Dub Duce Dub

Well, as Robert once wisely said, "There's nothing like a good woods to water." Great running and dub duce dubbing all around. From Rock Pine on to the Ice Arena the Slab City crew was solid. Half-ish our team was doing it for the first time- yet there were no rookie mistakes. Well except that our official beer drinker officially left all of her beer in Cable. Otherwise though it was just great. We didn't lose to that team in tights. We didn't break the van. We found a campsite. We ate lots of brats. We danced around. It rained but the weather was still nice. There was a completely unnecessary blind hand-off. Ahhh, what a great event.

eazy day

some people's are like this:
Seminar paper due: 1pm.
Seminar paper turned in: 1pm.
Course paper due: 4pm.
Course paper turned in: 4pm.

mine was like this:
picnic point and back. 42 minutes. the sunset's purple filter fell off.

I think I recommend something between the dog's (not biz) and mine. (photo: www.ramirez-moletto.cl)

I am adding five more colors/but

May 5-11

Six runs (M, T, W, R, Sa, Su), three at 60min, three at 30min. Kind of a momentous week around these parts. Hit the hour mark, painfully, for the first time in about nine months on Monday. On Saturday I managed to hit the hour avec HDLN with a perfectly timed arb romp. We saw the elusive Turkey, but it chased us from its trail. Also toed the line at the TC One Mile for my first race since City of Lakes, and I doubt I've ever been happier to run 5:28. Spent the first half-mile sitting on Jessica, terrified my stomach might explode, and waiting for the quarter-mile marker. Saw the 800m split, remembered the mile is short and that oftentimes heads explode before stomaches. Then I sped-up. In all non-psychological respects, the effort was pretty easy. Plus the race turned into a real solid outing for SCRC. Slabbaj Shout-Outs to the seven man squad!

looking at myself in the same dirty mirror

I just thought I'd add some multimedia to this nutrition discussion. Yes, that is andy d. 4th, I think, in the 5k.

Today: 43 minutes in the morning. brother of (flap)jack.
47 minutes in the night. father of jack(son).
total: who knows. 13 maybe?

This is noooooot a test

April 28 - May 4

Five runs (M, T, W, Sa, Su). Two were 50min, two were 30min, and one failed to satisfy my moral quota. Nevertheless, they were. And that is what I was aiming for. Monday's 50min was particularly buoyant, causing me to suspect that the fitness turkey might be caffeinated. Heather, will chasing turkeys - metaphorical and otherwise - be involved in the punishments you administer?

Matthaee, Nicola, nisi venietis vobis dicam me hunc cursum fecisse etiamsi non fecero.

Jackson Bryce is the shit.

The way you look when you have got a story to begin

April 21-27

Five runs (M, T, R, F, Su), three at 30min, two at 50min. Had a couple fantastic runs this week. Monday's 30min and Thursday's 50min resembled efforts a fit person might complete. Resembled because fitter persons earn this week's Slabbaj Shout-Out for enduring Saturday's snow, sleet, rain and wind and giving a SCRC a solid showing at the Get In Gear 10K. I took offense at Saturday's weather and did not run.

Every moment points towards the aftermath/Yeah-ah-ah

April 14-20

Six runs (M, T, W, F, Sa, Su), three 30min, three 40min. Started to feel like a slow runner, as opposed to a fat slob, on Friday. Shin splints have subsided, like winter, and running was pretty great this weekend. Saturday's 30min involved Collin Lawrence, which briefly had me thinking I was as fast as Noah.

the turkey is supposed to represent "fitness"

So, I'm trying this not only because of the impending end of "christopher's" "training" "cycle" next week (wouldn't want the airwaves dead for the 15 minutes he takes off after the race...), but because i'm having a bit of trouble hunting down this "fitness" mf'er. clearly there is a direct correlation between writing on the blog and getting fitness. hence: thanksfest. or tharksfest. or whatever it is. anyway: i want correlation.

So, i'll start with today since today was mediocre, and it continued a point already being made about my failure to properly correlate.

AM: skipped the run to eat food.
PM: 3 miles warm up (very nice day). 6 mile tempo on the arb loop. Splits were: 5:00, 4:59, 5:06 up the hill, 5:04, 5:01, 5:00. Not nearly as easy as it should have been. Then, I jogged 2 miles. Then 6 x edgewood hill. Hills were not hard so much as they just made things feel hazy and weird. Very marathony. So 10 hills became 6. 1 mile jog home. Day total: 14

Fit, Fat or Rich

April 1 - 6

Five runs (T, R, F, Sa, Su), 35min each. Some of the most outstanding runs 35min has ever seen. Pleased with how I held up over the four consecutive days. Not as pleased with the wicked case of shin splints I'm developing. To be expected, I suppose.

April 7-13

Four runs (T, W, R, Sa), three for 40min, one for 30min. Shin splints are getting bad, but substantially improved by taking the extra day off, icing, and running on grass. The 40min run feels significant enough to spend another week learning how both complete it and breath, so I'm going to do that.

Which would make it a day off

I switched things up a little today and cut the potatoes into thin slices before I fried them, instead of cubes. They fry quicker, but it's hard to make sure you get both sides of each one cooked. I think there are real pros and cons to this thin slice method.

Eating French Fries By The Dock Of The Bay

March 18-31

Seven runs, six of them 30-min and one 15-min. Two yoga classes. Busy schedule and slippery snowfall derailed my normal schedule, but I'd expected that would happen was glad to spend two weeks remembering what it's like to run for half an hour. Running between 7- and 7:30-pace is generally easy and pain free as long as give myself time to stretch and otherwise lick my wounds. I say to March, Good Riddance.

Let your boyfriend deal with the dealers.

March 11-17

Prepare yourselves for a thrilling post. Five runs (T, R, F, Sa, M), 25min each. Only one yoga class again. Extensive run analysis reveals that I was running about 3.5-3.6 hilly miles. That means I'm going too fast, but at least at these paces increased speed does not seem related to increased pain. Fences:Neighbors::Stretching:Runners. I hope. Slabbaj Shout-Out: To the seven man squad who gave The Company a 4th place finish at The Human Race on Sunday. Less Prestigious Accolades: To Matt Mascioli for deciding not to quit his fantasy baseball league despite his shaky performance at the draft.

I Thought She Said Maple Leaves

March 4-10

Five runs (T, R, F, Su, M), 20min each. Only got to one yoga class this week, but it was perfect intensity and I can able to replicate some of the poses at home. While the runs are this short it seems like 5 is enough to build strength. That first 20min effort was difficult. The last two were substantially easier. Some of that also has to do with warmer weather and, on Sunday, my first group run since September. Sometime soon I hope to join that Slamfest Coalition.

Obamadarbadar

In an Obama-esque feat this evening, Matt Mascioli led a tenuous coalition a completely new direction: Kevin's Greenway Slamfest 2008- Reverse. Despite early mudslinging (er, kicking) and impassioned debate, the group held together and opposed Hillary Clinton throughout.

Tom Church handcuffed to the bumper of a state trooper's Ford

Chunked out a short run with Mattmas this morning- no thanks to Nick or Sherman. Legs appreciated the shortness- given the bushels of mileaj yesterday and the day before: back to back renditions of Kevin's Greenway Slamfest 2008 (back to back = one day then the next day, Biz. Not to say which day). The Slamfest is shaping up to be a solid little- dare I say perfectly medium sized- run. That said, neither Matt/Nick nor myself have any idea how far it actually is or a close estimate of the amount of time it takes to run it. Good, though, to have a nice run with a name to help get through the last snow-covered weeks until Harp-Cee-Dar reopens in all it's 50 minute glory.
Came home to some awesome baked oatmeal and the sweet sounds of the Not A Brarkfest Mix Mix.

Still Out There/With The Coffee Stains

Some of you may have noticed: it's March. I hadn't, really, since today was one of the five coldest runs I've done this winter. Which means that my capacity for noticing the date has been replaced with cautious giddiness; I've done more than five runs this winter.

January - Early February

I kept up the circuit training pretty well about 4x a week for most of January and early February. Then Hamline moved very far away when it got colder in mid-February and I had about a week or 10-days off. During the circuit training I ran a couple 800s as fast as 3:20. These were usually the last of a set 4-6 that started out around 4:10. My longest continuous run was 7:45 when I did 2x1600 with 5min walking recovery on the treadmill. My fastest mile was 7:05. As long as I started out slowly enough, I never experienced any lasting pain in my lower abdomen or groin.

February 19-25

Decided I should start running outside, since that's what I'm most motivated to do and the streets were not too icy. Ran five times (T, R, F, Su, M) for 10min each time. On Saturday I finally had the massage I've probably needed since TCM 2004. I'll try to make that a regular treatment during this rehab.

February 26-March 3

My plan calls for adding 5min to my run each week, and I am nothing if not an honorer of plans. Ran five times (T, R, F, Sa, M) for 15min each time. Also went to two yoga classes, which helped to loosen things up and were not as intense as the core-blasting yoga I was doing last summer.

The pain is still present, which is worrisome. So far, though, it seems like therapeutic pain. Also, I'll ice. I'm proceeding with a lot of caution at this point, but it feels great to be living out these American late night blues.

Up In Our Bedroom After The War

Happy 2008!
I am also behind on Christmas presents. Lest my procrastination fool you, 2008 will be a year of BIG CHANGES around these parts. First and foremost, I intend to post chronologically top-to-bottom. Also, I hope to run.

January 1
No running. Attended Gentle Yoga. There were lavender eye pillows. Big, ahem, changes.

January 2-4
Days Off. Busy watching Die Hard and caring about football and game hunting and not supporting Hillary and her lavender eye pillows.

January 5
5min walking WU, 2xMile (9:30, 8:55; 5min walking R), 5min walking CD. Hamline Treadmill. Went about as well as could be expected. There was some pain during the first mile, but it seemed to loosen and the second mile was almost entirely pain-free. Did all of it at a slight incline, which I think helped.

January 6
Day Off.

January 7
"4xCircuit" a la Nick Willis. I'd planned something like 4x(4min run, 1min PU, 1min SU, 1min Obliques, 1min Chair Dips, 1min Lats, 1min Supermans). The running part was OK. Not only am I not Nick Willis, I am not an upper body. So this deteriorated very quickly and I sort of floundered around on the floor of the Hamline track in between my 4min runs. I was close to 8min-pace for those and that was too fast.

January 8
4xCircuit a la Twiggy. 4x(run, 45situp, 20ea oblique, 12PU, 15CD, Supermans).The run intervals were 3, 4, 5 and 6min. I took 6min to complete the upper body stuff each time giving me just over 40min of continuous activity. It was still difficult, but hopefully this will be more sustainable. I like the circuit format because it keeps the runs from being too intense even if I don't do a good job monitoring my pace, and it forces me to pay attention to my neglected-for-5yrs upper body. The pace was better today, probably between 8:30 and 9:00. I opened my stride a little for a couple of laps and my right side still feels restricted. I hope that developing some basic core strength and, later, doing some range of motion exercises will correct that.

It feels really great to run. Rest and caution obviously govern, but stereotyping injury stereotypes won't help me heal.

Storm of the Century

Ran around Isles with the Scholis and Sherm during what some have called the "Storm of the Century". Those folks tend to refer to most weather as the Storm of the Century, though, as Nick and I discussed. I do have nice new shoes which is probably what enabled me to complete this epic run. Thanks Matt.

Don't Need To Hold My Hand/Just Walk With Me Tonight

Of Late

Today marks 10 weeks since I've gone for a run. It turns out that if you set me down, my body will probably just intuitively stay put. There have been some sit-up fits, some push-up starts and some biking in place. But for the most part the stationary bike has been the Metaphor in the Corner of my living room.

So tonight, I just walked with me, disguised as a head-bobbin' nobody. Wearing running shoes, a wind brief, hind pants and hind shirts underneath some faux-carharts, a sweatshirt, jacket, hat, ipod and glasses, my eyes teared in the wind. The skyline was as crisp as the air. And I wore my pedestrian disguise to the base of the Metaphor in our Corner of the world: The PPHC.

As with many epic peaks, the trek to base camp is nearly as brutal as the climb itself. This is especially true if base camp sits one and a half miles below your residence. But man does not create bases and summits and the PPHC cares little if strong winds toss descending travelers from the Franklin Traverse into the Great Mississippi Crevasse. I leaned into the wind and prayed that my be-socked hands would be nimble enough to catch the Traverse rail should an icy blast catch me off balance.

Pete was singing when I reached base camp; "They buried William in the old church-yard..." The words made scarcely an imprint on my frozen brain as I raised my eyes to the slope. I lifted a stony foot and moved tentatively ahead. Again. Again. And then faster. Again. For about a minute, on the Frozen West River Pitch of the PPHC, I ran.

It was not bad.