Hmmph.
I'm a bit disheartened. Went back up to 314 over the course of the last two weeks. It's not surprising; there have been various stresses to deal with, but it is disheartening. I've disappointed myself, to a certain extent, and that never tastes very sweet.
So, how to move onward and upward? Adapt, improvise, and overcome.
Adapt. I have been struggling to get all three work-out days in during the week. Sundays always work out, because I've been doing them with Ana... whenever you have a partner in crime, you are more willing to continue a routine, since you don't want to let your partner down. Fridays generally work out, because that's my day off, and I can usually at least get some kind of cross-training completed (this week, I went Nordic skiing). But Wednesdays are killing me... and without that extra day, I'm taking too many days off in a row. It's hurting my performance and my weight. So, to adapt to this reality, I will do something at work on Wednesdays from now on. We have a small gym with exercise bikes, and we have a lightly traveled road. I will either take a brisk walk, weather permitting, or use one of the bikes in the gym.
Improvise. Winter affords me lots of improvisational potential... I've gone out skiing on the walk/run course, and today I used snowshoes to get down the back trail to the running road. But, is there something more I could do to take things up a notch? Perhaps I need to put a creative spin on some activity I do to make it more exercise friendly? Ah ha! When I go snowshoeing, I will do a super high step, trying to touch my knee to my chest (I can't physically do that, but the image is the important thing). That will burn a few extra calories, and will help with core strength.
Overcome. When I get stressed, I eat. Hell, when I get happy, I eat, too... But mostly when I get stressed. And over these last two weeks, I haven't been as strict with my "no sugar" regimen... I will renew my efforts in this regard to overcome this plateau.
Okay, the strategy and tactics are in place. It's up to me to execute them to the best of my ability. It gets hard, because when I have these setbacks, I feel the weight of letting myself down, of letting my family down, and of letting my Marine Corps down. Although carrying that weight has made me stronger, when I stumble it does make it difficult to recover quickly. Then again, I'm announcing all this publicly, so there's less of a chance I'll find excuses to not carry through. Since I like imagining that I, my family, and my Corps are happy when I do well, I'm just going to have to accept the disappointment when I don't do well. The trick will be to head toward those moments of success, despite the setbacks... which will, I suppose, make future moments of success all the more tasty.
I should tell this story... there was one benefit of my running late, so to speak. As I was returning up the back trail, I heard a cracking in the woods to the south-east. That's the direction of a larger trail that Ana usually heads back on with her horse and dog, so I expected to see Able (the dog) come bounding through the underbrush... instead, two does were prancing through the snow. The first, when it arrived at the trail crossing, took a graceful leap to clear the trail, and continued bounding through pine and spruce on the opposite side. The second, following the first, stumbled a bit and ended up standing on the trail, perhaps 100 yards away from me, to the south. She looked up for a moment and spotted me watching her. She stamped her front feet twice to warn me off. I rotated to stand square toward her. And there we stood, like the north-seeking Zax and the south-seeking Zax! We both remained relatively motionless for about three or four minutes. Then, she took a tentative step forward, which I mimicked... and at that, she followed her partner's scent off into the trees.
I've decided to upgrade my iPod, which I carry with me to do split times on my runs, to the new model that has a camera built in to it... because I see some really cool stuff out in my little corner of the wilderness, and I feel like a heel when I can't share those images here!
Lap Times
Phase 1 (snowshoe) : 10:12.1 (trail)
Phase 2 (jog) : 6:38.0 (up to farm)
Phase 3 (jog) : 6:48.3 (down to trail) <-- actually ran the full mile!
Phase 4 (snowshoe) : 12:36.4 (trail)
Total distance: 3 km, Total time: 36:14.8, Best mile: 13:26.3
Weekly weigh-in: 314 <-- Damn!
Average power: 526 Watts <-- I think this is too low... but I don't have data for snowshoeing.
Heart rate following final run: 165
Heart rate five minutes after cool-down walk: 102
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
End of Week 12 - fighting the burn
So, I had such a fun time going on my walk/run with Ana and her horse last week, I decided to make it a regular Sunday event. It gives us a new activity to share, and it helps her keep her horse trotting in a "collected" manner (i.e., as slowly as I can run).
We slept in a bit, and then did barn chores before heading out, so my normal "fast before running" method was getting its envelope pushed a bit... normally, it means I'm out walking/running by 9am or so, but we only got "on the road" by 11. Oo, I was an 'ungry lad!
The walk down the back trail was a bit treacherous; a number of mini plateau areas had served as a collection for warm weather run-off, and had subsequently frozen over... Ana had to get off Patches and walk him around the more dangerous areas. But, we survived the trail and hit the dirt road with enthusiasm and pep. Then, I turned around... The first half of the road (up to the deer farm) is up hill, gaining probably 20 feet of total elevation. That's not an awful lot, but it's the equivalent of a two story building, and obviously running up hill requires more work. I was feeling good, though, and made it up to the farm without stopping. Like I said, then I turned around... and all the lactic acid I had accumulated coming up strong up the hill was now happily having a holiday vacation in my quads - they burned!
I kept up the run, but as I neared the 3/4 mile mark, I finally had to walk for a bit. Took about 100 yards for my muscles to flush the acids out sufficiently, and then I picked the pace back up. In the end, I got my best time for the mile to date: 12:39.6! Yay! Still well off a world-class pace, but I will definitely take the progress as progress and be happy.
I'm starting to rethink my distance estimate for the back trail, too. I walked it (up hill) in under 8 minutes, so it can't possibly be 400m... because I walk my 400m loop in about 4:20 tops. So, I think I'm going to take about 100m off the estimate, bringing the Sunday Adventure with the Child to a total distance of 3km.
Lap Times
Phase 1 (walk) : 7:16.6 (trail)
Phase 2 (jog) : 6:19.3 (up to farm)
Phase 3 (walk/jog) : 6:20.3 (down to trail)
Phase 4 (walk) : 7:50.7 (trail)
Total distance: 3 km, Total time: 27:46.9, Best mile: 12:39.6
Weekly weigh-in: 310
Average power: 677 Watts
Heart rate following final run: --
Heart rate five minutes after cool-down walk: --
We slept in a bit, and then did barn chores before heading out, so my normal "fast before running" method was getting its envelope pushed a bit... normally, it means I'm out walking/running by 9am or so, but we only got "on the road" by 11. Oo, I was an 'ungry lad!
The walk down the back trail was a bit treacherous; a number of mini plateau areas had served as a collection for warm weather run-off, and had subsequently frozen over... Ana had to get off Patches and walk him around the more dangerous areas. But, we survived the trail and hit the dirt road with enthusiasm and pep. Then, I turned around... The first half of the road (up to the deer farm) is up hill, gaining probably 20 feet of total elevation. That's not an awful lot, but it's the equivalent of a two story building, and obviously running up hill requires more work. I was feeling good, though, and made it up to the farm without stopping. Like I said, then I turned around... and all the lactic acid I had accumulated coming up strong up the hill was now happily having a holiday vacation in my quads - they burned!
I kept up the run, but as I neared the 3/4 mile mark, I finally had to walk for a bit. Took about 100 yards for my muscles to flush the acids out sufficiently, and then I picked the pace back up. In the end, I got my best time for the mile to date: 12:39.6! Yay! Still well off a world-class pace, but I will definitely take the progress as progress and be happy.
I'm starting to rethink my distance estimate for the back trail, too. I walked it (up hill) in under 8 minutes, so it can't possibly be 400m... because I walk my 400m loop in about 4:20 tops. So, I think I'm going to take about 100m off the estimate, bringing the Sunday Adventure with the Child to a total distance of 3km.
Lap Times
Phase 1 (walk) : 7:16.6 (trail)
Phase 2 (jog) : 6:19.3 (up to farm)
Phase 3 (walk/jog) : 6:20.3 (down to trail)
Phase 4 (walk) : 7:50.7 (trail)
Total distance: 3 km, Total time: 27:46.9, Best mile: 12:39.6
Weekly weigh-in: 310
Average power: 677 Watts
Heart rate following final run: --
Heart rate five minutes after cool-down walk: --
Monday, January 3, 2011
End of Week 11... and going public!
So, last week, Week 10... I did go out and do my walk/run thing, but it was so cold my iPod died during the event! I use the iPod as a split timer, and carry it in one hand (with the Gerber LMF II in the other - bears are everywhere). The end result was that I only had times for two loops, and then nothing. The iPod has recovered, of course, once it warmed up a bit... and today was in the way upper 30s (F), so cold was not an issue. Which brings me to Week 11.
Going Public.
I've been running in the woods, in my "back yard" primarily because it's easy access, and the loops are small enough to be manageable. But also, because I really don't want anyone to see me lurching along. It's embarrassing, to be honest. I'm still a big guy, despite the weight loss so far, and I just don't want people having to answer their kid's questions, like "How did that whale get all the way from the ocean?" or "I thought you said Sasquatch wasn't real, Daddy!" Etc.
But today my youngest brother was visiting us, and the timing of his arrival coincided with my going out for a bit of exercise... I had also just promised my daughter that I would do my walk/run with her, while she rode her horse. So, we were going to walk down a back trail to a "major" dirt road, and I was going to walk/jog up the dirt road to the Shady Acres Deer Farm (they also have buffalo). It's almost exactly a half-mile from where we come out of the trail onto the dirt road, up to the Farm. It all seemed perfect - she'd ride her horse, walking on the trail, then could trot/canter up and down the dirt road as I struggled along. Then my brother came... Of course, I'm always happy to see him, and he hadn't yet seen the barn progress, so it was all good, except that I was now trying to wriggle out of the promise I had made not an hour before to my kid.
I'm good at breaking promises that circumstances demand I break. If I say, "I promise to get to your concert," but a blizzard hits and no one can drive anywhere, well, I'm okay with that. What I'm not good at, or okay with, is breaking promises that are entirely within my control to break or not. And this situation was entirely within my control... should I embarrass myself by running "in public" with my brother, or should I find a way to back out of my promise to join my daughter? Well, I decided maybe it was okay that my youngest brother saw me lurch along, and we all set out together.
The walk down the trail was wicked slippery - we've had some snow, but it's been raining the last day or two, and the trail is steep in parts. Of course, such soppy conditions meant cold, wet feet all around (except for my kid, up on her horse, and except for my brother, who had some waterproof hikers on... so by "all" I mean, "me").
So the moral of the story is that I guess it wasn't so bad to be out of the woods and running "in public." Two trucks even drove by us, heading up to the deer farm, and I didn't panic. Perhaps this new trail/road will be the easiest way for me to continue this exercise thing for the winter? Yes, I think it may be... I can ski on my little course, and still run on the dirt road. Promotions all around!
Of course, I don't have entirely accurate distances, yet, so the calculations will be somewhat estimated. It's probably about a half-mile from the house to the dirt road, along the back trail. Yeah, that seems right.
Lap Times
Phase 1 (walk) : 9:09.7 (trail)
Phase 2 (walk/jog) : 7:35.3 (trail to farm)
Phase 3 (walk/jog) : 7:19.9 (farm to trail)
Phase 4 (walk) : 9:37.3 (trail)
Total distance: 3.2 km, Total time: 33:42.2, Best mile: 14:55.2
Weekly weigh-in: ? not sure - forgot to weigh in this morning, we'll stick to 310
Average power: 521 Watts
Heart rate following final run: --
Heart rate five minutes after cool-down walk: --
Going Public.
I've been running in the woods, in my "back yard" primarily because it's easy access, and the loops are small enough to be manageable. But also, because I really don't want anyone to see me lurching along. It's embarrassing, to be honest. I'm still a big guy, despite the weight loss so far, and I just don't want people having to answer their kid's questions, like "How did that whale get all the way from the ocean?" or "I thought you said Sasquatch wasn't real, Daddy!" Etc.
But today my youngest brother was visiting us, and the timing of his arrival coincided with my going out for a bit of exercise... I had also just promised my daughter that I would do my walk/run with her, while she rode her horse. So, we were going to walk down a back trail to a "major" dirt road, and I was going to walk/jog up the dirt road to the Shady Acres Deer Farm (they also have buffalo). It's almost exactly a half-mile from where we come out of the trail onto the dirt road, up to the Farm. It all seemed perfect - she'd ride her horse, walking on the trail, then could trot/canter up and down the dirt road as I struggled along. Then my brother came... Of course, I'm always happy to see him, and he hadn't yet seen the barn progress, so it was all good, except that I was now trying to wriggle out of the promise I had made not an hour before to my kid.
I'm good at breaking promises that circumstances demand I break. If I say, "I promise to get to your concert," but a blizzard hits and no one can drive anywhere, well, I'm okay with that. What I'm not good at, or okay with, is breaking promises that are entirely within my control to break or not. And this situation was entirely within my control... should I embarrass myself by running "in public" with my brother, or should I find a way to back out of my promise to join my daughter? Well, I decided maybe it was okay that my youngest brother saw me lurch along, and we all set out together.
The walk down the trail was wicked slippery - we've had some snow, but it's been raining the last day or two, and the trail is steep in parts. Of course, such soppy conditions meant cold, wet feet all around (except for my kid, up on her horse, and except for my brother, who had some waterproof hikers on... so by "all" I mean, "me").
So the moral of the story is that I guess it wasn't so bad to be out of the woods and running "in public." Two trucks even drove by us, heading up to the deer farm, and I didn't panic. Perhaps this new trail/road will be the easiest way for me to continue this exercise thing for the winter? Yes, I think it may be... I can ski on my little course, and still run on the dirt road. Promotions all around!
Of course, I don't have entirely accurate distances, yet, so the calculations will be somewhat estimated. It's probably about a half-mile from the house to the dirt road, along the back trail. Yeah, that seems right.
Lap Times
Phase 1 (walk) : 9:09.7 (trail)
Phase 2 (walk/jog) : 7:35.3 (trail to farm)
Phase 3 (walk/jog) : 7:19.9 (farm to trail)
Phase 4 (walk) : 9:37.3 (trail)
Total distance: 3.2 km, Total time: 33:42.2, Best mile: 14:55.2
Weekly weigh-in: ? not sure - forgot to weigh in this morning, we'll stick to 310
Average power: 521 Watts
Heart rate following final run: --
Heart rate five minutes after cool-down walk: --
Sunday, December 19, 2010
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
Sunday, December 5, 2010
End of Week 7 - and Mixed Metaphors
Mixed metaphors... done well if done intentionally, but usually done poorly because the person simply doesn't realize what they're saying. Here are two I've heard recently...
1) It was an eleventh hour, drop back and punt situation. Not only is this a mixed metaphor (taking the notion of completing a task in the 11th hour, or with very little time to spare, and confusing it with the notion of using 4th down to punt away the football, signifying a situation in which you are temporarily ceding control to another group, or giving up entirely), but the ideas themselves are completely disparate! An 11th hour situation is one in which you marshal your reserves and push toward the deadline... A drop back and punt situation is one in which you are giving up now in hopes of regaining the momentum later.
2) Two to one, half a dozen to the other. This one makes me laugh every time I hear the person say it... I'm not exactly sure what is meant, because it is nonsensical as is, but I think the confusion here is between suggesting there are "two" available choices, and that one of those choices is to call it a half dozen. We all know this should really be "six to one, half a dozen to the other," and it suggests that one person may use the number six, while another person may use the phrase "half a dozen" and they really mean the same thing... We'd use it to suggest, "Hey, you know, we may be using different words, but we're describing the same thing."
I know it shouldn't be funny to me when someone screws up trying to sound learned... but it is. I'm just a terrible person that way.
So, the walk/run today was very, very cold and wet... the course has managed to become almost swamp-like in places... and the air temperature this morning was about 27 F... so as I broke through thin layers of crusty ice, my feet got soaked in cold, gooey mud. I'm not complaining... I started to like it after a lap or two. It was a bit of suffering that I was able to transform into joy! My daughter, though, has insisted that if I were more careful, I could avoid the dampness along the course... so I invited her to come out with me next time! We'll see how she fares.
Because I missed last week, and most of this week I was out with a serious cold, I did an 11th hour drop back and punt kind of thing and reduced my distance back down to 2 clicks, or 2K if you prefer... two to one, half a dozen to the other.
Lap Times
Loop 1 (walk) : 4:19.4
Loop 2 (jog) : 3:05.6
Loop 3 (walk) : 4:27.0
Loop 4 (jog) : 2:57.4
Loop 5 (walk) : 4:22.8
Total distance: 2 km, Total time: 19:12.2, Best mile: 14:45.2
Weekly weigh-in: 320 pounds
Average power: 626 Watts
Heart rate following final run: 165
Heart rate five minutes after cool-down walk: 108
1) It was an eleventh hour, drop back and punt situation. Not only is this a mixed metaphor (taking the notion of completing a task in the 11th hour, or with very little time to spare, and confusing it with the notion of using 4th down to punt away the football, signifying a situation in which you are temporarily ceding control to another group, or giving up entirely), but the ideas themselves are completely disparate! An 11th hour situation is one in which you marshal your reserves and push toward the deadline... A drop back and punt situation is one in which you are giving up now in hopes of regaining the momentum later.
2) Two to one, half a dozen to the other. This one makes me laugh every time I hear the person say it... I'm not exactly sure what is meant, because it is nonsensical as is, but I think the confusion here is between suggesting there are "two" available choices, and that one of those choices is to call it a half dozen. We all know this should really be "six to one, half a dozen to the other," and it suggests that one person may use the number six, while another person may use the phrase "half a dozen" and they really mean the same thing... We'd use it to suggest, "Hey, you know, we may be using different words, but we're describing the same thing."
I know it shouldn't be funny to me when someone screws up trying to sound learned... but it is. I'm just a terrible person that way.
So, the walk/run today was very, very cold and wet... the course has managed to become almost swamp-like in places... and the air temperature this morning was about 27 F... so as I broke through thin layers of crusty ice, my feet got soaked in cold, gooey mud. I'm not complaining... I started to like it after a lap or two. It was a bit of suffering that I was able to transform into joy! My daughter, though, has insisted that if I were more careful, I could avoid the dampness along the course... so I invited her to come out with me next time! We'll see how she fares.
Because I missed last week, and most of this week I was out with a serious cold, I did an 11th hour drop back and punt kind of thing and reduced my distance back down to 2 clicks, or 2K if you prefer... two to one, half a dozen to the other.
Lap Times
Loop 1 (walk) : 4:19.4
Loop 2 (jog) : 3:05.6
Loop 3 (walk) : 4:27.0
Loop 4 (jog) : 2:57.4
Loop 5 (walk) : 4:22.8
Total distance: 2 km, Total time: 19:12.2, Best mile: 14:45.2
Weekly weigh-in: 320 pounds
Average power: 626 Watts
Heart rate following final run: 165
Heart rate five minutes after cool-down walk: 108
Sunday, November 28, 2010
End of Week 6 - The agony of de feet
Well, just for disclosure's sake, there are no results for this week. I injured my left foot a few days ago, tripping over a pile of wood cut ends near the barn project, and the impact set up a "trauma" in my left big toe. Then, yesterday I got dehydrated working outside all day (I keep forgetting that you have to drink, especially in the cold), and coupled with the toe trauma, this led to an onset of gout in the left toe this morning. Yes, "gout," the condition that makes you sound like you live in the 15th century...
Gout is a form of arthritis. Specifically, it is the crystallization of uric acid in a joint, typically the great toe (i.e., big toe), elbow, or wrist. The toe is especially susceptible because of the great stresses and strains that act upon it; the great toe serves as the single point of propulsion for the human gait. There is evidence that one can be more prone to gout depending on various factors, including diet, trauma, hydration, and genetic history.
Dietary considerations involve consumption of too much red meat. I haven't had a great deal of red meat in the last few weeks, so that's out. But, certainly, I qualified under trauma and hydration! Hydration plays a role because as the base amount of water in your system decreases, by default the concentration (i.e., amount of stuff dissolved in some unit of water) of all minerals and compounds in your blood will go up. So, when you get dehydrated the concentration of sodium goes up, as does the concentration of uric acid. Uric acid is a cellular waste product that is filtered by the kidneys. Unfortunately, if the concentration of uric acid gets too high, it will crystallize... forming sharp edges that cause inflammation in the joint it chose to sit on and form crystals.
So, for me, the treatment is two-fold. I drink a lot of water to get well hydrated, and I take serious anti-inflammatory meds to keep things in check. This strategy usually means I only have to suffer most of one day, rather than the three-to-four days that used to be typical for me (before I understood what was happening chemically). Sadly, that day happened to be today, when I should have been out on the course doing some timed walking/running. C'est la vie, n'est pas?
I did have to spend time on my feet, trying to close in the remaining parts of the barn before real, serious snow starts flying... so I was quite thankful for my orthotic inserts from the VA, the ones with the band of carbon fiber running along the great toe line, that help support the propulsive efforts of that joint. Although, to be honest, I cheated and just limped about not flexing my left foot at all!
Hopefully, I'll be able to get back into things later in the week.
Gout is a form of arthritis. Specifically, it is the crystallization of uric acid in a joint, typically the great toe (i.e., big toe), elbow, or wrist. The toe is especially susceptible because of the great stresses and strains that act upon it; the great toe serves as the single point of propulsion for the human gait. There is evidence that one can be more prone to gout depending on various factors, including diet, trauma, hydration, and genetic history.
Dietary considerations involve consumption of too much red meat. I haven't had a great deal of red meat in the last few weeks, so that's out. But, certainly, I qualified under trauma and hydration! Hydration plays a role because as the base amount of water in your system decreases, by default the concentration (i.e., amount of stuff dissolved in some unit of water) of all minerals and compounds in your blood will go up. So, when you get dehydrated the concentration of sodium goes up, as does the concentration of uric acid. Uric acid is a cellular waste product that is filtered by the kidneys. Unfortunately, if the concentration of uric acid gets too high, it will crystallize... forming sharp edges that cause inflammation in the joint it chose to sit on and form crystals.
So, for me, the treatment is two-fold. I drink a lot of water to get well hydrated, and I take serious anti-inflammatory meds to keep things in check. This strategy usually means I only have to suffer most of one day, rather than the three-to-four days that used to be typical for me (before I understood what was happening chemically). Sadly, that day happened to be today, when I should have been out on the course doing some timed walking/running. C'est la vie, n'est pas?
I did have to spend time on my feet, trying to close in the remaining parts of the barn before real, serious snow starts flying... so I was quite thankful for my orthotic inserts from the VA, the ones with the band of carbon fiber running along the great toe line, that help support the propulsive efforts of that joint. Although, to be honest, I cheated and just limped about not flexing my left foot at all!
Hopefully, I'll be able to get back into things later in the week.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
The Turkey Trot
Well, we're up in Fort Kent for Thanksgiving... a couple of inches of snow and ice are on the ground, and the temperatures are their typical 10 degrees (F) cooler than down in western Maine... but I love it up here, in my homeland.
So, as we pull in yesterday afternoon, my Dad asks me, "Hey, now that you're a runner, do you want to go into town with me tomorrow for the Turkey Trot?" After I laughed at being called a runner (but had that secret pride nonetheless, especially from my Dad, who has been a runner and Nordic skier for the last 30+ years... trains with Olympians... he likes to run), I decided to go along with him, my brother Pete, and two of my nephews to the Turkey Trot 5K Charity Walk/Run.
The charity part of the event is to raise funds for the sports program at the Fort Kent Elementary School, which is fine by me. The 5K part was a bit daunting... Remember, my END goal for this blog is to get up to 5K, and the farthest I've run so far is one very slow mile back on Veterans Day. Well, so what? I figured I'd just walk by myself and let the fit members of the family do the run.
And that's pretty much what happened, except my Dad decided to walk with me. We had a great time talking about various carpentry projects he's doing, the horse barn I'm building, his ridiculous interactions with the Maine State Department of Education (I'll explain in some future post), fun things happening at my work, and just the sundry things we never get to regularly talk about because we live six hours apart and neither of us like talking on the phone much. It was the best 51 minutes I've had in a long time.
So, like I said, we did the 5K at a walk in 51 minutes, which is about my regular pace, and it was a great time, for which I'm quite thankful.
So, as we pull in yesterday afternoon, my Dad asks me, "Hey, now that you're a runner, do you want to go into town with me tomorrow for the Turkey Trot?" After I laughed at being called a runner (but had that secret pride nonetheless, especially from my Dad, who has been a runner and Nordic skier for the last 30+ years... trains with Olympians... he likes to run), I decided to go along with him, my brother Pete, and two of my nephews to the Turkey Trot 5K Charity Walk/Run.
The charity part of the event is to raise funds for the sports program at the Fort Kent Elementary School, which is fine by me. The 5K part was a bit daunting... Remember, my END goal for this blog is to get up to 5K, and the farthest I've run so far is one very slow mile back on Veterans Day. Well, so what? I figured I'd just walk by myself and let the fit members of the family do the run.
And that's pretty much what happened, except my Dad decided to walk with me. We had a great time talking about various carpentry projects he's doing, the horse barn I'm building, his ridiculous interactions with the Maine State Department of Education (I'll explain in some future post), fun things happening at my work, and just the sundry things we never get to regularly talk about because we live six hours apart and neither of us like talking on the phone much. It was the best 51 minutes I've had in a long time.
So, like I said, we did the 5K at a walk in 51 minutes, which is about my regular pace, and it was a great time, for which I'm quite thankful.
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