Boldly running where I've never gone before

In an episode of Star Trek: the Original Series, the crew of the Enterprise encounters a planet in the Omicron Delta area of space upon which they take shore leave and discover that anything they can imagine is now coming true.  Of course, this becomes a huge problem when their imaginations run amok and it takes Kirk and Spock no end of suspenseful machinations to right the situation.  Fortunately, my recent days in Louisiana have not been nearly as dramatic.

I travelled to New Orleans with my husband last weekend to spend a few days actually relaxing (rather than checking on an ill parent or doing a snowshoe race like the previous two weekends).  And a relaxing time it was — eating delicious food, enjoying music, sightseeing for a whole four days — with very little exercise.  Here’s how it broke down:

Actually just driving up to the hills of Wisconsin — was what it took to get some winter sports fun this past weekend.  Now, I’m not complaining.  I LOVE an Illinois winter with very little cold and snow.  Throw in some extra daylight and I’ll never gripe again.  But my plan for this winter had included a couple of snowshoe races designed to inspire some training through the months which typically find me at my laziest.  It was just a happy coincidence that I had to drive half a day to find one due to the local scarcity of white stuff.

Since my last post regarding the Polar Dash we have gotten a pixie dusting of snow on a couple of occasions which has always melted within a day or two of arrival.  The snowshoe race I had planned to compete in on the last weekend of January ended up being a footrace over frozen mud, and thus I was quite delighted not to attend.  I found a snowshoe series in the northern reaches of Wisconsin and quickly signed up for a pair of races there instead.  The first — the Iola Twilight Snowshoe 5k, a night event — was held in Iola, Wisconsin this past weekend and it was a total blast.

I drove up with my husband on Saturday, February 4, and we stayed overnight.  I had managed to talk him into entering the race with me and even convinced him to train (albeit sporadically) for about 6 weeks.  We arrived at the venue and found the people to be friendly and the lodge warm and inviting.  Turnout for the race was low, maybe only 60 competitors, but that meant a more generous allotment of prizes.  In fact, everyone who entered earned a tasty gift of either Wisconsin maple syrup or organic chocolate bars.

The winter sports complex which hosted the event is located in a forested area with some impressively hilly topography.  After a kids 800-meter dash at 6:00 pm, the 5k and 10k races took off over a lighted forest path coated with a thick layer of fresh snow and ice.  Fred and I had signed up for the 5k.  The 10k was merely a double loop of the 5.  The announcer at the start line had cued us about the course, saying “Miles 1 and 2 have some hills but Mile 3 is mostly downhill.”  It sounded doable.

The first mile did indeed contain some gently rollercoastering hills which were a challenge in the ascent but allowed enough rest on the downslope to provide some catch-up for the legs and lungs.  The second mile was a killer — definitely rigorous with many steep climbs and a pair of double hills with just a bit of mesa in between for respite.  Somehow it seemed longer than a mile too.  But then the tough ones always do, don’t they?  By the two thirds mark, I felt strenuously challenged and was dripping sweat; my husband lost any pretense at enthusiasm and was bitterly grumbling.  Fortunately, the third mile was more forgiving and offered a handful of hills on mostly downward terrain.  Multiple times, Fred swore vengeance on that poor announcer.   But by Mile 3.1 we were done and ready for the hot cocoa.

It was a nice race — my first night event — and it was tough, and I loved it!  I adored being out in nature under a sky so beautiful with its nearly full moon and endless stars, inside the massive forest silent but for the crunching of our footsteps on the snow and the gasps of breath that sustained us.  I loved being surrounded by air so crisp and frigid yet from the exertion feeling so warm.  I even enjoyed the tremendous effort it took to get up some of those hills, repeating my mantra each step of the way “need power? got power”.  It was undeniable proof of the life left in these old limbs.

I never feel as eternally connected with all the forces of nature except in moments like that.  I would’t trade it for anything.  There is no couch, no bar stool, no lawn chair that can give me what I get out there.  And I’d do it again tomorrow.

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Training since the previous post:

January 22 – off
January 23 – 30 minutes of outdoor speed intervals
January 24 – tough total body workout for 75 minutes
January 25 – 30 minute treadmill program of hills, followed by 1/2 mile cooldown jog
January 26 – yoga/abs
January 25 through 31 – DAYS OFF taken to visit my Dad in California at the nursing home; no exercise
February 1 –  short cardio and stretch session to reawaken the body
February 2 – 2 mile speedwalking
February 3 – yoga
February 4 – Iola Snowshoe 5k
February 5 – off
February 6 – 30 minutes of speed intervals outdoors
February 7 – off
February 8 – mixed bag of 10 minutes each:  step cardio, compound weight sets, cardio on the Bosu, corework

…..the common cold is still a bitch.

Star Trek lore holds that the common cold was cured sometime in the 24th Century, and I am so looking forward to that day!  However here on Terra in the early 21st Century, it can still kick your unfortunate ass — as I very well know at this moment.  Despite hand-washing on a scale that would make Howard Hughes jealous, I have managed to catch whatever it is that the patients are bringing into my office by the dozens.  I woke up yesterday with a uvula that felt (and looked) like a punching bag and it went downhill from there.  I’ve gotten over the body aches and queasy stomach a bit today but am still not back to 100%.

Fortunately, this week is a “recovery week” on my training schedule and I am not expecting myself to do much.  After having spent the last month building workouts in both length and intensity, the unwelcome arrival of this virus reinforces the plan to do more relaxing than pushing.   But it still pisses me off because I really hate being sick!

I guess I can take heart in the fact that I don’t look like this (a victim of the Vidiian Phage  —-  See Star Trek Voyager “Phage” episode):

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Training since the last post:

January 11 – “Yogilates” DVD (a combo of yoga and Pilates) — because my “fun” 5.5 miles of speed intervals the previous day left me able to do little else  🙂

January 12 – 2 miles of speed intervals

January 13 – Cathe Friedrich’s “High Step Circuit” DVD which circuit training of aerobics interspersed with weights and corework

January 14 – 55 minute MotionTraxx podcast “Treadmill Coach“, an extremely intense workout consisting of hills, then speed, then speed uphill which kicked my ass in the most delicious way possible

January 15 – Off (start of “Recovery Week”)

January 16 – 20 minutes of intervals on the treadmill

January 17 – Off

January 18 – 20 minutes of light weight work

January 19 – 35 minutes of 30 second sprint intervals on the treadmill (with a 5 minute warm up and cool down on each end)

January 20 – Today is an off day

The next phase begins on Sunday.  More later…..

December 31, 2011

Thanksgiving has come and gone, followed by birthdays and Christmas, and I find myself again about to make that large flip of the calendar page which is due each year at this time.

Rather than retrospect and philosophize about the year gone by, or anticipate and resolve for the year ahead, I think I’ll spend the evening watching TV and then simply get on with it all tomorrow.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

….can be anything but boring.  Once in 2266, they picked up this kid named Charlie who was the lone survivor of a crash on the planet Thasus.  Before they managed to get rid of him, he wreaked all variety of havoc with the special powers he had, but at least he turned the meatloaf into turkey.

However I digress.  With today also being Thanksgiving here in my little corner of the space time continuum, I will be joining my family in Chicago for a lovely restaurant meal.  No, Mr. Spock won’t be there to play his Vulcan lyrette.  But I will be dining with my husband and son, both of whom are guitarists.  If that counts.

The weather is fairly pleasant for late November:   currently 42 degrees with a high in the upper 50s predicted for the next couple of days, before the arrival of freezing rain this weekend.  This gives me a two-day window to get out for my next run and I am certainly thankful for that.

Since my last post, I have drawn up a training plan for the snowshoe event in 10 weeks and gone back to a structured exercise program.  And frankly, I realized I missed it.  Having an obligation to get out of bed and get moving in the morning seems to suit me.  I’m still dissecting the experience of marathon training this past summer and why I hated it so much—even though it was self-imposed—and one glaring failure I can see is that there was not enough “fun factor”.  This is a mistake I do not intend to make again.

I’m really thrilled to have discovered anew (in my old age) the joy of running, bike-riding and climbing hills like a child.  And I am deeply grateful to be yet able to do so.  Therefore on this day of reflection and gratitude, I have decided to thank my body.  Despite all the destructive forces with which I have assaulted it over the years—stress, bad food, bouts of laziness, partying, too much weight, scanty sleep—it still shows up every day and carries me forward with barely a squawk of protest.  Yes, there is some stiffness now where it used to be supple and cracking sounds from joints formerly silent, but it has not yet given up on me.  Not even a best friend would be so reliable.  And if you ask my mind, it will tell you that my body and I still have far to go with many plans and goals ahead.  I can’t imagine the body being unable or unwilling to enact the dreams which the mind conjures up.  Others my age and even younger are not so lucky.  Or so blessed, depending on how you look at it.  And thus it follows that in order to truly embrace the spirit of gratitude, I ought to be kinder to this old body because it has been more than kind to me.  I believe that is a goal as worthy as any other I may have on my agenda.

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Training the past week:

Nov. 15 – 19:  Sick with a bad cold.  Rested.
Sunday, Nov. 20 – brisk 4 mile walk around the neighborhood
Monday, Nov. 21 – 40 minutes weight training:  back, lower body and core
Tuesday , Nov. 22 – off
Wednesday, Nov. 23 – 30 minutes of walk-run intervals outdoors; 10 minutes flexibility
Thursday, Nov. 24 – 40 minutes weight training:  chest, shoulders and core

Weekend plans:  another run on the pavement, upper body weights session, 5 miles brisk walking in the forest preserve with some hills

Having not run the marathon or having run the non-marathon or however I plan to remember the Boondoggle in Berlin, I have been in a bit of a quandary as to what to plan next.  Thoroughly burned out and unwilling to do anything even remotely resembling scheduled training, I have spent the last 6 weeks living like a normal person:  sleeping late, going for walks, doing yoga or the occasional Zumba class, even wearing shoes without laces every day.  It’s been a nice change.  Milling around without a particular goal — in a holding pattern one might say — imparts a sense of freedom and spontaneity.    A lack of obligation and direction can be positively liberating!  At first anyway.  Until it gets boring.  And that’s pretty much where I am right now.   So it’s time to get my ass back in gear.

It’s pretty late in the year to expect any exciting events in this area, being almost December and all, so I set my sights on 2012 and the upcoming snowshoe racing season.

I’ve never been much of a winter sport enthusiast but I decided to banish the winter blues last year by planning one race per month from January 1 until April.  On a whim, I signed up for a snowshoe 5k on 1/29/11 with my dear friend Pam who is always up for outdoor adventure and actually owns a pair of snowshoes.   I didn’t think it could be that hard, so I ordered a pair online and stomped around the garage in them for about 10 minutes before deciding I was ready for anything.  The day of the race we headed out to beautiful Glacial Park in Ringwood, IL for the Snowshoe Stomp.   We had a blast!   Once I learned how to walk in the damn things without catching the front crampons in the snow and toppling forward, I did great.  Of course, I fell a bunch of times first but that’s just part of the fun, right?

So I am dusting off the old training journal and getting busy.  There is a race in Barrington on January 29 called the Frozen Zucchini 5k and I just registered for it.  I have 11 weeks to train and I’m pretty confident I’ll be ready.  Forward motion, as in walking or running, is a given.  The added legwork of taking larger and wider steps while trekking up and down hills can be practiced in the woods near my home.  And the best part is this:  since I’m not actually a “snowshoer”, I don’t have to worry about speed.  I don’t have to be fast.  I don’t have to be good.  Hell, I don’t even have to run.  I just have to strap those contraptions to my feet and remain upright for the better part of 3.1 miles.   I think I can handle that.

Captain Picard, update the mission log!

So the Berlin Marathon has come and gone and I did not die.  I didn’t run the whole race either.  But I’m okay with that.

On September 21, the day we left for Europe, I woke up feeling healthier than I had felt in over a week.  We boarded our flight at 5pm and arrived in Amsterdam 7 hours later (midnight Chicago time) at 7:00 am.  Our room was not to be ready for another five hours and I had not slept on the plane, so sleep for that night was an impossibility.  Instead I enjoyed the people and the walk around the neighborhood, along with a couple of beers and a sandwich.

The next day, we enjoyed an Indonesian rice table and a visit to the Albert Cuyp outdoor market with some friends along with more walking.  My plan to try to run a bit was thwarted by the unbelievable crowds of people and bicycles on the streets and sidewalks of Amsterdam.  Plus, I was pretty tired.  We took the night train to Berlin that night.

On September 24, we arrived in Berlin at 5:00 am.  After maybe 3 hours of sleep on the very bumpy train ride, we were fortunate enough to be able to get in to our hotel rooms for a mere 25 Euro extra per room and attempt to get some rest.  After about a 2 hour nap, I headed over to the Marathon Expo to pick up my packet.  It was a nice long walk past Checkpoint Charlie, the old Berlin wall, and a lot of different ethnic neighborhoods.  The Expo was very large and interesting.  I’ve never been to one that had its own beer garden before!  On our way back to the hotel, the inline skating marathon had begun and we got to watch a lot of the skaters whizzing down the streets.

It dawned on me at that point that “hey, I’ve barely slept in 3 days and was sick for like ten…..am I really going to try to run 26 miles tomorrow?”  And I decided NO.  I’m too tired.

Sleep total for September 21 = 0 hours.
September 22 = 6 hours
September 23 = 4 hours

Not a good idea to go for the whole race, that’s for sure.  So I decided to make it a Fun Run instead, hoping to make it a a little more than halfway by running as far as the Rathaus Schoneberg where JFK made the “ich bin ein Berliner” speech in 1963.

The morning of September 25, after indeed a lovely sleep of about 9 hours, I ditched the timing chip and headed over to the race (about 2 miles from the hotel) some 30 minutes before the gun went off.  I got there in enough time to join my corral, still waiting to be allowed across the start line, and headed out with the rest of the pack.

From the area near the Brandenburg Gate we wound around the Tiergarten, past the offices of the Chancellor and the Reichstag (Germany’s Parliament) through United Nations Square and then south, up to the halfway point at Potsdamer Strasse and to John F. Kennedy Platz .  And that’s where I finished my race.  I WAS TIRED.  Having dragged myself, with as much walking as running, through 14 miles of the marathon I then made my way slowly back through the streets to the hotel.  It seemed almost anticlimactic after all the preparation and drama over the summer, but I was certainly glad to have it over.

Afterwards, my husband and I had a nice dinner and a couple of beers at a cafe and then set about to enjoy the rest of our vacation.  We left Berlin the next day and headed down to Munich for three days of Oktoberfesting before returning to the States.

And so I have settled back into my life at home, not yet a marathoner but happy to be here.