Of Mice and Marathons

AM/Lunch: 1+ hour (13.75 miles) on the fatbike. HR 152.

Went to Orion Oaks for a light ride. A lady was walking with a parrot on her shoulder. Very tired. Just want to lie in bed for a few hours.

PM: 4-mile walk w/ Megan and the boys. HR 92. Didn't feel like running.

AM: 3 miles, averaged 8:44. HR 173.

First run in a while. I think I will give up on low heart rate training until I can build some base fitness. Just going to do 3 miles a day at a moderate to steady effort for the next two weeks and then bump it up to 4 miles a day and keep building. 1 hour rides in the afternoon and longer rides on the weekends, progressively building up. Training approach revision #345u5yeirh. 

Felt a lot better today mental health wise. 

Still not sure about the two gravel races I signed up for this fall. I have 5 weeks to the first one and maybe 8 weeks to the second. I want to race, but I am so out of shape I don't feel like it is worth it. Definitely planning to still race Ice Man on the fatbike.

PM: 45' on the trainer (Carter). 170W. HR 165.

Elevated HR, but I expected that.

PM: 1+ hour (18.8 miles) of mostly gravel on fatbike. HR 172.

Pretty steady pedal pressure and a high effort, but it was fun. 15.5 MPH average, which is pretty fast relatively speaking for a fatbike on dirt. Need to take my gravel bike off the trainer. Thought I might be able to do some indoor rides, but the weather is way too nice and no rain in sight. Missed my run this morning. I was decently sore in the hamstrings and quads, but that happens a lot when I don't run for 2 weeks or so.

The boys slept until 10:00AM after getting up at 6 for their first bottle. They were impossible to get down though. We have to put them in their chairs that recline to get them to settle down before putting them in their cribs. Not ideal, but it's difficult to get dinner done and help Megan comfort them. Not sure what this new pattern is, but they go back to bed until at least 9 or so. Just off from travel?

Charlie is pushing himself up on objects and pushing into a standing position and Sawyer has started trying to talk. He has been doing this rolling throat thing for a couple weeks now (it is a cross between a Wookie and a Spanish rolled 'R'). He is repeating "Daddy" and "Dada" though he doesn't understand that it means me. Megan says it is possible that he could start talking any day now, but it is always hard to tell. Pretty crazy for 9.5 months. People always say "it goes quickly," but, man, things are rolling. I'm not sure if they will ever crawl, but their protocrawls (scooting, army crawl) is pretty efficient.

Probably haven't blogged enough about the kids and will regret that. Of course, I wasn't doing any blogging for a while. Nice to look back at stuff though, like the time in 2016 I just looked at when I did 16 x 400 in 78 seconds, which is not mindblowing but was very fast for me and something I'll never touch. Scot Faubs did 40 x 400 in 72-69 today, a workout I beleive is actually from once a runner, but Rob, Jeff, or Jon can probably confirm. Sadly I still haven't read it.

AM: 3 miles, averaged 9:09. HR 172.

Warm and high effort, but it felt good. Legs have some soreness but nothing painful. Fully expected.

PM: 85' of gravel on fatbike (20 miles). HR 166.

Roads were oddly different than yesterday even though I did 95% of the same route. Pine Knob was graded even though it was in great shape yesterday. Mildly chunky. Warmer today. Warmer weather coming. It's been oddly averaged to below average this summer.

Boys slept late again, but were tired early and a bit fussy during the day when they are normally very easy going. Earlier bedtime tonight. I need to transfer Sawyer from his chair to his crib. 

PM: 1+ hour (13.2 miles) of gravel + single track at LO High. HR 166.

Got to the loop correct even though part of the more difficult section felt like it was in reverse. I unclipped a few times and had to walk on some of the short steep hills because I didn't anticipate them. Maybe because I have only correctly done the loop twice.

I was pretty sketchy handling. I think I developed a new fear of trees. The problem is you tend to overcorrect and go right toward them. 

It's been a rough summer. Not the summer we were hoping for. Megan's mom's health is declining and her dad has slowed down a lot. Trying to get her mom moved out of rehab and into assisted living, but it is one thing after another and it has been incredibly difficult for both of us. My dad is also deteriorating. Trying to keep my head up but life feels impossible right now.

I quit my editing job a few days ago after I realized the pay was ridiculous. I had a few people tell me it was "insulting and not worth my time." Still down a class at Oakland, but I might still get one. Signed up for DoorDash, and I am trying to swallow my pride and try that. InstaCart is way too stressfull and time consuming.

Oakland is trying to cut benefits for finacial reasons. Hopefully the union blocks it. They are still excellent, but their tution program for the boys would go from 10% to 50% that we would have to pay. The medical coverage would also get more expensive. It seems like lately it is just one thing after another.

Lunch: 3 miles on the treadmill, averaged 8:21. HR 169.

Treadmill started to shut off as I was cooling down. Blah. Need to put in a call to NordicTrack, but at this point I think it's just a lemon. Works fine for Megan. Guess I need to just loose about 40 lbs and maybe I can use it for more than 30-40'.