Monday

A good start to the week with a solid 1:37 with none other than Sam Wood in Newburyport. We ran the Yankee 10 miler course in 65 minutes and jumped into Maudslay for another 32 minutes of running. 14.5 on the day. Recovered with an awesome pizza at Flat Bread's in Amesbury. Good news... the Hynes bridge connecting Amesbury and Newburyport has reopened!

Sunday Long(er) Run

7am: 1:42:40 / 15 miles  Matt Germain and I met up for a casual semi-long run on the Haggett's Pond - Golf Course route in Andover. Matt's coming off an achilles flare up and since I raced yesterday, each of us thought better of going farther. I worked out the kinks the first few uphill miles and then we basically cruised easy around 6:40 for a majority of the run.

This week: 83 miles with one race, one solid workout, and a decently long run. This is probably right where I'll keep it and not really reach much higher unless I have good indicators that I'm ready. Made steady progress over the past month. The race yesterday was a lot of fun. Happy to be sub 16 again for the first time in a while! For this coming week I'll be working out at Andover on Tuesday and probably something tempo-ish on Friday and long again Sunday. Although, it could be an unpredictable week with school starting!!

Thursday, Friday, Saturday Race!

Thursday: 65 minutes of trail awesomeness! 9.5 miles
Friday am: 7+ miles with 4x120m strides, feeling good!
Friday pm: 4 miles before dinner with Brent.
Saturday: UNH Friends/Alumni 5k. 3 up, 5k race, 2 down, 4 extended cool down. 15:45ish (official results not yet posted...) 2nd place behind UNH alum Dan Hocking. Ran even, felt strong through to the end. Made a move to pass Alex Beaulieu around 2 miles. The course was in excellent shape. Cross was a little unfamiliar with the changes from dirt to grass to gravel and back, but I stayed focused and kept it in a good gear. It was really nice to see my old coaches and catch up with some UNH buds!

Workout Wednesday

Solo mid-week workout: 3.5 up / 25 minutes to Spring Grove Cemetery. Looking for inspiration for a workout and found it in DD and Verrington; Dan told me the wide perimeter of the loop was about 100' short of a mile, and I was feeling like something longer.

So I did 4 loops on 2 minutes recovery.  I measured the loop on the pedometer and it came out to .95. Worked gradually into the first one. Splits were:  4:59 (5:14), 4:45 (5:00), 4:43 (4:57), 4:40 (4:54); Actual (Pace Conversion).

2 minutes standing rest had me pretty much ready to roll for the next one. There was a single longish hill right around 800m in, but the gradual downhill towards the finish was awesome. I'll have to do more work there this Fall. Great workout!

3.5 / 25 minutes down. 11 miles on the day!

Monday and Tuesday

Monday: 8 miles / 58 minutes at Winnekenni after school. Starving by 20 minutes in so I turned it around early and called it a day! Good recovery run.

 Tuesday: 14 miles / 95 minutes around Andover. Tired from work but felt better as the run went on. Hills or something fun like that tomorrow!

Sunday-funday: Marathon workout #1!

Alarm was set for 5:15 to run in Raymond, NH for 6:45. But the train goes by, blowing it's horn at 4:30 and I'm up and getting an early breakfast!

Arrive at Pat Ard's place around 6:20. Brandon rolls in at 6:30, and by 6:45 we're on the road. I basically followed Brandon's lead since he has a lot more experience at the Marathon. The recipe called for 2 miles up, 10 at "general aerobic pace" and then 8 miles at sub-goal Marathon pace.

Ard warmed up with us, but with some tightness going on with his Achilles, he made a good call and worked more gradually into his long run of 14+.

The 10 mile segment was smooth, as we traveled west on the old dirt railroad bed right off Main St, Raymond. Our first split was around 6:20 and then down pretty quickly to sub 6:10. Hit 10 miles around 61 minutes, grabbed the water we stashed and jogged another half mile to avoid a low culvert we needed to pass. The pace was solid but I felt really smooth and it was good to catch up with B, so the miles ticked by pretty effortlessly.

Then straight into the important portion of the workout. Mile 1 right at 5:30, most of it on dirt. Mile 2 again right on 5:30 but moving uphill, now on roads and following a really hilly loop. Mile 3 climbed a bit and then began to roll. we hit 3 miles around 5:25 followed by a really steep uphill that just absolutely crushed me. It hadn't occurred to me that the challenge to this run was not bonking!

 I didn't want to bag the workout or mess with Brandon's rhythm so I ducked out for a 20 second pitty party/attempt to recover from the hill and the miles. Slammed a gel and then back into it. Kept Brandon in sight, but I knew 5:30 or faster was no longer in the cards. I tried to relax my upper body, work the hills with consistent small strides and then open up on the longer, gradual downhills. This worked relatively well and I kept the effort sub 5:50 although I swear I was seeing stars if I allowed myself to lose focus at all. At 7 miles of total of hard running I called it a day and listened to my body by slowing to about 8 minutes pace and began my cooldown. Met Brandon about a mile down the road, jogged to where we threw our bottles and headed back to Pat's place.

Pat was already enjoying his Sunday, showered up and hanging on the couch. He had a great run, moving pretty darn quick overall and just shy of 15. I was satisfied with the effort, but pretty darn zapped. An hour later I was just plain HURTING. My stomach was a mess. Despite pounding fluids, my eyes were so glossy it hurt to move them around. I devoured a turkey sandwich, about $5 bucks worth of grapes graciously offered by Pat, some awesome OJ (extra pulp!) and got to the store in time to veg out in the car for about 20 minutes before my final regular shift. 6 hours on my feet and then home to relax. I'm really glad the guys at the store cancelled the store bball tourney scheduled for the evening!!

It's good to have this effort in the books as I hope it will build my strength and toughness for the marathon distance. It occurred to me for the second time this year that I was only a few miles shy of the full distance at a much quicker pace than my debut last year. Cape Cod is finally feeling more like a reality than just a far-off goal. 9 weeks to go!

Training: 8/20 - 8/26

Monday: 80 minutes / 12 miles steady, right hammy tight!
Tuesday: 7 miles... Stomach bug Monday night into Tuesday morning... blegh. 57 minutes around 10pm, feeling empty. Hamstring less tight though... silver lining! Next time I'll be smarter and just take the zero.
Wednesday: 67 minutes / 10 miles with 6 barefoot strides. Right Achilles tight. Hamstring non-issue.
Thursday am: 62 minutes / 9 miles on trails in Haverhill.
Thursday pm: 61 minutes / 9 miles on trails in Andover solo! Felt better than the morning. Achilles still there but less so.
Friday: 67 minutes / 10 miles, mostly roads with a loop in the sanctuary.
Saturday: 60 minutes / 9 miles steady. Big marathon workout planned for tomorrow morning!
Sunday: 2:17:11 / 21.75 miles with Brandon Newbould and Pat Ard. First 2 warmup, then 10 at 6:10 pace, then 3 miles at 5:30 and 4 miles at 5:45 pace. 2++ cooldown. Bonked pretty hard in the last 4 miles and had to seriously adjust pace. A couple serious hills made it challenging to keep rhythm, which is good since Cape Cod is similarly hilly in the later miles. Tough but good workout.

Total: 87 miles on the week. That might be the highest I've seen in over a year. Good things!!

Training 8/13 - 8/19

Monday: 55 minutes / 8 miles easy with Brent on Mines Falls trails after going very long yesterday. Good run!

Tuesday: 11 miles with workout. The crew was Brandon, Pat, Jose and Alex. Same workout as last week but we got a little faster. 3+ miles up, 800, 1000, 1200, 1000, 800 in 2:25, 3:01, 3:32, 2:57, 2:19, 4.5 down Felt stronger than last week. Had some good laughs on the warmup/cooldown. Things are moving in a good direction for the Fall!
Wednesday: 78 minutes / 11++ miles at Maudslay solo. Felt good and ran easy.
Thursday: off. Out of work, exhausted. Time to rest!
Friday: 73 minutes / 10++ with Matt in Andover before work. Felt good!
Saturday: 21 miles with 17.5 at 5:30 pace broken up over three relay legs in Vermont. Amazing experience!
Sunday: 48 minutes / 6 miles, very very easy at 7am. Ice bathed at a sweet swimming hole after a good breakfast. Then drove home. SORE.

Total: 68 miles on 6 days with two major recovery runs, one workout, and one fun day of relay racing. Had a very good day at the relay and now I'm in recovery mode. Might have to amend the workout for Tueday, but we'll see.

100 on 100 Relay

Several friends and I teamed up for the 6 man relay through the heart of Vermont this past weekend. The race began at the Von Trapp family lodge and followed route 100 over Killington, finishing at Okemo Mountain. Each runner had 3 legs of varying distances. I was our 5th runner, so I ran the 5th, 11th and 17th legs totaling 17.5 miles. The team finished 6th overall with an average pace of 6:27 per mile. Since there is so much to say about the event, most of which I haven't fully processed yet, let me just say it was an awesome time with an incredible group of people. We ran under the Sisu Project name as my good friend Matt Germain orchestrated the event and majority of the runners wear the Sisu banner. Here's a breakdown of my legs:

Leg 5: 5.3 miles rolling in 28:40. Our team started with the last wave consisting of a couple Hello Kitty teams, Saint Lawrence Alums and one or two other groups. As luck would have it, my team handed off to me at exactly the same time as Hello Kitty's B team came through, so I ran stride for stride with a pretty strong guy for the first couple miles. He also is training for a Fall marathon and coaches a D3 program somewhere in Vermont. Although we were chatting it up, each of us took turns pulling at the front. I got a little rattled on a long incline where he started to pull away, but I turned it on for the following descent and caught him for the flat into the transition area. 5 miles split at 27:08. A little quick I dare say! I was feeling the heat since it was already mid-day, but I relaxed in the van hydrated and ate and soon enough I felt alright. Hips were tight! I elevated at one of the transition areas later on.  

Leg 11: 7.3 in 40:45. By now, there were minutes of separation between the top teams and we really didn't know where we stood. At the same time, we were beginning to catch lots of runners who started in earlier waves. It was more relaxing to see their positive attitudes compared with the earlier legs where it was only us a few other competitive groups. That said, Sisu had last year's race to compare this year's times with. I think we were a tad behind last year when my leg started. It was a rolling road, net even, and completely exposed to the 3 o'clock sun. I got COOKED on this run. As I write this my lips are burning and my forhead will be glowing at work tomorrow. I put in a really hard effort. I took splits at each mile marker. Out fast, or so I thought, then super slow for the second, slow for the third... then a really fast split for 4th and I knew the markers were nearly worthless. I realized that the markers were conveniently placed after each guardrail, and not in the breakdown lane, so they weren't entirely accurate. Splits: 5:23, 6:20, 6:16, 4:57, 5:19, 6:10, 5:09, xx. Everyone I passed was really encouraging, except for a few groups who jokingly shouted "slow down, it's a long day!". I think they were kidding, anyway! I was really pumped with my leg and we put the team back ahead of last year's pace.

Leg 17: 5.0 in 26:55. I have to admit, after watching our masters runner rock a 1000' climb to the Killington auto road, and then watching Matt climb another 600' over 4 miles at 6:15 pace, I was pretty fired up to bring home my final, 50' downhill leg in fast. I hydrated like crazy with Nuun (which I now swear by), a large Gatorade, and 40 oz of water. By the time my leg came around it was really dark. Race organizers required I wear a reflective vest, a rear safety blinker, and a headlamp, so I geared up and jogged a few minutes. Most of my teammates were finished with their work and were losing it, including flash dance parties with other team cars, shirts off, beating chests, primal screams, you name it.  It was awesome. The cool air had rolled in and I took off: 5:30, 5:28, 5:15, 5:47 (hill), 4:54 (downhill!). 

So...1:36:20 for 17.5 miles comes out to 5:30 pace overall. Originally I had said 5:40 pace was the goal and 5:30 would mean I had a really good day. More importantly, I had a blast getting away for the weekend. we stayed in the Okemo Village, ran Sunday morning, and swam/ice bathed at nearby gorge. Vermont is a really beautiful area, almost a different world compared to the business of Massachusetts. And the friendships I've made and people I met made the experience one to remember. Hopefully I'll be coming back next year! Now, back to work!

Tuesday Night Workout

This Tuesday evening I teamed up with my brother and several Whirlaway guys for a workout at Phillips Andover. Newbould, Fullerton and Ortiz were in the mix. We warmed up with a loop in the Phillips Sanctuary, a few strides, flats on, shirts off, and we were ready to roll.

I was feeling a tad flat from the 22++ mile run on Sunday. Alex and I had gotten lost, climbed a lot, and were both feeling it in the quads. The workout was the same as last week: 800, 1000, 1200, 1000, 800 on 2-2:30 rest. I was tired, but to my relief, I felt stronger than last week. We went 2:25, 3:01, 3:32, 2:57, 2:19. Leads were exchanged almost every 400. For the last 800, Dave challenged us not to run any faster than 2:18 and no slower than 2:22, and the group finished 5 abreast all together.

The miles and the workouts are definitely paying off. This kind of pace would have been impossible for me a mere 6 weeks ago. But to feel as in control and aerobically comfortable (for a speed session!) as I did is really motivating. As I continue to build up for the marathon, I'd like to see these workouts increase in volume up to 5 miles or so, but otherwise stay at a similar pace. With injuries and various life circumstances, the Open team found itself in a rebuilding year for the most part. That said, I'm feeling good about our chances for Kerouac and we'll have at least a few guys rolling at the Cape.

Enjoying each daily run. It's all a process and I think I've found the patience needed to steadily improve my fitness all the way through the Fall. It's a good vibe on Tuesday nights; hope to see more guys out there for the workouts in the coming weeks!