Monday: Ran/hiked Mt. Osceola and East Osceola in the whites. Another two 4000-footers down. Moving-time the hike took 3:02. Unlike last time, this hike was far steeper and dangerous in some sections. Like last time, Bill and I ran wherever possible and finished with 2x5:00 hard. Total miles: 10.2
Tuesday: PT this morning. Ran into Chris Mahoney - small world! Recovery jog around the trails. Felt far looser after the run than before. Beautiful warm day out! 7 miles, 50 minutes.
Wednesday: Day off. Tired.
Thursday: 5 miles (31:00)
Friday: Ran/Hiked Mt. Tecumseh plus a few hill repeats up the last portion of the Waterville Valley maintenance road. 2x5:00 hard at the finish. Total miles: 9.
Saturday: Ran easy with Brandon. Somehow he convinced me to race Loon tomorrow... 8m, 58 minutes.
Sunday: Warmed up 10', raced up and down Loon Mountain, cooled down 22 minutes back to the car. This race was a unique event for me. It was my first mountain race ever and I simply couldn't believe how steep some sections were. The course begins on a flat section along the Pemi river but quickly heads to the ski slopes where we zigzagged up and down across the mountain. Then we hit a maintenance road that took a pretty direct route up the mountain. That was followed by another down-hill zigzag to the far right side of the mountain (when watching from the mountain's base) for yet another extremely steep and direct ascent to the top. Here is where I first saw people walking. Finally at the top, after a brief period of shear agony, the course flies down a steep little hill and then takes us about 1/4 - 1/3 of a mile directly downhill. It was so steep I had to keep putting the breaks on. Then the course cuts hard right back up the mountain for a second go. Here I met the "walking boss", a 10-minute-long section with grades in excess of 40%, and just watched as competitors around me zigzagged and staggered up the hill. It was also neat because, as far ahead as JJ, Newbould and others were, I could see everyone struggling on the same damn hill. After a minute or two I just tried to focus on my own two feet and refused to look up until I got to the top. I passed a few guys on this section but I was shocked at how steep the descent on the other side was. It was all I could do not to wipe out on the rocks and mud and dirt being thrown about, but I also knew there were a few racers right on my tail. Finished 12th place, in 55:40ish according to my watch. Total 9.5 miles on the day.
Total miles on the week: 48.7
Thoughts: The mileage this week was lower than desired, but I also spent 3 days in the white mountains and climbed an estimated 9,000 feet vertical this week. For next week I have to focus on recovering from Loon, hitting about 60 miles, and perhaps doing a fartlek run on Wednesday or Thursday.
The daily meanderings of a New England runner
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Week 6/20-6/26
Monday: Met up with Newbould and got 70 minutes on the rail trail from Epping. Took it nice and easy in light of the tough race Newbould ran this past weekend. (9.5)
Tuesday: Ran with Jenkins from Durham. Went out Radar to Trestle and back. Dear flies were killer today. (60 minutes, 8.5m)
Wednesday: Ran/hiked when running was impossible 3 4,000-footers in the whites with Godfrey. We climbed North Twin, South Twin, and Galehead, covering about 7000' elevation gained over 13.8 miles of total hiking. The steepest section was on the return from Gale hut to South Twin, and we really pushed the pace there. The last 1.8 had a few stream-crossings, but was otherwise clean enough to run. We really hauled that last 1.8 and then ran 2x5:00 hard from the parking area. Total activity: 5h7m. Then we went to the Basin and iced our legs in the chilly river water. Great day. (15.8m)
Thursday: Recovery slog on the trails next to the apartment. (49 minutes, 6.8m)
Friday: Completed two big loops in Maudslay, each one taking about half an hour. Felt slow but no garmin. (59 minutes, 8.5?)
Saturday: Ran steady on some new roads plus a trail I found in South Hampton. (50 minutes, 7.5)
Sunday: 45-minute bike-ride and 5 mile jog with Jenkins.
Total: 61.6
Tuesday: Ran with Jenkins from Durham. Went out Radar to Trestle and back. Dear flies were killer today. (60 minutes, 8.5m)
Wednesday: Ran/hiked when running was impossible 3 4,000-footers in the whites with Godfrey. We climbed North Twin, South Twin, and Galehead, covering about 7000' elevation gained over 13.8 miles of total hiking. The steepest section was on the return from Gale hut to South Twin, and we really pushed the pace there. The last 1.8 had a few stream-crossings, but was otherwise clean enough to run. We really hauled that last 1.8 and then ran 2x5:00 hard from the parking area. Total activity: 5h7m. Then we went to the Basin and iced our legs in the chilly river water. Great day. (15.8m)
Thursday: Recovery slog on the trails next to the apartment. (49 minutes, 6.8m)
Friday: Completed two big loops in Maudslay, each one taking about half an hour. Felt slow but no garmin. (59 minutes, 8.5?)
Saturday: Ran steady on some new roads plus a trail I found in South Hampton. (50 minutes, 7.5)
Sunday: 45-minute bike-ride and 5 mile jog with Jenkins.
Total: 61.6
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Training Week #1: 6/13-6/19
Monday: Hit my favorite loop in South Hampton through bacheldor park. This run is about 75% roads, and I've been trying to stay on trails as much as possible these days to improve fitness and prevent injury. I was right around 6:50 pace for the total effort, speeding up as the run carried on. (9.4 in 64:30)
Tuesday: Had limited energy today, so I decided to do an out-and-back from the house all on trails. (7 in 48:30)
Wednesday: Woke early to run before the heat rolled in. 90 degrees today! Finished my run by 9am but it was a bit of a struggle to roll right out of bed and onto the streets. I also happened to pick the river route, which happened to be the area that Amesbury calls Wednesday morning "trash day". I proceeded to race a dump truck for no less than 4 miles down the river which divides Amesbury and Newburyport. Woof. (8.5 in 55:00)
Thursday: Ran with Brandon Newbould out in Nottingham. Brandon had his son Arie so we stayed on smooth roads and went fairly short: 6.5m (NT)
Friday: Ran solo in the afternoon from the apartment. 8.2m loop (NT)
Saturday: Wedding weekend, drove to Burlington VT in the morning and snuck in a quick 5 on the hotel treadmill before heading out to the wedding. (34:00)
Sunday: Long mountain run with the padre for father's day pretty darn slow. 2+ hours of running plus about 1 hour of hiking
Total: ~55 miles running for the first time in a while. Strained quad is all but healed, but I'll be taking the next few weeks carefully.
Tuesday: Had limited energy today, so I decided to do an out-and-back from the house all on trails. (7 in 48:30)
Wednesday: Woke early to run before the heat rolled in. 90 degrees today! Finished my run by 9am but it was a bit of a struggle to roll right out of bed and onto the streets. I also happened to pick the river route, which happened to be the area that Amesbury calls Wednesday morning "trash day". I proceeded to race a dump truck for no less than 4 miles down the river which divides Amesbury and Newburyport. Woof. (8.5 in 55:00)
Thursday: Ran with Brandon Newbould out in Nottingham. Brandon had his son Arie so we stayed on smooth roads and went fairly short: 6.5m (NT)
Friday: Ran solo in the afternoon from the apartment. 8.2m loop (NT)
Saturday: Wedding weekend, drove to Burlington VT in the morning and snuck in a quick 5 on the hotel treadmill before heading out to the wedding. (34:00)
Sunday: Long mountain run with the padre for father's day pretty darn slow. 2+ hours of running plus about 1 hour of hiking
Total: ~55 miles running for the first time in a while. Strained quad is all but healed, but I'll be taking the next few weeks carefully.
Back to the drawing board..
Returning to blogging and logging my runs only makes sense now that I appear to be healthy again. For those who are unaware, I had a recurrence of Pericarditis which sent me straight back to square one, about 6 weeks of complete inactivity. I'm doing my best not to dwell on the last few months of limited training, nagging injury, and inconsistent motivation. Hopefully all that stuff is in the past. My priority now is just to get back to a fitness level that makes running enjoyable. I'm so out of shape that my slogs this past week have just HURT! Anyway, I'm back, and trying to stay on the path to healthy running. This probably marks comeback #4 in the past 2 years. Yikes...
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