Training Log Archive: matzah ball

mostly a rest day, felt like a cold was lurking at my doorstep, so I guess I needed it...did jog/run to church this afternoon.

to nursing home on cross bike. slower than usual, but good spinning resistance workout and balance drill. Stayed mostly on unplowed side streets, where the ruts were squirellly in spots, but not too bad. Some virgin snow through parks, etc. Some areas where the snow got over 10" and/or went uphill, had to jump off and push. Otherwise, put foot down twice, no spills.

Pushing wheelchairs - sometimes this borders on intensity 2, like today when we were short on help and i was moving doubletime.

first bit of snow shoveling, more later. can really feel it in the lower back, in a good way.

shoveling elderly neighbors drive

streets are more packed down and easier to ride now.

hmmm- what to do for a long run this weekend - everything will be soggy. plus lots of training hours, lots of illness going around. maybe take a 'step back' this week...?

C • Every other week is a good idea!!!! 2

ran to track in blowing snow, heavy icebugs, to do tempo run, 7:34, 7:38 supposed to be consecutive but paused to catch my breath a minute, 7:21. Slow, but thats what it is these days.

cross bike w/ richey excavator tires at 40 psi rock solid in 1" snow. (1" snow and falling!)

along gravel trail, then streets to whole foods on cross bike. saddlebags full of wondrous bounty on return.

neighborhood - 5 hill repeats. feeling strong on the bike, maybe do more sprints and hills.

arms

Various errands - feels SO good to spin the flats, even while stairs and walking are, well, pedestrian.

a woodchuck (?) was right on the gravel trail by river des peres in front of me, and then jumped down a big hole right next to the trail.

mics. road bike throughout the day

pushing the chairs at the nursinig home

About 18 miles inc. walking part. Started at the chubb trail, lone elk trail head. wasn't sure whether i would do an out-and-back or try the Big Loop, actually neither seemed very plausible given how run down and sore i felt. decided to run to other end of Chubb trail and see how i felt. Had a camelbak with lots of pockets, but as it turned out didn't have enough in the pockets.

By the time I got there i had already decided that the out and back would be boring and that I should do the Loop since i had never done it before. Therefore continued on the park raod and took a right into rte 66 park, crosssing the Meramec River. Ran along 44 roughly to cross the first set of tracks, and then the second set of tracks. It was not particularly pleasant to run along the highway. At the trailer park my directions said 'pick up the service road here', but i didnt see a service road so i just ran into the woods, along a stream bed and then veered left to pick up the 'service road', which was a pretty faint single track at that point. I was now running north again, as i would have been had i turned back on Chubb.

The track became more distinct, but then became confused, and i must hav taken a wrong turn because after a while i was in the flats at the big bend in the river, and i had to meander back and forth, fording several deep creek gullies to finally pick up the track again. I would not want to mountain bike this route as some have described doing, until the trail became more established.

When I did get back on the track, it finally did almost look like it might have been a service road, running straight along the steep bluffs by the river. It ended at a washed out bridge, and became a circumvential trail through several gullies. I could see the buildings at the Al foster trailhead that i recognized from the aerial photo fragment i had brought along, so i headed there...I noticed that i was out of water! It had gotten to about 60 degrees as promised (56, to be exact). I went into a restroom shack in the complex of buildings, and there was actually a kind 'engineer' associated w/ the narrow guage railroad who let me refill from his grimy bathroom sink. I shudder to think what would have happened to me without this water.

Then head back east on the Al Foster trail along the river. Somewhere beyond 2:30 into the run, I started running 4 minutes, walking 1. I was hurting. I had no 'food' left: all i had brought were 2 small bottles of chocolate soy milk. At 3:10, I just started walking, but I was almost at the ford at the gravelbars. Starting across, the water hit my legs like snake venom. Yes, it might have been 60 air temp., but the water had ice floating in it! I felt faint, and for a brief moment wondered how far the strong current would carry me if i fell over. The water was higher than the last ford, up to the lower hip. Legs were bright red exiting the water. Stupid rain jacket in pack didnt seem so stupid anymore. Started walking....

took a bearing at the river's edge for a direct line to the culvert under the railroad, and started walking through the woods. Saw a deer, said hi, but a moment later wondered how good that deer would have tasted. Missed the culvert by a bit to the right, so just climbed embankment over tracks, hit Chubb trail, climbed trail up hill, put on more clothes (started running in t-shirt and shorts, but wind had picked up and it was cooler) and gulped down some food left in the big pack. Unlocked bike and rode park road, to 141 park n'ride bus stop.

C • wow....... 14

bits and pieces to bike swap and back. accelarations from stop signs, on small hills, and straightaways back from central west end metro station.