View the Race course video. This would be awesome for a trail race!
Our close friends who live in the area (and vacation with us further north) are running this race. It is a Friday night at 7PM and just happens to be the day we are driving up. I was told it is a small race, but looking at the results, there are some very fast dudes who run it. The vacation house we are staying in is a new place that is surrounded by miles of dirt roads. I'm very much looking forward to running there.
Monday: 11 miles - Rome Point mix alone. I began with some pavement, ran the trails (including the hill a couple of times), and then did a nice out and back along the coastline from Rome Point to Plum Beach, finishing up with some more trails. Total time: 1:24:26 with 438' of climbing.
At night I dragged my broken mtn bike out from the basement and road with my son in Ninigret Park. This was fun. I need to get this bike fixed. We rode for about 4 miles.
Tuesday: 10.5 miles - hilly mix of trails, dirt, and paved roads alone. I parked at the Cuttyhunk Preserve and ran up to Stony Lane. I then headed east to Rte 2. I turned around and climbed the long hill (1.1 miles with 226' elevation gain) back up. I wasn't feeling that great, but my pace was good. I stayed on Stony Lane all the way to the end on Sunderland Rd. I ran well on the sketchy unimproved dirt section. I then ran down my favorite dirt hill (Pardon Joslin Rd) and then ran right back up. Again, I wasn't feeling fast today, but I managed my 3rd fastest ascent ever. I returned to my car, via the gnarly Stony Lane and trails in Cuttyhunk. Total time: 1:15:38 with 854' of climbing (and pushing the downhills).
Wednesday: 18 miles. Double! I got a text from Galoob on Tuesday night asking if I wanted to meet at the track in the morning. This was just the motivation I needed. I've been slacking on the track work. We met up at 6AM and after a two mile warm up it was time for the real fun: I would be running I paced 1200's and Mike would be doing multiple mile blocks at T pace. This roughly corresponded to 5:20 pace for both of us. My plan was to do 5 or 6. Right away, the first interval felt hard. My legs felt flat, and I had to "reach" for an extra half second each lap to stay on pace. I was discouraged, but improved as the workout progressed. The 80 second per lap pace became ingrained into my legs' memory. The fifth was a bit challenging and I debated quitting there, but went for one more, which ended up being my fastest: 4:00/4:00/3:59/3:59/3:59/3:57. Boom!
Later in the day I ran another 67 minutes in Ryan Park as a nice recovery.
Thursday: 8.5 miles - Calf Pasture Point loops (3) alone. My legs were toast, but with uncertainty about when I could run Friday and Saturday, I got out for some "easy" miles. I did three loops of the beach/trail/bike path circuit. The breeze kept the heat manageable. I really enjoy this stretch of beach. On this day I had a deer grunt at me, chased a flock of semipalmated plovers, saw a ruddy turnstone, and a snowy egret. Total time: 1:06:45. Fun evening with my family and friends at East Matunuck. Decent bodysurfing.
Friday: 0 - busy day
Saturday: 12 miles - Carter Preserve trails and local roads alone. I thought I might do a track workout in Cambridge in the early morning, but that never happened. Instead, I ran later in the afternoon from my house as the rains were subsiding. I headed to the Carter Preserve, which requires just over two miles of tarmac to reach. I was moving well (just under 7 minute pace), but my legs were still feeling some heaviness (from Wednesday??). I ran the powerline trail and then entered the woods and followed blue, yellow, and white to Rte 112. I then ran up Rte 112 (good hill here) at 6:30 pace to the unnamed trail across from the elementary school. I followed this trail to red, and then motored on to blue and then another new unmarked trail (I read about on Seth's blog). This is a nice connector to the grassland. I found myself running rather fast again, and managed to keep it up all the way home - which included my 2nd fastest time up Shumankanuc Hill Rd (6:42 pace). Total time: 1:26:38 with 613' of climbing.
Sunday: 10 miles - Burlingame trails fartlek solo. Hmm - my legs are sore. I guess yesterday's run was harder than I thought. I ran later in the morning after my wife finished her run in Burlingame. I had the goal of running some tempo paced stuff, and thought Sammy C's trail (about 19-20 minutes) would be good for that. I took the long way there: entered the woods off Burdickville Rd and then followed the North South Trail to the red gate, turned right on Buckeye Brook Rd down the hill where I ran into Pard (charging out of the woods on his morning run looking super strong), I ran back into the woods following Vin Gormley, but taking the mtn biking detour. At this point I was moving pretty fast, but really pushing any downhills. I remembered that I didn't have the KOM on the Li'l Rhody Rise segment on Strava, so I sprinted up the hill, making really good time. I was sucking wind afterwards however. I then continued on VG until reaching Sammy C's. I was not feeling energetic, but tried my best. I completed the segment a couple of seconds slower than my PR. I then ran the final 1.5 miles on roads. Good run and workout. I really enjoy pushing trail segments. Total time: 1:13:10 with 641' of climbing.
Weekly Total: 70 miles
Last Week: 58 miles
Year to Date: 1972 miles
July Total: 293 miles
August Total: 22 miles
Looking at those race results, the 1st and 3rd place guys were both ahead of me at the race I did in Bridgton on July 4th. I guess 4-mile races in Maine are their specialty.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing Stephen Herrera has the kom considering he has the cr at lil rhody, but good run either way! ;)
ReplyDeleteSee you this weekend!