avondale training journal, starting Dec. 2018 (comments welcome)

[garneska]

Sorry for the loss of your furbaby. Hope the knee holds up.

 

[nancipants]

So sorry about your kitty.

Good luck on your upcoming race!

 

[Naomeri]

Sorry about Rascal, it certainly sounds like he lived up to his name for his whole life.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

What a week! I loved your eclipse description. So sorry to hear about Rascal - he sounds like he leaves you with a lot of memories!

 

[superchime]

Rest in peace, Rascal.

 

[jmasgat]

Sorry about your cat. It sucks. I'm making preparations for my dog. Your recollection of some of his "finer moments" made me laugh.

 

[avondale]

@RuntheMouse @garneska @nancipants @Naomeri @WillRunForPizza @superchime @jmasgat Thanks so much for your condolences. It was hard, but it was the right decision. @jmasgat I know you had to deal with this yourself just recently. But the years of companionship are worth it.

We have one of the three kittens left from the litter: the female, who was always distinctly smaller. Her brothers bullied her all her life, so she is living like a queen now. She gets all the attention and doesn't have to worry about her brothers taking over her sleeping spot or toy, etc. Rascal would take anything she had just because she had it! It's amazing how pets have such different personalities.

 

[avondale]

Week of Apr. 15 - 19, 2024

This was the last week of my 13-week training plan for the Tour de Dodge 27k on April 20. As I write this, the race is tomorrow! I'll talk about race stuff first and then do my re-cap for the week.

I flew into Milwaukee this morning very early and drove to Dodgeville, where the race will be - it was a 2-hour drive, very easy. When I can, I like to go to the park where the race will be held so that I can find the start area, parking, etc., and then walk some of the course because usually I can't visit it during training.

First, during the drive from Milwaukee to Dodgeville, I stopped by a Subway for lunch and to get on Zoom and answer questions from my students who were in lab (with the TA). They are just starting to analyze their telescope data, so I thought they'd have lots of questions, and I was right, so that was a good move. I also felt guilty for missing lab!

As an aside: when closing up my suitcase in the bedroom in the dark (husband still sleeping at 5am), I forgot to put in my little bag with most of my toiletries! Grrrr. I can obviously pick up most things here, but I am extremely picky about sunscreen that won't make me look like I'm leaking milk out of my skin and will not cause my eyes to sting - and the Biore Watery Essence sunscreen that I prefer is not available in any American stores, let alone Walmart in Dodgeville, population ~5000.

I did get to visit Governor Dodge State Park in the afternoon and found the race start area. I walked about 1.5 miles of the course (and then back). I'll include the photos with the race description tomorrow. The trail surface is mostly packed dirt and really not very technical. It's hilly, as expected, but the hills seem to be more rolling rather than very steep and technical. It's good that it's suppose to be cool for the race, because overall the park is not very wooded, so it will be sunny and not much shade. Of course, this is all based on my experience with a small section of the course, but I drove through more of the park going in and out, and I don't expect dramatic differences in other parts.

One thing that will hopefully not be an issue is course markings. They have different colored flags for the different races (50k, 27k, 10k) and also signs. On my walk going out, I followed them with no problem, but when I reverse course, I missed a turn. Hopefully just because the directions weren't so clear going in reverse! I have a topo-map with the route on my phone, but it would be annoying to have to deal with.

Currently there are 64 people registered for the 27k (starting at 9am), 67 for the 50k (7am), and 62 for the 10k (10:30am). It's going to be so weird to start at the very civilized time of 9am. At 9am, the temperature is supposed to be 35 F with a windchill of 26 F and then 1pm (when I hope to finish by), 42 F with a windchill of 35 F. Dry and partly cloudy. Sound great, even if a tad chilly for my shorts.


Monday after work:

• Hill repeat HIIT - 13min easy + 3 x [7 x (20sec sprint uphill + 20sec walk downhill) + 4min walk downhill]
  • T+D 140, 3% effect, T 82 F
  • time: 40:00
  • distance: 2.92 mi
  • repeat splits: 8:36, 10:56, 9:18, 9:13, 9:45, 9:25, 10:37, 8:00, 10:10, 10:27, 8:35, 9:54, 9:08, 9:45, 9:36, 9:12, 10:17, 8:48, 9:40, 9:45, 11:08
  • elevation gain: 201 ft (corrected)
  • route: neighborhood loop 1
  • comments: I take these splits with a huge grain of salt! I think they were too short for the GPS to necessarily track well. The point was to be going all-out. I was sprinting uphill, then turning and walking downhill for about 15 sec before using the last 5 sec of walking to get turned around uphill again. It takes me 7 intervals to get to the top of the hill, and so that's when I have the 4-min walk back down to the bottom.

Tuesday after work:

• 40 min easy on trail
  • T+D 114, 1% effect, T 75 F
  • time: 40:01
  • distance: 3.20 mi
  • average pace: 12:31 (GAP ave pace 12:30)
  • splits: 12:32, 12:22, 12:37, 12:41
  • ave HR: 133 BPM - within my target range
  • elevation gain: 213 ft (corrected)
  • route: Northwest Branch Trail

Wednesday

• After work: walk outside
  • time: 41:44
  • distance: 2.0 mi
  • ave pace: 20:50
  • comments: I needed to make sure I would get all of my steps in.
• In evening: 2-hr tennis doubles round-robin

Thursday after work:

• 30 min easy
  • T+D 129, 2% effect, T 75 F
  • time: 30:01
  • distance: 2.56 mi
  • average pace: 11:43 (GAP ave pace 11:48)
  • splits: 11:50, 11:41, 11:37
  • ave HR: 134 BPM - within my target range
  • elevation gain: 83 ft (corrected)
  • route: Sligo Creek Trail
  • comments: This trail is paved.

Friday afternoon: walk outside

• time: 1:06:08
• distance: 3.6 mi
• ave pace: 18:22
• comments: Governor Dodge State Park

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Hope you have a great time tomorrow!