Monday, June 15, 2015

Week of June 8th to 14th, 2015

Monday:
0mi.  Feeling stiff and tired.  I needed a day off.

Tuesday:
2mi in Pisgah with Griffin.  Deer flies out.  Saw a porcupine.
5mi/36min in Friedsam Forest solo saw a deer.

Wednesday:
9mi*/61min at Monadnock track with Andy.  4 x (400-200-200) with 200 rest.
(75, 36, 35, 72, 35, 34, 70, 34, 33, 67, 33, 30)
Felt great!  I always feel good doing 2's and 4's.  Super easy and relaxed.  Nice weather hot 80 degrees but no humidity and a nice breeze.

Thursday:
8mi*/49:38 in Pisgah solo.  M.P. run.  Felt good, calves a wee bit sore.  Gorgeous weather again.

Friday:
0mi. 

Saturday:
1mi/8min + drills.  Lifted weights and got swole.  Went fishing with MC.  I caught a smallie he landed a brown (with fins).

Sunday:
14mi/1:43 in Pisgah with Thomas, Brett and Summit.  Hot out but the humidity lifted as the run went on.  We took a nice dip in Kilburn Pond.  Body sore from lifting.  Went fishing in the afternoon in Marlow and caught a sucker.  Beautiful day.

Total for the week:
39mi.  Not a good mileage week.  There are lots of things going on with the end of school.  Next week is the last week with kids and it should be hectic as well.  Bring on summer!

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Week of June 1st to 7th, 2015

Monday:
0mi.  I had a retirement party after work.  It was nice seeing former coworkers that had retired in the past.

Tuesday:
8mi/49:59 in Pisgah solo.  Cool weather.  I felt great just rolling along at an honest clip.  I heard a black-billed cuckoo.

Wednesday:
8mi*/52min at the Brattleboro Fun Run.  I warmed up and then did the 2.4mi trail race.  13:49 (5:45) 1st place.  The trail race has been around for 4 years or so but I haven't done one of these things in about 5 years so it was new to me.   The course is really fun!  I'll be back to do more of these this summer and try to lower my time.  I wore my new Hoka Clifton's.  They are ok.  Light but they are a little big and the foam seems like it will break down really fast.  Jen ran the road 2mi.  Fun night.

Thursday:
2mi in Pisgah with Griffin.  Nice and easy in the morning before school.  Griffin's 12years old and not up for long runs with me.  It was nice to run with the old wolf.
I planned on running in the afternoon, but I had meetings that went very late and they zapped my motivation to get out the door.

Friday:
15mi/1:48 from Athens to Putney Culvert with Ferenc.  Good run.  My legs were tired from the dance show we had at school.  I did 10 dances with the kids at the performance.  Fun stuff!

Saturday:
4mi/35min in Pisgah with Griffin.  I was thinking of racing at the Westmoreland 4mi but I couldn't leave Griffin behind.  She was looking spry and wanted a run.  Jen is in Oregon visiting friends so I knew Griffin wouldn't get exercise if I didn't take her.  No regrets.  It was a beautiful day and I spent the afternoon in Stoddard hanging out with my family.

Sunday:
0mi.  I was planning on a 2hr long run but nobody could make it and George called and asked if I wanted to go mountain biking on his trails.  He took me on a 2hr gnarly ride.  Lots of climbing and some tricky technical sections.  Super fun!  I'm going to be sore.  No running but fitness was gained.  I played some intense wiffle in the afternoon with Boj, MC and Fyffe.  Good times, it feels like summer is here.

Total for the week:
37mi.  Not a lot of miles and no lifting but I was active at school all week with dancing getting ready for the dance show.  Mountain biking was a blast, I'd like to go twice a week once school is out.  Higher mileage next week and lift twice.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

A little bit of catch up (ok a lot)

To say I've been slacking on blogging is a bit of an understatement.  To be honest I haven't been really training since early 2013.  I still love to run and keep a run log, but blogging has lost a little bit of luster when I'm not training seriously.  I've been feeling a bit like a hypocrite because I still get a lot of enjoyment out of reading other's blogs. (Update yours, Jonny!)

Here's my monthly totals and some highlights:

February 140mi = 35.0mpw
Raced at Prospect Mtn on snowshoes.  Got 2nd place in a fun battle with Ferenc.  Lot's of deep snow in the woods this month.  Cold temps.

March 111mi = 25.1mpw. 
I bought some backcountry xc skis and got Jen some for her birthday.  What a blast!  A fun workout that hits the whole body better than running.  I put in 18hrs of xc skiing along with running and lifting.  I mostly skied in Pisgah but went to real xc ski areas on weekends.  Skied at Grafton Ponds in VT, Prospect Mtn in VT and Windblown Ski Area in NH.  Windblown is absolutely awesome!
I raced at Prospect Mtn again on snowshoes and got dropped on the steep climb near the top by Tim Mahoney.  He then crushed me in the deep snow single track and my obliques cramped (I think from xc skiing the days before).  Deep snow this month.  I also raced the Fast Friends 4.5mi in 25:38.  I got 2nd place there and it was snowing with 1/2" of slippery powder on the roads.  I even went to Baker Street for a speed workout with Andy this month.  Trying to get Wednesday's going again. 

April 216mi = 50.4mpw
I raced at the Big River 1/2 Marathon trail race.  What a fun race.  I blew my 30+sec lead after 2.5mi when the trail markers got stolen.  I then ran behind Jonny for a bit with a big group of chasers.  The markings seemed good and then I made another break for the lead.  I got a 10+sec gap and then the markers were missing again.  Ugghhh!  I waited again and ran right with Jonny.  Finally, I broke away late with Eric Lonergan right on my heels.  We dropped everyone but Jonny was only 15sec back or so and he was yelling encouragement to me at points in the last mile.  We emptied out onto the dirt road and Eric pulled away for the win.  Really fun race.  I ran 1:23:23 for 2nd.  Jonny was next across the line.  I had so much fun racing with my brother for so many miles.
I also raced at the Sports Med 5K in Keene.  I ran a lack luster 17:00 for 3rd place.  Kurt Hackler and Andy were too strong for me on this day.  I got 4 track workouts in at the Monadnock track with Andy. 

May 214mi = 48.3mpw
I started the month with a course record and win at the Chesterfield 10K in 37:43.  This is a tough hilly hybrid race with roads, dirt roads and trails.  I felt really strong and fast running here.  Things were looking up for my fitness.  Track coaching was in full swing and my mileage and track workouts started to slip.  I raced at Sleepy Hollow and my SI joint was killing me on the warm-up.  I kind of knew I was in for a crappy race.  I climbed with no power on the steep climbs and limped down the descents.  It was depressing to be losing ground to my competitors on the downs, where I can usually pass people.  The weather was hot and I just kind of gave up out there.  A terrible race, but it was a fun day with friends in the woods.  I only managed one track workout which did not go well, Thomas and Andy ran good ones.  I ran/hiked with Garry Harrington for a nice double summit day on Mt. Monadnock and I got a good trail run in with Jonny on Memorial Day Weekend.  I ended the month with a great 20mi run in Pisgah with Brett, Thomas, Ferenc, Summit and Lena.

June is here.  School is winding down.  We end on the 19th.  I'm going to start training for the DeMar Marathon at the end of September.  I need some kind of goal to jump start my motivation heading into the summer.  I'll start posting my weekly numbers again.