VT Dad’s fight vs. inertia & flab

Like most years I ran in the Clarence DeMar road race in South Hero, VT.  Most years there had been an option to run either 10K or 5K, and I always ran the 10K, but these past 2 years there has only been a 5K option.  Today we had ideal weather for a race, it was overcast and calm,  65F, 18C.  I woke up at 5:00 this morning, and decided to bike the 21 miles, 34K to the race.  The scenery along my ride was gorgeous, beginning as rolling Vermont countryside, progressing to a tidal marsh and bird sanctuary, then crossing Lake Champlain, and then returning to rolling farmland.  It took me 80 minutes to bike to the starting line, and I arrived 90 minutes before the start of the race.

I relaxed, ate, and stretched before the race, but when the race started I had nothing, no explosion in my legs, I was struggling.  The course was flat, but I couldn’t harness any speed.  I chugged along not making much headway during the first 2 miles, and passing 8-10 runners during the last mile.  I finished in 26:06, nearly 2 minutes slower than last year.  After the race I rode 1/2 way back, stopped in the town of Colchester to watch their 4th of July parade, before completing the remainder of my ride.

Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July weekend.

I’d been a fitness slacker recently, unable to wake up early to go for a bicycle ride.  Today was no exception, but I decided to get on the bike at noon. I chose a new 27 mile ride, 43.5K, that would take me out to Lake Champlain, and bring me back by the Burlington bike path, before turning back for home.  I quickly found out that there was a lot more traffic at 11:30 AM than 5:30 AM.  A hedge row of trees was blocking my sight of oncoming traffic, and I was forced to come to an abrupt stop, rolling over with my shoes clipped to my pedals like a turtle being flipped onto his shell.  I jump up quickly and pretended that nobody saw my graceful tumble.  

I proceeded onto VT 2A and was again surprised by how much traffic there was.  After about 2 miles in the midst of traffic I turned off onto a side street and my ride took a turn for the better.  I got on a rural road with rolling hills, it was a pleasure to be on the bike.  I turned towards Lake Champlain, and road for miles past summer camps, and views of the lake and  the sailboats.  My route took me toward the Burlington bike path, and along routes I had run for my long runs while training for the marathon.  I light mist like rain fell, and the bike path was a joy to ride, less crowded than I would have anticipated in the early afternoon.  

The biggest challenge of my ride was a 1 mile hill in Burlington up Maple Street.  The hill is challenging in its own right, but adding to the challenge were the 6 stop signs breaking your momentum while climbing the hill.  I enjoyed the challenge, and headed for my busiest 1.5 miles on Williston Road.  The road was congested with traffic, but luckily things opened up for me at the right time, allowing me to safely get in the left hand lane, and negotiate a left turn off the busy road and into suburbia.  The rest of my ride was peacefully, and I completed the circuit in 1:49.  Averaging nearly 15 miles, 24K an hour.

My hike up Mt Washington was a challenge and a wonderful opportunity.  We began our hike, at 8:00 AM, 4.6 miles from the summit, at an elevation of 2600 feet.  There the vegetation is lush forest with plenty of water fed from melting snows and rains from higher up the mountain.  

We hiked through muck and mud, on rocks, alongside of a river.  The early going was relatively easy.  During our first two miles we gained a total of 1000 feet.  This part of our ascent took about an hour and twenty minutes, the weather was warm, and I shed my long sleeve layer.  The next segment of the hike was arduous.  

Over the next mile we climbed 1600 feet.  The trail was climbing from one rock to another.  Up, up, up we went, sometimes the footing was slippery, most of the time it was like being on a stair machine that had gone haywire.  I was drenched in sweat, and had to concentrate during every step to find the right rocks for my footing.   We were able to find a cool expanse with some larger rocks to sit on, to catch our breath before resuming up the mountain.  This second segment of our journey, brought us above the tree lineup a cabin maintained by the Appalachian trail stewards.  It was called the “cabin in the clouds.”  It was an absolutely beautiful location, situated along the Appalachian trail at 5050 ft.  While at the cabin, we rest some more, and replenished our water bottles.

While we were resting at the cabin I met an inspiring individual.  He was hiking the mountain with some friends.  This guy had only 1 leg, and was hiking up the mountain using crutches.  He was amazing.  During the last 1.4 miles we gained another 1200 feet of elevation.  About 1/10th of a mile from the cabin we came to a sign warning hikers to go back if the weather is severe, because people die due to exposure even in the summer.

So far our weather had been ideal, so we kept hiking.The first mile wasn’t too bad, we just kept walking upwards across lichen covered boulders.  On our way up we passed 2 pairs of young hikers working at the “cabin in the clouds” for the Appalachian trail stewards.  Each were carrying 100 pounds of provisions down from the summit to the “cabin in the clouds”  Every Wednesday and Saturday they have to haul about 60 lbs. of waste to the summit and bring back with them 100 lbs. of provisions.

About the 1/2 from the cabin in the clouds to the summit, fog rolled in.  It was pretty amazing.  The mist just rolled across the face of the mountain, and enveloped us.  As the temperature cooled down, I threw on a long sleeve layer.  The last 1/2 mile to the summit was steep, but with the top getting closer and closer it became easier and easier to hike those last couple of hundred meters.  Once we were at the summit a thunderstorm rolled in, but by that time I was relaxing and replenishing.

I awoke on my birthday at 5:00 AM, motivated to get out and exercise.  I chose to go for a bicycle ride, a 16 mile loop out into the country with some nice rolling hills.  It was just me and my bicycle as the sun was rising over the green mountains.  I saw very few others out so early in the morning, it was wonderful.  The 16 miles, 21K, seemed to fly by.  I finished my loop in little over an hour.  I was a wonderful way to celebrate my 50th birthday.

I went to the gym today as part of my birthday celebration.  I was in time for the first game, and luckily my team won, allowing me to play again.  I then beat out 2 other teammates to play in a third and fourth consecutive game.  The first 4 games were played full court.  We hit 20 players after the fourth game and had to go cross court.  Again I out shot my teammates and got a fifth consecutive game in.  As I was exiting the court, the oldest guy there asked if I could take his place, so I played the last half of the game already in progress.    I finally got to rest, and decided if I should go home, or play some more.  I chose to play two more, before calling it quits.

I felt as if I played really well today.  What was best was that through hustle, and playing better than I had all summer I was able to propel 3 inferior teams, within 1 basket of winning.  Things didn’t go our way, but the effort was there, and I can take pride in making teammates better.

For Father’s Day my family is going to let me play basketball in the morning, and then fix a spaghetti dinner tonight.  Our morning plans have been rather up in the air.  My wife said she’d make omelets, but now it seems she made other plans, so I decided to go get bagels.  The bagel bakery is a 7 mile round trip, so I decided to do the errand on my bicycle.  The 3.5 miles there I rode with the mind set that it was a time trial.  I kept my pedals spinning determinedly the whole way.  I intended to do the same on the return trip, but when my bag fell off at the first turn, I decided to proceed the rest of the way with a little more caution.  The ride was invigorating, and we’ll all have fresh bagels for breakfast.

I awoke to a grey morning.  It was overcast, and I needed a push to get out of bed.  I checked the weather forecast, and saw that much of the day would be grey, but showers were not imminent.  I decided to go on a bicycle ride.  I smartened up at the start, practicing getting into and out of my toe clips, I wanted to ride without fear of stopping.  I then set out on my ride.  20 miles of scenic meadows, and some lakeshore views of Lake Champlain.  1:13 minutes of alone time.  Just me meditating in my saddle.  What a glorious way to start the day.

I turned Monday into a VT dad triathlon.  I followed up my 18 mile bike ride with 4 games of basketball, and an 800m swim, but I still hadn’t gone on a good run since the marathon, 24 days ago.  Tonight when I dropped my daughter off for her evening swim practice, I decided to go for a run.  I did a little loop that took me from the swimming pool almost to my high school, and then back.  The loop was more the shape of a kite.  The first 2+ miles were mostly downhill on the outward leg, and up hill homeward bound.  The kite shaped loop was also 2+ miles, starting with a steep uphill, and finishing with a steep downhill.  I ran the first segment in 21+ minutes, the second in 22+ minutes, and the third in 23+ minutes.  I felt stiff, slow and out of synch.  But it was a good run, and a challenging one.  It also gave me some goals: to finish each segment under 20 minutes, so that I can complete the run in under an hour.

I got up today in time for the sunrise, and it felt wonderful.  I decided to go out for a bike ride.  I had recently replaced my pedals with clip pedals, so I clipped in my shoes for the first time ever, and set off on a ride.  I chose to go on a nice 18 mile loop.  My new set up felt great, I was cruising along, at ~13 miles an hour, enjoying being outdoors on a gorgeous morning.  At 5:30 AM there were still few cars on the roads, so I was virtually alone on the road.  As I came to busy intersections, my concerns switched to how will I get my shoes out of the peddles.  I feared I would just topple over if I had to come to a complete stop.  Luckily, I never had to stop on my ride, but when I got home I pulled into my driveway, and toppled.   I guess that’s one skill I need to work on.

I went to the gym yesterday, and went for a swim for the first time in ages.  I decided to work on my form, and repeated 25m lengths of the pool.  I had at it for 35 minutes, trying to maximize my glide, to maximize my pace, while minimizing my effort.  When I got done, I chatted up a swim instructor who was waiting to teach a lesson.  He was very helpful, giving me lots to think about when I hit the pool next.

Monday I rode my bike to school, the ride is a little over 7 miles, and took me about 35 minutes.  On the way home, inadvertently, one of my pannier bags fell of my bicycle.  When I finally discovered its loss, I tried to double back, and recover the bag, but it was gone.  Subsequently, I had to cancel all of my credit cards, and replace my driver’s license.  It was no fun.

Today I rode again to school.  Everything came a little easier.  It took ~ 4 fewer minutes.   I’ve found a little motivation to get out there and move it since my marathon.