Sunday, July 26, 2020

Ice Age Trail 21k Training Week 8

2020 sure is the year that just keeps on giving, isn't it? This week was another doozy. Covid continues to spread, riots and protests continue, Garmin gets hacked, and the race cancellations continue. We experienced a ridiculously oppressive heat wave which cut our time short at the lake. I'm all about looking for silver linings, but come on man! Can we please get a break?


Weekly Rundown
Monday: crossfit-like workout
Tuesday: run 5 miles
Wednesday: trail run 6.2 miles
Thursday: strength train, cycle 4 miles
Friday: trail run 9.5 miles
Saturday: waterski, SUP
Sunday: SUP

Running
Tuesday's 5 miler around my neighborhood felt pretty good! It was a coolish sunrise run and I only stopped once for a selfie and once to walk. Although I'm slowing down, I can't complain about how good my legs felt on this run, especially with the DOMS I was feeling from Monday's WOD.


Wednesday morning, I got on the trails early. It was steamy and I just wasn't feeling it. I took a little detour onto the single track, just to work on agility-lots of tree roots--and I ended up running along the creek. I saw a hawk fly out of the creek! Holy moley, he was big. I also smelled a skunk, which made me pick up the pace. We have a huge skunk problem in my neighborhood and the last thing I need is to get sprayed by one in the trails. 

I had the day off Friday and with the steamy temperatures predicted to return for the weekend, I made the decision to do my long run that morning. The weather was just perfect. I took it slow, starting out on a different trail than I usually do and  then ducked into the woods on the single track that I ran on Wednesday. Instead of following my normal route, I spied a new-to-me trail on the other side of the creek and walked across the creek on a fallen tree. You might say I 'got lost' although you never really get lost here because all trails lead out to the main trail eventually. The trail I ran was technically rooty and it was lovely. It's fun to run explore when you don't have any time constraints! 


Strength training/crossfit-like workout
Monday's WOD was a double MetCon. When I posted this picture on IG, a few people asked me what a MetCon is--it stands for metabolic conditioning. Kind of like HIIT. The first MetCon was a series of sprints 200m, 400m, and 600m, yes, we ran, for time. I was pretty excited about this. The second MetCon was a 10 minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible) 10 v-ups, 15 plank shoulder taps, and 20 overhead plate lunges. I did 5 full rounds. and let me tell you that my quads were really sore the next couple of days!


On Thursday, SJ had me do a push pull workout. The first pair of workouts was alternating bench presses and ring rows, followed by push presses and weighted sled pulls. I like these kind of workouts!

On the Water
On Saturday, we took a ride up to Lake Wisconsin to celebrate my youngest son's 21st birthday and to spend some time on the water. I knew it was going to be hot but I wasn't expecting to sweat while I was on top of the water.  I took the SUP out for a paddle and came back soaked--not from the lake water, but from sweat. In spite of that, it felt good to be out on the water.


Later, we took the boat out for some waterskiing and wakeboarding! I think you'd agree that I made Holly proud with my spray. Matthew looked pretty good out there!

My husband and I ended the day with a sunset boat ride down the river. It was perfect. Cocoa would agree!


The Bad News...
Oh yeah, that. When I got home from my run on Friday, I checked my email. I saw a message from the RD of the Ice Age Trail race and without reading it, I knew what it was going to say. In spite of the bad news, you have to love his sense of humor:
"Imagining a post-race party with runners standing disconsolately in wide circles holding plates of pre-packaged snacks listening to a band of muzzled musicians with finish line volunteers swabbing the noses of runners before handing them their buckles is too much to bear."
The race has been rescheduled to May 8, 2021, with the optimistic hope that we will all have gotten our shit together with this pandemic finally under control. Fingers crossed. We've all had our share of disappointments this year; to keep it all in perspective, many people are grieving the loss of loved ones to the disease. While we are all tired of dealing with it, now is not the time for bad behavior. I read that if everyone wore a mask, we could have this thing under control in 6 weeks!! Seems easy to me. Trust me, I'm tired of it too. 


Then there was the Garmin debaucle. On Thursday, runners began posting about a ransomware attack on Garmin. I didn't run on Thursday so I had no clue! Panicked runners took to social media. If Garmin is down, and the data doesn't transfer to Strava, did the run even happen? 

Maybe running is cancelled? (cue dramatic music). Thankfully, my runs are stored on my watch, hoping to be uploaded whenever Garmin gets fixed (or pays the ransom). The outtage is also affecting aviation systems. What a strange year. I don't want to ask what's next because, fate. By the way, if you want to upload your data from your Garmin to Strava, here's an article that tells you how

How was your week? How were your runs and workouts? Were you affected by the Garmin outage? What are you doing to preserve your sanity?

I'm linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Rundown. 


45 comments :

  1. Little Confused Here, If You're 39 And 3 Quarters, How Is It Possible That Your YOUNGEST Is 21??? Stoked You Were Out Exploring Trails!! So Much Fun. Love Those Water Shots, Happy Pup There, And Solid Efforts In The Gym There. Well Done & Stay Safe!! Big Hugs

    Cheers
    P.S. You Are Not Alone. Huge Trump Cocksuckers Out Here And They Refused To Think Of Others. Mask Have Been Required per Governor's Order But The Entitled Couldn't Be Bothered.

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    1. Ha! I wish I was 39 and 3/4. WISH!!!! But thank you. I feel badly for my boy--the bars are closed in Madison, so there was no 'celebrating' like that. I do believe he did some celebrating with his friends, tho...

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  2. In all honesty, I was oblivious to how much of a "crisis" the Garmin thing was, at least in terms of runners. Then, I started seeing all the angry posts on SM, and I was like...hmmmm? Did anyone die over this? LOL Although I'm not into all that, I totally respect that many others are, so I hope it gets resolved. Yes, 2020 just keeps twisting and turning...

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    1. It will get resolved and since I am no longer training, I'm not so concerned about my stats. I like to know my monthly mileage, so hopefully it will be resolved by the end of the month.

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  3. Honestly I couldn't care less about my Garmin stats. What gives me pause is that Garmin has satellites up there. And if whomever is behind us has access to those, what then??
    Love seeing Captain Cocoa aboard her craft! Glad she's feeling better!

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    1. She's still a little gimpy if she overdoes it! She's pretty much back to herself.

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  4. I'm not affected too badly by the garmin thing as I've always had to just upload my runs from my watch to Strava by plugging it in to its charger, so I just do that and eventually Garmin will come back and I can always copy my runs over to it from Strava by saving them on the PC. Or something. I'm not thrilled my data has been hacked though although at least I always know Matthew is at home when I'm out running so it isn't too much of a security risk.

    So sorry about the cancellation and hope it can run on the new date. Are you going to carry on training on the trails in the meantime?

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    1. I am! I have fallen in love with the trails--I started in February with no intention of a trail race. But here I am. Looking forward to the change of seasons on the trails.

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  5. 2020 will sure be a year none of us ever forget! I am still waiting for some sort of alien invasion ala a Will Smith movie or maybe sharknado? Not too upset about the Garmin thing as I know it's all on my watch and will eventually appear.It must be one hell of a hack though to take this long to repair.Glad you had fun out on the lake. Looks like the best place to be!

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    1. It was a lot of fun out on the lake but when it's this hot, you have to be in the water all the time! No AC in the cabin was brutal, so we came home.

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  6. Ah Wendy, I'm sorry about your race. Yes we all know the cancellations are coming but it's still a bitter pill when they happen. Life will be back to normal some day, in spite of all of the anti maskers/vaxxers. And P.S. who knew that Garmin had a aviation system? This was quite the week for learning.

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    1. I did know about that--Garmin has navigation systems for all kinds of moving objects!

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  7. I hate that the heat made you cut your time short on the water this weekend, but I love that photo of Cocoa in the boat!

    I was so sorry to hear about the race cancellation :( I really hope that you'll be able to run next May. If we're still dealing with crazy outbreaks of Covid in May then I have lost faith in humanity!

    The Garmin thing is crazy - I read on Twitter that the hackers are asking for $10 million?! That's so scary!

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    1. I heard about that ransom too! I can't imagine what is happening behind the scenes right now, but I bet there's a lot of sweating going on!

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  8. I'm so sorry that the race was canceled, Wendy. We've had a few trail races go on here. I'll wait until some day when hopefully races are more normal? Will it happen?

    I've been busy, I started to definitely feel run down this week, and then I was like -- hey, you don't have to run! A little break probably would be a good thing. I think it's the early mornings really getting to me, although I still have to get out with the dogs early anyway. But far less prep.

    On the bright side you got to celebrate with your boy & enjoy the water! Hot or not, it's always calming, right?

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    1. Being out on the lake was great. We were planning on staying up there until Monday, but without AC, I just don't know how we could have done it for 3 nights. One was fine.

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  9. I've only owned one Garmin and after it quit working I moved on to Suunto watches. Les got a new Garmin for Christmas and while we were riding on Thursday the GPS quick working. He has not been able to get it to connect to satellites since. He's been very frustrated because he uses Strava live segments connected to Garmin to race his PRs. There's a big SoCal challenge that goes on every summer and he's gotten a ton of PRs this year. He was shooting for 2 more yesterday, but who knows... with no GPS it doesn't matter how fast he went.

    Sorry about your race being canceled.

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    1. I've had no trouble connecting to GPS since the outtage. If that becomes an issue, I'll have to use an app on the phone. I just want to know my mileage and time. I can work around this until it gets fixed.

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  10. I'm really sorry about your race - I had hoped they might be able to pull it off.

    Some runners were getting pretty hostile on SM over the whole Garmin thing - I figure it's all on my watch and will get uploaded eventually.

    2020 really is the gift that keeps on giving - I'm so over people whining about masks!

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    1. I couldn't believe the freakout I saw on social media! I've never taken my training that seriously--it took me forever to commit to a Garmin. I used to use Endomondo on my phone until I finally caved. I just like to know my mileage and my times.

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  11. I'm sorry about your race! Trail races seemed like they might have been the first to come back. I think it's the travel around races and aid stations that are a huge concern.
    I've been uploading my runs to Strava via manual upload. I really hope Garmin is able to sort it out - I feel so bad for them, especially with the hostility some runners are expressing on social media.

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    1. Frankly, I was surprised by the response of some runners, even after learning that it was a hacking for ransom. People are really something lately, aren't they?

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  12. Bummer about the race. Crossing my fingers and hope they can make it happen for next year.

    My runs are stored in my watch too and hopefully will upload to the app soon. I was very surprised to read some of the comments from when Garmin made the announcement on Facebook. Many were just mean about it. They made it seem like it was such a horrible thing happening to them. No, it isn't. There are much worse things happening right now.

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  13. Sorry about the race. I do like their sense of humor — although it is grounded in our tragic reality. Your time on the water looks amazing! Happy birthday to your son! I’ve learned from my cybersecurity partners how paralyzing and complicated ransomware can be. I’ve got my fingers crossed they are working on getting a fresh start and restoring things carefully. I’m not ready to deal with Strava yet — ask me next week.

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    1. I'm just going to sit back and wait for it all to be fixed. What a shame that it happened at all. This makes me fear for the election in the fall.

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  14. Ugh. I am sorry. My ZOOMA race went virtual so that was no fun either. :\

    I am glad you got to the lake and got to do some boating and paddle-boarding. It can get hot out there on the SUP. The sun bounces back off the water and can really makes things toasty.

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  15. So sorry about your race!
    That trail looked amazing - running with no time constraints is just perfection. I like having no need at all to look at the watch.
    Glad Cocoa is on the mend, or looks to be. Waterskiing looks fun.

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    1. I do love my trails and I'm not planning on giving up on running them, even with no race to train for!

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  16. Wear masks people....seriously. We are in Northern Wisconsin at my husband's family's cabin and he went to the store quick and was looked at like a weirdo for wearing a mask. No one was. It's nuts.

    Sorry to hear about the Ice Age trail cancellation. I hope it happens next year!

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    1. Northern Wisco doesn't have a lot of cases and they need to keep it that way! Enjoy your time away.

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  17. I'm so sorry about your race! I know you were really excited for it and it seemed like it had a decent chance of being held. Its so frustrating to see all the numbers spiking and to know so many people are going out and being careless and not wearing masks. The Garmin thing is so strange! I uploaded my runs to Strava, but I don't even really like/use Strava its just weird to not be able to save my run somewhere other than my watch!

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    1. I haven't uploaded my runs to Strava--my Mac doesn't have a USB port and I'd have to buy a dongle thingie (that just sounds wrong). Hoping Garmin gets things fixed soon.

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  18. It seems so silly (and priviliged) to complain about Garmin, and yet, here I am. :-) I've been manually uploading to Strava. Actually, my main reason to use the app is to track my shoe mileage. I've over all the fancy stuff.

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    1. Fortunately, I only have one run that didn't sync since the outtage. I manually added it in.

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  19. I'm really sorry your race was cancelled. It's likely for the best, but it's still hard to accept that our sport as we knew it just isn't available right now. Here in NYC, everyone wears masks, though we do get some people who seem to believe they don't breathe through their noses and therefore don't cover them. Sigh. It's hard to believe that people refuse to wear them at all. I'm glad you plan to continue trail running!

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    1. Yeah, it's just so hard to get my head around all of this. The mask under the nose is just stupid. As if they think they can't transmit the virus out of their nose? Why even wear a mask then?

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  20. Sorry about the race cancellation :( I know it's been a lot of disappointments for people this year. But glad you got away to the lake with the family for a bit. It sounds like fun in spite of the heat!

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  21. Bummer about your race. Seems like trail races would have been safe, but I know race directors don't want to take the chance. Such a debate in my area about masks. Just wear 'em, enough said. Did you have to master the skill of using the SUP? Did you fall off at first, or do you still fall off? I have never used one, but it looks like I would fall off!

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    1. I've been using a SUP for a while now, so I'm pretty good at staying on it. I did have a collision with a pier while trying to take a selfie--not sure how i managed not to fall off that time!

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  22. Sorry about your race.

    Not affected by the Garmin fiasco since I wear mine for races and as you know there haven’t been any and I’m not sure when I will again

    I went hiking today. It was awful. Much cooler in the mountains. Went swimming in the lake after. Aaah.

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  23. I am so sorry that your trail race was canceled. I thought some of the trail races might survive...

    It looks like you had a great time at the lake and happy belated birthday to your son. Yes, Holly would be proud!

    Have a great week, Wendy!

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