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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.