Training Log Archive: vmeyer

Ride into work. Pleasant enough morning. Left back groin area is still a little tight.

Feeling very foolish this morning. Looked out at the pond and saw a bright orange object on the outside of the netting. The racoons like to fish in the pond, but the netting, if secured tightly, usually prevents them from getting in. Thought maybe it was a tiger lily flower, but maybe it was a dead fish. Went to check it out. Well, the pond was almost totally empty of water. There is a second large fish (half of it anyway) in the pond, and a smaller live one hanging in the inch of so of what is left.

I had forgotten to shut the value after I emptied the dirt from the filter, so after turning the pump back on, the water went pouring out of the back. Sh*t!!

So, I will be cleaning the pond out after work. Feel like a total idiot, and sad for the fish, of course.

A bit distracted by the mess I made of the pond, so came straight home and got that sorted out. Found one live tadpole and many fish parts. Ugh.

Speed mowing the lawn after work. Temps 90+, but once I got started, it was fine. So, the idea of the heat is actually worse then the heat.
biological filter with layers of small rocks which the water is pumped through. Pond was filthy with dirt floating on the top, so it was time. I am thinking about cleaning it down to the bottom and starting over at some point, but that is for another day.

Crashed last night and woke this morning feeling 100% better then yesterday. Decided to follow through with yesterday's plan which was to cut the holly bushes back. About four hours outside today.

Here is the before (minus the part I had already trimmed before I took the picture):



And the after. Objective achieved - I can now see up and down the street when I look out of the front door. This frontal view looks pretty good, I may not be heading to divorce court - Roger hates when I butcher the holly bushes...



Unfortunately, while the front view is good, the view from the top tells another story - a bit barren. And, then there is the new 14" electric chainsaw, which was purchased to cut down the tall parts of the front bush (not pictured), so either way Roger will still be unhappy when he returns from Iowa on Sunday. But, heck, I like the results, and right now, that is all that counts!



I was pulling some dead stuff away from the red hot poker plant when I was attacked by a number of yellow jackets. First, I whimpered. Then, I screamed (low guttural sound). Followed that by running around to the back to the hose off the bees, which turned out to be worthless since they were already attached to me by their stingers. The cold water did feel good though. Once I peeled off my shoes and shorts (happy to have my longer undies on underneath), I picked off the attached bees, and then I started sobbing. I realized that this was not good for the whole asthma thing, so I calmed myself, finished cleaning up, and then called it a day.

Though it felt much worse at the time, I was only stung 4 times - right hand, right inner thigh, left heel, right ankle (hurts the most).

On the better news side, I didn't draw blood today with the power tools or cut any power cords. A new record!

Back to work tomorrow.

C • comments 2

So, really, this race timing business may be more about how I feel the next day and not about how the actual race goes, and today I felt horrible. I guess eating crap all day (5 pieces of pizza, two "milk" shakes, a ton of diet coke) and the heat over 15+ hours was just too much for me.

I slept horribly last night (no surprise), and then I could not function the rest of the day. I really tried to rouse myself, but it was not to be. Felt like I had been hit with a truck. Ugh!

Event: WPOC Keystone Capers A-event
 

Race timing: EX2 12 hours of CM at Quantico
http://ex2adventures.com

Tried to get to the event by 5 AM when the others get together to go over the plan for the day, but I just had to stay in bed for a little bit longer this morning. So, I got out of the house by ~5:30 instead, arriving a little after 6 AM.

Lots of setup for these lap timing events with SI-cards, but we managed to get everything in place before the first riders came through at ~ 8:50.

This race is lower stress compared to the 9 hour event which has shorter laps, but it is three hours longer.

Anyway, no need to go into the boring details. The day went well thanks to the lower humidity and no major injuries, etc. Home about 10 PM, results sent off by 11:45. Though, I did not unload the car.

Took off work today and Monday. Spent most of the day getting the nasty stuff off of my website so that I was no longer being flagged as a loser.

Spent the rest of the day getting the SI-cards and check-in sheets ready for the 12 hour MTB race tomorrow.

Roger left me today (temporary - trip to Iowa to visit his 95 year old mom).

Trying to get some projects in that he thinks are not needed - like 2+ hours raking up the leaves from under the magnolia tree. Tomorrow - butchering the holly trees some more. :)

Weight after - 170.

My website has been hacked. :( Fraud company from targeted company contacted me. Sadly, I do not have a backup and things are a mess. How many of my 9 computers have I affected in the process?! Will need major help getting things sorted out. Any takers? :) Luckily the data on my work computer, where it may have originated, was all recovered.

C • :((( 1

Sweating bullets on the way to work. Already close to 80 with >70% humidity. The return trip should be lots of fun.

Bad night brought on by falling asleep for two hours after work yesterday. Will try to avoid that today.

Home with the out and back to the Humpback Bridge added in. Considered doing the loop on the hillier Custis Trail and approaching the house from the other direction, but I decided to keep that for next week.

Hill mile in 6:41 this week vs. 7:17 last week. Progress?

89 F, feels like 96 F. WooHoo! Wish I liked summer. I might have to admit that the wind felt a bit nice today. :) Weighed 172 after.

Well, not a training entry, but these new pictures make me smile.

Lailah with a good plan, and a slammin' Pebbles hairdo.



Lailah at 5 months, quite the young lady.

C • So cute! 2

Slept almost all of the 12 hours I was in bed last night. Feeling a bit better today. Didn't get out early, obviously, and not interested in facing the heat later in the day.

However, I wanted to test the leg out. Butt muscle still feeling a little tender but not painful. Sweating heavily and breathing hard even at the slowish pace, so I stopped at half of what I had hoped to do.

Couldn't let another beautiful day go...up and out early to meet the tech services guy who has been working on my computer for three days, and tomorrow will be four.

Hamstring (butt?) got a little tight near the end but not painful.

Ride home into headwinds, but heck, and I am not complaining! What a beautiful spring afternoon with temps around 80 and no humidity to speak of. I want every day to be like this!

Maybe a little run tomorrow to test the legs and lungs. Not sure if stepping down the advair from 250 to 100 was a good idea...struggling a bit with breathing. I have also stopped using astelin completely since I keep forgetting the get the prescription written to take into the pharmacy on base. I don't think I can tell any difference between using and not using. So, I think I will go without for that one.

Race timing: EX2 Half Marathon at PWNF

Just walking, much less carrying anything heavy, was a bit hard this morning, so I passed on loading my bike into the car for a ride after the race timing was over. Just as well since there were a couple of losers, er, racers who took forever to run the race. The last guy was 4:46+. Ugh!

Set out a bit later then I had hoped...nothing new, sadly. Plan was to do 10 miles. Started out, and my chest appendages were painful for some reason, so I wasn't really paying attention to anything else. After they numbed up, I realized that with every step I ran that shooting pain was coming from my left butt and knee. Tried to tough it out, but I decided that it wasn't getting any better and turned around. Somewhat bummed.

C • hmmm 1

After dinner, served with a copious amount of wine, I ventured out into the 88 degree evening for a walk. Legs not feeling too good. Staggering around. Oh, maybe that was the wine. OK, I am just kidding about the staggering part, but my legs were aching for real. And, I had a super craving for candy. I am pretty sure that the very minimal benefit of the walk was hugely outweighed by the three candy bars from the nearest convenience store. At least I didn't get onto the computer and start typing silly things after all of that. Between the wine, the heat, and the sugar high, that could have been real interesting.

Plan for the week, or at least the start of the plan:

Monday - rest day - no brainer
Tuesday - 60 minute walk on treadmill in hiking boots
Wednesday - Dentist - 9 AM - run before while it is cooler? Not likely that I will get out of bed early...so, probably treadmill run after work.
Thursday -
Friday - Core
Saturday -
Sunday - race timing until ~noon in PWNF. First finishers ~8:40. Try to get a run in really early or consider riding bike.

Event: QOC Jug Bay
 

Actual distance: 3.697, climb: 38 m

Head and heart not really into an advanced course today, so I did the easiest two loops which were advertised as Intermediate. Loops were 2.94 and 2.01, with those fractions being important since it meant I got in under 10 min/k.

First loop in 24:55. Took a beer handicap this year and drank 12 oz instead of 9 oz and from a bottle. Granted it was non-alcoholic, but the bottle thing was tough to get it out fast enough. Not the first one finished the initial beer, but probably the first one on easy loop going in the correct direction..so, I promptly screwed up the first control by cutting over to the fence instead of staying on the trail, but I managed to still reach it first. After that I just ran as hard as I could until I got passed and then I allowed myself to walk some. I already had a plan to cut cross country from 6-7, so I wasn't too worried unless the three who passed me followed, but they didn't. I also cut from 7-8 and some of the corner from 8-9. Since I was turning on the controls, I knew that I was ahead the rest of the way.

Into the map exchange, and this time I went for the 9 oz beer in a cup.

Second loop in 24:08. Sadly, it turned out that wearing my running skirt, though cute as could be, was not the right choice for running across the fields from the start-1-2-3. It was just miserable with waist high scratchy stuff. Got out of there and took the trail option to 4. From 4-6, some of the advanced guys who did the longer, harder first loop passed me, and I kept them in sight to the controls. Control 7-8 was similar to the previous loop, and this time, with no reason to play cat-and-mouse, I took the trail around, and it was actually about the same time.

Finished up feeling pretty good, though I went back to a 12 oz bottle of non-alcoholic for my last drink, and I had problems choking it down. Beer split title passed to Sam L. this year.

Fun event as usual. Another QOC year in the books.

White & Loop 2 - Splits

Like yesterday, I got a late start. I was unable to sleep last night despite a sleeping pill and being exhausted. I got about 2 hours of sleep, between trips to the bathroom. Then, I finally fell asleep again at 5 AM for two hours. I was gong to bag the ride because the trails are just too cluttered with people after 7:30-8 on a Saturday, but I though it might help the leg soreness from yesterday.

So, I managed to get out around 7:30, and it was just beautiful - 60 when I started and 70 when I finished. Some really congested parts by the airport, so I extended the ride by going back and forth in the quieter sections of the Four Mile Run Trail.

Also, like yesterday, my nose is running like a faucet.

Started out around 8:35 AM, a little later then I had intended/hoped...

As forecast, the morning was just about perfect for a long effort, around 62 F, especially compared to the last week.

Did the 12-HR loop again with the correction provided by the race director, and it was closer to the advertised 6.5 miles this time. Get to stay on the fire road instead of turning off on to the single track. Not as pleasant as the trail route was.

Saw one little old lady while I was doing this loop.

Felt better then last week, possibly due to not eating a ton of oatmeal before starting out. Today was just gluten-free cereal, dried cranberries, and skim milk (and a diet coke, of course). Had a GU at 1 hour. Carried the hand bottle and drank the 20 oz of water in it.

Stopped for ~8 minutes after the loop, so loop with stoppage time was ~1:30, which was my goal. During the stop, I changed my shoes from the new Salomon XA Comp 5 GTX (worn for the 13 miles last Saturday) to a new pair of Ice Bugs, the same model I have been wearing. I just could not get the Salomon's tightened enough around the ankle without cutting the circulation off on the top of my arch. These will probably be turning into my new work shoes. Red, yeah! ;)

Did the figure-8 loop in the reverse directions.

Feet feeling more comfortable now, though I did a partial ankle roll early on in the loop. Good save, and I didn't do it again the rest of the day.

I put some powder drink stuff in my bottle, but it was way too sweet. So, I was able to stop to dilute it at the Telegraph Picnic Area since going in the opposite direction got me there sooner. Had some cherry blocks (not sure of brand). Two servings which I split up and had at different times during the loop.

Saw no one during this loop. I liked the loop in this direction because the initial fire road with less stones, and the nicer trail were now downhill, and the stonier fire road was uphill, so I didn't mind having to hike it. Took about a 5 minute break between loops 2 & 3.

After a Jif to Go, it was back for a 3rd loop in the race direction. It was warming up now (relative to when I started), and the goal for this loop was "time on my feet" versus "speed." Aim was to average <15 minute miles, and I did, barely.

Ran down the first hill, walked all of the fire road mile, ran what I could of the next fire road mile and the South Valley Trail. The just hung on after that. Maybe ~2 miles too long. Stopped at the creek the last time over the bridge and took my shirt off and got it wet. It felt great when I put it back on.

Drank all of my water and refilled at Telegraph bathroom. Ate 1/2 peanut butter Luna bar.

Had a cold diet coke when I got back to the car. Good thing the machine was not empty! Then I went looking for a McD's double cheeseburger, even driving up Rt 1 for 7 miles. Then, since I was running behind, and I still needed to do the grocery shopping, I bailed out to 95. Of course, the next exit had a McD's sign, but I passed. I consoled myself with three ice cream sandwiches after the shopping.

I don't plan to go this far/long each week, but it was nice to see that I had 20 miles in me. I think I can stretch that to 40 in three months.

Wind was brutal!! Send it back to Kansas!

C • No 4

Warmed up walking and then started running. Right away I felt nauseous, so I dropped back to walking, and that was that. Used some 3 lb hand weights for several minutes a couple of times.

No AC at work. Ugh! Tomorrow is supposed to be a little cooler, so maybe I will bike in.