Training Log Archive: Ari-o

The month is out. What happened?

- 50 hours logged. Made it 49. Hot weather at the start of the month didn't help, with 1:30 rollerskis leaving me parched.
- 200 miles of running. Only 180. So, not great, but reasonable.
√ 60 minutes around the lake, from top of the camp road. 58:25!
- 12km D+. Missed this by about 100m, so, fine. Way ahead of past years on the way to 100km.
- Three proper bounding sessions. One, and not that proper
√ 2000 push up and sit ups. Once it got cooler this became much easier. Added in crunches.
√ A long trail run with mountains. Pemi Loop!
√ Fix my bike. Got fixed at the shop. One nice 40 miler.
- 250 pull ups. Forgot about this one, only got the bar up late.
√ 100 miles of rollerskiing. 109, thanks to Chesterville!

August was okay. The start of the month was quite warm, and with nothing to train for, I was trying to keep my get up and go from having got up and went. It finally cooled off the last week and was easier.

So the month upcoming …

* 50 hours logged. This should be easier with cooler weather. Have to shift more to mornings given daylight
* 200 miles of running. I'll try for this again, thinking about 2000 by year's end. I'm at 1380, and my chart tops out at 1400 from past years.
* 60 minutes around the lake. Do it again, shoot for a new PR.
* 12km D+. Seems about right.
* Three proper bounding sessions. Need to do better.
* 2250 push up and sit ups. That's 75/day.
* A long trail run with mountains.†
* Ride bikes. Not a specific goal.
* 250 pull ups. Now the bar is up. These are hard!
* 100 miles of rollerskiing. Should be attainable again.
* DIYgoat

† … so … I have gotten the idea of thru-running the 100 Mile Wilderness. Maybe going for the unsupported FKT, which is 1d9h, which seems attainable (it's a 21 minute mile). I felt quite good after the Pemi Loop, and would just have to keep it up for another day, but with a lot less elevation. It's also been quite dry, and for that trail, not having huge mud holes would be a great benefit. Plus I have some more downtime from work so can take a few days. I'd wait for good weather, charge up my headlamp batteries, and just go, and figure out a ride home.

Originally, the end of this month was going to be the 100k at the Birkie Trail, which I guess I could still do but I'd have to drive out and, that sounds not so great. (I mean, it sounds great, but a lot of driving.) Everything else is canceled. Pisgah is canceled, and it's a pretty socially distanced race. I'll try to get down to Boston at some point to then go to Connecticut to run the Billygoat DIY, too.

Low lake loop, to get back in time for a meeting. It was a lovely evening out for it! Finished down to and then in the lake, which is still reasonably warm, and was only a couple of minutes late for the call.

Start up to the loop, and cool down and around the field.

Decided to go out for a Lake Loop PR today. Wind was dying off with the evening, cool (60s) and dry, and so I took it easy up to the road and then went for it. Still some headwind going north and west, but downhill, running 6s for that and then along the lake on the other side, with one 7+ mile uphill thrown in. Was feeling good and on pace for a PR, but still had to push up the Dam Hill before pouring it on the Home Stretch (new Strava segment). 58:25 is nearly a 2 minute PR!

Now, 7:13/mi … can I get that under 7? That would take another couple of minutes. Wrist HRM even seemed to start working after a wonky first mile … barely qualifies as L3, but then again my legs aren't perfectly fresh.

Event: Billygoat / DIY Goat, Mountain Lakes
 

Forecast today for rain and more raining, overspreading during the morning. Didn't get as early a start as hoped (a nap is planned!) but was rolling by 8 sharp with just some clouds and a bright sky to the east. Figured I'd go out Chesterville until it started raining, then turn back.

I started lightly raining around 3 miles in, but really just nuisance rain. It got heavier around the 8 mile single lane bridge (sounds like it might be finished this week) and I took a left, I'd come this far, why not go a little further. (18 miles would put me over the top for my monthly rollerski goal.) Hit the end of good pavement, but it was older but fine pavement for half a mile to 156, and then new pavement on Knowlton Corners, with hills!

Oh and rain. By now the rain was covering the road, but with new pavement it was fine. I was thoroughly wet, but it was warm enough that I was quite comfortable at an L1 ski, and also didn't have to drink water because I wasn't sweating. Success! (It was 54˚, so Alex would have had hypothermia.) Climbed the second hill to get to 13.1, and also, hill.

Turned around (there's a bit more good pavement, but the rain was getting to me) and whee downhills and then the rest of the way was a bit of a slog but it was cool and rainy and there wasn't much traffic an the wheels were sticking to the pavement. Just out for a nice easy "ski" and it wasn't even Type 2 fun.

Elevation doing weird things (pressure falls? out and back don't match), slightly corrected per Strava lookup. I have now skied 172 miles, which is almost 2x more than I've ever skied before September 1.

Felt better today, maybe because it was beautiful and I went out for a late afternoon trail run, up to Little Bigelow, which I haven't hiked since the AT. It was about 8.5 miles on trail (actually 8; the trail mileage was long) and then 4 on a dirt road back to the car which is barely faster to drive than run). A bit longer up than hoped with some slow drivers, but I was on trail by 5, with a poor woman in the parking lot with a flat and no lug wrench.

Saw a few hikers on the trail—it's thru-hiker season—and then a lovely view from Little Bigelow of the sun behind bigger Bigelow. Nice and cool and breezy, feeling much better than yesterday. Ran about 16s down the ridge which wasn't super easy running, but felt pretty good, then hung a right onto the Safford Brook trail (I've been there) and down to the road, taking the old trail, which is a well-cleared road/sled trail, the last quarter mile at a full run.

Then four miles of the undulating dirt road. Not pushing the pace, but running the same pace as yesterday, only without feeling awful. Back to the car before dark, which is coming earlier. The woman had gotten professional help, or at least a guy with a thick Maine accent and a powered lug wrench for her car. No cell service, so she probably had to have the other people who were finishing when I started drive to cell land and make a call.

Made it back at full throttle in 1:25. I exercised supreme self control: I only ate half the bag of goldfish.

Felt pretty awful and it showed. Originally was going to run more like 11 since it's 60˚ and dry and good running weather but had indigestion, or something, pretty early and by the time I was on the other side of the lake I was counting the miles home and trying not to dry heave.

The run up the Dam Hill was a death march. I would like to take advantage of the weather tyvm!

Sailing!

pretty gusty, one of which gave me a dunk. The breeze was cool but the water and sun were warm.

Out to Chesterville for an evening roll. Lovely day for it!

Silver lining, I guess, to covid:

I won't have to choose between ski WOC and the Birkie this winter.

Proper thunderstorm this afternoon! It got dark, then it got real windy, then it started blowing wind rain inside (so I closed the windward windows), then some branches blew down, and then just as I was saying on a call "well it seems like we made it through it without the power going out" the power went out.

Once things dried out a bit I went for a run. Cool, breezy, and running to the sound of generators humming in people's garages, so it was quite a blackout. Wayne seemed to be powered, but it was still unpowered when I got home. 2x1 mile (6:58, 6:45, the first mile slightly net up) on the other side of the lake felt decent. And right when I got back, the power came on!

Waited out some post-work thunder, and went on a short-and-still-very-muggy run down to the dam.

Then ran across the dam, since the water isn't overtopping it these days, just leaking through.

Went to the nearby option for rollerskiing, a 4km out-and-back-with-two-legs new pavement road which is a dead end (well, not entirely, but the only through road is not much of a road) and it was lovely. My legs were quite tired during my first lap (no poles) but recovered a bit for the last two (full skate, after a lap of DP).

Helps that it's 7 minutes away.

Event: NEOC: Prospect Hill - BYOM
 

Went for a run around the Kents Hill Trails to map them. The further from the lake you go, the less maintenance there is. The ski trails are good running and there are some nice hills.

Legs are shockingly not DOMSy.

Pemi Loop! Took the day off and was going to do a Presi Traverse, but the weather looked less stellar over there plus the Presis have been jammed with people. After some discussions, met Jess at Lincoln Woods, and went from there. Started not quite as early as we would have liked but it was a beautiful day to run in the woods, fall-like.

Went CCW, which I hadn't done for my previous three. Ran 9s out the railroad, then ran across a stream we shouldn't have, lost a couple of minutes, and then Jess took the lead. She didn't slow down. After a couple of miles trying to keep up I told her to just go and she did. Wound up on Bondcliff in 2h, which was pretty good and saw her a few minutes ahead on the open trail.

Up to the hut, the descent down STwin not too bad on my legs, in 3:30, which seemed fast, and I figured if my legs didn't fall apart an 8h trip might be possible. I still don't know how the FKT is in the 5:30 range and potentially falling. Filled water at the hut (closed Thursday for resupply), drank 1L, and was well hydrated. Should have filled more there from the spigot, but whatever. The climb up Garfield Waterfall was quite dry and so much easier than a hut traverse. 8 wasn't happening, alas.

Slow over Garfield, feet kind of hurting and legs tired. Couldn't muster a 20m mile over the ridge. Stopped at Flume to drink and transfer water, then a bit later to tape up a pre-blister toe. But the bottom of Osseo was great

9:13:17 elapsed. Faster than previous attempts, but still I think I could take some time off. Need to run more trails.

Jess wound up resetting her own FKT, which her watch promptly ate, then biked out to find me, but I was running later than she'd thought. But she gave me chips in the parking lot, we talked to some other people running tomorrow (one woman going for speed, her friends going for their first time) and then the drive across the Kanc at high rates of speed.

Easy morning run around JP before meetings/calls/busy day.

Off to run at the Blue Hills between meetings. Watch didn't start until I was 8 minutes in (really, can someone design a watch which can find satellites while you're running if it doesn't start right away?) so I had to stop and restart. It was a beautiful day out, 80s but in the shade much cooler with a dry breeze: 47˚ dew point!

Not very busy in the Blue Hills. Ran there partially because on trails there seems to be a healthier mask use rate: people don't use them. Here's my rant about masks:

Masks solve the droplet issue, which is someone sneezing and droplets being expelled. If you're running, all a mask does is move the air around, unless you're sneezing. In which case don't go running. In close proximity, masks are very important, for the droplet issue (this is what hand washing is about). We've mostly solved that.

For aerosols, masks probably do help when people are in proximity to each other, but ventilation seems to be much more important. For example, there have been basically zero reported transmission on airplanes or transit vehicles. I think there is probably some sort of equation for transmission along the lines of:

((1/air change rate / rate of ventilation)) * (time spent in proximity) * (viral load of person spreading) * (density of people)

let's call this 1/a t v d

If any of these are close to zero, then the entire equation goes to zero. In general, v is unknowable, but people on hiking trails are less likely to be shedding virus than people, say, in a hospital. But on hiking trails, especially the wider ones like the Blue Hills, a is very high, which means 1/a is quite low, especially on a breezy day, although even a 5 mph breeze across a 10-foot-wide path at a 30˚ angle would change the air over every five seconds, or 720 times per hour. Airplanes change air 20 times per hour. t is also quite low: even overtaking another runner, you're only in their slipstream for a few seconds, and that's assuming no cross breeze, and d is also low, especially if you stay off the busiest trails.

C • Unmasked on trails 4

So beautiful today too bad it has to be a Monday.

Ran with sister to KH trails, ran some of the trails, then back around on the roads. So nice to have a 4-5 mile loop!

The ski trails back there are great for bounding.

Yesterday there was an effort, using a small tractor, to clear out the old road to Kent's Hill, which means with a mile of trails there is now a lovely 7.5 mile run around the lake cutting out the longest hill and some of the road.

This is not a bad run! Mostly in the shade with the sister this morning, reasonably cool even at 9 a.m.

I was thinking I wanted to do more today since it was a beautiful day. Trail run? Maybe, but the mountains are a lot of overhead. Rollerski? Perhaps, but I did it yesterday. Oh, wait, working bike!

I plotted out a 40 mile ride with only about 2 miles on state road, and set off. The closed road by Richmond Mills is still just a closed bridge, but people have cleared a bike/ped path across it, so it's just a road with no traffic on either side, didn't even have to clip out. I did figure out that a limit screw needs to be adjusted, so if I shift to the big ring with the back cog on a small cog it will jump the front, but was mostly able to avoid that. Otherwise the bike works fine.

Found some nice climbs and descents. 45 mph on some downhills, 14% grades on some uphills. Found some nice new pavement and some sorry barely paved pavement. But a lovely day for a ride on a cool day in western Maine.

Just a beautiful Chesterville rollerski with my dad along for the ride on a bike. Saw other rollerskiers! Tried the new road, where the new pavement turns to old at 20 miles exactly. 20 miles on new pavement is pleasurable. 74 and dry helps, too.

Transition to old pavement is fine, so I could do a nice long ski one of these days up the hills towards Farmtown.

Run with sister. Went and did the loop through the KLT trails. Turned on to Hathaway Road and it was repaved. It's a dead-end road (pretty much), it has no traffic, it's about a mile each way, and has some hills (not a ton, but enough for some intervals). Not sure why it is getting pavement; the old road seemed fine, but it seems like a nice place a 7 minute drive away to go do some rollerskiing. Too bad it's not skiable to get there (a couple of death hills).

Anyway, on the trails we were having a lovely run in 70 degree temps with dewpoints in the 50s, and I looked at my watch and realized that I had a 9 o'clock meeting. I told my sister run to the road and take a left and you'll know where you are and peeled out and got a couple of speedier miles in and made it just as the host was saying "let's wait one more minute for late arrivals."

Morning run down to the trails for more sweaty running. Short, because I had a call to get back to. One of the trails was pretty new: no treadway but they cleared a lot of branches. Would be nice O terrain down there. Not many point features, lots of stone walls, pretty open woods, good topography.

Humidity broke today, but it was still warm (and not that dry) when I went for my run in the evening. Loop of the lake was sweaty, but otherwise mostly nice. Didn't run yesterday, it was real hot and humid. But the next few days look much nicer. Maybe, just maybe, we've gotten through the worst of the summer (touch wood).

Been making a daily trip up the hill, too, for corn. Today instead I hacked through the woods to the post office to pick up my classic rollerskis (new to me). There's about 400m of trail that I sort of brushed out with a rake, but still need pants and long socks to get through it. However, there is a plan afoot to have one person go out and clear the necessary logs by chainsaw and another bush hog the road (it's a public ROW) and then it leads right on to the trails over there.

Would create an 8 mile loop around the lake lopping off the top of the hill (which would make it easier, sure, and also fit within an hour) but also give access over to the ski trails there, which are being mowed, for some trail running. I need to work on this!

Riding the bikes! Bike is fixed! Well, the chain still jumped the big ring at the top of the first hill, but I can probably adjust that limit screw without fucking up the tuneup.

Otherwise a nice, uneventful ride. Reasonably warm and humid, but three hills over 40 mph (and the one on the North Road bumping up to 52 per strava, despite not great pavement) provided enough breeze to cool me down. Would be even more fun if they were to repave it (I actually once skied down it when they repaved it about 10 years ago which, in retrospect, was maybe not a great idea). Good activity for warm days.

Took a look down the newly-paved Desert Pond Road hill, and was glad I was being careful, they only paved the hill; it turns to dirt at the bottom. Had to brake pretty hard there and then stop to shift to go back up. I wasn't really wanting to bike 5 miles of gravel on the road bike.

Chill run up the back side of Bigelow. Picked up my bike from the shop so the day was set based on that, since I was part way to the mountains already. I thought about finishing back across Little Bigelow and then back on the road, which would have added 8 miles and about two hours, and I didn't really want to get home at 9:30. But that will probably be a good 10 mile morning jaunt some time.

Ooooooooh they repaved the esker road. I saw it earlier bringing my bike to the shop (finally) and my parents were biking on it. Confirmed, 11.5 miles of black powder.

Lacks hills, but well shaded, low traffic, and goes between a bunch of lakes so really nice. Not sure why it is being repaved—there are other roads around which could use it more—but if they're going to pave something, this is a good choice.

Out chasing sunlight, 64m out double poling, 59m back skating. Which is reasonably fast, but then again slower than skiing (at least on fast snow) and also skiing is so much fun. But good rollerskiing sort of edges into fun territory.

Nice for a cruise, and I can do more hill specific stuff on roads more locally.

Out this morning early to go run up a mountain. It's rare that I will find a 4000 footer where I can make a loop where it's mostly new trails, but I found one where it was the case, up the Carter-Moriah Trail and then down Stony Brook.

5 a.m. wake up, which is no longer sunlit, 5:30 departure, 7:00 arrival, 7:10 trail time, lots of people trying to figure out car spotting (the trailheads for this loop are 1.5 miles apart). First couple of miles were pretty mellow and runnable, and then a steep hikey mile. 1:14 up to the summit. Might be fun to just do an out and back some day which would probably be 2:15 RT.

Then a lovely, cool, breezy run along the ridge down south, and a right onto the Stony Brook trail which was kind of stony up top, and a little brooky, but after the first mile, not bad. Then a couple very runnable miles (one on an old road, one relocated off said old road because of development) and then down the road and across a bridge back to the car.

The old road probably would have gone on to a town road which would have been even faster :)

Morning run to look at things.

Down to Mass for a couple of days, socially distance staying at my parents' house (because, uh, central air).

Waited for the storms to pass (barely any) before a real windy run to the pond and then the Arbs. Running with the mask on, which was fine for the first mile until it got sweaty wet and then hard to breathe through with my mouth open. We probably should have a discussion about how aerosol spread in the outdoors requires proximity, poor ventilation and time, none of which are present when running past someone, but people like to solve the problems we thought we had three months ago.

Anyway, it wasn't very busy and no trees fell on me.

Warm run. Down to the dam and then up to Hathaway and into the town farm. Nice run around some of the other trails in there to get back, stayed more on the old roads which had some blowdowns but I managed.

Legs felt super tired at first, then got better. The nice thing I guess is that my legs always feel better after the first climb.

The clouds rolled in for the last couple of miles. Great timing.

Event: Peoples Forest
 

So July, how did that work out?

Sort of okay. Some things were good, some things weren't quite achieved.

√ 50 hours logged. Barely.
√ 200 miles of running. 210! Without really trying. Everything is 9 miles, so as long as I run.
√ 12km D+. Made it on the last day. Which puts me on pace for (shuffles papers) 99778m for the year. I should be well ahead of pace at the end of this month.
- More bounding, again. I really should do more ski-specific.
- 2000 push up and sit ups. I was going okay until I went water skiing and got my shoulder pulled out.
√ Some sort of long trail run (20 miles or more). 36 for 36!
- Ride a century, 'Merica-style. Still need to fix bike.
√ Finish the camp trail. Pretty much. Just need to cut a step-over or two.
√ Get an old ax handle and some rope and put a pull-up bar on the porch. So I got the ax handle and the pull up bar is going up this weekend.

This is better than maybe I'd thought, given that it was a quite warm and muggy month and that makes it harder to be motivated to go do big, hard, sweaty things. I didn't rollerski that much, and got to 50 hours, but barely, and only with a 12 hour day around Baxter, but that was great. Also meant some rest the week after.

So August. Here's hoping it's a bit cooler and drier. It can happen! I have faith! (This is not true.)

* 50 hours logged. With a stretch for 60? I need to be more better about going before/after work. I'm on pace for 484, having never really cracked 400 before. Covid!
* 200 miles of running. This seems like a good goal to keep. New routes through the woods give a bit more variety than the lake again and again. Also the sun rising a bit later and setting a bit earlier means shade at more normal hours (and easier dark sleep time). I'm now at 1205 miles for the year. The earliest I've hit 1205 previously was October 13. I've never made it to 1400, but this year have a chance at 2000.
* 60 minutes around the lake, from top of the camp road.
* 12km D+. This seems fine, and will get me to the mountains.
* Three proper bounding sessions. Maybe over on the Kent's Hill ski slope if it's brushed out.
* 2000 push up and sit ups. I was going okay until I went water skiing and got my shoulder pulled out. Will try this again.
* A long trail run with mountains. Presi Traverse?
* Fix my bike. Then maybe go on a long bike ride.
* 250 pull ups
* 100 miles of rollerskiing, which would be a big increase from this month. I did just order a pair of (used) Marwe classic skis, so I won't be on my worn out ratchet, and actually have classic skis (although the combis were fine). I also need to get a better file for sharpening pole tips.

This is a long list.

Beautiful day out. Breezy and dry. I probably should have gotten my act together for a Presi Traverse or something but it is the weekend so it's busy over there. Saturday morning, why not a rollerski?

Down Route 17 there was a bit of debris on the shoulder, I navigated around that but then something got caught in my wheel and holy moly I nearly found a ditch, but saved it. Then some jello legs for the next mile recomposing myself. Might start just parking at the bottom.

Not trying to go hard today, but go a bit longer than recent days. Legs were tired, shoulder hurts a little. And in the sun it was quite warm, so I was stopping to guzzle water every 5k or so. This all was fine, but I ran out right around the end, with a slow slog up the final climb.

Hiking with the family, carried the nephew for the second half. He's 20 pounds now! My sister has a hand-me-down baby carrier that works fine, but it might be worth investing in a fancier one. Also product idea, a hat attachment with a little mirror so you can see the baby in the carrier.

This area has nice trails, pretty runnable/boundable, some blueberries (we made a stop on the way down of course) and the woods are amazingly nice and open and it would be fun to do O in. Hasn't been mapped. World of O has … two maps in Maine.