Motivated to Succeed

11:00 AM - Temp was pleasant today! In the 50s at the start of the run. Went running on the 3 mile loop with Emm. At about the 1.5 mile mark however I started feeling an itch (and not in a good way!). The itch gave way to a burning sensation and I took off running at under 7 minute pace for the remainder of the run. Left Emm in the dust, thought it was not my intention. She still ended up finishing with a 12 sec PR on the course in 22:48 despite walking some of the last hill of doom. I ran a 20:38!!! Fastest I've been in a year!

Total Time: 20:38 Total Distance: 3 miles Average Pace:  6:53

10:00 AM - Woke up to frost on the plants and tent. Brrr! After coffee I headed off to North Adams to Greylock Road Race (8 miles). I ran it for the first time last year & also ran back down the mountain. I haven't run more than 8 miles at once in close to a month, let alone 8 miles uphill followed by another 8 down the mountain. Boy was I in for a ride!

WARM UP: (1 mile; 9:03) Got to the start about an hour before "go" time. It's a fairly low key event. I sat in the car a bit listening to NPR and then got out, stretched and walked up and registered. After pinning my bib number on my shorts I went and did a 1 mile warm up down the side road. Stretched and took a 15 minute walk before the race.

THE RACE: (8 miles, uphill) It was kind of fun to watch the rabbits for the first mile or so until they rounded the bend to start the trek up to the summit. It absolutely amazes me that people can average 7:00 miles uphill, especially up the tallest mountain in MA!

MILES 1 & 2: Relatively flatter and faster than most other miles on the course. Rolling hills. I think I averaged 9s. Settled into a nice pace behind a group on the road. I figured I had some sort of advantage since I am able to train on the mountain and know the course.

MILES 3 & 4: Woah momma! Average gradient here is probably near 9% with tons of switchbacks and hairpin turns. At one point I believe it kicks up to 11%. Even the bikers and cars were having trouble going up it! Power walked some of the steepest gradients. Holding steady.

MILES 5 & 6: Flattened out for these miles as you start to make your away around to the other side of the mountain. Lost ground to some of the speedsters that were also only going "up" the mountain and not "down". I erred on the side of caution knowing it would be rough enough going down.

MILES 7 & 8: One lady passed me at mile 7 and I let her go. Just wasn't in my deck of cards today to take her on. I ended up finishing strong though for the last .5 miles in 1:34:21, good for 42nd place. Last year I ran 12 minutes faster and got 38th place. Blah. That's what I get for not getting in quality runs during August's heat wave.

THE DESCENT: (8 miles; 1:28)

Felt good on the descent for the first couple miles. Had to stop a few times and walk. Enjoyed the smell of fall. It was crystal clear and I got to see some amazing scenery and take in the crisp, cool smells of the first taste of autumn in the northeast. At one point I got to see Hell's Angels I called them - 28 motorcycles in a motorcade sailing past me. A few cyclists. One was hitting 45-50mph on the descent and keeping pace with a truck with a kid in the back going "Holy S*** this dude's fast!!!" Ran to the car and as I ran out of water at mile 3 of the descent, opted just for light stretching over a cool down. Zipped to a gas station and refueled my car and my engine with Powerade.

Total Time: 3:11:34 Total Distance: 17 miles Average Pace: 11:16

Getting excited for cross country. I don't have an official title but I have responsibilities of an assistant coach. We had a potential list of 44 runners, though I will suspect it will be weeded out soon. Went running with the team after school. Laughed because everyone was turning their eyes away from Mr. Griffin's short shorts! Haha. Did about 3 miles with the team :)

3:30 PM - I got coverage for 30 mins of my class and I was able to ride with the runners on the bus to the first official cross country meet! There were 6 schools there in a 6 way duel meet. Never had that happen before when I ran. We got a map and I helped walk the kids around. It's a really nice course at Hoosac, but arguably tough with the girls course record a slow 20:40 and guys 16:55 for 5k. Saw one of my freshmen from last year that transferred to Drury. He was running and I was excited for him too. I told all the runners that it was more important to have fun and not get caught up in the hype than it was to try to be a sacrificial lamb and go sprinting out in first. Many of them have never run a full 5k at once before. We had 12 runners, 6 boys and 6 girls, though we are hoping to get more uniforms soon. Went into the woods for both races because I found a spot I could cheer at the 1 mile and 2.75 mile mark. Cheered for everyone and they really enjoyed it :D. Many of them gave us high fives or thumbs up or just said "Thanks". Can't wait for the next one! Note: legs were still trashed from the race on Monday. Going up and down stairs hurt!

3:30 PM - Went running with the team after school today. Fridays are optional days as there is not a late bus for students to go home on. We had 6 runners show, two boys and four girls. We went jogging up the main drag and over to Adams Cemetery. Never been here before, but it is on a hill and this bodes well for training. I can see us using it for a .75 mile interval loop or 8-10 x 200m hill repeats :D Muahaha. Still main focus for me this weekend is to create a training template for their logs and then to also get them up to running 3+ miles without stopping!

6:00 AM - Yesterday was a crazy day. I got a call and found out my sister was flying in from Orlando with Rocco because his great aunt died and they needed to go to the funeral. I arranged to pick her up from the airport at 8pm and then go home for the night to see everyone before getting up at 6am today and driving back for the race to Massachusetts. Well I played one of the best surprises of all time. My mom was totally in the dark about it. She knew I was coming but I made excuses for why I was late. I had Su hide out on the back porch and then when no one was in the kitchen I had her come in and sit at the bar. I then called into the living room that I needed Mom's help because I have something at the bar for her. Well she eventually comes out and does a 1-2-3 triple take and then screamed and jumped up and down and I think she might have peed her pants a little. :D! heheheheh! Was so cool to see Jonn too back from first official week in college. Nice to have everyone under the same roof for a night.

Got back to Pittsfield, and changed and headed over to the race. Saw my friend Laura Clark who was also in the race. I didn't know what to expect with the course because they changed it from last year and we essentially were doing the course in reverse! Last year if you remember I ran the course and got lost and ended up running about 14 miles total. This year they first toted the course as a half marathon 13.11, then cited their errors and listed it as a 13.6. THEN in the published results it said "about 14 miles". I think it was fairly accurate but I think the race was closer to 15 miles, not 14.

WARM-UP: (1 mile; 9:02) After I got my bib number I did a slow warmup and stretched before the racer's meeting at 9:15. Beth Herder the race director is so funny. She said that if anyone got lost this year it was "their own damn fault!" haha. Note: I did NOT get lost this year despite running the last 11 miles by myself :).

THE RACE

MILES 1-4ish: (33:30) There was a 5k being run simultaneously this year and a few went out fast. I hung in the back near dead last. I knew I would be sore from Monday as it hadn't been a week yet since my last race. It is just about having fun and getting back in shape right now. I ran pretty close to Laura actually. Generally I finish well ahead of her as she is in the 60+ division. Hit the "5k" in 33 something. Everyone agreed the "5k" was long and closer to 3.6-4 miles

MILES 4-6: "THE ASCENT" Went up the steep switchbacks to the top of the mountain by Berry Pond. Had to walk part of mile 4. Tripped and fell once in mile 5 and jammed my middle finger on my right hand. Still hurts. Ouch! Mile 6 had an aid station at the top of the mountain. Very windy however. Temp today was only 58 and gusts up to 20mph overcast. Yuck!

MILES 6-11: "LOLLIPOP LANE" This section of the race was in the shape of a lollipop. You went out from mile 6, and did a nice 2 mile descent, then turned abruptly and faced one of the hardest climbs I have ever done. Even harder than the Greylock half marathon. Mile 9 took me 27:00 to complete! It was insane! Also had a hydration problem. Drained my waterbottle during mile 9 and still had 2 more to go to the next aid station. Also needed to tape my fingers. Got to the aid station and refueled knowing that the last "2" miles were downhill to the finish down Lulu Brook Trail.

MILES 11-14+: "THE DESCENT" Struggled to maintain form and fight fatigue in the latter stages of the race. Around the 13.11 mark there was a multicolored banner across the trail so I figured another couple minutes of running and I'd be there. Well that turned into nearly 10 more minutes of running singletrack along the brook before I popped out and made my way to the finish. Kind of funny and sad because it had taken me so long to finish one loop that some of the spectators thought I was finishing the "second loop". LOL imagine me a winner of a race, let alone winner of a trail marathon. Oh to be able to run with the champions one day.

Total Time: 3:03:58 Total Distance: 14+ miles Average Pace: 13:08

A plus - as is the case with almost every trail race I run, I was able to put significant time gaps between me and the next runner, over 6.5 minutes in this case. Generally no one finishes close to me. Next year I would like to be closer to 2.5 hours. Have to make an effort to get in better shape though.

Ran after school with the cross country team. Hung in the back with a few stragglers and concentrated on getting them motivated and moving :). Really impressed by the tenacity of the team in its first season. Went up to the cemetery in Adams and did a couple long repeats. Still need to work on pacing with the gentlemen that are "gazelles" and front runners. Really impressed with one of my sixth graders that runs with the 11th graders and hangs tough the whole time! Total was about 2.5 miles

Ran after school again with the team. Some are nervous for the race tomorrow. Good news is that we have 8 new uniforms on the way so we will have 20 total. We have about 27-28 runners right now so I think this will be good. Had the kids run to the field, do 3 laps of a .25-.3 mile loop, first loop slow and comfortable, second slightly faster and breathing harder, third uncomfortable and more like race pace. It was a starting point. I know it will get better from here. Tomorrow is our next meet and I can't wait to see students beat their times from last week! (2.5 miles total)

First sick day I've had to take at BArT. Fought through it last week but just didn't feel well! Called in and sulked about but then jumped on the treadmill in the evening. Ran 2 miles in 17:02 and then went outside and ran 3 miles with Emm in 21:08. Felt good for the most part.

Ran with the xc team after school today. Race #3 tomorrow afternoon. The kids are having a blast and are really excited :D. I am happy for them. I wish I had more time to write about everything going on with school but I am stretched pretty thin with history, senior seminar, junior advisor, and now xc. Oh yeah and that little thing called getting married in less than a month!! Aaagh!

5:00 PM - Can you spell yuck?! What a weird week. Tuesday I had frost on my windshield. Today it was 88 degrees and humid! WTF Mate! Went on the treadmill and watched The Office. Started around 8:30 pace and then did 2 x .5 miles @ sub 7. Total 4.1 in 33:30

2:00 PM - Somewhat hot again in the upper 70s. Went jogging on the treadmill. 1.25 miles @ 7.0 mph and then every .25 miles increased by .1 mph to do the last 2 laps at 8.0 and 8.1 mph. Felt good. 4.5 miles in 33:00

Ran up and down Monument Mountain with Emma. A lot of people there. Good leaf peeping. Ran up in about 19 minutes. Felt good. Paused at the top and then proceeded down. 44 minutes total for the loop. Emm might have hurt her ankle a bit. Felt good running with her though. Things have been crazy at work and with the wedding. No time!

Two miles easy with the xc team. About 15:00. We weren't going to go outside because of the rain and storms, but it cleared up for the second half of the hour practice so we went outside after using the bikes/climbers, etc. Felt good for an easy jog!