Shut-In - Greenhouse to 151

The WORKOUT:
Run 2hrs 40mins on Shut-In Trail

Sunday, I met John and Adam for a final long run on Shut-In. I got an early start and dropped 5 small water bottles w/ Accelerade (Walnut Cove Overlook, Chestnut Cove Overlook, Bent Creek Gap, Stony Bald Overlook and Mills River Valley Overlook). I met them at the top at the intersection of HWY 151, left my truck and rode down to the start with them. We were late getting out of the gates but finally got running around 11:20 AM. I thought it was a bit curious that Adam carried only a single water bottle for the potentially 3 hr run. I shortly found out he was training for his first Shut-In and was somewhat new to the long distance scene. We kept a moderate pace for the first few miles and started to get a little strung out. After a quick conference, we decided we'd just meet back up at Bent Creek Gap which is roughly the half-way point. I worked hard at staying disciplined and keeping my heart rate where I'd planned and hit Bent Creek Road about a minute ahead of John. After stretching a minute or two, we jogged back down the trail for 4 minutes before collecting Adam. He seemed to be in good spirits so we cruised on back to the Gap. Here I noticed that Adam was out of water. After a quick break, we continued up over Ferin's knob. John and I quickly separated ourselves from Adam. I controlled the pace at an easy jog to a brisk hike in the really steep sections and John stayed right on my heels. I started to get the impression he wanted to get by but at the top I got away again on the downhill. I waited about a minute for him again at Beaver Dam Gap but he'd stay with me for the balance of the run (even when I'd try to drop him). I started to question whether he'd best me this year. It'll be fun to find out! Somewhere around Stony Bald I was thinking hard about Adam's water situation but by that point my own hydration planning was about perfect and I hadn't had any extra. When I hit my next water drop at Mills River Valley Overlook parking lot I knew I was getting a bit dehydrated but that Adam would be in much worse shape after having no water for 5+ miles on these hills. I decided to leave that water bottle in the middle of the trail hoping he'd recognize it was for him. On the leg between Mills River Valley Overlook and 151, I showed John where the bear incident went down a few days ago. It was cool to see the area in daylight with no fog and to realize I was only about 300 yds from the finish of that leg when I turned back to avoid the bear. Apparently I got in a longer run on Wednesday than I originally thought by about 2 miles. Up at 151, John and I cooled down, got a bite to eat and drained another water bottle each. After about 15 minutes I decided to go back down and look for Adam. I took my phone and left John the keys with plans that if I made it to the next parking lot, I'd call and have him drive my truck down there. We'd hopscotch down the trail in that fashion until we found Adam. I grabbed an extra Gu pack and filled up a big water bottle in case he'd bonked and started back down the trail. To my relief, not too far from the top I ran into Adam jogging up the trail. He reported to be in good spirits, thanked me for leaving behind a water bottle and chugged on up to the truck. While the run took much longer than any of our families would have probably liked, it was a great day. I felt I had enough in the tank to finish the last two miles up to Mt. Pisgah parking lot but was grateful I didn't have to find out for sure :o).

Barefoot Drills

The Workout:
1 mile jog
30 minutes running drills
1 mile jog

Today over lunch I set out for a recovery run from Wednesdays S.I. trail workout. I originally wanted to run an easy 3 miles and do a long stretch session but I discovered I had left my insoles in another pair of shoes at home. With no insoles, I put on my road shoes and tip toed down to Memorial Stadium. The field there is a nice bouncy rubberized artificial turf. When I got there it started sprinkling and I couldn't resist taking off my shoes and doing some running drills. After a good stretch and warm-up I ran through some typical soccer conditioning drills around the field including two sets of full field suicides. It felt awesome to be out in the rain. With nothing on but a pair of running shorts I got that good ole running light, fast and free feeling that I rarely experience any more when plodding along with a pack in an AR style workout. I will probably pay for going so fast this weekend in my long run but it was worth it.

Da Bears... A.K.A. The end of night running on the Shut-In Trail

The Workout:
Ride from Pisgah Inn to Big Ridge Overlook (BR Parkway) - 5.5 miles
Run back to Inn

I hit the trail around 9 PM last night. The fog was dense and the laurel tunnels tight. While working around the crown of a downed tree I met a black bear coming through from the other side. We were both equally surprised to see one another. After a brief negotiation (I yelled some gibberish while backpedaling, he growled while taking a few bounds up the hill) I conceded to not run on his trail between the hours of 9 PM and 7 AM and he agreed not to whip me for startling him. I booked it back down the way I’d come, to Mills River Valley Overlook, and proceeded up to the intersection of Hwy 151 via the Parkway. The last 2 miles of Shut-In contain far and away the steepest an most sustained climbs of the trail. I worked up this section trying to establish a baseline for how long it might take on race day. I hiked a lot and ran when it made sense. The breakdown looked like this:


0 minutes - 7.5 minutes = Hiking
7.5 minutes - 11.5 minutes = Running
11.5 minutes - 14.5 minutes = Hiking
14.5 minutes - 17 minutes = Running
17 minutes - 28.25 minutes = Hiking (tough!)
28.25 minutes - 30.5 minutes = Running
30.5 minutes - 36 minutes = Scrambling/Running down technical trail

So 36 minutes is the longest it should take me to finish that section of trail. If I am to run my goal of sub 3:30, then I need to get to HWY 151 in under 2 hours and 50 minutes to be safe.

At the top I ran about an 8 min/mile pace back to the Pisgah Inn and my truck. I should note that I will likely go faster on race day since I had an extra 8 lbs of pack w/ rain gear and an extra headlamp.

3 mile recovery run & long stretch session

THE WORKOUT:
Jog 1.5 miles
Long Stretch
Jog 1.5 miles

Today I jogged down through Montford to a little park, had a nice long stretch and jogged back. Everything feels pretty good considering this past weekends long run. My chest is pretty sore but that's to be expected since I've been hitting up the "Perfect Pushup" thingies Jason and Lisa got for my birthday. AM/PM Yoga (when I make time to do it) has really improved my flexibility and will hopefully help stave off any injuries by keeping me limber.

Ran first 2/3 of Shut-In Trail

THE WORKOUT:
Biked from Stony Bald to Hard Times Parking Lot
Ran w/ Pack from HT PL to HT aid station area
Ran to Stony Bald

Sunday I hit it pretty early getting to Stony Bald parking lot on the BR Parkway around 6:00 AM. I stowed 4 water bottles in my backpack and got all bundled up for the cold ride down the mountain. I hid 3 of the bottles in the woods at Bent Creek Gap, Chestnut Cove Overlook and Walnut Cove Overlook respectively. A highlight of the ride was descending down into a lake of fog that accumulated below 2400', hiding the valley floor.

The Arboretum was still locked up but I rode around the main gate and in to Hard Times parking lot. There, I thankfully used the porta-john, locked up my bike and changed into light running garb. It was cold but I knew I'd warm up fast going up the mountain. It was just barely getting light when I started running but I still took a headlamp for the first bit. When I hit the outer boundary of the Arboretum I ran into the surrounding 15' high chain link fence with a locked gate. You're technically not supposed to be in there before daylight. Mid way into sizing up the task of scaling the fence, I heard the rumble of an automobile engine coming up the FS road behind me. I dashed off into the woods and hid behind a tree barely in time to escape view of the forest ranger in his truck. Luckily, he was just there to unlock the gate and left. What great timing!

I stopped and stretched a bit at the intersection of Owl Branch Trail and once again to stash my backpack and headlamp in the woods up at the Hard Times terminus. The rest of the run went well. I kept my heart rate in check fairly well when I thought about it (excluding steep inclines), ate about every 30-45 minutes and took a mouthful of liquid every 8-10 minutes. While I didn't necessarily burn up the course, I did sustain a good pace without need to rest and had gas left in the tank when I finished the 12.3 mile run. I think I'll shoot for 14-15 next week.

Only 3 weeks to go until Shut-In!

Lunch Run - Trail Efficiency

THE WORKOUT:
Run to UNCA Fitness Trail (added several hills en route)
Run 4 extended laps
Run back to work

I was torn about what to do today in lieu of actual Shut-In time. Bethany has to work a homecoming football game and won't be back until late. Since I'm doing 12 on the trail Sunday and I'm just coming off of a hill day I decided to just spend some time on trails getting my brain back in the groove of running efficiently through a sea of roots and rocks. I sort of made this one up as I went and originally intended to do 5 laps but ran out of time. It was a good workout. I have been paying close attention to my left knee to see if the big increase in running specific mileage is going to cause any problems. Everything seems OK so far. The key words for this weekend are LSD and UTM, "Long Slow Distance" and "Up the Mountain". Hopefully I can get some shut eye tonight!

Light Run, Yoga & Stretch

THE WORKOUT:
Easy jog to Memorial Stadium
Take a couple of laps bare foot on the turf
Roll through some Yoga and long stretching
Take a couple more laps (at speed)
Put on shoes and jog back to work via Charlotte Street

Today over lunch I needed a place to go stretch. Once I got going I felt great and did a little more than I set out to do but I still feel pretty fresh. Fall has struck Asheville in full force and the cool crisp air and blue skies is wonderful. I had the whole stadium to myself while running and stretching which made it easy to really focus. The run back was slow because I kept thinking ahead to tomorrow's trail run.

Shut-In day replacement - City Hills

THE WORKOUT:

5.42 miles
5 Hill repeats on Trade Street

Bethany had the hall pass for the evening so I wouldn't be able to do my first focused Shut-In training run. Instead, I opted to do a first hill workout in town. The loop took me through South Montford to River road and then South to the hookup steps and up and around to Trade Street. There I did five loops up Trade St. and down Haywood St. Trade is pretty steep and just long enough to give a good quad-buster workout. I finished up by jogging back up the steps and into town.

It was no Shut-In, but sometimes you just have to be flexible. ;o)

Quick Lunch Run - 20 mins

THE WORKOUT:
20 minute run - med/high intensity

Today over lunch I ran down to the French Broad the back way through South Montford. From there, I took River road to the South Side of Smokey Park Bridge and took the sneak up the sketchy steps to the interstate. I was chucklin to myself about how Ben and I ran up on a dude getting a B.J. in his car by those steps about a year ago. Sure enough, there was a Jeep Cherokee parked up under the trees blocking the road so I had to pretty much right by the driver's side window. This time a dude had his face buried into the passengers chest. I sprinted up the steps trying to act like I hadn't noticed anything. Surely there must be a more discrete location to park one's car in all of Asheville for a little nookie. The run lasted 20 minutes and was kept to an average of 7:20 min/mile pace. Afterwards I stretched and did a little upperbody work (push-ups, crunches, plank)

Sunday Brick - Bent Creek

THE WORKOUT:

Ride to Bent Creek (45 min)
10 minute transition (Hide bike in woods and change)
Run Rice Pinnacle FR w/ Pack (45 min)
10 minute transition (retrieve bike and change)
Ride Home (45 min)

This morning I left home at 4:30 and rode to Bent Creek. The trip was faster than usual after having put slicks on my mtn bike. Once there, I transitioned to running/trekking and hid my bike in the woods. I kept the run around Rice Pinnacle at a moderate pace and felt solid. The ride back home fell pretty quickly and my SPOT Messenger worked well once out of the woods. I feel like I'm fully recovered from UTVA and ready to throw down for Shut-In. I've set a goal of dropping down to 154 to help get up the mountains a little easier.

5 mile jog w/ pack (Cemetery)

The Workout:
trek/jog 5 miles w/ pack.

Today I jogged down to the Montford graveyard and ran/trekked around there for ~30 minutes. I quickly walked the steep up/down hills and jogged the rest probably between and 8.5 and 9 minute mile pace.

Yoga, Sisyphus and Upperbody at Gym

The Workout:
AM Yoga
30 min upperbody at gym
30 Sisyphus

Yesterday, I woke up and did AM Yoga for the first time. It was tough getting in some of the stretching poses but felt great and seemed to give me a boost of energy throughout the morning. Later at the gym I did my usual upper body routine and then 30 minutes of Sisyphus.

On the Sisyphus, I started out at 4 mph, an incline of 12, my backpack full of water and clothing and a 20lb dumbbell . With very little warm up I pretty much blew up after 10 minutes. At that point I set down the dumbbell and throttled the treadmill back to 3.5 mph. After a minute or two I edged it up to 3.8mph. For the last 5 minutes I was feeling pretty good, picked up the dumbbell and cruised back up to 4mph. It was a good finish but I learned that my body doesn't respond well to being thrown right in the fire without a gradual warm-up and effort increase.

50 mins cardio

The Workout:
50 minutes of jogging
100 push-ups
100 sit-ups

Monday night I went jogging down Deaver View and around West Asheville. The drama was a plenty with tons of people out on the street partying and police everywhere. It made the workout entertaining.

4 hrs multi-sport (Tour de Edisto)

The Workout:
4 hrs total
Mtn Biking
Running w/ pack
Canoe carry and paddle

Saturday AM I got in a killer AR style workout. It turns out that Brooks had all the equipment I'd ever need on hand.

I threw on my headlamp, set out at 5am on a mountain bike and rode the 3 miles into town. From there, I circumnavigated the town of Edisto for another 8 miles, locked the bike up at the State Park and did an out and back run of 20 minutes on the beach. Next I headed back inland and rode 5 miles of sandy flat single track on forested hiking trails out to one of the oldest and largest oyster shell mound sites in the state. I had planned to run more here but when I stopped I was annihilated by a swarm of mosquitoes. RUN AWAY!

I got back to Brooks's parent's house right at the 2 hr mark, quickly lashed a life jacket and bail bucket to the back of my pack, hoisted a 16' canoe up onto my shoulders, picked up a paddle with my foot and trekked/jogged the 1/2 mile to the boat dock. The dock sits along a tidewater canal that is about a mile as a fish swims from the ocean inlet. The night before, I looked up the tide schedule and timed my arrival to the water an hour and a half before high tide. This accomplished three things. 1) there was plenty of water to not worry about getting stuck on sand bars in the small canal 2) The water flow wouldn't be too much to paddle against on the way out to the ocean and 3) it was just enough to give me a boost on my way back to the dock from the ocean.

Once on the water, it definitely took me 10-15 minutes to get back into the swing of paddling a canoe solo. It just felt awkward at first but eventually I got settled into a rhythm of 10 strokes on one side and 10 on the other. My plan was to paddle the canoe out into the open ocean a ways and head down along the beach before turning around to get in a good hour on the water. The ocean inlet was about 40 yards wide at its mouth and there were 3-4 foot waves breaking on the beach on each side and traveling down the middle into the canal eventually to peter out after 100 yards or so. Beyond the breakers, the ocean was rolling but looked manageable so I decided to go for it.

There were a half dozen surfers sitting on the water waiting for a good set. As the waves approached, the front of my boat would ride right up over them no problem. The further out the inlet mouth I got, the bigger the waves became. I paddled hard to keep up my speed as I rode up the face of each wave. It was exhilarating right up until I spotted a set of 6 footers on the horizon. I looked back over my shoulder and sized up the task of getting from the ocean back into the inlet. This is when I had my "Tom Hanks Castaway Moment". With no flotation to speak of in the canoe, if I gained too much water, I didn't know if I'd be able to keep the canoe straight and therefor upright while surfing it back in. Not having enough time to turn around before the first of these larger waves got to me, I dug in and hauled it up the face. It broke a good 6 inches over the front of the canoe, totally drenching me and depositing about an inch of water in the boat. I knew I was in trouble and immediately went into emergency overdrive. As soon as I crested this wave, I started throwing wide forward sweep strokes as hard as I could to try and get turned around before the next wave. This wasn't working that well so I switched to reverse sweep strokes on the other side. Throwing everything into it I had, I finished the 180 degree turn just in time for my stern to start riding up the face of the next wave. This is where the ish got crazy. The wave picked me up and started surfing me forward as it broke. The canoe had a 1" keel along its bottom to help it track straight. As I picked up speed and that keel started digging into the front of the trough the wave I was turned completely sideways in front of a 2' wall of churning water. As the keel under the boat dug in to the green water below perpendicularly to my direction of travel, it made the boat want to roll sideways and over. What happened next wasn't pretty but saved my butt. I threw myself forward and lay on the high side (wave side) gunwale and held a low brace with my paddle. I was carried like this for ~30 yards. When that wave petered out, I jumped back into the seat, straightened the canoe and paddled hard back towards the mouth of the inlet. The next wave caught me and performed a similar action. I was now up to about 2 inches of water in the canoe. By the time the third wave caught me I had managed to surf/paddle far enough into the inlet that it carried me over and deposited me onto the right hand beach. I jumped out, dragged the boat up a little ways and emptied the water. I sat there for a few minutes catching my breath and just fully appreciating how lucky I had been. I would have been fine if I'd flipped but I have no idea how hard it would be to get a capsized canoe out of the ocean. As I pondered, I barely noticed the highly amused surfers and beach combers who watched the whole thing.

After emptying the sea water out of my pack, I dragged the boat down the inlet shore to the calmer waters of the canal and headed back to the dock fairly uneventfully. Fortunately, I had the foresight to put most of my extra clothing, batteries, cell phone and other miscellaneous supplies in zip lock freezer and sandwich bags. After 8 minutes transitioning at the dock back into dry clothing and shoes I had been moving for a total of 3 hours. I loaded up my pack with everything except the bucket and ran around the community for another 50 minutes weaving in and out palm trees and marsh. With 10 minutes left to go I arrived back at the boat and began the carry back to the house. I reached the 4 hr mark just as I set down the canoe on the side of the driveway.

I walked into a house full of people ready to go play at the beach so I quickly cleaned up and we headed out for a day of fun playing in the ocean and in the sand. I was able to maintain a decent amount of energy until just after dinner when I finally succumbed to a nap on a comfy couch. It was a day I will remember for a long time.

45 min jog, sit-ups, push-ups

45 minute jog
100 push-ups
100 sit-ups

1 hr cardio

The Workout:

1 hr cardio

Last night, I started my cardio from home by running clockwise around my neighborhood ending up down at the baseball fields. Over the next 40 minutes I proceeded to work my way around each diamond and the basketball courts doing various exercises. Jogging, push-ups, sit-ups, back crab walking, forward dog walking, pull-ups, hill trekking, karaoke, side to sides and running backwards were all in the mix to name a few. My goal was to keep moving and keep my heart rate up for a whole hour. With 5 minutes to go, I headed back home making it to my 2nd driveway right at an hour. My heart rate was 152 immediately after I stopped and it dropped to a satisfactory 110 bpm a few minutes of walking later.

travel push-ups

The Workout:

100 pushups in sets of 34,33,33

While waiting around in airports to come home from AK, I busted out 100 push-ups over a period of a few hours

Arctic Valley 10 mile run

The Workout: Ran 10 miles duration, 1hr 30min 70 push-ups 100 sit-ups Today, John took Jason and I on a run from Ft. Richardson Army base up to the Arctic Valley ski lodge parking lot. It was a fairly sustained climb up ~2500 vertical feet to the halfway mark/turnaround. Jason and I both made the distance without stopping. Back at the house, we attempted John's post run regimen of sit-ups and push-ups. This consisted of doing sit-ups continuously as fast as possible for 2 minutes and then slowly proceeding until we reached 100. Next we did the same thing for push-ups only when we got too tired to push-up properly, we dropped to our knees and continued. Once fatigued at this position we would continue on with sets of 5 knee push-ups with small rests in between. Again, the idea was to get to 100 but I crapped out at ~70. Jason powered out the full schedule.

Recovery and upper body

The Workout:

45 minute jog
100 push-ups
100 sit-ups/crunches

Upper body

The Workout:

100 push-ups
100 sit-ups
45 min Yoga
3 x 10 lat pulls in bunk bed

Today, Jason and I took a shift on baby duty together and once the little tykes finally went to sleep, we got in a quick upper body workout and yoga session. It was my first official exposure to Yoga and it was pretty cool. My hamstrings were wobbly for days.

30 minute jog w/ Jason

The Workout:

easy 30 minute jog w/ Jason

The night before our Halibut fishing trip in Seward, Jason and I set out on a half hour jog to get the blood pumping after a full day of travel.

5k run

The Workout:

5k run

Tonight, we arrived in Alaska for a week's vacation. Upon getting to dad's house, John and I ran a 5k. I wore his Garmin 302 GPS training watch. That thing is sweet. We ran around an 8 minute pace on the way out and dropped into the 7:30s on the way back.

3 mi recovery run

The Workout:

Ran 3 miles at easy pace

4hr road/trail ride, 3 hr hike

The Workout:

.5hr road ride to Bent Creek
3 hrs at Bent Creek on trails -
(North Boundary, Greens Lick up-n-down, Little Hickory Gap, Explorer, Pine Tree)
.5 hr road ride home
3 hr hike w/ family Sam's knob (Ellie mostly on shoulders)

Long run w/ pack

The Workout:

7.26 mile jog w/ pack
John Ewing, Montford
1 hr duration

Upperbody & Trekking

The Workout:

1 hr total
Jog to workout trail w/ pack
3 laps N.S. circuit (upper body)
Brisk trek back to work

1 hr cardio workout

The Workout:

1 hr cardio
Jog to workout trail
6 loops limited rep N.S. circuit
Jog back to work

Home - Bent Creek: Explorer MTB

The Workout:
3 hrs biking

I rode to Bent Creek this morning leaving the house at 5:25am. I intended to ride up through the Arboretum along the creek but after getting around the front gates, I ran into a 10' high locked fence all around the inner Arboretum property. It took around 15 minutes to ride around to the other entrance to Hard Times. From there, I did much the same loops that Jason and I did the other night. Homestead to Deerfield to Pine Tree to Explorer loops and back. I didn't kill it but did keep a steady pace. I almost ran over a turtle, copperhead snake and squirrel in that order. When I came off the bike on an obstacle, I tried it again until I got it. After that happening a lot, I finally started getting used to being on trails again. I am still not totally dialed in on the shifting ratios of my new bike but it gets better as I go. On the way out I got shut-down again by closed gates and had to ride out the long way on the road. I made it back home at 8:30 and dished up some eggs and toast for the family.

I wish I could have gone longer but it just wasn't in the cards this weekend time wise.

Gym Cardio Workout

The Workout:

30 mins Sisyphus - 12.5 incline, 15lb pack, 20lb dumbbell, 3.5mph speed
.5 mile cool down on flat treadmill w/ pack
.5 mile run on flat treadmill - 7:30 min/mile pace w/ pack
30 push ups
20 reps on sit-up machine

Company Golf Outing

The Workout:
18 holes,5 hours of Golf

Yesterday, DoctorDirectory took its employees out for a day of golf. We used carts so I was quite surprised to find my even a little legs sore from basically just standing around all day. I used the 35 mile drive there and back as navigation training by using my NC Gazetteer and taking tons of back roads.

Cardio Workout - Gym

The Workout:
1 hr cardio

Eliptical Machine - 10 mins
1 mile run - flat treadmill, 7.5 min/mile pace
Row Machine - 10 mins, level 10
1 mile run - flat treadmill, 7.5 min/mile pace
Stairmaster - 12 mins, hill workout, level 7, (1220 vft climbed)
1 mile run - flat treadmill, 7.5 min/mile pace
30 push-ups

After wading through code after work yesterday I took a break and got in a quick cardio workout. My shoulders are still quite sore from this weekend's sisyphus workout but it felt good to get the blood flowing.

Gym Workout w/ Lonnie

The Workout:
Sisyphus - 30 min, 25lb plate, 12% incline,
                    3.0 mph first 5 min, 3.5 mph next 20 min, 4.0 mph last 5 min.
1 mile run - treadmill, 0 incline, 7.5 min
4 mile run - flat road

This weekend I hit the Shawsville YMCA with Lonnie. While he proceeded to lift ridiculous amounts of weight, I jumped right on the treadmill for a Sisyphus workout with a 25 lb plate. I eased into it going slow for the first 5 min, medium for the middle 20 minutes and fast for the last 5 minutes. When finished, I paused long enough to put up the weight and jumped back on for a 7.5 minute mile. Next, I let the treadmill smart cooldown until I was under 100 bpm heart rate. After checking on Bradley in the library, I filled up my water pack and ran home at a chill but consistent pace. It was all Forest Gumpy running along dragging my left hand in the wheat fields on that 3 mile straight away.

2 mile walk and bike demo

The Workout:
2 mile walk
15 minute Mtn Bike Demo

I got a line on a briefly used bike identical to mine and walked down to the shop during lunch yesterday to check it out. The walk was hot but good. Unfortunately, while the price on the bike was pretty sweet at $1000 and it had only been owned for 6 weeks I thought it had seen too much action to warrant purchasing. The previous owner bought it, rode it a few times and then traded it in for a Downhill bike. If a bike with 5" of travel, front and back, isn't enough for someone, then they are obviously hucking off of some serious stuff. That fact combined with some pretty serious scratches/dents from wrecking, and the shifting not being that great told me everything I needed to walk away. It was a shame but how pissed would J be if I helped him spend a grand on a bike that didn't shift smoothly?

Sick Sucks - Nav Walk

Sick
   Sick
      Sick
         Sick

And I do not like it
not one little bit.

I started noticing a sore throat last Friday and a week later I'm still hacking up lung matter from a nasty little bug that took me out over Memorial Day weekend. This week was fortunately scheduled as a Periodic Recovery week where I was supposed to take it easy. Yesterday, I fought the urge to go to the gym or for a jog and opted to go for a 3 mile walk over lunch instead. I marked 43 points around the Montford area on a GoogleMap. During the walk, I practiced keeping the map oriented and staying found as I walked to the various points.This turned out to be a wonderful exercise. I saw tons of cool houses, landscaping, gardens and scuptures I hadn't noticed running. Even though I was on streets that I've run dozens of times in an area I know well, it was quite mentally challenging staying focused on my task for the entire 50 minutes. Walking 3 miles is silly easy, think-walking 3 miles leaves my brain smoldering and in need of a break. I definitely need to incorperate focus based workouts in the future.

Quick Upperbody

The Workout:
20 min upper body

3 sets of 12:
situps
curls
press ups
dips
lat pulls
military press ups
seated rows
butterflies

Night Ride #2

The Workout:

1.5 hrs mtn biking at night

Gluttons for punishment, Jason and I headed out Sunday night to Bent Creek. We rode the 6.8 mile loop around the lake and out to the northwestern end of Explorer loop. It was a great ride. Jason did very well and got a chance to try out my bike. I felt great on the ride but like poop for the next two days. Time to heal.

Night Ride #1

The Workout:

2.0 hrs Mtn Biking
limited trail nav

Saturday night, Jason and I left our campsite around 10pm and rode the Pilot Cove - Slate Rock Creek trail loop. Total mileage was around 7 miles but quite a bit of the trail was too steep or too technical to ride so we shouldered the bikes and sisyphused it. I would have liked to go longer but it was for the best as I was sick as a dog and ended up loosing my voice by the time we got back to camp. The headlamps worked out great and should be adequate for navigating trails around Richmond this fall.

Lunch Run w/ pack

The Workout:

6.5 mile run w/ pack

Today over lunch, I ran the longer loop down by the South Bridge and up around Richmond Hill to Pearson Bridge. I wore a decently packed backpack and was psyched to finish feeling pretty good. This run taught me that my legs and lungs are in great shape. It is my mind that needs work next.

2hr Mtn Bike Ride - Bent Creek

The Workout:

mtn biking 2hrs

Yesterday I met Paul, Rob, Pete and Jack at Bent Creek for a quick ride after work.

I had suspicions that I'd be in a little better shape than these guys so I hatched a plan to work on my nav skills and map awareness. On my lunch break I printed a topo/trail map of the area and identified around 20 points (trail intersections, saddles, road junctions...etc) that we'd likely hit. I gave each point an orienteering style two letter code and wrote them on the back of the map with a brief description. Lastly, I jotted down the elevation for each point as best as I could determine from the map.

We met at the parking lot on the right just past the Hard Times trail head. I was a few minutes late as I had to run home to pickup my bike shoes but was ready to roll in less than 5 minutes. Before taking off, I jotted down the parking lot elevation from my higear watch. As we rode and passed the various points on my map, I would stop and record their elevation. Since I didn't know where exactly we'd be riding, I really had to stay connected with the map and be looking ahead for the next possible point. This task was quite a bit more difficult than I would have thought. I found it impossible to write anything while riding and on all but the smoothest single track it was hard to read the map. The exercise was definitely worth it and much needed.

The second half of the ride took us West down old Hickory Top and SideHill into territory I hadn't planned on riding. I was actually pretty relieved since it made focusing on riding a lot easier. All in all a great loop.

Gym Cardio Workout - 55 min

The Workout:

55 minutes of cardio
1 mile run - level treadmill, w/ pack, 7:30 min/mile pace
stair climb - 12 min, hill workout w/ pack, lvl=7
1 mile run - level treadmill, w/ pack, 7:30 min/mile pace
row machine - level 9, 10 min w/ pack
20 push-ups - w/ pack, on small balance ball, 10 each hand
1 mile run - level treadmill, w/ pack, 7:30 min/mile pace

I had a good cardio workout in the gym today. With the pack on for the duration, my heart rate stayed in zones 4-5 (174 bpm) on the runs and dropped down into zone 3 (165 ish) for the stairs and row machine. I should really be doing these sessions in zones 1-2 so I can crank it up on my strength and Sisyphus sessions. Hopefully if I continue to use the pack during training, I can reign in my heart quite a bit more.

Tree-Monkey Workout

The Workout:

Saw many branches w/ handsaw
Drag said branches around yard and stack behind shed
Climb up and down remaining 20ft tall tree, 20 times

The seemingly healthy 30' tall pine tree smack in the middle of my back yard died inexplicably this year. It is as if it just forgot to wake up this spring, dropped all its needles and cashed in its chips. While very disappointed, I still turned the removal process into a fun workout. After cutting down, dragging and stacking everything I could tackle without a chainsaw (at a fast pace), I climbed up and down the skeleton of the tree 20 times in a row. I purposely left about 3 inches of the major branches so I could easily work my way up when trimming the smaller stuff. These made for a great jungle gym. The climbing was super easy but I wore my self out doing it over and over again. This was very satisfying and now I'm having second thoughts about removing the rest of the trunk :o).

Max Patch Bald - Saturday Hike

The Workout:
4 mile hike w/ pack
12, 12 and 11 handstand push-ups

This weekend, the family headed up to Max Patch Bald near the Tennessee border. Our last attempt was stifled by sub freezing temperatures and a complete foggy whiteout. This time the cards were in our favor.
This bald was initially cleared to provide pasture land halfway across the mountains from North Carolina to Tennessee. Today it is mowed, grazed and occasionally burned to provide a beautiful 360 degree view of the North and South Pisgah Mountains and of The Great Smoky Mountain National Park system. We left our house (2200'ASL) in 75 degree weather and watched the mercury fall to 55 degrees by the time we got to the summit of the bald (4620'ASL). Once everyone was bundled up, it turned out to be a beautiful day, albeit very windy, with blue skies all around.
We chose the figure 8 route leading us around both short and long loops. The longer loop led us down around the base of the bald through the forest below.
True to form, Ellie was far more interested in finding and stashing acorns in the front pocket of her overhauls than the long range mountain views.

The last highlight from this great hike was me cranking out sets of 12, 12 and 11 handstand push-ups while Bethany fed Noah.

Gym workout - Upper body and Sisyphys

The Workout:
30 min upperbody - 3 sets on machines of: 25 crunches, 20 curls, 20 press-ups (bench), 20 dips, 20 lat pulls, 20 military press-ups, 20 rows, 20 butterflies

30 min Sisyphus - treadmill, incline (15), 25 mins speed (3.0), 5 mins speed (3.5), 15lb medicine ball, 30 second alternation (front, r.side, back, l.side, overhead)

1 mile run - flat treadmill, 7:30min/mile pace

Stretch - 10 mins

Today I hit the upperbody portion aggressively and was finished in around 25 minutes. The first set was too heavy as I had to really reduce the weight on the last set to get out 20 reps on each exercise.

I used a different treadmill this time capable of a steeper incline. I maxed it out but reduced the speed from the 4.0 I used last time to 3.0. That equates to 3 miles/hr or 20 min/mile pace. After the hard upper body workout, it was tough enough to make me think I might not make the full 30 minutes. The biggest problem was the vinyl covered medicine ball getting sweaty making it quite slippery and fairly taxing to hold on to. The middle 10 minutes were the hardest but after 20 minutes I knew I was golden. After 25 minutes I upped the speed to 3.5 miles/hr and finished it out. I then dropped the medicine ball, returned the treadmill incline to flat and set the speed on 8.0 (8 miles/hr or 7:30min/mile pace) Throughout this run, I monitored a slight twinge in my left knee. I decided it wasn't enough to stop and it feels OK now.

After getting some water, I spend about 10 minutes stretching.

This was a tough workout!

Cardio Workout - Gym

The Workout:

45 mins cardio
1 mile on treadmill - no incline, 7:30 min/mile pace
Eliptical Machine - 12 minutes, sustained 114 heart rate
30 decline sit-ups
1 mile on treadmill - no incline, 7:30 min/mile pace

Today I worked out at the gym before work. After a great ride this weekend I was happy to take it easy and keep the heart rate nice and low. After a bit of stretching and a long shower, I was ready for the day.

Newfound Gap Bike Loop

The Workout:
Road ride - 3hrs w/ pack
Run - 20 min w/ pack

I hit the road at 5am this morning and rode a loop around the mountains behind our house, over Newfound Gap. Our house sits at 2200' ASL. The gradual elevation changes during the 34 mile ride were mild and the high point was Newfound Gap at 3000' ASL. Having rained all night until around 4:30am, Hwy 19/23 was very wet for the 13 mile ride into Canton. The spray from my front tire was just the perfect height to hit me in the face at faster speeds so I rode much slower than conditions allowed. Things eventually dried out by the time I got to the Champion paper plant in Canton.From there I got off track a bit as I didn't bring a map but after an extra mile or so, I was on Newfound road heading out into the country. Sunrise was beautiful in the valley fog and there was very little traffic going in my direction. Once over the gap, a fast 12 mile descent let me down into Georgetown. From Georgetown it was a quick jaunt down New Leciester Hwy back home. Once again I realized I need a side view mirror for my helmet when riding in traffic.
Noteworthy experiences were learning where the WNC ice cream van fleet lives, racing frisky horses and being chased by the fastest dog in the world.
Once back home, I switched to running shoes and jogged around our neighborhood for 20 minutes, wrapping up by 8:30am. All in all a fantastic morning.

Cardio Workout - 45 min

The Workout:

1 mile run on treadmill - no incline, speed 6, with backpack
Stair climb - 12 min, level 6, with backpack
1 mile run on treadmill - no incline, speed 6-8, with backpack
Row machine - 10 min, level 7, with backpack
30 push-ups - w/ backpack
1 mile run on treadmill - no incline, speed 6-8, with backpack

After working late to fix server problems last night, I went over to the
gym for a quick cardio workout. I was still a bit sore from Monday's
2fer but it felt good to be doing something. I noticed that my right
shin muscle was sore on the way there and probably should have just
skipped the workout to heal. I will probably pay for that later. I
plan on icing it each night and taking it easy until my ride on Sunday.

Cardio "2-fer"

The Workout:

AM
1 mile run on treadmill - flat, 7:30min/mile pace
stairmaster - hill, 12min, level 7, 1000vft
1 mile run on treadmill - flat, 7:30min/mile pace
row machine - 6 minutes
stretching - 5 min

Lunch
UpperBody Circuit 3 sets, 15 reps
curls
bench press
crunches
butterfly chest
seated rows
military press
lat pulls
dips
arm circles - side, front, top
Cardio
Sisyphus - 30 min, max incline (12), 15lb medicine ball

After being sore yesterday I cut my morning workout to ~ 45min this morning. At lunch I hit the gym again and did an upper body workout on exercise machines. I used a weight and pace that allowed me to get through the whole workout with not much left on the table. After some arm circles, I could barely hold my arms straight out from my sides. Next came an awesome Sisyphus workout. I upped the ante and traded the 8lb medicine ball for a 15 pounder. My intention was to do 10 minutes at max elevation and a brisk walk. Last time, I moved the ball every 15 seconds but this time I decided to move it every 30 seconds. Held out in front, to the right, behind back, to the left, over head round and round it went. As the 10 minutes drew near, I set my sites on the 20 minute mark. It was deliciously hard but still manageable and I was sweating bullets. Once again my mark came and went and I resolved to try and hit 30 minutes. With 5 minutes to go and still feeling strong I increased the speed setting from 3.5 to 4.0. It's hard to tell what those settings actually translate to in the real world but all I can say for sure is that 3.5 is a sustainable speed and 4.0 sends me over my aerobic threshold and gets harder and harder to maintain. At the end of the half hour, I flattened the treadmill and jogged for a half mile to cool down.

I may pay for that the next few days but right now I have this extremely sharp, crisp, clear cleansed feeling right now. Probably endorphins but I feel like I worked all of the soreness out of my legs and got a great upper body workout in to boot.

Camp Grimes O-Meet

The Workout:
2.5 hrs orienteering w/ 15 lb pack

Saturday I cruised up to the Camp Grimes Mecklenburg Scout Reservation just south of Marion, NC for my first Orienteering meet. The details of that excursion will be on my AR blog. I kept to a brisk walk or slow jog pretty continuously for the duration of both courses with a brief intermission while I copied down the controls from the second master map.

I knew I was tired at the end but it really didn't catch up to me until Sunday afternoon. The family and I went out to Fletcher Park for a picnic and walk. When Ellie (from up on my shoulders) asked me to run fast, I had no motivation to do so which is very rare for me. I could tell by a quick jog over to the restrooms that my legs were trashed. Later, I succumbed to a 2 hour nap.

Note to self: Be sure to eat and drink enough or you will bonk.

Cardio Workout - Sisyphus

The Workout:
[50 min cardio in gym]

1 mile run - flat treadmill, 7:30min/mile pace
Stairmaster - 12 min, hill workout, level 6
Rowing machine - 10 min, level 9
Judo push-ups - 20
Sisyphus - 8min, 4mph, level 10 incline, w/ 8lb medicine ball
Exercise bike - 5 min, little resistance

After 8 days with no exercise to speak of, I have been unbelievably antsy to get back in the rhythm of working out regularly and simultaneously too tired and committed to really do anything about it. As it turns out, the time off was actually a great step towards staving off overuse injuries and burnout. Any minor aches I was having in my legs, back, shoulders seem to have all gone away.

I came into town early this morning to get in a quick cardio workout before work. It was my fairly standard regimen with the new addition of the "Sisyphus", an exercise described in a race report that Jason discovered a few weeks ago by UltraBambi.

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was sentenced to push a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down again for all eternity. The idea is to quickly walk on a treadmill set on its steepest incline, carrying plates (ranging from 25 to 45 lbs) in alternating hands, then directly overhead. I was somewhat skeptical about the effectiveness of such a workout but decided to give it a go. I cranked up the treadmill to a brisk 4mph (15min/mile pace) and a steep incline. Grabbing a handy 8lb medicine ball I hopped on and started hiking. Every 15 seconds I would hold the medicine ball in a different position; behind my back, over my head, to each side and out in front. 8 minutes and a half mile later, my heart was pounding in my chest and I was doing all I could to keep up the pace and avoid slipping off the back of the treadmill. When I stepped off, I felt light headed and negotiated not passing out by squeezing my abdominals like a fighter pilot dealing w/ heavy G-forces. Whew! What a great addition. That was good on many levels. 1) It is low impact so could be done often without worry of injury, 2) it really cranks up the heart, 3) it works the chest, arms, back and shoulders and 4) It brings the core muscles and body balance into play.

I believe that Trekking is my weakest link when compared to biking, boating and running. Sisyphus could be the answer so I'm going to make it a permanent addition to my cardio workouts in the gym.

Hospital Workout 2

The Workout:
fartlek - 1hr

I was feeling pretty good again last night and went out for another fartlek style workout. This time, I took 5 laps around the hospital campus. In the first lap, I identified several interesting areas and made up some basic drills or exercises to do there. On each successive lap, I would change the exercise a bit to keep them interesting. Once again, I treked (briskly walked) up and down the stairs and steep stuff and jogged between exercise areas without rest.

View From Our Room

1. At the dip bar, I would traverse back and forth 3 times in the dead hang position, scramble myself up to a dip position and walk across and back and then finish up with some sort of both feet & both hands monkey hang traverse.

2. At a 10 degree pitched grassy hill I would crab walk up it feet first, turn around and dog walk down on all fours, hands first. On the way up, I had to rely on my hamstrings to pull me up the hill and my arms, shoulders, stomach and back to support most of my weight. On the way back down, my triceps, shoulders and pecs did most of the work. (This is a suprisingly effective workout for butt, hamstrings, shoulders, pectorals, triceps, stomach and back!)
3. In a long empty parking garage, I jogged down on the line of concrete car stops, hopping from one to the next working on balance and focus. It became more difficult to maintain balance on the last two or so laps as I got tired and started to lose focus.

Another fun workout for the books. It really reminded me of being in highschool and running around Yellow Springs at night as I discovered tons of cool little nooks and crannies of the hospital grounds. We're headed home today if Bethany's doctor will ever show up to clear her so I won't be out again tonight. I have however rediscovered the benefits of having unstructured exercise from time to time. As long as I keep to an underlying theme like "1hr of continuous low level cardio", it can be quite an effective workout and more importantly it does a lot to keep things fresh and stave off workout burnout.

Hospital Workout 1

The Workout: fartlek with pack - 1hr

Last night, Noah Andrew Hagberg was born at 11:02pm (4/22). He is a beautiful little man beast, weighing in at 10lbs 3oz. Bethany and I had a fairly sleepless night getting him squared away and her recovered. Lucky for us, he slept a solid 5 hrs in the morning that let us get in some ZZZs. We all napped intermittently throughout the day and by nightfall, I was feeling pretty good albeit antsy from having been stuck in a hospital room for almost 24 hours. Around 9pm, Bethany and Noah were doing well and the nursing staff was great so I decided to get in a quick workout. I loaded up my AR pack, threw on a water belt fannie pack, donned my headlamp and hit the streets. Not wanting to stray too far in case I was needed, I turned the hospital campus and surrounding hills into a workout heaven. I basically just ran all over the place. Up and down stairwells and grassy hills, through parking garages, ducking in and out of the landscaping, over fences, under gates and so on. At one point I found what I thought would turn out to be a full exercise trail. There was what looked like a dip bar setup behind a large retaining wall. The only difference was it was about 8' tall and maybe 15' long. I could both hang from it as well as do dips and hand walks across it. After 40 minutes of this type of random play, I took a trek up the back side of Beaucatcher mtn to the radio tower and back on city streets and a gravel road. The final trek is the only place I used my headlamp as I wasn't interested in getting noticed by Hospital security. I kept my pace to an easy jog anywhere from moderate downhill to moderate uphill. Any stairs or steep stuff, I kept a brisk walk to develop my trekking muscles. The trekking (walking) proved to be just as tough as anything else after a while since my leg muscles have basically been built by a running form. My overall goals were to get in an all around good cardio workout, keep my heart rate low, keep moving for the whole hour and to have fun with some unstructured exercise. The whole workout was interesting and "fresh". 

I got back to our room to find an exhausted mom holding a fussy baby. Who can blame young Noah for feeling out of sorts; his whole world just got exponentially bigger and a lot more hi-def all at once.  After a shotgun shower and change, I took the night shift so Bethany could get some shut-eye. I must admit it was hard keeping my eyes open as I slow danced Noah around the dimly lit room. He finally settled down and I took a peek to confirm he was knocked out only to find his twinkling little eyes looking back up at me. Total heart melt.  I sat down on the couch with him propped up on my knees and we quietly checked each other out for about 15 minutes before he drifted off to sleep. That was just incredible.

14 mile spin and new book

The Workout:
14 mile road bike - Zone 2

Today I took an hour and a half during Ellie's nap today to head out for a road ride. It was in the low sixties and quite comfortable. I rode the two miles down to the French Broad river velodrome at a moderate pace. Once there I tossed the bike on my shoulder and ran the stairs. On the other side, I stretched for a few minutes and then pulled out into the empty track. The first mile, I altnerated laps both legs, left leg only, both legs, right leg only to work on spinning efficiency and full stroke strength on each leg. After that, I rode normally except for doing those alternating leg drill miles every third mile for a total of 10 miles on the track. At the end, I ran the ramps over the track with bike on shoulder for practice. I wanted to keep riding but zipped home knowing that Bethany could drop baby any day now.

Later at the park between us flying kites and playing with tadpoles, I busted out some handstands.

notes:
I rode with an mp3 player today. I have put this off until now so I could maintain focus but it was a nice addition and I still felt focused during the track session.

Bethany got me a book "Going Long" on Ironman distance Triathlons thinking that I could pull some useful techniques and workouts and apply them to our 30 hr AR in September. I am only two chapters in and have already found a lot of useful information. I think it will be a valuable tool in my informational arsenal and who knows... maybe one day I will attempt to bite off an Ironman.

Devil's Courthouse

The workout:
40 minute hike

Hopefully our last hike as a threesome.

Two years ago, when Bethany was 10 days overdue with Ellie, we took a jaunt down to Devil's Courthouse. It is a large cliff overlooking the South Carolina flatlands that is accessible via a short but steep 20 minute hike from a southern Blue Ridge Parkway pull off. The idea was that the would cause Bethany to go into labor. Nothing happened on the labor front but we did have a great hike and got a classic sillouette picture of Bethany's belly in front of the setting sun.

Bethany's is due to have Noah tomorrow so I took the afternoon off and we decided to make the hike a tradition. This time Ellie came with us and I was impressed as both ladies hiked to the top with style.

45 min gym cardio workout

The Workout:
45 minute cardio workout

1 mile run - treadmill, level, 7:45 min
1,000 ft climb - stair master, level 7
1 mile run - treadmill, level, 7:45 min
Row machine - level 8, 10 min
50 decline sit ups
1 mile run - treadmill, level, 7:45 min

I was a bit tentative after my weekend excursion but after 3 solid days of resting, I was ready to get in a lunch workout. I made a deal with myself to take 1 week off from running every time my ITB feels like it might be acting up and it felt a little stiff on Friday. The loophole in this little agreement is that running on an impact dampened treadmill with moderate speeds, no incline and for short distances doesn't count against me. It is a beautiful day today with blue skies @ 77 degrees but honoring that agreement, I headed for the Gym. Fortunately I had the place to myself. On the treadmill, I could watch myself run from the side and try out little postural tweaks. While not perfect, my running form seems fairly clean. I felt like I could run a 7:45 pace all day. The stair master is getting noticeably easier. The row machine felt good but I'm not pushing that hard. It felt weird to wrap things up after only 45 minutes but was decent for a designated light day.

Mt. Pisgah ride & hike

The Workout:
bike 40 miles
hike 3 miles
total duration( 5hrs 45min)

This morning I woke at 4:15 am to start phase II of my Mt. Pisgah project. I downed my usual regimen of oatmeal and a banana and hit the road on my bike. Once again, I had a relaxed 8 mile warm-up to the B.R. Parkway. It was a moonless morning and quite dark which made for the perfect opportunity to test out my new head lamp. Temperatures were in the mid 40s so the double tights, double gloves, Marmot rain shell and balaclava really paid off.

I read a quote from Ian Adamson somewhere about how much weight to carry that was along the lines of "In adventure racing, if you are not hungry, then you are eating too much. If you are not thirsty, then you are drinking too much and if you are not cold, then you are wearing too many clothes." This is a bit extreme but I understand the intent. I take it too mean that you should only have enough food, water and clothing to exist just on the uncomfortable side of things. When training, I allow myself to get on the heavy side of things with my food/water supplies but I try to be militant about the temperature issue. Allowing oneself to get too warm in cooler weather can lead to a fast table turning towards extreme cold and possibly hypothermia. Excess sweating not only dehydrates you, but wet clothes suck at insulating you from the cold. Sure you may be hot on a climb, but as soon as you start descending, you stop generating body heat from pedaling and you can get cold dangerously fast.

Keeping that in mind, I stopped just shy of the Parkway on-ramp (2100') at the entrance to the NC Arboretum to reconfigure for the 16 mile climb that lay ahead. I stripped down to a single pair of fingerless gloves, long sleeve under armor shirt, bike shorts and folded up my tights exposing my calves. I hurried to get back on the bike as I felt my body heat escaping into the cold air around me. A few minutes into the climb, I warmed up to almost comfortable and only the tips of my smaller fingers were complaining. The air temperature continued to drop as I climbed but fortunately the road was steep enough to keep from getting too cold. Around 10 miles into the climb, the sky began to lighten and after 14 miles the sun finally peeked its head over the mountains to the East. I stopped to take a few pictures at Mills River Gap overlook (4032') and then again after Big Ridge Valley overlook(4210') to snap some shots of Mt. Pisgah. I was very impressed by how quickly I got cold just by stopping for a minute or two, taking off a glove and taking 4 or 5 pictures. I often get a little dramatic on my little adventures but it made me think about mountaineers on Everest who end up loosing all the fingers on one hand from having momentarily taken off a glove and snapping a picture on the Summit.

Back in the saddle for another 45 minutes and I was through Buck Spring Tunnel just before Mt. Pisgah parking lot. Just past the tunnel, I carried my bike into the woods 50yds or so and hid and locked it in the middle of a huge Rhododendron bush. After a quick duke (booyow for thinking to bring a bit of t.p.), I changed into my trail shoes and hiked up the ridge to Pisgah trail. 25 minutes of hiking/jogging later I was standing on top of Mt. Pisgah (5685') on a large wooden platform just below the WLOS television tower. Time to summit from my front door was 3 hours and 25 minutes. There were plenty of clouds in the sky but just enough gaps to produce stunning rays of sun slicing down into the valleys below. I was blown away with a 360 degree view between cloud and ground and 15 - 20 miles of visibility. I took several pictures (which of course hardly do the view justice), put in my triumphant call to the ladies at home and headed back down.

Back at my bike, I switched to thick wool socks and put on virtually all the clothing I had for the descent down Hwy 151 into Hominy valley. My only exposed skin was a few millimeters between my sun glasses and balaclava. 20 minutes in the shade at ~20mph, no pedaling required on the steep and windy road and my fingers felt like they would fall off even with 2 pair of fully fingered gloves. Thanks to the wool socks and thicker jacket, these would be the only body parts to suffer this time around. The whole ride home took just shy of two hours but seemed much quicker. I was much more comfortable riding around the traffic of 19/23 but still badly need a little side view mirror for my helmet. I actually felt pretty good when it was all said and done which I attribute mostly to staying on top of eating and drinking throughout the endeavor.

At home I grabbed a hot shower and we all went out to an awesome lunch at the Asiana Buffet. Later I took an hour and a half nap before being woken up and notified that we were to spend the rest of the day looking at 4 houses. I was pretty grumpy out of the gates but cheered up once I fully woke up. I am somewhat skeptical about how we're ever going to keep the sleep monsters at bay for a 30 hr race this September.

Lunch run w/ pack

The Workout:
4.5 mile jog w/ backpack
3 sets of 3 hs push-ups

It might be our last nice day for a few weeks so I couldn't pass up the lunch run. Today I did a something different by running with a pack full of work clothes, books and H20. At ~10lbs it was very manageable and comfortable. My cardio is getting better and I'm maintaining a fairly low heart rate at slower speeds. Around mile 3, my left ITB felt a little stiff so I slowed to a fast walk. After about a half mile I decided to try running fast to see if it still hurt. It didn't so I finished the last mile (mostly uphill) at a decent clip. My legs just don't seem to agree with low impact, short strided chi-running no matter how energy efficient it is. I will take tomorrow off and plan to
bike Sunday morning.

Jason texted me 3 sets of 3 last night so I was obliged to match him.

Gym cardio workout

The Workout:
1.5 hr cardio

Treadmill - flat, 1mi, 8min
Stairmaster - lvl 6, 1040vft, 12min
Pushups - 30
Row machine – lvl 8, 10min
Pushups – 30
Situps – 30
Treadmill – flat, 1mi, 8min
Stationary bike – 10 min
Pushups - 30
Crunches - 25, situps - 10
Treadmill – flat, 1mi 8min
stretching - 5min

Recovery workout in gym

The Workout:
1 hour in gym
1.5 miles walking on treadmill
upper body cardio circuit - 35 min
stretching - 10 min

This evening I crashed the gym for a little while on the way back in to work. My objective was to just get the blood flowing and do a little upper body work.

Short Pisgah loop - Road Ride

The Workout:
37 mi road ride (3hrs 10min)
Home -> Parkway -> Hwy 151 -> 19/23 -> Home


Having rained all day Friday and Saturday, mountain biking this weekend was out and I promised myself I wouldn't run for a week from Wednesday. It was nice spending all day Saturday with the family just relaxing and piddling around the house. That afternoon, Bethany and I dropped Ellie off at "Grandma" Stephanie's and went to watch Leather Heads in Hendersonville. It was a chill day that we all sorely needed but I was still chomping at the bit to get in some sort of excursion.

Saturday night I hatched a plan for an adventure Sunday. Sunday had quickly filled up with plans to go to the Nature Center at 10am and house hunting later that afternoon so there wasn't much time to squeeze in a ride. Around 11:30pm I had decided on a basic loop road ride up towards Mt. Pisgah that would take around 4 hours. I formulated two extension options in case I was just crushing it and still feeling good. If I was to be back in time for our other obligations, I'd have to leave by 6am at the latest. I spent the next hour swapping my mtn bike tires for slicks, planning, and getting all of my lights, food, clothing, water, maps and miscellaneous gear packed.

My alarm wasn't set correctly so I didn't wake up until nearly 6am. Not all that concerned I got dressed, downed a bowl of oatmeal and made one last effort to find my big head lamp. After striking out in the light department, I slapped my small LED headlamp on my helmet, donned my pack and hit the street. The roads were still damp from the previous night's rain but not enough to get me very wet. I rode with a relaxed pace and did some on-bike stretching as I passed the Biltmore mall. After 9 miles of rolling terrain, I climbed up the ramp to the Blue Ridge Parkway and pulled off into the French Broad River overlook parking area. This parking lot (2100' ASL) overlooks the French Broad River and the Skyland area. I couldn't see any of it due to the thick fog that still hung around. There is around 11.8 miles of continuous climbing from there to the intersection of Hwy 151 at Elk Pasture Gap (4200' ASL). I peeled down to my under armor shirt, bike shorts and one pair of fingered gloves. It was quite cold but I knew the climbing would warm me right up. It sure did.

The climb took about an hour and a half and was slow and methodical. The fog closed in and I got the distinct impression I was riding on a treadmill for several miles. One small excitement came in the form of having to dodge the thousands of night crawlers in the midst of a soggy asphalt pilgrimage. If I didn't dodge, they would squish on my tire and get slung up into the underside of my down tube or onto my back. EEEWWWWW! Around mile 7, a gaggle of turkeys ran out of the grass, jumped into the air and flew across the road in front of me and up into the trees with the grace of a herd of elephants. I don't think I've ever seen a turkey in a tree and this struck me as a funny sight for some reason. What little traffic I saw seemed to pass only as I was going through the several mountain tunnels on that road. My dim headlamp was pretty pathetic but cast just enough light to keep me from running off the road into the walls. I drank a mouthful every 15 minutes or so and ate something every 45.

After mile 10 I rounded a corner and got to experience a series of unbelievable sights. The sun had just appeared over the ridge to my back and shown past me through the fog creating a perfect, VIVID, circular rainbow that looked to be about 30 ft in diameter and 30 ft in front of me with its base sitting just above the pavement. It seemed as I though I could ride through it like a giant hula hoop. A quarter mile later I began noticing my ceiling changing from dull white to blue. A few pedal strokes later and I was above the top of the fog and into crystal clear blue skies. Mt. Pisgah lay directly ahead and stuck up out of the dense clouds like an Island in the sea. Everything below me was white. Everything above, a brilliant blue. Having rounded the corner, I was back in shadow of the ridge but the sun behind me lit up the mountain like a spot light. It was truly breathtaking and I'm still cursing myself for not bringing a camera! I rode the remaining mile or so to Hwy 151 and decided to turn around. If I didn't have a camera, I'd better go back and just sit for a while to take it all in. I hammered the pedals back to the rainbow spot but the sun had already risen too much to create the effect. Proceeding to the amazing mountain island view also was a bust as the winds had blown the rising clouds up onto the road on their way over the ridge. What I had witnessed was a right place, right time sort of thing that likely only happens under the right weather conditions at the right time of year and time of day. I felt very special having gotten to see it.

151 drops off steeply from the Parkway and descends 1400' in a little over 3 miles. I was hot but since 151 drops into shadow on the North side of the mountain and submerges beneath the cloudy sea, I put on all the clothing I had including, two shirts, a jacket, two pairs of gloves and a wool hat before heading down. By the time I hit the bottom 15 minutes later I was shivering and had completely lost feeling in the three smallest toes on each of my feet. There's just no way to generate body heat standing stationary in the wind of a descent when your only body movement is your fingers moving to brake. Down in the valley, I hammered the pedals for several miles before warming back up but it was fun riding in high gear hauling down the road.

The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful except for the traffic of 19/23 being pretty scary. Big diesel truckers with extended side-mirrors that don't move over for bikers are pretty high on my shit list right now. I made it home in just over 3 hours and felt pretty good, rocking out the Nature Center with the family like a champion. This was a great ride. Next time I'll need a bike lock and some running shoes so I can continue on up and bag Pisgah Summit. When I get into really good shape, I'll bag the summit and continue on to Hwy 276 which makes it a 67 mile loop :o).

90 minute gym circuit

The Workout:
Continuous gym work (90 min)

Today I signed up for a month membership at the Haywood Park Hotel gym. I got started on the treadmill and worked my way around the room attempting to keep my heart rate under 155. My objective was to just keep active for the whole lunch period and get a good cardio workout. I felt good for most of the workout though at times I got pretty hot and my heartrate would climb to high 160s. All in all a great workout.

1 mile (treadmill, level ground, 8 min)
stairmaster (level 5, 12 min)
1 mile (treadmill, level ground, 8 min)
row machine (level 7, 10 min)
30 pushups
20 crunches
1 mile (treadmill, level ground, 8 min)
30 pushups
20 decline situps
stationary bike (10 min)
30 pushups
1 mile (treadmill, level ground, 8 min)
3 hs pushups
stretching (10 min)

Spivey Mtn Run

The Workout:
Run 6 miles (3 each direction)
1000' climb
1hr 5min

I was home the first half of yesterday hanging out with a daughter suspended from daycare for a day for blowing out her diaper. Bethany came home around 11:30am to take over and I opted to go out for a run. I headed back up Spivey Mountain road. I made it to the gas station in 4 minutes and stretched for anther 4. I hit the gate at the end of the road and continued on up to the radio towers. The grade is steep and I was taking BABY steps but managed to run all the way to the top ater 31 minutes total. It was 78 degrees and nary a cloud in the sky. (a.k.a. hot as balls) I didn't linger for long on the top and ran down only marginally faster than the way up to minimize impact. The whole endeavor took 65 minutes. It was very satisfying to get this one in the bag.

* Towards the end of the way back, I noticed a slight twinge on the outside of my left knee. Nothing major but I think I'll spend 1 week on the bike before running again just to be sure.

** I didn't take any water and was suprised to see that I lost 5 lbs of body water weight in a little over than an hour.

Slick Slicks and the Velodrome

The Workout:
12 mile road/track ride
5 hs push-ups on wall

Since Jason and I were rained/snowed out of our mtn bike ride Sunday morning, I was eager to get out and do something when I got back to Asheville yesterday afternoon. I mounted some slick tires on the hifi and rode an easy 3.6 miles down to the velodrome on Amboy rd. Temps were in the low 40s so I bundled up pretty well with 2 pair of gloves and a warm hat. Once on the track, I rode one mile warm-up that included a lap with each leg individually (harder than I would have expected) and a lap focusing on efficient spinning. I pulled off in the center grass for about 10 minutes, did some push-ups and crunches and loosened up with some good stretching. Back on the track, I got into a good rhythm and zoned out while reviewing my Windows Server study in my head. My goal was to ride 10 miles but after 4, my phone rang. I have been on high alert lately waiting for Bethany to call and tell me it is go time so I careened back into the grass, threw off my pack, dumped it out and caught the last ring. Fortunately it was just Dad. I attempted to get back on and ride and talk at the same time but the wind noise was too high for him to hear me. I ended up getting off and chatting for about 20 minutes. That interruption really ate into my time so I finished up with one more mile and hit the road back home.

While the scenery doesn’t change much at the velodrome, the not having to worry about traffic, pedestrians, dogs …etc makes it easy to crank and just focus on riding technique. Have I mentioned that I L O V E my bike?! With slick tires and locked out suspension, it totally mitigates the need for a road specific bike and is f a s t.

Once I got home, I spent about 15 minutes doing lots of handstands, with varying success, and attempting to to a balanced hs push-up. My best effort resulted in a smooth descent but I started to fall over about 1/3 of the way back up. Before my energy was totally shot, I eeked out 5 hs push-ups against a wall. After my 4th up, Ellie walked right up to me, turned her head upside down and asked me to put more chips in her bowl. It was so funny seeing her right side up while upside down that I barely got up again.

Lunch Run

The Workout:
run easy pace - 50min

Today I jogged over lunch for 50 minutes. It was a easy but steady pace. I started out by running down to the graveyard and doing a couple of the loops in there. Next I took the sneak through to Rosewood and Tacoma and ran the outer loop. Lastly I made a b-line straight back down Montford all the way into town. I did this because I detest running in a straight line for long distances and I'm trying to break myself of the "take an alternate route" addiction that screws me in Adventure Races.

Ten on a wall

The workout:
10 hs push-ups against wall

Last night I put a pillow on our wood floor to pad my head, did a handstand against the wall and busted out 10 hs push-ups. It amazes me that I can do 10 on a wall without leaning on it all that hard but ZERO from a balanced hand stand. I think my posture and hand position must be different in the two scenarios. I'll have to check out that theory tonight.

Hike a Bike

The Workout:
3 miles road riding
2 miles hiking w/ bike on shoulder

Last night:
15 seconds hs balancing
5 hs pushups on wall

This morning, I rode in to work... sort of. First I rode down to the French Broad River velodrome and cranked out a mile around the track on my mtn bike. From there I rode the river system trails and then river road towards town. A mile later, I heard a hissing sound and found a metal shard sticking out of my back wheel. It flattened my tire in about 10 seconds. Not having a patch kit or pump with me, I resolved to hike the remaining 2 miles to work instead of calling Bethany for the pick-up. Since my bike has a rear shock smack in the middle of the front triangle, carrying with my shoulder through there is not an option. I eventually just picked the bike higher and rest the down tube on my shoulder with the chain ring cassette just behind my back (bike facing forward). It wasn't ideal but at least I could balance it there and only needed one arm to hold it in place. I carried it about a quarter mile each time before switching shoulders. My shoulders started getting a little sore from the metal tube sitting on my thin jacket so I used my wool hat as a shoulder pad. It wasn't going to get much better than this so I pounded the streets with a brisk walk and actually made it to work on time by the skin of my teeth.

Next time I'll be more prepared but it is good to have figured out how to carry my bike in a pinch and that it isn't all that bad.

On the hand stand push-up front, I can do ~5 hs pushups on a wall but am really more interested in getting them done from a true balanced hand stand position. I do several hand stands most nights and am getting much better at it. Usually by the time I finally get stabilized, my arms are tired from adjusting (walking around) and I can just lower myself, touch my head to the floor and then fall down. I am progressing and don't think it'll be long before I get one in the bag. Once that happens, it's on like the break of dawn baby!

Adventure Games

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The Workout:
10k trail run
10 mile mtb ride
4hr 10min total duration.

Hand Stand Push-ups

The Workout:

2 sets of 3 hand stand push-ups

About two weeks ago, Jason challenged me to see who could get to 20 hand stand push-ups first. I busted out 3 that first night and then just eeked out 6 a few days later. I lost some ground with the flu and it was all I could do to get out 3 last night. About an hour later I got fired up and did another 3. So it goes...

Night Ride

The Workout:

biked 5 miles to town to study
10 push-ups
1 hs push-up
20 crunches
30 push-ups
30 sit-ups
biked 5 miles home
2 hs push-ups

Tonight I jumped on the bike and headed into town to study at work. A quarter mile and I discovered that my large chain-ring is bent enough to completely throw off my chain once every pedal stroke. I must have done that at the skate park. !@#$%. At least the middle ring was fine and I was able to cruise on in with it. I'll have to get that into the shop tomorrow. Hopefully it isn't to expensive!

Skunked at Max Patch Bald

The Workout:
none :o(

This morning, the Hagberg's charged out of bed, whipped up some PB&J sandwiches and loaded our packs with a few waters, spare clothes and treats. The destination was a high mountain field called Max Patch Bald, near Hot Springs, NC and very close to the Tennessee border in the North-most area of the Smoky Mountain range. Skies to the North and West were looking pretty cloudy and windy but the weather was forecast to hit the high 60s and be clear and sunny so we jumped in the car and rolled out.

We headed out Highway 40 to exit 7, near the Pigeon River and turned North up Forest Service road 148. This road headed up into the mountains. Up. Up. Up and more up for 7 miles dumping us off at the Max Patch parking area. When we got there we were completely socked in with fog and the Vibe showed an outside temperature of 33F. We downed some sandwiches and decided to give it a go anyway. Bethany rounded up some socks for her sandal clad feet and we broke into a trash bag of old clothes to find Ellie a spare pair of pants.

We popped over the stairs that crossed over the gate and paused for a quick picture. Ellie had no interest in poking her head out from under the blanket so we let her be. A few minutes of walking and the writing was on the wall... We just weren't prepared for the cold and windy gusts on the Bald. We paused to take some pictures of Bethany sticking her beautiful pregnant belly out into the wind and scampered back to the car.

On the way back down the mountain we took a deviation down the Hot Springs watershed. After descending 1,000 ft or so the temperature got up to around 40. We stopped at a cool little campsite and walked down to the creek to throw in rocks and sticks (Ellie's favorite past time). After that we piled back into the car and cruised down 40 miles of very winding mountain roads in backwoods Appalachia.

Bethany and Ellie slept the second half of the ride home but I got to check out some old paddling spots on the way. It was a bust for the most part but we enjoyed each other's company and all agree that we'll have to hit up this hike this summer when it is too hot to hike in the low lands.

Endurance training

THE WORKOUT:
2 hrs 3 min of jogging

This morning I jogged back over to Richmond Hill discgolf course. I stuffed a granola bar in my shorts and took a full water bottle. After 15 minutes I dropped the bottle behind a tree by the Clear Channel broadcast station. I made it to the first hole of the course at the 42 minute mark.

Halfway around the dg course I deviated to a trail system that descended to the French Broad river. I scrambled down a steep bank, jumped the railroad tracks and slid down another bank to the river. After splashing my face with cool water I went back up and followed the trail to its end heading South. I circled back around to where I picked up the trail and followed it North to a small drainage. There are tons of trails down here that are begging to be explored but I think I'll do it on my bike next time to cover more ground. From there I headed West for about a mile and ended up on the old Richmond Hill course. That was awesome as no one goes back there anymore. The carpet pads that made up the tee boxes are all still there but everything else has been torn down and the woods are quickly reclaiming the area. The trail portion added some distance to the run but was really nice cruising along single track in the woods with no-one around. It was also eerily quiet from the recent rain. At the 60 minute mark I started eating the granola bar until it was gone and at the 1hr 45min mark I was back to pick up my water bottle.

I ran slow but steady the whole time and broke the run down mentally into smaller manageable distances varying from 7 minutes to 15 minutes.

* I've been thinking more and more about the Impossible Panther on May 4th. Need to check with the posse.

Cross training - 30 minutes

THE WORKOUT

10 minute jog warmup
20 minutes of running drills
10 minute jog cool down

Thursday I was feeling fairly recovered and jogged down to memorial stadium. It is one mile mostly downhill from work. I ran around a half of the soccer field alternating sides of the box between jogging and doing the following

running backwards 1 lap
side-to-sides 1 lap right
side-to-sides 1 lap left
high knees 1 lap
butt kickers 1 lap
karaoke 1 lap left
karaoke 1 lap right
chi-running focus 2 laps

Afterwards I practiced doing a few handstands and did a couple of lat pulls using the bleachers. It was 70 degrees and I had seriously forgotten what it is like to constantly have sweat in your eyes.

All in all a good workout but it really blew apart the idea that I'm still in good shape as my hamstrings and butt were VERY sore for the next two days.

Kickin it Old School at the Skate Park

The Workout:

2 hrs doing silly stuff with ramps and a bike

This weekend Pat talked me into heading to the skate park down under the 460 bridge in Roanoke. He got a new full suspension Cannondale mtn bike over the holidays and has spent more days at the park with his friend Randy than on actual trails and mountains. I was just coming out of the flu, thought it would be less taxing than a crosscountry ride, and wanted to break-in my bike a little more before taking it back for the free tune-up.

We rolled up to the park in Pat's truck and assembled our bikes. Pat had body armor and pads conveniently concealed beneath his stylish bagy street wear. Randy showed up with his tricked out single speed park bike and also had some cool gear on. I had been threatening to wear head to toe spandex, a yellow safety vest and a sock in my bike shorts on the way there but ended up tossing on my usual ensamble for riding including some board shorts and a long sleeve shirt. I was laughing over the fact that the three of us had collectively raised the mean age of the park by about 15 years. I went to bunny hop the railroad tracks to get over to the park entrance, got front and back tires wedged between the two tracks and promptly fell over in a pile of foolishness. Those guys just chuckled and said they both did the exact same thing on their first time there and proceeded to just carry their bikes over the tracks.

The park is 100 yds long, 50 yds wide and surrounded by a chain link fence like tennis courts. On one end, there is a 10' tall half pipe ramp and some boxes and rails to play on. The rest of it is made of between 4' and 10' high rollers, tabletops and quarterpipe ramps. For the first 15 minutes or so, I cruised around watching Pat and Randy drop in on the QPs, pick up speed, jump some tabletops and hit some of the other features. First I practiced riding up and down some of the larger entry ramps to pick up speed. I still got a "dropping in" feeling but it just wasn't as vertical as the quarterpipes. Once I was comfortable with that I would pick up speed and ride the rollers over and over again. They are ramps with concave curves on the way up and convex curves over the top. It's just like riding rolling hills on a roller coaster. This was a good step because I got to feel out how much my suspension would compress on the way up and down depending on how I positioned my body or weighted the bike. After about a half hour, I got up the nerve to ride up one of the smaller quarter pipes. I was tentative about my largest chainring banging on the rail that is on the lip of the ramp, getting stopped and falling off backwards. It went fine with no scraping so after a few tries of riding up and walking down, I rode up one, carried speed across the platform and dropped in off the qp on the other side. I was expecting a yard sale but the bike took the hit no problem. After that it was pretty much on and we did what boys do... rode around and tried to one up each other with higher jumps or better tricks. I wasn't really in Pat and Randy's league but I had fun and let it hang out there plenty of times.

The only thing I really backed down from was more of a physical reaction than mental decision. I had just come around my 2nd lap of nailing the quarterpipe transitions and still had speed heading towards a 10' high quarterpipe. I just felt like it was going to happen and cranked out a few quick pedal strokes. About 15 feet from the ramp hauling ass I just locked up both brakes and came to a screeching hault. My brain just didn't believe I would have enough forward velocity to make it up onto the platform and would just fall backwards 10' onto my back. Pat was hot on my heels and saw the whole thing happen. We laughed about it and I cut myself some slack it being my first time out and all.

I didn't attempt that one again but there was plenty of other stuff for us to play with. I finally got to that point we all know so well where we're too tired to be trying the stuff we're doing and barely smart enough to recognize it. I rolled out on the grass and practiced track stands and nose wheelies while they squeezed out the last of the goodness for that day.

Man I wish I had taken some pictures or video. That was so fun I just plain forgot about my camera. I'm writing this two days later and my back and shoulder muscles are still tight. What an unexpected upper body workout manhandling my bike up and over those ramp lips. I can't wait until next time.