Semi-Wordless Wednesday: When Were We Hiking?...

>> Wednesday, November 06, 2024

Glanced at my "floors climbed" last night, and can you tell what day we were hiking in the Tetons recently?...




Views near the start of our hike at Lake Jenny.


At the top of our hike.

I still need to download all my photos from this trip 3 weeks ago!

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First Treadmill Intervals of the Season

>> Tuesday, November 05, 2024

The TC 10 Mile was over 4 weeks ago, and I had some calf pain in my next long run 8 days later (as we were getting ready to leave town for a 6-day road trip to Yellowstone). Finally, about 2.5 weeks after the race, I had a normal-feeling run. So then this past Friday (nearly 4 weeks post-race), I FINALLY felt ready to throw in some speed work!

My last post was about it snowing here on Thursday. Well, it was still icy on Friday morning, so it wasn't conducive to hitting the track - I would have been slipping everywhere. Here was a pic from later in the morning on Friday that showed some sweet fog in the middle of St. Paul:



So I got up and hit the treadmill before sunrise. I figured I'd start with a pretty normal 3x1 mile intervals with about 2-2:30 walking rest between. After a 1 mile warm-up and then 0.2 miles of walking, I was ready to crank up the speed. I didn't look back to last year's treadmill workouts - I didn't care much about the time and just wanted to run hard.

For the first interval, I started at 10.6 mph, and then went up to 10.7 after a half mile, and then 10.8 for the last 1/4 mile or so.

For the 2nd, I started at 10.8 and bumped it up a little sooner to 10.9 and 11.0 mph.

And for the 3rd, I started and 11.0, and moved it up every minute or 2 ending at 11.4 for the last bit.

My splits were:

2:50 + 2:47 = 5:38.2
2:28 walking (0.2 miles)

2:47 + 2:44 = 5:31.3
2:14 walking (0.2 miles)

2:43 + 2:39 = 5:23.2

Here's what my screen looked like part way through my cool down:




Showing the intervals and the current cool down happening.
(There was a longer warm-up that was off
the screen - it just shows the last 30 mins.)

Between an easy trainer spin on Thursday, this treadmill run on Friday, and then a longer trainer ride on Saturday, it feels like winter finally got here! But luckily I got out for a decent long run (in the 50 degree rain) on Monday morning. I'll avoid the treadmill at all costs, but I need it if it's slippery for long runs or fast runs - my knees hate "running tight" trying not to fall on a slick surface. Love cold weather running, but I need normal footing!

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Biking Finally Slowing Down for 2024

>> Saturday, November 02, 2024

I've had a great summer on my bike! September ended with 4 out of 5 months in a row with 300+ miles of biking. And I've only had 5 months of 300+ miles since keeping track online over the last 15 years, and 4 were this past summer.

Going back to early April, I only had 1 week with less than 41 miles of outdoor riding (through the TC 10 Mile a few weeks ago), and that's when we were away for a family wedding for 4 days. It's been consistent. Most weeks were between 60 and 90 miles.

But on Halloween 2 days ago, we started getting some snow. And it stuck around:


Our side yard Oct 31st.


Road conditions around the state that day.

So my bike ride that day was on the trainer - just an hour of spinning. And then it was cold this morning (41 degrees when I wanted to ride), so I hit the trainer again. I did a workout of efforts of 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 minute:


Middle of a 2 hour ride, with some efforts!


I had a good lift this morning too, so while on the trainer,
my HR for the last 4 hours showed both workouts.


Good early morning burn - shirt sweated through!

I love getting in 2 solid workouts by 10 a.m.!!

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Friday Funny 2370: Creepy Home Inspection Photos

>> Friday, November 01, 2024

Structure Tech Home Inspectors posted their annual Halloween collection of creepy things their inspectors have found. Here are some good ones:


Bat on door frame.


Skeletons in the closet.


A snake in a sub-slab duct.


Big ole' fishing spider.


Dead stuff in the panel.


Raccoon poop in the attic.


Skull on the roof...


... wider view.


Death!


Creepy watcher.






Snakes are gross to find in the basement...


... but even worse in finished areas of the house.





Dead fish under the steps?


Cute little skeleton.

I've posted more of these in 2019, 2021, and 2023 - check out those links if interested.

As always, lots more funny things found at SportsAndLaughs.tumblr.com. HAPPY WEEKEND!!

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Friday Funny 2369: Wholesome Motivational Memes


















































More funny things posted all day long on SportsAndLaughs.tumblr.com.

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