Well that week…

Sucked.
 Big time. Left hamstring was tight as could be. No running for a while.

MON. :  0

TUES. :  0. Massage. Helped a little. 

WED. : 0
THU. : 0

FRI. :  4 miles, easy. Still a bit tight, but it felt ok to stretch it out.  

SAT. : 8 miles. Fast Friends Race, had to do it. Still a little tight, but ok. Ran about 2 miles solo as a warm up. Took it pretty easy in the race. Finished in 32:44, exactly boj's time from last year. 
 And speaking of boj, here is his official "29:56"

And here is my 32:44

I know, I know. It looks like I stopped my watch a little early. It's been a sucky week. 

SUN. : 

TOTAL FOR THE WEEK: -   12 mi.

TOTAL FOR THE YEAR: - 467 mi.

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 43 mi.   Gonna drop. 

DAYS RUNNING IN 2014: 45 out of 81 days. 

Week 11. March 10th thru March 16th

MON. :  1/2 hour on the bike, then Strength workout.

TUES. :  10 miles. Legs/ who body felt dead from Sunday and yesterday's strength workout. I gotta get some speed going. Good stretch after today's run. Hope it helps. 

WED. : 7 miles, easy. Felt pretty good. 
THU. : 

FRI. :  10 miles. Left hamstring super tight. 

SAT. : Goose egg.  Hamstring still tight

SUN. : 16 miles. Sucked. Hamstring was tight in the beginning, but ok. Ran with Patrick, and planned to do it at marathon pace or faster. Kept it mainly at 7:30 till mile 13, then I had to walk a bit. My hamstring tightened up fierce, and I had to walk/ jog the next 3 miles. 

TOTAL FOR THE WEEK: -   43 mi.

TOTAL FOR THE YEAR: - 455 mi.

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 43 mi.   

DAYS RUNNING IN 2014: 43 out of 75 days. 

Week 10 March 3rd thru March 9th

MON. :  7 miles, Bray Road Loop.  Good solid run as recovery/

TUES. :  8 miles, Bray Road Loop.  Tempoish run.  Solid run up the hill.  New Strava record. Plus 1/2 hour strength workout. Good day. 

WED. :  0 miles. Late day at work. 
THU. :  I did not feel well in the morning. Big headache, nauseous, went home after two hours or so, and slept. I felt better but still not great. Rallied by about 3:00. Put in 10 good miles. Then a massage afterwards. Turned into a good day. 

FRI. :  0 miles. Planned to run. Didn't happen. Planned to bike instead. Wine happened. 

SAT. : 8 miles. Bray Road Loop with a dog run. Good run. I did a rambling fartlek. Each time a new song came on, I sped up/ slowed down. 

SUN. : Spring is officially here. SHORTS for a long run!  20 miles, Long Bray Road Loop with Ashfield out & back. Beautiful day. Got a late start because of DST, and I didn't run all that well, but I put in the miles and that is a big part of what a long run is all about. I gotta work on a little speed and longer tempo stuff in the next few weeks. 

TOTAL FOR THE WEEK: -  53 mi.

TOTAL FOR THE YEAR: - 412 mi.

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 43 mi.   

DAYS RUNNING IN 2014: 39out of 68 days. 

WEEK 8 2/17 thru 2/23

MON. :  1/2 hour on the bike as easy warm up, then 45 minute strength workout from RunnersWorld. Good workout. I'm going to try to do a modified version twice a week. 

TUES. :  Snow. I'm a wimp. 1 hour on the bike. Gotta get the goose egg off  the miles per week. 

WED. :  Three days in a row, no run. First time all year, other than traveling. Quality workout on the bike though. 1:15, with 6x3:00 minute intervals to simulate 800s. My legs were burning, but not my whole body and lungs like the way running on the track works you. Tomorrow the roads should be clear. Get the f outta my way. I'm going running. 
THU. :  7 mile Bray Road run. Good to get out. I didn't feel as fresh as I thought I would after such a layoff.  Still good to get out. Shooting for 40 for the week. It could happen. 

FRI. :  Treacherous 5 miles. Winter can stop now. 

SAT. : 8 miles.  Bray loop plus a mile with the dogs. Absolutely a gorgeous afternoon. 40 might happen. 300 for the year. Feeling cautiously optimistic about Boston right now. 3:15-3:20 is what I'm shooting for. Can't say too much or I'll jinx it. 

SUN. :  22 miles. Solid effort. I ran a hard & solid pace from mile 15 to 20+, even with the hills. Last mile was an easy run/walk with the dogs. 30 miles in the last 20 hours or so. I am very pleased how things are going. 

TOTAL FOR THE WEEK: -  42 no longer a  pathetic week miles  

TOTAL FOR THE YEAR: - 322 mi.

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 40 mi.   

DAYS RUNNING IN 2014: 34 out of 54 days. 

WEEK 7 2/10 thru 2/16

MON. :  4 miles, easy.

TUES. :  Another hour on the bike plus a tough ab workout.  I'm gonna have start counting my cross training days.

WED. : 7 miles, Tempo pace.  First time in a while, probably since last summer, that Ive been able to do my regular loop in under an hour. I made it in 56:22.  Good run.  

THU. :  7 miles, same as yesterday, but in the snow.  15 more minutes due to conditions.  Fun run, then 45 minute upper body and ab workout (shoveling).

FRI. : A choice between an early evening date or a late afternoon run. Love won. Good for the heart. 

SAT. : Long day at work. Planned afternoon run. Slacker. 

SUN. :  15 miles, solid effort. I planned to run easy with a fast finish. I felt pretty good by mile 4 or so, & I started to pick up the pace a bit. I ran hard till the end. Pace didn't really matter because of the hills and snow cover, but I kept the effort up the entire way. Amazing that with just a little training, 15 miles feels like a short Sunday Long Run. 

TOTAL FOR THE WEEK: -  33 mi.  

TOTAL FOR THE YEAR: - 280 mi.

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 40 mi.   

DAYS RUNNING IN 2014: 29 out of 47 days. 

Week 6 2/3 thru 2/9

MON. :  1 hour on the bike trainer, plus an ab workout

TUES. : 0 miles again. Another hour on the bike. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate doing 'little'  jobs on the plumbing in an old house? It's gonna kill my weekly average. I might have to go for a long snow run tomorrow. 

WED. : 12 slow, snowy, hilly Buckland miles. 

THU. :  9 mi Buckland loop. Packed, slick snow most of the way. Consistency counts. 

FRI. : 0

SAT. : 0. What was it I was saying about consistency?

SUN. :  22 mi. total. 20+ fast, hilly Buckland miles with Patrick & Sri, then a mile+ easy with the dogs. I don't think over 50% of your weekly mileage should be your long run. But at least I got in two days on the bike and I still brought my weekly mileage up. 

TOTAL FOR THE WEEK: -  43 mi.  

TOTAL FOR THE YEAR: - 246 mi.

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 41 mi.   

DAYS RUNNING IN 2014: 25 out of 40 days. 

Week 5 1/27 thru 2/2

MON. :  6 mi easy at the gym

TUES. : 1 hour on the bike trainer, plus an ab workout.

WED. : 8 mi. Senior Night at the track, just George & I were there. I planned to do 200/400/600/800/1200/1600, but I could barely hold on for the 12, so I cut the mile up to 800/400/200/200 to turn the ladder into a pyramid. I kept the recovery a short, easy. 200s except a 400 after the 12. I ran the last 2s hard, but in control. Good workout. 
            46/1:33/2:18/3:09/4:47/3:12/1:35/38//39

THU. :  8 mi. My brain kept saying tempo, my body was arguing for a recovery run. My body won. 

FRI. : 7 mi on the dreadmill. I hate the dreadmill, but I was meeting Roma at the gym, so I figured, what the hell, might as well go for it. I did the tempo I was planning to do yesterday. Have I said I hate the dreadmill? At least it keeps you on pace. I did 5 miles in about 34 minutes, with the last 3 just under 20:00, and the last 2 minutes at an all out for me 5:48 pace. Pretty sure I could hit a mid/low 19 min 5k at my current fitness level. With 19:18 being my PR, I'm feeling pretty good about where I'm at right now. 

SAT. : 0.  Ankles were friggin sore from the treadmill. Listen to the body before it screams at you. Planning a good long run for tomorrow. 

SUN. :   18 hard, hilly miles, fast for me. With Patrick Pezzati and others. Tough 1 1/2 mile hill at mile 6. Good quality long run. 

TOTAL FOR THE WEEK: -  47mi.  

TOTAL FOR THE YEAR: - 203 mi.
WEEKLY AVERAGE: 40 mi.   (Holy Shit)
DAYS RUNNING IN 2014: 22 out of 33 days. 

Week 4 1/20 thru 1/26

MON. : 6 mi recovery run. Slow & easy on the snow covered Buckland hills. Hip / back felt good. 

TUES. : 7.5 mi Buckland hills. Medium effort. I could still see most of my frozen footprints from last night. 

WED. : 7 mi Wednesday workout. I got there late and only had time for a 3 lap warmup, the others were already well into their workout. I needed something quick & easy, so I did 4X 200/200/400, all with a 200 rest. It went pretty well, the first round I was still kinda warming up. 
          48/47/1:31   44/42/1:28   43/43/1:28   42/42/1:25
Short workout, but it was better than I would have done on my own. Consistency counts. 

THU. :  1 hour on the bike. Planned to run, but I napped a bit after work and I couldn't psych myself up to head out in the dark. Good workout though. I did 6 X 1:30 repeats, and my thighs we're screaming by the time I was done. 

FRI. : 7 mi Bray loop.  Massage for recovery. Then beer.  No ibuprophen needed.

SAT. : 8.5 mi Bray loop and with the dogs. Lots of snow. 

SUN. :   17 mi. Lots of snow on the ground, friggin cold, solo(except 1 mile with the dogs), hills. Did I mention cold? Just a light breeze and my face felt like it was going to freeze. Luckily I was smart enough to wear three layers where it's most important. Solid effort for the day, 9:30 pace notwithstanding.  Over 50 for the week, 6 days running plus one day on the bike trainer,  and I feel good. 

TOTAL FOR THE WEEK: - 53 mi.  

TOTAL FOR THE YEAR: - 156 mi.
WEEKLY AVERAGE: 39 mi.   
DAYS RUNNING IN 2014: 17 out of 26 days. 

Week 3 1/13 thru 1/19

MON. : 7 mi, Hilly, icy, recovery run

TUES. : Rain, rain, go away.  1 hr on the bike.

WED. : 8 mi. First Wednesday Workout with the Keenyans
            400/200/400/200/400/200/200/400
            1:24/42/1:28/42/1:31/41/43/1:22
Felt ok about the workout.  I was a little hungover from too much tequila the night before.  I was having a hard time with the 400s, but I was able to hold the 200s steady.  I took a little extra rest before the last rep, and was able to put in a solid effort for me.  Greg and Andy really hammered their workout.  Good to get back on track, literally and figuratively.

THU. :  

FRI. : 8 mi, Bray loop, hills.

SAT. : 8 mi. A few extra screws in my shoes and a lot of unexpected snow = a lot of fun and 8 1/2 miles for Meg. Wish you could've been here. But of course, you were. We're all running you home. #Megsmiles. 

SUN. :   15 mi.  Hip / back were sore for most of the run. Pace was not realistic because of the conditions. Slippery snow and hills. By mile 10 or so I started to feel a little better, and ran the last 4 miles HARD. Down Old Buckland Road, up/down Crittenden,  then up Bray. Good run. 

TOTAL FOR THE WEEK: - 46 mi.  

TOTAL FOR THE YEAR: - 103 mi.

Week 2. Bump in the road.

MON. : -0- in Burlington

TUES. : -0- in Burlington

WED. : 2 mi. Super Icy.  1 hr on the bike trainer doing intervals.

THU. :  

FRI. : 2 mi. icy.

SAT. : 

SUN. : 18 mi. in Keene with the Sunday Group.  Slow, nice run.   

TOTAL FOR THE WEEK: - 22 mi.  

TOTAL FOR THE YEAR: - 57 mi.

2014 Begins...

MON. : - 

TUES. : - 

WED. : - 10 mi. w/ 43 min tough New Year's 10K

THU. : - 

FRI. : - 9 mi. Bray Loop (hills)

SAT. : - 

SUN. : - 16 mi.  Big Bray Loop (hills). Ran 2nd half HARD.

TOTAL FOR THE WEEK: - 35 mi.  

TOTAL FOR THE YEAR: - 35 mi.

New Year, New Me… Again

Well, running-wise, it was a kinda tough year for me, but all in all, no real complaints.  I struggled with a few nagging injuries, but nothing major.  I struggled with motivation, but was able to begin to turn it around.  Work and life often squeezed out my time for running. No shit, what else is new? Still, I managed 1600+ miles.   So, with just a little bit of tweaking,  I think I can have a good 2014.

What am I looking forward to and working for this year?  All my previous goals are still in tact: sub 19 5k, sub 40 10k, sub 1:30 1/2 marathon, and 3:10 full.  2000+ mile for the year. Pisgah 50k in 5 hours. I think they are all still attainable, maybe not all this year, but certainly in my 50s.  And how am I supposed to accomplish these goals, you ask?

     1.  Run more. (no shit)
     2.  Focus on recovery to stay injury free.
     3.  Write about it.  (more than 4 times per year)
     4.  Wednesday Workouts, at least 3 times per month.
     5.  Plan goal races at least 2 months in advance.
     6.  Allow for failure and success, but keep an eye on the future.
     7.  Keep moving forward.
     8.  Stay focused and keep things simple.
     9.  Keep all plans to 5 steps or less.

Damn. Well, good to get that first little failure out of the way.
Onward!