Great fun

This skit is too funny.

18 weeks

The countdown and the serious training begin for the 2011 marathon.
The goal is 245. If prep goes according to plan, believe this to be an attainable goal. Having gotten a few 18 plus mile runs in the past few weeks, I have shaken off the longer run cobwebs and I am ready to start getting some quality base runs logged.

Dark early

We are now in the short day season. Dark by 430!
Monday ran to the pool22 min, swam reg warm up, drills, then 1000yds. 100 cool down. It was 1600yds total swimming. Ran home a different route 23 minutes.
The swimming is getting pretty easy, just a matter of relaxing and keeping good form.
Tuesday 90 minute run. The hamstrings were getting very tight towards the end of the run.

That old LR feeling

2 hr 15 min on Sunday. Call it 18.

Feeling pretty good. Doing a turkey day 5k.

here we go

Saturday - Fresh pond Tempo run - 45 min warm up, them 5 mile tempo (29 min)
Sunday - First 2 hour run in many months. Didn't feel too bad.

Monday - Swam at the Pool for 45 minutes. Did some drills then an 800yds. 100yds cool down. 1500yds total.

Tuesday - Easy hour in the morning.

Gotta know the rules if you want to play.

Doh!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UIdI8khMkw&feature=player_embedded#!

Closed out XC

New England xc championship was today. GBTC was 4 th in the open men.
Not a bad race for myself. I kind of feel like I have been going pretty easy the past few weeks, so the plan was to start out easy and see how I feel. During the first 4 miles nothing really felt forced. I was through 5 k in 18:09, which I thought was about right for where I am right now.

Had a decent close at the end.
Finished the 10k in 36:01

2011biggies

Boston marathon, Spring 2011
Timberman Half Ironman, Summer 2011

In preparation for the events that 2011 has in store I have been spending the past 2 weeks doing some running 5 days a week, a long ride on the weekend about 3-4 hrs, then swimming on Monday and Wednesday.

This seems to workout well and I still get in pretty good running days. On the days I swim, I run 30 minutes to the pool, swim/swimming drills for 30 min then run home. It makes for a good 90 minute day.

I expect the long rides on the weekend to help out greatly with building my aerobic system for the longer runs that will come in the winter.

Reg'd

Regretfully I will be running the Boston Marathon in April. I have been on and off about running it, but I have spent the dough now, so I am committed.
I think I will have a different frame of mind after a few weeks of good training, just not looking forward to the long runs.

Last race was Topsfield GBTC XC festival,
8k, wicked brutal course, rocks, hills, wind etc. 30:08.

Next and last XC race for the year is Mayors cup. Always a fast field!. I will certainly be at the back, but hoping I can run under 29 minutes. Those not able to run under 30 are highly discouraged from running, to avoind getting lapped.

injured

80 minutes on monday
tuesday Track. 24 min warmup - [1000m(3:20) 200m rest 400m(76) 400m rest ]* 5
Wed - off
TR - 90 minutes, then I did 20 walking lunges (10 each leg) then 10 slow easy squats, all with no weights. Now I think I have a groin injury because I had a hard time walking after the squats.

2 hr run

Bout 16 miles

61 for the week

5k weekend

Friday - Home loop a, 72 min.
I ran in the mission hill 5k on Sat morning. I wasn't sure what to think when I saw some of the guys from the Northeastern University track team getting ready to race. SO I went ahead and ran the course for a warm up, then we were off. I was glad to see that they didn't completely blast off during the first mile. I kept them in range for the most part. Only one of them was at the front with some other guy, and the rest of them fell off after about 800m. Caught the lead 2 at the mile mark, then ran with them for a while. It turned out that they were pretty weak on the hills. So I thought I would test em out on a couple of the uphills, and they both fell off. Finished the last mole about 15 sec ahead of the kid from NEU. He looked young, and it turned out he was a freshman. He will probably smoke me next year.

5k PR - 16:54.

Been a while

As I walked out the door for my run this evening I decided to revisit he loop a, at faster pace. 30 min in the run began to require a bit of focus to stay on the effort. Pretty good run for the eve though.

65 min.

Day after run

Home loop b, 90 minutes. The last 20 min wasn't too pleasant, but I think that part of running solo sometimes.
Run complete for the day. On Sayurday I am going to return to run the Mission Hill5k. Got 2nd last year. Am I due for a podium finish?

10k

Tonites workout was a 10 followed by 400's.

The 10k was supposed to be controlled, but not slow. I figured the pace qould be between 550 and 6 min pace and that is pretty much how it turned out. We had a group of 5 and alternated the lead each lap. At times i felt like we should have been running faster, but for a tempo work out there is no need to go to that place, saving that for race day. The 10k was 36:36, then the 400's, 78,75,78. 400'a were not much fun ;....(

Bout 11 for the day

mile by mile

PIcs are first 2--,
SO this is how cod fish went down.
Pics first 2 are first 200m. Then mile marker. mile 1.96, mile 3, and finish.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/gbtc_snapper

Cod fish bowl xc race, 8k

Fri- 30 min easy

Sat- 29.23 for the 8k. I was hoping for faster, but hotter than normal temps slowed everyone's times. 85 deg.
Nontheless I'm content with where I am althea point in the fall xc season. The plan going fwd is to keep mileage in the 75-80 range, but start including a 3-4 mile tempo run into the TR schedule.

Sunday- ome loop A, with a bit of a diversion at 45 min, to a local soccer field for some drills. Then continued on to finish the run. 72 min. After a few weeks of running home loop b, loop a is a breeze.

66 miles for the week.

Next race September 16, the GBTC topsfield cross country festival, 8k.

Home loop B, in reverse

Yesterday and today I did the home loop the opposite direction in which I normally run it. G Maps says this is a 12.6 mile route, and that feels about right. I lost my gremlin at the Ollie 5 miler, so I have to rely on the interwebs for my run distances these days. I guess I could drive the route, but who has time for that.

Wed 90 minutes
TR 84 minutes.

Tuesday in south boston

We have moved to the south Boston track for the rest of the outdoor training season.
Warm up 24 minutes

800, 1200, 1600. With 400m recovery.
Did this twice. I felt like this was a good workout for the upcoming race on Sat.
Times were 240,401,533,240,401,527.
20min cool down.

Lifting weights is hard..

I know I should do a weekly weight training workout, but lifting weights is hard,and I get enough hard in my running workouts. After reading this article, I think it is time to get back into that once a week routine.

http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=11025

Race week

The real first XC race of the season is this Saturday. CodFish 8k. It will be a mix of local running clubs, some small local college teams, and those who just want to relive the excitement of XC racing. I am not planning on straying too far from the training playbook this week, but I will likely not to 70 miles.

Monday easy 60 minutes.

Sunday XC course intervals.

Saturday 90 minutes

Sunday: ran the XC course with a group of GBTCers ant Tom. The workout was to run a fast mile, then turn around and find Tom, who was running the same course. Once we met Tom we would run to the mile mark then start the next mile. Did this for 8k, then started the course again for a second 8k. It was lots of running. 86 minutes for me, including the recovery jogging.

I guess it was about 11 miles or so.

77 for the week, so far if I don't go out for an evening run.

Nonrace week

85 minutes on tr, 60 min Friday...

Fall is upon us

Hit the usual 1 hr mark 3 min early for the home loop B. This had more to so with the 68 degree temp at 430pm. Yes I am bragging about the weather. Added on 5 min to make it an even 90 min.

Tuesday, running drills

Wu then we were supposed to do running drills with the sprinters. I was a bit concerned at how this would workout, and I ended up being right. I am all for running drills, just not on Tuesday evenings when time is limited and so is lighting on the track.
The drills ended up taking about 30 minutes and I was pretty much cooled down by then. So I just ran some laps around the track, to WU again, then did a couple 200's, then 2 1200's. Afterwards did some more laps. Haven't felt like I wasted my time at a track workout like that in a while.

Drills are valuable in my opinion. I can do them at home though.

Know when to stop

Started today's lunch time run much faster than I planned, but that happens sometimes. I knew that if I continued to make it a 90 that I would feel pretty shorty at the end. So I decided to break it up a bit.
60 for lunch, 30 for dinner. That's still 90. I didn't feel too hot during the 30, but better than I would hve had I tried to run through.

1200's on the track mañana.

Sunday fartlek

Met up with some GBTCers for a fartlek on the cross country course at Franklin park. 25im wu, then we ram the 8k course with 4 min on and 2 min off. Not a bad workout. Finished with an easy 8k cool down.
75 for the week.

The 4.4mile 5 miler

After 30 minutes into Friday's run, I could feel some life return to my legs. This is a good thing. I was getting a bit concerned, but considering I haven't done the things I should have to help speed the recovery process (good strectching/ice), I am not surprised that took as long as it did.

The Ollie five miler didn't go too bad. I didn't run my goal time, but I was happy with the performance overall. It was kind of a disappointment that the course was incorrectly marked, making the course abour 4.4 miles instead of the intended 5. My splits were something like, 536,541,605 (thank you G Street Hill, 550, 541(last .4 miles. This wasthe first race where I wore the Gremlin in a while and it was nice to have the knowledge of my distance and pace during the race.

Hurtin'

Felt pretty rough again today, so I turned towards home after 30 min. 45Min for the day. I just home I didn't give Tuesday what I should have saved for Saturday. I am planning on either 30 min or 60 min in the morning depending how I feel.
Going for it on Sat, Looking for under 28 min.

Right where I am supposed to be..

I am staying pretty consistent with 90 min plan with the exception of a day off, a 60 min day and 105 min day.
The Tuesday workout was a good one. The plan is below. The intervals with the asteric were optional, we opted out, and skipped one of the 1600's.
8x100, 100 jog
4x200, 200 jog
4x400, 200 jog rest
2x800, 400 jog
2x1600, 400 jog
2x800
*4x400
*2x200
*8x100
paces were about 17 for the 100's, 34's for the 200's, 72-75 for 400's, blanked out for the 800's, but I recall a 2:40. Then 542 for the 1600.

Today's 90 min run was brutal from start to finish.

Up next is the Ollie 5 miler on Saturday.

90 min program

I have been experimenting with the 90 min run. The 10 miler is too short, because I always felt like I had so much left at the end of the run. Then when I would attempt a longer run I would be ready to stop at the 75 min point. This caused me to establich a bit linger base run, 90 min. I am tryling to do this daily except for easy/ recovery days that are 60 min,track wlorkout days, and LR days that are 2hr plus. Unfortunately LR' s are few and far between, but it is just a matter of time.
Mon 90 min
Tue bonkerific track workout. Wu, 10, 40m, grass hill repeat, only did 3 of the planned 10, 1000m grass/ track route. - a very frustrating workout. Just didn't have it. Hopefully just due to heat and dehydration.
Wed 90 min
Tr 90 min

Faster that last year

thomas chamberas race "6k" race.
Last year was 21:o5 and very painful, this year was just as painful, but for less time. 19:55 this year.

About 13 for the day.

Lunar racer 2 not a technical trail shoe

Stopped at a Penn state park on my way home today to get in my run for the day. The first 2 miles were basic lakeside trail, the I ventured off onto some hiking trail, which ended up being ridiculously rocky at times which make a decent pace impossible. It was also raining which made the rocks that much more dangerous. I turned around 2 miles in, because it was just too much for my liking at the time, and I didn't plan to run over 90 minutes. So I think I had ~ 4 miles of today's run at ~ 9 min pace. No biggie, because it was still a nice run. I finished with 90 min on the dot, but I am reluctant to call in more than 11 for the day.

The Poconos

Work trip to Lake Harmony PA inthe Poconos! It is almost a 6 hr drive to lake harmony from Boston, so o decided to stop in Matamoras Pa, along the Delaware river for a runduring my drive. I knew it would be dark when I arrives so I figured a midway run would be best. 67 minutes, lovely scenery of the Delaware river valley.
Today I manages to get up and get in 30 min in the morning, then snuck out at 445 to get in an hour before dinner. Not too bad for a business trip so far!

6k XC race

The next race on the agenda is the Chamberas 6k in Carlisle MA, at the Great Brook Farm State Park. I ran this one last year and I am pretty sure I can run a PR this year. Time will tell.

Last run of the week was an hour 52 minutes. Almost hit the 2 hr mark, but I wasn't going to run laps around my apt to hit a time. Not today at least. I could feel the hill workout in my legs during this run, but it didn't hold me back too much. 15 miles for the day, 75 for the week.

Deer island hills

We had a good suEd group meet for the deerisland hill routine this morning. The workout consisted of a perimeter loop 2.5 mi for wu and wd, and 5 interior loops~ 1.5 miles(where the hills are). This workout was much easier the second time around. We basically pushed it up the hills and recovered on the way down.

82 minutes of running. 12 miles, more or less.

Home loop B

I figure I should start adding a couple of longer runs during mid week to the regimen. So now I have a good 90 minute loop that I can adjust at the end to make it either a 13 r a 12.5 mile run. Not that it really matters, just makes the math easier. Either way, 90 minutes for the day. call it 12.5!

Brookline track.

Missing the Tuesday track workout kind of threw me off for the week. So, i decided to mix things up a bit. I was planning to meet jess in Boston for dinner after she got off of work, but I am very against driving into town then us driving 2 Cara back after dinner. So, I made the run into Brookline to the community track. It was about 63 minutes. Then I did an easy lap before starting the mile repeats. First one was 536, and felt pretty good. Sometimes I feel best after getting am hour of running, which really allows me to stretch things out on the faster stuff. I did an easy lap then did another, 529. That didn't feel too bad either, I am sure I had another good one in me, but was time to meet Jess at this point, and I jogged over to JP where she was running.

Calling it a day at 11 miles.

The streak continues?

Yesterday I ran 10 minutes before the impact of my very large lunch kicked in and I decided it would be best to call it quits. It was a rest day. 1.5 miles.

Wednesday:
Had a pretty good run today. 94 minutes, I'll call it 13 miles for the day.

day 15

Not likely that I'll be able to make it 16 because I'm going to the Ray LaMontagne concert at 7pm. So if I don't run in the morning I am likely to call it Tuesday a rest day.

Home loop today, 73 minutes.

Next up, XC racing,

ran 69 miles this week. My longest mileage day was the day of the 10k race, with 2.5 warm up, 10k, then 4.5 down.

This picture may put the hill at mile 3 into perspective. Thank goodness there are no picture of me running up the hill though. Would not have been pretty. This snap shot of the hill is at the start and it pretty much stays that way for a mile, with a couple of steeper sections.
The pics of me are at mile 1.5, leaving the brigde. Then during the last mile, both feet off the groung.

Bridge Flowers

time 37.16, pace for mile 3 was 7.37

felt like I would have run a nice PR had this been a normal course. Nontheless it was a good race in a beautiful town.

Tracking the results

Tuesday brings a quality workout again. Mile repeats in preparation for Saturday's 10k. 6 repeats with 400m recovery.
3 up then 555,549,552,550,545,544 then 1 down.

Not a bad workout. I think I should be doing these a bit faster, but I am not going to lose sleep over the paces of mile repeat workouts yet. We purposly took these a bit easy to ensure we were able to get in all 6 intervals.

11 miles for the day.

‎"Somewhere in the world someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win."-Tom Fleming

and to prove this point with some recent running news, The fastest man in the world was recently beat by Tyson Gay, and Usain made it very clear why he was beat.
--"Dear Fans, I got beat today by an athlete who was in better form and shape than I was. ..."
-Usain Bolt on his facebook page....
No excuses there.


Well, on my training front, I hit ran 70 miles last week. Nothing really spectacular about the week of training, I pretty much just ran 10 miles a day, with the exception of 12 on Tuesday, and 8 on Sunday. This is probably the easiest way to get in a 70 mile week. Sunday was probably the hardest run. Planned to run at Walden pond while Jess was swimming, but I wasn't feeling it. I was almost on the verge of calling it a no run day, but I told Jessica to drop me off 8 miles from the house on the way home. THis was I was forced to get in a run, that or a really long walk home. It worked out. I hope to start getting back in the habit of doing a weekend long run, but I am not sure when this will happen.

Thought I'd post a picture of the Stowe 8 miler. Not because I am in the pic, but more so for the lovely Green Mountains in the background.

What's next?

Registered for the Bridge of flowers 10k. Not a given PR course, but who knows I may suprise myself. Or I may die after mile 4.2.

The link below gives a pretty good exmple of the hill from mile 3 to 4.1. Other that that it should be an easy course.

http://www.bridgeofflowers10k.com/description.html

faster than last year

Ran in the Newburyport 10 mile race today. This was the first race I ran after moving to New England. My time last year was 66 minutes. I improved my 4 minutes this year. I was hoping for better, but I just didn't have anything left the last 2 miles. Maybe I needed GU, maybe I was dehydrated, or maybe just went out too fast. Either way, I didn't have any race left in me the last couple of miles. I guess it is still improvement.
So, I averaged 637 pace last year, then I think that was my avg pace in my marathon. Maybe if I decide to run a marathon this year I can average 613 per mile, same as my newburyport race this year. Hmmmmmm..

Still going...

The Nikes are hanging in there nicely. I started wearing the blue
ones 2-3 weeks ago, but I still wear the greens now and again.The greens do have a very intimate relationship with the ground when I run, but they are going to be my rainy day shoes. Or when the others are still sweaty from the prevous run.

345pm I ran to the dealership to pick up the car, 30min. Then I picked
up jess at work at 530 pm and ran home. 70 min, I took the shorter
route this time. 13.5 for the day

The quads are back in proper working order today. I guess they just
needed a good talkin to and some active recovery. The ibuprofen I took
last night prob didn't hurt either.

Latest wizard wisdom

When you hear top runners say that their plan is to, "run my own race," they are lying. They really are too polite to say that their strategy is none of your business. They really mean something like, "I will run with the pack and when I sense a weakness, I will crush them with a surge or a kick and win."

T.I.-red

8 am - Dropped off the car at the dealership for some service work, then ran home. 31 minutes, calling that 4 miles.

6 pm - Picked up Jess from work, let her drive home while I ran home. During this run my quads continuously asked me if they were going to get the day off tomorrow. I told them to hang in there, finish this run and we'd talk about it tomorrow.
78 minutes. calling that 10

14 for the day

No track no home loop.

My legs are still sore from the race. Quads mostly.
I had to pick up jess from work this eve, so I decided to let her drive home and I'd run home. Making the most of my time during the day. The run went well. Nice and easy for the first 50 minutes then I dis some pick ups and held a tempoish pace for about 2 minutes. I only did this 3 times then continued home. 75 minutes for the day.

Calling it 10

9 min pace

I felt good for the first bot of the run, then the dayafters set in pretty hard. I didn't plan for a full home loop, but I was hoping for at least 60 minutes. I tried my best to slow down for the last couple of miles to make the run a 60 minute run, but I was too close to home. I thinky last 2 mules were in the 17-18 min range. Nice and easy, African warmup style.

48 min for the day.

Stowe 8

Didn't get around to running Saturday.
Sunday was the Stowe 8m race. What a beautiful town and area of the country.
Time 47:56. Got in about 13 miles on Sunday, ending the week with about 56 miles.

I missed the early bus

This morning I crawled out of bed at 515 had a cup of coffee, but decided to kiss Jess good bye instead of joining her on her way to work. Then I proceeded to give in to the call o the bed and slept till 830. AhHh that was nice! The early morning weakness is not something that I overcome well.
Once I got home after work it was shoes on and hit the street. Little did I know that the weakness was right there with me. At the 31 minute mark I caught myself trying to take the short route home. I was justifying it by saying it will still be a 45 min run, and you are racing on Sunday so you will need the rest. I had to stop for a second, wring the sweat out of my shirt and get my mind right for the rest of the run. There will be none of that just yet. Granted I am over the 3 weeks of getting back into doing some decent mileage and the new is wearing off, but now is the key to getting a good base. Staying on top of it and running as much as I can. If ICANN manage that the rest will fall into place.
Another home loop in the books.

Sudden heat

Most of the day the weather was overcast and 70s. Then when I got home to run the sky cleared and the heat and humidity were very real. Oh well, gotta get in the run right. I added a couple off route loops to the home loop tohelp insure I hit 80 minutes for the day.
I am debating wether I want to get up at 430 to ride to work with Jess then run home. All I have to do is make it to the car, then I'll have to run the 10 miles to get home. I'll probably just sleep till 0730 as usual though.

Mid week

Tuesday track practice didn't happen for me. I guess work takes precedence over running sometimes.

Wednesday home loop 73 minutes. Felt a bit rusty, but pretty easy for the most part.

Due to the missed day on Tuesday I guess not going to go short the day before Stowe.

Monday daily run

I was on the fence about only doing 10 or adding another 15 min on towards the end of the run. I didn't feel too bad at the 52 min mark, which is where I usually make the left and hit the home stretch. Today I decided to head to the trails for a 15 minute add.

90min for the day... 12 ish.

74%

Finished the week with 74 miles on 7 days.

Feeling pretty good. Not really over run, and hoping to turn out another good week.

Friday 10

I decided to push it for today's run. Home loop, 65 min.

Hmlr

H is for Hot. Today I tried to embrace the heat and enjoy the run. I stopped at the 49 min mark for some juice and cold water. After that it was back on the road.

100 minutes for the day, I think it is safe to call it 13.5 miles. To reach 80 miles this week is going to require some fancy foot work though.

At peace with my daily route

The most important part of my training is consistency. For me the easiest way to be consistent is to have a good daily route. My route is a 10ish mile loop. I know the loop, and as a result I can focus on running and my thoughts instead of where I am going to turn or am I going the right direction. When I am having a tough day of running I can just block out the heavy legs and focus on getting to the next turn and moving on.
Today's run was one of those heavy legs days.The run was a good aerobic effort, but I could feel that my legs were working harder than a usual on a daily easy run. This was probably due to the track workout the previous day. Since I wasn't feeling too great, I just took the run one land mark at a time. The first hill, then the long straight away thatleads to another pain in the ass hill. Once to the top of that hill I am at the mansion that has the weekly concert in the back yard. Today the yard was filled with children running around the yard like mad. I swear there were about 45 small children in the yard. Kinda odd. After this I pass the Dedham track/highschool, at this point I am usually at the 38 min mark. By the time I am here, I know I have the run in the bag regardless of how I feel. Only a few more turns and hills. My favorite part of the run is at the 52 minute mark. At this point I have about 20 miutes left. I can make the last part of the run as easy or hard as I like. Like many races the last 20 minutes can make or break a person. So I try to stay focused and relax, while pushing the pace if I can do so with out sacrificing my form or stride. I wasn't realy able to push today so I just cruised it the rest of the way home.

Home loop, 73 minutes with a 2 minute add to make it 75 min for the day.

Heat wave?

100 degrees is all people could talk about today. " we hit the century mark" is what the weather guy continuously repeated. It was hot, but I didn't find it to new too uncomfortable. My shoes were soaked after 40 minutes of running due to the excessive perspiration. That is the first that has happened in a while. After the warm up it was on to the track for the 12k relay. Teams of 2. 400m, then rest/ jog around while the partner ran 400m. Good workout. Most of the 400s were 76-78. There was one 80, 78, 74, 75, and we finished with the last 2 in 71 and 68 respectively. I didn't have much for a cool down, 17 minutes.
Safe to call it 10 for the day.

Scorcher

So we are having a heat wave apparently. It was pretty hot during today's run at 10-11am. I took gremlin with me for the first time in a while and found my route to be exactaly 10 miles, funny how that works. Anyway it was a good run, but kinda hot though. 74 min.

4th

Call it 70 miles for the week. My plan was to get in 80, but I didn't run sunday. instead I decided to go for a mt bike ride. The ride was 3 hrs so I don't feel too bad about not running. I still got in a long aerobic workout, just not running. I felt great all week with mileage. Hope it stays that way.

Shady Saturday run

Spent an hour 51 minutes on the trails of Walden Pond and surrounding lands. The best part of this run was the 100% shaded trails. The run was nice and didn't feel forced. If I had to guess i'd say it was a 15 mile run at the very least.
I ended the run with a dip in Walden Pond, which was a great way to end a run.

Friday, new England summer

Weather was nice again. 78-75 deg and clear. I ran the home loop today. 72 minutes. The run didn't feel forced, a good aerobic effort run

Walden Pond part II

On my way home from visiting a customer in Lowell Ma, I couldn't resist stopping by Walden pond for some more trail therapy. THese are by far the softest trails I have found in the state. Mostly pine needls and packed leaves. I passed from Walden Pond reservation to the Concord conservatoin forest to extend my runtime. I wasn't planning to run over 10 miles. but due to uncertainty of direction I extended the run for a total run time of 80 minutes. I felt great during the run. All credit for this one goes to the soft soft running surface.

Walden pond

Jess was meeting a group in Concord for a ride, so I decided to go along. My plan was ru run to walden pond then just kind of run around. I got in 2 loops around the pond then headed back to run on the trails of concord reservation.
Ran for 90 minutes and felt god the whole time. Didn't hurt that it was 58-60 deg.

A Tuesday workout, 16's and 4's

I decided to warmup before the warmup today, and got in a 20 minutes before our standard warmup. So I had a bit over 5 miles before the workout.
Then we did 1600, 400 rest, 400m, 400 rest. Do that 4 times. The 1600's were 541, 537,540,533, 400's were in the 76-73 neighborhood, I don't remember those so well. The 400's really sucked.
I cooled down with a little over a mile .

I'll call it 12 for the day.

Sweatin in the 80's

This weekend I put in an 84 minute run on Saturday and an easy 30 min on Sunday.
Ended the week with 70 miles.


Monday back on the road, in the thick humidity. I learned today that the loop I have been running is 10.5 miles. I guess that's nice to know. Today I did the same loop, 72 minutes.

Koda and his favorite toy

Look at those long toenails.

Early morning chew-off

Friday was nice

Simply a lovely day. Finished work early and took the pups to the park. After 40 minutes of playin they were done, so I took them home. Whe they slept I ran. 73 minutes.

A full recovery!

Thunderstorms

For the first 20 minutes of my run I was questioning wether this was safe weather for running. Luckily the storm blew through and the sky cleared for the last hour of my run.

95 minutes for the evening. I think that qualifies for a mlr.

A look back

The best part of keeping his blog is being able to look back at my running logs. I looked at where I was this time last year and noticed some considerable differences. Don't have the time to go I to detail, but it was Fu to read back a year from now.

I think I have found my 10ish mile loop. I haven't gremlined it to see the exact distance, but it has taken me 77-78 minutes both times I ran it so I think it is safe to say it is at least 10. 77 minutes for the day today. I hope tomorrow has a mlr in store or at least a double.

Solo Tuesday

This was about 3 miles in. Speaks for itself.


Today I decided to do my Tuesday workout at a track about 2.5 miles from my place. It turned out to be the best quality workout I've had in a while.
I did 5 * 1600, 555, 550, 550, 543,544. I felt pretty good during all of these. Doing this workout alone allowed me to stay on a good sustainable pace during the whole workout.

11 miles for the day.

Merely bumps in the road

All hills on today's run were merely bumps in the road relative to this weekends race. I think the memory of this race will stick I'm my mind for a long time.

77 minutes for the day. I hope to start including a mlr into my weekly routine starting this week.

Man vs mountain

The mountain was still standing unphased at the end. I on the otherhabd was phased, barely standing, and begging for it to be over. So all-in-all it was a good day. This was to date the most challenging race I have ever run. Hills are supposed to have a top, I used to getting to the top and being able to recover. Not the case today, it just kept coming. Unbelievably hard. Simple as that. After mile 2 I was into a runwalk. I could never find a decent slow run pace that was Sustainable. Months less I maintained position with the runwalk strategy. I was def unprepared for this event.

Time 92 min, 7.6 miles

Running funk

First 20 min of today's run was ok, but after that couldn't wait for the run to be over. Ithink it was more to the fact that I knew I had other things to do when I got home. Well got in the run and all other things finished also.

Tuesday track workout

22 minute warmup, then 10k on the track. We alternated 800m at 10k pace then 800m at hmgp-mgp.

Nice workout. 2.5 mile cool down.

11.5 miles for the day.

Blue hills on 2 wheels

This is my new toy. I must say mt bikes have come a long way since the
days of the 1995 rock hopper I rode last.
The blue hills is a much more dangerous place on 2 wheels than on 2
feet. I really need to be more careful next time. The bike ride was a
blast, but I think I almost died during one of my 2 crashes, thank the
lord for helmets. A couple of things I learned onthis ride, 1. My
biking is as much fun as it used to be. And 1. Falling off of a bike
hurts more than it used to. I escaped with some scrapes, bumps, and
bruises. So I call it a successful day.

Now let's not get carried away and start thinking I have gone off on
some weirdo cycling craze, just something to break up the monotony,
and give me something to do on my rest says other than sit on my ass
and eat saturated fats.
Today's run was an easy 75 minutes to cutler park, around and back.
Cutler park is no arboretum. It really kind of sucks, low lying, muggy
and mosquito infested. I think I'll stick to the roads rather than
head back there on a regular basis.

What's next?

My new surroundings are taking me some time to get used to. There are some good places to run, but I just haven't figured the best way to put them together for a good run yet. I managed an easy 74 minutes. Running less than 80 minutes just makes the run seem like it was cut short for some reason.

June 19th is MtWashington. I could lie and say I am excited about this race, but honestly it is going to be excruciating. Hopefully I can change my outlook on it but the fact of the matter is that it is 8 miiles up hill. Not bs hills either. So there is no way to even take it easy and enjoy the scenery.
After that I plan to run in another USATFNE grand prix. Stowe 8 mile race. Something to look forward to as it is a civilized course.

The 3.1 mile battle

I came, I started, but I did not conquer. At least not on this day. Today's weather was the limiting factor for me. It was humid and hot. At least hot for New England, but definitely humid. I was thru mile one in 529, mile 2 11min and finished in 17:26. I just didn't have the last mile in me today. I pushed the way I wanted to thur the middle of the race, but when it came time to close the last mile, I was pretty much at the threshold and couldn't give any more.

Still a PR for the 5k. I guess I'll have to get that sub 17 min another time.

Friday the 4th

The Tuesday workout let me know that I wasn't quite recovered from the Wachusetts race. it was a pretty good workout for an upcoming 5k, but my legs got tight early into the intervals.
Going into the workout my mind was right, but the legs weren't. We did the standard 3 mile warmup in about 22 minutes, then started the intervals. The first was 525, the second was 526, I decided to forgoe the 3rd because I could tell that I would have been falling off of the pace if I did attempt it. So I did a couple of 400's in stead. Then were comfortable at around 80-81 sec. then I called it a night. I was tight and sore all over. Hammies and calfs.

Rested Wed and TR. Not because I wanted to, just the way it goes sometimes. The rest was probably a good thing and hopefully it gave my legs a change to recover.

Friday easy 55 minutes.

Can't settle for anything over 17!

I think it about time a had a serious self evaluation and go out and try to run a respectable 5k. This may actually be the first 5k I have ever raced on the road, or maybe even ever? Nontheless, the course is flat and perfect for a fast time. A sub 17 is 528's and I think I am very capable of that.
I plan to have a good speed workout on Tuesday, I hope. I am not sure what the Doc has in store. After Tuesday my plan is to do runs between 60-80 minutes from wed to Friday. Then an easy 30-45 min on Sat.

The new long run

I guess Boston was the last time I ran longer than 2 hrs. That is still the case today. I headed out not expecting to run for any longer than two hrs. I didn't feel too bad, but at 90 minutes the run became a lot of work.

100 minutes for the day.

Hardest race in a long time, if not ever.

I have never really really felt like I had to stop during a race. Though the thought has crossed my mind during a couple of races, I have never felt like my legs just couldn't go. That is until about 18min and 30 sec into the Wachusett Mt road/trail race.
The first 1.5 of the race was a climb up an auto road which wasn't so bad, then some technical dwn/flat trail until we came back to the second "hill". This part was all technical uphill trail, with roots, rocks and steep inclines. Kinda like a natural stair well, with out the consistant, even, clean steps. After fighting 3/4 of the way up this section, the real pain started to set in. Heavy breathing, but worst of all was the quads. They were on fire! At this point I had no choice but to start the power walk. Most of the people in my pack were doing the same, because the climd was getting pretty tough. Everyone except the group of 4 chicks that passed us at the 19 min mark, and they were doing a walk/run on and off type exercise during the real steep parts. SO after doing my walk/hop/skip/big step/very slow jog thing from 18:30min- 21:45min we made it out of the woods and onto the dwn hill dirt road to the finish. This is where I made up most of my time. We had a 2 mile section of nice gradual dwn hill with a couple of places with pretty steep dwn hill.

Hard race. I am hoping that since mt washington is all auto road it will not be as tough, but it is still going to suck. After all it is 8 miles of climbing 4000', not two 500' sections. If nothing else this was a good test in prep for mt washington.

Time 37:57, distance 5.1 miles.

Wachusett Mountain road and trail race.

Should be an interesting morning.

Blue HIlls Auto Road version 2

Got in a good run from the apt on Wednesday 72 minutes.


TR was hill repeat day. NOt near as hard this time. Not sure why. Maybe it was a bit cooler or something.
4 repeats this time. 745.736.726.730.

Friday, not running. I am not 100% committed to my running at this time.

Saturday: Planning to run the Wachusett Mountain race in prep for Mt Washington.

10k relay

Teams of 2. One runs a 400m, then rest the the other runs a 400. It works out to equal rest. it wasn't a true 10k, but it was 12 laps each. Most of the 400s were in the 72-75 range with one 68 (8th 400) and a 77.
This was a hard workout and I can feel the tight hammies and calfs, but I think it was a nice change from the milers. Next grand prix race is rhody 5k in Lincoln RI, on June 6.

56 min

Slow hard run.

I am so so from runnin.

Woke this morning and my legs were very soo. Hammies, quads, calfs, u name it. So I spent most of the day loading and unloading he Uhaul for our move to the burbs. After the move was finish I dropped off the uhaul and made the 10 mile run home. Nice and relaxed.

Bedford 12k

NOt a bad race, although my legs did feel a bit lethargic from the hill repeats. Went out in 548 then 549, then i didn't feel so good. As we got into the rollers my pace dropped into the 60x is pace with one 615. at the 4 mile marker settled into pain preparation mode and started pushing it. I was heavy berathing and anaerobic for the last 3 miles it seems. Just keep running.

44:35. I anticipate major imporvement here forward.

Real Hill Repeats

Wed: easy 10.

TR: Hill repeats.
This was a very strange workout. I went to the Blue Hills with a GBTCer to do some auto road hill repeats. The blue hills auto road is .95 miles up. It it is about a 450' climb. We ran 3 repeats. I initially hoped to do 4,but since I am racing on Saturday and as a result of the way I felt during #2 and #3 I settled on 3. This is probably the steepest consistent climb I have ever done and I don't know if it helped build my confidence for Mt Washington. At the 430 min mark of each climb my breathing was nearly out of control and I felt horrible. It was more of a cardiovascular exercise than anything else. I'm not saying my legs didn't feel heave, but the breathing was the limiting factor here. I did feel like things got better as the intervals went on, but they were still hard!!!!
Each climb was 8min, 730, 725. So they got faster, but were no easier as they continued.
The most unusual part of the workout was the end. I didn't feel bad afterwards. My legs didn't feel tired, I recovered easily from each one during the run down, and the cool down felt fine. I guess it was just the intense climbing that was a shock to the system.

8 miles

Finished and feelin fine

Tuesday track workout with a little twist. We were to run 1600's at 10k pace with one lap at mile pace. Which lap and who led the fast lap was decided by Tom before each interval. The first mile didn't have a fast lap, 543. During the second interval the second lap was the fast lap, 537. For the 3rd interval the last lap was the fast lap. 532. The last and final interval the second lap was the fast lap, it was 534. After the 4th interval I felt pretty good, but I thought it would be nice to end the workout feeling good and just benefit from the intervals.
Next race is Saturday, Bedford 12k in Bedford NH.

Nothing more nothing less

I have been consistently been hitting the 70-90 minute mark for the last several days. With the exception of the off day this saturday and the Tuesday workouts. These no pressure runs are quite enjoyable.

That old feelin'

Today was a rough run. I never felt like I could control the run or the pace. It was just a run. 69 minutes of running.

89 minutes

Met a couple folks at coolidge corner for an evening run. I guess the warm days of spring couldn't last forever. Today was about 45 deg all day with a slight drizzle here and there, but thankfully no precip during the run.
We didn't really have a plan for the run, just running. I ended up with 89 minutes for the day.
I was a little sore from the track practice, but felt pretty good after about 30 minutes.

Back on track

Oh Tuesday how I missed thee. First outdoor track practice of the season for me. I rode the 5 miles to the track. This was new and my legs certainly aren't used to that. This was followed by the fresh pond warm up. 22 minutes. Then 5*1200. 4 min, 4 min, 4.10, 4 min, 3.55.
Then 15 min cool down followed by a hard 20 min ride home. I forgot how tough the ride home was.

Catching up

Saturday no run
Sunday 83 minutes
Monday 76 minutes

How do be a great runner

Becoming a great runner is no easy feat, but through consistency and commitment one can acheive their own level of greatness within their capabilities. I was thinking about this today while running and I think I have solved it!
It takes commitment, 100% commitment to the act and practice of running. Many people may say they are committed to running. I know I have said the same. The truth of the matter is that I have never truely been 100% committed to a training. Nor do I thinkg that will I ever be able to for a consistent period of time. TAs a result of this 'Theory" I was compelled to relate commitment to running to one's mileage. I'm not talking about taper mileage or injured mileage, I am talking about week over week base mileage. The kind of mileage that results in THE running transformation. It's as simple as that.
Knowing that one's life will sometimes interfere with training/running, that person is in my book not 100% committed to running. Since Commitment by definition - the trait of sincere and steadfast fixity of purpose.


Mileage

100+ MPW - This is 100% commitment, and will likely lead to great results and great running. I don't distinguish between 100-120 because at the moment I don't see any benefit from going over 100 or esp 120 for that matter. Kind of like living/training at elevation, 5-6k' is great, but over 6k' has litte extended benefit. The 100mpw runner almost always trumps those who run less mileage.

90-100MPW - A really good runner. Trains alot, but still can't quite call themself 100% committed to running for whatever reason there is a barrier in the routine or lifestyle that prevents reaching 100+. Maybe just not enough experience to handle the mileage and constant pounding.

80-90MPW - The good runner who shows up, does the work, but has other things going on to prevent hitting the "big" miles. May be one of those 6 - 6.5 day a weekers.

70-80MPW - A dedicated runner but not truely committed to attaining the best that there is to offer from running. Lets face it this is running 10 miles a day and then a long run one day a week. I hear lots of people say that this is where they feel the best during there training, I am guilty of that myself. the truth is that getting past 80 is hard, and staying ontop of 80 is even harder. I know because I haven't been able to do this yet! Yet is the key work. This is where I found myself much of the last training season.

60-70MPW -Doing just enough to make slight improvements..

I wish I had the time to break this dowm in more detail. But I am not 100% committed to this blog either.

80

80 minutes which included 4, 4.5 min hill repeats. It was good to change things up a bit and push it up the hills.

Trainers

At $85 I couldn't pass up the opportunity to save $15 and try out a
new pair of running sneaks. Tried on the old faithfuls(wave riders)
and these. These cradley foot nicely, similar to the wave rider. Not
only that, but they also have a more responsive feel on the roads and
are a bit softer. I find it very hard to find that combination
I see durability being a major problem. I am not known for changing
out shoes after a mileage point. The approach I take is more like
whenever I make it to the shoe store or find a sweet deal. These will
prob make it a month before going "flat".
For our first date we went to the arboretum to get them used to my on
the road off the road running routine.
I am sure that Nike will do something stupid and discontinue or change
them so that the next version really sucks. I just hope I can go back
to the WR with no probe if that does happen.

Coming back.

Ran the 60 minute loop in 57.36. Felt pretty good at the 26 min point so I decided to push it a bit for the rest of the run. Feels good to feel good again!

Mas bueno que nada

Was short on time this evening because I had to be at Fenway at 6 to meet some customers for the game.
So I did an easy 10 min wu to the track, 4*400, 77,77,74,73. then ran home. Call it an easy day?

and it went a little something like this.

GOt in a 63 minute run today and was able to do it an a pretty decent pace, at least it felt like a decent pace. NO idea how fast or how far.

The first mile of the Boston marathon was in about 625, but I'm not really sure because I started my watch about 10 seconds before I got to the mat. Once I passed the one mile mark I reset the watch and let game began. The paces went like this: 634 629 634 632 634 638 638 640 634 637 636 621 636 641 629 639 655 619 609 613 622 634(.2miles).

At the 4 mile mark I was passes by a little guy wearing a mini mouse costume, and I told my self I would never run another marathon again if a man in a minimouse costume beat me. I let him go but was really hoping I would see him later so that this wouldn't be my last 26.2. I was feeling pretty good here and it almost felt like a weekend long run. The pace didn't feel forced, and I was really relaxed. THis continued until about mile 11 where I began to get nervous about how my legs felt. My legs felt a bit fatigued and the hamstring that has always been pretty tight started acting up again. But, hey its a marathon, there are many stages and things happen. The most important part is realizing that the fitness is there and once the training is complete mental strength is what really makes the marathon. I continued to have this strange feeling of uncertainty until the right turn, eventhough I was starting to pass many of the people who passed me in the first 6 miles, including minimouse.
When I made the right turn I knew I had this thing , but I wasn't goint to let things get nasty until after the hills. SO I made sure to stay relaxed through the hills and not feel like I was giving a really hard effort. This was by far the best part of the race, eventhough it was mentally challenging to hold back. People around me were starting to drop like flies by the last hill. Once I saw the BC campus and realized that I was through the hills I was amazed that the hills were already over. Even after all of the times I have run those hills I could have sworn that there was one more left. I guess not. At this point it was on. NO one around me looked like they wanted to go, as a matter of fact it was quite the opposite. Except for one girl who blew by me on the down hill at the BC campus before the second right turn. I couldn't believe she was closing the way she was. I figured I'd hang on to this chick and see what she was all about. This was probably the best thing I could have done at this part of the race. She was rolling on the down hills but didn't have the strength on the ups and couldn't hang with the pace. She got dropped at coolidge corner, but I think she was still on my tail, at least that is what I kept telling my self. The last 10k of the marathon was the only time felt like I was in race mode, and it was all about how much can I take, and how hard can I push this. Even with the constant hamstring and calf cramping throughout the last 6.2 it was just about relaxing, pushing through and running the last 10k as fast as I could. This is the part of the marathon I really enjoy. I knew I ran the first 20 the way I was supposed to, everyone else is hurting I'm hurting too, but I know from my past shorter races what the hurt feels like and how long I can endure it. I have run faster paces for longer, so 6-620pace should be a breeze. During the last 2 miles of the marathon I felt like I had constant crampiing in my calfs and hamstrings. Serious knots, clemintine orange size knots in my hamstrings that were only relived by me mashing my middle finger into the knot while running. It would go away only to return 20 seconds later. Then in the calf only I couldn't reach this knot so it was just relax and run through. THis is how the entire last 2 miles went, but thankfully they were sharp and quick cramps that went away, and not cramps that completely locked up my legs. They only locked up my legs for seconds at a time.

Then we crossed the finish line and it was all over. THe pain was very great, but it was a good pain that was worth the 2hr 51min and 36seconds.

Just running

Saturday got in an easy 45 minutes then a hot and miserable hour on Sunday. The weather said it was 83 degrees, but felt like 115. We may be approaching the can't run any time of the day due to the heat season.


Also how about the new american 10k PR. Dude is a soldier!

http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236854/331184

What is next?

Since the marathon I have gone on 2 runs. One was a 40 minute run during by trip to Barcelona, and the second was yester day in the arboretum for an hour. The latter made my legs pretty sore and the calfs were nice and tight after the run. I think this is expected, but in all it is nice to be back on the training train.
Then next set of events won't start till mid May, when I feel like it should be safe to give a good racing effort. I hope to run in as many grand prix road races and some of the outdoor meets. Probably just the 5k and 10k's, and maybe a mile. In that mix will also be the Mt Washington race, which will possibly be harder that the marathon, but hopefully not take the same amount of time.

Still running

Almost didn't make it out today, but mustered up the energy to get outthe door for an easy 35 minutes. It is a short week. so i didn't feel too bad about the short outing. This weekend promises rain starting on Thursday and lasting into Saturday, but will clear up nicely on Sunday and Monday.

Pure Grade A Maple Syrup

I went to NW Mass today to visit a customer site. This is by far the most beautiful part of MASS, and a place that most people who visit Boston fail to appreciate. This part of MASS is is very hilly/mountainous, aka The Berkshires. I will be making 2 trips per month out this way and plan to make stops in the state forest areas for some running on my future visits. These are short site visits, which leaves me a couple of hours to get in a nice run.
While I was driving through the hills I noticed that many of the trees had cables?/tubes?/ropes? running from one tree to another. At first I thougth it may be some sore of irrigation, but there didn't seem to be any pattern to the connecting tubes. After some thought and further investigation, I realized that these were maple trees. Near by on the roads I saw the infamous sugar houses. This is where the maple drains to for reduction. So I took it upon my self to stop in and puck up a half gallon of the good stuff. The flavor is amazing, and I kinda wish I could use it for my marathon fueling instead of the damn gel packets, it certainly tastes much better. I can't wait to make the first batch of pancakes and use half of the bottle on the pancakes.

On the running front, I got in 70 minutes at the arboretum.

Waiting and waiting and waiting..

This happens every time the week before the marathon. Can't do anything to get better at this point, but much can be done to ensure a disasterous race. So, I just wait for the day. Trying to eat right, run just enough, and not think about it too much. About to head out for an easy hour or so....

Fun in the sun

Easy 65 minutes. Nothing too seriuos just trying to keep the legs alive. Ifeel a bit drab from the 15k, but I am sure recovery is just around the corner.

15k

TR - no run
Friday - no run
Saturday - Upton 15k. Felt nice and rested for this one, as I should have taking off 2 days before. The race went pretty well. 55:40 final time. I felt like I had a solid close and the cooldown afterwards wasn't really taxing.

It was a Scorcher!

We got up to 89 deg today, but it didn't really feel like it when I headed out at 530. I got in an easy 75 minutes.

MARATHON!

I'm pretty sure I can run under 252. I am not exactaly sure how I am going to go about doing that, I'm not really good at detailed race plans, but I figured I can go out to run 252 pace for 20 miles then hammer the last 10k. Yeah that sounds good. I am sure I will have a couple of faster miles here and there due to course conditions, but that should even out, because I hear there are some hills towards the end of the race.

First outdoor track workout

I was on the fence about a hard track workout today since I felt pretty worn down from the past few days. My plan was to run to the track and see how I felt after the warmup. The fact that I ran to the track was a pretty good sign that I wasn't going to do much on the track, since it is 5ish miles from my place. So I got there in time to catch the group for the "warmup", another 3ish miles. So, by the time it was time to start the workout I had 62 minutes on the clock. I wasn't feeling too bad, but I knew what a couple 1600's would have done to me, so I opted for a run home instead. It was a good steady HMGP feeling pace.

Total for the evening. 100 minutes.

Running games

The first 20 minutes of the run really sucked. Felt dead, flat, ....and on and on and on. Then this guy rode by me not really fast but just slow enough where I felt like I could keep up. So I decided to give him about 10 meters on me then tried to keep pace for as long as I could. We made it to the intersection and then I ran through and he had to stop for traffic. It wasn't too long before he passed me again, but this time he was going way too fast for me.
That pretty much sums up my run. Got in 55 minutes.

The hay's in the barn!

Saturday was the Snow Flake invit at Tufts University. Myself and about 6 other guys from the club ran the 10k. Warmed up, 21 minutes, 10k 36.30, 41 minute cool down. Not a bad day.
Today I went for an easy run on the end of the marathon course, 100 minutes. My legs were pretty dead from yesterday. Nontheless, it was a pretty good weekend and I feel good about where I am going into the marathon. All that is left to do now is not loose any fitness and I figure the best way to do that is just keep running.

Blue hills.

Stopped by the blue hills on my way home and got in an easy 50 minutes. Not the most exciting run because of all the rocks and dwn hill breaking, but still a run. Prob would have been better if I had trail shoes, but I didn't think the trails would be so rocky and nasty evil. I was thinking soft and supple when I took my running gear with me this morning, but that was not the case. Some parts were really nice, but others were more technical than I was wishing for this today.

Just go running

Taking the advice of Tom. I am going to just go running until the 10 k on Saturday. Got in 75 minutes with the last 15 minutes kinda faster.

Heard something funny today regarding the track meet on Saturday. The 10k is starting an hour and a half earier since it is going to be hot on Saturday. By hot they mean 70 deg high. The initial starting time was 1145 and not it is 1030. So 70 deg is hot up here. I guess I'll find out how I feel in the heat. Whewww!

Getting close

Tuesday we ran 1200's on the track, times were consistently 401-402. After 4 I decided my time was best spent jogging around the track with some of the other guys who raced on Sunday. Got in about 10 miles for the day.
Saturday I plan to to the 10k at the Tufts track meet then have a final long run on Sunday. As a result I am allowing my self to take today (wed) off and get ready to finish the week off in a proper fashion.

Wind breaker

I had the luxury of running behind this guy from mile 10-12 at which point he fell of pace. I wonder if it had anything to do with that sail like jacket he was wearing.

Rain

but not too cold out so I didn't mind getting out and trudging around in the weather. Probably one of the best runs in a while. Mostly trails in the arboretum.

77 minutes.

Into the wind

I must say I look very Anglo Saxon in this last mile photo.

Eastern States 20

I wrote the entire race write up for this, which I rarely do and then it got deleted somehow.
Here is the short of it. forst 10 into a 10 mile headwind. 66 min.
Second 8 out of the wind in residential area.
last 2 back into the wind.

Final time 2hr 11min.

Let the healing begin

Certainly not out of the woods yet, but Koda is home and the therapy sessions have begun. Therapy consists of sets of 1 set of 20 back leg flex and extensions on each leg while the other back leg is supporting weight. We do these 2-3 times a day. Then some work in his doggie sling that supports him hind end while he walks. He is slowly getting used to using his back feet. He is also getting back in the habit of barking at the neighbors when they walk down the hall way so that is a good sign, he hasn't lost his charming personality. Whining because he is hungry and barking at the neighbors as they walk down the hall. He can walk on his own althought not good for extended lengths and recommended by the vet yet. He is still on 8 weeks of crate confinement with the exception of getting out for the bathroom and brief assisted walks.

Trapped.

It is a sad day!

Took the dogs for a short walk today and when it came time to chase the squirrels back up the tree, while Koda was running, something horrible happened to koda's back. He was unable to walk on his back legs and was yelping and "screaming". We rushed him to the emergency room and they diagnosed him with a slipped disk. He is there now and will have surgery tomorrow. I am hoping that surgery was the right thing to do and not simply prolonging the inevitable. Coming from the country, I know what can often happen with dogs when they become debilitated.
After some quick testing the vet did say that he will likely return to a normal lifestyle and be able to walk on his back feet, because no nerve damage was done. But, he couldn't do any jumping or excessive running.

Keep Koda in your doggie prayers.

Weekend wrap up

Friday was an easy day with a simple 20-30 minute jog at the arboretum with the pups.
Saturday I ran for 65 minutes pretty easy pace.

Sunday was the New Bedford half. This is known in our parts as a fast marathon. I can honestly say that it is now a challenging course, whith the exception for mile 13.I feel like I went out pretty conservatively and ran evenly for the most part. However Gremlin says a different story, 614,624,623.625.605.620.608621.615.607.604.615. I do remeber making a conscious effort to push the pace the last 5k. It had been a while since I was able to do that at the end of a race, but I still didn't feel like I had the kick I have had in the past.
I can honestly say that I think this is the fastest I could have run on this day. I can also honestly say I should have done things differently building up to race day. Dietary, running etc., that would have resulted in a better race. So in all I think I am content. BTW weather was perfect 61deg sunny. 10 more degrees and I would have called it a hot day! Isn't that funny how quickly we get weak to temps. I am hoping for a 40-50deg Boston marathon day as opposed to a >65 deg on, because that may spell disaster!

Tempo Thursday

Things went well during this workout, which is a first for the past few weeks. Warmed up for 26 minutes then on the track for 10k. I didn't get a final time for the 10k, but it was faster and easier than last weeks 10k.
The splits went like this, 557, 558, 557, 554, 553, 555, 127. Afterwards ran for 22 minutes easy.

Total time running 83 minutes.

One gear

I was certainly feeling yesterday's run and also the 2 days off before. The entire run was like running in mud. I was lucky to just get the run finished. Ran for 65 minues.

#

bib #2146    

Mixing it up

As the 'thon approaches I am getting a bit nervous about my current fitness. So, thought I would go for a longer warmup before the track workout. This resulted in an 86 minute warmup. Then 2 mile repeats 558 and 605 I attempted a 3rd but failed miserably.
Ended the day with 1hr 50 minutes of running. Distance, not real sure.

Koda is also glad the rain is gone.

Cooper making a 180 deg cut for the ball!

Mt Washington road race

Registered for this event a couple of weeks ago. It is a lottery event so I am not sure if I'll get in. We have entered as a GBTC group so maybe Tom has some connections to get us "picked" in the lottery process. Who knows. All I know is that it is supposed to be a pretty miserable event.Many do i continue to sign up for these things!?
They basically shut down part the road that goes to the top of mount washington and we race to the top. It is 7 or 8 miles, I'm not really sure. I think the grade is in the 10-11% range also, which from what I understand is not flat! I. Think the elvation at the end of the race is 5k' which isn't much, but enough to give you that tight uncomfortable feeling in your chest.

The sun will come tomorrow

At least I hope. Then maybe I'll go for a run. the past 2 days of miserable have had similar effect on my running. Nothing on Sunday and nothing on Monday. This is the grossest weather I've seen in a while. Constant rain, wind, and cold. ThE cold is the worst part. The good news is that it is ending tonite and we ar supposed to have decnt weather for the rest of the week. Hopefully mytraining will be the same. New Bedford half is on Sunday and I don't want to go into that feeling stagnant, and I also have a marathon coming up which I I should probably not take for granted.

Cold and rainy

East 67 minute run in the miserable weather.

Friday 3.12.2010

Almost didn't make it out the door. I tried my best to make excused and talk myself out of going out this evening. Eventually I made it out the door and ran for 63 minutes. Feeling much better after getting that run out of the way.

Thursday Tempo

Wednesday was a R&R day
Thursday however was not. Met a few guys at the RLTC for a 30 minute warmup then a tempo run on the track. Ran 10k, 37:45. The first mile went something like this 615, 605, then 558's and 559's for the rest of the run. Felt pretty good at the end but don't think I could have continued comfortably for more that 2 miles.

17 minute cool down.

Dominos

Warmed up 26 minutes. Then groups of 4, one person in the group drew a domino and multiplied the numbre on the domino by 100 and this was the distance of the interval. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, there were a few stipulations. The first was that these were no normal dominos the largest number of dots was 18 and I think the smallest was 9. We didn't find out this until we started drawing dominos. The second part was that whoever drew the domino was to not tell the rest of the group what they drew. The idea of this was to simulate a race like experience where you never know when the people around you are going to push pace or even stop pushing the pace.
We ended up doing 1100, 1000. 1400, 1400, 900. I called it a day after this and did a 12 minute cooldown.

Nice change for a Tuesday .

Done

Day after Stu's

Didn't feel too bad this morning. I made it a point to sleep in till 0930, so I got plenty of recovery/rest. Oh the joys of working from home.
When I finally rolled out I was very suprised that I only had a tight right calf. So this evening I headed out for a nice spring run. The weather has been fantastic during the past 3 days. Now that most of the snow is gone it has left benind some nice grass medians and also some really soft trails in the arboretum. Had it not been for these desireable running conditions today's run may not have gone so well. After all was said and done I finished with 80 minutes.

TOmorrow we start our track workouts on the outdoor track. We'll see how a hard workout goes. I don't expect much from myself coming off a race Sunday.

Paces for Stu's 30k as per Gremlin.....

630,641, 36sec(gremlin had a stroke during mile 3), 620, 633, 634, 609,629, 636, 654, 635, 647, 652, 653, 634, 624, 615, 726

Stu's 30k

To catch up on my weekly run log should be easy
Friday = rest
Saturday = Rest
Sunday = 30k

I started out the 30k right on 630 pace and planned to attempt to keep it in that range if the course would allow. For the most part I was able to do so with the exception of a 648, some high 630's a 605 and mile 17 which was 715. I was toast at the end of this race. There wouldn't have been a chance in hell that I could have continued on for another 8 miles. This makes me nervous, but it also lets me know where I am and what I need to do. First of all no more long stretches of no running. I need to maintain consistent weekly training to ensure I don't loose any more fitness. Second I plan to go out at Boston running somewhere between 635-640's for the first half, then see what happens. That should be an honest start to the Marathon, and lastly I learned that running fast is hard and running fast up hills is even harder.

30k, 2hr2min 58sec. 21 for the day. that is all she wrote for this post.

catching up

Wed - easy 42 minute run,
TR - 3.5 mile warmup, 5k on the track (1750), 20 minute cool down

Tuesday no track

Since Sunday was a race day the wiArd recommended the group just go for a run, and that is what we did. Sometimes these are the hardest runs. I felt good throughout the whole run. We ended up closing the last few miles but I am not sure what the pace was.

1hr45min30sec
no idea of the distance but I'm pretty sure it was over 14. Track workout on Thursday.

Ready for shorts and shirt weather

Slipped out the door in the standard long sleeve, long tights, gloves, and hat for a 75 minute run. We are not having the freezing cold anymore, but it isn't shorts weather for me yet.
Suprisingly I am not really sore from the race. Not sure if that is a testament to past training or maybe I just didn't run hard enough. I am thinking training because I know I left it all on the course Sunday. At least it felt that way at the time.
Somewhere between 10 and 11 for the day.

The real story ofhow it went down!

My wife being the computer nerd/documentarianistress has captured the full breadth of the Amherst 10 miler event.
I even had to ask her how to make this little linky thing below work so as to go directly to the page.

10-Miler

Amherst 10 miler

It was an average performance I guess, but considering the past 2 weeks of running or lack there of I will call it a B. It was certainly a challenging course at times but there were opportunities to make up time on some downhills and nice long flat sections.
I forgot the gremlin, but I ran on effort and I don't think it changed things much. I was through 2 miles at 12:05, most of which was gradual down hills with a couple long climbs. I don't call them rollers because they were lond climbs. I hit the 3 mile mark in 18:45. This mile included a massive half 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile climb which I thought was going to be the end of my day. I ended up recovering from this hill faster that I thought and was able to settle into a relaxed faster turn over. This was the first time I felt relaxed and comfortable. I don't really remember the rest of the race. I know I was through mile 8 in 49:30ish. At which point there were 2 more good climbs left and the last one which was .75 miles from the finish put the fork in me. I was done, but managed to block it out and get through the finish.

Time 62.19..Not official yet. I guess this isn't too bad at the end. It is where I am at the moment any way.
Next weekend is the Stu 30k, another hilly one.

Sat

Tomorrow is the 10 mi race. I have no idea how I will perform, due to the way the past 2 weeks have gone. I'm thinking either really good or really bad. I almost feel like I have had a 2 wk taper which could be good. The down side is it may be raining/ snowing during therace. Either way the race must go on.
Prob going to begin starting my weeks on Monday again after this weekend.

Friday

easy 71 minute run

Home again home again.

NO running today. I've become a regular sedintary human, and I don't enjoy it. I am looking forward to getting back into the routine.

Tomorrow I will run!

Hangin in there

Monday 6 miles
Tuesday 13 miles
Wednesday 5 miles...3 fo which were run during the GE charity 3 mile run/walk in the morning. I wasn't sure if any faster runners would be in the run so I was just planning to go out and see what happened. I certainly didn't want to be the guy that blazed out in front the entire time if the competition wasn't there. It started out with 4-5 guys at the front at what felt like 7-715 pace. After about 9 minutes I noticed a lot of huffing and puffing all around me. So I thought it a good time to pick it up a notch just to see what might happen. This didn't get much of a response as I believe most gave all during the first mile. The competition was pretty much over at this point, as I gradually pulled away for the remainder of event. To claim a victory would be a grave overstatement but it was interesting to run with mortals once in a while.


Sunday is the Amherst 10 miler, formally known as the Jones 10 miler. It will likely be a miserable race. Lots of hills, it has been snowing in Amherst all day today so that may present some nice obstacles, and the field will be FAST, a stark contrast to the GE charity competition. On the bright side I will not be coming off of a 90 mile week and should be relatively fresh.

New Orleans route

After looking at the agenda for my upcoming trip to New Orleans it looks like evening runs are not going to be a possibility, so I'll be forced to do the morning thing. This shouldn't be so hard since the morning temps are supposed to be mid 40's, shorts and shirts weather for sure. I am certainly going to enjoy that part of the trip.
This is the route I plan to run.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3466464

Sunday

I ran from my place to the Harvard indoor track to watch the mens 5k for USATFNE. I did the warmup with a couple of guys who are marathon training as well, but were intending to do the 5k then go out for more miles afterwards. I was hoping to do the 5k, but the combination of the 16:30 time cutoff and my still being ill made this an easy choice.
This illness is certainly not a neck up illness as it casues lots of hacking and resp issues with excessive cardiovascular stress, so I intend to continue to take it easy and do only easy running until it is clear. I see this as the best way to get past is and stay mentally and physically in tune for when it does pass. After the 5k I wasn't in the mood to do the cool down with the group so I ran home instead.

Miles for the day 10.

Getting back on the horse

Friday was another sick day. I felt pretty good this morning so I headed out for a 65 minute run. Still lots of symptoms and hacking but I think I am on the recovering end of the illness.

No bueno.

Off Wed and TR. Came dowm with the second illness in the past 4 weeks. This one being a throat and respiratory one casues some uneasyness as far as training through it. Day to day at the moment, hoping to get back into the swing Friday.
We have a sales meeting in New Orleans next week Mon - TR. I already have a route planned provided by a GBTCer who's friend lives in NO. Hopefully I will be well enough and Mardi Gras will be over enough for me to be able to get in some consistent running while there.

Doozzzie

Got in a full Tuesday workout, which I haven't done in a while. Warmed up with an easy 5. then on the track for 5*1 mile with 200 revocery after the first one then 400 recovery after the rest. I didn't do the 400m recovery after the 3rd and 4th one though. I did the jog to the water fountain and wait till the group got back. Do what you got to do.
the intervals were 536,536,536,550,545. 15 minute cool down about 2 miles.

12 miles for the day.

Day 5 40.5 miles.

Monday off

Track tonite...

18.5

Was supposed to go 20, but only went 18.5. It was hard. Not sure why.

Barely made it.

I almost convincedyself that if one day off was good then 2 would be better. luckily I overcame that nonsense and got in a 70 minute run.

Off

In an effort to continue enjoying running I thought it best to take the day off. this included a nice breakfast. 1 cinnamon roll, 1 glazed donut, and a blueberry muffin. It didn't stop there, when I got back home I had the second cinnamon role for lunch and half of the last glazed donut. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the sweets. I ecided to stop the physiological torture there. Dinner will be beef and Ox tail, carrot, potatoe, and leak soup. with a side of corn bread. Mmmmmmm.

17

Ran to the firehouse and back. This run was hard. Felt weak and dehydrated the last 7 of the run. My last mile was 815.

17 miles 740 pace

day 7, 92.5 miles.

I don't think this can continue

Need I say more?

Wednesday

Getting a little snow and some freezing rain, but no blizzard like conditions as was predicted. At least not as of 3pm.
I got in an easy 10.5 miles this afternoon during lunch. 735 pace.

6 days 75.5 miles. I am planning 16 tomorrow and I should be able to hit 90 again.

Well...

I thought it may be a good idea to get in an easy 6 miles before the track workout today. Then we did the standard warmup which a little over 3 miles. Mile repeats was on the agenda, with 200m recovery after the first one, then 400m recovery after all others. I only got in 2.5 of the repeats 535 and 533 245. Most of the guys who raced Sunday felt miserable also and cut short, so I didn't feel too bad about dropping out.
Got in 1 mile cool down.
I did take the dogs for a 2 mile jog this afternoon, but I'm not going to count those.
Miles for the day 12.5
5 days 65 miles.

Flat February

This is going to be the theme for this month. Stay flat. That is pretty much how I describe the race yesterday, the course wasn't flat, but I felt flat. I think that is a pretty good indication that the training is going well.

I got in 14.5 tonight, with a good hilly course which included the last hill of the heartbreak hills.

Today 14.5 miles @ 710 pace.
Day 4 52.5 miles.

15k

The race was hard! Just didn't have it today I guess. The effort I feel like I gave wasn't in line with the outcome.
Time was 58.07, 17th overall. The course was pretty tough with the hills, the wind and the cold.
For me it went like this, 606, 612,608,610, 646, 602,611, 614, 552, then 544 pace for the last half. I think I should have pushed a bit harder from the 6 mile mark, but oh well.
Miles for the day, 14 so far. Debating an evening run.
....made it out for an easy 35 minute run this evening.

18.5 miles for the day.

D2

8.5 miles. Nice and easy.

A new week

80 minute run. Nice and easy felt good no soreness. Would have loved to get in an additional 20 minutes, but I have a hot date. So it's going in the books as 11 miles.

day one, 11 miles.

day 7.

got in a a 6 mile warm up before starting the tempo run on the indoor track. I was thinking about just doing 5k and calling it a day. The first mile wasn't fun 605. I didn't feel warmed up and wasn't sure I was going to be able to complete the run. the legs felt heavy, hamstrings were tight and the calves were tight also. Soon after 1.5 miles I loosened up and felt much better as I picked up the pace a bit.

After looking at Damon't post it looks like we ran the exact same spilts for out tempo runs today. I was a second slower with the over all time though.
4 miles, 23min51 sec.

Not much of a cool down.

93 miles for the week. Whew!

Day 6

13.2 miles, 717 pace. The run went pretty well. Not too hard, not too fast, just a run. Now one day left to the weeek.

6 days, 84 miles.

The Great Stew Chase!

The Stew is the real reason everyone is running, but other that that it will be nice to finally get in road race. It is an out and back course, and based on what I hear and from the looks of the profile the course is in no way flat. Most people are telling me that the pace run during the Great Stew Chase will be a good indication of a half marathon pace on a flat course. I am still thinking 6 minute pace isn't too unreasonable. Aside from the pace goal, I hope to get a top 20 finish which should be possible if last year's results are any indication of the field.

Coure profile:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2911

2009 Results:
http://www.coolrunning.com/results/09/ma/Feb1_35thAn_set1.shtml

Well, I'm off to start day 6 of my running week and hopefully be in the mid 80's by the end of the night

The last one was the hardest..

Warmed up with an easy 5 miles. Then it was time for mile repeats amd I must say these never get old. I actually look forward to mile repeat day. They went like this 529,525,526,528,525, with 400m recovery. They last one was a doozie. I was breathing pretty hard during the last 600 of the last 2 intervals. My legs didn't have any snap today but I was able to push through the last 800 of the 5th repeat.

I cooled down with an easy 2 miles.

Total for the day = 13.

5 days 71 miles.

Monday

Going on 4 days and 58 miles.
Today I felt a little sore/tight, but I guess that is to be expected. It wasn't the kind of sore that made my legs feel dead though. My legs still had some snap to them which allowed me to run at a decent pace without feeling like I was pushing it.
Got in 12 miles, 708 pace.

Boston Marathon, fitness test #1

I am not sure of the reasoning or methodology behind why I wanted to add mile intervals throughout the course of today's long run, but I figured it couldn't hurt. So the first 5 miles was pretty casual to the first track and the mile on the track was 558. then we ran 3 miles to the Harvard track and that mile was 553. At this point I wasn't feeling too bad, but figured it would be a good idea to have a accel-gel. We continued on to the MIT track which is about 3 miles then we did another one at 558. Still feeling pretty good about the run but I knew things were going to get tough in the next 20-30 minutes. We were about a mile from the MIT track when the pace dropped to the 630-635 pace until we reached the final track. At this point we just over 19 miles, 19.3 to be exact. The final mile on the track was 605, but felt much harder than that. From here I headed home and still felt pretty good as far as my ability to push a decent 630-640 pace the rest of the way home.

The run ended at 22 miles, 7 min avg pace for the run.
I had 2 accel gel during this run which I have no doubt that they contributed to my feelings of well being toward the end of the run.

Next weekend is the Great Stew Chase 15k. First road race of the winter. I'm thinking 6 minute pace!

Day 2 of Cold.

8, -2 wind chill degrees when I walked out the door Saturday monring. Thankfully it warmedup to 15 after about an hour into the run which felt pretty nice combined with the full sunshine. We ran for an an hour-forurty five minutes.
a little over 14 miles.

Now time to head out for the Sunday LR.

Information is good

The production quality isn't that great but the information makes up for it.

http://wpblogs.runningtimes.com/blogs/performancepodcasts/2010/01/28/training-qa-with-jack-daniels/

Bitter Cold

Coldest day yet! 18 degrees, 0 with wind chill. This called for 1 pair of tights under my running pants. A synthetic material tight shirt under a thick cotton sweatshirt, a thick pair of gloves and stocking cap over an ear headband. And the final touch was the face mask that was on and off during the run because it was hard to breathe but was absolutely necessary into the wind.

It was a pretty good run. 74 minutes.

This sunday should be a good run. Going to do a long run with the occasional stop at outdoor tracks (3 or 4, probably 4) along the way for a good mile at a faster-ish pace.

suck it up

Well I decided it was time to stop using a litle runny nose and some sneezing as an excuse to not run. Ran for 67 minutes today. Didn't feel great, but it felt much better than not running.

Boston race prep

This is the proposed race preparation for Boston. As I am not superhuman I don't think I'll be participating all of these.
===================

" Jan 29-30,Terrier at BU, race what ever you can...

Feb 7th, the Great Stew Chase 15km in Lynn, MA

Feb 13 Valentine Meet, same as Terrier

Feb 21, race 5 km at USATF meet at Harvard....end of indoor track for marathoners

Feb 28th Jones 10 mile in Amherst. Very important USATF Grand Prix race.

March 7th Stu's 30 km in Clinton, MA hilly, but being able to race a three-quarter's marathon is essential to being able to race a marathon.

March 21 New Bedford Half marathon, Very important USATF Grand Prix race.

There may be a 10km at Tufts that I will recommend, I think March 27th. Race a 10 km on the race on Sat and come back to race 20 miles on the road on Sunday, then you will be ready for a marathon. (just add the times together)
March 28th, ES 20 from Maine to Massachusetts. Again an essential prerequisite for racing a marathon.

April 10th 15 km Tune up in Upton.



I also want you all to get psyched and know the history of the Boston Marathon by reading my book.

Boston Marathon: The first Century of the World's Premiere Running Event, Human Kinetics 1996, or the slightly shorter first edition
The book is in most libraries or available used from Able books http://www.abebooks.com Type in my name. Don't buy the Blood Sweat and Cheers book. That's mostly photos.

The first reading assignment for women is the 1966 chapter and for men the 1970 chapter.

Mileage is the key to the marathon, the next key is racing up to the distance. The closer your daily milage is to the time of your marathon, the less important is the "long run." If you are a 2:20 marathoners running 100 miles a week then you spend about 2 hours a day running which is only 20 minutes shy of the time you will spend racing, but if you run 40 miles a week and run a 4 hour marathon...well, it is really a different event.

Of course this stuff is hard to do. The marathon is a hard event."

So I hope to participate in the majority of these events with the exception of the Terrier meet, the Valentine meet and the USATF meet. I may do one of these, but no as of today.
I am not sure about the 15k on april 10th either, as it may be too close to race day. Nor do I think I'll be doing the back to back 10k 20 miler, I will likely only do the 20 miler.