Sunday, January 30, 2011

Week of January 24th-30th

Monday: 10mi / 66min in Pisgah w/Griffin. Great run. I started running and it was 5 degrees. The trails were packed by snowmobiles and the snow was cold and crunchy so I didn't need snowshoes. When I finished the run it was 1 degree. My beard was filled with frost. Pretty cool. This morning when I woke up my thermometer said -18F. Brrrr. The only thing about the run that sucked was coming back to my secret hiding spot for Griffin's leash and it was gone, someone stole it. Richards!! Lifted Upper body.

Tuesday: 0mi - Had to ref

Wednesday: 10mi* / 68min Baker St. workout: 200,400 x 4 - (32,64 avg) full rest. Good workout. Stayed nice and relaxed. Legs felt really good on the cool down.

Thursday: 3mi s.s. / 19min on Jen's track @night w/headlamp. Legs tired and heavy from snowshoeing all day at school w/kids.

Friday: 5mi / 33min on Putney Rds. w/Fyffe. Nice and easy ready for tomorrow.

Saturday: 10mi* / 70min Terrier Classic mile-4:26. Crappy race. Legs felt heavy and flat. I knew I didn't have it on the warm-up. I raced how I would have raced if my legs felt good, hoping for a miracle. It didn't happen. I'm very happy for Fyffe running 4:10, Goupil's 9:07, and Lance Flamino's 4:27. They ran great.

Sunday: 16mi / 1:52 on Putney Rds. w/Fyffe, Boj, and Wilson. Good run, nice and easy.

Total: 54mi - Now I need to decide what my next step is for racing. Do I jump back into indoor track and run at Valentine and pop the time I know I'm capable of? Or do I take a break from the track and move on to snowshoe racing and road racing? I'll figure it out.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Week of January 17th-23rd

Monday: 16mi / 1:47 in Grafton, VT w/Ferenc, Fyffe, Wilson, and the Girls. Beautiful clear, sunny day. Cold around 8 degrees F at the start. Legs a little bit tired. Lifted upper.

Tuesday: 4mi s.s. / 29min on Jen's track. I put on the 30" back country snowshoes and walked 3 laps to trample down a nice double-track path. I then strapped on the running snowshoes and did 10 laps. It was very tough. The snow was deep and the weather switched from snow to freezing rain while I was out there. Jen and Griffin were out there doing laps also.

Wednesday: 9mi* / 60min. Baker St. workout. 8 x 200m(30,29,29,29,28,28,28,27)w/200rest. Good workout. Legs felt sluggish at first, but the 200's woke them up.

Thursday: 9mi s.s. / 64min in Pisgah w/Griffin. Fast packed trails.

Friday: 4mi s.s. / 28min on Jen's track. Trail was packed and fast. Was able to get in 12 laps in a quicker time today with less effort than on Tuesday. Lifted upper body. Hiked in the 30" snowshoes after to pack the trail some more while Jen ran. Another snow day today. This has been a tough week of work. Monday-holiday, Tues-snow day, Wed-2 hr delay, Thurs-full day, Fri-snow day.
pm - 4mi / 30min on Putney Rds. + 4 telephone pole pickups. w/Fyffe and Ferenc. Good run.

Saturday: 0mi. Went for a nice snowshoe hike with Jimmy and Griffin. They didn't like it the snow was too deep and crusty. They stayed behind me while I broke trail.

Sunday: 6mi* / 40min. GBTC 800m - 2:00.51 -1st in heat 3. Good race. I was thinking I could go sub 2 and hoping for a 1:58, but it wasn't to be. I took the lead after 300m and went unchallenged the rest of the way. It was a solid effort, the first 800m of the season is always quite a shock to the system. It was fun watching Fyffe dismantle his heat. He ran a very solid 1:58. We both wished to be faster, but are satisfied with the fact that it's a good tune-up for the mile at Terrier next week.

Total: 52mi - O.K. week. I have to ref. next week and have a meeting on Thursday. I hope to get some decent running in. Excited for the mile and 800m at Terrier.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Week of January 10th-16th

Monday: 8mi / 56min in Pisgah w/Griffin. Lifted.

Tuesday: 0mi - Had to ref.

Wednesday: 16mi / 2:04 on Keene Rds. w/Boj and Goupil. Running on the snowy roads made for slow going. We had to run a mile on trails with knee deep powder. Cool stuff.

Thursday: 0mi - doing all the shoveling I ignored yesterday. Snowshoed all day at school w/kids.

Friday: 12mi / 1:22 on Keene Rds. w/George. This was an obnoxious run. It was getting dark, it was during rush hour on a Friday, and the sidewalks were not plowed on West St. I snowshoed again all day at school w/kids - I have a great job!

Saturday: 11mi* / 70min Baker St. workout. 2x200 w/200rest(28,29) 600(1:35),200rest, 300(47)(rigged on 400)800rest, 3x400 w/400rest(65,64,63)200(27). Very tough workout w/Fyffe. It was cold. I was supposed to do a 400 after the 600, but I started rigging so badly, I stopped at 300m. I rallied and finished the workout pretty well.

Sunday: 11mi s.s. / 78min in Pisgah w/Ferenc and the Girls. Nice and easy. Beautiful snowshoe run.

Total: 58mi - Next wk, lift 3 times. Get ready to race the 800m at GBTC Invite.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Week of January 3rd - 9th

Monday: 9mi / 63min in Pisgah w/Fyffe and the girls. Good run, body sore. Saw a raccoon.

Tuesday: 2mi / 16min in Pisgah w/M.C. and the wolves.

Wednesday: 9mi* / 60min - Baker St. workout: 8x 400m w/100 rest (69,68,67,66,70,67,65,61) I was very happy with this workout. The rest was short. I felt very good.

Thursday: 0mi. Had a meeting at work. Lifted.

Friday: 10mi* / 60min. Grafton Rds. w/Ferenc, Fyffe, and the girls. Good progression run. Slipping in 1" of snow. 33min/27min splits. 4:49 measured mile.

Saturday: 5mi /39min. Ashuelot rail trail w/Griffin. Nice and easy on fresh powder.

Sunday: 18mi / 2:04 on Putney Rds. w/Fyffe, Ferenc, and Andy. Good run, nice and slow. Saw a mink. We took a refreshing dip after the run to ice our sore muscles, in the healing waters of Putney, VT.

Total: 53mi - O.K. week. I was very pleased with Wednesday's workout. Friday's run was a much tougher effort than the time indicates. It was more like a 56min 10miler, the snow really slowed us down.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Millenium Mile

If anyone read my 2010 year end review, they would know I said I don't dwell on the negative. Well, I'm full of crap! I am dwelling on the negative. I ran like a jack ass today. I was really pumped and thought a 3:59 was possible. I based this assumption on the fact that my best friend,Elijah, ran 4:01 in 2001. He ran 4:19 on the track that year. However, when he ran that time he had only run 4:21 on the track at that point in the indoor season. I really thought I had a realistic shot. He went negative that year running 2:02/1:59. I ran 4:12 that year 2:08/2:04 also going negative. Of course the results say I ran 4:16, which is not true.
Well, after Elijah died of cancer in 2007, I vowed to myself that I would go back to the Millenium Mile, if I was ever in good shape, to try to crack 4:00 in his honor. This was the year. I ran 4:20.07 2 weeks ago at a BU mini meet, so I figured I had a realistic shot. Did I mention they screwed me in those results too?
The race really started yesterday when I made myself crazy with anticipation and I was so anxious that I layed in bed all day and didn't do a damn thing. I made myself feel like I was sick. Today I woke up feeling much better and my body felt great. It was on! Fyffe, Jess, and I drove to the race and arrived early. We got a good warm-up in and I still felt great. I was psyched and ready. I got up to the front of the race start and was set to run 3:59 or bust. Well, I busted. I went out too fast and hit the 800m around 1:57. I was already starting to struggle a bit. This was way too quick! I figured, it's downhill, I can't rig in a downhill race, right? Wrong! I hit the 1200m in around 3:00. I should have been licking my chops. 59 second 400m here I come! Instead I ate a lactic acid sandwich and rigged to a 4:11. I fell from 4th place to 6th place. I felt like dropping out with 200m to go. I almost walked across the line. That sucked! To add insult to injury, the results said I ran 4:13, I was 8th, 3rd in my age group, and they even added a year to my age, 34!! In reality I ran 4:11, was 6th, 1st in my age group(taking out Fyffe) and I'm "only" 33! Oh well. Maybe I could have run 4:02-4:03 if I ran smarter. I should have gone out in 2:02. You live and learn. There were a couple positives today. Fyffe ran an amazing 3:54 coming in 2nd. AWESOME!!! I did get a nice beer glass and hat. I did get a good workout in and it was fun despite my disappointment. Time to move on. I'm over it.