Training Log Archive: CleverSky

Woke up with the worst headache I've had in years, hit it with everything I've got, and beat it down to a tolerable level. No particular sense that it's directly related to covid, but maybe indirectly.

Nancy was going out, so I went with her, which was maybe good because otherwise I don't know if I would have gotten out at all. The headache wasn't really gone, and ramped its way back up after we got home so I've been groaning in bed all afternoon. Not much fun. The walk itself was fine.

Feeling considerably better today, not that that's saying much. Nice to be able to have the windows open.

Mostly pavement, but a bit on trails. Nice warm day, shorts weather. Still keeping the pace very relaxed, don't feel like triggering a coughing fit. No knee issues while walking, but back at home it definitely does not feel right if I move it in certain ways. Maybe I'll try biking over the weekend in hopes that won't aggravate it.

koff, koff...

Went in for a PCR test, and doc also put me on Paxlovid.

I had convinced myself to skip today, but when Nancy went out, I figured I had to as well. Compromised by just going down Gilchrest and back. GPS track is weird.

Left knee is still a little wonky, on the inside. Since all I'm doing is walking, it's not much of an issue. I've also had stabbing pain in my left calf muscle a few times, typically when I'm lying down. Doesn't last long.

Positive COVID test for Nancy this morning (no surprise there). I'm undoubtedly positive as well, just feels like a fairly minor cold. No big deal, other than changing plans for this coming weekend.

Considering we have some air travel coming up (PNWOF and O-Ringen), this is actually pretty good timing.

C • So... 11

Such a nice day out there. But motivating myself for exercise is going to be a challenge.

A low-key stroll around the block. Test was positive.

A few streets in Fitchburg with Nancy, at a subdued pace.

Not doing too badly on the medical front. I worked most of a full day, though I did take a nap in the afternoon. Pain at the injection sites is negligible (I ced them last night). I took a dose of vitamin X at 4 AM, another at 1 PM, and a third at 11 PM. I think I feel about like I did for the other COVID shots, so maybe no worse for the shingles or the possible COVID infection. Seems like I have a very slight sore throat, and a bit of congestion, but not more than I might typically have from allergies at this time of year. It's possible I'm running a fever, I haven't checked. I went to bed pretty early, then woke up after a few hours, and I'll try to get back to sleep now. Nancy and I will take COVID tests at the end of the week to decide what to do on the weekend. She's feeling mostly okay, certainly neither of us is as sick as Charlie seemed to be on Sunday, though I wouldn't have been interested in doing a Billygoat today.

Forgot to mention, I picked up half of a mylar balloon yesterday, on the way to #13. So, five points.

C • Question 2

Neighborhood stroll. Left knee is a little funky if I put it in certain positions, and I have some unsurprising soreness in a few muscles, but in general I came out of the Billygoat in surprisingly good shape, no blisters, nothing really hurting badly at all, and not as tired as I might expect. A far cry from when I first used to do these back in the 1980s, and I'd be a total wreck.

Whether or not it was a good idea, I can't say, but I got shingles-shotted this evening, as well as vaxxxxed for covid.

Billygoat, Letchworth State Park, 12.2 km, 550 m, 19th. This went pretty well. The pack I was in for most of the race, off and on, consisted of Zack Butler, Nate Lyons, Clint Morse, and Peter Zakrevski, plus Joe Brautigam early on.

Ice on the windshield in the morning, but I went with just a short sleeve shirt, and that was the right choice. I also wore a belt with a bottle of Ethan-All, though it was mixed a bit too strong.

Just running with the gradually thinning crowd for the first few. Joe was slightly ahead of us. My initial thought was that everybody was going to skip #26, but then I considered the options for skipping just before or after the fork, and saw that #9 looked attractive. I mentioned that to Clint, and he agreed.

We made up a little time on Joe when he was off a bit of #7 and #8, then we dropped immediately to the road to head for 10A, rather than going through the woods as some others did. We briefly caught up with a bunch of faster folks who had gone to #9, among them PZ, who CM and I were with about halfway to #11. SA has my biggest error as #11, but I think that must be partially an illusion created by the skipping/forking, because although I did swing a bit wide to the left after the little trail loop 3/4 of the way there, I don't think I lost nearly as much time as that estimate.

On the other hand, I would have expected that I did lose some time on #13. Since I had water with me, I intentionally stayed away from the water stop, and went further to the right, but I overdid it and ended up at the tiny uncrossable marsh well north of the line (after somehow miscounting jeep trails that I crossed). Easy enough to read the subtle contours from there and come into the control from the NNE, and maybe I avoided the worst of the vegetation. I arrived with CM, close behind NL and ZB.

CM started fading on the way to #14 (he had taken a fall going to #13), and I didn't know if I'd be able to keep up with NL and ZB either. I hung with them through #15 and #16 (taking some different routes), but it was getting tougher on the way to #17, though we were still pretty much together there, and I was close behind going to #18.

Going to #19 was where I made my move, though. I think they headed for the big gully halfway there and tried contouring around to the control. I stayed further left, up on the flats, and got to the brink directly above the control where I could look down from above and see what was going on. I spotted the reentrant and headed toward it while ZB overshot a bit. When I got there, PZ (who had been way ahead after skipping #15) seemed to be sifting through gravel or something. My guess is that he had dropped his epunch and spent about 10 minutes looking for it, finding it just as we showed up.

I was briefly in the lead heading to #20, never saw NL again. PZ passed me going to #21, and was ahead going to #22, but when I popped up where I expected it to be, he was just leaving. He drifted too high/left going to #23, and I recognized this, thinking it should be lower, and when I looked down I saw some people (on the Kid) and turned downhill, so PZ was coming down while I was on my way back uphill. The rest was pretty straightforward, so it was just a question of whether I could stay ahead of those guys. However, leaving #25, I spotted Benjamin Schmidt, who had been as much as five minutes ahead of us, but faded in the last few. I didn't even realize until seeing the results that he was doing the full Billygoat. I dropped to the paved road heading for #26, took the jeep trail from the clearing, and nailed it, then just went charging off in a vague NE direction across the marsh, looking for the parking lot, and spotted the OUSA feather flag behind the building when I got close, with enough oomph left to stay ahead of the crowd. (I shouldn't be too exceited about coming in ahead of Mr. Schmidt, as he apparently didn't get the memo and didn't skip any controls.)

Looks like skipping #9 was the best based on the AP skip analysis, and it may have been even better than that indicates, because some people who skipped #9 went straight, which was probably not as good as taking the road. This was quite a good race for me, my best placing and fastest time since 2003. Quite a fine course, with ideal weather, and though it was (barely) record-breakingly fast for the winner, I think the fact that Sharon was able to come in just under the wire to be the oldest ever official finisher means that the length was just right.

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C • Error on 11 1