Training Log Archive: Lori

SGB, Presto, Kiwi, and I went out to run the first part of the Bubbagoat. It's SOOOOO nice to run in Umstead! The woods are so wide open and beautiful. I did have to carry a handful of kibble in my pocket to keep Kiwi interested in staying with us. Kibble are not the most comfortable thing to have in a pocket while running, and amusingly this meant that Kiwi kept jumping up to gnaw on my pocket. Aside from this, it's incredibly heartening to run with Kiwi. She's the only one of this group that actually has to run to keep up with me :-).

Running with SGB, my dad, Presto, and Kiwi at Lake Johnson on another gorgeous day! This was a fun, short little run out in the woods. We spent most of the time discussing designs for an off-road treadmill that can simulate rocks and tree roots and things like that. Holidays are fun :-)!

C • Happy Thanksgiving! 3

Running with SGB, Presto, and Kiwi across the Dix grounds to Centennial Campus, and then in the woods around Lake Raleigh and back. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and absolutely wonderful to be out! Presto and Kiwi were having an awesome time running around in the fields and woods and generally being cute. At one point SGB and Presto went off on an extra loop and when they got back, Kiwi stood up on her hind legs and put both front legs around Presto's neck to give him a big hug. It was absolutely adorable!

Kiwi decided that really we'd gone far enough shortly after that, though. We passed under a shady tree and she just stopped and lay down with all for legs spread out and a huge doggy grin on her face :-). I had to put her on a leash and encourage her back until she was sure we were going home. Then it was time for a delicious Thanksgiving dinner followed by The Muppet Movie!!!

Biking at PT while the physical therapist worked with an undergrad who had the appointment before me but must have come in about 30 minutes late because he overlapped with me completely. This was kind of unfortunate because this was supposed to be my check-up appointment to see how everything's going, but unsurprisingly the physical therapist forgot (when I asked her about the measuring and stuff, she was like "Why didn't you ask me sooner?!?" and I thought to myself - perhaps I should have said this out loud - "because you're the doctor and I assumed you had some sort of plan").

I think she also may have been trying to catch up her appointments so she could be on time for the person after me, who coincidentally was Brendan. For Brendan's sake, I can only hope that Brendan makes more of an impression on her than I did. Perhaps she'll remember what sort of injury she's treating him for and things like that...

Lots and lots of strength on squishy mats. Sadly this also included lots and lots of arm stuff and because my legs are strong they keep giving me heavier and heavier weights. My arms will be displeased when we start our 14 hour drive tonight...

My balance is noticeably better this week than previous weeks. Woohoo!

I have a question for people that know things about Lyme disease: a tick bit in on my neck during the Traverse (and two on my leg - but I'm less concerned about those). I'm allergic to ticks, so it started itching pretty soon after it bit in, and I took it off on the way to control 10, so I don't see any way that it was bit in for more than about an hour at most, which is less than the time I've heard it takes for Lyme disease to transfer.

Yesterday and today I have the usual mosquito bite-like raised bump on my neck (and the two on my leg), but my neck and shoulder are extremely sore. It feels like I pulled something and pressing on the bite is quite painful as well as itchy. There isn't any sort of bullseye, and I feel completely fine other than this. I'm assuming the pain in my shoulder and neck is just because there is swelling due to the allergic reaction, but I wanted to know if anyone thinks it might be Lyme disease, and if it's worth getting tested. Thanks!

C • Lyme 3

C • lyme 3

Blue Hills Traverse with Presto! Presto seemed to recover by the end of Saturday and was excited about orienteering when I asked him if he wanted to go, so we headed out to the Blue Hills even though his caloric intake over the past 24 hours had been something very close to zero. We were in the pack for the first 2 controls, but then the pack back where I was started doing silly things (not that I don't do silly things, but I'd prefer to do my own silly things over someone else's :-) ) and pretty soon we were on our own, and basically stayed on our own for the rest of the race. There was a herd of deer running near us for a good chunk of the course, which meant Presto was going insane and had to be on a leash, which definitely slowed things down, but not as much as waiting for Presto to come back after a good deer-run would have been :-). You'd think someone who had thrown up 8 times the day before and eaten virtually nothing would be less energetic...

Anyway, after taking sub-optimal route choices to 8 and 9, we met up with Jeff Schapiro at just about the halfway point and then proceeded to meet up with him at most of the rest of the controls on the course, although we were typically running separately. I had trouble on 15, where I was too low in the reentrant and didn't see the flag and then on 20 where Jeff and I did a thorough search of the mapped and unmapped boulders in the vicinity before stumbling on the correct one. After that, my brain was kind of done, so luckily the navigation was a bit easier, although I did get slightly confused at 24 when I came into the marsh lower down than I was expecting. Jeff left 25 slightly before me, but miraculously I was still able to run pretty well, so I pushed it in to the end. Presto and I had a great time!

Good long stretch!

Traverse - Splits