NO..I'm Not Dead!

 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

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

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.