Weekly Log 12-24-12 to 12-30-12

Monday: 4 miles - 12 loops of my home trails in the morning. This was all the running I could fit in today. Despite being off from work this week, logging miles will be a challenge with the holiday festivities, traveling, and staying home with the kids while my wife works. All fun things, but I'm still chasing 3000 miles. I ran pretty hard and had my best lap splits ever. Total time: 27:34.

Tuesday: 5 miles - Burlingame campground single track with my dad and Glenn in the morning. I was able to get out of the house for a nice little run with my family. We parked at the camp entrance and ran a loop CCW. Total time: 43:48.

Wednesday: 8 miles - CHS track with Glenn, Muddy, Jeff, and Tom. A chilly post Christmas run, but the sun and no wind felt great. We ran a three mile warm up on the surrounding trails with good conversation. On the track we did one of Tom's staple workouts in college - sets of 200/200/400. The first set was inconsistent, but the final three were identical. Despite the lower than normal mileage the last few days, my legs didn't feel fresh. The 400's were a bit of a struggle. Results: 33,36,72 35,35,73 35,35,73 35,35,73. Pretty pumped about the times (a couple of seconds below VDOT). Running as a group on the track really helps. Shortish cooldown on trails and fields. Total time: 1:07:40.

Beaver River field trails

afternoon hike with the kids

Thursday: 14 miles - Burlingame trails with Jeff in the early morning. The weather was truly dreadful, but I was happy to have the rain stop (temporarily) as we started in the dark at 6:30AM. We ran down Sanctuary Rd and then ran the NWS trails to Burlingame. Well, that was the plan, but in the darkness I missed a turn and we ended up running trails(?) in Kimball before finally locating the right trail. We then ran the single track of the Brrr-lingame 15K course. These trails drain well and we were having fun. Once we got to the wet bog bridges and then VG trail, it began to rain again. We were chatting away, still enjoying the morning. The tide turned when we reached Buckeye Brook Rd as the rain was more evident and my clothes were soaked through. We fought the elements and finished up the VG loop back to our cars. Total time: 1:50:23. Glad to have a partner crazy enough to join me today!

Friday: 7+ miles - Ninigret trails and fields with Tom and Mike B. It was chilly this morning when I met the guys at 7AM. We ran some trails for a 3 ish mile warm up. My legs were feeling sluggish at times keeping up with the snappy pace. We then did some tempo work in the form of 1000's around a field Tom had measured. I'm not sure of the exact distance (until I upload my GPS data), but it seemed pretty accurate. The planned pace was to go hard but stay under control. I felt really smooth on all four, and enjoyed running on the frozen grass. I was about 3:25 on the first three and 3:14 on the final one. Some drama unfolded when my key fell out of the key pocket in a new pair of shorts I was wearing. I had a time deadline to get home (wife had to work), so I was nervous when we couldn't find it right away. Karma kicked in and Tom found it. Crisis adverted. One mile cooldown at a fast pace. Total time 57 minutes.

Saturday: 6 miles - Stoddard NH hilly snow covered dirt roads alone. Lots of snow on the ground up there. I put on my Yak Trax over my MT 10's - a nice combination. Right away I had to climb the very steep Kennedy Brook Rd and then continued climbing up Kings Highway. After two exhausting miles uphill at a fast pace, I got to run downhill for over a mile. I added some side roads, including another long hill, for a rather speedy 43:25 total time. I played around in my snowshoes later in the day, looking forward to my first real snowshoe run tomorrow.

Boulder Brook behind the house

Playing in the snow at the house

More snow playing

The snowy dirt roads I ran

Pitcher Mountain field (2000')

Snowshoeing Pitcher Mountain

Sunday: 4 miles - Stoddard NH snowshoe run alone. 19 degrees and about six new inches of snow. I ran up to Hidden Lake, which included a 2/3 mile climb. I stopped after the climb to adjust my snowshoes, and then never had to fiddle with them again. I probably could have used just Yak Trax on the roads. The trail around the pond was perfect for snowshoeing however. Deep powder slightly packed by one snow mobile I'm guessing. So much fun and not as tiring as I thought. The hood on my outer layer came in handy to keep the flying snow from my shoes off my neck. I ended up circling the pond three times (3/4 miles per loop on GPS) instead of the planned one. I opted for the shorter (downhill) way back. Total time: 36:45.

Overall: I ran every day, but had a low mileage week. I knew it would be tough chasing miles this week. I had a blast on the runs I fit in, and a nice busy week with my family. I can't complain with two speed workouts, a hilly tempo, my first snowshoe run, and a longish trail run. So, two miles short of 3000, but one day left. I again have a short window to run in the morning, and there's six inches of snow on the ground up here on the hill in Charlestown. I'll get it done!


Weekly Total: 48 miles
Last Week: 70 miles
Year to Date: 2998 miles