overtaking haynes

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...