Training Log Archive: PG

A day of triumph, disaster, and triumph.

First triumph was nailing down virtually all the travel plans for the Big Muddy Rogaine. No small matter. Done by late morning, feeling great!

And done just in time to head off to the golf course for a get-together with Mike Fritz and Peter Goodwin, plus Gail. A gorgeous day, fine company, but one of those days the golf gods take a big stick and whack you on the head, and then do it again, and again, and again,....

And while my behavior was not nearly as bad as it would have been a few years back, it was far from as mellow as it should have been. Work still needed.

And then, after a fine dinner by Gail, with excellent company from my fellow PG, with good conversation about all that is happening in the world of O', it was time for another triumph....

The issue being, what are we going to do the last weekend in June, the choice being the wedding or the Berman champs (i.e. the SML champs). So a good discussion about life and what's important and before long the decision was clear, except we were already too late for the cabin deal in Yosemite.

But a quick check there, space still available. Next the flights. And it took a couple of hours, but the result was something worthy (perhaps) of the real travel wizards (Cristina?) -- Hartford to SF for $150, a good deal on a car, then SF non-stop to Calgary for $95, another good deal on a car, and then home, Calgary to Hartford, the fares on this leg exorbitant, roughly $500, so go to the mileage bank and extract enough to cover it.

Awesome. This anti-procrastination week is really working.

Off to West Point in the morning. I have very low expectations.

But, almost forgot, still time to vote on the logo....

C • logo 1

Back from Northampton after leaving the car for service. Windy, mostly cross.

Just finished a fascinating home visit with a fellow named Ben from MassSAVE, an operation sponsored by the electric utilities if I understand things correctly. Ben's outfit is actually called the Center for Ecological Technology, quite a nice name.

He showed up for what was planned as a two-hour visit to check out our house. It ended up closer to three.

First is a tour of the house, bottom to top, figuring out all the places we are losing heat in the winter and what can be done. That takes maybe 30 minutes.

Then after a couple of trips to his car to bring in several big boxes of florescent bulbs, we are put to work replacing all the incandescent bulbs in the house. That takes us quite a while, an hour anyway. By the time we are done we have installed 51 new florescent bulbs, about a dozen different styles depending on where they were going, at a total cost to us of $518.70. Except there's also a rebate, and the rebate is also $518.70, meaning it's all free. This is really quite cool.

Ben meanwhile has pulled out various high-tech gear and he is testing various things -- the safety of the heating and hot water system (it passes), their efficiency (so-so), some sort of air pressure tests to quantify the amount of air leakage, checking the oven for CO (fair, definitely not as good as it should be), and who knows what else.

And then he is at his laptop (not a Mac, but he has a Mac at home, so he's OK), and after a while papers come spitting out, and then he's calling up his office and by the time we're done we've contracted with them to come spend a day air sealing the house (plugging all the little holes), and duct sealing, plus Ben is coming back for a diagnostic visit to look at solar possibilities and I think some other stuff too.

And the cost of the air sealing is $592, but it has a 100% rebate just like the light bulbs, and the duct sealing is also $592, and now, well, you knew it couldn't all be good news, this has a rebate of only 75%, so we are going to have to fork over $148. The calculated payback period is 6 months, that's pretty good. And we can get a 0% interest loan if we want.

And we are also looking at possibilities for a new furnace and/or hot water heater, and something will hopefully happen in this regard this year.

This is all very fine. I was quite amazed when a MassSave appointment was available right away. We also had a guy from our oil company over this morning to see what he would propose, and another guy coming in the next day or two. This is all part of my new program to minimize procrastination, and if it ends up with us paying less for oil and electricity, that would be so much the better. We are already ahead just with the new bulbs, and feeling very virtuous too.... :-)

And in the meantime, the wind has shifted from out of the west at 10-15 mph, to out of the NW at 25-30 mph. If it could just shift all the way around to the north, then the ride to Northampton to get my car would be very quick. As it is, I might get bounced a little....



The pile of empty bulb boxes (with still more to go) is leaving little room for Ben and his laptop.

C • bulbs 9

And the ride back to Northampton was quicker, mostly good quartering tailwind except for a couple of early miles, though it seems I was working harder too.

One of these days I will have to see if I can do a ride without trying to work hard, keep the pulse low, just out of curiosity.

Injury report --

No, not what you might think, the injuries in this case are were a sore back and blisters on my thumbs, both left over from last Saturday, when there was "Volunteer Day" at the course where I play. The maintenance budget is very tight, so about 40 of us showed up to do hard labor for about 4 hours, in my case raking and pruning and pulling out briers.

And I am not used to hard labor.

There is a wide difference between people who work with just with their minds (and maybe their fingers tapping computer keys), and those that work with their muscles (and also their minds). And as hard as it may be for the former to do the hard physical work of the latter, it is probably also as hard for the latter to sit at a desk all day long.

The blisters and the sore muscles are healing. And what remains is actually a good memory of a group volunteer effort to improve the place we play.

And I've been thinking it would be nice if a similar effort could take place in orienteering circles.

Spent my daily walk checking out the NE corner of the Mt. Tom map. Should I post my route? :-)

Wore my 305 for a round of rogaine practice just out of curiosity -- 5.49 miles in 2:49:26, would have been a few minutes faster except for traffic at the end.

So it's clearly not CV exercise if my pulse was never much over 100, and that was just walking up a couple of hills. Though I'd guess it's useful rogaine practice, just being on my feet for a while, though I really should be playing two or three rounds a day.... :-)

Cool and cloudy for the first half, then a squall came through, rain and wind and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees. Just added a little to the challenge.

Out to the local art house again, this time to a French flick, 35 Shots of Rum. Interesting enough, but the whole thing was just too much filmed in slow-motion. Didn't mind going, but can't recommend it.

C • Movie recommendation 23

Modified River Road - Old Deerfield loop as part of Mill Village road is closed for repairs to the riverbank.

Start of a new program (not training, life). Time to get my shit together.

C • Time 6

Went to see A Prophet last night. Last showing at the local art house, 9:15, too late for Gail, so I headed off on my own. I was 10 minutes early, first one there, thought I might have a private showing, but then a few others arrived, maybe a dozen in all. And the previews started, and the first preview was for A Prophet. Never remember that happening before, but it was OK, got a nice taste of the movie to come and my reaction was favorable.

A couple more previews and then the main feature started, except, as I might have guessed, it was the wrong film, Creation, about Darwin.

Well, this was not a crowd of old folks who would just sit there and take whatever was given them -- I'd guess I was the oldest by about 35 years -- and a couple of guys rushed off to complain. And in a couple of minutes someone appeared and said, "What film are you supposed to see?" And everyone called out, "A Prophet!" with quite a lot of enthusiasm. Made me feel optimistic about my decision to come.

But changing films wasn't just pushing a button. The person disappeared, and then the person came back a few minutes later and said it would take another 10 minutes or so to make the change, and we were all welcome to a free small drink or a free small popcorn.

So we all headed out, I opted for a lemon-lime (that's a drink, not a popcorn flavor). And then headed back in. And pretty soon it got dark and we got, yup, three more previews. And then eventually, maybe about 10 pm, what I had come for.

It was really good. Definitely worth the wait even if I didn't get home until almost 1.

C • maybe you can explain it to me 2

Late afternoon ride, after some rain but the roads were almost completely dry. The only downside with this time of day is there is a little more traffic, but most of the way they are either back roads or there is a decent shoulder. But it still is a dangerous pastime.

My sense is there is progress on the heels, despite people telling me either to do certain things (stretching, use a roller on my calves) or not to do certain other things (biking, long walks), all of which I seem to have ignored. :-)

And I discovered a definite connection between my heart rate while running and my heart rate while biking -- it goes up when I go up hills. No shit, you might say. But I have never been good on the uphills, there is no nice steady pace I can hold for a long time. Before too long I just croak. And the heart rate reflects that.

Leverett loop, counter-clockwise. Feeling a bit the residual effects from yesterday in the butt and legs, so once again happy I wasn't going any farther.

This is a nice loop, a good mix of hills but with none very long, but the pavement is more cracked than last year so my gentle sensibilities on the bike may mean I go this way less often. New(ish) pavement is just so much nicer unless you're a serious cyclist. And safer too.

Plans for May --

Signed up for West Point, will probably go, see how the feet are by then.

Next weekend is the WCOC meet (and WREs), wonderful terrain but I have run it in quite a lot so it makes more sense to just help out.

And then the Trials weekend, not sure if I will go....

And then the Billygoat, can't miss that, though the course may be done in slow motion.

And then the Big Muddy rogaine, I think my travel agent is getting revved up to figure out the logistics.

It would be nice if the feet behaved, though there is always vitamin I. Certainly have done that before.

Got the bike out for the first time this year. Also the first time I worked up a good sweat in a while. Quite nice. And got the heart going as fast as a normal run, which was a bit of a surprise.

C • cycling HR 9

It's been more than a week since the USOF Board meeting at the Flying Pig. Any idea of what might have happened? Did they have the meeting?

C • BoD 5

Still not doing any running.The heels, especially the left one, are better, but a three-hour walk today seemed to irritate them more than I'd wish. Maybe some biking this week. And of course more walks.

Went to Boston yesterday, visit with my niece who lives in Somerville and my brother and sister-in-law who came up from Austin for the weekend. Rainy and cold, but a nice visit.

First into Chinatown for lunch, quite good. Then a visit to the JFK Library, never been there, glad to have gone though it wasn't anything really special. I think I've now been to three of these presidential libraries, LBJ's in Austin, and also Truman's in Independence, MO, just outside of Kansas City. The latter was by far the most interesting to me, I think mainly because I was pretty unaware of most of what had happened during his presidency and so it was quite an educational visit. As opposed to JFK's, which felt like a somewhat sanitized trip down memory lane.

As a side note, the senior rate for admission ($10 vs. $12 for adults) began at age 62, and my brother asked if Gail was 62, and I said of course she was, at least for orienteering purposes. Well, that was good enough for the JFK folks and we saved another two bucks. Another benefit of our USOF membership.

So by now it was 3 pm, and my brother, normally a person of quite superior intelligence and good judgment, had just said for about the third time how it might be nice to go see Plymouth Rock.

Now I've been to Plymouth Rock, and while I hardly remember the visit, I did seem to remember that it wasn't much of a rock. And, given the process history seems to go through as it passes through generations, it's also quite likely that it was the product of a marketing scheme of some later Chamber of Commerce and had nothing whatsoever to do with the Pilgrims.

But for lack of a reasonable plan B for the next couple of hours, off we went to Plymouth. And after quite a long drive, and a number of jokes at my brother's expense, we arrived in Plymouth, where the weather was even worse, rainy, cold, now also windy, but with the advantage that the crowds were very slim. No waiting, we could walk right up close to the rock, and watch it as long as we wanted, no pushing, no shoving, no entrance fee.

And the rock? I guess it depends on what you're used to. It would be laughed out of town at Pawtuckaway. At the other extreme, in Kansas it would be mapped as an extra-large boulder.

We stayed about two minutes and headed back to Boston, and then back to Sunderland. A bit of a long day, but definitely worth the trip, we see them all too rarely.

C • Plymouth rock 6

C • Walking on your heels 2

First time out for "rogaine practice," hitting the little white ball and then trying to find it. Very enjoyable. Played a round by myself, then saw some friends and played some more with them. Fine day.

And then went off in the evening to see "Män som hatar kvinnor." Very enjoyable, I think even more so having read the book, all three parts, so everything made sense, didn't have to wonder what was happening, could just relax and enjoy it. And could even understand a lot of the Swedish, they seemed to speak more slowly/clearly than the average Swedish orienteer.

Vacation is a good thing. :-)

To Boston tomorrow for a family day.

Got a fine gift certificate from a client to the local art film house, will probably head off tomorrow to see the new Dragon Tattoo flick. For tonight, it was Get Shorty on the tube, no ads, seen it before and would gladly watch it a couple more times. I do like John Travolta.

I suppose one of these days I'm going to have to start training again. But for the time being I'm trying to do a reverse-Phil, think what he would do when injured and do the opposite. So no tempo runs for a while.... :-)

Sent in my donation of $25 for the Junior Team, a result of sponsoring Barb. A pleasure.

So no training for 3 days, other then hitting a few golf balls a couple times at lunchtime. Just getting fat. Pretty soon I will need to set up a sponsorship operation like Bab's to get me back on the straight and narrow.

The heels are maybe feeling a little better, but no point in rushing things.

C • Independence Day 2

I didn't watch much of the Masters this past weekend, maybe an hour each day (Sunday it seemed more reasonable to stay and help pick up a few controls, and then a short visit to my mom, and then a badly needed pizza stop), but it was a strange experience.

Meaning, totally rooting against Tiger. First time I've felt that way.

And it's hard, because the guy is an amazing golfer, and you know that rooting against him is like rooting against the Yankees, you are more often than not going to be disappointed.

But it's also easy, because the guy is such a jerk.

C • tiger 7

Maps from the previous weekend at Stratton Brook (I'd only posted the Hounds sprint) --

Score course
Fox sprint

Reminder to myself on process to post map with QR --

1. Scan map (with route?), save in pictures file (shared between Mac and Windows).
2. Upload 305 route to Garmin Connect (from Mac)
3. Export gpx file from Garmin Connect (from Windows), save in downloads file (automatic)
4. In QR, load map from pictures file, track from downloads file
5. Align track
6. Adjust color band
7. Export image, save in pictures file
8. Upload to web site
9. Link in AP log

I think that's it. A lot more complicated than what I've been doing (just steps 1, 8, and 9). But not bad if I remember the steps. And the end result is more interesting.

Seems like I was very dehydrated yesterday. Probably a contributing factor to feeling so crappy.

Will lay off running for a bit, see if I can get the heels to calm down.

A little running to oil the joints.

WCOC local meet at Five Ponds, courtesy of Charlie DeWeese.

Nice day, nice course, but I have a hard time remembering when I've had a worse outing. The note on my map says it all -- "No brain, no energy." But other than that I guess it was OK. :-)

A little shaky to the first one, then misread where I was nearing 2 and thought I was farther east, turned west and before long there was a house in front of me. Spent quite a long time in the area just standing still, not figuring out where I was. The next few were OK. But then came 7....

Cut west to the trail. Turned right, it looked a little funny, and shortly I remembered that I was heading to 7 and not 8. Thought I might as well head straight to the next junction, but seem to have crossed a good-sized trail without seeing it. And wandered a while through various forms of crap.

And wandered some more.

And got quite discouraged.

And thought about the various things I could do, like quit, or at least not turn in a time, or whatever.

And at some point I thought maybe I'd somehow gotten to the right place, so I checked out a couple of knolls, but no such luck.

And went a while longer.

And then the nice big trail and corner of the pond made it pretty easy to figure out where I was. Spiked 7 from there, at a very low rate of speed.

Missed 8 too, lots of logged stuff and I most certainly had neither strength nor energy nor fighting spirit.

And at some point in here the internal conversation shifted to the question -- If you are feeling like this, why in the world are you thinking about getting on a plane to go orienteering someplace this spring/summer?

And my heels were not doing good either.

But usually quitting is not in my vocabulary, so I kept going, finished, though totally without distinction.

The only positive thing I'll take from it is that the route I drew on the map afterwards and the FR route are not that different, even when I had no idea where I was.... :-)

Got something to drink, then headed out to pick up 10 controls. All at a walk. All easy. Though still no energy. Map.

Red - Splits

Usual trails. About 50F and a touch of rain, so much nice for running (but not for anything else) than the recent warm days. Felt easy. Though still running very modest distances and modest speeds, just hoping the heels hang in there. They're doing a little better, I think the heel cushions help.

Fresh Air again, I seem to like the show, this time a guy talking about federal budget deficits, quite dogmatic and therefore less persuasive (and less interesting) than it might have been.

I wonder what will happen with this stuff over the next few years. And especially, what will happen to tax laws for 2011 and beyond. Lots of things expire at the end of 2010 and who knows what will be extended, and what won't. There's going to be some battles over that.

In the meantime, 2010 remains a good year to die.

C • to paraphrase Wilkes 3

Same route as yesterday, mainly so I could tell JJ how far the 305 said our run was. I was planning on an extra 20 minutes at the end, but it was warm and enough was enough. Heels are a little less sore, but I still need to be careful.

1 week to go.

Fresh Air, interview with a journalist who wrote about Iraquis forced into excile. Very interesting.

And for JJ, the same couple was on the platform at Sachem's Head. Yesterday, we stopped to take in the view, nice day but a strong wind. He was sitting on the edge of the platform working on his laptop. And just as we got there she scurried off down the slope, and then reappeared a moment later clutching a piece of paper that must have blow away. As she came up past us I could hear her say something to the effect of, Praise the Lord for finding the piece of paper.

Which, off course, seemed a bit much to me. And then, before I could stop myself, I came out with, God helps them that help themselves.

And then JJ and I were off, with a short discussion about where my phrase came from, and was it from the Bible, and certainly if it wasn't, then it ought to be.

I heard from JJ later that the phrase is credited to Ben Franklin, a source of much wisdom.

And back to today, no stopping at the platform or any attempt to engage her in further conversation, but that didn't stop her from calling out to me, "God bless you."

I suppose it can't hurt.

C • self-help 2

A run on the ridge with JJ, warm day, glad we weren't intending to go for a long time. And then a shower and then lunch finished off with some fresh brownies from his mom. Yummy.

C • Holy cow! 7

On the ridge, out to Sachem's Head and back. Pretty warm, also windy. Relaxed pace.

Listened to a very pleasant Fresh Air interview with some actress, can't remember her name, was promoting some recent movie I haven't seen about looking for WMDs in Iraq, also had been in The Wire, but we don't get HBO, also in The Office, but I've only seen the old episodes, which I quite like, but have no idea where and when the current show appears.

All of which sums up my general cultural awareness, someplace been none and slim. :-)

And regarding whatever little bits I may learn, the universe of the stuff I'm unaware of is expanding many many times faster.

C • The Wire 6

So the plan for the day was to see if I could get QuickRoute working on my Mac.

So far I've managed to get Parallels installed and working, and Windows NP installed and working, and virus protection, and software updates, and Firefox. And then Net-Framework which QuickRoute needs. And then QuickRoute.

And that was just too much success.

Because having done all that, and ready to load a map and a GPS track into QuickRoute, it says there is no GPS device connected to my computer (although there is). And when I tried plan B, export a gpx track and use it, all I get is an erro message saying "Invalid URI: The hostname could not be parsed. (System)."

So after several hours and what seemed like steady progress, I have nothing to show for it.

There must be someone out there who can tell me what I'm doing wrong in about 30 seconds. Please....

C • two things 2

So here's the QuickRoute version of where I went on the Hounds sprint yesterday, along with my route as I had drawn it in with red ink. I'd say my version is closer to reality. :-)

This is all somewhat interesting. But also a bunch of work. Hopefully there is a learning curve. Or I may not be doing it for very long.

C • GPS 6

Event: WCOC - Stratton Brook SP
 

So today is the first time orienteering with my 305. It would be nice to display the route on the O map, using Quick Routes I'd guess.

But that would mean downloading QR and figuring out how to do it.

And before that I'd have to install Windows on my Mac (I have a copy, just never installed it).

And before that I'd have to install Parallels on my Mac (I have a copy, just never installed it).

What are the odds of getting that done this weekend? Slim? Or none?

Of course if I did it, than I could see what OCAD was all about. And Catching Features too. I'm not sure all that is a good thing. :-)

WCOC meet at Stratton Brook in Simsbury, CT, produced by George and Lyn. Perfect day for hanging out, a little warm for running (low70s) but not bad.

Down to the pond and back to warm up. Heels still sore, added heel cushions today, perhaps that will help. Did decide to skip the Northern Nipmuck trail race (16 miles), partly because of the warmth, but mainly because I figured it wouldn't do good things to the heels. Not that the orienteering did, but NN would have been a lot worse.

Nice vibes, visits with several friends. Got an update from Charlie and JJ on the latest activities of the Grievance Committee, whose motto is (and rightly so) "Get a Life," a phrase that should be remembered whenever folks in our sport, present party included, launch off into some strenuous argument about something that, really, is pretty unimportant.

Also helped George out just a little processing people at the start/finish. There has to be an easier way to get the e-punch info on the computer, plus backup hard copy. Do folks just dispense with the backup and hope the computer doesn't fail? I would think that you should be able to just stick your e-punch in one of the boxes and it would read your name and club and age and gender and year of birth, and whatever, like an ATM card, but I guess it doesn't work that way.

And if it did, I'm sure we would have folks complaining about privacy.... :-)

C • Stored e-punch info 7

First sprint, the Fox.

Not so bad. A little bobble coming into #6, otherwise OK. Nice course and woods.

Second sprint, the Hounds. Anyone who did them in the other order did them wrong, because the fox always goes out before the hounds, not after them.

Just on problem, a little loop before #10, the map needs a little adjusting, and since it didn't make sense, I took a little extra time to be sure.

My 305 route at the end is totally bogus. Assuming that my 305 is not significantly less accurate than other 305s, then I feel sorry for folks who assume, when they're not sure where they've gone, that their 305's track is the gospel. It ain't. Just like the speed readings, the heart rate readings, and the elevation reading. Fine a lot of the time, bogus at other times.

The 305 is nice entertainment. It's not reliable high tech.

C • 305 track is gospel 5

And then the score O course, 30 controls, the 22 that were used for the sprints and 8 new ones. Half were colored red, half were green, and the rule was you had to alternate colors. That added quite a bit of spice!

OK run, getting a little tired, not sure if I had the best route for the last bunch of controls but it wasn't too bad.

Except I never saw the two controls in the NE corner, so I only got 28 of them. Oh, well, it's just practice.

Went off and got a little something to eat, then back to the park, hung around a bit, then sauntered out to fetch 8 controls, main accomplishment was not losing any e-boxes in the process.

Nice day.

Fox - Splits

Hounds - Splits

It was so nice out this afternoon, and I'm pretty much caught up on work, and I happened not to have any appointments this evening, so it seemed like it was time leave work early -- from a religious perspective, it would have been virtually sinful not to leave work early -- and try to remember what it feels like to swing a golf club. And it wasn't so bad.

Nice discovery* in Northampton this evening -- wrapped up a nice day with a trip to the movies, very fine flick, The Ghostwriter, by Roman Polanski, who must have done this before visiting Switzerland.

The only other flick of his that I've seen is Chinatown, wonderful, and this had a similar feel, a similar pacing, though also totally different. Didn't look at my watch the whole time, or even think of looking, and a bit surprised when it ended.

* George keyed me onto this, time to start using USOF's new slogan even if it hasn't yet been approved, though it surely will be. It does mean saying farewell to AOWN, may it (and the IOF) RIP.

C • Chinatown 4

"Hour loop" (aka "13 hills") on the ridge, warm day, supposed to be even warmer by the weekend. Not so bad, ran harder the second half, legs not so bad but heels still sorer than I wish. Need to get the ice out.

Trails are in fine shape, just a few wet spots, not much considering the recent rains. Though we missed the heavy rains they got further east.

Entertainment: First the end of yesterday's TAL about Noriega. And then a Fresh Air with a guy who writes about religion, and we grew up being a true believer and is now an agnostic.

A couple of things stick in my mind. First was a comment about about a sizeable number of people nowadays think the end is near, and in fact loking back all the way to the time of Jesus it has seemd like a sizeable number of people of each generation have thought the end is near. And so far the one thing you can say is they have all been wrong. And so why give any credence to the current crop of true believers?

And second, he basically lost his faith when he realized he couldn't reconcile his belief in an all-powerful and benevolent god with all the suffering he could observe in the world.

Of course on the latter point, as far as I'm concerned, he's preaching to the converted.

C • radio 10