Easy Gait

A lot of work is being done as of late. 59.4 miles in the last 3 days to be precise. All of it geared towards being able to race a fast time at Chicago so the way I feel now matters little compared to how I feel mid-October. How do I feel now you may ask? Sleepy. I think I could sleep in almost any environment right now.

On to the running.

Yesterday at lunch was a leisurely nobscott loop in the pouring rain which took exactly 50:00 to complete. I was noticing my fatigue on Monday so I made sure that the lunch time shake-out would be an easy effort to just get in the volume and rest for the evening workout.

Last night was our first night at the BC reservoir and lucky for us it stopped raining just as Dan, Brad, and I headed out on our warm-up. The workout was a quad breaking 10 x 3 mins with 2 mins rest. This workout was not 48 minutes of fun. I don’t believe I was fully recovered from Saturday’s Tempo. Or it could just be the 59 miles in the last 3 days. It ended up being a 16 mile night which kind of makes my 7 miler at lunch look pretty stupid. I am training for a marathon so you can not expect any sort of logic to drive my training.

This morning was going to be a road bike ride to work day but I decided to nix that plan because I didn’t trust the gray sky and the rain I thought it held. I ran Memorial Forest loop in a pedestrian 49:35 to try and get my legs to recover. At lunch I did the rare Alpaca Farm loop in 58 minutes. I call that nine but it may not be. I wish I could find a better way to get the distances of my trail runs because time and perceived pace is just not as accurate as I would like. As soon as they figure out how to get those satellite transceivers to be a normal watch size I will most certainly buy one.

That’s all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 4:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

123.5 Miles

5 doubles
1 single
1 LSD

Posted by Ryan at 9:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Easy runs today. I was actually feeling a little frayed at the edges from yesterdays long effort so it is early to bed tonight. I actually plan on hitting the hay right after I am done with this message.

Lunch time run today was a solo 47:51 Nobscott loop with both the hills. I was going to run this morning but it was pouring rain and the weather man said it was supposed to stop before noon. He was right, it did. Dry run after which I had to get showered and changed up quick for a 1:00 meeting I had with the boss man. Who for me, is actually a boss woman, but that is neither here nor there.

This evening was my speeder bike trail 10k run with christy breaking off to do 5. 42:12 for a time.

Tomorrow is the first BC res workout of the fall so I have to get some rest. They worked really well last fall so lets hope for similar results. I will report back on the effort tomorrow.

That's all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 9:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday I did a PMP that many of you may be able to relate to. At 8 Kevin, Brad and I met at Loring arena in Framingham at the 6 mile mark and did miles 6 - 14 for a PMP. It was supposed to be at 5:25 pace but things got a little confused as the traffic was worse than I thought it would be at 8:30 on a Saturday and some of the mile markers were paved over from new construction. Here are the splits.

1 5:34
2 11:07 5:33
3 16:42 5:34
4 Missed split
5 27:28 10:46
6 32:49 5:20
7 38:14 5:25
8 43:35 5:20

Felt very good except for the first two miles where we had to do some ducking and weaving through some busy intersections. I think next time I do this run I will do it at 7:30 so the traffic isn't so bad. I really needed to pound on the roads some because i am getting soft from all the trails. I will try to do half my mileage roads and half trails for this week. Hopefully I will not have to do this run because the fresh pond loop will be repaired.

Today was a new PR for me. The longest training run yet. Not the longest run because that was the Boston Marathon in 05' but today I think I may have done 22 or 23. I Did an 11 mile loop on my own in ARWR north and came back to the house to grab Christy Mae. Huge mistake. We then did what i think was a 12 mile loop in the ARWR south, memorial forest, and hop broke conservation. I took 6 oz of water at 11 and 16. It all amounted to 2:33:57 of running. I then had a big breakfast and then 2 hour nap. I spent the rest of the day cleaning out the garage from all the kitchen debris and getting Man Town II ready for Pats football season. Speaking of which, they looked great saturday night. I think Maroney will be a huge help to Brady and Dillon during the real games. Washington couldn't get out of there own way so we will have to see if the Pats are that good or the Redskins are that bad.

That's all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 9:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Date Distance Time Pace Route Time Notes
2006 (Miles) h: mm: ss
14-Aug 9 1:02:12 06:54.7 Alpaca Farm Lunch lunch solo, pm with christy mae
5 0:34:27 06:53.4 ARWR 371 to Obstacle Course PM
15-Aug 5 0:34:04 06:48.8 Lake Boon Loop AM AM: Pouring Rain PM: 10 x 400m Hills 66-70 seconds
13 Newton Hills PM
16-Aug 7 0:46:47 06:41.0 Memorial Forest Long AM
8 0:53:26 06:40.8 Nobscott Tower Lunch
17-Aug 7 0:48:02 06:51.7 Nobscott Loop AM
11.5 1:20:02 06:57.6 Lincoln Trails PM
18-Aug 7 0:47:04 06:43.4 Memorial Forest Long AM
9 1:03:02 07:00.2 Lunch
19-Aug 19 2:02:17 06:26.2 Meyer Special AM Greg Meyer workout on the river.

20-Aug 15 2:17:17 09:09.1 AM Hudson trail run with geoff, kyle, christy, and brian.

Total Mi. 115.5 Avg. Pace 07:00.6

Posted by Ryan at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tuesday night workout at Newton North for another round of hills with Brad and Dan. I always wanted to do a workout that was called Ten to the Cone. Unfortunately we put the cone in a hole on the hill so no one breaks their ankle. It would only be about a 150m repeat if we stopped at the cone. It just seems like a good workout. This evening it was 10 x 400m at 70, 68, 68, 67, 67, 68, 68, 68, 66, 63. Don't forget, in Newton at heartbreak hill for our purposes, 400m = 380m. Very strong and very controlled. I am wondering if I am going fast enough if I was able to finish with a 63. I was trying to keep it at about 80 - 85% but maybe I am short changing myself. Oh well, next time I am there I will be trying to average 66 and see if I can hold it for 10.

This morning was a nice solid 7 miles with Christy Mae. We did the Memorial Forest loop. It was a perfect 65 degrees outside and not one bug even approached us. I am hoping for the same conditions on my run to work tomorrow.

I am also extremely excited because my connection hooked me up with a little fix. I have been going through a remission as of late with no watches in functioning order and having to rely on other runners stash of timepieces. Not anymore because I have this beauty.

Finally the marathons are getting serious about busting runners cheat cheat cheating their way to money. Hopefully no more 46 year old russian women will be thrashing me at my next road race as I run a pr and get gapped. Ok, that is an exageration, but it seems they run some sick times at races that never seem to test. I get a little suspicious when 45 year olds smash prs they could not run when they were 28.

That's all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 9:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not too much exciting happening here. I am starting to sounds like a broken record with my run reporting and this weekend was more of the same. Saturday morning was a nice long Greg Meyer workout on the charles river starting and ending at Fresh Pond. This time it was 4 sets of 2 mins/3 mins with 6 mins between each one. Total running time was 2:02 which I think put us at 19 miles. Sunday was an easy 15 with Kyle, Geoff, and Cann Man through the scenic trails of Hudson. Unfortunately the rain had just stopped and it was really humid which must of re-invigorated the recently dormant deer flies because they were swarming more than they have in two weeks.

Last week was 116 miles total. I will post my log once I get to work. I have jury duty right now and it is a barrel of fun. Hopefully tomorrow will be it.

That’s all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 9:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Easy Nobscott shake out today at lunch solo with some light stretching afterwards. Both my plantar facia's were sore this morning when I got out of bed so my calves are probably a bit tight. Need to pay attention to the stretching a bit more.

This evening was a nice 11.5 mile run with the BAA crew, voce and dan in the scenic Lincoln Woods. A perfect night for a run and we had a full crew. matt, brett, jeremy, charlie, terry, kit, and ben. Nice group run. We all went our separate ways about 9 miles out because some were picking up the pace and some were going long. I figured 19 miles was just about right for today with a Meyer workout coming up on Saturday.

I will not have a time on my next few runs because I broke my watch band and need to get a new one. My back up needs a 2016 battery and I can't seem to find one at the stores. All I need is a battery or a band. It takes me about a week to do that for some unknown reason.

Say it ain't so!

Posted by Ryan at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This morning the alarm went off at 5:40 and I wanted to punch it in the face. It is a digital alarm clock so it doesn’t really have a face, but if it did, I would have nailed it a good one. I managed to refrain from acting on my first instinct of throwing a punch at an inanimate object and got out of bed for a nice 7 mile Memorial Forest long loop. I saw a deer this morning standing in a clearing looking right at me and when it scampered off, it just took three bounds and then watched me run past. Usually they take off into the woods out of sight. I do believe the deer in the area are getting less and less afraid of humans. Next year he will probably ask me for some food.

Solo lunchtime run over the peaks of tippling rock and all the way up to the top of Nobscott hill. I was in a climbing mood today so I figured I would maximize my altitude. 53:41 for what is probably 8 miles. Afterwards, 3 sets of abs with some lifting between sets in the Fitness Center.

Last night was another round of 400m heart break hills in Newton with Dan. 5 mile warm-up through cold spring park was particularly pleasant last night with ideal conditions of 70 sunny and dry. The workout was 10 x 400m (400m = 380m for the purpose of this entry and for the times to make sense) @ 68. I was fast early, 66/67, right on in the middle at 68, the 7th was slow at 70 and the last two were quick again at 67 for 9 and 66 for 10. Felt very good considering I was a little fatigued at work after a soaking wet 5 mile morning run with Christy Mae. I do believe we caught the worst of the rain.

Monday was just some easy distance runs with a nice easy 9 mile Alpaca Farm loop at lunch and an easy 5 miler with Christy after work. After my busy weekend I couldn’t get my butt out of bed early for the usual AM run. Hopefully that is all done now and I will be able to be up and atom every morning for the rest of the week.

Quiz of the day.

“Up and at them!”

“Up and Atom.”

“Up and at them!”

“Better”

Bonus to anyone who can guess the show and episode this exchange is quoted from.

Posted by Ryan at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

109 miles last week. The volume is starting to creep up and a little bit of fatigue while I am not actually running is noticeable. Here is the week in convenient spreadsheet form.

Date Distance Time Pace Route Time Notes
2006 (Miles)
7-Aug 7 0:47:32 06:47.4 Memorial Forest Long AM
7.2 0:49:01 06:48.5 Nobscott Trails Lunch
8-Aug 7.2 0:34:04 04:43.9 Nobscott Trails Lunch
12 Newton Hills PM
9-Aug 5 0:42:17 08:27.4 ARWR 371 AM Feeling a little fatigued from the hill effort
7.2 0:47:20 06:34.4 Nobscott Trails Lunch
10-Aug 7.2 0:48:02 06:40.3 Nobscott Trails Lunch Sergeant Lutz @ lunch. The BAA Crowd at 6:00 in Lincoln.
11.5 1:20:02 06:57.6 Lincoln Trails PM
11-Aug 6.2 0:41:04 06:37.4 Raytheon to work AM Solo in. Legs felt good. 6:13 last mile. Sergeant Lutz @ lunch
7.2 0:48:02 06:40.3 Nobscott Trails Lunch
12-Aug 11.5 Lincon PMP AM 5:15, 5:17, 5:22, 2:13, 5:19

13-Aug 20 2:17:17 06:51.9 Long Slow Day AM ARWR north to Memorial Forest with Walter and Christy Mae

Total Mi. 109.2 Avg. Pace 06:42.9

Saturday morning was a solo effort with just Kevin and myself at the Lincoln Farm out and back. The PMP went a lot better than the first PMP two Tuesdays ago. I am 100% certain it is because 70, sunny and dry is a lot more comfortable than 90 and a dew point of 75. I was aiming for 5:22 pace but was having trouble modulating pace with the wind, dirt section, and just lack of any pace work. Next weekend it should be a bit more polished with the splits being hit dead on.

Sunday was LSD with Walter and Christy Mae through out the trails of ARWR and Memorial forest. We were right around 7:00 to 6:50 pace for the first 11 miles and then we picked it up the last 9. We may have been a bit closer to 21 miles than 20 but that puts us at 6:34 pace and I know we were not there the whole way.

That’s all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday was as good a running day as you can get when you are just putting in the miles.

Lunchtime was a counter nobscott with out any of the hills in 48:02 for 7.2 with sergeant lutz. The weather was a little hot and humid in the trails which I think is just some moisture being trapped by the canopy. Forgot socks so I had to wear my 825’s bare and they fit quite well with no blisters. It actually felt quite good bringing me back to my college days of no socks and stinky feet. 3 sets of abs in the Raytheon fitness center after the run. Made it to the café just in time for some ice.

Last night I met up with the BAA crew at Lincoln woods. Ran 1:20 with Terry, Mark, Jeremy, eric, and Charlie, I think that was the crew. Good running with a lot of shop talk conversation and the trails were perfect as always. The bugs were not bad at all except for the last 2 minutes in the trials by the schools. 1:20:02 for 11.5.

Another early wake-up call this morning for a run into work. I took the Memorial Forest to Hop Brook trail in which I guesstimate is just about 11k. I clocked the last mile and it was a 6:13. Yeah, probably shouldn’t be running that fast. The loop usually takes me about 44 and this morning was 41:02 so I am going to try and dial the morning runs down a notch.

Today at lunch was a Nobscott Loop with both of the hills. The conditions were much better than they have been all week. 48:02 just like yesterday but both the hills were in there.

That’s all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 3:03 PM | Permalink

Pretty boring day today. I ran 5 this morning through ARWR 371 and the conditions were great. 65, no wind, no bugs. This nice little break in the summer weather is nice for the running. I rode my mtn bike in with Dean this morning on the trails and it was a good day for a ride.

At lunch sergeant lutz and I did a nobscott loop with the hills in 48:30 something. Rode the mtn bike home and here we are. Busy day at work with a lot of specs to write.

That's all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 8:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, just got reminded by the boys at practice that I have not posted in a while. Well, here is the short short version.

104 miles last week.

First time in a long time I have been over 100 so we will have to see how this week feels. Saturday was the first real marathon workout. A greg meyer special. 18 miles with 9 2:00 fartleks at 5:05 pace and the rest of the way at about 6:30 pace. Pretty quick workout that really kind of zapped me.

When I got home from the meyer workout a whole gaggle of people were over for a little surprise party which my wife threw for me. The old grey mare she ain't what she used to be! A lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who showed up! It was a nice day for a pool party. I could have walked across my pool with getting wet.

Sunday was 13 easy with Christy mae. Tonight was 8 x 400m hills with the first 6 at 68, the last tow at 66. I am not certain it was actually 400m but it wasn't that far off. The first 5 felt worse than the last 3 so I have to start doing more strides to get my heart rate up a little more before I begin.

Time for a nice chicken salad.

That's all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 8:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today we got relief from the heat wave that has hit Boston. I don't believe we had it for as long as the west had it but I bet the humidity wasn't as bad out there. When we get temperatures of 100 with a dew point of 78 it is just plain uncomfortable. Which is why I cracked so horribly on Monday and put the air conditioner in the window to our bedroom. I don't think I would have had much sleep with out the chiller running all night. We will probably go broke between, the dehumidfier, AC, and filter but it is better than sleep deprived. Hopefully we will get some rainstorms tonight and that will be that.

For the running.

AM: Memorial Forest with Chirsty Mae at 5:45. 80 degrees at that hour is a pretty odd feeling. 43:56 for a pretty decent effort.

Lunch: Nobscott loop clockwise with Justin. 2 minutes faster than yesterday so I knew it had to be better conditions. It was. Heat index was only 99 instead of yesterday's 107. One of the guys in the locker room gave Justin and I trophy with 100+ club written on it and the date with the heat index. Pretty funny joke. After the run we did 2 sets of abs in the fitness center.

That's all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 9:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Long time no write. You guys have probably been wondering where I have been. Well, I have been camping and hiding in the basement and pool from the little mercury climb we have been having.

Thursday afternoon we took off for October Mtn State park in Lee and Washington, MA. It was a great time and we had some really nice runs on some really steep fire roads and trails. Now I know how Paul Low feels. Every run was about a ½ hour of climbing before reaching the plateau on top of the mtn with about 5 miles of trails roaming the upper region of the mountain top. Saturday I got in a long trail run of 1:59 which was all up and down because I dropped off Christy half way through the run and then went to the summit of the mtn. That was a tiring long run. We also caught a tanglewood concert on Saturday night which was pleasant because the absolute drenching rain had gone by.

Sunday I was spoiled again with a nice 6 mile run in the morning and 18 holes of golf. This time I was invited to play the spectacular Country Club of Pittsfield which is right on route 7 just south of city center. The invite came courtesy of Coach Mike Brady, the ex-princeton coach, who lives in a beautiful place in Richmond, MA. Most people don’t even know Richmond is a town in Massachusetts, but it is. Now you know! I shot a couple of pars and a missed a birdie chip in with a horseshoe around the edge of the cup. I shot a 98 which I was pleased with because I broke 100. Afterwards I had one the best tasting beers in a oak lined clubhouse bar. Ah, so ends my touch with being a wealthy person who goes to private country clubs for rounds of golf. It is back to my cow pastures and boulder fields.

Monday was a 5:45 run at 33:20 and lunchtime run of 47:18 for nobscott loop.

Tuesday was a 5:45 run with Christy Mae who graciously got out of bed with me before she had too and ran the same loop in 33:28. I thought it was kind of hot for that run and boy was I mistaken. Last night was my first PMP of the marathon program and it was a disaster. I am going to qualify that because at 6:45 pm last night in Lincoln, MA it was 92 degrees with a dew point of 76 which yields a heat index of 104. Needless to say my 4 miles at 5:20 went like this

1. 5:45
2. 5:29
3. 5:34
4. 5:32 (I think because I stopped at what I thought was four)

When Brad came by he said he wasn’t stopping until the starting tree so I continued the tempo with him for another .4 miles. It was not very comfortable out. I knew I was in trouble when after an easy 22 minute warm-up (haha, like you need to warm up when it is that fricken hot out) my shins were sweating bullets. When shins sweat, I am in trouble. The last time I had shin sweat was Club Track Nationals at NYC when I ran a blistering 15:28 5k in 85 degree temps with what felt like 100% humidity. Back on target, brad and I warmed down at a snails pace because we didn’t want any major organs shutting down in our sleep from heat exhaustion.

This morning was another 5:45 run through Memorial Forest for 10k in 42:18. This afternoon at lunch was a scorching 7.2 mile Nobscott loop with sergeant lutz. It was really hot at lunch today. We took it easy running about 3 minutes slower than usual for 50.17.

Well, that should catch you up. I hope to start posting weekly totals and more indepth description of workouts as I get back into the swing of things.

That’s all I got.

Posted by Ryan at 8:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)