PATHFINDER

2012...so far a year of didn't....yet

2012-01-24T10:42:00.000-05:00

It feels strange sitting here looking at my running log and seeing only cross training workouts for 2012 so far. Not that I don't want to run but things have gotten in the way this year.

I had surgery on Thursday and was told no raising the heart rate in any way shape or manner for at least two weeks....?????? what the .......I figured the doc didn't realize that I was a fast healer and a runner. Even though I haven't been running this month, I have been working out and cross training. It is highly unlikely that I will sit totally idle for two long weeks.

So...of course I missed the snow squall for a second year in a row, not that I was prepared to race it but it would have nice to at least show up and help out.

Doc said, for four days, sleep sitting up or propped, no bending at the waist or dropping my head lower than my heart, no blowing the nose or sneezing, no physical activity ....might as well wrap me in a sheet and prop my body up in a corner.

I honestly believe a large part of long recovery and healing relates to drugs and pain meds. I don't take them and I heal very quickly. Yeah, it hurts but the degree of hurt guides one to realize where that fine line is between what you should and shouldn't do.

Day 1, Friday I wake up with minor pain and feeling pretty good. Wife yelled at me for cleaning and filling the stove (not supposed to lift over 20 lbs). There was a good amount of snow and it seemed sitting in my chair and sitting in the plow truck was very similar so I chose the plow truck. I spent about three hours plowing with minor moments of shoveling stairs and such .....all with very little extra discomfort. The shoveling did raise my heart rate a bit but being a runner, it wasn't really that much compared the effort I was putting in.

Day 2, Saturday feeling good and slept much better. Wife yelled at me for cleaning and filling the stove. Cleaned off the trailer and took all the wood out of the garage and stacked it on the trailer......finally I have my garage back. With the help of the boys for the bending down and heavy lifting part, I didn't feel like I overdid it at all. Wife thought I did too much and made me take it easy for the afternoon.

Day 3, Sunday, feeling pretty good. Wife yelled at me for cleaning and filling the stove ( I swear the doc said 40 lbs but not arguing) went to home depot and picked up lumber for the garage, went home and used the lumber up. Changed the brakes on daughter's care, did some cleaning and organizing in the garage, went in the house to take it easy for the afternoon( aka watch the game), filled the stove, wife gave up and didn't yell at me.

Day 4, woke up feeling very good, filled the stove, no complications, went to work and did all my normal stuff. No pain, no bleeding and no concerns.........I am pretty sure I will get in a short run this weekend, I promise I will take it easy and stop immediately if I sense anything wrong. I am sure my wife will yell at me.

2012.....it better be better

2012-01-10T07:34:00.000-05:00

I started 2011 with so many goals. Through the year I zig zaged all over the place and ended up with accomplishing....well kinda accomplishing ....only one goal. How does that happen? How can a whole year go by before one realizes how unorganized it was?

Lucky for me, I had a great time on the trails this year and even though I didn't reach my expectations, I had so much fun. It seems perhaps in 2012, I should put much more emphasis on running for fun and much less on specific goals.

I did prove one thing to myself this year, I went into the Stone Cat totally untrained and was able to finish respectfully ....but most of all finish. Of course not the time I had hoped for when I signed up, but non the less it was a high light of the year for me.

In my mind, I can see the fast me running all over the place and sending all my old PRs packing. Unfortunately, my mind forgets sometimes that the body ages and can not do the things it used to. I think my mind and body have to do a little soul searching and come to some agreement that is reasonable.

It seems I should not worry about 2012 goals right now and just get out there and run......create a base and just enjoy the scenery. I guess that will be my focus for now and see how things unfold.

The Not Running Run Report

2011-12-13T05:43:00.000-05:00

This is the first time in at least 5 years that I didn't run for a whole month. It is very difficult and if it weren't for the cross training, the busy schedule and the holidays, I suspect the withdrawals would drive me crazy.

The plus is that my body should be pretty well rested and in a couple weeks things will be back to normal. Minus is that will make it two months total and I will be so out of shape that my old slow pace will seem way too fast and unreachable!!

I put my name into a lottery for The Boston marathon ( as I have done every year since I ran my first one)
I hope someday I will win and get a chance to run it. I was hoping that my times would be good enough to qualify as my first one (when I was 46) would have got me in if I was in the 70 plus category.

So my thinking was, if I wait long enough, the age group might catch up to my times......problem is, I been getting progressively slower every year and right now I have to wait until I am 80 ...or win the lottery. I think my odds are better with the lottery.

If I win, I better get my butt running... real soon! I don't want to be running down heartbreak hill during the awards ceremony.

On The Run and Mental Rehab

2011-11-29T05:31:00.001-05:00

I want so much to be that guy, you know, the one who runs like a rabbit year round and never seems to have anything else to do but go running. Well unfortunately not only am I not that guy, but some some reason, I am living in a hectic world right now.

Thanksgiving-Christmas has always been a drain on me as far as time restraints goes but this year seems so much worse. Is it me or has someone pushed the fast forward button on the remote?

I just barely stayed in good enough running shape to finish the Stone Cat Marathon and though I have been nothing but on the run since then, other than a few crosstraining workouts, I have not run a mile. It is a catch 22 as when I become mentally drained, the best remedy for me is going for a run.

On my behalf, I do have a lot of outside influences right now and that combined with my own agenda, do alot to hamper my spare time. I guess I have to accept that there are more important things that require my attention right now, so I will have to view this short period of time as rehab......a sort of mental rehab.

A time to allow my body to recharge for some easy winter running and at the same time let me slow down a bit mentally and find a way to catch up to the world around me. Perhaps I will get a run in this weekend....

Stone Cat Marathon Report

2011-11-08T11:24:00.002-05:00

It would be a much longer list of the things that I did not do in preparing for Stone Cat than the Things I did. Not that I planned it that way or just blew things off, quite the contrary I had a great and well thought out plan, I just didn't accomplish the execution of it.

Like my training for the Pineland Challenge 50k, I planned on at least 4 or 5 runs in the area of 4 plus hours with the addition of a couple 30 mile runs within the final 2 months before Stone Cat. These runs combined with a good base would surely catapult me into a very agreeable time in the 50 miler. On top of that I figured on a few more tempo and speed runs to help me run a little faster mile pace that would also allow me to make adjustments, not knowing the terrain of this race or ever running this distance.

By the time I signed up, I knew the 50 miler was out of the question so I chose the marathon instead. Even with the step down to the marathon, my training was way off track and probably someone in their right mind would have skipped it altogether. I rationalized that I would find a way to get in the runs I needed, but as the weeks ticked by, the longs runs just didn't come and neither did the weekly miles.

I could sit here and list all the great excuses I had but actually they are still just excuses......so I decided to run regardless of my condition and see what happened. The closer the date came, the more I worried about actually finishing the marathon. Two weeks ago I ran one of my longest runs of only 5 trail miles, which felt great until the next day ( I hobbled around lame as hell), then It dawned on me that if 5 miles caused lameness then 26.2 might be a problem.

So.....day of the race comes and I get there late because I couldn't find my Nathan vest which I was certain I put in my bag. In this vest was all the gear and food I needed for this race...all prepacked and ready for me, except the bladder which was in my son's fridge (of course the bladder isn't much good without the vest) Oh well, I will just have to depend on the aid stations and hope I can get what I need from them.

We drove up to the school right at 6:00 and as I started sprinting down the drive, my son yells out that I might want to put on my trails shoes......oh great, I run back and as I am rushing to change, I rip the holes on my bid so I now have to mount it upside down.

In the process of testing my headlamp, I realize that two of the LEDs are not working and I have to depend on just one to light my way. I begin to wonder if the world is trying to tell me to give up and go home. Ok, no big deal, it is going to be light in an hour so I will just follow someone if I can't see well enough.

Lucky for me the start was about fifteen minutes late and though it was quite cold, the first 1.2 mile loop around the school was just perfect to warm me up and allow me to acclimate to the darkness before having to negotiate the trail.

At this point, I really had no battle plan but I did have the trail monsters cheering me on, my son supporting me and the desire to finish at all costs. From the first step in the darkness, there was no quit in me. I decided to run when I felt good at what ever pace that may be and the rest of the time just keep moving forward toward the finish.

In my mind I calculated that if I kept moving and my leg muscles didn't lock right up from the lack of training, I should be able to finish in 6:30-6:45 or so. The first lap (13.7 miles) went really well and I came into the start/finish area at about 3:05 with trail monsters galore cheering me on. This got me pretty excited as I was more than half way. At the same time I was realistic and knew the next 12 miles were going to be much tougher.

I have to say, the aid stations were perfectly placed and stocked so well that I didn't really miss the vest or it's contents. my son joined me for the second half which was a great help and probably the biggest reason I kept moving forward.

I was some happy to see the finish line and somehow managed a little bit of a kick at the end. I definitely earned the jacket and at the same time proved to myself that I have what it takes to move the body when it seems so physically impossible.

I did much better than I planned with 6:11 at the finish line. I am fairly satisfied with this race but still have that 50 miler lingering in my head .........maybe it will be a 2012 goal now.

Not Sure

2011-10-24T05:54:00.001-04:00

Not sure where I am heading lately as my running is virtually non existent, not because of lack of Mojo, though real runners (like jeff) actually still run like crazy without it, but more of a lot of outside interference (like 74 hours this week at the job).

When I trained for the Pineland 50K, I did an excellent job and was very happy with the results. Now with the Stone Cat marathon only a couple weeks away, I am wondering what abyss I will fall into on the second lap. I think I will do fine with the first 12 miles but fear the lack of any consistent training will catch up to me quite quickly after that.

I assume I will find out just how much base I really have and probably will be cursing my lazy training plan through out the race. That being said, I hope to enjoy myself (is that possible) and at the end be glad that I had the nads to show up.

After only crosstraing this week, I finally found the time to head out at 6:30 AM on Sunday and actually get in a short run. It was a bit chilly but the trails were quite nice and I felt pretty darn good. Of course after the 5 miles were behind me, I felt the lack of running throughout the whole day (lame muscles and such).....and it was only 5 miles....holey crap! what is going to happen at StoneCat.

I want to run long trail races....I really do, as I have the desire to complete a 50 miler.....but something is going to have to change in my life before that can happen. I have been looking for a few extra hours a week to get my runs in and just can't seem find them.

I Hope I Don't Forget How to Run!!

2011-10-13T11:59:00.001-04:00

My non existent training is becoming a problem as it is getting closer and closer to the StoneCat marathon. It is increasingly difficult at this time to schedule in any kind of consitant runs. Besides the interference of late, I took a moment to look back over previous years and realized that October/November has notoriously been difficult to get in my runs.

That being said, I am not planning on adjusting my plans and will show up for the marathon regardless of what type of running shape I am in. I have been able to pull off a few 2-3 hour runs in the last two months so that should help get me to the finish line .......just don't know how long it will take me...I suspect at least 6 hours.

I am pretty sure though, that I will be suffering and asking myself more than once why the hell I am doing this.
Even now, as I sit in my nice warm and dry office, I couldn't answer that question. I don't think there is an answer other than I crave the trails and spend much of my time thinking about being out there.

My pathetic training for October (so far):
Oct 1.......2 miles
Oct 2.......2:25 hrs...14 (somewhat easy) miles
Oct 8.......2:44 hrs...12 (tough trail ) miles
Oct 10..... 4hours .....8? Garmen woes
Oct 13.....1/3 hr....3 miles

Told you it was pathetic...

Good Long Run

2011-09-26T10:39:00.003-04:00

I have been trying to post comments on others blog entry and have not been allowed to.....says my account is not valid?

Anyway, I finally got in a good long run Sunday at The Brad. I started early as I had a pretty busy day ahead of me. I wanted around 3-3.5 hrs on my feet with at least 3 hrs of running. 6am gave me plenty of time and also about 20 minutes worth of running with the headlamp on.

I hit the West side and headed up the Boundry trail. There were plenty of wet, rocks, roots and bridges but the 212s handled everything pretty well. I veered off onto the connector starting relatively slow and trying to settle in.

The first 45 mins seemed awkward and I felt winded but after that the next 1.75 hrs were perfect. The last 1/2 hr showed my recent condition as the legs were quite fatigued and I was anxious to be done.

14 miles running time 3:09:71 Total time 3:25 or so
4mph average pace but somehow I logged 14.8 mph during the run...crazy

Overall a well rounded run and great training

Fall Running

2011-09-21T05:04:00.002-04:00

Didn't have much time for a run today but was still able to squeeze in a bit over a half hour( perfect for the minimus shoe). It surely was not long enough. I stopped at Forest trail and ran along the old railroad bed connector to rte 231. Too bad it is blocked off just before the road crossing.

This was such a nice run, the early leaves have started to fall and blanket the trail. That along with the cool crisp air yelled fall big time. It was a very mind clearing and fun run. I need that some days and especially today.

I surprised a small herd of deer that were grazing just off the trail, it was pretty cool to watch all the white tails gliding rather than bouncing as they tried to put a little distance between us.

What was nice about this run was that there was no agenda other than enjoying the short window of time away from the demands of life and just experiencing nature.

3.5 miles @36:40
New Balance Minimus shoe

Time To Be Realistic

2011-09-20T08:50:00.001-04:00

It used to be the end of November was the time I would sit back and digest the past year of running. I would form a graph in my mind of the accomplishments and the pitfalls. November would bring the Thanksgiving 5ks and my fastest running.

Unlike most runners I associate with, I didn't run in high school (unless I was being chased by the men in blue) I never ran track or cross country and didn't play any action sport. As a family, the only real physical activity we did was Mountain hiking and going to the beach, which averaged out to only a few times a year.

I loved the outdoors though and when I was eleven, my parents bought a big ole farm. My fondest memories are spending hours in the old barn and day long adventures in the woods. I felt so at ease and comfortable in the woods, perhaps that is the root that draws me to trail running.

I'm getting a little off point here, but to be realistic, I have to understand that I didn't have the type of training base when in school to help me now. It seems the body and mind can't quite stay on track even though I feel I understand the nature of training properly.

When the kids came along, I decided to give them what I never had. I encouraged sports activities,I was an actively involved parent and even spent eight years coaching little league. As they got older they migrated from Baseball to soccer (field hockey) then to track.

I was envious of their camaraderie and their capabilities as they all excelled. I spent many nights wondering how I would have done in school sports and probably would have learned some pretty valuable lessons too.
So, finally when my youngest was winning state championships and preparing for college, I decided I would give running a try.

Though I was 46, I felt like a youngster as my first year of running progressed quickly. My first 5k time of over 26 minutes was dropped to 22 minutes when the Thanksgiving races arrived. By year two I blew out a 44 minute Beach to beacon 10K, an amazing 7:26 pace 1/2 marathon and a 20:18 5k. All of this while averaging only about 15 miles a week with my longest ever single run of 8 miles a few weeks before the half marathon.

It's been 9 years and since then I have done nothing but slow down progressively every year and the Prs just aren't coming anymore. I thought as I started running longer distances and mostly trails that my times would still be in the 25 percentage for my age group but instead I land in the back of the pack.

It seems perhaps with my work schedule and other time restraints that I can not put the training effort needed to accomplish what my brain expects of me. It is entirely possible that I just don't understand or implement a sound training program. I find myself dwelling on the goals I didn't reach rather than the ones I did.

So....here it is September, a time that I usually am powering forward and enjoying the fall running season. Instead I find myself soul searching and looking for answers within myself. It is time to be realistic with my running, myself and my goals.

I'm not being a "debbie downer" or whining so much as I am trying to feel comfortable with my races and adopting a more realistic view. What am I really trying to accomplish here? If it is my love of trail running and spending time in the woods then I have to forget about being competetive and just enjoy it. if instead, I need to be putting up fast times (age adjusted) then I should steer my running back to the shorter road races.

Bruiser Report

2011-09-12T07:24:00.000-04:00

I went into the bruiser race this year fully knowing I was not in the shape I wanted or planned to be. How does one let this happen? The mind makes plans, such elaborate plans, A big timeless vacuum happens, then race day comes and I find myself wondering what went wrong.

Last year I prepared by running the 12 mile course many times and actually doing O-trail repeats 3 and 4 laps at a time. This year I ran the east side only a few times and the O-trail only once ......I guess I can say I was not very prepared. On top of all that, I ran the 40 for 40 last week (well 16 miles of it) and put some serious hurt on my knees and elbows (note to self, sliding on the elbows and knees down a gravel path really hurts!)

I went into this race knowing full well I was not going to be a Badass this year (takes a bit of the excitement out of it) knowing that I wasn't in that great of running shape and hoping like hell that I didn't fall onto the sore knees.......please not the knees.

So..........why did I have such a great race? I started mid pack to have a conservative start and to my surprise, there really was not much of a bottleneck for the first mile. The pace was quick but manageable and only a few runners trying to get by. One of which was Jeremy.....I thought what the hell? He should have been way up front. (second note to self, you can start in the back and still finish top ten if you run super human fast like Jeremy)

My goal of running steady, careful and not walking .....all without falling and still not being too slow seemed unreachable, yet I accomplished it with ease. I felt pretty comfortable with only a few moments of fatigue strong enough to cause concern. Just as sudden as the fatigue came, it went away. I can only assume I was running very smart and balancing on the edge of my conditioning.

The whole race was very manageable, my two worries, the knights hill..hill and the O-trail posed very little trouble as I was not reduced to walking either one. Though not a PR, this race was my second best time on this course and I didn't fall once.

I felt really good at the end of this race and perhaps I left a little on the table, but with no injuries, it felt good to realize I enjoyed the whole event. Of course Ian and Ryan ( and all the volunteers) did an outstanding job (as usual) I did however hear a person on the trail mention that Ian's description of a relatively flat course equalled moderately hilly to the average runner......it's all a matter of perspective I guess.

In the end I feel the Bruiser is a great training start for the Stone cat marathon and can only hope to feel and do as well running it.

16 Miles running, 30 Feet Skidding On Elbows And Knees

2011-09-06T08:37:00.000-04:00

How can it be that I run a fairly difficult trail for 8 miles with zero tripping issues and then somehow land on my knees and elbows on a flat gravel path just before finishing the loop?

I was discussing with Joe his amazing finish of the Wilderness 100 and felt certain that little or no effort was needed to watch my footing as we were just finishing our first loop of Mindy's 40 to 40 and the trail was not really a trail at all because the last 400 yards was a wide open gravel path......a wide open gravel path...and I was feeling so good up to that point.

As I landed, the sound of crunching gravel and the hot pain of skin being ripped off was not part of my plans today and while limping back to the start area I contemplated aborting my next lap. Jeremy offered to amputate and someone else commented on how colorful I was. Yes red is quite colorful and amputation would be a damn good excuse not to run a second lap.

When every single muscle in your body jumps into action to counteract the process of falling to the ground, it tends to zap all the energy right out leaving a hollow shell trying drastically to move forward. So, when I stopped to write my first loop time in and eat a couple brownies, the body was saying no to any more running.

My only hope to getting another lap in was to head out onto the trails and get the body moving before the problem areas stiffened up. The first quarter mile was a little limpy but this got better once I started concentrating on foot placement instead of the pain.

My hope was, that moving would help alleviate swelling and I think it did. After about a mile I stopped and used the water from the Nathan pack to wash off the dried blood (which was pulling at the skin while running) Now all I had to do was not fall again as the knees and elbows would surely not appreciate it.

Though quite a bit slower, I was able to finish my second lap, ( breezed right over the gravel this time and with no falling issues) I was quite happy with the 16 miles as I have not run much for distance in the last few weeks. Mindy put on a heck of an event and I was glad to hear she made the whole distance ( I knew she would)

First loop 1:34:30....... 11:48 pace
Second loop 1:47:03....13:22 pace

Overall 3:21:54.......12:37 pace

Passed Inspection--Company leaving

2011-08-24T06:19:00.000-04:00

With the new garage roof shingled and water tight, the deck to porch conversion passing inspection and the company heading out, I suddenly feel a sigh of relief and a hint that life will get a bit back to normal. I am looking forward to some relaxing nights of running then cooling off at the pool.

Don't get me wrong, I really do enjoy building things and it was great to have a project with the boys, but somehow everything mushroomed up at the same time, my mom, my mother inlaw,vehicle repairs and having company almost continuously for a month, there just wasn't much time left for me, the wife and a little running.

Of course I still have to close up the porch walls and finish the storage floor in the garage, but these things can be done alone and at a slower more comfortable pace.......as long as I beat the winter.

I know, I said the " W" word and we are only in the middle of August, but I am actually looking forward to the fall, I think it is the best season for trail running.

Time Make The Donuts (or base running)

2011-08-18T09:59:00.000-04:00

Now that the Breaker is behind me(even though I didn't actually run it), I am starting my quest to gear up for StoneCat....pretty darn excited and hope to do well. SO, distance is on my mind and I have cleansed my mind of anything sounding like speed.

Last night I hit Bradbury East and planned on 6-8 fairly easy miles. It didn't take long before I was pushing a bit faster than I planned. That was OK because I felt great. Perhaps my unplanned taper has given my legs a bit more pep.

I fully expected to start fatiguing by 8 miles but was surprisingly comfortable and so zoned in to running that I somehow took a wrong turn and ended up way off course. By the time I got back to the start I had run 11 miles and honestly I felt pretty darn good. Easily could have run a few more.

This was odd because I didn't bring the normal implements needed when running past an hour, no gels, no water, just me running and enjoying the trails.

I started at somewhere around 12 minute pace but ran the last two miles at 9:30 pace. My average was in the high tens and actually I think a PR for 11 miles on the East trail. Anyway, it sure felt good and was a good first run for my training.

11 miles @1:53:47

Bradbury Breaker no race, race report.

2011-08-15T09:59:00.000-04:00

It seems no matter how well we work schedules, there is always something that will creep up and kick you in the ass.

It is official........I am not a bass bradbury racer this year. It is hard to believe as I would have bet millions that nothing could stop me from running the Breaker. I was destined to PR and quite excited.

Sunday morning, 7am, A bit lame form working on the porch roof but not too worried about the race. The phone rings.....my mom who had a tooth pulled Friday was suffering from so much pain that she felt going to the emergency was an immediate need.

Ironically, she had already gone in at 3am ( my brother took her) but there was no doctor available so they gave her a shot and sent her home. I am just guessing here but I suspect the shot helped for about 2-3 hours.

Normally if I have something important going on, I get my brother to help out. In this case, I was her only option other than an ambulance. I swallowed the notion that I would be back before the 9am start and I was right as I didn't get back home until 11:30

So.....I missed the race and I am not going to be a badass this year, I guess this means I will really have to kickass at the Bruiser .......I'll bet it was real cool shirt too!

Beach To Beacon

2011-08-08T08:24:00.001-04:00

I honestly didn't know what to expect at this race, not only because I haven't been running that much lately, but I have not been training for 10K road speed. My original plan was to run with my wife at her pace which is much slower than mine so kind of a breeze for me.

My wife opted out of the race so it left me wondering how I should approach it. Now the pressure was on to attempt a respectable time. The one flat road run of a couple weeks ago put me at about 9 minute pace so I hoped to at least beat 9 minute.

In my head, I felt certain I should be able to find some hidden power over my body and pull off an 8 minute pace (best case scenario, beat 50 minutes, worst case, no slower than 55 minutes)......who the hell was I kidding? none the less I started at the 8 minute pace sign in the chute.

First problem of the day was the way they start this race. Once in the chute and packed in like sardines, it is impossible to relieve ones self and get back in. The wait time is over a half hour and even though I thought I timed everything perfect, I found myself looking very longingly at various trees in the distance. One tenth of a mile from the start is a portapotty and I found myself reluctantly pulling off the road and entering. The hundreds of runners passing by sounded like pouring rain.

Finally I ran back into the crowd and assumed I was probably back with the 10 minute milers. Problem with this is I wanted the 8 minute crowd to suck me into a faster pace at the beginning to hopefully get a better time. This surely was not the best way to start a race, but the was no other place in the first mile to accomplish the task.

I passed quite a few people and was glad to see 8:44 at the first mile instead of something slower. Not as fast as I wanted but it could have been worse. Each mile I ran faster and by mile four I was down to 8:06 pace. My excitement quickly turned sour as I calculated a minute lost in the first two miles and two miles of tougher uphill running ahead of me.

Though I was feeling a bit tired, mile five went surprisingly well as I only slowed to 8:37 pace. I quickly calculated that If I could maintain this pace for mile six and get a good kick going, I might be able to pull off a 8:20 pace over all.

I felt good on the hills of mile six as it seemed my pace was steady. Somehow I slowed to 9:17 pace and as I think about it now, it makes sense. I should have NOT felt good on those hills, if I was pushing then I would have felt bad...........

Rounding the corner into the park is a short steep hill that always seem to kill me. I assume my Bradbury legs took over because this time the hill was nothing as I kept to the inside and literally passed twenty people laboring up it.

From this point on I put on my race face and tried to pass as many people as I could pulling off a 6:53 pace for the last .2 to the finish. I swear I passed a hundred runners. I felt great as I passed the finish line and if not for the dilemma in mile one and the brain fart in mile six, I think I would have been quite pleased with the whole race.

As I walked up the hill after the finish, the thought of waiting in line in the hot sun for an hour to catch the bus was overwhelming so instead I decided the hour would serve better as extra training rather than suffer the muscle stiffening of a long bus ride.

I ran back to the start and turned this into more of a long run. The first couple miles, the quads were cramping and I almost wished I had not made this decision, but each mile I felt better and ran faster going from an 11:37 in the first mile to a 9:14 in the last.

Though not quite the under fifty I wanted, I was happy beating fifty five and doubling the effort with an extended run.

6.2 race 53:56 (8:41 pace)
5.5 return 56:57

Not Pretty But Lots Of Character

2011-08-04T05:47:00.000-04:00

I got married 34 years ago, the same year this jeep rolled off the assembly all shiny and new. I don't know much about the history of it as it has only been in the family for about 10 years. I got it from my son who got it from my daughter who purchased it from some guy up north........it sat in my yard as a "future" project for about 5 years. Last spring my son and I decided to put it on the road as an antique because we never seemed to get around to working on the rebuild project.

Spending many joyous hours in this simple jeep last summer and many more fun hours this summer, I have come to the conclusion that I didn't really want a spiffy new jeep after all. I have the up most respect for the character of my jeep.

I suspect, when new it was strong, responsive and quite impressive ..........now it requires a little understanding and is not expected to perform like it once did. There is obvious fatigue in its core structure yet it is still majestic in many ways.

I am proud to drive it as it does not reflect a bad image because of it's age or condition ....instead it invokes an aura of mystical memories of times gone by and happy smiles. Even with age and fatigue, it still trudges along, moving forward and offering much more good times to come.

I suspect there is a lesson to be learned here, as we grow older and our bodies fatigue, of course we can not do things of days gone by, we are not quite as strong or fast, but we can still command a certain amount of
dignity knowing that we are out there and moving forward.

NO..I'm Not Dead!

2011-07-29T08:01:00.002-04:00

I know it's been two weeks since my last entry and honestly I couldn't say where the time went. Though I haven't been running as much as I would like, I have been working out and swimming a lot. Doesn't really take the place of running but at least guards against sliding backwards with fitness base.

Even though I promised myself and others that I was not going to sign up for the B to B, somehow I reneged and I am running it. Odd thing is, that I haven't really trained for roads (other than a short run last Monday) so I am not sure what to expect.

I suppose at worst case, it will prep me for a hard run at the Breaker the next weekend. My intent is to run the BtoB moderately and then run back to the start after, making it a long run. I was originally hoping for a PR at the Breaker, but with the lack of training lately, I will be satisfied to finish close to last years.

My last three runs:

7/20 Bradbury (first half of breaker)
4.5 miles @52:50 --11:44 pace (two mile cool down)

7/25 Road run (semi race pace)
3.5 miles @29:04 ---8:18 pace (1 mile cool down)

7/28 Bradbury (first half of Breaker)
4.5 miles @55:43---12:22 pace (1/2 mile cool down)

Swimming laps almost every day and sometimes twice a day in between the runs. The bright side is that my right ankle is feeling a lot better.

Scuffle Report....Not So Bad

2011-07-12T06:36:00.001-04:00

After all the work on the garage and having the energy sucked out of me by the sun on Saturday ( did you know shingles will just about melt if the sun is hot enough...and it was!) I was not sure how the Scuffle race would go.

I hit the sack feeling pretty spent Saturday night and just figured I would see how I felt in the morning. Sunday came and the lameness with it. I started by cleaning the pool and going for an easy relaxing swim. It is amazing how therapeutic water can be.

Though still pretty tired, I was refreshed and could not come up with a reason why not to get in a trail run........so kev and I jumped in the jeep and headed to Bradbury. I suspected it would be a rather slow race for me and kev was feeling the same.

We decided to start in the back and just do an easy run .....or at least see how we felt after settling in. Kev could have easily run much faster but elected to keep me company and promised not to out kick me at the finish.

This would be the second time in two weeks that I started about dead last in a race, sure hope this was not becoming a new trend! My second worry was that all the deer flies who could not keep up with the fast runners would enjoy us slower ones a bit more than normal. As it turned out there were not too many.

The down hill start was perfect for me and I felt darn comfortable right off. Within a half mile, I was picking off runners one by one but suddenly found a bit of a traffic jam at spots. The trail was just not wide enough to pass graciously so I waited until the snowmobile trail and first uphill to crank things up a bit and passed bunches at a time.

Mile two I was feeling good and actually got my first chuckle watching Four pass me and others by skipping the small wooden bridge and tromping almost knee deep through a small gathering of water. I was feeling fairly hot at the time and the splashing almost enticed me to join him.

Mile three brought a bit of reality and reminded my muscles just how tired I really was. The climb seemed endless but I kept reminding myself the reward was the water stop and plenty of cooling water. I decided to stop even though this was a short race. I drank a heed and dumped the water over my head......it felt great!

Mile four I was feeling strong and passed back the three people that went by me at the water stop. It felt so good to have the energy to catch back up and get by these runners, only to have them fly back by me at the next stop.

I normally wouldn't have and didn't need to stop at the 4.5 mile but we were told there was an injured runner about a half mile back and we wanted to notify Eric and crew that it looked as though she would not be able to walk out on her own. It actually felt good to speed up a bit and I took advantage of another dosing of water.

Now I was chasing the same three runners and felt adamant to recapture my spot in front of them. problem is we were in mile five and they all seemed to be enjoying the speed of the down hill. Last year I went crazy in mile five and pushed much too hard only to severely suffer at the hill in mile six.

I was much more conservative this year though I still had the pleasure of passing a few struggling runners, but not the three I was chasing. At the bottom of the hill I was barely catching the slowest of the three and had serious doubts with the mile six hill looming in front of me.

It suddenly dawned on me that I was racing after all and it felt great! Kev sensed my growing disappointment and pulled about four or five strides in front of me. He knew I would latch on and chase him, his intent was to suck me up to the runners in front and allow me the opportunity to use my kick at the end to try and pass them.

His timing was perfect and I powered up the hill catching and passing one of the runners. I caught and passed the second of the three about a hundred yards from the top. I could hear her legs speed up as I passed but by this time there was no catching me.

About a quarter mile from the finish I rounded the corner and the third runner was watching me fly by. As promised, kev stayed in stride with me for my kick and we both finished strong. It was a great run that turned into a fun and exciting race. All and all, I passed about 40 runners and ended up only about a minute slower than last year.

A quick drink of water and we hi-tailed it home to finish the plywood and Tyvec on the garage.....finally, it can rain all it wants .....the garage is water tight now! Of course I enjoyed a much deserved cool down swim first.

It's been a Week Already

2011-07-06T11:00:00.004-04:00

I haven't had much time lately to write about each run and next thing you know, the week has come and gone with no entry....So, now I find myself re-capping

After a failed attempt to run Monday ......had problems with the pool and was forced to go strait home, I finally made it to Bradbury Tuesday for a much needed run. I had so much trouble deciding what route to do and finally figuring the Scuffle to make the most sense.

The closer I got to the O-trail, the more I yearned for the direction blasting craziness of the abyss that seems to completely stop time in it's tracks.....next thing I knew I was running a double loop and fully enjoying it Not quite the speed training run I planned, but at least I got to fall and cut my knee up.....so battle scars are always uplifting.

Wednesday: I only managed a few laps in the pool while I humbly suffered through the aches and pains of sparring with the O-trail.

Thursday: I hit Bradbury again, this time to run the second loop of the Breaker course. I was determined to slap myself silly every time I was temped to walk. This worked good until I only made it about one third of the way up the Summit trail and found the cement around my ankles to be too heavy for me. I was reduced to a walk for another third of the way....I finally pushed myself to a mini schuffle until I crested the mountain.

The rest of the run went well as I caught my breath pretty quick and finished with a great speed up and kick.
The real reward was a cool down swim and laps in the pool after.

Friday: .......cross training, Left work early to begin a project that I have been putting off for a couple years now. I started ripping the old roof of the garage to prep for a new one. This was equivalent to a 4 hour gym workout .....or at least it felt that way.

Saturday: Finally I was putting up a ridge pole and assembling the rafters for the new roof. This was a hot..hot...day and the toll of lifting and carrying rough cut lumber was weighing heavy on me. I finished this day with some laps in the pool. Though refreshing, the cool water seemed to do nothing for the aching muscles.

Sunday: Rolling out of bed was tough as the body was complaining about the new crosstrainning routine. As usual, a 6 am swim limbered things up a bit.....only to get ready for more punishment. Luckily the sun was not beating on as like Saturday and it was a bit more bearable.....by night fall, the roof was fully boarded and covered with tar paper......just in time for the down pour.

Monday: L L Bean 10K ......I actually thought I would wake up dreading the thought of running this race, but I hit the pool and after a bunch of laps I loosened up pretty good. The exciting thing about this race, is that we planned on pushing my granddaughter in the stroller for her first ever road race.

I found that pushing a stroller....even a nice one from Beans, was quite a bit of work and on this muggy day, I felt the full effects of the last few days. regardless, I not only had a great time but I ran about 7 minutes faster than I planned.

One thing that was cool, we started dead last ( we didn't want some over zealous runner crashing into the stroller), and we actually passed at least 200 runners by the time we finished. Rylee, the granddaughter, was fantastic and was reported to be "wiggling" her toes in excitement as we kicked to the finish.

Another dip in the pool and it was back on the roof to shingle......got one side done before the rain and lost all gumption when the sun powered back out to do anymore........just plain spent and the body needed a rest.

Babysitting..funerals...weddings and company

2011-06-27T06:20:00.001-04:00

I would be lying if I said I didn't get a chance to run this weekend......Sunday afternoon at about 6:30, I could have suited up and finally got in my run.......I was just plain spent and had no energy to do anything but sit and watch TV.

Not that I was a couch potato or that I didn't get any exercise, but I find the running to be taking a backseat lately and I don't like it. Like a drug addict, I need a certain amount of time on the trails to keep my prospective on the fast pace of life today......just to maintain a little sanity.

I feel like buying a gun, waving it in the air and yelling....." all right you guys now look here....I am going for a run .....and you ain't gonna do anything about it........or I'll use this thing...you see.....then shooting off a couple rounds........any questions?? ( I DIDN"T THINK SO!)

It's not that I don't enjoy all the family things, it's more that I seem to have trouble with balance lately. I used to be able to find ways to schedule in the runs I wanted. Perhaps I am just not the time manager I used to be.

I am going for a run today, ( even though the lawns desperately need to be mowed ) and I am going to put some thought into what I have been doing wrong lately. The mowing will just have to wait until tomorrow.

On the bright side, I did have a great run at Bradbury on Thursday after work. I ran the mountain side and covered pretty much all the trails up and over the mountain. It was a little wet and rainy but very enjoyable.
Also yesterday I spent a good amount of time in the pool swimming so, some cross training at least.

OH....I'm not really going to get a gun, I'm just going to cry..scream and hold my breath until I turn blue...that usually works I hear.

Falling In Love

2011-06-16T16:44:00.000-04:00

I fantasized all day about my planned run. I wasn't really sure as to what trail I would chose until I arrived and changed clothes. I decided on the connector so I could lose myself in the run and not have to think about direction and making turns.....a good ole out and back.

I realized while running, that I seriously enjoyed this route. I thought back and out of the 10 or so times I ran the connector, I couldn't think of one time that I was disappointed. You know how sometimes it is just a bad day running? Well I have never had a bad day on this route.

I think this will be my go to route when in doubt. It seems to have a little bit of everything that makes running trails fun. Rocks..roots..breath stealing uphills, fast and dangerous downhills, twisting single track, open fields, two picturesque stream crossing and once you hit the power lines, you have endless choices of direction depending on your need for the day.

One of the best things I like when running this out and back, is the fast downhill finish that makes one feel the speed of a sprint. It was just a perfect run.....It makes me want to use "the L word"

6.8 miles @ 1:16:56

Missing The MOJO

2011-06-13T08:07:00.000-04:00

This has been a difficult spring for my running......I can't find my MOJO, I want to run, I plan to run.....but the interference is seemingly so severe this year. Is it really or am I just not finding the normal ways to accomplish my runs?

Is it possible that some jokester has hit the fast forward button on me? If it weren't for the pool, my base would be totally gone. I think it is time to access my duties and be a bit more adamant with my running schedule.....time to put the foot down.

I planned on running some back bay races....even have my number (71).......haven't made it there, this is the second weekend in a row that I not only didn't get in a long run, but I didn't get in a run at all (or even get the lawn mowed). I think there is some force out there plotting against me.

Not only that, but this morning was the third day in a row that I went to put on my socks and found a hole in one of them........What the ? Is some gnome sneaking into my drawer and ripping a hole in just one of my socks?

What Was I Thinking? Sprints and Distance Do Not mix..or Do They?

2011-06-01T08:03:00.002-04:00

Thought pattern......run the barefoot 5K the day before the 25K as an easy warm up and because it is a new adventure. Couldn't possibly hurt my 25K performance too much as long as I get the training runs in during the months preceding, right?

My original plan was to train for the 50 miler, which was whittled down to the 50k when I realized that my schedule was not going to allow me the time to train properly for the 50m. As the months flew by and I not only didn't get in my normal long runs, but I realized that my training was suffering severely. My longest run one month before was only 18 slow grueling miles at Mt A.

So.......running the 25K seemed the best option and it left more room for the addition of the barefoot 5K.
New plan in place so why did it feel like a cop-out? The thought of the 50K rolled around in my head for weeks before I finally convinced myself that I really would not be able to pull it off.

It is so hard to tell one's self that a certain thing can not be done .......well of course I could attempt it and perhaps even find a way to finish, but at what cost and with nothing to prove it was a mute thought anyway.
My best bet was to PR the 25K, which I had no doubt I could do.

Don't you hate when the mind makes promises that the body can't deliver? I spent the whole week before the 5K thinking and planning the best way to enjoy the new event without compromising the 25K Pr. Seemed so simple......just running not racing .... yeah just a 5k warm up in the Minimus shoes.

It made sense as I had not trained for a 5k and my fastest run at the campus course was somewhere in the 9:50 pace area and that surely was not racing speed. A few years ago, when I was training and racing mostly 5ks, I ran a Pr on this course of 25:32 ......so my goal for the barefoot was around 30 minutes (around 9:30 pace)

It was fun telling people I was doubling up, running a race both days of the festival, but at the same time some little voice in my head kept telling me that it was not as simple as I made it sound. Who listens to those little voices anyway?

The start of the 5K was exciting and everyone took off real fast. I found myself sucked right into the excitement and ran the first mile at 7:20 (not as fast as it sounds as the first mile is mostly down hill)

I settled down some in mile two but still pulled off an 8:23 ......I was a bit winded and the hills of mile three were wearing on my mind. Had I gone out too fast, would the hills take their toll?

Actually mile three was tough but also the most fun. My paced slowed to about 9:18, which is still moving pretty good for me on the Campus hills. I was passing bunches of runners, it felt so good.

Now I don't want to lead you astray, some of the these runners were from the 5k group that started ten minutes before us, so I wasn't actually racing them ........at this point, my mind did not know nor care the difference.

The last half mile I really picked things up and finish with probably the best kick I can remember on trails. I used everything I had and actually peaked at 14.8 mph. It was exciting and fun and stupid. After the finish, the realization of what I had done hit me hard. Limping with a sore left archilles and a sore right ankle loomed heavy on the thought of running the 25K the next day.

I kept asking myself, was it worth it and answering....hell yeah. I am a believer that you race the race in front of you and worry about the next race tomorrow. OK.....so I was starting to worry but that didn't diminish the excitement of my 5k finish.

Day two at the Pineland Challenge Festival was just as electric as the first day. 50K and 50 mile runners were already plastering the trails when I arrived and the crowds were enjoying excitement. I knew my 25K race was going to be a struggle but was determined to at least finish it.

The first three miles were pretty bad (I thought). The legs were heavy, breathing labored, the archilles and ankle hurt with every step.....yet somehow I averaged 10:30 mile pace, partly because I ran the whole way.
Walking was not going to be an option.

As bad as I felt in the first three miles, they did not compare to the next two. Mile four and Five were just plain energy slapping as my pace dropped to 14:30 and running was the exception to the rule. I settled in after mile five and started enjoying the difficulty of the run much more. I guess mainly because I gave in to the failed concept of Pr-ing this race and just enjoying it instead.

The aid stations were energetic and very helpful, arguably the best of any race I have done. I did get a surprise at one station, after offering some water to dump over my head, I was soaked with a full gallon instead of the normal cup full.........that sure cooled me off.

In the end, I did exactly what I promised, I ran the race that was in me on that particular day and found a way to enjoy the experience. I ran fairly even splits with a pretty good kick at the end. I didn't PR the 25K, but that's Ok. It seems I tend to forget the reason for running the trails in the first place .....to just have fun.

It was a great weekend, the beer was fantastic, Ian and Erik out did themselves...again, and I spent some quality time with some great people......what more could I ask for.

Running for Cover

2011-05-16T08:51:00.000-04:00

After two days off I decided to try an easy run on Sunday to see how the Achilles would react. I ran what I call the pit loop near my house with my son. The pit loop is combination road / trail and is 3.1 miles long.

This ends up being a nice loop for 5k training. My fastest time on this run is 21:29 .....That was a few years ago. last year my fastest was a much slower 23:49. This is still a pretty good speed on a loop that is more than half single track and the 2nd mile is a pretty good hill.

The nice thing about this loop is a flat road finish which is about 7 tenths of a mile long ....makes for some good finishing sprints. This run though would end with no sprint or kick of any kind ( Achilles)

We started out and the rain came down hard enough to send most recreational runner for cover......be we actually enjoy the coolness of a run in the rain. I did have a problem with my glasses fogging up...hate that.

The run was the perfect length, the perfect pace and a great way to see how the Achilles was feeling. The splits really surprised me because the hill in the second mile was our fastest and the run felt pretty easy to me.
In the end, the Achilles was only slightly sore, so I think things are progressing quite well.

3.1 miles @ 26:44 (8:40 pace)
splits
8:42
8:39
8:44
(7:45 for the last .1 ........OK, a Little speed up but still not a kick)

Picking Up The Pace But Suffering

2011-05-11T06:51:00.000-04:00

Ran Pineland last night, trying to pick up the pace to get a decent finish at the Barefoot 5K. I think I am pushing too hard or perhaps the combination of the Minimus shoes and the X-talon 212s are catching up to me. I suspect i will have to take things a bit easier for the next two weeks......not what I planned.

Last Thursday I ran a "race pace" time trial on the 5K Pineland course (which continues to measure 3.4 miles) and ended with a Strong kick. After I ran a cool down of sorts and realized my left Achilles was a bit sore. I suspect a combination of the Minimus shoes and the sprinting.

I didn't think too much of it and most of the rest of the week it didn't bother too much, which was helped by a minmal weekend (running wise)

Monday I did my upper body/ gazelle workout and last night hit Pineland for another speed run. This time I ran on the east side and pushed the pace with progressively faster splits even though the second half of the run was more uphill.

I finished with a great kick but was hit with a nasty reminder in my left Achilles again. This time I was wearing the 212s instead of the Minimus hoping to guard against pushing the Achilles more. I felt the discomfort after the kick but instead of stopping I decided to continue for a couple miles at a somewhat slower pace to try and work out the kinks.

I am suffering a bit this morning and decided I need to scale things back a bit which is disappointing because I really felt strong running. the pace and kicks were starting to look pretty good.

Thursdays 3.4 (9:05 pace) pineland Campus loop

9:45
8:56
9:33
6:43

Yesterdays run Pineland Oakhill loop
4 miles @8:59 pace
10:13
9:53
9:31
8:45 (6:00 kick)
2 miles @9:41 pace
.5 mile cool down.

Today......very sore Archilles

Big A at Mt A

2011-05-06T06:32:00.000-04:00

When I mistakenly signed up for the Big A 50K, I knew I would probably not be able to complete the whole 50k. But I had this vision in my head, like the Gods would smile on me and somehow I would find it within myself to actually finish.

Of course my training told me in bold print that it could never be.......hey my longest run in the last two months was 10 miles and only an 8 miler in the last 4 weeks. I knew deep down that 31 miles would never happen so my realistic stretch goal was three laps(23 miles).

It seemed possible, I figured I could pull off three laps in about 5 1/2 hours plus. Taking into account my strong winter base of snowshoeing and my recent "faster" pace runs, it was plausible. So...23 or so miles would be a pretty good accomplishment for the day.

When I arrived at Mt Agamenticus, I stepped out of the truck, sucked in a deep breath of fresh cool air and felt confident that I was as prepared as I could be considering the level of fitness I was at. I had everything in order and couldn't think of one thing that would deter me from my goal.

After helping Bob and the New balance guys carry their gear up the trail, I settled into getting my stuff ready. I had everything I needed to run a 50K all I had to hope for was some extra energy, a bit of drive and a little luck to do it.

I brought three pairs of shoes not knowing the terrain at all and decided to start with my Cascadia 3s as they are a good all around trail shoe. This made sense because the start was about a mile on tar and dirt road.

I was comfortable right from the start and until we actually hit the trail I felt the cascadias were the best choice. As we climbed the first hill, I could feel a big difference .....I noticed right away the traction and push off loss compared to the 212s, I also felt a loss of traction on the smooth rock outcropping and the down hills.

I held my own in the first mile and actually passed some runners in the second and third. In the fourth mile I was leading a small bunch of runners and even though I had already missed a few turns, I felt confident because I could see the fresh prints of the runners in front of us.

One of the guys behind me yelled and said I missed a turn. I went back and followed the group. Soon we we bushwhacking up a hill and honestly I knew we were off track (even though we were following pink ribbons)
They looked old to me and come to find out they were. We stopped at the top of a hill next to a five gallon bucket upside down ( apparently a hunters perch)

We studied the map at least 3 times and all disagreed as to the direction we should go.....suddenly I saw a glimpse of two runners at the bottom of the hill and we high tailed it to them. We reached the trail they were on and caught up to them at an opening to a tar road......Hmnnn....a tar road?

About this time we figured we must have missed a turn, a bunch of runners came up the road, returning to the trail because they realized they were wrong too. By now our little group had grown to about 15 runners. They were talking and discussing(arguing) about where to go.

I just took off back down the trail because we were wasting so much time. A few of them followed me and I am not sure what happened to the rest of them. At this point I was expending way too much energy for the first loop as I was the leader and a small pack of runners kept pushing me faster. I suppose I could have let them pass but I was anxious and kind of pissed that we lost so much time.

Finally after back tracking a mile, I came to the turn off......it was so visible I am not sure how we all missed it. I turned and only five runners followed, I didn't see the others.....perhaps they were still back at the road "discussing" which way to go.

At about 8 miles I started fading and two of the guys behind me passed. I was able to stay close to them but could not actually catch up. It suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't been fueling every 45 minutes like I planned. Don't know how I let that happen but it explained my bonk.

I finally finished this lap (which ended up being 10 miles total) I was much more fatigued by now but decided to keep going after changing into the X-talon 212s. I knew there was no way to catch back up on the fueling and figured I would just see how the next lap felt.

The 212s did not bother me on the road portion (like I thought they would) and I could feel so much more traction in the woods. The first mountain hill sucked the life out of me and it was then that I wasn't sure if I would do another lap.

On the down hills I felt much more stable and was able to run faster then the first lap, slower on the up hills though ( no fault of the shoes). I did however manage to loose the trail a few times but not at the critical point this time. The last two miles I really had to push to keep running and just wanted to get back to the start.

I quit at 18 miles, not quite the 23 I wanted but these were tougher miles than I planned and I just didn't know the terrain enough to do a few miles then find a loop back. The truth was, I was just plain beat and didn't have the desire to attempt a third lap.

I really enjoyed this run and the terrain. I felt more competitive ( kinda mid range rather than back of the pack)
First lap I ran 29th and second lap 26th. I was only passed by 6 runners 4 of which were Trail monsters lapping me and the other two I was able to stay with after.

Overall I felt really good about my performance here.

Stats:
1st lap 9.89 @2:16:00 (ascent 1834--descent1695)
2nd lap 8:10@2:07:09 (ascent 1524- descent 1426)

I did have a bit of difficulty following the trail, it seems we could have used a bit of Trail monster style trail markings at critical turns.

I Came This .... Close

2011-04-27T11:43:00.000-04:00

Last night was the first track session. I planned this spring to run track to hopefully increase my speed a bit this year. I totally planned on track last year and I honestly don't remember why I didn't get there. I figured the first one is the most important as it sets the stage for continuing. So, it was on my schedule and I planned for it. First night was a mile time trial and I was pretty anxious to see where my mile time would be.

All day I labored with the thought of running around in a circle for miles and miles. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it really isn't that enjoyable. Yeah I want to run faster but there are other ways to increase speed than track intervals.

By the time 4:30 rolled around I had convinced myself to run something enjoyable. I scrapped the track plan and headed to Bradbury. I decided to run the connector trail from The brad to the power lines and see how the trail maintenance worked out.

This run was so perfect and the trail was fantastic. The volunteers did a great job which made it very easy to follow. I also found the few stumps and roots that remained were quite easy to see and I actually didn't trip once.

I worked every hill to spike the heart rate and simulate a speed workout. I felt strong right to the end and finished with a very good kick. I did notice that the return trip seemed to have more up hill and I worked much harder at times to maintain my pace.

Even with me speeding up the last mile (which is mostly down hill grade) and kicking down to the 6 minute pace for the last tenth, I ran a slower time on the return. This tells me the return is more difficult.

I am not sure about the mileage though. When I ran this winter, I thought it was about 4 miles from the parking lot to the power lines. This trip came in at 3.4 miles one way (6.8 for the round trip) My Garmen is not very accurate at Bradbury and usually reads short so the 3.4 is an estimate (garmen actually read 1.34 over and 2.86 back)

Bradbury run

6.8 miles @1:14:17 (10:55 pace)
splits:
36:51 (10:51 pace)
37:26 (11:01 pace)

Excellent (and they didn't even know it)

2011-04-25T10:00:00.001-04:00

Saturday was trail maintenance with the Trail Monsters and they decided an early run at Pineland before would work well. Normally I don't make these runs for a couple reasons. One I have severe scheduling issues that cause me to end up running at times that are usually much different than the pack. Two, most times the average group is much faster than me and I don't like slowing them down.

I thought about this when contemplating a run on Saturday morning and because my schedule allowed I elected to join. I had a bright idea to use this run as a race pace sort of time trial. I figured if I could tag onto the groups faster pace and use it as a time trail for the Pineland 5k, I would have a better idea of my potential race day performance.

The idea couldn't have worked better for me. I ran 10k race pace for the first two miles and was able to stay fairly close to the group. The third mile I turned it on to more like 5k pace transcending to fast finishing kick.
From that point I continued at about 10K pace to round it off to 5 miles.

I then stopped back at the parking lot and switched over to the New Balance Minimus and ran another 2.5 miles to see how they felt on the Pineland trails (felt great). I ran this at more of a 10K pace then ended with a half mile cooldown, all this before the rain started.

5 mile run 45:16 (9:04 av pace) X-Talon 212

Stats:
9:14......141-158
9:46......150-157
7:16......149-154 (kicking third mile of the 5k race pace ----time 27:20 and an av pace of 8:49)
10:51....152-160
8:38.....155-159 (second kick)

2.5 mile run 24:56 (9:58 pace)

10:35.....142-148
10:11.....143-157
9:38.....147-157

Feeling Spring In My Step

2011-04-22T05:41:00.001-04:00

Ran Pineland (back trails) after work and other than the damn wind, it was very enjoyable. I didn't mind the wet fields and the spongy soft trails though I ended up running bare naked........not what you are thinking.

The garmen quit, somehow I guess I neglected to charge it ( very unusual for me) but it turned out good in a way because I had the Nano running which was in my pocket so I couldn't monitor things as I ran.

Running without the constant checking to see if I was on my expected pace was uplifting and felt quit free.
In the end my pace was right where I figured and expected it to be.....go figure.

Not worrying about my heart rate and pace gave me the opportunity to actually look around and enjoy the run. I should do that more often.

This morning I made sure I got the Garmen on the charger......what? I thought I was going to run more bare naked......sorry, can't change overnight now can I.

Did I say the wind sucked? Well it did, especially in the open fields.

6.4 miles @ 1:05:59 (10:19 pace) I noticed a distinct cow field smell on the way home....it seems they have been spreading lately, this will really break in the 212s

Milk??

2011-04-13T06:51:00.001-04:00

Milk from Japan is 300 times the legal limit for radiation.........why are we importing milk from Japan anyway????? Why would we need to import milk from anywhere are we now paying our farmers NOT to produce milk?

Look Out For Blue Lights

2011-04-12T07:33:00.001-04:00

Lately I find myself peeking in the rear view with a sneaky feeling that the running police are lurking nearby. Is it smart to have your excuse all planned out or should a person just act all surprised and innocent? "gee officer, I didn't know I wasn't getting my runs in."

The week started out normal with a 3 mile hill workout and cross train on the bike, then on Wednesday a spinning workout on the bike for leg turnover (18 miles @115-144 rpms)finished off with the normal weight lifting regime and a run.

Then Thursday, the training schedule dried up and blew away in the wind.
Instead of the normal Thursday run, it was food and beer to celebrate my son's birthday, Ok easy to make that trade off if it is a one time thing.

Then Friday night I got roped into taking my Mom to Smuckers Stars on ice and a little more beer....which was well deserved ( being a runner...thus a fast walker, meandering with mom is nerve wracking). The night ended with a late return home hitting the sack at midnight with an early start on Saturday morning looming.

Up early Saturday morning and driving to Kennebunck for the granddaughter's swimming.....of course I wouldn't miss this and at least this week the water was warm. Take a shower, change and head to Boston.....Redsox/yankees and .......more beer.

Other than the Sox losing, it was a fantastic time. Arriving home late again and breaking the 350 mile mark driving since Friday night, I was not feeling like getting up early for a long run.

I figured I would get a few chores done then hit the trails for 10 miles or so. I wasn't really too worried about the mileage this week as it was actually a step back in my training.

Suddenly, the weekend was almost over and I had no run to log in. On top of that, Sunday afternoon was so sunny and warm ........I couldn't let excuses get in the way and finally hit the trail.

Though shorter than I wanted, 5.5 miles instead of 10, it was a great run. There was very little snow or ice to contend with... it truly felt like spring. I ended the weekend tired but relaxed and with the hope that the running police would leave me with just a warning.

Schedules and Commitments

2011-04-05T07:05:00.000-04:00

Oh how grand it would be to have neither. If only running was my job.....I would really enjoy my work and I would have all the time I need to satisfy the trail running cravings.

I am so tired of having to "FIT" in my runs. As much as I enjoy my life, it could be a bit less hectic and why can't time slow down like it was when I was younger?

I had so many things to do last weekend that I didn't get in a long run. Not that it wasn't part of the plan but it kept taking a backseat to other things.

On the bright side, I did get to go swimming with my 6 month old granddaughter for her very first swim lesson. This is so important because we have a pool and we don't want have to worry. We had so much fun and she really enjoyed kicking and splashing.

I also had a bunch of trees to cut down and haul out so it's not like I didn't get a workout in. As a matter of fact, I was surprised to be so lame because I have been working out with weights all winter and felt the muscles were up to the task.......different kind of work for the muscles I guess.

In the end, my long trail run turned into a late Sunday 5 mile road run.....it wasn't bad but not what I had planned. It was nice however to see a faster pace when I downloaded my stats.

Even though I have not found a way to get in all the late winter / early spring runs I wanted, I did manage to pull off the largest month total in the ten years I have been running......138.6 for the month of March. A huge increase over the 94.6 for Feb and the 93.1 for January.

April is gearing up to be more of a struggle so not much chance of continuing the trend. On the bright side, I am going into the spring with no injuries and in a bit better shape than last year.

I am so ready to run on regular trails....with no snow.

What The......

2011-04-01T06:37:00.003-04:00

I was reading the thread on the Big A Badass at the end of April. Sounded intriguing, but I didn't know the particulars and Blaine didn't give a link to the info he received from Bob.

I thought about it and it seemed as though an attempt at 50K a month before pineland might turn out to be a good thing. If it went well and I managed to finish then perhaps I would feel ready to toe the line for the 50 miler......a stretch but still intriguing.

So I emailed Bab Asking about the procedure for signing up, assuming he would send me a copy of the update he sent Blaine. He emailed back........congratulations, the limited number is not reached yet and you are in!

What the ......? I'm signed up? I didn't mean....well I wasn't sure....uh, yeah I want to run it....but.........OK

YOU KNOW, some things just happen for a reason. One thing I worry about is taking up space, forcing out a really qualified runner who has trained and is ready for this run.

In my mind and vision I want to run 50k....50 miles...100 miles, but my body and condition never seems to be in sync with my mind. If only I could find more time to actually train for these types of runs.

My thoughts teeter totter from good to bad as I try to process my true feelings here. The plus about a Fatass is that it is more training related than racing. If I want to race 50k or 50 miles, I have to train and run it.

There would be no more perfect time than a month before Pineland to run a 50K. As I tried to rationalize my thoughts, I remembered Jeff's decision to skip Boston .......the difference there was he is totally capably on the physical level, his heart just was not in it.

My heart is in it, it's my body that may fail me. I think the real problem is that I don't want to put myself out on a limb, apparantly afraid of failing bothers me more than I figured.

What this whole thought process proves to me is that, even though I ran a 50k and that should qualify me as an ultra runner, in my mind, I am still an ultrarunner wanna-be. I am forced to admit I am not confident in myself or my running.

I feel if you want something then you have to go after it and I want it.....so it apears I will show up and run as much of the 50k as I can and hopefully I will be able to have some pride in the end

Bla..Bla..Bla...I'm Over it

2011-03-30T05:23:00.003-04:00

What a difference a nice hard run and a day makes. I am over my wasted space and blog entry yesterday as I had a nice tempo run at Pineland to re-affirm that it's all about getting out on the trails and enjoying the run.

I signed up for the Barefoot 5K (shod) yesterday and honestly I got all fired up to run a 5K pretty hard. I decided to check out Pineland and see if it was actually runable.

I found a lot of snow still left where the snowpacker had groomed the trail but it was quite soft so the footing was pretty loose. The exposed areas were soft and muddy so regardless of where I planted the feet, I found softness and very little push off.

I ran into small yellow signs at almost every intersection that said wrong way.....I assume it had something to do with the skiers......yet it seemed like every way was the wrong way.

I paid little attention to the signs and ran the "supposingly" 5k loop in the normal racing direction. Now I say 5k loop but honestly I always thought it was a bit longer than 3.1 miles. My garmen read 3.33 miles and it being an old 301 that always reads short unless I am running on the open road in pure sunlight, I feel this is surely a 5K++. For the purpose of not bursting my "time trial" bubble,I called it 3.4 miles for today's run.

I put a lot of effort into this run and my heart rate max of 160-163 peaks on each mile, shows that to be true. The total time and mile pace doesn't reflect the effort I put in, I assume because of the soft terrain. In the normal packed conditions, I expect today's run would have been in the 9 minute pace range.

I really enjoyed the "speed" run and again was quite impressed with the X-Talon 212s. They were comfortable, had plenty of grip and just plain felt like they belonged on my feet. I can't wait to try this route with the MT10 Minimus.

In regards to yesterdays entry, I am just going to continue to get in all the planned runs I can and see how things play out for the Pineland Challenge Festival.
Right now, I am signed up for the 5k barefoot and the 25k race, if I feel qualified, I may step up on race day......we will see.

Pineland 5K

3.4 miles @36:10 (10:39 pace)

10:37......146-160
10:21......146-155
12:13......151-162
9:01......159-163

Am I Crazy.....And Where Did The Time Go?

2011-03-29T06:41:00.004-04:00

Flashback a few months a go, sitting at my desk and painstakingly planning my future. Boy was I going to be ready for racing in 2011! I could vision a lean racing machine with tuned muscles pulsating in anticipation.

It was an elaborate mix of colored charts, graphs, crypt massages, eating healthy, running long and hard, cross training with vengeance and lots of weight workouts. I even started a weight loss program (goal 20 lbs in 15 weeks).

Not that I was really fat in the sense of couch potato vision, but for the last 20 years of my life I have had a bit extra weight kicking around in certain places that never seemed to go completely away.

I started the Biggest loser program knowing full well that I couldn't lose enough weight percentage to win anything but thought it would at least give me a goal and keep me honest.

I devised a 32 week training plan that would land me right at the starting line of the Pineland Challenge 50 miler. It seemed easy in theory and looked impressive on paper. 2 weeks of easy running and training ( nothing specific) 7 weeks of PRE-base with 3 rest days, 2 cross training days and 2 running days one of which would be the long run.

Next 6 weeks of base training to round off the first 16 weeks. This would consist of 1 rest day, 1 easy jog or rest, 1 day hill training, 2 days short run, 1 day long run and 2 days strength. I figured by the end of this 16 week period, I would be averaging about 35 miles a week and be ready for the real 16 week plan.

February 19th was the end of the first 16 week schedule and about 8 weeks (halfway)into the weight loss program. Though I struggled to stay with the plan because of many outside interruptions and obligations, I did manage to lose 8 lbs and finish of the plan with a week high of 29 miles......both a bit shy of my goals but still respectable.

The second 16 week phase consisted of 9 weeks build starting at 35 miles a week, ending at a high of 50 miles, the longest run at 20 and a weight loss of 20 lbs. I am 2/3 through the build phase with a week high of only 32 miles, a long run of 12 miles and a weight loss of 12 lbs. Hmmmnnn....not quite on target.

Today, it suddenly hit me that my plan has same flaws.....why didn't I notice it before. When I trained for the 50K, by the time I was half through the build phase, I had already run three 3-4 hour long runs about 2/3 the estimated time of my planned race.

I did allow for three longer runs of 4-6 hours in my plan but for some reason put them all in the peak phase, one each week. That would be three consecutive weekends with a hope that I would not injure myself or have any type of scheduling interference from my real life. The other thing I apparently didn't think about was giving my body enough time to recover between the long runs.

Fast forward back to today and I am thinking I was pretty crazy with this schedule as it is barely enough planning for a 50k never mind a 50 miler. I want to go into my first 50 miler with at least a chance of finishing, it seems this training has not done that.

I still have 3 weeks base, 3 weeks peak and 3 weeks taper before the race. In a perfect world, things could fall into place for the 50K at least. I just sit here wondering.....where did all the time go?

Not What Was Expected

2011-03-27T19:52:00.002-04:00

Saturday I ran at Bradbury with my son and my son in law. We decided to run the connector and see how far we could get without hitting un passable water. I fully expected it to be much worse than last weekend and was quite surprised to find very good trails and very little water to worry about.

The first part of the connector had been traveled enough the be fairly easy .....until we reached the first river crossing. Off to the right there was a log across the river and I found it very easy to walk across as the new X-Talon 212s gripped amazingly.

I felt pretty manly as the others found the need to shimmy on their stomachs. After this crossing the trail was less prominent until we reached Tyrone and there was much more traffic from the Lawrence road parking. The second river crossing was easy as the new bridge was complete and it was amazing.

The rest of the trail was much more difficult as there was only one set of footprints there. After reaching the power lines, it was much easier and I was surprised to find no difficult saturated areas. we followed the BL loop south side trail back to Bradbury.......it was a great run and the 212s were absolutely perfect.

Sunday:
A great recovery Tempo run at Bradbury east with the minimus MT10s. Even with the loss in traction compared to the 212s of yesterday, we managed about a 9:30 pace ...
which felt great. I am impressed with both pairs of new runners and can't wait for the Snow to completely melt exposing the normal trails.

Saturday: appr 9 miles @1:50:32
Sunday: 3 miles @28:32

Clothes Don't Make The Man

2011-03-23T05:30:00.004-04:00

As clothes don't make the man, neither do shoes make a runner. Yet, I have felt lately that running shoes do affect my running even if only on a psychological level. I find myself drooling over pages of shoe specs and descriptions.

Some manufacturers claim that the extra support of their shoe will make you run like the wind, others make an about face stating the less support the better and some demand that barefoot is the answer to all our running prayers.

When I was younger I pestered my Mother to buy me PF Flyers. The TV advertisement guaranteed that it was like running with wings on your shoes......well back then they were called sneakers and actually I didn't even run back then so why I needed a pair does not make sense, but I suppose I was thinking if I had a pair and needed to run for some reason, I could run real fast.

Now that I think of it, I also wanted a pair of bell bottom pants which would be counteractive to flying shoes as they would act more like a parachute. I didn't get the flying sneakers, but I did get the bell bottoms so I guess it worked out.

So anyway......to get back on the subject, about a month ago I bought a pair of NB Minimus and I love them...then last night I got a pair of X-Talon 212 .....I ran in them immediately and I loved them.

I also signed up for the L L Bean 10k and will be getting a new pair of 1064s. My old 1062s only have about 200 miles on them and are still in good shape. I suspect I don't really need a new pair but I still want them. The 212s will be replacing my Cascadia 4s (528 miles) which actually still look quite new and seem to have plenty of miles left in them.

I also have a pair of New Balance 572s which are very similar to the Cascadias and those have less miles than the Brooks but look much older. I bought a pair of New balance 621 trail shoes and they are OK but really not as good as the 572s

To round off the list of shoes I have acquired and really like, the North face XCR 103s, which I use with screws for winter trail running, Brooks T3 and T4 road racers, all of my new balance 700 series 762,63,64,65,66, ( didn't buy the 67 or 68s), Nike 180,180+ and Nike Zoom air (I think the word zoom got me.) All of these have hundreds of miles on them.

It hasn't been a smooth ride though as I bought as many that I didn't like or didn't work well .....NB Mt800(hated these), Loco Curumba, Nike air Pegasus, Puma spikes,Nike air spikes, Nike air 2.5 (not sure what the 2.5 means unless it relates to how many miles you run before you realize you hate them.)

The point is, I started thinking about this and became some what embarrassed......I know women who have less shoes than me and my wife the other day mentioned I should buy one of those big shoe racks to put my running shoes on.

I have 16 pairs of "active" runners and a lot more that have been put on the inactive list, yet I keep them "just in case" I guess for emergencies? In case all my active shoes have previous engagements or are too tired to go out for a run?

To give myself some credit, I do not buy sneakers for other uses, my older ones migrate down from runners to the shoes guest use when they forgot their runners,then to the workout room, then to everyday walkers, then lawn mowing and finally dirty outside work.

What does this all mean? Who knows, All I know is I am happy as hell and anxiously waiting to christen my new X-talon 212s in a muddy romping run!! Biting at the bit to try the Minmus at Pineland and ready to put the Northface screw shoes away for the season. Even if shoes don't make the runner, I sure look good in the 212s

An Almost Spring Weekend

2011-03-21T05:39:00.007-04:00

This weekend turned out to be an odd mix as the weather decided to add a kick to my brains desire for spring. Friday, I was antsy all day waiting to get outside and run.
Once home I decided to wear the Minmus and run my favorite local ....the pit loop. This is not traveled at all during the winter, but with all this snow melt happening, I figured it should be run able.

I felt great running the ditch of the road heading toward the pit. As soon as I hit the trail at the pit entrance, I realized my calculations were way wrong.....there was still 2 feet of snow with a slight crust that ripped at my legs as I post holed for about 1 mile..uphill.

After the hill, hitting the dirt road was a treat and I enjoyed a speedier return home. This was by far the slowest I have ever run this route. I sure wish I had worn the sleeves over my Calv's.

SATURDAY morning my intention was to run Ian's planned route for the trail monsters. I figured I could probably hang with their pace for a couple miles but then would be able to follow their tracks as the fresh fallen snow would make it easy.

My first glitch in the plan was arriving 10 minutes late at Bradbury and missing the group. I am not usually late for anything but a flat tire on the truck had a different plan.

Though the first three miles of the BL in reverse is pretty killer as far as hills go, I loved the scenery as the gentle fallen snow coated everything. The trails were much better than I expected and the tracks of the trail monsters were easy to follow.

When I hit Lieghton road, I could see that the trail would normally continue to the other side but the trailmonsters hit the dirt road and I followed assuming there would be a problem crossing the river further down.

After crossing the river via bridge, I ran into Erik and his four legged companion on their way back (I can't seem to remember his pups name) and he said the group was not too far ahead.

About a half mile up the railroad tracks I met up with Val, Rick and Mindy on their way back. They left the group at the bushwhack trail to Oakhill. I said my goodbyes and decided to at least go until 6 miles before I turned around. This took me to the newly bushwhacked trail, which didn't look all that inviting.

I turned around and as I came out onto the road where I thought we ran down, I could see footprints crossing and heading down toward a new bridge. I didn't remember this at all but could see footprints crossing it so I followed.

I must say this was the nicest snowmobile bridge I have ever seen and I was sure I would have remembered it. Once on the other side I could see that the runners had apparently realized they took a wrong turn and headed back.

I stopped for a second and contemplated turning around too. My instincts told me that this power line would bring me back to the road crossing I saw at Leighton road and assumed Ian hit the road thinking this river would be uncrossable.

I was right as not long after following the powerlines I came across the trail heading back toward Bradbury (I assumed I was on the BL loop at this point) I was pretty darn proud of myself but that was short lived as I hit some fairly wet areas in the field leading up to Brown road and it slowed my progress quite a bit.

After crossing Leighton road, the trail back to Bradbury was quite pleasant as I enjoyed going down all those tough hills. After I crossed route 9, the fatigue was setting in and I decided to hit the short cut back to the start instead of following the snowmobile trail. I figured, how bad could it be as there was some foot traffic on this trail.

I found this to be a huge mistake and instead of an easy short cut back, I had a difficult post hole walk for about 3/4 mile. I should have just followed the trail.
Not only did the slow pace post holing affect my overall time, give me my slowest mile of the run but I ended up with only 5 miles on the return giving me 11 total instead of the 12 that I wanted. What was I thinking?

Friday
3 miles @ 32:15
splits:
9:36...144-165
15:02..147-166
8:30...154-161

Saturday
11 miles @2:18:20 (12:35 pace) 143-155 (aver & max heart rate)

Sunday...out of town...no run

No Divining Rod Needed

2011-03-14T06:26:00.003-04:00

I anticipated some pretty tough conditions on Saturday's run especially after all the rain and warm weather. My plan was to attempt Ian's Beautiful loop (though I wasn't entirely sure where the cut back was from the power lines)

I knew 15 miles on soft wet trails would probably be a bit much for me in this stage of my training and I suspected I might find more standing water than I wanted, but no harm in trying and if need be I could cut the run short.

The early start worked quite well through the park and all the way to the pit. Though I did happen across some very wet areas and I did post hole occasional, I was able to bypass most of the deep water.

The icy areas were pretty slippery so I was glad I wore my screw shoes as the extra traction felt great. Unlike last weekend, I dressed just about right and did not overheat at all.

Things changed a bit once I reached the open field and the power lines. No divining rod was needed as hidden rivers were easily exposed each time the thin melting top crust suddenly gave way. It was a well drillers dream and a post holing nightmare.

There was no way of telling how strong the ice covered areas of the trail were until I fully committed the weight on each foot. At depths of as much as 1-2 feet, the going was pretty slow and my feet were getting darn cold.

After crossing route 9, I decided to try and move to higher elevation. though there was a less traveled trail which was much softer, post holing without water would be much more comfortable than this.

This worked pretty good until I happened across an area that was completely flooded. I didn't want to turn around and deal with the crap I just went though and I remember passing a snowmobile trail heading into the woods.

I opted to go back and try it out. I thought perhaps it might be a way around the newly formed lake. The further I followed it, the less prominent the trail was and finally I found myself at the end of a long dirt driveway at someones house.

My only real choice at this point was to follow the drive back to the road which ended up being route 9. I followed 9 up to Brown road and figured I could link back up with the trail that way.

Funny how timing can be as I reached the trail crossing at Brown road exactly when the trail monster group was crossing. We talked for a few, I warned them of the water problems on the power lines and we said our good byes.

At this point I was a bit past nine miles on my garmen and I figured about three miles back to Bradbury. My body was glad to crest the last part of the hill two miles later and enjoyed the one mile down hill finish.

The fact that I still felt pretty good after 12 miles was uplifting and I found myself wishing I had been able to do the whole 15 mile loop. Considering how much the power lines slowed me down, I was fairly happy with my overall pace. Little did I know that this would not be my last trip to Bradbury this weekend.

Sunday morning I planned on just lazing around and doing a few things around the house and perhaps getting in an easy road run as a weekend cooldown. Kev was home for the weekend and we decided to run at Bradbury instead of the roads.

Though I suspected it would be a foolish decision, I opted to wear my new Minimus for this run as we planned only 3 or 4 miles. The uphills were a little slippery and softer than yesterday but the ice was not as bad as I envisioned without screws and the downs were no problem at all.

I loved the feel of the minimus and for the second run in them, I was happy that I experienced no problems. I did feel a bit of muscle fatigue in the quads from the long run yesterday but very little in the calfs.

Saturday 12 miles @2:23:10 (11:55 pace)
Sunday 4 miles @42:38 (10:39 pace) 2 mile out and back 21:49 out, 20:40 return.

Official Training

2011-03-07T10:58:00.004-05:00

The first week of March and My first week of official training.
Ok...well not Official but when I actually start paying attention to my progress.

Mon. Weight Training & plyometrics
Tues. Gazelle (4 miles) & weights-core
Wed. Stationary bike 12 miles ...spinning (quad killer) & plyometrics
Thur. Tread mill 5k hill (10% grade) & bike cooldown & balance
Fri. Dinner and Beer (rest)
Sat. Trail run (snowmobile..Bradbury) 8 miles & shoveling the roof
Sun. 3.2 mile Tempo (with the new Minimus shoe)

I could feel the benefit of the 10%grade treadmill runs from the winter on the hills of the run Sunday, though part of the credit could also go to snowshoe running on "the Brad".

I was very pleased with the effort on the snowmobile trail Sunday as I was high in the Heart rate zone and able to maintain the effort. Hitting 160 heart rate during a run is about 90% effort for me and I was able to pass 160(162-165) in all except one of the miles, which I peaked at 159.

I am really looking forward to some spring running.....

Bradbury Blizzard

2011-02-28T08:06:00.028-05:00

Courtesy of Dave Young:

A memory of me: heading for the finish ...notice the white snow dust behind me, it was a sprint

actually finishing the race ....and glad to be done.

A less accommodating one of me struggling on an uphill
Note: no snow dust....not moving too fast here

The Bradbury Blizzard.......an excellent combination of breathtaking (I mean actually taking your breath away) up hills and crazy single track twisting downhills that take almost as much energy to maintain an upright position.

After snow shoeing the Bradbury White out a couple weeks ago I realized that snow shoe racing on this type of terrain was not something I was very good at, well actually I should classify it snowshoe walk/running.

The down hills at the Whiteout proved that my core muscles were not anywhere near up to par so I decided to work on them a little harder for the Blizzard. I think the extra work helped but with the softer and deeper unpacked snow, I really couldn't compare the two.

This being only my second snowshoe race and the fact that I really struggled during the first race, it was easy to decide to start in the rear again.....only this time I started dead last. I can tell you that all those other snowshoers throwing powdery snow in the air in front of me actually made me glad I hung back a bit.

The first half mile of the race was a crazy twisty uphill and I was so winded at the top, I couldn't imagine running five miles. I thought of quiting which is a common feeling for me in the start of any race, of course I didn't plus I figured I would wait until after the down and see how well I recouped.

Unfortunately, the downhill which usually allows for a little rest because of the pull of gravity, did not offer any rest in these conditions. The constant need to keep the body upright as the twisting trails, skinny single track and soft snow tried their hardest to throw me down and suck all the energy from my body, had me wishing for an uphill.

Once the uphill arrived, I was wishing I would pass out so I could get a ride down on a stretcher. My spirits were uplifted a bit as I passed a couple people in the first mile, then a couple more during the rest of the first loop.

I was actually ahead of a couple runners that beat me in the last race, so I was beginning to feel better and I was settling in to a steady pace. At the halfway point I was actually considering trying to speed up a bit to maintain my position of not being last.

The trek up the switchback trail for the second time convinced me that perhaps I should just be happy to finish, never mind beat anyone. As I crossed the peak and started the downhill, it suddenly dawned on me that even though I was beat, I was having fun, yeah it was tough but at the same time, how many people show up for an event like this..........only the toughest.

During the second loop, I passed three more "faster" runners only to have them eventually pass me back. As I realized the last mile coming near, I tried to stay right on a runners tail in hopes of out kicking in the end to steal a spot. Problem is, she was much faster than me on the uphills. I figured the last down hill on the Terrace trail would be my only hope, so I threw caution to the wind and went by.

All I had to do now is maintain the distance and actually earn my spot. Somehow I stayed in front and found a little bit extra for a finishing kick. It helped that I could hear the trail Monsters yelling as I rounded the last corner. Taken out of context, one would think I was the first finisher rather than almost the last.

Again Ryan and all the volunteers created an amazing experience. Much more memorable than all those road races where a I am in the mix of hundreds of people crossing the finish line where no one knows your name. I guess being part of the Trail Monsters is a modern version of Cheers but instead of meeting at the bar, we meet in the trails.

I found out later when I down loaded the Garmen that I did in fact run a faster second loop. What is funny, is that now, a day later I can envision all those times I slowed down and I feel that I not only could I have but I should have run faster at those points. It is so much easier to "say" I could have than to actually find the strength to do it on race day.

It was a bit disappointing not to earn the "Baddass" status and get one of those rare Badass hats. Congrats to all the did.

White-Out Report

2011-02-14T06:34:00.003-05:00

Photo of me and Ann before the race(taken by George).....we are both smiling...mine was short lived once the race started.

Snow Shoeing "The Brad" ........ OK, this race started much better then the last.....because I actually showed up for it. I honestly didn't know what to expect from myself because it was my first snowshoe race. I decided to start near the rear and as it turned out, it was the best place for me.

I have to admit, my choice of snow shoes worked very well for me. I didn't slide around at all (like I noticed many others do with aluminum frames.) My draw back was a little bit more weight then the racing Dions.

The Tubbs flex adapted well to the uneven part of the terrain, had great grip on the uphill icy sections and the loose downhill areas. I was a little worried at first because during my warm up run, the left shoe loosened up and fell off. This never happened any of the times I went out running but during the warm up I practiced lifting my feet up higher and pushing off more with my toe.

Despite the worrying, I had no problems during the race with the shoes. There was one area where it was new type single track trail for about 1/2 mile that was a little narrow for my shoes. I suspect the trail was broken with the racing Dions and they must be just a smigit narrower than the Tubbs.

I started slow and settled in the middle of a pack of runners, most of whom were faster than me and within 3/4 mile all but three of them left me behind. The four of us spread out in a short period of running and I found myself following ......well more like trying to keep up with a woman runner.

I found out later it was the person I know of called "neighbor Kate" I think she wanted me to pass her, but I knew if I did, it would only be a matter of time before she was breathing down my neck, because I would surely slow down if I wasn't "chasing" someone.

I actually think this arrangement worked well as she claimed I was "pushing" her. Whatever it was, it worked very well for both of us. My intent was to stay as close as possible and out kick her at the finish.

The thing about racing close to someone else is the hard parts don't bother as much when you can see the others are working hard too. It is makes one realize the terrain is the problem not the conditioning.

When I run alone, I tend to take it easy after working hard on a hill and with Kate in front of me who by the way was "killer" on the down hills, I struggled to keep up until we hit the uphills, then I would be back on her tail.

This whole yo yo thing was beginning to worry me as the finish is mostly downhill so I would have to really push to stay close enough to pass her for the finish. I had an opportunity at the top of the South trail, right before the long down hill to pass Kate as she tripped or slipped or something and landed hands first in the snow.

For a split second I thought of slipping by and going for it. You know, I could have done that but I didn't, I stopped asked to see if she was OK and waited for her to get back up. I guess I wanted to earn the spot at the end.

I found out quite quickly that I underestimated her. Like a horse headed for the hay in the barn, she was suddenly flying with me barely on her tail trying to keep up. This is when I saw a glimpse of the pack that left us behind in the beginning. We managed to pass one person and were quickly catching others.

At the bottom she passed a slower runner but I was not so lucky as I could not find a spot to pass. I could see Kate putting more distance between us and finally I just jumped to the right and hoped the deep snow didn't take all of the energy I had left.

I could see the finish and turned on the best kick I could. I caught Kate, but ran out of trail and we finished side by side. I think she knew I was coming because it looked like she put everything she had into the last dozen steps. We collided across the finish almost took out the finish tape. I actually didn't realize how fast we were running the last quarter mile until I pulled the stats off the Garmen.

She said I brought out the best in her, but really she brought out the best in me. I was lucky to have someone to chase(thanks Kate), it made the experience much more enjoyable. I really have no complaints about the race. Ryan did a top notch job and it was great to see all the Trail Monsters having fun.

I ended up taking third in my age group. Of course there were only four in my group but hey, you can only count the ones that show up and race so I'll take the honor.

4.25 miles @1:02:54 (14:35 pace)
splits:
15:16.....151-158
13:31.....152-158
16:10.....148-154
16:11.....151-156
8:13.....153-164 (last 1/4 mile)

Now That's Cold

2011-02-09T16:22:00.003-05:00

You know it's cold when the ocean freezes into a wave cliff!!

I know it is still winter and I know I shouldn't be thinking about spring yet.....but I found a site that has the New Balance Minimas available early (was due out to the public in March 2011) so I just couldn't help myself and ordered a pair. I will have them Friday.

I kept telling myself all through the fall that I should just buy a pair of INov-8s and I suppose I still will, but for some reason I like the looks and sound of the Minimus and I've had great experiences with NB.... maybe it's all the hype or even the video I watched a while back, but anyway I will own a pair.......OK Spring, I'm waiting

2011-02-02T06:49:00.003-05:00

I went Snow shoe running on the power lines behind my house Sunday. I found a real problem after crossing route 9. There was an orange fence across the trail and a sign that stated the power lines were shut down.

This seemed crazy but I remembered back last summer the president of the ATV club was kicked out and they had a big fight about it at the time. Apparently he lives next to this part of the power lines and he somehow convinced CMP that riding ATVs and Snowmobiles here was a safety issue.

CMP closed the trails from pole 65 to pole 84 .......the hazard was snowmobiles crossing a private road, visibility and such. That doesn't make sense, if it is a hazard at one road intersection, wouldn't it be a hazard at most or all?

I crossed the forbidden line and continued up the power lines but without the luxury of a packed snowmobile track for about 3/4 of a mile. Then I reached pole 84 and the trail opened back up and was perfectly packed and fast.

This was a perfect morning as there was a constant floating snow that gave the feeling of being in one of those snow globes that you shake up. Amazing how gently the large flakes were. It was as if they had no care in the world, just floating to their eventual destination.

It was perfect, the temps were not bad, the Tubbs snowshoes again working fantastic while running. They didn't hit my ankles or shins, they flexed on the uneven sections without causing me to lose my footing or put pressure on the ankles and they gripped so well on the down hills. I didn't slide at all like I do with aluminum frames.

I have to say I am pretty darn happy with the Tubbs shoes for running. Their only drawback would be when walking in deep virgin snow. I turned around at 2 miles and headed back. On the return when I got to pole 84 there was a sign that stated the residents would and are taking pictures of trespassers. It reminded me of that phrase..."can't we all just get along?"

After my snowshoe run, I got on one of the snowmobiles but not for the reason one might think. I used it to ride out to the storage shed and work on the motorcycle.....it sounds funny when I think about it, if you have to ride a snowmobile to work on the bike then it seems the timing is all wrong, but hey I do things when time permits and in the winter, there is no pressure to get things for the spring done fast.

At Least I Have Color

2011-01-27T05:16:00.003-05:00

One thing I have going for me is that my workout graph is becoming quite colorful...whether or not I am gaining with this type of crosstraining diversity remains to be seen.

This winter I am trying to shed the one dimensional running type workout by mixing things up. My hope is that the various types will give me better stamina, better speed and less overuse injuries for the spring races.

This system allows me to workout more often without having to incorporate so many rest days and at the same time fits well with my work schedule which is usually 12 hour days.

The training and body workout parts of the workout consists of weights, cardio,boxing,plyometrics, balance and core. Not all the same every night, but mixing things up. All of the treadmill runs are on a high angle of 8-10 degrees to help equalize the fact that I am not outside fighting wind resistance.

On weekends I try to get outside runs both days to keep the running legs fresh. This workout routine seems to be working well as I am not fighting as much fatigue this winter and I am have been dropping a couple pounds each week.

By spring I should be in good running/racing shape......At least that is what I keep telling myself.

Determined

2011-01-26T05:38:00.006-05:00

I usually put on a few pounds in the winter months and successfully shed them back off in the spring, it is a total of about ten pounds. For some reason in 2010 I didn't shed the winter weight by maybe a few pounds or so. Not sure why and when I looked at January 2011 compared to the last 8 January's, I was a bit surprised....this year was the heaviest of all.

I decided to work a bit harder, do the unthinkable and watch my calories some. I get plenty of exercise so that is not my problem.......eating is. I think by paying a little more attention to my diet (I am getting older) I should be fine.

My hope is to get down to my racing weight I was back in 2001-2003. It seems part of my speed disappointment would be curbed if I dropped the extra weight. Most people would probably not notice the difference, but to me 10-15 pounds is huge when it comes to performance.

I am already back down to my normal January weight and I have only been working at this for 3 weeks........so pretty happy about the steady progress. I am not in a huge hurry as I think the slower one loses, the longer it stays off. I think of it more like a tweak in my eating habits, not taking anything I like away....so not a diet so much as a controlled eating.

I am determined and I hope that 2011 will bring some type of PR, though missing my first snowshoe race cost me a new PR already. If nothing else, at least trimming up and working on speed will help me keep up better when running with the Trail Monsters.

Guilty As Charged

2011-01-24T05:44:00.003-05:00

It seems much easier to view the weekend as a whole to help me feel better about my decisions.... or really one specific decision.

Sunday morning, 7am.....I felt the same as I figure the Patriots felt when they entered game day last week against the Jets. I had a plan and for 4 weeks prior, I did all the right things, I cross trained hard, I snowshoed the course on a very cold morning, I ate right, exercised and managed to lose 5 lbs, though I was feeling a bit tired from the workouts on Saturday, I was ready.

I procrastinated a bit this year, which is really not that unusual for me. There were many things I had not accomplished around the house for cold weather and the forecast for Sunday night into Monday was sounding pretty severe.

Saturday, I shoveled, cleaned roofs,got some time in on the snow shoes, actually worked my butt off to get as much done so I could ease any tensions for Sunday's race and the two football games. Though I did not accomplish everything I needed, the spill over to Sunday morning should not interfere with my plans.

Sunday morning I slept in a bit and didn't roll out of bed until 6:30 am,I was quite lame from Saturdays work but spirits were high and I felt good. By 7am I was ready and raring to get started with my remaining chores and three hours seemed like enough time as the race was not until 11 am.

My morning fell apart quick and even though I can cite numerous reasons why racing at Bradbury was slipping from the picture, none of them were really valid.

I could rationalize and exclaim how cold it was....yet last weekend I was out snowshoe running at 7:30 am and at about the same temps and on the same course.

I ran out of supplies for my cold weather prep and had to take time for a trip to Home Depot.......yet I stopped working for about an hour to go out to breakfast.

I was pretty darn lame from Saturday yet I managed to get up on the roof to clean snow so I can't use that as an excuse.

I spent all last week exclaiming how the patriots didn't show up for the game against the Jets, I couldn't understand how could they prepare so hard and just not deliver on game day.

Here I was Sunday morning after many weeks of preparing for a fun snowshoe race and like the Patriots, I didn't show up.....though for me it was literal.

To stay true with my confessions, I just didn't want to go......oh, I rationalized and could cite many reasons and excuses but to be honest I didn't have it in me on this day.

So... here I am guilty as charged, I didn't break a bone, no one in my family passed away, I had no emergency to keep me away.......I just didn't show up and though I was fine with it at the time, right now I am a bit pissed at myself.

At least the Jets lost!

Weekend

2011-01-17T13:36:00.004-05:00

There is no hill running in Antarctica

Saturday I was at work for a half day which messed up my plan of getting in a few road miles. I did however do some sprint workouts as I worked on the treadmill when I got home and had to test it.

I really do not prefer the treadmill, but honestly there are times it comes in real handy and may be the difference between getting some miles in and not. it is quite a time saver for me to be able to get in a run while I am multi tasking like watching the news or when on call for work.

The problem with the treadmill is intermittent stopping for no planned reason. So while working on it I put the darn thing on 10 and ran until it stopped. This created intervals of 30-50 seconds and gave me an great workout while trouble shooting.

I didn't end up solving the problem but at least the thing is spotless clean now and I can use it for long slow running or some fast intervals. My intent is to replace it next year.

Sunday morning my plan was to run the Snow Squall course with the Trail Monsters. I went early with a plan of warming up for a bit on the new snow shoes. There was one car coming in when I did and the guy jumped out, threw on his snow shoes and started running. It didn't seem like he was running very fast so I took off after him.

It wasn't long before I realized that the hill was really slowing me down and catching my breath was more of an issue than catching the snowshoer. I found myself power walking a good portion of the first mile, which was actually a packed down snowmobile track.

Once I hit the summit the packed trail was gone and I felt so much better on the down hill portion. I really like running downhill in a partially packed powder and my cardio was happier too.

It wasn't until I was halfway down the Tote road trail that I remembered my plan was a short warm up and I was already 20 minutes into the run. I suspected it wouldn't matter much because the trail monsters were probably not far behind me and they would surely catch up.

I looped all the way back to the packed snowmobile trail before I ran into the Ian, Ryan and the others. They must have started later than they planned. I had a great run but at the same time, I was glad to be done.

My only complaint (other than not having enough cardio) was being a bit too hot. Once I got running, I realized that I overdressed and spent a lot of the time carrying my gloves. I could have easily shed at least two layers and still been warm enough.

The Tubbs running snow shoes were perfect, I didn't hit my legs once (like I do with the aluminum shoes)They felt very comfortable running down hill, they flexed with the uneven terrain very well and they didn't feel that heavy.

Somehow, I messed up on the ski trail and ended up at the Summit then hit the Tote road from there, back tracked a few times then followed it back to the ski trail so I didn't actual run the whole course.

3 miles snowshoeing @43:53 (14:11 pace)

splits:
16:29
14:49
12:03

Confessions Of A Trailrunner

2011-01-13T07:08:00.008-05:00

I changed the name of my blog. Though I am serious about my running and I love the trails, to consider myself anything other than a recreational runner wouldn't be fair to the dedicated runners out there.

I was talking to someone the other day and speaking as an ultra runner, I suddenly stopped and realized it was actually two years ago that I ran the Pineland 50k (my first and only ultra race so far) There are many true ultra runners who don't consider the 50k to be long enough to qualify and if you don't accomplish at least 50 miles, then you are not a true ultra runner.

As I sat and thought long and hard, I found it difficult to classify my running. It seems my aspirations were always much grander than my accomplishments. I suppose I was not dedicated enough to step into the abyss and put full 100 percent effort into training for a race and then leaving nothing on the table as I collapse at the finish.

When I first started running (at 46 years old), I had the drive and commitment. I raced every run in preparation for 5Ks and 10Ks, both of which I did pretty well at and could easily consider myself a road racer.

Problem was the constant racing instead of running was taking it's toll and I had continuous injuries. I didn't leave time for recovery or rest so the fast times started dwindling and the harder I tried, the worse it got.

I finally realized how stupid I was about racing and running as a whole. With no rest and no easy enjoyable running, I became burnt out and finally I pushed too hard and broke my ankle. This change of events forced me to re-evaluate and slow down a bit.

I am not writing all this for you (the readers) benefit but more for my own. I need to realize that my brain concocts all these massive goals, ones that I either can not or do not bring to a reality.

I understand that at 55 years old and with many personal commitments right now, that I can not train to race with any real expectations other than perhaps finishing a few long races and trying to run a respectable time for the amount of training.

I am humbled by the people who find the time to run 100 miles a week, humbled by the ultra runners who find it within themselves to master 100 miles at once, humbled by the runners who can finish at the front of the pack.

So.... here I am giving confession. In 2006 I ran the Maine Marathon. I did very well and started calling myself a marathoner. I had hoped to beat four hours and almost did with a time of 4:01. I decided I would train harder and qualify for Boston.

Here it is fives years later and I not only haven't qualified, but I actually have not even run a second marathon. You see my goals reached far beyond my accomplishments yet I still considered myself a marathoner......just like I consider myself an ultra runner.

Doing something once does not qualify a person to be a master. I could drive around town like a maniac, speeding all over the place, practice racing at the local track, enter in a race and actually race it.........does that make me a race car driver?

I suspect it does as long as I continue showing up at the track and racing to the best of my ability week in and week out. If I only practice when time permits and show up at a couple special races, wouldn't I be a recreational driver?

Don't get me wrong, it's OK to be a recreational race car driver (or runner) but one has to be realistic and not think they can somehow race the Indy 500. I have to find peace within myself to accept and hopefully embrace the goal of running new and different kinds of races or events but not with illusions of grander.

I guess I just want to be honest with myself. I call myself Pathfinder though in actualality I am more like Pathfollower..... I can call myself a trail racer but periodically I have to take the time to go to confession, look through realistic glasses and admit to myself that I am merely a person who loves running, loves trails......not a marathoner, not an ultra runner, just a trail runner.

A Good Week And A New Age Group

2011-01-10T07:18:00.006-05:00

It's the first week in 2011 and I already have so much to talk about. I had a birthday which put me into a new racing age group (for most of the larger road races). Also I joined in with a Biggest Loser contest at work. Not that I could lose enough to win anything or that I really need a contest because I usually lose a good percentage of weight as spring arrives.

I just figured it would be fun and also give me a bit extra incentive to get down to a more conceivable racing weight for the spring. last year I never really trimmed to the point I wanted or knew was best for me.

I weighed in the lightest of the group at work but a full 10 lbs heavier than my scale at home. Granted I was fully dressed and wearing boots but the number still surprised me.

Our heaviest guy was 300 lbs and I weighed in at 198 .....so I suspect I am at a bit of a disadvantage even when figuring percentage of weight lost. My best racing weight in the past was 165 so I have about 25 lbs of wiggle room I guess.

My plan is simple, cross train a bit more,monitor the calorie intake to keep it around 2000 per day and get in a long workout/run on the weekend. I have quite a few options for cross training, besides having a weight room, I also have a stationary bike,a treadmill, a gazelle and a rower.

All week I worked out each night and kept my calorie intake around 2000 without deterring from the occasional beer or giving up the foods I like. It went well and as luck would have it the GAC Fatass was on Saturday.

My son Kev came home the weekend and decided to run GAC with me, he was just starting to ramp up his mileage (coming back from injury) and figured a 12 miler at my slow pace would be perfect for him.

There was a lot of Trailmonster talk the week leading up to the GAC 50k so I expected to see plenty of trailmonsters Saturday.....as it ended up, I didn't see one. Part of that was caused by the large turn out and the fact that I ended up starting in the rear of the group with only a couple people behind me.

Kev was lagging with his attire (I pulled 8 screws out of my shoes for him)then he opted for a bio break at the last second. I could have waited but the group was already heading for the woods and he assured me he would have no trouble catching up to me.

The first half mile was pure murder and the walk / run surges drove me crazy. The second half was only slightly better though I did manage to pass a couple dozen runners. Later when checking my pace, I figured I lost more than a full minute in the first mile.

I was glad to see the trails were much better than last year but wasn't sure how much faster I would run because my condition this year was lagging compared to last year and the ground was extremely uneven with frozen ice and snow causing more stress on the legs and ankles.

Kev ended up starting 6 minutes behind the group but was still able to catch up to me at the end of mile three. This put him at about 9 minute pace for the first three miles. I was running about 11:30 pace, which felt good and by mile three I had passed at least 20-30 runners.

I handled the single track hill in mile four much better this year and felt really good until about mile nine and the second run up the single track hill. The next two miles were a bit of a struggle at times but the ease of the open tar trail of the last 3/4 mile allowed me to pick up the pace and feel like I finished strong.

I was glad to be done and was happy that I crushed last years time on both laps. Our plan was to hit some god awful greasy, fat filled fast food place on the way home to celebrate our calorie usage and decided on KFC.....it was fantastic and left me with no guilt feeling what so ever.

Overall 12.4 miles 2:25:03 (11:42 pace)
My first lap 1:10:18 (11:20 pace)
splits:
13:10...145-162
11:27...152-158
11:57...151-160
12:51...150-159 (largest hill)
11:35...150-154
10:33...152-156
10:17...160 (last .2)
Second lap 1:14:45 (12:03 pace)
Splits:
12:00....146-158
11:43....152-158
12:51....150-159
13:47....153-160 (largest hill)
12:20....153-158
11:38....155-161
10:16....160-162

Last year was 2:53:54 (13:59 pace)

First (or last) snow shoe of the year

2011-01-03T06:14:00.003-05:00

Picked up my new snow shoes Friday and decided to give them a try. I am not sure if I should call it my first snow shoe of the year or the last (as it was Dec 31st).

The weather couldn't have been nicer and the trails were already well packed on the power lines. The first thing I noticed about these new snow shoes was the flex when landing on uneven ground (much better than my old aluminum frame shoes)

The second thing was the smaller lighter composite frame is much more runner friendly. Though I fatigued very quickly, it was no where near as bad as the old heavier ones.

The durability could be a factor with these shoes, but with the amount of running and racing (well not racing so much as running at races)I will be doing, I don't suspect it will present a problem.

I am so glad I got out Friday as the warm weekend pretty much killed our snow cover.
Saturday I decided to hit Back bay which was not all that pleasant ....Oh the weather was great, but the trail was soggy, wet and muddy which would be fine for trails but difficult not to splash others.

Sunday was football day, we went to the Stadium in Portland and watched all the games that we could. The beer, the wings and the company was good and the games were great. Most of our favorite teams won.

I ended 2010 with 1010 miles which did not beat last years total of 1140 but still was more miles than any previous year. I am hoping to step things up a bit in 2011 as I start training for a possible 50 miler at Pineland.

I say possible 50 miler because I have a busy spring and at this point can not predict whether I will get the training in I need for that distance. Right now I am planning it and as the event gets closer I will critique the distance.

The last thing I want is half ass training turning into a half ass finish...or worse..no finish!

I can't Start 2011...I haven't Finished 2010 Yet!

2010-12-30T05:26:00.007-05:00

Suddenly it is merely one day away from 2011. I am not ready to start a new year as my goals and wishes for 2010 have just not come to light yet. I have one more day to:

Run 130 miles to PR my year (OK, I guess I have to let go of that one)

Run a fast fall race......ooops, it was on the list.

Run the Marathon at Stone Cat.....umm..no

Start the new year at my normal spring weight, to get a jump start on my spring running speed ......Uh....well maybe next year.

Get an early start on weight training for the core ......did I say weight or wait?

Break out the snow shoes early to prep for Bradbury winter races. (I know I put them in a safe place, where I would be sure not to lose them)

OK....I have one day left and there is plenty of snow, it seems the best I can do is get out for a fairly long snow shoe tromp on Friday and hope that the start of 2011 gives me new and vigorous drive for the winter.

Where did all the time go?

The Connector

2010-12-14T06:47:00.004-05:00

12/11/10
Saturday

Kev and I ran the Bradbury/pineland connector today. Well not the whole way to Pineland but we did make it to the powerlines and ran them for a bit. For some reason, the powerlines felt bitterly cold. Perhaps some of it was the wind whipping through the long open space and also the fact that I was a bit wet from the stream crossing.

I was surprised when we got to the first stream to see it mostly covered in a thin layer of ice and the level was much lower than last week. There were some open spots that showed us the current was still clipping along pretty good, so the ice could not be trusted.

Kev laid on his belly and shimmied across a small tree that had fallen across the stream. I went upstream a bit to where the Trail monsters crossed last weekend and found the rocks much easier to cross even though there was a lot of ice on some of them.

We then went up Tyron mountain to the "scenic visual spot" then continued on to Lawrence road. Things were not warming up as quick as last week even though it was later in the day. The only part that felt a bit warm was when running through the field on the other side of the road.

When we came upon the second stream, it was very apparent how much the water level had dropped. At the spot where The trail monsters crossed last week, there was at least 15 feet of exposed rocks making the width of the steam much smaller. I picked a spot that looked like I could jump from rock to rock but somehow ended up in the water.

At this point I was pretty wet, including my gloves, so trying to stay dry was mute. The area where they were waist deep last weekend was only up to my knees today though I suspect the water was a little colder as there was ice all around.

After a couple hundred yards of running, the water was pretty much squeezed out of my shoes and the only part that felt cold was my hands. I was pretty much fine until things opened up when we reached the powerlines.

On the way back, I just walked right across the stream, though Kev still found a way to cross without getting wet. We ran into chuck in Tyron field and explained to him how the river crossing was and off he went. He apparently decided not to cross as he caught back up to us by the time we hit the next water crossing.

He was gone like a flash and we never saw him again because I was slowed up by phone calls. I usually will only have my phone for emergencies when I am trail running alone but I was on call this weekend and if I wanted to get in a run, I had to answer when it rang.

This was a great run today as we managed to get in 8.1 miles. I really like running the connector and hope to make it the whole way to Pineland one of these times. I would also like to find the return trail from the power lines that Ian created.

8.1 miles @1:43:18

Bushwacking But Fun

2010-12-06T05:19:00.005-05:00

12/4/10

I planned all week to get a decent long run in this weekend and finally got that accomplished. I decided to check out the new Bradbury/Pineland connector even though the girl at Bradbury said the rivers were uncrossable.

I arrived at Bradbury to find an empty lot (except for one lonely car) I figured as much because it was about 30 degrees,slightly snow covered and a bit early to see Trail Monsters (though I didn't know if any were running here today). This was fine with me because I planned an easy enjoyable bushwhack run and didn't want to slow anyone down.

I started easy so not to aggravate the hip pain and it felt pretty good. The first turn I took off the trail ended up being the wrong way and I spent a fair amount of time searching for the red tape markers. after a mile or so I figured I was in the wrong spot and headed back to the Bradbury trail.

Back at bradbury (boundry) I finally came across the spot for the new connector. it was very well marked at this point. I found the trail to be well marked at times but confusing at others. I finally made my way to the first river and found a spot were a run of rocks almost crossed the whole thing.

Probably if it hadn't rained lately, the crossing there would have been relatively easy but because of the swift running water and the fact that I was alone, I decided to find a safer spot. A short ways up river I found a large tree laying across the river and crossed easily.

After crossing I found my way back to the marked trail and headed for Tyron mountain.
About half way up the trail to the peak, Ian caught up to me along with Emma, Jamie and Dave. It felt great to see other people and I enjoyed the chance to follow someone who knew where they were going.

We crested the mountain and stood on the highest spot for a picture and then headed back to the new trail. Ian made it seem easy and I didn't have to pay much attention to the trail (which later would come back to bite me as I returned alone).

We crossed Lawrence road and continued on. I lagged a bit but was able to stay close enough to keep them in my sights. Once we made it to the second river, it was apparent the crossing would be much more involved.

Ian and Erik jumped right in and commenced to wade across. It looked relatively easy but wet, cold, deep and pretty fast moving. I knew I was near the end of my running window for the day and decided follow the river a ways and see if there was a better spot to cross (one that I could do alone and still factor in safety)

I followed the river down stream for about 3/4 of a mile and found nothing better then went upstream and even though the current was slower, the river was wider and deeper. Upon returning to the first spot, I saw a single trail heading down stream, it was either a deer trail or something someone else used as it seemed pretty old.

I figured maybe it would lead to a crossing but instead came to a no trespassing sign after about a mile so I turned around and headed back. This was a bit more difficult than I thought as I couldn't find the same trail and had to follow the river instead.

I found the new trail finally but got lost (misplaced temporarily) quite a few times and found myself wishing I had paid more attention when following Ian's group. I made it to the first river and decided to try crossing at the rocks because I thought perhaps I could jump across the open spot.

I figured the worst that could happen is I fall in and get wet, which was no big deal because I was only a few miles from the parking lot at this point. Well I threw my water bottle across and leaped. Luckily I still had some leg power because I made it right to the edge of the bank and did not fall in or get wet.

It felt good to get back to Bradbury trail and I found myself quite tired as I had been out about 2 1/2 hours at this point and running for at least 2 of them. The return to the parking lot seemed so long as the legs just wanted to stop moving. It sure felt good to get in the truck and turn on the heat.

It was a bit disappointing that I didn't actually reach Pineland as it is only 4 or 5 miles, but with all the bushwhacking I just plain ran out of time and energy. I will have to return and finish my quest.

All and all a great run and exactly what I wanted to accomplish as I had no pain issues and no problems other than losing my bearings a couple times.

10.5 miles 2:20:21 (2:49:31 total time on feet)
Heart rate average 143 max 163 (yes it started working again)

New Shoes...Bad news

2010-11-29T08:10:00.002-05:00

I bought a pair of New balance MT800s. They were cheap left overs and looked pretty grippy with large lugs so I thought why not get them as they would come in handy for greasy trails.

Not that I really needed more trail running shoes, but more like impulse buying as I was looking for the MT101s (which they didn't have) Perhaps I just had to justify the drive.

Anyway they were sitting on a clearance rack and at $30.00 who could resist? They were my size (or so I thought, they felt good at the store) and I figured it was a stroke of luck.

I was anxious to get in a run and wanted to try these new shoes out, so I left work early Wednesday and headed over to Libbey Hill to check out the trails there (no hunting) I am not sure why I never ran there as it is not far from me.

I didn't enjoy the x-country trail that much, but the single track part was a lot of fun. Not much different than most of the single track around. I ran 6 miles and though a bit cold because of the wind, I was glad to get a run in before heading south for Thanksgiving.

Problem was that the MT800s felt small on my feet while running trails and I think they caused me to run different. By the time I was done, I felt some heavy pain in my upper right leg.....lower hip area.

At first I wasn't sure if it was the shoes or the fact that I haven't run much on the trails lately and was possibly overdoing the pace. So, I didn't fully blame the shoes at first.

Yesterday I returned from our Thanksgiving trip and my son and I went out for a run at Bradbury East side. I wore the MT800s again. This time it was easier to pin point the problem as I was very familiar with these trails and knew how they should feel.

I could tell my toes were under abnormal pressure as if they were curling to help push off or something. I think the toe box is too small for me in the MT800s. Not sure why I didn't notice this at the store.

The longer I ran, the more I noticed this problem. I am sure now that it is the shoes and suspect I will not run in them again, but will re-assess when I run next in my 572s, the 621s or the Cascadias.

Besides the shoe issue, the run at Bradbury was great, it felt so good to be running there again and not worry about hunters. I was so excited, I bought my 2011 pass. I did notice it is about time to get the screw shoes ready as there was a fair amount of frozen area with slippery roots, rocks and bridges.

I looked up the MT800s on line and found they did not have very favorable reviews....probably why they were so cheap to begin with. I suspect New Balance stopped making them for a reason. I hate it when I waste money..

11/24/10
Libbey Hill 6 miles @ 1:08:52 (11:36 pace)

11/28/10
Bradbury East 5.75 miles @1:00:31 (10:32 pace)

One More Weekend!

2010-11-24T04:43:00.003-05:00

One more weekend of worrying about hunters.....it is so hard to give up the rare opportunities to get in a run (because of my tight schedule) just because there could be some unsafe hunter out there waiting to shoot anything that moves.

Don't think I am putting down hunters because 95% of them are very conscientious and safe, there are those few bad apples though that ruin things and when it comes to getting shot I must admit it scares me.

I have noticed one odd thing this year, you see I travel to work very early in the morning (around 4am) and I usually see deer in 3 - 4 places crossing the road every morning .....except during hunting season which I rarely see deer.

It is strange that they seem to know the season and lay low or perhaps change their patterns. The strange thing is, I have seen deer 3 out of 5 days last week and every day this week which is so unusual.

Not only have I seen deer, but I saw bucks which rarely happens anytime of year. The other strange thing is that the places I see them is totally different than their normal crossings through out the rest of the year.

If I was a hunter, I suspect I would have no problems getting my deer as I not only know where they run when on their morning migration, but I also run on deer trails which are perfect single tracks.

I would just drive around at 4am, wait to see a deer cross, park until daylight and follow the trail.....seems easy. Lucky for them deer, I do not hunt. I do like the thought of hiking through the woods and pitting my intelligence against theirs and if I actually had no other way to put meat on my table, I would shoot one.

It seems ironic that the very time deer are up and moving, is when most hunters are stopping at their favorite breakfast spot for a big morning meal and by the time they finish eating and the daylight shows up, the deer are long gone.

I almost suspect there are many hunters that do this by design.....because they love hunting but perhaps don't really want to shoot and gut a deer...

Today, I am getting out of work early and regardless of where there may be hunters lurking, I am going for a run. If I do get shot, at least I will have the satisfaction of knowing the meat they get will be old and tough!!!!

It's Foggy, But A Plan Is materializing

2010-11-11T05:37:00.003-05:00

I've been runner lazy lately and even though a break is well deserved at times, my brain still needs to rationalize it......fit it into some type of plan so I have an "excuse" to rest up a bit.

2010 has been a fair year for me as I have experienced many new things, running Mount Washington being one of them. Unfortunately, I wasn't very prepared for that race, so luckily my only goal was to finish.

My original plan was to use Mt Washington as a stepping stone to some bigger and more exciting finishes. Perhaps Pr-ing The Breaker, the Bruiser then capping the year with either a fast 5k,10k or something like Stone Cat marathon or possibly even the 50

I had it in my head to do a 50 miler this year and it never materialized.....partly because I didn't implement any sort of plan and also because of my knee injury from the Bruiser.

At the time, I didn't think the knee would put the brakes on my running like it did....kind of strange actually. Was it really the knee or was I using it as an excuse for derailing my goals? The thing I did realize is that I have to have some type of goal or plan, otherwise I will run around blindly and accomplish very little.

I thought about the ab challenge for about 3 seconds, then I came to my senses and realized that I didn't have a six pack at age 20....age 30...age 40....or at age 50......so thinking I could find one now (at 54) is as much a fantasy as winning any race I enter. Sure it is exciting to think about, but I do have to be realistic....I have a thirty pack and would be lucky through massive discipline and training to get that down to a twelve pack.

So, anyway, I took the date of the Pineland 50 and worked my way back to see how it would fit in for a winter/spring schedule. It is actually 30 weeks away which gives me a lot of leeway for training.

At this point, I have 10 weeks of what ever I want type running and training before I would start working on base. This feels like a good fit to me, I can run in pleasure mode, do some cross training and snow shoeing, get past the holidays and be fresh to start a training schedule the first week of January.

Whatever I do during the prebase 10 weeks would be a great jumpstart for the training schedule. As long as I am healthy and the training goes as planned, I will be running the 50 miler in May. It feels good to make that decision, I hope it works out.

It's Official

2010-10-27T05:46:00.003-04:00

I guess I am officially on a break from training. I really didn't plan it this way but since the bruiser, the running has not been quite what I planned.

I thought I was gearing up for a fun and fast fall but the knee injury, other commitments, my lack of drive and maybe pure laziness has severely eroded my fall training.

It was disappointing to see I only got in 8 miles last week and in leu of a long run this last weekend, I ended up shingling my roof and putting up plastic for my daughter. Not that these weren't important and needed but I really felt I should have been able to squeeze a run in there somewhere too.

My dreams and desires have not changed but my gumption has gone on holiday. SO, my battle plan is to run when I feel like it, rest a bit, get some things done that have been pushed to the way side for one reason or another, and gear up for some long winter runs.

I left work early yesterday for a meeting with the surgeon (yes, there are more surgeries coming ....almost done though) on the way home I planned on stopping at Backbay for a run but instead opted for a run at Twin brooks.

The run was short, it felt slow and laboring but when I looked at the pace I realized why I was so winded.....so overall, not really a bad run.

10/26/10

2.75 miles @24:46 9:01 pace
splits:
9:16
8:45
8:37

1.5 mile cooldown

Tricks Of The Mind And Body

2010-10-18T09:15:00.008-04:00

Wednesday....no run
Thursday.....abort planned run
Friday.......no run
Saturday.....abort planned run
No injuries...

See a trend here? I am not sure what is going on but I haven't really been burning up the trails since my last race in September. Oh, I have had some really good runs but only occasional rather than consistent.

I actually have not felt like going. Perhaps I need a rest or maybe it is the fact that I don't have a race planned. It could be the cooler temps but I usually love fall running. I shouldn't have to force myself out the door, if I do there has got to be something wrong.

The thing that makes this so weird is that Sunday I woke and just did not feel like running. Now, I hadn't run all week other than Tuesday at Thorncrag (and I felt good and had a great run there) so I should be biting at the bit to get out there and run. I mulled around a bit and just decided to suit up and go even if it was only for a few miles.

The first mile kind of sucked but once I warmed up, I started really enjoying the run. I decided to bushwhack a bit and try to find a trail to connect my pit loop to the town forest trail. Things were going well until I came across a private property sign so I didn't accomplish my task.

I did however explore some new trails that will give me more variety and longer distances with my normal pit loop. It was a perfect run, with perfect temps and I seriously enjoyed myself.

I was so glad I kicked my butt out the door this morning and in the end wished I had more time to explore further. I felt great after the first mile and kept the same energy through the whole run.

I think my body was trying to trick me into not running so it could be lazy and not have to do it's job. My mind apparently fell for it as it conjured up all kinds of excuses to skip the run. In the end they were both quite happy and content because of the run.

Sunday October 17

8.62 miles @1:27:58 (1:22:58 running) 10:53 pace
splits:
9:45
9:58
9:33
11:09 (bushwhacking)
10:22 (bushwhacking)
11:30 (bushwhacking)
10:04
8:28
7:40

Later in the day 2.9 mile cooldown walk

Thorncrag.......OK, It's Hilly!

2010-10-13T04:59:00.007-04:00

Today Val met me at Thorncrag as she graciously offered her guidance in negotiating the trails. I really didn't know what to expect as she and Jamie ran it the other day and his easy run was about 10:20 mile pace while she described it as a pretty tough run for her. This meant probably 12 minute pace for me if I push it.

Val warned me that there were some pretty good hills at this place and she wasn't kidding.... within a measly 5 or 10 steps, we hit this good size hill. About half way up I wished I had warmed up a bit first because breathing was now a luxury....3/4 of the way up I was wondering why Val wanted to kill me and my legs were screaming stop!

Once we crested Val quietly mentioned that the other two major hills coming up were worse. OK if she wanted to convince me to go home, this would do it. Lucky for me we hit some pretty level and down hill spots after the first hill and I was able to stabilize a bit.

We stopped for a few seconds to admire Whale rock, which was really cool and it does look like a whale. Then we hit the second and largest of the hills. I decided this was a hill for me to walk mostly because my body was kicking me in the butt for running the first hill. I walked about 3/4 of this hill then enjoyed a pretty long downhill recoupe after.

The third hill I again decided walking would be smart. A little after half way though, I was feeling pretty good and went back to running. The rest of the run breezed by and suddenly we were done. I wish I had more time because at this point I was feeling really good and well warmed up. I think the first big hill would have been a lot easier the second time around....as well as the other two hills.

Last year Jamie clocked this run as 4.4 miles and this year at 4.1 miles. My old 301 garmen really struggles in the woods and notariously shows large gaps and short distances. Mine read 3.61 but I called the run 4.1 as I think Jamie's is much more acurate.

Considering I did some walking, my running pace was pretty quick for this terrain. Overall I was quite satisfied with this run. I am looking forward to giving this trail a second try, perhaps do a double loop and running the whole thing. There is no doubt that this trail offers a great workout.

I would like to measure this course a bit better....if this does turn out to be 4.4 miles, then I am surely even happier with this run!

4.1 miles @ 47:35 (11:37 pace)

splits:
11:32
12:08
11:51
10:53
9:58

OK...I Stopped Whining, So You can Start Reading Again

2010-10-11T05:21:00.002-04:00

The weekend was totally different than I planned it a month ago. My goal was to work on some speed after the Bruiser , put down a decent speedy run at the Craig Cup 5k then finish the weekend with an eight mile mountain run at the Epic.

Funny how things turn out and the best laid plans metamorphose into something totally different. It all started with the knee injury at the Bruiser. That slowed me down as I didn't really run for two and a half weeks.

When I did get some runs in, it was disgraceful (as far as 5k racing goes) Then my daughter had the cute one and I ended up working on our vehicle Saturday morning. This did give me the opportunity to get a nice 3 miler in at Pineland on my way home.....which by the way went really well.

Sunday, my son Kev was home and we opted for a run at Bradbury (east side) and to my surprise, even after the workout on Saturday, this run was great! All it took to curb the whining was two great runs and back to back at that!

Saturday
Pineland (east side)
3 miles@26:49 (8:57 pace) then .75 easy cooldown
splits:
9:14
8:56
8:39 (7:31 kick)

Sunday
Bradbury (east side)
7.5 miles @1:13:33 (9:49 pace)
splits:
9:08
9:07
10:08
10:17
9:15
8:47
10:17
8:49 (6:01 kick)

I Wanted It To Feel Easy.....But It Didn't

2010-10-06T05:58:00.013-04:00

My plan last night was to stop on my way home from work and run a race pace type 5k at Pineland. I suspected I would feel a bit tired but at the same time thought it would feel somewhat easy in comparison to technical trail running.

I was prepared for comfortably hard effort with hopefully a respectable pace. It seemed with the rest I've had in the last couple weeks that I would be happy with the results. I figured starting out more quickly rather than warming into the projected effort would bother me some at the beginning but that I would settle in during the first mile.

As it turned out, I didn't feel that good at all. I felt slow, tired, out of breath and disapointed. it didn't help that my heart rate monitor didn't work because I use that info to see where I am acually at compared to how I feel. Judging by percieved effort, I accomplished race pace......yet my time was so slow and disapointing that I was embarrassed for myself.

At about 2 miles, I decided I was going to stop at 2.5 and then run a cooldown. I pushed into a simi kick near the 2.5 mark, stopped running which only lasted about 10 seconds before I mentally kicked myself in the butt and decided to finish what I started......hey, it was only 3 miles, what was I thinking.

At three miles (on the garmin) I switched gears, gave it everything I had and put down a pretty good kick. Once finished, I was glad that I didn't stop at 2.5 miles and even though my time for this run was terribly slow, it would give me a platform to start on and improve.

When I ran my fastest times (back in 2002-2003) I rarely ran at any pace other than race pace. All my runs were essensually a race and I only ran 3-4 times a week at 2.5--5 miles each averaging 12-15 miles a week at most. There was no such thing as a long slow run in my training and every run ended with an all out kick.

I did a 5:45 mile (in training at track)1 mile race PR 6:18, my 5k PR was 20:18(6:33p), 10k PR was 44:06(7:07p) 1/2 marathon 1:37:26(7:27p)... Perhaps to get back down to that speed I have to revert back to my earlier training.

I know it sounds like I am saying I want to get back into road racing but that is not it at all, I just want to enjoy running faster, like I used to. I guess I will have all winter to figure out what I want for spring.

10/05/10
5k race pace run

Garmin............Nano
3.1 miles........3.81 miles.....estimated miles 3.3 @30:54

splits:
Garmin.............Nano
9:41..............8:39
9:48..............8:26
10:44..............9:40
7:04..............6:49

2 mile cooldown

I guess what this run proves is that training long slow distance creates slow times...

It's Amazing How Fast Life Can Change.

2010-10-04T08:26:00.004-04:00

In the last three weeks I haven't compiled more than 20 miles running, which is less than I usually average in one week. So, I must have had plenty of free time right?

No...I had none. I swear there is a minute sucker hanging around just waiting to scoff up every minute I tend to free up. Just like a vacuum cleaner with an endless reservoir.

Three weeks ago I ran only three miles and they were painful ones, the next week I managed 6.5 miles and though I wish I could blame it on the injury, there were many other factors that interfered and I rationalized the running interruption with thoughts of giving my knee more recoup time.

Last week I finally got in a couple good but short runs but was held back from a banner running week by an exciting event. My daughter had her baby Thursday morning and our whole world changed as we became dog baby sitters and anxious grandparents spending as much time as we could with the cutest little girl (and her parents)

This week I plan on getting back on track and coming up with some type of running plan for the fall. For some reason I am thinking a lot about running a 5k......sure I will not be very fast as I have not trained speed all year, but I can't seem to stop thinking about it.

Problem is, I will surely be disappointed with my time and wish I hadn't run it. I thought perhaps after the last three weeks, this would be a perfect time to hit some intervals. I did just that Sunday at Twin Brooks with my daughter's pup and we had a great time sprinting various distances between his need to stop and mark his territory.

I got in about 2 miles of sprinting and honestly it felt great. I suspect I will try to get in some shorter faster runs this week and see how it feels.

The one thing I noticed about twin Brooks (as I haven't been there in quite a while to run) is that it feels more like a carriage trail and seemed relatively easy compared to Bradbury or even Pineland.

Sunday 2 miles (approximately)
intervals of about 400 meters (give or take 100 meters)
time? who knows
Pace? who knows
Fun?.....you bet!

I Thought I Would Be Rested

2010-09-28T07:06:00.002-04:00

One would think after lazing around for almost two weeks while recouping from the bruiser injury, I would be feeling all rested an raring to run up a steep mountain trail. Instead I have been feeling tired and a bit lame as if I were running hard everyday.

I can't say I haven't run at all as I did a 2.5 trot at Pineland last tuesday and I ran a 5 miler last night there also. Besides that, I have only gone for a few walks. The 2.5 did bother the knee a bit, but last night there were no problems at all and I really enjoyed the run.

Is it possible that not running can leave a body tired if it is used to running on a steady bassis? I can't think of a time that I went two full weeks without running even when I had the surgery two years ago. I guess I mistakenly thought the tired body was from running .......now I am thinking it is just the feeling of old age.

I have heard many "older" people say that their body felt a bit creaky in the mornings and they had to losen things up to start their day. I honestly thought my creakyness was from running.

I guess what this means is that I can actually train a little harder than I thought and not worry so much about rest days. Hey....if I am going to feel creaky anyway, why not get some running it while I'm at it.

One thing I did notice is the heart rate was much higher during these two runs in comparison to the pace. Of course these runs were at pineland which has a constant rolling terrain which will cause a bit higher degree of effort with no real rest.

September 21

2.46 miles @23:12 heart rate av and max 152-168
splits:
10:29....147-162
10:04....157-164
8:19....164-168
I finished this run off with a two mile walk.

September 27

5 miles @49:51 (9:59 pace) HR, 152-173
splits:
9:49......139-166
10:14......148-158
10:48......159-169
9:57......157-165
8:59......162-173 (kick8:02)

Limping In Limbo

2010-09-16T04:46:00.002-04:00

I had hoped my knee would be doing well enough by now (Thursday) to get in a post race run and shake out the running muscles a bit. However, the knee is still pretty darn sore so I am anxiously waiting.

Being in limbo means you can't really plan or follow an existing plan. I sit at my desk daydreaming about runs I want to do but not knowing how things will shake out makes it hard to plan.

I suspect that I must have hit more than just dirt when I went down as the knee cap is very tender to touch. Right now walking is a bit of a chore after sitting for any length of time, but it is getting better each day so I am hoping to get in an easy run this weekend.

All and all, I am very pleased with my Bruiser race even though I found out personally why it is called the bruiser!!!

Bradbury Bruiser Report (rambling)

2010-09-13T08:55:00.011-04:00

For the second Bradbury race in a row I found a way to sabotage my performance .....yet I did well both times. The day before the 9 mile Breaker I ran the Beach to Beacon 10K ...so not a fresh start for mountain race, but still PRed it. The day before the 12 mile Bruiser, I golfed in a tournament (first time golfing this year)

I felt good and strong for the first 12 holes and keep thinking I was using up the core strength I was saving for the O trail. The last few holes I could feel the fatigue setting in and knew for sure this was a mistake the day before a tough race.

So, Sunday morning (race day) I decided to run a warm up (which I never do before this type of race) by the time everyone was lining up, sweat was rolling down my face because my warm up somehow ended up being a minute per mile faster than my projected race pace.......mainly because I started the warm up 20 minutes before race time and didn't keep track of the time, I was worried the race would start without me. Not what one would call a controlled pre race strategy.

I usually feel like crap the first mile and thought perhaps the warm up would counteract the feeling. I also decided to start a bit further back so I wouldn't get sucked into too fast of a pace.

I don't what God Ian and Ryan talked to but he surely listened as this was about as perfect as a day can get, fairly cool with no humidity. Of course a light rain would make the trail race a bit more fun but also slow things down a bit. A fair trade off on most days, but today I was hoping for cool dry and that is exactly what we got.

The start was a bit slow but thinned out rather quickly. I slid in behind Rick Abradi and figured to pace off him for a while as he was planning a somewhat slower start also. Pacing off someone else is hard for me because I like to run faster when I feel good and slower when I realize I am pushing too hard.

A person running faster than my average pace can sometimes suck me into too fast of a pace and work against me in the end. I honestly thought this was happening with Rick because I was feeling pretty winded in the second mile and he was picking off runners which meant to me he was pushing the pace a bit. Of course I followed him even though I could have stayed back.

I think it is my competitive spirit that causes me to try and stay behind a faster runner. So, here I was running faster than I planned, yet after mile two, I was getting control of my breathing and feeling much better.

I thought for sure this would work against me, but hey it was a race and I was trying to improve my time. Somewhere in mile three we got behind a slower runner and it seemed Rick just couldn't find a good place to pass. I got antsy and found a spot to slip by them both. I felt a little bad after as I think I might have muscled them a bit as I searched for a line that would work.

Right after I passed them, I saw Rick pass too. Now I was actually in a worse position as I could feel Rick gaining on me at times and I stopped thinking about my own race. I was worried he was going to catch me. How stupid is that? My plan was to run behind him so if he passed me that would actually be better. The smart thing for me to do would have been to pull over and let him by, then settle back in and let him pull me along.

Before long, I noticed Rick was slowing a bit on technical downhills, this told me he was still bothered by his injury as the downhills are usually the place to make up some time. On the flats and ups, he would catch back up to me.

This is also when I twisted my right ankle pretty hard. Rick mentioned it was too soon for that to happen which got me thinking about placing my own feet instead of worrying about where he was (thanks rick) focus is so important on this type of terrain.

The human mind is so weird, here I am only in mile three, worrying about a runner passing me (who is faster than me anyway)and deserves to be running at his pre-injury pace. I would have cheered him on and then been able to settle in on my own race.

I think the real problem is that I love coming up onto a runner and working my way past them but I hate a runner doing that to me. It shouldn't make a difference but is just plain does. The worst one was the guy who passed me a half mile from the finish of the O trail.....I almost caught him with my kick but he had a kick too.

The middle miles went real well as I settled in and felt the pace was comfortably hard. I was only passed by a few runners that I didn't return the favor to and besides that was only passed at the water stops by runners who were not stopping. I think I caught and passed all of those a short while after, so it was no big deal.

I was feeling good, hadn't tripped at all (other than the ankle twist in mile three) and was getting anxious to hit the O trail. I knew I would be all set once I got there from all my previous training on it.

I knew things were going great when I hit the O trail at 1:44. My average O trail runs have been 30-32 minutes even when doing repeats. I felt pretty good going in and decided to push the pace as hard as I could and try to finish under 1:15 for the race.

About a half mile in, as I was basking in my glory of knowing the O trail so well and feeling I was finally the master of it. For no other reason than to prove me wrong, the O trail grabbed my right foot and slung me down to the ground. I slammed extremely hard and felt severe cramping of the calf muscles and hamstrings while I was trying to keep my feet under me.

I was a bit dazed when I stood back up and instead of walking off the cobwebs, I foolishly tried to jump right back into my stride. Merely 25 steps later, I was slammed to the ground again only this time even harder as my mind and body had not recovered enough to attempt to buffer my fall.

This is the first time I remember actually being pissed off and swearing as I hit the ground. I was so mad at myself for my lack of respect and stupidity. I could hardly walk as I tried to trudge forward. For sure I would not PR this course after all, not if I was forced to walk the rest of the way.

I was disappointed and really pissed at myself. I tried massaging the Calv's and kept trying to get a run going. Eventually I was able to run but much slower as I now paid close attention to the ground and my foot placement. My knees were hurting along with my ankle, my left arm and my right fore arm.

I tried to put the pain behind me,just concentrate on the trail and moving forward. Things started feeling a bit better and I realized as long as my Calv's didn't cramp right up on me, I would still have a chance of beating last years time.

I was so drained from the falls that I could barely lift my legs high enough and I continually tripped on the rocks and roots. I did a good job of slowing down when needed and by centering my body better, I managed to stay upright. Something I should have been doing from the start. This is not the place for a lean forward type sprinting form (which is what I was foolishly doing at the beginning of the O)

I begged for the O trail Gods to forgive me and at least allow me to finish..... I think they heard me. It was uplifting to see the stone wall and leave the O trail behind. Now the trail was wide open and I pushed as hard as I could to finish strong.

I crossed the finish line almost 9 minutes faster than last year. There is nothing more exciting than finishing a tough race like this one. It is funny how ones perceptions are though. As slow as I felt in the O trail after falling, my total O trail time including the falls was 32:57.......right about where I planned in the first place.

So today I am limping a bit and I have some tender spots but I am happy.....very happy about my performance and my new PR. 1:17:15 (running time 1:14:56)

Splits......av HR..max
10:26.........145-156
11:12.........151-159
9:48.........149-157
10:03.........150-158
10:46.........145-159(50 sec water stop)
11:12.........148-158(long hill)
10:12.........149-157
9:59.........146-157
10:41.........145-149(45 sec water stop)
10:37.........146-159(hill)
11:31.........153-158(O trail fell twice)
11:22.........151-159 (O trail)
7:51.........157-162

2010-09-08T04:54:00.002-04:00

They say it's good to have "step back" weeks mixed in with training. I guess one every forth week. I never really practiced that because my schedule is usually so erratic that I just end up getting the runs in when I can. Many times not making the weekly mileage I wished for.

Having a family with all it's obligations, working 12 hours a day and owning a house that seems to require constant attention will severely interfere with any type of normal routine.

I had a week of not running which would surely qualify for a step back week and then a week of hardly running, so two step backs in a row. I thought this might be a problem and the first run I had seemed to agree as I felt a bit tired and my heart rate was very high.

The very next day I ran two O loops at Bradbury and felt great. I ran with my two of my sons, my son in law and my daughter's puggle. The run went so well and the heart rate was stable and normal.

I don't know if this whole erratic two weeks will help me or hurt me at the Bruiser but perhaps I will know better after tonites run.

Saturday

4 miles Pitloop which is a combo trail/road

35:48 (8:57 pace)
splits:

9:09.....138-163
9:20.....149-161
8:59.....153-163
8:35.....157-162

Sunday

Two O trail loops 4.8 miles

1st 30:35....148-164
2nd 30:01....153-162

Felt great running today..

It Sucks To Have Nothing To Report

2010-09-03T07:08:00.003-04:00

I can't believe I haven't run for a week......yeah.crazy huh? How could something like this happen.

Oh, I had plenty of plans and alternate plans and backup plans..to run, but it didn't happen. I can't think of a week of disruption and chaos worse than this one.

To top it all off, even though I should be rested, I am instead quite run down and tired.

At least I can say I had quite a bit of swimming and other physical activities that can be labeled cross training.

I spent Saturday ripping a skylight out of my Mother's roof which I thought would only take one day and allow me to get my long run in on Sunday. Well I didn't get it done and ended up working on it all day Sunday.

It was very draining as first of all roofing is hard work to begin with, then throw in the 90 degree temps and you have very tired guy. So, no run on the weekend and with how I was feeling, I cherished the thought of using Monday as a rest day.

Tuesday I ended up working late but that was OK because I was still a bit lame from the weekend and decided I would get a good Bradbury run on Wednesday. I figured then heat wouldn't matter much because I would be in the woods out of the direct sunlight.

OK.....so Wednesday I get a call from my daughter and she needs help moving her furniture to a new place.....well no run but the lifting, carrying and climbing to the second floor would surely qualify as a cross training workout.

It qualified all right as I was still beat Thursday during work and that combined with the stagnant air convinced me to skip the run again......I did however accomplish cooling off and working out with some laps in the pool.

Now, here I sit Friday morning at work, wondering how this week has affected me. Did the lack of running set me back at all or perhaps the extra physical activities allowed key muscles to rest up while still getting a pretty good workout.

I suspect I will find out Saturday as I am planning a long run......I hope

Wednesday At Bradbury

2010-08-27T05:11:00.002-04:00

Wednesday I ran on the east side trails. It was raining and I decided it would be a good time to test running without glasses. My thought was that during a heavy rain, I might have better visibility without them rather than them fogging up and being so wet that the ground is distorted causing me to run much slower.

Being near sighted, I assumed I would be able to see the ground in front of my feet well enough to negotiate the technical trails of Bradbury but would lose the clearness of seeing what is coming up ahead of me.

I found it much more difficult than I imagined as the depth perception of the obstructions such as roots and rocks were not very clear and I found myself running slower as I re-acted to the terrain rather than command it.

My hope was that as I progressed, my eyes would adapt more and the terrain would become much clearer.....that didn't happen. I managed to run without falling and actually I don't think I tripped once. I did however run much slower and it was a bit uncomfortable.

I guess what it boils down to is that on a day like today when the rain is not that severe, I would do much better wearing the glasses but on a day that is a pure downpour, I suspect I would have better visibility without them. The tricky part is deciding before the race or run which fits best.

I am at a disadvantage as far as information goes because the garmen wouldn't even pick up a signal so I have no comparison and no heart rate info. I can only go by my knowledge of the trails and the nano which reads a bit long. Of course running without glasses surely changed my stride a bit, I am not sure how the nano read today.
below is my best guess as to my miles and pace.

Nano read:
4.8 miles @ 48:16
splits:
10:08
9:06
9:42
10:05
9:20

I estimate the run was more like 4 miles @12:04 pace which seems more reasonable.

2010-08-18T15:39:00.003-04:00

08/17/10

I have got to stop this.....something must be terribly wrong with me. You see I ran the O trail again and I suddenly realized that I really like this trail! It doesn't seem to matter how slow I start out, by the time I get to the end I am almost sprinting.

You know what else I realized, the last mile is much easier as far as the terrain goes than the first half. Why did I never notice this before? Perhaps it has something to do with hitting the O after racing 10 miles of tough terrain.

I just hope I feel as good as I have lately during the actual race. Now I didn't actually run it tonite completely fresh, I started by pushing a pretty good pace on some of the single track for a little over three miles before hitting the O, but still the deeper I got into the crazy twists and turns, the better and faster I ran.

In the interest of comparing, I restarted my watch when I entered the O to get a good idea of how well I was running it. I say approximately three miles first but I don't know for sure because the garmen just fails miserably at Bradbury.

The garmen read 2.46 and the nano read 3.48, so I called it three even though I think it was a bit longer than three. In the o trail the garmen read 1.19 and the nano read 3.17, but at least I know that trail is 2.4

Stats:

3 miles @30:21 (10:07pace) heartrate av@141, max@160
2.4 miles @31:10 (12:59pace) av@147, max@157
1 mile cooldown, didn't check pace or even time it, but I surely understand Vs remark about sweating....I was soaked!

"O" Trail Repeats??

2010-08-17T05:45:00.002-04:00

Sunday Mike and I headed for Bradbury, our plan was O trail repeats......what? Who is crazy enough to run that trail more than once a day? It seemed innocent enough when we planned it.

So, my thought was do a fairly fast first loop then slow the next two down to simulate the fatigued feeling and match my proposed pace at the end of the Bruiser.
A fourth loop would only happen if we had time and had any energy left after three.

We did about 3/4 mile warm up then jumped on the first loop of the O. At first I felt pretty tired and winded, but as we continued, things came together and I was pushing a fairly good pace....well at least for this trail.

The end came suddenly as I was enjoying the run so much that I lost track of where I was (which is quite easy on this trail). I finished the 2.4 mile in 33:33 so not too bad. I waited a few seconds for Mike and we headed back to the beginning to run the second loop. I wanted to run each loop in the same direction as the race to try and get more familiar with the trail.

On the second loop Mike decided to speed it up and run as fast as he could, but I decided to stay with my plan and start out much slower. In a flash he was gone and I enjoyed the mosey pace for a short while until I realized I was consistently picking up the pace.

Mike finished first at about 28:42, which was a pretty darn good pace and I surprised myself with a 32:26 finish......faster than the first lap, even though I started much slower. This means I ran the last half at a pretty good clip.

Even though the speed of the last half of my second loop felt really good, I still wanted to train closer to my expected pace for the race, so again I decided to start out slow. Mike was on board with that because he was feeling a bit spent from his speed loop.

As we started out slow, we discussed ways to pass on this trail and started practicing methods of passing without using a lot of extra energy. I passed him two or three times and each time he managed to pass me back quickly. Well the fourth time I decide to pass and then add a little sprint to create a separation and make him work much harder to catch me and pass again.

I passed him then hit my sprint. I separated pretty good then used the next corner to turn it on again and see if I could lose him. Right after the corner came a bit of a down hill so I felt compelled to continue with the quicker stride.

My full intent was to slow back down and let him catch up, but I was settling in real good and the longer strides felt comfortable and easy. By the time I hit the end of the O, I was sprinting pretty good and I pulled off a 29:28, which may not sound that fast but given the fact that the first third of the 2.4 miles I was running extremely slow, the last bit was pretty darn fast.

I didn't plan it this way but each loop ended up being faster than the last one and I actually felt stronger each loop. I could have easily done a fourth cool down loop but it was getting quite late and we had to get going.

On our way out, we ran into Ian and Emma,they were with Jim and planning on running the new connector to Pineland. Suddenly Blaine showed up with blood streaks down his face and his head all bandaged up. He fell and hit a stump pretty darn hard and was talking about finding a hospital to get it checked out. It proves that even the best can get hurt on these technical trails and a certain amount of respect is warranted.

Splits:

1st loop 2.4 miles@33:33 141-156 heart rate

2nd loop 2.4 miles @32:26 139-160 heart rate

3rd loop 2.4 miles @29:28 150-161 heart rate

In the end, the best part was driving the old jeep CJ7 home as we were pretty hot and sweaty and the fresh cool air felt great!

Broken Plans...Confusing Results

2010-08-12T06:26:00.005-04:00

One would think, upon reading my title, that I had an undesirable experience with my training. Of course that is exactly what we humans normally write about, it is in our nature to complain and I know I have done my fair share.

I plan a run, it doesn't go as planned, I complain and ramble on for ever it seems and then I find a way to rationalize my experience into some type of good training thing. Perhaps everyone does that, but they leave out the complaining part so it sounds more positive than whining.

My plan was to do an easy run on Bradbury East side trails last night.......well let me backtrack a bit, Saturday I ran the Beach to Beacon 10k, then Sunday I raced the Bradbury Mountain Breaker 9 miler.

Now I do not normally run back to back races and even though I didn't all out race the Beacon, I did run the race when I should have been resting for my mountain race. All in all I had a plan for the Breaker and I followed it quite well.

In the end I had a respectable time that gave me PR of about three minutes and though I felt sluggish during most of it, I think I accomplished a pretty good race. OK...so I suspect this whole piece is getting a bit boring as I already wrote about my race.....but the background is important as it leads up to my latest run.

Sunday afternoon I was dead tired and decided to take at least one maybe two days off before I ran again. For sure my Achilles needed to calm down after the hills of the 9 miler.

I spent Monday and Tuesday just swimming laps and water running. It actually felt good and it didn't allow my muscles to get too stiff. At the same time my brain wasn't thinking that I was lazing it.

I knew Wednesdays run would feel sluggish and decided to just hit Bradbury and do an easy three or fours miles on the Bruiser course just to work the body back into running trails. It was quite hot out when I left work and I almost canned the whole idea of running and hit the pool again instead.

For some reason I did end up at Bradbury but assured myself I would take it real easy and felt my body would demand it anyway, so I actually had no say in the matter.
When I first started running down the link trail, I felt tired and sluggish and my legs were not too solid......every thing I expected.

Once I turned onto the single track of the Lanzo trail, I just kept running faster and faster. Suddenly I was breathing near the top of my capability, hitting extremely high heart rate numbers that averaging up to 154(89%HR) with peaks at 162(93%hr) for the first three miles...... surprising because these are my normal racing numbers.

Funny thing is, I didn't feel like I was racing, I felt more like I was running comfortably hard and it actually felt extremely fast and doable. Usually when racing hard I feel like I can't go on and have to convince myself not to quit.

I stopped at the 5k mark just to double check my watch and my monitor to be sure I was reading it right. After 20 or 30 seconds I continued at what was going to be a cooldown pace, but before long I was running fast again...OK..well fast for me anyway.

I ran the next two miles faster than the first three and topped it off with a great kick. Though my average heart rate was a bit lower because of the slower start, my kick peaked my hear rate up to 173.......I haven't reach the 170s since last year.

What the hell happened? I somehow flicked some hidden switch and now I want to know how to do it again......in slight disbelief, I rechecked my stats on both the Garmen and the Nano to be sure there was not something wrong and I found everything to be normal.

I wish I could put this run in the bank and make a withdrawal for my next race. It sure is funny how perceived effort and condition is totally relative to factors that seem way beyond our comprehension and control.

Stats:
5.2 miles @49:07(running time)9:30 pace

avHR,147.....max,173

10:21...143-159
9:58...150-162
9:44...154-162
9:33...144-156
9:00...148-165
8:24...173 (for .2 miles)

BtoB and Bradbury B

2010-08-09T16:33:00.003-04:00

It may not be a fair statement to say I raced the quad B this weekend as I really didn't race the B to B as much as I paced a very important beginner. It does however qualify as a strain on my racing freshness for the Breaker, so I have a semi excuse for not doing as well as I would on rested legs.

That being said, I had a fantastic time running the Beacon as a run instead of a race. I actually was hardly sweating at the end. My wife raced it for the second time and it was her second race ever.

I went in with a plan to use my expertise to help here push her limits at just the right times to hopefully gain her a PR. It worked! She PRed by four minutes so I guess I proved I do know something about race stradegy and pacing.

The Breaker race was perfect from a participents point of view as Ian and Ryan did another outstanding job. It really made me proud to wear my trail Monsters shirt for all those out of staters to see.

As far as my race goes, I am very satisfied with my effort, my race plan and my results. Reguardless of of my freshness, I ran smart, stayed with my plan and actually PRed by 3 minutes. Not only a PR but I felt so much better this year.

The other exciting thing is that there were a bunch of places, I could have tweeked the pace a little and even done better. This was not the time or place though to push the envelope.....I am saving that for the Bruiser. This race was all about sticking to the plan and proving to myself I have some of the answers.

The only draw back to the day was that my son, who was heavy into training for this race and others, ran into a tough knee injury and had to pull from the race after a disapointing warm up run. I know it was a tough decision for him as we headed for the start line, but overall health and having a great fall of races was much more important.

One last thing........don't you just love that 3/4 mile downhill finish!!! This has got to be the most fun finish of any of my races.

Breaker course complete

2010-08-02T07:00:00.008-04:00

8/01/10
Sunday

Went to Bradbury with the intent to run the whole breaker course as a training exercise for next weeks race. The plan was to take it easy the first loop and then try to finish strong. I decided to speed walk instead of trying to run the two times up the Summit trail to help keep my energy level up.

The run felt great.....even though I was passed by a couple much faster runners (Alan and Andy) By the time I finished, they were all cooled down and relaxed at one of the picnic tables.

The first loop was quite comfortable except for the switchback coming down the mountain,I just couldn't seem to get into any type of rhythm on the downhill.
I finished the first loop in 1:01:36, I figured I would have to really speed up to beat 2 hours at this point.

The second loop started out good but I found myself a bit tired in mile two and really winded on the summit trail. As I was climbing the Summit trail, Alan passed me like a mountain goat heading for supper, I felt I should have been able to run at this point, walking was all I had though.

Once I crested and crossed the rock ledge, I suddenly felt pretty good. This is when I realized that I was looking at this course all wrong. It seems we all talk about the tough uphill climbs yet each one give us a huge reward after climbing.......a reward of a nice downhill. Something I sure could have used at Mt Washington.

My last two miles went well and I felt quite strong. This was good considering it was miles 8 and 9 of a pretty tough course. The second loop I ran @55:53 which was considerably faster than the first loop. I was pretty happy with the whole run.

total run 9.2 miles @1:57:29
Heart rate av..130, max..154
splits:

12:18....128-144
12:13....138-150
14:45....134-152(summit trail)
12:59....135-149
10:20....131-142(first half 1:01:36)
13:39....138-147
15:45....137-149(summit trail)
9:42....142-152
9:27....147-154 (second half 55:53)

Tired as Hell....

2010-07-28T05:28:00.003-04:00

I ran one loop of the Breaker course again last night and though my time was not that much faster than last Saturday, I felt a lot better and ran most of the time other than the last bit of the summit trail and a few spots on other hills.

I have been drinking a protein mix of some type of Whey product to help keep my energy level in the muscles stay up to par. I was told this would make a huge difference in how I feel running and recovering. Not sure it is helping but I guess I can be hopeful...right?

Anyway, today I am tired as hell and I don't know if the frequency of the hilly mountain course is catching up to me, the daily swim workout or if the fact that I don't do very well getting the required sleep is more the culprit.

I am thinking I should get a different job that allows me to run mountains at night and then catch up on my sleep during work. The problem is finding a job that somehow incorporates sleeping. I am seriously looking....any leads?

7/28/10
Tuesday

Bradbury 1/2 breaker 5 miles @58:35 (11:43 p)

splits:
11:03....132-152
12:42....136-150
10:38....136-146
12:15....144-157
10:39....157-158

Where Did That come From?

2010-07-26T07:31:00.004-04:00

Friday afternoon I had to go down to my son's in Boston to pick up some furniture and give him a ride to Maine. We decided to run the Winchester trails after loading up and heading home.

We actually got there quite late and it was raining pretty good. Of course the rain was actually welcome as we both prefer it to humidity. The 6.6 mile loop that we chose is fairly difficult, a little rockier than Bradbury east side, the hills a bit tougher but still very similar.

I am still not sure what happened, but I had a great run! I actually ran a faster pace than the Scuffle race a couple weeks ago and I was getting stronger as the run went on. I felt like I was on top of my game and even though I was running pretty much race pace, it didn't bother me that much.

You see part of the reason I ran so well is that I enjoy running with my son Kev and he seems to pull the best of of me, we had points during the run that I was more sprinting with long strides than running and it really felt great..............having said that lets move on to the Saturday run.

Perhaps it was the difficult climb of the Summit trail but I suspect it was just muscle fatigue. We went to Bradbury to show Kev the Breaker course (we ran the second loop because I love the Terrace trail down hill finish) The first mile was no problem partly because we started off quite easy.

Mile two was a total different story......my legs turned to jello and they just plain died. I mean they could not perform for me and even though my heart rate was normal, I couldn't seem to get in enough oxygen.

I was ok after the inclines and it seemed I could run fairly normal though slow. I sent kev ahead so he could experience running up these steep inclines and then I would catch up to him at the top. This is the first time that I ended up walking the whole summit trail to the top and actually my body was complaining even while walking.

I also found that I apparently was not lifting my feet high enough and tripped quite a few times. One time it caught me by surprise and I went down hard! Yeah I drew some blood by luckily no serious injuries other than a pretty sore toe.

I suspect I was just plain too fatigued from Fridays fantastic run to handle the hills of Bradbury mountain. Kev on the other hand ran it with ease and didn't seem to upset that I slowed him down so much.

Friday Winchester 6.6 miles @1:03:31 (9:38 pace)
Splits:
9:11
10:02
9:55
7:36 (this was a fun and fast mile)
9:32
9:56
7:28 (kick @6:58)

Saturday Bradbury (breaker 2nd loop)
4.8 miles@ 56:55 (11:52 pace)
Splits:
11:48
12:18
13:17
11:02
9:16

It's Summer, I'm Not Complaining!

2010-07-20T04:57:00.006-04:00

Some people are complaining.......I am determined not to, though it was hard during my run Sunday to disregard the heat.

I began to understand how a piece of bacon feels when thrown in the frying pan. That sizzling noise seemed pretty loud as I attempted to run my planned 8 miler. I found myself thinking, "isn't it time to flip me over?"

In my mind, as I got dressed to begin my run, I could see visions of a grand long run (combo road/trail/hill) and hitting my planned paces.....even perhaps surprising myself with some fast splits. I felt pretty rested and strong......for about 5 minutes!

Once the heat slapped me across the face I suddenly realized that this could be a long difficult run and it was. I was again disappointed and I realize I have to learn to accept each workout or training run for what it is.

I didn't hit my planned splits and I struggled to maintain the slow speed I was running. About three miles into my run, I was crying and complaining to myself and desperately trying to figure out what was wrong with me.

The heat was stifling my breath and the horse flies apparently called all their relatives and neighbors and invited them to run with me. I swear there were 50 buzzing around my head and the trick I used at Bradbury didn't work today.....they were not fooled at all.

I did out run them once for about 200 feet but I got so winded that I had to slow down........I was sucking wind so hard that I pulled one right into my mouth and before I could spit it back out, I swallowed it.

I was glad to think that there was one less to bother me but at the same time I started thinking about where that fly had been before it started bothering me. Had to push that thought out of my head quickly!

If I disregard the split times and concentrate on the heart rate and effort, I guess I can see the value of my run. I put in the effort of a faster workout but did not receive the results because of the weather. I have to keep reminding myself that the perceived effort is more of a factor than mile pace.

Sunday;
8.1 miles @ 1:20:13 (9:55 pace)
splits;

(garmen) Nano
(9:30)===9:49....131-140
(9:41)===9:50....144-157 (pit loop hill)
(9:54)===9:40....147-158
(11:13)==10:03...142-153 (oakhill)
(12:48)==10:45...140-153 (town forest trail hill)
(11:42)==9:42....149-160
(10:04)==10:02...143-153
(8:52)===9:59....154-158 (sweetser hills)
(7:32)===8:49....147-162 (.1 kick)

The garmen and nano was very close in mileage today but the splits don't make sense.
Finished with a great workout in the pool, did laps and pool running...sure felt good after this run.

I Like The "Feeling Good" Feeling

2010-07-16T05:34:00.006-04:00

Wednesday night I decided to run Bradbury to spend some time on the breaker course. After my disappointment at the scuffle (too much walking and gasping for oxygen) I needed a workout to give give me that "feeling good" feeling.

My intent was to run about 4 miles up and down the mountain with no walking at all. Pace and heart rate had no relevance as my only goal was to run continuously.

I started by running up the South trail and though I expected to feel horrible, I actually felt pretty darn strong and found myself attacking the climb. I felt for sure this would be short lived because the memory of the Scuffle was still burning bright in my mind.

Unlike the race, I found myself looking for more hill, when presented with a choice of direction where I could easily pick a downhill trail, I found myself looking for the climb instead.

In the end, I ran 4 miles and enjoyed every step of it. Crazy huh? I had fun and I felt great. I ended the run with the Terrace trail downhill finish and reached a pretty speedy (for me) pace of 7:30.

The best part was I only stopped because I had to get going, not because I was spent and wanted to give up. I felt like I was working comfortably hard and I could have easily run a couple more miles.

It wasn't an overly fast run but it was fun and I kept the legs moving which is a huge improvement over my last race.

4.1 miles @49:27....12:04 pace
Stats:

14:24....134-152 (southern trail uphill)
11:04....134-153 (boundary trail down)
12:09....146-157 (boundary up)
7:28....148-156 (terrace trail to finish)
6:52....160 .1 kick

Scuffle-N- Me

2010-07-12T06:16:00.008-04:00

The Bradbury Scuffle course and I met face to face yesterday. We squared off like two fighters in a prize fight. Problem is I got the crap kicked out of me. I was not ready for the challenge and actually I knew it but thought my determination would carry me through.

Contrary to my normal start, which is usually conservative, my intent was to push hard on the first mile and see how long I could maintain the pace. I decided to make myself work and see if I could dig deep enough to pull off a decent time.

As it turned out, I had a pretty good 5K race in me. I threw my estimated 9:30 pace out the window and banged out an 8:25 first mile. Even though miles two and three were said to be the toughest on the course (other than the last 1/2 mile hill), I did pretty darn good on two with a 8:52.

Mile three is when I started feeling the accumulative effect of the humidity, the difficulty of the terrain and of course my lack of training. The first big punch came from the hill in mile three.....even though I told myself before the race I would not walk at all, I just plain ran out of oxygen and reluctantly had to slow to a walk on that hill.

A lot of runners passed me at this point and that was the two part of the one two punch. Hey, it was only a 6 mile race and I was falling apart at 3 miles? I started questioning my motives for starting out fast. Not only that, but my heart rate monitor was not working and other than feeling like I was at the end of my zone, I had no idea where I was at.

I honestly thought about stopping but reminded myself that I planned this and should expect a physical breakdown of sorts. Not only that but as a rule of thumb, one never makes a quiting decision while going uphill. It is funny how fast we tend to cave when adversity hits us.

I felt a bit better after cresting and ran pretty good until the hill at 3.5 miles. This one wasn't quite as bad on me psychologically because I knew the water stop was at the top and I would have the chance to dump some on my head to cool down.

The rest of mile four and most of five felt pretty good, even though I was running slower, at least I was moving forward. Of course a big part of this was downhill snowmobile trail and that helped a lot.

Mile six totally sucked, I had no fight left in me and the course was slamming me at will. I had to force my legs to keep running and was discouraged when I realized how slow my time would be. To help, I kept my focus on the guy in front of me and tried to reel him in enough to allow a finishing kick strong enough to pass him.

At about 1/4 mile to the finish, I started my kick and it actually felt great. I am not sure where the energy or speed came from but it was surely the best part of the race for me. I thought I passed the guy but we ended up stepping across the line at exactly the same time (according to the timers).

In the fight game, they say you sometimes learn more when losing a fight than winning and I believe that happened here. Yeah, I got the crap kicked out of me, but I planned it that way and I can honestly say I learned some valuable things.

Now that the whining and complaining is over, I again have to commend Ian and crew for a fantastic race. They did an excellent job (as usual) to bring us a well organized race and I especially liked the flags lined in such a way as to convince all runners to trudge strait through the puddles. I actually thought about dunking my head into the big one but worried about getting run over.

My son, running his first Scuffle, had little trouble showing the course who was boss and pulled off a fantastic time. I wish I could say he learned it from me, but he didn't. The fact that we have the same name probably confused a few and created some ohhs and ahhs when they thought I ran so well. I can only dream of a time that fast.

I Think My Dad Ran Mt Washington.

2010-07-09T14:31:00.004-04:00

It seemed like a good idea at the time. What better way to create a memorial than to run up a mountain at 54 years old, the same age as my father was when he died. Besides that, it was the same month and on Father’s day weekend.

My father worked hard all his life in construction. Most families back then felt it was important to eat large calorie meals to fuel the body. This usually meant Red meat, potatoes and lots of fried foods. As a result, the men in my family supported fairly large bellies, we called them construction guts and my Grandmother seemed quite proud of the fact that she fed them well.

In later years, my father tried to control his weight issues but ended up with a consistent yo-yo pattern of losing and gaining weight. Due to his life style and diet, it seems he aged quickly as I remember him looking and acting old. To me he appeared feeble and weak the last few years of his life. Up until the end we never hugged and never said I love you. I am not sure why because we were a close family.

I was 35 when he died and by the time I was 40, I was working toward a decent construction gut of my own. I hated to admit it, but I was following his footsteps, though I claimed I never would. How is it we lose track of our promises and blindly slide to a place we swore we would never be?

In January 2001 on my 46th birthday, I stood in front of the mirror and saw my father’s image staring back at me. I was showing signs of the family trait …… round belly and bellowing love handles. A lone tear trickled down my cheek as a vision of my kids burying their dad at 54 years old, flashed into my mind. It brought to the surface, over ten years of unresolved pent up emotions. I’m not telling you I cried that day, but I’m also not telling you I didn’t.

That was the year I started running. Though it was not the only reason, my health was a factor in that decision. All my kids ran Track and Cross Country , so what better way to spend time with them and work on my health at the same time.

Eight years later and here I am planning on toeing the line to run 7.6 miles up a 6000foot mountain for no other reason than to create a memorial to my dad and prove to myself that I am willing to do what ever it takes to be around for my own kids.

My first stumbling block was not getting picked in the lottery for 2010. I spent all winter dreaming and planning for this event and it appeared that it wasn’t happening after all. It left a big hole of disappointment but I figured some things are just not meant to be.

I belong to a track club and a few weeks later they advertised their own lottery for ten available racing slots. I entered and became one of the lucky ones (or unlucky depending on how you look at it). I had a slot and the only requirement was to provide a volunteer for race day.

Ironically, my volunteer was my own son. In essence my son was allowing my Father’s son the opportunity to run Mt Washington as a memorial to his father. How cool is that?

I trained hard for the next couple of months and the time just dragged by. I told everyone that I was going to finish this race whether I run, walk or crawl to the finish. What I didn’t tell them is how confident I was.

I trained on the highest setting of my treadmill, I ran mile long hills, I did numerous quarter mile hill repeats, I was not only ready in my own mind but I was going to conquer this mountain with vengeance. I had never felt so ready for a race…….well until a week before, then I was a bit apprehensive and some glad I didn’t tell everyone I was going to kill this race. At this point I was admitting to myself that I might have to slow my pace a bit to accommodate the steady climb.

Finally race day appeared and I was standing near the rear of a large anxious group of runners waiting for that cannon to fire. I was surprisingly calm as visions of me leisurely running up the mountain flickered into my head. Even the 90 degree temp, the beating rays of sunshine and the beads of sweat already forming on my forehead, did not cause me to second think about my intended performance.

I didn’t really have much of a plan other than being realistic enough to understand I may have to slow to a walk for some of the steeper sections. I had hill trained at 10-13 minute mile pace and figured I would be a little bit slower here because of the length of the race. My goal was, 13:30 mile pace as an average which seemed easily obtainable to me.

As the group of runners finally started pushing forward from the starting line, I enjoyed the two hundred feet or so of downhill grade and smiled as I passed many runners. I felt good and it seemed I would surprise myself at the finish.

The first hint that this majestic mountain was in charge came after the easy 200 foot down hill start at only three quarters of a mile into the race. My heart rate was spiking and I was struggling to suck in enough oxygen at the pace I was running. I began to feel like I underestimated things a bit as myself and hundreds of other runners were forced to slow to a power walk instead of a run before the end of the very first mile.

As I shuffle ran the second mile my focus had quickly changed from the conqueror to more a survival mode. Instead of picking the steepest parts of the grade to walk, I was picking the points of lesser grade to run.

The intimidation of this relentless hill really hit home when I passed an elite runner at mile three and he was running back down the mountain. It is very rare to see an elite runner quit and though I felt bad for him, it still quieted a bit of the humbling feeling I was experiencing.

A runner friend of mine, who has experience on this mountain, recommended I converse with my dad when the going got tough and I needed help to continue. It is embarrassing to admit that in the first three miles, I had already begun asking dad for help at certain points and honestly it worked.

By mile four I gave up on trying to calculate my estimated finishing time. I was so discouraged by my apparent sub par performance. Every time I tried to step up the pace, my heart rate would climb and I would be reduced to gasping for oxygen like a fish removed from water. The mental aspect of the race was getting to me.

The crest of the hill I was chasing was like a carrot at the end of a stick connected to my body. The crest never arrives just a relentless hill looms on for ever. The only reprieve at this point was that no one was passing me.

Mile five brought a new problem to the surface. I was dumping water on my head at every stop, drinking as much as I could, taking salt tablets, yet I stopped sweating and my hands were shaking as I tried to fill my water bottle or get a salt tablet out of the case. There were also moments of slight dizziness. This could be signs of dehydration or overheating.

I started concentrating on talking to dad and enjoying the majestic views all around me. The vision of the mind does no justice to the beauty of the mountain and being there in person to experience the awesome sights. I even saw a plane that was flying below me in the valley.

Mile six was nonexistent as I think I skipped it mentally and my memory is just bits and pieces of leapfrogging other runners and enjoying the views. All I know, is I kept moving forward and suddenly was almost to mile seven when I saw a runner that had collapsed off to the side of the cliff with a medic trying to keep him from falling over the edge.

By this point I had seen many runners resting, giving up, vomiting on the side of the road, so this scene didn’t seem that unusual. I planned on helping when I reached him but by the time I got there, the guy was up on his feet and though staggering a bit, he was determined to continue and finish the race. The medic said no problem, I will walk with you. I hope he finished.

It was exciting to see the mile seven marker because it meant only six tenths of a mile to go. There were many times in my thoughts and dreams that I reached the mile seven marker and every time I visioned a huge increase in running speed climaxing to a grand sprint at the end.

Unfortunately this was not a dream and my energy level was on the red line below empty. Seven miles of unrelenting grade had taken its toll and there was no giddy-up in my step. I rationalized by thinking dad had no energy left either and I didn’t want to leave him behind.

As I worked my way up the last but also the steepest part of road, I could see the finish line and even though my brain was sprinting, my arms were pumping and my legs were trying to move fast, I actually was only power walking. That is when I realized people were yelling my name and encouraging me to fly to the finish. I crested the huge incline (the final crest!) dug down deep and found a sprint within me somewhere. I was moving pretty fast as I crossed that line and it felt so good to be able to open up the stride.

I stopped running and I could feel the tears start swelling up inside me. Finally my mind could let go of the quest to finish and my emotions peaked. I whispered “thank-you dad” then hobbled off to the side to hide my tears and convince my legs to start working again.

I felt so close to my father during this race, perhaps it was the de-hydration, the lack of oxygen or the mental fatigue but I am pretty sure he ran every step right beside me.

Running Mount Washington was the most physically and mentally draining experience I‘ve had. It was intimidating and totally humbling, but at the same time, it was one of the most rewarding, breathtaking, beautiful experience of my life………………….. Thanks Dad.

Boy Am I Glad I Have A Pool!!

2010-07-06T08:02:00.015-04:00

I can remember saying to myself when I took this picture that some hot day this summer I would mentally bring it back and bask in the coolness of that day......well I tried it this weekend and honestly, I couldn't feel the cold temps at all. Luckily I jumped in the pool and that helped quite a bit

I had some serious trouble rolling out of bed this morning which caused me to think that I guess I sucked about as much fun as I could out of the holiday weekend. At work right now I am tired, lame and wishing I had at least one more day, though I might waste it resting anyway.

A recap of my week of training leading up to the 4th of July shows how inapt I am at actually training for a race. Lucky for me, I am pretty good at rationalizing and lowering my expectations to meet my performance.

My plan verses my result:

Plan..Sunday; run LLbean course as a tempo/ race pace finish with hopefully a time of under 50 minutes.
OK, did that but at a finish of 56 minutes, I was a little disappointed overall but happy with the last 1.2 miles@8 min and 6 minute pace for a kick.

Plan..Monday; rest from Saturday and Sunday ....I was able to follow this days plan easily.

Plan.. Tuesday; track workout or interval ..speed--speed--speed
Actual..no run today

Plan.. Wednesday; Interval,make up for not running Tuesday.
Actual.. no run today

Plan..Thursday; too close to the race to do speed work so instead easy/tempo of 5 miles or so
Actual..no run today

Plan..Friday; try to squeeze in a short easy run today as I don't want to run Saturday and have tired muscles on Sunday.
Actual...no run today

Plan..Saturday; No run today or possibly an easy 2 or 3 miles at a very slow pace
(145 heart rate or less).
Actual..3.75 mile trail run ...felt good and pushed the pace (150-163 Heart rate..opps!)

Plan..Sunday; race L L Bean 10K
actual...ran the race and finished, though a bit slower than I wanted but also didn't feel affected by Saturdays run at all. All my kids (except one) and their girlfriends/boyfriends ran/walked the race then a fun party at home.

Suday night drove the CJ7 to portland and watched the fire works without having to leave our seats (flip down windshield and no top is a huge advantage)

Stats:

Saturday...3.75 miles @34:47 (trail)
avhr/maxhr...153-166

Sunday...6.2 miles @ 53:53 (8:40 pace)Also my slowest road 10K ever.

8:01...143-155
8:51...152-160 (good sized hill)
8:31...154-161
8:33...157-160
9:15...157-164 (long hill)
8:17...163-167 (pushed the pace for strong finish)
7:16...166-171 (last .2 miles good kick and passed dozens of runners)

Monday...hiked up to Mt Apatite to smash rocks and look for Tourmaline, didn't find much but it was fun but also extremely hot & very tiring.

Our family spread through out the race:
Kev R jr...........94th....43:08
Matt R ............249th...48:14
Mike (son in law)..428th...52:40
Kev R Sr (me)......481st...53:53
Amanda(kevs girl)...692nd...58:37
Sheila R (the wife and mother).....1127th...1:39:24
Amanda R (and baby..due in Sept)...1128th...1:39:25

Plan for next week and the Bradbury Scuffle......lower my expectaions even more and just enjoy the race.

Reality and a Ton Of Bricks.

2010-06-28T06:19:00.007-04:00

Slow Poke Rodrigez

Fat and Lazy

This weekend, my slow training of the last few months hit me like a ton of bricks! Mt Washington post partum became a reality as I found out that training slow for racing slow equals......well really slow running even though the perception of effort feels normal.

As I ran a very slow race pace on L L Beans 10K course Sunday, I found that I felt just as bad as I would running my normal speed yet I was only accomplishing my average long slow training speed of years past.

This causes me to second guess my decisions of the last couple months. I thought concentrating on slow running would strengthen the muscles used for that and allow me to perform better. I didn't think it would undermine and discount my years of training for faster races. Honestly I thought the strong base would ultimately help me run faster and stronger.

I thought speed training and track workouts would be counteractive to the type of condition I needed for Mt Washington, so instead I ran mostly trails, hills and didn't worry as much about speed as I did distance and slow twitch muscles.

I also worked pretty heavy on core strength and upper body weight training. I could tell the core training helped me at Pineland and on Mt Washington, but the weight training seemed to be counteractive as I gained muscle at the same time which kept my overall weight higher.

I wish I could justify my remarks by saying I trimmed body fat at the same time I gained muscle but it simply is not true. As I remember back, I rationalized my slow training by thinking less about my diet as I thought I needed to feed the muscles for the weight training to be effective.....Ok that might be a cop-out, I just ate and drank more than I should have

This entry is not a complaint so much as it is a revelation. How many of you suddenly woke up from a certain regiment to realize your thinking was all twisted, yet at the time it felt on track.

For some reason, I thought stronger core muscles, toner upper body muscles, design slower running, would all relate to stronger and faster race times at Pineland and Mt Washington and then spill over to shorter distances.

Not to discount my performance at Mt Washington as my base plan was to finish for some very personal reasons and I did that, but I really thought at the same time I would impress myself with a superior result.

I always equated hill training to speed workouts, so I thought all those hill runs would suddenly give me faster leg turnover and great speed. The effort seemed the same in my mind, but my performance Sunday proved otherwise, instead I ran like I was carrying a ton of bricks.

I guess what this boils down to is.....quoting both Jeff and Blaine, "you run what you train."

06/26/10
Saturday

8 mile run consisting of 5 race pace miles and 3 tempo miles.
5@44:09 (8:49 pace) Should have been more like 7:49 pace
3@28:18 (9:26 pace)
total run 8 miles @1:14:22 (9:17pace)
1/2 mile cooldown and 15 min swim

06/27/10
Sunday

6.2 mile (LL Bean course) first 4 easy, last 2.2 race pace.
56:20 (9:05 pace)
splits;
9:15....135-146
9:41....145-159
9:21....147-153
9:24....152-158(hills)
8:52....158-163(hills)
8:42....160-165
6:03....166-167 (last .2 miles)

.5 cooldown@9:56 pace then 20 minute swim.

Epiphany

2010-06-25T06:19:00.004-04:00

Ryan was talking about an epiphany the other day and at the time I didn't really relate to it. Now, I think I understand.

EPIPHANY; an intuitive grasp of reality through a simple event.

I had an epiphany while running up Mount Washington.

Life can be painful
But pain makes man think
Thought makes man wise
Wisdom makes life endurable.

THE SAME CAN BE SAID FOR RUNNING.

The Morning After

2010-06-20T09:11:00.004-04:00

I expected the morning after Mt Washington to be a slow and pain full experience because of the way I felt during and immediately after the race. A real surprise to wake up at 7am, go for a refreshing swim and actual feel really good.....

I am planning on posting a race report but today is not the day for that as the family is showing up for what I suspect will be a great Father's day.

A couple quick notes though,
Thanks to my son and his girlfriend...him volunteering (missing the race completely)and her driving our car up the mountain.

A special thanks to the Trail Monsters. I will tell you right now, if you want the best support ever during a race, befriend the Trail Monsters. As I was falling up the wall (the last intimidating 22-30% GRADE just before the finish), the cheers for me must have caused most spectators to think there was some celebrity coming up to the finish.

Seriously all I could hear for the last tenth of a mile was the screams of my wife, my son's girlfriend and the group of Trail Monsters. They didn't stop yelling until I finished my kick and collapsed. One would think I was winning the thing.

The best advice I received before the race came from Mindy (also a trail monster) I listened to her, implemented her thoughts and it worked well for me. OK.....well honestly, I didn't start using her advice until I was completely humbled and intimidated after about 1/2 mile to the one mile mark (the first 1/3 mile which was the only downhill of the race was fantastic and I felt great!)

Anyway I made to the top finished with a pretty darn good kick (at least that was what the announcer said) I learned a lot running.....ok well shuffle stepping this race. I think though I didn't quite run the time I had hoped for, I have the knowledge to run it better next time.

Oh.....and congrats to Jeff for killing this course!!!!

The Mount Washjington race is as fantastic and exciting as it is humbling and discouraging. I can see why they say it is one of the toughest yet rewarding races a person can run.

Full report to come later...

It's Time To Relax

2010-06-17T06:32:00.009-04:00

Well, two days until the Mt Washington race. There is nothing I can do to prepare anymore, what ever my training has given me will be reflected by my performance on Saturday. My plans to hike back down after the race have evaporated and honestly I suspect they were a bit ambitious anyway.

I have decided to hike another day when I can concentrate on enjoying the hike rather than wishing for the bottom to appear. The plus now is that I can concentrate on just reaching the top as fast as I can convince my body to climb ......then I will allow myself to collapse for as long as it takes to overcome my foolishness.

I told myself I would take it easy and thanks to my wife, I have done well so far. The urge to get out there and run is so great that I can't hold back. To curb the desire, I ran the last two nights with my wife then finished off with an easy swim/ cool down.

It worked out perfectly, she started her training for BtoB Tuesday night which offered me an enjoyable pace that would not overwork me during this taper period. Without her holding me back I surely would have pushed much harder than I should.

We did the same Wednesday night and I feel great. Now I will just relax until Saturday morning and the start of the race. To help me forget about running, we are going to the Jimmy Buffet concert tonight in Mass, we will stay overnight and sleep in Friday morning, spend a relaxing day visiting relatives then drive back to Maine for a good nights sleep Friday.

My battle plan is to treat this race like an ultra, I will start slower than I feel I should and try to get a few miles behind me before I begin feeling the fatiguing effect of the constant hill. I am thinking 130-140 Heart rate for the first three miles, 140-150 for the next three then what ever I can conjure up for the last 1.6
This should put me at a finish time of slightly under two hours.

My other plan is to run like crazy for the first three to put some time in the bank and look amazingly fast for the spectators, take a short nap at the water stop and then crawl up the remainder of the course, finishing after the three hour cut off and wishing I had executed a different plan.

I know they have a lot of different bumper stickers out there.....I wonder If I can find one that says, I almost ran to the top of Mt Washington, you know, just in case.

I Read Jeff's Blog.....

2010-06-14T05:12:00.013-04:00

OK....so I am a little apprehensive about Mt Washington. Who wouldn't be, it's a big ass hill. Though I have hiked the trails many times, I have never run it before and only riding up the auto road once that I remember (which was at least 40 years ago) I have nothing in my mind to relate it to.

I have been reading Jeff's blog (http://blackstraphell.blogspot.com/) and boy is he ready. There is a guy who understands and knows how to train for a race. I feel ill-prepared compared to his training, though he is racing it and I am only running it.

Luckily for me, my goal is to make it to the top, be it walk, run or crawl. I feel I have the running base to guaranty at least that, besides, it will be a PR regardless of how long it takes me to reach the top. I do hope I have a Little bit left in the tank when I finish because my plan is to hike back down.

I am running this in memory of my dad. Though he was never a runner, when I was younger, we used to climb Mt Washington as a family. I have great memories and this race fell into exactly the right place for me to run it.

This years race falls on Father's day weekend, he died in June (1991)when he was 54 years old, I am 54 this year, one of the reasons I started running was to be in better shape and hopefully outlive my father (so far so good) as he grew up with bad eating habits and the huge mountain he climbed was with his weight as he yo-yoed with weight problems all his life.

At the same time I am locking my dad into my memory with this mountain run, I am creating great memories with my own son as he is volunteering at the base during the race. Perhaps he will run it it one day for me and start a family tradition.

My plan was to workout pretty heavy with core muscles and practice running slow hills(which I have done for the last few months). I purposely stayed away from speed workouts but didn't really get in the long runs I wanted. In the end , I hope I am ready. I suspect I will be hurting when I reach the top.

My last long run was Saturday and I must say I worked in some pretty tough hills and I am surprised to say they didn't feel that difficult at all. Of course they don't compare to Mt Washington but they did cause a calming feeling inside that should last for at least a mile at the race before the truth of the grade slaps me aside the head and wakes me up to reality.

Last weeks training highlights,
6/6/10
Sunday
10 miles (backbay) 1:33:20 (9.19 pace)

6/8/10
Tuesday
Treadmill 3 miles @10% grade 36:29 (12:10 pace)

6/12/10
Saturday
9 miles @1:42:34 (11:48 pace) avHR 138-max 153
Pit loop hill X2
Sweetser hills
Oakhill
Town Forest hill
Smith hill
Powerline hill
(total ascent 1108 feet)

Mowing By The Numbers

2010-06-08T05:49:00.007-04:00

Those of you who really know me and I suppose the ones who suffer through reading all my stats in this blog, realize that I am a numbers kind of guy. It seems I can't survive with out relating my life to some type of statistic.

My running blog is full of all kinds of related and many seemingly unrelated comparisons between running miles and living life. For instance, bike riding compared to running is about a 1 to 3 ratio and swimming is just the opposite at 3 to 1.

I have calculated that my morning workout lasting about 20 minutes and working up a semi sweat is equivalent to about a mile of easy running. Last night as I semi jogged behind the lawn mower for about an hour, I found myself trying to convert my yard work into mileage so I can post it in my running log.

Not that I want to embellish my total miles so much as to have an accurate account of what types of physical activities I am doing when I run that fantastic unbelievable race ....you know the one I mean, the perfect storm.....when everything falls into perfect alignment..even the stars.

I have had more than one such experience in the past but because I didn't have decent running records at the time, I do not know what the key element was, so I am unable to duplicate the results.

For instance, I ran my first and fastest 1/2 marathon (7:26 mile pace)while only running an average of 13 miles per week and no long runs beyond 6 miles. The next year (2003) I trained harder (16 miles a week, longest run of 8 miles)and ran my fastest 5K at 20:18 (6:34 pace) and a month before that my fastest 10K at 44:03 (7:06 pace).

So....what was so different a few years ago compared to now where I struggle to break 8 minute pace in a 10K. I run more miles but that should help me not hold me back. I have to assume that there were different things I was doing then to keep in shape that I am not doing now....perhaps I rode the bike more or swam harder or worked on the core more.

I find myself looking for that key that helped me perform so well, that one special thing I did then and have forgotten about. Is it possible that I am running too much, working out too hard and wearing down my body to the point that I can't perform at my best during a race?

Perhaps I should consider trading my push mower in for an easier tool.....maybe a John Deer motorcycle mower like the picture? Now I do have a riding mower I use for my larger front lawn, but this one is really cool.

Dragging that Ball And Chain

2010-06-07T05:47:00.005-04:00

When I think of speed and running hills strongly, I remember only the past me....the current me feels like there is a ball and chain connected to my ankles and I just can't seem to break free of it.

I suspect that is the payback for training and running longer distances and dabbling in ultras. I long for the old feeling of strength and speed and honestly, I better find it pretty soon as the Mt Washington race is looming .....I sure do not feel ready.

I figured having a long hill to train on would give me a chance to work on settling into a pace. There is a pretty steep hill on Route 231 in New Gloucester, I drive it every day and every time I go up it, I think "hey this would be a good training hill" It is about a mile long and pretty steep.

Thursday I decided to give it a try. I figured to run it as slow as I could to simulate the Mt Washington run. My plan was to do at least two repeats, maybe three.
The first run up went quite well, I settled into a slow pace of 12 minutes and honestly if felt relatively easy.

The problem I found was in running back down the hill. I felt I was stressing my muscles because of the grade and ran a bit faster than I thought I should. It didn't feel right (though as an after thought, it might have been perfect training for Pineland)and it seemed I was not getting the uphill workouts I needed and my heart rate was going way below recovery.

I didn't run up a second time, instead I packed up and went to my old stand by, Oakhill in North Yarmouth. It is only about a quarter mile long but is pretty steep. I find that the repeats are much harder and my heart rate doesn't bottom out before I start back up the hill again (like the long hill).

I did five repeats and I felt like I worked much harder than the mile hill run. Wether or not it is better training, I don't know but it sure felt harder. I pushed a bit more on each repeat and stopped before I was completely spent.

Gloucester hill:
(up) 1.09 miles @13.10 (12:02 pace) avHR145---max163
(down)1.22 miles @10:22 (8:28 pace) avHR130---max148

Oakhill (grade 375' in 1/4 mile):
Parked at the school and .48 trail run to the hill
1st .23mi@3:01 (13:05 pace) HR..122-136
2nd .23mi@2:59 (13:01 pace) HR..140-152
3rd .23mi@2:55 (12:49 pace) HR..139-149
4th .23mi@2:42 (11:49 pace) HR..143-155
5th .23mi@2:26 (10:59 pace) HR..149-164
Ran 5 easy downhills @appr 10:30 pace then .38 trail run back to the parking lot.

Sunday 3 loops @ backbay
1st 3.5@29:39 (8:28 pace, 7:30kick)
8:23...140-151
8:54...147-155 (stopped @1.5mi for about 20 seconds)
8:17...152-159
8:07...157-158

2nd 3.5@31:57 (9:03pace, 6:54kick)
9:27...136-146
9:44...140-144
8:48...148-159
7:26...159-166

3rd 3mi@31:54 (10:37 pace cooldown)
10:16...138-147
10:52...141-147
10:42...139-142
10:34...140
Overall 10 mile run (9:19 overall pace).

PS....I noticed a trend in my second miles of each loop.....HMMMNNN. I'm going look back at workouts and see if it is consistant.

Good Plan...Bad Execution

2010-06-01T05:41:00.012-04:00

Kev Jr 25K (866)

Mike 25K (698)

Kev Sr 25K

I can't say I am overly happy with my performance at the Pineland Challenge 25K Sunday. It was one of those races where you sit back and wonder what the heck happened.

That being said, I had a great time! The event, the atmosphere, the attention to detail.....all top notch as usual. I can't imagine anyone going to the Pineland Festival and not having a fantastic experience.

Ian, Erik and all the volunteers had one mindset, put on an event for all the people, not just the runners but their families and all who wander in, Including an event for the family dog (Especially special because dogs are not allowed on campass)

I even got a pretty good compliment, when I finished the race I was tired, beat and disappointed, so of course the first place I went to was the beer stand. Smuttynose was there and when I stepped up for my beer the attendant asked me if I ran the race (because if not you are expected to pay) well I looked at my running com padre, down at my sweat soaked clothes and we both laughed.

As bad as I felt and probably looked, I was surprised by the question, then my friend mentioned that apparently I looked so bad that the guy could tell I spent a large part of the time walking.....we both laughed even harder.....OK, so I guess technically I didn't RUN the whole race...The Smuttynose hit the spot and I felt much better.

Sometimes you just don't have a good day and I suspect this was one of those days. I know I prepared and trained right and I have the stats to prove it. I even ran a semi race pace run on this very course a week ago and was so happy with my pace, stamina and post run energy that I figured I would be able to pace my friend and still crush my previous PR.

My race strategy was really fairly simple. On my practice race pace run, I split into three segments. I ran 14 miles so I had two five mile and one four mile split. I ran the whole way including all hills. My heart rate was very consistent even though I sped up throughout the run.

My splits and heart rate are as follows:
1st 5 miles.....145avHR--158max(10:33 pace)
2nd 5 miles.....144avHR--158max(10:02 pace)
last 4 miles....154avHR--161max(9:55 pace)

Now judging by that run, I ran 144 average HR which is 85% of my max. My peak during the run (not counting the kick)was 158(90% of HR) and I ran negative splits overall.

My plan for the race was to run slower the first 10 miles, because I was pacing a friend and then speed up and race the last 5.5 miles. I was looking to run in the 11s for the first ten then 9s for the rest. My race pace run more than supported my plan and actually would make one think that I could pull off low 9s and finish with an easy 10:30 average.

It sure looked good on paper but I failed to follow that plan and not only messed up my friends race but also my own. Somehow I didn't do a very good job of slowing my partner down and actually pushed the pace myself a few times. Because of that we ran an average of 10:39 for the first 5 miles with two of those miles being in the mid 9s.

We started out too fast, that combined with the heat and inadequate fueling caused
a positive split race with a discouraging and painful finish. I was plagued with leg cramps during the last five and ended up walking alot. I actually felt better during my 50K finish last year and walked considerably less.

I suspect there are other factors involved here, perhaps an over training issue and/or poor fueling because my heart rate does not mirror my performance. This causes me to re-think my approach to the Mt Washington race.

Race splits:

1st 5 miles...147avHR--156max (10:35 pace)fastest 9:38, slowest 12:16
2nd 5 miles...143avHR--153max (12:27 pace) fastest 11:44, slowest 13:22
3rd 5 miles...144avHR--153max (13:03 pace) fastest 10:49, slowest 13:53
last .5 mi....152avHR--167max (12:43 pace & 8:10kick)

Total 15.38 miles (according to Garmen) @3:04:44 (11:55 PACE)

I Ran Totally Naked Last Night

2010-05-27T04:55:00.003-04:00

Of course I wasn't actually naked, but I posted the picture just to verify that vision in your head as you read the title. There are many people who do run with no clothes, I for one would no more want to subject spectators to my nakedness any more than I would want to sing in front of them. There are just some things a person shouldn't do.

What I am referring to is running with no data apparatus.....no heart rate monitor, no nano, no Garmen, no electrical mechanism of any kind, just me running with nature at whatever pace felt right at the time.

I ran the last 5.5 miles of the Pineland 25k Trail Challenge course and it was amazing. No where near as hot as I thought it would be as there is plenty of shade on this part of the course.

It felt so good to not think about pace and time and training......I figured this was a perfect time to run free because any running information now, just three days before the 25k trail race is pretty much mute. There is nothing I can do to change my readiness other than over train or injure myself.

Actually this year it doesn't matter as much because I am not racing it so much as running it. I am using this race as continued training for Mount Washington and at the same time running with a friend who is new to trail racing.

I also found out recently that my son is coming up from Boston to run with me. He figured it would make a good long training run for him plus he gets a shirt and the prize of a finish line beer. Honestly I think he just wants the beer.

The first time I ran the 25K here, I totally blew it as I had a great 10 mile race in me ......which was amazing and I felt so good at ten miles when I ran through the commons. After crossing the road, something switched in me and my life became totally miserable for the next 5.5 miles.

My quads gave out, cramped up and almost stopped me from finishing at all and when I did finally cross that finish line, I couldn't force a beer or any food down. It was a great experience though and was a good part of the reason I trained and ran the 50k the following year.....just to prove I could train properly and this time the beer went down smooth, so I know I did things right.

I have two goals this year, help my friend experience the greatness of running the Pineland Challenge and if it works out, beating my previous time. The first of course is most important.

Stats:
approximately 5.5 miles
about 1 hour or so
The heart was beating,
The sun was shining,
the woods smelled fresh and I felt great.
Then I went home and walked a two mile cooldown with the wife.
Isn't life grand?

I Need A Weekend Off From My Weekend

2010-05-24T06:36:00.012-04:00

Kev Crossing Home Plate At Fenway

Wow, a very busy weekend that left me wishing for a rest instead of returning to work. Funny how that happens .....actually more often than not these days. I am of the opinion that a three day weekend would be much more congruent with my current schedule. If that proposal was on a ballot somewhere, I bet voter turn out would be close to 100%

It was an early start Saturday morning because I wanted to get in a long trail run before my normal duties of which I was cramming two days into one in preparation for being down to Mass to cheer on my son in the 9k to Home Plate Race.

Originally I planned an easy run on the full 25K course at Pineland with a friend that would be doing it for the first time next weekend. He had to work so I decided to do a time trial run at close to race pace to see where my fitness level was and to see how my legs responded to powering the hills at the faster pace.

The toughest part was the fields because some areas were freshly mowed and the cut grass got caught on my shoes as I ran, then there were spots that had not been mowed yet and consisted of knee high grass laden with morning dew....I am not sure which was worse. It sure felt good to get back on the grass less trail again.

I felt good the whole way and only skipped the last field which is about 1 mile. Honestly, I had enough field running for this day and I was feeling pretty tired. I am pretty sure I didn't miss any of the course so without counting the last field, I think I ran close to 14.5 miles. I called it 14 miles just to be sure as the Nano measured 15.19 and the Garmen measured 12.27. Neither is very accurate in the trails so I average the two and feel comfortable the result is fairly close.

Overall, A very rewarding run and I was happy with the end result. I hugged the 10:30 pace which was a bit faster than I thought as I was monitoring heart rate rther than pace at the time. I feel I am in fairly good running shape this year and plan on adding some speed workouts after this weekend.

Sunday
Went to Boston to cheer on my son in the 9k To Home Plate race to benefit our wounded veterans. It was great event as they raised over 2 million dollars to help our solders upon their return from over seas.

It was pretty cool, after they crossed the finish line (on the warning track inside the stadium) they stepped on home plate and had their picture taken shaking hands with one of our Generals.

We got a seat right behind home plate about 5 rows back ....how I wish I could get those seats during a redsox game! They did have a whole slug of logistical problems with the way they set up the race (especially the finish) and hopefully if they do it again next year they will change a few things.

Even though we had the fantastic seats, I didn't get very good pictures because a bunch of people (some helping but others were allowed on the field for unknown reasons to me)stood between us and the runners. This was poor planning because they advertised fairly heavy that the runners chosen 5 could get great photo opportunities.

I'm not complaining of course because the whole thing was for our veterans not the spectators or the runners. I guess I am just a bit spoiled from our local race directors and how organized they are.

In the end, they raised 2.4 million dollars and about 2000 runners made it across home plate. My son ran a great race coming in 93 out 2000 at a pace of 7:06, not bad considering he has only been training for a month or so.

It was quite exciting to watch all these people run through Fenway and do something special while raising money for an important cause. I felt a bit left out wishing I was one of those runners. Perhaps if they do it again next year, I will get a chance to run onto the field at Fenway and put my foot on home plate.

On a side note, I am still toying with the thought of running a 50 miler. Saturday Emma offered me a great training plan and perhaps that is just the incentive I need to schedule for this fall.....we will see.

14 miles @2:26:33 (10:39PACE)

splits and heart rate:

9:44...137-150
10:11...143-152
12:09...142-151
11:35...147-156
10:59...148-158
10:38...150-155
10:17...141-151
10:29...141-158
10:11...142-148
10:19...143-157
9:48...149-158
9:56...154-161
10:14...155-159
9:40...155-158

I Am Getting Closer To Doing The Right Thing.

2010-05-19T05:49:00.009-04:00

Deep inside, I want to run extremely fast, leave a rooster tail burn on the trail behind me, blaze up a hill like my turbo is in overdrive, but realistically, I have learned to accept that I am not that person.......I am the other guy.

I am the guy that works 50-60 hours a week, has family responsibilities, is surely past my running prime (as far as speed goes), can't seem to stabilize my weight and struggles to train in parallel to my desires.

My mind desperately wants to be a racer, yet I don't like racing, I never have. Of course I loved every minute of the "after race high" and did accomplish some decent times my first two years of running (when I was 46-47), but I always had the pre-race jitters and uneasiness rather than a competitive drive.

Lucky for me I found trail running which is pretty competitive near the front but in a different way than road racing. The camaraderie between the fast, the slow and the middle packers is very strong and all trail runners feel welcome.

What this has taught me is to enjoy my runs more .....isn't that why I am out there running in the first place? Well this is my second year running mostly trails and again I have no nagging injuries, that should tell me something as when I was "racing", I constantly had some type of injury that interfered with me obtaining my best performance.

So, for total enjoyment, I have to work in some fun runs. This means no monitoring pace and distance, no heart rate and no expectations. I wonder if that is really possible as I have trained myself to factor all these things to keep my racing on track.

Last night I went to Bradbury for some hill work. I parked the Garmen and the heart rate monitor, I started up the nano to record my time as I wanted to run for about an hour. I told myself I would not think about pace and I would refrain from looking at the Nano while running.

I left the parking lot feeling quite free. I just started running at a comfortable easy pace and immediately began enjoying the run. Though I didn't run totally naked (no...not that, I mean stripped of recording devises) I did not once pull out the nano and see where I was at.

My goal was to run 4-5 miles on the mountain hills without walking and I came pretty close as I only walked....well climbed, in the spots were the rock cropping were quite steep.

It's funny, the part I enjoyed most was the downhill sections. I usually find myself pushing hard at this point to try and make up for the slowness of the uphill. Because it didn't matter, I ran slower on the downs.

In the end, I ran 5.5 miles, a bit over an hour, over the mountain three times and almost accomplished my goal. I did record my run and have stats to decipher, but did not stress about it while running. I think If I keep trying, I will actually end up allowing myself to run with no monitoring devises at all......someday.

5.5 miles @ 1:07:06 (12:12 pace)

splits:

12:34
12:23
11:33
12:43
10:55
9:59 (9:12 kick)

Strange Week's Schedule

2010-05-17T05:35:00.003-04:00

OK.....so I don't know what is happening to my schedule lately but I am pretty sure someone is trying to mess me up. I do not think one thing I planned this week went as I hoped and a good 30 miles of mixed running turned into less than 15 miles.....half what I wanted.

That being said, the 14.3 I did get in were good quality and the only thing I was really lacking in the end is a long run. Of course at this stage in the year, the long run is pretty important.

Monday: I did my morning 1.5 but considered it a rest day to prepare for a tough workout on Tuesday at track.

Tuesday: Had to work late due to problems at work and the whole ended up a bust as far as running or training goes.

Wednesday: 1.5 workout in the morning and then work schedule problems again interfered.

Thursday: Finally, I get a chance to workout and I decide on a 3 mile trail hill repeat. I started with a half mile warmup as I ran to the Town Forest trail which is the trail version of my Oakhill repeats. The only difference is the hill version is a technical trail of about 1/2 mile uphill and a 1/2 mile down hill. after the 3 miles, I ran a half mile easy to the start of the trail.

5/13/10
.55 warmup 5:55 10:41 pace

3x 1 mile:
8:55
8:37
8:27
then easy .53@5:01 (9:18 pace)

5/16/10
Not a long run due to work interference again but did get some speed training

4.57 trail miles @ tempo 44:30 (9:35pace)

9:48...135-157
10:32...145-155
11:27...147-158
9:37...152-161
7:36...157-163
Great tempo workout with a speed up to real strong kick at the end. Then a great cooling swim!

Back To Back Quality Runs

2010-05-10T04:59:00.003-04:00

I am having so much fun running this spring. I guess I usually do after the difficulties of winter, but this year seems so much better. Perhaps it is because of the great weather we are having this spring or maybe because this is the first spring in two years with no surgeries.....probably a bit of both.

Well,I did something I try real hard not to do and that is back to back difficult workouts. It seems as the body ages, it does more harm than good to put in grueling workouts with out scheduling a days rest in between. Or so I thought.

Even though I planned a hard trail workout on Saturday running the 12 mile Bruiser course, Friday, I found myself at Bradbury Mountain running a loop plus of the Breaker course. I wanted hill workouts and the Breaker course provides ample hill with three trips up the mountain and a bunch of difficulty thrown in.

I ran the breaker course of about 4.5 miles then threw in the Terrace trail which is the finish of the second loop of the Breaker and it is a fantastic down hill loop that allows the runner to really open up the stride and push the pace for a fast finish. It felt great!!

I passed a few hikers that surely thought I was crazy as I literally flew down the trail at a dangerous speed with arms flailing and a huge smile on my face. I blew by a women with a young girl of about six or seven years old. I am sure the little girl inquired about what that old man was doing. I wonder how the mother explained what to her, was a crazy person that either was being chased by a bear or someone who just broke out of an asylum. I am sure it looked quite reckless but actually I was in no danger as long as I didn't trip or fall.

As I spent about a minute catching my breath at the bottom, it dawned on me that the effort of today's run just might affect my performance on the East side trails in the morning.....perhaps I should have taken it a bit easier, what was I thinking? Guess I will practice running on tired legs tomorrow because my son is coming up from Boston to run and we are both quite excited for him to experience the 12 mile bruiser course.

Saturday morning I woke up feeling pretty good, not lame but still knowing I had worked fairly hard the day before. I had some errands to take care of first thing which was good because that is when the rain was at it's worst. By the time Kev and I hit Bradbury, it was more of a steady sprinkle.

Though kev had run on the east side in cross country training, he had not experienced the true nature of the single track switchback design as the team mainly ran on the much wider (and straighter) snowmobile trails. I couldn't wait to hit these trails because I knew he would love them as much as I do.

Our plan was to run most of the 12 mile Bruiser course but at least have enough time to run on the O trail. We only had about a two hour window so the whole 12 was probably not obtainable.

The run was fantastic. Our pace fluctuated depending on terrain and who was leading. When kev lead the pace was a bit faster. I think he let me lead when he felt I needed to slow down a bit. He is pretty intuitive like that. Needless to say our pace ended up a little erratic, I guess it would qualify as a tempo/ trail run.

I managed to take a couple wrong turns so we did not follow the 12 miler course exactly. We did a couple short cuts to allow time for the O trail which we reached at about 8-9 miles into the run. I knew kev was chopping at the bit to experience the trail at his normal pace so I told him to take off and enjoy himself. In seconds he had completely disappeared.

The O trail tends to do that, it will swallow up a runner seemingly never to be found again. At the speed Kev was running, I figured I would only run in a half mile or so then head back to the spot where he will come out and meet him head on. I figured he would almost cover two miles to my one.

Problem is, when I headed in the "out" of the O trail, and continued for about a mile, I did not see him. This was odd as I should have met him by this time. I took a bunch of shortcuts to speed things up and did not see him all the way back at the trail head. I ran back down to the end and there he was standing there stretching.

I should have thought to agree on a meeting place when we separated as the O trail tends to change a runners perception of direction and just plain chews people up. That is the great thing about the 2.4 miles of the O trail.....it's like the twilight zone....you never know what is going to happen.

Well after about a mile into the O trail, kev somehow changed directions, came back out the in, ran down to the out, didn't see me, ran back to the parking lot didn't see me, ran back to the out and still had time to stretch and relax for 10 or 15 minutes before I finally showed up (yes he is that fast).

What I liked about this run was that even on tired legs, I ran much faster than I thought capable and had a fantastic time doing it. I just plain had fun.

5/7 Friday
5.3 miles 1:05:12 @12:19 pace
splits:
11:26
12:01
13:33
12:44
9:59
8:55 (kick @ 7:56)

5/8 Saturday
10.5 miles 1:53:18 @10:48 pace
splits:
10:09
10:14
9:32
8:40 (kev leading)
8:40 (kev leading)
10:00
8:11 (yup..kev)
8:49 (dido)
10:33
10:50 (running alone)
12:21 (running alone, no kick, more like a shuffle step)

We Are Never Really Alone.

2010-05-05T05:24:00.006-04:00

This picture to some people represents a lone tree standing there with no fulfilment or purpose. To me it shows a tree living in conjunction with other forces of nature. It is not alone but merely different than the others things surrounding it.

It is no more important or majestic than the solid rock in front of it, the huge ravine below it, the vast rolling hills behind it or the massive never ending sky above it. All these things become relevant when compared to each other in this photo. They rely and need each other to accomplish an identity.

This is exactly how I feel when trail running, whether alone or in a group, we become a part of the scene and an intricate part of the picture. I ran alone yesterday......yet I was far from being alone. It was enjoyable and refreshing.

It was actually track night and my plan was to work on speed while running around a small black strip of soft rubberized tar with about 60 other people. It is something I usually enjoy....yet tonite I couldn't convince myself to show up.

You see, I had a very hectic and structured day at work. It was overwhelming to the mind and spirit. I arrived at 4:30 am and was walking out the door at 5 pm. I immediately realized the very thing I needed most was a spiritual run.

So...I headed to Bradbury Mountain, I changed and hit the East side trails. A slight rain shower rolled across the top of the trees and miscellaneous drops found their way to my body creating a nice cooling affect.

Through the first half of the day as the bright sunshine baked the tar surface outside my office, I envisioned a heated yet enjoyable run through the woods, the rain didn't change my views much as it merely makes the run different, not better or worse.

I haven't been to Bradbury for quite some time and honestly it reminded me of how much I love running there. It is surely one of my favorite and spiritually soothing places to run. Once I hit the woods and started negotiating the trail, my attitude completely changed, I felt recharged and calm.

It was a wonderful workout, so much so that I don't feel I need to be too specific. I merely need to state I ran for about an hour....about 6 miles....worked pretty darn hard and enjoyed every second of it. I went home with a recharged spirit and some tired muscles. I can't think of a better way to finish off a tough day at work.

Yes...I ran last week!

2010-05-04T15:38:00.005-04:00

Just in case someone is wondering, I did run last week. Though it was tougher than I thought it would be as I was on vacation and not even leaving town.....it was a work at home vacation, so not really one at all.

As a matter of a fact, I became quite lame from all the stuff I did around the house and almost.....I said almost would rather had been at work...but not really..I enjoyed the week. I wish I had more time, it seemed about two days long total.

I planned on getting a short run in each day and a couple good training runs besides. As it turns out, it didn't happen that way.

4/25
Pineland trail run (90% race pace 25k)
Garmen only measured 14.5 miles @ 2:39:20 (11:00 pace)
4/27
Hill run on tread mill@10% grade 3.1 miles (41:59)
4/29
Hill repeats (finally)
1.7 mile warmup run to the hill 15:59@9:25pace

5 X 1/4 mile repeats at appr 16 degree grade (1 mile recovery back down the hill)
splits:
10:53 pace
11:16 pace
10:42 pace
10:27 pace
10:09 pace

1.87 mile cooldown run return from hill 18:21@9:49 pace

5/2

planned double run at backbay
turned into tempo/race pace 3.66 mile run with 1 mile cooldown walk
splits:
8:40
8:21
8:09
7:39
(6:33 kick)

Between the running, I was carrying, hauling,dragging and sweating (a pretty intense workout)

I Am A Lazy Blogger!

2010-04-29T06:50:00.004-04:00

It seems that I have been neglecting my blog as of late....or perhaps I just haven't been putting the effort into my running that I should, so there is less exciting stuff to write about.

I honestly don't know where I left off and must go back and check before I continue here.......Hmmmn, it has been 11 days..how did that happen? Well part of the problem is I have been on vacation this week and my running schedule has imploded.

I honestly thought I would have plenty of time to run more but instead, I am finding it quite difficult. You see I took this week off to work around the house and I am not lazing around much at all. The days are screaming by much quicker than I planned and before I know it I am exhausted and really looking forward to falling into a deep sleep.

I suppose this should be an easier week as I did step up my mileage last week much beyond the 10% recommended. I finished with a 25k (well it ended up being 14.5) practice run at Pineland with my friend,who I will be pacing for his first 25K in a few weeks.

My mileage though is a bit deceiving because part of it is walking in preparation of knowing I will be using some walking muscles at Mt Washington. I suppose that should count in my weekly totals, but honestly, it feels like I am cheating.

I don't feel I will be ready.....but I always feel that way so I am not sure how important that feeling really is. I know I will make it to the top and I will be happy to finish but will probably not be satisfied with my time.....so what's new?

I went to the New Balance factory store the other day because I heard they had great prices and I wanted to pickup a pair of MT100s(advertised to be as close to barefoot running as one can get and still wear an actual shoe).....I tried on on a pair and they sure were very light and pretty darn comfortable but my foot felt a little too unprotected and I could vision twisting my ankle and/ or hurting my feet to the point of affecting my next race.

I felt I was not ready to try this route and ended up buying a pair of 572 trail runners which felt very comfortable and pretty light for a trail shoe. They feel very similar to my Brooks Cascadias and I think I will like them......at half the price I paid for the Brooks!

Now I have to get out there and try them out.....perhaps this weekend at Bradbury or Pineland. Today I am thinking of some hill repeats cause after reading Ryan's report, I feel untrained and lazy. Though I have been running a hill workout on the highest setting of my treadmill and it does seem quite difficult, I think I need to run some real hills.

Quick recap of last week......35 miles of running, walking, workouts and treadmill
This week, so far only five miles at Pineland...more to come I hope.

YA-HOO...OH-NO...The sox..midnight trek..and the Fells.

2010-04-19T07:42:00.006-04:00

OK....aren't we all allowed to have a fantastic, fun filled weekend once in a while?

It all started Friday afternoon when I received an email from the Maine track club. My disappointment from not being picked in the Mount Washington Lottery suddenly turned into a Ya-Hoo moment as I read the email and realized I was in through the Maine Track Club lottery. All I needed to do was provide a volunteer.....OK, I will have to work at that.

Within milli seconds my Ya-hoo transcended into an OH-Nooo.......The realization of running uphill for 7.6 miles with a peak grade of 22% .......Well it suddenly became real. On top of that I found out I have to secure a ride back down....damn, didn't know that part.

Anyway, I am nervously happy about the whole thing, I better get training..HUH? My thoughts then shifted to my current problem, my left knee pain. I experienced the pain after running Pineland last weekend and in hopes of being a short term problem, I haven't run all week (other than my morning workouts).

I was cranked about the Mt Washington thing so Saturday morning I decided to run the treadmill on the max grade which would give me the hill work but also a controlled situation in case the knee acted up.

I ran 5.1 miles at the max of 10% at a comfortable pace of around 12 minutes per mile. Then I ran a mile at 5% grade at a slightly faster pace.......all with no noticeable knee pain. I was sure the injury was not a major one after all.

I then cranked up the pool filter after cleaning it.....funny how much it feels like summer when the pool is uncovered. I finished just in time for my wife to get home from work at noon and we jumped in the car to head for Mass......going to the Sox game! Our bestest Chrismas present from the kids this year.

OK...cool temps, periods of rain and wet seats are a minor setback, but hey it was a Sox game how could I possibly complain? Well...except for them losing I guess. We ended up with a treat (didn't I say it was a great weekend?) the Friday game was called in the bottom of the 9th so they were going to finish that game before the Saturday game.....kinda like a double header for the price of one.

The return ride to my son's apartment on the T was a bit of an adventure because the train apparently hit somebody as we were heading into Sullivan Station and they shutdown the train then kicked us all out of the station and onto the wet, dark, rainy streets. There were sirens, cops and rescue coming in from all directions and the whole scene was hectic.

Lucky for us that my son and his girlfriend were there because I had no idea where we were, what direction to head and surely no cabs were going to show up. We decided it was only a mile or so to the apartment so we put our rain hoods up and started treking the streets of Boston at midnight.

Though our mileage predictions were a bit off and some of the neighborhoods were kinda rough, it was actually an enjoyable 45 minute walk and we got back in one piece. We even came across a couple of wild rabbits....which surprised me, I guess I just didn't envision wild animals in Boston.

Sunday morning, though not quite rested up from Saturday night, we suited up for our planned run at The Fells in Winchester. What a fantastic run we had (while the girls hiked to the observation tower) The run was great, we started out somewhat slow and picked up the pace as we went along.

At about 4 or 5 miles we caught up to a few people running ahead of us and we raced them for about a half mile and beat them easily I must say....well they weren't really racing but it sure felt good to pickup the pace and leave them behind.....it was a psychological lift for me.

I absolutely enjoyed this run as my son and I caught up on many things while running. I had no knee pain whatsoever and it capped off a great weekend. I feel a little stupid though, I ran the whole 6.5 miles on a fairly technical trail with no difficulty but as we were walking our cool down I tripped, slipped and almost fell .....I guess walking must be more difficult than running, well at least for me.

OK.. now the boring stats....

Saturday

5.1 mile treadmill@ 10% 1:03:30 12:26 pace
11:04
10:58
11:31
11:28
9:37
8:21
1 mile easier run @ 5% grade 10:06 pace then half mile cool down walk

Saturday night (late) 2 mile (appr)walk through Boston neighborhoods

Sunday

6.5 mile trail run 1:09:10 @10:39 pace then 3/4 mile cool down hike.

10:53.....138-151
10:51.....141-151
9:59.....145-154
10:56.....147-156
9:38.....148-160
9:40.....151-162
8:42.....156-160 (kick 6:35 on road)

What happened?

2010-04-12T08:57:00.003-04:00

Surely I have been doing all the right things this spring....not pushing too hard, not piling on so many miles that it causes chronic fatigue or injuries. SO I am a bit confused as to what I did.

Saturday my plan was to run 10 miles on the 25k Pineland Challenge with a friend who is running it this year. It was actually a great run as we ran a pretty good time and both felt really great at the end.

Upon finishing, we crossed the road and ran an easy cooldown across the street so he could see the terrain on that part of the course. It was a comfortable hard workout and I kept my Heart rate mostly in the 140s as an average. For me that relates to about 80-85% effort which I though to be good at this point of the year.

Even though the course was still quite soft and soggy, my legs felt pretty good and definitely better than the 6 miler I ran there last week. Overall, it seemed like perfection and exactly the right thing to do.

Problem is, about an hour after the run I felt some very disturbing pain on the inside of my left knee. I wasn't sure what it was because I have never had pain or an injury in that area before.

I couldn't think of one point during the run that I landed bad or felt anything pull. The only thing I remember during the run is a slight discomfort and pain in the ball of my left foot which I noticed a couple times during the week. I figured I probably landed hard on a rock or root during a past run but it didn't bother me that much so I didn't think anything of it.

The pain was more of a discomfort when sleeping Saturday night but definitely noticeable when I got up Sunday. I decided to skip my run and assumed it would surely feel better on Monday. I figured it had to be just a running pain like most that come and go for no pin point able reason or cause.

This morning the reality of it all hit when I got out of bed and started walking. No doubt something is not happy in my knee area. In trying to decipher it, I think the closest prognosis I can find is MCL, which is usually caused by some type of hard contact or at least a severe twisting, though I have no memory of either.

At this point my plan is to take it easy, don't run for a couple days and see how things settle out......almost makes me wish I had thrown caution to the wind and at least have a reason to complain about some stupid decision that put me in this position.

Saturdays stats at Pineland trails:

9:55......144-157
10:01......145-153
10:29......136-150
9:40......143-155
11:33......141-154
12:02......138-146
9:15......139-163
12:19......129-144
12:01......139-159
10:10......145-156