Sunday, June 3, 2012

Training 5/14-6/3

5/14-5/20
M- 12.1 miles in 1:29:18 with Jim on Corridor 19. Felt ok.

Tu- 8.9 miles in 1:09:05 with Jim on the Lower Moat Brook singletrack. Stomach felt awful. Need to eat better.

W- 1:08:36 on the auto road. Pretty psyched. Did this one after work. Ran in control. A little windy above treeline, pushed it a little the last 1/2 mile.
Splits: 8:01 8:43 8:46 8:47 9:24 9:20 15:32 (last 1.7), 1:15:47 down!

Th- 8.2 miles in 1:00:44 w/ Jim on the back roads of Eaton and South Conway. Lunge routine after.

F- 9.4 miles in 1:22:04 w/ Jim on the roads and trails around Whitton Pond and Whitton Ledge. Pretty nice loop. Quads stiff.
Running along the top of Whitton Ledge. Photo by Double J

Sa- Bedford 12k 39:32, 11th place. Best NEGP race in a LONG time. 3.5 wu, drills and strides, 3.0 cd

Su- 5.0 miles in 40:43 with Peter on the Mineral Mine Loop. Felt ok, just tried to run easy.

Totals: 72.0 miles, 9.55 hours

5/21-5/27

M- 0 half day at work, then travel to Ashland, MA for the Inov8 brand conference.

Tu- 5.0 miles in 32:57 around Ashland Pond with Dwight & Chris (Inov8 sales reps). Felt ok. Spent the rest of the day checking out the new models and presenting my feedback on some models I've been testing. There is some great new stuff in the pipeline!

W- 4 x Cathedral Ledge Circuit. Felt like junk. Travel and bad eating caught up to me. 2.0 wu.

Th- 0 Long day at work.

F- 6.2 miles in 1:01:17 with Jim on some random trails in Albany. Fun run, felt good.

Sa- 1:00 on, 1:00 off fartlek up the auto road. 33:15 to 4 miles. Much better than last time.
Splits: 7:00 8:33 8:52 8:50, 36:57 down., 2.0 wu, drills and strides.

Su- 0 running. 16 mile hike with Jess through the Pemi Wilderness though, which was a lot of fun!

Totals: 27.3 miles, 4.13 hours


5/28-6/3
M- Mt. Washington training run w/ Jim, Nate Jenkins, and Melissa Donais. 1:08:02. Pretty psyched with this one. No real plan time-wise as Jim, Nate and I were planning on something at tempo effort. I felt pretty smooth the whole way and my breathing barely ever felt labored. My hamstrings were super tight on the warm-up and I noticed them while running, but they didn't seem to slow me down! This run was a huge confidence booster. A big thank you to Jess for driving us down so our quads wouldn't be sore for the next week! 2.0 wu
Splits: 7:28 8:44 9:00 8:53 9:30 9:16 9:09 5:57

Tu- 1.0 One stinking mile with Jim at Whitaker Woods. I hate lightning.

W- 0 Stomach bug. Called in sick to work. Felt better near the end of the day, but still low on energy.

Th- 4 x Cathedral Ledge Rd. 6:52 6:59 7:09 7:16 (7:04 avg., 7:51 pace) Slower and harder than I hoped, but a solid workout either way. Might still be feeling the effects of yesterday's stomach bug. (1:01:56), 2.0 wu

F- 8.4 miles on Peaked Hill Rd. (gravel) and Province Pond Trail with Jim in 1:02:30. Gradual climb on the way out and gradual down on the way back. Felt ok. Body feels fresh but legs feel a little weird. Apparently my body doesn't know how to react to not being sore all of the time. 3 strides after while Jim pooped in the woods.

Sa- 6.5 miles in 52:30 with Jim and MIT-bound Peter Haine on the Jackson XC Hall Trail and Maple Mtn. Loop. Wet, overgrown and muddy, but fun! I was hoping to go up Washington this morning, but the conditions above treeline were unfavorable.

Su- Pack Monadnock 10 Mile Road Race, 3rd, 1:02:45, :42 behind Brandon Newbould and :15 behind Justin Freeman. I knew this was going to be a tough race as I haven't been working on my road speed at all this spring, but I knew I needed to work on some race tactics, such as reeling people in, and I figured this would be a prime opportunity.

Brandon and Justin went out front right from the start, but the pace seemed manageable, so I latched on until we crested the hill just shy of the mile mark. From here they slowly opened a gap on every down and flat. Tim Van Orden caught me not long after this, but I was able to pass him back just past the reservoir.

I was working pretty hard, but was seeing that my splits were slower than when I did this race back in 2010. I had the luxury of running with Eric Blake that year, and I was in really good road shape at that time too. I knew I would be slower this year when I hit 5 miles in 28:47. I was 27:40 in 2010. I just kept telling myself that Washington could feel like this and that I needed to keep pushing and try to reel Brandon and Justin in on the 2 mile climb at the end.

Unfortunately, my legs were spent at 7 miles, but I kept plugging away. I was relieved to see Route 101 (for the first and only time in my life) as I knew the climb would start once I got on it. My legs were still tired, but I was looking forward to the climb, knowing that I could have a chance of getting back in the race if I ran this section well. I know, I'm a sick f*ck.

I was able to keep my eye on the leaders as I saw Brandon open a small gap on Justin. I could sense that I was slowly closing the gap, despite the fact that my stride felt choppy. I lost sight of both of them just before we entered Miller State Park. The steep climb starts not long after entering the park. I downshifted and tried to stay smooth. I covered the 9th mile in 6:32. I knew I was just under 9 minutes for the last mile in 2010, so I told myself I had 9 minutes to go. On the next steep section I was able to see Justin, and saw that he wasn't that far ahead. I tried to open my stride on the few flat stretches, but lost sight of Justin as the road curved back and forth. I kept plugging away and was rewarded with the view of Justin's and Brandon's backsides on the last steep climb. I hammered it with everything I had. I knew I probably wouldn't catch them, but I figured I would give it a shot anyways. I covered the last mile in 9:04, 10 seconds slower than 2010, but about 30 seconds faster that Justin and about 20 seconds faster than Brandon. I would have loved to had been closer, but I was happy that I still had my climbing legs under me despite my legs being dead at 7 miles.

Splits: 6:08 5:42 5:22 5:55 5:39 (28:47) 6:02 5:47 6:30 6:32 9:04 (33:58)

4.0 wu, drills and strides, 0.5 cd

Totals: 49.2 miles, 6.36 hours