On to Seattle

Today was a disaster. Since I couldn't train yesterday I decided to finish Monday's program this morning, especially since tomorrow will be a long travel day with no movement to speak of. After a very bad night's sleep, I was appalled to discover I could only get through half the routine, which usually is easy enough when done completely. My exhaustion was total, and I didn't recover until after lunch. Could it be a calorie thing? The other possibility is that I have had a protein complement for the last two days, and it seems to be making me feel bad. Either I feel bad because it's just time for a fibro attack, or there is something about the complement that I need to stop having. Oh well. It's on to Seattle and cool weather, minus the protein, and we'll play it by ear......Could that massive dose of chocolate ice cream from last night have anything to do with it??? Naaaah.....'course not!

Forest fire

Today I was supposed to go to our most popular eco-reserve to train (at a walk) over uneven ground, but yesterday a forest fire began there, putting the whole reserve at risk. Several years ago, the reserve was practically consumed by a fire but was restored at huge expense; it is a haven for black bears, among other species. The fire is visible from my front porch. If someone started this fire in a burst of vandalism, may he burn in Hell. Meanwhile, I'll cross-train today and hope the fire can be contained. Otherwise, people are going to have black bears in their back yards soon. It's happened before.

Today, like many days, I get up and think there is no way I can drag myself out to train. But I get dressed and go. The idea of losing a day and sliding backward slowly but surely is my main motivation. Adrián told me on Tuesday that by August I will be doing a 5K in 25 minutes. That is a decent average time for any beginner. Where in the world does he get this stuff???

The Evaluation

After my training routine today, Adrián said it was time for me to use my heart monitor again because he wants to evaluate my performance.-----------------------------------------------------------------"What do you mean, evaluate my performance? What do I have to do?"------------------------"Well, you check your heart rate as you do 10 minutes at an easy trot, then you recover, then you do 10 minutes at a moderate trot, you recover, then you do 10 minutes of running, and we'll see if your heart is hitting its training rate often enough."-------------------------------------"When are we going to do this?" I asked, wondering if I could arrange to leave the country in time. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Oh, next week, probably Tuesday, how does that seem to you?"--------------------------------"HA!!!" I howled, "I will be in Seattle next week!!!"----------------------------------------------If I thought this was putting paid to the matter, I was mistaken. Adrián simply put the whole thing off a single week until I get back. My heart, and its rate, sank. I could hack the easy trot, the moderate trot for 10 minutes seems undoable, and the idea of running for 10 minutes is frankly insane. There was a moment or two when Adrián's voice tapered off as he mentioned the ten-minute run, as if it even occurred to him that the idea bordered on pyschosis. Well, I have that week in Seattle to keep working, along with the ghastly uphill phases of the running path near my son's home. I think I'd better start practicing. Doesn't this guy know how old I am???

Living in Hell

There is an artificial waterfall in our back yard made of some nice stone, and a small fountain in the front yard also made of rock. People have always noticed the unusual numbers and varieties of birds that flock here, especially now that we no longer have a cat. For a while we had an opossum that found a place to build a lair too, but we had to trap it and release it in the wild because our standard poodle would spend the entire day hunched down at the lair entrance wondering what kind of act of God had made its home there.-------------------------------------------------------------------Let me digress yet again and mention that our poodle is a cossetted creature if ever there was one, so he thinks that other living creatures are objects of fascination and play but not aggression. Once he was running around our small country place at twilight while my husband and I strolled here and there enjoying the evening, and I noticed he had found something under a tree that had captured his full attention. He would approach and then leap back, having a great time. There was not enough light for me to identify the object of such interest, but then I saw the creature beat a retreat---well, not the whole creature, I saw his high, black and white tail.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Oh my God, TootSweet has found a skunk!" I yelled. When I finally got the dog to come, it was obvious that the skunk had missed his mark--TootSweet is fast on his feet--but the silly mutt had made a careful exploration of the spot where the emanation had landed and he had dragged his ears through the stuff. Such is his personality that I fear if he evers encounters a skunk again, he will have just as good a time, having learned absolutely nothing.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Returning to my point, our weather has been so dry and so hot, our wildfires so abundant, that our yard has been a refuge for everything from mountain parrots to woodpeckers to hummingbirds to white winged doves. Yesterday was so hot that the plastic cap that holds the hummingbird feeder just gave up and let it drop to the ground under the magnolia tree. Our grass is just a breath away from giving up the ghost. No amount of watering can protect it from these temperatures. But no matter. The windchimes are singing and the birds are too in my back yard in spite of living in Hell.

How to Sweat Without Trying

Yesterday our temperature got up to 112°F in the afternoon. Yesterday morning was cool, but this morning is already too warm (fortunately this is an official rest day in my training schedule). I don't even want to know how hot it will be this afternoon, but I suspect I could bake a pizza on my front walk. A hot, dry wind is blowing already. Yesterday's temp was the highest on record in our area's history for April. All we are doing is praying or hoping for rain.

Post-vacation rust

Our four day vacation in the countryside was a disaster in many ways. It was nice to be out of the city, but the weather was cloudy, humid, and hot but it simply would not rain. People and horses alike were tired, the countryside was drought-tired, and the few relatively cool moments of the morning couldn't offset the killing humidity. So, I practically didn't move the whole time, and today it was time to get back into the training groove.-----------------------------------------------------Adrián has some plan in mind that will have me doing 5K in 25 minutes by August. It seems unbelievable to me, but he has done wonders with people who are coming back from serious injuries and even surgery. That could mean that by next February I might even cross the finish line on foot and not on a stretcher. But at my age, coming back from four days of doing nothing means every joint, tendon, and ligament is rusted. Even my mind was having trouble turning over.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This means that next week in Seattle, there will be no rest for the weary and the old. Near to my son's house there is a large pond circumnavegated by a running path that measures exactly half a mile. There are a couple of horrific uphill sections that seem to go on for about ten miles--again, the time-warp factor--but by dang, the weather is fantastic for running. A long time ago in a CPR class I took, the doctor mentioned that if you are going to have a heart attack, do it in Seattle. In proportion to the population, more people know CPR in Seattle than in any other city in the U.S. Seattle is also one of those places where you rarely see immensely fat people, and it seems most of the population is out running no matter what the weather. If that doesn't get me out and moving, there is no hope for me. By that time, I will also have been able to get myself proper running clothes and I will no longer be tripping over a sweat-soaked cotton tee.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Adrián seems to have something terrible planned for Sunday, some kind of trotting activity over "rougher terrain", whatever that means. God. And here I've been avoiding the crosswalk paint! "You'll use different muscles", he informs me. Yes, falling often does call other muscles into play.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Meanwhile, back at the ranch, a virtual running pal suggested protein supplements to keep one's appetite under control; you may have spent around 350 calories during a training session, but your body wants to replace that with around 3000 calories to make sure you are well-nourished and ready for tomorrow. We're not talking an attack of the munchies here, but real, physiological hunger. So a friend with whom I took bellydancing classes is coming over with some good protein supplements. She sells them, and she lost over 60 pounds on a diet regimen that included these products. At this point, anything that will make my stomach realize it has actually been fed. I'll let you know if the stuff works.