Training Log Archive: PG

Event: WCOC Ansonia Nature Center--NRE
 

Went to the Ansonia NRE. Totally enjoyable.

-- Excellent company: picked up Julia, Phil, and Steve for the drive down, couldn't ask for better. On the way back it was just the three old guys as Julia had ditched us, opting to stay in the area and do tomorrow's O' too. Nevertheless the conversation was still dignified. (I remember the CSU trip to the Tiomila a few years back. On the way back to Uppsala we swung by some out-of-the-way airport to drop off Ali. The van being now occupied just by males, all except for me rather young males, the conversation quickly went to hell, with Ian being the clear leader, he perhaps being the fewest years removed from high school....)

-- And good social hanging out at the event, both pre- and post-. My only fail (I think) was being introduced by Niels to a fellow named Danny and drawing a blank on who Danny might be, when, in fact, it was a person I'd been interested in meeting. Namely Danny O'Callaghan. Never met him before, know hardly anything about him. But a couple of months ago when the SML was at Big Basin in the redwood forests, when I was trying to see how the event was going and info was really hard to come by, I stumbled on his AP log and it was great. I saw he was on the list of those planning to be at Ansonia today. But this was a couple of days ago, and my memory just sometimes sucks.

-- And also a pleasure to see Barney and his family, though Barney totally ignored me, notwithstanding the fact that we have a history together. And Janet, who it seems has been the OUSA web-mistress for 15 years if I remember correctly. And George and Lynn, who I haven't seen for a while. And had a longish chat with Bill Duncan about his O' skills and occasionally lack thereof. And a few others.

-- Oh, and a bit of orienteering myself, very satisfyingly only 29.5 minutes of it, as I hustled my old body around the Brown course quite successfully, even running a fair bit, though rarely for more than 30 or 40 yards at a time. The woods are lovely, the course was an appropriate length and challenge (thanks, Joe), and I took only one fall, quite minimal, no apparent damage.

Were I to complain about anything it would be that 28.5 minutes would have been even more satisfying, but then most of the trip home would have had to be spent consoling Phil, so the actual outcome was surely for the best.

C • Next Time! 1

Brown - Splits

Spent several hours yesterday morning doing fall clean-up stuff outside. Clearly not used to such efforts as today most everything hurts.

I suppose the solution is to do such things more often. :-(

Bike and birding outing on the old roads on the north side of Quabbin, so lots of stops. Cold morning, upper 20s when I started, maybe 32 when I finished, NW wind 10-20 by the water but 0-10 in the woods. Total time out was 3.5 hours, and stayed pretty warm the whole time.

Mt. Toby jeep trail.

Bright sunny morning, 35 when I started, up to 45 by the end. Had on most of my winter clothing, very comfortable.

Included a little along the edge of some farm fields, a bit muddy but as pleasant as could be.

Rattlesnake Gutter.

Another of my run/hike things, because I didn't really feel like going out on the bike today and so why not.

It is, for now, an interesting experiment. At some point it may well become a stupid experiment, but not yet.

I was reminded today of when I first tried swimming laps in a pool, how could one get out of breath so quickly?

I got up to a max of two minutes of running. Most times one minute was enough, and then I'd walk a minute, and then repeat. Enough to drive one batty, except I have a lot of experience doing that in the latter stages of 100-milers, or at the Marathon Fundraiser a few years ago. Psychologically I can deal with it fine.

We will see. Today I ran a little more, and perhaps a little less slowly. The butt hurt, but it wasn't near so bad as at the corn maze. I was mostly thinking about the mechanics of breathing and of running, how to get things functioning better.

Got the two miles done, different spot today, dirt road, almost totally flat. And while it wasn't fun, it also wasn't awful.

We will see.

Another go at this. Doesn't feel awful so I suppose that's something.

About 50, cloudy, good breeze from the south. Got out my cold weather cycling jacket. Didn't take long before I was reminded of why I like it so much -- warm for sure, but also very easy to adjust the airflow if I'm getting too warm or too cold, with nice big zipper pulls that I can manage even with big mittens on. Love it.

Added about a mile or so of mountain bike mode towards the end. Up Gunn Mt. "Road", down the lower part of N. Mt. "Road". The former had a much more substantial erosion gully on the one steep pitch. I normally take the shelf on the right side, and did this time too, but it soon narrowed, and then narrowed some more and tilted, and then I'd spun out. But at least with my new really quick release cleats I had a foot out and firmly on the ground, as if I knew what I was doing. :-)

About 50, overcast, felt chilly. Thought I would do the Dry Hill Road climb, had done it once three years ago. Headed over that way and it seemed my watch was running fast, every mile took more time than what it felt like. Wanted to bag the climb, but at intersections I kept taking the option that led me there. The one good part was that there was a little uphill on the way there, got the legs and the heart going more than just staying on the flats. Crossed 63, didn't even think about turning onto it, and up it went.

About 11:30 for the climb three years ago. About 11:30 this time. That seems like a victory. I was pretty wasted at the top this time, but my guess is I was pretty wasted last time. The top is where the pavement ends, a woods road keeps going, managed my u-turn without falling off. Took a couple of minutes to catch my breath. And then headed home, wishing I had my nice jacket with the wind protection panels. And glad I had stuck to the plan. That often doesn't happen.

Pine Nook Road.