Thursday, March 10, 2011

Day 99 - Easy again

Today was another nice and easy paced run. I left around 5 p.m. for a road run. My legs are still a little sore right now. I guess that means a couple more days of easy running are on the way. Let the rain fall!

3-9-2011 - 7 miles - 58:00 - run

Day 98 - Easy day

Tonight was a nice easy 4 mile run in the mountain. My legs are still trashed after running the Buzzard on Sunday. It was nice to get out and not worry about a thing. The water was really flowing down the mountain from all the rain on Sunday. A lot of trees were down with the soft ground. I guess this is nature’s way of removing the weak and only let the strong standing. After making it to Pulpit Rock I headed over to the run the road down. Before I got to the open area there were 3 deer looking my way. As I got closer to them they started to run away and I noticed that one of them had a problem with its front leg and could not run to well. The other deer stood there kind of protecting the injured one until I went by them. I could really feel my legs running the downhill tonight. A couple more days and they should be back to normal.


3-8-2011 - 4 miles - 45:00 - run



Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Day 97 - No running

My legs a really beat up today. I am taking one more day off and will be back at it Tuesday.

Day 96 - Buzzard run

I woke up around 6:15 a.m. made some coffee, ate a banana and oatmeal. Then I mixed 2 bottles of Perpetuem, grabbed some gels, packed the car and I was out on the road driving by 7:10. The rain was very heavy at times on the drive out. The weather man was calling for 1 to 2 inches rain. The temp was right around 50 and felt like it stayed right there the entire run. Arriving at the parking lot where the race starts there were not too many parking spots left. I pulled in a spot and the front end of my car slid on the mud. Yes I got stuck and had to get pushed out before the event even started – a fun way to start the day. The course was changed due to flooding of a creek we have to cross before the last big climb. After talking to a couple of the runners we decided to run the old course and cross the water. That was before the race and we didn’t think the creek would be that high.

After a couple of words from the event organizer Harry we were off running. I guessing there were 30 to 40 people that started the event. The rain fell the entire run. This was probably the most rain I ever ran in. Lucky for me the temps were warm enough that I didn’t get cold. I got to meet Jason a runner from Lancaster. He has some great times at some well know long races. We got to run off and on the entire day and talk about training and races. For most of the day I ran with Stephan, Steve and Jason. We all pushed each other the entire time so there was no time to back off. This is not a race but it was fun to be pushing it the entire run with a great group of runners/friends.

Running down the first pipeline was very slippery with the mud and some ice. I opened it up here a little because I knew the group was going to reel me back in on the flats. Running on what I call the roller coaster we kept a good pace. Then on the railroad bed we split up a little bit. Steve, Jason and another guy Adam were ahead of Stephan and me going up the climb at the Water Tank trail. The water was running everywhere right before we got on to Marcia’s Madness. Halfway up I passed Adam. In another 50 yards I yelled ahead to let Jason and Steve know I was going to do the new course. After seeing the amount of water flowing down the mountain I didn’t want to cross the creek. They waited for me at the top and we all agreed to run the new course. They started to run and I waited a little down the trail to yell back to Stephan to turn left and do the new course. From here it is fire road to the bottom on the mountain. Right when the road starts to go down I ditched my backpack that had one full bottle in. I thought why carry it down to the bottom of the mountain if I will be running right back up. Further down the road we were all running pretty close to each other. Adam started to break away a little. I was feeling pretty good running down the hill so I thought I would open my pace up. Getting by Adam and I hammered the hill as fast as I could to the bottom. The aid station was at the bottom and that is where the turnaround was. I had about a quarter of a bottle of my drink left so I didn’t need to stop. Heading right back up the hill I ran down my legs could feel the beating I just gave them. I found a pace I could run at that I didn’t get out of breath with and stayed with it. When the hill got a little too steep I just power hiked. Stephan was right back up to me in no time and Jason was there towards the top of the hill. We ran together until Marcia’s Madness. I went first and I was slipping a lot. I told Jason to go ahead so I didn’t slow him down. Once on the Water Tank trail it was crazy with all the water running down. It felt good but it was hard to follow the trail. We hit the railroad bed and both had a gel. Keeping a nice pace on the railroad bed Stephan was right back up with us after falling back a little on the steep downhill. He was having some slipping issues with his road shoes running down the slippery steep rocky trails. All three of us ran together right before the turn to go back up the pipeline which is the last big climb of the day. I ran some of the pipeline until it got too steep for me. Then I got into power hiking mode. Reaching the top of the pipeline was a relief. From there it is only 2 miles downhill to the finish. After making it back to the parking lot I could not wait to get into some dry clothes.

Overall it was a great day to be on the trail with everyone and hang out after. This is one event I will come back to every year.

3-6-2011 - 24 miles - 3:47:23 - run

Monday, March 7, 2011

Days 94/95 - No running

I took off these days from running and walking for one last break before the Buzzard run on Sunday. I should be fully rested and ready to go.

Day 93 - Town loop

I decided I needed another confidence boast with a timed run. The last week I got burned out big time and I have to start rebuilding my running confidence again. I know that sounds funny but after taking only a couple of days off and not feeling well it feels like I have been away from it for awhile. The base is there I just need another fast run to find out where I am at with my training.

Tonight I am going with a longer loop of 7 miles that I have been running for the last couple of years. I started off with a 6:11 first mile which felt very fast but my breathing and legs were fine. I backed off a little a kept on pushing. To me these runs are really hard but fun. Concentrating on every stride, breathing and not losing focus of what I am out here for. Only looking at my watch the first mile split I looked down to find out I ran a 46:11 a 6:38 pace. That is over a minute faster than I have ever ran on that route. That is what I needed and gives me a boast going into the Buzzard fat ass trail run this weekend.

3-3-2011 - 7 miles - 46:11 - run

Day 92 - Running again

Today I am feeling a little better. I did not walk again and I am planning on not walking the rest of this week. Tonight I decided to time myself running from the parking lot up to Pulpit Rock. It is a good way to see where my running is at right now. It is 2.2 miles to the top. My legs were not to happy when I started on the road section. It was a struggle to the top but I kept pushing. It just felt like I couldn't move my legs. After getting to the single track on the AT things felt better and I just tried to stay focused on moving my legs a fast as I could. When I finally touched the tree at the top I looked at my watch and it said 21:35. That I think is my best time ever. Some days you feel like your not moving that well but at the end of this run it worked out.

3-2-2011 - 5 miles - 48:00 - run

Day 91 - No running or walking

No running or walking again. I am still drained from training and this cold.

Day 90 - No running or walking

No running or walking today. Drained from training and this cold.

Day 89 - Pinnacle

After yesterday doing the hills I took a nice and easy 12 mile run up to the Pinnacle. My energy is very low with this cold. This weekend was not as big as some of my other weekends but it was good to take it easy. You need a break every once and a while - mine is usually a forced one due to pushing the limits with running.


2-27-2011 - 12 miles - 2:25 - run

Day 88 - Hills

Today I felt a little better when I woke up. I was meeting some other runners to do hills at 8 a.m. There were 6 runners ready to conquer the hill when I got there. 2 more showed up a little later. 9 runners is the most ever to run the hill at one time to do hill repeats. It was really cool to have that many runners going up and down the mountain at one time. My plan was to do ten of them. After doing my 3rd I was really struggling and I knew that was not going to happen. I wound up hanging in there for 5. Everyone else did 4 or 5 also. It was also really cool to have a lot of them say they want to come back another time to do them.


2-26-2011 - 11 miles - 2:05 - run