Sure!

137.2 Today will be a loooong one so just did my back exercises this morning and I'm calling it a rest day. Current book I am reading notes the conflicting science on whether a taper is warranted for shorter races and how much to taper. It also suggests that 2 rest days in a row are not so good in terms of subsequent injury when going back to exercise, so apt to do something moderate tomorrow like SHL.. or not since I will get home really late tonight.
 
137.8 We both had long hard days on Wednesday so enjoyed an easy Shoe Hill Loop this morning. The vacation rental tennants in the house to the north of ours told Tom they had seen a mountain lion in the canyon... more than likely it was a bob cat (they did not see the tail so couldn't say, but based on size and likelihood, almost certainly bob cat). Anyway, we looked for tracks and sign, but to no avail. Now that we've had a little rain, the summer wildflowers are coming along nicely - blue lupins, purple penstemmons, red paintbrush and the first of the summer sunflowers and arnica.

Gorgeous morning and a very pleasant 3.2 miles with my favorite guy.
 
137.8 We did Shoe Hill Loop the "hard" way this morning to get in a little last minute up hill running practice before the race on Sunday. It felt good, we didn't feel we were pushing very hard and yet still matched some of our better times on the middle 1.1 mile section.

I'm feeling optimistic about a good race. Last year I had a great race and overall was running faster than I am this year, so I imagine I'll be a little bit slower, and I'm OK with that. I'm much stronger in other ways than I was last summer; there are trade-offs... Plan is to enjoy myself (this is one of my favorite local races) but push such that I know I've given it my all when I reach the finish line. Given that this is a solid 7.5 miles of climbing 2500 ft, I find it a little difficult to figure out a pace sometimes.
 
The "hard" way is the "right" way :)

Go break a leg on the race :) ...but, like, don't break your leg...because then you won't be able to run very far.
 
The Snowbowl Road race last Sunday went well. It had rained HARD overnight so the temps were nice and cool - could not have been better conditions (well, maybe a little less flash flood debris on the road but...) My "wouldn't it be amazing" (ie totally impractical) goal was to average 11 minute miles which would have given me a finish time of 1:17 and would have put me close to mid-pack. A quasi-realistic goal would have been to beat last year's time of 1:22.44. Neither goal was met, but I had a great race and left every ounce of energy on the course, such that when the last 300 yards of relatively flat dirt parking lot happened, and I tried for a final sprint to the finish line, there just wasn't anything left in my legs to sprint with.

7 miles and a bit of sidewalk to the ski resort patio/finish line (new measurement left the course shorter than advertised) and 2500 feet of elevation climbed in a time of 1:24.07.
Mile Pace
1 10.43 - gentle uphill for mile 1, starting elevation is 7000 feet
2 11.01 - incline increases noticably
3 11.49 - starting to climb for real - 1000 feet from starting elevation
4 12.01 - pass 8500 foot elevation sign
5 12.27 - am now passing a lot of people who passed me earlier :)
6 12.32 - yeah! A little bit of almost flat, then steep climb, go past 9000 feet
7 13.30 - last half mile climbs 500 feet and my legs are toast!

I was only 30 seconds behind Tom. I was really trying to catch him once I started closing the gap in mile 5, but I just didn't have it in me. At home, I tried to take a nap but my legs ached so much I couldn't doze off. I'm actually pretty happy with this result. Would have been great to match or beat my time from last year, but I knew it was unlikely as overall, I am running slower this year than last since I'm devoting a lot of workout time to other, mostly upper body strength and core work. Last summer I couldn't do pullups on the high rings, this year I can. Last year I couldn't do toes to bar, [decent] dips, or many of the other working sets that I am now doing a couple times a week. I'm calling it a fair trade :D

We had to make a "quick" trip to Utah, so jumped in the truck Monday to drive 10 hours, did a family thing Tuesday, and then drove another 10 hours home on Wednesday. Ugh - total inactivity and three days of serious quantities of chemisty: relentless high sugar, heavily processed food-like substances. Not to mention the total cognitive dissonance as in the car we were listening to Fat Chance: Beating the odds against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease by Robert Lustig while imbibbing in our "sugared high-calorie beverages".

Tom had a terrible back spasm on Tuesday so this trip was pretty dreadful for him. This morning he thought a walk would help - did a nice relaxed walk around Shoe Hill with Tom and Nic (houseguest for a few more days). 3.2 miles walking today and planning to get back to normal eating of real food.
 
Good stuff.
Fitness is often a trade off, gaining strength tends to mean gaining weight, or at least shifting it. Even if it is only transferring some of the adaptable pink muscle fibres to white instead of red it will hit your distance running pace. This is why I know this years silly targets are not all likely to happen, but still iinterested to see which do.

There is nothing better than reading about perfect diet and eating junk at the same time!
 
Well, it wasn't a surprise by any means, but 4 days of sitting is no way to recover from a tough race! Went for a run this morning (9122B) and our legs were just dead! 4.5 miles done, but didn't even bother to time it - just went for slow and steady. Actually Tom had his HRM on and said that his RPE was much, much higher than the monitor would indicate. I was happily tech-free, but am certain I would have had the same thing going on with my head and body. Still, it was a beautiful morning, so wonderful to get out and play!

Had another acupuncture session this morning for both right hamstring and right achilles tendon. Not too sure this is a good way to recover either as I've got a serious ache happening over my entire leg. But, based on past experience, this should lead to some significant healing in a couple of days, and overall, I am steadily improving.

Hoping to get in a good yard workout this weekend. Just hung some new playthings on the monkey bars and need to see what kinds of fun I can have with them - swinging pull-ups, swinging T2B, who knows?
 
Around here in the summer, we are "supposed" to get afternoon thunder showers. This July we've just been getting regular torential rains that can start as early as about 10 and may last the rest of the day. We desperately need the moisture (last winter was quite dry), but I'm really missing outdoor play and work time, scheduling a long hike, rock climbing, or a bike ride is impractical as is swimming, and we are doing a lot of running in the mud of late.

Saturday (139.0) we started early to get in a workout. Medicine ball core and shoulder warm-up while walking Dillybug (cat) around her loop for .3 mile, then did some tweaking of the new rings by moving them to different bars such that they can be part of the climbing hold traverse on the outside of the monkey bars.

I can't do this as a single fluid traverse yet, but the route is: run, plant a foot on the post to leap up to the first climbing hold (12 feet), then traverse sideways over 3 holds (only 1 is easy, dang it!), traverse onto the rings, then back up to a hold or up to the monkey bars to finish out a length. So far my traverses onto the rings have not gone smoothly and should I get there, I can't get back up to the hold or to the monkey bars. But I will!

The workout did include a new PB for shoulder press: 1RM of 75lbs, had done 2 x 70 just before that, also a PB! So, did some handstands against the wall because of course, longer term, I'd like to manage a handstand pushup or 3.

Also: monkey bar laps, kettlebell (15lb) swings/squats/lunges, pull-ups on the rings, toes 2 bar, slackline, speedbag (speed is increasing enough that Tom noticed!) and some cartwheels because it has been a while. Also started working on those campus moves where I will pull-up to the bar then reach back and overhead by a couple of feet to touch the monkey bar. At the moment, I'm jumping quite a bit to get the feel of the movement so can touch the high bar, so it isn't a pull-up and the energy isn't derived from my core, it is from the jump.

Sunday (136.8) the rain started early and didn't stop! Scary lightning too, so it was a very kickback rest, nap, and read day - loved it!

Yesterday's rain left us feeling recharged and up early so we went for a longer than usual week day run this morning (135.8). We wore shoes that we were willing to get completely muddy (we got about 2 inches of rain yesterday) and set off to splash! Mud wasn't actually all that bad - lots of cinders around here of course since this is a volcanic field, so the ground drains. The runoff did leave a lot of exposed rocks and roots and lots of puddles to make our dirt paths more interesting and to prevent any real daydreaming. Cool temps, clear blue ski and bright sunshine, clean air, saw some deer and antelope as well as a huge goshawk - it was wonderful.

6 miles in 1:05 so we weren't particularly speedy. 715 cals, avg HR 159, max 171, HRV 130
 
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Most difficult parts of training outdoors in the rain can be getting out of the door or rest periods where you can cool too fast. Otherwise they are fine. I know climbing training can be difficult in the wet, no chance of bouldering etc. but bar work is OK.
Here we are getting short thunder showers or downpoors followed by hours of humidity, I'd take the rain any day from those two. Imagine you are getting a lot of humidity there too.
All my running etc. is on roads so the wildlife is generally one end of a lead or the other. Quite a pretentious area near work so a lot of handbag dogs I don't really get the point to, and owners haven't bothered training. I like watching wildlife etc. but never count the times I am walking to see them as exercise, bit dumb really.
 
We live 8 miles down a moderately rough dirt road, surrounded by National Forest, so we pretty much walk out the door and are in the country. There are three other full-time couples within a mile of us and a couple of weekend-use places, but otherwise, people and civilization are 25 miles away. Got home last night and Tom and Nic were waiting anxiously to show me the snake they found. Was glad it was dusk so I couldn't see it well, I'm not a fan of snakes, even the ones that don't rattle and bite.

135.2 Was feeling decidedly wimpy this morning so after seeing Nic off (he is headed back to Wyoming and real life) we elected to do an easy Shoe Hill Loop. Paused to check out some interesting tracks in the mud here and there. Mellow 3.2 miles and time well spent with Tom.
 
Location wise you have my deepest envy, but in reality I know the need for me to be close to work means I won't be able to live somewhere like that until I retire.
 
136.8 today. Tom was undecided about doing something "hard" and not doing anything as he has a hard physical labor day planned. He hinted at Saddle Mt but I had 0 interest and not enough time anyway, so I headed out to do lunges and kettle bells. Felt good and I am pleasantly exhausted all over so I'm counting it a good workout!

Warmed up with some shoulder joint integrity exercises and lightweigt medicine ball then mix of 10 and 15 lb KB use, most exercises done in sets of 20 on each side:

Body weight squats
Various kicks: knees to alternate elbow, butt kickers, chorus girl kicks, side kicks
KB swings with both arms, left, both, right, both
Halos: 20 each direction with 10, then 20 each direction with 15
Shoulder presses: 20 each side with 10 then repeat with 15
Triceps: 20 each side with 10 then repeat with 15
Lunges 20 of everything each leg: hold & press, tick-tock, alternating legs, single leg, pass under with 10KB, step back
Single leg dead-lifts
Second round of KB swings
Plie squats
Curvilinear rows 20 each side with 10 then repeat with 15

Tom ate breakfast, then came and kissed me goodbye headed out for a long run... glad I didn't wait for him to decide!
 
137.2 We both had sore, stiff legs from our workouts yesterday so opted for bar work. Unfortunately Tom did nasty tendon damage really early on with a failed "ninja" hop on the monkey bars. He may be out of commission for a bit as it is the tendons in the forearm that are attached to the first 2 fingers on his hand.

Pull-ups 3 sets of 8
T2B 4,4,3,3,5,3
Monkey Bar laps 2
Overhead press 6 x 45lbs
Curls 5 x 45lbs (was unwilling to use much energy on these or the presses as I wanted to focus on other things)
Pull-ups 3,3 - did these sets on the high fat bar. Later when tried to do some pullups hanging on the swinging wooden rungs, just didn't have anything left... 2 different attempts could barely be called a pullup.
Knee lifts on the rock hold traverse 8, 3 (fell off because I tried to use one of the harder holds)
Cartwheels, Slackline, speedbag, planks - front and both sides
 
Hope Tom recovers soon, gentle mobility and the most minor stretching is what I always use for that sort of thing.
Jrahien is very good on better advise unless you already have it sorted.
 
Thanks, Tony. Tom is really hurting at the moment, I had him icing the arm last night, hopefully he will keep it up over the weekend. We did some really gentle massage last evening and this morning. I'm headed out of town today and not back until Monday so hopefully he will be sensible left on his own.

Last minute packing - hate the need to be so conservative when packing to fly somewhere - so much easier to just throw anything and everything in the car! Anyway, when I was finally ready, Tom invited me to do a short run with him to get in some exercise. As I'll be hanging with my parents this weekend to attend a family wedding, real opportunities for exercise may be slim so I jumped at the chance. What's an extra hour of vacation taken today when it means I get to spend time with my guy before leaving town?

137.2 Good run around Shoe Hill Loop clockwise - definitely the best time I've done all summer, might be best or close to best ever. No time to check my journal for that, I'll just take it and be happy! 3.2 miles, just under 32 minutes.
 
Home at last!

Managed a wonderful 3 hour walk with my Dad on Saturday. That wasn't the plan - we just got walking and talking and then found ourselves in a part of town with a bad case of 'can't there from here' so just kept going. Mom was a tad worried that he had collapsed with a heart attack... but figured we were probably just out for an adventure as we do have some history that way. It was wonderful to get in a great daddy/daughter visit. He isn't a phone guy so while I talk with Mom often, I don't get to visit with him like that.

Saturday afternoon/evening and all day Sunday was lots of sitting, eating, far too much cake, got to do a little dancing with my brother (father of the bride), ate and sat some more while catching up with family I hadn't seen in 3 years - so a mix of really good and really not so good. Got in a good 40 minute run Monday morning before jumping back on the plane to come home.

I am feeling positively creaky today - little aches and pains all over, crampy/grumpy muscles and tendons from far too much sitting and far too much sugarary food/wheat. Went for gentle all over movement in hopes of getting some blood pumping to clear out the gunk this morning. 139.0

Medicine ball warmup of shoulders, arms, core
body weight squats
10 lb KB swings
lunges
pushups
pullups
monkey bar lap
speedbag
Tom suggested some sprints and I tried, but my hamstring was just too tight and grumpy to allow for that so settled for fartlecks instead - faster than normal, but not a sprint.
Roller and a really hot shower, helped a little.
 
137.4 no workout today (got up late). Have a new exercise protocol to try for hamstring rehab. Going to look through it today (to get the hang of the exercises) and add it to my morning routine for several weeks. Reminded myself that the most effective physical therapy is what one does (within reason) not what is done to one by the therapist, so while the acupucture is apt to help, I need to help myself!
 
137.0 Was feeling a bit low on energy this morning, but had agreed to Saddle Mt yesterday and did not have a real reason to dodge it (lazy is NOT a reason!), so just did it. I am glad as it turned out to be a good run. Told myself to focus on a steady climbing pace and managed to tune into the music so just kept going up the hill. Matched my best 30 minute high point and had vague hopes of breaking 34 minutes to the gate - not to be: 34:04. This time is my best this summer, so will take that and be happy. I am also pretty happy to have beaten Tom up the hill by more than a minute. He said his legs were really sore, he was guessing from the sprints on Tuesday morning. My hamstring prevented me from doing them so maybe that was for the best.

Easy run back down at 23:36, so 57:40 for 5.5 miles and 800 feet climbed.

Did not wear the HRM, but normal calorie burn for this run is about 700. I'm agnostic as to the importance of calories believing that what one eats matters far more. However, when considering foods with added sugar, I do consider calories and today I have plans to thoroughly enjoy the container of chocolate milk I just bought ... yum, 340 cals - I think that means there is room for something else extra YIPPEE!
 
My system is part time fitness fanatic, full time eating machine.

Me too, actually. It is pretty much a constant inward flow once I'm at my desk for the day. My employees don't even bother to say something like "I'll come back later" since I'm always eating, there is no later!

137.0 Bright sunshine and a good yard workout!
Sets of 20 each:
- squats
- various kicks: knee to elbow, butt kickers, chorus girl kicks, cross kicks, lateral kicks
- KB swings (15lbs) both, left, right, alternating

Then tried some of the new hamstring exercises in 1 minute cycles repeated 3 times: side walk, grapevine walk, crossover walk

T2B 7, 5, 4, 4, 3
Shoulder press 4 x 65lb, 3 x 65lb
Pushups 8, 8
Monkey bars - 4 lengths continuous - slipped or I would have tried an extra length...
Campus pullups 3 per side - getting better so it is more of a pullup and less of a jump
Slackline, speedbag
After all this realized I hadn't done any pullups - managed 2 but my upperbody was used up

Sitting on ice for the hamstring (finally getting serious about rehab!)
 
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