overtaking haynes

trail run at huntington with about 1.5 road miles. had to run relatively fast in order to make up for not running in the morning before it got dark. 1hr 21min

got sick on friday. so didn't run. not overly sick, but got shivery and had a bad headache. I was fine by sat morning after taking a bunch of advil but decided to go to the bronx zoo instead of run. if i can't get my goal mileage or i miss a day of running, i completely lose motivation. the mileage board really helps get me to meet goals. 

 I was supposed to go on a hike with kristin today. it had rained a lot overnight and the day before and the rocks were really wet and we decided after a 1/2 mile to call it quits. the trail was only so-so anyway. she decided to run her first mile on the track (really 1600m). the town track was just redone which was nice but there was no mile line which was annoying. the goal was for her to go under 8 min but it was clear after hear 2:01 first lap that wasn't going to happen. she did an 8:28. she wasn't really tired after so i'm not sure she understands what pain is supposed to feel like. hopefully she can be trained to go under 8 soon. we then ran a mile on the trails that comprise the cross country course. it's actually probably my favorite place to run a mile around. very nice and secluded woods that's covered by tiny gravely dirt so the surface is perfect.

later went for a 11.4 mile run at huntington. 1hr 56 min.   

trail run at huntington...again too tired to wake up in the morning. i decided to stick to the easier less technical trails to get in as many miles as i could by 6:40pm when it is dark in the trails now. today was kind of exciting....i was running at about the 5 mile mark when i saw another guy probably around my age pass me going the other direction. he looked relatively strong going down the hill but who doesn't. i've seen him before and he looks solid but not overly good as a runner. it so happened that we were circling in opposite loops and ended up intersecting each other now going the same direction. if i had been about 20 steps ahead i would have simply sped up and tried to dust him without saying hi, but as it was he had about 5-10 steps on me at the intersection. at first i didn't want to seem like i had the desire to dust the guy and just ran up to him and it was kind of awkward because i think we both knew that one of us was going to get dropped about 1 mile from the finish (his finish, i ran a bit farther). i started small talk, like how it was too bad it got dark so early and to that he replied he got caught out in the dark the other day. then i asked him if he's seen  a coyote before and he said he hadn't. there was really nothing to say after that and i felt him start to speed up a bit. it was almost imperceptible with each step but there we were, about 8 min pace at the intersection down to probably 7:15 after a quarter mile. the trail was uphill, flat then had a solid uphill finish. i didn't want it to come down to the last uphill...at 7:15, you could have made the case that neither of us was really racing, we were just on a steady and friendly tempo run. the pace dropped to sub 7, i could tell he was pushing me, just as i was testing him, but not wanting to be rude i decided i wouldn't try to drop him quickly but hopefully let the pain build and also mask my true intentions, just a slow acceleration. i could hear his breathing and on the 1/2 mile flat section about half way through i just started to break away. it felt awesome....i could hear him behind me and then i could tell he was falling back...i pushed it up the hill and heard some heavy breathing but i decided i wouldn't look back...that just felt rude. i didn't want him to think it even affected me. it was actually quite easy to pull away. i kind of miss dueling it out with haynes even though he would always kick me in the end....except once...he knows what i'm talking about :) 

3.1 miles am, 7.75 mile trail run pm 1hr 13min.

pm road run

pm trail run at huntington. 2 road miles mixed in. 1hr 13min. 

ran at lunch for the first time...past a dump and a water treatment facility but after the first mile it was actually pretty nice. got in over 6 miles and ate at subway after. 

ran at huntington after work  

9 mile hike to bash bish falls in MA and up and down mt alander. pretty good hike except i was showing off coming down the mtn, trying to demonstrate to my girlfriend how easy it is to let your momentum take you down the mtn than to be cautious. yep i ran down some ledge pretty flawlessly if i do say so hoped on one log gracefully then assumed the second log with no bark on it would give me enough traction...it didn't. i slid off the log and landed on my side/back on rocks about 3 ft below. i thought i had broken something for a bit and got scraped up really bad. so stupid. definitely extremely stupid. 1150ft starting elevation, low elevation 750ft, high elevation 2250ft. surprised the trees weren't all changing colors yet up here.  my new shoes and i haven't gotten off to a good start together.

6.51 mile run am, 4.54 mile run pm. both runs in norwalk. whipped out my new brooks beast for the first time. they weigh 2lbs each but feel so cushiony i love them. unlike the newly designed '09 montrails which i'm leaving after i wear them out i don't have to wear them for 400 miles before breaking them in so i don't get blisters. almost didn't run at all today because of the pain from the fall but it was surprisingly not that bad. still waiting for the black and blue. besides it being really swollen and i think things are fine back there.  

ran 5 miles at lunch ~40 mins. I'm not doing well taking the allotted 1hr lunch. i went 10 mins over again. i probably need to not spend the 5 extra minutes going to subway and eating it in my car (another 5 mins). I kind of enjoy that though. i would save 5 mins alone if i had my running stuff on under my work clothes which i'll try. i'm not sure the 4 min drive works very well either to not have to run past the dump and the water treatment plant. it adds up to 8 mins total. i really like the running options which is surprising. 

after work went to huntington for a trail run. it was pretty cold, will need gloves soon, hands were getting numb.
 

ran 5.3 miles during lunch then trail run at huntington after work. 

5.5 miles during lunch, won't run by the water treatment place again. smelled so bad today and there were a ton of trucks and other unpleasant things....will have to sacrifice 6 mins to start from a better location. will cut run length down to 5 miles tops or bring food with me that I can eat quickly.

 ran 1.6 miles with brother after work then 2.25 with kristin for 3.85 after work

ran during lunch got lost. 7:30 pace, had to speed up from 8 min when i realized how late i was going to be due to a wrong turn. no lunch.

lunch miles 5.54, under 7:30 pace.

after work ran 3.2 miles with kristin.

big legs is back! finally a 70 mile week. 8:46 pace on road, definitely felt tired but was a beautiful fall day.

horrible running day. high 30's and rain. it wasn't so bad i guess. i kind of enjoyed it. 

5.6 miles during lunch, then 4.9 after work. 

3 miles am, pathetic how i wasn't even tired but was scared to run in the dark. 

run 6.4 miles in the pm , 3 with brother. got into a sprint race at the end. luckily he was tired and there was a slight steep uphill to tire him out. he was leading but i pulled away in the last 100ft.

was not able to run during lunch today due to work. at least i got a little bit of trail running in half with kristin at huntington

5.07 miles during lunch. found a nice 1 mile road that feels like you're in the countryside. just over 39 mins.

after work ran 6.23. gallows hill country club loop then an extra whortelberry.

 

5.15 miles during lunch, found a good loop i like. 

4 miles after work. got dark on me.  

ran about 7, maybe a little more. gps didn't start working for a while because it was rainy. ran on roads and connected to another road by running on a new favorite trail for about 1.5 miles. the second part of the trail is overgrown but not too bad. some elderly asian lady pulled up alongside me while it was pouring with cars behind her asking me if she was on route 53. it felt like it was out of the wizard of oz or something.

ran a hilly 2.7 miles to kristin's house then did 4 miles with her to and in huntington. her longest run ever, i was very impressed with how she handled it. then ran home after a little break with some running in putnam park.

5 miles during lunch in 39:10. After work ran to gallows hill to old stagecoach and took the new 1.4 mile turkington falls loop trail and back. didn't have the gps watch today but run was ~ 5.6 miles. 

brought out the headlamp for the first time this fall. 1hr 20 min run. It's now dark at 6:10. it was annoyingly foggy and rainy so visibility was very poor. another day of rain is scheduled for tomorrow. 

ran 5.4 miles at 7:31 pace during lunch. had to run from the work parking lot which is a horrible place to start. i was blocked in by a truck that picks up our hazardous waste. it always seems to come during when you want to leave. there were actually 2 trucks blocking everyone in today. anyway i eventually got to good terrain after 2 miles and found a good hill that climbs a couple hundred feet very quickly. unfortunately it isn't very good running anywhere but the hill. 

 ran 3.2 miles after work on costa lane loop then ran 1.6 with little legs up and down whortleberry. she did well on the hill even though she wanted to stop.
 

5.3 miles during lunch in 7:40 pace. Then 4.5 miles after work 8:20 pace. a bat changed my running route tonight. after running up my road i decided to do this out and back on a dead end road i like. this bat kept flying back and forth all erratic above my head. i thought they were hibernating now with the snakes but apparently not all of them. i hope this one dies soon or goes into a cave. 

ran after work. it turns out the new turkington falls loop trail advertised as 1.4 miles doesn't even quite make it to 1.2, it's 1.16 miles. 

3 mile out and back run with kristin on southern end of centennial trail. very warm today. she did good, running under 10 min pace. I had parked my car at huntington park so run down centennial trail again and cut out onto the road at 2.3 miles to avoid a tall long grass section that i don't like running on until winter to avoid ticks. ran about 2 miles on the road then finished up with 7.8 miles for 10.8. kept thinking about how i may want to not mess myself up running ultras this year, especially if the hawaii race isn't the weekend in march i thought it was going to be. i kept thinking how great it would be to try and break 1:20 in the half marathon instead and maybe 2:50 in the full. we'll see, it will be hard to train properly alone.