Training Log Archive: kissy

It's been awhile for yoga, but it felt good and I wasn't as rusty as I thought I'd be. I find, though, that even though my knee bends more now, by hip flexors and other muscles are still so tight that I can't do all of the poses. I need to work on that.

I brought my car in for its 10K check up and decided to go for a bike ride while I was waiting. The weather has been absolutely spectacular this week -- low humidity and cooler temps, but that's supposed to change this afternoon. The humidity is going back to normal levels -- dripping -- and the temps will climb again to HOT. So I thought getting the ride done in the morning was the smart thing to do.

This one's for Mikell:

C • VW 4

Another 900 meters. It felt good, so I might have to add on some distance next time. This was outside, again, on my way home from getting some groceries.

Weird story: I was in the paper goods aisle and some guy, probably around my age and looked like he would have fit right in at an orienteering event, was standing in front of the TP, looking closely at the shelf labels and then back at his phone. I walked right up and picked up the generic store brand that I always get when he asked me:

"Have you tried any others?"
"Other brands of toilet paper? Yes, but this is fine and it's cheap."
"So, it is....."
"Yup, it gets the job done."

Yikes.

C • That guy 2

C • looked like he would have f... 4

Body Pump

I'll put this as mt. biking because I was on my mt. bike, but it was on the C&O canal, so very flat and easy. There were a lot of folks out on the canal. I was grateful for the shade.

I'm adding this as strength training because it was very hard! My arms were toast by the end.

In order to conduct events in Patapsco Valley State Park, Quantico has to give back .5 volunteer hours for every start. That's a lot. So today, 25 club members showed up for trail maintenance. I thought we'd be walking along a trail, clipping away branches that were in the way. But no. We were actually creating a brand new trail which entailed starting in the middle of the woods and following pink flagging. Along the way, we had to hack out a 2 foot wide trail, with a 45˚ back stop and a trail slope of 5˚ - 10˚. It was *not* just clipping branches!

Here you can see the before and after. The area by the pink flags in the back is what we started with.



By the end, we had done three times the work that the ranger thought we'd be able to accomplish. It was super cool to walk back along the trail that we had just created.

C • Trail Building 2

I headed to Mom's after the trail work, and all I wanted to do was take a shower and relax. But they were ready to party at the Shepherdstown Street Fest, so off we went. It was a lot of fun, and Mom enjoyed the music.

Body Pump

This was an exploratory ride through Lake Fairfax Park, both to check out the trails and to check out my skills. I didn't do too badly on either front. I got a little misplaced on one set of trails at the exact same spot that I was confused one time while running! I need to memorize that area.

As for my skills, they weren't too bad. The seat was way high when I started out, probably from before I had my knee surgery and couldn't bend my leg very much. I lowered it, and it felt fine. I had to walk halfway up two hills, mainly due to poor gear management, and down one hill, mainly because it was pretty scary! Steep with lots of big rocks. I'll have to work up to that one.

My knee felt fine, though, which was good. There were also a lot more people on the trails than I thought there would be, with no clear indication if any of the trails are one way. A few times there were blind curves and I just prayed no one was coming the other way.

I did this outside! The Reston pools have a had a rough time opening this summer, with electrical and pump issues. But the late night pool finally opened, so I swam my laps outdoors. It is so much more enjoyable than in a hot, clammy gym pool.

My toe was still a little too sore to fit into my narrow biking shoe. Also, we had derecho-like weather pass through this afternoon, so I went to the gym to do my bike riding. It was unbelievably hot in the gym, so by the time I was finished, I was surrounded by a puddle of sweat. Sam Listwak would have been proud.

C • Toe 2

I was going to go for a bike ride today, but this morning I did what I have done far too many times in my life. I jammed by baby toe so hard that I could hardly walk for a little while and it turned black and blue. The weird thing about this time was the bottom of my foot by that toe got so swollen that I felt like I was walking on a marble. That has never happened before.

I tried to put my biking shoe on, but that was not going to work. So I headed to the pool instead, thinking that would be the best exercise I could do today. I swam a slow, steady 900 yards before my calf started cramping and I called it a day. I'm hoping my toe is better tomorrow.

Body Pump

All of my siblings and I went up to Mom and Don's for a "Celebrate Don Day." It was an early Father's Day and birthday combo party. We are all so grateful that Mom and Don found each other, and that Don is doing such a wonderful job taking care of her. Mom was actually doing great yesterday. The best I've seen her since early this year. That was a nice present.



Who's who: (left side, f to b): Mom, sister Karin, brother Erik; (right side, f to b): Don; brother-in-law Bob; sister Marit; Karin's daughter, Annika

C • who's who 1

Body Pump.

Went for a ride today to do some thinking. Unfortunately, on my way out I realized that (1) it was very hot at 98˚ and (2) I had no sunscreen on. So, I turned around earlier than expected with some very important lessons learned.

C • Preparation 1

I'm in Portland, OR for the weekend with Caitlin, visiting Graham who's out here for the summer doing an internship at the University of Portland. We spent the grey and rainy day on the Oregon coast. That seems to be the default weather out here.

C • Portland 2

Medium course at the annual Beer Chase. I didn't have any problems with the controls except for minor hesitations at two of them. I was moving well through the first loop, but after the second control on the second loop, I began to feel a little nauseous. It was very hot and humid out, and I was a little concerned about heat exhaustion. I even thought about DNFing, but I found that if I walked, the nausea diminished, so I walked most of the second loop.

As always, this was a very fun event. Lots of folks were there...it was good to catch up with people I hadn't seen in awhile. Plus, no ticks!

Medium - Splits

The old standby...Body Pump. I was hoping to also get out for a bike ride, but time slipped away from me today.

This was a busy week at work, with no time for exercising. We had to have positioning ready for Trump's announcement on the Paris agreement. We were prepared for if he pulled us out, pulled us partially out, and if he used his brains and get us in the accord. As usual, he was an idiot.