Training Week 7/4 - 7/10

Another solid, building week. It wasn't big in terms of mileage, but it was strong and varied. Very pleased.

Onto the numbers:

7/4, Sunday: 5 - 46:02, Homeplace Loop. Just a nice, easy run.

7/5, Monday: 10 - 3:17:01 (approximately), Baldface Circle Trail in Evans Notch. Totally and completely kicked my butt. About 3700' of elevation on a really hot day. Thankfully, Jim, Jamie, Chuck and Erik were kind enough to wait for me on the climb up South Baldface. Heat and climbing are not my favorites, and it showed. I hung in a bit better on the descent, but by that time my legs were rubber. I dipped my hat and Buff in every stream I could find to cool off. I was very happy to reach Emerald Pool to cool off at the end of the loop. It was a tough day for me, but exactly what I need. I just couldn't maintain the same pace as those guys, but, overall, I felt good. My energy was good, and I stayed well hydrated thanks to a 22oz handheld and 70oz in my Nathan pack. In fact, I didn't even completely drain the 70oz of HEED. I managed the heat, well, too, which is always a challenge for me. So, again, I was slow, but I'm pretty pleased with how I fared. Hopefully, I'll be able to get in a few more mountain runs this summer as it's a great way to work on my biggest weakness. Oh, and it was beautiful. Pics on my Facebook page.



7/6, Tuesday: 6 total, White Mountain Milers Inov-8 Summer Series, 5k - 22:24; 2 mile warm up / 1 mile cool down. Admittedly, running this "race" the day after the Baldfaces wasn't the best idea. Didn't I mention temps were in the 90's? However, I didn't go all out and actually felt OK. All right, my legs were trashed, specifically, my quads, but I shut it down after two miles. The first mile is pancake flat, and I was feeling like a tough guy: 6:32. Bad idea. I attempted to run hard up the only, but long, hill that makes up a good portion of the second mile, but when I saw my two-mile split: 14:20ish, I knew I needed to back off. That was way too slow for as hard as I was working, and I didn't want to overdo it. A number of people cruised passed me in the final mile, but I didn't care because none of them ran the Baldfaces the day before. Good test, though, and I passed.

7/7, Wednesday: 3 - 26:29, Suck Loop. Quads still sore, so I made it a short, very easy day. Good decision.

7/8, Thursday: Off, but I did sneak in some strength work. Don't worry. I'm shocked, too.

7/9, Friday: 5 - 1:28:14, marking the Bradbury Scuffle course with Valerie. Additional strength quotient to this run due to carrying 4 million orange flags. Despite the oppressive humidity (and my excessive sweating) and the horrible deer flies, we had fun, and I was very happy to have some help. Valerie was great company, and we laughed and joked the entire time. Course marking takes a long time, but the run part felt fine. My quads were no longer sore.

7/10, Saturday: 3.75 - 35:37, random loop at Great Glen Trails. With the Bradbury Scuffle on Sunday, I decided to take another mellow day in hopes of putting a little freshness back in my legs. (It worked.) It rained quite heavily during my run, and I was actually a bit cold near the end, so I cut it a bit short. Felt very easy and relaxed, though.

Totals:
Miles: 32.75
Trail: 29.75
Road: 3

So, again, not a big week, but a tough, smart week. I'll take that anytime.

Tunes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfGSqUmcqDk

OK, not retro at all. Get over it. In fact, the retro tune series may be morphing into what Ryan is listening to this week. Thrilling, I know...

Bradbury Scuffle - Race Report

The Bradbury Scuffle may be my favorite race of the entire year. It's short enough (6 miles) that you don't have to stress about the distance or your training, and it's not too tough (no major climbs) so you can just enjoy the singletrack and all the twists and turns. In short, it's fun. Additionally, this year, I'd volunteered to help Ian direct the race. In reality, he has it dialed in, but I like to think that I was at least able to help him relax a bit on race day. Plus, we had so many volunteers come out to help that things went very smoothly even with a record number of finishers: 147!

Going into the race, my mindset was that I'm definitely training through this race. I did run easy on Saturday, but other than that I'm in a building mode. No specific training or taper for this race at all. My legs were clearly a touch tired after running the Baldfaces on Monday and "racing" a 5k on Tuesday. So, I hoped to run well, but didn't expect anything spectacular.

After the pre-race set up, I snuck in a quick 1-mile warmup. It was humid. Temperatures had moderated from earlier in the week, but I knew that it still wouldn't be all that pleasant out on the course. Ian rolled through the pre-race announcements, including the reminder to all that the race is dedicated to Chris Douglass who was tragically killed in 2008. I never met Chris, but it's clear that his spirit lives on. His entire family comes out to volunteer or run the race. It's pretty special.

The start of the race was wild. Not only were there more entrants than ever, but there were more fast entrants than ever. The race went out shockingly fast. Way too fast for this guy. The initial downhill no doubt exacerbated the fast pace, and I watched a number of people pass me as I tried to settle into my pace. It wasn't time for me to race yet. I just wanted to stay relaxed and comfortable. After the turn onto the Snowmobile Trail, however, reality started to set in. I had really found my pace and moved up through the throng of runners that didn't realize the race wasn't just a half mile downhill. At this point, I was running with Tom Whitaker who is coming off a great 50 Mile race at Pineland. I congratulated him on his race and asked him how his recovery was going. He sort of dodged the question, so I assumed his legs would still be a bit tired. Ian was just in front of us, and I focused on him knowing that if I could stay with him through the more technical sections of the course, I'd have a good day.

Once onto the singletrack, I ended up leading a small group (five or six) with Tom right on my heels. Tom was clearly feeling good as we chatted a bit, mostly in Princess Bride quotes. (Oxygen debt makes you do crazy things.) As we wove through the Batcave Trail, we eventually hit the downhill section of it, and I heard one of the guys in our train say to another runner, "I'm not a great downhill runner, so let me know if you want to pass." At that point, I threw in a little surge and our group of five or six was down to just Tom and I. At this point, I felt like I had shifted from comfortable and relaxed to racing. I was going harder earlier in the race than I had planned, but I decided to just go with it. It was at this same point, that I saw Ian just ahead of us. I never expected to actually catch him on the technical portion of the course, since he's a much better technical runner than I am, so I decided to just focus on running behind him. We passed a handful of runners as we made our way along to Ginn. They had all clearly gone out too hard or were just not as comfortable on Bradbury's technical terrain. It was because of this traffic that I gapped Tom a bit.

The well-known strategy for this race is wait until the aid station to let it rip. At the aid station, the course turns left onto the Snowmobile Trail, and it's approximately 2 miles to the finish. The real technical running is behind you, and there is a significant downhill to come. I came into the aid station, just behind Ian and John Lamneck, a runner I know from the North Conway area who always seems to be just ahead in every race we run. Instead of stopping to drink like those guys, I grabbed a cup, dumped it on my head and took off. I couldn't see anyone in front of me, but I was hoping to change that.

When Valerie and I went out to mark the course on Friday, we made sure to take the course straight through all the deep puddles on the Snowmobile Trail. However, it has been so dry, the puddles were nonexistent. Imagine my surprise to find some deep puddles on race day. Saturday's rain had added a new element to the course, and the deep puddles only energized me as I tried to chase down the runners I couldn't see. Eventually, I did see a couple runners ahead of me and really focused on trying to reel them in. I didn't dare look back assuming that Ian would be right on my heels. With each step, I was closing in to the runner in front of me. I kept staring at his white hat. As I reached the new bridge, I could hear footsteps behind me. I never looked back, though, and I couldn't tell if it was one guy of five. I was totally surprised to see Tom go cruising by me with more Princess Bride. Apparently, he had recovered quite well from his 50-miler. I couldn't match his turnover, and he pulled away. I expected more runners to be with him, but he was alone. Now, it was just me chasing down the white hat with a mile to go.

From having run the course many times, I know just how painful the hill in the final half mile can be. I practically crawled up this hill last year. I was determined to run well on this hill no matter what. The white hat was still in front of me. Sometimes 10 yards. Sometimes as much as 50. The head games were on: "You can get him." "You're never going to catch him." I kept alternating between those two thoughts. In the middle of the hill, the white hat passed another runner who had started walking. When I was just about to pass the walker, he started running again. He was about three steps in front of me and wasn't running slowly. He went from walk to my pace very quickly. (Maybe I wasn't hammering as hard as I thought.) Immediately, I thought, "Dude, you're not going to get beat by a guy who was just walking." I gathered myself and went by him convincingly. I figured if he had been walking, I could break his spirit if I went by hard. Hey, no friends on race day.

Because of this acceleration, I closed the gap on the white hat. It was decision time: "Is this too much too soon?" I really wasn't certain. I decided to just go for it. Unfortunately, so did the white hat. We were getting close to a quarter mile to go at this point, and for one final time, I thought, "You're never going to catch him." I was just about all out, and he was still a few yards ahead of me. I'd been chasing the white hat for so long that I had to give it one last shot. There's one final left hand turn, and I saw him go a touch wide. It was the smallest of openings, and I started sprinting as hard as I could. I was really hurting, but I wanted to make another decisive move. I snuck by him on the inside and used the subsequent downhill to really open it up. Stephen Wells was cheering for me on the final right hand turn, and I was all out. By rights, I should have completely blown up, but I held it together through the finish in a time of 46:28, good for 20th place overall. Tom really put the hurt to me in the final 1.5 miles to finish 22 seconds ahead of me. The white hat was 7 seconds back.

RESULTS

Admittedly, I surprised myself. I didn't expect to run as fast as I did or feel nearly as good. I felt in control the entire way and could accelerate and really push it when I needed to. A bit of redemption for me this year, as well, running 4 minutes faster than 2009. That being said, the field was clearly stacked this year, as I finished 2 places lower this year despite the much faster time. Speaking of my 50+ minute race last year, Danielle easily topped that this year with an awesome race. Who needs speedwork? :) Great day for a number of other Trail Monsters, as well. On top of all that, my sister completed her first ever trail race and had a blast. All in all, I'd say the Bradbury Scuffle was a complete success. Thanks again to Ian for putting on a great race, and all the volunteers who made it all possible. Now, it's onto the Bradbury Mountain Breaker. I better get in some hill training, if I want to duplicate my success.

Training Week 6/27 - 7/3

Good building week, this week. More importantly, the runs were varied. Previous to the epiphanies, all my runs were basically the same: easy mileage. That's not going to get it done. I didn't come up with Jeff's 57 different run categories, but it was more varied. Because of that, it seemed a little easier to pack in the mileage. Still not a big week, but I don't want to do too much after three down weeks.

Onto the numbers:

6/27, Sunday: 5 - 44:07, Homeplace Loop. Consciously ran very easy. Along with varying the runs, I need to make sure that my easy runs really are easy.

6/28, Monday: 8 - 1:04:14, Meadow Cross Road Loop. This run started out as a tempo run, but after three miles I was just hoping to survive. It was hot, and I felt like total crap. I barely felt like I was lifting my feet off the pavement. So, instead of the 7:30-7:40 miles I was shooting for, I just tried to keep moving forward. Total bummer.

6/29, Tuesday: Off. Scheduling was not on my side this day. Seriously considered going out for a night run (because you never know when the skill might come in handy), but instead, I read Western States 100 race reports. Training by osmosis.

6/30, Wednesday: 5 - 43:38, Homeplace Loop. Another easy run on what's becoming my go-to loop. Felt a bit tight, but otherwise just fine. The most important part of today's entry is strength work—actual pushups and other pumpitude. I know, I'm somewhat amazed myself.

7/1, Thursday: 7.5 total. Great Glen Trails Spring Trail Running Series: 3.7 - 25:56; 2.25 warmup/1.5 cooldown. Ended up with my fastest time on this course after the worst warmup ever. I felt sluggish, creaky and awful on the warmup. In fact, I seriously considering bagging the race altogether. I popped a bunch of pretzels and M&M's in between and just went for it. Felt great during the race and shaved about 40 seconds off my previous best. Felt great on the cooldown, too. I have no idea.

7/2, Friday: 6 - 56:45, 9x Mt. Ararat. I'm really looking to up my hill training, so what better way than to run up a mountain? Unfortunately, this mountain is only about 220' feet above sea level. Living on the coast of Maine has its disadvantages. The plan for this run was to run comfortably, certainly not a hill interval workout. To break the monotony I varied my route to the summit, but I always climbed by the steepest route. As expected, I was a touch tired, but it was a good workout. I'll definitely be repeating this one and also extending it. Unfortunately, however, even with 9 summits of the mighty Mt. Ararat, I only managed about 650 feet of vertical in 6 miles. That seems pretty lame. Granted, about a mile of that (to and from my house) is totally flat, but I was hoping for more.


7/3, Saturday: 3 - 25:14, Suck Loop. BLECH. Worst three miles ever. I only had a brief window to squeeze a run in, so I was out the door shortly after rolling out of bed. I would have liked to have put in a few more miles, but perhaps it's a good thing I didn't have more time. Oh well. My entire right leg was very tight, and I felt like I weighed about 400 pounds. Hopefully, that was just a fluke.

Totals:
Miles: 34.5
Trail: 23.5
Road: 11

So, again, good building week, slowly ramping up the mileage. And, speaking of that, the only thing missing from the week was a true long run. That will come. Tough to squeeze it all in. I think all races should have a separate category for parents with the age groups based on the age of your child.

Other then the running part, I've been doing "ALOT" of thinking about running. More specifically, what do I like about it? The answer is pretty simple: exploring and wandering. Give me a trail, and let's check it out. I'm going to use this basic philosophy to tailor my training and pick my races. Sounds like a lot more fun than track workouts and road races with 5,000 people. Not that you can't be into that sort of thing. Just not my style. Of course, this means races that are longer in nature. You know, ultr...

TUNES!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEY0pKb-XoU

Training Week 6/20 - 6/26

I haven't written a training post in three weeks because, frankly, the last three weeks have been crap, crap and more crap. Not a lot to prattle on about besides cracked ribs, sinus infections, a sick child and other excuses. However, this week marked the return, and it went very well.

Onto the numbers:

6/20, Sunday: 0 - I did manage to mope quite a bit, however, after missing Mt. Washington. In reality, I wanted one more day for the sinus infection to clear out.

6/21, Monday: 5 - 41:57, Highland Green Loop. Despite taking a full week off, having been sick and the fact that it was a fairly warm day, I felt pretty good. A little creaky in the hamstring department, but I'll take it.

6/22, Tuesday: 5 - 44:36, Homeplace Loop. Another warm day, but all went well. My upper body felt a bit sore and tired: shoulders, arms, core. Gee, I wonder if even a hint of strength training would help? (See, epiphany #1.)

6/23, Wednesday: 6.25 - 1:00:57, Granite State Snowshoe Champs course at Great Glen Trails. Another good one: that's three for three. This loop is a lot of fun and will no doubt become a staple.

6/24, Thursday: 7.5 total, Great Glen Trails Spring Trail Running Series: 3.7 - 28:33; 2.25 warmup/1.5 cooldown. I felt exactly how I expected to feel: not sharp and a bit tired. The lack of sharpness would be the aforementioned three weeks of crap, and the tired would be the hilliness of Tuesday and Wednesday's runs. That being said, I'll take it.

6/25, Friday: 5.5 - 48:38, Complete random loop. Left the house looking for hills and 5 miles. I started with a climb up Mt. Ararat, then a lap on the Heath Trail, down Tedford Road and back on the powerlines. This probably won't become a regular loop, but it was good recon for building a longer loop. I had never run that particular piece of Tedford Road (all dirt), either, so it was nice to connect the dots. Because of the scouting nature of this trip, I wore the Garmin, but I was disappointed with the numbers, specifically the elevation. I felt like this was a fairly hilly run, but the Garmin data makes it look flat. Can I get a couple opinions on the hill factor of this run? Here's the data:



6/26, Saturday: Off

Totals: 29.25
Trail: 24.25
Road: 5

I'm classifying that as a very good comeback week. Kept the pace easy, except for Thursday, and felt good on each run. All positive steps.

I had many, many other deep thoughts and musings I was going to post, but I've forgotten them. If I could only blog while I ran. I will say this: the plan is to build and roughly follow the Walker method. (Or else, he'll send me to my room.) Additionally, plans are beginning to germinate for the fall...and beyond.

One final note: HOLY CRAP Western States was JACKED this year!!!! Watched Roes and Krupicka finish last night and bunch of the "regular folk" finish today. Awesome, awesome stuff.

TUNES ARE BACK!!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAoVj0-bZkI

OK, so I cheated. Not retro. But, it's a groovy video, and I can't get that flippin' song out of my head. Plus, the facial hair work at the end is stellar.

Three Weeks

Today, I was supposed to be writing my race report from the 50th Mt. Washington Road Race. Things didn't exactly turn out the way I had hoped. Since Pineland, it's been nothing but setbacks, and I've had only three quality runs.

The first was on Saturday, June 5. Somewhat by chance, I was passing by Fort Rock in Exeter, NH. I knew that I wouldn't be able to make it the the Exeter Trail Races, so I was stoked to have a chance to check out the enemy's turf. I heard plenty of good things about these trails. I had taken a peek at the trail maps, so I had rough idea where I thought I might like to run. I was hoping for about 45 minutes. Long story short: I got very, very lost. I was out for nearly an hour and a half. I ended up finishing on the roads after finding myself in a condo complex. Luckily, two very nice, but very perplexed women were kind enough to give a very sweaty, smelly fellow directions. And, the entire time, I was trying to figure out why my chest hurt so much...hmmmm...

After taking a few days off to let my now confirmed cracked rib heal and a couple short, easy runs to test it out, my second quality run came on Friday, June 11. I was looking to get in a solid hour, and being at Great Glen Trails, I decided that the Granite State Snowshoe Championship course would be a good choice: fun trails and plenty of hills. The recipe was just right, and I felt great. Ran very easy and finished in just under an hour.

Two days later on June 13, D and I invited a bunch of Trail Monsters to our house for Cathance and Pancakes. A great crew showed up, and the running was just as good. I led the crew on a 9-mile loop through the Cathance River Nature Preserve and also made sure we had an option for those looking to go a little shorter. Great time on the trails, and I felt very relaxed and comfortable the whole way. I felt more comfortable once we returned to our house and ate a bunch of pancakes and drank a ton of coffee. Be sure to check out Chuck's pics.

That afternoon, I felt a little off, and I knew something was wrong. By Monday, it was clear that my sinuses were in a very bad place. On Tuesday, I had my prescription for antibiotics to combat a pretty nasty sinus infection. I maintained a level of functionality throughout the week, but I was basically a zombie. Running was out of the question. It was compounded by the fact that I barely slept most nights due to aggressive coughing fits. In short, I was a mess. On Thursday night, I decided that running up Mt. Washington was out of the question. In some ways, it was an easy decision. In others, I couldn't believe I wouldn't be toeing the line on Saturday.

So, that's what June has been like. I've actually had fewer days running than not running this month. That's grim. I guess a cracked rib and a sinus infection will do that.

Now, with all that in mind. I actually feeling really optimistic and excited for the rest of the summer. I'm not saying that I'm going to have great race results, but I know that I'm going to enjoy running. And, just running. That will be the key to epiphany #3. It's pretty clear that 10 years away from running (and getting fat) aren't overcome by just a couple years of running. It takes more time than that. And, I've decided that that's OK. Plus, not running has given me time to think about running. (I'm better at thinking about than I am at doing it.) Specifically, I've been thinking about the type of running I want to do: more trails, more fun trails. Perhaps even longer trails...perhaps...

During this crappy month, I've watched this video about 100 times:



It's not new, and it features Coldplay (ugh). However, it makes me want to get out and go. And, if I'm still excited to run after the way the last three weeks have gone, it bodes well for my attitude and motivation once I get back into it. Maybe I'll even run another ult...

The Epiphany

I have a friend who used to have an epiphany every couple days. Every time he thought of something new or heard a differing opinion, he claimed he had had an epiphany. In general, these realizations were not epiphanies and were quite mundane. "You mean, Apple-Z allows me to undo what I just did on the computer?!?!!?" So, in the spirit of epiphanies, here's my post-Pineland epiphany, or perhaps it's three:

1. Strength. I can't recall the number of times that I've vowed to do actual strength work. I do know that whatever the actual number is is the exact number of times I've failed. I even know the reason for my failings. It's a point I've discussed with Mindy (who is on the comeback trail...again!!!), many times. Doing non-running exercises makes me feel injured. When I'm healthy enough to run, I just want to run. And, I'm not go to belabor this point, but based on how my body reacted at Pineland, I need to build up my already impressive (read: not actually impressive) muscles. Running alone isn't getting it done. I've mentally sketched out a routine that I'm going to do three times a week. I mean it this time. I hope...

There is one important caveat to this epiphany: I will not do any upper body work with a cracked rib. This caveat is significant because, well, I do indeed have a cracked rib. Or at least, I'm 96% certain I do. Last Thursday, I was changing a flat tire on my car, when I felt a pop while trying to loosen one of the lug nuts. It's on my right side, near my arm pit. It hurts, especially when I take a deep breath or do any number of other movements or tasks I've yet to discover. Luckily, our ibuprofen stores are full stocked...not for long.

2. Nutrition. This epiphany isn't directly related to Pineland as it's been something I've been thinking about for quite some time. I have only a remedial knowledge of nutrition. For example, I know that I everything I eat shouldn't be deep fried. Beyond that, it's a bit of a crap shoot. I just need to make a better connection with the output from the food that goes in. My diet is fairly healthy now, but not healthy enough to fuel an athlete. If you can't be an athlete, at least eat like one!

3. Training. In short, I need to step it up. My training is fine for a guy just trying to be in reasonable shape. I've accomplished that, but that's really not good enough. Don't look for any triple digit weeks, but it's time for a change. When I started running again in late 2007 after a ten year hiatus, I had hoped to be able to run comfortably for an hour. I managed that and more. In 2008, I wanted to see if I could run a whole year without any major injuries. I not only accomplished that goal, but I also completed my first marathon. Last year, I tried to do to much without adequate recovery and learned a lot. To this point in 2010, I'm averaging 28 miles per week. That's it. And, I may do one hard workout or race per week. That equation is not going to add up to the results I want.

Now, I promise not to overdo it. If, say, I don't know, for example, I have a cracked rib. Well, in that case, I'll back off a little bit. I'll also be paying close attention to my body after races. I will not keep pushing like I did following my 50k at Pineland last year. And, most importantly, I'm going to be really relaxed with my training. If I feel good, I might go longer or harder. If I don't feel so good, I won't. I'll probably do a few race specific workouts here and there, e.g. for Mt. Washington or the Bradbury Mountain Breaker, but I really just want to build up my strength. The 5k's and short races are really fun, but I can do reasonably well in those without training too seriously. If I focus on strength, however, I believe those results can get even better. But, more importantly, my running as a whole will improve. It's a theory anyway.

Now, where's that ibuprofen?