Training Log Archive: PG

47-Silver-Park-Claybrook-47, a couple of hills. Another nice morning, sunny, 12F, hardly any wind.

At some point as I was contemplating future training the phase "every effort is a PR" popped into my mind, and I quite liked it, the essence being that the slate is wiped clean, no old marks to measure a current effort against and inevitably fall short. I think some folks already do this, wipe the slate clean either every year or every 5 or 10 years, but I haven't really tried it. Who knows, perhaps it's just a cop-out. We shall see.

Of course, not every effort will be a PR, but a whole lot will be. This morning's effort was my 6th PR for the year, I do believe. And that was the morning after a very sinful dinner, including the first alcohol in a while to get things started and the first ice cream in a very long while to finish things up.

Up south Sugarloaf (15:25) and back down (13:33). Felt much better than a couple of days ago on the same route. PR.

Time to start a little jogging tomorrow. Tried a few steps today, being very careful. Will have to work into it slowly.

Morning loop to get the paper and mail. 25F but windy, gusts to 40 mph. Still felt pretty pleasant compared to a couple of days ago, except perhaps for a few minutes on the way back where I had the wind right in my face. But that just gave the opportunity to practice little mind control -- it's not so cold, it will pass, just relax -- aided by a recollection (which turned out to be accurate) that at 25 degrees you can't get frostbite no matter how hard the wind is blowing. And, when I was double-checking this back home, I was glad to see that for once our government had some sense and had done the clinical trials in Canada.

14:45 to the store, 23:01 back via the Post Office.

C • it depends 10

Off to Gail's gym, where I have a short-term free pass, the place is a little closer to home, they have more machines, more glistening young bodies....

On the treadmill, all at 3.5 mph, 10 minutes at 5% incline, 12 at 7% (my mind was far away when the 20-minute mark passed), 8 at 9%, 10 at 11%, 5 at 13%, 1 at 15% just for the hell of it, and 4 at 0%. Got the pulse up to about 140. I have a long, long ways to go to get back into shape. And I expect my left hip and various other assorted ailments will make things difficult along the way. But, it's progress.

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Caution, another of my detours into areas having nothing to do with training, though worded carefully enough so as to hopefully not be offensive....

So at the 20-minute mark I was diverted by thoughts of a certain performance-enhancing drug. The original prescription was to take it twice a week for a year (!) in the interest of improving circulation even if it didn't seem to be doing any good for a while.

But things were going so well I wasn't sure I needed it. Called up the surgeon. His PA called back.

Do I still need to take it?

Yes, for a year.

And assuming it works, then what do I do?

It will go away after a while.

So what can I say -- I took it, it worked, it went away after a while. I assume my circulation is marginally better.

Life is ok.

C • Message 3

8F when I left, 12F when I got back, but no wind so it felt quite balmy, was even unzipping the jacket towards the end. Very quick down to the corner store (1.03, 14:23), then more relaxed around by the Post Office to get the mail and home via N. Silver (1.54, 23:15). Felt great.

Up to the top of South Sugarloaf and back. Snow-packed, but pretty good traction. Legs felt tired on the way up, plus too many clothes on, belly felt tender on the way down, not used to even the very little bit of jarring I was exposing it too, so the pace in both directions was quite slow. 18:25 up, 16:44 down. Felt warm, mid-20s.

MF cold, 5F and windy, down to the corner store to get the paper, fast as my little legs would move me, just trying to stay warm. A "tempo walk" if there is such a thing, at least got the pulse over 100. Thought about jogging a little but decided to give it a few more days.

A good start to the year.

Gail was going to the gym so I joined her, and decided it was time to up the incline on the treadmill. All at 3.5 mph. 10 minutes at 5%, 10 at 6%, 10 at 7%, 10 at 8%, 5 at 10%, and 5 flat. Got the pulse up to about 125 and worked up a bit of a sweat. Felt wonderful.

Time for a few numbers for 2008:

40 O races (29 in 2007, 68 in 2006)
-- 14 sprints (11, 13)
-- 5 middle (1, 11)
-- 13 classic (13, 34), though a classic varied a lot, from 45 to 95 minutes depending on whether I was running M21 or M60.
-- 2 long (0, 1)
-- 3 goats (2, 2), Billygoat, Highlander, and Traverse.
-- 0 O' marathon (1, 0)
-- 0 cross/farsta (0, 2)
-- 2 relay (0, 3), US Champs, Tio-Mila
-- 1 night (1, 2), Pawtuckaway
-- 0 trail-O (0, 0)
plus 3 rogaines (2, 0), CNYO (with Barb), Estonia (with Barb), Virginia (with Kissy, Peggy, and Barb)

369 hours training (303 in 2007, 256 in 2006), including:
-- 45 orienteering (38, 75), up a little for the year, was hurt a lot in the spring of 2007
-- 118 other running (123, 181)
-- 32 biking (43, 0)
-- 63 rogaining (47, 0)
-- 22 run/hikes (37, 0), mostly rogaine training
-- 86 nautilus (15, 0), kept this up all year long

So about the same amount of orienteering and running training as last year, and a lot less than 2006 (all due to injury, mainly hamstring problems). That was offset by much more nautilus, plus doing three rogaines. As far as the quality of the efforts, I think it's fair to say that there was quite a fall-off, especially compared to 2006 which was an exceptional year.

Note for anyone not clued into my terminology -- "rogaine training" is running/walking, the latter when it is uphill, usually with a pack, so perfectly valid training in other words, while "rogaine practice" is golf, of which I played quite a bit early in the year and not much later on. I also did three rogaines this year, all immensely enjoyable (and virtually without blisters). I'd guess the golf (many hours walking, carrying clubs) is actually useful training for rogaining, though I have not yet sunk low enough to log it on AP. And "rogaine base building" is post-surgery walking at a modest pace, logged at 1/60 of the time spent, and logged only to keep a record that I did it.

Also ran 5 foot races:
-- 3 on the roads, 5 miles (34+), 10 miles (78+), half marathon (98+).
-- 2 trail races (Soapstone and Overlook).

Other thoughts --
1. My orienteering was mostly rather uninspired, due in large part to my declining physical powers, so most races were a little unsatisfying even if my navigating was good. Best effort was probably the Highlander. Most fun was the trip to the Tio-Mila with the CSU team, just wonderful karma.

2. Did two rogaines with Barb (CNYO, Estonia), both lots of fun even though very different, and very good for morale given that the orienteering/running continued to go downhill. Estonia was a great trip. She is a super partner, good O skills, full of energy, and very upbeat. Also did a rogaine in Virginia with Kissy, Peggy, and Barb. Again, just a whole lot of fun and lots of good memories. In all of these I found myself getting more and more comfortable (and confident) with night orienteering.

3. Once again spent a lot of time on the Team, though that declined as the year progressed and I took a step back. Which was the right thing to do, time for a break.

4. Also stepped back from the Sprint Series. It kept going, thanks to Kissy and Cristina and Gil, and will move into 2009 with new energy under the leadership of Kissy and Cristina.

5. As in 2006, laughed a lot, and got my share of being laughed at too. Thank goodness.

6. Weight once again held steady at 1G all year long, though the G itself was higher than I cared for pretty much all year long, although it finished the year at a not-so-bad 138.5. Would be nice to keep it under 140, would be wonderful to keep it at 135.

7. Topping the list of totally meaningless numbers, so far there have been 85,396 times that someone has stopped doing something useful to come look at my training log (54,103 at this time last year, 27,034 at the end of 2006, 6,908 at the end of 2005). I admit to spending a lot of time on Attackpoint, and getting a great deal of enjoyment from it, and it seems like some others do too.

8. More important than all of the above, it was a very good year for friendships, starting with Gail who has been especially wonderful as the year drew to a close, also my frequent traveling companions Phil and Charlie, also my rogaine partner Barb, and then many others in orienteering, of all ages. It was mostly a so-so year competitively, but a fine year in many other ways.

9. And 2008 also had a journey, me and my prostate, which started just about a year ago, the details of which I took the liberty of sharing on these pages from time to time. That -- going public -- was a conscious decision from the beginning, though perhaps unusual, and it has rewarded me many times over and in many ways, thanks to the words and comments and thoughts of many of you. Bless you. It has not been a fun journey. It required a decision on how to proceed where, quite simply, every option sucked. But I know I have done the right thing. And I know I have accomplished something that I put down as a goal much earlier in the year, namely, getting myself in the best possible shape for the day that was coming when I would get sliced. And I absolutely feel that being as fit as possible -- and, of course, having a very good surgeon and just amazng technology -- has made a big difference in how good I feel now.

For 2009? Well, another year older means the downward slope just gets steeper. I can move into M65. Have to see what I can do, can't stop trying, but my expectation is that Father Time will pull even harder in the opposite direction from wherever I am trying to go. I suspect it will be a good year to learn patience and to try to take pleasure from the doing more than from the result.

Snowstorm outside and I had to go to Greenfield anyway so I used the treadmill at the Body Shoppe. 2.42 miles, 40 minutes. Broke up the boredom by chatting up the woman on the treadmill next to me. Turned out she is having thyroid surgery next week. So we talked a bunch about health stuff, and health insurance, and about how having a year where you don't need to use your health insurance at all -- i.e. you've "wasted" all that money paying the premiums -- is in fact so much better than a year in which you make out well financially because you use it a lot. Even though we don't tend to look at it that way.

So far the the hospital has submitted claims for my night's stay of just about $15,000.

And I stopped at the office and got hugs from my ladies.

And my plumbing is working better. (We tend to take such things for granted, but if you can pee when you want to pee, and not pee when you don't want to, then be thankful.)

And I stopped at the pharmacy for my performance enhancing drugs.

And I was just generally in a very good mood!

Happy New Year!

C • Happy New Year 2

Reasonably energetic stroll to the corner store to get the morning paper. 2.0 miles, 31:37. Urinary system is presenting challenges. Enough said.

Got a call from the surgeon, the pathology report was excellent, all clear. What I hoping to hear. And what a sense of relief.

PS to Clem -- Türk used to ride a Harley, now he rides a Big Dog.

C • Such great news! 6

Just at sunset, but a little too early to get a good look at Jupiter and Mercury, plus the very few clouds in the sky were in just the wrong place, low in the southwest. Made for a pretty sunset though.

Post Office loop, 2.57, 39:05. Still a tender belly, but the daily quota of pain pills is declining.

C • Clear up here; had a good v... 1

And finally, for a little upper body work, spent a while with Gail pounding nails for version 2 of some protection for the air conditioner compressor from the huge attack icicles which trashed a less sturdy version 1 (seriously).



Obviously, I do not claim any skills as a carpenter.

C • SUMNER SPECS 1

C • Saved by a pizza! 4

Got the catheter out. Bliss.

A more energetic walk, to North Silver Lane and back, 1.1 miles, 19:40. Things are still a little tender so I need to make sure I don't do too much too soon.

Interesting movement of the G over the last week. Was 141 on Sunday 8 days ago. After nothing to eat for more than a day and just a modest amount the rest of the time, on Wednesday the G was 145 and I looked and felt like I had suddenly acquired a pot belly. Could hardly button the pants, and they had been very loose. But each day the swelling (or fluid retention, or whatever was going on) went down a little and the G is now back to normal. Just a surprise, I thought I was going to come home and be down 3 or 4 pounds.

C • The Sky Tonight 5

Second "training," just after dark. Along North Silver Lane, 1.25 miles, 21:18. Belly a bit tender, but definitely better over the last couple of days, getting in/out of a car is a lot easier.

Wonderful sky, see Eddie's comment.