Training Log Archive: PG

Still on the treadmill so I can quit if I need to. Calf is mostly OK, but I'm just not sure.

A mile walking, 5% (14:12), then a couple miles running (9:28, 8:58). Entertainment from a interview with the authors of a new book about Whitey Bulger, local hero or villain depending on your point of view. Sounds like it might be a good read.

Walked a mile at 10% (15:00), then ran two flat (9:25, 9:10). Calf was mostly OK.

Ipod needs to be charged. Had to watch some soap opera. Seems like the only requirement is that the actors (both genders) be beautiful.

I have a variety of ways of dealing with the occasional obnoxious client, from getting them done and gone as fast as possible to trying to steer the conversation in directions where their obnoxiousness will be minimized. But sometimes the best remedy is just a surchange adden on to the fee, maybe 10 or 20 or 30 bucks. Not that they know they have been charged. It does wonders for my morale, and that of my ladies, for the surcharge ends up available for paying for the next office lunch. Very nice.

And, while I have never done it, there certainly have beens times when it would have felt just fine to apply the same surcharge at an O' meet. I mean, I have seen behavior there that I would never ever tolerate here at the office. Just thinking....

C • surcharges and such 24

Just walking today, but 2 miles briskly at 15% was enout to get the heartrate up to the low 150s and work up a good sweat. 17:45, 16:47. Listening to a variety of things including a fine and wonderfully funny Moth story about a black woman's long (and ultimately successful) journey to losing her virginity.

Still having a little calf ache, so once again stopped early. New plan is a little more aggressive self-treatment. But getting tired of this.

A couple miles on some program where the inclination kept changing, but never more than 4%, and then the calf started worrying me, so I stopped. And then spent another half hour or so on shoulder stuff. Range of motion has gotten way better over the last couple of months.

And as a consequence of the good results with the shoulders, I've been adding in a little other core stuff each session (usually two sessions a day). Not a bad thing.

Got up to three miles today, progress.

Listened to a Freakonomics show about guns. Let's see, I think the numbers were that there are about 300,000,000 guns in this country, that each year maybe 10,000 people die from guns in homocides, another 20,000 in suicides, and less than 100 in mass murders.

Also that for kids the death rate from swimming pools is twice as high as the death rate from guns.

Also that gun buy-back programs are a waste of time and money.

And also that none of the stuff various politicians talking about doing to adress gun violence will make much of a difference.

So what to believe? Not sure. And I can't remember whether politicians or economists rank lower in national opinion polls?

C • Sounds like... 17

Really cranking out the miles, two today, even went outside for a change. Calf seemed OK so that is good. And the daily shoulder and other related stuff, usually two sessions a day, one 10 minutes and the other 20. Alex says I should log these in hot pink. But I'm not really a hot pink kind of guy.

The closest I ever came to hot pink was standing in the starting line on day 5 at the O'Ringen, 1989 in Ostersund, M45, chase start. I was starting 7th, the guy a few seconds after me had these hot pink tights on. An hour or so later he was 100 meters ahead of me in the finish chute, the places reversed. I asked him about the tights. Hadn't worn them very often, he said, only when he was feeling really good. As he apparently was that day.

I have my clown pants, plus another pair that is bright blue on one leg and bright yellow on the other, but maybe it's time to try out hot pink.

C • hot pink 12

Did the 1,000' of climb first, 15% 17:52. 4:45). And then a mile jogging, flat (9:48). Felt OK. So maybe can dispense with the walking for a while.

Walked a mile at 5% to loosen up (14:30), then ran a mile flat (9:54) just to see how the calf was. Seemed OK. Nervous about it, obviously, so focused all my mental energy on what aches or pains I might have anywhere else, just to take the pressure off the calf. Seemed to work. :-)

So will now start back, gradually.

Way too busy at work. So far have filed about 550 returns, maybe 1,000 to go. Getting out for some exercise every day, even if not very much, really helps.

Another 1,000', this time 1.6 miles at 12% for variety, 3.8 mph seemed all I was up for, and even that works up a good sweat. Maybe try a run tomorrow.

Treadmill again, 1.27 @ 15% (1806, 4:37), then ran just a little flat, didn't feel quite right so stopped. And usual shoulder stuff, they seem to be getting a good bit better, so at least that is good for morale.

Hike up South Sugarloaf (13:17), jogged down (7:25) and back to the car. Not so cold (25F), but very strong NW winds, so felt rather nippy. Passed on a second round trip, didn't want to push my luck.

Footing was quite good, hard-packed snow. I'd guess there would be some excellent running now on the snowmobile trails.

C • footing 3

Still just walking. On the treadmill until I'd climbed 1,000' though I'm not sure what the reltaionship is between feet climbed on the treadmill and feel climbed in the real world. 1 mile at 15% (18:47), seemed hard, then .4 at 10% (6:00), think I did the math right. Do they make any treadmills that show total climb as well as total distance?

C • Climb on the treadmill 5

Just walking, a mile at 10% (15:51) and a mile flat (12:43).

15 push-ups among other things for the shoulders. Pretty soon may have to try pullups.

C • calf 3

Walked a mile, 7%, 14:51, then tried running, but calf not right so quit pretty quick. That's the one nice thing about treadmills, easy to stop.

Was chatting with a client this evening, seems he had been talking to a friend of his and my name came up, fortunately not in a bad way. I'd done the friend's taxes for a few years, but then he made a career change, got the financing together and bought a pizza place. Asked if I would still do his taxes, but I said I didn't do corporate taxes, just individuals.

But much as my mind is failing me, I distinctly remember asking him why a pizza place. And his response was that he had finally figured out that what he really liked to do in life was make other people happy, and what could be better at that than giving them a really good piece of pizza. Said with 100% sincerity. Just that put a smile on my face.

And it was in the same visit, this was the last time I saw him, that the internet went out on my computer. And the ladies out front had lost theirs, and there was the usual gnashing of teeth and ladylike cussing, and then one of them went to the back room to see if they could figure out what might be wrong. But no luck.

And then I realized that my client, pre-pizza, was working for Verizon as a software engineer, so I dispensed him to the back room, and our service was back in less then a minute. Probably all he did was push a reset button, or unplug and replug something, but it helps to know just what to do.

So good cheer all around, a few minutes of chatting, and then back to work.

What I hadn't heard until tonight was that a week later he got a gift card to Home Depot in the mail, coutesy of the ladies. And he thought that was just really cool, what a fine place this is. Something I have thought all along as they cetainly take good care of me. But nice to get the good feelings reinforced.

C • making other people happy 3

Two miles walking briskly on the treadmill, 5%, 14:21, 13:22. Calf felt OK, but will probably wait a couple more days before trying running again.

And shoulder stuff, including 15 pushups (couldn't even do one a couple of months ago), plus some swings with a golf club, felt good.

Walking a couple miles on the treadmill, 5%, 15:02, 14:05. And then the usual shoulder stuff (stretching, range of motion, strengthening).

I deleted a comment on my log the other day. It pissed me off. I saw the delete button, clicked on it, and felt much better. First but maybe not last time. :-)

Been thinking some more about the state closing all the roads....

At my mom's last night. The woman coming in to start at 9 pm tells me about her Friday night. She was working her main job at a nursing home, she's mid-50s, for whatever reason the arrangement is that her husband drives her to work and then comes and picks her up when she is done. And the husband is 79 and has a heart condition.

But Friday night a little before 11 he sets off to pick her up, driving a pick-up, rear wheel drive only, not very good tires, middle of the storm where they ended up getting about 26". He gets stuck. Someone digs him out. He gets stuck again. Can't get out this time. Calls the police. They come, they aren't going to try to dig him out, put him in the cruiser and take him to the police station. Where they park him on a bench in a cold hallway where he spends the night shivering until somehow in the morning someone takes him home.

Meanwhile the wife gets a ride from a co-worker, gets dropped off some distance from their house because the street is impassable, gets home, up most of the night afraid her husband is going to croak (or have a heart attack) in the police station.

Fast forward to this morning. 25 degrees, freezing rain at 7 am following a couple inches of new snow, the husband, having gotten the pick-up extracted from whatever snowbank it had been left in, arrives to pick her up. Except he doesn't quite make it. My mom's house is on a short but steep hill. First he overshoots the driveway, sliding most of the way down the hill. Manages to turn around, heads back up, turns into the driveway, somehow the rear end spins out, and by the time he's done the rear end is solidly buried in the snowbank just below the driveway.

He tries to call up a tow truck, but nobody will come. Calls the police. I'm not sure what good that's going to do, so instead of heading off back to work, as I was fixing to do, I grab my shovel and start digging. But first I have to basically order the guy back into his truck. He wants to shovel, but I'm afraid he's going to have a cardiac right then and there. And he's already proved he has no sense.

Takes about 20 minutes and I've cleared out a possible exit route, and the state trooper arrives, and a big town plow truck spreading salt, and the three of us push him out. And then he just barely makes it up the hill, tires spinning away.

-------

Our last president made an attempt to change Social Security to at least partially a private investment scheme. Every time I thought about that I would think about a good number of clients I have who don't have a clue about investments, including the women in the winter of 2009, midst of the stock market meltdown, who asked what the deal was with her husband's 401(k), someone had come and taken half of it. And when were they going to put it back?

What do you do about the husband. Not so much common sense. Not a good vehicle. Not a good driver, at least in winter.

Maybe at some point, to protect people like him, the state has to order people off the roads. I don't know.

-------------------

And then driving back this morning, 2 hours, most of the time temperature about 25F, freezing rain. Rather bad driving conditions, but roads wide open. Took it carefully, testing the surface a bunch of times, only bad part was just west of Charlie's in the hills, they hadn't treated it. But I had a thick layer of ice on the car by the time I got here, and had to stop a couple of times to knock ice off the wipers. But the old Subaru worked just fine. Days like this is why I have it.

C • solution in this specific case 3

C • Social Security 1

Stopped at George and Lyn's on the way to Litchfield to check out their snowfall. Boy do they have a nice neighbor.

Was going for just a short loop, about two and a half miles, but couldn't make it. Calf started acting up after a mile or so, so walked back. Quite bummed.

Seems like 19" on the grill, which is likely to understate if anything. The farmer was up with his tractor to plow a little while ago, snow pile is about 12' high. I'm sure other places got a lot more.

Didn't we have a winter a few years back where we got two snowfalls like this in a week? And then some more. And then some more. Though out in Truckee that would still be called just a dusting.

C • measurement standard 4

Drove to work, another act of civil disobedience. :-)

I-91 was bare pavement including the shoulder, the only hazard was they had put so much salt down that it hadn't all melted so in a couple of places it felt like driving on marbles. Normally it takes some traffic and maybe a bit of sun to really make the salt work. But it's been a benign winter so I guess they had a lot on hand.

C • civil disobedience 16

C • FP? 2

Short walk, 10%, 3.5-4 mph. And shoulder stuff. And then back to work to find out the governor has made it a crime to drive after 4 pm, even though we have all of 2" of snow. Fine if he wants to strongly suggest we stay home, or say only idiots will go out if they don't have to, but say they can throw you in jail for a year? What a crock.

Headed home about 4:30. Driving was perfectly normal for wintertime, roads either wet or a little slush or a little snowpack. Passed three cops parked along 91, none chose to arrest me. Not much traffic heading south but a lot heading north, skiing will be great.

Reminds me of the Blizzard of '78. It was a serious matter in the Boston area (just as this storm might be), cars snowed in all along Rt. 128. Out here we had a foot of snow, it got plowed, the next morning just a normal winter day, business as usual. And in Boston they were announcing that the whole state was shut down. I still both laugh and shake my head about it.

We might get a foot or a foot and a half. Life will go on. It's New England. It's winter.

10 pm -- maybe 6 or 7 inches, pretty windy. A vigorous 15-20 minutes shoveling the deck. Shoulders felt good. Nice to get some fresh air, but also nice to have a warm place with the power on to go back inside to.

C • Snow 1

All the snow in Boston -- I think they have some environmental regulations about just dumping it in the harbor. Had one of my favorite clients today, cop, does some diving on the side, a lot of it in Boston Harbor, doing things like checking the underside of ships for possible explosives.

So just recently he was out there, just about done, one of the members of his team dropped his flashlight just as they were getting out. Went back down to try to find it, in the process they noticed a pipe sticking out into the water, black sludge pouring out of it. Guy found his flashlight, also was about half covered by this gunk.

And they worry about a few pollutants in the snow.

A very short outing, cut even shorter, just a little discomfort in the left calf but have to get so there is none. And then the usual shoulder stuff, even swung a golf club a few times without any problem. :-)

Tax season is in high gear. Mostly enjoyable. More laughs than you might imagine.

C • Stories, please. 3

Walked a mile, 10%, 3-3.5 mph, calf felt OK, then ran a couple of minutes. Still felt OK. Decided there was no point in testing it further. Time for an easy week anyway.

So then had lots of time for my shoulder exercises, which I am doing very diligently. Shoulders are definitely getting better.

Went to the track early to run with Dave, but decided about 20 yards was enough. Left calf a little sore. I've discovered over the years that there are some things that hurt and I can just run through them, and others that will stop me cold. Calf problems are the latter.

So just walked a little and then went to work an hour early.

On the treadmill, got a twinge I didn't like, so stopped early. Wasn't planning on running much anyway.

I think this might be a good 50-miler to try -- looks like nice country, never been there, altitude not outrageous, net downhill, good time of year (still could do some O' in Europe, as a 50-miler doesn't tear you up like a 100 does).

And some photos

And no mention that I could find of the western AOWN Axis of Evil -- rattlesnakes, mountain lions, and grizzly bears.

Might have to sign up. Would be excellent motivation.

C • AOWN 6

A loop around the eastern-most part of the Holyoke Range. Hadn't run there for a long time, but I wanted to stop in at the Notch to see to state of the road work on 116. Got lucky, Jesse the park supervisor was there, so chatted with him about plans for the Billygoat for a while. Seems like everything is OK, will be able to work around the construction.

Run, as usual, seemed like a lot of work. But finished up another decent week of training.

Back roads up towards Montague, pleasant enough, though a little warmer would have been OK. I'd thought about going down to the 5K at Forest Park, but just didn't have desire. As it was, 8 miles at a pedestrian pace seemed hard enough. Need to crack down on food intake -- first part of the week was bad, last couple of days better. Just need to make a commitment. It's a lot more fun to run when you're lighter.

C • FP5k 18

C • Lighter 8

C • Desire 2

Four miles on the treadmill, just didn't feel like going out in the wind. 9:30, 8:35, 8:35, 8:35.