I'm Walking

Today and yesterday, I clocked a total of 17 miles of walking.

I would rather be running and cycling, especially since the weather has been so mild in the last couple of days. But I had my oral surgery last Wednesday and everything that gets the blood pumping, just doesn't feel that good right now.

But I take it. I honestly didn't expect to feel this decent so early. Good thing, they didn't have to do as much as they expected. Lucky break!

But at least my tooth implant is fixed now.... Or at least I hope so. We'll see, how the next checkup is going down in two weeks.

Karma loves it. I think she will be very disappointed, once I am ready to workout again and the walks are being cut down. 

The soft diet is kind of getting to be at this point. When you start looking at a slice of pizza and start thinking about throwing it into the blender... Well, I am almost there.

I discovered a couple of new roads today, that can be incorporated in future running routes.

But it was hilly hilly hilly. A couple of times, I had to take a breather, because the pounding in my jaw just gotten too bad, but we got it done.

Pretty Day Trail Running

What a pretty day it was today. Lucky me, the schedule was calling for a trail run with the dog and once the dog got all whiney in the house with pinned up energy and all, I finally made it on the upper loop trail in Paris Mtn State Park a little after 1PM.

It sure was beautiful and obviously, everyone else in Greenville had the same idea and with all the dodging for hikers, mountain bikers and other dogs, it was hard to get into a rhythm.

Those extra stops at least provided me with tons of opportunities to snap a couple of pictures to capture the run.

This was my first run since the race last Saturday and it felt pretty good. I am very happy about that, especially with Ragnar Relay Tennessee coming up next weekend.

The colors start to get really pretty in the Upstate, but I don't think it's already at it's peak. It's going to be interesting to see, how much we'll see of the fall foliage when traveling to Chattanooga and through Tennessee... Can you tell, that I start to get excited to spend 30 hours in a van with 5 of my team members???? Sleep deprivation, silly jokes, runner's poop talk and the smell that comes with running three times, don't get to shower and store you sweaty gear in the van as well. Are you jealous already?

Anyways, I ended up with 5.5 miles at a 12:30 pace, which isn't all that bad on the trail. I am okay with that. Added bonus: The dog is completely pooped right now... Glorious... I wonder, if this one is ever going to calm down.

A Good Ol' Quad Pounding!

What do you do a day after a 65 mile bike ride with a couple of thousand feet of climbing? Get some more climbing in, but this time on foot... You know, to mix things up a little!

Because, I am really dreading running these days and the training plan allowed for trails, I picked out my favorite trails that just happen to be 10 minutes from the house to make the activity "running" more appealing to me.

And I took the doggy, because she has way too much energy and needed a good run to calm her down some... Besides, I feel more comfortable having a canine companion with me on these trails.

We got on the trails via the parking lot close to the Mountain Lake, then hit Sulphur, Fire Tower, Kanuga, North Lake, Pipsissewa and then Brissy Ridge to get to the top parking lot. I thought for a moment to go down on Sulphur again, but I was fading and the dog was fading, so we took the short cut and ran down the road instead of trails. The total was a little over six miles. Then we ran to the Mountain Lake one more time before getting in the car, so Karma could cool off some more.

At times, I was really worried that she is overheating, but then again, she dragged me along behind her a lot of the times as well.

I let her take a dip in every stream and lake that we came across, to make sure that I don't have a dog with heat stroke on my hands in the end.

Once again, I was wearing the leash belt, which makes such a difference running with her. She just pulls like crazy sometimes, especially in the beginning, and having her pull on my arms, just made running with her miserable for me. Now that she is pulling me on my waist, it is so much more comfortable... and easier... for me. ;-)

The downside with the leash belt: you better clip the leash out of the belt fast before Ms Karma launches into the water, just to make sure that you are not going to follow her into it.

And while her dragging me comes in pretty handy on the uphills, they turn into quite a quad pounding experience on the downhill... And I certainly feel that more today than the 65 miles from Saturday.

Our last water stop back at Mountain Lake. Good run... Still don't like runnning right now though.

You know it's getting warm....

.... when the dog is too tired to yank off your arm, when going for a walk. And on top of it, she even let me stop every now and then to snap a picture or two:

I didn't get out for my run until 5pm, but that turned out to be pretty good timing, because some clouds came rolling in and it certainly felt much better, without the sun burning down.

The run was so so... I certainly felt the distance from yesterday in my legs. But it's all about getting it done.

Paris III/2011 and Caesar's Head

Sooooooo.... Yesterday, I did my longest ride yet.... A little over 70 miles.... And a couple of thousand feet of climbing.

I started things off with a ride up Paris Mountain. All the way up to the antennas. Up there I snapped a couple of pictures and then zoomed down the mountain again, to meet up my training partner for Mitchell at Furman. This was the 3rd climb up Paris this year, but now that it's finally daylight savings time, I am hoping to get that climb in during the week sometimes as well.

The second portion of the ride was with my training partner and we had our eyes set on an out and back from Furman up Caesar's Head. Most of the ride was on roads that I have never cycled on before and that's always fun and makes time pass so fast, because there is always something to discover... Like this, for example:

That's an old church (I assume) flooded in a lake.

The climb up Caesar's Head is six miles. The first 3 miles were decent, mile 4 was a little of a flat and gave you a little breather and the last two miles, I felt like I have to hurl any second. It made me question doing Mitchell... Quite a lot. When I got to the Caesar's Head State Parking Lot, I sat down in the shade for a little while before refilling my bottles. And then I got me a coke and a bag of Cheetos... After having SportsBeans and GU Chomps for the ride so far, I just needed something salty. My stomach was seriously peed off at me when I got up there, but the coke and chips really worked like a charm. The climb took me around 55 minutes and it took us 17 minutes to get back down... I am such a chicken on downhills, but it seems like I am also getting better at that.

The way back to Furman was uneventful, the miles just ticked away like nothing and when it was all said and done and I was back home, I felt like I could have a gone a while longer. I definitely think, that my nutrition helped a lot with how I felt this time around. I had more calories for breakfast and ate constantly during the first half. If anything, I might ate a little too much before the Caesar's Head climb... Therefore the upset stomach stuff. But, I think I am on the right way with this eating while on the bike, so I have enough juice in the end.

*********************

This morning, we spend several hours cleaning the house, so when we were finally done, Terry headed out for a ride and I got myself a little frozen yogurt treat. When I was done, I gave the itsy bitsy leftovers to the dog.... That kept her entertained for over 10 minutes! ;-)

Now some time for yoga!

Hay In The Barn

Tonight, I did my final run in preparation for the Spinx Half this coming Saturday… The hay is in the barn and I am happy with how the training went down.
Taper week has been going… Easy… And because I only had sweet and short runs left to do, I took the doggie with me. Well… Always an experience, but she is doing much better than she used to.
For tonight’s run, I took the dog and the camera… I am getting serious about multitasking!

Obligatory leash wrestle for the first five minutes.

Group picture… Of tonight’s running group!

Catching the last sunshine on Paris Mountain.

Big ‘ole tree.

The sun is going down fast!

This picture proofs, I need a better point and shoot camera.

Sizzling!

A couple of days ago, I saw a co-worker jogging over lunch on the company parking lot... In long cotton jogging pants straight out of the first Rocky movie... The temperature was somewhere in the 90's. A disaster waiting to happen!

Yeah... I am fully aware that I not always follow the advice that I am about to give you, but I sure strive for improvement in these areas. So here we go:

• Hydration, hydration, hydration: Take in fluid and lots of it and best would be water. I know, I am a regular offender of this rule by drinking Coke Zero way too often, but I also try to drink water for the rest of the day. If you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated, so put a big cup on your desk and sip along all day.
• More hydration and electrolytes: before you leave the house to exercise , take another big sip of water and make sure to take an appropriate amount of fluid with you depending on the duration of the planned workout and the weather conditions. In order to replace electrolytes while working out, you can take a sports drink along. I prefer to use Emergen-C for that purpose, since I don't stomach sports drinks well. Mixing apple juice with water (1/3 to 2/3) is a perfect drink to replace fluids AND electrolytes once you are done with your workout.
• And one more tip about hydration: fill up your water bottles half way and stick it in the freezer over night and then take them out and top them off in the morning before you head out. Have one bottle in your car in a insulated bag to have a nice cool drink once you get back to the car.
• Dress appropriately: use technical material that wicks the moisture away from your body, the hotter it gets, the more comfortable is loose fitting closing in a light color. Use sun glasses to protect your eyes, a hat to protect you head (I should do that more often) and SUNSCREEN!!!!! to protect your skin! Since I use an outdoor pool sometimes, I even use goggles with dark lenses and wear one of these snorkeling t-shirts (tight fitting t-shirts out of technical fabric with build in UV protection). 
• Stay cool: Try to avoid exercise during the hottest time of the day. Pick a shaded route. Reduce the intensity of your planned exercise.

Oh.... And here is a nice treat to keep your pooch cool.

Just fill a cup with doggy treats and carrots, fill up with water and put it in the freezer over night. Karma is ALL OVER this one and doesn't even give me the sad puppy eyes when I leave in the morning, because she is so distracted by it!

So long! ;-)

PS: No workouts for me today. Hurt my back and was in bed all day trying to move as little as possible. After a visit to the chiropractor things have improved some, but still in pain. Hopefully it's better by tomorrow!

Four Things...

... that a puppy can demonstrate you on a 30 minute walk.


Always be friendly to your neighbors... Especially the elderly.


Don't litter.


Admire beauty.


Be open minded to the unknown.