I Came This .... Close

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)

 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

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??

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

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

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......

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