overtaking haynes

road run

Hiked/ran in the catskills. More of a hike than a run due to the steepness and the surprising snow and ice that was there. Was out for 5hrs 10 min. Began at 1300ft and got up to the snow line around 2000ft. At 3.6 miles reached the first peak at 3800ft. Lots of slippery ice. Descended and then climbed to a second peak which i wasn't aware was on a side trail off of the main trail. I came to this point of no return section. There was a scrambling section with a V crack and it was definitely icy. I got up ok but i didn't feel like going down was an option. The out and back i was contemplating turned into a loop. I was then on to my final ascent of the highest peak in the catskills at 4180ft. I passed a group of snowshoers! I didn't really understand why the snowshoes since i was in trail runners but anyway there were 8 or so in number and the leader didn't really say hi he looked at me and just said "do you have a fixed line?" i said what? and he repeated himself until he stooped to my language and said if i had a rope. i said no and he said that there was a bad icy section up ahead. I told him that the way i came was also pretty horrible. he said that he would be fine because of their "fixed line". he really annoyed me-like he was some bigshot group leader telling me i wasn't prepared for what i was doing. Anyways, i get to the icy section and it really wasn't any problem, definitely easier than the other stuff i did. Going up the final summit was pretty fun, up to about a ft of snow but the trail was packed down pretty well. I got up to the peak and met some nice people. Headed down to the parking lot to complete the transect of allegedly the hardest dayhike in the catskills in 8.9 miles according to gps or 9.7 according to the sign at 2500ft. 3hrs and 37 min. I then had to take a road for a mile which was uphill. it was nice knowing there were a couple people ahead of me seeing their tracks. I had passed a couple groups of people who were doing the loop i was. I liked passing them. I caught up to the people in front of me (Germans) at about 11 miles. The trail was annoying due to all the blowdowns and non packed 6 inches of snow that was a little crusty. It felt good getting to the main trail again until i saw bear poop. lots of berries in it. I then passed some other foreigners who said they heard the bear but didn't see it. I found it interesting that there were as many foreigners as americans here. i didn't realize the catskills were a spectacular getaway for people. The trail was hard to find in spots but i made it back after hitting my head on a log i didn't see, and also dropping my camera about 10 feet and also having a scare that i lost my iphone which didn't get any reception anyway. an awesome day. very refreshing. i'm going to count mtn hikes as easy miles even though i probably shouldn't. It's good training for mt mitchell this winter anyway. 

on the road. bottom of left foot is miserable for first 3 miles then doesn't hurt at all. i'm sure the pain will move to my inner or outer ankle soon. 

road run 3.8 miles on dirt roads

road run, 2.2 on dirt roads

road run

road run 1hr 11 min, 3.8 miles on dirt. 

11 mile trail run at a new place for me. there's a 4300 acre park with LOTS of trails but it costs $8 to enter. luckily i got there before the person taking money got there. kind of lame how much it is. ridiculous actually! ran for 1hr 49 min. later i hiked for another 5 miles cause it was such a nice day. total exercise time 4hrs. i didn't eat much until dinner and then i was a fat pig, eating a medium pizza by myself among other things. glad i feel ready to start building mileage again and getting in some consistency. the plan is to build up to 80, because Haynes is doing it and i want to be just like haynes! the plan is 65-70 this week and then just hold around 70 for a month and then go from there. 40 mile race is feb 28th so i have time. hopefully i'll start doing some speed stuff but for now i don't feel like it, i just want to run how i feel like running.

 

1hr 10 min road run. This will be my standard morning loop before work. 

running at 6am is starting to take it's toll on me. i feel like a zombie. i never seem to go to bed early enough. i did run the route 1 min faster in 1:09 than yesterday though so i guess i can start my runs a minute later. awesome! i kind of feel like i should be running more like 10 each morning but i guess there's no point rushing into it after about a month of only 35-40 mpw. it's only going to keep getting darker for another month as well. and also colder...

weak as hell showing this morning. tried to wake up earlier and run 10, but that backfired badly and i started my run at 6:29, which didn't leave much time to shower and drive the 15 minutes to work. it has become obvious as the winter gets colder that i'm going to have to do some running during my hour lunch break or simply run 20+ miles on sat AND sunday, which probably would serve me well for the 40 mile trail race. past bedtime again!!!! i hate going to sleep knowing how hard it will be to get myself out the door. i'm going to a conference in Reno on sat and staying there for 4 or 5 days so hopefully running will be easier.
 

5.5 miles on dirt road. 

3.3 on dirt

set the treadmill to 7:30 pace at the hotel in Reno. My longest run by far on a treadmill ever but was compulsive to get in at least 60 this week. didn't realize the altitude was 4500ft here. didn't feel it. 

ran before lunch. was planning on getting in at least another 3-5 later on the treadmill but got sick from something and had bad stomach problems and went to bed at 6:30 and woke up the next morning at 7. 

More treadmill running. throat is sore and had to take a bathroom break, but don't see how easy running can hurt. Went up to mt rose pass and saw lake tahoe. pretty beautiful. 

more treadmill...felt horrible! 

Decided to run this trail i always see crossing the road. It is called the Saugatuck Trail and i've run parts of it in h.s. I found out online before i went that it was 6.9 miles each way which seemed plenty as i'm still unfortunately a weakling and unable to remove the virus from me despite 8 days of onslaught. No more sore throat but TONS of nose running. Didn't feel too bad otherwise and after 4 full days of not exercising it was just time. 

 I started the run somewhere towards the end but not at the end and the first mile was spectacular. The terrain was hilly and the trail well maintained with nice rock formations. This was by far my favorite part of the run. I soon came to a sign that warned to stay off the trail from February through June because of Goshawks who live there and will attack you. Seems pretty crazy but me and some friends have had prior run ins with owls. I came across 2 large groups of people which seemed odd. One group had 8 people in it with 5 dogs which were friendly and then another group had 4 men in it. They were talking about politics and heard the name obama. At 5.3 miles I came to the end of the trail and decided to run to the very edge of the reservoir just for a sense of completion and added another .3 miles to the turnaround.

 The run back was uneventful and not that pleasant, but also not unpleasant. Kind of rocky but not too bad, some ups and downs but nothing too memorable. Several road crossings. I got back to my car at 2hrs and 8 min and proceeded to the other end of the trail. This part was cool and rose onto a pretty impressive ravine. At this point my fingers were hurting badly because i couldn't find my normal running gloves. Got back to the car in 2hrs 38 min after starting.

 think i'm still dehydrated/sick and have an annoying headache. we'll see if i run tomorrow morning or not. I should probably just be realistic and not try to wake up so early in the cold and just be happy running 5-6 miles in the morning and sucking up 3-4 miles on the treadmill when i get back from work. i'm sick of this virus though!


 

Felt sick this morning. Very congested and had a sore throat again. Felt better towards the end of the day. I planned on going on the treadmill tonight but literally after 12 seconds i said no way and went outside. It was quite warm out. Probably around 45F. I did a bunch of out and backs down dead end roads. Got 3.5 miles on dirt roads. Saw 4 sets of animal eyes. 2 of them scared me cause i thought they were probably raccoon and were really close to me. The headlamp makes the eyes look intimidating. Turned back there...and then i saw another pair of animal eyes and i saw them run off the road to see the white tail of the skunk. I was a little worried they might spray me. Every once in a while the ghost of my breath would startle me if the headlamp light hit it just right. I really enjoy running at night. My dad drove and found me at mile 8.5 of my run telling me how stupid i was for not wearing reflective gear. i'm not concerned because i can always see and hear the cars coming and go on the opposite side of the road. I also run on non thru roads and saw maybe 10 cars in the 1:27 of my run. 

1hr 6 mins 3.3 miles on dirt. ran part of it with my brother which was slow. now a veteran night runner, i got a reflective thingy and found my much improved headlamp. i can actually see the animal now and not just the eyes. to my surprise i saw two sets of eyes tonight and they were both of a single cat. it's weird but i think i might prefer night running to the day. 

another night run...no eyes tonight. 2.2 miles on dirt

2hr 12 min trail run. Wanted to do an out and back of this relatively new local trail. It was extremely awesome. The big legs are still having a hard time adjusting to the new load of higher mileage not seen since 3 weeks before the oct marathon. I'll get there i think. I'm feeling 95% now, just a few sniffles left but that could just be me in the winter. Definitely a new favorite trail. I still am amazed at how isolated you can feel in a place so populated. There was a 2 mile stretch of trail which i saw not any hint of a single house...saw only a few people out there today on the trail which makes it even more appealing. i did see a cute running girl very early on the trail running the other direction. she had a shirt that said x country on it which made her cool. 

1hr 29 min trail run. just finished before it was pitch black. 

2hr 9 min trail run at aspetuck. half the park feels like you're running on a stegasaurus. The rest is pretty awesome though. always super slow going. wanted for the run to be over the last couple miles but it wouldn't end. 

6.75 miles on trails, 1.1 miles on a dirt road and the rest on sloshy pavement. 1hr 55 minutes. legs feel kind of tired so i decided to take endurox r4 for recovery despite how gross it is. we'll see tomorrow if it worked.