Catching Up - The Return of Trails

I'm really having trouble finding time to blog with my current workload, but here is a review of the past few weeks.  I hope to post a Big River Half report as well. 

Week of 3-23-15 to 3-29-15

M 3/23: 10 hilly road miles (snow on Pardon Joslin climb) in 1:09:14. 
T  3/24: 10 miles at Calf Pasture Point.  3 x messy 2.2M loop of beach, snowy trail, and snowy bike path. 5 minute jog between loops. Simulation of possible Brrr-lingame trail race conditions.  Last lap was my 2nd fastest ever.  Total time: 1:15:54. 
W 3/25: 10 miles at Ryan Park.  First real trail run since mid January.  Total time: 1:18:29. 
T  3/26:  6 miles at Rome Point.  Character building.  Miserable conditions. Trails were mostly icy glaciers with some muddy bare spots. I fell hard twice within the first 6 minutes. Almost fell a bunch more times. Cold damp wind on the beach heading south, caught in a shower on the way back. Cut run short, but should be tapering for Sunday anyway.  Total time: 47:39. 
F 3/27:  7 miles in Burlingame from my house.  Snow free trails!  Total time: 53:56. 
S 3/28:  5 miles in Burlingame.  Wet trails, but fun.  Total time: 40:58. 
S 3/29:  14 miles.  Brrr-lingame 10M trail race.  See separate write up here. 

Comment: The trails are coming back!  Good race.  Feeling confident about fitness at next week's Big River Trail Half.  Low overall mileage because of race. 

This week:  62 miles
Last Week: 78 miles
YTD:        851 miles
March:      263 miles

Making a comeback! 

 

Week of 3-31-15 to 4-5-15

M 3/30: 9 miles in Big River.  Disappointing amount of snow still around in the lower, darker spots.  The ridge is snow free and awesome.  Total time: 1:11:42. 
T 3/31: 13 miles on hilly roads.  I parked at Cuttyhunk and then ran the Nooseneck 18K course.  The weather was great and I was having fun.  I turned this into a progression.  882' of climbing.  13.1 miles in 1:26:30.  6:27 grade adjusted average pace. 

W 4/1:  8 miles in Ryan Park.  Recovery run in 1:04:16. 
T  4/2:  7 miles in Big River.  Warm, dry, and relatively snow-free.  1 hour.  2 more miles running with the kids (on bike) at night. 

Visiting the horses at Gooseberry Farm

 

F  4/3: 10 miles in Big River.  Marking the course with Muddy and Galoob for 2.5 hours.  Total running time of 1:23:41. 

Perfect trail conditions for the race. 

S  4/4:  16 miles.  Big River Trail Half Marathon race.  Masterpiece of a course by Mike Galoob thwarted by malicious flag and sign removal.  I kept the lead pack of 7 on course.  So fun and challenging. Surprisingly close to the top 2 at the end.  3rd overall in 1:23:52.  One mile of roads to/from horse lessons with my kids (riding their bikes to the farm up the road). 
S  4/5: 0 - Happy Spring celebration with extended family.  Forced myself not to run, but was tempted! 

Comment: Awesome race and a great workout early in the week.  Lower overall mileage due to the Half and a forced rest day.  Time to focus on Wapack on May 9th. 

This week: 65 miles
Last week: 62 miles
YTD:       916 miles
March:     285 miles

Week of 4-6-15 to 4-12-15

M 4/6: 9 miles in Big River.  Back to repeat some of the fun new course trails.  Total time: 1:13:31 with a good amount of climbing. 
T 4/7: 13 miles of trail hill repeats.  Done in the rain.  Ran repeats on Cuttyhunk trails, loose rock climb on Stony Lane (unimproved dirt rd), and Pardon Joslin Rd (unimproved dirt rd).  Logged over 1,500' of elevation gain in 1:34:29. 

W 4/8: 9 miles on the Quonset bike path.  5K workout.  Wasn't sure I would do this, but wanted to get in some fast miles.  2 mile warm up in 15:51 and then 5K east to west on the bike path.  I purposely didn't look at my watch.  I just tried to run hard but under control while maintaining good form.  Was very happy with the result of 17:16.  It was wind aided, but I wasn't racing.  My grade adjusted pace (couple of tiny hills on the path) was 5:30.  30 minute cool down followed. 
T 4/9: 11 miles on mostly hilly dirt roads.  Fun route on slightly sketchy back roads.  Lots of good climbing in 1:21:00. 

F 4/10: 8 miles of wet technical trails in Big River.  More ridge running and figuring out the new Half course.  Total time: 1:05:05 with more climbing. 
S 4/11: 15 miles in Burlingame.  2 hour long run encompassing the hilly double track of the northern section and the super techy stuff of the eastern quadrant.  Sunny and dry mid afternoon run.  With temps in the 60's I opted for no shirt.  Great run.  Legs got tired near the end, but they should be.  Over 1,100' of climbing.  2 miles in the morning running with my kids on bikes in Burlingame. 
S 4/12: 9 miles.  Clamdigger 5 Mile road race in Misquamicut and Weekapaug.  I got there early to help out my club (WTAC).  I knew I would end up running either the 5M or 5K even though I was dead tired.  Garvin talked me into the 5 Miler and I just ran a steady hard pace.  Strong headwind the last two miles.  I didn't pay attention to my watch as I wasn't concerned with my time.  However, I was a little disappointed with the 29:34 result.  If I hadn't run long on Saturday, my hope was to run about 5:40 pace and finish sub 28:30.  No big deal. 

Comment: Huge week of training for Wapack.  Lots of technical trails and hills.  According to Strava, over 4,500' for the week.  Going to try and keep it up for the rest of April. 

This week:76 miles
Last week: 65 miles
YTD:       992 miles
April:       119 miles