overtaking haynes

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.