Saturday. October 30th, 2010
I need to take a few days off, but I want to cover one important thing. Marie toed the line for the Regional meet today needing her best race to qualify to the State meet. Like the champion she is, she ran the race of her life finishing third overall. I’m sorry I missed it, but I’ll try to be there for your state meet run, Marie.
This morning, I lost by big brother…a person loved by many, and especially by me. Jimmy…I miss you and I hope the fishing’s better where you are now. You were a wonderful brother and friend and no day will pass that I will not think of you.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Smoke Jumpers: The toughest guys in the woods
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
I’ve been doing some research on Smoke Jumpers lately. My uncle and namesake, John Anthony Rolf, was such a person. He was killed in the line of duty on a beautiful summer day in August of 1959 on a remote, dirt landing strip at the Moose Creek Ranger Station in Nezperce National Forest, Idaho. The plane was landing with a crew of four jumpers and the pilot. Though no one knows for sure, it was assumed that a strong gust of wind caught the plane as it was trying to touch down and caused it to overshoot the runway, crashing into the trees beyond. My uncle was sitting in the rear of the plane and when the gas tanks exploded into flames was blocked from reaching the door. He punched out a window, but was fatally burned while trying to escape. He died hours later in a hospital in Grangeville, Idaho.
I have been in touch with a couple of the men who survived that crash and they are helping me gain a clearer understanding of what smoke jumpers did, how they trained, the kind of skills they possessed and what a great person my uncle was. He had just received his bachelor’s degree from Hardwick College in New York and was working his third summer as a smoke jumper to earn money for graduate school at Syracuse University, which he would have been attending in a month if not for the tragic accident. He had attended Paul Smith’s in the Adirondacks prior to Hardwick where he’d trained to be a Forest Ranger. He loved the mountains and climbed often. I was only four when he died, but he has left an indelible impression on my mind and life and was one of my heroes.
I often puzzled over how these men returned from the fires into which they had parachuted in an attempt to control, but had no one to ask. Clearly, no plane could reach them and they would have been in remote wilderness locations with no trails or roads nearby. Their gear was extremely heavy…I’ve got picture of my uncle leaning against the weight of his pack which I’m guessing was over 80 pounds. The terrain was made up of rugged mountains without trails and underbrush that would have made bushwhacking strenuous and time consuming. To add to the inconveniences, there was a fire burning nearby.
The man sitting next to my uncle on that fateful day was closer to the door and able to get out. He has been communicating with me and trying to put me in touch with other jumpers who knew my uncle. He is beginning to shed some light on what they did. Apparently, they had to hike out of the area into which they’d jumped to a predetermined pick-up location. I’m guessing that meant they were good with maps and compasses and were in phenomenal shape. They make me think of the training I do now or have done for triathlons and my backpacking trips and know that it would pale in comparison. These were the Navy Seals of the woods, no doubt. I know from pictures I have of my uncle that he carried no excess fat on his powerful frame. It’s fascinating work and I’m proud to have had him for a role model, though I wish it could have been longer.
I did an easy, but fast run today. I’m still amazed at how bad I felt on Monday and how strongly I’ve run since. I know how that can go and always worry for the runners I coach that they don’t have that kind of day when it matters most…for a big race. It’s getting cooler again and I’m thinking there’s little cycling in my near future, so I can only hope I can stand up to the pounding of running six days a week. I’ll man up. My uncle would have.
Run duration: 31 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.
I’ve been doing some research on Smoke Jumpers lately. My uncle and namesake, John Anthony Rolf, was such a person. He was killed in the line of duty on a beautiful summer day in August of 1959 on a remote, dirt landing strip at the Moose Creek Ranger Station in Nezperce National Forest, Idaho. The plane was landing with a crew of four jumpers and the pilot. Though no one knows for sure, it was assumed that a strong gust of wind caught the plane as it was trying to touch down and caused it to overshoot the runway, crashing into the trees beyond. My uncle was sitting in the rear of the plane and when the gas tanks exploded into flames was blocked from reaching the door. He punched out a window, but was fatally burned while trying to escape. He died hours later in a hospital in Grangeville, Idaho.
I have been in touch with a couple of the men who survived that crash and they are helping me gain a clearer understanding of what smoke jumpers did, how they trained, the kind of skills they possessed and what a great person my uncle was. He had just received his bachelor’s degree from Hardwick College in New York and was working his third summer as a smoke jumper to earn money for graduate school at Syracuse University, which he would have been attending in a month if not for the tragic accident. He had attended Paul Smith’s in the Adirondacks prior to Hardwick where he’d trained to be a Forest Ranger. He loved the mountains and climbed often. I was only four when he died, but he has left an indelible impression on my mind and life and was one of my heroes.
I often puzzled over how these men returned from the fires into which they had parachuted in an attempt to control, but had no one to ask. Clearly, no plane could reach them and they would have been in remote wilderness locations with no trails or roads nearby. Their gear was extremely heavy…I’ve got picture of my uncle leaning against the weight of his pack which I’m guessing was over 80 pounds. The terrain was made up of rugged mountains without trails and underbrush that would have made bushwhacking strenuous and time consuming. To add to the inconveniences, there was a fire burning nearby.
The man sitting next to my uncle on that fateful day was closer to the door and able to get out. He has been communicating with me and trying to put me in touch with other jumpers who knew my uncle. He is beginning to shed some light on what they did. Apparently, they had to hike out of the area into which they’d jumped to a predetermined pick-up location. I’m guessing that meant they were good with maps and compasses and were in phenomenal shape. They make me think of the training I do now or have done for triathlons and my backpacking trips and know that it would pale in comparison. These were the Navy Seals of the woods, no doubt. I know from pictures I have of my uncle that he carried no excess fat on his powerful frame. It’s fascinating work and I’m proud to have had him for a role model, though I wish it could have been longer.
I did an easy, but fast run today. I’m still amazed at how bad I felt on Monday and how strongly I’ve run since. I know how that can go and always worry for the runners I coach that they don’t have that kind of day when it matters most…for a big race. It’s getting cooler again and I’m thinking there’s little cycling in my near future, so I can only hope I can stand up to the pounding of running six days a week. I’ll man up. My uncle would have.
Run duration: 31 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.
Running in the rain.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
As I headed for the park to do my run, I considered what might happen. The wind had been blowing strongly throughout the day and major limbs and trees were down around Cleveland. A good place to go for a run on such days is the place with the most trees…or maybe not. I’m always jumping over downed trees in the park and often wonder why none have ever fallen on my head. Luck, I suppose, although once I was fortunate enough to see lightning hit one and watch it crash to the ground about a hundred feet up the trail. I mean…it’s pretty spectacular to see a tree fall when you’re not under it.
Anyway, I drove to the park and watched the strange, darkening sky with ominous clouds definitely headed in that direction. I parked the car in my usual spot and as I exited, heard what sounded like the rush of a train heading in my direction. I could see the tree tops bending against the ferociousness of the wind and knew heavy rains were right behind. Prudence suggested re-entering the car and driving home. Prudence, as I’ve discussed in the past…is way overrated.
I reached the trail and had run about a minute when the skies opened up. I was soaked in a matter of steps, with rain pelting me even through the foliage. I considered stopping, but with the way I sweat, getting soaked was no big deal and I figured my shoes could use a cleansing rain. I ran on.
The trail was under water in no time and every step was a splash of leaves and mud. Footing was precarious, but the rain was warm and felt good against my skin. I knew I wouldn’t be overheating today and I felt really fast after feeling like such a slug only 24 hours ago. It was darker than normal because of the storm, but the run was so enjoyable. I love running through puddles and warm rain…it’s an opportunity to feel sensations I normally avoid…rain pounding my body. It was completely refreshing and I went 45 minutes splashing, soaked, enjoying every step, and wishing I could run all night.
Later, Holly and I went to the movies to see ‘Inception’. Wow…I mean I like Leonardo, but weird movie about manipulating dreams, chase scenes, and an attempt to confuse the audience at every turn. They succeeded with me. I followed that with a trip to East Coast Custard and had a strawberry custard smoothie. The best.
Run duration: 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 750.
As I headed for the park to do my run, I considered what might happen. The wind had been blowing strongly throughout the day and major limbs and trees were down around Cleveland. A good place to go for a run on such days is the place with the most trees…or maybe not. I’m always jumping over downed trees in the park and often wonder why none have ever fallen on my head. Luck, I suppose, although once I was fortunate enough to see lightning hit one and watch it crash to the ground about a hundred feet up the trail. I mean…it’s pretty spectacular to see a tree fall when you’re not under it.
Anyway, I drove to the park and watched the strange, darkening sky with ominous clouds definitely headed in that direction. I parked the car in my usual spot and as I exited, heard what sounded like the rush of a train heading in my direction. I could see the tree tops bending against the ferociousness of the wind and knew heavy rains were right behind. Prudence suggested re-entering the car and driving home. Prudence, as I’ve discussed in the past…is way overrated.
I reached the trail and had run about a minute when the skies opened up. I was soaked in a matter of steps, with rain pelting me even through the foliage. I considered stopping, but with the way I sweat, getting soaked was no big deal and I figured my shoes could use a cleansing rain. I ran on.
The trail was under water in no time and every step was a splash of leaves and mud. Footing was precarious, but the rain was warm and felt good against my skin. I knew I wouldn’t be overheating today and I felt really fast after feeling like such a slug only 24 hours ago. It was darker than normal because of the storm, but the run was so enjoyable. I love running through puddles and warm rain…it’s an opportunity to feel sensations I normally avoid…rain pounding my body. It was completely refreshing and I went 45 minutes splashing, soaked, enjoying every step, and wishing I could run all night.
Later, Holly and I went to the movies to see ‘Inception’. Wow…I mean I like Leonardo, but weird movie about manipulating dreams, chase scenes, and an attempt to confuse the audience at every turn. They succeeded with me. I followed that with a trip to East Coast Custard and had a strawberry custard smoothie. The best.
Run duration: 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 750.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Garbage miles
Monday, October 25, 2010
Marie called late in the afternoon for some advice. She’d been running tired lately, which is not uncommon this time of year for high school kids on cross country teams. It’s the week before Regionals and the most important race of the season for most of them…with a chance to compete in the state meet on the line. To me, it’s taper time. I believe in cutting total mileage back significantly over the two weeks leading up to the state meet, preferring quality…short fast intervals to running longer, slower ones. If the runner was doing 30 miles a week before conference championships, I’ll have them down to 20 the week before Regionals. This gets the legs fresh and the body and mind feeling fast…which is where I want them. She wanted to know if I thought taking a day off would be a bad thing. “Hay’s in the barn,” was all she needed to hear. I reminded her of all she’s done to this point to be ready for Saturday and that garbage miles were of no use. “Take a break…your body’s trying to tell you something,” I concluded.
My body was trying to tell me something, as well. I planned to run long. I wanted to get in my longest run since the hip had returned to health and figured on adding about a 15-minute loop to the Clear Creek course. I hadn’t been running 10 minutes though when I knew it was going to be a struggle. Yes…it was warmer than it’d been for at least three weeks and the humidity was probably in the ‘you’re going to sweat your ass off’ range. Still…I’d had two days without running and was not expecting the feeling that I was moving through in 3 feet of sludge. No matter…I was determined to run far…even if I ran slow…which I did. I started to worry when I say a cute, little wooly bear in the leaves though…and he passed me. During the heat of the summer, I don’t think I’d ever felt so sluggish. Still, I plodded on reaching the Girl Scout cabins in around 60 minutes. What I saw there brought me to a halt. A Metropark van was parked in the grassy field in front of the long abandoned cabins and an employee was boarding up the structures. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised since so often, when stopping there to do part of the Back to Basics workout, I’d noticed they were littered with beer cans. Kids were turning them into party huts and were destroying what was left of them. I don’t quite understand this kind of behavior, but there it was.
I finished my run so saturated that I was having troubles keeping my shorts up. I managed to log 66 minutes…or three more than my previous long run. I wasn’t proud of the speed, but the effort was much greater than the one I’d needed to hit my last pr. Running slow can be really painful.
Run duration: 66 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1125.
Marie called late in the afternoon for some advice. She’d been running tired lately, which is not uncommon this time of year for high school kids on cross country teams. It’s the week before Regionals and the most important race of the season for most of them…with a chance to compete in the state meet on the line. To me, it’s taper time. I believe in cutting total mileage back significantly over the two weeks leading up to the state meet, preferring quality…short fast intervals to running longer, slower ones. If the runner was doing 30 miles a week before conference championships, I’ll have them down to 20 the week before Regionals. This gets the legs fresh and the body and mind feeling fast…which is where I want them. She wanted to know if I thought taking a day off would be a bad thing. “Hay’s in the barn,” was all she needed to hear. I reminded her of all she’s done to this point to be ready for Saturday and that garbage miles were of no use. “Take a break…your body’s trying to tell you something,” I concluded.
My body was trying to tell me something, as well. I planned to run long. I wanted to get in my longest run since the hip had returned to health and figured on adding about a 15-minute loop to the Clear Creek course. I hadn’t been running 10 minutes though when I knew it was going to be a struggle. Yes…it was warmer than it’d been for at least three weeks and the humidity was probably in the ‘you’re going to sweat your ass off’ range. Still…I’d had two days without running and was not expecting the feeling that I was moving through in 3 feet of sludge. No matter…I was determined to run far…even if I ran slow…which I did. I started to worry when I say a cute, little wooly bear in the leaves though…and he passed me. During the heat of the summer, I don’t think I’d ever felt so sluggish. Still, I plodded on reaching the Girl Scout cabins in around 60 minutes. What I saw there brought me to a halt. A Metropark van was parked in the grassy field in front of the long abandoned cabins and an employee was boarding up the structures. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised since so often, when stopping there to do part of the Back to Basics workout, I’d noticed they were littered with beer cans. Kids were turning them into party huts and were destroying what was left of them. I don’t quite understand this kind of behavior, but there it was.
I finished my run so saturated that I was having troubles keeping my shorts up. I managed to log 66 minutes…or three more than my previous long run. I wasn’t proud of the speed, but the effort was much greater than the one I’d needed to hit my last pr. Running slow can be really painful.
Run duration: 66 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1125.
"We beat...who?"
Sunday, October 24, 2010
I was expecting to feel refreshed after taking a day off from running, but if anything; my legs were more tired than they’d been on Friday. I can always tell just how bad things are when I’m walking up the stairs. There are about 12 or 13 of them in my house, but the days they seem like a steep trail in the Adirondacks tells me I haven’t recovered from previous workouts yet.
I spent a couple of hours of the day in one of my favorite pursuits…finding the newest required reading book for a high school class.
I’m guessing that the high schools know what books are going to be required long before the school year begins. I’m also guessing local book stores, if they had such lists from the schools, would stock up on those titles so that when the kids came to the book stores, they’d actually be able to find the book and make a purchase. That has never been my experience. I suppose my kids could let us know more than 24 hours before they need the book and we could look on-line to make the purchase…and sometimes they do…but for the most part, it’s a mad scramble the day before they’re scheduled to start reading. Anyways, we went to 3 different stores and were 0 for 3 when I called Holly at home and asked her to check the last store within 15 miles to see if they had it. She called back and said they did, but I knew it was first come-first served, so I hurried.
We arrived in time to get the book and since there were five more copies on the shelf, it must be too far from Mayfield for most parents…and the local high school wasn’t reading it. Jack suggested calling some friends to tell them it was here. “What? No, no, Jack. What you do is buy the extras and sell them to kids who aren’t your friends for like double what you paid,” I suggested. He didn’t like the idea. Oh well…Jack had the book and I got to whine some…not a bad ending.
I was still sluggish and dragging my feet about doing any kind of a workout. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day and the colors were vibrant. I got Holly to agree to a late afternoon walk and wondered if I had time to fit in a bike ride before we went. To help ponder the answer to THAT question, I turned on the TV to see how badly the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints were pounding the Browns. To my shock and delight, the opposite was happening. It was early in the third quarter, but the Browns, with rookie quarterback Colt McCoy taking the snaps, were up 20 to 3. I decided to watch for awhile, but when the Saints marched (no pun here) down the field and put another 7 points on the board, I figured it was time for me to turn it off and pretend imagine the Browns would win.
Holly, Dakota and I headed for the park and a 1-hour walk. We stayed off the hills because I was leading the way and didn’t feel like walking up. The colors were magnificent and we walked a seldom used trail to an overlook of the Chagrin River where we just had to stop and admire the vista. Overall, it was weak as workouts go, but it was better than nothing at all. Sunday dinner was to be chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, so I could have used a little more sweat, but that will just have to come tomorrow. There was no cobbler on the menu, so at least I wouldn’t be adding those calories.
Oh…and in case you live in an underground bunker with only my blog as contact to the outside world…the Browns BEAT the Saints!
Hike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 70 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 350.
I was expecting to feel refreshed after taking a day off from running, but if anything; my legs were more tired than they’d been on Friday. I can always tell just how bad things are when I’m walking up the stairs. There are about 12 or 13 of them in my house, but the days they seem like a steep trail in the Adirondacks tells me I haven’t recovered from previous workouts yet.
I spent a couple of hours of the day in one of my favorite pursuits…finding the newest required reading book for a high school class.
I’m guessing that the high schools know what books are going to be required long before the school year begins. I’m also guessing local book stores, if they had such lists from the schools, would stock up on those titles so that when the kids came to the book stores, they’d actually be able to find the book and make a purchase. That has never been my experience. I suppose my kids could let us know more than 24 hours before they need the book and we could look on-line to make the purchase…and sometimes they do…but for the most part, it’s a mad scramble the day before they’re scheduled to start reading. Anyways, we went to 3 different stores and were 0 for 3 when I called Holly at home and asked her to check the last store within 15 miles to see if they had it. She called back and said they did, but I knew it was first come-first served, so I hurried.
We arrived in time to get the book and since there were five more copies on the shelf, it must be too far from Mayfield for most parents…and the local high school wasn’t reading it. Jack suggested calling some friends to tell them it was here. “What? No, no, Jack. What you do is buy the extras and sell them to kids who aren’t your friends for like double what you paid,” I suggested. He didn’t like the idea. Oh well…Jack had the book and I got to whine some…not a bad ending.
I was still sluggish and dragging my feet about doing any kind of a workout. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day and the colors were vibrant. I got Holly to agree to a late afternoon walk and wondered if I had time to fit in a bike ride before we went. To help ponder the answer to THAT question, I turned on the TV to see how badly the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints were pounding the Browns. To my shock and delight, the opposite was happening. It was early in the third quarter, but the Browns, with rookie quarterback Colt McCoy taking the snaps, were up 20 to 3. I decided to watch for awhile, but when the Saints marched (no pun here) down the field and put another 7 points on the board, I figured it was time for me to turn it off and pretend imagine the Browns would win.
Holly, Dakota and I headed for the park and a 1-hour walk. We stayed off the hills because I was leading the way and didn’t feel like walking up. The colors were magnificent and we walked a seldom used trail to an overlook of the Chagrin River where we just had to stop and admire the vista. Overall, it was weak as workouts go, but it was better than nothing at all. Sunday dinner was to be chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, so I could have used a little more sweat, but that will just have to come tomorrow. There was no cobbler on the menu, so at least I wouldn’t be adding those calories.
Oh…and in case you live in an underground bunker with only my blog as contact to the outside world…the Browns BEAT the Saints!
Hike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 70 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 350.
Yard work and the big race.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
I was scheduled to go to Mimi’s and begin the job of winterizing her house and getting leaves from the yard and into the woods. It was supposed to rain, but when I arrived there in the early morning, the skies were holding back. I spent the next several hours performing tasks like putting in the storms, cleaning out gutters, sweeping leaves from the garage and playing with Edgar, her standard, but spastic, poodle. He needs a giant play toy and I’m it when I’m there. All in all, I managed to break a pretty good sweat and when I arrived home, was still in the mood to work.
I knew this feeling could leave me quickly, so I immediately began to rake the leaves in the yard. I’ve got three maple trees which are still holding all of their leaves. I’ve also got a lazy neighbor behind me that knows if he ignores his leaves, they’ll blow to the yards surrounding his. I filled my tree lawn with these leaves over the next two hours…enjoying the workout, but by 5 p.m., was beginning to lose steam.
There was a gentle rain falling, which took cycling out…so it was head to the park for a run or nothing. I chose nothing. I’d run the previous five days…about as much as I want to do right now…and with all of the manual labor I’d performed over the previous eight hours, decided my old body had had enough.
I spoke with Marie about her district race earlier in the day. She’d taken 3rd and run well advancing to next week's regional race for an opportunity to qualify to the state meet. She will need to place in the top 15 in the region to gain a berth and is completely capable of that task. For me, next Saturday will be spent fretting over that race and then watching her run. As much as I enjoy working with high school runners, I dread the regional races. It’s the make or break event that is the culmination of six months of very hard training and racing. An off-day due to sickness, injury or even bad luck means an end to the season. I coach the kids to believe in themselves and their training and let their competitors do the worrying. It works for them…but not for me. Still…I love the opportunity to help them achieve their goals and this one will be no different. Good luck, Marie.
I was scheduled to go to Mimi’s and begin the job of winterizing her house and getting leaves from the yard and into the woods. It was supposed to rain, but when I arrived there in the early morning, the skies were holding back. I spent the next several hours performing tasks like putting in the storms, cleaning out gutters, sweeping leaves from the garage and playing with Edgar, her standard, but spastic, poodle. He needs a giant play toy and I’m it when I’m there. All in all, I managed to break a pretty good sweat and when I arrived home, was still in the mood to work.
I knew this feeling could leave me quickly, so I immediately began to rake the leaves in the yard. I’ve got three maple trees which are still holding all of their leaves. I’ve also got a lazy neighbor behind me that knows if he ignores his leaves, they’ll blow to the yards surrounding his. I filled my tree lawn with these leaves over the next two hours…enjoying the workout, but by 5 p.m., was beginning to lose steam.
There was a gentle rain falling, which took cycling out…so it was head to the park for a run or nothing. I chose nothing. I’d run the previous five days…about as much as I want to do right now…and with all of the manual labor I’d performed over the previous eight hours, decided my old body had had enough.
I spoke with Marie about her district race earlier in the day. She’d taken 3rd and run well advancing to next week's regional race for an opportunity to qualify to the state meet. She will need to place in the top 15 in the region to gain a berth and is completely capable of that task. For me, next Saturday will be spent fretting over that race and then watching her run. As much as I enjoy working with high school runners, I dread the regional races. It’s the make or break event that is the culmination of six months of very hard training and racing. An off-day due to sickness, injury or even bad luck means an end to the season. I coach the kids to believe in themselves and their training and let their competitors do the worrying. It works for them…but not for me. Still…I love the opportunity to help them achieve their goals and this one will be no different. Good luck, Marie.
The day after Slyman's
Friday, October 22, 2010
I’d had a banana and an apple for breakfast figuring that Slyman’s had given me all the calories I really needed for the next two days. I had a couple of apples in the car for lunch and figured on going easy for dinner, as well. Holly had other ideas.
She’d gone to the grocery store and picked up one of those already baked chickens. They’re pretty good and if that’s all you were going to eat or if maybe you added a salad or a vegetable…but that wouldn’t be the Rolf way. She came home and whipped up some of her delicious gravy to go over noodles and the chicken. Well…I never insult the chef so I ate more than my fair share. Damn.
I’d gone on a short run earlier that evening. The days continue to shorten and the leaves haven’t stopped falling. I’ve run my trail so often though, that I seem to know almost every root and rock. I say almost because I know if I get even a little cocky, I’ll trip over an unseen obstacle and do another face plant into the brightly colored leaves. I jogged slowly and wondered what I’d be doing next week after the time changed and it was dark before six. Some people would get up early and run before work…but I’m not some people and I hate to run in the morning. I sleep in the morning. I’ve seen some fellow runners wearing headlamps while running and since I have a number of these for backpacking, could certainly give it a try. I suspect that it would be easy to overrun the beam and trip anyways and besides, batteries are expensive. Oh well…we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
I felt a little sluggish during the final half of the run and was thinking that I might be in need of a day off. I had a lot of yard work to do tomorrow, which is kind of like a workout…but maybe I’d get the chance to do a ride if the rain held off.
Run duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.
I’d had a banana and an apple for breakfast figuring that Slyman’s had given me all the calories I really needed for the next two days. I had a couple of apples in the car for lunch and figured on going easy for dinner, as well. Holly had other ideas.
She’d gone to the grocery store and picked up one of those already baked chickens. They’re pretty good and if that’s all you were going to eat or if maybe you added a salad or a vegetable…but that wouldn’t be the Rolf way. She came home and whipped up some of her delicious gravy to go over noodles and the chicken. Well…I never insult the chef so I ate more than my fair share. Damn.
I’d gone on a short run earlier that evening. The days continue to shorten and the leaves haven’t stopped falling. I’ve run my trail so often though, that I seem to know almost every root and rock. I say almost because I know if I get even a little cocky, I’ll trip over an unseen obstacle and do another face plant into the brightly colored leaves. I jogged slowly and wondered what I’d be doing next week after the time changed and it was dark before six. Some people would get up early and run before work…but I’m not some people and I hate to run in the morning. I sleep in the morning. I’ve seen some fellow runners wearing headlamps while running and since I have a number of these for backpacking, could certainly give it a try. I suspect that it would be easy to overrun the beam and trip anyways and besides, batteries are expensive. Oh well…we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
I felt a little sluggish during the final half of the run and was thinking that I might be in need of a day off. I had a lot of yard work to do tomorrow, which is kind of like a workout…but maybe I’d get the chance to do a ride if the rain held off.
Run duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Life is like a bottle of paregoric
I met with a high school classmate yesterday for lunch at Slyman’s. He’s been reading the blog religiously from Florida since I began my trek last February and was particularly interested in the place I claim has the best corned beef sandwiches…in the world. We hadn’t seen each other in around 38 years and had a lot of catching up to do, as well. He wanted to do a workout later in the evening so he could see some of the places he’d been reading about.
We pushed our way through the take-out crowd and were quickly seated. We placed our order and I checked my watch. “They’ll be here in less than 5 minutes,” I assured him and wasn’t surprised when they appeared in a hair over 4. His eyes widened in amazement and drool formed on the corner of his mouth.
“Damn…these things look good,” he said. I turned to the guys sitting at our table and asked them to snap a picture of us with the sandwiches for the blog. I didn’t feel completely secure with them handling the camera since they had only ordered one sandwich and were splitting it. I don’t trust guys that only order half a corned beef sandwich...it’s un-American.
I couldn’t remember how Randy and I had met and asked him if he knew. “Not for sure…but I remember something you said to me in the library and I found it to be the most profound statement I’d heard before…or since. I said life was a bowl of cherries and you said ‘no…it’s a bottle of paregoric’.”
Though I don’t remember making such a profound statement…I do know why I made it. Though I was 17 at the time, I still had strong memories of having to drink that horrid stuff to combat diarrhea and then how my dad tried to get me to quit sucking my thumb by dunking my thumb in it before I went to bed. I was a smart, little kid and quickly figured out that I could go into the bathroom and wash it off. I don’t think my dad had thought I’d pull such a stunt since I didn’t seem to voluntarily wash my hands at any other point in my young life. Anyway, I did a little research on the stuff and discovered that it was laced with opium and could lead to dependency. No where was it indicated that it should be used to stop thumb-sucking…or on three-year olds. Life is like that...people try to get you to do what they want you to do, but when you're clever, you'll figure a way to do what you want without them knowing. Something like that.
Randy picked up the tab…I was reaching for my money, but my arms were too short and my pockets were too deep. He’s retired…having made his fortune in shady real estate deals around Orlando, Florida, so it was okay. We agreed to meet after work when I would introduce him to the Back to Basics Survival workout.
There was a light drizzle falling as we jogged through the Metropark to the Survival workout location. I had him do about two thirds of the drills over the next 30 minutes, which he did easily since he works out regularly. We finished, dropped the TRX workout bands in the car and I was preparing to say our ‘goodbye’s’ when he surprised me again.
“We’re done? Aren’t we going to do some more running?” We’d already run 10 minutes and gone to my Chagrin River overlook in addition to the Survival workout, but he wanted more. I never disappoint.
“How about we run a portion of the Clear Creek trail,” I offered. He agreed readily and we started off down the trail. We were already in the valley, so we climbed out. It was getting pretty dark and we moved slowly to avoid tripping and breaking an ankle on hidden roots. We ended up doing another 4 miles or so and it felt pretty easy. It’s too bad he’s headed back to Florida, because I think he’d make a great training partner for my triathlon next summer. He wants to do a triathlon, as well and I left him with an offer to write up the program.
“Thanks for the workout and introducing me to Slyman’s, John. By the way…your blog is the best I’ve ever read. It’s the only one I’ve ever read…but I really enjoy it. Keep it up.”
I got that going for me.
Run duration: 40 minutes. Survival workout: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: Probably 800.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Running in Converse All-Stars
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Jack was planning on a run with his friend, Grant, who was a member of the swim team. He told me that Grant wanted to run 15 miles because he’d done a terrible workout at practice earlier in the day. I advised him against trying something like that when neither of them was in any kind of shape for that many miles, but being 16 and feeling rather invincible, his mind wasn’t wrapping itself around exactly what 15 miles of running meant or could do to his body. I’d done something similar at about the same age and knew better.
I was 17 and a member of the cross country team. The captain had a wonderful idea for a weekend run…why don’t we all get together and do the March of Dimes 20-mile walk? “If it’s a walk, how come we’re going to run?” I had an inquisitive mind and needed to know.
“Because we can,” was the answer the captain gave me and who was I to argue with such deep, precise thinking.
I ran that Saturday, making it the first 15 miles in decent shape. To that point, the longest run I had ever done was probably about 7 miles and I was running in my converse all-star lows. My feet were aching and over the next mile I was finding standing…forget about running…difficult. I finished the course, but the damage to my feet was real and I was unable to walk for the next three days…literally.
Grant showed up at the house ready to run, but before they could leave, I told them both what I thought. They listened attentively and, I think, actually thought I made sense. Holly wasn’t there to correct them in this folly…so they left.
When they returned to the house some time later and described the course they’d run, I figured they’d gone about 8 miles at most, which was a good thing since neither had been running enough to warrant much longer. I suggested the old 10% rule, which says don’t increase weekly mileage by more than 10%...and is a decent gauge for increasing a long run, as well.
I had done my own run earlier in the day and taken Dakota along. We’d covered a little over 30 minutes at a pretty easy jog pace. I’m being extremely cautious of the roots and rocks which are now completely hidden by the falling leaves and know that pr’s under these conditions are unlikely. I do find the runs to be beautiful, though. I love the sun filtering through the leaves of various shades of orange and yellow and bouncing off those already fallen. I feel like I’m running through a golden tunnel at times with the ground almost seeming to glow yellow. Soon it will be gone and I’m so happy to have gotten my hip healthy enough to enjoy the amazing changes the fall brings to the woods.
Tomorrow, I’ll be meeting Randy and going to Slyman’s for lunch. I think once he eats that sandwich, he’ll understand the need to do any run many hours after. Hopefully we’ll get to the Metroparks for a decent workout.
Ran an easy 30 minutes with Dakota. Jack’s friend wanted to run 10 miles – remember when I ran 20 in tennis shoes and couldn’t walk for three days.
Run duration: 31 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.
Jack was planning on a run with his friend, Grant, who was a member of the swim team. He told me that Grant wanted to run 15 miles because he’d done a terrible workout at practice earlier in the day. I advised him against trying something like that when neither of them was in any kind of shape for that many miles, but being 16 and feeling rather invincible, his mind wasn’t wrapping itself around exactly what 15 miles of running meant or could do to his body. I’d done something similar at about the same age and knew better.
I was 17 and a member of the cross country team. The captain had a wonderful idea for a weekend run…why don’t we all get together and do the March of Dimes 20-mile walk? “If it’s a walk, how come we’re going to run?” I had an inquisitive mind and needed to know.
“Because we can,” was the answer the captain gave me and who was I to argue with such deep, precise thinking.
I ran that Saturday, making it the first 15 miles in decent shape. To that point, the longest run I had ever done was probably about 7 miles and I was running in my converse all-star lows. My feet were aching and over the next mile I was finding standing…forget about running…difficult. I finished the course, but the damage to my feet was real and I was unable to walk for the next three days…literally.
Grant showed up at the house ready to run, but before they could leave, I told them both what I thought. They listened attentively and, I think, actually thought I made sense. Holly wasn’t there to correct them in this folly…so they left.
When they returned to the house some time later and described the course they’d run, I figured they’d gone about 8 miles at most, which was a good thing since neither had been running enough to warrant much longer. I suggested the old 10% rule, which says don’t increase weekly mileage by more than 10%...and is a decent gauge for increasing a long run, as well.
I had done my own run earlier in the day and taken Dakota along. We’d covered a little over 30 minutes at a pretty easy jog pace. I’m being extremely cautious of the roots and rocks which are now completely hidden by the falling leaves and know that pr’s under these conditions are unlikely. I do find the runs to be beautiful, though. I love the sun filtering through the leaves of various shades of orange and yellow and bouncing off those already fallen. I feel like I’m running through a golden tunnel at times with the ground almost seeming to glow yellow. Soon it will be gone and I’m so happy to have gotten my hip healthy enough to enjoy the amazing changes the fall brings to the woods.
Tomorrow, I’ll be meeting Randy and going to Slyman’s for lunch. I think once he eats that sandwich, he’ll understand the need to do any run many hours after. Hopefully we’ll get to the Metroparks for a decent workout.
Ran an easy 30 minutes with Dakota. Jack’s friend wanted to run 10 miles – remember when I ran 20 in tennis shoes and couldn’t walk for three days.
Run duration: 31 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Learning to use a knife.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
I sat in a meeting yesterday with three other people. The person who had called the meeting sat and worked on his laptop computer the entire time we were together. He was mostly attentive to us, but I found it quite rude and completely inappropriate. I hope I never get so busy that I act in such a manner, though I suppose it’s more of a choice and not a necessity…or am I oversensitive? The impression it leaves is that whatever we were there to discuss was not important enough to invite his full attention. I don’t know about you, but Mama Rolf brought me up differently.
Earlier in the day, I’d been talking to a doc who works in the Cleveland Clinic’s Lifestyle 180 program. The program is a hands-on educational tool designed to teach clients the value of taking proactive steps to combat chronic illness. It addresses the foods you eat, how to shop and prepare them, how to do the physical activity you need to get and/or stay healthy and to deal with the debilitating stress in your life. It’s a six-week long program and the participants meet for 4 hours a day/ 2 days a week. There are maintenance meetings after the initial program is completed that take place over the remainder of the year and the entire process is designed to effect changes that will last a lifetime.
At one point, we were in the kitchen going over the food preparation part of the program. It is the opinion of the doctor who created the program that anyone who is to prepare and eat in a healthy fashion MUST be able to handle a knife properly. He stated that an inexperienced person would take 30 minutes to cut the vegetables necessary for a healthy meal that could be cut in 5 by someone with the proper skills and that the skills can be learned quickly and easily. I’ve never given much thought to this since I worked in a kitchen during my high school and college years and learned how to handle a knife and have always known how…but it makes sense. Eating right is a pain. If you’re going to have fresh food for meals, you’re going to be visiting the grocery store on a regular basis since it just doesn’t last long on the counter or in the frig. And it definitely takes longer to prepare. I’m guilty of coming home hungry and wanting something fast…which limits my dinner choices to less than perfect selections. I know it, but I still do it…and I’m guessing most Americans are right there with me. Take exercise out of the equation and you have raging obesity. Come to think of it…that’s what we got…and as Gomer would say...surprise…surprise…surprise!
I was more than a little sore when I began my run. I’d finished hard the day before when I’d done my pr, covering the last mile in around 7 minutes over rough terrain and including a spill. It was a recovery day and that’s what I did…slowly. I wanted to get some distance though, and ended up doing at least 5 miles. I’m slowly building back to 30 miles a week and hope to push that to 40 over the winter. That will be plenty to keep my in good shape and off the bike trainer as much as is humanly possible. I’ve really have to start thinking about when I’m going to do my triathlon madness and what I’ll have to do to be ready for it, though. That’s a little later. For now…well…I think I’ll think about something else.
Run duration: 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 675.
I sat in a meeting yesterday with three other people. The person who had called the meeting sat and worked on his laptop computer the entire time we were together. He was mostly attentive to us, but I found it quite rude and completely inappropriate. I hope I never get so busy that I act in such a manner, though I suppose it’s more of a choice and not a necessity…or am I oversensitive? The impression it leaves is that whatever we were there to discuss was not important enough to invite his full attention. I don’t know about you, but Mama Rolf brought me up differently.
Earlier in the day, I’d been talking to a doc who works in the Cleveland Clinic’s Lifestyle 180 program. The program is a hands-on educational tool designed to teach clients the value of taking proactive steps to combat chronic illness. It addresses the foods you eat, how to shop and prepare them, how to do the physical activity you need to get and/or stay healthy and to deal with the debilitating stress in your life. It’s a six-week long program and the participants meet for 4 hours a day/ 2 days a week. There are maintenance meetings after the initial program is completed that take place over the remainder of the year and the entire process is designed to effect changes that will last a lifetime.
At one point, we were in the kitchen going over the food preparation part of the program. It is the opinion of the doctor who created the program that anyone who is to prepare and eat in a healthy fashion MUST be able to handle a knife properly. He stated that an inexperienced person would take 30 minutes to cut the vegetables necessary for a healthy meal that could be cut in 5 by someone with the proper skills and that the skills can be learned quickly and easily. I’ve never given much thought to this since I worked in a kitchen during my high school and college years and learned how to handle a knife and have always known how…but it makes sense. Eating right is a pain. If you’re going to have fresh food for meals, you’re going to be visiting the grocery store on a regular basis since it just doesn’t last long on the counter or in the frig. And it definitely takes longer to prepare. I’m guilty of coming home hungry and wanting something fast…which limits my dinner choices to less than perfect selections. I know it, but I still do it…and I’m guessing most Americans are right there with me. Take exercise out of the equation and you have raging obesity. Come to think of it…that’s what we got…and as Gomer would say...surprise…surprise…surprise!
I was more than a little sore when I began my run. I’d finished hard the day before when I’d done my pr, covering the last mile in around 7 minutes over rough terrain and including a spill. It was a recovery day and that’s what I did…slowly. I wanted to get some distance though, and ended up doing at least 5 miles. I’m slowly building back to 30 miles a week and hope to push that to 40 over the winter. That will be plenty to keep my in good shape and off the bike trainer as much as is humanly possible. I’ve really have to start thinking about when I’m going to do my triathlon madness and what I’ll have to do to be ready for it, though. That’s a little later. For now…well…I think I’ll think about something else.
Run duration: 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 675.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Run fast on a muddy course and you'll fall...that's a law.
Monday, October 18, 2010
It was almost what I’d call cold as I drove to the Metropark. I was going to do the Clear Creek Run because I wanted to get in something longer, but I was thinking I’d go at it a little slower. I’ve been thinking how I’d lost some of my conditioning from the hip layoff and I’ve set a goal to break my pr I’d set just before getting hurt by the end of next month…at the latest. I know I’ve got to do some long runs if I’m to run faster on Clear Creek, which is a 6.5 mile course, because I have trouble maintaining my effort over the second half of the run. My training has been sporadic lately, and I’m ready to rededicate myself to running…minor injury setbacks withstanding.
As I changed into my running gear, I began toying with the idea of going out fast and seeing how I felt over my first two checkpoints. I was thinking maybe I’d run at least as fast as I had last week when I’d first tried the course again. That day had been a decent effort…I’d managed the second fastest time for the course I’d ever run, but was a whopping 1:45 off my pr. It was cool and I was feeling pretty good.
I went reasonably hard over the first part of the course and was 10 seconds ahead of last weeks time at my first check point…a little less than two miles into the run. It felt easy though and I continued to push myself, working the uphills and trying to stay smooth and maintain pace on level ground. The trail was wet from the light drizzle that had been falling all day and combined with the falling leaves, was slippery and treacherous. Roots and rocks were particularly hard to see and I knew I would have to work harder to match times I’d run when it was dry. I made myself slow on the downhill sections to keep from falling.
I looked at my watch as I came in to what I consider the home stretch…about a mile to go…and saw that I was 45 minutes into the run. I felt like I had way too much left and began to pick it up. With around a half mile to go, I hit a turn moving pretty well and in the blink of an eye, was laying on the ground covered in mud. I’d gone down hard, but fortunately without hitting anything hard. My hip had taken most of the blow and I was up and running in a matter of seconds. I charged down the final 100 yards of the course and hit the stop watch. To my surprise and delight, I’d completed the course in 52:52, which was a 16-second pr. I was extremely pleased. I really hadn’t been expecting to be able to go so fast so soon and now have to readjust my goals. I still had plenty left at the finish and figure if I work at it, I could take my time under 50 minutes before winter sets in. It’s a good goal and if I achieve it, I might start thinking about racing next spring. I simply won’t go back to racing unless I can be competitive in my age group. Otherwise, what’s the point. Anyway, I’d been looking for a new goal for the fall…and I think I’ve found it.
Run duration: 52:52 – new pr for Clear Creek run.
Training Heart Rate: 145 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 900.
It was almost what I’d call cold as I drove to the Metropark. I was going to do the Clear Creek Run because I wanted to get in something longer, but I was thinking I’d go at it a little slower. I’ve been thinking how I’d lost some of my conditioning from the hip layoff and I’ve set a goal to break my pr I’d set just before getting hurt by the end of next month…at the latest. I know I’ve got to do some long runs if I’m to run faster on Clear Creek, which is a 6.5 mile course, because I have trouble maintaining my effort over the second half of the run. My training has been sporadic lately, and I’m ready to rededicate myself to running…minor injury setbacks withstanding.
As I changed into my running gear, I began toying with the idea of going out fast and seeing how I felt over my first two checkpoints. I was thinking maybe I’d run at least as fast as I had last week when I’d first tried the course again. That day had been a decent effort…I’d managed the second fastest time for the course I’d ever run, but was a whopping 1:45 off my pr. It was cool and I was feeling pretty good.
I went reasonably hard over the first part of the course and was 10 seconds ahead of last weeks time at my first check point…a little less than two miles into the run. It felt easy though and I continued to push myself, working the uphills and trying to stay smooth and maintain pace on level ground. The trail was wet from the light drizzle that had been falling all day and combined with the falling leaves, was slippery and treacherous. Roots and rocks were particularly hard to see and I knew I would have to work harder to match times I’d run when it was dry. I made myself slow on the downhill sections to keep from falling.
I looked at my watch as I came in to what I consider the home stretch…about a mile to go…and saw that I was 45 minutes into the run. I felt like I had way too much left and began to pick it up. With around a half mile to go, I hit a turn moving pretty well and in the blink of an eye, was laying on the ground covered in mud. I’d gone down hard, but fortunately without hitting anything hard. My hip had taken most of the blow and I was up and running in a matter of seconds. I charged down the final 100 yards of the course and hit the stop watch. To my surprise and delight, I’d completed the course in 52:52, which was a 16-second pr. I was extremely pleased. I really hadn’t been expecting to be able to go so fast so soon and now have to readjust my goals. I still had plenty left at the finish and figure if I work at it, I could take my time under 50 minutes before winter sets in. It’s a good goal and if I achieve it, I might start thinking about racing next spring. I simply won’t go back to racing unless I can be competitive in my age group. Otherwise, what’s the point. Anyway, I’d been looking for a new goal for the fall…and I think I’ve found it.
Run duration: 52:52 – new pr for Clear Creek run.
Training Heart Rate: 145 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 900.
Sore shin and too much cobbler.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
I’d gone to bed early the night before with my cold pack strapped to my right shin. It had started to get sore during yesterday’s run and by the end of the evening, I was having troubles walking…it hurt that much. I think I’d gotten it from the combination of the long hike, running all over a golf course to watch Kim’s race, and finishing with a hard 40-minute run on the trails. Whatever the reason, I was incapacitated for the moment. I’ve had shin splints many times over the years and for me, they’ve never kept me from running more than a couple of days. To play it safe, I elected to take the day off.
I will have to get in some serious training this week, though. An old high school classmate has been religiously following my blog from his home in Florida. He sent me a message that he’d be coming home this week and wanted two things…an easy run in the park and…a world famous corned beef sandwich from Slyman’s.
“Yeah…I’m kind of limited for time, what with all the people I have to see while I’m here, so I figured we’d go to Slyman’s and then go for that run,” Randy said when I spoke to him Saturday.
I didn’t remember him being dumber than a box of rocks, but that was almost forty years ago. “Great plan, Randy. Did you ever graduate, by the way? If you eat a Slyman’s sandwich and then try to run, you’ll be parking lunch on your shoes before we’re finished,” I said.
That’s Thursday, so I’ve got some serious running to do in the meantime. Oh…and since I couldn’t run, I went light at dinner time. Dessert was another matter. Holly had made apple cobbler and we had vanilla ice cream in the house. We don’t have either anymore. Like I said, serious running this week.
I’d gone to bed early the night before with my cold pack strapped to my right shin. It had started to get sore during yesterday’s run and by the end of the evening, I was having troubles walking…it hurt that much. I think I’d gotten it from the combination of the long hike, running all over a golf course to watch Kim’s race, and finishing with a hard 40-minute run on the trails. Whatever the reason, I was incapacitated for the moment. I’ve had shin splints many times over the years and for me, they’ve never kept me from running more than a couple of days. To play it safe, I elected to take the day off.
I will have to get in some serious training this week, though. An old high school classmate has been religiously following my blog from his home in Florida. He sent me a message that he’d be coming home this week and wanted two things…an easy run in the park and…a world famous corned beef sandwich from Slyman’s.
“Yeah…I’m kind of limited for time, what with all the people I have to see while I’m here, so I figured we’d go to Slyman’s and then go for that run,” Randy said when I spoke to him Saturday.
I didn’t remember him being dumber than a box of rocks, but that was almost forty years ago. “Great plan, Randy. Did you ever graduate, by the way? If you eat a Slyman’s sandwich and then try to run, you’ll be parking lunch on your shoes before we’re finished,” I said.
That’s Thursday, so I’ve got some serious running to do in the meantime. Oh…and since I couldn’t run, I went light at dinner time. Dessert was another matter. Holly had made apple cobbler and we had vanilla ice cream in the house. We don’t have either anymore. Like I said, serious running this week.
Road rage in Pa.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
I was up and had my camping gear in the car and ready to go by 7 a.m. I drove back to State College to find the exact location of the race, but only after I got a hearty breakfast. I had packed my camp stove and oatmeal, but since I’d skipped dinner the previous night, I wanted something more substantial and I needed to open up the computer and make some notes for the blogs I’d yet to write, as well.
It’s been a little while since I’ve driven back roads in rural Pa., so maybe these signs I was seeing aren’t new…but they were new to me. Large, bright yellow signs with black lettering appear frequently on the landscape with two important and somewhat alarming messages. One says ‘Watch For Aggressive Drivers’ and the other ‘Do Not Tailgate’. Both are completely appropriate. Tailgating appears to be the state sport and the sign about watching for aggressive drivers seems to have inspired Pennsylvanians to try and live up to their reputation. They DO tailgate, keep their brights on while tailgating and when approaching from the other side of the road, pass only when they spot blind curves and double lines and all this while clipping road signs that say ‘Do Not Pass’ with the wildly, swerving tail of their vehicles. I made it back to town without incident, but barely.
I found a place called ‘The Original Waffle Shop’ just south of town and across from the Penn State golf course, which was the location on the race. Perfect. I thought they were a little steep for omelet’s, so I looked over the pancakes and French Toast. I thought it interesting that the menu promotes their French Toast as ‘four, thick half slices’. In Ohio…we call that ‘two pieces’. I went with the stack of Buttermilk pancakes, which were fantastic…particularly after I slathered them in butter and drown them in fake maple syrup.
Now I was feeling good. Full stomach and a race to see…doesn’t get much better. I made my way to the course, parked and began looking it over to determine the best places to position myself to see the action and get some pictures. The race distance was 6 kilometers or a little over 3.7 miles. I know…weird distance…and most of the race would be run too far from the finish to have any chance of seeing it and the conclusion. I picked my spot so that I could see Kim on 4-5 occasions. She arrived a short time later and we talked about what she hoped to do during the race. This was another opportunity for her to run with the best in the country with no downside. Regardless of her performance, there would be no impact on her chance to qualify to the nationals. What she hoped to gain was the conditioning that comes only from racing hard against quality competition. They would be going out fast and she knew it and would have to go with them if she was to be a contender in this, or any big race.
I heard the gun from my first vantage point and could see the field of over 200 women surging down the fairway towards me. I was in the course…the only place to stand if you want to get a great picture of the start…snapping pictures at a rapid rate. You need to be careful with this if you’re using a telephoto lens since you lose perspective for how close the runners actually are. I jumped out of the way when they were 50 yards from me and could see Kim was in good position at the front of the pack. They passed me and raced down hill and out of sight for the next two miles…or over half the distance they would run.
When I saw her again, she was laboring, but competitive and continued in this fashion to the finish. Though I did not get her place or time, she’d passed the 5K mark faster than she’d run it all year…when she didn’t have another 1K to run…and had won the meet! She told me later they’d gone through two miles in a little over 11 minutes…and then the leaders picked it up. “I wasn’t ready for that move from Villanova, John. The whole team went together. It was there plan. No wonder they’re the defending National champs,” she told me after the race. No wonder.
I drove the 4-hour ride home, but veered to the park when I was almost there. I needed a good run myself and knew I’d never do one if I went home first. Watching people run fast always makes me feel faster than I am and I ran well for 40 minutes. At least in my head, I did.
Run duration: 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 145 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 650.
I was up and had my camping gear in the car and ready to go by 7 a.m. I drove back to State College to find the exact location of the race, but only after I got a hearty breakfast. I had packed my camp stove and oatmeal, but since I’d skipped dinner the previous night, I wanted something more substantial and I needed to open up the computer and make some notes for the blogs I’d yet to write, as well.
It’s been a little while since I’ve driven back roads in rural Pa., so maybe these signs I was seeing aren’t new…but they were new to me. Large, bright yellow signs with black lettering appear frequently on the landscape with two important and somewhat alarming messages. One says ‘Watch For Aggressive Drivers’ and the other ‘Do Not Tailgate’. Both are completely appropriate. Tailgating appears to be the state sport and the sign about watching for aggressive drivers seems to have inspired Pennsylvanians to try and live up to their reputation. They DO tailgate, keep their brights on while tailgating and when approaching from the other side of the road, pass only when they spot blind curves and double lines and all this while clipping road signs that say ‘Do Not Pass’ with the wildly, swerving tail of their vehicles. I made it back to town without incident, but barely.
I found a place called ‘The Original Waffle Shop’ just south of town and across from the Penn State golf course, which was the location on the race. Perfect. I thought they were a little steep for omelet’s, so I looked over the pancakes and French Toast. I thought it interesting that the menu promotes their French Toast as ‘four, thick half slices’. In Ohio…we call that ‘two pieces’. I went with the stack of Buttermilk pancakes, which were fantastic…particularly after I slathered them in butter and drown them in fake maple syrup.
Now I was feeling good. Full stomach and a race to see…doesn’t get much better. I made my way to the course, parked and began looking it over to determine the best places to position myself to see the action and get some pictures. The race distance was 6 kilometers or a little over 3.7 miles. I know…weird distance…and most of the race would be run too far from the finish to have any chance of seeing it and the conclusion. I picked my spot so that I could see Kim on 4-5 occasions. She arrived a short time later and we talked about what she hoped to do during the race. This was another opportunity for her to run with the best in the country with no downside. Regardless of her performance, there would be no impact on her chance to qualify to the nationals. What she hoped to gain was the conditioning that comes only from racing hard against quality competition. They would be going out fast and she knew it and would have to go with them if she was to be a contender in this, or any big race.
I heard the gun from my first vantage point and could see the field of over 200 women surging down the fairway towards me. I was in the course…the only place to stand if you want to get a great picture of the start…snapping pictures at a rapid rate. You need to be careful with this if you’re using a telephoto lens since you lose perspective for how close the runners actually are. I jumped out of the way when they were 50 yards from me and could see Kim was in good position at the front of the pack. They passed me and raced down hill and out of sight for the next two miles…or over half the distance they would run.
When I saw her again, she was laboring, but competitive and continued in this fashion to the finish. Though I did not get her place or time, she’d passed the 5K mark faster than she’d run it all year…when she didn’t have another 1K to run…and had won the meet! She told me later they’d gone through two miles in a little over 11 minutes…and then the leaders picked it up. “I wasn’t ready for that move from Villanova, John. The whole team went together. It was there plan. No wonder they’re the defending National champs,” she told me after the race. No wonder.
I drove the 4-hour ride home, but veered to the park when I was almost there. I needed a good run myself and knew I’d never do one if I went home first. Watching people run fast always makes me feel faster than I am and I ran well for 40 minutes. At least in my head, I did.
Run duration: 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 145 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 650.
Hiking the Allegheny Front Trail
Friday, October 15, 2010
The forecast was for rain over the next two days in and around State College, so my expectations for a scenic hike were low. I’d done some reading about the Allegheny Foot Trail, a 40-mile loop through the Moshannon State Forest, with high hopes for some scenic vistas. I had targeted one 5-mile stretch in the south eastern end where most of them were identified. I made the drive with my fingers crossed, and when I arrived at the trailhead to sunny conditions, my spirits lifted. I was trying to decide about my overnight accommodations. Since it was a state forest, I could camp anywhere that was more than 100 feet from a trail or source of water. State parks, on the other hand, require that you camp only in designated camp areas. As a Leave No Trace educator, I know the principles of camping with minimal impact and enjoy finding secluded places that no one else has or is likely to use. Since I wasn’t going to walking a long stretch of the trail, I figured I’d only bring a day pack and leave my overnight gear in the car and return for it at the conclusion of my hike.
It turned out to be a wise choice. The trail can only be described as a ‘green tunnel’. Since it was a State Forest, it was clear that it had been harvested for lumber at some point in the not so distant past. There were no trees with any significant height or girth to indicate they were older. The undergrowth was extensive and made moving from the trail to find a camp site difficult. The views offered were quite limited and on the entire 6-mile hike, I never encountered any open area that I would consider a desirable camping location.
I returned to the car reasonably tired, a little disappointed and with a sore hip. The hip issue was the result of the uncertain footing throughout the hike. The trail was made up of a considerable amount of loose stone covered in newly fallen and wet leaves, which had me slipping and wrenching my hip on numerous occasions. I packed my gear back into the car and decided to drive around the forest and look for a better opportunity to camp. I found none, but did come across a porcupine and stopped to get his picture.
I drove to State College to check out the town with thoughts of sleeping in the Honda in some hotel parking lot near the cross country course. I’ve done this before and it’s not the most desirable solution, but I didn’t want to pay $25 to sleep for 7 hours in a state park. I noticed there was another state forest 15 miles south of the town, so I gave up the hotel idea and drove there.
I ended up in Green Furnace State Park, which is pretty much like any other state park I’ve ever been in…campers, trailers, and a couple of tents closely packed around a shower/laundry area. For many folks, this is camping, but for me it’s just an outdoor motel. I started the night sleeping in the back of the Honda, but wasn’t too comfortable. I got out to stretch my legs at 1 a.m. and was greeted by a beautiful, star-filled sky, not unlike the ones I loved so much in the Adirondacks. I pulled my sleeping bag from the car and threw it on the grass nearby for the remainder of the night. I laid away, staring up into the starry sky determined that I wouldn’t look away until I’d seen a shooting star. Once I saw one, I couldn’t look away but when I noticed it was 3 a.m., figured I’d better get some sleep. I still woke regularly and finally got up when the sky began to lighten from the morning sun and a fellow camper out walking his dog in the near dark almost tripped over me.
Hike duration: 3 hours.
Training Heart Rate: 75 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1.500.
The forecast was for rain over the next two days in and around State College, so my expectations for a scenic hike were low. I’d done some reading about the Allegheny Foot Trail, a 40-mile loop through the Moshannon State Forest, with high hopes for some scenic vistas. I had targeted one 5-mile stretch in the south eastern end where most of them were identified. I made the drive with my fingers crossed, and when I arrived at the trailhead to sunny conditions, my spirits lifted. I was trying to decide about my overnight accommodations. Since it was a state forest, I could camp anywhere that was more than 100 feet from a trail or source of water. State parks, on the other hand, require that you camp only in designated camp areas. As a Leave No Trace educator, I know the principles of camping with minimal impact and enjoy finding secluded places that no one else has or is likely to use. Since I wasn’t going to walking a long stretch of the trail, I figured I’d only bring a day pack and leave my overnight gear in the car and return for it at the conclusion of my hike.
It turned out to be a wise choice. The trail can only be described as a ‘green tunnel’. Since it was a State Forest, it was clear that it had been harvested for lumber at some point in the not so distant past. There were no trees with any significant height or girth to indicate they were older. The undergrowth was extensive and made moving from the trail to find a camp site difficult. The views offered were quite limited and on the entire 6-mile hike, I never encountered any open area that I would consider a desirable camping location.
I returned to the car reasonably tired, a little disappointed and with a sore hip. The hip issue was the result of the uncertain footing throughout the hike. The trail was made up of a considerable amount of loose stone covered in newly fallen and wet leaves, which had me slipping and wrenching my hip on numerous occasions. I packed my gear back into the car and decided to drive around the forest and look for a better opportunity to camp. I found none, but did come across a porcupine and stopped to get his picture.
I drove to State College to check out the town with thoughts of sleeping in the Honda in some hotel parking lot near the cross country course. I’ve done this before and it’s not the most desirable solution, but I didn’t want to pay $25 to sleep for 7 hours in a state park. I noticed there was another state forest 15 miles south of the town, so I gave up the hotel idea and drove there.
I ended up in Green Furnace State Park, which is pretty much like any other state park I’ve ever been in…campers, trailers, and a couple of tents closely packed around a shower/laundry area. For many folks, this is camping, but for me it’s just an outdoor motel. I started the night sleeping in the back of the Honda, but wasn’t too comfortable. I got out to stretch my legs at 1 a.m. and was greeted by a beautiful, star-filled sky, not unlike the ones I loved so much in the Adirondacks. I pulled my sleeping bag from the car and threw it on the grass nearby for the remainder of the night. I laid away, staring up into the starry sky determined that I wouldn’t look away until I’d seen a shooting star. Once I saw one, I couldn’t look away but when I noticed it was 3 a.m., figured I’d better get some sleep. I still woke regularly and finally got up when the sky began to lighten from the morning sun and a fellow camper out walking his dog in the near dark almost tripped over me.
Hike duration: 3 hours.
Training Heart Rate: 75 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1.500.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Like riding a bike, there are some things you never forget how to do...
Thursday, October 14, 2010
I was planning a run, but found that I was going to be babysitting instead. I’d agreed to the plan, but thought it was going to happen a little later in the evening and I’d be able to get in my workout. Once Ash left and I was alone with Ollie, I quickly remembered how many calories can be burned trying to stay with a three-year. Ollie’s language skills aren’t completely developed, but he says one thing pretty clearly.
“Paw…let’ play.” I mean I couldn’t pretend I hadn’t heard it, but I knew playing meant going in his room and building stuff with blocks, playing with action figures and pretending his Buzz Lightyear actually had a life-threatening lazar shooting out of his arm, which could drop me cold. I pulled ‘Bambi’ from the video shelf, inserted it in the VCR, hit play and tried to get him interested…with no success. I finally caved and we headed for his room. I played for the next hour and when it was time for bed, I got him into his pajamas and took him into the bathroom for the things that needed to be done there. I didn’t know what his peeing procedure was, but I quickly discovered what it wasn’t. He pulled a stool up to the toilet, took off his pajama bottoms, a tried to direct a stream into the toilet. At least I think that was his plan…it was hard to tell since NONE of it arrived there.
“Ollie…whoa…your missing the toilet,” I said while reaching out to stop the stream with my hand. It did little to keep pee from going all over the floor…or my hand. I cleaned up the mess, got him to brush his teeth and got him into bed.
I went down to my office to start getting camping gear. I was taking a trip to State College, Pa. to watch Kim run in an extremely competitive cross country invitational at Penn State. I figured it would be a good chance to get in one final camping trip for the season and planned to hike a portion of the Allegheny Front Trail in Moshannon State Forest while there. I was pretty focused on what I needed to bring, but I thought I’d heard Ollie calling. I had and when I got to his room, he was speaking in tongues, but I thought he’d said something about poop.
“I poo paw,” he said.
“You pooped?” I asked and he said he had. By then I was smelling it, if there was any doubt. I hoped for gas, but prepared for something a little more solid as we headed for the bathroom. Now…I once went 14 consecutive years changing diapers every day. I knew how to do this thing…when I had the equipment. I’d always worked from a changing table with wipes at the ready and a backup diaper at hand. None of these things were present and I didn’t know where to find them…and they are not overrated in this situation. I improvise well, though, and with a warm washcloth, had him cleaned up in no time and back in bed.
I went back to organizing the camping overnight. I was thinking I’d need to hike a long way and maybe get in a run, too, if I was to make up for what I’d missed today. What I hadn’t missed though, was poopy diapers. Thanks, Ollie.
I was planning a run, but found that I was going to be babysitting instead. I’d agreed to the plan, but thought it was going to happen a little later in the evening and I’d be able to get in my workout. Once Ash left and I was alone with Ollie, I quickly remembered how many calories can be burned trying to stay with a three-year. Ollie’s language skills aren’t completely developed, but he says one thing pretty clearly.
“Paw…let’ play.” I mean I couldn’t pretend I hadn’t heard it, but I knew playing meant going in his room and building stuff with blocks, playing with action figures and pretending his Buzz Lightyear actually had a life-threatening lazar shooting out of his arm, which could drop me cold. I pulled ‘Bambi’ from the video shelf, inserted it in the VCR, hit play and tried to get him interested…with no success. I finally caved and we headed for his room. I played for the next hour and when it was time for bed, I got him into his pajamas and took him into the bathroom for the things that needed to be done there. I didn’t know what his peeing procedure was, but I quickly discovered what it wasn’t. He pulled a stool up to the toilet, took off his pajama bottoms, a tried to direct a stream into the toilet. At least I think that was his plan…it was hard to tell since NONE of it arrived there.
“Ollie…whoa…your missing the toilet,” I said while reaching out to stop the stream with my hand. It did little to keep pee from going all over the floor…or my hand. I cleaned up the mess, got him to brush his teeth and got him into bed.
I went down to my office to start getting camping gear. I was taking a trip to State College, Pa. to watch Kim run in an extremely competitive cross country invitational at Penn State. I figured it would be a good chance to get in one final camping trip for the season and planned to hike a portion of the Allegheny Front Trail in Moshannon State Forest while there. I was pretty focused on what I needed to bring, but I thought I’d heard Ollie calling. I had and when I got to his room, he was speaking in tongues, but I thought he’d said something about poop.
“I poo paw,” he said.
“You pooped?” I asked and he said he had. By then I was smelling it, if there was any doubt. I hoped for gas, but prepared for something a little more solid as we headed for the bathroom. Now…I once went 14 consecutive years changing diapers every day. I knew how to do this thing…when I had the equipment. I’d always worked from a changing table with wipes at the ready and a backup diaper at hand. None of these things were present and I didn’t know where to find them…and they are not overrated in this situation. I improvise well, though, and with a warm washcloth, had him cleaned up in no time and back in bed.
I went back to organizing the camping overnight. I was thinking I’d need to hike a long way and maybe get in a run, too, if I was to make up for what I’d missed today. What I hadn’t missed though, was poopy diapers. Thanks, Ollie.
I love free meals
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
We had received a $50 gift certificate from our son to visit Moxie’s, a restaurant in Beachwood. When Holly and I get a gift certificate for any amount, we do my best to use every penny of the gift without going over. Fifty dollars is a hell of a lot of money for a penny-pinching miser like me. I could eat out all week with that if I could pick the places…but they wouldn’t cash it at Kleifelds in Willoughby.
I knew I was in trouble when we pulled in the lot and they offered valet parking. No one offers valet parking unless they’re going to hose you on the prices once you get inside. I pulled around back to where the help park and we hiked back to the front door. I figured to add the time to my workout for the day. Anyway, we walked up to the hostess stand and were greeted by two attractive, young ladies dressed in black. They looked at us and smiled, but after saying ‘welcome’, went mum. The ball was in my court, and so I suggested they seat us for dinner. She looked me over, decided I wasn’t there to apply for a job in the kitchen, and told me it would be about a twenty-minute wait for a table. They were slammed. She had suggested something about a ‘raised table’ in the bar, but I didn’t know what that was and decided to wait. I peered into the dining room and was sure most of the diners had stopped eating, turned and stared to see someone of my status in their space. After a couple of shocked moments thinking about if I’d be seated anywhere near them, they went back to eating and drinking. I walked to the bar, checked out the raised tables and figured they were good enough and the crowd more appropriate to my company.
The menu was the next shocker. I knew my entrée would have to be under $20 if I was to make my goal, which pretty much left the appetizers or a burger. I opted for the $16 burger and diet coke, which left a couple of extra dollars for Holly to get a real dinner. When the waiter asked us if he should bring us out bread, I had concerns that they charged for it and I would be going over budget. He brought a plate with some oil and what appeared to be some kind of dip blopped in the middle. I tried dipping my bread in it and found it to be very good, though unidentifiable. I managed to clean it up with my fourth piece of bread and Holly asked if I was still hungry after eating all the bread I’d dipped in butter.
“That was butter? I thought it was like some kind of dip or something,” I said.
“Did you see any appetizers? Anything that you might dip in dip…you dip?”
I hadn’t…now that she mentioned it, but it would have made good dip…butter or not.
The food came…Holly was having Lamb Chops. My burger was big, juicy, covered in cheese and delicious. I’d asked the waiter to leave the bacon off the burger because…you know…extra calories. When we’d finished, the waiter presented us with the bill and the dessert option, to which I said no and Holly replied ‘let’s see the menu’ simultaneously. When he walked away, she looked over the bill and said that we still had $4.38 left in our $50 gift certificate.
“We aren’t going to get the change, so we have to order dessert,” she said. I looked at the prices and asked her if she was going to order half of something since everything on the menu would put us over the $50.
“We’ll spring for the extra,” she said. I must of looked pale because she asked me if I was alright. Of course I wasn’t…make up the difference?
We finished up and with the tip, I was out of pocket about $12. I suppose that’s not too bad for a free dinner, but that’s all I would have paid for dinner for two at most places I’m willing to go.
Oh…and I ran hard today. I covered a course that normally takes me 30 minutes in just over 28. I knew it was going well from the start since I was moving smoothly uphill over the first 8 minutes of the run. I was thinking if it was the Clear Creek course, I’d be going for my pr, but I knew I was still holding something back to be certain I was completely healthy. There will be other days.
Run duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 145 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.
We had received a $50 gift certificate from our son to visit Moxie’s, a restaurant in Beachwood. When Holly and I get a gift certificate for any amount, we do my best to use every penny of the gift without going over. Fifty dollars is a hell of a lot of money for a penny-pinching miser like me. I could eat out all week with that if I could pick the places…but they wouldn’t cash it at Kleifelds in Willoughby.
I knew I was in trouble when we pulled in the lot and they offered valet parking. No one offers valet parking unless they’re going to hose you on the prices once you get inside. I pulled around back to where the help park and we hiked back to the front door. I figured to add the time to my workout for the day. Anyway, we walked up to the hostess stand and were greeted by two attractive, young ladies dressed in black. They looked at us and smiled, but after saying ‘welcome’, went mum. The ball was in my court, and so I suggested they seat us for dinner. She looked me over, decided I wasn’t there to apply for a job in the kitchen, and told me it would be about a twenty-minute wait for a table. They were slammed. She had suggested something about a ‘raised table’ in the bar, but I didn’t know what that was and decided to wait. I peered into the dining room and was sure most of the diners had stopped eating, turned and stared to see someone of my status in their space. After a couple of shocked moments thinking about if I’d be seated anywhere near them, they went back to eating and drinking. I walked to the bar, checked out the raised tables and figured they were good enough and the crowd more appropriate to my company.
The menu was the next shocker. I knew my entrée would have to be under $20 if I was to make my goal, which pretty much left the appetizers or a burger. I opted for the $16 burger and diet coke, which left a couple of extra dollars for Holly to get a real dinner. When the waiter asked us if he should bring us out bread, I had concerns that they charged for it and I would be going over budget. He brought a plate with some oil and what appeared to be some kind of dip blopped in the middle. I tried dipping my bread in it and found it to be very good, though unidentifiable. I managed to clean it up with my fourth piece of bread and Holly asked if I was still hungry after eating all the bread I’d dipped in butter.
“That was butter? I thought it was like some kind of dip or something,” I said.
“Did you see any appetizers? Anything that you might dip in dip…you dip?”
I hadn’t…now that she mentioned it, but it would have made good dip…butter or not.
The food came…Holly was having Lamb Chops. My burger was big, juicy, covered in cheese and delicious. I’d asked the waiter to leave the bacon off the burger because…you know…extra calories. When we’d finished, the waiter presented us with the bill and the dessert option, to which I said no and Holly replied ‘let’s see the menu’ simultaneously. When he walked away, she looked over the bill and said that we still had $4.38 left in our $50 gift certificate.
“We aren’t going to get the change, so we have to order dessert,” she said. I looked at the prices and asked her if she was going to order half of something since everything on the menu would put us over the $50.
“We’ll spring for the extra,” she said. I must of looked pale because she asked me if I was alright. Of course I wasn’t…make up the difference?
We finished up and with the tip, I was out of pocket about $12. I suppose that’s not too bad for a free dinner, but that’s all I would have paid for dinner for two at most places I’m willing to go.
Oh…and I ran hard today. I covered a course that normally takes me 30 minutes in just over 28. I knew it was going well from the start since I was moving smoothly uphill over the first 8 minutes of the run. I was thinking if it was the Clear Creek course, I’d be going for my pr, but I knew I was still holding something back to be certain I was completely healthy. There will be other days.
Run duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 145 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
'The Bump' runs a race.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Wow…have John and I gotten soft. It was sunny and somewhere in the 50’s as I drove home thinking about the bike ride I was going to do. John had called to say he was in the neighborhood and would stop for a visit before heading to an appointment and letting me do my ride. I knew he wouldn’t have time to get any dinner before going, so I threw on some spaghetti noodles. I had left over sauce and meatballs from Sunday. He arrived shortly after I started heating the water.
“You’re going to ride out there? Man…it is cooooooold,” he said, drawing out the ‘cold’ like we were in Arctic National Park or something. And yet…I kind of did something I don’t normally do…which is to agree with him. How quickly I’d become a freeze baby. When I look back over the blog and see the conditions I was enduring on the bike in the spring just to get off of the trainer and outside, this weather would be a heat wave. It wasn’t this spring though, and it wasn’t a heat wave, and I wasn’t looking forward to riding. Besides, John needed company eating his spaghetti so I decided to join him.
He left and I went to work on the computer deciding that yes, I was going to bag the ride since I would have had only 45 minutes before dark. John pretty much feels that October is not a biking month, but I’m still going to try and get some rides in on the weekends when there is sufficient day light. I recognize that I need some cross training if I am to stay healthy enough to run, and that means some biking all year. I was still feeling quite a bit of soreness in the abdominal area from the long run yesterday though, and knew that if I didn’t ride, I wouldn’t be doing anything…and so I did nothing.
Nancy, an old friend who had moved to Virginia some years ago, was in town about 7 weeks ago and had stopped in for a visit. We’re Facebook friends and I knew that she had lost over 100 pounds – 105 to be exact. I was excited to see her again and to hear all about the process she’d gone through to get and keep the weight off. Essentially, it was diet, she said. It took her two years and the key, she felt, was to always know what she was going to eat. She was extremely disciplined about bringing her lunch to work, planning her snacks and eating a diet that she knew was healthy, balanced and avoided hollow calories. She wanted to do more, though, and knew my specialty.
“I want to run this 5K in October and I’ve gone out and done some jogging, but I get bored with it so quickly,” she told me. I suggested writing her a specific, day by day program of walking and jogging that would have her ready to run the entire distance on the day of the race.
“Look…it’s easier if you have a schedule every day when you walk out the door. I’m going to write it up and you just do it,” I said. She and I used to teach Sunday school together and she always let me take the lead and make the plans…happy to be ‘the bump’ as she called herself. She was ready to be a bump again.
I wrote the plan so that she’d be mostly walking initially, but following each bout of walking with a jog of, at first only 1 minute. I’d build up the jogging time while subtracting the walking until I had her jogging non-stop for 35-40 minutes…enough time to run a 5K race.
I received numerous messages from her and her daughter, Jamie, over the course of the training. Jamie was following the schedule with her mom…and hating it. She’d whine about how tough it was, but I just told her to cut the crap and do the work…which she did. She’s like John and just wants to whine some.
This past Saturday, I received a voice message from Nancy telling me she’d just completed the race in around 34 minutes and had run every step. She was extremely proud of herself…as she should have been, and wanted to thank me for the program and support.
It’s really simple, I think, but only if you have definable goals and a way to measure your results. Having a date in time such as she did for the race, is an excellent task master and something I always recommend to folks trying to accomplish fitness or weight related goals. Good job, Nancy. And Jamie…quick your crappy whining.
Wow…have John and I gotten soft. It was sunny and somewhere in the 50’s as I drove home thinking about the bike ride I was going to do. John had called to say he was in the neighborhood and would stop for a visit before heading to an appointment and letting me do my ride. I knew he wouldn’t have time to get any dinner before going, so I threw on some spaghetti noodles. I had left over sauce and meatballs from Sunday. He arrived shortly after I started heating the water.
“You’re going to ride out there? Man…it is cooooooold,” he said, drawing out the ‘cold’ like we were in Arctic National Park or something. And yet…I kind of did something I don’t normally do…which is to agree with him. How quickly I’d become a freeze baby. When I look back over the blog and see the conditions I was enduring on the bike in the spring just to get off of the trainer and outside, this weather would be a heat wave. It wasn’t this spring though, and it wasn’t a heat wave, and I wasn’t looking forward to riding. Besides, John needed company eating his spaghetti so I decided to join him.
He left and I went to work on the computer deciding that yes, I was going to bag the ride since I would have had only 45 minutes before dark. John pretty much feels that October is not a biking month, but I’m still going to try and get some rides in on the weekends when there is sufficient day light. I recognize that I need some cross training if I am to stay healthy enough to run, and that means some biking all year. I was still feeling quite a bit of soreness in the abdominal area from the long run yesterday though, and knew that if I didn’t ride, I wouldn’t be doing anything…and so I did nothing.
Nancy, an old friend who had moved to Virginia some years ago, was in town about 7 weeks ago and had stopped in for a visit. We’re Facebook friends and I knew that she had lost over 100 pounds – 105 to be exact. I was excited to see her again and to hear all about the process she’d gone through to get and keep the weight off. Essentially, it was diet, she said. It took her two years and the key, she felt, was to always know what she was going to eat. She was extremely disciplined about bringing her lunch to work, planning her snacks and eating a diet that she knew was healthy, balanced and avoided hollow calories. She wanted to do more, though, and knew my specialty.
“I want to run this 5K in October and I’ve gone out and done some jogging, but I get bored with it so quickly,” she told me. I suggested writing her a specific, day by day program of walking and jogging that would have her ready to run the entire distance on the day of the race.
“Look…it’s easier if you have a schedule every day when you walk out the door. I’m going to write it up and you just do it,” I said. She and I used to teach Sunday school together and she always let me take the lead and make the plans…happy to be ‘the bump’ as she called herself. She was ready to be a bump again.
I wrote the plan so that she’d be mostly walking initially, but following each bout of walking with a jog of, at first only 1 minute. I’d build up the jogging time while subtracting the walking until I had her jogging non-stop for 35-40 minutes…enough time to run a 5K race.
I received numerous messages from her and her daughter, Jamie, over the course of the training. Jamie was following the schedule with her mom…and hating it. She’d whine about how tough it was, but I just told her to cut the crap and do the work…which she did. She’s like John and just wants to whine some.
This past Saturday, I received a voice message from Nancy telling me she’d just completed the race in around 34 minutes and had run every step. She was extremely proud of herself…as she should have been, and wanted to thank me for the program and support.
It’s really simple, I think, but only if you have definable goals and a way to measure your results. Having a date in time such as she did for the race, is an excellent task master and something I always recommend to folks trying to accomplish fitness or weight related goals. Good job, Nancy. And Jamie…quick your crappy whining.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Long run...tired hip.
Monday, October11, 2010
Of course I’d overeaten the day before. It was family dinner night and Holly had made spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread and, of course, peach cobbler. I’d helped with the pastry that covers the peaches…don’t know what else to call it…by kneading the butter with the bisquick. I knew how much butter was in that recipe and I wasn’t about to let that stop me from eating a couple of pieces after dinner and then finishing it for breakfast the next morning, which I did.
So…there I was heading for the park and a run and trying to decide how far to go. I’m guessing that I’ve probably added a couple of pounds back on as a result of my restricted running schedule of the previous 8 weeks. And I know that I want to get back to the times and distances I was running prior to the injury…so…run long.
I was heading for the trail in the South Chagrin Reservation that runs from Miles Road north to the Polo Fields. The last time I was there, I’d come up against the horses…and won. It’s a flat course making it ideal for running longer, but I’d really run out of steam the last time I ran this course and wanted to make a big improvement.
I started the run thinking that although it was cool, the air seemed heavy with humidity. I wasn’t wrong and found that I was well on my way to being saturated in sweat after 15 minutes of running. I reached the Polo Fields in 25 minutes and then looped the Fields to get in some extra time before retracing my steps back to my car. Although I wouldn’t classify the way my hip was feeling as the pain that had sidelined me, I was certainly feeling a fatigue in my left buttock that’s probably related. It would of course been prudent to stop…but prudence is way overrated…and so I finished the run, albeit slowly. I don’t think I’d sweat more on any run all summer…even through the 90+ degree days. My shirt and shoes were saturated demonstrating again that it doesn’t need to be scorching hot to suffer dehydration and the accompanying heat related illnesses.
I went home to a dinner of a BJ’s chicken and buttered noodles, which I’d eaten only after consuming a bowl of pea soup. There was a little chocolate pudding in the frig from a dinner over a week ago with some major separation going on, but I didn’t let that stop me and ate it, too. Bottom line – when Holly asked me around 11 p.m. to take a walk – I figured I needed it. Tomorrow…maybe a long bike ride. I think the hip needs a day off.
Run duration: 63 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 145 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,100.
Of course I’d overeaten the day before. It was family dinner night and Holly had made spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread and, of course, peach cobbler. I’d helped with the pastry that covers the peaches…don’t know what else to call it…by kneading the butter with the bisquick. I knew how much butter was in that recipe and I wasn’t about to let that stop me from eating a couple of pieces after dinner and then finishing it for breakfast the next morning, which I did.
So…there I was heading for the park and a run and trying to decide how far to go. I’m guessing that I’ve probably added a couple of pounds back on as a result of my restricted running schedule of the previous 8 weeks. And I know that I want to get back to the times and distances I was running prior to the injury…so…run long.
I was heading for the trail in the South Chagrin Reservation that runs from Miles Road north to the Polo Fields. The last time I was there, I’d come up against the horses…and won. It’s a flat course making it ideal for running longer, but I’d really run out of steam the last time I ran this course and wanted to make a big improvement.
I started the run thinking that although it was cool, the air seemed heavy with humidity. I wasn’t wrong and found that I was well on my way to being saturated in sweat after 15 minutes of running. I reached the Polo Fields in 25 minutes and then looped the Fields to get in some extra time before retracing my steps back to my car. Although I wouldn’t classify the way my hip was feeling as the pain that had sidelined me, I was certainly feeling a fatigue in my left buttock that’s probably related. It would of course been prudent to stop…but prudence is way overrated…and so I finished the run, albeit slowly. I don’t think I’d sweat more on any run all summer…even through the 90+ degree days. My shirt and shoes were saturated demonstrating again that it doesn’t need to be scorching hot to suffer dehydration and the accompanying heat related illnesses.
I went home to a dinner of a BJ’s chicken and buttered noodles, which I’d eaten only after consuming a bowl of pea soup. There was a little chocolate pudding in the frig from a dinner over a week ago with some major separation going on, but I didn’t let that stop me and ate it, too. Bottom line – when Holly asked me around 11 p.m. to take a walk – I figured I needed it. Tomorrow…maybe a long bike ride. I think the hip needs a day off.
Run duration: 63 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 145 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,100.
Serenity on the Upper Cuyahoga
Sunday, October 10, 2010
I’d been talking to Bruce, an old friend who’d done a trip to the Adirondacks with me a couple of years ago and who really liked to kayak. I mentioned that we should go soon since the weather was perfect, the bugs were gone and the leaves were changing.
“How about Sunday?” He’s one of those guys who actually make plans. I hate when people say they want to do something with you, but never actually commit to a time.
“Has to be early. We want to be in the water just as the sun is coming up to get good nature pictures. I’d say that’s around 7 a.m. which means you’ll need to be at my place by 6 a.m.,” I said. He goes into work every morning at 6 a.m. and I knew this would be no problem for him.
“How about 5:30 a.m.,” he said and we compromised on 5:45, but I knew he’d be early.
I’d put the kayaks on the van the night before, so when he arrived…early…we were on our way. We went to Russell Park, which is near the head waters of the Cuyahoga River just south of Burton. We were going to run the river past the Hiram Rapids and take out just above Camp High. The kayaks sit high on the roof of the van because of the racks, which can make taking them on and off a bit of a struggle. I had brought along a short, plastic stool to assist with the operation. Bruce took it to the front of the vehicle and used it to reach the kayaks. We had them off the van and moved them to the side of the road so they would be out of the way during the 30 minutes it would take to deliver the van to the take out point and return to Russell Park in Bruce’s car. As I began to pull forward, I heard a crunching sound coming from under the car. Then I remembered the stool.
Yeah…plastic stools are no match for minivans and this one was no exception. I spent the next 5 minutes trying to dislodge it from the wheel well. I didn’t want Bruce to feel bad about being an idiot and leaving it in front of the car, but I had to tell him what I was doing since it was dark and from his car, he couldn’t tell.
“You left Holly’s favorite gardening stool under the car and I ran it over and squished it like a ripe pumpkin,” I said.
“Oops. I’ll get her a new one. It wasn’t anything special…was it?”
“Um…well…her grandma used to let her use it when Holly helped her in the garden as a little girl. When she died, she left it to Holly because it represented such a special time together for them, but…other than that…no,” I said. He looked horrified. Oh what the hell…I’d lied again.
We were back and in the water by 7:15 with barely enough daylight to see the downed trees that were scattered throughout the river. We’d spend the next three hours on a leisurely trip down this wonderfully wild river…a hidden gem such a surprisingly short distance from a large, urban area. I’ve been around long enough to have seen the river burn and I know that situation is a distant memory, but it’s really hard to believe how beautiful the upper reaches of the Cuyahoga is and the variety of wildlife it supports. I commonly have beaver slapping their tails on the water and diving below the surface on my approach. Red-tailed hawks are always circling overhead, and Great Blue Heron’s often accompany me for long stretches of the paddle, flying a couple of hundred yards ahead and waiting for my approach before again moving down river. Occasionally, I’m lucky enough to spot an eagle. On more than one occasion, I’ve almost rolled the kayak as I twisted into some unusual position to snap a picture with the camera I always have hanging from my neck. It is from these pictures that will include fellow kayakers not wearing life jackets, that I get a load of crap from my sister. She’s the Director of the Spirit of America boating instruction and safety program, which, quite naturally, promotes the use of life jackets. I’ve taught some classes in canoeing and kayaking for the groups and always wear one then, but I’ve told her I’m not wearing one in water that only reaches my knees. She doesn’t want to hear it.
The water was reasonably high and I actually had some get into the hold as I moved quickly through the ‘beyond category’ rapids in Hiram. We pulled out just below the rapids in a little less than three hours. It’s not what I’d classify as a workout, but my butt was killing me and my legs were numb from being in the boat for so long. It definitely burns calories, gives my lower body a break, and, most importantly, provides a dose of serenity that almost anyone could use. All very good reasons to do it more often.
Kayak duration: 3 hours.
Training Heart Rate: 75 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,000.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Back to the Clear Creek Course.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
It was looking like a repeat of last Saturday when I’d gone to a cross country meet, hurried home and picked up Holly to take her to the airport for her business trip to Milwaukee. On that day, I’d failed to fit in a workout and having been essentially off yesterday, didn’t want to have it happen again.
I hit the meet for Marie’s 9 a.m. run. It was at Stow Silver Springs park in Stow where they offer the greatest dog area I’ve ever seen. It’s called Bow Wow Beach and has a large pond/swimming pool for the dogs. I’m not sure what to call it because it’s a man-made body of water surrounded by sand that I suspect was at one time for human beings. Not any more. There were some 30 dogs running all over the fenced-in area, jumping in the water, playing on the doggie playground and generally have a blast the way only happy, care-free dogs can (do any dogs have cares?). The pond/pool/water hazard had to be the size of a football field, so there was plenty of swimming room.
I left there with a little over two hours left before I needed to pick Holly up. Enough time for a run, I concluded and headed for North Chagrin. I had plenty of time to plan as I drove, so I made up my mind I would run the last course I’d run before the injury…my Clear Creek 6.5 miler. On that day, I’d set a course pr by 90 seconds and was completely pumped. It was the kind of breakthrough day all runners look for because it tells them that training is working and they’re moving to a higher level. I had no idea it would be 8 long weeks before I would again be running on a regular basis.
I started the run conservatively. Since I hadn’t run the distance in 8 weeks, I knew that going out hard would likely leave me sucking wind towards the end. I expected to hit a bit of a wall by 40 minutes, but it never really happened and I was able to hold what I considered a decent pace for the entire run. I had decided to check my time when I hit Clear Creek, but to keep running back to the car. I’d been stopping there during the heat of the summer because I’d wanted to dunk myself, but with the temperature in the 60’s, I wasn’t going to be doing that. I was going to be happy with a time around 56 minutes, so when I checked the watch and discovered I’d covered the distance in 54:50, I was pretty happy. I hadn’t really pushed myself and had managed to run only about 13 seconds a mile slower than my best time ever. I finished the run thinking I could get back to where I’d been and better that time by the end of November and maybe sooner. Now I had something to keep me focused.
Run duration: 59 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,000.
It was looking like a repeat of last Saturday when I’d gone to a cross country meet, hurried home and picked up Holly to take her to the airport for her business trip to Milwaukee. On that day, I’d failed to fit in a workout and having been essentially off yesterday, didn’t want to have it happen again.
I hit the meet for Marie’s 9 a.m. run. It was at Stow Silver Springs park in Stow where they offer the greatest dog area I’ve ever seen. It’s called Bow Wow Beach and has a large pond/swimming pool for the dogs. I’m not sure what to call it because it’s a man-made body of water surrounded by sand that I suspect was at one time for human beings. Not any more. There were some 30 dogs running all over the fenced-in area, jumping in the water, playing on the doggie playground and generally have a blast the way only happy, care-free dogs can (do any dogs have cares?). The pond/pool/water hazard had to be the size of a football field, so there was plenty of swimming room.
I left there with a little over two hours left before I needed to pick Holly up. Enough time for a run, I concluded and headed for North Chagrin. I had plenty of time to plan as I drove, so I made up my mind I would run the last course I’d run before the injury…my Clear Creek 6.5 miler. On that day, I’d set a course pr by 90 seconds and was completely pumped. It was the kind of breakthrough day all runners look for because it tells them that training is working and they’re moving to a higher level. I had no idea it would be 8 long weeks before I would again be running on a regular basis.
I started the run conservatively. Since I hadn’t run the distance in 8 weeks, I knew that going out hard would likely leave me sucking wind towards the end. I expected to hit a bit of a wall by 40 minutes, but it never really happened and I was able to hold what I considered a decent pace for the entire run. I had decided to check my time when I hit Clear Creek, but to keep running back to the car. I’d been stopping there during the heat of the summer because I’d wanted to dunk myself, but with the temperature in the 60’s, I wasn’t going to be doing that. I was going to be happy with a time around 56 minutes, so when I checked the watch and discovered I’d covered the distance in 54:50, I was pretty happy. I hadn’t really pushed myself and had managed to run only about 13 seconds a mile slower than my best time ever. I finished the run thinking I could get back to where I’d been and better that time by the end of November and maybe sooner. Now I had something to keep me focused.
Run duration: 59 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,000.
A gentle day.
Friday, October 08, 2010
It was another beautiful day for a ride. I’d decided that I must take a day off from running to protect the hip and give it some rest. But as the day dragged on and the weariness in my legs never seemed to lessen, I started thinking I’d just do nothing. I drove to the park with my camera and decided to go on a short walk along a seldom-used trail to the edge of the marsh. I also brought a book and thought that I’d sit and read and wait for something to move or stir on the marsh so that I could take its picture…whatever ‘it’ was.
I made my way to the end of the trail and found a log on which to sit while reading and looking over the marsh. I couldn’t read more than a few sentences though, for all of the sounds that I was hearing and needed to investigate. The quacking of the ducks coming and going was constant. Something entered the water nearby…likely a muskrat, which are abundant. Insects hummed…and landed…on me. Overhead, the scree of red-tailed hawk reached my ears. And always…the subtle swoosh of the wind as it moved over and through the grasses and reeds that make up so much of the land at the edge of the marsh.
I kept the camera around my neck and in the ‘on’ position, but managed only a distant picture of the hawk winging its way across the sky. The log was less than comfortable and after 30 minutes, I stood to bring life back to my legs. I had to get home to make a dinner for Jack and so headed back over the swampy trail to my car. In all, it had been a short hike, but at least I’d gotten out and loosened up legs that were aching from a week of solid, but tiring running.
Hike duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 70 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 200.
It was another beautiful day for a ride. I’d decided that I must take a day off from running to protect the hip and give it some rest. But as the day dragged on and the weariness in my legs never seemed to lessen, I started thinking I’d just do nothing. I drove to the park with my camera and decided to go on a short walk along a seldom-used trail to the edge of the marsh. I also brought a book and thought that I’d sit and read and wait for something to move or stir on the marsh so that I could take its picture…whatever ‘it’ was.
I made my way to the end of the trail and found a log on which to sit while reading and looking over the marsh. I couldn’t read more than a few sentences though, for all of the sounds that I was hearing and needed to investigate. The quacking of the ducks coming and going was constant. Something entered the water nearby…likely a muskrat, which are abundant. Insects hummed…and landed…on me. Overhead, the scree of red-tailed hawk reached my ears. And always…the subtle swoosh of the wind as it moved over and through the grasses and reeds that make up so much of the land at the edge of the marsh.
I kept the camera around my neck and in the ‘on’ position, but managed only a distant picture of the hawk winging its way across the sky. The log was less than comfortable and after 30 minutes, I stood to bring life back to my legs. I had to get home to make a dinner for Jack and so headed back over the swampy trail to my car. In all, it had been a short hike, but at least I’d gotten out and loosened up legs that were aching from a week of solid, but tiring running.
Hike duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 70 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 200.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Racing horses in the park.
Thursday, October 07, 2010
The weather couldn’t have been any better for a ride, but I knew that the time was limited. Once on the bike, I rarely ride less than 90 minutes and I would not have that kind of time this day. I did have an hour though, and decided I’d give running just one more day.
Leaves are beginning to fall and are covering the roots and rocks that like to trip me up on a run. I ran carefully over the first part of the trail, which has the most roots and hazards and with this intense, downward focus, almost didn’t notice the two horses dead ahead.
Having spent considerable time at Fieldstone Farm Therapeutic Riding Center, I know the importance of not coming up behind horses and startling them. Since these two were walking, I was gaining on them rapidly. I cleared my throat loudly and one of the riders turned and saw me. She said something to her partner, clucked to her horse and they broke into a cantor and moved ahead. Problem was, the pace they were now moving was almost identical to my running pace…and maybe a little slower. An occasional glance back told the riders this and they went into a gallop to pull away. After a couple of turns in the trail, I lost sight of them, but I knew what was going to happen. These were not your thoroughbred racing horses and the riders on them were…well…wide. After reading ‘Born to Run’ and learning how elite runners can outrun elite horses over longer distances, I figured a mediocre runner (me) could outrun mediocre horses with big humans on their backs…eventually.
I continued my plod for five minutes before I again had them in my sights. They’d slowed as I’d expected and this time as I gained on them, it occurred to them that they should let me pass…and I did. They thanked me for not spooking their mounts as I went around, which I acknowledged and pulled away. So yeah…I beat the horses. Fortunately, this all happened in the first part of my run. By the time I reached 40 minutes, I was beginning to feel the accumulation of the last five days of running and knew that I was slowing. My left buttocks was sore and I was trying to evaluate it against the right to determine if it was somehow related to the hip injury, but concluded that it was not and continued on. I returned to the car at the 50-minute mark, extremely pleased with having run my longest time on my fifth consecutive day of running and with no hip pain. I’m convinced…I’m cured.
I really need for Holly to return. My eating sucks lately. I went to my sister’s and had split pea soup, which would have been okay, but she never has just one thing to eat…and it’s usually more like seven. I had a couple of slices of pizza, some corn bread, a second bowl of soup and finished it all off with a slice of Baker’s Square Apple Pie…which had some kind of whipped cream topping to boot. Whatever I’d burned during the run, I added back and then some. We came home with a bunch of leftovers, which I’ll annihilate tomorrow.
Run duration: 50 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 850.
The weather couldn’t have been any better for a ride, but I knew that the time was limited. Once on the bike, I rarely ride less than 90 minutes and I would not have that kind of time this day. I did have an hour though, and decided I’d give running just one more day.
Leaves are beginning to fall and are covering the roots and rocks that like to trip me up on a run. I ran carefully over the first part of the trail, which has the most roots and hazards and with this intense, downward focus, almost didn’t notice the two horses dead ahead.
Having spent considerable time at Fieldstone Farm Therapeutic Riding Center, I know the importance of not coming up behind horses and startling them. Since these two were walking, I was gaining on them rapidly. I cleared my throat loudly and one of the riders turned and saw me. She said something to her partner, clucked to her horse and they broke into a cantor and moved ahead. Problem was, the pace they were now moving was almost identical to my running pace…and maybe a little slower. An occasional glance back told the riders this and they went into a gallop to pull away. After a couple of turns in the trail, I lost sight of them, but I knew what was going to happen. These were not your thoroughbred racing horses and the riders on them were…well…wide. After reading ‘Born to Run’ and learning how elite runners can outrun elite horses over longer distances, I figured a mediocre runner (me) could outrun mediocre horses with big humans on their backs…eventually.
I continued my plod for five minutes before I again had them in my sights. They’d slowed as I’d expected and this time as I gained on them, it occurred to them that they should let me pass…and I did. They thanked me for not spooking their mounts as I went around, which I acknowledged and pulled away. So yeah…I beat the horses. Fortunately, this all happened in the first part of my run. By the time I reached 40 minutes, I was beginning to feel the accumulation of the last five days of running and knew that I was slowing. My left buttocks was sore and I was trying to evaluate it against the right to determine if it was somehow related to the hip injury, but concluded that it was not and continued on. I returned to the car at the 50-minute mark, extremely pleased with having run my longest time on my fifth consecutive day of running and with no hip pain. I’m convinced…I’m cured.
I really need for Holly to return. My eating sucks lately. I went to my sister’s and had split pea soup, which would have been okay, but she never has just one thing to eat…and it’s usually more like seven. I had a couple of slices of pizza, some corn bread, a second bowl of soup and finished it all off with a slice of Baker’s Square Apple Pie…which had some kind of whipped cream topping to boot. Whatever I’d burned during the run, I added back and then some. We came home with a bunch of leftovers, which I’ll annihilate tomorrow.
Run duration: 50 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 850.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Kids on leashes make me crazy.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Is it just me that’s bothered by kids on leashes? I’ve probably written about this before, but it really upsets me, so whenever I see it, I react. Someone please comment and tell me a reason it makes sense. I was driving on a side street in Kent after picking up Heidi and saw a woman was walking her…child. I suppose he was about 3 years old and he had this body harness thing over his coat…kind of like the harnesses roofers have to wear to keep from falling. Anyway, she was walking about 4 feet behind him holding the leash, which was hooked to the harness and running from his back. She’d give it a tug every now and again to keep him from…I don’t know…peeing on a tree? She was pretty heavy and maybe didn’t think she could keep up with him if he headed for the road…I don’t know, but I just don’t get it and I can’t imagine anything good coming of the memory created in a young person’s mind who was leashed when he walked.
Heidi came home to surprise Ash and have a dinner of Ash’s homemade chili and cornbread with us. They were going out to have drinks and do some dancing and I was going to stay home with Ollie. Frankly, I think I had the better deal…if not that night, surely the following morning. We’ll see.
It was raining…surprise, surprise…when I headed for the park to do a run for the fourth day in a row. The forecast was calling for sunshine starting tomorrow and for the next few days, so I figured I’d get in one more day of running and then return to cycling to give the hip a break…which maybe it didn’t even need. It was a gentle rain and with the temperature approaching 60, I was actually pretty comfortable and enjoyed the drops. My legs have been getting progressively sorer with each run…they could use some recovery time…and it took 15 minutes for that feeling to go away. It’s pretty normal for me and I wasn’t concerned. Taking a few days to cycle would eliminate that feeling, so I could put up with it for one more day.
I completed my loop in 30 minutes with no issues, but feeling a little slow and sluggish. At least it’s not 90 degrees, though I kind of miss the dip in Clear Creek at the conclusion of a run. My sister called after the run and invited me over for split pea soup and cornbread tomorrow night, which might make a ride difficult to squeeze in. If so, I’ll try another run and if I make it through 5 consecutive days without hip pain, I think I’ll be ready to accept that the hip may be healed.
Run duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.
Is it just me that’s bothered by kids on leashes? I’ve probably written about this before, but it really upsets me, so whenever I see it, I react. Someone please comment and tell me a reason it makes sense. I was driving on a side street in Kent after picking up Heidi and saw a woman was walking her…child. I suppose he was about 3 years old and he had this body harness thing over his coat…kind of like the harnesses roofers have to wear to keep from falling. Anyway, she was walking about 4 feet behind him holding the leash, which was hooked to the harness and running from his back. She’d give it a tug every now and again to keep him from…I don’t know…peeing on a tree? She was pretty heavy and maybe didn’t think she could keep up with him if he headed for the road…I don’t know, but I just don’t get it and I can’t imagine anything good coming of the memory created in a young person’s mind who was leashed when he walked.
Heidi came home to surprise Ash and have a dinner of Ash’s homemade chili and cornbread with us. They were going out to have drinks and do some dancing and I was going to stay home with Ollie. Frankly, I think I had the better deal…if not that night, surely the following morning. We’ll see.
It was raining…surprise, surprise…when I headed for the park to do a run for the fourth day in a row. The forecast was calling for sunshine starting tomorrow and for the next few days, so I figured I’d get in one more day of running and then return to cycling to give the hip a break…which maybe it didn’t even need. It was a gentle rain and with the temperature approaching 60, I was actually pretty comfortable and enjoyed the drops. My legs have been getting progressively sorer with each run…they could use some recovery time…and it took 15 minutes for that feeling to go away. It’s pretty normal for me and I wasn’t concerned. Taking a few days to cycle would eliminate that feeling, so I could put up with it for one more day.
I completed my loop in 30 minutes with no issues, but feeling a little slow and sluggish. At least it’s not 90 degrees, though I kind of miss the dip in Clear Creek at the conclusion of a run. My sister called after the run and invited me over for split pea soup and cornbread tomorrow night, which might make a ride difficult to squeeze in. If so, I’ll try another run and if I make it through 5 consecutive days without hip pain, I think I’ll be ready to accept that the hip may be healed.
Run duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Sugar-coated messages.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
“Sugar-coated messages – right from the crib, children hear advertising promoting unhealthy food and drinks."
This was a feature story on the front page of the Plain Dealer last Friday. There’s this super-cute kid standing in his crib, which is filled to overflowing with what appears to be M & M’s , a toy made from doughnuts, a McDonald’s handbag and emblems on the wall behind him promoting Pepsi, Fruity Pebbles, and Trix. “Do our kids really have a chance?” That’s the question the writer asks us…and it’s a pretty effective picture and convincing story about the possibility that childhood obesity, at least in part, may be tied directly to the advertising barrage every child faces whose goal it is to get them to eat foods laden with sugar and fat.
I’ve got a problem with the theory though. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think kids should eat pure sugar cereals, loads of candy crap, and unhealthy snack choices, but I have trouble with the idea that they’re eating more of it because of the genius and persistency of advertising. I remember watching Tony the Tiger, the Fruit Loops Lepricon, Captain Crunch’s Captain and the Coo Coo Bird and wishing I could get my hands on all of those cereals. I did get them once in a while when visiting my cousin Donnie, but at home it was Wheaties, Cheerios, Rice Crispies and Corn Flakes – none of them pre-sweetened. That’s what my dad bought when he went to the grocery store, that’s what was in the cabinet when I got up in the morning and…that’s what I had to eat. Pretty simple.
As for the argument that candy bars are eye-level for kids at the grocery store in the check-out line which gives the 5-year old easy access to them, I can also remember asking my dad for those products as I passed through similar situations fifty years earlier. I remember pretty clearly how it played out.
“Can I have a candy bar, dad?”
“No,” he said without even looking down to see the kind I wanted or to look into my soft, pleading eyes.
That was it. ‘No’ meant ‘no’ and not ‘maybe’. He was a lot bigger than me, had all the money and the car, and didn’t take kindly to pleading. I waited for grandma’s and Halloween for candy bars and ate apples, which he provided in abundance, the rest of the year.
I suppose advertising could be having some effect on parents’ choices for their children…I don’t know. I do know that when my kids were young, Holly and I made the choices and they had to live with them. Like me, they learned that ‘no’ meant ‘no’ and that was the end of it. If they got crap to eat, it was only because we gave it to them and, in my opinion, had nothing to do with the advertising.
It was drizzling again and riding was out so I headed to the park to see how running three days in a row would go. This time I would stick to the pre-run plan and go only 30 minutes. I still feel like I’m living on borrowed time and don’t want to push the hip. I love running in the fall, which is here, and don’t want to miss it by running too much too soon. I felt great for the entire run and might try it again tomorrow.
I had another very bad eating night and need Holly to return. It’s Ash’s birthday week and so I made burgers on the grill and followed that with a trip to East Coast Custard. She’d never been there before and since it’s the best ice cream anywhere, I figured she needed it. Of course…I couldn’t let her eat alone and ordered a strawberry custard smoothie…probably 500 calories…or 30 minutes of running, coincidentally. Oh well…”tomorrow, tomorrow, I luv ya, tomorrow, you’re always a day away.”
Run duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500…or…a smoothie.
“Sugar-coated messages – right from the crib, children hear advertising promoting unhealthy food and drinks."
This was a feature story on the front page of the Plain Dealer last Friday. There’s this super-cute kid standing in his crib, which is filled to overflowing with what appears to be M & M’s , a toy made from doughnuts, a McDonald’s handbag and emblems on the wall behind him promoting Pepsi, Fruity Pebbles, and Trix. “Do our kids really have a chance?” That’s the question the writer asks us…and it’s a pretty effective picture and convincing story about the possibility that childhood obesity, at least in part, may be tied directly to the advertising barrage every child faces whose goal it is to get them to eat foods laden with sugar and fat.
I’ve got a problem with the theory though. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think kids should eat pure sugar cereals, loads of candy crap, and unhealthy snack choices, but I have trouble with the idea that they’re eating more of it because of the genius and persistency of advertising. I remember watching Tony the Tiger, the Fruit Loops Lepricon, Captain Crunch’s Captain and the Coo Coo Bird and wishing I could get my hands on all of those cereals. I did get them once in a while when visiting my cousin Donnie, but at home it was Wheaties, Cheerios, Rice Crispies and Corn Flakes – none of them pre-sweetened. That’s what my dad bought when he went to the grocery store, that’s what was in the cabinet when I got up in the morning and…that’s what I had to eat. Pretty simple.
As for the argument that candy bars are eye-level for kids at the grocery store in the check-out line which gives the 5-year old easy access to them, I can also remember asking my dad for those products as I passed through similar situations fifty years earlier. I remember pretty clearly how it played out.
“Can I have a candy bar, dad?”
“No,” he said without even looking down to see the kind I wanted or to look into my soft, pleading eyes.
That was it. ‘No’ meant ‘no’ and not ‘maybe’. He was a lot bigger than me, had all the money and the car, and didn’t take kindly to pleading. I waited for grandma’s and Halloween for candy bars and ate apples, which he provided in abundance, the rest of the year.
I suppose advertising could be having some effect on parents’ choices for their children…I don’t know. I do know that when my kids were young, Holly and I made the choices and they had to live with them. Like me, they learned that ‘no’ meant ‘no’ and that was the end of it. If they got crap to eat, it was only because we gave it to them and, in my opinion, had nothing to do with the advertising.
It was drizzling again and riding was out so I headed to the park to see how running three days in a row would go. This time I would stick to the pre-run plan and go only 30 minutes. I still feel like I’m living on borrowed time and don’t want to push the hip. I love running in the fall, which is here, and don’t want to miss it by running too much too soon. I felt great for the entire run and might try it again tomorrow.
I had another very bad eating night and need Holly to return. It’s Ash’s birthday week and so I made burgers on the grill and followed that with a trip to East Coast Custard. She’d never been there before and since it’s the best ice cream anywhere, I figured she needed it. Of course…I couldn’t let her eat alone and ordered a strawberry custard smoothie…probably 500 calories…or 30 minutes of running, coincidentally. Oh well…”tomorrow, tomorrow, I luv ya, tomorrow, you’re always a day away.”
Run duration: 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500…or…a smoothie.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Playing in the woods...and other things.
Monday, October 04, 2010
The Plain Dealer reported that Stan Austin recently took the reins of the Cuyahoga National Park, accepting the position of Superintendent of the 33,000 acre park. I can’t help but like the things he’d like to see the park doing since they are close to my heart, as well. His last assignment as Assistant Superintendent of the Rocky Mountain National Park would have found him in a totally different environment and I’m sure, a radical difference in the populations served and how they used that park. Rocky Mountain National Park has tremendous peaks for climbing, hiking and skiing, backcountry wilderness for camping and extensive wildlife. Cuyahoga National Park lack the peaks and the backcountry wilderness camping, but is beautifully situated for the urban masses to utilize. It is the fifth most visited national park in the country and offers 184 miles of trails for biking, hiking, and running – among other things.
The things I like about Stan’s plans for the park are his interest in establishing camping and attempting to bring the youth of the area into the park to experience the great outdoors. I grew up in the woods and wish my own kids had gotten the opportunities to do what I did. It was our playground and was right out the back door. I built tree forts, hunted for frogs, snakes, turtles and salamanders, played army and went on long hikes with a packed lunch. Not that staying inside to watch TV was an option, but I wouldn’t have wanted to anyway. It was just way to much fun to be outside and in the woods. If you haven’t read “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv and you have children, you should. He tells a wonderful story about the way my generation grew up with our access to things outdoors and contrasts it with the way kids are forced to grow up today…missing that important connection to things wild. He’s got some wonderful ideas on how to remedy the problem on both the micro and macro level.
It was another overcast, rainy day…lousy for the bike but perfect for a run. I’d done 43 minutest the day before and in an effort to make sure I didn’t overdo it, I’d figured maybe 30 minutes. What I hadn’t figured on was feeling so good. I was running strong and wanting to go faster, but held back. I’d created a new course and when I found myself still 10 minutes from the car at the 30-minute mark, I decided to just keep going. It turned out well…no hip pain…and now I’m thinking since it’s supposed to be crappy again tomorrow that I’ll try running for a third day in a row.
Ash texted me that she was walking home, which is 3.5 miles and that she’d like to go up to the track for a workout afterwards. I’m never one to discourage working out, so we climbed in the car when she got home and headed up to the school. I took her into the bleachers where we did 7 sets before coming down to the track. She’d told me that on an earlier attempt to run, she’d been gassed after half a block. I suspected she’d gone too fast at the start and figured I’d take her on a lap to show her how to run slow. We walked one lap to gauge her walking pace…it turned out to be 16 minutes per mile and then went into a slow jog for 400 meters. She had absolutely no trouble with it and could have gone on, but I just wanted to get her started without killing her. We returned to the bleachers for three more sets before heading home. I think she liked the variety, which I’ll make sure she gets plenty of on future trips up. Myself? I did the same 10 bleacher repeats and easy quarter jog to go with the 40-minute run. I’m starting to feel like my old, invincible self. Usually a sign that another injury is on the way…
Run duration: 40 minutes. Bleacher workout: 15 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm running. 100 in the bleachers.
Calories burned during workout: 675 running. 125 for the bleachers.
The Plain Dealer reported that Stan Austin recently took the reins of the Cuyahoga National Park, accepting the position of Superintendent of the 33,000 acre park. I can’t help but like the things he’d like to see the park doing since they are close to my heart, as well. His last assignment as Assistant Superintendent of the Rocky Mountain National Park would have found him in a totally different environment and I’m sure, a radical difference in the populations served and how they used that park. Rocky Mountain National Park has tremendous peaks for climbing, hiking and skiing, backcountry wilderness for camping and extensive wildlife. Cuyahoga National Park lack the peaks and the backcountry wilderness camping, but is beautifully situated for the urban masses to utilize. It is the fifth most visited national park in the country and offers 184 miles of trails for biking, hiking, and running – among other things.
The things I like about Stan’s plans for the park are his interest in establishing camping and attempting to bring the youth of the area into the park to experience the great outdoors. I grew up in the woods and wish my own kids had gotten the opportunities to do what I did. It was our playground and was right out the back door. I built tree forts, hunted for frogs, snakes, turtles and salamanders, played army and went on long hikes with a packed lunch. Not that staying inside to watch TV was an option, but I wouldn’t have wanted to anyway. It was just way to much fun to be outside and in the woods. If you haven’t read “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv and you have children, you should. He tells a wonderful story about the way my generation grew up with our access to things outdoors and contrasts it with the way kids are forced to grow up today…missing that important connection to things wild. He’s got some wonderful ideas on how to remedy the problem on both the micro and macro level.
It was another overcast, rainy day…lousy for the bike but perfect for a run. I’d done 43 minutest the day before and in an effort to make sure I didn’t overdo it, I’d figured maybe 30 minutes. What I hadn’t figured on was feeling so good. I was running strong and wanting to go faster, but held back. I’d created a new course and when I found myself still 10 minutes from the car at the 30-minute mark, I decided to just keep going. It turned out well…no hip pain…and now I’m thinking since it’s supposed to be crappy again tomorrow that I’ll try running for a third day in a row.
Ash texted me that she was walking home, which is 3.5 miles and that she’d like to go up to the track for a workout afterwards. I’m never one to discourage working out, so we climbed in the car when she got home and headed up to the school. I took her into the bleachers where we did 7 sets before coming down to the track. She’d told me that on an earlier attempt to run, she’d been gassed after half a block. I suspected she’d gone too fast at the start and figured I’d take her on a lap to show her how to run slow. We walked one lap to gauge her walking pace…it turned out to be 16 minutes per mile and then went into a slow jog for 400 meters. She had absolutely no trouble with it and could have gone on, but I just wanted to get her started without killing her. We returned to the bleachers for three more sets before heading home. I think she liked the variety, which I’ll make sure she gets plenty of on future trips up. Myself? I did the same 10 bleacher repeats and easy quarter jog to go with the 40-minute run. I’m starting to feel like my old, invincible self. Usually a sign that another injury is on the way…
Run duration: 40 minutes. Bleacher workout: 15 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm running. 100 in the bleachers.
Calories burned during workout: 675 running. 125 for the bleachers.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Church hooky.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
I had another busy day planned and had to figure a way to get in a run. Holly was out of town and so I knew if I skipped church, she wouldn’t know…right away. I still had to take Jack there since he’s the daycare baby sitter, but it does back right up to the North Chagrin Reservation and that would mean I’d have just enough time to get in a run and pick him up afterwards. I’ve done this before and Father Joe always throws me a blessing when I walk into the church covered in mud and sweat from a trail run. He’s confined to a wheelchair, but was once a runner and has told me he likes to see that I’ve been running. He doesn’t know that I check my resting pulse in church, but I suspect he’d be okay with it if he did.
Since it had rained most of the previous day, I expected to find the trails sloppy and submerged. They weren’t. I suppose we were dry for so much of the summer that these little one-day rains just aren’t enough to flood the park. That’s okay with me because even though I run through the slop, I prefer a dry trail.
I wanted to run at least 40 minutes and felt good for the first 30. I did feel some of the pain I’d had in the buttocks the other day, but it really wasn’t the same as the hip and so I kept going. I ended up running a course that took 43 minutes and as I came to the end and began to walk, pumped my fist in the air, elated that I’d made it so far without pain.
I returned to the church and went inside to get Jack. Father Joe noticed the mud on my legs and gave me the ‘thumbs up’. He knows I don’t pull it too often…so I’m still good.
My sister Cristin stopped for a visit. She’s a pathologist and lives and works in Kentucky and has some rather interesting views on what happens to the body of those who don’t exercise or abuse their bodies with bad diets, smoking or other unhealthy lifestyle choices. She’s a kayaker, hiker, and almost camper and wants me to come down and try out the mountains closer to her. She’s gone up to the Adirondacks on my recommendation, but isn’t quite ready for the back country hiking and climbing. I may take her up on Kentucky next summer.
To most Cleveland sports fans, it was a good Sunday with the Browns defeating the Bengals for their first win of the young season. For me, it was an Indians loss on the last day of their miserable year and prospects looking dim for the immediate future. I hate to think we’re returning to the Indians of the pre-Jacobs era, but I suspect we are. Maybe we can keep some of the young talent now being developed in the farm system and recently promoted to the majors, but the last couple of seasons would say ‘they’re outta here’.
Though Holly was in Milwaukee and unavailable to prepare the Sunday family dinner, her day made his wonderful beef stew and we had it anyways. We called her during dinner and put her on the speaker phone so that she could be a part of the gathering from her hotel room. I had picked up a peach pie from Patterson’s earlier in the afternoon to substitute for her peach cobbler, and put a hefty dent in it later that evening. I did leave enough for a good, healthy breakfast though.
Run duration: 43 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 725.
I had another busy day planned and had to figure a way to get in a run. Holly was out of town and so I knew if I skipped church, she wouldn’t know…right away. I still had to take Jack there since he’s the daycare baby sitter, but it does back right up to the North Chagrin Reservation and that would mean I’d have just enough time to get in a run and pick him up afterwards. I’ve done this before and Father Joe always throws me a blessing when I walk into the church covered in mud and sweat from a trail run. He’s confined to a wheelchair, but was once a runner and has told me he likes to see that I’ve been running. He doesn’t know that I check my resting pulse in church, but I suspect he’d be okay with it if he did.
Since it had rained most of the previous day, I expected to find the trails sloppy and submerged. They weren’t. I suppose we were dry for so much of the summer that these little one-day rains just aren’t enough to flood the park. That’s okay with me because even though I run through the slop, I prefer a dry trail.
I wanted to run at least 40 minutes and felt good for the first 30. I did feel some of the pain I’d had in the buttocks the other day, but it really wasn’t the same as the hip and so I kept going. I ended up running a course that took 43 minutes and as I came to the end and began to walk, pumped my fist in the air, elated that I’d made it so far without pain.
I returned to the church and went inside to get Jack. Father Joe noticed the mud on my legs and gave me the ‘thumbs up’. He knows I don’t pull it too often…so I’m still good.
My sister Cristin stopped for a visit. She’s a pathologist and lives and works in Kentucky and has some rather interesting views on what happens to the body of those who don’t exercise or abuse their bodies with bad diets, smoking or other unhealthy lifestyle choices. She’s a kayaker, hiker, and almost camper and wants me to come down and try out the mountains closer to her. She’s gone up to the Adirondacks on my recommendation, but isn’t quite ready for the back country hiking and climbing. I may take her up on Kentucky next summer.
To most Cleveland sports fans, it was a good Sunday with the Browns defeating the Bengals for their first win of the young season. For me, it was an Indians loss on the last day of their miserable year and prospects looking dim for the immediate future. I hate to think we’re returning to the Indians of the pre-Jacobs era, but I suspect we are. Maybe we can keep some of the young talent now being developed in the farm system and recently promoted to the majors, but the last couple of seasons would say ‘they’re outta here’.
Though Holly was in Milwaukee and unavailable to prepare the Sunday family dinner, her day made his wonderful beef stew and we had it anyways. We called her during dinner and put her on the speaker phone so that she could be a part of the gathering from her hotel room. I had picked up a peach pie from Patterson’s earlier in the afternoon to substitute for her peach cobbler, and put a hefty dent in it later that evening. I did leave enough for a good, healthy breakfast though.
Run duration: 43 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 725.
Marie is looking good...
Saturday, October 2, 2010
I began the day with good intentions, thinking that although I had a tremendous amount of running around to do, I’d figure some way to get in a workout…even though I was supposed to take a rest day.
It began with driving Holly and one of her clients to the airport for a trip to Milwaukee. She was going there for a conference for seven days and expecting that I would hold the house together in her absence. That meant meals, groceries, driving folks around, emergency money, and laundry issues. She did it all the time, but I didn’t even for a moment think that I’d do it as well…if at all. I knew I’d just put out fires as they burst to life from whatever smoldering embers where laying about.
I left her at the airport around 7:30 a.m. and from there, headed for the Wadsworth Grizzly Invitational Cross Country Meet. Marie was running there and would be competing against one of the top runners in the country. I was just looking for her to have a solid race…continuing to improve on past performances and pointing towards the only meet that really mattered…Regionals. It was this qualifying race that propelled the top 15 runners to the State Meet in Columbus on the first weekend in November. I have often told runners concerned about performances prior to the state meet that no one will ask them what they did on any given weekend leading to that race…provided they were there. She ran a solid race and was in fifth with a little over 400 meters to go and about 20 meters behind the fourth place runner…which is to say she would take fourth. When she suddenly accelerated, caught and passed that runner, it was as if her opponent was running in sand. She has amazing speed and continued her surge through the finish, opening a gap of about 40 yards between her and fifth. If she’s in contention…she will outrun anyone in the state over the last 200 meters of a cross country race. And yes…she has been gifted with tremendous speed and running ability…as many of her competitors have, but I think and coach that, without the expectation that you will achieve your goals, these gifts often do not transfer into exceptional performances. Marie believes in herself and knows that if she endures the pain and discomfort of staying in contention throughout the first 2.8 miles of the 5K cross country race, she will run down whoever is close over those last, critical meters. She set her goals for the season at the beginning of the summer, planned a training regimen that would have her prepared for the fall season, executed it, and went into the season with the expectation of reaching the state meet. Without these, she would be just another good runner who never came close. It’s still a little early, but she’s right on course for now.
It rained for most of the rest of the day and I gave up the idea of riding some time in mid-afternoon. I didn’t want to run a third day in a row just yet, so I took the day off I needed. I’d been walking a lot over the course of the day and was noticing the dull ache I always seem to have in my legs when I’ve been running a lot. Since I haven’t been running a lot, it surprised me to feel that way…but in retrospect, I’ve been trying to put in distances that pick up where I’d left off eight weeks ago. I’m in shape to do this because of all the cycling and hiking, but the legs are letting me know that they haven’t been running in some time. I should have expected it. Tomorrow though, I’ll feel better and, body permitting, I’ll do my longest run since the injury.
I began the day with good intentions, thinking that although I had a tremendous amount of running around to do, I’d figure some way to get in a workout…even though I was supposed to take a rest day.
It began with driving Holly and one of her clients to the airport for a trip to Milwaukee. She was going there for a conference for seven days and expecting that I would hold the house together in her absence. That meant meals, groceries, driving folks around, emergency money, and laundry issues. She did it all the time, but I didn’t even for a moment think that I’d do it as well…if at all. I knew I’d just put out fires as they burst to life from whatever smoldering embers where laying about.
I left her at the airport around 7:30 a.m. and from there, headed for the Wadsworth Grizzly Invitational Cross Country Meet. Marie was running there and would be competing against one of the top runners in the country. I was just looking for her to have a solid race…continuing to improve on past performances and pointing towards the only meet that really mattered…Regionals. It was this qualifying race that propelled the top 15 runners to the State Meet in Columbus on the first weekend in November. I have often told runners concerned about performances prior to the state meet that no one will ask them what they did on any given weekend leading to that race…provided they were there. She ran a solid race and was in fifth with a little over 400 meters to go and about 20 meters behind the fourth place runner…which is to say she would take fourth. When she suddenly accelerated, caught and passed that runner, it was as if her opponent was running in sand. She has amazing speed and continued her surge through the finish, opening a gap of about 40 yards between her and fifth. If she’s in contention…she will outrun anyone in the state over the last 200 meters of a cross country race. And yes…she has been gifted with tremendous speed and running ability…as many of her competitors have, but I think and coach that, without the expectation that you will achieve your goals, these gifts often do not transfer into exceptional performances. Marie believes in herself and knows that if she endures the pain and discomfort of staying in contention throughout the first 2.8 miles of the 5K cross country race, she will run down whoever is close over those last, critical meters. She set her goals for the season at the beginning of the summer, planned a training regimen that would have her prepared for the fall season, executed it, and went into the season with the expectation of reaching the state meet. Without these, she would be just another good runner who never came close. It’s still a little early, but she’s right on course for now.
It rained for most of the rest of the day and I gave up the idea of riding some time in mid-afternoon. I didn’t want to run a third day in a row just yet, so I took the day off I needed. I’d been walking a lot over the course of the day and was noticing the dull ache I always seem to have in my legs when I’ve been running a lot. Since I haven’t been running a lot, it surprised me to feel that way…but in retrospect, I’ve been trying to put in distances that pick up where I’d left off eight weeks ago. I’m in shape to do this because of all the cycling and hiking, but the legs are letting me know that they haven’t been running in some time. I should have expected it. Tomorrow though, I’ll feel better and, body permitting, I’ll do my longest run since the injury.
Heidi's 22!
Friday, October 01, 2010
There are some things that happen in your life which bring such vivid memories that you’re suddenly feeling the emotions that pulsed through your body when the event actually happened…regardless of the amount of time that has passed.
Heidi was born on October 1st, 1988. She was our second child and, to be honest, I remember very little of the actual events of the day that brought us to the delivery room. I can’t remember for sure the time of day, how much difficulty Holly had, her birth weight, how long it all took…any of that stuff. I do however remember quite distinctly that, as she exited the womb, she had something wrapped around her neck. My brain probably processed that it was the umbilical cord, though I don’t remember for sure, but I knew enough from watching Jason four years earlier that it didn’t belong there. I watched intently, waiting for her to cry. Holly seemed to know instinctively that something wasn’t completely right and asked me, but I tried to assure her it was fine…though I had doubts. Then the delivery doctor said something like “what’s going on?”
I noticed that Heidi was turning shades of blue and that someone was wrestling with the cord and trying to loosen its hold on her neck…unsuccessfully. It occurred to me that this should be a simple procedure and that maybe I should take over. It also occurred to me that time was wasting…dragging slowly…and entirely too long. Come on, people get it done!
And finally, the doctor, who had taken over at some point, released the cord and Heidi began to cry. So did I, though no one noticed or heard me. I’d probably been crushing Holly’s hand during that couple of minutes that had felt like hours. It is quite amazing how quickly you are completely and irreversibly tied to a living being, but from the moment Heidi had come into this world with a cord on her neck and not making a sound, I know I’d felt that way. The helpless feeling one gets from watching a loved one suffer makes and indelible imprint on the mind…and every October 1st, I go through it again.
With people coming to the house around 6:30 p.m. for her birthday dinner/party, I needed to move fast to get in a run. Still leery about my hip, I figured to keep it around 30 minutes and to run gingerly on the down hills…the up hills…and the places in between. I suspect I will have these feelings while running for at least as long as I worried the old calf injury would return this past spring…which is to say a month or so. It felt good, though I did have a pain in the buttocks late in the run that I can attribute to…nothing, in particular. In fact, if not for the hip injury, I’d have never given it a second thought. It was supposed to rain tomorrow and maybe I’d just take the whole day off from working out. I’d done something for the last six days and knew it was time…not that I ever pay attention to the good advice I give others for their training regimens.
Heidi’s party was great…I ate too many ribs and other fatty calories…but enjoyed a house filled with all of my wonderful children, their friends and grandparents. I’m glad you were born, Heidi, but I sure don’t like the way you went about it.
Run duration: 32 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 550.
There are some things that happen in your life which bring such vivid memories that you’re suddenly feeling the emotions that pulsed through your body when the event actually happened…regardless of the amount of time that has passed.
Heidi was born on October 1st, 1988. She was our second child and, to be honest, I remember very little of the actual events of the day that brought us to the delivery room. I can’t remember for sure the time of day, how much difficulty Holly had, her birth weight, how long it all took…any of that stuff. I do however remember quite distinctly that, as she exited the womb, she had something wrapped around her neck. My brain probably processed that it was the umbilical cord, though I don’t remember for sure, but I knew enough from watching Jason four years earlier that it didn’t belong there. I watched intently, waiting for her to cry. Holly seemed to know instinctively that something wasn’t completely right and asked me, but I tried to assure her it was fine…though I had doubts. Then the delivery doctor said something like “what’s going on?”
I noticed that Heidi was turning shades of blue and that someone was wrestling with the cord and trying to loosen its hold on her neck…unsuccessfully. It occurred to me that this should be a simple procedure and that maybe I should take over. It also occurred to me that time was wasting…dragging slowly…and entirely too long. Come on, people get it done!
And finally, the doctor, who had taken over at some point, released the cord and Heidi began to cry. So did I, though no one noticed or heard me. I’d probably been crushing Holly’s hand during that couple of minutes that had felt like hours. It is quite amazing how quickly you are completely and irreversibly tied to a living being, but from the moment Heidi had come into this world with a cord on her neck and not making a sound, I know I’d felt that way. The helpless feeling one gets from watching a loved one suffer makes and indelible imprint on the mind…and every October 1st, I go through it again.
With people coming to the house around 6:30 p.m. for her birthday dinner/party, I needed to move fast to get in a run. Still leery about my hip, I figured to keep it around 30 minutes and to run gingerly on the down hills…the up hills…and the places in between. I suspect I will have these feelings while running for at least as long as I worried the old calf injury would return this past spring…which is to say a month or so. It felt good, though I did have a pain in the buttocks late in the run that I can attribute to…nothing, in particular. In fact, if not for the hip injury, I’d have never given it a second thought. It was supposed to rain tomorrow and maybe I’d just take the whole day off from working out. I’d done something for the last six days and knew it was time…not that I ever pay attention to the good advice I give others for their training regimens.
Heidi’s party was great…I ate too many ribs and other fatty calories…but enjoyed a house filled with all of my wonderful children, their friends and grandparents. I’m glad you were born, Heidi, but I sure don’t like the way you went about it.
Run duration: 32 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 550.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Iowa Waffles and Back to Basics
Thursday, September 30, 2010
I told Ash we’d go to the park with Ollie, her three year old, and just do some walking around and hit the duck pond…that kind of stuff. Instead, I was scheming to take her to the site of the ‘Back to Basics’ survival workout and introduce her to a couple of the stages we follow when doing the routine. I brought her by the old Girl Scout cabins and did a demonstration with the rock we carry and press overhead. Then we moved to the picnic table where, after demonstrating what she needed to do, had her jumping up on the bench, to the table and down the other side for the next 60 seconds. She kept trying to stop for this reason and that, but I wouldn’t allow it…using my best drill sergeant voice to keep her moving. I had her climb the hill, which found her slipping in shoes with little grip. I didn’t care…I was in my element and pushing a not-completely-willing victim.
We did a couple of more things…like walking the line and climbing the swing set (total failure – no upper body strength) before heading for the duck pond. Ash said she was surprised at how much she felt the little we’d done in her quads. I explained how the intensity of such short bursts of power moves taxes the muscles so much more than the slower, more rhythmic movements of endurance exercise. She was intrigued…though I won’t go so far as to say ‘hooked’.
I’d already done my run for the day. Once again I was feeling confident that all would go well and determined to go further than I’d done since I’d started running again. This was only my fourth run and I was already at the same pace I’d been running when I’d stopped over eight weeks ago. Clearly, my training during that time off from running had been sufficient to maintain almost all of my running fitness. I did the same loop I’d done on Monday when I’d run 32 minutes, but found myself at the end of the trail almost two minutes faster than I’d run it on Monday. I ran past the car and onto another trail logging six more minutes. I walked a couple of minutes to the car to test the hip and found it to still be sound. I’m thinking I’ll try another week following this pattern before returning to the level I’d reached before injuring the hip. I have come to the conclusion that it was not running that caused the injury, but more likely the intense workouts I did at the track alternating between time in the bleachers with sixty pounds on my back and running fast miles in between bleacher sets. For now…I extremely pleased with the progress.
Holly wasn’t going to be around for dinner…so that meant it was in my hands. My craving for sweets continues, so I decided to have dessert for dinner…waffles. I have this fantastic recipe given to me by a friend from a pig farm in Iowa (if you didn’t already, you now know that the best waffles in the world come from pig farms in Iowa…but that’s another story) and relish the chance to make them. Ash and Ollie were in, but Jack…who is weird…said he didn’t like waffles. I whipped them up and with Ash and Ollie moaning with delight after tasting them, Jack asked for a couple. I sat down and smothered mine in butter and REAL maple syrup (none of that fake Log Cabin shit for me…though that’s all I’ll give the kids. At $40 a gallon…can you blame me?) I ate 5 pieces and could have had more, but I’m disciplining myself (some might call it gorging – tomato…tomahto…whatever).
Tomorrow is going to be tricky. It’s Heidi’s birthday and we’re having a big gathering for dinner, so I have to figure out how to squeeze in a run before coming home. It’s the only way and I want to keep moving forward…or back to where I was eight weeks ago.
Run duration: 36 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600.
I told Ash we’d go to the park with Ollie, her three year old, and just do some walking around and hit the duck pond…that kind of stuff. Instead, I was scheming to take her to the site of the ‘Back to Basics’ survival workout and introduce her to a couple of the stages we follow when doing the routine. I brought her by the old Girl Scout cabins and did a demonstration with the rock we carry and press overhead. Then we moved to the picnic table where, after demonstrating what she needed to do, had her jumping up on the bench, to the table and down the other side for the next 60 seconds. She kept trying to stop for this reason and that, but I wouldn’t allow it…using my best drill sergeant voice to keep her moving. I had her climb the hill, which found her slipping in shoes with little grip. I didn’t care…I was in my element and pushing a not-completely-willing victim.
We did a couple of more things…like walking the line and climbing the swing set (total failure – no upper body strength) before heading for the duck pond. Ash said she was surprised at how much she felt the little we’d done in her quads. I explained how the intensity of such short bursts of power moves taxes the muscles so much more than the slower, more rhythmic movements of endurance exercise. She was intrigued…though I won’t go so far as to say ‘hooked’.
I’d already done my run for the day. Once again I was feeling confident that all would go well and determined to go further than I’d done since I’d started running again. This was only my fourth run and I was already at the same pace I’d been running when I’d stopped over eight weeks ago. Clearly, my training during that time off from running had been sufficient to maintain almost all of my running fitness. I did the same loop I’d done on Monday when I’d run 32 minutes, but found myself at the end of the trail almost two minutes faster than I’d run it on Monday. I ran past the car and onto another trail logging six more minutes. I walked a couple of minutes to the car to test the hip and found it to still be sound. I’m thinking I’ll try another week following this pattern before returning to the level I’d reached before injuring the hip. I have come to the conclusion that it was not running that caused the injury, but more likely the intense workouts I did at the track alternating between time in the bleachers with sixty pounds on my back and running fast miles in between bleacher sets. For now…I extremely pleased with the progress.
Holly wasn’t going to be around for dinner…so that meant it was in my hands. My craving for sweets continues, so I decided to have dessert for dinner…waffles. I have this fantastic recipe given to me by a friend from a pig farm in Iowa (if you didn’t already, you now know that the best waffles in the world come from pig farms in Iowa…but that’s another story) and relish the chance to make them. Ash and Ollie were in, but Jack…who is weird…said he didn’t like waffles. I whipped them up and with Ash and Ollie moaning with delight after tasting them, Jack asked for a couple. I sat down and smothered mine in butter and REAL maple syrup (none of that fake Log Cabin shit for me…though that’s all I’ll give the kids. At $40 a gallon…can you blame me?) I ate 5 pieces and could have had more, but I’m disciplining myself (some might call it gorging – tomato…tomahto…whatever).
Tomorrow is going to be tricky. It’s Heidi’s birthday and we’re having a big gathering for dinner, so I have to figure out how to squeeze in a run before coming home. It’s the only way and I want to keep moving forward…or back to where I was eight weeks ago.
Run duration: 36 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600.
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