overtaking haynes

drove to show my dad the really nice and flat part of the trail i run on a lot in town. after about 1.5 miles he turned around and i went exploring some of the trails that i determined don't loop and just lead annoyingly to nowhere even though getting to nowhere is nice. at mile 10 everything was good and then it just wasn't. i just started to tighten up and i was still about 6 miles from home. at mile 15, being about 1/2 a mile from home and major strain in several muscles i decided it was time to walk. would have walked earlier but was not cool with the lengthy amount of time it would take to get back. i guess i'm not super endurance man like i thought. it will unfortunately take probably a month to fully recover. or at the very least 2 more weeks. i was so pathetic out there today. 

6.7 mile hike. it took about 4hrs and i had a tick on me that i felt crawling on me and my friend also had a tick on her pants. later we found that she had a tick that had bit her but i pulled it out cleanly. the winter has its benefits. i need to start stretching again. will probably only run every other day 5-7 miles easy for awhile. it's so easy to loose the running spirit when your body just won't work right. 

not sure how far this run was exactly. i love this run though. decided to run despite my calf feeling strained walking around. a lot of times running won't make something feel worse. i needed to take out some frustration so i pushed it not too severely but enough to feel the burn. the first climb was 6.5 mins and gained 450ft. then a downhill before another 5.5 min climb to the summit, getting to the top in 19:45. On the return trip there was one climb of 3.5 mins. If i ever decide to put on a trail race, this would be my first choice. this week i hope to beat my time to the summit. since leaving Colorado i forgot how much fun time trialing is up mtns. or in this case a hill. 

feels good to run again. i was really depressed about my running because of how i took a week off and then strained my body running 15 the week after. i was less depressed today and felt quite strong today from the start for the first time in a while. the strain in my calf isn't too bad anymore. i know 41 minutes sounds real slow for pushing myself slightly faster than a marathon course but it is pretty hilly. at least 500 feet of elevation gain. i like the idea of ultramarathons but NOT the recovery time. i don't think i'll run more than 10 miles for another week because of the disaster that happened last week. it's fun to go for under 45 mins and know you can push yourself as much as you want.

found out i got into the knee knackering north shore trail run in vancouver july 11th. i feel bad though because i didn't realize it was then when i said i would pace a friend at hardrock this year. i'm definitely excited to go to vancouver though!
 

tendon in right leg behind the knee really tight when walking. hadn't had problems while running short the past few days. for frustration i've enjoyed running fast compared to my normal slow and long runs. i brought the gps and got to the 875ft summit in 17mins 30 sec, much faster than a couple days ago when i thought i was pushing myself. the first climb is from 425ft up to 775ft, climbing that in .5 miles then it drops 175ft in .25 miles to 600ft before climbing to the summit with a great view. almost 600ft vertical. then took it easy on a different trail down. such beautiful and challenging terrain.

6.6 mile hike up mt taurus by the hudson river. 

4.8 mile hike at bennet's pond and up pine mtn. 

was going to run early but definitely no motivation when my miles are so low. couldn't wake up and snoozed for over an hour. had a midterm and then did a tempo run half of it was dark.

33:44 on the 5 mile loop starting up limekiln. last mile was exactly 7 min pace. Don't know any other splits. Could have been stronger at the end but went out too fast i think. no warm up and no cool down. At least i can go under 35 mins still :)

it's pretty cool that the loop starting from my house and running up the dirt road first is EXACTLY 5 miles. i ran this in the morning before work so could only muster a 34:46. I don't think i got a minute slower in 2 days! and i don't think the run is harder in this direction, i'd say it was easier.

ran another mile after works and hiked some trying to get my friend into running.

ran at terre haute after work and re-explored the trails. going at an easy pace brings you to about 12+ mins/mile. it's pretty ridiculous. felt pretty good though and for the first time didn't feel any stiffness in my tendon. i could hit 30 this week!!!!!!! :)

 during the run i decided i'm NOT going to do a difficult 50 mile race i signed up for in May. It's just too devastating to have to take a month off and rebuild again. it seems like a lot of fellow ultra runners can recover quickly but in my experience from running ultras for in my 5th year now, i don't seem to be able to recover any faster. i should really only do 1 or 2 a year and not in the middle of racing season. my next race will be the knee knackering north shore trail run in vancouver in july! it's only 30m. need to get back in shape for that and hope i don't get sick again for race day.
 

1hr 26 mins for 6.7 miles :) 

 I keep exploring the trails behind the office park and there keep seeming to be more and more trails made by invisible motorbikes. I think i'm close to having a good trail racing course but there is one bad section that i need to find my way around. I somehow managed to get on a trail that disappeared suddenly after gaining 150ft in 0.1 miles. definitely a good workout. it's creepy when its getting dark and there's no one around and the trees creak.
 

1hr 5 min trail run at huntington

breakneck ridge trail hike. 3.1 miles features 1250ft vertical in 0.75 miles. probably the most fun trail i've ever been on! 

run after school. no warmup again, no time. had a much better showing than last week when i did the same loop in the morning. ran 33:09 instead of 34:46 with equal effort. can morning running really be that much worse? i wonder if i could ever break 30 on this loop? very doubtful. it's weird how i enjoy tempo runs as long as i'm not running very many miles. i actually look forward to them when i used to dread them before. 

am before work. 

am 5.5 miles

pm raced my 2 brothers down whortleberry rd. they stayed close for the first 1/2 mile but then i crushed them by 1.5 minutes. I ran 10:30 for the 1.6 mile road. I enjoy how my little brother who is 13 consistently dominates my other brother who is 24 by about 10-15 sec.

did a 2.5 mile hike up topstone mtn afterwards.

ran after work at tarrywhile park which i haven't been to in a long time. i used to go mtn biking there in hs and had a bad mtn biking accident. it's really good terrain though and really great when it's not crowded. it was raining tonight so i only saw a couple people. there's a pretty good sized mtn there and some beautiful lakes and fields. i pretty much ran all the trails and it got dark on me because i didn't have my watch. i have to estimate that i probably ran at least 10 min/mile and i ran 1hr 25mins. i saw at least 3 different herds of deer. one herd of 6 had 2 deer that weren't afraid of me. one of the deer actually started running toward me for about 50 ft which scared the crap out of me. i'm going to start running with this joggers mace i got last weekend so i don't have to worry about loose dogs and apparently deer!

legs a little tired from yesterday.

am run before hiking. 1.1 mile warmup then 5 mile tempo run starting up limekiln. an extremely poor 35:03 time. i wonder if i even get much benefit running 1.5 mins slower in the morning than i would in the afternoon? is it even worth it?

after, went hiking in the shawangunks. i thought last weeks hike on the breakneck ridge was interesting and had challenging scrambling. what i did yesterday was absolutely incredible! we hiked about 3 miles to the mohonk mountain house and did the labyrinth trail which consisted of crawling under rocks and up ladders. then we went up the crevice and possibly heard a rattlesnake. the crevice was ridiculous, there was this narrow set of ladders and i had to remove my tiny camelback to fit through. we then decided to try another side trail which was also closed, probably because there was still some snow and ice, though barely. we went down the giant's path which literaly you spiraled down like on a staircase, scrambling down and then under rocks. there was one section which was quite dark. the shawangunks in ny are apparently one of the most popular places to rock climb in the US. a very interesting place. 5hrs 3 min of hiking/scrambling. it's depressing to know that no hiking trail can surpass this day. it was literally hiking heaven. especially because there was no one on the trails because they were closed :)

5 mile trail run with little brother. i was impressed with how he handled the rough terrain and steep hills, both uphill and down. i better watch out since he's only 13! 

didn't wake up this morning as planned. but i should have known i wouldn't :) almost walked out of class at 5:40 because it was so painfully boring but stuck it out. only one more month. i knew i'd be all anxious to run after being pent up all day and knew it would make me run with more fire. i had run this 5 mile tempo loop in the same direction only 2 days ago in the morning and had an extremely humbling and disappointing 35:03. Tonight i ran a 32:28 which may be my fastest time ever on the loop but i could have been faster last year i don't know the numbers. all i know is that i was feeling very little confidence in my running since i've basically run only 1/3 to 1/2 the mileage i've been running for the past month. i just might run a local 1/2 marathon on sunday which goes within 1 mile of my house. the one thing i don't like is that i ran it in 2005 and i hope i can at least equal that time. we'll see. it will hopefully not be too horrible a time and i won't die after 10 miles. i'm extremely worried that haynes will beat me at northern nipmuck in 2 weeks even though i beat him by 9 minutes last year. i've even considered not trail racing until my mileage is back up. at least i feel 90% recovered now from the 40 miler. One more week and i should be back hopefully. any course less nice than nipmuck and i'd probably wuss out but i know i'll be mad at myself for being afraid. even if i do manage to pull out a miracle win, i know it will be too close to be enjoyable!

6:25 to top of limekiln, 11:05 to john read rd (1.65 miles), 14:30 to gallows hill, 19:05 to old stagecoach rd (3 mile mark), 26:00 to the dead end road i can't remember the name of (4 mile mark), 29:00 minutes to top of whortleberry dirt section.

run after class with headlamp. 5 mile loop + out and back 2.2 mile on dirt road. a racoon was very intrigued by the headlamp and didn't run off like i wanted him to.