It's been almost a year since I last wrote on this blog. I'm surprised that it's still accessible (sp.?)!!
Lots of things have happened in that time. I ran Lake of the Woods and it didn't kill me, I climbed Mt. McLaughlin once with Doug, Mt. Shasta twice, and rode in the Salt to Saint Relay with Tom.
I had my 3rd knee operation on my right knee, and was told by my Doctor that unless I want a full knee replacement in the next year my running days are over. That really bothers me because I LOVE to run...but I'm still a little bit young for a knee replacement, so I'll probably stick to riding my bike.
I have another Mt. Shasta climb planned for tomorrow, with a nice little jaunt up Mt. Rainier planned for the week of July 15th.
Since my running days are probably over, this blog will be relegated to recaps of my bike rides and my climbs.....IF I actually get around to writing in it.
That's it for now....check back in a month or so to see if I've survived my climbs!
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Running (Out of Time)
The Lake of the Woods Run is on June 2nd, and I'm rapidly running out of time to get in any kind of shape. I've managed to get in a few rides and a few runs, but I'm definitely not race ready.
Last Monday I hopped on my bike and went for a 27 mile ride, and other than the fact that by the time I finished I felt like I was sitting on a steel bar it was pretty good. Of course since the weather has warmed up a little bit the wind has decided to blow so I had to deal with headwinds for about half the ride. The good thing about riding a circuit is that if you're fighting the wind on one portion, you have a nice tailwind on another portion. On Monday's ride I had a pretty good breeze in my face on the way out, a nice tailwind on about part of the way back, crosswinds for about two thirds of the ride, and a nasty headwind for about 3 miles when I was almost done and really tired. Over all it was a good ride and I did it fairly fast.
On Wednesday I took my running clothes to work and did the OIT 5 k route so I could get a few hills in. It felt pretty good...at least in comparison to last year's runs where I had to walk. The wind was gusting to about 20 mph and of course was in my face when I was struggling up the first hill, but I run slow enough that other than being aggravating it doesn't affect me. I ran right at a 10 minute mile pace, so I felt pretty good about the run.
Friday I decided that I need to start adding miles, so I headed out to Reeder Road to do get in a 4 mile out and back. The weather was amazing. Temps were in the low 70s, and there was only a slight breeze (5-10 mph). I opted to start the run with the breeze at my back which proved to be wise...after my turn around point the wind kept me from sweating too much. I got in my 4 miles in just over 43 minutes, so I'm averaging just over 10 minute miles.
I need to somehow pick up my mileage, whether it's running or riding probably doesn't matter too much. Counting today I only have 13 days to get ready for Lake of the Woods, and I'm really worried. The last time I ran the race really sucked. Between the hills and the altitude I almost died. I have to work until after 3 today, but I'm seriously thinking about heading up to Lake of the Woods to do a practice run...which if I manage to do, will probably do absolutely NOTHING to relieve my anxieties.
Any suggestions on a 1 1/2 week training regimen for a hilly 5k at altitude?
Last Monday I hopped on my bike and went for a 27 mile ride, and other than the fact that by the time I finished I felt like I was sitting on a steel bar it was pretty good. Of course since the weather has warmed up a little bit the wind has decided to blow so I had to deal with headwinds for about half the ride. The good thing about riding a circuit is that if you're fighting the wind on one portion, you have a nice tailwind on another portion. On Monday's ride I had a pretty good breeze in my face on the way out, a nice tailwind on about part of the way back, crosswinds for about two thirds of the ride, and a nasty headwind for about 3 miles when I was almost done and really tired. Over all it was a good ride and I did it fairly fast.
On Wednesday I took my running clothes to work and did the OIT 5 k route so I could get a few hills in. It felt pretty good...at least in comparison to last year's runs where I had to walk. The wind was gusting to about 20 mph and of course was in my face when I was struggling up the first hill, but I run slow enough that other than being aggravating it doesn't affect me. I ran right at a 10 minute mile pace, so I felt pretty good about the run.
Friday I decided that I need to start adding miles, so I headed out to Reeder Road to do get in a 4 mile out and back. The weather was amazing. Temps were in the low 70s, and there was only a slight breeze (5-10 mph). I opted to start the run with the breeze at my back which proved to be wise...after my turn around point the wind kept me from sweating too much. I got in my 4 miles in just over 43 minutes, so I'm averaging just over 10 minute miles.
I need to somehow pick up my mileage, whether it's running or riding probably doesn't matter too much. Counting today I only have 13 days to get ready for Lake of the Woods, and I'm really worried. The last time I ran the race really sucked. Between the hills and the altitude I almost died. I have to work until after 3 today, but I'm seriously thinking about heading up to Lake of the Woods to do a practice run...which if I manage to do, will probably do absolutely NOTHING to relieve my anxieties.
Any suggestions on a 1 1/2 week training regimen for a hilly 5k at altitude?
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Hill Time!
Since Janet and I have signed up for the Lake of the Woods 5 k, I decided that it's time to get serious about trying to get in shape, so hopefully I'll be a little bit more diligent with posts in my blog. Check back every couple of days...I should have new stuff on here (since the only time I manage to blog is when I'm trying to run).
My daughter Laurie and I ran the race two years ago, and the freakin' thing almost killed me. There are two options in the race...you can do a 5 k, or for people who are actually RUNNERS there is a 15 k route that goes completely around the lake. You're running at an elevation of 5000 feet for the majority of the race, and they've sprinkled it with a liberal addition of hills. Even though they aren't exceptionally long and you don't gain much elevation, for some reason there seem to be a cajillion of them, and the race practically killed me.
Because of my miserable experience on our last venture, I decided that the best way to try to get ready was to leave my comfortable route on the flat OC&E Trail and do some hills. Today after church I threw on my running stuff and headed out to OIT to do a 3 mile run that I mapped out about 10 years ago.
Tomorrow I won't get to run (have to build a gate for my horses to move from one pasture to another), but I plan on running OIT at least once per week. There are some other out and backs I can add to the run to get in more mileage and some more hills, so by the time June 2nd gets here hopefully I'll be in shape enough that the eleveation and little hills at Lake of the Woods won't be so brutal.
My daughter Laurie and I ran the race two years ago, and the freakin' thing almost killed me. There are two options in the race...you can do a 5 k, or for people who are actually RUNNERS there is a 15 k route that goes completely around the lake. You're running at an elevation of 5000 feet for the majority of the race, and they've sprinkled it with a liberal addition of hills. Even though they aren't exceptionally long and you don't gain much elevation, for some reason there seem to be a cajillion of them, and the race practically killed me.
Because of my miserable experience on our last venture, I decided that the best way to try to get ready was to leave my comfortable route on the flat OC&E Trail and do some hills. Today after church I threw on my running stuff and headed out to OIT to do a 3 mile run that I mapped out about 10 years ago.
The run is actually pretty fun. It starts out with a downhill for a little less than half a mile, and then you have a pretty decent uphill for about half a mile. You do a quick turn around in the parking lot of New Corporation, and run back down the hill to Dan O'Brian Way. There are a couple of long hills that you get to tackle, but there is minimal traffic and the shoulder is about 4 feet wide so cars aren't an issue. You also don't have to deal with any of the fair weather folk who seem to frequent the OC&E Trail anytime the sun shows its face. That means that you don't have to deal with dogs, old people walking 4 abreast who can't hear you coming and seem irritated when you pass them.
All in all, the run is a pretty good one. According to Google Earth it's exactly 3.1 miles, which lets me check my progress on reaching my time goal for Lake of the Woods. Although it's about 900 feet lower than the elevation at which we'll be running in June, it's hilly enough to be fairly challenging.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Really Quick
The title to this post has nothing to do with running. As much as I would LIKE to refer to my runs as really quick, that's probably not going to happen any time soon, unless I go for a really SHORT run, and count that as being really quick.
The "Really Quick" that I'm referring to is how fast I'm going to write this post. I'm at work, and don't have time to write my normal novel. There's something about having your boss looking over your shoulder when you're blogging while you're supposed to be working that has a detrimental effect on creativity.
My last post was April 1st, and today's April 16th. That's a pretty decent stretch with no posts. I went for a 5 1/2 mile run on April 7th, and ran a couple of times the week before that, but my exercise has diminshed greatly. I rode my bike about 15 miles on April 10th, and climbed Stukel yesterday (3 mile round trip, 1800+ feet of vertical gain), but my running has pretty much come to a halt.
We went to Boise last weekend and I'm using that as an excuse, even though my wife managed to get in a 10 mile run. I've never liked running while I'm on vacation, so even though Janet managed to get her run in I was extra lazy and stayed in bed.
This week might be better...I'm planning on trying to get back into a regular schedule. Stay tuned....
The "Really Quick" that I'm referring to is how fast I'm going to write this post. I'm at work, and don't have time to write my normal novel. There's something about having your boss looking over your shoulder when you're blogging while you're supposed to be working that has a detrimental effect on creativity.
My last post was April 1st, and today's April 16th. That's a pretty decent stretch with no posts. I went for a 5 1/2 mile run on April 7th, and ran a couple of times the week before that, but my exercise has diminshed greatly. I rode my bike about 15 miles on April 10th, and climbed Stukel yesterday (3 mile round trip, 1800+ feet of vertical gain), but my running has pretty much come to a halt.
We went to Boise last weekend and I'm using that as an excuse, even though my wife managed to get in a 10 mile run. I've never liked running while I'm on vacation, so even though Janet managed to get her run in I was extra lazy and stayed in bed.
This week might be better...I'm planning on trying to get back into a regular schedule. Stay tuned....
Sunday, April 1, 2012
NO WIND!!!!
I just got back from a little jog on the OC&E Trail.
We stayed up late last night...at least late for old people. Three of our kids are here...Doug (home from Boise State for Spring Break), Donald (living with us to save money while going to school at OIT), and Jeff (living in Seattle...visiting for his birthday so Janet could make him coffee cake). Jeff came with his wife and two kids, and Janet and I watched two of our wonderful grandkids while the adults went to my mother-in-law's house to play Wi. Long story short, I fell asleep in my recliner while Janet entertained Ellouise. About 11 pm I staggered up to bed, but I have no idea when Janet came to bed. At any rate, we slept in this morning...I finally got up and fed the horses about 7:30.
I've found that the best way to go for a run is to not think about it....just put on my running stuff and go. So that's what I did. I thought for a couple of minutes about why I shouldn't go...it's Sunday and I should be watching our Church's Semi-Annual General Conference (lds.org in case you're interested), I shouldn't actually be running on Sunday, I went 4 miles yesterday and need a rest day, it's cold, Janet wasn't running today, I'm old, I'm still fat (even though I've lost over 30 pounds since Feb. 1st), my knees hurt, my feet hurt, it snowed last night and I could slip on the ice, Micah True (ultra runner in Born to Run) died while running and since I'm almost as old as he was the same thing could easily happen to me, I just got out of the shower and would have to take another one when I got home, my kids are here visiting and I should be spending time with them...but even though ALL were legitimate excuses, none of them were good enough to compensate for the reason I wanted to go...I pigged out yesterday and put on a few pounds.
As I mentioned in my excuses, I'm fat. In January I had gotten up to 210 pounds, so I decided it was WAY past time to lose weight. One of my co-workers had lost a bunch of weight doing a diet called Plan Z by Zola, and I was offered the chance to try the diet myself and do on-air testimonials. I started the program on February 1st by doing a two day eating binge...and February 3rd began the dieting portion of the plan. I got to 176.2 on March 26th...pretty amazing.
Yesterday I completely blew off the diet. Jeff came down so my wife would make him coffee cake, which is absolutely amazing. During this diet I've passed on milkshakes (Donald gets Janet to make them 2 to 3 times per week), home made bread, popovers, carameled popcorn, scones, pizza, and a host of other foods that I love to eat. Yesterday I said "screw this...I'm going to eat." So that's exactly what I did. I was living on 800 calories or less per day, and I'm now supposed to up to 2000 calories...yesterday I pounded down well over 3000 calories, and the vast majority of them were sugar based. I had 3/4 of a coffee cake, Tang, milk, and a bunch of other stuff that's definitely not on my approved list of foods. Today I'm paying for it. I put on weight that I shouldn't have put on, but while I was feasting on my 3rd piece of coffee cake I really didn't care...it was worth it.
The wind has been blowing hard for well over two weeks. We've had snow, rain, snow and rain, rain and snow, rain and wind, wind and rain, rain wind and snow, snow wind and rain, wind and wind, more wind, no sun and wind, wind, strong wind, hurricane force wind, and yesterday more wind. Get the picture? The weather definitely hasn't been running friendly for quite some time. So today when I woke up (late) and didn't hear the wind whistling through the spruce trees in our yard, without even looking outside I knew I needed to run. It was 29 degrees, we had a skiff of new snow (the 3 inches we got yesterday melted), but most importantly, the wind was under 10 mph.
Back to my run. The run was great. I drove out to the OC&E Trail, and there was only one other car in the parking lot. I decided I'd go for 5 miles, so I headed into the wind with the intent of doing a 2 1/2 mile out and back...and that's what I was able to do. I'm not running fast by any means, but I did the entire 5 miles without any walking. I felt good after the first 1/2 mile, and even fleetingly considered going 6. The run was a success. I haven't weighed myself since I got back, but I'm pretty sure that I lost a couple of the extra pounds that I put on with yesterday's eating binge. It was worth it.
We stayed up late last night...at least late for old people. Three of our kids are here...Doug (home from Boise State for Spring Break), Donald (living with us to save money while going to school at OIT), and Jeff (living in Seattle...visiting for his birthday so Janet could make him coffee cake). Jeff came with his wife and two kids, and Janet and I watched two of our wonderful grandkids while the adults went to my mother-in-law's house to play Wi. Long story short, I fell asleep in my recliner while Janet entertained Ellouise. About 11 pm I staggered up to bed, but I have no idea when Janet came to bed. At any rate, we slept in this morning...I finally got up and fed the horses about 7:30.
I've found that the best way to go for a run is to not think about it....just put on my running stuff and go. So that's what I did. I thought for a couple of minutes about why I shouldn't go...it's Sunday and I should be watching our Church's Semi-Annual General Conference (lds.org in case you're interested), I shouldn't actually be running on Sunday, I went 4 miles yesterday and need a rest day, it's cold, Janet wasn't running today, I'm old, I'm still fat (even though I've lost over 30 pounds since Feb. 1st), my knees hurt, my feet hurt, it snowed last night and I could slip on the ice, Micah True (ultra runner in Born to Run) died while running and since I'm almost as old as he was the same thing could easily happen to me, I just got out of the shower and would have to take another one when I got home, my kids are here visiting and I should be spending time with them...but even though ALL were legitimate excuses, none of them were good enough to compensate for the reason I wanted to go...I pigged out yesterday and put on a few pounds.
As I mentioned in my excuses, I'm fat. In January I had gotten up to 210 pounds, so I decided it was WAY past time to lose weight. One of my co-workers had lost a bunch of weight doing a diet called Plan Z by Zola, and I was offered the chance to try the diet myself and do on-air testimonials. I started the program on February 1st by doing a two day eating binge...and February 3rd began the dieting portion of the plan. I got to 176.2 on March 26th...pretty amazing.
Yesterday I completely blew off the diet. Jeff came down so my wife would make him coffee cake, which is absolutely amazing. During this diet I've passed on milkshakes (Donald gets Janet to make them 2 to 3 times per week), home made bread, popovers, carameled popcorn, scones, pizza, and a host of other foods that I love to eat. Yesterday I said "screw this...I'm going to eat." So that's exactly what I did. I was living on 800 calories or less per day, and I'm now supposed to up to 2000 calories...yesterday I pounded down well over 3000 calories, and the vast majority of them were sugar based. I had 3/4 of a coffee cake, Tang, milk, and a bunch of other stuff that's definitely not on my approved list of foods. Today I'm paying for it. I put on weight that I shouldn't have put on, but while I was feasting on my 3rd piece of coffee cake I really didn't care...it was worth it.
The wind has been blowing hard for well over two weeks. We've had snow, rain, snow and rain, rain and snow, rain and wind, wind and rain, rain wind and snow, snow wind and rain, wind and wind, more wind, no sun and wind, wind, strong wind, hurricane force wind, and yesterday more wind. Get the picture? The weather definitely hasn't been running friendly for quite some time. So today when I woke up (late) and didn't hear the wind whistling through the spruce trees in our yard, without even looking outside I knew I needed to run. It was 29 degrees, we had a skiff of new snow (the 3 inches we got yesterday melted), but most importantly, the wind was under 10 mph.
Back to my run. The run was great. I drove out to the OC&E Trail, and there was only one other car in the parking lot. I decided I'd go for 5 miles, so I headed into the wind with the intent of doing a 2 1/2 mile out and back...and that's what I was able to do. I'm not running fast by any means, but I did the entire 5 miles without any walking. I felt good after the first 1/2 mile, and even fleetingly considered going 6. The run was a success. I haven't weighed myself since I got back, but I'm pretty sure that I lost a couple of the extra pounds that I put on with yesterday's eating binge. It was worth it.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
March Madness
Today is the last day of March...the 31st...the 11th day of spring. There's an old saying about March that says something to the effect of "March came in like a lion, and went out like a lamb." At least I THINK that's what it's supposed to do. Well down here in Southern Oregon, in Klamath Falls, Oregon's "City of Sunshine", March came in like a lion and went out like a freaking hurricane. Literally. Right now it's snowing sideways. We have winds that are supposed to approach 40 mph, we're under a "winter storm warning, and the weather sucks. That seems to be a common subject in every one of my posts this year. Maybe we should move.
In spite of the nasty weather, I managed to get in a 4 mile run this morning. Going out was brutal, because the wind was in my face. It wasn't a direct headwind, but it was enough that it made running very tough. After about 1/2 a mile I came to a screeching halt, and told myself that to run in that kind of weather was ridiculous, walked 5 total steps, and then resumed my run. I knew that once I hit the two mile mark and turned around I'd have the wind at my back and could then pretend to be a runner, so that gave me something to look forward to...so on I went.
About 1 1/2 miles into the run I passed my wonderful wife (going the other direction, with the wind at her back) who was just past the midpoint of her 10 mile trek, and that gave me some encouragement. I told myself that if Janet could deal with the wind that I could too, so managed to pick my pace up a tad. At any rate, the run was good...after I made the turn.
If I knew how to post pictures I'd show you the current weather conditions. We now have over an inch of snow in our yard, and it's supposed to continue all day and most of the night. We need the moisture, but it would be nice if it would rain in the Basin, and snow in the mountains.
Oh well...no one forces us to live here.
In spite of the nasty weather, I managed to get in a 4 mile run this morning. Going out was brutal, because the wind was in my face. It wasn't a direct headwind, but it was enough that it made running very tough. After about 1/2 a mile I came to a screeching halt, and told myself that to run in that kind of weather was ridiculous, walked 5 total steps, and then resumed my run. I knew that once I hit the two mile mark and turned around I'd have the wind at my back and could then pretend to be a runner, so that gave me something to look forward to...so on I went.
About 1 1/2 miles into the run I passed my wonderful wife (going the other direction, with the wind at her back) who was just past the midpoint of her 10 mile trek, and that gave me some encouragement. I told myself that if Janet could deal with the wind that I could too, so managed to pick my pace up a tad. At any rate, the run was good...after I made the turn.
If I knew how to post pictures I'd show you the current weather conditions. We now have over an inch of snow in our yard, and it's supposed to continue all day and most of the night. We need the moisture, but it would be nice if it would rain in the Basin, and snow in the mountains.
Oh well...no one forces us to live here.
Friday, March 30, 2012
???????
One of the toughest things for me about blogging (is that a word?) is coming up with clever titles for whatever story I concoct. It shouldn't be a problem, and it really shouldn't make a difference WHAT I stick up there, but for me it's a major obstacle. In today's rambling I'm already half a paragraph into my post and don't have a clue what I'm going to write about. Maybe the run I did yesterday while I was supposed to be working? Is that wise? To admit on a publicly accessible venue that I took a longer lunch than I was supposed to? I think that's what I'll address today.
The weather yesterday was horrible. Pretty much like it has been continually for the last 3 weeks. Klamath Falls boasts that it's Oregon's City of Sunshine, and we're supposed to see the sun over 330 days out of the year, but this year seems to be an exception. I can't REMEMBER the last time I saw the sun! I think it's tried to shine a couple of times, but the freaking WIND has been blowing so hard any sunbeams that might have somehow managed to sneak through the cloud cover have gotten blown back into space! Nasty weather doesn't usually bother me, but this stuff has gotten old. Enough about weather...back to my run.
I had a couple of work appointments yesterday morning, and after completing them, headed home to try to get a run in before the rain we had in the forecast hit. It was windy again, with sustained winds of 15+ mph, and gust up to 25, so I knew it wasn't going to be pleasant. The wind was from the Southeast, which meant that my trip out on the OC&E wouldn't be much fun. Long story short, it wasn't much fun. The good thing is that when you start into the wind on an out-and-back the return trip is much better, and it definitely was. I got in 4 miles (actually a little bit more than 4....I walked for about 50 yards at the 1 1/2 mile mark, so put in an extra 1/4 mile to make up for it.
The run was successful. I felt pretty good, but I'm still running really slowly, and really struggle mentally to keep going. In fact, the 50 yards that I walked wasn't out of necessity. I wasn't short of breath, my legs felt good...for some reason I just shut down. It's bizarre, but sometimes that happens to me during a run. I don't know if it was the wind or what, but I somehow convinced myself that I needed to walk, and that's what I wound up doing. It's frustrating, becasue I knew that I didn't need to, but presto chango....one second I'm running, and the next I'm walking. Wierd, isn't it?
I don't know what I'm going to do today. I'd like to go for a run during lunch again today, but the weather is actually a little worse than yesterday (more high winds, and raining hard) so I'm not sure what to do. Janet is supposed to go 10 miles today, so I won't be running with her...tomorrow's weather is supposed to be like today's with the exception of snow instead of rain...I'll have to see how I feel in about 4 hours.
I'll keep you posted.
The weather yesterday was horrible. Pretty much like it has been continually for the last 3 weeks. Klamath Falls boasts that it's Oregon's City of Sunshine, and we're supposed to see the sun over 330 days out of the year, but this year seems to be an exception. I can't REMEMBER the last time I saw the sun! I think it's tried to shine a couple of times, but the freaking WIND has been blowing so hard any sunbeams that might have somehow managed to sneak through the cloud cover have gotten blown back into space! Nasty weather doesn't usually bother me, but this stuff has gotten old. Enough about weather...back to my run.
I had a couple of work appointments yesterday morning, and after completing them, headed home to try to get a run in before the rain we had in the forecast hit. It was windy again, with sustained winds of 15+ mph, and gust up to 25, so I knew it wasn't going to be pleasant. The wind was from the Southeast, which meant that my trip out on the OC&E wouldn't be much fun. Long story short, it wasn't much fun. The good thing is that when you start into the wind on an out-and-back the return trip is much better, and it definitely was. I got in 4 miles (actually a little bit more than 4....I walked for about 50 yards at the 1 1/2 mile mark, so put in an extra 1/4 mile to make up for it.
The run was successful. I felt pretty good, but I'm still running really slowly, and really struggle mentally to keep going. In fact, the 50 yards that I walked wasn't out of necessity. I wasn't short of breath, my legs felt good...for some reason I just shut down. It's bizarre, but sometimes that happens to me during a run. I don't know if it was the wind or what, but I somehow convinced myself that I needed to walk, and that's what I wound up doing. It's frustrating, becasue I knew that I didn't need to, but presto chango....one second I'm running, and the next I'm walking. Wierd, isn't it?
I don't know what I'm going to do today. I'd like to go for a run during lunch again today, but the weather is actually a little worse than yesterday (more high winds, and raining hard) so I'm not sure what to do. Janet is supposed to go 10 miles today, so I won't be running with her...tomorrow's weather is supposed to be like today's with the exception of snow instead of rain...I'll have to see how I feel in about 4 hours.
I'll keep you posted.
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