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How NOT to Taper November 21, 2007

Posted by kimayars Run Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 5comments

How do you spell relief?  I spell it A-D-V-I-L. 

I got up to run with Beth this morning. ”How about five miles?” Beth cheerfully suggests?  “Suuuuure,” I reply. “I’m a little stiff, but I’ll loosen up.”  Wrong.

The morning was gorgeous: clear, cold, and the stars were amazing. It was also great to be back out with Beth.  I could almost say Beth was giddy from finally getting out for a substantial run that didn’t involve a rather large conveyor belt.

At one point I looked at my shadow from a street lamp.  I was a poor shuffling fool.  I just couldn’t lengthen my stride.  I felt a new blister form on my right foot, and I forgot to layer my undergarments and a new raw spot was forming.  This was not going well.

We made it five miles, but at 4.6 miles I turned an ankle, so the last 0.4 was a sort of “power-walk” thing, but I must say my heart wasn’t in it.  I nearly cried just out of frustration.  Everything seemed to be working against me.  Beth was kind enough to stay cheerful and coax me in that last half mile.

At home I continued to feel like crap.  Achy joints, sore muscles, stiff.  It was time to bring out the big guns: ADVIL.  I love Advil.  It’s wonderful.  Four Advil and an eggnog latte  later, I started to feel human as I headed to the barn to ride Ray.  Better living through phramaceuticals, I say.

After arriving at the barn, something happened that completely brightened my day: our instructor showed up, ready to teach a lesson.  Granted, we forgot to schedule the lesson. This meant there were a few moments of frenzied tacking of the horses.  I really enjoy my lessons, so this was a highlight of my day.

See, Advil brings good karma.

My lesson on Ray as fabulous. He started out as freaky “oh-crap-I’m-gonna-die” horse but quickly settled down.  We had some REALLY nice moments where his trot was forward, free, and smooth.  This is in 35 degree weather, which presents a challenge in getting a 1000lb animal warmed up.  Yet Rasyn performed admirably.  I’m starting to get the hang of asking him to check his speed, but not making him feel trapped with the aids.  “Freedom through correctness” is one of my instructor’s favorite sayings.  It works for me too.

So my lessons learned today are:

  1. Don’t run 26 miles in 4 days. This is how not to taper, and frankly my body just can’t handle it without some significant whimpering.
  2. Don’t try and leap over drainage grates in the dark.  You’ll probably miss and your friends will laugh.
  3. Take more Advil. You’ll be happier. Advil = good karma.

My day finished off with the great news that Sherene is coming to the clinic with me on Saturday.  It’s SO much easier to do a horsey road trip with a friend.  Then you have someone to look at in horror as things spiral out of control.  :-)

So, I’m taking the next two days off. I think my body needs it.  Either that or I need to start buying Advil in bulk.  It will be all about turkey and family.  I can’t wait!

Workout:

Treadmill Love November 20, 2007

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I’ve never been a big treadmill fan, but running with Sherene always makes it enjoyable. Maybe misery loves company?

 I had only 45 minutes, so I decided to see how far I could go in that time.  I ran the 1st mile at 6.0 mph, the second mile at 6.2 mph, the third mile at 6.4 mph, the fourth mile at 6.6 mph, and then kept cranking the treadmill up until I hit 7.2 mph.

When I run, it usually takes me a little time to get warmed up, then I hit a rhythm. After about 4 or 5 miles, I start to lose my rhythm and then it becomes a battle of pure will.  Today I lost that rhythm at about 3 miles.  It makes a little concerned, but also makes me a bit more confident that I can push through those difficult runs.

And Sherene is doing amazing!!  She is conistently running 5 miles now.  If I can just convince her to do the 5k Jingle Bell run…

Workout:

Ooops! I forgot about that… November 20, 2007

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I totally forgot that I had EZ8 class tonight.  It’s not normally our class night, but because of the holiday we moved tomorrow’s class to tonight.  The result? My total mileage for the day nearly hit 10 miles.  I’m a little stiff right now, and enjoying the warmth of the laptop on my thighs a liiiiiiitle too much.

We ran/walked on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail which is REALLY dark.  And there are an obscene about of bunnies on the trail at night.  I guess better bunnies than cougars. Or bears. Or rather large bull elk.  But we had a great time.

Ugh, I’m so stiff.

Tomorrow Beth and I are going to run for hopefully 5 miles in the morning.  Lord help me.

Workout:

EZ8 Torture… November 19, 2007

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Tonight was EZ8 night. We met at Centennial Fields and did the following:

Kimbrough also threw in 42 push-ups and 42 dips to celebrate her 42nd birthday.  I’m so glad she’s not 75!

I also got to ride Rasyn this morning which was just so much fun.  He had another week off but acted just as if I had ridden him yesterday.  It was really nice to take my time with him!  Hopefully he’ll be as good at the clinic on Saturday!

Workout:

A valiant effort - 9 miles November 18, 2007

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Beth and I set out to do our long run today (12 miles) but it was not meant to be.  We both didn’t dress warm enough, and even with running we both got chilled very quickly.  We also probably overestimated Beth’s recovery from her illness previously in the week.  About mile 5 Beth started not feeling so well, so we took it as a sign that we should take it a little easy.  We walked/jogged the rest of the way back.

One of the highlights of our run was the two elk herds that crossed our path.  We actually had to stop because it became clear that one of the bull elks was not going to let us by until the rest of the herd was out of the way.  Each herd was probably about 20 elk.  Pretty amazing!

Workout: