FEBRUARY 12 2006

I am trying something different. Most people blog about something that has happened. Today I am blogging before my run. Actually I am trying to catch up. It has been more than a week since I wrote and almost more than a week since I exercised. I am not good at maintaining my activities on the road – out of town. Here is what I did:

February 5 2006
Sunday is supposed to be my "long run," I tried something different. I tried "no run." That is like a long run in no characteristic whatsoever.

February 6 2006
This is a good day because you get to write 2/6/2006, which is fun. I had to go out and observe at a school. Then I left for my trip. I drove to Portland Oregon. I stayed with my friend Lucy for the first night. So, while this was a big mileage day for me, it all happened in the car.

February 7 2006
I had a meeting with my counterparts across the state. This was a great meeting. We learned how to use protocols for discussing observations with teachers and addressing difficult topics in non-threatening ways. The protocol that we didn't practice was the one that allows you to criticize all of your coworkers who are not present. However, most people were already very good at this and didn't really need to practice. Some of them even managed to criticize the person who was right there across the table. Alas, this is my training blog, not my complaining blog. So, after the meeting and the dinner meeting I went back to the hotel where they have a fitness room. I ran on the treadmill. That was fun to figure out. I ran for several 3 minute stints. I had intended to run longer but I didn't know how to work the thing. I kept pressing the wrong button and turning it off. I learned that there are many ways to turn off the treadmill. This fitness room also had an elliptical trainer which worked for longer than 3 minutes because it doesn't get automatically turned off when you slide off the back.

February 8 2006
I went to the conference where I discovered that the conference didn't start for another day. This was actually good because I was up so late exercising that I didn't get myself to the convention center until after 10:00 a.m. You could say that I cross-trained today. First, I went geocaching while carrying my conference bag, my computer, and the GPS unit. I was out and about for 45 minutes but it wasn't very strenuous work. I spent most of the time looking under shrubbery. After that, when the conference still didn't start until the next day, I went to Powell's book store. Have you heard of this bookstore? It is huge. Their literature claims that it is possibly the largest new/used bookstore in the world. I limited myself to four titles, three of which were for Andrea. This trip took all day. It was only a couple miles from the convention center but seemed like longer because I was not in good shoes. Back at the hotel I was planning on using the pool but instead I watched TV.

February 9, 2006
Liza woke me up at 6:30 a.m. with her rendition of Happy Birthday. I fell back to sleep immediately. I got to the conference in time for the Keynote which is good since I work indirectly with the president of the organization and I know he will ask me about it later. I conferenced all day and then went out to dinner with my friend Lucy and her daughter Alejandra. Before dinner we soaked in a public hot tub which was very relaxing. Then I stayed at Lucy's so no treadmill or elliptical trainer. But hey, I am 41 now. We don't want to stress the old bones.

February 10, 2006
Conferenced, drove home, met Andrea for dinner, went out to small bookstore, went to bed.

February 11, 2006
Finally, I am home with no obligations. I can get back to my training schedule. If only I could actually get up off this couch. Walking to breakfast was about as much exercise as I got.


February 12, 2006
Okay, real time training blog again. I just got back from my LONG run. 30 minutes of well-spaced spurts of jogging. 50 minutes of exercise.
Walk to the trail: 3 minutes.
run to the yellow post: 11.5 minutes
walk to the bridge: not timed
run to the guard station: 10.5 minutes
entire trip was 29 minutes so the untimed part must have been 4 minutes. I could have just walked home at this point but this is my long run day so I thought I would explore the trail in the other direction. It took me 11 minutes to walk through the water treatment plant and 7 minutes to run back. Well, 11.5 + 10.5 + 7 = 29 minutes. I decided to keep jogging until I went an even 30 minutes which meant back up the road to home. This must have been comical to see. Each of my little steps propelled me only 6 inches further than the last. Every time I looked at my watch I had cut the time in half, 30 more seconds, 15 more seconds, 8 more seconds.... I felt like I was acting out Zeno's paradox and that I would never actually get to the 30 minute mark.

On my run I had some thoughts:
Thought #1: A 13 mile run is too long to train for because even though it provides me with some nice thinking time, I can't remember any of my big epiphanies by the time I get back.
Thought #2: See, I can't even remember what that one was.
Thought #3: The importance of goals. If I ever get as far as a 13 mile run, it will only be because I trained for it. Making it a goal is the only thing that makes it possible. I am never going to accidentally run for 13 miles. I am not going to be running along and say, Hey, if I just run for 10 more miles, I will have gone 13. At this point, the idea of even being outside for that long is impossible to imagine. But remember, running a half marathon it is not actually my goal at this time. I am only training now to be able to run for 4 miles. That is comprehensible.
Thought #4: It almost seems possible to imagine 13 miles from the walking point of view. On the treadmill I noticed that I could comfortably walk 3.5 – 4 miles an hour. 13.1 ÷ 3.5 = 3 hours and 16 - 45 minutes. My jogging speed at this point fluctuates between 11 – 12.5 minutes a mile. Which works out to 2 hours, 24 – 43 minutes. I would be shaving an hour off my walk time.