Training Log Archive: PG

A loop around Whiting reservoir in Holyoke on the way back from Litchfield. Warm and humid, just one of those outings you get done. Part of getting a little consistency back in my training.

New shoes -- another pair of Nike Pegasus, been using them on and off for 30+ years. My feet seem to like them. The last pair, got 800+ miles out of them, finally got the heave-ho after the rogaine. Too offensive to the nostrils, not the feet.

C • the heave-ho 11

Event: NEOC: Belmont Wanderings
 

The eastern half of the map (with the start/finish), and my route (counterclockwise) --



And the western half --

C • More interesting than Midwestern towns 4

Jim Crawford's bike-O score-O around the close-in NW suburbs of Boston. Three hours, and then you could do another 90 minutes on foot if you cared to, which Phil did but I quite certainly did not.

Very enjoyable. And no falls. Some was off-road, and lots of potholes, but I used my road bike and it seems to work out fine. :-)

Not sure whether my route was any good or not. Went very close to one control that I didn't go to, never saw it on the map at the time, just focused on where I was heading. And one control that I went to, it seems I was slightly off, picked the wrong house. Just shaky orienteering on my part, didn't read the map carefully enough. And a couple of others which took me a little while to find.

But overall a lot of fun, and some good map reading on the move, without taking any real risks. No close calls.

Route was 24-36-50 (a bit of crappy trail and a stream crossing) - 63-83-23-60-42-62 (didn't come out of the park where I planned, took some thinking to relocate) - 70-80-44-64-70 (didn't see it the first time by on the trail) - 43-91-77-81-72-93-53-82-66-56-32-40-61-55 (wrong house) - 45 - finish. Not much time to spare. 55 cost me a bunch of time too.

Now let's see if I can post the map….

Thanks to Jim for the organization. A very nice way to see some of the city, and good exercise for the body and the brain.

Up Mt. Toby from the gate, up the telephone line (18:30), back the jeep road. No falls.

I think I will go do NEOC's street (and park) bike-O tomorrow outside Boston. Get a tour of of the inner NW suburbs.

My favorable omen (the bald eagle over the Sunderland bridge) seems to still have some power -- first time on the golf course in about 6 weeks, and finished things off on the last hole (only played 14), a shortish par 4, 320 yards, with a 2. Nice drive and then a sand wedge, hit 3 feet in front of the hole, then one bounce and right in. Easy game…. :-)

C • A good player . . . 2

At the Holyoke reservoirs for the Thursday evening 5K. A little warm-up. Not near as hot and humid as it's been, but low 70s is still too warm for me.

A good hard effort without going overboard. Wanted to do no worse than 7:45 pace (or about 24 minutes), so happy enough. Legs felt good enough. Forget my lighter shoes, but no big deal, the point was just to run hard and see how slow I am.

Next point is to see whether that gets me out the door to do some training.

C • impressive 2

A 4-minute plank just to be sociable.

Standard loop around town. Not hot yet, but humid and I was sweating profusely. Should have gone around the loop the other way as it was all uphill this way….

And then off to the doctor's (actually she's a nurse practitioner, seems very competent, communicates well) for what is now called by Medicare my annual wellness visit. Fill out a questionnaire, one of the questions is whether I have fallen at all in the last 2 months, and if so, whether I was injured. Answer yes to both. :-)

Blood pressure was 110/60 (lower because I had just run, I assume), height down to 5'5.5" (used to be 5'6.75 on my long leg, 5'6" on my short one), I've been shrinking for a while.

Cholesterol 210 (about what it's always been), HDL 82, so the ratio is good.

I've been verging on anemic at times so taking extra iron. Hematocrit is 42.5, better than high 30's a couple of years ago but nothing that would get me DQ'd from a bike race.

And then a bunch of other numbers including undetectable PSA. :-)

And she poked and prodded and listened in various places and after a while decided that was enough and she'd see me in a year, or sooner if I clobber myself somehow as I seem prone to do. Nice visit.

First time on the bike in a long time, but I still managed to get through it with no falls. :-)

Standard loop, Old Deerfield - River Road, gentle pace, not that I was capable of anything more.

I got an inquiry from Ian as to whether I planned to run any of my maze courses, and that was enough of a spur that I figured I might as well try the night one, having not been in the maze at night before.

Tried to duplicate the conditions others faced -- ate a good dinner about 6:30 pm, so the belly was still a little full, and then started at the same time, 8:15 pm, as they had. A bit of lightness in the sky, but once in the maze it made no difference, quite dark.

And it was really fun. Taking them in order, of course, using the east side highway several times and around the beak several times, not the shortest routes but opting for simplicity and speed even if the route was a good bit longer.

Hardest part was finding where on the map the next control was. Quite a bit of searching.

Nothing marking the control sites, of course, but I'm sure I was at all of them. Not that they were familiar, but all the twists and turns and junctions and islands and dead ends have their own distinct character. You know if you're right or not.

Glad I took my compass. Had to use it 3 or 4 times, lost my concentration for a moment and the compass came to the rescue. Probably 3 or 4 mistakes but not much time lost, a minute or two.

And really fun. :-)

C • Finding the next control 3

Night - Complete In Order - Splits