Finally! accomplished a Run

Photo......where's the trail?


Lately I have been procrastinating my way through the week and then falling short for weekend runs. It seems like everything works against me this time of year. Last weekend, the big snow interfered with my snow shoe race. It was sort of a catch 22.......snow...great for the race Sunday....heavy snow, plowing Saturday and work spills over to Sunday...no race for me.

So.....last weekend was a no run situation.  This weekend I had to force the issue and make the runs happen. Finally hit Bradbury at 7am and decided to do a couple hours of running. original plan was to run the connector and return the BL loop which is about 8 miles.

The run started out fantastic with a light snow falling and a very tranquil air. Wore the screw shoes and pretty Glad I did.  A couple miles out, I found not much evidence of traffic and after the bridge, no trail.

I somehow lost the trail twice and ended up bushwhacking for about 45 minutes. I found the trail and then lost it again. The plus was that my tracks were the only ones out there so if I had to backtrack I could .......so feeling lost but good to know I could get back. I crossed my own trail three times which means I was not going straight even though I felt like I was.

I got my two hours in but never made it past the power lines. All and all though it was still a very nice run. I logged about 7.5 miles and still had time left in the day to get some work done.

Sunday morning was a planned easier run on the road, so I could get the run in but still recoup from yesterdays difficult bushwhacking. The wind was crazy and at times it felt like I was not moving when running into it. Accomplished my planned 6 miles.

Finally a weekend that worked as planned (except for the bushwacking).

Sat
7.5 mile @2:00  Trail (no trail) at Bradbury (16:00 pace)

Sun
6.04 miles @ 59:09 (9:48 pace)

What Was I Thinking?

 When I signed up for the cape 10 miler, I really planned on being in tip top running shape so I could breeze through the course like a madman.

 That is not what happened on Sunday, yet I really can't complain about my performance. I have been averaging about 8 miles week for the last two months with my longest training run being 8 miles....of course that means some of those weeks were only one run.

 Because of the lack of running and training, I decided to just run (jog) the course and if I felt really good perhaps get down to 9:30-9:45 pace. I didn't really see much chance of that happening but I lied to everyone and claimed I felt 9:30 would be reachable.

On the two 8 mile runs I did in the preceding weeks of the race, I did average about 9:10s but that was on a much easier terrain than this course. There something about the last two miles that sucks the life right out of me.

I wore my new garmen and was quite surprised to see the first three miles actually have a rolling terrain that is more than the last three miles. So, really the beginning of this course is more difficult.....if you don't add in the head wind that has been there every time I run this race.

I must also mention that the last 1/4 mile of this race is fantastic and I always feel like I am flying on that down hill finish. I like being the guy that powers past a few people near the finish line.

I was pleasantly surprised with my performance as I pulled off an average 9:14 pace  and even though it was no where near a PR for me at this race, it was a full minute faster than the last time I ran it TRAINED........so a pretty big deal for me.

 Looking at the stats of my meager training and factoring the injuries from November and December,
I have to assume I still have a pretty good base of fitness from the trail running last fall. I am pretty stoked about this and hope it transforms into a stellar year for me......I guess we will see.

Mid Winter Ten Mile Classic...........10 miles, 1:32:14 (9:14 pace)