Training Log Archive: barb

5:12 am. Bridge circuit plus. Wore backpack in case I was inspired to go to the store for groceries. I wasn't.

Izzy coached me.

quarter mile 1:53
Isabel quarter mile 1:54
100 m 18.75
Isabel 100 m 21

To Mary Chung's, then rehearsal (made a wrong turn for a few extra minutes), then home.

Out to appointment in Arlington, work, home.
Felt hard to pedal. Need to lube the chain. Good workout though. Toes got cold. Apparently it's the last cold day; up to 50 tomorrow.

C • chain 2

So I had inflammation in my forearm, ever since last July. I felt it from the outside of my elbow down to the top of the back of my hand, and in fact when I tried to push up with the back of my hand against resistance it really hurt. Eventually visited a doc, who gave me exercises but also said that the inflammation would just feed on itself unless I knocked it thoroughly down. So I cranked up the ibuprofen for a couple months (& not too happily b/c I know it's got some side effects), and I think I might be beating it. Also quit being shy about usin the arm in yoga & other workouts, and am trying to avoid klutzily bumping it into things, which I think i might have been doing a lot. Anyway, the point is about getting the inflammation down; apparently another thing that can be done is a shot of steroids (?) delivered right to the site - just to get out of that cycle of inflammation.

C • Have you tried donut therapy y... 2

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5:21 am. Cold. Opera. Bridge circuit.

Work and reception for the Center for Excellence in Education, which provides training and competitions for high-achieving math & science students. It was held at Akamai's headquarters, and I got a tour from Tom Leighton, who I know from MIT (though I don't think he remembers me, same old story). When I was at MIT, there was no Akamai, there were just a bunch of graduate students writing esoteric theses about network traffic problems.

abcdef

5:25 am. 12F without wind chill. Bridge circuit.

Pretty good workout for the calves. With Dave, Isabel, Keegan, David, at the neighbors', while babysitting.

Parts of Hard Core DVD, with David.
"This is ridiculous. I bet Samantha Saeger doesn't do this. This is stupid."
and
"You are nothing like your brother."
(me: My brother? What are you talking about Uncle Doug for?)
"Your brother is way more civilized." He makes a straining sound, imitating me.

C • What a drill sergeant! 1

Work commute.

Brrr.
Work, lunch with Keith Robison, work, home.

(Weight is a low aberration from lots of O this weekend)
Goals for the next 6 weeks:

Run a lot more.
Start swimming with Isabel coaching me.
Maintain the abc's at one transgression a week:
Alcohol (not)
Bed by 10
Caffeine (not)
Dextrose (sugar) (not)
Exercise (1 hr)
Flossing

Deliverables:
A meets late April -
better than 12 min/km in green
better than 2X winner, & < 15 min/km, in blue

abcdEf

C • weight 2

abCdef DD decaf

Had trouble finding #3 (195), shallow reentrant, and hidden behind one of the downed trees. Lost a few minutes. Lost more minutes 11-12 when I decided I would try to cross the stream in the little place where the black lines stopped, but I couldn't see the bottom so I wimped out and went around.

C • 4th leg 3

Same problem at #13 (226) - shallow reentrant and control hidden behind a downed tree. Had to relocate from the road. I should not have discounted the downed-tree symbols so much. I should have read the contours better. I should have spent less time afterward imagining Vlad setting the controls there, cackling with evil Rasputin-like laughter. Because in fact, I'm very grateful to Vlad for making this weekend happen, and the course was so fine.

11-12: spent a bunch of time before this leg deciding what to do here (straight, road or river). The short climb to 11 was enough to convince me to take the path along the river, which turned out to be lovely to run on and quite scenic. After all, I figured, I'm not in this to win, and I've got the time. And I thought it would be pretty safe navigationally, come in along the creek, and it was.

Didn't meet my goal of twice the winner's time, but I'm happy about maintaining 15 min/km.

Abcdef. Decided against counting the two - what are they called - shot bloks? shock blobs? - as transgressive sugar. Because I was eating them while navigating on the first three controls, so I used them for good, not evil. Would not do this again though, two at once; kind of awkward to talk to the starting guy.

And the A is for a glass of cabernet sauvignon, accompanying a remarkably tasty linguini with veggies & salad ordered from room service, all of which I decided I "deserved" after the weekend's orienteering.

Today I learned from Kurt Vonnegut that Abraham Lincoln had this to say about James Polk (who, as president, waged war on Mexico, which had never attacked us):

Trusting to escape scrutiny, by fixing the public gaze upon the exceeding brightness of military glory -- that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood -- that serpent's eye, that charms to destroy -- he plunged into war.

Funny how stuff from the "old days" sometimes seems to so be relevant now. And boy, that Lincoln liked his em dashes, eh? Vonnegut says not to use semicolons, because they are "transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing"; however, he apparently has no problem with em dashes.

Eric, are you out there? What's the name of the AP person whose blog you recommended?

C • shot bloks 7

Sunday: Green - Splits

Sunday: Blue M21 - Splits

Sunday: Green - Splits