Tu- AM: 3.2 miles in 30:00. Aborted workout. Was planning on 1 mi wu in 10:00, then 9:30 pace at 12% grade, cutting the pace down :30 per mile every half mile. Made it a mile before my quads quit on me. Jogged a cd after. I'll try this later in the week. Quads are still shot from all the downhill on Sunday. 630 ft gain.
PM: 5.3 miles in 43:39 on the roads from home. 10 strides in the last 1.5 miles. Quads still sore, but better than this morning. Worked outside for about 4 hours today and it was COLD. 3*F when I left the office.
W- 8.2 miles in 1:14:26 on snowmobile trails, first 4.4 w/ Paul. Legs feel better than yesterday, but I think I dug myself into a little bit of a hole on that long run on Sunday. If you play with fire you're bound to get burned once in a while.
Th- 4.5 miles on treadmill in 45:00. Aborted workout AGAIN. Legs felt much better at start, but as I picked up the grade, I couldn't maintain pace. Ran 2 miles at 8:30 pace for a warm-up, then 11.5% @ 9:30 pace for 1 mile, then 9:00 pace for 0.5 miles. Felt like poop at 9:00 pace so took a 0.5 mi jog at 0% grade, then back up to 11.5% grade, but couldn't hold on. Planned on putting in some easy miles after, but the treadmill started acting up and I was in too pissy of a mood to move to another one. 1250 ft. gain.
F- 4.6 miles on the Corridor 19 snowmobile trail in 38:26. Felt a lot better and wanted to go longer, but thought I should play it safe with how I have been feeling and a big race coming up the next day. 5 strides near end.
Sa- Sandwich Sidehiller 4 Mile Snowshoe Race, 1st 31:48, 5th straight win here. I am pretty happy with how the race went. I knew the snow was a little choppy and would be tough going which plays to my strengths, but this was a tough race right from the start. I am pretty sure I punched through the snow on every step. Double J got out to an early lead on the groomed ski trails and I just tried to keep him in sight. I was already working hard early in the race just to maintain distance, let alone make up ground. As we crossed Bean Rd. I was in 3rd place behind Wes Dinnan.
As I slowly worked my way up to him he allowed me to pass and told me to "go get him." The singletrack in the woods was a little more consolidated and the hills were helping me close the gap on Jim. The upper fields were a mess, as much of the snowmobile track had been postholed. I just kept thinking "keep putting one foot in front of the other. Don't let him get away." This seemed to work as I really started closing the gap on the lower fields on the way back. As we entered the woods again I was right on Jim's tail on the downhill, and knew he was having a rough time if I could hang with him on the downhill. As we made the left-hand turn to go up the sidehill, Jim let me by and gave me some encouragement. This was the same place I passed him two years ago in our epic battle.
I tried to open up as a big of a gap as I could, because I knew there was still some downhill left and the last 1/4 mile plus is on groomed ski trail. I hammered with everything I had and tried not to wipe out coming down the last hill and crossing back over Bean Rd. As I made the final turn onto the ski trails I gave it all I had as I could hear the road crossing workers cheer for Jim not too far behind me. I probably looked like a fish gasping for air, floundering in the sugary snow as I neared the finish line. I crossed the line in 31:48, about 8 seconds slower than 2008 and 6 seconds up on Jim. I was completely spent at the finish. After catching my wind, Jim and I did interviews for Channel 9's NH Chronicle, which is suppose to air in a couple of weeks.
Great job by Paul Kirsch and the Sandwich Sidehillers for putting on a great race. This race had 16 finishers a few years ago and had 108 yesterday. There were a lot of spectators out and the course was great as usual. I love the road crossing and all the spectators and volunteers cheering you on.
3.0 wu, no cd
Krissy Kozlosky's Photos
Joe Viger's Photos
Animoto video by Joe Viger
Su 18.4 miles in 2:59:39 from Paul's house. Ran the first 7 with him in 1:14 (10:34 pace), then went back out and ran another 11.4 miles in 1:45:21 (9:14 pace). Pretty tired, but a solid way to end the week. 2500 ft. of gain.
Totals: 58.2 miles, 9.00 hours, 7380 ft gain. Decent week. A little pissed that I wore myself out with last week's long run, which killed my workouts, but I recovered and got in some climbing and some volume. I'm really happy with the race. This race is usually one of the highlights of my year, and this year was no exception. I hoping it's a sign of things to come. I'm planning on running at Snowshoe Nationals in Wisconsin in March. I'm hoping to move up into the top 5 this year.
Now that I can relate to.
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