Monday Night Training Team Picnic

The Balboa Park Monday night training regulars, (or is that irregulars?), had a little potluck under the stars yesterday after the walk. The picnic was timed to coincide with the final performance of the Live Organ Concert at Spreckel's Pavilion. The performance included excerpts from Camelot, Les Miserable, Jesus Christ Superstar, Tommy, the Lion King and an amazing Medley from the Phantom of the Opera.

Attendees were Noel, Kathy, Anne, Mary, Erika, Lorraine, Christine and myself. Mary's daughter and her friend were also there but I'm afraid I don't recall their names. Nothing like enjoying some great food under a full moon in the company of good friends.

Me, Christine and Lorraine
















Erika and Kathy














Ann and Noel













Mary and Clan












Lorraine








Talking around the water cooler today, I found out that one of my fellow co-workers, Barbet was the electrical engineer that designed the lighting for the Pavilion. Small world.

Training Log August 27- September 2

Monday: Balboa Park ~ 3 Miles. Training cut a bit short for the sake of the picnic.

Tuesday: Lake Miramar. Interval training with Coach Peggy. This is the best session of the week for me primarily because I get personalized instruction from one of our top coaches. This is a5 mile loop around the lake and we alternate normal walking with "sprint" walking every 1/4 mile. Today, with a lot of help from Coach Peggy, my sprints were 3.0 minute quarters or 12 minutes per mile! This shatters my previous personal speed record of 13.5 minute/miles. It took a while for me to warm up. I think I've discovered why I have been having such a hard time on Thursday night training. My shins are extremely tight after the course of a normal day, which maybe why I feel so uncoordinated and that I'm "plodding". Started out the same way, and mentioned it to Peggy so we stopped and did some stretching exercises and then resumed. I noticed a dramatic difference right away. Everything just flowed so much better when I was getting good extension in my legs. Definitely something I will keep doing.

Wednesday: Class night so workout limited to 25 minute walk at lunch.

Thursday: 20 minute walk at lunch and about 15 minutes of walking to and from the trolley stops associated with hitting the Padre game. I also ran up every set of stairs I could fine much to the amusement of Christine.

Friday: Rest day in preparation for tomorrow's 13 mile session. Friday afternoons are my only time to run errands lately so I hit the grocery store, the bank, the post office, did some laundry, paid some bills and submitted some donation paperwork to the L&L Society.

Saturday: Mileage was shortened to 12 miles due to brutal heat and humidity. The mileage actually measured out to only 11.5 miles according to the various GPS watches people were carrying. We started at 6:30 am and got on the road shortly after 7:00 am and it was already uncomfortably warm. I did the 11.5 miles in just 1 minute shy of 3 hours for a pace of 15.6 minute/miles. Not too shabby. We took some really long rest stops at the aids stations to hydrate which really affected my overall time. Along the way, I ate 3 salt packets, 3 Gu's and assorted aid station junk food (cheez-it's, pretzels) for energy. I managed to sweat completely through my baseball cap to the point where I actually was able to wring it out. Today was the first day where I really felt that I hit a "wall". The distance was very doable but the heat just sapped all the strength out of me. I was pretty beat when it was all said and done.

Also, after much trepidation, I decided to have a massage session with David the masseuse who attends all our training sessions. Those following along know that I've had a persistent knot problem in the meat of my left calf muscle. Well, David, found it, pinched it and got it to go away. It hurt like blazes for a good 30 seconds until it finally released. Best $10 spent ever. Well except that one time in Tuscon but I don't want to get into that right now.

Lastly, picked up some new kicks today. I'd really worked my existing pair of shoes quite hard so they weren't giving me the support I needed any more. I also had been getting blisters on the tips of my toes. I went to the San Diego Running Institute which is a great place to buy shoes. They were very scientific and measured my feet with calipers and pressure pads that show on a monitor how my feet carry my weight. Really cool. I picked up some
Asics Gel Nimbus VIII's. These are very similar to the shoe I had been wearing, providing neutral support, but they are a little sturdier. Apparently the shoe I have been wearing is meant for people that weigh around 150-160 lbs which could explain why the support didn't last as long. The news shoes are meant for those weighing 180-200 lbs so they are more appropriate for me. Can't wait to try them out.

Fundraising Weekend

After a quick breakfast after Saturday's walk, I headed over to the Del Mar racetrack to pour some beer for fundraising. The folks at Premier Good Group allowed about a dozen of us to volunteer to work the beer booths during the races and the subsequent Ziggy Marley reggae concert. Better than that, they donated $140 to each of our funds and allowed us to keep all our tips. It was 1o hours of non-stop beer pouring. I made a $142 in tips to go along with the $140 in pay so it was a good fundraising day.

Sunday: San Marcos Street Fair Fundraising. Back for more at the street fair. We assisted the beer and wine vendors for tip money. It was hot and muggy but it was a decent way to spend the day. Don't know what the tips worked out too yet but every little bit helps.

Training Log August 20-26

Monday: Balboa Park - 4 Miles. I cut the normal 5-Mile walk down to 4 to be able to catch the Laurel and Hardy silent's at the Spreckles outdoor amphitheater. The short films with shown along with a performance of a live organist. Great time.
Tuesday: Feeling ill took the day off.
Wednesday: 2 Mile walk at Lunch. So busy, just trying to squeeze some miles in.
Thursday: 5 Miles at DeAnza Cove. Not feeling it again. I'm not sure what it is about this location. I might be the day of the week. I'm probably going to give up this training session and make this a gym night. I need to work in some weights to strengthen my knees.
Friday: Day off
Saturday: 9 Miles in Encinitas. Felt strong the whole way. I decided to really push myself this session. The weather was overcast and cool. PERFECT for walking. I did the 9 miles in 2hrs 12 minutes which is a pace of 14.7 minute miles. This is big improvement of my previous time. Coach Ellen walked with me for a couple of miles and timed me and I was doing 13.5 minute miles when I walked with her. My endurance is up too so I'm going to keep pushing.

Training Log (August 13-19)

Monday: Hills and thrills at Balboa Park. 5 very hilly miles!

Tuesday: The normal Lake Miramar session was canceled so Christine and I got together for a walk along the San Diego Harbor. I guestimate it was about 3 miles.

Wednesday: Skipped the normal workout and went to the Padre game with a few friends. Walked about 30 minutes to take Debbie to her car.

Thursday: DeAnza Cove: 3 lame miles. Knee is bugging me so I took it easy today in preparation of Saturday's 15 mile event.

Friday: Off day. Big Miles scheduled for tomorrow. Had a great pasta and chicken dinner to be sure I have the energy for Saturday. Laid out my gear as we have an early start.

Saturday: 15 Big Miles at Coronado. Started out at 6:30am, as in the morning. It was already hot as Hades and just got worse as the day went on. No shade, brutal heat, 15 miles. I luvved it! This is the furthest I have walked to date. The pasta dinner the night before and all the stretching I've been doing really paid off. I felt strong the entire way and really picked up the pace. Went through 3 bottles of water along the way. I also experimented with energy gels for the first time. These are little packages of GU that you eat while exercising to give you an energy burst. The one I ate also had caffeine in it for an extra whammy. Let me tell you, these things work. I took one at about mile 10 and bam! burst of speed. Great workout. Only drawback was getting a blister on the tip of my right "index" toe. I think my shoes are slightly too small and as my feet swell the tip of my toe starts rubbing. I'm almost due for my second pair of shoes anyway so I'll make the change then.

Afterwards, Christine and I went to my friend Matt's baby shower at Crown Point. We got there, scarfed down and promptly laid out on a blanket and dazed. Good times. Burnt out. Matt tried to get me into a round of volleyball, but I passed having exercised enough for the day.

Sunday: Still wiped out from yesterday. Exercise limited to 20 minute walk for coffee.

Recommitment!

Turned in my recommittment paperwork today. I have a goal of raising $6,500 to be able to attend and compete in the Dublin Adidas Marathon. Today, I committed to making up the difference if I can't raise the full $6500. I'm currently stuck right around $3,000 and am starting to get a little worried. Need to start doing some serious fundraising!

Training Log (August 6-12)

Monday: Balboa Park. 4.7 Miles. Nothing spectacular to report, just putting the miles in. We deviated from our normal route to add the Upas street hill to the walk. The hill is fairly short being about a block and half long but is very steep. Got the blood pumping.

Tuesday: Lake Miramar. 5 Miles walk with interval training. Did some one on one training on my walk form with Coach Peggy. The interval training was 1/4 mile normal pace, followed by 1/4 mile sprint for the entire 5 miles. I'm still trying to get the walk form down. Lately, I'd more concerned with just getting the mileage in rather than getting the form down perfectly.

What I'm doing correctly:

1) I have "explosive" power, meaning that I can take off very quickly.
2) The length of my stride is correct. I'm not lifting my feet too high off the ground or taking too long of a step so I'm not wasting energy.
3) hip motion is about 90% there.
4) Walking heel to toe and really pushing through each step.

Things that I need to work on:

1) Turnover. As far as I can tell this means how quickly I repeat the complete step cycle. I need to work on my rhythm so that it all flows.
2) Breathing. I'm still breathing shallowly from the upper part of my chest. Good walkers breath low from their diaphram. I also need to breath more regularly when I'm sprinting. I tend to hold my breath when I'm pushing hard. This is bad.
3) Spacing Out: Got to stay a little more focused and not let my mind wander too much over the long mileage. When I do that my form deteriorates.
4) Endurance. I may have "explosive" power but I can't sustain the boost for very long. More walking time, particularly the interval training will help this.

This was one of the best training sessions I've had to date. It was a great work out.

Wednesday: 3 Mile walk around my neighborhood. I had a very action packed day and I didn't get home until 9pm. Didn't feel like working but I really needed to get some miles in so I just walked the neighborhood for 45 minutes.

Thursday: Back to DeAnza Cove for some more interval work. We were supposed to walk 4 miles today but I think we walked a little bit further, more like 5 miles. I felt very fast today. I started out a stiff and had to keep reminding myself to loosen up and use all the techniques I practiced with Peggy on Tuesday and establish a rhythm. There were times today when it all gelled and I was walking with great form. Very exciting. I'm very curious to see what my actual speed is. I don't usually time myself but I think I'm going to start so I can track my progress. I'm the kind of guy that needs to have a goal to push for so I'm going to do some pondering as to how fast I want to be. I'm now convinced that I can do the 26 mile distance which was a big concern for me. It's time to start setting a time goal for the actual race. That and tracking my speed and distance is an excuse to buy a new electronic toy. *grin*

Friday: Much needed scheduled rest day. Need some time to run errands, do laundry, clean up!

Saturday: 9 Miles along Vacation Isle West A nice little walk along Mission Beach. Lot of people out doing some early morning exercise. Lots of walkers, joggers, bike riders. Getting pretty muggy nowadays.

Sunday: 30 minutes of walking just around town doing errands.

Big Miles

Today's training was a 13 mile walk starting at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. I was particularly worried about my calf as it has been giving me a lot of trouble over the last few days. I spent a good 15 minutes stretching before the walk. The weather was pretty reasonable when we started at 7am but turned nasty, muggy and hot before we finished. It was mighty uncomfortable for the last half of the walk. The calf ended up being fine but I got a few good warning signs to consider.

1) The last 1/2 mile or so, I got a "hot spot" on the ball of my left foot. I'm pretty sure I would have gotten a bad blister if I had continued much further. One of the mentors told me last week that she applies Vaseline to her feet before big walks. Umm, no thanks. My walking partner, Christine promised to unveil the secret of how to avoid blisters next week. The secret supposedly involves some strange teflon-based foot powder for your socks. Beats rubbing Vaseline between your toes.

2) I got a decent sunburn even though I was wearing a baseball cap and it was overcast during the entire walk. Felt flushed and stingy the rest of the weekend. I'm definitely going to start wearing sunscreen during the walks.

Feels good to have worked my way up to a 1/2 marathon distance. I felt very strong at the end of the walk and felt that I could have gone at least another 5 miles if it wasn't for the budding blister problem.

Ghost Story

I decided to forgo training again today. My left calf has a huge knot in it and I want to make sure that I'm ready for Saturday's longer mileage.

I have my Mom in town visiting and we decided to go out to dinner with my Aunt, Micaela. We chose a tasty Japanese place and settled down for some Seafood Udon and Nigiri.

Both my aunt and my mother are widows. My stepfather, Armando (Mando) passed away last September from prostate cancer. My uncle, Jose (Tio Pepe) died of Leukemia about 5 years ago and is one of the two people I'm personally walking for.

During dinner they both start talking about seeing the ghosts of their respective husbands. Seriously.

Here's one of the stories my Mom told. In Mexico November 2nd is the Day of the Dead, a holiday where we remember our dearly departed. My mother and her neighbor, Brenda prepared a beautiful ofrenda for my stepfather pictured here. Check it out. The one they prepared is very elaborate and involved a lot of handiwork and materials, including multiple types of colored paper. They spent a lot of time hand cutting the paper into various shapes and designs as part of the decoration over the course of a couple of days. Well, it seems that during the preparation, the green colored paper went missing. They looked high and low for it including back at Brenda's house and they weren't able to find it. Both remember seeing it with the rest of the paper but couldn't find it. They continued on without it.

On Day of of the Dead, friend's arrive and gather chairs from inside the house around the ofrenda which is outside under a covered patio for the celebration. They bring small gifts, tell funny stories, remember Mando and generally have a good time. After the party is over they bring the chairs back in the house. The next day, my Mom was planning on taking down the ofrenda but decided to leave it up for another week as Mando's birthday was on November 11. On the 11th, they have another get together around the ofrenda and gather around outside again. The next day, my Mom is cleaning up and finds a piece of the missing green paper beneath one of the chairs inside the house. This is one of the same chairs that had been hauled in and out of the house on two recent occasions with no one seeing the missing paper. She says that she immediately thought of Mando and laughed to herself and picked it up and went on with cleaning up. A few minutes later she returns and finds three more pieces of green paper under the SAME chair!!! Somehow three more pieces of paper had materialized out of thin air in a place she had just checked!

My aunt also told a few stories that I won't get into but involve actually seeing my Uncle's ghost in the hallway of their home. One thing in common is that both my mother and aunt say that they felt no fear at all during these encounters. They say that they felt as if it was a playful event. I find that particularly interesting for some reason.

My mom is a retired clinical psychologist and is not prone to crazy talk. I'm not sure what to make about all this but it sure made for some gripping dinner conversation.

Not feelin' it today

Met up with the team and walked DeAnza Cove for a bit of interval training. Couldn't get the mojo working today. I felt stiff and uncoordinated the entire 5 miles. I think the problem stems from Tuesday walk where I hit it hard without stretching since I arrived late. I've had some pain in my legs the last couple of days that makes me think I may have strained something. The 6pm starts are killing me as I can barely make it on time to meet up with the group and don't have enough time to stretch very well. Going to have to figure something out.

Two other walkers, Coach Ellen and Roxanne were also having leg/shin problems and took it slow today. Wear and tear is starting to show so I'm going to be a little more careful.

Did some more torturous sit-ups with Kat and Erika today. We stepped it up a bit and did 3 sets. I'm still sore from Monday's single set. I also threw in a few push-ups for good measure.

Friday is supposed to be a rest day but I'll probably do something light, possibly a short bike ride. Saturday is big miles again and I want to be sure that my legs are back to normal.

Ingmar Bergman...

...died on Monday.

Didn't know the guy at all. He is a movie director....was a movie director. Pretty well known if you are into movies. For me, he connected so clearly to what it is to be human. Several of his movies touch on themes that all humans can relate to. The professor in Wild Strawberries who reflects on his long empty life with great regret and dazes into dreams and memories as he grows older. The daughter in Autumn Sonata who one night, rails against her mother unleashing a torrent of repressed resentment for a lifetime of neglect. The priest in Winter Light who questions his faith. Viewing the world with wonderment and amazement as children do in Fanny and Alexander.

I spent a lot of time watching his movies and they have affected how I look at life. Reason enough to feel the loss of a someone I never met.