Weekly Log 8-26-13 to 9-1-13

The weather has been feeling very summery so far this week.  I'm excited about my upcoming trail races (Pisgah Mtn Trail 23K and Nipmuck Trail Marathon), and trying to figure out the best way to train for them, or more accurately, if I should be doing anything different than what I currently am doing.  I want to make sure I'm getting enough hillwork and technical trail work in.  I'd like to do long tempos too.  The problem is just fitting these things into the time I have to run every week. 

The fun of ultrasignup.com is checking out the list of entrants and where the computer ranks you.  Here's the Nipmuck as of 8/29/13:

 

Rank	Age Rank	Results	Target	Age	First	Last	City	State	Finishes
91.78%		1	3:43:16	M24	Zack	Price	Landing	NJ
91.66%	95.48%	34	3:43:33	M45	Keith	Schmitt	Durham	NH	3
89.41%	88.13%	14	3:49:11	M38	Jonathan	Hammett	Charlestown	RI
87.94%	88.48%	3	3:53:01	M22	Aidan	Cooper	Sussex	NJ
83.67%	83.34%	8	4:04:54	M35	Seth	Acton	Charlestown	RI	1

 

 

The results are always a bit curious, but fun nonetheless.  The top ranked guy only has one race in the system.  Keith ran 3:34 last year at Nipmuck and I would say the favorite of the people registered so far.  I'd like to be faster than my target time above, but being a newbie, I'm not sure what time is realistic for me.  Anyway, on to the weekly log. 

 

Monday: 8 miles - Ryan Park trails alone.  This was just an easy lunch run on a busy day.  My body is finally feeling better after beating it up playing football and wiffleball on Saturday night.  Total time: 1:02:41. 

 

Tuesday: 9 miles - Saunderstown hilly roads alone.  I was feeling rather good, and since the morning track session was wiped out by rain (lots of it - 3 inches in some places around here), I wanted to do something not so easy today.  I decided to run hills at a decent clip, but not too hard as to compromise tomorrow's speed work.  Mission not accomplished.  It was extremley humid out (later I checked out the dew point - low 70's in NK).  I parked at Rome Point, and ran a loop of roads from there.  I decided to give the Gilbert Stuart Rd climb a good push.  I was able to muster up my 2nd best time, but 15 seconds off of Galoob's record.  I was super gross after this climb and I wished I didn't have a shirt (singlet) on.  I toned down the effort the rest of the way, but had some good climbs:  Snuff Mill Rd, Plum Beach Rd, and Plum Point Rd.  The last one was borderline brutal.  My time was really slow, even though I was working hard.  I ended up running the 9 miles in 1:05:19.  I was using the Strava iphone app to track the run as my Garmin watch was on the fritz.  The GPS seemed a little strange on the phone and I think the run was a little longer. 

 

 

Wednesday: 14 miles on two runs.  In the early morning I met Nate and Galoob at the CCMS track.  My space watch decided to work again after I threatened to smash it to pieces yesterday.  We warmed up for two miles and then had to decided on a workout.  We did 2 sets of 800, 600, 400 with 200 rest, except 600 rest between sets.  It was very muggy out and my legs were feeling yesterday's hills.  This meant I needed to work harder for results I would be okay with.  2:37/1:57/75 2:39/1:57/75 

 

The 800's were faster than the 800's I ran earlier in the month, but the 600's and 400's were slower.  Of course in that workout the recovery was 400 instead of today's 200.  I'll take it.  Group cooldown for a total of 7 miles.  In the early afternoon I headed up to Big River for an easy recovery run on trails.  I did the TNT loop of Lego to Dead Shed to Pump House and back.  My pace was really slow and it was hot out - 85 degrees and humid.  I enjoyed the run however.  Total time: 1:01:46 for 7 miles. 

 

 

Thursday: 9 miles on two runs.  I had a "lunch meeting" with my boss today.  That meant we were going for a run at Rome Point.  Easyish pace. Total time: 43:04 for 5.5 miles.  After work, I was home alone for a little while as Muddy was watching my kids while our wives ran together.  Perfect opportunity to tack on a couple of quality trails miles.  I ran 11.5 laps of my normal home trail loop to get in 3.5 miles.  This is never an easy workout, no matter how hard I'm running.  Mile splits were 8:04/8:02/8:00/4:11.  If I'm running hard they can be as fast as 7:30.  Maybe it's more than a mile. 

Friday: 13 miles - Ryan Park trails with 10K tempo solo.  The plan was for a nice hard trail tempo and with my schedule, the best option was going back to Ryan and running the Belleville Pond Trail 10K course.  I was hoping to be around 40 minutes (maybe just under).  This winter I raced the course in 38:56.  Today's weather was warm and very muggy, so I wasn't going to be surprised by a slower time than planned.  I parked at the high lot and ran the wider trails over to the east side.  After a 3.5 mile plus warm up and a quick stop to stretch/shake out the legs I got to work.  My pace felt pretty good, but it didn't seem as fast as the race back in January.  I was sure the humidity was slowing me down, but I tried to keep an honest effort, even after tiring by the halfway point.  I was super pleased to finish the course in exactly 40:00.  I was sure I was slower, and definitely could have gone harder.  I then dragged my tired body 3+ miles back to my car.  Not easy. 



Saturday: 7 miles - Stoddard NH hilly dirt roads alone.  My pace seemed slow (GPS issues?) but the hills are legit (steep/long). 



We then decided to go for a family hike despite the sketchy weather.  It ended up not raining, but there wasn't good visibility at the top of the mountain we did. 

Sunday: 5 miles - Stoddard, NH dirt roads with my wife.  A nice easy stroll around the neighborhood which always includes some hills. 




Overall: A decent mileage week, but I didn't get a long trail run in. 
 

Weekly Total: 65 miles

Last Week: 80 miles

Year to Date: 2129 miles