Training Log Archive: PG

Back roads in Whately, almost completely flat. Ran faster than intended, by quite a bit, supposed to be easy recovery. At least I spent a while working on form, so not a waste

Cold again (though far from really cold), had the warmer gloves on, much better.

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I gave some thought this morning to venturing up north this evening for what I term another "interesting life experience," the event in question being a rally scheduled in Claremont, NH by the Donald. I'm no fan of his, for sure, but I think it would be interesting to partake of the experience (both him and his fans). You could procure a ticket online, seemed pretty straightforward.

But I just couldn't pull the trigger.

Sitting here now, nice warm home, no need to drive 75 minutes each way, and maybe wait in the cold a long time to get in, and maybe not get in, and maybe, well, I'm quite happy being home. But, under the theory of nothing ventured, nothing gained, I really should have gone...

C • The Donald 12

Up, then down, with a little flat before and after. Not sure why I chose this route other than I hadn't run it for a long time.

But managed OK, the only problem being very cold hands by the time I reached the top. Thought they were going to be a disaster by the time I was done, since you generate less heat going down, but I spent the rest of the run working on them (squeeze, relax, squeeze, relax, just getting the blood to flow better) and by the time I was done they were actually feeling not so cold. And no painful thawing period.

Next time it's below 30 take the warmer ones.

Nice run on the 10-mile course in Amherst followed by the annual meeting of the local running club. Very pleasant. Had a couple of women running the same pace for company and the miles went by quickly and easily. Legs tired to start, and definitely tired going up the hill at 3 miles, but then no problem at all going up the hill at 9.

Another good week.

C • Like 1

Down to Forest Park for the 5K. This time I parked right at exit 1 off 91, leaves a little over a mile to the start/finish, just right.

Good race, 30 seconds quicker than a couple of weeks ago. Spent a lot of the time working on trying to run efficiently, think it helps.

Nice day, low 30s, light breeze, bare pavement.

And then a round-about route back to the car to get in a few more miles. Legs felt fine to start but within a mile were feeling quite heavy. Decided to just keep up the pace and see what happened. And the legs never got any worse. Apparently you can still run OK even when tired....

Good training and a good day.

I thought I was going to wrap up 2015 today by taking care of yet one more thing that has been bugging me, in this case, a tooth that has been missing now for 13 months, but it was not to be. Everything seemed all set, the replacement was on hand, all the preliminary work had been done. We even got as far as a little bit of work to make sure the bite was good. But then a check of the x-ray and, as the guy said, a setback. It just wasn't quite the way he wanted it. So instead of finishing things up, another impression, another month, maybe next time. But I can't complain, nice to deal with someone who has high standards.

It was going to wrap up a fine week. Just yesterday a final meeting with the lawyer, signing all the documents, something I'd be meaning to do for some time, new wills and all the other stuff (powers of attorney, health care proxies, HIPPA releases). The old ones were about 15 years old, no longer reflected our thinking, overdue for change. Been concerned about it for a while because, who knows what will happen, so walked out of the lawyer's office feeling much relieved.

And the day before that, for once, managed a full tax review of the year, before the year was over, when it is still possible to do something. And the numbers looked OK, but doing something would make them look even better, so that was taken care of too. And again, a nice sense of actually doing something and not just wishing you had.

And so the end of a year with both ups and downs, as most years are.

I'm not sure if retiring from my tax work was an up or a down. In many regards it was an up, a whole lot of anxieties that no longer needed to be dealt with, which at this point in my life outweighed the pleasure of the job. So that sounds like a clear up. But there is also the clear movement into another phase of life, one much closer to the end than the beginning, and it is hard to call that anything but a down. Not that one doesn't still try to make the best of it....

Sports? Not much orienteering compared to other years. A couple of extended injuries, Achilles tendon most of the winter, back since mid-July. The former was not so different in terms of severity and duration from other ailments over the years, and so when it subsides, you move on without any real change in behavior.

Whereas the latter caused, at least temporarily, both activity changes and serious consideration of what activities were no longer going to be practical. So there has been no golf for 5+ months, and almost no orienteering or trail running for the same period. I will have to see whether that is a permanent change or not. I hope not, but perhaps it is.

Despite the ailments, there were two events that brought great joy. The lesser, no great accomplishment, was simple a bike ride I did in September to support a charity run by cousins of mine to provide special sports equipment to folks who have had spinal cord injuries, so that sports can still be a part of their lives, with the motivation for the charity being that my cousin (the wife) had her spinal cord severed in a ski racing accident and is paralyzed from the sternum down.

So the joy was in participating in support of a program that, as they say, can give someone their life back. That pleasure was mostly expected. What was not expected was the news not long ago that she is pregnant. I never would have thought it possible, but apparently it is. She is an amazing woman.

The other event, clearly the highlight of the year, was running the Boston Marathon, accompanied by (in my mind) a whole bunch of people giving support to our junior orienteering program. It could not have been any better.

For 2016, well, three things on the schedule at this point, though with all of them, as with everything at this point in life, there is no guarantee that I will be healthy enough, or alive enough, to do them.

The last of the three is a bit of orienteering next September, the Classic Champs and then the North Americans, two old favorites of mine, because it would be nice to be healthy enough to participate.

The middle of the three is the corn maze orienteering at Mike's Maze, Saturday of Labor Day weekend, which is a bit of work but not too much, and which gives great pleasure. It would be nice if there is a maze, and even nicer if I still have my wits about me enough to organize an event.

And the first of the three, the one I have my mind on right now, and have for the last two months, is Boston again, mid-April, Patriot's Day here in Massachusetts, with the goal of making it to the starting line in a lot better condition than I was this past April, and then seeing what happens.

It -- the preparation -- will not be easy, with probably the hardest part being to stay healthy, but as one of my favorites sayings goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And perhaps, if the preparation goes well, I might, at some some point closer to the date, broach some ideas for a marathon fundraiser, version 2.

But first there is a lot of work to be done, and a real need to have good fortune on my side. We shall see.

Happy New Year to friends, many of whom I have missed seeing this fall. Hopefully our paths will cross often in the coming year.

C • Happy New Year Peter, here ... 8

Easy run around town with Dave. Very foggy but otherwise benign conditions.

Lots of ice outside and I wanted to do a little faster stuff, so inside it was.

A couple of miles easy, then 4 x 800 with 400 easy between, and then a last mile easy. Faster at 7:30, easy at 9:30, all 1%. Lots of sweating.