Training Log Archive: bishop22

Big day of snow meant big day of shoveling:
- 30 minutes so we could get out in the AM
- 15 minutes with Nate, to finish up when we got home, finishing in plenty of time for the Bills game (8-0, how pathetic was that?)
- 30 minutes at 9:30, after arriving home from Chlesea's celebratory dinner at Olive Garden

I did not have even one single thought of an easy workout to recover from yesterday!

Event: Valley Forge Battle to the End O' Marathon
 

Valley Forge O'Marathon. Well, actually, Half Marathon plus.

Since my calf has been bothering me, I was uncertain what I could complete. I had entered the marathon, but knew the half was an option. I decided to start out at marathon pace and see how I held out.

I started fairly easy, and was able to mostly just follow folks for the first 3 controls - looking ahead to choose a good line, based on what the leaders were doing. On the way to C4 I made a late decision to cut right early and Rob got just a bit ahead of me. Then he turned around - he had dropped his second map. I was near PG and Phil B in and out of 4. I made a decent choice around the hill towards C5, but then I got confused about a patch of woods and cut left, instead of staying on the unmapped trail that was leading in the correct direction, and fell behind those 2 and Tim Good. So, I was on my own in tracking down C5. I was stopped by a nasty looking gully, so had to go left of my desired route and then I ended up running past it, but I spotted the road up ahead and was able to backtrack just a short distance and punch with Joe B. I was behind him to C6 and C7, but he missed the trail, so I punched at 7 first. I stopped for a drink at the center fountain and he went zipping on by. I cut thru the small trail near the next fountain and across the road to the hard path.

Big mistake on the next leg. I saw the creek end on the map, so I looked for a good place to cut over, to save a few steps, but it turned out the creek did not end, and I ran around a bit looking for a place to cross. Finally found a spot where only 1 foot would get wet. Stayed right on course, alone, thru C15. I stayed on the trail leaving 15 and cut back on the next trail and was startled as someone popped thru the brush behind me. They were behind me to C16 and C17, and passed me as I paused leaving 17. They ran down into the private residence and I think got directions from the lady of the house, as I retreated thru the apartments. By this time Cristina had just about caught up.

Somewhere along the way to C18, Wyatt caught up. I ran with him a bit, then behind him as I weighed my options. Somewhere, doing some walking on the way up the hill to C20, I decided I couldn't make the full marathon and would just do the half. So I stayed with Wyatt to C21, but lost just a bit on the way down to C22. Looking at the trail straight-ish to C23, I came to the conclusion that around was almost no longer, and avoided a serious climb. Wyatt's disappearance at 22 made it clear he was going around, so any second thoughts were eliminated. Since I was going to stop halfway, I picked up the pace and caught Wyatt, to run with him for a bit. We got to C23 just as a couple of youngsters (Dayne?) were finding it, so they were able to follow Wyatt's lead out of the area. I got distracted by the remains of an accident at the intersection near C24, so I almost missed the fact that the control was under the bridge. Jogged it in to the 1/2 finish. I grabbed some Gu and drinks, then punched C25, since I was going to do a few more controls, then took about a 6-minute break to change into a new shirt, leave a note for Rob and grab my cell phone, since it was almost 12:40, and I was expecting a call from Chelsea by noon, or so.

I started out on the second half, thinking I would go for awhile, and turn around. As I started to read the map, I could see that out-and-back would be a bit on the boring side, and then I noticed that if I skipped from 31 to 42, I could continue the rest of the way along the Fatlands map and return via the other bridge. I saw the circle for 27 on 2 maps, but no real detail (didn't spot it on the 3rd map) and by this time I had run along the tracks for a while, and was afraid I was too far, so I climbed down thru less than optimal vegetation and Cristina caught up to me and we ran together to C28. On the way Wyatt saw us from the other side of the river, and since I had told him I was bailing halfway, he shouted across, probably questioning my honesty;-).

After C28, my cell phone rang. It was Chelsea, calling with her Early Action results from MIT, and she was IN! Very exciting news, and it made me think that perhaps I could go the distance. I struggled with the possibilities, but in the end, discretion won out. A man's gotta know his limitations. Plus I had left a note for Rob saying I would probably be back by 1. Plus the approaching Nor'easter had me dreading the thought of returning thru the Poconos in blizzard conditions. Plus, I'm a wimp.

So, I continued on with Cristina thru C31, and used my skip (we were allowed one skip, right?) to go to C42. C31 to C42 was actually my favorite leg of the day! I carried on thru C46, and by the time I got to the drinking fountain near the end of the map, I was parched, since I hadn't had anything since the original finish. After drinking at least a quart, I was off again, avoiding the unmapped fence to get up to the bridge. I got two more calls on the cell phone while I was jogging (and I kept jogging) - one from Walt looking for Chelsea's outcome and one from Nate looking for a ride home from skiing - sorry, Nate, I'm 350+ miles away (the call was forwarded from home). I spotted Clem in the distance after leaving C47, but lost sight of him, and it was a lonely trip back to the finish.

In hindsight, I think I made the right choice. I certainly could have finished the whole thing, but I was still having fun to the end of the section I did run, and going longer would have been a serious chore and would have beaten up my legs pretty badly.

C • MIT 7

Had a Christmas lunch with the group I work with 50% of the time, so I did not have the option of a pre-race jog today.

Chelsea had an early basketball game, which seemed to confuse the officials, who arrived at least 1/2 hour late. The other team had 2 decent players who were not properly addressed defensively, so the Warriors got pummeled, giving up 81 points. Chelsea and a teammate played with Gates' best player last summer, but were ignored when the coach decided to put our least mobile player on her, man-to-man, which was a disaster, since the girl has all of the post moves and knows how to get rebounding position on slow girls.

But it wasn't all coaching - I'm not sure if it was laziness or lack of understanding of the game (certainly some combination), but the defensive performance was atrocious.

Chelsea was limited to under 17 minutes of PT. While she was in it was 34-36, while she was out it was 27-45. And this despite the fact that she had zero points herself.

4:09/8:27
1:35,36,35,35,34
3:30,29

Took it easy today. My calf got enough of a workout keeping me on my feet for the walk to and from the Y. 3-6" of snow and what happens? They cancel Nate's opening XC ski meet. I guess it's really just postponed, since they will try again tomorrow, when I have to decide whether to go see his meet or Chelsea's basketball game. Hmmm, stand outside in the low 20s to see Nate for a few seconds several times, or sit inside in the mid 70s (the gym is too warm at Schroeder) to watch Chelsea for 20+(?) minutes of PT? Sorry Nate - Chelsea is a senior and I have to help with the stats!

OK, so the machine won. I had about a 5-minute head start on the guy across the street, who has a snowblower, and we finished at about the same time. But my driveway was cleaner!

C • And you had a smaller carbo... 1

Met Chris's group for lunch today, then went from work to the Sabres game, home at 11:10, so no time for the planned short jog today.

It was nice to see the Sabres find the net with some of their flurry of shots, unlike Monday night.

Ran up the river, thru some icy patches on the path, to the UR and back via this route. About 8:25 pace on the way out, slowed by the path; 8:15 on the way back.

My calf was only a little sore, but I think I'll be hurting at some point on Saturday. The good(?) news is that the pain is lower and on the inside of the calf today, while it has been higher and outside, so perhaps it won't be as debilitating. If I try for the whole marathon on Saturday (the opt-out option at the 3/4 mark makes this a possibility), I would expect to only run about 16-18 miles, and walk 8-10, which is a finish in the 5-6 hour time range. And that would be fine - I'm not doing this to race it, but just to finish it. I'm not sure I've run a race with that strategy/mindset before.

C • coaching 2

4:08/8:14
1:30,33,34,34,33
3:25,21

Slowly improving, but a long way to go.