Monday, March 24, 2014

Route to 66 - Green Gate Looper by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Route to 66 - Green Gate Looper by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details 

Friday, March 21, 2014.

The green gate run is another up the Sherman Road route. The last part just before the turn-around is a good steep climb, more of which can be found by continuing up just a bit more. Next time, that is the plan.

Route to 66 - Up and Back by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Route to 66 - Up and Back by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Thursday, March 20, 2014.

The up and back run on Sherman makes a good repetitive course. It would be nice to have a little more flexibility in the exact route, but that would also require more flexibility on my part, too, since I would need to be able to slip through barbed wire fences and jog dodging trees in the trail-less woods, still maintaining a reasonable pace and distance. So, it is I stick to the easily logged routes.  

Route to 66 - Turnaround Chat by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Route to 66 - Turnaround Chat by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Tuesday, March 18, 2014.

My running speed did not result in a record setter again today. I chatted with John at the turnaround and the GPS ticked off more than 15 minutes of time. It was a good run back down the hill, but some snow melt was taking place so the road was a bit slippery and muddy.

Route to 66 - No Green Seen by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Route to 66 - No Green Seen by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Monday, March 17, 2014.

This was a mid-day run and I wasn't in much of hurry. I gathered cans along the side of the road while running the black-top mile. Then, as I was part way up Sherman Road, some neighbors were out cutting up a tree along the road, so I stopped and chatted for a bit. The rest of the run up the hill to the turn-around was somewhat muddy and slow going, too. I don't remember seeing any "green" along the route up and back! (Still some snow with a winter like look to the ground).

Friday, March 21, 2014

Route to 66 - Triangle 5-s Continue by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Route to 66 - Triangle 5-s Continue by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Sunday, March 16, 2014.

The sky cleared a bit so I decided to do a late afternoon 'slog'  (slow jog). This was actually a pretty nice run but not a record breaker. Mostly I did it to try to keep the mileage close to my training plan. I originally had a 6-11 mile pair of runs planned for the Friday-Saturday slots last week. But, the cat bite on Thursday resulted in skipping the Friday run altogether (at the suggestion of the ER doctor) and limiting the Saturday run to five, rather than eleven, miles. So today was actually planned to be an "off" day that I changed to another 5-miler. It was a fine outing. I'll return to the original training routine this week.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Route to 66 - Five Mile Triangle - Reverse Order by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Route to 66 - Five Mile Triangle - Reverse Order by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Saturday, March 15, 2014.

Thanks to Torrie Cat, I got an unexpected day off yesterday (and a trip to the ER on Thursday evening/midnight!).

The Story: Before going for the run on Thursday, March 13th, I was browsing at my laptop as usual during the morning coffee time. One of the ranch cats that has managed to become mostly and 'indoor' cat, was around, as usual, too. She had walked across my keyboard a couple of times so I encouraged her to settle down on my lap, instead. That went well, for the most part, until suddenly, she nipped me with a bite on the wrist. She left my lap after that, and I went and dabbed a little hydrogen peroxide on the tiny tooth hole and did my run followed by normal activities for the day. (A little fencing project was done to keep the new puppy from slipping under a corral fence rail and getting into the corral and outer pastures).

I didn't think anything about the bite until around 4:30 to 5:00 PM after the fencing project was done. After putting away the tools and left over materials, I actually made a snowball or two and held it against my wrist since it was feeling a bit sore. So the day and evening continued until after supper when  I decided to do some internet scans regarding cat bites. I found a couple of articles that were a little (a lot) alarming, but continued on with the evening through the last animal check (after 10:00 PM). By that time, I had mentioned the bite to my wife, and she too read some of the internet articles about the dangers of cat bites. So, it was off to the ER for a late night check! After an anti-biotic IV, and a trip to a 24-hour pharmacy, the day was finally over around 1:30 to 2:00 AM.

Update: No problems after the ER stop. The swelling and soreness in the wrist went away over the next couple of days. And, as of this date (March 20, 2014) all is well. Torrie still resides mostly in the house and probably will not lose her head to science.

The running information: Same as my last run, I just changed the running direction during the triangle portion. It was not easier. In fact, I walked a bit early on while coming up the hill. It was windy again, too! I walked the last half-mile or more (blaming it on finding a basketball) during the up-hill return trip. (Walking is okay while on the route to 66, too!)

Route to 66 - Trail Triangle Fives by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Route to 66 - Trail Triangle Fives by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Thursday, March 13, 2014.

It was good to get a day of rest after the long run day and today I was able to head out on an easy day five.

This run should normally be a pretty easy, almost a "rest-day" run. The problem with this run is that it is often very windy once you get to or beyond Managhan Lane. Also, most of the return run after leaving the trail is up-hill. 

Have I mentioned I don't like up-hill finishes?

Route to 66 - Long Run Day by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Route to 66 - Long Run Day by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

The difference between regular maintenance running, and the running I do once the marathon training begins is that a long run is required almost every week after the training period begins. This long run can vary in distance, but I have found that a run of ten or more miles is required. One of the training programs I have used suggested that training runs that exceed two-and-one-half hours might actually be harmful in improving your conditioning. I have found it depends on how fast you run (if you are a 'real-fast' runner, this training run would actually exceed the 26.2 mile marathon distance!). Well, I'm not real-fast, so I don't have the excessive distance problem. And, for the last few years, I have set my maximum pre-marathon run to be somewhere between 15-20 miles. This distance does take me more than the suggested two-and-one-half hours, but it seems to work for me. With this long run distance established, I normally set up my marathon training program with the longest run happening about a week or 10 days before the marathon. I then work back through the marathon training time period and have a run that is a mile shorter for each week leading up to the longest run. I might repeat a long run distance (like 15 miles) for a couple of weeks as the long run day. My training program for this year is about 100 days long and ends with the marathon on June 21st. So, working backwards, today became the first long run training run for this marathon.

I actually did pretty good too and only walked a bit of the uphill section coming back to the ranch. (I certainly do prefer downhill finishes, but it can only happen if I start my run by running uphill!). The geography of the ranch only gives two choices when the run begins!

Monday, March 17, 2014

Route to 66 - End of the Blacktop by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Route to 66 - End of the Blacktop by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Another "end of the road" run. Well, not really, just the end of the blacktop. A lot of melt has taken place during the last couple of days and there was just a bit of snow still on the blacktop portion before it ended. Again, I did do a bit of walking before the turn-around, but I completed the mileage. The run down is always nice. This completes the training for this first (or is it the second) week of training. My legs were very tired after these last two runs and I look forward to a couple of days off to recover.

Route to 66 - Heading Up Higher by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Route to 66 - Heading Up Higher by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

The normal run for my six miler would be to continue up Sherman Road just a bit higher. But the road is very icy and slippery, so I decided to stay on the "reappearing" blacktop. The top of the road was still mostly snow covered and icy, too, but I was walking the last half mile or so, and I could choose my steps carefully. No speed records will be set during these runs! I wonder if I should get credit for more mileage for altitude gains? The GPS doesn't count the height as mileage, but overall, it adds to the training base. So, up and up I go. One day at a time.

If it was easy, everyone would be doing it!

Route to 66 - Three in-a-row by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Route to 66 - Three in-a-row by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Tuesday, March 4, 2014.

Part of training is just doing the work over and over. So it was today with another run up Sherman Road. The snow is beginning to melt and the route up the road was slippery and slow. I'll have to modify my running routes as the road conditions dictate. Ahead we go day by day and one step at a time!

Route to 66 - The Plow Comes Through by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Route to 66 - The Plow Comes Through by dmlipinski at Garmin Connect - Details

Monday, March 3, 2014.

Second run on the route to 66. The snow plow came down Sherman Road just after I started up the hill. Clean plowed, but slippery in spots as a result of the plow getting down to the base ice.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

The Route to 66: The First 1%

Later: Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Back from the run. The black-top was white-topped; it should appear in a few days, perhaps. I think the plow operators have the day/weekend? off. Not any signs of plowing activity to remove the last 3 to 10" from the running route. It was kind of a single track snow trail for my running event as a result. The highway was somewhat easy as long as I didn't run off the edge. Most of the uphill, once off of the main road, was just a three groove vehicle trail. I only went up 1.5 miles, but the travel usage was less and less and the snow deeper as I got to the turn-around. There was not much other activity: a couple of deer, some horses and cattle eating the round bales that had been rolled out for them, otherwise, just a couple of neighbors clearing driveways or bringing out more bales.

I did not see any other runners!

Now on the Route to 66 with the first one percent of the training plan completed.


The Route to 66 : 500 Miles from the Starting Line

Sunday, March 2, 2014.

I just tied on the running shoes.

I could have started yesterday, but with about 6" of new snow to move from the driveway, the morning became snow removal time instead of running time. That was okay! It was windy with some snow still blowing around, but the sun was shining and I was dressed for snow plowing. I thought about running in the afternoon, but by then clouds had returned, some snow was again blowing through the air, and the wind had increased. A second snowshoe walk was done instead.

In any case, the training plan is set. It shows I should start today. Five hundred miles are in the plan on the way to the starting line of Grandma's Marathon. This will be marathon number 42 and Grandma's number 27.

So, the shoes are on! I just turned on the GPS.

A check of the temperature shows it has climbed to 4.6 degrees! No wind is showing on the ranch weather instrument graph, so that is good ... or perhaps the propeller is frozen?

So, out I go!
On the Route to 66!