join us on the road to orlando..

2000 archives

June 3, 2000

training walk 24
Guest Walking Buddy: me and the tape
Locale: the Kitty Tour
Minutes: 80
Mileage: 4.0
Total mileage: 51.5
It was long. It was warm. And I didn't want to get out of the cold shower when I was done. But I did at least get the laundry done at the same time.. so I accomplished something today.
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 6:35 PM

June 2, 2000

training walk 23
Guest Walking Buddy: me and the tape
Locale: Planet Fitness in Dover
Minutes: 61
Mileage: 3.2
Total mileage: 47.5
You'll notice that there's a new locale up there. There's a long, long story that goes with that.
I had a fairly good day at work yesterday. When I walked out of the building to the car, I was blasted by a wave of heat.
Welcome to June, Adrith!!
I went home and checked the mail. Sitting there in the mailbox was a free 30-day membership offer from Planet Fitness, one of the gyms in town. I thought, Hmm.. might not be a bad idea to hang onto this for when walking outside gets unbearable.
Joe and I went to dinner, came back, and got ready for walking. We went and did one lap of the Kitty Tour. Then we went back inside, and I called PF. They told me to come right in and they'd set me up.
So I went right in and they set me up. It's one BIG room of workout machines, and I thought that I was going to feel very out of place. But PF prides itself on being a Judgment Free Zone, and to my great surprise and pleasure, I found it so. I hopped on a treadmill and went to town for an hour.
I don't think the building had AC (it certainly didn't feel like it), but what it DID have was moving air, which the outdoors couldn't boast. And I managed to have a kicking workout at almost my 5k pace. I was very, very satisfied with my experience last night.
And if I become a card-carrying member within the next week, I save $90 on enrollment fees. That's a no-brainer, if it will let me workout hard this summer.
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 9:34 AM

June 1, 2000

Back from my walking date. It doesn't matter that I got up and was out walking at 7:30 AM, it's hotter than heck out there. We'll be at hotter than hell by late morning, trust me. I was out for about 48 minutes, did some intervals of jogging before Juan arrived and then we walked together for about 20 minutes while he regaled me with stories about his children, his military experience, his fast food chain he sold, and why life is great and sex is wonderful and why don't Paul and I have kids yet? Nice enough guy, but he got worried about his wife getting jealous if he walked too much with me so he went home and I continued on my own. Does that mean I'm a hot, young, marraige wrecking vixen? Hee hee. :)
I think Juan and his wife would get on well with my parents. Closer in age, more things in common. While I liked him well enough and it was a welcome diversion to have company on a walk, there is too big a generational gap and I don't think we could bridge it well. I also remembered after many months of flying solo, why I eventually liked going solo. Very rarely do you find fitness buddies who have your same interest/ability/speed/desire.
I like to bike with Paul because we're fairly close in ability there. But for the rest of it? Unless Adrith magically shows up here every session, I think I rather do it alone. The downer is no company and nobody to pace against, the upside is that I set my times and I push the speed/intensity. I came home and I'd covered 2.25 miles. Not hard enough -- not when I know I can do 3.1 miles in about the same time!
May go out again tonight to do intervals at the gym. Pedometer still reads 2.8 MPH average speed when I NOW I was walking slower to accomodate Juan. Must check it! Time for breakfast.
posted by Astrophe 8:39 AM

I'm in trouble. Today I'm deeply entrenched in the Bite Me Zone. And I haven't even gone for my walk yet!
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 1:32 PM

May 31, 2000

Have to make up a run. Er...walk. Last night I ate something at dinner that gave me bad cramps and knocked me out. Today? Simple eats -- oatmeal for breakfast.
I had a dream that Paul and I were mice, each in a mouse ball. Of course he was the taller mouse and he was walking fast and I was yelling at him to wait for me because I had to run to keep up with his long legs. He told me to hurry up and I said I was doing my best. When I blinked awake, my first thought was "Gotta run, stomach is better."
Something in my mindset is changing. I still walk about 90% of the time, but it's my efforts at running the other 10% that are defining me on foot...
posted by Astrophe 11:19 AM

A proud moment.. finding my name on the list.
(Look for me in 1058th place.)
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 2:21 PM

Next race: Portsmouth Market Square Day 10K, June 10th.
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 2:39 PM

Training Walk #??

Focus: Speed work for 45 minutes
Duration: 60 min
Distance: No idea
I didn't take my pedometer on purpose today. We are having a small reprieve from the usual roasting weather and walking this evening was too great to spoil it with a pedometer or a watch. I just took a 90 min. mix tape and figured I'd walk for at least one side of it to meet the 45 min requirement. I walked all over base, enjoying the wind whipping my hair into a frenzy and then I ended up out by the softball field parking lots. There was a couple walking I'd kept in sight through most of the walk to the softball fields across the wide, barren roads but they veered off towards the Navy Exchange. I decided to stay in the lots because there was a game going on in the softball fields and I felt safe being in a public area where people are around. I don't like walking alone through the desolate areas of base. There are three large parking lots for the four softball fields that bleed into each other. I stuck to the main two, which is about 1/3 mile around.
There was a man walking the parking lots wearing a white T-shirt and brown shorts with a stick in his hands. He seems to be somewhere in his late 50's and we greeted each other on every loop. Near his last loop we stopped to chat and I made a new friend. He's walking to stay fit and "for his heart." He and his wife are retired and spent part of the time here in FL and the rest of the time in Puerto Rico. We talked about trying to get a walking group together here in the community and made a date for tomorrow. So I'll be walking parking lots at 7:30 AM tomorrow morning, going to pay my Home Owner's Association fees at the office and asking about getting a walking group going, my real life, and then to gym in the evening for intervals.
Came home and told Paul to look out because I might have a new man in my life and he laughed at me and said, "Good! That let's me off the hook! I don't have to walk with you!"

posted by Astrophe 8:16 PM

May 30, 2000

Saturday night we did go biking for about 15 miles. Lots of fun -- the only downer is that in the dark I did not see and obstacle and I took a dive. Minor scrapes, tender elbow. Nothing major. Sunday I skipped my walk, and ice packed it all day. Today I felt ok, so we biked out to Lake Cuomo and back for a 16 mile round trip. In deference to my injuries, on-road, no off-road biking. I didn't realize I covered 30 miles over the weekend on my bike without a problem until just now. Let's hope I can do 26.2 on foot!
posted by Astrophe 12:58 AM

YEAH! 85 deg F! Heat index 89 deg! 21 MPH wind! Wahoo! COOL AIR!
posted by Astrophe 1:44 PM

This is gonna be a long one.. It's annoying that I can't blog reliably from home, because on Mondays (or Tuesdays, as in this case) I've got so much to update.
Synopsis: The 5k on Sunday was just great, it was a fantastic diagnostic tool. It showed me exactly where I am with my training. And I'm starting to feel very confident about how the training is helping me progress.. because I think I can see that sub-18:00 mile.. it's somewhere just up ahead of me, and I laid my fingertips on it on Sunday. I just have to catch up with it and grab it by both hands and SHAKE IT 'til it agrees to be my workout buddy. And once I get a hold of the sub-18:00 mile, I'll go for the sub-17:00 mile.. and when I hit the sub-16:00 mile, I'll know I've arrived.
Exposition:

training walk number 21 -- welcome to Week 6!
Guest Walking Buddy: Joe, Christa, Bill, and (unofficially) Christa's dad
Locale: Runners' Alley/Red Hook Brewery Memorial 5k, Portsmouth NH
Minutes: 56:56 chip; 57:02 official. Sub-1:00! Whoohoo!!
Mileage: 3.1
Total mileage: 41.8
Joe and I arrived at Red Hook at 9:15AM. We went inside, forked over our $30, and got our race numbers. I pinned mine on, put my chip on my shoelace, and then spent the next hour watching people, waiting for Christa and Bill to arrive. At 10:30, with 30 minutes to race start, I went to retrieve Joe from the car where he'd been reading. On our way back to the main entrance of the Brewery, we ran into Christa and Bill! (Thank goodness we saw them.) We stowed their stuff in our car, and went for the final potty stop before race time. Coming out of the restroom, Christa and I bump into.. Christa's dad! Each was amazed to run into the other at the race, having no previous knowledge of the other's intent to participate. The five of us walk over to the starting line, to wait for the start of the race.
The Wheelchair Division was started about five minutes before the runners and walkers, to allow for a clear road on which to finish the wheelchair race on (the course doubled back over the last half-mile). But they eventually started the foot traffic.. and we were off.
Christa's dad pulled away from us immediately, as he was running and we were walking. After the first quarter mile, Joe and Bill found their own paces, and pulled away from Christa and I. We were at the very back of the walkers, but that was okay. I started a little bit faster than I should have not having warmed up, and acquired a calf-cramp which I had to walk out. That first mile passed in 17:46.07, which would have been great except for the stupid leg-cramp! At the end of the first mile was a crowd of little kids, passing out water and Gatorade. Their smiles and cheers helped keep me going through the ache in my leg..
The second mile was basically spent trying to recover from the leg cramp. I was afraid that I wasn't going to get that second lap in under 20-minutes (which is what I was striving for), but managed to finish it in 18:39.08. Again, the water and Gatorade station was manned and had plenty of product; and the little kids and their encouragement was just fantastic.
Compared to the first and second mile, the third mile was great. I finished it in 18:28.64, which is a time I would have been proud to have as my mile average if it weren't for that 17:46 and the leg cramp in my first mile! As we got closer to the Brewery and the finish line, I felt extremely proud of myself for conserving energy as well as I did; we passed three groups of people in the last quarter-mile of the race. My time for the last 0.1 mile was 2:00.83, for a total (chip) time of 56:56.02. My official (gun) time was 57:02.
Bill, Joe, and Christa's dad were waiting for us at the finish line, which was great to see. I was so glad to have their support. I managed to bend down and remove my own chip from my shoe, which the attendant at the finish line said was a great improvement over some of the other finishers; they couldn't even stand up, much less gather together the coordination to untie their shoe! Joe got me a bottle of water while the men told us how they did; Bill and Joe finished at 52:00 gun time exactly, having sprinted to the finish so that they could have the even number; Christa's dad, the runner, finished in about 28:00. I was proud of all of us!
We went and had some yummies after the race; fruit, yogurt, chips and salsa, and veggie quesadilla. The menfolk got their complimentary Red Hook Ale, and we listened to the band and some of the awards presentation. I was especially impressed at the 12-and-under girl's winner; she is ten years old, and turned in a 19:00 performance. The whole assembly went wild at her amazing performance. I was just awed.
But I was there. I made it to the starting line. And I made it to the finish. (In under an hour, no less!)
And I wasn't even last.
If I can take my pace from 20-min mile to an 18 min, 18 sec mile in just five weeks, and I've got 31 weeks to go.. I'm going to be just fine at Disney.

training walk number 20
Guest Walking Buddy: none
Locale: the Kitty Tour
Minutes: 60
Mileage: 2.5
Total mileage: 38.7
I walked down to the convenience store and did four laps of the Kitty Tour. The four laps of the Kitty Tour weren't that great; I started out slow and kept getting slower. I would have done the full hour and a half, but I started having some issues with blistering.. and not wanting to have blisters affecting my 5k performance, I elected to stop at an hour and rest my feet.
I wonder what I'm doing wrong! The first week on my shoes were just fine.. but now I'm having blister issues? Maybe it's the socks? I just don't know..
I'm going to have to work on this one.

training walk number 19 Guest Walking Buddy: Joe and Adam
Locale: the Kitty Tour
Minutes: 60
Mileage: 3.0
Total mileage: 36.2
I left for the hour-long walk I was supposed to do for yesterday with Joe and our friend Adam. The first lap of the Kitty Tour (the loop of our apartment complex) was completed in 9:51.65; my target time is sub 10:00 for the half-mile loop. It was a good warm up.
The second lap, I did something that completely amazed me (and my walking companions): when it was time to up the intensity for my first minute interval.. I broke into a jog!! I sustained it only for thirty seconds.. but I did it! Right after the end of my jogging burst, we ran into an acquaintance from several years ago.. so I kept on myself while the boys chatted. Near the end of the second loop, I was so pumped that I jogged again, for another thirty seconds. The two jogging bursts dropped my time for lap 2 considerably, to 9:25.67.
The third lap was spent recovering from the second, and passed in 10:33.83.
But for the fourth and fifth laps, I found the energy to do two bursts each, and the laps had splits of 9:22.91 and 9:26.71 respectively.
My sixth lap was my cool-down, and I managed to finish it in 10:00.27. My total walk time was 58:41.04, for six laps. I'm very happy about that time! And even happier that I have taken my training a step up with the jogging bursts.
The weather is beautiful -- the sun kept dodging in and out of the clouds, and a cool breeze helped keep me going -- otherwise I may not have been able to jog at all. And near the end of my walk, the group of early-teen kids came out to play; their continued interest in what I'm doing ("How many minutes now? How many laps?") helped keep me going.
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 2:46 PM

training walk 22..
Guest Walking Buddy: just me and the mix tape, bay-bee..
Locale: the Kitty Tour
Minutes: 45
Mileage: 2.5
Total mileage: 44.3
The wind was up just enough to give a pleasant breeze, and I estimate the temp at 60 degrees. The sun was still fairly high in the sky.
I did five laps of the Kitty Tour. When I started out, five loops of the Kitty Tour would have taken between 50 to 55 minutes.
Today I started out with a fairly slow warm up. That loop took 9:47.81. I then kicked it into higher gear and finished the second loop in 9:02.56, which was my fastest time to date. I almost thought that I would finish the loop in under nine minutes. The third loop passed in 9:07.97, not too far off pace. I wondered if my fourth loop would be slower yet. But when I finished it, the stopwatch said...
8:48.23!! My very first split time under nine minutes!!
I was estatic. Though I knew my fifth lap was supposed to be five minutes of cool down, I wanted to have another low time to prove to myself that it wasn't a fluke. When I got near the last corner in the loop, I looked down at my stopwatch. It read 8:00. So, to ensure that the last loop would come in under 9:00, I burst into a jog. And as I hit the walkway to my apartment, the watch stopped.. at 8:24.91.
I was very, very tired.. but oh so happy. If I could routinely pull in split times at 8:30 per loop, that would equal a 17:00-mile. One step closer to the required 16:00-mile for the Disney marathon.
But the first step is to get down to a nice, easy loop in 9:00 -- or a routine 18:00-mile. Then I can worry about faster!
And I think I've solved the blogging reliably from home problem. It seems that my Netscape is not refreshing the list of entries once I post a new one. If I post an entry, wait for the browser to do its thing, then hit Shift-Reload, the entry appears.
Blog on!
posted by Adrith Bicchieri 7:19 PM
previous week | 2000 index | next week