Wiz in the Woods

And that’s what I did, go the distance. I had no desire to go out today but obviously I did.

I walked my usual first two miles, then started running. After about 1/2 mile my left leg felt weird. With the marathon looming close on the horizon, I decided not to tempt fate and chose to walk. And walk I did….many miles. I tossed a bit of running into the mix but not enough keep track of. Let’s just say I walked well over half the distance.

I know I’ve been “off” lately, partly due to my trip to Seattle, which involved strange eating and sleeping habits. Fatigue is getting to me, though I am trying to stave it off. The coming two weeks will be focused on eating well, sleeping better, and easing my mind. Sounds like a tall order but one I must fervently try to fill.

Yesterday’s seasonably warm weather obviously enticed the insect population out of their shells, as it were. The flying bugs which I encountered in the forest were almost treacherous. My baseball cap was a perfect ‘trap’ for them; they’d get caught under the brim and wreak havoc with my face. I inhaled a number of them in my nose and mouth. If that wasn’t enough, they’d find their way under or between my glasses. (I wear my regular glasses and sunglasses on top of them.) Ugh, I sorely detest insects.

On a related note, the run was OK. No energy to speak of and leaden legs were hard to pick up so many times. I had HEED along the route and a water bottle stashed at mile 14; should have placed it sooner. I ran out of HEED about mile 10 and when I finally got some water, I felt much better. I’ll have to plan that better for my two remaining long runs.

I have a massage scheduled in a couple hours. This will be a deep tissue massage. I had one of those in the past and did not enjoy it at all. However, my masseuse wants to start there in hopes of loosening my tightness. It’s only 30 minutes and if it’s too much, I can always have her stop.

Getting close.

Totals:
walk - 4.0
run - 12.0

I only have two 20 mile training runs in my schedule, maybe that’s why it’s so appealing. I’ve used this schedule for past marathons and have liked the approach; I won’t be beating myself up while training. The only time I’ll be doing 26.2 miles is marathon day.

The reality of it all boils down to this: a 20 mile run (no problem! I will have done two recently) and a 10K. And we can all do a 10K, a mere 6.2 miles. It’s all a mind game, one I plan on winning.

Totals:
walk - 6.1
run - 13.9

The run was better than I anticipated. My leg was wrapped, and it gave me no trouble at all. Once again I walked more than I really had wanted to but there it is. I did the distance; that’s what I kept telling myself.

Today’s route was two distinct loops and two spurs to make the mileage. As I was doing the first spur, I thought I may as well do it twice now and not have to think about it again. However, I re-thought it immediately. I only needed to do each spur once today; twice is needed for next week’s miles. So a bonus of sorts.

My feet are very tired; I need to get those new shoes running not just walking.

I brought a bottle of HEED on the run. Still haven’t acquired a taste for it but it’s the nutrients in it that I need.

Totals:
walk - 5.4
run - 12.6

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addendum ~

Another bonus!  Checking my schedule, I run 16 miles next week not 20!!!

also posted on 360*

Jerry and I drove to Eugene Friday afternoon for the Gordon Lightfoot concert that evening. It was a four hour drive and we hit some of the Portland weekend traffic. Not much fun but it had to be dealt with.

We did make good time and arrived in Eugene about 4:30 - just enough time for Jerry to take a power nap before a long evening.

Dot had made a dinner reservation at a place down the street from our motel so we packed our concert gear in a bag and walked there. When she and her friend arrived we put our stuff in her car. We then proceeded to have a feast at the steak house.

Arriving at the venue, we found a spot of level ground to park our blankets. There was time to walk around before the concert began, which it did promptly at 8:00. Mr. Lightfoot’s voice had certainly aged but the talent shown through. He did some of the old favorites and some new compositions. Very nice. As the sun went down, the moon came up over the stage. The stars started peeping out and the bats were active in the air.

The song right before the break was “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” I have heard this song many times. I have envisioned the storm which blew early that November. I have known fishermen who have been in like storms and survived, and some who have not. But hearing Mr. Lightfoot sing it, oh my, I felt we should stand for a moment of silence to honor the 29 men who went down with the ship.

After the concert we pretty much collapsed at the motel. It was way past our bedtime.

Saturday morning we headed north again but spend only a brief amount of time and miles on I-5. We took back roads to Vernonia!!!

A little history here… When we drive to and from Portland, we always pass the cut-off to Vernonia. We also vow we will go there one day. But when we are passing the cut-off , we are always hell-bent to get to our final destination, hence no trip to Vernonia.

Estelina - you may “meet” Vern from Vernonia in Shanghaied next week.

It was our goal to discover this little town and play golf at their course. We did have a delightful lunch at a cafe: a fresh garden sandwich and a chicken wrap. Then it was off the play a round of golf.

Fun course if a bit challenging. I was shooting for a “double-par” score, a good way for beginners to score shown to me by my niece Michaela. I did OK. The sun was shining, there was no one behind us on the course, and I was with Jerry. Can’t beat that! We ended with superb scores on the final hole: birdie for Jerry and par for me.

More back roads toward home. This was the Hood to Coast weekend and the roads they take are the back ones also. Having participated in the relay many times, I knew how the traffic could be an absolute nightmare. However, a quick peek at the time and I knew that they would have already cleared the roads we wanted to travel. Excellent!

So! The concert was well worth the trip. Not only for the music but for the time with Jerry.