Oh, Monday Monday…. I took spin, I knew running would not be enjoyable in the least. Spin was barely enjoyable! The two walks on Sunday did help work through some of the stiffness post-race. Spin did help going down stairs my legs were less grouchy. Gus was on a mission for his walk, intervals seemed to be on his mind and we’d go super-fast for a block and then stop and check pMail and then off again at a breakneck pace. And it went on like this and my encouraging him to turn towards home was being completely ignored, so we walked 3.6 miles, fortunately between a turning car and an opossum the right turn (away from home) I knew he wanted to take was forgotten about. He did try and turn me around when he realized we were on the way back home. Silly Dog.
Tuesday Faith had a 30 minute easy run on her schedule so we met up for 3 miles, easy for her, well medium for me. It was a nice relaxed run, and I felt much better. SO much better I went for a bike ride, a very speedy bike ride. And I didn’t walk the boyz so they were ticked and decided that 2:30 a.m. would be a good time to be awake, ugh. The ride was nice and was speedy, managed 30.4 MPH on a flat section of the road!!! Woohoo….
And guess what Wednesday my legs felt like lead, well duh…. I slogged through a 3-mile run vowing to take it easy until 7 Sisters. With rain on the horizon for Thur and Fri, that probably will be the case, maybe some rowing, maybe a class? Gak, I’m sure none of this will result in crashing and burning at 7 Sisters, that, for me will mean getting out of my own way.
Dave and I went out for a Mountain Bike ride, I very much enjoyed this ride! Unfortunately, no dog walks again, they did let us sleep, so that was lovely. They were probably tired from not getting their usual 20 hours of sleep?
Decided Thursday would be good for the Strength and Cardio class at the work gym, interesting workout, decreasing reps of weight exercises and increasing cardio, kind of a ladder? I know it was nice out and not raining and I missed a good running day.
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| Gus! |
Tuesday Faith had a 30 minute easy run on her schedule so we met up for 3 miles, easy for her, well medium for me. It was a nice relaxed run, and I felt much better. SO much better I went for a bike ride, a very speedy bike ride. And I didn’t walk the boyz so they were ticked and decided that 2:30 a.m. would be a good time to be awake, ugh. The ride was nice and was speedy, managed 30.4 MPH on a flat section of the road!!! Woohoo….
And guess what Wednesday my legs felt like lead, well duh…. I slogged through a 3-mile run vowing to take it easy until 7 Sisters. With rain on the horizon for Thur and Fri, that probably will be the case, maybe some rowing, maybe a class? Gak, I’m sure none of this will result in crashing and burning at 7 Sisters, that, for me will mean getting out of my own way.
Dave and I went out for a Mountain Bike ride, I very much enjoyed this ride! Unfortunately, no dog walks again, they did let us sleep, so that was lovely. They were probably tired from not getting their usual 20 hours of sleep?
Decided Thursday would be good for the Strength and Cardio class at the work gym, interesting workout, decreasing reps of weight exercises and increasing cardio, kind of a ladder? I know it was nice out and not raining and I missed a good running day.
With the rain expected now for Friday I got out of work early to take Gus on a hike and scrub off some of his old guy energy, apparently, they become seniors at about 7 or 8. Gus is 10 July 16th this year, he is nowhere close to being a senior, age is just a number. We did the hilly loop of Riverwood Preserve. We went clockwise this time. Gus was full of energy scrambling up the ledge and then much to my horror jumping down. He weighs 80 lbs, he would be very heavy to carry out!!
It had been two days since he was out, a combination of me wanting to do different things and not taking the time to get him out for a walk. And with the pending rain and my pending disintegration at 7 Sisters, it was really a good idea to get him out and get me out to test out the Inov-8 one more time on ledge, granted it was dry, not slippery ledge but I think they are gummy enough I shouldn't have too much of a slipping problem like I did with the La Sportiva.
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| Gus, way in the upper right after scrambling up the granite ledge |
It had been two days since he was out, a combination of me wanting to do different things and not taking the time to get him out for a walk. And with the pending rain and my pending disintegration at 7 Sisters, it was really a good idea to get him out and get me out to test out the Inov-8 one more time on ledge, granted it was dry, not slippery ledge but I think they are gummy enough I shouldn't have too much of a slipping problem like I did with the La Sportiva.
Jax got out for a walk to and around the park, for the 1.3 miles this is it can take forever, Jax likes to smell and observe his surroundings. I do my best to let him do what he wants, it is his walk. I won't let him chase other dogs, people, trash, cars, or cats. He thinks I should.
Took Yoga on Friday, that was nice. A long day at work. What is it with people who need to make their lack of planning an emergency on my part at 3:30 on a Friday? To bed early to meet up with Jonny and Crutch to carpool to 7 Sisters.
Saturday was my second attempt at completing the 7 Sisters trail race. Trail race really is a misnomer, this is a mountain race. It rained the day and night before, making the Mt. Holyoke range very wet and muddy and slippery and sloppy.
I made it further than my last attempt, but still, I haven't completed.
I got out to the turn around with 20 minutes to spare (I had 2.5 hours to make that point) and contemplated just calling it quits once I got back to the Mountain House because at that point Jonny and Crutch could drive up to get me. If I would have finished I would have been out there for 5 hours, possibly a bit more. I really didn’t want to spend the rest of the afternoon getting back to the start, frankly. I enjoyed the out and on the way back I caught up with a couple and we were all having a grand time joking around. The gal suggested we call Uber, I said I have a credit card. At that point, the guy she was with was totally hurting and really couldn’t hobble to fast.
We got up the stairs to the Summit House at the 3-hour and 6.66-mile mark, and I was glad to call it and have my bib pulled (for a second time with my second attempt at this race) and get a shuttle back to the start. At the point, I got to Jonny’s car I was at the 4-hour mark I figured it would take me to complete the out and back. I think, had the conditions been better, I would have picked my way up and down the remaining 6 sisters and finished. The amount of slipping and sliding I was doing was getting to the point of falling seriously or doing the splits and I am not that flexible.
Jonny looked miserable when I saw him. I felt horrible for him and knew I wasn’t alone. Crutch was his usual happy self, he really enjoys this and does really well with the steep climbs and descents. Watching the front runners run down something steep and slippery with no fear is truly amazing. Seeing the tremendous amount of talent in the top 20 runners was amazing. Those men and women have an amazing talent.
Bottom line, it really isn’t my thing. That said I would love to go and complete the back part of the course so I can say that I have fully completed 7 Sisters. Preferably on a dry cool day, not a humid wet day, emphasis on the wet part. It is truly beautiful with amazing views. I think 600 runners on the course at the time really destroys the course too, I wonder how long it will take till it comes back, that breaks my heart to see trails abused like that.
I'm not ruling out mountain races, shorter, I think 6 – 7 miles is a good distance for me with that amount of climbing. We all know our limits and I’m more one to stay within them rather than push and go up to or over the edge. Hell maybe someday I can convince someone to come with me and spend the day hiking out and back, I imagine that would take 6 – 7 hours at a conservative pace, and taking the time to enjoy the views. Probably not a bad way to spend a nice cool and dry spring or fall day.
And on Sunday I did nothing more physical than a short hike and enjoyed being a slug the rest of the day.
Knitting:
Got the sleeves of the sweater started! Yeah Me!
Books:
White Trash is still slightly annoying, I'll finish it. The author seems to want to place blame and can't decide which political party to blame and then when she decides she then contradicts herself. This is really not what I was expecting. Yes, Mom, I know you enjoyed the book!
Mileage:
Low on the run side shy of 23 and higher on the saddle side 42. Planking is going well probably need to up the ante a bit.
Sincerely,
Beth, happy to be in one piece!
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| Jax stalking Yoko, the crazy orange cat |
Took Yoga on Friday, that was nice. A long day at work. What is it with people who need to make their lack of planning an emergency on my part at 3:30 on a Friday? To bed early to meet up with Jonny and Crutch to carpool to 7 Sisters.
 |
| Jax noticed Gus lost a piece of kibble and he will stand there for as long as it takes a Hooman to move the feeding station so he can get at the kibble. |
Saturday was my second attempt at completing the 7 Sisters trail race. Trail race really is a misnomer, this is a mountain race. It rained the day and night before, making the Mt. Holyoke range very wet and muddy and slippery and sloppy.
I made it further than my last attempt, but still, I haven't completed.
I got out to the turn around with 20 minutes to spare (I had 2.5 hours to make that point) and contemplated just calling it quits once I got back to the Mountain House because at that point Jonny and Crutch could drive up to get me. If I would have finished I would have been out there for 5 hours, possibly a bit more. I really didn’t want to spend the rest of the afternoon getting back to the start, frankly. I enjoyed the out and on the way back I caught up with a couple and we were all having a grand time joking around. The gal suggested we call Uber, I said I have a credit card. At that point, the guy she was with was totally hurting and really couldn’t hobble to fast.
We got up the stairs to the Summit House at the 3-hour and 6.66-mile mark, and I was glad to call it and have my bib pulled (for a second time with my second attempt at this race) and get a shuttle back to the start. At the point, I got to Jonny’s car I was at the 4-hour mark I figured it would take me to complete the out and back. I think, had the conditions been better, I would have picked my way up and down the remaining 6 sisters and finished. The amount of slipping and sliding I was doing was getting to the point of falling seriously or doing the splits and I am not that flexible.
 |
| And that's how I feel about the 7 Sisters |
Jonny looked miserable when I saw him. I felt horrible for him and knew I wasn’t alone. Crutch was his usual happy self, he really enjoys this and does really well with the steep climbs and descents. Watching the front runners run down something steep and slippery with no fear is truly amazing. Seeing the tremendous amount of talent in the top 20 runners was amazing. Those men and women have an amazing talent.
Bottom line, it really isn’t my thing. That said I would love to go and complete the back part of the course so I can say that I have fully completed 7 Sisters. Preferably on a dry cool day, not a humid wet day, emphasis on the wet part. It is truly beautiful with amazing views. I think 600 runners on the course at the time really destroys the course too, I wonder how long it will take till it comes back, that breaks my heart to see trails abused like that.
I'm not ruling out mountain races, shorter, I think 6 – 7 miles is a good distance for me with that amount of climbing. We all know our limits and I’m more one to stay within them rather than push and go up to or over the edge. Hell maybe someday I can convince someone to come with me and spend the day hiking out and back, I imagine that would take 6 – 7 hours at a conservative pace, and taking the time to enjoy the views. Probably not a bad way to spend a nice cool and dry spring or fall day.
And on Sunday I did nothing more physical than a short hike and enjoyed being a slug the rest of the day.
Knitting:
Got the sleeves of the sweater started! Yeah Me!
 |
| I think I'm really going to enjoy wearing this once it's finished! |
Books:
White Trash is still slightly annoying, I'll finish it. The author seems to want to place blame and can't decide which political party to blame and then when she decides she then contradicts herself. This is really not what I was expecting. Yes, Mom, I know you enjoyed the book!
Mileage:
Low on the run side shy of 23 and higher on the saddle side 42. Planking is going well probably need to up the ante a bit.
Sincerely,
Beth, happy to be in one piece!
