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Saturday: Wakely Marathon

7/6/2013

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I got a chance to run on the Wakely course for the first time Saturday, mainly to get a feel for the terrain and suss out the water sources (the race has no aid). I ended up doing an out-and-back marathon, with about 24mi at a steady 50k race pace and the last 2mi easy.

The course is surprisingly dry (there are some wet spots, but no more than I would expect on the Northville-Placid Trail in early summer). Even so I'm going to explore running in the Asics Fuji Racer for the next couple weeks to see if I can get away with it for Wakely. The Pearl Izumi Trail N2s were awesome (best fit in a trail shoe that I've had for a while, if ever) but they don't drain quite as well as I'd like on the NPT, especially if it rains on race day.

As I finished the run I realized I've done 83 miles in the last week. I hadn't thought of that as I was counting the week from Monday to Sunday, but since I did my long run on Saturday this week that means I've done two long runs in the last seven days.

Total Miles: 26mi
Weekly Total: 83mi
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Thursday: Tempo in the Heat

7/4/2013

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Quality heat training this week! I hope it's not this hot for Wakely Dam but if it is at least I'll be prepared. I got a 7-mile tempo run in today, allowing myself to run nearly 10 seconds slower per mile than normal to account for the heat and humidity.

Warmup: 2mi easy.
Drills: High knees, high skips, butt kicks, lateral skips, carioca, backwards running.
Tempo: 7mi at 6:26 pace.
Cooldown: 2mi easy, long soak in the river!

Weighing myself when a got home (even after a glass of chocolate milk) showed that I lost over 4 pounds during this workout. Normally I don't drink during runs under 1h30m, but it was a bit scary to step on the scale and see 145lbs. I'm making a big effort to rehydrate now.

Total Miles: 11mi
Weekly Total: 37mi
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Tuesday: Strength Intervals

7/2/2013

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Apparently two weeks off didn't hurt my fitness too much, but it definitely hurt my ability to recover each day after running. I've been sore since Sunday's 15 miler, so I took it easy on Monday with 4mi and got a 3mi recovery run in this morning.

I still felt a bit tight for this evening's intervals but was able to complete the workout without much trouble--sometimes fast running actually feels better than slow, presumably due to better form when running fast. Even so, I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow.

Warmup: 2mi easy.
Drills: High knees, high skips, butt kicks, carioca.
Intervals: 5x1mi at HM pace w/ 600m recovery jog.
Cooldown: 2mi easy.

Tomorrow I get a big package from Running Warehouse and hope to hit the treadmill at Keene Fitness in order to test out a bunch of shoes and decide what to keep (looking for a mid weight trail runner for Wakely Dam, in between the Hoka Mafate and La Sportiva Helios). Should be fun!

Total Miles: 11mi
Weekly Total: 18mi
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Sunday: 15 Long

6/30/2013

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After 11 days in the woods leading a hiking camp I couldn't wait to get back to running. I had to reign myself in and keep it to 15 miles, knowing that to do 20+ after almost two weeks without running would probably be a mistake.

I did allow myself to run faster than I had planned, keeping the pace under 7:00 even with my "slow" shoes (Hokas). It felt good to let loose.

Going into the week of July 1-7 I hope to get right back to running 70 miles per week as if I never missed a beat, but I'll listen to my body and back off if it tells me to. It will be interesting to see whether 11 days of mostly easy paced hiking hurt my running or if the rest and strengthening might have actually helped.

Total Miles: 15mi
Weekly Total: 15mi (plus lots of hiking)
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Weekly Recap: June 10-16

6/16/2013

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PictureGATR winner Sarah Keyes.
Total Mileage: 70mi
Elevation Gain: 7700'
Cross-Training: 6.5mi (3 walking, 3.5 hiking)
Goal: Run at least 60 miles before leaving for a backpacking trip.

This was my first 70-mile week since beginning marathon training last summer (I think I did a couple when training for Western States 100 in 2010) and it included lots of quality workouts, including speed intervals on the track, a tempo run on the road, hill repeats, and two long trail runs. Today's run on the northern section of the Northville-Placid trail got me very excited for Wakely Dam in July. I covered 19 miles of very muddy trail in 3hrs, about the same pace I hope to hold for 32 miles at Wakely (hopefully in much drier conditions).

In addition, the Great Adirondack Trail Run took place on Saturday and was a huge success. Nearly 100 people ran the fun run on Baxter Mountain for the largest field we've ever had by far, and the long run saw some amazing performances including three times that were faster than the men's course record despite the wet and muddy conditions. Huge congrats to Tim Reynolds for his remarkable time of 1:37:36, as well as to local athletes Sarah Keyes (female overall champ) and Matthew Harrison (3rd overall). Plus I have to give a shout out my friend Chris Fey, who ran under 2hrs to improve his time from last year by over 10 minutes and managed to place in the top 10 in our deepest field ever.

Looking Ahead: On Wednesday I turn into a hiker. I'll be in the woods until June 29th, and won't be posting to Adirondack Runner during that time. Thanks for reading, and I'll be back in two weeks!

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GATR winner Tim Reynolds. Photos by Chuck Bruha.
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Thursday: Recovery Run & Tempo Run

6/13/2013

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I continue to pack on the miles before taking a forced break from running next week (for a 10 day backpacking trip). I'm feeling the lack of recovery after four straight 9+ mile days, but I might not be able to run as much on Friday and Saturday as I'll be busy organizing the Great Adirondack Trail Run. Hopefully I'll get a good long run in on Sunday to bring my weekly mileage well over 60.

AM: Ran 4mi easy with the jogger.

After getting loose in the morning I went out for a quality workout in the evening, doing some tempo running at MP.

Warmup: 1mi easy.
Tempo: 6mi at 6:17 pace.
Cooldown: 1mi easy, 1.5mi recovery.

Total Miles: 13.5mi (in two runs)
Weekly So Far: 40.5mi
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Wednesday: GATR Course Easy

6/12/2013

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I ran the 9 miles of trail on the Great Adirondack Trail Run course today in order to mark it for Saturday's race. Yesterday's heavy rain really changed the track--there are a lot of sections that are under water.

It will be a tough race for runners with waterlogged feet and mud and water splashing everywhere, but at least it's going to be nice and sunny!

The GATR has been run on a longer course than the original for the last four years. The course record is 1:44:09, set in 2012 by four-time champion George Adams (Juergen Uhl ran 1:44:10 in 2011, beating Adams by two seconds that year). Also in 2011 I ran the course five days before the event, clocking 1:42:32--this is the fastest known time for the course. The Garmin data to the right is from that run, as it's more interesting than my slow easy run today.

With all the water on the course this year it will be quite the feat to set a course record. With returning champions George Adams, Juergen Uhl and Tim Reynolds all expected back, as well as perennial contenders Matthew Harrison and Pat Hamel and newcomer Keith Iskiw, I expect the competition to be fierce!

Total Miles: 9mi
Weekly So Far: 27mi
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Tuesday: Speed Intervals

6/11/2013

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I went to the Marcy Field track today for the second week of intervals at 5k pace. This might be the last speed interval workout I do for a while, as my next race is 32mi so I should be focusing on longer intervals at a slower pace from now on.

It was raining hard and tough to get out the door, and I ran my warmup nice and slow. By the time I'd finished my drills it felt great to run fast in the rain.

Warmup: 2.5mi at recovery pace.
Drills: High knees, butt kicks, bounds, high skips, 2 strides.
Intervals: 5x1000m at 5:20 pace with 400m recovery jog after each interval.
Cooldown: 2mi at recovery pace.

I ran my intervals in 3:25, 3:22, 3:18, 3:20, 3:18--nice to see the fastest intervals later in the workout. The last three were probably too fast, however, and my calves are sore now. Got to learn to reign it in on these workouts!

Total Miles: 9mi
Weekly So Far: 18mi
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Weekly Recap: June 3-9

6/9/2013

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PictureFinn in Boston
Total Mileage: 50.5mi
Elevation Gain: 1400'
Cross-Training: 15mi (5 walking, 10 hiking)
Goal: Get as much running in as I can despite a very busy week.

I have to be happy with this week, even though the mileage is lower than I would have preferred. The field trip to Boston wasn't as conducive to running as staying home would have been, but getting two runs in over three days was more than I thought I'd be able to do, and walking around the city made for some easy cross training. It was a tough trip in terms of sleep, but otherwise I think it did me good to have a rest day and to stay loose with all the walking, plus it was a fun time overall.

The week wrapped up nicely, with a feel-good 17-miler on Saturday and 5 easy miles as well as a 10mi hike on Sunday. The hike was quite physical (clearing blowdown) and took over five hours, so between those two factors it was definitely quality cross-training.

Looking Ahead: The following week is my final full week of training before heading into the woods to lead a hiking camp, and I hope to make the most of it. I'll be very busy, but hope to put in at least 60 miles, including speed work on Tuesday, a moderate effort trail run on the GATR course on Thursday (with lots of stops to mark the course along the way), and a long run on Sunday.

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Saturday: Easy 17

6/8/2013

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I moved this week's Sunday run to Saturday in order to save tomorrow (a nicer day) to do trail work on the Great Adirondack Trail Run course. It was done, but the heavy snow on Memorial Day weekend brought a lot of trees down. No chainsaw this time, so I hope they aren't too big.

I'm happy to be home and running on familiar roads again (and not having to dodge people and cars, as fun as that was for a couple days). I'm working on getting the Sunday run up into the 20+ mile range before Wakely Dam.

I probably won't run more than 3hrs during any one training run even though the race is around 5hrs, but might also do one back-to-back long run, where I run 14mi on Saturday and 18 on Sunday or something like that, so that I've at least done 50k in one 24hr period at some point before the race.

Total Miles: 17mi
Weekly So Far: 45.5mi
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    My Best Results:

    7/31/16: Escarpment Trail Run 18mi
         1st place, 3:01:12
    7/18/15: Wakely Dam 33mi
         1st place, 4:45:01, Course Record
    6/21/14: Manitou's Revenge 54mi
         1st place, 10:50:34, Course Record
    4/21/14: Boston Marathon
         2:55:52
    10/13/13: Mohawk Hudson Marathon
         11th place, 2:49:49
    9/29/13: Vermont 50
         3rd place, 6:40:29
    5/25/13: Patch Sprint 12.5mi
         1st place, 2:01:43, Course Record

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