Training Log Archive: PG

At McLean Game Refuge on the way to Litchfield. Nice outing except for one thing, tripped going up a rocky climb, wasn't going very fast (obviously) but landed hard with my left hand on a rock, mainly on the fleshy part at the base of the thumb. Pretty sure I didn't break anything, it doesn't hurt that bad, but it sure does hurt. Got some corn snow out of a snow bank and iced it on the drive the rest of the way to Litchfield, plus took a couple ibuprofen, but as expected it's swelling up pretty good. And I expect it will be pretty useless for a while. Hopefully it will be OK in 31 days.

Trails were mostly OK. Bare in places. Ribbons of ice in others, but you could manage just fine on the bare edges. Solid ice in a few places, but it was warm enough so there still was some traction. And a lot of snow still in a few places, which was hard going but only for short stretches at a time. Another week and it should be almost all bare, but even now the running is fine.

The place I fell, by the way, was totally bare. Can't blame it on anything but myself.

C • Ouch! 11

Time for the weekly Lost and Found report.

Starting weight: 144 (mid-December)
Jan. 1: 142
Jan. 8: 139
Jan. 15: 137
Jan. 22: 136
Jan. 29: 136.5
Feb 5: 136
Feb 12: 134
Feb. 19: 134
Feb. 26: 133
March 5: 133
March 12: 132.5
Today: 133

Mood: OK. Weight was going the wrong direction, I think because I was working my way through several very tasty and very rich desserts that a client gave me, so I spent more time feeling full than feeling hungry. But just rallied in time so the weekly reading wasn't so bad.

Excited to get into the Mt. Washington race. I would be really nice to be 130 at the starting line but I am not sure that is possible. Regardless, in a whole lot better position than when L&F started.

C • tax tales 4

C • L&F Weekly Update #11 10

Nice run on the ridge. Legs feeling sore after the last couple of days sliding around in the snow, so shorter today. Snow/ice is disappearing fast, maybe 80% bare ground, and the ridge has the benefit that it drains well, so hardly any mud and no frost pockets. Another beautiful day, a little cooler, mid-40s, just about perfect.

Looking back in my log, seems like I've run at least 30 minutes for 101 straight days. For whatever good that does.

Need to start a little longer stuff. Been doing about 5 hours a week all winter. Need to get that up to about 7.

Back on Greenfield ridge, my traditional route ("13 hills"), it will be a lot faster in a couple of weeks as the snow and ice disappears. Already it's maybe 40% bare ground.

Went down 3 times, nothing bad, plus a couple more close calls. But at least no dog encounters today as there have been in recent days.

Legs still not fresh, but made it up all the hills OK.

Seems like I got accepted for Mt. Washington. Quite pleased. One of those events I always figured I should do once. (I was up there once the day of the race, but Fred and I ran up, but it was up the Crawford Path on the other side of the mountain. Not the same.)

C • congrats 1

Trails on Greenfield ridge. Hard going in places where there was still a good bit of snow. Or maybe it was just a case of tired legs, which I certainly had today. Beautiful out, around 60 and sunny, a few more days like this and a lot of snow will be gone.

Listened to a recent show from This American Life which was mostly uninspiring, except for a nice story at the end about goldfish.

C • goldfish 4

C • IQ 4

Cold rain, a good day to head to the indoor track. First a couple of miles to warm-up.

8 x 400 with 1 minute rest between. Shooting for about 90 seconds each. A bit of a struggle partway, but finished without entertaining any thoughts of doing less. Legs felt OK.

1:33.3, 1:31,9, 1:31.3, 130.3, 1:29.5, 1:30.3, 1:29.6, 1:27.3

And a mile afterwards, on the quick side.

C • The crypt 1

Similar route to yesterday except I tried out one of the trails on the ridge at the end. It was a mix of ice and snow of various depths, plus little bits of bare ground. Not so bad. I think yesterday I found such stuff annoying, today it was just good training. Maybe because the sun was out and I had on shorts.

Or maybe because of the very fine entertainment, two Fresh Air interviews, the first about the history of the labor movement, the second with a guy who trains actors to speak different dialects. Neither one was a subject I particularly cared about, but in both cases the folks being interviewed were well-spoken and thoughtful and I found myself paying full attention. And the miles just went by effortlessly.

I had a chance yesterday to see some of the video from the earthquake/tsunami in Japan. Clearly a case of a picture being worth much more than a thousand words. Quite unbelievable, and quite unbelievable damge.

My assumption at this point is that the loss of life will be much much higher than any numbers being talked about now.

And my assumption at this point is also that the nuclear problems will be much much worse than anything that is being talked about publicly now. Partly I think because they're not saying what they know, for risk of terrifying people. And partly because I just don't think they know what to do to try and limit the damage. I wouldn't be surprised to start before long hearing talk about the possible impact of this on the continental U.S.

In Greenfield, some on the roads, some along the grassy/crappy margins, and some in the snow. The latter was quite lousy, certainly need some more melting before running on the ridge is fun. Route.