Friday, March 25, 2011

Day 114 - Spring ice

On my way home from work I could see that the top to the mountain was covered with ice. I knew right then that was where I was going to be heading. I left the house around 5:30 and I had no idea of how far I was going to run. Once I got closer to the top of the mountain it was going to be a short night. I brought the camera and stated to take pictures of all of the ice. It was like the other ice storm this year but without all of the snow on the ground. You could hear the ice falling and trees creaking. I was almost at the top and I looked over to the right and there were 3 deer looking at me. These are the same 3 deer that I have been seeing since the fall. I got some video of them but it wasn’t that clear. From there I went over to Pulpit Rock and there the ice was at some places and inch thick. Heading back down the road hill I ran into another 5 deer blocking the road until they saw me and took off running. I made it back home with 6.60 miles, ready to eat and ready for warmer weather!

3-24-2011 - 6.60 miles - 1:10 - run/hike



Click here for all spring ice photos.
The view from Pulpit Rock

Pulpit Rock

Hamburg Reservoir

Day 113 - Lightning, thunder and sleet

I went to the club run tonight. It was cold, raining and in the mid to upper 30’s. There were maybe 25 to 30 runners there. The trails weave all around the mountain above Reading, PA. It warmed up quick after climbing for a while. We ran on a lot of new trails and some of the same ones we usually hit when we run here. Someone said we were running out of daylight so we started to head back to the parking lot. About a mile or more away we saw a flash and the some thunder. After that everyone stated to run a little faster. Then you could feel the temp drop and it stated to sleet. It must have flashed another six times on the way back down to the car. What a crazy night on the mountain and everyone made it back safe.

3-23-2011 - 5+ miles - 1:00 - run

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Day 112 - Going slow

The days after a race are always nice and slow days. My legs are feeling good - not great - but I know going slow is the way to go tonight. I left the house around 5:30 and headed towards the mountain. I took the road up to the AT. From there I wanted to check the view out at Pulpit Rock. I snapped some photos and changed them in a photo program to give a little different look. The long down hill road section felt ok on the legs so that is a good thing. I made my way back home, looped around some houses and finished with a nice easy night walking the last ¼ mile section with the little one.

3-22-2011 - 8.4 miles - 1:25 - run



Pulpit Rock

Pulpit Rock

Pulpit Rock

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Day 111 - No run day

Today was a no run day. Just a nice day off after a lot of miles in the last week.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Day 110 - Sunday long run

My legs were feeling pretty good after waking up and walking around at home. Today was suppose to be a nice easy slow day. The more consistent training I do the better I recover. After the first couple years of running the longer races I could barely walk the next day and I didn't do much. Now I know I have to keep moving the next day after a race or pay for it. I arrived at the Hamburg Reservoir at 9 a.m. This was a run I set up earlier in the week to make sure I would get out the day after the race. The run was to be between 3 and 4 hours. With me there was 7 of us that started the run today. The sun was out and no wind. The run went up the AT to the blue trail down to the Blue Rocks Campground. Steve, Pete and I ran from here in a group and the others were in a group right behind us. From there the run went up the yellow to the AT and over to the Pinnacle. We check out the view and headed back on the AT heading west. We ran into a runner from Colorado and she said she was training for some 50k out there. We headed to the long downhill AT section and then made our way back up to the Port Clinton fire tower. Another 3 runners went by us as we were going up the hill to the fire tower. Then we ran the road to the Rattle Snake trail and hit the down and up on the Moss trail and back on the AT. We ran the AT all the way back to the road and back to our cars. This was a great run for me because if Steve and Pete would not have been there my pace would of been a lot slower. My legs are feeling good right now but I will take it really slow for the next couple of days and hopefully will be fully recovered soon for some faster running. Below is a link to the run we did.

3-20-2011 - 15.64 miles - 3:08 - run


Day 109 - HAT Run 50k

After an ok night of sleep I was up around 5:45 a.m. All my stuff was packed I just needed to make 2 bottles of Perpetuem and off I was to pick my friend Donny up. We headed down to meet the rest of the Pagoda Pacers that were running the race. We made it down to the meeting place just in time. We left to get some coffee and said we would catch up with the rest of the group. That never happened. They either got by us or we left before they went by. We arrived around 8:35 at the race parking lot. Quickly checked in, got my bottles, 6 gels, electrolytes and headed down to the start. I said hello to some friends and in no time 420 people were off and running. The race starts with a 3.6 mile loop and then switches to two identical 13.7 miles loops. I ran with friends Eric and Stephan off and on for the first 11 or 12 miles. After hitting the road section I stayed with Stephan and paced with him. He said were running around a 2:50 marathon pace at that point. My legs and breathing were feeling good so I just kept moving along. I got in and out of the 12.3 aid station fast and headed back onto the trail. This section seems to have more climbs then other parts of the course. When the hills got steep I started to power hike to keep my heart rate down. Coming through at 17.3 miles I was at 2:19 something. This is where you can back off or try to keep pushing and this is the only time you can practice it. So today I kept pushing on. You have to keep eating and drinking or things can change very fast. I was thinking I just have to keep my legs moving the best I can and see what happens. Hitting the road section another runner came up behind me pretty fast. He passed me with his pacer and I said I will try to stick with you as long as I can. His watch went off a little after that and he said 7 miles to go. I kept the same pace and he dropped back. Getting in and out of the last aid station fast someone said there was a guy 30 seconds ahead of me. It didn't matter to me I was just going to keep running my own pace and not try to catch him. After running for a while there are some steps you have to go down and the guy was right in front of me. I got aside of him and said I going to pretend I am feeling good and pass. As soon as I passed my legs were not happy. I let him know if he had to pass just let me know. He said at that point he was ok. From there I just tried to run as much as I could and only hike the steeper stuff. I knew if I could run the downs and flats as fast as I could I had a good chance at staying ahead of anyone closing on me. The last road section I left the legs move as fast as they would let me. Making the turn off of the road and crossing the stream the trail heads straight up. That was the first time I looked back. The guy I passed was coming down the hill. I knew at this point I had to keep moving the best I could and not ease up. I hit the open field with less than a 1/2 mile to go I looked back and no one was there. I crossed the finish line in 4:21:37 which was a PR of just over 29 minutes for this race. My best time before was last year with a 4:50:51. I got 6th place overall and 2nd in my age group. Since the guy that got 1st in my age group was top 3 that took him out of the awards for my age group. So I got first in my age group because they don't give double awards and I got a nice jacket with the HAT run logo on it. They also gave everyone a very nice winter hat for completing the race. I really didn't come here with the mind set I was going to race. I just ran the way I felt and let everything happen from there. It was a very good day for me and I loved that I got to run with some great friends again. Thanks again to Stephan and Eric for helping me move along in the beginning! Great job to all of the Pagoda Pacers that ran and helped at this event your support was amazing!!!

3-19-2011 - 31 miles - 4:21:37 - run