Weekly Recap: 11/21/16 - 11/27/16

This was going to be another travel week, but I'd have more opportunity to run, so that was good.

After Sunday and all the cold my hip ached, I knew that feeling and tried to ignore it because well that worked so well before.  Monday was back to work for a day, I know it seems silly but it was jut the right amount of time to tidy up a few things and catch up with co-workers before everyone was off to their different Thanksgiving activities.  I couldn't run at lunch time so it was a bit after, it was fine.  Mikey stopped by to see my award and advise that I needed two shirts and gloves.  I guessed on the hat and I guessed right, I needed it.  The wind was whipping and cold ears are never fun!  I trotted around my usual route and felt fine, my knees were screaming cold.  Probably time to consider knickers to keep my knees warm!

Yeah, I'm kind of a big deal in the non-running world, wait
I am big deal in the running world, I have A LOT of DFL to my name, '
race directors quake when they see my name on the entrants list!  It's gonna be a long day...
HA HA HA!!

Up and at 'em to pack on Tuesday, driving out to MI to spend Thanksgiving with my parents, my youngest brother and his wife.  The roads were crowded but not crazy crowded, other than in Connecticut where the drivers are crazy, period.

As expected woke up to rain on Wednesday, its raw and miserable, I'm not amenable to running in that so I didn't; perfect day for knitting, chatting, reading, and napping.  The napping where you wake up and have no idea where you are napping.  It was awesome!

http://www.kaspareks.biz/postcards.htm 

Thanksgiving started with the Turkey Trot, write up here.  Mark and Judy arrived at noon as expected, we took a walk around the property before dinner.  I took the opportunity to climb up in the tree stands and see what I could see.  My mom wouldn't like it if I did it when I walked with her and I really didn't want to do it on my own for fear they weren't really well secured, because that could end badly.  At least Mark or Judy could go for help!  Nothing went sideways so that was good.

To the right are Roger's grain elevators, I could see at least 1/2 mile, maybe a bit more.

Dinner was excellent and I know I ate far to much.  Even eating far to much at my parents isn't as disastrous as it is at my in-laws.  The amount of butter and salt in her food is obscene and I don't think my father cooks with much, if any, and his cooking doesn't require salt and butter to taste good.

Decided it would be a good idea to run around the block on Friday morning, this is 5 miles any way you slice it.  I knew it was going to be a cold wind going "North" so I didn't do the out and back to the hard top road and just went for the usual block.  Saw a couple people who must have recognized me; I got some hearty waves.  Always nice to see someone on the straight flat muddy roads.  My mom thought I might have gone into town to run.  I may do that next time.  The mind numbing sameness of it all makes me crazy.  At least the loop I run at work I see people and I think that keeps me more engaged?  Got to the Wagner's and their dogs have been dealing with hunters so they came woofing and barking and running full out to see who I was.  I think they recognized me?  I stopped and walked, never smart to run by dogs.  Once they got me to their barn driveway they went back to whatever it was they were doing and I resumed my run.

Up and out on Saturday for the drive back to RI.  I thought I was being sneaky waiting until I got to the Meijer's in Oregon, OH to get some more Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald porter.  Well they were out, jokes on me.  Crap...   Dave did comment we need a better beer storage system and he hasn't drunk a local beer in a long time, I guess we have enough?  Naw....  The drive was uneventful, I took the long way with the intent at stopping at Southern Tier Brewery, well I overshot it by 50 miles. DAMN IT.  I thought it was further in to NY than it was.  Poor planning on my part.  The drive along the Southern Tier was interesting, it was dark before I got to Binghamton NY and that is one of the more prettier parts of that way.  Poor planning all the way around.  It happens, not like that was my last trip.

I was happy to be home and sleep in my own bed although sleeping in on Sunday was only till 7:30, Dave was up and out for a ride and the dogs required attention and feeding.  I decided I'd take Gus out to Barn Island for a run/hike.  See what he was in the mood for.  Running was good by him and we did that.  We also got very very very lost.  I really should pay attention to him, he is smarter than I am in the woods.  After we finally plowed through a bazillion thorns and trespassed on someone's yard we got to a main road I recognized from running and we trekked two miles back to the car on asphalt.   Definitely not Gus' idea of fun.  Never a dull moment?



This is mostly what I was trying to do.  Thanks to Jeff W for sending this to me, the blue circle is where it went pear shaped. The perimeter was what I was hoping I was on.  While I was jogging back down the hard top with Gus and my bloody legs, I wondered if I went down by the RR tracks at Greenhaven if I'd get back on the trail, looks like that was the case.  I might try parking down there and seeing if I can find my way back to where I lost the trail.  Shoot!!!

Mileage:
Feet:  24.6 for a yearly total of 1,543.2 against a straight line target of 1,829.3 (full goal 2,016) and an adjusted full year target of 1,702 or 1,660.  Can (Will) I close the gap on either of the adjusted targets with 5 weeks of running? Probably, my life doesn't depend on it, so either way I'm good.
Saddle: 0 for a yearly total of 1,463.9 against a straight line target of 1,829.3 (full goal 2,016) and an adjusted full year target of 1,644 or 1,590.  Can (Will) I close the gap on either of the adjusted targets with 5 weeks of cycling?  Probably, my life doesn't depend on it, so either way I'm good.

Sincerely,
Beth, surprisingly didn't catch a cold with a month of travel, whoop!

Ann Arbor Turkey Trot - Recap

What exactly is there to say about a 5K?  Not much.  I had no goals other than to enjoy running free on the streets of Ann Arbor (MI) on Thanksgiving morning, a little sun would have been nice, but it is SE MI in the winter months, so yeah, highly unlikely.

The race started at 8:30 a.m. so I had to be out of my parents house by 7:15 a.m. this is BEFORE the sunrises, which kind of sucks.  I felt like I was sneaking out, I know my parents don't sleep all that soundly and having someone else in the house is disruptive.  Seemed like a reverse of my teenage years, ha ha....

Parking was free and it took me one wrong turn to get my bearings in the one way street grid of A2.  I found what I was looking for and got my bib.  Wow was it weird to see the back  Beth Lazor-Smith, 49, Westerly, RI.  49?  When the HELL did THAT happen?  I can't possibly be that old, although ask my knees and they'll agree.

I was hoping to find some rejected shirts from prior years, as I have found one of the other two times I've run this 5K.  I people watched to pass the time, lots of turkey hats, I left mine at my parents, oh well, too many turkey hats anyhow.  Lots of families and costumes.  Nice to see.

Oh well, no reject shirts, my Nephew loved the shirt I got for him a few years ago, in fact it was his first day of school shirt!

It was a lollipopish route, I managed negative splits so something is going better for me! 33:49, nothing to write home about, however considering how well I haven't been running I'm hanging my hat on the negative splits!



Overall results here, some serious runners and some not so serious in the 3,000 +  runners who gathered to run.

I'll send the Nephew the medal, he will probably like that.  This wasn't a great Thanksgiving for him, he had bronchitis, he and his mom.  Ugh.  Poor kid.

Sincerely,
Beth, on the look out for turkeys

One of the more deluxe 'tree stands' on my parent's property.
Photo by my SIL Judy

Weekly Recap: 11/14 - 11/20

So this week was going to be unusual in that I was in PST in Nevada, not Las Vegas, Henderson, Lake Las Vegas specifically, and in a global division meeting, one I was a big part in setting up an untested feature to a standard corporate meeting.  It could go really well, well, wrong, horribly wrong.  The survey will tell me what I need to know.  The initial feedback on my "Colleague Connections" space and activities was positive.  But who, besides my colleague, Emily Wright, will say "that sucked" to your face?  Not many.   My perception is it was largely well received.  The one thing I had trepidation over went about as I anticipated, partly because it was much nicer to spend the "Colleague Connection" time outside in the beautiful warm sunny weather and partly because it was a bit of a dud.  Sometimes you have to let someone fly with their idea even if you aren't sold,  and support them enthusiastically.

After the race on Sunday I got back to a few messages of people wanting to meet about 9 a.m. on Monday morning.  Well this was going to blow any chance of getting in a bike ride.  I begged off the plans I made with a colleague, he anticipated that would be the case, knowing I'm one to over commit on occasion.  I apologized to him and my bike shoes and went to sleep, which did not come as easy as I hoped.  Considering they are three hours behind us, it was REALLY late!  Monday went about as I anticipated, lots of tension, I managed to get done what I could get done, got told to get lost, and was actually relieved to hear that.  I went to my room and did some eMail and took a nap till I could get into my "Colleague Connections" space to get people rounded up to do their thing and get the space set up.  The movement was really good for my spirit and my nerves.  After a welcome reception with heavy hors d'oeuvres and frankly the worst beer selection I've experienced in a long time, gosh have I become a beer snob? sleep came a little bit easier on Monday night, pshew.

Big day with the kick off of the meeting on Tuesday and one colleague from Japan and the other from Dubai presenting and ice breaker exercise, in their SECOND language to an audience of 400 to start the meeting.  I think they were cursing me all last week and based on how horrible my back felt sticking pins in a voodoo doll!!  Actually I don't blame them, I'd be terrified and excited all at the same time too.  They did great and they were so happy for the push to just try, funny my back felt like I was getting a massage later in the day.  Guess voodoo dolls work for good to??  I got in no walk or a run and dinner was right after the meeting on the Las Vegas strip.  I and one other colleague wanted so badly to break away from our group and take a power walk up and down the strip to burn off both the excess energy and excess beer!  Alas, the group was divided up among many restaurants and the people in charge of our bus (we went to Gordon Ramsay Steakhouse) weren't letting any of us out of their sight for a minute.  Drats!!  I had a fitful night sleep, each time I started dozing my brain told me if I fell asleep I was NEVER waking up.  That's the first actual nightmare I've had while I was awake.

That joy made Wednesday morning a little trying, BUT at least it wasn't me getting up to kick off the ice breaker, no it was two Japan colleagues.  I swear they could have said, NO and made me do it.  They were up for the challenge.  I work with some really great people, for sure.  Fortunately the afternoon was a group activity; while I didn't get my first choice of a bike ride I did get to play cornhole and stay near the hotel, which was actually very nice because it was relaxing and a very small group we could all be social with as we did a double elimination tournament.  "Corn Hole Queens" were out after their second game.  So we cheered and drank beer (again lousy selection) and enjoyed a surprising overcast and warm day in Nevada.  Having been able to get in some activity was excellent, not the amount I needed, but peeling away wasn't really going to happen.  At least my brain let me try and sleep, which was really appreciated.

Thursday, oh boy, this was the last day and the award ceremony.  I skipped out on all the morning breakout session meetings because I had to go to rehearsal because I was receiving one of the 6 General Counsel awards later that morning.  I manged to assemble something of a speech I felt comfortable with and only made minor tinkers to it through the morning as I paced and practiced.  It all went smoothly, not a dry eye in the house, I was the last recipient and slightly in tears when I accepted the award.  I'll have to YouTube the segment, well if I'm not too mortified by it, I may just show it to family....   After all of that I put on my shoes and my sports bra and running clothes, not sure if I could actually run but I knew I could walk.  There was a 3 mile loop and I knew that went by The Toughest Mudder course so I took a walk on that course, it is the desert, it is rather boring dry and dusty.  When I got off that property THEN I saw the NO TRESPASSING sign, whoops.  I stuck to side walks for the rest of the walk till I saw a little trail down to Lake Las Vegas and decided to investigate.  At the end of this I found a bridge to what looked like a bunch of restaurants, but hey what if one was open and I could get a real beer?  To my amazement there was a store, with things like milk, and cheese, and BEER.  Not a great selection but there was a local brewed brown ale and that would do just fine for me!  Thrilled with my discovery I scurried back to the hotel to crack open a real beer and enjoy while I caught up on what ever needed to be caught up on, because of course if I actually take 90 minutes to myself something is bound to explode, it did, the pieces were in big chunks and mostly easily to reassemble.  I had REAL beer!  I was happy!

Up at 4:30 a.m. PST (7:30 EST) so it would be like a regular Friday right?  On the plane and landing in Philly for lunch time where I was so happy to see a favorite porter on the menu, that paired well with a philly cheese steak.  Got into Providence about 6 p.m. and then forgot where I parked my car.  My parking stub was helpful for which garage, but that I was pretty sure about.  It was the floor.  I didn't write it down nor did I take a picture of where the car was, dipshidiot.  I started on the 2nd floor (I sort of remembered maybe I parked there) pressing the panic button on the remote and BOOM lights and horns!  Whoop, this wasn't going to be so bad!  Got home just in time for Gus' walk.  He was really happy about this and didn't give me a moment's peace till I took him out, which really was the best thing.  It was nice and warm and not dry and dusty I could feel my body starting to feel normal again.  I slept like it was my job, ah!!

Dave took a run to the dump for amnesty day on Saturday and got rid of some waterlogged planking boards that have been taking up space and not at all fitting in to Sanford and Son look in the front yard.  It was good to get rid of them and not have to pay for disposing of the water the once very very dry lumber had soaked up.  He put the new bike rack in the back of his truck and loaded up the bikes so we could take Jax out too the woods for a nice mountain bike ride.  I can manage about 2 hours before I'm exhausted to the point of being ready to pitch a fit and/or be a pain in the ass.  We got in 8 miles on some easy and some challenging and some where I had to hike the bike.  A lot less falling and hike a bike than in the last few outings.  I made some hills Dave was surprised I managed, he's good about not upping the ante too much, just enough.  Hopefully these aren't too boring for him.  Bringing Jax with us also regulates speed.  Jax can bop along at about 5 or 6 MPH on the easy stuff, but not for an extended period of time.  He is, after all, a boxer, they aren't running dogs!

Gus got me out for a walk before dinner, he really does like his walks and he is on a mission, for sure.  Not much stopping to smell things or to meet people.  Well, maybe he also knew dinner was after the walk so he stepped it up just a bit?  It's a nice way to spend an hour and get some fresh air and see what's going on in and about town.

A little change of pace:

Seth, If only the LV RnR had shots at every mile, that would have made it REALLY interesting!!!

Jeff, I'm glad my babble is entertaining!

Muddy, I'm sad I missed this, I am sure it was excellent! (I had a hard time trying to figure out how to compare and contrast the Long Island Rail Road (LRR) to Politics, I'm sure you made it uber clear! ;)

Sunday was supposed to be a trail race, I woke up achy and being in the cold and wind made me more achy.  I'm sure the run would have warmed me up.  I'm just not ready for 8 miles of trails in the stress of a race format, so I didn't run.  I'll be better off for it in the long run, I'm sure.

Mileage: 

Feet: 11.8 for a yearly total of 1,515.8 against a straight line target of 1,790.7

Saddle: 8 for a yearly total of 1,463.9 against a straight line target of 1,790.7

Yeah we can say good bye to that 2,016 goal, it was a well calculated long shot.  Hmm... I never did do a B or a C goal, it's kinda late now, ALTHOUGH against my current straight line trajectory 1,702 may be more reasonable for feet and 1,644 for saddle for B and hmmm thinking out loud here ~6 weeks left in the year 1,660 for feet and 1,590 for saddle for C, or should I just go with my usual C goal of Do Not Die?

😏

I dunno, I think all in all I'm plugging along just fine for someone with limited/no talent and a lot of gumption to keep moving forward, well pain free forward, and numbers are arbitrary and injury threw me way off.

Sincerely, 

Beth, happy to be home, if only for a few days