Training Log Archive: RLShadow

Morning dog walk.

I wore a fairly old pair of shoes. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost my newest (and only "new" in any sense of the word) pair of shoes, Gel Kahanas that I bought about a month ago. I took them to the Rec Center when I went to play pickleball yesterday with the intent of putting them on if I wound up doing a walk/run outdoors. I did the walk/run thing but neglected to put them on, and also seemed to have neglected to bring them home. I went back over to the Rec Center late yesterday afternoon in search of them, but they were nowhere to be seen in the gym, and no one had turned them in.

C • Black hole 4

Mapping at Durand. Didn't get to spend as much time as I had hoped, due to weather (rain coming in earlier than expected, and then returning when I didn't think it would) and grandson activities.

Short walk into the next neighborhood, with Homer and Cheryl.

Pickleball at Webster Rec Center. I knew I needed to rest my right elbow totally, so my attempt to play was left-handed. However, any meager left-handed ability that I thought I had acquired didn't seem to be present today, so after 3 pretty poor games I decided that it really wasn't that much fun.

After retiring from pickleball for the day, I did a very short walk/run from the Rec Center. The usual 1 minute running/1 minute walking.

Late morning walk with Homer, over to Finn Park (with a swimming stop for him), then back via the Rt 104 path.

Another attempt at a mild run, to see how my knees react. Alternated 1 minute of running with 1 minute of walking.

Tues morning pickleball. Had some pretty decent games, enough for me to call this intensity 2 instead of 1. I was starting out with the intent of trying to learn to play with both hands -- right handed on my right side, and left handed on my left side. I sort of did that for a game or two, but it's obviously an acquired skill, switching the paddle from hand to hand when needed. A problem was that when I had the paddle in my right hand, and a shot came to my left side that required some reasonably quick reactions, it was a lot faster to keep the paddle in my right hand and hit a backhand, than to switch and hit a left-handed forehand. Not to mention that my right-handed backhand is way better than my left handed forehand. Then I wound up in a game with three other guys, all decent, and I just gave in and played purely right-handed. Then my elbow was feeling a bit sore, so I played the last two of my games purely left-handed. Thus, not real successful in terms of learning to play right handed on one side and left handed on the other.

Took our new car to Brad's trailer place on Lyell Ave to have a hitch installed. He said it would be something like 1.5-2 hours, which wasn't a real surprise, so I said I'd go out for a walk while I was waiting (it wasn't raining at that particular point in time). I headed east, towards the city, rather than west, because going west is not real pedestrian friendly, while there are sidewalks on both sides of the road heading east. I got to Mt. Read, at which point it had started to rain/snow, then headed back, which meant going into the wind, and the wind coupled with the rain/snow resulted in a much less pleasant walk back than my walk to Mt. Read. Stopped at McDonald's for an angus wrap, partly because I was a bit hungry, but mostly to get out of the elements. I got back after being gone a little less than an hour to find the car already done!

1 minute walk, 1 minute run etc. on the treadmill at the Rec Center.

Monday night pickleball group. Played two games right handed; I'll see how my elbow does tomorrow. I bought a different type of tennis elbow band (Band-It brand) which is reported to be the most effective, plus I bought a lighter paddle. I'll see how the elbow is tomorrow. Right now it feels fine.

After that, I played only left handed, with the weaker people, some of whom were quite weak indeed. In the last game I played, I started out serving, and our side won 10 points in a row (game is played to 11) on my serve. And it wasn't because my partner (who is one of the weaker players) or I really did anything special. Actually, the kind of amazing thing is that I got 11 serves in a row in bounds serving left handed (the 11th one, when we lost the rally, wasn't due to my service error or any other error on my part).

A short mapping trip to the DEC lands in Rush, to take a look at the NE portion of the DEC lands, which I didn't get to in my last trip there. With Cheryl and Homer.

It didn't look like the vegetation in most of this section was changed as dramatically as in the western part of the DEC property. But there were enough changes that it was worth updating the map in that section.

Event: ROC - RIT [2012 Sprint Series #1 Score-O]
 

Sprint at RIT. I tried running as much as I could, even though I'm totally out of running shape. I'll be interested to see if my knees are any worse for wear tomorrow. If not, then I'll continue trying to run at O meets, with no conditioning running in between.

I was moving slowly due to out of shapeness, and that was expected, but more frustrating is that I had a few bobbles navigationally that I shouldn't have had, which may have cost me 2-3 minutes total.

Finished 20th out of 31, probably about what I might have expected for my current conditioning. Split analysis said I only lost 1:34 in errors, but it seemed like a lot more.

One simple thing that would have helped would have been to have my clue sheet holder, so I could have had the clue sheet visible on my wrist, as opposed to sliding around on the back of the map. Knowing the control description would have saved a few seconds, at least, in a few spots, and possibly save a more significant mistake at one control.

Comments:

1-2: There didn't seem to be any perceptible difference to go around the big building to the left or the right, so I chose the left. For what it's worth, I observed Pavel as I was walking out to my car when I was done, and he went to the right.

2-3: I got off line to the west a little, not real far, but the swamp had expanded further to the east than it was mapped, so I had to go a bit out of my way to get around the swamp and to the control. Might have lost 15-20 seconds. (Split analysis said I lost 17 seconds, which seems about right.)

6-7: No real issues, but I think I took a slightly sub-optimum route about 2/3 of the way through the leg. I also went around the forbidden green area, in which the control was placed, to come in from the north side, which minimized going through the forbidden green, but didn't eliminate it. It seemed a bit odd to have a control where you had to go through an admittedly small amount of green to punch.

8-9: I had a slight bobble about halfway through this leg when I started to go down what would have been a dead end. I caught myself before going too far; maybe 20 seconds lost.

9-10: This was my worst leg, and the one where having a visible clue sheet would have helped. For some reason, I chose to go south around the building rather than north (having a clue sheet wouldn't have made any impact on that decision!). The south direction did look to be a little longer, but it looked "cleaner" (no green to stay clear of, or uncrossable walls). That by itself wouldn't have been too bad, even though in examining the map later, the southerly route was maybe 5% longer. But as I approached the area of the control, I wasn't focused on looking for a boulder, but for some reason thinking it was going to be a statue-type object in the courtyard like area just north of the circle. I obviously wasn't reading the map very well ... I was confused for a bit, then I finally looked south, and saw the control and the boulder, and it was clear how I had messed up. (Split analysis said I lost 1:03, and I can easily believe that.)

11-12: No issues seeing #12, but I took longer than I should have, making sure to check my map to assure I was taking 12 and 13 in the right order. Again, having a visible clue sheet might have saved me 10-20 seconds of confusion here. (Split analysis said I lost 14 seconds.)

13-14: No real issues, but I wasn't navigating as cleanly as I should have been, so I had to pay more attention to my map than I should have.

Also, while this didn't cost me any real time, the map symbol for #14 was an evergreen tree (a circle), and the control description was also an evergreen tree. That and the tree right next to it were both deciduous. I noticed the discrepancy as I approached, and did a quick check of my clue sheet so I'd know what the control code was, and when I got there I confirmed it was the correct control. Again, no lost time, except maybe a second or two as I checked my clue sheet.

Overall, an enjoyable map and course. I'd never done a campus sprint before; I suspected it would be fun, and it was.

I wasn't crazy about the weather (which was the same for everyone, of course). It was supposed to be around 48-50, but when I got home, it was 41 and I suspect it was around that temperature at RIT. And raining, of course. I didn't bring any gloves that would have been suitable to orienteer in, and my hands got very cold, which was certainly a bit distracting. It probably didn't help that I'm out of shape for running and couldn't keep any decent pace going, which might have helped me stay a little warmer.

Sprint - Splits

Mid-day ride; first time out on the bike in a while. Decent day; almost perfect temperature, sunny, and not too windy. My R knee was very slightly sore by the end of the ride. Hope that's not a serious sign.

Map updating at DEC lands adjacent to Rotary. Lots of changes in vegetation, all for the better (due to controlled burns). Unfortunately, there is no assurance that next time we use this map (probably in 2014) that it won't have changed again, for the worse that time. I would say this means the map needs to be updated prior to using it, whenever we use it.

Mapping at Durand. Actually, mainly just walking trails with the club GPS in hand, and with the previous map version along so I could pay some attention to things that had changed (mapped rootstocks that had deteriorated and were no longer mappable, etc.).

Very slow running around the gym at the Rec center before pickleball, to test out and warm up my left calf.

Tues morning pickleball. 100% left handed.

Mid-day walk with Homer, to Finn Park, then around the big block.

Morning walk with Homer, before it got too hot for him.

My left calf, where I pulled a muscle at pickleball on Saturday, seems to be about 80% recovered. I was able to walk reasonably normally, but I'm still aware of some tightness/soreness in the pulled muscle area.

Durand mapping.

No issue with fingers being too cold today. (82 F when I got home.)

Setting out a loop of 7 controls for today's Mendon meet. With Cheryl.

The pulled muscle in the left calf was noticeable, especially when going up hills, but was tolerable. Although it limited my walking speed.

Played about 10 minutes of pickleball (left-handed, of course), just warming up (no game). I hustled up to retrieve a short shot, and in the process pulled my left calf muscle pretty badly. I was able to eventually walk around almost normally, at a slow pace, but any running, even the tiny amount of running needed to play pickleball, was totally out of the question. So that ended my pickleball for today. I'm hoping I'll be able to walk well enough by tomorrow morning to set out my portion of the controls at Mendon.

Stationary bike in the fitness area of the rec center, while Cheryl and trailsnail and Paul and one other guy finished up their final pickleball game. Fairly fast rpm but very low intensity, to avoid aggravating my calf muscle issue.

More mapping at Durand.

Th afternoon walk-in pickleball at the Rec center. Again, I played 100% left handed. Gradually getting a bit better. Main weakness is handling hard or semi hard shots hit right at me when I'm at the net.

Walk with Homer at Ellison Wetlands. Once more, for the 2nd time in 3 days, my Forerunner said "low battery" as soon as I turned it on, even though I know I had charged it the day before. It recorded 17 minutes; I actually walked for 46 minutes. I scaled up the distance accordingly. Not sure what's going on with the Forerunner ...

C • Forerunner 4

Tues morning pickleball, playing left-handed the whole time. I lost more games than I won, no surprise ...

Stationary biking in the fitness center after pickleball.

More mapping at Durand. Weather was a bit better than yesterday (a little warmer, and not quite as windy), although it started to rain lightly during the last 5 minutes.

Monday evening pickleball group. Because my tennis elbow issue seems to be getting worse, I decided I needed to totally forgo playing right handed for a while, so I was determined to stick with left handed playing tonight, even though I play much better playing right handed, and therefore have more fun. (To re-phrase a saying I heard about another activity -- "I play for fun. Hitting good shots, and making few mistakes, is fun.")

I did OK, and I'm improving bit by bit. I can actually hit an occasional backhand now, in fact maybe even 50% success (vs about a 5% success rate when I started playing left handed). Unfortunately, playing left handed precludes me from playing in games with the better players. In one game, it was me and three fairly clueless people (one of whom was very new, so she had a good reason to be clueless, but the other two have been playing for a while now and really should be at least understanding things like how to keep score, how the serves rotate, etc.). Other games weren't so bad, though.

Mapping at Durand. Not exactly great mapping weather -- a bit too cold, at least for the first half hour or so, for fingers to be warm enough to write, so I wore gloves with open fingers, and that was OK for warmth but a little awkward to write. Also, very windy, which makes it tough with two layers of Mylar on the map board.

Went with Cheryl and Homer, although they went their separate ways.

My GPS immediately said it had a very low battery, even though I had charged it last time I used it, just a couple of days ago. This happens to me very occasionally and I can't figure out the cause. So the battery lasted for 35 minutes, about half the time I was out. I kept track of the time on a regular watch, and estimated the distance from knowing what my snail-like mapping pace usually is.

Informal Sat. afternoon pickleball group. We had 7 people, which is about the least desirable number (8 would have been great), but we had a good time. Playing were: Paul, trailsnail, Mike, Debbie, Sandy, Helena (a very good lady who I had never met before), and me.

I played 2 games left handed. My R elbow was definitely complaining by the end. Guess I need to either take a significant break from pickleball (if I decide to have arthroscopic surgery on my knee, that would be a forced layoff from pickleball, so maybe the knee surgery would also cure my elbow woes!), or else figure out how to modify my game to have it not bother my elbow as much.

Mid-afternoon walk with Homer. Much more pleasant weather than yesterday.

Mid-day walk with Homer. Sunny but not the least bit warm, and a moderate wind from the west, which was noticeable/annoying during the fairly long stretch of heading west on the Rt 104 path.

Walk with Homer at Whiting Rd.

I neglected to stop my watch when finished, so there is about a 2-mile track on the roads which I manually deleted ...

I had an MRI on my right knee this past Monday, and an appt today to review the results with the ortho doctor who I'm seeing.

The good news is that he found something in the MRI, so he is taking my problem more seriously now, spending more time with me, etc. The bad news, of course, is that he did find something, confirming a problem. It appears to be some torn or otherwise out of kilter cartilage. "Flapping in the breeze" was a term he used a couple of times. He suggests arthroscopic surgery to clean it up. That would mean about a week on crutches, and 4-6 weeks before I'm reasonably recovered.

I asked about running after surgery and recovery -- unfortunately, he really recommended against it. He said elliptical, biking, things like that would be fine. I asked about doing significant walking (long walks, for fitness), and he said that would be fine, in fact that would be beneficial. I forgot to ask him about skiing.

So, I've now had two doctors, one of whom is a knee specialist, recommend against running, so maybe I'll need to resign myself to retiring from running.

I'm on the fence about the surgery. Since I've stopped PT, the knee isn't exceedingly painful (of course, I'm doing very little at the moment, also). I suspect any surgery has some risk of complication, presumably not life threatening in the case of arthroscopic surgery, but maybe a risk of making things worse instead of better. So I need to find out a little more about the pros and cons before deciding whether to go that route or not.

C • knee 2

Tues morning pickleball group at the Rec center. I wasn't as conscientious as should have been about playing left handed -- I think I played 3-4 games right handed and about the same number left handed. Hopefully I didn't aggravate my R elbow too much.

Walk at Ellison Wetlands, with Cheryl and Homer. Sunny day, low 40's.

Monday night pickleball group. I played mostly left-handed, because my elbow has been feeling a bit tender today. I think I played 2 games right-handed (when I was with 3 pretty decent players, and my team would have gotten demolished if I had played left handed), and 4-5 games left handed. I'm starting to feel semi competent left handed. I can even hit an OK backhand once in a while (maybe 1 out of 3 tries, which is an improvement from a few weeks ago).

C • Indeed 2

Pickleball at the Rec Center. Eight people there (actually 9 at the max), so two full courts. Most of the games had things broken down roughly by level of play; I was on a court with Paul, Carole, and Mike, all generally about the same level, so we had a lot of competitive games, with every possible combination of partners. I then retired from right-handed playing to not overly strain my right elbow, sat out for a while, then played one last game left-handed, with trailsnail as my partner, against two ladies roughly her level. We prevailed in a fairly competitive game.