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

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

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?

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