Training Log Archive: bl

Two walks with Mocha, first to Stoneybrook Bog and second at Nottingcook
walking an O route for an OLLI class on 5/8. Since I was pretty sure it would make her day, I took her on the second which was hard with a stream crossing and some fallen logs. She often fails to see the best choice. Some taller-than-dog brush at the end was obnoxious. M is about 110!

Shame on me. Thought I had a tick crawling up my leg. Took a look to see a much-too-swollen right leg. Didn't think I was overdoing it. In retrospect, too much standing today.

C • Overdoing it 2

One night at CH - surgery turned out to be a "piece of cake". Removed a very large plaque in the common femoral just above the bifurcation of the superior and inferior femoral arteries. A few weeks of no strain and then see where I am. The valve was shown to be fine. Can't know size/affect of the input of the lack of demand blood supply to right leg symptoms til I can try it out. Surgeon said she'd wished we'd done this sooner but hindsight is 20/20. We were both hesitant for different reasons - seemed a big deal but it was not. Maybe never enuf time to get to the bottom of things in this day & age.

C • Piece of cake! 9

Ended going to Y. Best choice would have been a Bear Brook visit direct from work but wasn't prepared.

Beth & I joined a BOS trail crew at Walker TF. Had no idea we'd get a paint blazes on trees assignment which proved quite enjoyable. It was a great spring day, as well as Earth Day, to do it. The trail was new (streamered and the path cleared), the work done by a scout with advice. It led to a large beaver pond, dark blue today and sparkling in the midday sun. It ran along the stream emptying the pond. The hemlock forest was attractive, the forest floor clean, the visibility good. Showed good O promise.

The "off-red" color showed poorly on big hemlocks with their brown and rough bark (particularly in shade) - the majority of trees we needed to use. White, yellow, orange would have been fine. Our actual color was spare paint from the trail boss' front door project... This didn't phase me this time on this beech with its stark contrast. The other crew had orange paint.

Back to Chadwick easement with Ken, searching for red blazes on trees in woods might be about as close to orienteering as I'll get this weekend.

West Point weekend...guess I've pushed it out of my mind, perhaps deliberately. Certainly a long, long hx of traveling there early in the year, cold and hot, rain, snow & sleet, driving into Buckner, being by Popolopen & its geese, camping somewhere or Central Valley motel, maybe visiting the campus and, of course, doing one's damnedest in the challenging, rocky terrain with good & bad days.

And lastly, last years $245 moving violation ticket ($150+95 "surcharge") around Danbury when I failed to give a stopped police car a full lane's clearance - 2 busy lanes on a Friday pm...gave him half a lane which was $245 too little! So far, so good.

C • Full lane 3

OLLI O class coming up 5/7 so I went to Nottingcook for ideas inn addition to a white course. Interesting to find flash stick (not hard) not used for 3 or so years with pertinent maps & course files, fire up old Parallels and OCAD 10 and eventually remind myself how to make changes and export desired size/scale to print. Good start to alleviate any concern re preparation.
Met up with a nice painted turtle.

Hammond Nature Preserve with Beth & Mocha, a long walk for M. Looked for the proposed Eagle Scout project trail but did not see any streamers. Thought I could wing it but some home work was required. NW windy. Admirable drop off from the field to the swamp through quite nice woods. HNP field is Bow's most scenic.

A raw, mostly gray day. Stopped by BHS track to see what activity there might be, mostly kids running hills, then went to the Y.

Pre-op surgical clearance visit at CH today. 0600 Tu for the next surgical
"adventure". Throw the dice, results have been in my favor, back to '77.
"All the king's horses and all the king's men...". I wonder when.

C • Best of luck 6

Stress echo on treadmill @ CH. Got HR to 126, allowable stopping point, with considerable effort. Mitral valve was OK on resting ECHO. Have vascular surgery Tuesday. Haven't thought about it much. High time to.

Walked some of perimeter of Chadwick easement with Ken.

Boston marathon day. Drove to Wellesley (13.1 mi mark) for easy access, change of venue from downtown and the fact that I wanted to visit Walden after. Got there about 25’ before the elite women came thru. Spectators were thin at first. Better later, lots of cheering & spirit. At the east end of town, there was loud beat music that was perfect to lift weary spirits. I was amazed to see how thinly dressed so many were: not a few women elites with bare mid-riff, shoulders, arms; many runners without gloves or head cover. I counted 5 shirtless men. Temp was around 40 with occasional downpours. There was a strong east wind higher in the trees but Wellesley seemed protected in that regard tho the flags occasionally flapped with vigor.

The runners came as a trickle, then a rivulet, small stream, large stream and finally a river, and still flowing strong when I left after 4.5 hours in town. And then all to reverse, return to a trickle and dry up. There were the particularly inspiring participants - running on prosthetic limbs and visually impaired come to mind. Some were wired with their own sound systems. Being in town, I didn’t need the umbrella I brought for half the time as the stores had awnings. There was a handy bagel shop for coffee etc, too. Nothing was jammed with people as has been the case near the finish. I did not see any Wellesley gauntlet if that is something the students still do. It was a bit hard depart but I was cold and time had run out. Just a block away, it was silent. That flowing river of humanity continued of course but one wouldn’t know that from such a short distance away. An incredibly trying day and the slower the runner, the longer the trial.

I didn’t think of it for awhile but today marked the 50th anniversary of my first Boston (’68) and the 40th (’78) of my last. I headed off to Walden after, stopping at Regis College in Weston, a place I occasionally used as a staging point for long runs in the late 70s. There was a lacrosse practice going on. It was raining as hard as I'd seen all day.

Elite women leaders

Half-way...

C • Boston 3

Five years ago, Beth and I arrived at Walden having left the marathon finish area 75 minutes before to learn of the bombing. Walden was deserted today. Parking seemed to offer no choice: pay $15 for a non-MA parking ticket or worry about the consequence! So it made the visit all the more dear. Stopped at Thoreau’s cabin site to pay my respects. Some 170 years ago, we might have had a chat had I been there. Saw one man fishing for trout. Was ready for the car heater & heading home by the time the barn (car) was in sight. Strava shut off for some reason. Perimeter trail was 1.7 and another 0.3 for parking.

Strava had other ideas re time/distance.

Thoreau cabin site

Walden from far end
Last time I was at Walden was to swim the length in full moon light some 5-6 years ago on an August night. Started near here.

Cold, gray day, lo 30s, light snow cover. Tough on the emerging green shoots. Saw a lot of robins in spite. Not much inspiration.

Beth took me to Ordway for an O walk back. That end has been changed and changed, logged & open in ways so distant from what it was in '06-7. Still sleepy Ordway Cemetery (1834). Saw alot of terrain that made me happy - real forest, nice contours, boulders, water features etc. Met one group of 4 walkers and about 4 dogs. I was off trail, giving the dogs something to bark/growl at. Also met a MBTer, Tom, who was a BOS member & quite tuned in to the forest. Had done some trail work with Bob D. Gray day, rain tonight.

Yard work with chain saw. OOB is cardio but surprised at degree of it given
level of work.

Time & distance a guess as cell phone battery took a nose dive. Nice to be in that part of the forest. Hemlocks have filled in so much in many places where direct sun makes it to the ground. Yet, sightly further and higher, are the same small hardwoods present 10 years ago. Looked for a deer carcass a dog walker mentioned yesterday but not to be found. Walk included a conversation with my cardiologist about SOB, echos & April surgery.

Gray day. At end, took a ride with Beth toward Hooksett and ended up driving around Bear Brook - further than I wanted but was deceived by a road that
really wasn't & so had to continue on to Deerfield, by Podunk Rd. etc.

Event: UNO Mine Falls - Season Opener
 

Helped with instruction at Mine Falls meet. Reminded myself of what I forgot in this sense. Took a slo-go walk to a few controls, noticing how pretty this place is when not focusing on searching for controls.

Grandkids & parents come to our place. Needed to get outside so I tried the 9 y/o with a 1/5 version of a piece of Nottingcook, incl the drive to the back of the brush area. It seemed successful. Most kids really are fun machines though, the forest serving as source of less intense energy expenditure than 'the thinking sport'. Sister at 6, really could care less about a piece of paper in the forest.

Went to Bear Brook for a "woods fix". Had gone with the idea of orienteering. Had the mid 70s 1/15 large map as well as an up-to-date 1/10 smaller version. Wanted something new/refreshing so I eventually decided I'd try the Catamount Hill area but this is only on the 1/15 which has too little detail so it became a hike with occasional O. Had the map in hand for the most part, noting the few mapped cliffs and boulders. A bright, fresh chilly, breezy day at start but it was warm on the lee side of Catamount. Went to the high point and then down on Catamount Tr. proper. Maybe 5 years since a prior visit.

Best relating map to terrain was the open area I really couldn't see from the trail atop Catamount. Peering thru trees, I could see an open rock surface area to SE of hilltop with stones that looked curious. Picked my way between the rock faces and found myself in the open area, with a nice fire ring and stone seats and a place for a tent, all with quite a good view. And for the most part hidden. As mapped O features, it was pure archeology.

C • Catamount " 1

C • Catamount "Hill" 2

Pre-op visit with cardiology yesterday, April surgery is becoming a reality even if no date yet. Right after that 12:45 appointment, I drove to Eliot for a boat visit, home by 7. Last there was probably before Jan 1st. Fun to see the old girl with springtime perspective even if no launch planned. No boat in water and no A meets this spring. The times they are a changing.

Wet day until late PM made indoors attractive. Met Eugene S & Cindy happened by too - 3 NHH employees from now & then.

Yardwork and Bog walk with Mocha. Happy to get the chain saw going!


Woods are just about completely free of snow. All brown on the Stoneybrook path seemed strange indeed.

15% grade, 2.5 mph, 30 sec on , 30 off proved pretty hard work.

Had BHS track in mind on way home to have at it with 200s but had run out of steam.

Back to Great Hill with Pete, Mel & kids. A path thru the woods provides something good to do. Couldn't keep up with a 6 y/o - not the greatest of revelations.

Ride with Beth at end of day. Made our way to Stark Memorial Cemetery in Dunbarton to see how its notable residents made it thru the winter. A lovely place that needs the pines to the west thinned for evening sun.