A Birthday, a New Camera, and a Slackline
After a little birthday celebrating, we spent the evening at the local park trying out some new toys.
Lucky 13!
I got a new camera that I was wanting to try out, and so we headed over to the park and set up our new slackline for the first time. I had been thinking about getting a slackline for a while, it seemed like a great family activity that we can all have fun with. When a starter kit went on sale at REI the deal was done. Very happy with the purchase! It was incredibly challenging, but a lot of fun to play around on.
Toe shoes? Check.
The girls got by with a little hand-holding.
No thanks, says the dog.
We improved quickly, but have a long way to go.
I made it all the way across. Once. Out of about 40 tries.
Slackline rookie:
I’m pretty happy with the camera so far. There are a few things I have issues with. I can’t stand the dreaded white sky, but lighting conditions were a little challenging. The video sucks, and I need to disable the anti-shake settings and see if that cleans it up. I love the speed though, very quick – that was one of the biggest gripes with my old one. I missed so many shots just waiting for the thing to boot up or cycle after a photo. I’ll write up some more details once I spend some more time with it. I’m looking forward to using it at the Bighorn 100 next month to document some incredible scenery and show what it’s like to travel 100 miles on foot through the mountains. Stay tuned!
2011 Training Log – Week 20
Great week. Saw tons of improvement in my leg each day. Last week I feared my summer running season may be done for, and this week I’m back at it. I’m incredibly grateful to be running again, realizing that things can change at any time.
I’ve got some catching up to do, but feel like things are heading in a positive direction for sure.
| MONDAY | ||||||||||||
| Activity | Bike | Miles | 27.3 | Time | 1:30 | Avg HR | 148 | |||||
| Took the mountain bike out on the roads for my hour of power workout. Not very creative. Warm up, go hard for one hour, cool down. It’s a good strength builder when done on the mtb. Thought I would be hard pressed to crack 18mph, but ended up with my second fastest ride of this nature for the year. I flipped the watch over to the lap stats display with 10 minutes to go and was surprised to see 19.7 for the average speed. I turned myself inside out for those last few minutes into a headwind to bring the average up to 20.0. The leg was a little sore, but nothing too bad.Split:
20.0mph / 1:00 / 156avg |
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| TUESDAY | ||||||||||||
| Activity | Run | Miles | 7 | Time | 1:08 | Avg HR | 126 | |||||
| 10 day delay of game, then back in action. This is what I gambled on with finishing the CP 50 miler after tearing something in my leg at mile 12. I knew from previous muscle tears that after 10 days I would probably be able to run again. I had to take it very easy and be mindful of my footstrike, but it went ok. I wore my beefy trainers to protect my injury, and they felt huge compared to the light shoes I normally run in. Those shoes made me feel like I was wearing the cone of shame:
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| WEDNESDAY | ||||||||||||
| Activity | Run | Miles | 10.1 | Time | 1:27 | Avg HR | 147 | |||||
| Very gimpy to start, but felt a lot better after a mile or so. Didn’t have to favor the leg too much, but I’m sure it’s going to feel pretty worked after this one. Back in the Minimus today. | ||||||||||||
| THURSDAY | ||||||||||||
| Activity | Run | Miles | 7 | Time | 1:08 | Avg HR | 128 | |||||
| Carbon copy of Tuesday. Was limping a bit last night, leg was very sore. Rolled out the calf a bunch, felt a lot better today. Back to the beefy shoes, though. | ||||||||||||
| FRIDAY | ||||||||||||
| Activity | Run | Miles | 12.2 | Time | 1:47 | Avg HR | 148 | |||||
| Good-ish. Tight calf. Started to get really tired after 11, shut down a little early. Got about 1,000′ feet of climbing. Not much, but glad to do some bigger hills for a change. | ||||||||||||
| SATURDAY | ||||||||||||
| Activity | Run | Miles | 15 | Time | 1:54 | Avg HR | 160 | |||||
| Pulled that one out of somewhere….opened with a downhill 8:15, then loosened up and got rolling to come in with 7:38 pace overall. Nothing special for most guys, but considering where I was a week ago this was most excellent. Felt good to cruise along like that. | ||||||||||||
Two weeks later:
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| SUNDAY | ||||||||||||
| Activity | Run | Miles | 9.3 | Time | 1:25 | Avg HR | 142 | |||||
| Calves super tight again. Took it slow and babied them. Everything else felt fantastic. | ||||||||||||
| TOTALS | ||||||||||||
| Total Time | 10:22 | |||||||||||
| Foot Miles | 60 | Foot Time | 8:52 | |||||||||
| Bike Miles | 27.3 | Bike Time | 1:30 | |||||||||
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Pic of the week:
My walking buddy. We total around 6-8 miles a week together.
2011 Training Log – Week 19
This week was all about letting the damage from Saturday’s race settle while still trying to maintain a small level of activity. The leg is feeling ragged, but has been improving. I was really happy with a small jog this morning on the treadmill. Real running is a long way off, but I felt like I am getting back to a level where I can at least have a little bit of mobility to work with.
Hoping for some steady progress this week. Focusing on what I can do, rather than what I can’t. I’ll plan on getting out on the bike quite a bit if the weather allows.
Pretty slim numbers, but far better than zero.
| MONDAY | |||||||
| Activity | Walk | Miles | 2.5 | Time | :40 | Avg HR | |
| Spent some time on an easy walk at lunch. My lower leg is super swollen, but the discoloration is gone. The walk was bearable as long as I avoided certain movements. Uphills were pretty bad, though. The swelling is acting like a cast, I’m sure it will feel worse once it goes down. | |||||||
| TUESDAY | |||||||
| Activity | Walk | Miles | 4 | Time | 1:00 | Avg HR | |
| Actually swung my arms a little on this one. Hilly route, couldn’t quite get under the 15min/mi mark I was shooting for. Leg was uncomfortable, but not extremely painful. Doing what I can… | |||||||
| WEDNESDAY | |||||||
| Activity | Walk | Miles | 2 | Time | :40 | Avg HR | |
| Dog walk. | |||||||
| THURSDAY | |||||||
| Activity | – | Miles | Time | Avg HR | |||
| OFFSpent 17 hours in a chair in front of a computer. | |||||||
| FRIDAY | |||||||
| Activity | Walk | Miles | 5.2 | Time | 1:12 | Avg HR | |
| Similar route as Tuesday, but a mile longer and 1min/mile faster pace (13:58). The leg is coming along. | |||||||
| Activity | Walk | Miles | 2 | Time | :40 | Avg HR | |
| Did some exploring up on the hogsback with the dog. Found a potential bouldering spot that might be promising. Tried about 90 seconds of jogging. Didn’t feel very good. | |||||||
| SATURDAY | |||||||
| Activity | – | Miles | Time | Avg HR | |||
| OFFVery gimpy today. | |||||||
| SUNDAY | |||||||
| Activity | Bike | Miles | 9 | Time | :30 | Avg HR | |
| Spin on the bike trainer. Leg felt good once warmed up. | |||||||
| Activity | Run/Walk | Miles | 2 | Time | :32 | Avg HR | |
| Treadmill. Hiked 3mph at 15% for a mile, then jogged a 12 minute mile with no incline. The leg responded well to the long bike warmup, and I was happy to jog a little without significant pain. I don’t care if all I can do is 12 minute miles for the next month, it felt incredibly good to just jog along like that. Here’s hoping for some continued progress. | |||||||
| Total Time – 5:20, Foot – 17.7 / 4:50, Bike – 9 / :30 | |||||||
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Pic of the week:
The goodies arrived from the La Sportiva photo contest. Nice!
The Scene Begins 