Monday, October 17, 2011

Invisible Fence invisible again...

Saturday, October 15, 2011
Clearly, it was going to be a rainy day.  I drove to Mimi’s with the goal of fixing the Invisible Fence I’d dug up the week before.  They wanted $99 to come out and spice it together, and at that price, I figured I could handle it.  They actually have quite a nice repair kit complete with a couple of water-proofed casings to house the repaired ends to be reburied.  After splicing them together and placing them in the casings, I took the added precaution of wrapping them in a heavy duty garbage bag and sealing them with electrical tape before retrenching and burying them.  Mimi plugged the line back in and the green light, indicating we were back in business, came on.

I couldn’t do any of the outside jobs I had planned for my own yard…it was just too wet.  Instead, I headed for the Metropark and an unscheduled, short run.  I was going to a cross country meet to see Anna Boyart of Medina run.  Don has been working with her for the past two years and since I’ve got no one to cheer at this point, I figured she’d do.  I was a little nervous about running only two days after my last one, but planned to hold it to 4 miles of easy running.  Planned.  I did okay for the first 3, but felt like coming home hard and did the last mile under 7 minutes in the slop of what used to be a trail.  I went into a deep squat at the car…something that would trigger pain in the past…but nothing.  So far, so good.

The cross country meet was held at Garfield Park in Mentor where, like every cross country course in Northeast Ohio, the mud and standing water covered the course.  Some rerouting was necessary…it was that bad.  I imagine the local high school football fields are even worse.  It was a very competitive conference race with three of the top ranked teams in the state doing  battle on the boys side.  It came to an all-out kick for the boy’s championship with three runners leaning for the win.  Their time…a hair over 17 minutes and at least 45 seconds slower than their capabilities…was a testament to the condition of course.  No one was running fast in this soup. 

Anna, recovering from a severe and debilitating bout with anemia, was rounding into shape.  She needed to be since the competition featured three of the top runners in the state.  She duked it out to the finish, but lost by a whisker.  Don lamented but I reminded him that when she won the state meet, no one would ask her how she’d done at the Conference Championships.

I had another off-eating day, choosing to order a pizza from Jack’s place.  Holly was working on client stuff and didn’t have time for cooking.  I really must get a handle on the eating, though.  I don’t want to return to my winter weight and without being able to do the long rides outside, I know I’ll have to eat more conservatively.  This winter will be a good test of my fortitude. 

Run workout:  32 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  500.

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