Training Log Archive: Sandy

Hike in the Wiss. Slightly different route to avoid the p.i.

can not get my garmin to talk to the ant stick. :(

Yoga class; sufficiently taxing that I had to come out of some of the planks early. I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow.

Figured out that if I went down to the drive on the meadow loop instead of staying up on the hill side I would avoid all the places where the poison ivy was encroaching on the trail. And I actually felt peppy enough to jog most of the bit on the drive which really shocked me as I have had no interest in doing anything other than hiking in a while.

All was great until I got bit by a dog. On a leash again like the last time I was bit. Luckily this time it was just a nip and while there is a mark, the bite was on my hip so on a couple of layers of cloth and did not break the skin. It was just so infuriating. I saw the woman and two dogs sitting in the middle of the trail ahead of me and so stopped about 5 yards away and said hello since I didn't want to startle her or the dogs. She was bent over tying her shoes. I waited until she finished and after she stood up and pulled the dogs to her on one side of the trail I went by on the other and one of her dogs lunged and got to me before she could react. She was very apologetic and swore it was the first time it had ever happened but I just have to wonder. Kind of ruined the rest of the outing for me.

C • Oh no! 7

Morning hike with Sandy.

HIke around the meadow loop after several hours of trimming and weeding. There was a nice breeze and not so hot as it's been.

Yoga class.

This is a good loop if I want something more than an hour. There's even a water fountain part way around. Lots of places have poison ivy everywhere but other sections are wide open and beautiful. I wish there was an anti poison ivy spray that I could take with me and use along the edges of the trails that are really bad.

C • Roundup 2

And the last day at the spa.

Went kayaking on my own for half an hour just because it's so pretty and peaceful.

Then took a
"wall yoga" class which was slow going since no one really knew what they were doing and the class was full. It was pretty cool though.

And finally a ballet barre class which again really bothered my knee. I took many years of ballet when I was little though and always wondered how much of it I could still do and the answer was not much but it was still fun.

And then lunch and unfortunately, home.

C • Sounds wonderful 2

Another day at Woodloch, this one was busy:

8:00 Went for fitness kayaking but it was only me so the instructor and I just padled around the lake to warm up and then decided to just do the nature paddle where I learned lots about the bog flora and a bit about some of the wildlife. So an easy paddle that was very satisfying but not really a workout.

10:00 Pilates class. Again, I was the only one there and though she started out easy (I guess I look more out of shape than I am) she quickly ramped it up and my core was burning by the end.

11:00 Body pump class. And a third private class. (It turns out the Lodge was fully booked but by a business group that was having meetings most of the day so not taking classes during the day.) I must have done a couple hundred squats, well at least one hundred, with a bar on my shoulders for most of them and weights in my hands for others plus a bunch of other arm exercises. And then just in case my abs hadn't enough, a bit of core work at the end.

12:00 I decided that the cardio class I had thought about taking was not happening and went for lunch instead.

2:00 Drums Alive class. Had company for this one - 1 other person. It's basically anaerobics type class where you whack the large exercise balls with drum sticks. It was tons of fun but after about 30 minutes it started bothering my knee doing all the grapevines and shuffles so I took it down a bit and just walked but kept drumming on the balls more or less to the beat and when I was supposed to.

And then a massage and long soaks in several of the whirlpools. I especially liked the inside one with a waterfall that would get your shoulders and the outside one that was just really pretty.

Spending a couple of days at the Lodge at Woodloch with my daughter-in-law Emily. There are several exercise type classes offered all day long every day. Took a class that showed me how to use yoga tune-up balls to work on tight muscles - much easier to use than a roller. Then took a yoga class with Emily. We are pretty much at the same place at the moment - have had some pretty good training in the past but haven't done any recently - and since we were the only two in the class it was tailored to us and it was perfect.

Went for a very leisurely stroll around the property afterwards. There were a couple miles of trails with lots of places to stop and meditate or hang out in a hammock or swing in a swing. Very peaceful.

Many hours of yard work the last couple of days, trimming hedges and bushes and cleaning out old debris and weeding. And still many hours to go to get to everything.

Hike around the meadow loop. Tried to jog a little at the end. Oompf. Totally out of shape.

Indian loop with Sandy. Another beautiful day here.

And I am finally out from under a big weight; I am officially done as director of a program that was causing me all sorts of stress.

In the Wiss.

A longer beach walk on my own.

On the beach with one of my sisters who started having some issues so we cut it short.

Although I have close to zero motivation at the moment it was just too nice a day not to do something.

And Valerie is in town to see her aunt and pick up something she left at the Water Gap, so we went for a quick hike.

Picking up 4 controls this morning. I mean really? 4 controls? Could I have asked for better helpers?

Sam Kolins got the other 8 - after winning yesterday. At least he knew where they were since he had been to them all!

Event: DVOA Rogaine Pocono Environmental Education Center
 

Given the forecast a few days out, we had unexpectedly great weather! Slight misty rain much of the day but only one short-lived downpour and no thunderstorms. And everyone got back in time. Whew! And everyone seemed to have a good time. Double whew!!

Tom and Clem went out to pickup controls and got hit with about half an hour of really heavy rain and thunder, but between them got all but 12 controls in!! So what was looking like a long day tomorrow will be a piece of cake. Can't say enough about how lucky I feel to have such good friends.

And Valerie and Amy handled registration and results and the sprint starts on Saturday. PEEC did all the food and it all worked out the way it was supposed to.

C • Weather gods 8

C • Great event! 2

Event: DVOA Pocono Environmental Education Center
 

Putting out the sprint controls.

The sprints turned out to be such a good idea - thanks, Valerie!!

We made a good chunk of money for the US Team (haven't done the accounting yet but will in the next few days) and a lot of people seemed to have a lot of fun. There were no grand expectations and everyone that did the sprints was just interested in having a good time.

What was really good was that a few total beginners did the sprints as a warm up for the rogaine on Sunday. I have to believe that having gone out on the easier sprint maps made a huge difference to how they handled the rogaine. They all reported having a great time at the rogaine so a total success!

I'm pleasantly surprised that I don't hurt more than I do after 3 tough days in the woods. My leg/hip injury is better with only a bit of tightness left that stretching should fix and my shoulder is also quite a bit better and similarly will probably be back to normal with some stretching. I think the shoulder improvement is a result of hiking all day instead of working at the computer all day. I thought that carrying all the controls in a back-pack might aggravate it but that doesn't seem to have happened. And once the rogaine is over, only one more week of serious work stuff and then just odds and ends for another couple weeks. And then I'll have all the time I need to stretch and do the preventative exercises and hike and read and relax and ...

C • Good luck 1

A bunch of controls near PEEC where there's a decent trail network so went pretty fast.

And since the first loop didn't take as long as I thought it would, I decided to just get the rest of the controls out so did another loop.

All 50 controls are now out in the woods. Now I get to worry for the next 48 hours to see if the weather will be so bad that we have to cancel the event. Rain is one thing; severe thunderstorms another.

I really don't know what's going to happen. At what point do I say that it's just too dangerous? And then all the work putting out the controls and making the course and printing the maps is for nothing. Not to mention the financial hosing. Not fun.

C • I'll be there one way or the other! 3

A longer but easier loop since I was able to use the trail network, sparse as it is. And while the trails are very indistinct in places, they exist and are easy to follow once you're on them.

Haven't seen much poison ivy until today - it seemed to be everywhere on a couple of legs. Yuck. Full body wash with Technu afterwards - fingers crossed I don't get a rash.

C • wow 2