Week 13: 07/18/2016 - 07/24/2016

Lucky Week 13, crap... by the time this posts I'll be in to week 12 with over a month not having run.  Still there is a glimmer of hope in my ever hopeful heart, my brain, well it knows better but won't let the squishy thing in my chest down so it keeps quiet.

One of the biggest bestest pieces of news this week was a girlfriends Father, diagnosed with Stage III Lung Cancer July 2015 was given a clean bill of health this week.  Holy crap, that is fantastic!  The advance in treatment are amazing.  The cancer is gone!!  He still has some residual use of oxygen due to pneumonia, once that clears he is on the 3 month CT routine for the first year, then 6 months for another year and once a year.

This news, of course, feeds my ever hopeful heart that I can accomplish at least my 50 miles before 50 goal...  Lung Cancer going away, eliminated, that is a miracle.  I'm still in awe of that news, in the 9 years I've been exposed to this cancer first with my mother's diagnosis and as a result meeting people living with it and dying from it and their relatives, this is the first.  There have been so many deaths in the last 9 years, and so few living withs and now the first NED (No Evidence of Disease).  Wow, just wow.

Monday (0/5.6/0) - 5K walk at lunch time, felt good.  Ok in the beginning I felt like a grumpy bitch and it showed on my face.  It helped to get out but not to see all the happy runners.  I tried to focus on how much I hate running in July and August and how frustrated I get with myself for not dealing well with the temperatures.  I resorted to recalling a run where I got a full mile in and sat on the rocks and beat myself up for being such a horrible runner.  That actually helped a little bit, in some sort of perverse and weird way.  Plus that's when I learned the term "recovery run" or some such other title really meant that the run sucked.  At the end I had to laugh at how ridiculous I was being, so it was a good walk.  At least I got to work on my tan a bit, ha ha ha... 

Gus and I had a short stroll in the evening, it was cooler, but still steamy enough that he had enough by the time we hit a 1.5 miles and when he pulled me back towards home and I let him lead and the prance came back in his step. 

Tuesday (0/0/0) - NY for the day.  I debated on bringing shoes with to work out at lunch (they have all the gear,  you don't even have to bring socks!) at least ride the bike for 30 minutes.  Glad I opted not to as I didn't have any free time, save the space in my work bag for beer for the train ride home!  All in all the meetings went well and I'm pleased with the progress my team has made, they really made me look good!!

Wednesday (0/7.8/0) - Hills with Ro, our pace picked up a bit with the reduced humidity, I have to remember some of our quicker loops were when I would run to meet her and then run back, so a mile of running does take down the average pace about a minute.  It really is a good loop, we have to add in the climb up the 166 stairs in the Fort Griswold Monument.  I live and work in an area so rich in history!

Dave took Jax out with him to do some clean up on a rock painted with graffiti in one of the areas he rides a lot in, I was going to bike to the fun run get in some miles on the saddle and then take Gus for a walk later.  Gus isn't so keen on being alone so when I got home after him being home alone for less than an hour he was in full panic mode.  I decided I'd see how he'd do at the fun run with all the people. He did better than I did!  He was curious about all the people, ignored the other dogs, and was happy to take treats from John and get petted and made much of by people.  We walked on the beach for a bit and went back to see who we could see coming into the finish area. He was ready to go home and have his dinner and crash on the floor.  It has to be tough being a dog with the fur coat and not being able to sweat to cool off.  Not quite my plan for the evening.

Thursday (0/0/20.5) - Aqua jog in the a.m. went well.  Took the bike out for a spin to Watch Hill and back.  Nearly picked off a few tourists, oops.  Picked up a few more PRs!

• PRd my time on Ocean Ave segment, 20 seconds away from Gazelle and 5K, be fun to see how far I can close that gap.  I'll need a hell of a tail wind though!!
• PRd my time on the Epitome of Death, 3 seconds away from Jeff H, 9 from 5K, and 11 from Gazelle.  That's a tough one this time of year with traffic.
• PRd my Winnepaug Climb, that one is a bitch, 3 seconds away from 5K, 4, from Jeff H, and 11 from Gazelle. 

The local fire departments had their annual Smokey The Bear parade.  I crumpled into a pile of goo thinking about my friend Andrew.  I knew it would happen when I heard and saw a fire engine, I just didn't know when.  I had a good cry while stopping to wave at all the departments going by lights flashing and horns blaring.  It was nice not to see the ceremonial fire hearse.  Andrew's casket was taken away with a fire hearse someone had restored, it was actually pretty cool, as far as death goes. 

Friday (0/0/38.5) - Commute to and from work.  I was a biker before I was a runner, a trail biker, I'm enjoying the speed on the road. It was a rough start in the a.m.  I did something to my front derailleur and need to get it looked at and fixed.  Shifting to the big ring is tough and touchy.  Ding dong! Picked up a few more PRs and a QOM! 

At the bottom of Fort Hill at the light at Rte 117, a car pulled up beside me and the driver says "Hey"  I looked over, smiled and said "Hey".  I do this with trepidation, figuring it is more likely this person hates bikers so being sweet and ready to dive for the ditch is my safest bet.  Bikers kinda reap what they sew, especially when they ride in packs.  I nearly was taken out by a pack of Pequot Cyclists a month ago.  It was terrifying with them all flying down the hill not stopping to make a left and I was going straight and they had the stop sign.  Anyhoodles, he holds up 4 fingers and has this smirk on his face and says "You hit 40 going down that hill. Way to go!"  I smiled and said "Sorry for edging to the middle of the lane, that hill is so fun to bomb down."  He said  "Quite alright I wasn't going  to catch you anyhow!"  That made my morning, that and surpassing 40 on that down hill.  0:00:47!  QOM is 0:00:45  hmmmm.....




Decided on Rte 184 to go home, it feels like a net elevation loss, so that's nice, but damn it was hot.



Collected two more QOMs on the way home  3 for the day! Yeah me...

Anyhow, while I'm not running my biking is improving and that is quite alright by me, for now.  Maybe the rest will give my running a boost?

As I sit here debating erasing my list of achievements from Thursday night's ride.  I'm not a braggart, but it really does feel good to finally have some successes, so I'll not delete.

Saturday (0/1.3/0) - I didn't really plan on doing much but volunteering at the Run with the Beavers trail race.

Volunteering was great, it usually is!  What made it even better was finally getting to meet a runner I've been following for years.  I think we started getting serious about running about the same time, his story of getting into running was so inspiring and similar to mine, it was hard not to follow!  Jose has been an inspiration to me! Watching and cheering his successes from 5Ks to marathons, and last year his first 100 miler, this year will be his second, has been a great part of my journey.

Gus and I had a short walk.  He was so funny, pacing because it was walk time.  It was cooler in the house because Dave and I put in the AC for the living rooms.  It's nice to not sit and sweat and listen to the dogs pant.  But they think, oh it must be fine outside.  Getting that damn heavy thing from the second to the first floor is always a little touch and go.  The dogs want to help and get in the way and then there are smashed fingers...  It was nice to come home to slowly cooling off rooms.

Sunday (0/0/40.4) - There may be a short dog walk later...  The dogs got us up an at 'em early and it was a nice way to start a ride, in the what felt like cool temps, imagine that 79F feeling cool to me!!!

I bought a cadence sensor for the bike.  I'm really curious about it, from this a.m.s ride seems like I like a cadence about 70 and a heavy gear.  I don't feel right spinning fast... wonder what difference that makes.... something to investigate.

Plan?  What plan? I wasn't exactly sure what my plan was, I really do need an 80 mile ride, but I really don't need to die attempting it.  I went out on the route I planned out and then when the GPS told me to turn left on a dirt road (gotta correct the route) I thought, yeah, time to just finish this up on the Tour de Farms and go home and have coffee, oh but did I want to make coffee?  Not really, maybe I'd stop and get some, but I smell really bad...  so I decided I'd have the Night Shift Awake Rachel swapped me for a baby sweater!  (included in this swap was a Bell's Expedition Stout (I didn't find any on my last trip back home) looking forward to that also)

http://www.nightshiftbrewing.com/beers

Fortunately, or unfortunately Dave got home just after me and started making coffee, um OK sure.  I'll save the beer to enjoy later.



Remembering that Mikey did Cossaduck Hill last weekend and now I'm really wanting to attempt it and then remembering that I'm not supposed to be climbing big hills I opted for the nice net downhill of Ryder Road.  Unfortunately as I sat at the Ryder Road/Wyassup Hill/Chester Maine intersection watching that same pack of terrifying Pequot Cyclists decide to though to Ryder Road and not up Wyassup I went up Wyassup.  So much for taking it easy on my hip.  Cut a whole 3 seconds off my time on those three hills...

I don't think the hills compare in anyway, they are very different climbs... But out of curiosity here is Cossaduck Hill (Mikey's results) and then Wyassup Hill.  Next week Cossaduck Hill!

Caroline Pierce is a beast, there is no catching her.  Maybe I can continue my goal of catching Mikey!

Top male: Anthony Eisle 4:43
Top female: Jacqueline Parker 4:59

Now to get Mikey to ride Wyassup so I can see how we stack up! It's nice to have someone to chase to keep improving.

Top male: Chris Case 14:04
Top female: Thalia Pryor 16:56

Anyhoodles, my hip feels fine and actually better than yesterday morning so who even knows.  I think it wanted some exercise?

Mileage summary:
Feet:  Weekly 14.7  Yearly 1081.9 against a straight line target of 1135.1 (watching the gap widen)
Saddle: Weekly 99.4  Yearly 809.1 against a straight line target of 1135.1 (closing the gap, slowly)

Looks like making either goal may not happen, well that's why I set the goals high to have something to aim for....

Sincerely,
Beth, happy I'm not starting from zero once I can run again

Weekly Recap: 19 weeks to go 6/6/16 - 6/12/16

Monday (7.4) - Last Monday run with Faith.  Her work schedule reverts back to M - F for the summer so she can have weekends off.  Monday is supposed to be a rest day for both of us.  I didn't run on Sunday but she ran a 30K (18.6 miles) on trails in the rain.  She was pretty wiped out.  Made the run easy for me, I guess.  It was nice, by mile 4 my legs were tired and it was clear Faith was spent by mile 3.  We talked the entire 4.3 mile run, so there is something to say for that!

Gus got a nice walk after my BARRE class.

Tuesday (9.9) - First at work 7 mile run in a while, or at least I think so.  It was hot and icky, the breeze helped.  I did "The Neighborhood" hills because they catch the breeze really nice, and it's a mile.  Avery Point may have done just fine, feh, I like the "Proud Mira" loop.

Had enough time for a 2 hour bike ride, I took an hour, down to Watch Hill and back.  My Garmin let me know when my favorite segment started!  Now to figure out how it knew that and put in a couple other biking segments I want to work on.



Jax looked rather depressed so he got the walk.  Gus paced the entire hour I was gone.  Poor guy.

Gus giving me the evil eye. 

Wednesday (5.6) - Hills with Ro, the temps plummeted in to temps I appreciate, 60's.  Ro, was bundled up, well she can't be more than 100 lbs at 5'2".  So yeah, she gets cold.

The Westerly Track and Athletic Club fun runs started tonight.  I volunteered to help fill in for vacations not really understanding what I signed up for!  So I went to observe, not to run.  That was odd.  Should be fun to see what goes on behind the scenes.

Founders had a Tap Takeover at The Engine Room in Mystic, we went out there for dinner.  It was not the Tap Takeover we've experienced at The Malted Barley.  Well, now we know, and will go to The Malted Barley for Tap Takeovers.

Thursday (3.1)  - Yes I was supposed to run 7, I thought I'd run after work, during work didn't work out.  Took Gus to the beach instead.  I was feeling worn out.  Guess that happens from time to time.  My  hip had been bugging me starting Wed and it wasn't much better.  3 miles on the beach helped a little bit to get moving.  Who knows what I did.  Maybe the band work in BARRE?  It was a new move and I do remember my right hip getting a little feisty.

Friday (6.1) - OUCH that hip hurt, the front part, a 5K was really all I needed to catch up on my miles so I did that.  I felt it the whole run, usually ouchy places go away after the first mile. I don't run fast enough to be injured!!!!

After dinner dog walk with Gus was tough for the first 2 miles and in the last mile everything seemed to go back into place.  I'm feeling more positive about the 16 for Saturday's long run!

Saturday (6.5) - Things did not go as planned.  A perfect day for 16 miles in the woods and that didn't happen.  I'm distraught.  Maybe a swim?  Um no that hurt.  I weeded the flower beds and enjoyed that sense of accomplishment, but getting up was torture...  Walked Gus, not so good.   I think I did something in BARRE, but not sure.  It can't possibly be the new shoes, not THIS soon!!!

Sunday (3.3) - Better, impact still hurts, only a little less.  Did get to listen to the Boston Pops traveling orchestra practiced in the park, so that was a bright spot.  Next run I'll load up on the Vitamin I and see if that helps.

Weekly Mileage:  40.9  Run: 24.6 Walk: 16.3

Yearly Mileage:  966.5 against a straight line target of 903.6

Sincerely,
Beth, I don't run fast enough to get injured!  HA HA HA...

Weekly Recap: Week -20: 5/30/2016 - 6/5/2016

This is a cut back week, an easy week...  Guess since I'm not completely up to snuff with my plan it really is a plain old week?

Oh yeah and I'm counting backwards, 20 weeks left of training!  Told ya I was going to tweak this as I went...

Monday (3) - Rainy lazy day I took full advantage of.  Surprisingly I'm more tired and achey when I do nothing than when I do something.  After dinner walk with Gus helped work out the kinks and I feel better.  I think he's regretting wearing his fur coat?  Jeff V and Helen Hayes maybe on to something with "rest is rust" ...

Tuesday (7.7) - 5 miles, kinda seemed easy, kinda seemed not easy, the humidity is up but the temperature is low, I'd rather cold and humid than hot and humid and my pace showed a bit of pep over past weeks.  I turned the HRM off on the watch because the battery was going low and I'd rather have the miles than the suffer score.

Gus and I had a nice walk on the beach.  It had been a while and I need to do this more, it is nice and quiet on Napatree after 6 and we can get in a good 2.5 miles.  During my walk I picked up, 7 mylar balloons, popped them and balled them up and then threw them away.  in a 1.25 mile stretch of beach 7 of those horrid things.  I know they get away from people, but wow...

Nothing else of note is coming back to me....

Oh wait, the bat... yes, the bat.  Dave swears there was a bat.  It's too early for bats in the house, that happens in August.  I think he may have had one too many beers...  nevertheless we went on a bat hunting mission through the house and did not find one.  Usually they land somewhere conspicuous, like a curtain or one of the steam pipes.  Dave figured he must have flown down to the basement.  Oh, ok, sure.

Wednesday (8) -  Power Hills with Ro, Spin with Jennifer, and then a Gus walk!  Busy day.  I walked Gus out to the Vet because Gizmo's ashes were back.  They were closed.  Gus was all "Wait. Woah. What?  The VET, you walked me to the VET!!?!?!?!"  I was hoping for one last walk with Gizmo.  Dave reminded me that we do have Diesel's, Sage's, and Gizmo's ashes and I could take all three of them for a walk.  I think he was being snarky, but hmmmm, maybe a nice moonlit walk to the end of Napatree, like we used to with all three of them and then they would get skunked and the drive home was awful!

Spin was interesting.  I felt like sleeping right at the beginning of class, it was an overwhelming urge, weird.  I managed to get through the class, but wow, I was a little concerned I'd pass out and fall off the bike and be embarrassed!

And there was a bat!  Poor creature met his demise in a mouse trap of all things.  There was one on the pantry counter, he must have hidden up under the cupboard and when it got quiet and he was going to fly around again to find his way out, snap. I found this when I fed the dogs on Wednesday night.  I'm sad, I don't like them or want them in the house, I certainly don't want them dead.  Sorry.

Thursday (2.8) - NYC for meetings.  My walk with Gus when I got home was a nice way to end the day.  6 hours of commuting (4 on commuter rail + 2 in the car) and 8 hours of meetings. There are going to be NYC meetings more than the once a month I had anticipated for the summer and early fall.  It will all work out... it always does.

Beer for the ride home - Beer Table in GCT BRILLIANT!!
Now to remember to add these things to Untapped so I remember what I like.

Friday (3.1) - NYC knocks me for a loop sometimes.  I could not get it together to run I could barely get it together to find matching shoes!!  I did manage to get it together to walk Gus in Grills and do a little off marked trail exploring.  I'm feeling much more confident that I can remember things and direction.  We found an asphalt road!  I have to find the history of that preserve, what was back there before it was a preserve.

See asphalt!!

Saturday (16.9) - Took a field trip to Milford NH to take a run on the rail trail that will be the scene of my possible demise as I attempt 100K, which is 4 full Brookline to Milford runs (15 miles) plus an additional 2 miles.  My mind is in the game and not in the game.  I'm on the fence, and still on the fence.  This is probably the absolute perfect setting for me to do this, 30 hours to complete 62 miles.  its a 23 minute pace for 24 hours 29 minute pace for 30 hours...  I honestly think it is the long runs in the heat that is getting to me.

The trail was nice, it is flat and fairly unexciting, I scared up lots of squirrels and chipmunks, no snakes that I noticed but those things don't bother me, no moose or deer either, :(.  Burlingame is far more diverse.  I ran out the 7 miles to Brookline (the last 1/2 mile is in a camp and I really didn't want to trespass, it's asphalt and nothing exciting).  I ran the first mile back then walked a mile, then decided to walk 1/2 mile and run 1/2 mile till the end.  That actually worked pretty well!  When my watch would vibrate at the mile I would walk, I was half heatedly aiming for a 15 pace.  If I can keep my mind together (considering it's held together with fraying binder twine and gum it is rather questionable) on these hot long runs through the summer there's a chance I'll succeed.

Running through the tunnel at night, is a singular, and good reason for running!

Sunday (2.9) - Yeah yeah 5 were on the schedule.  I was in a really productive mood when I woke up  and didn't want to break my stride ticking off projects on that annoying to do list. I'm nearly to the bottom of the list and the feeling of satisfaction was far greater than the joy of running in the rain.  And actually that says a lot as I do love to run in the rain.

Checking off the items in the: "Do It Later" category

Weekly Mileage:  44.3 (run 24.5  walk 19.8)  --  I'm off my running total -- I did get in my long run!
Yearly Mileage:   925.6 against a straight line target of 865.1

Sincerely,
Beth, still on the fence however leaning towards full commitment, running in the heat sucks for me and every time I'm out there I think about how nice this would be on the bike....  but come October 22 - 23 in NH it will be cool and the race really really sounds fun.

Weekly Recap: 5/23 - 5/29 Week 3

Wow we are at Week 3 of 28 weeks of training - I was ready to throw in the towel, not so much anymore.  I'm going to give it a few more weeks and I'll be able to run the course on June 4th, so that may be the kicker to make me get my butt in gear.

Monday (3.5) - Rest day, but I swam and biked on Sunday so really I needed to get some time on my feet in, and I wanted to see what the old attitude was doing.  It's better.

Tuesday (6) - Back on track mile wise, my mind is catching up.  A friend suggested a person to talk to, he's done several 100 milers, and may be able to help.

Gizmo left this earth peacefully, and that has gotten me out of the bit of a fog I have been in.  I've been struggling with his declining health and Dave's in ability or just plain not wanting to face the sad fact G's quality of life was close to zero and he was miserable.  I'll miss my buddy.  It's been a year since I'd been on a real walk with him, he lost use of his back legs about a year ago. And a couple months ago he stopped shuffling across the floor, on a rare occasion would he get off the couch and shuffle, to greet me.  We had our routine and he was happiest snuggling in bed, and if we went to bed early, all the better, he snuggled in to my back and was calm and content leaning against me, he was at peace.  He liked the occasional adventure, it was clear on our last one, he was ready for all of this to be over.  I could see it in his eyes, he was tired of not being able to to what he could do a month ago, let alone a year ago.

Wednesday (8.4) Power hills with Ro.  I'm counting this as running, it is a solid well earned 5.6 miles at about a 14 pace and some wicked steep hills.

Spin class in the evening.  I was tempted to bail but knew it would be good and i was able to get the new spin bike they are testing out.  It tracks RPM, Mileage, calories all sorts of things.  I tracked 17 miles for the class so I'm satisfied my 15 I've been using is accurate, some weeks may be more some less, depends on how much climbing she has us doing versus interval work.

Thursday (3.2) -  Got some new shoes, ON Cloudcruiser, I was really looking forward to try them out for the scheduled 6 miles.  I forgot a sports bra. I did a 3.2 mile walk and that was it. The shoes felt nice, my knees didn't give me as much trouble as they usually do...  6 miles would have been the true test.

My mouth engaged before my brain in the locker room at work. One of the gals was going on about her daughter and make up and another about her son and clothes and bitch moan crab complain....  

Then it happened, the though bubble came out of my mouth:

"You ladies make me so glad for my decision to never have kids."

Crickets

"You never seem to have anything nice to say about them. It really sounds like a horrible experience."

Then it was like chickens cackling over a bug, a cricket, perhaps?

The gal next to me, one who never remarks about children so I assumed she had none, told me the story about how her daughter found a dating website for professional women with a very strict criteria for clientele and how this would be perfect for her if she did want to date.   I said "Thank you.  You raised a very thoughtful loving daughter.  I knew there had to be an upside to kids."  the conversation drown out  all the cackling about grades or athletic ability. 

Dave went off to Maine to visit with a friend and pick up some curly maple and walk in the woods.  He needed to get away for a couple days.  It took A LOT of encouragement to get him to go up for a 2 day trip versus a 1 day trip. I was happy for a quiet night at home with the boys.  They are stressed, I am stressed, Dave is stressed.  They crashed after dinner, I kind of expected that.  I cleaned up Gizmo's feeding area and replaced Gus's station with Giz's.  Gus got Diesel's and the foot rusted off.  Jax had his own and he inherited Sage's so all three matched.  Guess we are down to two dogs and two feeders, other than the odd shaped one in the attic.

Rambling... it's my blog, I'm allowed!!

I probably won't catch up on my miles however I will get the full 16 on the schedule for Saturday. The long runs are the important ones, right?  And it's 5 months away...

Friday (6.3) - Got out in the a.m. for 3 miles.  The Cloudcruisers are nice, I think they may be a bit big in the toes, but who knows at this point.  I'm not really pleased with the laces, they are hard to tighten up, I do love the soles and my knees didn't scream at me so that's good.

I caught up on work work and a bit of house work, working at home is really distracting for me, I can't do it when I have actual things to accomplish.  I know my limitations.

After having to wake the boys for dinner.  Guess they had no clue since G wasn't there to start the whining chorus!  It reminded me of my parents cat Frick.  When Frack died he was lost, he had no idea how to get the people to open the door to let him in or out how breakfast got served.  My mom said he would sit at the door quietly, waiting to go out, he never did learn to make a ruckus so one of the hoomans would open the door for  him.  Poor Frick.  If you ever watched My Name is Earl, it was like when Earl went to jail and his brother, Randy, was clueless.

Evening walk with Gus, it cooled off nicely so I was hopeful the 16 in the a.m. wouldn't be complete torture.

Saturday (16.6) - Met up with the 'Gansett Gals at 7am for some miles.  Nicole committed to 10 with me last weekend and totally stuck with that promise!!  The rest were in for 6, cool!!  Nothing was going quite right internally, I haven't quite nailed it down yet, but it has something to do with porter I'm pretty sure.  Despite the monster in my bowels, I really really enjoyed my 6 with the gang and then Nicole and I got to catch up for 4.  It's nice to be with my people, we all get out there and give it a go and have no desire of BQing we just love to run for the camaraderie and to save what little sanity we have.

Finished up my last 6 with 5.6 on the beach.  I'll call it good for a 16 mile run, it's the first one I've come close to completing since I started training.  I forgot how much I love to run barefoot on the beach, nothing hurts and when I'm done I can actually walk pain free, it is so lovely.  I enjoyed a little stroll with Gus to return a library book and at least get him out of the house for a few minutes.

Sunday (2.5) - Got out for a bike ride.  Decided I should see what was on the schedule for my PMC training long rides - 50 miles.  I mapped it out and set out for 50.  I may have started out a little to optimistically attacking the Wyassup Hills as part of a long ride when I haven't been riding long.  No matter.  I still did it and stopped for a break at 15 miles, then at 20 miles and slugged down a icy creamy sweet drink to hopefully recharge my batteries.  It didn't kick in for a while, but it did for a bit and by the edge of 30 miles I was toast.  I took the direct route home and shorted myself 10 miles.




I'm not disappointed, it was a tough ride, and one of the first humid sunny days we have had.  I've learned there is no point beating myself up, it is stupid and I need to not do it, bottom line.

40 miles and 2,270 of elevation gain is respectable, I wonder what the Gazelle's fancy watch would get for elevation on this one.  I'm a little concerned about the hills from Sturbridge to Bourne, well actually Sturbridge till we join up with the riders from Wellesley.  I think I'll be mostly by myself on this portion, and hopefully link up with the LUNGStrong gals coming out of Wellesley for lunch time.   Feh, gives me some nonsense to obsess about.

Dave and I took the dogs to Grills, they enjoyed it, mostly, it was humid and the air was still in the woods, probably not the best choice.

Jax does NOT like bridges!



Jax struggling across the Polly Coon bridge
(he wasn't sure of the two small ones before this one either)



But they were having fun running ahead and waiting for us!

Weekly Mileage:
Feet:  46.5  Run:33.7  Walk: 12.8  Yearly:  881.2 against a straight-line target of 826.5
Bike: 55  Yearly:  335 against a straight-line of 826.5

Sincerely,
Beth, gaining focus on training for the 100K and the PMC

Weekly Recap: Week 2 - 5/16/16 - 5/22/16

Monday (8.8) -   Run with Faith has changed to Monday due to her rotating work schedule.  After my 10 or 14 whatever you want to call it miles on Sunday I was feeling less than stellar and told myself if Faith could run nearly 20 miles with 13.1 of them being racing, I could suck it up and not bitch and moan during our run.  She had run 8 with Crutch on the trails before meeting up with me.  

Crutch was finally getting in a long run before his upcoming 50 mile race (June 4th)  I cannot fathom how he can piece together short runs with lots of elevation and still manage to successfully complete long and ultra races.  Boggles my mind.  Running really does have a HUGE mental component to it and his positive happy go lucky attitude serves him well.  

So anyhow, Faith and I met up and went the way we'd been running, both a little dubious about the gusting 20 MPH NW winds up the back side of the route along the golf course.   The wind really was all over the place and the back side isn't a true North there is a bit more of a West to it, so we catch the West wind, and it's a long but not steep, just relentless up hill of over 80 feet.  

So we ran and she pushed me, she claims I pushed her.  A 5+ mile run at a sub 10 pace for me is not ordinary anymore.  Clearly I have gotten lazy.  Or maybe I really do enjoy running with people because I have someone to talk to and to keep up the tempo? It's not like I can't run faster...

Gus got a walk, boy oh boy is he adamant about these things.  I had dinner out and was home by 7, so not a late night by any stretch of the imagination.  Still Gus was there tapping his doggy watch at 7:25 letting me know I wasn't getting off the hook.  We took a bit over an hour stroll in a quiet neighborhood.  Now that I know which house is Jeff V's I will wave.  Gus really enjoys the empty lot between you and the crazy barking beagles.  There are all sorts of good things to sniff in there. 

Tuesday (4.7) -  Meetings sucked up the middle of my day and I ate a salad around 11:15 and figured that would be done and dusted before my run after 1.  Yeah, it sat there like hunk of tres leches cake and combine with my aching joints made the run miserable.  I cut it short and ended up with a whopping 2.5 miles.  Yeah me....    After my shower I noticed I only had in one earring.  I know I had two before I ran.  Perhaps taking off the buff that was supposed to collect the sweat before it got in my eyes I snagged it? Hopefully it ended up in the shower drain because the maintenance guys and gals are super good about saving them and putting them up on the front desk.    If not my collection of single earrings is growing and I need to start wearing them in the second hole in my left ear...  

Dinner out again!  This time I was home just at 7:30, but Dave had just fed the hounds so Gus wasn't giving me that disapproving look while tapping his doggy watch immediately, he finished his meal and wiped his food face on my pants first.

Gizmo has mellowed out and is rather calm and relaxed so we are holding off on any euthanasia for the time being.  He has his routine in the evening and seems content.  I've talked this situation through with several people and ultimately it is our decision to or not to...  as long as he holds his bladder, can navigate around on his front feet, and is happy we are all happy.

Wednesday (o) - After spending the evening ignoring all of the Metro North inbound/outbound delay alerts I realized at 5:35 a.m. that the trains were running on a Saturday schedule and not all tracks were being used.  Due to a fire under the tracks in the vicinity of 118th street in Harlem.  A garden center was ablaze to a 4 alarm fire.  One of my co-workers who lives two blocks from there was rather surprised to hear about this happening.  I asked if perhaps she noticed any increase in the noise level, perhaps the air having the smell of a fire? She looked at me thoughtfully and said, "Um, no. But I did find it odd to get a Taxi right away when I left my building to come to work."  Needless to say she is, has been, and always will be a favorite co-worker.

My 1 hr 47 minutes a.m. commute was 2 hours and 30 minutes and the train was stuffed to capacity. I didn't get my right hand side seat by the window, so no nap.  I didn't really mind the guys hip hitting me in the ear from time to time.  I was rather concerned he'd let go some gas and I'd be hard pressed not to have a frothing fit about it, especially being at nose level and all.  But he was fine.  It was the girl who bathed in her fragrance that squished into the wee space left in the aisle I wasn't so sure what to do with as my head started pounding and my eyes watered and I berated myself for fearing a Methane and Hydrogen Gas emission.

The horrific commute to led to a day of downs and up and fortunately it was not an even more horrific commute home...

Thursday (8.7) - Hills with Ro.  I feel a little guilty for a crap run then a day off, and then a power walk.  I think it was what I needed.  I fully woke up, finally, on that walk, I felt like I'd been in a haze since Wednesday morning.  I don't do well when I don't get my hour nap on the train!  Even two huge vats of coffee never shook me fully awake yesterday.

Gus got me out for walkies and that helped me feel a little less out of sorts. 

Friday (4.6) - Lunch run thwarted due to lack of socks.  I could have run sockless and run (ha ha) the risk of mangling the skin on my feet and making my 14 mile run on Saturday miserable.  I opted to not do that and deal with some work and then head home and take Gus, still a little out of sorts from liberating what was left of a box of Lara Bars from the pantry counter, to Grills to pick up empty beer cans and go for a hike or run.  Gus wasn't in the running spirit and actually spent most of the walk behind me! 

Saturday (7) -  Shit run.  Shit mood.  Shit nights sleep.  Ready to throw in the towel.  I had a good cry,  took the old guy on a trip to DQ and he finished up his DQ and we had a sit in the park doing some people watching.  

We got home and had a nice 2 hour nap that included drooling.  I always know I've slept well when I drool.

Sunday (3) - After attempting to pour my coffee into the wrong side of the mug (yeah another crap nights sleep)  I thought I better not do anything risky today.  So I went swimming at the Y.  In the drizzle I walked so I could run some errands on the way there and on the way home.  I forgot my credit card so getting milk was kind of out of the question now.  Whoops.

Made more coffee, then took Gus out for a walk on the beach.  Crap May 2nd starts no dogs on the beach from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.  we broke the law, there were maybe 10 people on  a 3 mile stretch of beach in Watch Hill.  He loves the beach and I've not been taking him there and I'm not really sure why.  Probably because I used to take Giz and Sage to the beach every Sunday afternoon and after she passed I stopped and never got back in the habit.  I really forgot how soothing the sound of the ocean is.  It's 3 miles from the house and I don't get there often enough.

He is a handsome boy for sure and happy to be out on the beach and in the surf

The rain never really materialized so I switched my seats on my bike, I think the seat is the problem not the chamois, and took off for not exactly sure but I was going to get the part of Jeff V's Tour de Farms correct and I did then I decided to test my crown and see if it would hold up through the craptastic road - Clarks Falls - this is where they put all the pot holes when they are finished filling them.  The crown stayed and I managed to not chip any teeth so I decided to explore, got a little turned around, so glad for the maps in my Garmin.  This meandering took me to Chase hill where I was tired but still wanted to see what I had left in me for the Chase Hill Gut Punch to be able to enjoy the long winding cruise DOWN the back side, ahhhhhh....

View atop the climb on Chester Maine - Heaven

My butt was much happier in the bike shorts they used to hate.  Figured I might as well go for the gusto and test the hypothesis I worked up in my head with the most offensive bike shorts I had.  At the end of the nearly 30 mile ride, when even after a summer of cycling my butt would be unhappy, it wasn't at all concerned, huh, it really was the saddle.  Crap I endured pain for a whole summer with that seat and this was such a simple solution.

Weekly mileage:  36.8  (r: 20.7 w: 16.1)
Yearly mileage: 834.7 against a straight line target of 787.9

Bike mileage:  279,9 against a straight line target of 787.9  - I'll catch up!

Sincerely,
Beth, at the end of a not a great week, not a bad week, a week.

Weekly Recap: 5/9/16 - 5/15/16 Week 1 100K Training

Not sure how to do these recaps, so my format may change as time progresses....

My schedule:

Monday (6.4) - yeah I know I'm already violating the rest day Monday - this may be a fairly common occurrence, I plan on biking on Sunday and running on Monday and probably should update my schedule but I'm not quite ready to do this at this time.  Monday was my Birthday recap here.  Because it was my birthday I ran and because I was driving back to MI on Tuesday I also ran...

Tuesday (0) - Drive from MI to RI, the worst part of this drive is getting through CT.  As soon as I hit the border everyone loses their bloody minds...  It is the most painful part of the 12+ hour drive.

Wednesday (8) - 5.5 miles of power hills with Ro and a walk with Gus rounds out this 8 miles for Tuesday - also off my plan a bit, however there is importance to time on feet and to maintaining friendships through training.  And now I may have discovered why I've not slept more than 4 hours most of this week!!

Thursday (6) - Solid run for me, however I have a mild sun burn.  My Irish ancestry (and as a result of the raping and pillaging through that tiny island there is some Nordic blood) never fails me!  Being nearly 70F with a UV index of 5 (yes, 5) I wore a tank top, and I have the burn to prove it, yes, after an hour in the sun.  Tis very sad.  Time to get the super SPF out!  Shoot!

Friday (4.5) - Took Gus out for an outing in Grills, it was drizzling and miserable and that perked us both up!

Saturday (2.8) - I had a morning appointment I couldn't move and really needed to get into the gardens and move plants around so I knew this was not going to be my long run day. Plus it was hot.  And I may have had one too many beers with dinner on Friday and stayed up past 11...  Got Gus out for a walk while dinner cooked, and so went Saturday.

Sunday (14.1) - 12 on the long run schedule I ran 10 and then called it, filled with doubts about my mental stamina for 100K.  A little early in the training cycle for that nonsense, none the less there it is...  My left knee hurts, my hips ache, I'm old and maybe this isn't an achievable goal for me.  And we will segue from the morose diary part of this to the happy go lucky blog part of this.  I ran/walked the last mileish home, knowing I'd take Gus to Barn Island later in the day and we'd run the 3 mile loop and call it good.

I haven't been sleeping well and that is a combination of the nerves I get at the start of something and the end of Gizmo's existence on this planet.  He isn't going to make this easy for us like Diesel and Sage did, so the appointment will be made and the deed done.  This is a real struggle, do we or don't we, when he isn't sleeping he is anxious and miserable.  There are the rare times where he sits and snuggles and is content.  I ask Diesel and Sage to come get their big brother, I think they aren't listening or don't want to deal with the old curmudgeon.  The two of them always did gang up on grouchy Gizmo.  It wasn't until after Diesel passed that Sage and Giz bonded.  Although Sage did enjoy her rambunctious outings with Jax, she was never quite sure about Gus.

Mileage:

Week:    41.8  (R: 29 W: 12.8) - missed the 34 miles running target, I did get over 8 hours on my feet.
Year:     797.9 against a straight line target of 749.3

Sincerely,
Beth, who needs to be reminded to "suck it up buttercup" and give it a month before throwing in the towel.