Athlete Vaporists?

[CANtalk]

How's everyone doing?!

Another week gone by and I made it out a few times again on local trails with the MTB. I took that cardio killer trail and it was dry this time (great news) but humid and punishing. I stopped ~5-6 times to catch my breath, lower my heart rate and I ended up feeling light headed. Haven't had that before, so I kept the MTB ride short at ~11 miles. Took a rest and a few days ago I went back out on the MTB and this time the cardio killer trail was better. Good leg strength, good cardio strength, good endurance. I stopped 4 times and no significant light-headedness. Past 3-4 people and never saw them again. I felt good good after... so I next went onto the #2 cardio trail in the area which is also #1 for technical riding. Stacking them together is no joke but it went great and I was able to do the mid-way climb up again . I wasn't going to push it too hard so I took a short break 2/3rds of the way through, and then went onto the next trail which was fun and included some skinny trail features that I successfully tackled. After that I took a break, had an energy bar and some water, then I looped back home without stopping after that on other trails. ~18 miles total. It was excellent, and my legs were pretty tired after.

It's still raining regularly here and everything is so lush outside, very beautiful. I just love getting out on the trails with the MTB and putting miles under me, it's so enjoyable . And I'm still trying to find a good exercise balance as these last few rides have showed me that I still need to take more rest. Hope you're all enjoying the long weekend and some exercise. My plan is to get out today on the MTB again and I'll be back later.

Cheers and have a great Saturday!

 

[Hippie Dickie]

i definitely relate to the "take more rest" comment. i am still, after 9 years of consistent resistance training, trying to find the right amount - per session and sessions per week. i don't know why a 25 minute session can't be done every day - not nearly as much effort as the typical tradesman, which is, i guess, why they generally wear out mid-50s, 60s.

so, still seeking the balance. at this age i am insanely curious to see what my body can do. so, "just do it" vs "just chill a bit".

i love seeing other people committed to fitness.

 

[CANtalk]

I got out for another MTB trail ride again yesterday and it was excellent . I would have taken the day off from exercise for the rest, but there was a festival I decided to bike to and enjoy. I got going in the early afternoon in some good weather and decided to take the big MTB trails on the way there as well.

The cardio killer trail went very well this time . I only took two breaks and my heart rate was under better control. Next I took the #2 trail again, including the mid trail climb, and didn't need to take any rest breaks. I did almost crash once, but wisely didn't mess around and bailed off the pedals (clipped in) when I got in an awkward spot. So far, it's been one of my best years in a long time for avoiding crashes. Been close a few times (one was an especially bizarre circumstance) but so far so good. I was able to ride the MTB skinny trail features again as well on the next trail and it was ~10 miles total to the festival. Once there I felt great, calm, relaxed and still had good energy.

The festival had free valet bike parking and it was an enjoyable event. I spent the rest of afternoon there, brought and enjoyed two 0.050 gram cannabis bowls (Lambs bread and Vortex sativas) in my ultraportable vape, with a few pints of beer and a few energy bars. I left in the evening and looped the easier MTB trails for the 10 mile ride back home. Felt very hungry by the end. A shower, a few cocktails and some great food ended the evening in combination with a runners high and cannabis high. Very excellent.

I was really happy I to get out again and it's trips like these that make me want to do more and more. Hope you're all enjoying the outdoors and/or some exercise. Cheers and have a great long weekend.

 

[Nina]

a runners high and cannabis high

I can only dream of such things! Honestly I'm astounded that physical exertion while stoned is possible. More power to you sir!
I've been offroading on my road bike round a local trail, if I could get round to fixing the tyre on my off road bike I could give it a bit more welly!
The 'busted' bike is a 29er*, I am short and live a few floors up, there's no elevator. It's quite a performance, at least compared to the road bikes!

(*probably really uncool now?
I do like it tho)

 

[Polarbearboy]

I can only dream of such things! Honestly I'm astounded that physical exertion while stoned is possible. More power to you sir!
I've been offroading on my road bike round a local trail, if I could get round to fixing the tyre on my off road bike I could give it a bit more welly!
The 'busted' bike is a 29er*, I am short and live a few floors up, there's no elevator. It's quite a performance, at least compared to the road bikes!

(*probably really uncool now?
I do like it tho)

Physical exertion while stoned! One of the great joys of my life for more than fifty years. When I was younger in the late 60s, I used to run up 4,000 footers in the White Mtns., always with a joint in hand and hiked up to 14,000 feet in the Colorado Rockies toking away. After returning to college and becoming a professional, stoned strenuous outdoor activities were my weekends, backpacking, snowshoeing, xc skiing, biking, jogging. Used to love sitting on the summit of Mt. Adams(second highest mtn in the Northeast) with my thermos of coffee and a j. Loved jogging and long distance road biking after a toke or two with another toke or two to get me home. Still at it after more than fifty years. Just about to head out for a ride on my ebike into the gale-force wind and up and down the hills near my second home in northern Newfoundland. Love having some strong organic women-owned weed and rosin (https://www.reeforganic.com/organic-cannabis/) at hand. Ah joy!

 

[el sargantano]

Love having some strong organic women-owned weed and rosin (https://www.reeforganic.com/organic-cannabis/) at hand. Ah joy!

Oh, aquaponic weed! Fantastic!!

 

[Siebter]

Why do we run? We run for fitness, we run for better health, to boost our overall quality of life. We run to socialize with other runners, to support them and learn from them too.

Now, all this blabla is very nice, but let's not forget that we also run → to try out new shoes! Uh yeah!

Last week I got me some new shoes, let me show them off a bit.

First: Saucony Endorphin Speed 2, got them for a super nice price because the Speed 3 just came out:

This is by far the highest stacked shoe I've ever had (35.5mm heel stack, 8mm drop) I mostly prefer lower profiles, but I got used to it pretty quickly. This shoe features a PEBA midsole (very light, soft, yet bouncy and very responsive) and a full length nylon plate. It has been a fan favorite for several years now and I totally understand why: this shoe is *fast*. Midsole foams of that nature tend to be unstable (as in: forces go in all kind of directions), the plate on the other hand makes everything move forward. It's a very unique, efficient and fun ride. Also feels fine on cooldown paces, it's easy to log in a pace and just keep going. Another thing that is very apparent is how leg saving these superfoams are, even very hard workouts leave me fresh and happy.

Second: adidas Takumi Sen 8:

The Takumi until not too long ago used to be a extremely low profile and aggressive racing flat for shorter distances (5k/10k) with a bit of a cult following – a bit too low profile even for me. The latest iteration crossed the original spirit with the super shoe approach, so much more stack height, a „super foam“ and glass fiber rods under the forefoot, making it capable of being used for the half marathon distance or even longer. It's an amazing shoe, super dynamic, yet very controllable too. Fast, very fast. And it has the same leg saving properties as the Speed 2, those super foams are indeed a total revelation.

 

[CANtalk]

Nice running shoes @Siebter!

I can only dream of such things! Honestly I'm astounded that physical exertion while stoned is possible. More power to you sir!
I've been offroading on my road bike round a local trail, if I could get round to fixing the tyre on my off road bike I could give it a bit more welly!
The 'busted' bike is a 29er*, I am short and live a few floors up, there's no elevator. It's quite a performance, at least compared to the road bikes!

(*probably really uncool now?
I do like it tho)

Hope you can get it sorted and enjoy the MTB! I very rarely get high and exercise, too dangerous for me and with the trails I like to get on. I feel quite dissociated and lose coordination. I vape after exercise and then the combo runners high and cannabis high mixes to excellent awesomeness .


How are fellow athlete vaporists? Any stories?

I took an exercise break for a while since I last posted. Been fighting some low energy too. I did get out for a MTB ride yesterday. It felt pretty good for the first while and it was super hot. I got on the cardio killer trail and it didn't take long to kick my butt again. There was super high humidity (to the point the trail was still wet in spots) and I felt I couldn't get as much oxygen in. It was probably ~95 F with the humidex. I had to take a lot of breaks on the trail, had near max hear rate for most all of it and ended up really tired. I overdid it (live and learn) so I cut the ride short again and only did ~11 miles total. The ride back home was better. A really cold shower after and vaping some cannabis made me feel better and I perked back up. 4-5 hrs later I noticed a core body muscle strain, one that has bothered me in vigorous exercise for years up until only the last few years. I'll wait a few days before I go back on the MTB and hope to be okay.

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying some exercise and the outdoors. Have a nice weekend!

 

[Hippie Dickie]

i've been low energy for the last several days, too - i attribute it to dystopia fever. finally got a full 35 minutes session on the NordicTrack today and at a good pace. going to try for 5 days in a row. my new strength challenge is to do 1000 seconds/day of hang on the pull up bar - just hang - i can do 45 sec at a time now, did 6 sessions for 250 seconds total today - long way to go. gets me off my ass up from the computer screen. doing a hang every 15 minutes.

 

[Siebter]

Damn, I totally enjoy running these days. It's summer, I can wear my fancy singlets and three inch shorts and feel like running around nude! :-) We already had two major heatwaves this year (and expecting the third one to hit us soon) and those really hot days make tempo runs etc. hard, but oh boy, I still enjoy summer running! I remember so well having to fight with myself to turn that doorknob (although in Germany we actually use door latches btw) because outside it was grim and dark. And cold! These days I can step outside and calmly wait for my watch to get its GPS fix without turning into an icicle – wonderful!

A few days ago we had a „Supermoon“ and I didn't even knew about it until I saw it on my run – absolutely marvelous! Sometimes I see a fox (right in the center of this multimillion citizen city) and I totally love foxes. Foxes are mostly not sure how much they love runners and it's so cute to watch them trying to figure it out.

Ah, running! :-)

 

[Polarbearboy]

Damn, I totally enjoy running these days. It's summer, I can wear my fancy singlets and three inch shorts and feel like running around nude! :-) We already had two major heatwaves this year (and expecting the third one to hit us soon) and those really hot days make tempo runs etc. hard, but oh boy, I still enjoy summer running! I remember so well having to fight with myself to turn that doorknob (although in Germany we actually use door latches btw) because outside it was grim and dark. And cold! These days I can step outside and calmly wait for my watch to get its GPS fix without turning into an icicle – wonderful!

A few days ago we had a „Supermoon“ and I didn't even knew about it until I saw it on my run – absolutely marvelous! Sometimes I see a fox (right in the center of this multimillion citizen city) and I totally love foxes. Foxes are mostly not sure how much they love runners and it's so cute to watch them trying to figure it out.

Ah, running! :-)

Just yesterday I was chit-chatting--yarning is what they call it here--with a friend who is the only other near daily outdoor exerciser in the area about our fox and coyote encounters while moving. Most animals--rabbits, squirrels, birds, weasels, minks, moose, caribou, etc.--quickly beat a retreat when they see a person coming towards them. But both foxes and coyotes sometimes stop and stare, seemingly curious about us and wondering if we are friend, foe, or potential food. You can understand how wolves(fellow canids) were to become dogs. We've both had foxes trot along beside us in late afternoon/evening encounters while jogging or biking. But unlike you, we are remote, the nearest "big city" to us having 2,500 or so residents and it being the largest community within 270miles/435kilometers.

Just about to vape a bit and hop on my ebike for a ride. Gale force winds(whitecaps on the water) and temp 57F/12C. Around here when it hits 70, people are wearing their short-shorts and complaining about the heat.

 

[vapirtoo]

Morning group!
Covid had me down for a while with very minor symptoms.
I did recognize stress when breathing while doing regular chores.
I was breathing as if I was doing a light jog while vacuuming the
living room.
Anyway, I'm getting back to my old self, walking or riding every day.
Motivation was becoming a problem even before the Covid;
it's kind of worst now, but I'm pulling out of my funk.
The stories and pics are a big motivation to get off my ass.
Thanks group! Much love!

 

[WisePenny]

I've been happy in my comfort zone running bubble for the last couple of years: generally 5-8 km runs with a 10k thrown in once every couple of weeks. A few months ago I got curious about my ability to do longer distances, so I reasoned that I first needed to 'normalize' the 10k - instead of my occasional longer run, the 10 k should be my average run.

So that is what I've done, in the last 3 months, I've only had 2 runs shorter than 10k (both 8k lunchtime runs where time was tight). I've been able to keep my pace consistent, both with my average previous 5k pace, and speaking of my split times (my best was a 13 second spread over 10kms) - AND - I have been able to improve my best 10k time.

It feels good to have goals and to be able to reach them and still feel like there is room to keep improving.

 

[Siebter]

@WisePenny – long runs were the key for me to bring much more variation into my training. I used to run 10k / ~50 to 55 minutes on every single run I've had in my first 10 or so running years and it seemed like I was nailed to that distance. Even just one kilometer extra frightened me, so I made sure to run the same three or four courses every time so I wouldn't have to run any longer.

It took a while to get there, but at some point I decided to extend my runs, first, just like you, by distance (having a navigation option on my watch helped a lot with that), then, when I felt pretty comfortable at 14 or 15k distances, by time. I remember my first 90 minute run, I think I covered 18.5k or something, that felt so cool! And I survived too!

Longer runs, even when they are at an easy pace, make us faster on shorter distances because it makes setting a pace and keep holding it easier. For me personally the coolest thing about it is that I can start a run without knowing how long it will be exactly. Sometimes I'm going outside for a ten miler, loose my way and come home with a half marathon done.

One tip for longer runs: at some point nutrition will become an issue, for me when I started tackling ten mile runs, which initially left me extremely exhausted every time. Maybe look into nutrition strategies like (pre run) bars, (during a run) energy gels and (post run) protein shakes if you haven't done so already. Hydration is even more key these days. Don't let your body get exhausted over long runs, that's never benificial or healthy.

Just saying, though. It's great to see your improvements, it totally reminds me of when I started switching things up a bit. :-)

 

[WisePenny]

Thanks for the tips! I will need to start thinking about hydration and nutrition, I currently run mid-morning/before lunch because I am sure to have had enough food and water to sustain me until I finish, but can understand it being 'not enough' for continuing with longer distances.

 

[Siebter]

@WisePenny – A quick tip for hydration would be a running belt (FlipBelt, Naked Running Band, SPIBelt) and one or two small soft flasks. That's a very unobtrusive way to carry some fluid. Those belts are useful for all kinds of stuff anyway.

Nutrition on the other hand is much more complicated and personal, but if you get to that point, feel free to ask. The most important thing is to listen to your body and understand its needs. When you feel fine, you're definitely fine. :-)

 

[CANtalk]

Hey, hope everyone is enjoying their exercise .

I took a break from exercise to make sure that the mild core body muscle strain healed. Weather over that time was a mixed bag and it continues to be a wet year. I just recently got back on the MTB for a few rides in nice weather, 2 in the last three days and both ~18 miles. They were fun and I incorporated the cardio killer trail and the #2 trail in the area as part of a loop ride. I felt weak on the first ride but still had good power and reasonable endurance. I felt notably stronger on the second ride, maintained a nice rhythm and pace, and had even more endurance. Took a bunch of pics and still ended up 8 minutes faster with 6 minutes less rest. Beautiful weather today, sunny and in the low 70's F and light wind .

Took a cold shower after, changed, ate and then vaped a nice bowl of a strong sativa. What a great combo (runner's high after exercise and vaping quality cannabis).

I'm really physically tired now, this evening. Will take a break day tomorrow from the MTB, no matter as some beautiful hot sunny weather is forecast for the whole week. Should be good times . So happy to be back outdoors and getting good exercise . I feel like I have more energy all day and that's great.

Are y'all getting out? What's the latest?

Have a great weekend.

 

[Siebter]

The weather keeps mixing up my training a bit. I don't really have a training plan, but there's still a bit of a structure (Monday: easy, Tuesday: speed work, Thursday: speed work, Saturday: half marathon+, Sunday: „freestyle“ (whatever I feel like)), but these days it's totally the weather that dictates my runs. If I had done speed work last Thursday, I wouldn't be able to write this text today; it was 30°C / 86°F when I started running at 10:30h in the evening! Crazy. But also interesting to tackle those conditions.

Stay hydrated, everybody!

 

[Ganjora]

ran a local 21.1km road race on sunday 31/7
1st race in about 30 years
been back running properly for about 9 months now
ran a 1:44:25
satisfied with the results, and am really enjoying being healthy

 

[vapirtoo]

Finally got out kinda early (7 am) and rode to the beach and back 25 miles.
Every evening, stoned as hell, I make plans to get up before the sun and take that
quiet, still, you the only one up kind of ride, but the morning comes, and I
snuggle with the wife or the cat and the ride is forgotten. Today I stayed
the course and the ride was great; everyone I met was smiling and waving.
If 7am was good, then 5am has to be better!
Thanks for the motivation group!!!!

 

[CANtalk]

Nice workouts everyone! I'm back pushing the exercise with much success. Still can't keep up with that workout schedule @Siebter, very impressive & excellent ! Sweet @Ganjora & @vapirtoo! I'm haf this Friday but wanted to drop by and share in the exercise enjoyment .

Since that exercise injury tweak break mentioned in my last post, I'm getting out regularly and am five MTB trail rides in over the last 9 days... with over 80 miles total. Plus I'm still including the hard core trails in every ride. Early today, I was out before it got hot hot and clocked in ~18 miles of glorious weather MTB trail riding ! Every time out is a new & fun adventure . Go 4 exercise any way you can, enjoy and have a great weekend.

 

[Siebter]

Still can't keep up with that workout schedule @Siebter, very impressive & excellent !

Ha, I suppose you would be less impressed watching me ride a bike.

It always puzzles me to see how little one sport does for another sport.

 

[WisePenny]

Got out yesterday for a 15 km run (for the first time!) and felt pretty good. The last couple of kms were challenging, and it definitely felt like the limit without some water. I think it is time to invest in one of those belts with the slim water bottles.

 

[CANtalk]

Hope everyone is enjoying their exercise and doing well. Going steady and well here.

I dodged more rain after my last post here for a few days and since then I've been getting out on the MTB trails every second day. It's been pretty great . Had my first crash of the year . I tried to ride across a skinny feature and it was early morning and wet (very slippery). I should have known better, but the get-off was very soft. On Saturday I was grilling some roast low and slow for a late lunch, but that didn't keep me from getting out while it was grilling for a nice one hour 11 mile MTB ride that included the local cardio killer trail . Today, I got out again and did the ~18 mile loop on the MTB and am always still including the top two difficult trails. Today went really well and I only stopped twice on the cardio killer trail for the first time this year! It wasn't a hot day so that seemed to really help my breathing. No other rest breaks on the trip and it was a very rewarding ride. Had good endurance, energy and power over the entire ~ 1 hr and 45 min.

Cheers

 

[Siebter]

Yesterday I had my first careful run after being taken out of the game for almost a week by some pretty nasty knee pains. I had likewise issues in the past, but on a much lower level, usually some balance exercises did the trick. Used the time to research what's going on and it's probably some kind of IT band issue, also found some more serious ways to take care of that. It's pretty typical for runners to put all the energy into running itself while ignoring necessary strength training until it appears to be absolutely necessary (= not doing it would lead to not being able to run more). Lesson learned, hopefully. But it felt *so good* to be on the road again.