Training Log Archive: vmeyer

To the massage place.

Decided at almost the last minute to go to Clinton and enter this race. This is the smaller race, probably less than 200. Ran the whole way. I like this course - ups, downs, lots of curves in the road. Reeled in a guy on the next to the last hill, and actually took off from there.

Saw Ted and Darcy.

08: 910 912 922 116 (29:00 = 9:21/mile)
07: 850 840 850 107 (27:27 = 8:51/mile)
06: 823 902 905 137 (28:07 = 9:04/mile)
05: 809 849 855 51 (26:44 = 8:38/mile)

Beautiful morning for a race. About 30 F at the start with no wind to speak of. Started at the very back and worked my way forward. I passed lots of people. Not many passed me. Didn't walk a step, even though I really wanted to.

They used the new disposal chips. You could get a print out after wards of your time and place. I was 707 overall and 15 in the F50 age group.

2008 49:39 Splits: 1052 (uphill) 954 1000 1003 850 (downhill)
2007 47:13 Splits: 1037 (uphill) 933 933 924 806 (downhill)
2006 45:18 Splits: 947 (uphill) 840 924 917 814 (downhill)
2005 45:25 Splits: 1010 (uphill) 901 914 904 756 (downhill)

1999: 45:42
2000: 48:54
2001: 47:06
2003: 47:31
2004: 47:30

C • big race 2

Left the house at 8:15 and ran to the massage place.
Good run - walked just 3 x 1 minute. Got a little confusion at the Y on the trail, and picked the wrong way and ended up in the golf course.

Things felt better after taking out the inserts.

Good massage too.
Then lunch, errands, and a short nap. Gearing up for lots of company tonight for dinner. Plans in place to hide in the bedroom with a book. :)

C • "hide in the bedroom with a book" 2

Tomorrow is the Turkey Trot 5 Mile race (run/jog/slog/death march).
I did 47:13 last year.
I will be very happy with 50 this year.

In a quest to avoid going out to lunch with friends of Roger's, I lazed around reading until 10, and then I headed out the door.

I wore my new shoes and new inserts.

Ran the first half (lungs screaming), walked 2.5 miles, turned around, ran half mile, walked 2.5 miles.

Legs are toast. Shins say too much walking. Everything is disappointingly tight. Too many paved miles on Sunday?

It was lovely to be out though, and the lunch attendees were just heading out the door when I got back. So, off to eat Moose Tracks and cookies for lunch.

Another exciting day in Iowa - up at 8ish, breakfast, post office, massage, lunch, walk .5 mile to running store (new shoes and a short sleeve shirt because I didn't pack any), haircut (all off), walk home .5 mile, computer time, off to dinner soon. Glad I wasn't planning on a run since it is much windier today.

The phone just rang and mums-in-law answers. Her side of the conversation: OK. I got my bowels open.

C • conversation 7

Event: QOC: Avalon
 

Annual trip to Iowa. Arrived safely yesterday.

Temp 29 with minimal wind when I left the house around 9:20. Two long sleeve shirts, long tights with a shorts liner, light gloves and hat. Had to take one of the shirts off after a couple of miles since I was way too warm, even on the parts I was walking. Regular bike trail route out to the golf course on the west side of town.

Out bound, I ran 1/2, walked 1/2.
652 (r&w) 510 (r) 833 (w) 500 (r) 748 (w) 447 (r) 706 (w) 446 (r) 704 (w) 456 (r)
In bound, I walked 1/2 mile and ran 1 mile.
705 (w) 429 441 (r) 703 (w) 457 455 (r) 720 (w) 437 451 (r) 809 (w)

Lungs were unhappy to start in the cold, but things settled in, and I didn't think about my breathing too much again after that. It helped to have the walk time to look forward to.

Ankle was a little painful where the shoe hit it, but no problem really. I was very good to be out before the eating starts for the day. When I was eating breakfast, Roger tells me the plan for the day - noontime is dinner, and then later we'll have dinner at Culver's. Exciting, huh?! :) Glad I ran before I became a lump on the couch.

This workout was JFS.

C • JFS 3

Iowa

Event: DVOA Fair Hill, Mid-atlantic champs
 

Timed the trail race today from inside the O' Mobile. It worked quite nicely, even with two of us. A little awkward to get in and out, but not unmanageable.

Feeling much better today after sleeping most of yesterday and the day before. Head is mostly clear, and exhaustion is reduced.

Baby steps for the exercising. I preplanned a walk on the trail - one mile each way, no running. Pushed it as hard as I could, and I was only wheezing a little. Felt quite pleased with myself until about 1/4 mile from the parking lot when I rolled my left ankle over. This is the same one from July. Though it is not as swollen as July, it is actually more painful. Agghhh!

Event: O in the Oaks 08
 

Three solid nights of sleep have not knocked the cold out of my system, and I woke up with an asthma attack this morning, so I stayed home today. Was throwing back cold meds, but then my BP was getting way elevated, so I am fairly whiny and miserable right now. I don't do colds very well.

C • Sorry... 10

Pushed the leaf vacuum around the yard for about an hour.

Feeling like crap. Chest and head congested.

Home safely. Yeah!!

If I had known the role epunching was going to serve at this event, I would not have gone. Anyone can download SI-cards, especially when they are not being used for the official results, only for posting splits at some point. Very disappointing, but as Roger pointed out, my trip was (will be) paid for.

Lots of good things about the time I spent in Georgia. The hospitality of the local community was amazing.

I did a little bit of blogging this weekend, though there was no formal plan for providing information to post. At some very slow point, I posted something about visits and food donations to race central would be gladly accepted, like pizza, ice cream, and diet coke. About an hour later, a pizza delivery guy showed up with two pizza for us, paid in full. A very, very cool thing to happen. It made my weekend.

One bad thing. I sucked up lots of wood fire smoke two days in a row, and my throat is raw and screaming in pain.

No exercise to really count.
Friday, up and down a steep hill about 1/2 mile each way to the canoe put in area.
And Friday and Saturday, numerous trips up and down two steep set of steps, until on Saturday when I was smart enough to move my computer downstairs.
Saturday, I also walked to the drugstore, and I discovered that there was quite a nice quilt store next store, but I only had to visit for a minute.

Continued one streak - 6th day in a row with exercise. Nice variety too.

It was a close call this morning because the ground was slightly damp.

Ended another streak - discovered that I didn't have all the clothing items I needed when I got to work. First time this has happened in my short bike commuting career (made even shorter by the weeks of inactivity).

Wind picking up a bit, but I went around the long way instead of cutting the ride home short. When going around, I have to keep facing my fears - both the scary downhill and the tough uphill.

Same route as the other day, just a little faster. More wind in the face today.

Got started a little earlier, wore reflective vest and carried headlamp (very weenie one) the first two miles.

Home to high school, George Mason, Four Mile Run, Arlington Mill Drive to 395, and back to Walter Reed.

Walk home from Arlington Mill & Walter Reed via Dinwiddie hill.

I have little patience for lines, and so I was afraid that I would not/could not stand in a long line waiting and waiting to vote, so I got up at 4:15, had breakfast and a shower, and then walked down to the polling place. Arrived there at 4:45, and I was #9 in line.

Brought a stool (complimented by others for my forethought), and my laptop (no wireless close enough to borrow), so I mostly listened to some tunes and looked at my watch every other minute or so. Finally, 6 AM arrived, and we were ushered in. By 6:10, I was done. At that point, there were probably 300 in line.

Since the school I work at is a polling place, I knew that driving onto the grounds was going to be a bear, so I had preplanned to ride my bike, and I am glad I did! The line to vote here goes out the gym, down the side of the building, past the loading dock, and past the front of the building - maybe 300-400 people are waiting.

So, total time for the day is made up:
-IN 14:00 2.4 miles
It was 55 F to start. Wore shorts, since it was borderline, and two long sleeve tops, the top one was my neon yellow one. I was too warm.

-Lunch 8:30 1.6 miles
Getting out at lunchtime was very treacherous! Cars coming and going the wrong way, backing out, slowing down so that I almost ran up the tail of a couple of them - craziness. The good news is that the line is short enough now that people are just lining the one long hallway.

-Mail Run 8:30 1.6 miles
Wind was picking up.

-Home 17:00 3.2 miles
Spitting rain when I left work, so I didn't go the longer way home (down the George Mason Drive hill with wet brakes was a bit too scary for me), but I did swing by the polling place. No lines at 2 PM, at work or at my home polling place.

C • Wow! Good for you! 4

Voted to do THE DVD when I got home.
I got all the way through without stopping. I won!!

C • Awesome! 11

If kissy can do it, then so can I!! Hooray for both of us!

I headed out just around dark, and I would have been wise to have worn a headlamp and reflective vest. There are some dark spots which featured a lunging dog and a wayward biker. Had to leap over the leashed dog, and plunge to the side to avoid getting hit by the biker. Kept my feet in both cases.

Run also featured the dreaded pavement and car exhaust combination, but not the usual wind which makes it truly miserable for me, so I didn't grumble too much. I ran the whole time, except for a couple of short rests at stoplights, and it actually felt kind of OK. WooHoo!

C • Seems like a new Valerie ov... 3

Walked home from Arlington Mill & South Walter Reed. Picked the hill up Dinwiddie to the high school. Felt like I was moving quickly. It was a good outing.

Event: QOC: Rosaryville
 

http://www.ex2adventures.com/images/maps/byb-hemlo...

Since I couldn't predict whether I would get out on a course this afternoon, I decided to get a run in this morning, if I got out of bed early enough...Woke up at the new 6 AM, and with a certain voice, er, voices ringing in my head, and a bag already packed, I got out of bed.

Got to the race site at 7:15, set up the clock, and headed out for a run. Beautiful, crisp, 50 degree morning - shorts and short sleeve were perfect. I can't believe the long clothes people were wearing in the race!

Did the race route but skipped the one mile prologue (not shown).

Slow at times, especially up the hills. This is a cruel course - up and down three times, and double that if you are doing the 10 miler.

Afterward, the race timing went very well. Got out of there on schedule and headed to Rosaryville.

Got to the park by 12:30 and relieved Heidi. After getting the rest of the later starters into the computer, I headed out on the Green course at 1:30 (last starter by 30 minutes).

Lots of trail options at this site, and I used them fairly well, keeping track of things (thanks Sandy for the practice a couple of weeks ago), and I ran well enough for 2nd on Green behind a speedier runner. Pretty cool, especially since it was my second run of the day.

Does that mean I can skip tomorrow? or maybe the rest of the week? :)

Distance recorded on the GPS was 5 miles.

Thank you Peggy for the course, as well as manning the download station while I was gone.

Green - Splits

Event: SVO Susquehanna Stumble XI
 

Too beautiful a day to stay inside sulking about missing the Stumble, so after quality time with Roger, and a nap, I hit the bike trail. It was just about 70 degrees, so no angst about what to wear.

Like Peter, I am a "fair weather" biker, but I have additional concerns besides rain and wind...I do not like what litters the path in the fall - leaves, sticks, and acorns. And today, because it was so beautiful, the path was also littered with children, strollers, dogs with leashes stretching across the entire trail, etc. But, I came back unscathed. I even made it up the hill to the house without having to walk. It was a good ride.

I do know now why I shouldn't have taken the break from biking...my butt is back to square one on the soreness factor. My lungs hurt the first 15 minutes, another reason to try for some consistent training.

C • 2 in a row 2