Thursday, August 22nd

Am: 7mi/49min in Pisgah with Griffin. Nice and easy run. My legs are pretty tired. I ran into Gary Montgomery. He was mowing to get the Pisgah course ready and fast. He's removed countless downed trees and repaired the bridge on Southwoods trail. All to help the race run smoothly. Thanks Gary! Did an awesome yoga workout and mowed my lawn after the run. Pm: 10mi*/67min at the Hinsdale Fun Run. It was hot and humid and my legs felt heavy on the extended warm up. I got a little light quality in despite my fatigue. 1mi - 5:19. 2.3mi - 13:40 (picked it up last mile). Feeling pooped.

Wednesday, August 21st

10mi*/67min. Keene High track workout with Thomas. 400-200-200 x 4 with 200 rest. Result: (75,35,35,72,35,35,70,35,34,66,31,29). Good workout. It was hot and humid at the track today. I felt pretty strong.

Tuesday, August 20th

Am: 13mi*/1:18 in Pisgah with Ferenc, Lena and Ellie. We ran a hard progression run. We just kept notching the effort up and by the end we were hammering. Great run. Lena got quilled by a porcupine (again!). Ferenc has probably removed more quills than most vets in the area! Pm: 5mi/40min in Pisgah with Sontag and Griffin. Nice and easy run. Went for a nice swim in Kilburn Pond. Feeling good.

Monday, August 19th

8mi/55min in the Saxton's River trails with Ferenc, Lena, Ellie, Griffin and Whistle. Fun rolling with my dogs. Slammed 20 wings after. Feeling great. DDP yoga in am. Nothing electrifies your spine like the diamond cutter.

Sunday, August 18th

10mi*/72min in the Carter Preserve in Rhody. Ran with Jonny and Mike Galoob. My legs were still tired but Jonny and Mike wanted to go after a Strava segment of a mile loop around a field. Mike found another gear in the last 200m and dusted me for a 4:56. I rigged up to a 5:03. I'll take it. Fun place to run, cool trails. Birthday party at night. Total for the week: 90miles with a day off. I got a great track workout in, some quality at the fun run, a fast mile on grass, and two long runs. A pretty stellar week really. I'm starting to click and feel fit. Bring on the Alumni race!

Saturday, August 17th

21mi*/2:20 in Pisgah with Ferenc, Lena and Ellie. Pretty tired today, but it was a good run. Drove to Rhody at night for my nephew and niece's birthday bash.

Friday, August 16th

3mi/21min in Pisgah with Griffin. Oh man my legs are tired today. Feel like crap. I did some DDP yoga and played some intense wiffle at night with Najem, Ferenc and Fyffe.

Thursday, August 15th

Am: 7mi/49min in Pisgah with Griffin. Beautiful weather, again. Pm: 8mi*/50min. Hinsdale Fun Run. I jumped a doe and a fawn on the warm-up. They were almost close enough to touch. The fawn was big but still had its spots. 1mi-5:14. 2.3mi-12:19. Nice cool evening and I decided to get a good workout out of this even though my legs were pretty tired. I gotta start cramming for the Alumni race at KSC.

Wednesday, August 14th

Am: 7mi/47min in Pisgah with (Jen and Griffin) Another beautiful day. This August sure has been nice. I saw a bear on the Southwoods trail. That makes the 5th one I've seen while running over the years. I've seen more driving and I even had one in my backyard once. Cool stuff. Did a long tough 50min DDP yoga session. Feeling good and a little sore from it. Pm: 10mi*/65min. Keene High track workout. 6 x 1000m cruise intervals with 200rest. With Najem, Andy, and Ferenc. Result: (3:24,3:22,3:21,3:21,3:21,3:12). This was a great workout. It was very controlled and I felt good the whole way. It was a lot of fun with all four of us doing the same pace and taking turns leading the intervals. Feeling good.

Tuesday, August 13th

0mi. Took a much needed rest day after a big 3 days in a row. Glenn and I gave a trail running talk at the XLR8 cross country camp. It was fun. Did some DDP yoga. Ferenc came over while I was finishing up the video and he ridiculed me the whole time. It was quite peaceful.

Monday, August 12th

Franconia Ridge with Ferenc. We parked at the Flume visitors center, ran up the bike path to the Flume Slide trail. This trail was super runnable for a while then it turned into scrambling up the secret staircase to Mordor. It was crazy fun. From there, we ran the Franconia Ridge Trail and hit the summits of Flume, Liberty, Lincoln, and Lafayette. It was fantastic weather with amazing views. We went down the Old Bridle Path back to the parking lot near Cannon Mtn. We jumped on the bike path and ran back the last few miles clipping off 7min pace. It was an awesome epic day in the white mountains. Total time 3:57 for 16mi on Ferenc's GPS. Going up there gives me White Mountain Fever and has me itching to return for more adventures.

Sunday, August 11th

17mi*/1:54 - Ran the Clearing(ext) with Najem, Ryan, and Brandon. Beautiful morning. We ended with 4 barefoot strides on the Keene State fields. Feeling really good. Total for the week: 88miles. I got 2 good long runs in an ok workout, a decent mile effort at the fun run, and an honest fitness assessment with the Yankee Candle race. I'm not fast yet, but things are definitely looking up. I wish I had done some more doubles this week. I'll make sure to get some more next week. The DDP yoga is awesome and I'm feeling strong and limber. This ain't your mama's yoga!

Saturday, August 10th

Am: 8mi*/51min - Yankee Candle 5K. 16:16(5:14) 1st place. This is a fast flat course and a real good indicator of where my speed and fitness are at right now. I was thinking I had a shot to break 16. It didn't happen. I went out too fast 4:54 and struggled the last mile. I ran 15:39 and 15:35 in 2011 and 2012. Oh well. It was my first true 5K of the whole year. I need to race more 5K's. They're a great workout that don't leave me beat up, and I can still do a long run the next day. Pm: 8mi/51min in Pisgah with Griffin. Gorgeous weather and my body feels good. I joked with Boj that I was doing a punishment double for a bad race. I'm glad I got out there for a second run today.

Friday, August 9th

9mi/60min on the Putney Rds with Ferenc. What a surprise, it was raining. It rains every time we meet to do this run. Feel pretty good for an old guy (36 today). DDP yoga after the run.

Thursday, August 8th

9mi*/62min at the Hinsdale Fun Run. 1mile - 4:56. 2.3mi - 14:31. The mile was good. The humidity was back today. Najem cranked a 4:39 in trainers and is excited to go after the record (4:33*) soon. DDP yoga in morning.

Wednesday, August 7th

!0mi*/66min. Keene High track workout. 4-4-8-4-4 x 2 with 1/2 rest. 800rest between sets. w/Najem, Thomas, Andy, George (MC and Boj). Result: (72,70,2:25,73,72 - 74,74,1:58(600 rigging hard),72,68). Tough workout. I went too fast on the first set, thinking the 800rest between sets would be enough to feel good on the 2nd set. I was wrong! I rigged on the 800 and cut it short at 600. Did some DDP yoga in the morning.

Tuesday, August 6th

5mi/35min in Friedsam with Griffin. Beautiful weather. Nice easy run.

Monday, August 5th

22mi*/2:38 in Pisgah with George. Wow, amazing weather today! It was 55 degrees when we started and warmed up to 65 while we were running. There were no deer flies and no humidity. My legs felt a little tired and we cut the run a little short. I was hoping to run a little over 3 hrs. I did some awesome DDP Yoga in the morning before the run. This is a great way to start the week.

Sunday, August 4th

6mi/39min in the Saxton's River trails with Lena. We ran up the famous switchbacks. Ellie ran away at 7am when I let her out for a morning pee. Naughty! I was hoping she would join up with us on our run but no dice. Emily found her later in the day around 3:30pm. Ferenc rocked it in Poland, coming in 15th overall and 2nd American! Hell yeah!! I'm glad he gets to come home to both the dogs in his house. I was going to run long today but I was a little worried about finding Ellie. I guess I'll go long tomorrow. Total for the week: 57miles. I guess I'll call this a recovery week from Escarpment, but I was hoping to do more miles than this. I started doing DDP Yoga, it's awesome. My glutes, hamstrings,and quads are a little sore from it. Next week, I'm hoping for a long run and some big miles. I might race the Yankee Candle 5K. I haven't done a legit 5K all year. Should be interesting. The last 2 years I ran 15:39 and 15:35. I hope I can crack into the 15's this year. Time will tell.

Saturday, August 3rd

3mi/21min in the Saxton's River trails with Lena and Ellie. Ferenc's trails are so damn hilly and overgrown, I just couldn't get in the right frame of mind for a longer run. I decided to cut it short with the intent of running on the roads later in the day. The second run never happened, but I did hang out with Fyffe which was a lot of fun. I haven't seen him in a while. Good times. At night, back in Saxton's River(I'm watching Ferenc's dogs for a couple days), coyotes came into the yard and were howling and yapping right outside the house. Lena and Ellie wanted me to let them out so they could go handle business. I kept them inside while they barked and the coyotes howled.

Friday, August 2nd

Am: 8mi/54min in Pisgah (with Jen and Griffin). Feel good today. Nice weather. Pm: 9mi/60min in Saxton's River trails with Lena and Ellie. Ferenc is in Poland for the World Mountain Marathon Championships. Go Ferenc and Go USA! His trails are ridiculously overgrown in spots. There was one section where I had to go through raspberry briars for about 400m. I got scratched and torn up all over my legs and stomach. I also had burs stuck to my running shorts and shoes, even in the liner of my running shorts. Ouch!

Thursday, August 1st

Am: 5mi/34min in Friedsam with Griffin. Still a wee bit sore on the downhills. Escarpment is brutal! Pm: 8mi*/53min at the Hinsdale Fun Run. It was raining and chilly. Four hearty souls showed up to build their fitness: Tanner, Sam, Glenn and myself. I cranked the mile - 4:58. Man that is a slow course, especially in the thick wet grass. Cruised the 2.3mi in with Tanner in 14:32. Legs are starting to feel better.

Wednesday, July 31st

Am: 5mi/35min in Friedsam with Griffin. Nice and easy. My back is pretty stiff. Legs still sore especially on downhills. Pm: 8mi*/53min. Track workout. I did a 2 mile tempo because my legs were too sore for any fast running. I ran 11:04 and called it enough. Andy, James, and Bryce were there doing their own workouts. Not a stellar day, but I still gained some fitness. July Total: 346miles = 78.1 mpw avg. It's not the huge numbers I wanted to get in July, but I started the summer in the worst shape I've been in for a long time. Rome wasn't built in a day and it was still a big mileage jump. I'll take it. Things are definitely starting to click with my training. I've been battling a very stiff back but I'm starting to get the upper hand on that as well. I'd love to be in p.r. shape year round but I also realize that things happen and the real goal is life long fitness and happiness. I'm really looking forward to August, one of my favorite months: the deer flies die off, the weather gets less humid, and I start cranking out uber long runs to get fit for the Pisgah 50K.

Tuesday, July 30th

0mi. My body was pretty darn sore today from Escarpment. I did some yoga and went for a hike with Jen and Griffin.