Race

5-k warmup on course, 23:25 with Mccarthy and Knickerbocker.  Didn't really feel warm,  negative something degrees.

Race went really well.  I went out nice and easy as planned the first Kilometer before getting into a solid pace after that.

Kilometer splits of
3:34
3:10
3:18
3:16
3:13
16:32 total, just a second back from first place.  Some slick sections between 3-4k, but mostly it was just cold.

5-k course again for cooldown with Mccarthy, 21:17

Easy run

12.6 miles with Andy.  With temps in single digits to maybe around 10 degrees, it was not too bad.

1:26:24,  slowest mile 7:16, fastest 6:42.

Moderate run and some pool work

Jumped on treadmill,  7.5 miles, 43:53.  Pickups every half mile.  Middle mile in 5:22 to stretch legs.  1.5% incline the whole way.  No one was on other 3 treadmills, so I felt I could stay on the one I was on a bit longer than the 30 minute time limit.

Felt good to run in shorts and actually feel like I was running. 

15 minutes of deep water running in pool after to start to get used to that element of training.  Sucks, but makes me strong, rests my legs some, and makes my running form better.  I tried to explain what I was doing by running in deep water to the lifeguard but I'm pretty sure they just thought I was nuts. 

Obsessed is probably a better word than nuts.

Put up a picture of track I'll be racing on in March in DC. 

A cold run

Went out the door for 12.1 miles,  cold going out with tailwind, damn cold coming back, full mask helped.  1:28:03.

Only had one mile under 7:00 pace and a couple in the 7:30 range.  Between the slick roads, the many layers I had on, and the wind, today was a make sure I'm not a pu*sy day.  I just put one foot in front of the other until I was about 6 miles out, then I was screwed and had to run back.

Honestly, I think it's smarter to get some treadmill running in on a day like this, but I took the last 5 years off and was kind of interested to see if I had developed weenie syndrome. Nope, just dumb.  Plus the last few weeks have sucked and at some point you just have to get ourside.  Although I'm sure I just burned fat at the pace I was going today and did little to boost my fitness, but probably not too many dumb asses out running today, so that's got to be some bonus tough points.

Bike

30 minutes on the bike trainer.  Needed to do something.

Going to be a pretty low volume werk, but I just got in two good weeks, and some good snowshoe runs this week.

See how fitness is on Sunday at 5-k.  Supposed to be -5 at start time.  That's getting close to coldest I've ever raced in.  Think the coldest was set the pace 5-k in 2010.  Managed to run 15:05 ish then, so hopefully low to mid 16s will be good now.

Snowshoe hills

Met up with Erik for some snowshoe running.  It wasn't as cold as I thought, but definitely not nice.

We got in 1.5 mile warmup in 15:42 on the golf course.

Then we did 5x30 second hills up Big Bunker, looping down a more gradual way back to start.  About 10-12 minutes total,  I accidentally stopped my watch.  Big Bunker gets gradually steeper as you go, really working calves and hip flexors. 

1.90 cooldown on golf course, 18:32 before taking the snowshoes off and getting 1.13 miles of land running in, 7:48.

Yesterday was a day off.  Mostly I slept or worked. 

Snowshoe run

Just enough snow by night to get a snowshoe run in.  40:22 of running with the planks on.

White Christmas

Well I haven't really decided what I'm going to do today.  I'm not sure we've gotten enough snow yet to go for a snowshoe run.  Ymca is closed, so no treadmill.  So it's probably either the tour du France spin bike, or my bike trainer at home.

I'd like to run since Tuesday I'm not going to be able to until midnight.  I think Wednesday if there is enough snow a run up Cadillac mnt on snowshoes is in order. 

Track

Alright, I've scheduled four track meets.

First one will be in Providence on Jan. 28th.  USATFNE masters meet.  Going to run 5000, 3000, and 1500.  That's a lot, but should keep me from going out in any of the races too fast.

Then Feb. 10th there is a UMAINE meet at Orono.  Probably do the mile against the college guys, really get my ass whooped on.

Feb. 25th, another meet at UMaine.  Going to run 3000 and either mile or 800.

March 16th through 18th, USATF Masters meet in DC.  Going to run 3000 friday night, 1500 on Saturday, and 800 on Sunday.

3000 should be interesting because I get out of work at 7:30am friday, fly out from bangor at noon and get to DC by 3pm.  Race is about 7pm.  But, fck it.

Road races through  feb.  Are 5-k on Dec. 31st, a 4.5 miler January 21st, the 10-miler feb. 4th, and a 2.5-k on Feb. 18th.

Workout

3 mile warmup, 19:24.  Out to my loop, but this time of year I have to go the longer, hillier way.

Workout went extremely well.  Fitness is really coming around.

.56 miles, 2:50.72
.28 easy
.16 uphill, :53.2
.16 down easy.

Did this five times total.

Other .56's were 2:50.22, 2:49.42, 2:49.57, and 2:42.36.

Other .16 hills were 52.8, 52:69, 51.85, 49.52.

5.8 miles in 34:14.95.

3 mile cooldown, 19:53.

11.8 total, 1:13:32,

Whole thing in trainers.

Easy run

5- miles on treadmill, 32:52, another half mile on track, some drills.

Easy run

5 miles in treadmill, 31:48.  Pickups every half mile.

Lifting after.

About 59 miles for week.

Essy run

Had a lot of chores to do around house, so got up at noon and worked on those until 3.  Just started to snow as I headed out the door.

By a mile in the roads were covered and the ice hiding underneath almost got me a few times.  Wanted to go way longer, but too dangerous.  I have no interest getting hurt from falling again.

Going to go jump on treadmill later at ymca to get another run in.

4.1 miles, 27:03.
6:25
6:52
6:26
6:38
:40

4th mile I had to stop with no shoulder and cars coming at me.  This winter has sucked the last two weeks.  Even with snow it's cold out there. 

I think they ordered new part for treadmill at work, so I can get in some longer runs soon.  I'd be just fine running 100% of my runs on treadmill once I can go longer than 30 minutes.  Ymca treadmills go faster than 5:00 pace, but it's always 75 degree in there and the 30 minute time limit doesn't work for me.  The lifting is going well and I can notice my strength and power going way up.  Still hovering around 150 pounds.  Need to shed a few still, but at least I don't have far to go.

How to come back

The first thing I had to do is start to run again.  By June of 2012 I pretty much stopped running.  A few times from Mid 2012 until March of 2017 I managed to get a few weeks to a couple of months of training in.

What really kind of ticked me off was in 2014 I headed over to the Northeast Harbor 5-miler with Autumn who was running it.  I hadn't run in many months but decided to sign up.  I ended up running 35:13 for 28th place and I was like holy shit, I got to do something.  In 2015 the PD had a relay team for MDI marathon and I managed to get myself into shape to run first 12 miles in just under 70 minutes.  That was my longest training stint, a couple of months.  Finally in November and December of 2016 I got almost a month in, started with a couple miles a day, then somehow I got injured and didn't run again until March 2017 and since then it's gone well.   

As anyone can see from my schedule, I've run a shitload of races this year since I started back running in March.  Started with the Eastern States 20-miler, even though I hadn't run more than a 12 mile run before that, but needed to get a long run before Sugarloaf marathon, and other than this 20-miler, the rest of my long runs for Sugarloaf didn't exceed 16.3 miles.

I paid for that at Sugarloaf, but 2:35 for second place with some pretty shitty training, I was happy to finish as well as I did.

Normally, 25+ races in a year is way too much, but the best way to get in shape after a break is to race.  For one, I'm a pretty competitive person, so early on I was getting my butt kicked pretty bad, which motivates me.

Later as I got in better and better shape I was finishing top 3 in all of the local stuff.  The next step, go out of state.  Maine's got some big races, but going to New England X-C champs was good for me, because I really got my ass kicked, 67th place.  Finally, going to US X-C masters race really hammered home how far I still have to go, but although I only got 33rd there, I didn't feel like the lead pack would have been out of my fitness level if I hadn't gone out and led the first mile.  Stupid. 

I was kind of planning on the US 50-k champs in March, but after running low on Iron in November and the beginning of December, I had no motivation to get the long runs I needed.  As it turns out, I'm going to get a bunch of indoor track meets in with US Masters champs in March as the goal.  I've got a free place to stay in DC, and although I really want to run the Masters Road grand prix, it's going to be too expensive to go to some of those.

So I'm going to head to southern Maine for some bigger races, do some of the New England grand prix races, and do the US champ races that happen to be in the New England area.  My big trip for next year will be going to Washington State for US Masters marathon champs in October.

Light workout

2.1 mile warmup outside,  triple layered, so cold.  14:00.

Short simple workout.  I was going to do 10x2:30 downcycles outside with 90 seconds float.  Too cold to try and go fast outside, plus the treadmill is getting me in better shape.

Did 5x2:30 downcycles, but instead of getting faster every 30 seconds, I brought incline up every 30 seconds and kept it at 6:00 pace for entire workout other than last one when I sped up to 5:56 pace.

30 seconds @ 2%
30 @ 3%
30 @ 4%
30 @ 5%
30 @ 6%

Then 90 seconds float at same pace but @ 0%, probably equal to 6:15 mile effort. 

At 6:00 pace 2% is about equal to 5:52 pace, and 6% about 5:16 pace.  I did this workout a lot on treadmill in 2010 on the shitty cold days, so it seems to work.  Makes flat running feel really easy.

Could have squeezed a couple more in with 30 minute treadmill time limit, but I decided to do some pickups at 5:00 pace @ 1.5-2% to finish off my time.  5 miles total, 29 something.

1 mile easy on the square 100 meter track before throwing the layers back on.

2.13 cooldown outside, 14:40.  Way colder in dark.

Easy run

8.03 miles, 51:41.  Pretty nice outside.  Spit snow the whole time, but other than mile 5 having a cold headwind, it was a pleasant run.

6:19
6:41
6:19
6:23
6:32
6:42
6:15
6:16
:10

Easy run

Unplanned midnight run.  Still about 38 degrees when I got out of work.  Roads were just starting to get slick in spots, but no one was out so I just ran in middle of road around town in light.  I always keep my running stuff with me and glad I do.

4.18 miles, 27:39.  Legs felt really good.  Just cruised.  One of those runs that makes you feel good.  Went out thinking 7:00 pace would be good in dark, after work, but was pleasantly surprised, especially after the long workout yesterday.  My energy levels are definitely back to where they were in October.  I was pretty run down November and December.

I'm going to try and do a couple of these after work to sneak in a few more miles.  Lasts weeks 63 miles was my highest since before MDI, but I'd like to be over 60 a week from here on.  Maybe a couple of weeks close to 80.

The new schedule I'm going to should help training wise.

Easy bike

32 minutes on bike trainer.  Loosen the legs up and give them a rest from the pounding.

Workout

Headed up to track at Umaine.

1.5 mile warmup, 10:12.

4x2-miles, 10:48, 10:46, 10:42, 10:41.

400 meter jog rest between.

4x200,
30.63
31.60
30.78
30.53

200 meter jog rest between.

1.5 mile cooldown, 10:35.

Felt good, nice and even and had more in the tank.  Nice to run with shorts and no shirt.

Log

2010 I did workout I'm going to do tomorrow, today I guess now.  4x2-mile, 4x200.  With Gomez at 6am in 2010.

Our splits for the two miles were 10:25, 10:29, 10:29, 10:21 with 400 easy.  Then my splits for 200 were 31, 31, 29, 30 with 200 easy between.  That was about two weeks before running 5:06 pace at midwinter.

So goal today is 11:00 to start, then hopefully getting a little faster, maybe 10:40.  200s hopefully 33-34.  With about 6 weeks out, this should be good.

Easy run

8.63 miles, 57:51.  Three layers kept me pretty warm.  Kept the brakes on with workout tomorrow.  Got in a couple uphill strides after. 

Thinking I may go to Umaine indoor track tomorrow and do 4x2-mile at goal 10-mile pace to a little faster with short rests, then 4x200 after at mile pace.  For one, the roads here suck, icy as heck, second, there's really not a good place to do two mile repeats here, and three I really want to run in shorts and not be freezing cold.  Midwinter might be cold, but that doesn't mean I have to run every workout in the cold.

Today's splits, 

6:45
7:02
6:41
6:42
6:48
6:43
6:35
6:34
3:57 for last Km.

Coldplay

These are the days where the training really counts.  22 degrees, feels like 10.

In the end, the question is "what do you want?".

Right now I'm looking at running the US masters indoor track champs in mid march.  Plane tickets are cheap to DC and one of my former coaches can put me up.

So that means I need at least one track meet beforehand.   Maine usatf meet February 25th in orono. 

I'd rather go to Virginia beach mid march, but tickets are more expensive, and I'd have to rent car and get hotel room.  I'm not made of money, not sure how the top masters get to all the races.

Easy run

5.5 miles, treadmill, 34:54.  Pickups every mile.

Medium run

I ended up getting dropped off at head of island,  ran to northeast harbor, then a loop around town.  Dark last few miles, whole run was cold and I never warmed up.

14 miles easy with 1 minute pickups every 10th minute, although those were not very fast with the amount of clothes I had on and how cold I was.

1:32:56.

Maybe try for a longer run on a warmer day.  That was brutal.  If I only had the treadmill at work operational.

Still 63.7 miles for week which is higher than I've been since before MDI.

Easy run

6 miles outside.  39:28.
5:40
5:46
5:30
6:41
6:23
6:24

Easy run

5 miles, treadmill, 31:49.

Legs are sore today

The lunges and split jumps I did yesterday made my Hamstrings nice and sore.  In the last 4 weeks I've gotten my squat up from just over 100 pounds to over 200.  Need to get it to double my weight or about 300 before Midwinter.

Easy run today and tomorrow.  Friday a long run and I'll either do 1 minute surges every 10th minute or 7 to 1 with half rests.  Usually I run the first 7,6,5,4 flatter getting faster each one.  Then the 3,2,1 I usually do uphill.  Rests get shorter as you go which makes a good workout.  I'd like to do somewhere between 16.5 to 20 miles. Mileage should be up over 60 for the week.

Snowshoe and some treadmill

Went out about 6pm.  Raining, but enough snow to get some snowshoe running in.

Did 15 minutes of that, managed 1.3 miles.  Then went and got 4.7 miles in on treadmill in 30:00.  This really felt good after having the snowshoes on my feet.

I did a couple of pickups.  I was trying to see how fast the treadmill goes.  I got it under 4:00 pace before forgetting that idea.  Fasten enough.

Plyometics, drills, lifting after.

The next 6 weeks

I'm going to be following a pretty aggressive training plan the next 6 weeks.  Mileage is going up.

With all the extra time at the airport yesterday, I wrote down my plans.  Figured it would take my legs two easy days between workouts to be fairly fresh, three to be fresh.  So I'm taking two. 

Although I raced saturday morning and was able to hammer out a workout tonight, that's not going to be the norm.

I'll take the two days rest unless my legs are good beforehand.  If I do what I did today and just take a day, then I'm going to make myself take three days easy before getting into the three day cycle of workout, easy, easy again. 

I am only going to run a long run every 12-14 days which worked well in 2010, and let's me squeeze more workouts in.

Don't know if it's the right plan, but it's a plan and whatever that is I'm going to believe in it.

Looking back to my log on December 15th, 2009, I did a 12-k tempo in 40:17.  Faster than today, but I also did that on the track, so today on a hilly point to point course was pretty good.

Workout

Planned on workout tomorrow, but I felt good and did my planned workout tonight instead.

2.1 miles warmup, 13:56

7.5 miles steady, 42:03,  ran pretty even other than sections that were super icy and a few times I got off into snow to avoid cars.

Pretty happy with this, especially in trainers.  After warmup I started from town. Ran out schooner head, around overlook, park loop past sand beach, thunder hole and down otter cliff road a bit.  Tried to run even pace, so I pushed the uphills and cruised the downs.  5:36 pace in control, goes to show how tough xc course was two days ago, because course today has a few hills.

6.1 mile cooldown, 40:38.

15.7 miles total, 1:36:38.

Energy levels are up, going to keep taking the iron.  Getting blood tested friday to make sure things are good.

Sleep and a run

Got into Bangor by 3pm  Slept the whole ride home, then until about 7:30pm. 

Got up, studded some shoes with sheet metal screws and got in 5.3 miles in the snow and ice.  38:02.

We got enough snow to maybe get some snowshoe running in tomorrow. 

So the trip was pretty terrible.  The race was awesome, and there's no substitute for running against fast runners. 

Delayed

Got up around 4am, although I didn't sleep much.  Drove to Louisville got on my flight to DC.  Arrived early but my flight at 10am to bangor keeps getting delayed.  Right now it's 12:45.  Not sure I'll get a run in with midnight shift tonight.  Blah, this has been a pretty terrible trip.

Next race

The thing I loved about running at Zap years ago is all the races I went to were competitive. 

Although I would have liked to be higher up today, it still will make racing the local stuff easier.

I may do Epic 5k at end of month if I don't work night before.  After that I'd love to run winter xc nationals, but it's a day before midwinter, so that's out.

Then it's a choice between running Shamrock 8-k in Virginia or indoor track champs in Maryland.  Got a free place to stay in Maryland.

Then some usatfne champ races.  I think I'll skip the 50-k for a year or so.

Then as many of the usatf masters grand prix races I can get to.

So looking at open xc 10-k today.  My time would have got me 319th place, damn.

Now I just need to get back to Maine and get some solid training in.

Race

After running 2.5 mile warmup on course I was going to be happy under 35 minutes.  Tough.

Goal was to go out with lead pack and sit in.  Thought it would go out faster.  I got out really well, 75 seconds through 400 which isn't that fast, but no one was with me.  They were smarter.

I ended going out in 5:05 for mile in the lead.  Should have just gone out with pack, because between 1 and 3 I got passed by 40 people.  Ran even the rest of way.  17:10 ish through 5-k, 34:27 for final time.

Ended up finishing 33rd. Felt good energy wise.  Not my kind of course. 

Very uneven surface, long gradual hills, and the wind was miserable in 25-30 degree weather.  Even when I got behind a group it didn't help with wind much with my height.  Snow for open runners

But I had fun and learned how those top guys race.  I'll do better in road racing.

I got Dirigo some good press in the first mile, haha.

3 mile cooldown.  Good 11.7 to start the week.

Morning in Kentucky

Interesting night.  My room never heated up, so around midnight they switched me to another room. 

Got up to some nice 21 degree weather outside.  Breakfast, then listened to guy across the hall puke and dry heave for 20 minutes.

Race is at 10:45.  Goal is to go out at least in top 15-20 and stay in that group as long as possible.  Who knows.

Made it to Kentucky

Alright,  flew out of bangor at 10:30, hung out in Philly until 3:30.  Then got into Louisville by 5:45.

Because I was trying to use Autumn's debit card, it's actually ours, but her name is on it, 9 out of 10 company's would rent me a car.

Last one I got one.  70 miles from Lexington.  Shit I could run there by morning I guess.  Screw that.  Got to hotel by 7:45, as they were carrying numbers away, just in the nick of time.

Had good meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner which was my goal for today, other than getting here.

Some of exciting news, first thing I got was 2018 masters grand prix schedule.  Cal international is out, marathon in Washington is in.

Easy run

3.63 miles at 6am.  24:54.  Just over 50 miles for the week.

Headed to get my flight.

Easy run

7.9 miles, 52:43.

6:53, 7:07, 7:06, 6:23, 6:26, 6:32, 6:27, 5:48

Packed for trip

Just taking a carry on with me for the flight.  I think the last time I was on a plane was 2011 when I flew out to run grandma's marathon.

Flying into Louisville, then renting a car for the hour trip to Lexington.  Staying at host hotel which is about 5 miles from where race is.

Workout

2.5 mile warmup, 15:34

5.1 miles, 30:00 going
1 min, .20 miles
1 min. Easy
2 min, .37 miles
1 min. Easy
3 min, .53 miles
90 sec. Easy
4 min, .71 miles
90 sec. Easy
4 min, .73 miles
90 sec. Easy
3 min. .55 miles
90 sec. Easy
2 min, .38 miles
1 min. Easy
1 min, .20 miles
1 min. Easy

2.25 mile cooldown,14:40

Goal of workout was just to feel good.  And test out my left knee after yesterday's fall.  Everything felt good.  Just wore my trainers.  Was happy with this since I did it in dark in section of park loop road that is either slightly uphill or slightly downhill.  Just ran back and forth on same section so I didn't have to go around any turns.

7 stiches

Went to hospital once Autumn saw my hand.  Never needed stiches before, but needed 7 on the hand.  Oh, well, I feel good running anyways.

Plus I did 2+ miles after I fell, so I'm a badass=stupid, right.

Knee is a little sore, but I think it's good.  Know tomorrow after workout.

Here's my hand before going to hospital, Autumn was not impressed.

Easy run and a fall

7.13 miles, 47:20.   Went 7:10, 6:58, 6:50, 6:29, then just before 5 I took a wrong step in the dark and ate shit hard.  After laying on the ground I jumped up and got mile 5 in 6:20.  Blood everywhere so I stopped at pd and got a paper towel.

Then ran 6:16,  6:24, and :50 to finish.

More than running

Alright,  new dryer that hasn't worked in a while.

Just an electronic issue, but it had me stumped for awhile and I'm pretty good with electric work.  Finally figured it out. 

Now I can actually dry my clothes.

That's why I know my energy is going up.  My wife left me a lift of chores for when I got home from my overnight shift and I did the most important one.  Three days ago I would have tossed it and gone back to bed.

I've found a week or two of the herbal supplements always gets everything back and my energy goes from wanting to sleep 18 hours a day to barely needing sleep.

Like I said, just iron (mineral), astragalus, licorice, dandelion, and echinacea but the shit works.  Sometimes I wonder if the lyme disease I got years ago never went away.  Read that herbal supplements have helped a lot of people.

Well going to go for easy run.  Tomorrow morning a session of 1,2,3,4,4,3,2,1 minute pieces as I feel.  Really going to try and rest up well for this weekends race.  If a few guys take off fast I'm letting them go, but there should be a large pack near the front and I'm staying with that a mile to go or I fall off the backend.  Just have to be paying attention if someone mid race decides to go.  If I feel good I'm going with, but that only happens if I'm paying close attention.

Looks like castille dropped out of cal international marathon last weekend at 10-k, so he may well show up this weekend.  If he does there is no one who can beat him.

Also, I'm not sure about 50-k in march.  I really am thinking about working on 25-k and under stuff and not destroying my legs for most of march and April in one race.  So that's up in the air.

I also think in the fall there will be a USATF masters marathon champs, probably twin cities, but not sure yet, so cal international isn't 100% either.

By not running cal international or the 50-k I can do most of the usatf new england series, so that's nice since races are closer.

Looks like Dirigo has three new masters guys for next year.  We should do pretty well.  Hopefully I can lead the masters team and maybe help out open team.

Easy run

Moon was not all the way up, so I mostly did loops around town.

7 miles, 47:16.  Felt shockingly good.

Fastest mile was 6:30, slowest 6:58.

Diet of iron,  echinacea, astragalus, licorice, and dandelion seems to be getting my energy levels back.  I should feel pretty tired after the day I had, but I feel good.

Still, it will be nice to sleep all day tomorrow.

Long day

Worked the overnight.  Got out at 7:30, had two oui hearings in ellsworth at 11:45,12:15 so I snuck in a couple hours of sleep.  Back in bed by 2 this afternoon.  Never really slept much. 

Finally said screw it, time to get ready for run.

One week to go

One week to go until my last race of the year.  US Masters X-C champs.  First race for the 2018 masters grand prix.  Hopefully I can get my shit together and feel better than I did the last few days.  I've been pounding the iron.

Was going through the races from the end of July.

Pace wise I seem to be able to cover everything under 5:30 pace whatever the distance.  My tempo runs of 10-miles have all been around 5:20-5:35 pace.  What does this mean.  Well probably that my threshold is super good and I need to work on 10-k pace and that pace just between 10-k and tempo.  Maybe a workout like 3x2-miles at 10-k pace with 90 seconds rest to come or 10-15x1000 somewhere between 10-k and tempo with short rests.   Main goal is to run 5:31 pace for Midwinter 10-miler which I think I can do, but if I can make that easier by doing some work at 5:10-5:20 pace I'm going to.

Below I put in all the races where I ran seriously and didn't put in the downhill 4-k.

5-k's average pace
5:25(hilly)
5:25(hilly)
5:13
5:15
5:15


3-miler
5:15

4-miler
5:25(hilly)

5-milers
5:20
5:23(hilly)
5:29(hilly)

10-k's
5:20
5:29(x-c)  plus a bad race.

12-k
5:27(hilly)

first half of marathon
5:40 pace(hilly)

PM lifting, plyos

Who knew?  Ymca closes at 4 on Sundays. 

So I ended up doing most of what I usually do either outside, at gym at work, and at home.  Good enough to make me sore after.

Morning activities

3.1 mile warmup, 21:11.  Felt pretty aweful.  Not good.

After a few strides I felt better.  Ready for 5-k race.

Goal was to run first K hard.  Most of it is slightly uphill.  I ran it at red line and only hit 3:13.82 for a split. 

Second k was downhill mostly and I managed 3:11.85.

Hit the rolling hills on Shore road and decided to push the ups and cruise the downs.  Third k in 3:22.31.  I was happy with that.

Hit the turn around and happy to see Erik only about 8-10 seconds back. 

Next k back over the rolling section, 3:25.24. 

Then the major hill for the course.  Starts steep, then gradual to finish.  I pushed the steep part and then was really hurting on the gradual section.  A little downhill before the last turn and final flat bit to finish.  Last k in 3:24.77.

Wasn't at finish yet, another 8 seconds and 60 meters to the line. 

16:47.

Best part was turning around and seeing Erik crush his 5-k pr by more than 40 seconds.  17:01, on a tough course too.

Feel better already

Day with three iron pills, no coffee, and some oj and already I feel better.  Probably won't be 100% until next week, but I'm good.

Easy run

6.1 miles with Andy.  42:00.

Splits of 7:00, 6:47, 7:44 (trail uphill), 6:37, 6:39, 6:32, :38. 

Felt pretty terrible for most of it.  But it's a run.  Think my iron levels must be low.  I'll start taking some more today.  usually that's the problem.

Fighting the Thalassemia minor is tough enough.  That keeps my normal hemoglobin levels under the normal range as it is.  When my iron gets low and I get iron deficiency anemic as well then all I want to do is sleep like I have been doing the last week.  Plus my runs suffer badly which they have all week.  I'll take the iron this week, then next week when I get back from Lexington go get my blood checked to make sure it's going up.  I usually take one iron pill a day, but when it's low I need to take 3.  So three it is for the next week, no coffee, other than before the race, and my levels should be good by next weekend. 

The trick is no caffeine because that blocks iron absorption.  Taking the iron with a glass of orange juice helps the iron absorb.  In 2012 when my hemoglobin levels were down to about 10 I, my absorption rate was less than 10%, so only 10% of the iron I was taking was being put in.  After cutting the coffee, and taking the iron with orange juice my absorption levels went up to 30% which is the normal value and my hemoglobin levels went up to about 14.7 which is the highest they had ever been and I felt super great.  15-18 is the normal range, but with the Thal. Minor, I'll never get into the normal range. 

The good thing is this is an easy fix.  And it doesn't take too long before I have so much energy that I'm wound up super.  And knowing the signs early is good.  If I had to guess my hemoglobin level is probably around 11, which is really low.  But by the end of the week it will be 13 at least.  Couple of weeks I can get it close to 15 and I'll feel like superman.  Doctors actually say they can give me EPO to get my levels into the normal range, but I'd feel like I was cheating if I did that, so I'll get up as best I can and deal with that.

Most people with Thal. Minor never know they have it because most people who have it don't train like I do.  But I'm not allowed to race in hot conditions( I ignore that one), or at altitude.  My cells can actually sickle if I run hard in the heat or altitude and I might have to have surgery as a result.  Done a lot of research on it and the doctor I saw when I was training in North Carolina had a lot of information about it that helped.   

5-k tomorrow

Alright,  going to get in an easy run today.  Tomorrow's plan for 5-k is to run the first 1-k really hard to simulate how xc race next week will go out.  Then I'm going to try and run the rest of the race tomorrow at 5:15-5:20 pace which is the pace the lead pack at xc will probably be running at most of the race.  Course tomorrow is rolling hills.  With about half a mile to go tomorrow, there is one big hill which should help see where my fitness is at.

Although the workout didn't go super great at the track the other day, I've been a little tired as of late, thus taking yesterday off.  It was still a good workout, I was just a few seconds off my planned splits.  My biggest goal is to rest up this week.

Easy bike

First day off from running in a few months.  Wanted to see how this would work the day after a workout and plyometic/lifting session.

Did 30 minutes on the bike with quick cadence being the theme. 

Easy run tomorrow with Andy, then 5-k race sunday morning. 

Still got over 55 miles for the week, with the day off today.

Workout

Hit the track.

2.5 mile warmup, 15:24

200 (32.77)
200 easy
2-k (6:34.73)
400 easy
6x1-k (3:13.63, 3:15.54, 3:15.49, 3:13.36, 3:14.72, 3:15.99)
400 easy after each.
2-k (6:38.34)
400 easy
2x200 (33.24, 30.97)
200 easy after each.

The 400 rests were all under 2:00.  200 meter rests were about a minute.

About 9 miles.

1.5 mile cooldown

Everything was a hair slower than planned, but still faster than last time by a lot.  That 5:05-5:15 pace needs some work.  But I've got plenty of time.

Hit the gym afterwards for plyos, drills and lifting. 

Workout of the day

Alright,  headed to track later.

Plan is as follows.  We'll see how close to goal splits I can get.

Goal workout
2-k, 6:31.46(5:15 pace)
6x1k, 3:08.51(5:05 pace)
2-k, 6:31.46
2x200 meters, quick as I can.

400 easy between everything unless that seems like too much, then I'll cut it down to 200.

Good times

Going through some training logs I found a treadmill workout I had completely forgotten about in 2008.  Essentially it was a test.

Basically I had access to a treadmill that went 3:40 mile pace.

I needed to do 4 intervals, all under 10 minutes.  But all of them as fast as I could go.

So for the first interval the goal was to pick a speed I could run for 1:30-2:00. 

12 minutes of walking

Next interval was to last 3-4 minutes, no longer. 

12 minutes of walking

Then another interval for 5-6 minutes.

12 minutes of walking before a final interval of more than 6 but less than 10.

What did this all show.  Well I had a friend who helped with this, and who went to MIT.  He could do the math I couldn't.  Plus he was there for the test to help keep me going and keep track of speeds and distances.

Essentially with 4 data points on a x,y axis he was able to give me some very useful data to use for my training in 2009-2010.  I ended up setting pr's in every distance from 1-mile to marathon in that time.

The test itself is a great workout.  Essentially it was figured out that lots of intervals at 4:39 pace might be beneficial.  Well that's about 3-k pace, so I ended up doing lots of 400-1000 meter repeats.  In January of 2010 I was able to run with Riley Masters who was running mile repeats at this pace.  That workout was just a couple weeks before I ran 50:57 at midwinter.  For sure, that workout was super tough, but it made running 5:06 pace for 10 miles easy.

I ran first 3 miles at midwinter pretty easy before running the next 5 miles under 25:00. 

Going through the old training journals after midnight when I cannot sleep had proven useful again.

Easy run under the moon

8 miles, 54:11, loop road.  Passed about four runners out enjoying the moon.

Legs feel better than I thought.  Think I'll be ready for workout tomorrow.

Recovery

I forgot how much lifting and plyometrics blasted my legs.  It's only been 10 hours and my legs are pretty sore.  Love it.  Just jogging and walking home from gym tonight they felt completely useless.  Now we'll see if they are recovered by Thursday for a workout.  I'm going to do my best to start doing these sessions right after my workouts.  In some ways that's dangerous, working with already tired muscles, but if I wait a full day and do them, then that's probably another recovery day before I can run hard again.  We'll find out, I'll be testing this out on myself.  Maybe have to start what I used to do and do workouts in the mornings, and an evening lifting plyo session giving myself some rest.  It's just hard for me to run in the mornings with my schedule, thus why I'm playing around.

Easy run plus some

9.3 miles,  1:00:02.  Hit the loop road in the dark.  Moon gave me plenty of light and no cars out there.

Did some uphill sprints, uphill single leg hops and uphill bounding.

Then went to gym for drills, light plyometics, and some lifting.  Jogged and walked 3/4 mile home.

Getting stronger. 

Light lifting

Light lifting with rubber bands.  Focused on explosive seated calf raises(Soleus), pawbacks(Hamstrings), Hip flexion(knee drive), toe raises(Shins), heel walks(shins).

Soleus is the calf muscle you use when running.  Pawbacks are my favorite and teach you to return leg quickly back to the ground and strengthen hamstring at the upper attachment.  Knee drive helps get your legs up, but don't bring your knee all the way up.  If you're gonna work calves, shins need work, and is actually a really important muscle when you run.

Legs already got a pretty good strength workout with the workout on soft grass tonight.  Not a super long workout, but legs were pretty tired afterwards.

Goal of all this is to slowly bring up strength, force, power.  I'm hovering around 152 pounds, so shed off a another 5 or so while bringing up these things and that means speed and endurance improve too.

Essentially the same things I did in 2009-2010.  This time I'll be adding some other things besides plyometrics like complex training and ballistic training which will only help.  Trick is going to figuring out how much rest I need between hard running sessions with all this stuff thrown in.  I'm going to do things sparingly the next couple of weeks with Masters champs coming up, but then I'll have a couple weeks to figure things out before I need to settle into a plan for Midwinter.

Really helped though.  I did a workout with Gomez in January 2010 where we did a bunch of 2 mile repeats, 3 or 4 I forget in around 10:10-10:20, then we did some 200's and I was amazed how fast I could run from the plyometrics I'd been doing.

Other things I need to sneak is occasionally will be deep water running which always makes my legs strong and makes my form good.  And some snowshoe running.  In 2010 January, I had a hard 20 miler planned.  well it snowed 14 inches and I ended up running from about 14 miles on Snowshoes up and down Cadillac in deep snow.  I froze coming down into the north wind after getting hot going up.  It was a brutal run, but a couple of snowshoe runs always make land running feel easier.

This Thursday I'm thinking about the Zap Fitness Bookend workout.
2-k at 10-k pace
6x1-k at 5-k pace
2-k at 10-k pace
Some 200's at end to get legs turning over.  Want to see if I can break 30 seconds.  Hard to imagine I've run 24.1 in a 200 meter race with no blocks.
400 easy between everything.

Thinking about going to track for first time for this to really see where I'm at.

So USATF has something called the Phidippides award.  It's a masters award, and you earn points by running on certified courses.  The longer the race the more points you earn.  Going for the gold.

Castille who won US masters x-c champs last year just ran 29:52 for new age group record for 10-k.  If he shows up to x-c nationals he'll be by himself.  He's 46 years old.

Workout

2.25 warmup, 14:21.

8x 2:00 hard, 1:00 easy on golf course. 
4.15 miles during 24:00.

2.25 cooldown, 14:28.

Wanted to do something on the grass to build some leg strength.  Went really well, especially since grass was still wet and soft, and the loop I did was into wind going downhill, and tail wind going up.  Cold.  Goal was to average 6:00 pace for whole thing, so I easily did that. 

Really went after first couple repeats to simulate going our hard in race.  Minute easy between was plenty of rest which is a good sign.

Simple workout, but those are sometimes the best.  Longer workout on Thursday.

Easy cold run

11.5 miles, 1:19:53 with Erik.  Went from rain, to snow, back to rain.  Windy coming back.  Enjoyed the snow, hated the rain and wind.

Legs felt like normal again today.  Workout tomorrow, then some work at the gym, after the workout.  Got to work a 13 hour shift tonight, so I'll probably get a late start tomorrow.

Still up in the air which race next weekend I'll do.  There is a 5-k in Northeast Harbor on Saturday and a 5-k in Ellsworth on Sunday.  One of the two.  Probably Ellsworth, better chance of competition.  Plus if I do a workout tomorrow, that means Thursday workout, and Sunday will be better to race.

Then I need to pack for Lexington.

Sort of easy run

Got ready as usual, threw the racing flats on to warmup for workout, and after about 100 feet knew today was going to be a struggle easy run.  These kind of runs inevitably happen.  Suck, but part of the process.  Just means the plyometics and lifting have tired out my legs good. 

5.1 miles, 34:50 in racing flats.  Legs had nothing.  The good thing is I felt better as I went and got last mile down to 6:33.  I'll do some kind of workout tomorrow after run with EK or Monday.  Whenever the legs are ready I guess. 

Note to self.  Plyometics and lifting day before workout doesn't work.  Going to have to do them after workouts.  Not 30 anymore, haha. 

Midnight and getting it done

So after 3 overnights I always have a tough time sleeping, so I don't fight it.

Between books, netflix, PS2, and exercise equipment at home, I just keep myself busy. 

YMCA

Got in my plyometics, drills, and lifting routine after the run.

Not meant to put on weight.  It's all about strength, power, speed, force, and endurance.

Easy run

9.2 miles with Evan, 1:02:29.  Much warmer today.
About 58 miles for week.

Weekend plans

Tomorrow I'm planning on an easy run with Evan again, then some work at the YMCA.

Saturday a workout.  Probably going to start with 12-15 minute tempo on grass n my spikes to get a feel for them, then switch to flats and do 3-5x5:00/:30,:45 intervals on the road.  5:00 at faster than 10-k pace, 30 seconds easy, 45 seconds fast with each 15 seconds getting faster.  2:30 easy between.

Sunday an easy run.

Monday an easy run with a trip to the YMCA.

Easy run

9.25 miles, 1:02:54.  With Evan. 

Easy run and gym

I finally decided to get 3 month ymca membership.  For one, I'll be able to use treadmills.  And they go faster than 5:00 pace.  Two,  I can get back into plyometic and lifting routine I was in 2009-2010. 

Today showed me how weak my muscles are.  I'm actually surprised I'm able to run as quickly as I have been with my strength so poor.  I'll solve that the next few months.

Easy 4.4 miles on treadmill, 30:00.  Plyometics, drills,  running specific lifting.

Medium run

16.5 miles, 1:34:42.  Middle 10 progressive in 55:22.  Started at about 5:40 pace and worked down as I went.

Was going to go longer, but wind dried me out pretty bad and I needed some water.  Cannot wait for treadmill to get fixed so I can run long and hydrate.

Easy run

7.1 miles,  47:27.   Half on roads half on trails.  Miles ranged from 5:55 to 7:31 depending on terrain, hills and wind.

20 degrees colder today, burr.

All Signed up for Midwinter

Just about everyone I know who is fast is going to Midwinter.  I won't be going out with them, but that 55:19 masters record is my goal.  I'm going to squeeze in some 20 milers every two weeks so I'll be able to run 50-k in March, but mostly my training once I get through X-C race in December will be geared towards 10-miler.

In 2009 on a much better weather day I ran 15:37 at the Brewer Turkey Trot, and then went on to run 50:57 at Midwinter 10-miler a couple of months later.  I ran 15:44 yesterday, so hopefully 55:19 will be within my range in 9 weeks.  Never run well on the flat 3 mile course at Turkey trot.  Always windy which I struggle in, and I always go out too fast in the short races, which doesn't help.  Really loved the old 5-k course they had because most of the last mile was uphill, glory days.

Looks like some nice weather then next couple of days.  I may sneak in my long run tomorrow evening instead of Wednesday just because I'll get to sleep around midnight tonight instead of 8am on Wednesday.  Legs don't feel too bad from yesterday. 

40

Alright,  got out of work just before midnight.  Made it to the big 40.  Got to get up by 6 to sign up for midwinter.  Sounds like every fast guy I know plans on running.

Race in the rain

2.2 mile warmup, 13:59.

3 mile race, splits of 4:55,5:24, 5:18.  Windy, rain.  good times.  2nd place.

1 mile cool down because I had to make it back to BH for 3pm shift.  Race was at 1pm.

Easy run

6-miles on carriage roads.  40:18.
6:53, 6:55, 6:57, 6:28, 6:37, 6:27.

5x slightly uphill strides after.  Legs feeling good. 

Lots of stretching, rolling before and after run.  Hot epsom salt bath after. 

Looks like it will be headwind first half of race tomorrow.  Should keep things pretty equal until turnaround.  Not really a fan of letting things go slow early, but I don't think going full boar into a headwind first half of 3 miler will do me any good.  But, who knows. 

Race weather.

Alright weather for race tomorrow looks like rain, 20+mph winds, and in the 50s.

Might be more of a tactical race than going out hot. 

Sleep

Well first day off in a while from work.  Slept from about 8:30am to 1pm.  Thats about all I can sleep after an overnight shift.  Went back to sleep around 8pm and slept pretty good until 11pm.  Now I'm up typing this uselessness at about midnight.

Luckily I've got lots of good books, Netflix, and PS2 to keep me busy.  Hey who knows, maybe I'll get called in at 2am for a DRE. 

Usually I can get back to sleep around 3-4am.  Tomorrow I'm just running easy with some strides.  I have tomorrow night off to, so I'm going into race on Sunday fairly rested.

Been watching lots of Mo Farah videos to get pumped up.

Easy cold run

7.5 miles in the dark, 51:13.  Cold and windy. 

About 57 miles for the week.  Legs feel good. 

A little rest

Didn't know how my legs would respond to the faster stuff yesterday.  I did the 2 minute pieces about 4:20 pace, and everything else was a bit faster.  This workout always seems to go well and give me some confidence. 

Race sunday is on a similar course I used yesterday, so going out under 5 shouldn't be over the top.

Other than Erik and I up front, I'm not sure who else will be in it.  All the other top guys are running philly marathon.  Maybe some umaine guys will show up.

I'd like to finish under 15:15 on Sunday, but the wind can be big factor in the open out and back course. 

My IT band was sore last night, but it feels good now. 

This coming week I've got another hard 20+ miler.  Probably do 5 miles easy, middle 10 going cycles of 5:40, 5:30, 5:20.  Then 5+ to finish with some 1 minute pickups every mile.

Then it's some workouts on golf course to get ready for nationals.  Course is mostly grass and can be muddy.  It's got some good hills.  Winning time in 2012 on Kentucky course was 32 high.  Course is a little different this year, but in same area.

At least I'll get a good look at the top masters guys.

Workout, Lactate ladder

2.5 warmup, 14:45.,  strides, uphill strides,  drills. 

Lactate ladder workout. 

2:00, 1:30, 1:00, :45, :30, :30, :30, :45, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00.  About full tilt.  Goal is to build up junk in legs.  Double rests after each.  Kept the rests about 6:20-6:40 pace. 36:36 to 6.44 miles.

Same workout in April I covered 5.3 miles.  I've come a long way.

2.5 cooldown, 16:16.

Kentucky Bound

Alright, I'm flying into Louisville because it's cheaper.  Only about an hour away from Lexington.  Got a rental car and staying at host hotel.  It's a done deal now.  Know I just need to race good.

Easy run

11- miles,  1:16:51.  First couple and last few solo, middle miles with Andy.  Pretty much started in darkness,  but almost no traffic on loop road.

Easy Run

8.5 miles,  54:58.  Going out was sunny with a tailwind.  Coming back into the wind and the sun went away was cold, but pretty nice for mid November..  Couple of pickups in last mile, 6:05.

Another easy run tomorrow, then a workout Thursday evening.  Something fast perhaps.  Thinking of either 2x7:00 a little faster than 5-k pace with 5 minutes rest between, or even my lactate ladder workout which goes 2:00, 1:30, 1:00, :45, :30, :30, :30, :45, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00.  These are done just about full out with double rests after each.  I always find this workout to really boost my fitness.  And three days out from 3 mile race, should make 5-k pace feel easier.

Treadmill is messed up again

Not sure what the problem is now.  Console starts up and just says Device options and lets you either toggle between Silent mode or power off.  Doesn't let you do anything else.  So it looks like a run outside today.

Not good since I do almost all my mileage inside.  Means a lot of runs in the dark.  I might have to finally bite the bullet and get a Y membership so I can use the treadmills. 

Must say, Nordictrack 9700 Pro has had way too many issues for the use its had over a couple of years.  A few of the other guys use it, but real easy, and I don't abuse it too bad, not enough for it to have the issues its had. 

Good thing I've got some good winter running gear.  Not really looking forward to running outside all week.  It's just nice to wake up, go hit the treadmill before my overnight shift and go into work.

Easy run

4- miles, 26:38, treadmill.

Legs tired, tired in general.  Picked up an 8 hour shift last night, and picking up another 4 hours in a couple days. 

Workout Wednesday or Thursday.  Whenever my legs feel rested.

8 days until master status.

So with one race to go until I turn 40, I'm excited.  I still feel like I can run with most of the young guys around here, but just knowing I can finally race the top masters guys around the country is going to be so much fun.

Really, its just nice to be in shape again.  In March when I started training again I really did not think I could ever get back to this kind of shape.  Now I'm thinking I can get in better shape.  It's interesting only being able to do 50-60 miles a week.  Getting injured isn't even a thought with that kind of low mileage.  Getting through the 50-k in March may be tough on that kind of mileage, but hopefully that is the longest I ever decide to race.

Lexington will be fun.  Zap is sending a team so I'll get to see my old coach.  My former Athletics East coach and some of that former team will be there running the masters race, so it will be great to see them.  And I'm staying the night after the race to have some fun.

Supposedly the Lexington course is a lot of long gradual ups and downs.  That should suit me well.  One bog loop and two smaller loops.  I love loops.  Not crazy that the loops are clockwise.  I always seem to run better when the loops are in the direction you'd run a track race, but once the race starts I'll get over that.

After this it's some serious training to get the 55:19 masters record at the Midwinter 10-miler.  Pretty sure I can get that now, but I would like to take a big chunk off that.  And if the weather is bad, which it can be in Early February, I'll need to be in better shape to make sure I can get under the record.  Should be fun.  Signup for the race is the day I turn 40, so I've got that on my mind.

4-miler race

2+ warmup

4-miler race went well.  Pretty tough course.  My gps beeped about 20 seconds before every mile marker and said 4.08 miles at end.  Map my run says 4.1 miles, so course was at least.

21:37.  So just about what I wanted.

Splits of 5:02, 5:22, 5:19, 5:35, :20.

First mile is gradually up til end where a steep short downhill doesn't help.  Rolls like roller coaster most of next two miles with one big up and down near mile 2.

Last mile is mostly uphill, and last 100 meters another steep downhill that isn't useful.

4-miler cooldown.

Easy run

4- miles, 24:54, treadmill with pickups.

Worked 10pm to 11am.  Slept 4 hours, got up and ran.  Felt pretty terrible until I got some coffee in me.  Run felt good.

Race tomorrow. 

Easy run

4.2 miles, 27:45, treadmill.  Legs feel good, but wanted to let them rest a bit.

About 58.8 miles for week.  Good with a 3.1, 4, and 4.2 mile days.

Lexington bound

Alright, I signed up for US Masters X-C race December 9th in Lexington, KY.

Dirigo guys may send a team.  Hopefully.  After yesterdays run there is no doubt I should have a chance to be in top 5.  Goal is still top 15, but if I can have a good race, I should be right up near the front.  If I can stay with pack I should be able to get away from just about anyone in final half mile.  I don't have he best kick, but it should be good enough if I can stick close.

Now I just need to figure out flights, hotels and car rentals. 

Still plan on 4 mile race this weekend as long as I can get a ride to the race in Ellsworth.  I think one of the guys I work with will drive me.  The course is pretty tough, but I'd like to be under 21:20, and really I'd like to be under 21:00. 

3 mile race next weekend is more important and should be a tough race up front.  Flat course, but wind can be an issue on this course.  Going to try and run first mile of this in 4:50 and then hopefully be in low 15's for whole thing if it's not windy.  Won't be able to stick around for awards.  Race is at 1pm, and I have to be at work at 3.  So I will run, jump in my car and drive the hour back to BH.

Baby ruth

So other than water this is all I could find for some energy during the run today. Mini Baby Ruth,  had it at about 12 miles, by the time I started next interval I felt great.

Forgot I used to eat Mars Bars during my 3 week hike in Scotland years ago which kept me going.

Long run

20 miles, 1:54:39, treadmill.  1.5% incline the whole way.  1500+ feet of gain.

3 mile warmup(18:00)
4-miles at 5:40 pace(22:40)
1 mile(6:15)
4-miles at 5:33 pace(22:12)
1 mile(6:15)
3-miles at 5:24 pace(16:12)
1-mile(6:15)
1-mile at 5:16 pace
1-mile at 6:00 pace
Half mile at 5:05 pace
Half mile at 6:00 pace.

5:43 average.

What's amazing is how shitty I ran at Sunday's race and how easy today was.  What I averaged about 5:30 pace for 10-k and over triple that distance today and I am not much slower.  I even forgot my mp3 player, so I did whole run with no tunes.

Easy run tomorrow and Saturday.  Legs probably won't be full for Sunday's race, but as long as they are rested for next weeks 3 mile race I don't really care.

Easy short run

4 miles , 24:51, treadmill.  1.5%, pickups every half mile.

Easy run

9 miles, 57:09, treadmill.  Legs feel good.

Planned week of training

Today and tomorrow, got to run easy.  Rest up for long run Thursday.

Long run Thursday,  Going to run 3 mile warm-up.  Then 4x3-miles with 1 mile float between. 1 mile at 5-k pace, 1-2 mile cool down, makes 21-22 miles.

First 3 mile piece at 5:40 pace, float at about 6:00-6:10 pace.
Next 3 miles at 5:34 pace, float a mile.
Next 3 miles 5:27 pace, float a mile.
Last 3 miles,  5:21 pace, float a mile
1 mile at 5-k pace., 1 mile cool down.

17 miles of good work.  I'll do this on treadmill at 1.5% incline.

Friday and Saturday easy runs and Sunday a 4 mile race.  Not sure about this course.  I don't think its a fast course, so I'd like to be under 5:20 pace.

After that its some workouts to get ready for 10-k X-C race in Lexington, then train for Midwinter 10-miler in Feb. and 50-k in March.  Still up in the air whether I will do a real long run before 50-k.  I may just stick with normal marathon training with some biking in after my long runs.  I want to stay healthy and not get injured.

Moderate run

Finally got the treadmill fixed after about an hour of working on it.  Had to reload some programsinto it.  These new treadmills are more like computers.

After that I tested it out.  Between running like shit yesterday a race, the way my day went and then having to frig with the treadmill for an hour I ran 6:00 pace with some surges every mile.  1.5% incline the whole time.

7.5 miles, 43:56, 555 feet of gain.  Not easy, but not hard.

Legs feel better now.  Thought about running longer, but I need to rest a little before Wednesday's long 20 mile workout.  I really cannot wait to race again and get the stink of yesterdays race off me.  I really thought I was ready to run closer to 33 minutes on that course yesterday, not 34:08.  The one good thing about racing crappy is I always run the next few races really well, because I run pissed off.

2011 I ran piss poor at the Sugarloaf uphill challenge, drove 2+ hours home and did a workout, then ran a solo 1:09:30 for a half marathon with a bunch of it on dirt the next weekend.  Probably won't be in anyone at the 4-mile race this weekend, but I don't care.  The 3 mile race the weekend after will have good competition and I'm going out and running myself into the ground.  No tactics, other than not going out super stupid, but it's going to be a race from start to finish and not jogging for half the race and a sprint finish.  I'm pissed.  I hate traveling all the way to Boston to run like shit when I could have stayed home and run just as fast solo.

Holy treadmill

Well I need to do something because I cannot get this treadmill to work.  Factory reset messed it up even more. 

Got home last night ended up getting called in at 3am for another DRE.  Whole days been fckd up. 

Race

Warmed up 2 miles.  Way too slow for me.  8:30 pace compared to the sub 6:30 pace I usually do before races and workouts.  But ran with team.  Need to do my own warmup I guess because as test mile at franklin park is mile 1 and I ran 5:44. 

5:40, 5:38 next two and I was like hey, this is goal marathon pace. 

Finally got things together and ran a better 4th mile 5:32.  Then up bear cage for 5th mile in 5:28 passing a lot of people.

Huge group about 20 seconds ahead of me going into final mile, and I finally felt warmed up.  Caught back if group going into last 150 meters after 5:06 6th mile.

Passed a couple of them.  34:08.  Not very good, but at least I got my head screwed on right for last bit.  Still out of five times I've run course, all between 2000-2003 when I was young, I managed my third best time,  so not what I wanted, but looked like it was going to be worse.

And I beat all the other 39 year olds in open race, so that made me feel better.

Easy run yesterday

3.1 miles easy on treadmill after waking up.  Headed down to Augusta for the night.

Race today pretty much sucked.  I'll do up a race report later.  5th time I've run this course.  Smack in the middle time wise, so that's good I guess. 

Started slow and sped up, problem was I started way too slow.   That is almost damn near impossible for xc, but I did it.  First mile 5:44, last in 5:06.  Final .22 in 61 seconds. 

Easy run

4.2 miles, 29:15.  Treadmill.  Other than treadmill being stuck at 4% incline, I kept it easy.

Just over 60 total for week.

Thunder

Got my new shoes for xc race.  Probably will need to put some smaller spikes in them or blanks for franklin park.  Lightest pair of shoes I've had for 10 years.

Next week I do need to get in a long run.  Haven't done one since the marathon, so I need one.  Plan is....

3 mile warmup
4x3-miles starting just slower than goal marathon pace(5:40) and each one getting faster(5:20).  1 mile float in between at 6:00-6:15 pace.  Short cooldown should get me close to 20 miles.  These kind of runs really boost my fitness, plus I'll need some good long runs so I can run 50-k in March well.  I think after run I'll jump on bike for another hour just to get used to working for a few hours.

Workout, Vvo2max work

2.5 warmup,  14:42.  Ran first mile of this in 5:39, made myself slow down.  Legs feel good.  Did some strides, uphill strides and drills before starting workout.

I was going to run 1.4 miles at about 5:00 pace, but after running first loop at about 4:42 pace, I said screw it and just decided to skip the longer intervals and do the 5 X .56 repeats.  No need to tire myself out with the longer 1.4 repeats if I was going to run them too fast.

.56- 1:19.68, 1:19.54(2:39.22)
.28 easy- 2:02.1
.56- 1:20.17, 1:19.92(2:40.09)
.28 easy- 2:03.14
.56- 1:19.45,1:19.95(2:39.4)
.28 easy- 2:05.71
.56- 1:19.16, 1:19.95(2:39.11)
.28 easy- 2:08.35
.56- 1:20.17, 1:20.60(2:40.77)
.28 easy- 1:46.92

4.2 miles- 23:24.85(5:34.48 average)

Fastest I've averaged for these all year and the rests were faster too.

Did a couple of hill sprints after.  Legs feel fast.

2.1 cooldown 12:28

8.8 total.

Easy run

5.5 miles, 33:00, treadmill.  First 4 miles treadmill was stuck at .5% decline so I got my plyometics session in with that.  Kept it at 6:00 pace because it wasn't hard running downhill.   After that, I got it working and ran last 1.5 miles at 1.5% incline.  Kept it at 6:00 pace, and did a couple 10 second sprints at 4% at 5:00 pace.

Surprised it let me do what I did because usually once you go under zero incline it only will go 7-9mph,  but whatever.  Got a nice downhill session in to beat up legs a little.

Workout tomorrow,  think I'm going to run 1.4 @5-k pace, then some .56 miles a bit faster, then another 1.4 @5-k pace.  Then rest until Sunday.

Halloween

Worked for about 5 1/2 hours.  Halloween in BH is pretty busy.  I did however try on a hat that one of the state's future star runners wanted me to try.  He's in 5th grade but beating most of the 8th graders.

Easy run

9.06 miles, 1:04:55, first 7.5 with Andrew.  He's headed to NYC marathon this weekend.  Good luck.

7:39
7:29
7:16
7:12
7:11
7:20
7:22
6:36
6:23
:21

Easy run

7.5 miles, 48:58, treadmill.  Spent about half hour fixing the treadmill.   Smooth as butter now.  Brought it down to 5:00 pace a little bit to make sure it was good at all speeds.  Treadmill really helps keep my legs feeling good since its softer and I can run slightly uphill to keep the pounding down.  legs feel good, but the last week of running outside made my knees ache a little.

Trying to get most of my mileage for week out of the way early this week so I can rest near the end of the week for race in Boston.

New shoes

Got a pair of sketchers go run 5, and meb razors.  Legs really needed the new shoes.

And no I do not shave my legs.

21 days and counting until Masters running starts

Alright, 21 days and 3 races to go before I turn into a master's runner.  The comeback, the training I did all year was for this.

So I've got the USATFNE open X-C 10-k this coming weekend.  Feel pretty confident I can run sub 34 after the workout I did today as long as course is fairly dry.  Then a local 4-miler the week after, and finally the last race of the sub5 series the week after with a 3 miler.  Main goal is to break 15:30, but after today's workout I may be able to get closer to 15:15.

Just saw US MASTERS 15-k champ results.  Top guy was 46 something.  That's fast.  I couldn't run that when I was young so he can have it.  But second place didn't break 50 minutes and I should be able to do that soon.

Full schedule for 2018 isn't out yet, but I may try to get to a US masters only race in between going to the open US champs.

Main open races I want to do are 10-mile, 20-k 25-k, marathon and 50-k next year.  Since the half marathon and 15-k are sandwiched around 25-k, those are out.  But there usually are  a masters only 15-k and half marathon race. so I'll hit those up if I can.  I don't think I have any interest running more than 50-k, although maybe I'll get the bug and want to try the 50-miler.

And lastly I think even if US xc championship doesn't happen in December, I'll probably drop down to half marathon in Millinocket.  Rather work on 10-k to 25-k distances right now and save the longer training for 50-k for January- March.  Always wanted to run another 5 miles after running 26.2 miles, haha.  As long as the weather is cool, I should be ok.  My only issues I've ever had in the 15 marathon's I've done have been in hot weather.  Boston 2005 I ran 2:47 in heat, Chicago 2007 I ran 2:41 in really hot and humid weather, and then MDI this year would be my third slowest marathon and it wasn't hot, 60 degrees, but it was 90+% humidity that killed me.  Cannot imagine it will be hot in NY at the beginning of March.  Hoping at least.

Workout

Changed it up some.

2.2 warmup, 13:12

3.08 miles, 16:20

2 minutes easy.

3.08 miles, 16:16

2 minutes easy

1.4 miles, 7:09

2 minutes easy

2.2 miles cooldown, 13:41

12.8 total

Easy run

About 12-k on golf course.  Four loops and a little more.

6:30
6:26
6:09
6:22
6:09
6:13
6:07
3:01
46:59 total.

Halloween 5-k

No warmup, other than jogging around the start area a few minutes prior to start.  Ran in light trainers.

Went out and ran with Erik Kickerbocker.  Finished in 17:50.  Splits of 5:43, 5:54, 5:37, 38 seconds.  Nice work Erik, coming off a 2:57 at MDI Marathon a couple of weeks ago.  40 years old, he'll do well with masters running.

2+ easy with Erik and Chris Holt after.  25-k workout tonight on golf course.  Beautiful weather. 

Tonight's workout after I warm up.  Ya, I probably will just do a bookend workout.  6 minutes hard, 8x3:00 hard, 6:00 hard, then 3x60 seconds hard.  Ordered my new spikes, Nike Zoom Forever x-c, 5.3 oz..  Probably won't need them for Franklin Park unless it's not dry.  Other than races over 25-k, I'm racing everything in the lightest shoes I can find.

Easy run

6 miles carriage roads, 37:11.

6:03
6:41
6:10
6:14
6:10
5:50

Halloween 5-k in morning.  Just going to run about 6:00 pace on costume, then long run with workout later in day.

More X-C

So looks like instead of 8-k in old town on November 5th, I'll be headed to Franklin Park for New England xc championship.  I'll have to sit back and watch masters race, since I won't be 40 for another 15 days, but I'll get a good look at top NE masters and race all the young guys in the open 10-k.

The four times I ran this event were in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003.

Ran 35:03, 33:19, 34:28 which isn't very good.  In 2003 I managed a good time of 32:22.  Right about this same time I ran a 5-k in 15:54, a 1:13:22 half marathon, so I'm about in the same fitness now I think, except I'm much stronger.  Sub 34 will be ok whatever the weather, sub 33 I'll be very happy, and if course is dry and fast and I can get close to my pr for the course I should be ready to do well at Lexington.

I think I'll go out near the back, and try and maintain my pace through the race instead of going out in 4:40 like I used to.  It's such an wide open course, there really is no reason to go out nuts when there are plenty of places to pass.  I really like the wilderness section of the course.  It's slightly uphill going into it and slightly downhill coming out.  Three times through the wilderness for the 10-k, which gets a little old and my main goal is not to get lapped.  With two times up Bear cage hill, once in the final half mile, that should help me out.  Plus the final 100 meters is slightly uphill on the grass which should help against the young speedsters during final kick.  Mainly it will be a recon mission to watch the masters race, although my teammates for nationals will be watching my race with a cold beverage in hand while I suffer against the young guys.

For the most part it's going to be fun racing with a team again.  That should at least keep me from completely dying when I start to hurt.

Looking back at my college times I never ran well on the 8-k course.  1999 I ran 28:27.  Probably ran low 26 or high 25 somewhere in the 2002-2003 period when it was dry.  But's I don't think it was actually 8-k either.

Of course franklin park can either be dry and super fast or snow, muddy and slow.

Be a good tuneup for nationals.  Got to order some spikes now.

Easy run

First 6.2 on treadmill.  Fixed the electrical issue, now it sounds like it's going to fall apart.  Kept it up at 1.5 to 4.0% incline so it wasn't so loud.  So 650+ feet of elevation gain.  42:14.

Ran .6 miles home after, then went to my massage.

X-C

Well I hope we send a team because I'm actually getting kind of excited for the X-C race.  Although running a marathon with Evan would be fun since other than Chicago 2007 in some major heat and humidity we never raced a marathon in the cold together, I kind of would like to race the 10-k x-c race against some fast masters guys.  I will however have to pick up a pair of x-c spikes.  Something I haven't had for many years, but I do love the feel of spikes.

One year I went out to California for US nationals, 2001 I think.  Ran  36:36 for 10-k.  Slow as crap, but it was in a hurricane, and I remember putting in 1 inch spikes for the only time in my life and those didn't help much.  Rain, and ice pellets during race with the wind made for an interesting race.

Think I ran US x-c champs in 2003 too in NC.  Hilly course, but I ran much better, 33:47 and that was only good for 98th place.  Winning time wasn't under 30, so tough course, Alan Webb and Daniel Lincoln led the way I think.  5-k loop.

I'm pretty sure I can run faster than 33:47 on Lexington course.  And in masters race I should do much better, I hope.

Will have to do a couple workouts on local golf course in the next few weeks.

Planned workouts

Alright,  the much anticipated workouts up to Dec. 1st.

Oct. 28th-  5-k in costume easy, see picture below.  Long run PM: 18-20 miles with tempo element.

Oct. 30th- workout up Cadillac mnt.  5x3,2 minute pieces.

Nov. 2nd- lactate ladder workout, very fast intervals ranging from 30 seconds to 2 minutes.  Double rests.

Nov. 5th- 8-k race, goal 26:30.

Nov. 9th-  long run 18-20 with 7 to 1 minute pieces.

Nov. 12th- 4-miler race, sub 21:30

Nov. 15th- 5x.56 miles Vvo2max pace.

Nov. 19th- 3-mile race, goal sub 15:30.

Nov. 23rd- 18-20 miles tempo, mile repeats at end at 5-k pace.

Nov. 27th- bookends, 1.12, 6-8x.56, 1.12

Dec. 1st- hill workout TBD.

Easy run

8.15 miles, 58:30,  half on single track trails half on golf course.  Legs are pretty sore from hill workout yesterday.  Very good sign.  Means once they rest they'll be stronger and faster.

Shoes which already weigh 14oz were good and heavy by end of this run.  Wind, rain, warm temps., it was nice.

Probably one of last run in these shoes.  Have over 600 miles on them and toes are poking out sides.  They definitely have very little bounce left to them.  Got two new pairs.

Kept it nice and easy, legs needed it, splits of
7:22
7:08
7:11
7:37
7:24
7:01
6:57
6:52
:54

Rain

I know I'm into this running thing when I look out window and it looks like a wall of water and wind and I'm excited. 

Looks like if Dirigo masters guys send a team to Lexington, KY for US club masters x-c 10-k I'll be going.  Means I'll skip out on Millinocket marathon.

I've always kind of sucked until I started running marathons, then the strength kicked in.  I think the last x-c races I did were with Zap at 2006 winter nationals.  Saturday I did 4-k so Zap would have enough for team scoring.  I remember going out as hard as I could first 400 and was in top 5 last people.  It was 2-k loops.  By 1-k I started passing hoards of people and it was like that until finish.  Another k and I think I could have gotten top 25.  Ended up running 12:13 and finished 38th.  Because no other teams were entered we won gold for team championship.  So I guess I can say I'm a part of a national championship team, haha. 

The next day I got up for the race I was there to do.  The 12-k.  It was cold and started snowing.  Again the same 2-k loops.  Again I went out pretty hard like x-c races do and was near the back after first loop.  Then I started passing lots of people.  Ended up finishing 52nd in 39:00.  Still my fastest 12-k ever.  I couldn't convince all the mile and 3-k guys who ran 4-k the day before to run the 12k, haha.

But before running marathons I went to a bunch of us national xc races and ran terrible.  I think I even ran 36-37 minutes one year for 10-k. 

I'll need to get a couple xc specific workouts in on golf course to be ready.  Like to be top 25 which means sub 34 minutes most likely.  If I can go sub 33, I might squeeze into top 10.  Mostly I'd be running for team and get a look at the guys I'll be up against in 2018.  Definitely less worried at distances over 10-k on road, but I like to know my competition and I don't mind running shorter stuff and getting my butt kicked. 

Speaking of, I believe Jim Johnson turns 40 about when I do.  New England will be well represented next year if he decides to do some masters stuff.  He can easily kick my butt in most distances especially if there is mud, hills, or snow involved.  Put us on a flat marathon course, maybe I have a chance.   I'm still tired from the 20+ mile snowshoe run he took me on 5 years ago with Kevin Tilton.  We were eating snow to stay hydrated. 

Workout

With the weather going to be pretty terrible tomorrow I decided to do the workout today even though my legs were still a little sore from Plyos on Sunday.

2.5 mile warmup, 15:14

2.24 miles progressive tempo, 8 of my loops.  12:03
splits of
1:29.4- too fast.
1:32.5
1:30.7
1:31.4
1:30.4
1:30.2
1:29.3
1:28.8

3 minute easy,  .37 miles

Then 8 x camel humps.

3:00, .49 miles
60 seconds rest, .11
3:00, .55 miles
60 seconds rest, .11
3:00, .50 miles
60 seconds rest, 10
3:00, .55 miles
60 seconds rst, .12
3:00, .51 miles,
60 seconds rest, .09
3:00, .56 miles
60 seconds rest, .11
3:00, .50
60 seconds rest, .11
3:00, .56 miles

626 feet of gain about.  The first way the hill is a little longer going up and and you gain about 130 feet, then drop 60 feet.  After 60 seconds easy I'd runup the 60 foot side and down the 130 foot side.  Legs were just starting to feel it by the end.

About 5 miles total,, 31:22.
2.2 mile cool down, 13:46

About 11.94 miles total

Easy run

8.6 miles outside, 56:41.  Legs were really sore from plyometrics session last night so I ran half on pavement, half on single track trails and grass.  Beautiful out.

Easy run tomorrow evening.  Wednesday I plan on doing 12 minutes progressive tempo effort to start, then 9x 3:00 camel humps.  Essentially a hill you run up one side, down the other, take a short break and go back up and over the other way.  That way you get two types of uphills, and two types of downhills you're working with.  I'm going to try and do this on the carriage roads so it's softer.

Probably get a lot more outside running in until the treadmill here gets fixed.  I guess someone was on it today and it started shooting sparks everywhere.  Then it wouldn't turn back on.  I may just get a membership over at neighborhood house in Northeast.  it's only $30 a month for the winter and they are open until 10pm,  It's 10 miles over there, but the treadmills go sub 4:00 pace, so I could get some real work in.

Legs

Legs are already good and sore after the plyometrics session.  I think that was a way better option than doing an easy run.  Get my power up.  Flights to 50-k in March are only about $200, so I'm definitely going to this.  5-k loop course, nice and boring, just like I like.  Once November comes around I'll get my USATF membership for next year and sign up for race.

Plyo session

Was going to do a short run, but I decided to stack wood and do a plyometics session. 

5-k race

Did the Black Bear 5-k this morning.  Goal was 16:30. 

Warmed up about 2.2 miles.  Legs felt really good.

Started off easy and Erik and some other guy were way out front at mile, they went through under 4:50.

I caught the other guy after the mile and stayed around 5-8 seconds behind Erik through about 2.  Then he got a few more seconds on me in last mile.  Think he finished in 15:55 and I was 16:08.  My fastest 5-k since 2011 or 2012.  Not a hard course, but not fast by any means.  One week out from the marathon, I'm very happy with that.  Ran a much more even race today than I have been.  Goes to show I am in way better shape than he 2:37:57 marathon I ran last week.  Weather today was just about perfect.  Course on my GPS said 3.2 miles, so it was a good 5-k.

3+ cool down and some barefoot strides on fake grass after.

Easy run

5 miles, 30:58, treadmill.  Pickups every half mile. 

Race tomorrow to see how legs are. 

2018 races

February 4th-  Midwinter 10-miler.  Cape Elizabeth, Maine.
March 4th- US 50-k champs, Long Island, New York.
April 29th- US masters 10-k champs, Dedham, MA.
May 6th- US Half marathon champs, Pittsburg, PA.
May 12th- US 25-k champs, GrandRapids MI

May have to choose between half and 25-k.  Not sure if I can run both with work, or if I want to run both a week apart.  I've run the 25-k and it's a great course, plus it gives me a week between the 10-k off.  Plus I really hate half marathons, not sure why.

October 7th- US 10-mile champs, Minn.
December 2nd-  US marathon champs, Cal international.(fast course).

If US mountain running champs is in North Conway I'll do that too.  That's a brutally fun race to do up and down a ski mountain.  Last time I did it I had run a marathon the week before and I think I finished 12th, behind Jim Johnson, and Kevin Tilton, but because I didn't have a USATF membership at the time I'm not in the results.  All I remember is my legs were pretty sore from running Grandma's marathon a week before and the downhills on the trail were brutal.  Hopefully the event is in New England.  Some great masters mountain guys, and it should be a good race.

Luckily almost everything is early year and late year, Summer months is pretty hard to get away with it being so busy in Bar Harbor.

The only thing that kind of sucks is 1/2 marathon, 25-k and 15-k are all within 3 weeks.  I'd love to do all of them, although I really hate the 15-k course, and its usually hot, but I think I'll have to choose one of these, and I really love the 25-k distance, and that course.  I actually roomed with Fernando Cabada the year he broke the US record in 2006, 1:14:21.  That was awesome.  I ran  1:23:05 and got 35th place, so great competition.  Cabada said told me he would break the record the night before.  He kicked ass.