Training Log Archive: PG

Pocumtuck Ridge trail, up to the towers as usual and then down the jeep road to Pine Nook Road, and back. Route.

Legs were tired and a little sore from yesterday, so the plan today was to just take it easy. And since I was doing that, why not go just a little further. But mainly, just not run hard.

Which I did, nice relaxed pace throughout. And coming back up the jeep road was pleasantly easy. Mission accomplished. 24 down, 26 to go.

So a guy was taking photos at Northfield yesterday and they included the following shots of yours truly.

I looked at the first one, and my immediate reaction is, Wow, I look really old. Now, since I am rather old, and possibly even really old, maybe that is the expected reaction, but somehow after a lot of work and a lot of sweating and not doing too too bad, to then look and see how bad you really look is, well, unsettling.



Though, as I have finally come to realize, there aren't a whole lot of folks out there who are entirely happy with their self-image. And I am certainly less unhappy than I used to be.

And, anyway, reason to hope, there was a second photo....



Great, now I still look really old, plus both legs seem to be attached to the rest of me at rather strange angles.

So I raised the subject, the first one, the looking really old -- I don't think I'm up for having my legs reattached -- at dinner, out to eat to celebrate our anniversary a few days late. Should I dispense with the beard?

Gail is sure I would look younger, though unsure of exactly what the new look would be, since I haven't shaved for 38 years. And she's not sure I would want to start shaving again now. She did say that my dad would have gladly dispensed with shaving, except that his beard would have been white and made him look older, and he didn't want that.

So we ruminated on that for a bit, and then on the equally drastic steps that she could take, dying and/or cutting her hair.

Who knows where this will go. But if someone comes up to you and sounds familiar but looks somewhat odd, well, you have been warned.

C • Lans Taylor? 15

New England Trail Running Champs at Northfield. Just up the road so it seemed silly not to go.

Bad news -- not much zip in the legs. Time was about as expected, but about 4 minutes slower than three years ago, last time I raced the course.

Good news -- seems it was good enough for first in the 60+ crowd, therefore a medal and a pair of shoes.

Other good news -- nice time hanging out afterwards. Ross and Sam and Jeff were there. Sam was second woman. And I found out that Ross (3rd) and Brendan (1st) and Ian (2nd) took the top three places for CSU at the US Champs in radio orienteering last weekend. Very cool, although I must say that the CSU publicity machine seems to have missed the boat on this one.

Also saw some old friends from days when I did more trail races, also some local runners I haven't seen for a while. All very pleasant.

And checked out the shoe offerings from Inov8. May have to try them out.

And my time wasn't so bad, though clearly more work needs to be done.

C • Powerline photo 2

C • CSU owns radio orienteering! 6

Legs did not feel at all spry. Knew it was going to be a struggle.

And then an afternoon round at Hickory Ridge with Sunderland friends Will (artist and maze designer) and Liz (lawyer) and a glass blower friend of theirs. Good company, mellow golf, and then a while spent afterwards enjoying a beer and talking about town politics. Very very pleasant.

Biking in to Northampton to pick up the car. This time a very slight tailwind (2 mph?).

And then quickly up to Greenfield where the annual Relay for Life fundraiser for the cancer society was just kicking off, and first thing on the agenda was a lap around the half-mile old harness track for "survivors." And I joined in, feeling both totally out of place -- because for whatever reason I don't feel like a survivor, maybe because I had a case that it seems has turned out to be fixable without going through a lot of the really bad stuff others do -- and also totally the right place to be.

Looked around a lot, wondered who had lost what body parts or had what part of them traumatized, noticed how the clear majority were women.

And I also thought of the old phrase, God helps them that help themselves, and that, while doing a lap around this track at a very slow walk was good for the soul, much better for me overall was the 185 hours of training over the not quite six months since surgery. There is nothing like working up a good sweat, both for the body and the soul.

Class has been moved to early Thursday morning....

As I was passing some time in Downward Dog, it occurred to me that that was probably quite beneficial for the whole back of my legs -- hamstrings, calfs, Achilles. A good reason to keep going.

5K XC race at the Holyoke reservoirs. Course is just about flat, cinder service roads, like the old cinder tracks, not that anyone here ever ran on them. Route.

Goal was under 21:40 (7-minute per mile pace). Thought it was doable. But the race doesn't have miles marked and it's been a while since I ran it, so I couldn't remember any splits to various turns. So I never was sure how I was doing. But I felt like I was moving pretty well, and the pace seemed steady the whole way, neither dying at the end nor a lot left in the tank. Final time was a pleasant surprise, 6:48 pace.

Just need to go 17 seconds faster for an age record on the course. So much easier said than done.

Once again, feeling of real satisfaction afterwards. 22 good workouts down, 28 to go, 34 days. Making good progress, still a ways to go.

C • I did. 6

Before (8:00) and after (10:00). Before seemed just about right, and also all I had time for as I got there late.

Home from NH after a very early round of RP. Got lucky again on the weather, forecast was for rain both yesterday and today, but only had the umbrellas out once yesterday (and not at all today), and that was just for a few minutes.

Anyway, legs seemed tired all day. I had planned a track workout because I have a meeting tomorrow that will probably conflict with the Thursday evening group. The plan had been to repeat the workout of 2 or 3 weeks ago, 8x400, 100 jog -- I really like to do the exact same workouts from time to time to get a better reading on what my fitness is. But I just didn't feel up to it. In fact I almost didn't get out the door.

But at the last moment decided on a different plan, another old standby but not done for many years, just a simple 4x400 pretty much as fast as possible, but with adequate rest in between to be fully recovered. A workout to focus on running form and leg turnover, and in the process die four times. I remember doing it a couple of times when I was trying to break 5 minutes for the mile. I'm pretty sure then the numbers were 4x400 in about 66-67 each, dying 4 times of course, with a good 5 minutes in between to get ready for the next. (Ended up with a 5:02 and then a 5:01 not long after, and that was as good as it got.)

That was 20 years ago and the numbers have changed a lot since then. Didn't know what to expect. The hope was to be under 90 seconds, thought I should be able to manage that but not sure.

So I ran the first one -- 86.1, fast as I could. Then 2 minutes rest.

Then the second one -- 86.9, again, fast as I could, thinking towards the end that stopping after two was still an OK workout. But once done, the resolve to keep going came back. 2:30 rest, to help morale.

Then the third one -- 85.9, once again, fast as I could, dying again, thinking towards the end that it was clearly going to be a set of Bricker intervals (i.e., doing fewer reps than intended). But again, once done, the resolve to keep going came back. 3:00 rest this time, to help morale.

And finally the fourth one -- 85.1, best yet. And so fine to be done.

No apparent damage to the legs. Very positive for the psyche. Will have to have a go at a mile sometime in the next month. I think 6:15 will be as good as I can hope for, and that may take some doing, and also more preparation beforehand.

And I really like doing -- or at least having done -- stuff like this. I'm clearly out of touch with the vast majority of orienteers.

C • Nice... 3

C • mile 1

Four laps to warm up, including 2x100 to stretch out. And then just a slow lap walking after.

C • Cool. 2

Anniversary today. 36 years. This year is shaping up to be absolutely the best.

C • Congratulations! 6

Same as yesterday, again late in the day after a round of rogaine practice. A little slow going up (24:04), so worked harder coming back (20:28).

C • watch 1

Woods roads in Wolfeboro, NH (visiting the Goodwins at the northern outpost and clubhouse of WCOC). Route. A nice psychological process -- committed to doing the run, just enough time after a round of rogaine practice (i.e. golf) and before dinner, which helped in a way because there was no sitting around thinking about it, just change and do it. As usual, the legs felt dead and stiff and awkward to start, but I am slowly learning just to start slowly and after a few minutes things will loosen up and feel much better, which they did.

Very pleasant (after the first few minutes), chugged up the hills without undue difficulty. No FDFs yet, I expect they will be showing up in about 10 days. 23:50 out/up, 21:07 back.

Wonderful afternoon on the golf course with Gail, Peter Goodwin, and his son Hunt. Excellent company, beautiful afternoon.

Once again I was tested -- snowmen (i.e. 8) on the 4th and 5th holes, both par 4s. And once again I did not lose my cool, just cussed a couple of times (you have to be allowed a little reaction) and then moved on. The round as a whole (86) was the usual mixture of the sublime and the absurd, but psychologically it/I was brilliant. As was the new mellow Gail.

I could look at a day like this and have mammoth regrets that it took me so long in life to learn some things, like how to deal with the ups and downs life throws at you. But a more accurate reading of my feelings would be -- better learn this stuff late than never.