Counting Calendars and Ramping up

I was sitting at my desk today thinking about running (10 hours of immobility will do that to you) and decided to count the days until the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100. There are 12 weeks and three days until the gun goes off, so I guess it is time I start thinking more about running. Really, my miles aren't too bad given the workout courses and skiing I am doing (not to mention the daddy duty I am pulling constantly).

Last week I logged about 50 miles, which isn't a great deal, but it is the start to more mileage. Where I am missing out is in the longer run on the weekend and the follow-up middle-long run the next day. This past weekend I joined the Trail Monsters for a trail run from Bradbury to Pineland. The course we took was excellently groomed by snowmobiles and followed all public land with about a mile run on the road at the end. This run was about 14.5 miles with some good undulations. I followed this up Sunday evening with a 10 mile jaunt at a quicker pace on the treadmill.

Now I need to simply increase that Saturday run with a good run on Sunday and I am all set. Saturday I am planning on meeting my pacer, Jamie, at Bradbury for another good trail run. I am hoping to get in a 20+ miler. The following weekend I will be joining the Trail Monsters for a Fat Ass 50K from Chuck's house in Freeport. This will give me a much needed training boost. As for training boosts, very much in the like-to-do category is a couple runs up Pinkham Notch to the base of Mount Washingon. Any takers?

Now I am off to watch the snow fall and daydream about this weekend's upcoming alpine skiing trip with the kids...

Map and profile of the Bradbury to Pineland run. Thanks Ian for leading the charge.

The Hiatus of All Hiatus'

After a long and unintended hiatus from LiveStrong Maine, I am back. My apologies to my follower for leaving you without my musings from the trail/road/treadmill. I kind of promise not to leave you out in the wild for this long again...

Having got that off my chest, I must qualify the above by saying my fitness has not been on hiatus. I have established a pretty good running/workout regime that has left me feeling pretty good, but a bit beat up. My 3x a week morning workout medley sessions are really leaving me feeling trashed but stronger for it. I am sure these classes will pay off as I am making my way up and down the mountains of VA in May and the bucolic hills of Vermont in July. My running is about where it typically is at this time of year. While I have not attempted the distance I ran at the GAC Fat Ass 50K back in the middle of January, I have kept a pretty consistent weekly distance of 40-45 miles. Coupled with the workout classes and other cross training I am doing, I should be able to slide into the heavy miles soon enough without a hitch.

So what has kept me from the blog. Kids. Work. Motivation. An addiction to Facebook (become my friend). And my reignited love of downhill skiing that has kept me away from home every weekend this winter. Last winter I could not get enough of XC skiing. While I will admit that XC skiing is much more physical and better training for an early season 100-miler, I can not do it with my kids. Therefore I have devoted this winter to teaching Riley (4 yrs, 3 mos) and Quinn (2 yrs, 5 mos) the excellent sport of alpine skiing. There is nothing better than watching a child discover a love of the outdoors, not matter what it is. So I am willing to sacrifice a bit of fitness for this.

Training has been good. I am enjoying what I have been doing, albeit I have spent a little too much of it on a treadmill. Most of my weekly running has been at night after the kids have gone to bed, so I am sort of forced to hit the treadmill, so much so that I broke it for the second season in a row. But nothing that a few sheet metal screws through the pulley into the front roller couldn't fix. I added a bit of super glue and the thing runs better than the day we brought it home. I am now just about qualified as a treadmill technician, so let me know if you have any problems with yours.

Big future plans include a local Fat Ass 50K at the end of the month and then a double Boston on Patriot's Day. I am tentatively planning on running from Boston with my buddy Jamie and then turning around and running back from Hopkinton as a participant in the big dance. Total mileage that day (you shouldn't need a calculator): 52.4. More on that later.

My thoughts drift daily to the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100. Only about 12 weeks to go. Flights are booked and the hay is being pitched into the barn. I can't wait.

A New Beginning

Things could not have started off better in the new year. Let's discuss my new beginning.

Prologue...
Last week was the first full week of the new year and the first week of my new training year. In just 18 weeks I will be on the course of the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100-miler - running 100 miles - in the Shenandoah Valley of VA. That is a pretty hilly and rocky area, so those 100 miles will not be easy gotten...they will be hard fought. So I guess I have to train. Back to last week. I got out each day for a 5-6 mile run with a long run on Saturday and a day off Sunday. The weekend before last I met up with the Trail Monsters and got in a good trail run just shy of 15 miles. Not a bad start to a month that followed a month that witnessed more miles traveled to the bar to get a beer than running on trails.

The Main Story...
The ultimate in laid back races/runs was held last weekend in Ipswish, MA: the GAC Fat Ass 50K. Held at Bradley Palmer State Park on Saturday, Gil's Athletic Club hosted a race that was more group run. Starting at 9 AM, participants could one from one to infiniti loops of the 10K course, although more than 5 was not encouraged. I had traveled down there with my buddies, Jamie and Mindy, in hopes of run all 50K but was satisfied to settle for 3-4. 50K would have been quite debilitating as my longest run since the Maine Marathon back in October was the 15 I ran the prior weekend. The temps at the start had to be somewhere in the upper teens. Cold. I started off a little overdressed and was paying for by the second half of the first loop. The first loop was tough and it took me nearly the entire hour to cover the 10K for my cardiovascular system to settle down and get down to the work of endurance running.

After each loop we (Jamie, Ian, Emma, Ryan and Danielle, Mindy, Jim and Shauna) took a quick break to refresh with the runner-supplied aid station goodies. It is amazing the junk that skinny, endurance runners eat. We are fairly health conscious people but this was not evident in the boxes of donuts, every type of brownie imaginable (well, almost, since I didn't find the magic ones), cookies, and soda). I do believe that I consumed more brownies during this run that I did the prior three years since I have been running ultras!

The second and third loop went better. I fell into a nice groove and the miles flew by. The conversation flowed like sap on a warm March day in Maine (I can not help but think Jamie would be proud of that analogy), as it is prone to do during ultras (or any long trail run). The course itself was for the most part hard packed and easily runnable, but there were sections that were eerily similar to running on a soft, sandy beach. By the fourth loop I was pretty cooked. To have made it 24.5 miles (per my GPS) thrilled me to no end and bodes well for upcoming long training runs. Besides, I don't have much time to git 'er done.

Epilogue...
All told I ran just under 55 miles last week. In my longest weeks of training for a 100-miler, I will not get over 80 miles. I have found through numerous training cycles that this is the point at which my body will not bounce back and that leaves me quite exhausted (besides, I have two other jobs - that of dad and finance dork).

As for injuries, I have heard way too much talk of them recently. I know way too many people suffering running induced injuries, including my MMT 100 pacer, Jamie, who is fighting valiantly against a case of plantar fasciitis. I can honestly say that I feel blessed after each run that I complete injury free. I have been very lucky over the last seven years of running seriously, having suffered only a minor case of patellofemoral pain syndrome after my first marathon. I guess there is nothing I can do but keep doing what I am doing and hope for the best.

And finally, I have enrolled in my first ever fitness class. L.L.Bean offers employees a menu of classes each quarter and I am partaking in this excellent benefit. I am subjecting myself to a "workout medley" three days a week before work. The primary goal of this is to strengthen my body in the places that running does not strengthen but the body needs to stay injury free and to run better. I found that my core strength really failed me (or I failed it) last year during the Vermont 100. I am hoping this class will give me that extra push over the hills of the Shenandoah come May. I know one thing after today's first class - it hurts!

Slow going, but back at it

Things have been going slow (and short) as of late, as far as running goes.  This is partially by design and partially by circumstance.  Christmas week found us all in Virginia visiting family, which limited my running, despite the nice sunny, warm weather.  But all this time off is good, since it gives my body a chance to start the new training season fresh.

The last few weeks my longest runs have been in the 10 mile range, the last couple done on my treadmill.  That is until yesterday.  I got a chance to meet the Trail Monsters out at Bradbury for a run on the hiking, snowmobile, and power line trails.  Included in the group was Jamie, Mindy, Ian, Ryan, Jim, and Randy.  I was shocked at how warm it felt upon leaving my house and at a stoplight in my town I posted a comment on my Facebook page (look me up and become my friend!) that the temps were in the 20s.  I was quickly corrected by Chuck that it was actually a bit colder and I confirmed later that it was actually nearer 11 degrees.  

But it is winter in Maine and this wasn't a bad day to run.  The trails in and around Bradbury State Park were quite packed down by the weather, snowmobilers, some hardy mountain bikers, and other forest critters.  I was lucky enough to spy some sheet metal screws belonging to Ian and he graciously offered them and a screwdriver to me.  So I sat and mad some impromptu screw shoes.  For a good demonstration, check out my boy Blaine's most excellent demonstration on how to do this on his website at runtowin.  I am sure I did not follow Blaine's instructions to the "T", but I must have done something right because I did not find myself slipping and sliding on the trail at any time.  What I did notice was some annoying pressure along points of my foot which I can attribute to the screws.  I will have to work on these, but all in all, these things worked flawlessly.

The start of the run was on trails that had been passed only by foot traffic, resulting in a very uneven surface in the now hardened snow.  This really irritated my ankle, which was injured at the mid-November Blackstrap Hell trail race and has yet to heal.  I think it is about time to get this checked out by a member of the medical profession.  The trail quickly changed to snowmobile trail which was smoother and easier going.  At about the 3-4 mile spot Jamie and Mindy turned back as planned while the rest of us continued on the loop Ian had decided would get us the two hours of running most of us were looking to do.

(I am going to hurry this up now.  We are heading to Saddleback where current temps at the summit are 2 degrees.  They do have the most snow of any Maine resort so the skiing should be okay.)

All told, we got in just under 15 miles in about 2:15.  I forget the GPS on the dash so I did not get a course map.  This was a good step up in training for me from previous weekends and a good start to the New Year.  Next week I am planning on heading to Massachusettes for the GAC Fat Ass 50K.  This is a great race in that it is free (!) and the course is a 5-6 mile loop so you can pull out at anytime.  

Now I want to give a special shout out to my homey, Jamie, at mainerunner.blogspot.com.  Thanks for the scrumptiously delicious Ethiopian donkey beans or whatever their official name is.  Those there were some good smelling coffee beans and the coffee they made was yummy.  Thanks for roasting!

Quick update on the MMT 100 and Atayne's Donation

It is official - I am on the entrants list for the 2009 Massanutten Mountain Trails 100. The race is on the weekend of May 16th and is run in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, one of the most beautiful places on earth. It is truly great to be able to return to my home state to participate in a 100-miler. 100-milers in themselves are spiritual events, and to run one in VA is even more so. Finding a connection to the land in these events is almost as critical as training properly, so I should do alright in this one. I will plan on hitting the training hard after Christmas and will keep you posted on my progress.

Also, I just wanted to send a friendly reminder to you all who may not have already taken advantage of Atayne's kindness and purchased an earthy-friendly performance top for yourself or someone else for Christmas. Through the end of the year Atayne has pledged 10% of online sales to the Maine Children's Cancer Center when customers check out with promotional code "livestrongmaine". Thanks.

Good news on the MMT 100

It is not official yet, but it appears that I made the lottery for the 2009 running of the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 in May! Check out the lottery results at Ultragood. Yeah! This is great news after my dismal record last year of failing to get into races. So this sets up my goal to complete two 100s in 2009 very well. I got my man Jamie pacing me and all's good!

Still alive...and running

So last week I was feeling tremendously guilty that I had neglected my blog for so long when I came across a piece of salvation: a New York Times article on the "philosophy" of slow blogging. After reading about this "movement" of less than prompt blogging, I mentally signed up and felt immediately better that I, in my small way, was doing my part to slow things in this crazy fast world down. So after a hiatus of a length which I have no idea (point, me), I felt the need to update whatever loyal readers have stuck with me through my rest period on my life.

What have I been doing? Running some, racing more, and committing to my 2009 Ultra calendar. My running has been spotty, no doubt about it. The weight I gained the last couple weeks has to exceed the miles I put on my running shoes. Okay, a bit of an exaggeration but that is how I feel. Anyhow, I am still getting in my 30-35 miles a week, some now on the treadmill because of work and family commitments. There really isn't too much to report that is worth reporting on my running. I am still in that "just running to run" segment of my training. Like all those people who make resolutions, I get serious on New Year's Day. This is when I kick off my training for the upcoming season. Unlike most of those people who crowd the gyms those first couple weeks after January 1, I have crazy races that require me to continue training longer than most stick to a resolution, lest I find myself at mile 50 of a 100-mile race hating myself.

Since my last post I have participated in a couple races; one new, fun run and the other one a stalwart of my racing calendar and one of my favorite races of the year. The first was the 6-mile Blackstrap Hell Trail Challenge, held a few weeks ago at the Falmouth Preserve. This race had it all: stream crossings, lots of mud, rock scrambles, blood (no guts), and busted ankles. Within the first half mile as I jumped into a stream that I thought would barely get my feet wet I found myself soaked and implanted on a muddy bank. The race, put on by Trail Monster Jeff Walker, was maddeningly fun. Jeff had predicted all the runners' finish times and had us all go off at different times to ideally have everyone finish at around the same time. I felt like Lance Armstrong awaiting a time trial start. I had to wait in the chilly air for about 28 minutes before starting off but it was worth it. The only scary point was at the half way point when I was passing another runner as we descended a leaf strewn hill and I landed on my ankle wrong and heard a crashing pop. Never before have I heard an ankle respond in such a way. It was even more frightening when others around me asked what the noise was. The next mile found me hobbling until my ankle worked itself out enough to allow me to run again, although this ankle is still swollen and if I twist it just right I am reminded of my visit to hell. Long story shortened...it was a great race and I look forward to running around those woods some more in the future. For more information, check out Blaine Moore's excellent race report.

Last week I ran one of my favorite local races, the Thanksgiving Day 4-miler in Portland. Why do I love this little race? Well, because it is a race that reeks of family to me, probably due to it being on my favorite holiday and that my family has joined me for it every year since we have lived up here. I bet it will probably be the first race I run together with my daughter Riley. Yes, this race is only four miles but it is a tough four miles. The interesting thing is that of the three times I have run this race in the last four years, my time of 24:41 this year was within about 20 seconds of the prior runnings. So while I haven't been getting faster, I haven't been getting slower either. There is promise there. Kelly and her dad, Phil, also ran and did fantastic. As is their MO, they maintained a smile the entire race. I envy them this gift. And even more special, my parents from Virginia joined us at the race for the first time and kept the kids entertained in between each of the sightings of us running. Thanks Mom and Dad.

Finally, yesterday I entered the lottery for the 2009 running of the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100. After last year's overwhelmingly quick sell out of the race (less than a couple hours), the race organizers decided to go with a lottery this year. Entrants have one week to submit an online application and the drawing is December 12th. Given my poor lottery performances last year, I am very hopeful that this year is my year. Stay posted.