"There's only one hard and fast rule in running: sometimes you have to run one hard and fast."








Thursday, July 28, 2011

I hate when reality sneaks in

Yesterday, I went out to the Brickyard to do hill repeats, even though the dewpoint was 75, I hadn't eaten all day and it was afternoon and my heels hurt a bit. As expected, it didn't go well. My Sunday short hill workout has been going extremely well. The Monday run was tough, but done as planned by heart rate, slowed by the previous day's run. The Tuesday run was meant to be easy, with a few sprints, which at 4:15-4:18 mile pace is well below last year's typical 3:35-3:38, but which reduced me to a walk. And then I thought I'd do a long hill workout (!)... there's a plan here, though, not just masochism, and when I can handle the workload, I'll be in shape. I just have to get used to some workouts that look like crap when I write down what I actually accomplished.

Sometimes you just need to wrap your head around things. I talked myself into doing the workout just to try my hand at photographing the environs, in preparation for photos I plan to take this weekend of hills I'm climbing.

That's another thing that's making me laugh at my own naïveté [those diacritics better be right; they're hard to type]. I was wondering why there aren't any decent pictures of some of the peaks I plan to climb. Part of me is still thinking that this is like climbing mountains out west, where you can see the peak on the horizon, drive to the base, climb a trail to the summit and then look out over everything. That's not Minnesota! There's no pictures because there's dense forest the entire way; you can't see the peak from the nearest road, you can't see it from the base, you can't see more than 3 feet in any direction at any time, there's no trail, there's no happy little cairn built at the top by others who've been there to let you know you've arrived (but weren't first) and there's no view from the peak except of trees that look exactly like the trees you see the entire way.

I'm bringing a camera, but I'm no longer thinking I'll get any decent pictures.

5 comments:

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

That's not Minnesota! There's no pictures because there's dense forest the entire way; you can't see the peak from the nearest road, you can't see it from the base, you can't see more than 3 feet in any direction at any time, there's no trail, there's no happy little cairn built at the top by others who've been there to let you know you've arrived (but weren't first) and there's no view from the peak except of trees that look exactly like the trees you see the entire way.

Sounds like someone's angling for a job writing ad copy for the Minnesota Tourist Board! Suggestion: Just add the line "But you'll be dead anyway in a few decades, so no big loss" and your ad will something Minnesotans and non-Minnesotan alike will really "gopher"!

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

... ad will be something ...

NOW it's perfect.

SteveQ said...

@GQH: "You think you look like 20 miles of bad road, brother? Heck, we don't even have roads! Bogs, boulders and blow-down trees await your every step! And don't forget, our mosquitos now come with Nile Fever and Eastern Equine Encephalitis!"

Now THAT's copy!

sea legs girl said...

Count me impressed by the diacritics :).

And Haglund's Deformity is almost as ugly as the name. Thanks for sharing!

Colin said...

It was great to see you and catch up a bit last night, Steve! Thanks for coming out, and good luck with your upcoming adventures!