jfa
" Whatever gets you through the night " - John Lennon
For us, it's been a few layers of warm quilts and a bunch of body heat.
Still no juice in the house after one week , post Sandy. At least 10 poles are still down in the hood, so it's not coming back for some time yet.
Took my training and went up to the Lehigh / Deleware Marathon by Allentown , Pa. yesterday. Did well but didn't PR. 4:06 was 11/26 age group. Kind of a trail marathon with gravel and dirt road. Killer 15% grade hill at mile 20 knocked my axles a bit. This was the anti- NYC marathon. Only 800 runners for both a half and full. On a canal toepath mostly so the spectators were sparse and kind of cold and windy. I was happy to end the training cycle with a race, seeing as NYC was cancelled.
Joe.!! It's so good to hear from you. I've been wondering how you and your DW were doing and figured you were out of power. I'm glad you were able to take your training to another race. You did great despite it being harder the NYC.
Rest day for me.
Re the concert last night, my dad and I walked out. It definitely was not what I expected and taught me to investigate a little bit more next time. My first experience with Christian rock and roll (which has always been a bit of an oxymoron for me), at least the songs we sat through. We started out in the 4th row, then moved to the very back, and it was still too loud, not to mention you couldn't understand hardly anything he was singing. It was nothing like the other groups that have performed at church over this last year I've been attending. If it had been only me, I might've stayed to see how things played out, but I couldn't ask my 71-year dad to sit through it. We walked out in the middle of the 4th song with ringing ears. Too late, we saw the basket of ear plugs sitting outside the doors into the sanctuary. If we'd seen those in the beginning, probably would've given us a clue as to what was to come. Too loud for the venue, not to mention if I wanted to listen to rock, I'd go pull out some of The Hub's CD's. It reminded me of the one and only rock concert I ever attended a l-o-n-g time ago - Blue Oyster Cult. I could hardly hear for 3 days afterward.
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
Queen of 3rd Place
Joe - glad to hear that you guys are hanging in there and that you did so well on a trail marathon! Gravel really slows you down, and a 15% grade at mile 20, good grief! Hope there's good progress before any more weather comes your way.
Leslie - if it's too loud - haha. I'll admit to being too old, I hate it when there's live music at my local brewpub, can't carry on a conversation and when the music is so loud you can't really enjoy it.
I ended up bailing out on the marathon at mile 17! Mostly because it was clear I'd be nowhere near 4 hrs, so it was better to turn it into a marathon-pace workout with a jog at the end. But I also wanted to short-cut it to the finish and see how Jim and Sue did, so I broke off the course at mile 16, skipped the second out-and-back, and jogged the one mile to the finish. Sue and Jim were shooting for sub-3:15! Sue made it in 3:25 (around a 10 min PR), but alas for poor Jim the wheels came off, complete with vomiting breaks (he noted that vomiting was much more strenuous than a walk break). But everyone was in good spirits after! At the finish, I talked to the officials and they let me go around the timing mat to the finisher's area. Someone offered me a medal (same one for the half and the full), but I declined (I have three of them from this event anyway). HOWEVER, I made sure to get my sweatshirt, hot breakfast, ice cream sundae and cold beer!
Today I'll do a gentle recovery run, then training begins for the Valley Runner of the Year series. First race is a 5K the first Sunday in January. All of the events are fundraisers for local charities and I'm looking forward to trying to catch up with the faster local seniors!
Ex runner
MM #6177
I shoud've checked in here sooner. Hoping your power comes back soon, Joe. Nice marathon for you though! Sorry things didn't work out for your race, Arla, but it sounds like you made the appropriate decision for yourself.
We were without power, heat and water (house is on an electrically powered well) since Monday evening. Got our power back Friday night, barely three hours after getting home from the Expo for packet pickup. A half hour after I got home from taking the bus into the city, it was announced that the marathon was canceled. So it's been an emotional roller coaster for sure. I managed to get my wits about me somewhat, and am now signed up for the Harrisburg Marathon next weekend. Only kicker is I'm also doing Flying Monkey, the weekend after that. Granted, the plan is only to finish Monkey uninjured, but with only one week between races instead of two, I'm a wee bit nervous now. But on the bright side, I'm actually looking forward to Harrisburg. Not only does it seem like a really friendly race, the course offers to be more amenable for me to run to my full potential. So we'll see!
Hope everyone's doing well otherwise.
who says life doesn't have a soundtrack?
Arla - At least you made sure you got the real important swag!!
OM - I think you're going to do great this weekend. As for Monkey, just go in the mindset that you're out to have fun and finally meet RA friends.
Arla - I had that thought of feeling old when I was thinking, "This is too loud." Ha!! I felt really bad for my dad, though. He would've definitely enjoyed the other bands that have come through this past year, and I'm figuring this band played some good mellow music at some point 'cause we've sung a couple of their songs in church, but I wasn't willing to sacrifice my or my dad's already bad hearing to wait around for it. I'm betting more of the "older" folks were just as surprised as I was. . . . . I may need to take a poll to find out for sure . . .
My 4 miles this morning went really well, and I followed them up with about an hour of core/strength training. Haven't done the later in about 4 weeks or so, and my middle section and arms are feeling it.
While running, I listened to an episode of a "60 Minutes" where they did an interview with and talked about a singer from the 60's named Rodriguez. It's an incredible story, and I highly recommend taking the time to read the article in the link or download the podcast and listen to it.
OM - back-to-back marathons like that makes you a Maniac, if you aren't one already. Enjoy your race and enjoy Monkey, you'll be fine just take it slow. Keep in mind that really good potluck and tasty Yazoo beer at the finish!
Leslie - core, yup, getting back to that today as well, although I can never do it for an hour like you always do. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out!
Trying again to do doubles. Nobby always says it's good to do 2 or 3 really easy miles every morning, and then your normal workout later in the day. Hopefully I can keep this up at least a few days a week. Easy 6 later and core/weights. Also am "dieting", which means eat as normal minus the treats.
flatland mountaineer
Finished our wheat redrill wednesday last week, and as we had alot of frost and humidity in the mornings we couldn't get very early starts so plenty of time to get decent runs in. I ended up about 20 or so for the week, and am very happy with that. I plan to just keep after it, last week mostly frequent short runs as that seems to keep me healthy and will slowly start adding some longer stuff. Nice 7 Sunday and an easy 2.5 today just to shake things out. I need to get after the pt and the weights this winter and also shed the pounds I picked up last fall and never really got rid of.
Joe that had to be tough as hard as you had trained and all you had been through to get in the NYCM. Kudos to you for doing the right thing even before it had been called. Hopefully you get power back soon, do you have water and sewer? Nice job on the trail marathon with the grade and soft surface. I am usually 30 seconds per mile or so faster on hard surfaces than the soft stuff I train on. Heres to a better year in 2013 and a NYCM PR!
Om sorry, I feel your disappointment hope you have 2 great runs in your upcoming marathons. Ya we are like you if we lose power we lose water and sewer and last year when we took down our old barn the outhouse and 2 holer went with it.
Leslie HUH WHAT DID YOU SAY? I am just like you it all seems like so much noise now, too many loud irrigation engines and farm equipment have dulled my hearing but I sure don't like it loud anymore. Nice job on the core.
Arla sounds like you did the smart thing on your race other than maybe the ice cream sundae and beer combo ;-). Good luck on your racing series this winter.
Ev glad to see you again, hope you have got in some nice backcountry trips this fall and you are able to run.
Stumpy hope the rest of your project goes smoothly. Seems like around here when we startup always some unforseen things regardless of how well we prepare the weakest link seems to make itself apparent quickly. Hope the week at home lets you get in some good runs.
Cindy I am with Arla I don't like exposure that much think I would have to take some biners a daisy chain and a climbing harness, hope you had a great day in beautiful surroundings at Moab.
Back to fall cleanup and maintenance on the farm, still dry.
The whole world said I shoulda used red but it looked good to Charlene in John Deere Green!!
Support Ethanol, drink the best, burn the rest.
Run for fun? What the hell kind of recreation is that? quote from Back to the Fut III
r2 nice work on the runs, hope you guys see some moisture soon. I'm surprised to hear that exposure bothers you much, after seeing some of the pics of the hikes and snowshoe trips you've done!
Had to do an evaluation on one of our lecturers last night, he had a two-hour lecture (and this guy is BORING, he puts up slides with lots of words and then just reads the slides, ugh). So there went my sixer.
Got up and did an easy two to start the day. I'm trying to get back to being a morning person. Realized that isn't going too well, as I tried to put my left shoe on my right foot, and then got back from the run to realize that my tech shirt was on backwards! Yes, that was after caffeine.
Hey all.
OM- good job getting in whatever you can. You'll really enjoy Monkey.
Arla- good luck on your morning adjustments, and recognizing on when to bail in your marathon. There will be many others for you.
Leslie- I'm of the crowd to keep it down as well.
Jim- Nice job getting the runs done. I hope your fall and winter are uneventful.
Still no power from the wires, but obtained a generator yesterday. We do have water and sewer. We also have gas for our stove, fireplace and hot water, so we are surviving ok. If it weren't for our two dogs (MIL thinks all dogs hate her) we would be staying at our in-laws house about a half hour away. Many towns are getting their power back on but I suspect at least another few days for us as there is still a lot of equipment down. Heck, my next door neighbor's power lines are still lying on my front lawn.
Taking the week off from running. Briefly considered doing the Philadelphia Marathon next weekend. They put in a lottery for 3,000 NY runners to run there. But not for me. Well, maybe.... Nah, not for me. But....
Top 'O the World!
LOL, Joe! It is tempting though, huh? I do hope you guys get sorted out soon!! & now snow!?! Dayumm! Time for a trip somewhere warm & functional! It was 77* out here today
Jim afraid of exposure!? NOT! Good on ya for getting some decent runs in. Glad you have the time now!
Good luck with the morning thing, Arla. I do most of my running in the mornings.....I just get completely derailed later in the day! & I've never tried doing doubles more than two days a week....hmmm....
Yes, I need to get back on the core work too....forgive me friends, but its been months since I've done a decent round - if you don't count race chores as core work - which, I shouldn't.
Ridiculously Loud music inside of a building!? ...nope, I don't seem to do much of that either....just doesn't have the same effect these days....I don't understand it at all?? Now, catching Albannach @ the Scottish/Irish festival - huge drums, bagpipe, etc. in a big outdoor tent that was positively vibrating.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVd_0-SXGBs&feature=related strangely, I like running to it?
Have fun @ the Monkey OM!!
Well, maybe I'm finally ready to recap Moab.....It was a huge gathering of runners that I knew or had met or had friends in common...I think there were about 1000 btwn the marathon, half & 5K. Many seem to do this annually. Pretty good representation from the Front Range & even young Kacy & her mom from the Sandhills race! .It truly was awesome seeing so many familiar grinning faces!! The weather was as perfect as you could ask for! Stunning landscape! Amazing, tough, technical, beautiful course! Wildchild has a RR w/pics up in the forum...We all threw pics up on FB. I'm still giggling about Doug's maiden flight w/the GoPro! I will not torture you with trying to watch that video! Yeah, we have to learn how to do that! Both Doug & I had a great 1st half. The real work was in the 2nd half and for me, the wheels just came off badly. I don't even know where to start....just having a great time one minute, not so much the next. Major quad cramping would have to be the worst of it....Not even a great powerful walk out. I did not make the last cutoff. First ever DNF for me..... I'm still sorting that out.
Laters ~
So it'll be no surprise of Joe is in Philly?? Hope you get your power back soon. So, SO happen you and your family are safe.
Cindy - I had a tough time with my first DNF, too. But don't second-guess yourself for long. It's not productive. You are a powerhouse of energy, and your next race will come off without a hitch.
Jim - Glad to hear your able to take some time for yourself, whether it's running or otherwise.
Arla - Did you tell the guy he was b-o-r-i-n-g???
My 4 miles this morning were wonderful! And now I just realized I have to run 5 miles tomorrow AND do core/strength. Who figured out this schedule? Five days in a row of running doesn't sound like a rest period to me. Guess that's what I get for being a woos and not running Monday.
. . . .
I keep looking the pile transcription that seems to be never ending, and I wonder if I'll ever have time to myself again. I know, I know, I need to quite whining, 'cause soon I'll be wondering when another job will be coming my way. But I tell you what, it sure would be nice if it was more spread out. This has been a tough (read: B-U-S-Y) week at work so far, and coming home and working more is wearing me out. BUT, I am blessed that I have a job, that I have the extra work to pay for my running, and I just need to suck it up, buttercup!!
Okay - Nite ~
Out at about 4:45 a.m. for 5 wonderful miles with 6 strides thrown in at the end, followed by an hour of core/strength training. The rain sprinkles started right before I got home, and started coming down with a vengeance while I was in the shed. Perfect timing!
I've run three days in a row, with two days of core/ST, and I can't believe how good everything is going. I'm feeling strong, not tired, and my running feels [almost] effortless. It's nice. . . . . remind me of this when in a couple of months I'm complaining about being tired and the legs not cooperating.
Joe - do it! Hope this latest storm doesn't mess things up too much for you. Can't believe what a crazy mess you still have.
Mtn - thanks for the tips on the photos! I'll head right over for a look at Wildchild's RR.
Leslie - I always feel better when I run every day, even if it's just a slow 3 mile jog. Can't really explain it, but it's a consistent observation.
Have done doubles a couple times this week, I think the 2 mile early morning thing is just right for now. Also got in some resistance and core training last night, will try to keep at it. The diet thing, well, it's not going too well so far...
Just posting to say that if anyone hasn't seen Wildchild's Moab trail marathon RR, it's worth a look. Great pics! I might have to try that one someday, maybe I can do the scary-exposure part on my hands and knees.
Nice 8-er yesterday evening in cool weather. I think fall has finally come.