Training Log Archive: PG

Upper 50s, S 5 mph, sunny. The plan was to take it easy, but I failed on the stretch in the middle over a few small hills. But the first and last parts were done properly.

More biking for the first two months of the year than I would have thought possible. And mostly in very tolerable conditions.

C • Weather 1

Enough time to get out after a brief trip to New York City, and have to take advantage of the nice days this time of year.

50F, S 10 mph, sunny, finished just as the sun was setting. Certainly seems easier without the puffy jacket and a second pair of tights.

And even cleaned the chain, it was needed, though the rest of the bike continues to have a good covering of sand.

In the city, including stopping in to see three of the famous buildings -- Rockefeller Center, Grand Central, and (of course) Trump Tower. :-)

Route.

C • Escalator 1

Mid 50s, S 10-15 mph. Last of the warm days, figured I should get out before any rain that might appear. Still some snow around but it has taken a beating the last few days. And the river is running high from the melting further north.

It's going to be a while before spring gets here, but this has been a nice taste of it.

64F, S 10-15 mph. Same as yesterday -- same route, pretty much the same weather, the wind was just a little more energetic. But a gorgeous late February late afternoon.

60F, S 5-10 mph. Beautiful day, last few miles were exceedingly pleasant with both the breeze and the sun at my back. Still wore tights, but just 1.5 shirts. There's more winter to come, but this is a real nice interlude.

Low 50s, light breeze from the south, sunny. Pretty nice for February!

Only one pair of tights today, and skipped the orange puffy jacket. Don't know if being dressed a little less like the Michelin Man, or putting a little more air in the tires, or both, had anything to do with it, but the bike was moving along better today.

Very nice to get done and not feel discouraged. Been a while. :-)

In H O Cook state forest.

Low 40s, S 5-10 mph. Another day of just getting something done, but better than not being able to do even this.

That's coming...

To Montague Center, back along the river. 43F, NW 10-15. The usual, felt feeble but got it done.

The back is managing better than I expected, still sore lower right side but getting better. But discovered a day or so after the fact that my left shoulder and ribs were also sore, but fortunately neither badly so. My recollection is that the ski slope was a very hard base with a modest amount of nice snow on top, so the skiing was fine, but when you fell there was no give. When I did it, it felt like I landed on concrete...

Back hurts but not (yet) near as bad as I feared. Meaning, I've still got pretty good range of motion, and things like getting up or sitting down aren't ordeals. So more optimistic, well, maybe it's more accurate to say less pessimistic, than I was yesterday.

At Butternut with Charlie and Zack. Good and bad. Bad was one fall, first run, caught an edge, not an especially bad fall, and certainly not spectacular, but my back didn't like it at all. So that put a bit of a damper on things. Hurt the rest of the time, but never so much that I stopped, at least until we seemed all ready to stop.

The good was most everything else. Really enjoyed the company. All the lifts are quads or triples, so we always got to ride up together, lots of good visiting time. On the way down Zack has a much greater fondness for high speeds than Charlie or I, but once we figured out that we just needed to agree at the top what lift we were taking next, then we didn't have to worry about keeping him in sight on the way down.

Interesting to hear about Zack's progress on the work front. He is an apprentice electrician. My sense is he's doing real well, and the job suits him. Very nice to see.

And also ran into (figuratively) half of the couple (the wife) who bought my mom's house. The whole family was there, but husband and the two young girls were at the race training session so she had a couple of hours on her own. Should have asked her to join us, though I have a feeling we were going too fast for her, so maybe it's just as good I didn't. Had a nice chat with her, if brief.

A sunny day, warming up nicely (18 to start, reaching the mid-40s), no wind. Quite crowded, but waits for lifts not more than a couple of minutes. Just had to make sure you didn't run into someone, or get run into, on the slopes.

About 30 minutes of actual skiing, 7,800', hardest work was the couple of times I had walk uphill (like to get to the lift the first time), I am definitely out of shape.

C • Track 1

It occurred to me a couple of days ago that, with all the recent snow, it was time for another venture onto the alpine slopes. Just had to pick the right day. And while yesterday certainly was not the right day (cold and strong winds), today just as certainly was. Sunny, temperatures about 30, no wind, and plenty of snow. So off I head to Berkshire East, with the main objective being to not do any serious damage to myself.

And it was a fine outing. Didn't get cold, didn't get hurt, didn't make a fool of myself. :-)

Rented what passes for skis these days, poles, and boots that seemed to come almost up to my knees. Passed on the helmet. Hopped on the lift to the top to see what skills I still had.

First run was a little ragged, second was better, by the third or fourth I was back in the swings of things. It's not a big hill, the vertical is about 900', so no need to stop on the way down. Just about the time the legs were getting tired I'd be at the bottom and get to sit down for a few minutes. Not so bad.

Two falls, neither bad, both just bouncing off my uphill hip/butt. The first on the first run, when I was still figuring things out -- interesting that I stopped 3 or 4 times on that run to catch my breath, obviously fighting my skis, but as I figured things out that was no longer necessary. And the second fall was on the next to last run, first time down a reasonably steep set of moguls where the conditions were iffy, part icy and part loose choppy snow. Couldn't decide how much to attack (vs. be cautious) but not wanting to be too wimpy, and still not really trusting my skis, so the whole run was not pretty. Needed a couple more times down it, but that wasn't appealing, so I didn't.

The real hazard seemed to be that there was races going on, high school, so I always wanted to be checking behind me for some kid going faster than me and possibly not quite in control. Fortunately no incidents, nor close calls.

Quads were tired by the end, lower back a little achy but not bad, butt OK. We'll have to see if I go again this year. If I do, probably up to Vermont for a bigger hill. But only if the weather is perfect.

14 runs, 12,700' descent in maybe 50 minutes of skiing.

C • love the graphs! 7

Nice evening, full moon, 20F.

River road on the Deerfield side, north of the Sunderland bridge. Pavement was fine after yesterday's snow, either dry or just damp.

24F, NW 15 mph, nippy. Butt still unhappy.

Biked to Connecticut and back, but since I started in West Springfield it wasn't much of a challenge, just my usual 45 minutes or so. But the road was dry, the pavement excellent, and the traffic light, so that's a fine combination.

Upper 40s, W 5-10 mph, sunny. Delightful day, and with snow supposed to be coming tomorrow the ride needed to be done today. Went a little bit south for much better conditions.

Saw an elderly couple I know (that's elderly from my perspective) along the river, stopped and chatted for a few minutes. They're 80ish and still seem to enjoy life a lot. And fun to be around. Good role models....

35F and overcast, W 15 mph, not all that pleasant. Or maybe it wasn't the cold wind but the fact that my butt was not happy that had me in a questionable mood. But still good to get out.

After spending a fair bit of the day out exploring, just enough time left to get in a ride, got home just after sunset but still plenty of light to see (and be seen).

28F, W 5-10 mph, not balmy, but perfectly acceptable. Just have to ride a little more in the road this time of year, and not on the shoulder where there is one, as the shoulders are now mostly ice or sand. But fortunately there are lots of back roads with little traffic, so it doesn't feel unsafe.

Time to get back on the diet, or at least something different than the current "see it, eat it" practice. (The G is temporarily unavailable for technical reasons.)

A very sad day. My sister Genia died this afternoon at the age of 76. She had not been well for some time, and had been in the hospital for the last month, unable to breathe on her own; the prognosis was grim. And yet, despite knowing that, and despite knowing that what lay ahead if she survived this was also grim, it is still a great shock and just unbelievably sad.

She did not have an easy life. Difficult relationships with her parents. My own relationship with her had its ups and downs — I sit here wishing it had been better, wishing I had had greater tolerance and understanding when that was what was needed. But there are also many good memories and the task now is to make sure those are the ones that persist.

The one true bright light in her life was her husband Raoul. They were married for 49 years. She was devoted to him; he was devoted to her. This last month has been extraordinarily hard on him. Michael and I will go visit this weekend to see what we can do to help.

C • Sad day 20

35F, not much wind. Had a couple inches of snow overnight, but the roads were just wet (and sandy). Actually a rather pleasant ride.