Remarkable

Les and Lance have now pedaled their way into their eighth of nine states!  They crossed the Mississippi/Alabama border this morning and are nearing the 2300 mile mark.  They have had an amazing trip and if all continues as planned they will reach Savannah, Georgia and the Atlantic Ocean this Friday!!

But let me tell you about someone else who is remarkable - my neighbor, Joe.  I introduced him on this blog over five years ago.  He is one of many smiling faces I see on a regular basis when I'm out running or riding my bike.  Joe is an avid hiker and always has a smile for me.

About a month ago Les and I saw Joe while we were on a bike ride.  It was just a quick, "Good morning!" but I told Les, "Joe didn't seem himself."  Les wondered how I could tell in such a short greeting, but I just knew.

Fast forward to this morning while I was out for a run.  I saw Joe up ahead and determined to catch him.  I slowed to a walked when I caught him.  Our conversation started off like this:

Me:  How are you, Joe?
Joe:  I'm great!
Me:  You didn't seem yourself when I saw you a few weeks ago, are you okay?
Joe:  Well, I had my toes cut off...

To make a long story short, due to poor circulation, Joe's feet were not getting adequate blood supply.  In June he had the toes of his right foot removed and in July had the same procedure done on his left foot.  He is now walking on stumps.  He said he was in a lot of pain prior to the surgery but has had none since.  The main thing that has changed is the length of his stride, but his sunny outlook hasn't changed a bit.

I asked Joe if he had been able to resume hiking.  "I wanted to hike a certain mountain on my 80th birthday and I did just that on Wednesday!"  I am so in awe of this man!  80 years young, walking three miles, 5 days a week and in his words, "working at the Senior center to help those less fortunate," the other two days!

Joe reached his turn around point and we said goodbye for the day.  I finished my run with a huge smile on my face!  What an inspiration!

Midway Recovery Week, The Value of Keeping Records, and My Nice Neighbors (Week 8 Results)

How's that for a long title?

I knew this week was going to be tough after last week's Crystal Lake Plunge, but it was worse than expected!  I hobbled through Sunday and Monday, slowly started feeling better about Wednesday, and then my right hamstring started acting up!  I am calling this a recovery week and trying my best not to let it mess with my head.

Why is it important to keep track of how training goes?  Because there will be weeks like this one and you have to be able to look back at the good weeks to keep going.  My long runs so far have been: 10 miles @ 10:29 pace, 8 @ 10:06, 12 @ 10:38, 8 @ 10:44, 14 @ 10:29, 10.5 @ 10:48, and 15.78 @ 9:05.  My pace range for my long runs is 10:35-10:55, so I have been right on track. Today I ran 10.33 @ 12:11.  I have not lost that much speed.  It was one bad run.  I will do better next week.

So here's what a midway recovery week looks like:

Sunday - Rest day
Result:  Walked 2.01 miles in 36:41, 18:14 pace
I was a pitiful mess the entire day.

Monday - 4 miles easy (10:35 pace)
Result:  Rode 9.4 miles in 50:47, 11.1 mph
Kept the pace and gearing super easy here.

Tuesday - Intervals - 7-8 miles
Result:  Rested

About midweek our weather got really crazy.  Excessive heat warnings.  The temperature at 5:30 on both Wednesday and Thursday mornings was 77!  We often get in the 90s and triple digits, but usually cool off at night so my early morning runs are pleasant.  77 is not pleasant!

Wednesday - 3 miles easy (10:35 pace)
Result:  Ran 4.04 miles in 52:55, 13:07 pace

Thursday - 4 miles easy (10:35 pace)
Result:  Ran 4.59 miles in 57:43, 12:35 pace
Hit the trail for this one.  Chatted with a couple of other runners - Ron who just hiked Mount Whitney and Larry who has completed 5 Ironman competitions.

Friday - Rest day
Result:  Rode 9.33 miles in 47:00, 11.9 mph
Saw TWO snakes on the road!  I didn't stop for a picture, but took this shot on my run this morning.  Yesterday's snake, today's roadkill.

Saturday - LSD 10 miles w/3 @tempo (8:33 pace)
Ran 10.33 miles in 2:05:55, 12:11 pace
This one hurt. I walked most of the last 3 miles.  My right hamstring is super tight.  No amount of stretching and foam rolling has seemed to help yet.  I'm sitting here in compression tights with an ice pack now.  But there was a really pretty sunrise!

Sometimes on a long or fast training run it's easy to tune into my music and ignore everything and everyone around me.  Today, at my very leisurely pace, I was able to talk to a few of my favorite neighbors.  There are two Joes that I see on a regular basis - Korean Joe (because he's Korean) and Grandpa Joe (because he's 77.)  Korean Joe has been suffering from Parkinson's disease for several years now.  He gets out and walks most mornings and is one of my cheerleaders.  Such a sweetheart!  Grandpa Joe broke both ankles many years ago while working construction.  He gets out and walks or hikes every single day.  He's amazing!  He leads a weekly group hike and he never seems to tire.  Lastly, I chatted with Korean Joe's wife, Diana.  She said Joe is now also suffering from dementia.  And that put my tight hamstring and slow running in the proper perspective.  I get to run, I'm healthy, and I will run faster again.

Totals
Running 18.96
Walking 2.01
Cycling 18.73
Total 39.70