A good week

Good morning! It is a sunny Friday here in central Wisconsin. Since my better half is out braving the Black Friday shopping hordes I thought this would be a good time to update my blog.
I have been off work since Saturday, November 22nd. The mill I work at has taken some down time due to the soft market. Rather than work a short week, I took a week of vacation. I accomplished some things around the house that I had been putting off due to my crazy schedule. I got storm windows put up. Yes, storm windows. We live in an old house and some of the windows still have screens to put on in the summer and storm windows to put on in the fall. I put up window film inside on some of the windows, did some cleaning, shoveled our first measurable snow and caught up on all the other items needing attention.
I spent Thanksgiving at my Mother's with some of my family. Tammy had to work so we will have Thanksgiving here on Saturday with some of our kids. A couple of my daughters stopped by on Wednesday evening, so all in all I have seen most of the family in the last few days. That always makes for a good week!
My training has been so-so. I spent part of one afternoon just laying on the couch and feeling like crap. Of course I felt well enough in the morning to run 11+ miles. I have managed a few more runs and even got on the bike on the fluid trainer on Monday. The weather has been sunny and in the low 30's so it is still nice running outside. I have to watch out for the ice in spots-I have a knack for taking a couple tumbles a year-but the roads and paths are generally in good shape.
I had toyed with the idea of doing a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning but I just haven't felt "race ready" lately-whatever that means? My runs have been at a pretty easy pace but my average heart rate seems a little high. I am sure part of it is the colder weather. Maybe feeling a little under the weather is another part. I don't seem to have much zip in the old legs the last few weeks. I still might do a 5K on Sunday-we'll see. Depends on the weather, how I feel and if I can drag my lazy butt out of bed.
It sure has been nice to get some good, restful sleep this week. I seem to be the type of person who needs 8+ hours of sleep a night/day and shift work doesn't work well. Depending on what shift I work I am lucky to get 5 good hours of sleep some days.
I have been thinking and planning my goals and resolutions for next year. I am still pondering them and trying to make them something to strive for while still being realistic and achievable. More on this later.
Well, the sun is shining and it looks pretty nice out. Almost 30 degrees and light winds. I better get out and get my run in so I can enjoy the rest of the day and get some things done around this old house.
Later........gotta run.

Time off-finally

Good morning, and a brisk one it is today. 16 degrees and sunny this Saturday, the 22nd of November. This is my first day off from work in 21 days. It hasn't been hard work. I am still helping with training at our mill but it is back to shift work and it has generally been busy. Now, until December 1, our mill is shut down due to the economic downturn.
So, what am I going to do with this 9 day vacation. I am hoping to catch up on my chores around the house. Things that I have put off for the last few months while I was busy at work.
As far as my training goes, I hope to get that back on track. Since my marathon in October I seem to have gotten a little slack and undisciplined with my training. The lack of time off hasn't helped but that is not a good excuse. I would like to get in some nice, easy, long runs in before too much snow flies. I have the treadmill set up in the basement so I can't use the short days as an excuse. I would like to get in a short bike ride or two before it gets too cold. I have the road bike in the basement and will set that up on the fluid trainer this weekend. I also would love to get in some early season x-c skiing. The trails in the UP of Michigan have been receiving snow and they are grooming them. It would be a long drive but it would be fun and a definite change of pace. I have a goal of skiing a 3 hour Birkie this year and I know I need lots of time on the snow so this would be a great start.
My week, beginning on Monday, November 17th, has actually been pretty good. I did my first intervals since I can't remember when. Nothing wild or impressive. I set the treadmill up and did 6x400 in 1:40. I actually like the treadmill in the winter for the consistent pace. I can set it for my goal and I have to keep up or get shot off the back! I also like it for tempo runs for the same reason. The treadmill doesn't lie.
I also got my HRM up and running again. I have had nothing but trouble with my HRM. I won't mention the brand but I have had two of this particular one and both have been lemons. I finally got it working again without it going through batteries every day-really. Using the HRM gives me extra feedback and tells me how hard or easy I am working out. I know I have the problem of not going hard enough on hard days and too hard on easy days. When I use this and actually watch it I can see how to adjust my pace.
On Tuesday, the 18th, I had a great run on the Ice Age Trail. I took my clothes to work and changed after work and parked at the trail head on the way home. It was a cold, cloudy and windy day. Even in the woods the wind didn't seem to let up. I had a light with me but was out of the woods just as the sun was setting. I have never done a night run on the trail but I'm not sure that the conditions were ideal for that on this day. The leaves covering the trail make it a challenging run during the day so I figured I shouldn't push it.
The rest of the week has been pretty easy. I have done a couple short recovery runs. I watched my heart rate and tried my best to keep it low.
I hope to get in a run with Tammy later today and maybe an easy day on the bike on Sunday. Maybe even a short ride outside on the mountain bike. It just seems to early to be doing everything inside. I know, a little fresh-and COLD-air won't kill me.
Well, I better go get a start on some of my chores before the boss gets home. I have put of too much for too long and these 9 days will disappear quick.
Thanks for checking this out.
Gotta run............Sven

What a crazy week!

They-whomever "they" are- say that if you don't like the weather in Wisconsin, wait 15 minutes and it will change. It wasn't 15 minutes this week but it sure seemed like it. Monday, the 3rd, I did a 13 mile trail run on the Ice Age Trail. It was a gorgeous day. Low 70's-yes 70's-with a little breeze. More like a summer day than just a few weeks from Thanksgiving. I wanted to run all day but needed to get home and get some sleep. 11 pm to 7 am shift this week. Tuesday, the 4th, I got in a 13 mile road bike ride. Again in the low 70's and breezy. Just unbelievable weather again. I rode in shorts and a short sleeve jersey and even at a slow pace I was working up a sweat. By the middle of the week it was in the mid 40's and blustery and I was running in wind pants and layering shirts to stay warm. Monday the 10th I worked 3 pm to 11 pm. On the way home I passed a digital thermometer that was reading 14 degrees. The next night I drove home in a rainy/snowy slushy mix. The rest of this week the forecast is for rain and/or snow. If it is true that variety is the spice of life then the last weeks weather mush have been one hell of a spicy mixture. It made for some interesting training the last week.
More later..........gotta run

How do they do it?

It is a damp and foggy morning here in central Wisconsin. I am hoping to get in a nice long trail run later today if it clears up.
The last few weeks at work have been crazy. It actually started in September. The company I work for decided to change computer systems. They wanted people to be trained in these new systems and then these people would train the rest of the employees. I have worked here for 27+ years and thought this would be a nice change of scenery. It is a voluntary and temporary assignment but would give me a straight day shift and weekends off for a couple of months. The beginning of training was quite overwhelming. The trainers/experts showed us how the system worked from beginning to end. About 95% of this didn't pertain to my little job. The overview was nice. It showed us how everything flowed (in theory). After a couple weeks of being trained we took a trip to one of the mills that already uses the new systems. It was a great help. We-the other two trainers and myself-learned more in one day than we learned in two weeks. Then we went back to our mill and began training the other employees. Still weekends off but it was longer hours. Usually 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. It meant getting up in the dark and getting home in the dark. Finally the cut over day came-this past Saturday, November 1st. The other mills had shut down to do this system change. We kept running, kind of guinea pigs for future cut overs. It went fairly well and we had plenty of support from other mills that were running this system. I guess I should say "systems". We were actually using multiple new systems, three in our department. I was at work 12+hours both days this past weekend. Long hours running around trying to find answers or people who knew the answers.
So, anyway, what I am trying to figure out is how do people get in their workouts/training with such crazy work schedules. I thought I used to do well by getting in my training while working rotating shifts. Now I am trying to do it working longer hours, back to shift work and probably no day off for three weeks or ??? I know I can run in the dark. I have lights. reflective material, and other safety items. I could bike with the same cautions and safety items. I have a treadmill and a fluid trainer and will be using these. But the time factor is overwhelming. Saturday morning I was up at 4:30 a.m. and got home around 8:30 p.m. It was not hard work but I was beat and just didn't want to do anything but relax for a little and go to bed to do it all over again. How does anyone train with crazy schedules? Any help here would be appreciated. Yes, I know people get up before work to train. This would probably mean 3:00 a.m. for me. After work would probably be 8:00 p.m. or later. I could do my partial bike commute but that would again add 2+ hours to an already long day. I am back to regular rotating shifts but like I said previously no day off in the foreseeable future. I am going to try my best to balance everything out. Work, training, family.... I already feel a cold coming on so we'll add that to the mix.
Well, it's 11 pm to 7am this week. I need to do some chores and get in my run, or maybe a bike ride. Then a nap before work and then start the craziness again. Again, any help, hints, ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Gotta run.........Sven