The plan this week is just to log a bunch of miles (mostly trails) as I continue to prepare for Pisgah 23K and Nipmuck. I hope to get a 2.5 hour run in on the weekend, but again my schedule is tight.
Monday: 12+ miles - Burlingame trails alone. I messed up my alarm (set the wrong one) so I missed my opportunity to run 2.5 hours. Instead I was able to go out for a shorter run of 1.5 hours. I did an out and back of the North South Trail through Burlingame from my house. I kept a nice steady pace on the way out. It was dark in the woods with overcast and misty conditions. This made my glasses a mess, so I struggled with vision out there, but no falls or missteps. I was going to turn around at the perceived 6 mile mark (covered bridge), but decided to press on through the technical rock gardens and streams for Nipmuck practice. I picked up the pace on the way back. I had to take my glasses off the last couple of miles as I couldn't keep them clear anymore. GPS was not doing my pace justice, as I felt like I was going sub 7 mile pace near the end. Great run.
Tuesday: 5 miles - Quonset bike path alone. Weird weather day and I didn't have a great window to run. I went after the first steady rain, but before the thunderstorms. I could tell that the sky was ominous when I began my run, and there was thunder in the distance. I decided to run a two mile tempo, hopefully in 11 minutes flat. My legs didn't feel great and it was muggy. My warm up miles were slow. I still did the tempo (out of necessity) and managed a 11:08. I think that this might be a tad off since I was in the trees near the end, pushing the pace harder, but with a slower GPS reading. Doesn't really matter. I beat the storm.
Wednesday: 13 miles on two runs. In the morning I awoke at 6 and quickly got my act together to do some home trail loops. It took a while to get my legs moving. I still think this is a good workout, even though it is monotonous. Splits: 8:28/8:23/8:00 - 24:51 for 3 miles. In the afternoon I went up to Big River and parked at the Hopkins Hill Rd lot. I wasn't sure which trails to hit, and ended up exploring for awhile. I ran trails on the west side of the road and then crossed the Cardi Rd and began my adventure. I was happy that I was able to do a long loop without really knowing where I was, but used the sun as my guide. The trails weren't very exciting - relatively smooth, straight, and not-technical. Not sure if I will go back anytime soon as the Carr Pond side is much more fun. But I had a slight adrenaline rush and it made the time pass quickly. I then connected over to Tarbox Pond and then ran a meandering route back to my car so I could get 10 miles for the run. Even mixed in an awkward beaver dam crossing.
Thursday: 15 miles on two runs. This morning I got up really early to meet the crew at the track. We had planned a fun workout that Chris had done in college: 1200@5k, 800 float, 1200@5k, 800 float, 400@5k, 400@3k, 200 kick for a total of 5K. I was having anxiety dreams about it and woke up before my alarm at 5AM. I got to the track at 5:45 and began my warmup, impressed that some other guy was already doing a workout in the pitch black. I was then joined by Mike, Nate, and finally Ben. No Chris (alarm issues). After two miles we agreed to stick with the plan. I targeted 5:20 pace for 5K (ambitious), 6:30 pace for the floats, 77 for 3K pace, and whatever I could muster for the final 200. As usual, my legs were feeling a bit heavy and not in tip top shape, but the workout went rather well. Results: 4:05/3:03/4:07/3:07/81/79/34=17:42 5K. Basically I ran the 5K pace stuff closer to my true 5K pace and the floats too fast. I loved this workout. Not as hard as I feared. I thought I might not get lapped by Mike, but he clipped me right at the end (he ran 16:26). Nate set a 5K PR and Ben gutted out a strong effort. Two mile cooldown. In the afternoon, I ran at Ryan Park for a recovery. Funny thing was that my legs didn't feel that bad at all. I ran all the fun west side trails and then stuck to the main paths on the east side. I finished up on Oak Hill Rd. Can't remember feeling this good on a workout double.
Friday: 14+ miles - Big River trail half marathon course plus alone. My legs still felt fine after the track work yesterday. I parked at Greasy Joe's and followed the half marathon course, except taking the full length of Lego back to my car. The weather was awesome - about 70 degrees, dry, and sunny. I took my time, but still felt like I was putting in a good effort. Picked up the pace the last few miles. It was fun to playback the race with Jackman - still can remember it vividly. I was getting frustrated with my watch which was doing a poor job of keeping track of me.
Saturday: 12 miles - hilly local roads early in the AM alone. Another busy weekend meant early runs for me. I left the house at 6AM and it was still pretty dark. I decided to stay on roads to just guage my fitness since I was getting slow readings on the trails. Despite logging a lot of recent miles, I was able to run well, especially after the first two miles. I ran down and up Buckeye Brook Rd and then down the length of Klondike Rd. I turned around at the end (almost 6 miles) and headed back. I wanted to increase my pace and was able to run in the lower 6's, even uphill (except the mile up Buckeye Brook Rd which was 6:36 and I was working very hard). Felt happy about this run.
Sunday: 10 miles - Burlingame trails with Nate and Seth from my house. We met up at 7AM and ran into Burlingame from Burdickville Rd. We made our way down to VG and then back up Sammy C's. The pace was casual and the conversation was excellent. We finished up taking the overgrown Governor's trail and the switchback up from the beaver pond. After the run we cheered on the triathletes in the FirmMan race. This is an annual tradition. Jeff looked strong on the bike!
Finished off the week with a short run/hike with my son in Burlingame. We were just going to hike, but he couldn't resist running sections of Sammy C's and Secret trails. Can't blame him.
Weekly Total: 81 miles
Last Week: 65 miles
Year to Date: 2210 miles
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