This week was a bit of a mini-taper for a relay race Drew and I participated in.
Monday was easy 8 miles on the trail
Tuesday was a mini workout: warm up 2 miles (with Jackson) 8 miles @6:24 pace/3 min easy/4*30 second strides/cool down 3 miles with Mia
Wednesday was 6 miles in the woods with Mia
Thursday was a split: 4 miles with Mia, 1 mile with Jackson- no strength today, I did some mobility instead
Friday was 6.4 with Mia
Saturday was also 6 miles
Sunday was the relay race. Its actually pretty fun, there is an old NASCAR track from decades ago before they paved the races. Its a 1k dirt trail with a forested infield. There are a total of 20*1k each team has to run. Teams can be two or four person, they can be co-ed or not and you can split the loops any way you want them. Drew and I opted to hand off back and forth, I started the race and he finished. In an unusual turn of events my usually much faster than me at short distance husband was slower. 9 of my laps were faster than his, one of his was faster than mine. We ended up finishing first in the 2 person co-ed division. I think we were second to a two person male team. My laps were: 4:25, 4:17, 4:19, 4:26, 4:32, 4:30, 4:26, 4:27, 4:27, 4:18. The track was wet and muddy and proceeded to get more slippery as the race went on, but it was fun splashing in the puddles. I paced myself well and felt comfortable the whole race.
This wasn’t necessarily HRH specific, however, just because we run races that take days to finish, doesn’t mean we should neglect speed. There is a place and time for speed in every runners schedule. Its just a matter of when would it be most beneficial to their races. You can’t run fast, if you don’t practice running fast.
This was a down week, nothing special, all nice easy running. I pay a little extra attention to mobility, foam rolling, and for me especially making sure my feet are stretched. I have some bone spurs but find that as long as I manually work on my feet the rest of me stays feeling pretty good.
Monday is always a recovery day. I like to keep Monday open, I do work on the weekends but sometimes my weekends get busy so Monday is a good day to catch up on coaching things that I may have put off over the weekend. Plus I think its a nice way to reset a week
Tuesday was 8 miles easy. I did some strength training in the afternoon: planks, step ups, squats, and some plyos
Wednesday was a dog day. I ran Mia alone for 4 miles, and then looped back home to run Jackson for 2 miles. I still keep them separate because she’s so fast and wants to run lots, and he prefers to trot and sniff and rather than drag him along at our pace, I let him enjoy his run. He is still only 11 months and though he’s definitely done growing and starting to put on muscle mass, he’s still puppyish so we keep up our run/walks. She’s over a year and is already getting quite muscular in just one month of running with her.
Thursday was a really easy run catching up with a friend. Then afternoon lifting with my strength coach at Balanced Movement Studio. We stuck to lighter weight and Plyos because Drew and I have a relay race coming up next weekend.
Friday was 6 miles with Mia, he longest run yet. We took it nice and slow, stopped to meet dogs and people and do some agility; we found lots of logs to jump over, and under, and walk along. Did some recall (on leash) just for fun and to keep the run interesting. She already really likes running, but keeping it fun will hopefully keep her interested, plus the agility will help her coordination over trail debris.
Saturday was a trail work day! I spent the day pulling invasive bushes, hauling rock and rebuilding a washed out bridge on the MST section near Eno State Park. Small world, I met a guy who used to live in Corvallis and knew a friend of mine who lives out there. Most of the other volunteers were retirees looking to stay active, a few hikers, and then the two of us who run on the trails. If you have never volunteered with a maintenance team, its a really nice way to connect with all sorts of trail users that you otherwise wouldn’t meet at trail races. Lots of good folks who enjoy nature in different ways.
That evening I ran an easy 4 miles to shake out, thankfully my back and arms weren’t as sore as I was expecting them to be.
Sunday was 12 miles easy. I ran with a friend and when we came back to the house so I could grab Mia for a few miles he thanked me and said he got the 10 he wanted…..I looked at my watch and had 8.70! Thats a big difference. After the run I looked at the map and my track did seem to be cutting the corners and in the small trail system we have thats A LOT of corners to cut. I adjusted the GPS mode and shall see if that changes anything tomorrow when I run again.
Onto dog news. We had our first group training session. The group we are in is technically for reactive dogs, but the basics of dog training is really the same. Its interesting to think about. Jackson, our very friendly 30 lb, butt wagging dog could technically be called reactive. Reactivity is just not being in control of your excitement around something. In this case most of the other dogs its dog to dog reactivity. Jackson is 30 lbs that lunges trying to get pet and wags his tail and doesn’t nip at the end of his “reactivity” but if you reframe the situation, if he was a 100 lb dog that lunges and yelps to try to say hello and you were a person who was afraid of dogs, that would be a negative reaction as far as you were concerned. We walked as a pack so they could sniff while moving and far enough away that dogs didn’t get too overly excited. We did some on leash recall, sat quietly near eachother while the trainer talked. Practiced walking towards past eachother with dogs under control. Got into sit-down while dogs walked by each other, and did a few other things. I know it sounds really basic, but if you have tried to walk a dog by another one who is sitting quietly often they want to play or sniff each other and they all had to not ignore, but quietly acknowledge each other while staying calm. This is good for any dog to learn, how to be in control of their bodies in different situations so walking them on leash is a pleasant experience…even if your dog is 30lbs and is “friendly.” Its actually harder for dogs than you think, if you go on a walk and watch dogs interact most pull towards another dog to greet, or pull away. Two dogs walking past each other and paying attention to their owners and not the other dog is a big deal.
Why do this if Jackson is friendly and just wants to say hello? Well first, there are lots of people who do not want to greet your dog. Second there are dogs who do not want to greet your dog and don’t always give a warning until you are up nice and close. Third, if you are like me and want to run with your dog and not stop or get pulled every time a human, dog, squirrel, bird etc comes nearby, then you need a dog that can see it, but chooses to continue along with you.
Joyce Goodwin Kent December 4, 1929-January 8, 2023
My nana was born just after the stock market crash of 1929, lived through the depression and several wars. She had two markedly different adulthoods; one with my Papa raising kids, and one in her 70s with her second husband Charles Kent, who she traveled with and was finally able to sit back and let someone else take care of her.
She was a mother to 7 children, my mother recalls the excitement and joy every pregnancy and birth brought her, even though there were lots of very hard…very meager times. Seven kids to feed and a husband who was constantly losing and gaining new jobs took a toll on the family. She picked up lots of odd jobs, made meals stretch, and learned how to sew so he kids could fit into hand me downs from the local church.
My memories start around her early 50s. I was born when she was 50, when her oldest was 27 but her youngest, my Aunt Beth was 15 and still living at home. Its an interesting overlap most grandparents no longer have; children still living at home to support while you are also a grandmother.
She loved this! While she was gritty and resourceful and hard working and creative, she was also a child at heart. I think that is probably what stands out in most of her grandchildrens’ minds. I can remember the house in Medfield, so small it would fog up the windows in the winter with body heat and people laughing and singing. She always hosted every Christmas, birthday, graduation, retirement, wedding party with gusto. Even though I am an introvert and some of the time this was overwhelming I think I felt most loved as a kid at these fetes. My family was boisterously LOUD, everyone shouting over everyone else to be heard, singing and music always in the background. It was wonderful to be surrounded by this cacophony.
In her 50s she wasn’t on the couch watching movies with us, she was on the ground playing with us. She taught me how to hop on a pogo stick, how to walk on my hands (she often demonstrated this ability at parties) how to draw with my toes, how to gamble, how to climb trees, how to play jump rope- in the house, how to paint and draw, how to make a slip and slide out of regular old plastic, how to wiggle my loose teeth until I could pull them out—— and how to never pass up a good cuddle in bed.
When I was 6 or 7 she took me to the Boston Ballet to watch the Nutcracker and to this day I never pass up an opportunity to watch the Nutcracker Ballet every Christmas, even if that means I have to watch it on TV. I have become a connoisseur of Nutcracker Ballets, I prefer the traditional ones that have a full orchestra as I loved to feel the instruments as well as see the dancers. That Christmas she also bought me a ballet Tutu, blue with blue sequence. Those who know me know that I was adamantly against all girly things, the most offensive was any sort of sparkly dress, but that tutu was so special coming from her after our shared trip into Boston. I still recall how excited she was watching me in awe of the theater house, the bustle of the city, the sounds and smells of the T and sharing in the joy with me.
Another prominent memory is when we went to Hilton Head Island with my cousins. Though she could be competitive and playful and push you to be independent, she always made me feel so safe. It was my first time in the ocean with an oncoming hurricane and the waves and undertow were so strong. At about 40 lbs I couldn’t go in the water without getting pulled under, and I wanted to be in the waves playing for hours. She would go in with me, my hands gripped in hers and we would get tossed around in the surf, always with my hands firmly in hers while she never let me get pulled under. I knew no matter what that when I was with her I was safe. After the storm passed, I remember exploring the aftermath with her, thousands of tiny jelly fish littered the beach, we hopped over and around them and collected all sorts of shells and driftwood. She was always up for exploring.
Her lap was always open to her grandchildren, and well into my 30s she would invite me to sit and give me a hug and tell her what was new in my life. There is a picture of me, as an adult on her knee at almost every Christmas party. This is also partly because in our family of 40+ I was a full foot shorter than everyone else. Most of my cousins and aunts and uncles height averages around 6 ft…which means since I am 5’3” there are several relatives well over 6 ft tall.
In her early 60s she found herself a widow. Rather than shrink away, she met this challenge like she met every other challenge, with the love of her family and a positive attitude. She joined art groups and sold her paintings and stained glass artwork at different art fairs, she found herself continuing to help her kids by watching her grandchildren as parents went off to work, she continued to live her life to the fullest.
In her 70s she was gifted her second love in life. She was reconnected with an old family friend and they hit if off immediately. She always liked to try to shock people, she liked to see people squirm a bit, and when I was in college she would try to tease me that I wasn’t the only one dating and how did I feel about an old grandma going on dates. I, understanding that this was her game…which also was mine at the time as a teen that enjoyed going against social norms, would shrug and tell her we should double date 🙂
I think the most important thing she taught me was about love. It should be given freely without strings attached or conditions. It’s the one thing that there’s always more of. You may be short on cash or luxury items or vacations but there’s always a never ending supply of love. People may say that money makes the world go ‘round but she’s proof that it’s really love.
I talked to her a lot in the past few weeks. We reminisced about the time she took my sisters hamster out of the cage to get a better look at it and it jumped from her hand. They had to chase it around while our dog tried to eat it. She finally caught it by the tail, only to have it break its tail off…and they continued to chase it around, my sister beside herself worrying the dog would eat Tippy, the hamster. She recalled how I used to be a night owl. When my papa died I was 11 and she would spend the night at our house off and on. I would quietly stay away until everyone went to bed at midnight and I would sneak into the guest bed with her to snuggle, my cold feet making her shriek, giggle and hug me tighter. She talked about the time she and my mom visited me in college in AZ and how she had a few too many Long Island iced teas and how my, now husband, had to help her out of the car.
She was funny, and warm, but always brutally honest in that New England sort of way- you always knew exactly what was on her mind, nothing was ever held back. Even with 7 kids, 7 in laws, 20+ grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren she still always had time for you, she never forgot a birthday or an event and had an amazing memory for each one of her family members, always making us all feel equally loved and important.
I will miss her lots, but am so thankful for the gifts she gave me; the honesty and the artistic creativity I posses, the love, laughter and child-like curiosity about the world that I have as well along with all the fun memories I have with her.
Its the first week of January, happy 2023. I started the year off with 18 muddy trail miles, 3 of them with Mia and my sister who was visiting for the new year.
This week was busy!
Total miles run:58
Total miles hiked: 5
Elevation: 5,100
Strength: 90 min
Time:10hr 25 min
Mondays are rest days, but we had a big dog training day. We met with Tracy, a herding dog specialist to help assess Mia’s timidness. Up until this day we had been exercising Mia in the backyard with fetch, a flirt pole, and tug of war games. In the house we had dog puzzles, and the two of them like to play wrestle. Every time we took her out to walk she would tuck her tail, duck her head and overall seemed unhappy. We had tried a variety of harnesses and collars and she panicked every time. Tracy suggested a prong collar, and it was so helpful! I know these things are controversial, however, if they are used properly they are a good training tool. Have you ever seen a dog wearing a regular collar or even martingale, pulling so hard they choke themselves or breathe funny? The flat collar when pulled against their neck will put pressure down on their windpipe. Over time that pressure can cause the tissue to weaken and collapse. There is little that can be done to fix this when it happens and the dog ends up unable to breathe normally. This does not happen with a prong collar so its used until the dog is calm enough to start training with a normal collar or harness. We learned how to fit it right up under her chin and ears, keep her loose leash walking and it was a GAME CHANGER! Not only have we been able to walk her, but I have even gotten out for two runs with her, for a total of almost 10 Mia miles! What a relief. Some of the other training tips are practicing walking on a slip lead around the house, not pulling but body blocking to lead her where we want. The most important training tip was around her crating and leash pressure. A little pressure on to sit or come or turn, pressure off the minute the behavior happens. Also, rather than bribe her with food to go into her crate we tell her once and then lead her in with a leash, same thing, pressure on, pressure off. Its a much better way to establish a hierarchy than the old methods that people used like dominance rolling their dogs, or overusing words and praise that a new dog doesn’t understand anyway. I also spent more time teaching her “drop” because that also establishes hierarchy in a fun way that is also tiring! Why teach hierarchy? If you can let your dog know that you are taking care of things, they can relax more and worry about sniffing, playing and just being a dog as well as following commands you need to keep them safe.
Tuesday 3*12 Lactate Threshold effort run, PM strength training
Wednesday easy 6 miles
Thursday 10 miles easy/2 miles with Mia and PM heavy lifting/plyo combo
Friday I was exhausted because on Monday when they dogs barked at 6am Drew went and let them out…so they did the same, but earlier on tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday as well…so by Friday I was a bit sleep deprived. Friday afternoon we began re-crate training them with no barking as the focus.
Saturday they let me sleep a full 8 hours! Joy! Easy 6 miles; 4 with mia, 2 uphill on the TM
Trail Wisp(erings) 