A Couple of Decent Runs

I sit here after a couple of not great, but at least decent workouts back to back. Tuesday I did a 12 mile out and back from Brewbakers up the rail trail. 45 min out, 39 back. It was my first really decent run since Pisgah, and I was feeling a litte tired near the end, but even with some tightness in my calves, I was able to keep a strong pace. Wednesday I was a little late to the workout, and I missed the warm up. I had been on my feet all day, and was a little tight, but I still felt ok. Brad was doing 2x800/600/400/200. I was planning to just do 800s, but this sounded good, even if I didn't think I would be quite able to keep his pace. The first 800 was way too fast for me right now, and it made it hard to keep the rest of the work out together. I couldn't finish the 2nd 600, but at least I was able to regroup a little after that. My calves were tightening up a lot, and I was glad the reps were getting shorter. The cool down went well, and it helped to keep my calves from totally locking up. But for anyone who is reading this, I have one word of advice: Shunji. I'm writing this after an almost 2 hour massage, and every bit of soreness is gone. He is totally worth the ride down to Wendell Ma., no matter if you are shooting for a 2:15, a 3:15 or a 4:15 marathon. He'll put pieces back into place that you didn't even know were out. Well worth the price of admission.

My track times were
2:53 / 3:06 / 2:19 / xx / 1:26 / 1:29 / :41 / :39

Next week I will try a workout from the Running for Fitness website. It is really great to have something that gives you such good pace information.

It's Gonna Be A Long Road Back

I've been surprised how long it has taken for the little rib tear to heal. Our house finally sold, and I have been hauling furniture up and down stairs for my ex wife. It certainly wasn't helping anything, but this is supposed to be a running blog, so last week I went out with the Wednesday crew, and I was really feeling it on the warm up. Brad was doing mile repeats, and I thought I would give it a try. But by the middle of the first one I knew I wasn't doing myself any good being out there. I packed it in and decided to give it a few more days rest. Sunday was the 2nd run for Angella, and I really wanted to do it. I talked to Jeff before the race, and I was planning to run with him and just kinda take it easy. But there is just something about a race. It doesn't matter if it is a 12 year old saying "Go!" or the starter's pistol in the Olympics, when it's time to go, you have to give it your all. I turned around to let Jeff know I was going to run it a little harder, and I tried to keep up with the second group of runners. My side was hurting, and it was slowing me down, but it wasn't too bad. This was the first real running I had done in almost 3 weeks. I wasn't running as an all out race, but I tried to keep up a decent pace. I ended up running a 30:51, only 1:50 behind last year. So not the best, but not a total disaster either.
This week the workout went a little better. Brad was doing mile repeats again, and again I decided to try to run along with him. It worked out a little better this time, but I still wasn't able to do the whole workout. I ended up doing 2 X mile, 2 X 1200, 2 X 800. It was an ok effort, but it sure seems like all my workouts have been disappointing for the last little while. I still feel as if I am in as good of shape as I was last year at this time, so with a little more effort and consistency, I should be ready to train hard soon. October is 1/2 done, and before you know it, winter will be here. So the time is now. Justin told me about a great website for training paces, and I am looking forward to doing some workouts at specific paces for the time I want to run Boston. This year, 3:10. Next year, if all goes well, break 3:00. It could happen.

Here are the workout results:
Mile : 6:20 / 6:22
1200 : 4:50 / 4:51
800 : 3:03 / 3:01

Next week, a solid 800 workout with 1/2 time rest.

Just another Wednesday

Not too many of the regular Keenyans have been making it to the Wednesday workouts. It was good to see Erin again, so I would have someone to run with. It was a beautiful day, but I was still a little sore from Sunday's Pisgah race. I must have done a little tear or something in my ribcage on one of my tumbles on the trail. It has been quite painful to get up and in some positions, but running hasn't bothered it too much. I wanted to do something fairly easy, so Erin and I decided to do 6X400, and then we added on a few 200s at the end. Andy and Clint were doing 800s. Clint looked great after his 50K, and Andy won his race this weekend. So no matter who shows up, there are always good running stories to trade. It was a little windy, and the back stretch was into the headwind. There was probably a 2 second difference depending on which side of the track you were on. Erin and I were going to try to keep it easy, about 1:30 with a 200 jog rest interval. I felt pretty good in spite of my sore rib, and was able to go a little faster with each rep. Erin was super consistent, keeping each one at about 1:28. I am looking forward to some good early training, and possibly some racing before I start looking ahead to Boston in the spring.

Here are the results
6X400
1:29 / 1:25 / 1:25 / 1:24 / 1:22 / 1:24
2X200
38 / 39

Ugghh. Glad Pisgah is Done

That is one tough course. I thought Mt. Washington was relentless, but after 10 miles of the trails, I was beat. My favorite sign was "Trails Merge/ Gate Ahead". I don't know how to get my head around 18 more miles of that. Two years to think about it.
I felt pretty good the first few miles. Two miles or so on the road/trail before the real stuff begins. I went out at what felt like a fairly moderate pace. I felt good on the first major hill of the trail, and passed 3 or 4 runners. My stomach felt a little queasy at about mile 4, and it came back a couple times later, but it faded quickly each time. I kept a good pace all the way thru to the top of Pisgah ridge, I passed a few and only a couple people passed me. After that it was just hold on as best I could. And there was still a lot to go. It's hard to remember how I was feeling at each mile, but from then on it wasn't too good. I took a couple of spills and several more stumbles. Each one was a jolt that I felt for a while, and am feeling now. My hips and core feel like they took a beating. Miles 8-11 or so were a tough struggle to say the least. I saw Glen on the Kilburn road, I think, and I was feeling fairly good on that road. Then the Davis hill came. That was tough, but the downhill afterwards, and the next 2 miles were just as hard. I felt quite a relief when I made that left turn onto the dirt road. For the last 1 1/2 miles or so I ran pretty well, and gapped the person who was right behind me at the turn by over a minute. It felt really good to get a stride going, even thru the last hills on the road. I finished in 2:12 flat. A 4 minute course PR for me, so I am happy with that. Next year I am going to have to get out on the trails a lot more, and Erin says she wants to as well. Lots of time between now and then.

It was good to see the other finishers, Jeff, Newt, Justin etc. I waited around for the top 50k runners, and like I said, it's hard to think about being out there for another 18 miles. George looked super strong at the finish, so did Greg. I was surprised to see Chris Hayhurst so close behind Greg. He had a very disappointing DNF last year, so he must be doing some good training at the farm.
All in all, a great day.

Looking forward to Pisgah

I've had a couple of fairly good runs the last few weeks. The Wednesday Keenyan workout was one of them. Justin had the plan to do 3 X 600/400/300/200. It sounded ok to me, so while he and Andy were finishing their warm up, I got started so as not to get lapped too often. I kept all my recovery periods to about a minute, usually walking a hundred yards or so. The 600's were definitely the hardest. It was hard to hold pace for the last 1/2 lap. But I felt good about my 400's. 9 months ago or so when I began running with this group, I was just trying to keep my 400 time under 1:35, and I could usually hit 1:30. Now I feel comfortable at 1:23. If I can get them to 80 sec, and my 800's at about 2:50 +, I will be very happy.
As for other runs, I did the rail trail to the dump a couple of times this week. Always a good run, and an ego booster. Sunday I ran with the Brewbakers crew. Jeff and I did 'Death Hill'. That is a well named run. I think I may have to go back and try to do a couple of repeats on it before the winter sets in.
I've been trying to be a little more consistent with the running, even though I don't feel like I am in training mode. But I feel stronger than I did this time last year when I was training for the DeMar. I am really looking forward to Pisgah, and if all goes well, try to break 2 hours. That's about a 8:25 pace overall. But in Pisgah anything can happen. We'll see.

My track results were:
2:04/1:23/1:02/:38
2:10/1:23/1:01/:37
2:11/1:21/:59/:37

A couple decent Wednesday Workouts

It is a slow road, but I am feeling better and better about the efforts I have been putting in the last few weeks. Last week at the track I had to go early, so I did my workout and ran the warmup with the other Keenyans as my cool down. I did a 6 X 400/800, with 200/400 jogs in between. I felt good about it, and kept fairly consistent times. This week I did 6 X 200/400 with 200 jogs recovery. It was very hot, and even though I felt like puking on the last 400, the times were good. My midweek running has not been as consistent as it was the few weeks prior, but I feel like the relative speed is coming back. And I have really enjoyed the running. Nice slow jogs with Roma in Greenfield. To the dump and back a few times. A decent 5 mile tempo run in the evening. I am really looking forward to some cooler weather. And while my times in the upcoming races (Covered Bridges and Pisgah) might not be my best, I think my fitness level is still good. Maybe I will get serious and look for a late fall/ early winter race to shoot for. Then there is Boston in only about 7 months. Under 3:15? It could happen.

2 weeks track results:
6 X 400/800
1:27 / 2:57 1:32 /3:00 1:29 / 3:02
1:30 / 2:58 1:31 /3:01 1:30 / 2:57

6 X 200/400
37 / 1:27 39 / 1:30 39 / 1:31
38 / 1:29 38 / 1:30 37 / 1:27

Getting Back Into It

I've been trying to run almost every day, even if it is only for a half hour or so. I did the Bridge of Flowers 10K in about 44 minutes. Not too speedy. The hill was tough, but I kept all the other miles at about 6:30. Sunday was the first time out with the regular Brewbakers crew in quite a while. It was a fun run with Rudiger. I have done 3-4 miles, twice in my Vibram Five Fingers. I think they are a good training tool. They make my feet a little sore, but not from the impact. Just from using muscles differently. Monday I went about 2 miles up the rail trail, and on the way back, I tried to run smooth and fast. I was doing about a 6/6:30 pace. Not bad for the Vibrams. Wednesday was the track workout with the Keenyans. Great to have Justin back running. Erin and I did a workout of 4 X 200/400, with a 200 jog between each, then a few 200s after that. Nothing too hard. It felt good to have some short bursts of 'speed'.
Here are the results:
36/1:23/39/1:26/
40/1:24/39/1:23/38/39

Back to the Running Life

Well, after a while off from any serious or consistent running, I am looking forward to getting back into it. For anyone who hasn't heard, my new business venture didn't work out so well for me, and I will be backing out of the partnership. Too much to talk about on a blog, but if I get the chance to run with you, I'll get you caught up on the details. I promise to keep it from turning into too much of a bitch session. So now with a little more time on my hands, I'll put a few more miles in the log book. I got in a good 9 miler to the wood bridge on monday, and a few other shorter runs on sunday and tuesday. Yesterday I met up with the Keenyans, and I had a good workout with Erin. I had been thinking of doing some longer repeats at about 5k pace. We did 2 X 1 mile at 6:15-20, then a 400 and a quick 200. It's still been hot, and I felt a little fatigue on the longer reps, but not too bad, and no muscle soreness. This weekend is the Bridge of Flowers race, which I have been wanting to run for a few years now, but because of my schedule it has never worked out. I won't be in the best of shape for it, but I'm going to use it as the start of getting things back in perspective in my life. I'm going to try to keep all the parts of my life balanced... with lots of running.
Wednesday Results:
6:15/6:21(mi) 1:22(400) 37(200)

Is July Over Yet?

Well, so far I've had more days running in July than I've had days off. But that's not saying much. Things are starting to settle down a little after opening Magpie, and there is beginning to be a little light at the end of the tunnel. I don't think I will be logging my miles or times for a while, it will be too depressing. If I can get into a routine of 3+ days a week I know my mind and body will feel a whole lot better. I made it out on Sunday morning, although not with the usual crew, just by myself in Greenfield. I was sore and stiff from a long night in front of the oven, but by the end of about 5 miles or so I felt much more loosened up. This morning I made it out to the trails in Highland Park. The weather was perfect, and the trails were great. I actually felt like I was running, not just plodding along. I worked a bit on form, because I know when things are tight, better form helps to loosen them up. I am hoping to make it out again this afternoon, then to the Wednesday run with the Keenyans. But this time, only 1 warmup run. That would be 4 runs in 4 days. Way to finish up July with a flourish.

Wednesday with the Keenyans

It's been taking a long time to get my mind back into workouts, and even though I feel like I have put in some decent workouts recently, there hasn't been a drive to finish strong. It's been too easy to decide to cut it short and say it was good enough. Yesterday was one of those days. My times were ok, I felt alright, but the opportunity came up to cut it a little short, and I called it a day. Still an ok day, and I think I'm keeping my fitness level about the same, but progress isn't there.
Anyways, the Keenyans who showed up were: Justin, Andy, Greg, George, Erin, Sam?, Mark and me. Erin and I decided to do some 800s, 6 was the plan. after 4 we thought about doing some 400s & 200s to finish up. We ended up doing just 2 more 400s and calling it a day. Still 2 1/2 miles of speed work at a decent pace, but not too challenging.

800s
2:54/2:58/2:58/2:57
400s
1:23/1:23

Saturday is Mount Washington. I am looking forward to it, but we'll see how it goes. I am shooting for between 1:30-1:35.