in skiing ability. Considering that I didn't have much to begin with, this is serious. I'm not sure I'm up for the Mt Taylor Quad, unless the skiing is all on a wide road. These narrow, ungroomed trails are beautiful and fun, but I have no nerve to descend anything but the mildest of slopes with a clear view of flat trail ahead. I mean, I tried, and I was succesful some of the time. But not without a death grip on my poles. And I had a few spectacular faceplants. Can I blame the altitude? ;-) Skied Gravel Pit to Switchback up to Crest House and kept going for a bit along the North Crest Trail. Got to where it was exposed on top of the crest and turned back, because there were several foot drifts on part of the trail, not to mention nasty wind (and it was already cold). Went back mostly the same way (I think). Long wait for the tram trip down. | ||
| C • Faceplants mean you are improving! 3 | ||
| C • Faceplants mean you are improving! 1 | ||
| Strength/Core (stretching) 10:00 [1] | |
| Little Miss Sunshine (1) | ||
| Note | |
| PHXO Lake Pleasant | ||
Friday Jan 5 | ||
| Note | |
| (rest day) | ||
| Planned rest day. Tomorrow's activities will depend on sleep and rest and mood. Mean people stink. | ||
| C • Mean people 5 | ||
Thursday Jan 4 | ||
| XC Skiing 20:30 [2] | |
| slept:6.5 weight:145lbs | ||
| Attempt at a sunrise ski in the foothills. There's plenty of snow, but the trails are solid footprints and the off-trail stuff is topped with a few inches of crusty re-frozen junk. I tried. | ||
| Running (snow) 30:30 [3] | |
| shoes: Asics Trail | ||
| Went back to the car and swapped shoes. Surface was better for running than skiing, though it felt very arduous. Could have been the snow, or it could just be that I'm tired.
It was supposedly 18F when I left, but I was really hot and sweating a lot in in two shirts and a light windbreaker. Got home and it says 28F. Hmph. | ||
| Strength/Core (pushups) 1:00 [1] | |
Wednesday Jan 3 | ||
| Running (snow/road) 32:00 [2] | |
| shoes: Asics Trail | ||
| Back in Albuquerque, just a bit earlier than planned. It's cold and covered in snow. Amazing. Went for an easy evening run to and in the 'hood just to the east. Albuquerque's snow removal system (i.e. the sun) hasn't done a very good job, and so it was slow and slippery on sidewalks and streets. Took one very spectacular spill on an unplowed and icy road. The crowd boo'd and gave me a '4'. | ||
| Strength/Core 5:00 [1] | |
| Some of that "strength" stuff. I'll have to take a fitness test at some point, might as well try to prepare. I hate pushups. I wish I could do something besides pushups to get good at pushups. Like, I don't know, running on my arms or something. | ||
| C • That would probably work... 7 | ||
| Strength/Core (stretching) 12:00 [1] | |
Tuesday Jan 2 | ||
| Note | |
| Saw Oscar and Lucinda yesterday. It was very good (Ralph Fiennes especially) but not very uplifting. So we counterbalanced it by seeing Happy Feet which was very fun and happy, if a bit long. They both get 1s! | ||
| C • Movies 12 | ||
| Running (trail) 57:00 [3] +150m | |
| shoes: Asics Trail | ||
| Today we headed over to Saguaro NP West, on the other side of the Tucson mtns. King Canyon trail to Sendero Esperanza trail.
The plan was for me to run up 30 mins while Melissa hiked up 40 min before turning around, so that we'd meet up around her turn around and be able to run the rest back together. It didn't quite work that way, as Melissa sort of kind of missed a turn. It was all good in the end, but I think we should start carrying maps... This was pretty cool, very different from yesterday. I've always liked how sharp and rugged the Tucsons look compared to the Catalinas, and it turns out that the trails are often like that, too. Lots of loose rock and sharp pieces. I actually think this is where I hiked when I visited U of A in 2001. Neat. Off to the Apple store to buy matching shuffles. :-) | ||
| Strength/Core (stretching) 12:00 [1] | |
Monday Jan 1 | ||
| Event: US Team Training Camp | ||
| Running (trail) 1:00:00 [3] | |
| slept:6.0 shoes: Asics Trail | ||
| In Tucson, so Seabass and I went for a run at Sabino Canyon. Hit the Bear Canyon trail this time, which was really awesome. Gorgeous scenery. I really think the Sonoran Desert is one of the most beautiful ecological zones in the world. And it's not even spring!
The trail's great because it starts off flat and smooth and then rolling before going up the canyon. Lots of rocky ground around (and across) the creek itself which makes for great fancy footwork practice. Very busy today, lots and lots of hikers - but no dogs! I love it. Felt a little bogged down today, probably because of the ~2 hours of sleep Sat night, travel yesterday, and poor sleep last night. But, it still felt great to run. At one point I thought to myself, "Yeah, I could live here." And then I realized that I *am* going to live here! w00t! 2007 rocks already. | ||
