overtaking haynes

After a night of binge eating to prepare for the marathon today I felt fat and bloated. I foolishly ate food i didn't normally eat and went to a mexican place and thought cactus salad was a good idea. it wasn't but i ate it anyway. the burrito and chips were really good though. After we decided to go to ben and jerry's. I got a large ice cream cone with peanut butter cookie dough and bananas on the rum. can't say enough good things about the latter. wow i felt fat. anyways i ate lots in the morning. bowl of cereal, tea, then pre race egg and cheese on a plain bagel at dunkin donuts. ate a chocolate chip cliff bar immediately before the race...

maybe i'm weird but i find confidence in knowing i have more fuel than anyone else. i have an extremely strong stomach and can handle large amounts of food without feeling sick. Got a good bit of last night's food out before the race.

Race director was absolutely crazy but the race was extremely well done so no complaints. Started out comfortably in 8th place. The course was 2 out and backs, 10k out and 10k back and then about 7 out and back the other way. Haynes was way too close to me at the first 10k but i decided i was going to push it only in the last 10k if i could hold my place which i felt good about. one guy pulled away over the next 10k i was with but i had beaten him in previous races and felt strong so i was hopeful i could reel him in when the time was right. i ate consistently shot blocks. went through 3 bags. brought gu along but it was too gross. had some potatoes with salt at the aid stations. drank a lot. felt full the whole race which i kind of like. i hate the empty feeling. after about mile 18 i saw the guy that pulled away earlier who now seemed disoriented like he was delirious and couldn't follow the trail. I passed him and then almost immediately a guy who was originally in 2nd place. he made excuses that he hadn't trained properly and told me how he was in 2nd earlier. (for like the first 6 miles!) not too hard. I had also passed another guy not too long before without any effort. Didn't feel like i was struggling or pushing too hard and felt excited to be in 5th place in a field of close to 250 I think.

The turn arounds can be either good or bad. You can either feel comfort that you have a solid lead on your competitors or be very afraid. I ended up forgetting the top to my water bottle and would have gone back but a guy who i know finishes strong was only ~30 sec back. Not a fun time with no top. I just guzzled it Amazingly it was brought to the next aid station by the volunteers which was absolutely incredible and made my day!

So I decided it was time to push. I hadn't pushed yet and actually ran the 7 miles back 2 minutes faster than I ran it out. I kept looking back but no one was there. When I saw only 2.2 miles left and the time I was at I felt confident that I could stay away since i felt so good and strong. I bonked though with 0.4 miles left but luckily it was mostly downhill. I finished in 3:36.50 which is sadly my fastest marathon time since i've only ever run mountain trail marathons or a marathon as part of an ironman. One of the guys just in front of me about 5 minutes ran a 2:43 at Boston this year. This gives me hope that I might be able to break 2:50. I'll be happy with a 2:54 though. I feel like I need to be disappointed soon, the season and training are so far going far too well. The next big race is July 12th in Iceland. 34 miles. I'm kind of scared how expensive it's going to be, but excited!

Will definitely not run tomorrow! For the first time I didn't get a headache after a long race. I was almost hydrated. You really can't seem to drink enough.

Also, beat Haynes easily by ~9 minutes for anyone interested :)

Couldn't sleep well last night. After the marathon when I got back home on sunday I was rubbing the top of my foot and i was nervous that i was feeling a pressure point on my 2nd metatarsal. It also looked swollen the next morning. I had felt no pain at all during the marathon and it didn't hurt to run but I thought it may be 50:50. So no running yesterday and this morning I decided to go run 6 and see. My left foot/ankle has been problematic for some time. For the last 1.5 yrs i've had to chronically ice my ankle to enable me to run every day. It's just an extremely tight foot. My arch was shooting with cramps too yesterday. 

 Anyways, the run didn't hurt my foot anywhere so a stress fracture is pretty much ruled out i hope. it would have been devastating with the iceland ultra only 6 weeks away now. i'm definitely going to buy new shoes today or tomorrow! Since I had stress fractures in h.s. and college i always worry about them and i'm kind of afraid to build mileage and push my limits. This season i've done that and taken the risk and have been really happy but i don't know what i would have done if i had to take 8 weeks off at this point.

 I'll probably not build mileage this week and stay around 65. Surprisingly neither Haynes nor I had any soreness yesterday or today from the marathon, I felt just used up. Guessing i'll be back to full operation on thursday and hopefully will do the 5 mile training race. 

 Anyone know the standard/smart procedure for recovery from a marathon if it's done in season?
 

new shoes....felt awesome, pouring rain was cool and nice. i think i ran 9 because the run took 1hr 19 minutes but seems like it should have only been 8. Haynes will have the definitive answer when he runs later with the GPS. Feel pretty good for the first time after the marathon. Haynes is in trouble i think...

 i kind of went out of control, bought 3 new pairs of brooks shoes. one was last years model so half price and i got a big discount on some marathon racing shoes that felt good.

 

Did the red rooster ramble today solo (meaning without Haynes).  A couple people were asking about him and why he wasn't there, kind of disappointed they wouldn't have the opportunity to defeat such a great runner! I had to tell them that he was being lame and that school came before running for him, which is in my opinion unacceptable. Haynes wouldn't have been able to keep up with the pace this week. This guy Eric was there who comes about once a month but has defeated Haynes and I handily each time. Today was no exception as he ran a 29:50. I just wanted to do a solid under 31 min but ended up surprising myself with my 2nd fastest 5 mile time ever feeling pretty good again despite the sunday marathon. Let Eric and this other guy who i knew was going to fall off pace dictate the speed. Mile 1 was run in 5:58 for all of us. Didn't feel that good but not horrible considering we usually go out 10 sec slower. The next mile is the slowest due to the hill and i ran a 6:05, Eric put on about 8 sec on me this mile as i just settled in. The other guy was gone. Next mile was a 6:02, felt pretty good, then a 6:06, then a 6:00. The worst part was my blister on the sole of my foot started acting up, should have put on body glide but was running late/too lazy. Glad I went, feel pretty confident running a 30:11 as a tempo run 4 days after a trail marathon. It's going to a shame not staying around the providence area this summer to do that race and also have Haynes as a training partner. I feel like i have good momentum. This weekend i'm moving all of my stuff. This sat i'm getting a truck and hiring movers to help me load it and then that will be that. A good week for moving as i don't want to trail race this weekend and i probably would if not moving. just can't help myself, there's just simply nothing i'd rather do. Don't know why Haynes didn't come since he ran 9 miles anyway today. I was going to do more mileage after but my stomach was acting up and the blister was no fun. Goal is to hit 65 this week. We'll see. 

still cool and cloudy so pretty nice. so sick of our 9 mile out and back run in town. will be exciting to get new terrain starting in 1-2 weeks. about 8 min/mile pace today. felt ok, not great.

got up early to avoid the heat and to be done in time to go get the moving truck. pathetic 9 min/mile pace, got passed on the boulevard by a girl! She was just doing intervals though but then there was this other footsteps behind me. thought it was the girl speeding up again but was actually some guy. held him off for 3/4 of a mile before my turn off. for some reason i can't let people pass me if i can hold them off even on an easy run. may do a 5k tomorrow near my parent's house in CT. Supposed to be hot so def no PR, but maybe the competition will be weak and i can sneak in a win at sub 18? i'll see how i feel tomorrow. 

Decided to do a 5k race today. wasn't planning on racing it since there really was no point as it felt like 98 in the sun and was at least 88 degrees at race time. I was also feeling pretty tired after a long week of 65 miles which is a lot for me at this point. also ran a trail marathon previous weekend and did a 5 mile fast tempo on thurs. More than anything else i was hoping to meet some people i could maybe run with but no one was that friendly. there looked like a bunch of reasonably fast h.s. kids too. probably should have just done a trail run earlier but decided i'd tempo this and see what happens. The course was surprisingly hilly which was annoying. i ran the first out in 8:41 at the turn around. A PR pace!? Didn't feel that fast, was in 4th place and the leaders weren't far away. Ended up running 18:41 and a guy sprinted by me at the end but didn't care to push it. Maybe will run 5 or 6 miles this evening when the sun starts to set so i can maintain my mileage (2-3 mile per week increase till 75 or 80, don't know yet).

 ran another 1.8 in the evening, felt horridly pathetic.
 

last night i had my right achilles tendon act up again. i think for sure i have a mild form of achilles tendinitis. A week or two ago I had this same problem, took a day off and then was fine completely after icing a bunch. I read that i should stretch more...so moving all day, to it being 100 degrees to resting i don't even feel that guilty about the no running. 

 when you don't ever take a day off it feels awkward to not run, but take one day off and it seems like it would be so easy just to not be serious anymore. i really hope stretching will stop this and not be chronic. i think this could get serious if i'm not careful. i never do anything preventative, just enough to make the problem go away. i wonder how close to the edge of completely falling apart i am  :)

 time to stretch for 10 min and then ice for 15....that will be my running related workout for the day.

 

walked 2 miles with two bags uphill from the train station. maybe shouldn't count as miles but 35 minutes in the heat with weights counts this week, esp when my mileage has started out so poorly. ran 8.1 (the stupid cemetery was closed so didn't get 9). hopefully the achilles will behave and i can run early and longer tomorrow. felt pretty good though...

not as hot today, body felt ok, always tight in the morning. nothing hurt too bad. achilles fine...50 miles now on new shoes. ran 11.65 miles...maybe i can still hit 65 for the week.

spent 6 hrs cleaning the apt up then decided to run again. felt much looser and went a good bit faster although still not under 8 min pace. afternoon run 5.15 miles
 

wow, kind of weird to actually feel a little sore...right hamstring sore, decided that hitting 65 miles this week after starting the first 2 days of the week with only 6 miles total is not going to be worth it. i think i'll just use this as an excuse to race again. don't think i've missed a week. i'm going to go up and do the mt greylock half marathon trail race. i think i'll go up the mtn afterwards since it is the highest mtn in mass. unfortunately the race was rerouted because of road construction....we'll see maybe i'll not race since it is almost a 3hr ride with gas prices and all being ridiculous...if only i was haynes and wasn't too cool for buying books on tape. maybe this will be a first. 

 so anyways, i have a great 0.9 mile dirt road loop in a state park i ran on today. kind of short but really nice. i'll have to figure it out. super hilly here. it will be no easy mileage anymore. 65 miles a week here is probably equiv to 72 in providence...
 

trail run in huntington state park. 1hr 59 min. felt fairly good today. much better than yesterday. shoes now have 73 miles on them. so hilly here. the trails are pretty well maintained and most of them are like dirt roads so i don't have to worry about snakes. i'm psyched i have yet to see one this year...will only run a few miles tomorrow in prep for the half marathon trail race and the post race summit of mt greylock which should be a good workout. over 2,000 feet climb in 2 miles. a part of me just wants to run 14 tomorrow and hit 65 again....oh well....last race for sure before iceland.

ran/walked with dad at huntington. legs feel kind of weak and i should stretch more but icing and stretching the achilles has prevented any strain there. should have tapered more but whatever...it will still be fun hopefully and worth the drive.

Was feeling kind of bad about my running as of late. All been slow trail runs around 10 min/mile pace and last weekends 5k was a disaster. I know i had a trail marathon the week before and ran one of my highest mileages of the season but i've just been feeling sluggish lately. I knew i'd be upset if i didn't drive the 2.5hrs to the greylock trail race today. I just didn't want to get blown away and maintain my good race record.

The first 4 min of running are flat as we make our way to the base of the first climb of about 1000' or so in 2.5 miles. I started slow as i was determined not to go out too fast and be conservative. i didn't feel that bad during warmups which was a good sign and felt like i had some fight in me maybe...This one guy ben nephew almost always wins easily unless there is a true elite racing so he was gone, then the next pack were 2 guys, one of whom i had beaten by a very slim margin a couple of races ago for the first time. I was content to be in 4th place after 10 min of climbing. There were a lot of guys though, you could see on the switch backs not too far back. One guy kind of passed me and blew by me so now i was in 5th place. Another guy in the next 5 min barely went by me and didn't get too far away. Another guy was right on me. We crested the hill with me in 6th place and it was time for the long 2.5 mile downhill to the turnaround. I ran kamikaze like i usually do and easily passed the guy in front of me and almost caught up to the guy who had passed me easily earlier. The guys in 2nd and 3rd were within striking distance as well at the bottom but i knew my climbing skills are relatively weak to theirs. I just wanted to hold my position.

I now had at least 1min maybe 1:30 on the people behind me at the 5.1 mile mark. time for the 2+ mile uphill. I felt pretty good, aided by being in 5th place. i always get this spirit when i know i'm doing pretty well for myself. I held my position and then annihilated the downhill...i was 15 sec back with 5k left of 4th place. The downhill was over though. The next part was more technical and i felt tired and exhausted but i knew everyone else was too. I finished it out in 5th, minutes ahead of 6th and about a min back from 4th.

Good confidence booster today! Last year i finished 18th, and was over 10 min slower than this year. I also rather foolishly decided i'd climb greylock (highest mtn in mass) after. I decided on my way up i would do that and one of my friends said he'd be up for it too, but after racing bailed. smart! It was only 2.2 miles to the top and ~2200 feet up. I chose the steepest trail and it took me 1hr 21 min. I was sucking it on the way up, feeling my breath in my ears, couldn't get my heart rate to chill out. about halfway up i thought i might kill myself but fought on. The top was awesome...i met a girl who was doing the entire appalachian trail...she had started from georgia! Pretty cool. Ran down a slightly longer way 2.8 miles in 40 min.

Tonight i ate tons! it was awesome. Total exercise time today 2 minutes shy of 4hrs....
north west CT and western mass are beautiful. I enjoyed the drive lots!

only major complaint was my left achilles/calf started acting up today...doesn't feel bad now, will ice it. the right one which has been troublesome is fine at least...will probably rest up tomorrow. will hopefully have a better mileage week than last week.

ran 6.2 with my 12 year old brother at huntington. did a little exploring...very slow pace, he was complaining a little bit at the end but i made him go a mile longer than he wanted :)
i think huntington may be my favorite place to run right now...perhaps just because it's new. the mtn bikers made all this fun windy single track that is just awesome. great glacial rock formations everywhere and super hilly.

got back, ran repeats of the 0.55 mile dirt road at the bottom of my driveway, which is kind of nice...1.1 miles round trip on dirt. will be a great place for doubling and running only 3 or 4 miles in the morning or evening. although there is probably 100 feet of gain. can't escape the hills here.

 felt real sore when i started up, loosened up. hopefully will feel good tomorrow and not have to babysit. i much prefer getting the run done early.
 

easy trail run, super slow and comfortable. 1hr 59 min.

took new montrail hardrocks out of box for the first time...i love those shoes,
should probably get something lighter for racing but whatever...

 ran 1.65 miles out and back with brothers in the evening. was challenged by my middle brother who attempts to run circles around me since i'm not usually fresh or rested i have no explosiveness. On the last big hill he tried to kick me and he blew himself out by the top of it and he stopped. it was awesome...

slow am trail run with dad...nice and cool out. will run more later...going to race a 1/2 marathon on sunday. not the marathon...because i'll go too hard. will hopefully increase my mileage to about 67 this week instead of 70 like planned and take sat off or only do 3-4 miles.

got home, decided to just go back out and get the run over with. nice morning. ran another 7 miles (outer loop of park) in a slow 1hr 16 min... left ankle a little achy for first time in a while...left achilles not bad but noticeable.

1hr 54 min trail run...it was fun today cause there is some mtn bike race tomorrow so there were multiple loops marked with arrows. one really sketchy section where you could easily die...felt the best i have all week. maybe adapting to the long runs and the terrain. easy run tomorrow, about 4-5 miles then the trail 1/2 marathon on sunday...should be fun. excited to run fast again!  hopefully at least

trail ran 55 minutes, felt pretty good, on and off feeling tight in the knees, left achilles felt ok, but a little concerning at times. 

I found out about this race in NY last weekend at a trail race in MA. There was a 10k, a half and a full marathon. I thought about doing the full marathon in prep for the 55k in iceland in 3 wks but thought better since i would probably run too hard and get worn down. My tapering for the race was virtually non existent as i built to over 68 miles exclusively on trails,
or about 2hrs a day. No speed at all except racing once a week. I'm probably not as fast as i was several weeks ago but i guess that's ok.

So the race...went out, there was one really skinny tall guy who took off and i was kind of pissed because he was wearing surfer shorts...apparently my dad overheard him telling someone he died at the end cause he's only been running 15 miles/week. grrrrr! so there was that guy and then i was alone in 2nd, i thought i pulled away from a guy who was behind me who looked like he could lose some lbs...(not sure why he was shirtless). so around the 50 min mark this guy comes up behind me and it was another shirtless older guy (47) and we ran together for about 35 minutes, he struggled to keep up with me on the downhills but not anywhere else. i was feeling pretty bad when he caught up to me. totally went out a little hard trying to keep the skinny guy around but failing. He decided to take the lead and i stayed with him and it felt better than running in front by myself. i thought i could stay with him and did until there was 1.5 miles left. he just pulled away. I ran 1:39, he ran 1:38 and the skinny guy up front ran 1:37. I need to get some trail racing shoes. it's retarded to race a half marathon in shoes that are meant to run 100 mile races (montrail hardrocks). I just think they're so comfortable i haven't changed. i feel like that may have made a slight difference today. the course was beautiful though and i had a good time. my 12 yr old brother did the 10k and won the 19 and under age grp cause he was the only one in it. my dad was proud of himself for coming in 2nd to last instead of last. some woman was lost out on the 10k course when we left. hope she was found.

 i should probably start incorporating speed again into my workouts although i'm not sure for a 34 mile race the best way to train. i'm definitely going to run 25 miles sometime in the next week (slowly). but i wonder if speed is really going to play a factor? It's so simple training for road races and a specified distance. This race will take at least 6 hrs probably and maybe up to 7.

 

1hr 21 min easy trail run. explored a new trail. pretty awesome single track. 6 miles one way according to sign from inside the park i run at. Ran about 2 miles out, came upon a long stretch of tall grass, decided to turn around and not deal with pulling deer ticks off me. i know they're out there...81 miles on road shoes. 

Went out early for a 5.56 mile easy run for 52 min 47 sec. It was beautiful out.
Going to go big tomorrow in prep for the 55km trail race in iceland. Will hit 25-27 miles.
Definitely will go easy and just do a few winding loops at my new running haven. With all those miles my chances of seeing a snake are moderate!

I felt pathetic the other day with my lack of flexibility. I couldn't even kick someone above the waist. I'm going to be stretching a bunch-probably won't do any good. i just think i'm doomed. I seriously don't think i could do any other sport with my lack of flexibility besides chess and running.
 

i was planning on doing this long run earlier but i have been slightly freaking out about having everything i need for iceland. i agonized over what tent to get etc...and making reservations for activities and places to stay. I booked a guided climb up iceland's highest peak for July 8th. It should be exciting. 

 Anyways, I didn't get running till around 1pm and i didn't eat lunch. This lack of nutrition would be my downfall. I started out the first technical loop in the park before getting some food and drink at my car. 4.8 miles. I then ran out another longer loop and back to the car at 13.6 miles. I refueled. Ate 2/3 of a cliff bar and a quarter of a gigantic chocolate chip cookie and wished i was done. i had a lot of gatorade too and one apricot fruit chew thing which only had 45 calories. I didn't feel like i needed to eat more. I was good up until mile 21. holding just under 10:30 pace without too much effort. Then i started to approach the 4 hour mark and around mile 22 i started to fall apart. my legs just started hurting, especially my stupid tight left one. Decided to cut the run short at 23.5 miles and 4hrs and 8 min. Lack of calories i think led to my downfall. I wanted to hit 25.

The worst part of the run is always before you get to the 10 mile mark. Knowing how long you have to be out there for. I need to get a book on tape, the ipod with year old songs isn't cutting it anymore.

 I lost a little confidence in myself i guess after this run, but know that i felt great in a marathon earlier this month when i ate properly. This was just something i needed to do. Will start the taper i guess...will hit 70+ miles this week and then i don't know drop down to 50 and then the following week i'll be in iceland doing a couple really long hikes and that will be that!

 I wish i wasn't going by myself, but i think i'll have a good time.

Was going to take today off but decided i wanted to go explore a new 1009 acre nature preserve one town over from where i live. I only ran 3 miles there with my dad at a pace slow enough for the flies to eat you. I never understood why people put on bug spray when they go running. Now i know why :)

Tomorrow i'll explore more of the park...there are over 20 miles of trails there. I definitely heard a snake today...didn't see it, but it was no chipmunk.  

 Today shouldn't really count as a run but i will say that i didn't walk...felt very fresh despite yesterday, if only my left ankle didn't have to be iced every day. oh well...maybe in another several yrs it will be normal. As long as i ice it is fine...if i don't ice for more than 2 days, it's bad news. Kind of weird i guess. The achilles problems are gone due to this new stretching device i found at my parents place in my closet. it's way better than wall stretching.

 admittedly way too lazy to stretch on a regular basis....pathetic!

iceland itinerary is now completely set...my biggest fear is not waking up in time for things. I will be tested 3 separate times with the worst being a 4:30 am bus departure for the race...it would be so ridiculous if i can't wake up. Will buy at least 1 or 2 more battery powered alarm clocks.

 

Was planning on just a run at faster than normal pace but felt really good during the 1.5 miles of warmup going 8:30 pace, which is much faster than my normal easy 10 min pace on the trails. After running so slow yesterday with my dad and Haynes telling me how i must be so scared of him, i decided i would tempo for 3 miles. I started out in 6:51, having no idea what kind of pace to expect...i've done enough tempo runs that i kind of know what the exertion level needs to be. Next mile was 6:55, and the 3rd mile was 7:34!?! which was pretty atrocious but i had a huge rocky 1/4 mile hill to go up which i'm sure hurt me. Came through the 5k in 21:55 and decided i would go back to where i started for a net elevation of zero. it was only 3.67 miles so i decided why not just hit 4. I finished in 28:18, a 6:58 last mile. The terrain was carriage road with some rocks but very hilly. Felt pretty good. Next time i think i'll be prepared to go under 7 min pace, whenever that may be.

did a 3.5 mile cool down, running about 10:10 pace, went on some more single track trails.
good day, hungry, time to eat, maybe stretch and ice my ankle before it starts to act up.

 tomorrow will go back to the park i went to yesterday and explore and do 7-10 miles.

 

trail run 1 hr 53 min at new park. explored outer loop. absolutely awesome! i can't complain that i no longer live in providence...not sure how much speed i'll have though when i do any race on a road. 

i think this run should put me on top of haynes for weekly mileage :)
although this may coax him to step it up...
 

Ran at Huntington, ran 5.15 miles around 9:45 pace and then on a whim decided i wanted to push myself a bit and did 3 miles at tempo pace. Ran 7:32, 7:02, 7:18. Net uphill gain of 150 feet. Felt pretty good. I like running fast now. The 70 miles a week feels pretty doable and comfortable. Cooled down for ~0.9 miles and called it a day. 

weighed myself on the scale this morning for the first time in a couple months. didn't realize my parents had a scale. 167 :(

as i recall i was down to 164 or so on Haynes' scale, although i always weighed myself after running instead of before so i may have had some water loss. Whatever, i'm sure i'll lose weight in iceland cause the food is so expensive. it's just hard to not eat tons when you go out to eat with your parents and you don't have to pay for anything.  

ran 1hr 46 at huntington. Stupid GPS watch started counting the mileage backwards after 9.1 so I think i may have run more. I don't usually look at the watch but i wonder if i haven't been running more than the watch has been reading due to the signal going out. the next week i'll have to run roads i guess at cape cod...good to get a last trail run in. i keep forgetting to keep track of the mileage on my shoes. i have 119 miles on my road shoes and 70 now on my trail runners.