End of Week 9. Layers: Onion vs. Parfait

Shrek and Donkey are arguing about layers... Shrek insists that ogres are like onions, with lots of layers. Donkey suggests that not everyone likes onions, but cakes have layers, and a parfait has layers. Then, maybe the funniest line in the movie happens, as Donkey says, "Have you ever met a person, you say, 'Let's get some parfait,' they say, 'Hell no, I don't like no parfait'? Parfaits are delicious!"

So, I did not post anything from last week, because there were no results... I've been sick with stuff (that's the technical medical term, by the way), and sort of gave up. But, I found my motivation again, and got "back on the horse" this week. And I needed some layers of my own... it was a bit nippy this morning, the the 11-12 F range. So, I layered up with a bicycle jersey (long sleeves), then a micro fleece, then a thick fleece coat. Found a better hat than my ball cap, and headed out for a bit of a walk/run.

Because I had been out of commission for a while, I decided to take it a little easier in terms of intensity, but still wanted a decent work out. I decided to just go farther... So I did two warm-up loops, then a run, then two walking loops, etc. Went over 30 minutes, which was exciting.

And speaking of exciting, a stretch of the trail had all kinds of crazy ice formations... So after I finished, I went back for the camera. Here's what I discovered:


The photo leading the entry is the portion of trail that had the fun icy stuff. As I walked or jogged along, my feet kept breaking through icy leaves, almost like little cave-ins. I pulled some of the detritus back, and that's the first picture, above... the gap between the snow-covered leaves and the ground had a lot of moisture, and that moisture clung to the bottom of the leaves, eventually freezing into little fuzzy stalactites.

The second photo above is what composed the portion of trail... delicate, icy strands that formed as moisture from the ground expanded on freezing, and passed through the perforated clay soil. You can see particles of clay trapped in the ice. If I were to squeeze the collection of strands, they would break apart into many fine tendrils.

The final photo is nearby to the portion of trail, and explains all the moisture! It's the edge of a still-wet stream (despite several nights with single digit temperatures), whose surface has an interesting "flash frozen" star pattern on it.

Lap Times
Loop 1 (walk) : 4:49.2
Loop 2 (walk) : 4:41.3
Loop 3 (jog) : 2:56.8
Loop 4 (walk) : 4:42.2
Loop 5 (jog) : 3:21.5
Loop 6 (walk) : 4:49.9
Loop 7 (cool down walk) : 6:01.8

Total distance: 2.8 km, Total time: 31:21.9, Best mile: 15:41.8
Weekly weigh-in: 310 pounds    <-- Hell, yeah!
Average power: 476 Watts
Heart rate following final run: 165
Heart rate five minutes after cool-down walk: 111