Coming Down the Mountain...

Paul running the Moat Brook singletrack

M- 5.2 mile tempo into 3.0 mile hillclimb (1700 ft) up Black Cap via Hurricane Mt. Rd. 55:23, 50 sec faster than February, 5:33 pace for tempo, 8:49 pace on the climb, hot day. 11.2 total

Tu- 6.0 Whitaker Woods 60:00, ran easy, left hip/back a little stiff, last mile barefoot, 5x100m barefoot strides

W- 6.9 Black Cap via Kettle Ridge, down Red Tail 1:13:40, 42:50 to summit, felt good, ran easy, HOT

Th- 6 laps sprint/float/sprint 8:07 (5:25 pace), 34 sec faster than when I did the same workout last year, 2.5 wu/cd, did this at 8:30PM.

F- 4.5 Maudsley State Park 35:00 ran easy w/ Paul, 3x80m strides barefoot


Me hanging w/ Eric at Wachusett, Photo by Krissy Kozlosky

Sa- Wachusett Mt. Race 30:21 2nd place 5.1 miles, 37 seconds behind Eric Blake, went out hard chasing Eric and Ryan Carrara. I couldn't hang with them the first mile, but was pushing hard and they weren't able to put any additional time on me by the time we turned onto the park road. I caught both of them on the downhill singletrack and passed them in the bushes to open a gap before the gravel fire road. Eric finally caught me before we turned onto the uphill singletrack section. I stayed with him on the lower section, but he pulled away the higher up we went. I may have lost a few seconds to him on the 1.5 mile gravel downhill, but not much. I'm pretty happy with the race. wu/cd 6

Su- 13.0 Moat Brook singletrack 2:21:28 with Paul, was planning on doing 10 with Paul first then adding a long climb up North Moat, but we went a little long on the single track and figured 2:20 would be a good long run. Really nice run.

Totals: 56.6 miles, 8.3 hours, 4400 ft gain. Solid week. Not huge volume or climbing, but some good workouts and a good race. I had a little twinge in my left lower back/hip area, but it seems to have worked itself out and I'll probably get a massage this week. The barefoot strides seem to help.

Cheeseburger in Paradise

Hocking looking stylish on the summit

M- 5.6 miles Hurricane Mt. Rd. & trail 1:02:27, felt ok, ran easy w/ Roger, found another mountain bike trail! 1500 ft gain

Tu- 0 Felt like death warmed over

W- Mt. Washington Auto Road, good workout, was planning on running easy, but it was nice weather (cool, rainy) for running hard so I upped the effort each mile. 7:37 8:24 8:25 8:21. The fourth mile split was about as fast as I've ever run that mile, including race day. 4.0 down, 2300 ft gain

Th- 3 x 1 Mile, 3:00/400m rest, not a good workout, supposed to do 6, but still beat from the 10k and the unplanned hard run yesterday, 5:04 5:06 5:15, 3.5 wu, 1.0 cd barefoot w/ Roger

F- 7.0 Upper Moat Brook singletrack, 1:04:45, tried to run easy as possible, I love those trails

Sa- 0 Jess's sister's graduation + cheeseburger & beer = no workout

Su- Mt. Washington Auto Road with Dan Hocking and Coby Jacobus 7.6 miles 1:16:24. Dan wanted to see the course and try to run it easy to get an idea what to expect race day. Coby wanted to come along and maybe run the trails down to get a long run in. I brought along my Camelback with clothes and food and wore trail shoes for the trip down. We ended up not running the trails down, so we didn't need half of the stuff I brought. I'm glad we didn't take the trails down though, Dan and I were both a little wiped when we hit the top. Oh well, good weight training. 2 mi wu at Great Glen Trails. 4650 gain

Totals: 38.2 miles, 5.75 hours, 8500 ft gain. Not a great week, but I've had much worse. I think racing a 10k at 9PM and getting home at 3AM did not help this week. Very happy with the way I felt on the Auto Road Wednesday. I should have skipped Thursday's workout after running hard the day before, but I'm dumb. Saturday I was supposed to do a 5.2 mile tempo on the roads, then head straight up Hurricane Mt. Rd. to Black Cap, but that didn't happen. I was able to do this workout yesterday (Monday) though, and ran it 50 sec faster than I did in February. I ran 5:33 pace for the tempo, then averaged 8:49 pace for the 3 mile climb to the summit of Black Cap. Even more encouraging is the fact that I averaged 8:22 pace on Hurricane Mt. Rd. (1.8 miles, 1000 ft gain, 10% grade) on a hot day. If that's my settle in / blow-up in the heat pace, I'll be psyched.

7300 ft of Climbing = 10k PR

Crusing along in the 10k, Photo by Mark LaRosa

M- 8.2 Rattlesnake & Middle Mountains 1:28:20, felt good, left hamstring a little tight, 8x80m strides after, 1400 ft gain

Tu- Cathedral Ledge Rd. hill repeats, 3.1 wu at WW, then 3:00 up 4:00 up 5:00 up, then 6:52 to the top (0.9 miles, 7:38 pace, ~11% grade), kept the rest intervals on the downhill the same as the repeat times. Really good workout. 1200 ft gain, 7.9 total

W- 6.9 Black Cap via Kettle Ridge, down Red Tail 1:13:31, 42:11 to summit, felt good, ran easy

Th- 2x(5x400m), 100m/40sec recovery, 400m/2:40 between sets. 72 71 72 74 72 72 71 65. Solid workout. Was originally going to do the mile repeats, but switched it up when I decided I was going to do the 10,000 at the New Balance Boston Twilight Meet on Saturday. 2.0 wu, 1.0 cd

F- 5.0 Puddin Pond Singletrack 46:23, ran easy w/ Paul, felt pretty good, 5x80m strides after


Nate yelling at me to get my ass in gear, Photo by Mark LaRosa

Sa- New Balance Boston Twilight 10,000m 31:58, 4th place, 8 sec PR. Pretty good race. Went in hoping to run 75 sec laps until I couldn't handle it anymore. Found 75's weren't comfortable from the start, but just tried to gut it out. I never really felt good or confident of even finishing most of the race. I seriously considered dropping out before 5k. Felt like I got into a little bit of a groove after 4 miles, and after 8k I knew I could finish. The second half wasn't pretty, but 5:10s is a lot better than 5:20's like I would usually blow up to. Big thanks to Nate Jenkins for pulling me along and encouraging me. Middle of the packers like me don't get that on the track very often. Also a big congrats to Dan Hocking on the W and a sub 30 in his track 10k debut. Dan wasn't able to run for 6 years as a result of a knee injury, but was able to start training last year and has been on fire ever since.

Su- 14.0 Green Hills from home 2:25:46, felt pretty good. Just got in a rhythm and went. 3000 ft gain

Totals: 59 miles, 8.9 hours, 7300 ft gain. Pretty solid week again. Good amount of climbing, faster track work, and a PR to boot. I would have liked to have run faster on the track, but I just never felt in a rhythm all race. The time is slightly faster than what I ran at Market Square Day in '06 (before I went off course at the 6 mile mark) and I was in really good shape for Mt. Washington that year. I feel like the specific climbing fitness is there or can be tweaked slightly and I should have the tools when I have to reach deep.

Much Needed Down Week

Looking out over the Sandwich Range Wilderness

M- 3.0 Elm Brook & Echo Lake 23:43, super easy, soaked in the lake for 10 minutes after

Tu- 0 felt awful, needed the rest day.

W- 5.5 Puddin Pond singletrack w/ Paul, 49:38, felt better, 8x80m strides after

Th- 6x1 Mile 3:00/400m recovery 5:01 5:00 5:01 5:02 5:06 4:59 Windy! Especially the last 2. Really happy that I was able to break 5 on the last one. 2.5 wu, 0.5cd

F- 6.2 Mt. Kearsarge North 1:12:35, 2600 ft gain, 37:41 to summit, ran easy and was only 1 sec slower than my summer PR. Ran right after getting a massage form Jean Brauel.

Sa- 12.0 Trout Pond Trails w/ Paul, 2:09:42, ran easy, pretty tired, we had planned on an easier long run this weekend, but still accumulated 2000 ft of elevation gain over the run!

Su- 3.0 Mile Cranmore Retro Hillclimb 22:06, 6 sec faster than a few weeks ago, pretty sore from the massage and the long run, and the fact that I ran this at 7AM. Good effort though. 2.0 wu, 3.0 cd

PM: 9.5 mile hike with Jess into Black Mt. Pond, then up to the shoulder of Sandwich Dome. Ran into light snow and heavy wind up high. Luckily, Jess is still speaking to me.

Totals: 45 miles, 6.7 hours, 5700 ft gain. Pretty good down week. My body needed the rest early in the week. Still a little tired near the end of the week, but much more manageable. Very happy with the easy effort up Kearsarge. It’s a ball buster of a climb (16% grade, VERY technical). Happy with the mile repeats. Would have liked to have been a little faster, but the wind was definitely a factor. I expected to easily break 22 minutes up Cranmore on Sunday, but the odds were stacked against me a little. Still faster than the last time, despite the lingering fatigue.


My lovely wife taking in the view

10lbs of poop in a 5lb bag

Panorama from Peaked

M- 6.9 miles Black Cap via Kettle Ridge, down Red Tail, 1:15:25, 42:58 to summit, felt good, ran easy, no shirt

Tu- Long tempo run in Whitaker Woods. Averaged 6:01 pace for 12.4 miles. May not sound all that impressive, but the course was pretty tough. I used our weekly 5k cross country course in North Conway (1st mile flat, 2nd mile has 200+ ft of climbing, 3rd mile down then last ½ mile flat) and rooted. Ran 18:48 18:34 18:39 18:40. I didn’t kill it, I just cruised. My fastest time all out on the course is 16:41. It’s pretty tough. I’m pretty happy with it. Longest and fastest long tempo of the year so far.

W- 6.9 miles Black Cap via Kettle Ridge, down Red Tail, 1:19:57, 47:26 to summit, felt good, fresh snow the whole way, 5” at summit!

Th- 6.9 miles Black Cap via Kettle Ridge, down Red Tail w/ Paul, 1:21:20, +/-48:00 to summit, felt good, ran easy, added on 3x4:00 repeats on Hurricane Mt. Rd. (0.57 miles, 10% grade). Felt like poop doing these, but I found out when I got home that I ran 7:11 pace for each repeat based on an accurate survey we have done on that part of Hurricane Mt. Rd.

F- 7.0 Upper Moat Brook singletrack, 1:01:31, pretty tired, ran as easy as possible, still the second fastest time I’ve ever run on that loop, almost got hit by a falling tree

Sa- 6x1 Mile, aborted after first repeat. 5:06 for the 1st one, but ran 75,76,77,78 for each lap. Calves were pretty dead and I was putting in a lot of effort to run that 78. Didn’t bother cooling down. 2.25 mi wu


Paul running up Middle

Su- 14.4 miles in the Green Hills, 3:14:00, 3000+ ft gain. Good run. Both Paul and I were pretty tired, but got in a solid long run anyway. Found more trails that I didn’t even know about.

Totals: 63 miles, 10.5 hours, 9600 ft gain. Pretty good week other than the aborted workout on Saturday. I think I was just dead tired and didn’t know it until I started the workout. I don’t know if I should have gutted it out, but it was quite an effort for the first one. I was thinking of taking a “down” week this week, cutting out any climbing M and W.

Another Week of White Mountain Running

Paul near the summit of Table Mt.

M- 3.8 Peaked Mt. 49:45 with Paul and Frank, ran pretty easy, 27:06 to summit, 1200 ft gain

Tu- 3.1 wu at Whitaker Woods, 3.0 mile Cranmore Hillclimb Retro course 22:12, supposed to be a hard threshold run. I’m not sure if I ran too hard but it was a good workout. 2.0 cd Ran the course 5 sec slower than when I used it for a training tune-up in 2006 before the World Trophy. 1100 ft gain. I’ve run 21:05 and Dave Dunham has the course record at around 20 flat.

W- 6.9 Black Cap via Kettle Ridge, down Red Tail 1:12:55, 41:57 to summit, ran super easy and still managed to run 2m 30sec faster than last week to the summit, 1700 ft gain

Th- 2.5 wu w/ Roger, 6x1Mile 3:00/400m rest 5:01 5:03 5:01 5:01 5:03 4:59, 0.5 cd Great workout. Felt like garbage on the wu, but found pace pretty easy once I got started. Last 2 were pretty tough, but good effort.

F- 5.7 Green Hills single track with Paul 58:06, dog tired. Easiest run I did all week in terms of terrain, but stumbled through the whole thing. Marked the Mud Muck Moose course after work with Paul and Roger.

Sa- 2.0 wu, 10x300m hard, 45 sec/100m recovery w/ Tim Livingston. 49-51 sec for repeats. We ended up taking about 53 secs for recovery on each one. Tim was a big help on this workout as he has a little more speed and switched the lead with me on every other one. Quads were pretty dead on this one. 0.5 cd. Timed the Kennett track meet after


View from Table Mt.

Su- 13.6 Bear Notch Ski Touring to Diana’s Baths via Attitash Trail 3:50:24 nice easy long mountain run with Paul. Ran into some snow on the last 1.5 miles on the Big Attitash ridge which slowed us down, but all of the climbing was runnable. Started at the ski touring center where I directed the Mud Muck Moose trail race in the morning and ran to the trail head in North Conway. 2800 ft gain. Photos are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60117&id=1315312930&l=8d189a62b7

Totals: 53.3 miles, 9.5 hours, 6825 ft gain. Really happy with the week. That’s 3 really good weeks in a row. Once again the strides and drills took a back seat, but I was tired as hell all week. I’m especially pleased that I got in all my runs and workouts despite a busy week at work and a demanding weekend of volunteering. Things are really clicking. I’m pretty tired, but I’ve been staying on top of the sleep and eating right and hydrating and that seems to be making the difference. I’m really pleased with that mile workout as I would have had a hard time doing that in college with all the speed work I was doing, not to mention all the climbing and hard work that I had done leading up to it now. Sunday’s run wasn’t very hard, but it was time on my feet and I didn’t bonk at all before the end of it. I’m going to skip 7 Sisters this weekend as I don’t want to chance messing up my ankle, plus 8 hours of driving doesn’t sound appealing after a long weekend. I’ll get a long tempo in Saturday and a long mountain run on Sunday.


Paul Postholing near Big Attitash

Burn Baby Burn, Tuckerman Inferno

Me running up the Tucks Trail. All photos taken by my beautiful wife.

M- 6.9 miles 1:17:35 Black Cap via Kettle Ridge, down Red Tail, 45:14 to summit, ran easy, 1700 ft gain

Tu- 5x1600m, 3:00/400m rest 5:11 5:09 5:10 5:09 5:05 good workout, felt yesterday's climb. 2 wu, 0.5 cd

W- 6.9 miles 1:16:46 Black Cap via Kettle Ridge, down Red Tail, 44:31 to summit, ran easy, pretty tired, 1700 ft gain

Th- Cathedral Ledge Rd. 1.5 wu w/ Roger, 3x3:00 repeats (0.25 miles) using the "Equalizer", a chord attached to my waste that allows me to pull Roger up the hill. It slows me down but work my quads more while he has to run like hell to try to keep up!, 4:00 repeat (0.5 miles, solo), then 6:57 to the top of the road (0.85 miles, 8:11 pace, ~11% grade). Pretty good workout. 1100 ft gain

F- 9.2 Upper Moat Brook singletrack w/ gate add-on, 1:20:24, couple inches of fresh snow! 3x80m strides at end

Sa- 14.6 miles 1:42:39 (7:02 pace) Stark Rd. Eidelweiss Loop. Ran easy w/ Pete Mallett. Was supposed to run the Tuckerman Inferno today, but the race was postponed to Sunday due to safety concerns for the bikers in the notch and the skiers in the ravine. Both Pete and I wanted to keep the long run in the schedule for the week so away we went.


Laura ripping it up on the Sherbie
Su- Tuckerman Inferno 1st place team! Congrats to Al on the run, Sean in the kayak, Pete on the bike, and Laura on the ski! For me, 25:33, 2.4 mile hillclimb on snow, 1850 gain. My PR to Hermit Lake shelter is 25:07 in the 2006 Inferno, but with a course change this year's race was about 0.1 miles longer. Doesn't sound like much, but when you're running 11 minute miles that adds up. I definitely felt Saturday's long run, but gutted it out. Fun event as usual. wu/cd 2.5

Totals: 57 miles, 8.37 hours, 6350 ft gain

Pretty happy with the week. Doing the easy climbs the day after hard workouts was tough, but I think I'm adapting to it. The workouts still went well too. I would have liked to have been faster on the mile repeats, but I wasn't any slower than last week and still closed in a 5:05. I simply forgot to do strides on Monday and drills on Wednesday (maybe a little tired?!). Really happy with the week as a whole though.

As far as the Inferno, it's tough to compare to previous years, but I'm pretty pumped with the results. It's only a 2.4 mile climb, but I was tired from the long run and the rest of the week, I wasn't 100% into it mentally due to the date change, it was slicker that the year I ran my PR, and I still ran a PR type time. I think it shows that my climbing fitness is there. In previous years I've run some fast times in the spring because I've been in good shape and I was racing well. This spring I don't feel I have been racing all that well, but I'm still running comparable times. Hopefully that means I will have some sharpening to do for the big one.


Keeping it classy