"You can't put peanut butter in coconut pudding!"

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

I like to use Facebook to post the amazing pictures I take whenever I’m backpacking in the Adirondacks. Once in a while, I’ll put in an update…usually something about my training so that friends can criticize me more easily than they can on the blog. Last night I found that making the appropriate posting can have excellent results.

I mentioned that I was having sugar withdrawal. The more aerobic training I do, the greater my desire for sweets. This is not so uncommon for endurance athletes since the activity they’re doing makes great demands on their storage of glycogen (sugar stored in muscles that fuels aerobic activity). The glycogen is depleted and needs to be replaced before the next bout of exercise and if it isn’t, endurance performance will suffer. Let me make it clear that my performances never suffer for lack of sugar intake…I got that going for me.

So…I needed something late Wednesday night and posted that there was no ice cream, cookies, pudding, cobbler or other sweets in the house. Five minutes later, Holly was in the kitchen, clanging pans around and mumbling something about my being a ‘whiner’. I am a whiner and tend to ignore the word when I hear it, but I couldn’t figure out what I’d been whining about that she’d have heard since I was downstairs and she was up in her office.

“I saw your posting on Facebook, whiner baby girlie man, and so I’m making you some pudding. You don’t like chocolate, do you,” she said. Actually, I’ll eat about anything.

“Well…it’s not my favorite, but I’ll take it,” I said. She found some coconut, which I said was fine and she started cooking.

“You gonna put some peanut butter in it?” I asked. She looked up from the stove like I’d lost my mind. She always put peanut butter in pudding, though I suppose it was vanilla and chocolate.

“You don’t put peanut butter in coconut pudding,” she said with some disgust, like I was a moron or something. I responded with an ‘oh’ since I didn’t want to push my luck. She finished it and left it in the pan on the stove to cool some before pouring it into pudding glasses. I wasn’t waiting for that nonsense. I went into the kitchen, grabbed the peanut butter jar and a spoon and began shoveling it into the still-hot pudding. It melted nicely into the dessert. I scooped out a large quantity into a cereal bowl and immediately began to eat. It was perfect…and you can, in fact, add peanut butter to coconut pudding with excellent results.

I’d done a long ride earlier, which is what I blamed for my craving. I’d put in a 2-hour effort over a road I hadn’t ridden before and won’t be riding again. I’d picked up Caves off of Mulberry and headed south to Dines/Pekin. I wanted to try something different and since it’s hillier, I knew it would be more challenging. It’s a very busy road after work though, and has no shoulder to speak of. I don’t recommend it. I returned on my more traditional and favorite route.

John didn’t ride with me as we’d planned because he is still laying in bed recovering from our trip to the Adirondacks. It was a grueling event for someone his age and will take him some time to get back in the swing. He’s not the man he…well… never was…and it’s getting worse. Maybe he’ll be recovered enough by the weekend to give it another try. As for me…back to running tomorrow.

P.S.  Postman:  Let me know when you're in town...we'll do Slyman's together..then run...they puke.
Bike duration: Two hours.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,800.

Back to back runs and a night at Petti's - life is good.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

All the peach cobbler was gone, so I had to revert to cereal for breakfast. There weren’t any Frosted Flakes either, so now my day couldn’t possibly start out “grrrrrrreat”. I reached for the Honey Nut Cheerios.

There was a cool, nasty rain falling as I drove to work and it would continue unabated for the entire day. I kept looking out my window at a sky of total grey, hoping that I’d see a patch of blue somewhere providing some hope for a bike ride. I mean…I could set up the bike on the trainer, but it’s September and I just don’t want to ride inside so early in the fall. No…that just wasn’t an option.

I began the drive home…but not home. I knew where I was going and what I was doing…and had for the entire day. I was going to run again…to hell with the hip. It just had to hold up and if it didn’t…well…I’d know and I’d make another plan. I’d been looking for signs throughout the day. I thought about it with every step I took going up and down stairs. I worried when I got into the car that I’d feel that sharp, familiar pain. It never came.

I reached the park and changed into my running gear. It was still raining lightly, but the temperature was in the 50’s and rain never bothers me on the run. I did some light stretching for the calves before doing the short walk to my favorite running trail. Everything felt solid as I walked and, frankly, I was completely confident that the run would go well. It did…for around 20 minutes. That’s when I started to feel a little pain in my left buttocks. Now…it was different than the hip pain for sure, but since it was on the same side, I started sweating it. I didn’t stop running…of course…just increased the worrying.

I finished the course, which took 30 minutes, with nothing worse than the throb in my butt. Actually, some pain was running down to my foot, but I managed to ignore that, as well. I walked a couple of minutes to test the hip and there was no pain. Tomorrow, John and I were planning to do a ride and that was fine. I’d give it that day to rest and then try another run on Friday. I’m far from convinced it’s healed, but with two consecutive days running, I’m getting closer.

Holly and I made a trip to Petti’s Pizza for dinner. It’s been a long time. When we lived in Willowick, it was our favorite pizza place and I’d always eat half a sausage pizza while downing a couple of tall glasses of a thick, chocolate milkshake. I ate the half pizza as I always did, but washed it down with Diet Coke (they don’t serve Diet Pepsi – my first choice). It’s just not the same, but I probably saved about 500 calories. The pizza is still pretty damned good, by the way.

Run duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.

A second, pain-free run...

Monday, September 27, 2010

I started the day with the left over peach cobbler for breakfast. I suppose it’s not that much worse than the bowl of Frosted Flakes I’d eat normally and I didn’t scoop any ice cream in the bowl with it so…I guess its okay.

I don’t know why I felt so great during and after the ride yesterday. Luck, I guess. My plan was for a run today, but again, I’m not too optimistic that it will go well. I’ve had no trouble with the hip from the last run, but I’m always reluctant to believe that something is healed. I guess I’ve had too many nagging injuries over the years and am always expecting the other shoe to drop.

The day was cool and overcast, which is perfect for running as far as I’m concerned. I always ran my fastest times under such conditions and is just another reason I hate to be injured and out of running in the fall. If I were entirely healthy, I’d be looking to run an hour plus almost every day. Well…today I’d be satisfied with 15 minutes pain-free.

I chose a boring, flatter course in the Metroparks, but 4 minutes into the run changed my mind and headed up the hill for my favorite course. I’d just run it Friday successfully, so maybe it would bring me luck. I was stopped by a couple of hikers who were trying to find the Overlook Pavilion and after giving them the directions in great detail, started out again. I ran past it myself at the 20-minute mark and was feeling ridiculously good. I wanted to run faster and farther, but would hold back on both counts to limit the impact on the hip.

The final part of the run was down hill and I was very cautious not to go too fast as this would create the greatest pounding. I reached the car in a little under 32 minutes, so I passed it to round the time up. As I walked back to the car for my cool down, I pondered what this meant. No pain from a hip that had me crying 8 weeks ago. Should I try again tomorrow and give it another couple of days between runs? I mean…if it’s healed, it’s healed and I ought to be able to run every day. I afraid to find out it isn’t, but I’ll wait until tomorrow to make that decision. Since it’s supposed to rain all day and that would knock biking out, I may just try running again.

Run duration: 32 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.

Another 50 mile bike ride...

Sunday, September 26, 2010

I was bad at church...again. Not about counting my resting pulse, though I did, but the way I ate after the service. We have a little coffee hour thing and there’s always some pastry out, which I typically ignore. Not so this time. There were some brownie things with all kinds of chocolate and nuts on top and some good looking cookies. I couldn’t decide which one to take…so I took two…of each.

I needed a good workout and I knew it. It was a little cool, but I knew I had to get on the bike and ride…long. I had most of the afternoon so there was no excuse for time.

I headed for the ‘Iron Lung’ and Pekin Road. I figured a good two-hour ride was in order and was feeling pretty confident after all the hiking I’d done. My neck and shoulders had been quite sore in the weeks leading up to the Adirondacks from the riding I’d been doing, but that seemed to be gone…for now. I have check points on this course and I was hitting my fast ones through the first 30 minutes. Since I was thinking I’d turn after one hour, I wanted to push hard to that point and see how close I could come to my one hour p.r. I managed to get within a couple hundred yards of it and was feeling so good that I just kept going.

Pekin was pretty quiet…as it usually is and I was completely enjoying the ride. Normally, my shoulders and neck would be sore after 90 minutes of riding, but they weren’t. As I approached my turnaround on Butternut somewhere out near Burton, I had an Amish buggy pull out from a farm and onto the road about a hundred yards ahead of me. I didn’t know the protocol for this situation. I was moving reasonably faster than the buggy and was concerned about spooking the horse should I attempt to pass. I was almost to my turnaround and could just hang behind it…but then the horse would think that I was some kind of wimp and totally lose respect for me. I made my move and passed him by going completely to the other side of the road. I got a ‘thumbs up’ from the driver…his horse was like Secretariat or something…as I sped by.

The return trip was down right cold. My feet were beginning to freeze since I wasn’t wearing socks. It’s funny how fast you become a freeze baby in the fall. If it had been in the 50’s in April when I first started riding outside, I’d think myself blessed with a heat wave, yet here I was in early September and whining…to no one in particular…like a little girl. Damn…man up.

Anyway, I was freezing, but still riding strong. I passed the two hour mark thinking I could ride a century today. I was thinking it because I didn’t actually have the time to do it and find out that I couldn’t, so thinking it was okay and manly. I continued to feel strong right up until the last couple of miles from home…when I started to think I was happy I was about done.

I ended up riding a little over three hours and covering about 52 miles. It was a good pace and burned the calories I needed to burn for the second dessert I was going to have after dinner…peach cobbler and ice cream. I’d probably have it for breakfast tomorrow morning, as well. I digress. I do that. A lot.

Bike duration: Three hours and 10 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2,800.

Working at Spo's

Saturday, September 25, 2010

I headed over to Spo’s place early that morning to do some chores for Mimi. It would be my first time there since his death and I knew there would be plenty of small tasks that needed to be done. Mimi had told me that water had been spilling over the gutters on the porch and that the water had been running in. I knew I’d need to get up to the second level and clear the downspout. As soon as I arrived, I went for the shed and grabbed the extension ladder. As I made my way across the back of the house and onto the deck, Mimi spotted me and yelled at me to drop what I was doing and get inside for a cup of coffee. Bob always insisted on sitting and drinking a cup while discussing what we’d be doing that day and to catch up on what had happened in our lives since our last get-together. She knew it and was making certain I started the work day in the only truly proper fashion – being social.

I know I make Mimi nervous with the way I work. I don’t think she like to see me climbing twenty feet to her second story to mess with something as harmless as dead leaves. The gutters were going to keep flooding into the porch unless I removed them, I explained and so after the coffee I climbed to the roof.

Now…my eyes aren’t what they were and maybe my brain was a half a bubble off, but as I began to climb, it seemed that the ladder was not as secure as it should have been. By the time I realized the problem, I was too far along to remedy the situation. I’d extended the ladder a little less than I should have and its ends were touching the gutter about mid-way up and no higher. Normally, I’d run it a full rung past the top of the gutters and I thought I had, but now I was a rung from the top and moving very gingerly. I didn’t want to bounce at all as I could see that it would take very little to dislodge my placement and send me to the deck. I could retreat and extend it farther, but that would mean I’d climbed to the top and not taken any leaves from the gutters. Not going to happen. I slowly reached over head and began pulling leaves and tossing them to the ground. I covered about a five foot stretch on either side of the ladder, breathing slowly, before beginning my descent. I hadn’t been able to take my pulse, but I’m sure it was higher than the work I was doing warranted. I reached the ground and extended the ladder another couple of feet before climbing back to the roof.

I tried to make the morning a workout. I hustled all around the property clearing gutters, raking leaves, dumping them in the woods, fixing lights and drain pipes, and moving old, heavy televisions. I continually did a ‘hip’ check, but it was pain-free throughout. I broke a decent sweat and headed for home in the early afternoon thinking I’d hop on the bike before the bonfire/picnic we were scheduled to attend later that evening. As it turned out, Holly had some work for me back home and I never had the chance to ride. I suppose I was okay with that since I was still nervous about the hip. There was always tomorrow and at least I’d had an active day.

Finally...a run.

Friday, September 24, 2010
Heidi was home from Kent and needed to go downtown to visit a print shop as a field trip for one of her classes. I dropped her off and agreed to pick her up later on my way to an appointment I had on the east side. She was done around 1 p.m. and my appointment wasn’t until two. Now normally, this would not leave enough time to stop anywhere good for lunch, but we were downtown and Slyman’s was a couple of blocks away…and she’d never been to Slyman’s.

“They’ve got the best corned beef sandwiches in the world…and they’re as big as your HEAD!” I was quite enthusiastic, though a sandwich the size of anyone’s head did not appear to hold the fascination for Heidi that it did for me. We parked on the East 33rd, just off St. Clair and made our way to the door. As is always the case, there was a line out the door for take-out service. We slipped past and were immediately seated. The delicious smell of shaved corned beef had my mouth watering before my butt hit the seat. Heidi looked to our left and saw someone wrestling with a sandwich…trying vainly to get their mouth around it without dropping anything.

“Holy cow…those are as big as my head,” she exclaimed. I ordered the corned beef, but she went for the turkey melt, completely intimidated by the size of the sandwich she’d seen our neighbor choking on. Five minutes later we were served and in 15 minutes, we’d paid our bill and were out the door. Heidi loved the sandwich and now I’ve only Holly and Savannah left to introduce to Cleveland’s best sandwich place.

Now I needed time. My plan was to try a run, but any thoughts of running within four hours of eating at Slyman’s would be less than prudent. My hip had been a little tender during parts of the camping trip, but at some point I had to give it the true test…running. As I pulled into the park, I finalized my plan and course. Maybe 3 minutes of running and, if no pain, a couple of more. No more than 5 and I’d fill the rest of an hour with a hike off-trail. I laced on my shoes full of trepidation and expecting the worst. It had been almost two months since I’d last run regularly. I started very slowly and with extreme caution.

It didn’t take long to get to 5 minutes and since I was pain free, decided to keep going to until I reached a little-used trail where I knew I’d like to hike. When I reached that point in around 8 minutes…well…I kept running. At 15 minutes I was still doing fine and couldn’t get my legs to stop. I always seem to go too far with these things and so had decided I would absolutely go no further than 30 minutes. I was heading back to the car with the watch approaching 25:00 when I thought I felt a twinge. I stopped immediately and walked briskly, but felt nothing. I started up once again, but after 30 seconds decided not to push it and just walked the remaining half mile to the car.

So…25 minutes of running and no pain during the run. I was troubled by the feeling I’d had near the end, but hours later, was walking fine and without pain. Maybe? I’d give it a few days before trying again.

Run duration: 25 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 375.

Back in the saddle again...

Thursday, September 23, 2010

I don’t know exactly why, but I’ve been overly fatigued for a couple of days. Maybe it was all the sleep I missed in the mountains or the amount of activity we had while there, but my energy levels have been way down. Still…I had to get back on the horse, or in my case…the bike.

I drove to the park at the end of the day with the bike in the car. I’ll do this sometimes…not start my rides from home…because I know I can’t get distracted by the things there that distract me and might give me an excuse not to work out. I also get to skip the busy roads closer to my home that I hate to ride. It does force me to start with the Rogers Road climb right away, but there’s always some give and take. I had only been on the bike about 5 minutes when I noticed my rear brakes were not completely releasing. This can be a slight problem…making it feel like you’re riding uphill all the time. Not what I had in mind for my first ride back and already feeling fatigued. I stopped to adjust it and had one kind cyclist stop and ask if I needed help. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, but isn’t always. For a while, I thought I wouldn’t get it fixed and, in fact had started to return to the car when I decided I’d just ride without brakes. They’re way overrated anyway and I HAD to do something!

My bike complained on the ride up Rogers…I’ve broken chains on this hill before…and so did my thighs. I spent the entire first half of the ride feeling like crap and riding more slowly than normal. I figured ‘so what?’ I wasn’t trying to impress anyone and I had nothing to train for at the moment. Just put in some riding time, burn some calories and break a good sweat. By the time I reached my turnaround, I was starting to feel more than a little guilty and decided to ratchet it up for the return trip…and I did.

I stopped by Mimi’s place on the return trip. She and I had spoken after Bob’s death and decided this would be the weekend I’d come over and do all the work to winterize the house. It felt strange riding up the drive knowing Bob was no longer there…this being the first time since he’d died in July…but I needed to get past it and help her. She gave me a Snapple Diet Peach Iced Tea, which I always told Bob I’d work for and after figuring out a time for Saturday, I was back on the bike for the conclusion of the ride.

Something isn’t quite right with the body and the ride demonstrated it to me more clearly. Maybe a couple of workouts will have me grooving again…we’ll just have to wait and see. For now at least, I moving forward again.

Bike duration: One hour and 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,350.

Tomorrow...I'll get it back in gear for sure.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

My first day back to work was a drag. I couldn’t help but slip mentally back to the Adirondacks, particularly since my screen saver was a beautiful shot from the summit of Rocky Peak Ridge. I found out that Reza and I had nearly run into each other over the weekend. He’d decided to return to the mountains to show his girlfriend how fantastic they are. They took advantage of the bunk house at the ADK LOJ and did two day hikes from there. They did climb Mt. Marcy, New York’s tallest peak at 5,344 feet. It’s a great climb, but also quite popular. The two times I’ve climbed it, I’ve found myself surrounded by 30 or more other hikers. I suppose I had to do it, but I prefer to go to peaks where I’m likely to be alone…which is most of the other peaks in the region.

Reza made an interesting observation. He said his girlfriend was not in shape to climb aggressively, but they took their time and eventually completed the job. I’d done the same with my cousin when we climbed Mt. Van Hoevenburg. There are so many fabulous trails and peaks to climb in the region and, if you take it at a pace that fits your level of conditioning, there is no reason you can’t enjoy the vistas. I feel good knowing that Reza was impressed enough with our trip to return so quickly.

By day’s end, my funk was so overwhelming that I decided to forego a workout. Instead, I came home, mowed the grass I’d been ignoring for a couple of weeks, played some Frisbee with Jack and then lounged around for the rest of the night. Actually, I was really pretty tired…I think all the missed sleep was catching up to me…and turned in early. Tomorrow is another day and I’ll get my butt back in gear.

Post-Adirondack blues...

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

I had taken the day off because I had hoped for a longer stay in the Adirondacks. Work had brought me back earlier, which is a shame since the best day at work isn’t as good as a bad day in the Adirondacks. Oh well…

I was feeling good, but had so much cleaning up to do to put my gear back in shape before putting it away for the winter. I spent most of the morning on that activity before heading to a business luncheon. I ate like a health nut at the lunch since I was meeting with the ‘You’ Doc from the Cleveland Clinic, Mike Roizen…having only a bowl of chicken and rice soup, so I was still hungry when I returned home. I wolfed down three pieces of old pizza and the remainder of my pinole, which seemed to fill the void in my stomach. I don’t think he’s reading my blog yet…shame on him…so he won’t know anyways.

It was a perfect day for a ride, but I put it off until it got too late. Fortunately, Holly wanted to do a walk in the park and later that night, wanted to do a second walk around the block. I joined her for both.

And now I move into that very difficult time for me…post event training. I’ve been getting ready for this last trip all summer…physically and emotionally. I do so well when I’ve got something I’m pointing towards…it keeps me training regardless of how I feel. Now…there’s a void. I’m in great shape…maybe the best I’ve been in the last 20 years, but no where to go. I must admit that without the blog, I might slip into a period of inactivity, but there is no way I want to write about backsliding. Anyway, I’ll probably take a couple of days off to rest the aching body a little and to figure out what I’m going to be doing for the rest of the fall. I sure wish I could run…that would make it a no-brainer, but with the changing weather and shortening days, riding becomes increasingly difficult.

Hike duration: One hour.
Training Heart Rate: 70 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 350.

The final day...

Monday, September 20, 2010

John set his alarm for 6:15 a.m. since he wanted to get an early start climbing. I hate alarms on vacation, but it doesn’t matte too much since I wake up about every 60 minutes when camping. There was an icy dew on the tent and our breathing had left the inside covered in moisture. We broke camp quickly, packing the gear loosely in the trunk and getting on the road by 7 a.m. We both skipped breakfast, but stopped at Noonmark to grab a cup of coffee and use indoor plumbing. The trailhead to Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge Mountains is only a couple of miles outside of town and we were there and ready to hike a little after 8. I knew John had to work tomorrow and wanted to be home as early as possible, so I knew we’d have to hustle. The trail we would be following climbed up to within a tenth of a mile of the peak of Giant where it reached a juncture that led a thousand feet down a steep trail to a col before ascending another 800 feet to the summit of Rocky Peak Ridge…our destination. If we had time, I wanted John to get to the peak of Giant as well. It offered spectacular views that were unavailable on Rocky Peak and since we’d be within 10 minutes of Giant on our return, I figured he HAD to see it.

The climb up Giant is continuously steep, rising over 3,000 feet in 3 miles. It’s also one of the most beautiful trails in the Adirondacks since it winds in a switchback fashion up the east face of the peak offering amazing views of the High Peaks for most of the climb. I pushed the pace in hopes of making the peak of Rocky Peak Ridge in 3 hours. We hit the juncture in two, which left an hour to get there, but discovered quickly that the descent into the col between the two mountains was extremely steep and very slow going. I was buoyed by the fact that we hit bottom in 28 minutes and kept the pace up as we climbed. We hit the summit 55 minutes after leaving the juncture and were rewarded with one of the best open summits I’ve ever been on in the Adirondacks. The views were unobstructed in every direction except back towards Giant, which was taller than Rocky Peak, but the skies were a clear, deep blue and we could easily see Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains of Vermont 50 miles to the east.

There was one other hiker on the peak and we asked him to take our picture. He said he’d forgotten his camera, but since he had a business card with an email, I took pictures of him which I assured him I would send off as soon as I returned to Ohio. Isn’t technology great?

The wind was blowing hard and we were cooling quickly. I put on my coat and sat to have some nourishment. John had been flagging during the climb and I suspect it was due to his lack of sustenance. We both needed some calories and wolfed down 5 energy bars and a bag of gorp between us. We also mixed 32 ounces of iced tea/lemonade and drank it all. Refreshed, we retraced our steps back to the juncture with Giant Mountain. The steep climb out of the col to that point left us fatigued and I was unsure about John’s willingness to climb up to Giant’s summit.

“We’re this close…we have to do it. Let’s go,” he said. I didn’t hesitate a moment and in a little over 10 minutes we were on Giant’s summit. The mountain is appropriately named. Although it is only the 12th tallest in the High Peaks of the Adirondacks, it dominates everything around it. All of the other taller peaks are far to its west and mostly visible from our vantage point. We took it in for about 15 minutes and after taking some more pictures and finishing the gorp, headed back down the trail to our car.

Exhaustion set in over the final miles and we reached the car about 7 hours after we’d started. We’d hiked and climbed another six hours and nine miles over with elevation changes totaling around 5,000 feet. Our legs were really feeling the strain of the three days, but particularly the down hills, which are brutal. We drove a short distance down the road to Chapel Pond where we plunged in for a clean-up before our 9+ hour ride home. No one wants to spend time in a closed car with me when I’ve been on the trail for the day…including me. We stopped and made sandwiches just outside out Utica since we were both quite hungry, but didn’t want to waste time at a restaurant since we wouldn’t be getting home until after 1 a.m.

I must admit I felt great and if we’d had longer, I’d have gladly done more. The hip did bother me some during the three days, but the endurance was never in question. My training had been more than adequate to the task for all three trips I’d taken over the summer and I’d never felt at a disadvantage when climbing with much younger and well-conditioned people.

Hike duration: Six hours.
Training Heart Rate: 70-160, depending on terrain.
Calories burned during workout: 3,000.

An easy day...

Sunday, September 19, 2010

As usual, I was up for an early morning walk by 6:30 a.m. It was overcast and looked like rain, but things change quickly in the Adirondacks and so I would hope for clearing later in the morning. We were going to climb Mt. Van Hoevenberg today, which was only 6 miles round-trip and didn’t require such an early start. Donnie was here for the climb and I’d specifically picked it for its beautiful views and easy access. Donnie is my age, keeps his weight down, but doesn’t train to climb. I’d told him he could do this hike, but it would take some time. He was worried about slowing us down, but after the day we’d just had…slowing down was going to work just fine.

Breakfast was once again a choice of oatmeal, pinole bars, Cliff bars and gorp. We didn’t want to bother climbing in overcast and foggy conditions since they would obscure any view, so we made a trip over to the ADK LOJ and camping store. They have all of the right kind of miscellaneous gear for back country hiking and climbing, which makes it worth the time. We managed to kill about an hour in this fashion and were encouraged by the posted weather report calling for clearing skies. By the time we returned to the camp site, packed our day pack with rain gear and food, it was beginning to clear.

The trailhead is about a mile from the camp site and an easy walk on a dirt road. The first mile of the hike is a trail that winds through majestic, white pines which provide a trail bed of fallen needles. The smell is wonderful and there are no roots or rocks with which to contend. The trail makes its way to a large, several acre beaver pond and the first opening in the canopy, which offers a distant view of the peak we’re headed to climb. I pointed out its rocky, open face to Donnie.

“Wait…what…we’re walking all the way up there?” He was surprised that he needed to tilt his head back and that it was ‘up there’.

“It’s call a mountain for a reason, Donnie. Don’t worry…we’ll take our time and you’ll be fine. And don’t start whining…that’s John’s job,” I said. John nodded his agreement. A mile from the peak, the grade becomes quickly steeper. There’s a 1,700 foot gain in elevation and it has to happen some time. Donnie was wearing blue jeans…I told him that cotton kills and that he should wear shorts, but he’s got ugly legs and didn’t want us to see them. Anyway, he was breaking a good sweat and probably wishing he’d taken my advice. We took our time and climbed slowly, but steadily.

After an hour, we broke through the foliage to the open shelves of rock that made up the peak. The views are fabulous looking south and west where many of New York’s tallest peaks are on display. We sat and ate some energy bars and gorp before beginning our descent. Donnie needed to get home…a two-hour drive north to Massena…and although I didn’t care about making him a little late, I reluctantly stopped my picture taking and started down.

The return trip was quick and easy and Donnie was on the road by 3 p.m. After another frigid, cleansing dip in the creek, we returned to camp with time to kill before dinner and decided to do some exploring in the South Meadows. As we often do when not climbing, we walked slowly, taking in the beauty of the woods. We found a newly constructed wooden bridge over Klondike Brook and took the opportunity to just sit on it and discuss our lives and luck at being able to take the time to enjoy these magnificent surroundings.

We returned in time to begin making dinner, which was some kind of pasta/rice tomato parmesan thing I’d concocted. I also had a sardine sandwich while waiting and we finished it off with a dessert of instant vanilla pudding. Not bad, but all back country cooking tastes good to me.

It was supposed to be in the low 30’s again this evening and since I didn’t want John whining about the cold again, agreed to put the rain fly over the tent to help hold in the heat. We sat on the ground in our crazy creek chairs and talked for a couple of hour before climbing into our sleeping bags. Tomorrow was going to be another difficult climbing day…I figured I could snooker John into climbing two peaks…before the long drive back home. We needed a good night’s rest.

Hike duration: Three hours.
Training Heart Rate: 70-120, depending on terrain.
Calories burned during workout: 1,500.

The toughest day ever...

Saturday, September 18, 2010

I was up and exploring at first light. I don’t sleep too well, but even if I did, I like being up early to see what’s going happening in the woods around me. I grabbed my camera and headed for some open meadows and the woods beyond. By the time I returned to camp an hour later, John was stirring. I pulled out the camp stove and made us a breakfast of oatmeal, hot chocolate and pinole bars. John had pulled out every article of clothing he had brought and put it on during the cold night. He’d forgotten his favorite fleece jacket and was cursing his stupidity for oversight.

“You remember everything when we have to carry it 6 miles to our base camp, but the one time you could bring an artic coat because we’d be parked in front of our camp site, you forget warm clothes,” I said.

There were other hikers in the area getting ready for their climbs and as we usually do, got to talking about who was going where. When I mentioned my plans for the day to a hiker who’d done the loop, he said “you’d better get going. That hike will take about 12 hours, so bring your head lamps.”

“Did he say 12 hours? I didn’t sign up for a death march…have you lost your mind?” John said. Actually…I had planned poorly. We were camped over 5 miles from the trail head to the peaks we were climbing and the trail we’d be following went over 3 peaks over 4,000 feet. The trip would have us walking about 20 miles with a total elevation change of around 7,000 feet or an effort comparable to almost three marathons back to back. I knew I could handle it, but was not going to try and finish the last couple of hours in the dark. We had to adapt.

“Let’s just climb Gothics and then come straight back. That should get us here before dark,” I suggested. John leaves the planning to me and if I said it made sense, he pretty much went with it. What can I say…he screwed up…he trusted me.

We made good time over the first 5 miles, walking a trail that gained about 1,100 feet before losing 800 and bringing us to another lodge like the one at Heart Lake called John’s Brook Lodge (JBL). It’s also owned and operated by the ADK, but can only be reached by hiking. We should have stayed in this area for the aggressive climbing I’d planned since it would have taken 10 miles off of our day and made the peaks doable for the time we had. Oh well…

Now the serious climbing began. We’d gain 2,200 feet in about 4 miles with a big part of that coming over a short, steep half-mile stretch. The climbing was on bare, wet rock for that half-mile section and took us over an hour to navigate…something we’d had no way of knowing ahead of time. Trails in the Adirondacks are often like that. Mud, rocks, roots and steep ascents/descents can slow you to a crawl. A topographical map can tell you the grade but not the conditions. It’s safest to plan for the worst and just assume a 2-mile an hour maximum for the entire trail. That has worked most of the time for me…but wouldn’t today.

When we finally reached the final trail split for Gothics in an semi-exhausted state, I again adjusted our plans. We could save about 30 minutes by climbing Saddleback Mt. from this juncture and with the concern we both had for the time the return trip down the section we’d just traversed, decided we’d need every minute to beat the dark. I had head lamps in the day pack, but was uninterested in trying to navigate treacherous trails in the dark…even with their aid.

We made the peak around 2 p.m. or about five and a half hours after we’d left camp. It was dark by seven, which left us about 20 minutes to enjoy the view, eat some much needed calories and begin our return trip. As much as I love to spend time on the peak, I was getting cold quickly. The wind was gusting up to 50 mph and with little to hide behind on a bare peak, my body temperature drops quickly. Since my clothes are soaked through to my skin, that kind of breeze can create a dangerous, hypothermic condition in as little as ten minutes. The skies were a deep blue and speckled with fluffy, white clouds. We had spectacular views of the surrounding peaks, but I took pictures and knew I’d just have to enjoy them later.

The return trip did not prove as difficult as we’d both expected. We moved down relatively quickly, overtaking a group of four women older than me! By the time we hit JBL, we were both starting to stumble from fatigue and my hip was giving me some trouble. John’s back wasn’t much better, so we rested for ten minutes before beginning the final 5 miles of the hike. This can be the most dangerous time of any hike since the accumulated fatigue of 8 hours of climbing and hiking is making each step an adventure. I call it ‘lazy toe’ time, since I find that I’m not picking up my feet quite as high as I need to or think I have and start tripping over small roots and rocks strewn throughout the trail.

We struggled back to camp by 6:30 p.m. having completed about 18 miles of hiking and 4,200 feet of elevation change. My cousin Donnie was waiting for us there. He was spending the night and would join us for a smaller climb the next day. He thoroughly enjoyed watching us struggle out of our gear and slip into the freezing waters of Meadows Brook for an attempt at a clean-up. We both wailed as we entered the icy cold water, but I was caked in mud and stunk from crusted sweat…as did the clothes I would need to wear for tomorrow’s climb…so I slipped in – clothed – to my neck.

We decided to drive the 30 minutes back to the Noonmark Café, since I was too bushed to cook. John was having difficulties walking…if you’ve ever seen folks hobble around after running an ultra-marathon…well…that was him. I downed a burger and fries, then finished John’s fries. I’d burned about 4,500-5,000 calories over the course of the day and was ravenous. I could have gone for a thick, chocolate milkshake, but there was no ice cream store in sight. We made our way back to camp and I spent a couple of hours writing in my journal and studying the maps from the climb we’d done. I’d need to return to this area to climb the three peaks I hadn’t gotten on this trip and didn’t want to make the same error in judgment on my return. John snored while I wrote and it was after midnight before I turned in. It was easily the toughest day I’d ever spent on the trails, but I’d done it well and was proud of my conditioning over the last 6 months.

Hike duration: Nine hours and 18 miles.
Training Heart Rate: 70-160, depending on terrain.
Calories burned during workout: 5,000.

The first day...

Friday, September 17, 2010

John arrived in my driveway at 8:30 a.m. and we were on the road by nine. The forecast was for sunny skies, but we saw none of that until we reached Utica, NY and started heading north for the Adirondacks. The first six hours of the trip is all I90 freeway driving, but as soon as I begin heading north out of Utica on State Route 12 with little more than open fields, trees, and mountains in the distance as a backdrop, my feeling of serenity begins to overtake me. Then John spoke.

“I need to use a restroom…soon,” he said. Now…I was puzzled. We’d just pulled out of a service station where he’d used the rest room and I’m more than a little impatient to get to the trailhead and begin the camping experience. Stopping is not in my unnecessarily is not in my makeup.

“You were just in a bathroom. Did you forget what they’re for?”

“It was too dirty in there. I just wasn’t for me,” he said.

“I’d have come in and cleaned the damned thing if you’d told me. Now we’ve got to stop again? Have you forgotten the condition of the average privies you’ll be using for the next four days? Dirty? You’re killing me, Smalls,” I said, using the quote from one of our favorite movies – Sandlot.

I wasn’t going to win this one and couldn’t afford to have him pooping in the front seat of my car, so I stopped at the next service station. “There’s another one across the street in case this one doesn’t meet with your exceedingly high standards,” I said as he exited the car.

This one seemed to meet with his approval and we were soon on the road again. We passed through Old Forge, the last really touristy town before getting into the true rural Adirondack communities. It would appear that the primary industry of the park is tourism and with the beginning of school, that really dies down…good for us since we get more of the woods to ourselves. We were out of cell coverage and would be for the next few days…except on peaks…so John had to put his blackberry away and stop working. Certainly there are some disadvantages to being out of touch via cell phones, but constantly checking business emails, texting, and taking calls while you’re supposed to be on a vacation and relaxing doesn’t qualify.

Like me, John truly appreciates every little river, lake, hamlet and wildlife in this part of the country. We drove and admired the beautiful vista for the next three hours as we made our way to Keene Valley where we’d decided to stop for dinner. I’m the camp cook and I could see we’d be pushing up against nightfall before making our destination, which always makes cooking more of a challenge. Black bears frequent the area and get much bolder at dusk and are more likely to be lurking just inside the tree line and waiting for unsuspecting campers to take their food out of their secure food canisters. They’ve been known to rush into a site at this point and make off with a week’s supply of food in a little over 60 seconds. Better to do your cooking and pack away your food an hour before dusk.

We stopped at the Noonmark Café in Keene Valley. It’s been serving great food in this location since the early 1900’s and offers a panoramic view of peaks surrounding the valley. John had never been there, so I figured it was time to remedy that situation. We ate soup, lasagna and garlic bread before finishing our drive to Heart Lake just east of Lake Placid. The dirt road we needed to traverse the last mile was extremely rutted from the record rains that had been falling that summer, which concerned me in my Honda Civic and its low clearance. We made it to our camp site without losing the exhaust system though, and set up camp quickly in the waning daylight. Once the tent was up, and gear stowed, I figured we had just enough daylight to play catch. We tossed…but I was wrong about the light and after almost taking one in the face, returned the mitts and ball to the car.

We needed some activity and decided to hike the 4-mile round trip to the Adirondack LOJ. ADK is a private organization dedicated to the preservation of the Adirondacks for the recreational use of members and non-members. They own a square mile of property around Heart Lake where they offer excellent camping sites for tents as well as rentals of lean-to’s. They also have a rustic lodge – they spell it ‘LOJ’ where you can rent a bed in a bunk house with room for about 30 people or grab a private room – some with bunks for four people and some with your standard issue double bed. They have great meals and even pack lunches for day hikers. It’s a great jumping off point to climb the best peaks in the Adirondacks and extremely popular. John and I were camping on state grounds with no amenities…for free. I like that price better.

We returned to our site in total darkness, but we had our head lamps when the moon wasn’t casting enough light to walk safely. It was only 9 p.m., but it was getting cold…it would go down into the low thirties that night…and so we decided to get into our sleeping bags. I left the rain fly off so I’d be able to see the stars all night…I tend to wake up every hour when camping and want some benefit to this inconvenience. John was snoring in five minutes and I suppose I wasn’t too far behind him…

Hike duration: One hour.
Training Heart Rate: 70.
Calories burned during workout: 350.

Let's just call it tapering...

Thursday, September 16, 2010

I woke up pretty much the way I went to bed…feeling crappy. I’d had hot cereal for dinner because it feels good on the throat so…that’s what I had for breakfast, too. While backpacking, we tend to eat peaches and cream oat meal because it’s simple to carry and prepare and I tend to get sick of it by the end of a trip so eating it a couple of times before I left was not the best plan…oh well.

As the day progressed, nothing improved. I resigned myself to resting for the day and since it was storming when I got home, riding wouldn’t have been an option anyway. I suppose it’s okay. Saturday would find me climbing four peaks over 4,000 feet and hiking around 16 miles. We’d likely be on the trail for over 8 hours and so the energy expenditure would be comparable to running two marathons. That being said, tapering…or going easy over the last few days before a big event…makes a lot of sense. Truly, my only reason for riding was to be able to write that I’d done a workout. I don’t need it right now…so don’t sweat it.

I made a great batch of pinole for the trip…it’s just too awesome to keep around the house for long. Since we would not be backpacking in to a base camp, I could afford to bring food that I wouldn’t normally since it wouldn’t have to all fit into a couple of bear canisters. I had decided to camp at the trailhead because I’m still a little spooked about the hip and suspect carrying the heavy pack for 3 hours might inflame it again. Not being able to hike into our favorite camping spot was a little disappointing, but the peaks we were planning to climb were too far from that site for it to be practical. I suppose with the way the hip has been, it’s really a good thing. I think I can handle the climbs even with a stress fracture, but not if I was carry a 60# pack first. Tomorrow I’ll rest during the drive and that’s three days off before the big climb…unless we get there early enough and I can sneak in a small peak tomorrow…
P.S.  Next post won't be until next Wednesday.

Too sick to participate...

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

I’ve been fighting a cold for the last two days and it seems that I’ve lost. It started with the sore throat I always get when I go backpacking…sleeping outside in the cold seems to do that, but I can usually wipe that out with some well-timed Hall’s throat lozenges. I took that approach Tuesday night and added some hot tea with honey, sure that I would wake the next morning ready to go. I didn’t.

I popped Hall’s all day and drank more tea and honey, but by day’s end, was going down hill. I was sneezing, had a raw throat and cold, and a headache, as well. I went to Kent to visit with Heidi since I would be gone over the weekend. We ate dinner and sat to watch a movie, but I was struggling to stay awake. At this point I knew there would be no bleacher workout when I returned home…more likely I’d be heading for bed and hopefully enough rest to keep the cold from getting any worse.

Well…no reason for Ash not to work out. I was going to take her to the track and put her through a combination bleacher and track workout, but she elected to try running around the block…which is a little over a mile. “See how slow you can run,” I told her. She was unable to run far on her first outing and I suspect she’d gone out too fast. She headed out the door determined to improve on the last run.

She returned in about 15 minutes huffing and puffing…and sweating. “I ran most of the way,” she said excitedly. I hadn’t gotten a chance to give her the step test, but I want to get that done soon so she has a baseline and something to compare to once she’s put in about four weeks of running.

I suppose if I can’t run I’ll live vicariously through her. Since I push myself pretty hard, I suppose I ought to do that to her. Lucky girl.

I snagged another sucker...

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

I’ve taken on a new client. She’s 25, tall and thin and appears to be in good shape, but she knows she’s not. I gave her a body fat assessment, which came out pretty well since she was in the top end of the good range. Still, she knew she needed to do some exercise and had been motivated to run since we’d been to Marie’s cross country meet this past Saturday.

“I used to run some, so I’m going to run a mile today,” she told me. Later the day she sent me a text message that said ‘just went for a one mile jog and pretty much walked the whole thing’. I wrote back to her that she needed a coach and I was just the man. Tonight…we’re going to approach it a little differently. I’ll start her out with a step test to check the aerobic fitness and then we’ll talk about some goals. I know she can run and maybe I’ll encourage her to target something like the Turkey Trot 5-miler on Thanksgiving day. That will allow her enough time to get ready and something that will keep her focused. Tonight though, she’ll join me at the Mayfield track where I’ll have her doing a little work in the bleachers (sine that’s what I’m stuck doing) and mix in a quarter mile jog every so often. Visually and mentally, one lap around the track seems so doable. Everyone gets through it, giving them the positive first step to the rest of the program. Get ready, Ash.

Ever since I tried to slice my finger off last week, I’ve been on a roll…not missing an aerobic workout for seven straight days. Last night was my fourth biking day in a row…something I haven’t done in a while. My neck and shoulders would normally be giving me heartburn after three straight days, but they didn’t feel too bad as I started the ride. I only had about 90 minutes, so I knew the Rogers Road ride would be out, but I did the course without Rogers, which still has three climbs in it. After the hard ride yesterday, I was thinking I’d need to go easier, but my legs seemed to be reasonably fresh so I picked it up. I managed to keep it around 18 mph for the ride…a good pace for me and finished in and hour and 25 minutes, which is close to as fast as I’ve ever ridden it. I want to go into the mountains feeling fresh so I’m planning on the bleachers tonight, a ride tomorrow and Friday off…driving to the Adirondacks. Actually there are a couple of lower peaks I could get up if we get there by 5 p.m. and I don’t want to miss any chance to climb while I’m there. We’ll see how it goes...

Bike duration: One hour and 25 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120.
Calories burned during workout: 900.

"Where did you find these roads?"

Monday, September 13, 2010

John wanted to get together at his place to go over the final details of our trip. Although I’d done this with him four times already, he doesn’t remember that he doesn’t remember so I’ll do it again. I packed my bike since we always ride from my place, I thought I’d give his routes a try. He lives in Twinsburg and says the roads aren’t nearly as good for biking and I suspected he was right.

We rode some side streets from his place to, well, I don’t know where he was headed. When we came to one stretch where road crews were doing construction and the water truck had just passed through to keep the dust down, I knew I was in trouble.

“It’s all mud up there,” I said, knowing there was no way around the mess. John was riding on grass, gravel and anything he could find to avoid the muddy street. I just plowed ahead, covering my legs, the bike, and sending a beautiful stream of mud up my backside all the way to my neck. I was looking fine.

“I’m going to be rusting like the Tin Man in no time. Do you have my oil can?” I asked. He didn’t and I began to squeak.

We rode on busy streets…it was around 5 p.m. after all…and when we turned off the main artery, it was only to ride a road that had more potholes than Cuyahoga County has crooks working government jobs. My teeth were rattling and I was trying to maintain a pace that wouldn’t have me blow a tire…or a bike frame.

“How in God’s name do you put up with this shit? There has to be better roads to ride,” I said.

“Um…I actually don’t know the roads that well around here and I’m always in a time crunch so I just head out and ride hard to wherever…” he said. Shrewd. Give John books and he eats them. Fortunately for him, he has me when we go into the woods. He’d die in six hours otherwise.

We finished the ride bumping over roads that became never seemed to get any better. If I’d have known, I’d have brought the mountain bike I don’t own. We rode 20 miles in a little over an hour, which is pretty fast considering the conditions of the roads. I was caked in dried mud and he was clean somehow. We went in and discussed the climbing we’d be doing on Saturday when we would be hitting four major peaks. John kept looking at the map and then to me.

“Are you sure about this? It’s how many miles of hiking and climbing?”

“I don’t know exactly. Maybe 16 miles? Hey…you’re a lot younger and lighter. If I can do it…so can you,” I said. He looked concerned, though. I also outlined how we’d be climbing another two major peaks on Monday after a day off…the day we’d only climb one smaller one with my cousin, Donnie.

“I’ve been warning you for two months. You knew the plan so ‘man up’. I don’t want to hear anymore whining,” I said…as if that would ever happen. John said he’d sleep in the car the entire ride up…to conserve his strength…and then rest when we got there. Good plan. I’m not worried. He does whine, but he’ll handle it just fine. If not…there’s plenty of cliffs from which to push him.

Bike duration: One hour and 5 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 125.
Calories burned during workout: 900.

I should never listen in church...

Sunday, September 12, 2010
I was sitting in church Sunday morning and actually listening to Father Joe instead of taking my pulse. He had said something about ‘Koran burning’ that got my attention. I’d seen - but not read - the stories about a Pastor in Gainesville, Florida who was planning a burning of the Koran, the sacred book of the Islamic faith, on the anniversary of the terrorists attack. I suppose I’d ignored the stories because I tend not to read things I suspect are ‘hate’ related. I figured burning sacred books could only be such an act. Father Joe related how the Pastor, after praying for guidance on his controversial plan, had decided to call off the burning.

I went home after church and did a little research on Pastor Terry Jones and his church and flock of 50 people. From what I read in the AP story, it seems that Terry was concerned about the U.S.’s lack of an appropriate response to radical Islam and wanted to send his own message. Some time earlier, he had posted on a sign outside the church that ‘Islam is the devil’ so it didn’t take me long to figure out his leanings.

I suspect that Terry has spent relatively little time studying the Koran and the true meanings of all that it teaches. Frankly, I’m guessing he’s spent little time with the Bible and the gospels of the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus Christ either, though he’s supposed to be a ‘Christian’ pastor. If he had and understood what they said, I suspect he would become a little more tolerant and much less judgmental. I would hope that he, his 50 followers and all who espouse any message of hate in the name of any God – are terribly misinformed. I mean…I’m sorry to get political and religious on you here, but I have trouble with anyone who thinks their God is telling them its okay to hate and to kill. It just doesn’t fit with the message I’m getting from mine and I don’t believe for a second it ever was the message the vast majority of people of the Islamic faith are getting from theirs.

So Terry…I’m glad you and your folks decided not to have a book burning and hope that you’ll find something more constructive to do with your time and efforts. At our church, we’re sponsoring a gathering of Christians and Muslims to share with each other what we think our Holy Scriptures are really trying to say…and I assure you, it’s got nothing to do with hating each other.

Alright…maybe I should stick to taking my pulse. Anyway, I had some time for a decent ride and so I headed out on my Rogers Road course. I particularly like this one because it has four different hills that are at least a little challenging. The wind was blowing hard again and I’d be facing it on the last part of the ride, which makes for a better workout…and is what I’m all about right now. I’ve only got a few more days until John and I head for the Adirondacks and I want to make the most of them. The hip is pain-free right now and I’m getting very encouraged. I’ve only ridden the course a few times, but I put the clock on to see how fast I could do it.

I flew through the first half with the wind at my back and climbed aggressively up the first two hills. Once I turned into the wind though, I slowed noticeably…though I stayed with the effort. Climbing Rogers is a decent test. It’s quite steep for a quarter mile, but once past that begins a steady climb over about 2 miles to the Wilson Mills. I find that I’m in oxygen debt for the entire ten or so minutes it takes me to reach the top. After that though – it’s reward time on the best downhill I’ve been on in these parts…west on Wilson Mills down to River Road. I’ve hit speeds over 50 mph on this decline…which is quite the rush and makes the climb worth every difficult stroke.

I did the last climb through the Metroparks back up to SOM before heading for home. The final miles were against a wind blowing a constant 20 mph, which had my thighs screaming. I pulled into the driveway a little over 90 minutes after I’d started and almost 5 minutes faster than I’d ridden the course before. It was a good sign…and I need those.

Bike duration: One hour and 35 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 125.
Calories burned during workout: 1,350.

.

"And where were you?"

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Will any American who was older than let’s say 8, ever forget where they were when they heard the news nine years ago? I doubt it. For those of you who haven’t heard, I was in the Adirondacks and didn’t know that anything had happened until I pulled my kayak up to the tiny town of Wanakana for a trip to their general store. I grabbed some groceries and headed for the check-out counter. The clerk took a good look at my growth of facial hair and disheveled overall appearance and concluded I’d been in the woods for awhile.

“You don’t know what happened – do you?” she asked. When I confessed I didn’t, she filled me in. I must admit that I was happy to have missed the initial shock, fear and worrying that had been a part of almost all America’s past 24 hours. I would continue to miss it since I headed back into the woods for another 5 days after calling home and checking with Holly.

John, Henry and I had plenty of time over the next five days to consider the life-altering event and its deeper meaning and impact. Of course, none of us could have envisioned the impact we continue to feel today. I can’t go into the Adirondacks, particularly at this time of the year and not again give consideration to this event and how it has affected us all.

John arrived at the house for our ride about 3:45 p.m. dressed in his ‘Lance Armstrong’ yellow jersey and anxious to get on the road. “We’ve got to get moving…it’s going to rain any second,” he whined. We had just spoken about an hour ago and I’d told him how we needed to pick Jack up from Ultimate Frisbee at 4 p.m. When I reminded him of this, expressing concern over his diminishing ability to remember things for more than 5 minutes, he acknowledged that I was right, but chattered on about the threatening gray clouds overhead.

“So…we’ll get wet if it rains. Big deal. Man up before I yank your ‘man card’ again,” I said. This quieted him immediately. He’d been struggling for years to get his ‘man card’ and didn’t want to lose it so quickly. I’m not so sure he’ll have it at the conclusion of our trip, but I’ll try to keep an open mind.

We didn’t have much time and went out hard…for us, anyway. I predicted that it would remain cloudy, but the raindrops would stay away. I was wrong and John whined loudly when they started to fall. I reminded him that there was little his whining would do to change things and he reminded me that I’d been wrong on my prediction…which brought him great pleasure.

We averaged about 18 mph for the workout, which is a little faster than I usually ride making it a tough effort even if it was just an hour. John is concerned that he hasn’t done enough training for the climbing we’re about to do, but he’s got ten years and 30 fewer pounds on me. He’ll be fine. And if he isn’t…he’ll die. I don’t suffer fools…or slackers…in the mountains.

Bike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 125.
Calories burned during workout: 900.

Back to the bleachers...

Friday, September 10, 2010

“Exercise may protect the brain, Clinic study finds” was the headline of a story published in yesterday’s Plain Dealer. The article referred to a study that specifically looked at people who carry the gene that confers a high risk of Alzheimer’s and what effect regular aerobic exercise had on them. There was a clear increased brain function in the part of the brain controlling memory, which is good news for this population. Though it was a small study, it is one of the good reasons to exercise – quality of life – which is all I preach in regards to the potential benefits. The article also stated that “people who are physically active have better cognitive performance” which is another way of saying that if I didn’t exercise as much as I do, I’d likely be functioning just a tad higher than your basic, garden variety tomato…so I’ve got that going for me.

Two consecutive days of riding had left me with aching shoulders and neck muscles. If I was a barn animal, they’d shoot me. Anyway, I knew I’d be riding with John on Saturday and again on my own on Sunday, so I decided to try something different and headed for the Mayfield bleachers again.

This time when I arrived, the Stadium was blanketed in complete darkness…the team was playing an away game. Since I’d been roundly criticized by my doc for doing hill repeats…I’d actually run up those hills…I figured to do the bleachers without running. Instead, I took them two steps at a time, but walking…quickly. I did a set of 10 then came down and walked a lap around the track. It felt so good that I wanted desperately to run, but knew nothing good could come of that. I kept walking.

I climbed back into the bleachers and did another 20 repeats and by the twentieth, my thighs were getting fatigued and fat from the effort. I returned to the track and another walking lap before heading into the bleachers for a final set of 11 repeats.

I concluded the workout with another quick walking lap around the track and headed for the car. It had taken 45 minutes and I’d managed a good sweat, but more importantly – no hip pain. After next week’s trip to the mountains, I’m going to have to see the doc again and find out how long I have to wait for a stress fracture to clear up. I hate that I’m missing the best time of the year for running when its finally cooled off enough to be bearable even when running mid-day. I should man up and quick whining. I should…but I won’t.

Bleacher duration: 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120.
Calories burned during workout: 675.

Kim is a beast...

Thursday, September 09, 2010

I get such a rush from watching kids race that I’ve had a hand in coaching. I had that chance again last night as Kim Lorentz blazed around Firestone Metro Park – the University of Akron’s home course, to an Invitational victory. She went out hard and dared the competition to stay with her. This would be no strategically-determined sprint for the finish, but instead a gut-busting, who can run hard the longest kind of race. All about strength and pain and who can stand it the longest. It has been her style…she’s hard as nails and after only 3 minutes into the 5K race, I could see the strain on the faces of the three girls trying to stick with her. She’d open up about three yards on them and judging by their body language, I knew it would be all Kim from there to the finish.

She continued to widen that gap and cruised home with a 20-second victory. She missed her course record by one second, but was all smiles after the race. She’s had a rash of injuries throughout her college career, but has persevered…inspiring me to overcome my recent bouts with maladies. I think she will go far this year and expect to see her in the NCAA cross finals this fall.

I seem to be getting myself back in the groove. I knew it would be tricky working out with the time constraints created by going to her race and having to get home for Savannah’s farewell dinner. I had packed the bike in the car and managed to squeeze in a ride prior to Kim’s race on the roads south and east of Firestone. I didn’t know where I was going and found myself on roads crowded with traffic, but was determined to get in at least a one-hour ride. I accomplished this goal – logging 75 minutes. There was a strong head wind on the return of this out and back and I made the most of it pushing hard the entire time. The last trip to the Adirondacks is a little over a week away, so I want to put the finishing touches on my conditioning. Riding is all I have so I have to really push it hard.

It was another heavy, family dinner though. Baked spaghetti (cheese, bacon and other amazingly good-tasting, fatty stuff) followed by a dessert of apple pie and ice cream. It had been almost 48 hours since my last taste of ice cream and I was suffering from acute withdrawal. I made up for it quickly. I did manage another late-night walk in the neighborhood with Holly, though not enough to offset that meal. Tomorrow…long ride for sure.

Bike duration: One hour and 15 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 125.
Calories burned during workout: 1,125.

A 'fat thigh' ride.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

I woke up thinking I was glad I hadn’t gone to the emergency room. There was no blood in the bed and although the bandage was kind of soaked in red stuff, it seemed to have stopped.

I was driving to work and looking at the thing when I decided it was time to pull off the bandage and check on the healing process. I mean…everyone knows wounds need fresh air to heal properly…at least that’s what I seem to recall. I peeled back the masking tape we’d used and started to detach the gauze…which was stuck. One good yank and…

“Oh shit…it’s still bleeding,” I said to no one in particular. I suppose I should have left it alone…or at least waited for a time when, oh I don’t know, I wasn’t driving? I tried to rewrap my finger with the crusted gauze lying on the seat and retape with the masking tape on the floor. It wasn’t going too well, but I managed to staunch the flow long enough to complete the drive and get into the office and grab a first aid kit.

The rest of the day was uneventful since I elected to leave the finger wrapped. I headed for the park after work to do my ride. I’d shoved the bike into the back seat of the Honda…no small feat…for a quick, hard ride. We were taking Savannah out for dinner since she’d be leaving for Ohio State in two days and would be having…pizza and milkshakes! I HAD to get in a hard ride with the way I was charging through calories lately. I figured I had about 90 minutes tops and planned to make the most of it.

I started from the parking lot at the bottom of Wilson Mills just before it intersects with River Road. My plan was to climb Rogers and head south on County Line for Pekin. There was a strong tail wind for the first half and I rode aggressively, staying in the large chain ring and getting out of the saddle to work the hills harder. In short order, I had fat thighs and was sweating profusely. I get what I call ‘fat thighs’ whenever I push the harder gears with less revolutions. Most good riders ‘spin’ at around 100-110 revolutions per minute. I tend to ride between 80-90 rpm’s, pushing harder gears to maintain the same pace. This is actually less efficient and in my triathloning days, would leave me with tired legs that rebelled at the idea of running. Old habits die hard, though, regardless of their stupidity. I kept pushing big gears none the less and my thighs, packed with blood and lactic acid, felt like they’d swollen to twice normal size.

I actually felt good though, and was moving at 20 mph, something I hadn’t been doing for some time (measured in years). When I hit the turn around, I worked to maintain the pace with the wind in my face and almost managed a negative split – only 30 second slower coming back than going out. I hit the car in an hour and 27 minutes pleased with the intensity of the workout and feeling like…yeah…maybe a little ice cream tonight.

We hit California Pizza Kitchen because Petti’s was closed. They don’t offer milkshakes…barbarians…and so I went with Diet Pepsi. Later that night, Holly and I went for a 25-minute walk, so it turned out to be a pretty good workout day.

Bike duration: One hour and 27 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 125.
Calories burned during workout: 1,300.

"There's an ice cream social at Millridge"

Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Our good friend Ash and her three-year old son, Ollie, were moving in as Savannah was moving out, though there would be a three-day overlap. Ash was moving back to town from Columbus and needed a place to stay temporarily. I needed a three-year old to chase around to augment my training program…so it was a perfect fit. I figured to pretend he was one of my kids and that would make me seem younger.

I got home thinking I’d do a short ride before they arrived, but Holly had other ideas. “You here to move the dresser and filing cabinet?”

Momma Rolf had drowned her stupid kids, so I replied “that’s exactly why I’m here.”

I rearranged the two pieces and moved a couple of other things and was thinking of sitting down for three minutes when a truck backed into my driveway. It was Ash and there were more things to move…but hey, this was going to be my workout so I went to it. As I was unpacking, I couldn’t help but notice the steady stream of people passing the house on the sidewalk and heading for Millridge Elementary School. I stopped a neighbor to find out what was happening.

“Ice cream social,” she told me in the same sentence she mentioned the spinning class she’d done that morning at her employer’s workout facility, Progressive Insurance.

“Good plan. Workout and ice cream. I’m on much the same one myself right now…except that I’m skipping the ‘workout’ part,” I said.

The school’s been having one of these at the beginning of each school year for as long as I’ve lived on the street…which is 13 years or so. I used to get to go because I had kids in elementary school, but now…then it hit me. I went inside and suggested to Ash that I take Ollie and head for the school. “They’ll think he’s in kindergarten and that I’m his granddad and we’ll get free ice cream.” Holly said it was dinner time and I’d have to try my ploy later. It would be gone by then, but she wasn’t listening to reason. No matter…we still had ice cream in the freezer from Saturday.

Dinner was shrimp pesto, fresh peaches, and a broccoli salad. I ate too much…leaving no room for ice cream, but figured I’d go up to the school for a set of bleachers and have some after that. I own clean-up after dinner and was doing my duty when disaster struck. I was putting the vegamatic thing on the lazy susan, but when I reached blindly into the cabinet, I felt something sharp pierce the third finger of my right hand. It was the blade from the damned thing, and it sliced me like a rip melon. I pulled my hand out with blood spurting all over the kitchen. I reached for the paper towels and slapped them on while calling for Holly.

”Could you come down here and bring some bandages, please,” I called. Ash heard me and figured the ‘bandages’ thing was a bad sign. She took one look at my hand, turned and headed the other way. I’m thinking ‘no’ for the triage job.

Holly arrived, took a look and said “you need stitches.”

Well…who didn’t know that. And who wasn’t about to go to the emergency room for a three-hour wait, a $500 bill and four stitches? “I don’t need no stinking stitches. Let’s just wrap the crap out of it with gauze. If it’s still bleeding in the morning or I’m dead…we’ll know it was a bad decision,” I said. I tough as nails…and dumber than a box of rocks.

So there went my evening workout. I passed on the ice cream, though. It should still be there tomorrow.

Pizza and milkshakes...

Monday, September 6th, 2010

Moving day. We were on the road for Columbus by 9 a.m. and I was driving the jeep to be certain that if anything went wrong with my bed wrapping job, I’d be the one to deal with it. Savannah had the van and was headed to pick up Heidi to assist with the move. Though the tarp was firmly in place, there was some ‘strap against roof’ noise whose intent it was to make me crazy. Holly said I’d get used to it in a few miles…kind of like she gets used to my snoring.

“You jab me and threaten to leave me. I wouldn’t call that ‘getting used to it’,” I said. Still, it wasn’t too bad. We made good time and I had no reason to stop and adjust the tarp. Again…a workout was going to be unlikely, so I’d already figured the move would have to burn the calories. Fortunately, she was living on the third floor and I’d get to carry lots of stuff up those steps. Then there was the frustration level calories associated with wedging a box spring on the stairs between the second and third floors. I kept my expletives to myself, though.

In a little over an hour, we had all the furniture and boxes in the house and the girls were headed to pick up a dresser that Savannah had found online. Holly was washing out the kitchen cabinets…and I was waiting for the girls to return with the pizza and ice cream for milk shakes. I needed to do something so I told Holly I was going to walk to the campus to get an idea of how far Savannah would be from her classes.

So…I walked. I headed west on Lane Ave. through the campus and to the Olentangy River, turned around and headed back…hoping the pizza would be there when I returned. It took me 40 minutes and still no pizza. At least I felt like I’d done something in the realm of exercise to offset the fact that I really hadn’t and was eating poorly…again.

When they did return with the pizza, it was cut into party slices…which is to say they took an 8-cut and made it a 40-cut. How in God’s name are you to know how much you’ve eaten when it comes like that? I mean normally I eat four pieces…half a pizza. I know there are people who stop eating when they’re full…right…great idea…but I’m not one of them. I eat with my eyes. Does it look like enough? No? Put another shovel full on the plate and eat until it’s gone. Bad idea for sure…but that’s me. And that’s what I did…kind of. I just kept getting one more piece because I was sure I hadn’t eaten enough yet. By the time I regained control of my eating, I’d probably had 6 slices. And a chocolate milkshake. Crap.

We finished the move-in and stopped by an old friends place to pick up some things to bring back to Cleveland. She was moving from Columbus to our place for a short time and that’s another story, but I got more lifting and moving in. When I returned home to a garage that had been emptied of Savannah’s stuff, I went crazy cleaning and reorganizing for the rest of the night. By the time I was ready for bed, I’d probably done more work than if I’d run 10 miles, but somehow it just didn’t feel like it. If this hip ever gets better, I will never take running for granted again.

Packing to move...

Sunday, September 5, 2010

I knew there was little chance for a workout today. We would be going to Columbus tomorrow to bring Savannah’s stuff down to her new home for the coming school year and today was packing day. I had to try and figure a way of getting all her gear into the mini-van and the back of the jeep. Since that stuff included a mattress and box springs, the inside of the van would be pretty much full with that alone. I was determined to get it on the roof in such a way that it wouldn’t get wet or blow away…with blowing away being my bigger concern.

The jeep is lower and so I tried putting the bed on its roof. Reza had stopped over to tell me about his 6K cross country victory, which he’d run as an unattached collegiate. He has a simple mind and I don’t mind abusing him, so I put him to work helping me bring down the bed and load it on the roof. We attempted to wrap it in a large, blue tarp I use for camping and it was more than big enough. I attached it to the roof with my kayak straps and we took it out on the freeway for a test run.

“Reza…your side is flapping like hell,” I said once we hit about 60mph.

“Why do you think its my side?” he asked.

“You don’t think I did something wrong, do you?” It was simple process of elimination. We got back and went about tying more string around the tarp and again headed for the road. Reza was so sure it would not flap that he bet a dollar on the outcome. It was flapping by the second mile, though he was unwilling to concede the point and since I still needed his help moving stuff, I gave him 55 cents and some more lemonade/iced tea to shut him up. He’s cheap and likes sugar.

Holly’s folks were due for dinner in a couple of minutes…so I gave up on the tarp and told her I was going to drive down without it. She thought I was nuts, but approached me subtly since I was already upset at having spent a couple of hours unsuccessfully wrapping the bed.

“Are you stupid or something? Look at the bugs splattered all over the front of the car…they’ll be all over the bed if you don’t cover it,” she said.

“Those are old bugs. It’s too cold right now for bugs and even if we smash a few on the bed…so what? I’m not sleeping on it and have you seen Savannah’s room? Do you really think she’d notice?” But I was wrong and I was stupid and I needed to wrap the damned thing up so it didn’t flap in the wind. I was in the process of pulling it from the roof with the in-laws showed up and my father-in-law came to my rescue. He has a calming effect on me…nothing seems to rattle him…and with his help, we essentially turned it into a giant Christmas present wrapped in blue tarp and sealed with duct tape. We strapped it to the roof and went in for dinner.

It was spaghetti and garlic bread and I only had one helping (but 5 pieces of bread) and that would have been okay, but Holly had gone and made apple and peach cobbler. Plus we had the ice cream from yesterday. I tried both cobblers…ala mode.

So…no workout and bad eating…again. Like I said yesterday…I need to run, but the hip still hurts. I’m trying for patience, but it is a virtue that passed me by.

Problems staying on task...

Saturday, September 4, 2010

I NEED to run. There is something so simple to doing it that keeps me on my regimen… and it’s missing now. No matter what happens throughout the day…weather issues, drop-in company, an unusual but necessary task…all these things get in the way of a ride or some workout that requires me to be somewhere at a particular time. Running though…I just do it whenever and wherever. How I miss its simplicity.

Some old friends from out of town stopped in Saturday morning and once we get going a lot of time can slip by. I was thinking I’d do a ride, but time was running short and I knew I wouldn’t make it before family dinner. Instead, I decided to go to the park and just do a hike with Dakota. Savannah joined me, but since I was unable to strap on the pack due to hip pain, it wasn’t too strenuous…and I like strenuous. We had about an hour before dinner and we used every minute, but I knew I hadn’t burned enough calories for what was coming.

Dinner was a tuna noodle casserole, which I love and, consequently, always overeat. I’d been to the grocery store to pick up ice cream for dessert and to my great caloric misfortune, found Pierre’s was running a special – 3 quarts for $10 (they usually run around $5 per). I cannot pass up such a bargain and bought one each of cookies and cream, butter pecan, and vanilla with bean specks.

Once you have them all and are pulling them out to serve your guests, it quite naturally follows that you must taste some of each. I did my part and they were all great. I had a little pinole with it…you know…to make it a healthy dessert, but I’d gotten into some bad habits when I could run every day and now they’re coming back to haunt me.

Excess calories aside though, it was a wonderful day. I got to visit with great friends, write up a program for one of them to run their first 5K in six weeks, and later watch my children sitting around the kitchen table with their grandparents looking through old pictures and scrap books and laughing and enjoying each others company. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Hike duration: 50 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 75.
Calories burned during workout: 350.

Doc says "you screwed up...again"

Friday, September 03, 2010

I’d written to my hip doc about having some pain from the hill workout I’d done yesterday, which I’d described to him and he wrote back that basically, I was a running idiot to try a rigorous hill workout when I hadn’t been running and was coming off of a stress fracture. Really? Me…making a bad training decision? Since I knew that couldn’t be the case, I wondered what I should do next about this crummy hip thing. I really had thought the uphill running would be the best way to try out the hip…but apparently the doc didn’t concur. Oh well…

With all else being ruled out, I boarded the bike and headed for the ‘Iron Lung’. I needed a longer ride and Pekin Road is the answer. The wind was blowing hard…actually a tail wind…but that meant the further I went, the harder the return ride would be. Still, I knew I needed a good one and had some time before dark so I decided on two hours. I was looking more closely for strange animals (Kim commented that she’s seen the camel, as well). I did not want to run over any more ground hogs. They’re dumb, but I’ve kind of had a soft spot in my heart for them since ‘Caddyshack’.

I rode out Pekin to Auburn Road. There’s large, open field at the top of a little rise on Pekin just before Auburn with a barn in the distance. The sky was blue and speckled with white clouds and I couldn’t resist the urge to get off the bike and sit in the grass for a while. I’m finding that taking the time to enjoy these little things, something I would have never considered in my younger days, makes training so much more interesting. After all, I’m doing the training to stay fit and stopping after an hour’s ride for a serenity break when I’m going to be riding another hour does nothing to diminish the training, but everything to make me want to do it again…and isn’t that the point? I’ve been preaching about ‘enjoying the journey’ to those that I’ve coached and I need to do more of that, too. I’ve found myself hurrying down trails in the Adirondacks…having to ‘get there’ as if what I’m passing through wasn’t worthy of my attention. And at my age…my body appreciates a little more of the ‘take your time…there’s no fire’ approach.

The head wind was fierce on the return trip, but the time spent enjoying the sky, fields, insects and quiet seemed to have had a positive effect and I was okay with it (normally I’d curse the wind at least once…just to let it know that I know it’s blowing in my face only to annoy me). I made it back in a little less than an hour…a negative split, but that’s mostly because there is more downhill on the return. I’m still glad I tried out the hip, but I now know that it’s cycling and kayaking until after the Adirondack trip.

Bike duration: Two hours.
Training Heart Rate: 120.
Calories burned during workout: 1,800.

A stab at running...

Thursday, September 02, 2010

It was time to try something other than cycling and I knew it. I had to find out if I my hip was getting any better, but I had to do it without running. When designing off-season running programs for distance runners, I always ease them back into speed work by having them spend time running hill repeats. This allows them to get in some lactic acid training (high intensity work) without the injury risks that are associated with speed work. Going uphill means going slower with less pounding to the body. Since it was the pounding that I was worried about, what’s good for the goose…

I headed for the Mayfield football stadium for a few sets of bleachers. Not quite the same as hill running, but I could get a great workout without running…and that was my goal. When I pulled into the parking lot only to find it rather full, I knew something was up. There was…JV football in the stadium and I was thinking not too many of the spectators would be thrilled with me running up and down the stands and blocking their view. I turned around and headed for the park.

I knew the hill I wanted to work. It was the steepest in the park…for those of you familiar with North Chagrin Reservation, I’m talking about the bridle trail paralleling the Ox Lane Hill. My plan was just a slow jog up and maybe five repeats – walking back down to avoid too much pounding. I parked my car and walked briskly to the base in about 10 minutes and went immediately into a jog up the hill. It took about 75 seconds to reach the top and I had a nice heart rate going and sweat flowing. It was so good to be doing something that wasn’t cycling and a lot like running again.

I returned to the bottom for my second repeat and noticed a couple of walkers beginning to ascend. I could tell they thought there was something seriously wrong with me when I turned and headed back up. “I forgot something up there,” I said as I passed them. They laughed politely.

When I’d completed my fourth with little trouble, I knew I’d be doing more than five. I wanted to get in at least ten minutes of jogging, so I figured eight repeats ought to do it. The seventh seemed to last forever and the hill was definitely getting longer and steeper…but I’d committed to eight and I was determined to finish…standing…puking maybe…but standing.

I went for the eighth sucking eggs and hoping the hip wouldn’t start hurting…my biggest concern. I crested the hill on wobbly legs, but happy to have met the challenge and with the hip intact. I walked slowly back to the car and felt a slight twinge in the hip. It was not okay and I’d done too much, but at least I’d gotten my answer…I was still a long way from running again.

Run/walk duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 150 on the uphills.
Calories burned during workout: 500.

Was that a camel?

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

The eye doc is a little concerned that the infection keeps returning, but for now, recommended we stick with the steroid drops. I’m hoping they have a little HGH in them and that I’ll climb like a maniac when John and I head into the Adirondacks in two weeks. I’m putting the drops in four times a day and the doc recommends that I keep the contacts out except when training…since I can’t see any other way.

I jumped on the bike when I got home, but only had a little over an hour since Holly was on her way home and we were planning on seeing a movie. I’d like to say that since I was riding shorter, I put more intensity into it, but I didn’t. The wind was blowing pretty hard and it was sapping my desire to push. It has a way of discouraging me since I know I can’t turn in fast time when it’s constantly in my face…which it is. Seems like it should be a tail wind on the way back if it was a head wind on the way out, but for some reason…it’s always a head wind. I don’t know.

I’ve had some unusual animal experiences on my last couple of rides. Two days ago, I was riding through Chesterland and past a large farm when I noticed a large lama off in the distance. Upon closer inspection, I realized it wasn’t a lama after all, but a camel. One hump only…but definitely a camel. I was a couple of hundred yards away, but could smell it none the less. I’ve worked on a horse farm and know how they smell…this was different and not in a pleasant way.

Then on yesterday’s ride, I was heading down Dodd Road in Willoughby Hills when I noticed a ground hog on the side of the road. He noticed me, too, but that didn’t seem to concern him in any way so he headed across the road and directly in my path. These aren’t the brightest rodents on the planet, though they seem to have more sense than a squirrel about approaching vehicles, but not my ground hog. He tried to speed up to avoid the inevitable collision, but…man…do they have tiny legs. I ran right over him…both tires…there was little I could do to avoid him. I was sure I’d caused some major damage, but when I turned to look, he was still running and had entered the grass on the far side. I guess he’s lucky I’ve lost weight.

I finished the shortened ride only to find that Holly wasn’t home and wouldn’t get there for another hour. No movie and I shortened my ride for no reason. Rats. Tomorrow…for sure to the bleachers. I want to test the hip…just a little.

Bike duration: One hour and 15 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120.
Calories burned during workout: 1,100.

When all else fails...watch a good movie.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

My body is deserting me. I was working in the office earlier in the day when my eye infection returned with a vengeance. It had flared up twice over the last month and both times I had applied the steroid drops my brother-in-law and optometrist had prescribed. It had done the trick, but why was the infection returning? Anyway, I headed for home, took out my contacts, applied the drops and lay down to alleviate the burning. My hopes for a workout were fading fast since I was left with only biking and I can’t ride worth a damn with my glasses on. I tend to sweat too much to be able to see clearly through them about 10 minutes into a ride and with the temperature hovering around 90 again…well…I’d need wipers to see.

When faced with this type of adversity, I figure there’s only one good thing to do…watch a great movie. My neighbor has been waiting for me to watch ‘Jeremiah Johnson’ with him on his 54” HD, all the whistles and bells, system so I told him I’d be over. He offered snacks and beverages, but I stuck to diet Coke. The movie is one of my all-time favorites for the story line (I always wanted to be a mountain man) and the beauty of the scenery. Redford does an admirable job as a man longing to escape the problems he faced living in the civilized world of the late 1840’s for the simple, but rugged struggle for survival in the Rocky Mountains. He trades whatever those problems were for new ones, but I think he would say that a bad day in the Rockies is better than a good day anywhere else…and I think I’d agree.

I’m hoping to get back to the bike tomorrow. If not that, then maybe a late night at the bleachers doing repeats without the pack. Maybe both since I missed a workout.