Day 148 til 1/2 Marathon and Day 24 til Highline Hustle
I went to Denver yesterday to take a "10 Steps to a Federal Job" class presented by two of my fellow Vet Reps at the Arapaho Douglas Workforce Center. It was a pretty good class. I went to see how it was done, in the hopes that I could bring it to Mesa County to benefit my Veterans. We shall see. It also worked out well to go up because I needed new shoes and I wanted to go to a real running store. And The Boy qualified for State with his 4x4 relay team - I would get to see that. Bonus.
This morning I plugged in the address of The Runner's Roost in to Keagan (my GPS). She got me there lickety split from my hotel. I talked with a very helpful young man about what I was looking for and that I had absolutely no idea what I needed. This young man was incredibly patient with me and told me about pronation, subnation (I can't remember if that is right) and neutral. He then brought out 5 different shoes for me to try and put me on the treadmill, with a video camera trained on my feet. He told me I have a beautiful gait. Yes, he said "beautiful". He said I walk straight down the middle of my foot - from my heel to my toe. He did notice a little pronation when my pace picked up so he recommended a lightly supportive shoe for the times I am walking (and he didn't laugh when I told him I was doing a Tri and a 1/2 marathon). With his guidance, I got the perfect shoe for my foot - an Asics something or another. We discussed sock rubbage and he suggested 2 different types of socks. We also discussed compression socks that, according to "them", help improve circulation. I got the shoes and the socks. I'll have to do some research on the compression socks. As I was checking out, a sticker caught my eye and I got that too. It was a sticker with a person swimming, biking and running. I'll put that on Harrison (my car) after I finish my Tri. And I have to finish for Harrison to wear it. A DNF will not do.
Loaded down with my goodies, I head out for The Boy's track meet. I knew it was a state-wide meet. I knew it would probably be well attended. What I didn't know was HOW well intended it would be. It took me 35 minutes to find a parking spot at the ill-planned JeffCo stadium. And then it took me 20 minutes to walk to the gate where I had to pay $8.00 to watch my Boy run for 1 minute. His race started - he was leg 1 of the 4x4 and I got some good pictures. And good pictures of feet. But that's for another post. His team was doing well and then the third leg came around to where I was sitting and tragedy struck. A runner from Arapaho cut off another runner causing him to fall. Which then caused someone else to fall. And someone else. And then the third runner of my Boy's team. And the runner of the other local team, Fruita. Everyone was able to get up. Everyone finished their leg. With the exception of Fruita. He couldn't get up. It was heart-wrenching. My Boy's team finished last - but they did finish. Arapaho got disqualified for an illegal lane shift. Everyone else didn't finish with a good enough time to make it to finals on Saturday. With the exception of Fruita, who did not finish at all. I do hope that young man is ok. I tried to console my son but he was beyond the point. I offered to bring him home with me but with an admirable bit of loyalty, said he would stay with his team. My words of comfort - you still have next year, you guys finished - that's important - went unsaid. I told him I loved him, I told him to be good and respectful and then I came home.
As soon as I got home, I got my suit on, packed my bag and headed to the gym. I had grand designs to complete an indoor Triathalon tonight - in the order in which I'll be doing it on June 12. It sounded good at the time. It sounded a little nuts at the time, too, but I was determined. I completed my 500 yard swim (arms only), changed and went to the bike. I was feeling pretty good after my swim. I had no idea about the time but it felt good. I was thinking to myself that the 16 miles was going to be a breeze. Not so much. After 4 miles on the bike, my feet went numb. And it wasn't because of my shoes. I think it was because of the type of bike I was using. I used the bike where you peddle in front of you, instead of beneath (like a real bike). I couldn't finish the whole 16 miles on the bike. My feet were hurting way too much. I'm thinking I should probably use the more traditional stationary bike for my indoor training from right now. More realistic and might actually help me build up my ass-bone - which is still sore from last week's ride. I was going to go home after the bike. I was discouraged. I stopped at the counter of the gym to get a bottle of water and talked with the young man there. I don't know how we came to the discussion of why I was there, but I told him I had intended to do an indoor tri tonight but just couldn't finish it. He told me "bullshit" and told me to go finish up. I think I was in shock but I went and finished up. A good movie was on the screen so with my music and the movie, it went by in no time flat.
Things I learned tonight - I should probably increase my yardage on the swim, I should use the traditional stationary bike and I can actually finish what I start. Go me.
This morning I plugged in the address of The Runner's Roost in to Keagan (my GPS). She got me there lickety split from my hotel. I talked with a very helpful young man about what I was looking for and that I had absolutely no idea what I needed. This young man was incredibly patient with me and told me about pronation, subnation (I can't remember if that is right) and neutral. He then brought out 5 different shoes for me to try and put me on the treadmill, with a video camera trained on my feet. He told me I have a beautiful gait. Yes, he said "beautiful". He said I walk straight down the middle of my foot - from my heel to my toe. He did notice a little pronation when my pace picked up so he recommended a lightly supportive shoe for the times I am walking (and he didn't laugh when I told him I was doing a Tri and a 1/2 marathon). With his guidance, I got the perfect shoe for my foot - an Asics something or another. We discussed sock rubbage and he suggested 2 different types of socks. We also discussed compression socks that, according to "them", help improve circulation. I got the shoes and the socks. I'll have to do some research on the compression socks. As I was checking out, a sticker caught my eye and I got that too. It was a sticker with a person swimming, biking and running. I'll put that on Harrison (my car) after I finish my Tri. And I have to finish for Harrison to wear it. A DNF will not do.
Loaded down with my goodies, I head out for The Boy's track meet. I knew it was a state-wide meet. I knew it would probably be well attended. What I didn't know was HOW well intended it would be. It took me 35 minutes to find a parking spot at the ill-planned JeffCo stadium. And then it took me 20 minutes to walk to the gate where I had to pay $8.00 to watch my Boy run for 1 minute. His race started - he was leg 1 of the 4x4 and I got some good pictures. And good pictures of feet. But that's for another post. His team was doing well and then the third leg came around to where I was sitting and tragedy struck. A runner from Arapaho cut off another runner causing him to fall. Which then caused someone else to fall. And someone else. And then the third runner of my Boy's team. And the runner of the other local team, Fruita. Everyone was able to get up. Everyone finished their leg. With the exception of Fruita. He couldn't get up. It was heart-wrenching. My Boy's team finished last - but they did finish. Arapaho got disqualified for an illegal lane shift. Everyone else didn't finish with a good enough time to make it to finals on Saturday. With the exception of Fruita, who did not finish at all. I do hope that young man is ok. I tried to console my son but he was beyond the point. I offered to bring him home with me but with an admirable bit of loyalty, said he would stay with his team. My words of comfort - you still have next year, you guys finished - that's important - went unsaid. I told him I loved him, I told him to be good and respectful and then I came home.
As soon as I got home, I got my suit on, packed my bag and headed to the gym. I had grand designs to complete an indoor Triathalon tonight - in the order in which I'll be doing it on June 12. It sounded good at the time. It sounded a little nuts at the time, too, but I was determined. I completed my 500 yard swim (arms only), changed and went to the bike. I was feeling pretty good after my swim. I had no idea about the time but it felt good. I was thinking to myself that the 16 miles was going to be a breeze. Not so much. After 4 miles on the bike, my feet went numb. And it wasn't because of my shoes. I think it was because of the type of bike I was using. I used the bike where you peddle in front of you, instead of beneath (like a real bike). I couldn't finish the whole 16 miles on the bike. My feet were hurting way too much. I'm thinking I should probably use the more traditional stationary bike for my indoor training from right now. More realistic and might actually help me build up my ass-bone - which is still sore from last week's ride. I was going to go home after the bike. I was discouraged. I stopped at the counter of the gym to get a bottle of water and talked with the young man there. I don't know how we came to the discussion of why I was there, but I told him I had intended to do an indoor tri tonight but just couldn't finish it. He told me "bullshit" and told me to go finish up. I think I was in shock but I went and finished up. A good movie was on the screen so with my music and the movie, it went by in no time flat.
Things I learned tonight - I should probably increase my yardage on the swim, I should use the traditional stationary bike and I can actually finish what I start. Go me.
- 500 yard swim - 14:27
- 8.88 mile bike - 28:39
- 3.13 mile walk - 58:55
- Total time - 102 minutes, 2 seconds (give or take)
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