Le professeur de trail
Kids are back to school. Yay! So happy to try and get back to a somewhat normal schedule. Two this year in middle school so we'll see how that goes. Good running weekend overall. 23 on the AT Saturday morning in near perfect weather. Started at 61 deg and no humidity. Ended around 70 deg so a little toasty but I was good. Then I stretched the legs yesterday for 3+.
Funny story from my run Saturday. Lots of people out hiking and running. I was in my last mile to the car and I came upon a young guy who seemed to be rapping. I figured he had earbuds in. He did. I called to him to let him know I was coming but no reaction. All of a sudden, he jumped onto a vine and started climbing and swinging oblivious to me being there. I made my way past him and when he realized someone was there, he let out a big laugh. It was funny. He was just being a big kid. Nothing wrong with that.
QOTD1: Ever have moments where you don't know where you are, what day it is, what you're supposed to be doing, etc. I have been getting that more recently when driving. I forget where I am going - only lasts a brief moment (thankfully). Sometimes this happens on a trail run too. I know the section I ran on Saturday very well and sometimes the brain just shuts off and I can't think of how far I have run or how far I have to go. As long as it only lasts a brief, moment, I am good.
QOTD2: Any recent funny stories to share?
Have a great Monday!
My favorite day of the week is RUNday
Trails
That's pretty funny. Only thing I see if I go out on my road is cows, a horse or two, maybe a donkey, some dogs and a few chickens. I try and go early sunday morning so rarely see another person.
QOTD: Alarm went off this morning and I freaked out as I didn't know where I was, what day it was or why my alarm went off. I've been having some really vivid dreams lately. Some times I "drift" where I'm not sure how far I've gone on a trail. I'm don't use music or anything but can get into my headspace and just trudge along.
Go figure
Just a quick check-in. Had some rough luck last Thursday and hurt my knee while running down hill on the trail. It basically just buckled and I instantly couldn't walk. I have an MRI scheduled for tomorrow morning. At first we (er docs) thought it may have been a torn patella, but now it's looking more like it was just a hyper-extension with a meniscus tear (sports ortho opinion). I'll let the MRI results dictate whether or not to do some kind of surgery.
I'm going on a two week vacation at the end of the week, so probably will check in with you all after I get back.
Run well!
Trying to find some more hay to restock the barn
running under the BigSky
SIAR- sorry to hear that, hope it’s on the minor side
a little 50-ish mile saunter in the Bob Marshall Wilderness this weekend. Pretty cool trip with a couple of major turns of events, will post a trip report in the backpacking thread.
qotd: I’ll do that driving when I’m on a route I use a lot (ie going to work), I’ll be headed in that general direction and just gravitate to driving to work.
qotd 2: last week Tiny E and I were climbing a steep ridge and he found a foot and a half of well chewed on deer spine. He gave a thorough sniffing and then decided it was good enough to roll on. Gave it a couple of good rolls, but when he got up one the partial ribs got hooked under his harness. Freaked him out and ran like the Devil was on him until it fell off
2023 goal 2023 miles √
2022 goal- 2022 miles √
2021 goal- 2021 miles √
SRD today. I am trying to maintain my focus and not go overboard and burn out while I am building my base fitness back up.
QOTD: This past spring my buddy and I went to Oklahoma turkey hunting. We had never stepped foot on the place but from Google Earth felt like we knew where we needed to be. We had a huge creek between us and most of the birds that were gobbling. On our way back to the truck, we struck another turkey on our side, but it never panned out. Eventually, we got to where we wanted and set up. We both had these new "turkey lounger" chairs that are super comfortable. And we both went sound to sleep soon after making a series of calls. I awoke confused. I had no idea where I was at first. Anyway, I had set up a decoy in a bit of plowed ground that had no turkey tracks in it when I put the decoy out. When I went to get it, there were tracks that walked right past it. So, we blew that one big time. It was a refreshing nap, though.
QOTD 2: Back when I was the mayor, I had to hold traffic court once every other month. It was a small town, part-time thing. Anyway, I would pretty much help anyone out that I could with traffic court. I dismissed a lot of tickets, and you didn't have to "know anyone". The only thing I was absolutely intolerable of was no child restraint. So, this lady show up to court to contest her tickets (3 children in the car with no child restraints). So, we get down to discussing the details of the tickets.
I asked her if it was her car and was she driving the car at the time of the infraction.
"Yes sir, I was," she replied.
"Were the children in child restraints?"
"No sir, they were not. BUT They are not my kids!!!"
"Guilty."
LB2
Planet of fitness today at lunch, and likely a short run this evening on the local trail. Another blast of heat here after a few more seasonable summer days. No complaints. Summer will be over soon and I will miss it.
A couple of runs this weekend but nothing long. A 4 mile dog jog with the Lady yesterday at Coventry Woods. Dang that trail feels hard these days. I used to tear it up. Saturday was fun. Went a ran my easier loop at Green Lane, was making good time at my first 2 check points to the 7 in 70 game was pretty much in the bag, but then 2 other trail runners met me at a junction so of course I got competitive. Pushed the pace some and they were right behind me, chatted them up for a bit, but they did not want to pass, but still I kept a nice tempo. Lost them on a little uphill but kept up the pace. Pretty fun. Not much of a niggle in the knee when I run faster. Finished the loop in 66 and change which is the fastest time this year.
QOTD: I typically only lose sense of time when I am on vacation. I do occasionally lose sense of place while zoning out on the trail, but not for very long.
QOTD2: My wife has taken to feeding the local turtles at the pond in our development. She gets turtle food, goes all out. Now when we walk by the pond on our dog walks half a dozen little turtle heads poke out of the water, swimming towards the edge, looking for food. Spoiled turtles.
SIaR - Oh man, sorry about the knee. I've been there, done that.
Warden - Nice jaunt!
In dog beers, I've only had one.
Tim
SRD today. Felt pretty good running-wise from the weekend.
dhuff - do you get HR issues often? Any dehydration from Saturday's run?
SIaR - Ouch. XT and I have both had the dreaded torn meniscus before. Good luck. If it needs surgery, at least it heals quickly. MRI will show it right away. Any "catching" or "clicking" in the knee?
QOTD: we call those senior moments. I'm not too bad, but DW walks into the room and says (out loud) "now why did I come in here". If I get that, it's usually while working on something and going out to the shop to get tools. I'll end up getting 3 of the 4 things I went out for.
QOTD2: 2 hours ago, I had an elderly patient talking about going to her granddaughters wedding. I asked if it was a nice wedding, and she said It was a lesbian wedding (she was obviously trying to process it still). She told me she asked her granddaughter about what they will do for sex, and her granddaughter told her BOB takes care of it. She asked who BOB was and granddaughter told her their Battery Operated Boyfriend.
“Paralysis-to-50k” training plan is underway!
Tim I have Graves Disease, an autoimmune disease that causes hyperthyroid issues. I take a beta blocker and before I started "running" my resting heart rate was low 90 to high 90's. During a thyroid storm my HR would hit 200 just sitting and I dropped 15 pounds in 2 weeks while still eating like a horse. Don't want that again. Normal now for me is in the 60's with a few in the high 50's. One reason I walk with very little running now is my HR can spike.
SoAR, sorry to hear about your knee. Hope it heals quickly. A friend had the same thing, had surgery and was running again 6 weeks later, still does road marathons. On #49 this weekend.
Now I remember you saying that before. Tachycardia and palpitations are many times the first symptoms of Graves'.
I have Hashimoto's, so the exact opposite.
SRD today.
qotd: I sometimes zone out when I'm doing my typical loops. Just running along thinking about stuff, or nothing... anyway it does feel weird when I 'wake up' and have to think where am I? Have I passed the stream yet? Etc.
qotd2: When I was in London a few months ago a group of us rented cars and drove over to Wales to go hiking. We kind of grouped together into cars based on when we could get free on Friday afternoon. Turns out that the 2 guys that got out early had a nice relatively large car for their leisurely and comfortable 3 hour drive, and 4 of us (including two rather large guys) who had to leave later stuffed ourselves and weekend bags into a tiny little thing that could barely make it up the hills on the highway (a Smartforfour). Let me put it this way, the engine was so small that it fit under the floor of the rear trunk just above the rear axle. It was like a clown car maneuver when we pulled up to the B&B/Pub, of course we played it up that we couldn't walk getting out of the car. We did make them buy us a few rounds of beers. But it was kind of a 'running gag' the whole weekend (you may of had to be there... but it was really funny). As engineers we had to dig into the guts to see where the tiny engine actually was.
tbd.
Right now I'm just not able to straighten the leg fully, and then can get about 90 degrees of bend in it before it just sticks. I've done the meniscus thing too (one tear repaired, and the other cut out) from back in my soccer playing days, so at least I'm familiar with it too. As long as it's nothing more than just that, I can definitely deal with it.
Thanks for the positive thoughts - definitely more hopeful than when I hurt it, and feeling optimistic that the MRI won't show too much damage.
I lost my rama
Dr Jamie - Nice long run! Sounds like you're getting your legs back. Funny about that kid.
dhuffman - Hope your HR gets under control. How do you feel about your race this weekend?
SIAR - Yikes, that sucks about your knee. Perhaps a couple weeks of rest will do you good. Where are you going for vaca?
warden - Looking forward to the weekend report!
LB2 - You were mayor? Now that's funny!
XT - I hope you don't have dreams of a flock of turtles slowly walking up to your front door. Is a group of turtles called a flock?
AT - You didn't mention if you asked the follow-up question if your elderly patient got a BOB of her own.
Got 6 on Saturday and 18 on Sunday. Wanted to get more miles in, but mowing the lawn was pretty hard.... lots of rain and the grass was both long and wet. Temps this week is looking like it will be the warmest so far this summer. Fun (not).
QOTD1: Usually when the alarm goes off, I have to think about what day it is, what time it is, where I am, and why I'm getting up in the first place. More often than not, I'm disappointed in the reality of the situation.
QOTD2: Running related, during the Forbidden Forest 30-Hour race, we were probably 8 or so hours into it and the field was spread pretty thin. A female runner was a good 50 yards ahead of me and nobody behind me. I got a sense that she didn't know I was behind her, because she took a few steps to the side of the trail and was about to drop her shorts. Before she did, I quickly yelled "right behind you!" I ran into her later in the race right before I dropped, and something gave me the sense I don't think she would have cared either way.
3/17 - NYC Half
4/28 - Big Sur Marathon DNS
6/29 - Forbidden Forest 30 Hour
8/29 - A Race for the Ages - will be given 47 hours
Bert it will certainly be different. It's a slightly technical 3.9 mile loop...so 8 of them for the 50k. I've never done a loop course so it's a first. I think it's good practice for the 12 hour 2.1 mile I have in Nov. It's supposed to be 75/92 on Sunday so I'm hoping there will be some shade and a shit ton of ice. My HR has been low today so I'm just chilling instead of going to the gym.
I might qualify more as a lurker than a runner these days. I have a HM coming up and I'm barely making that distance in a week. Well, I have been running this week somewhat, but the humidity has been tough (in MN). My last three runs have been 4 in the park down the street from my mom's, 7.5 on the flat paved trail along the lake, while the in-laws were fishing and 3.5 yesterday along the river bottoms of the refuge. Anyone with a long layover at the MSP airport can easliy access them via light rail or a 5 min uber ride, just so you all know for the future. Very pretty, mostly flat once you get onto the floodplain and very few people.
Heading back to MD tomorrow for 90 plus weather.
qotd: Not often. Except this morning when I woke up I wasn't sure if I was in my dream still, or where exactly I was.
I never thought I'd like a loop course, but I really enjoy the change in format. And in difficult weather conditions, you have the opportunity to make adjustments if you have a camp or drop bag. If it's convenient, I would highly recommend bringing your own cooler filled with plenty of ice. I will pre-fill bottles with ice water and keep them in the cooler. The ice sock works well too to keep around your neck. Definitely good practice for your 12 hour race! Glad to hear your HR is good today.