Training Archive: PGIn the 30 days ending 2005-11-30:
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| T | W | H | F | S | S | M | T | W | H | F | S | S | M | T | W | H | F | S | S | M | T | W | H | F | S | S | M | T | W | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wednesday Nov 30 | ||
| trail running 1:34:30 [3]11.0 mi (8:34 / mi) +450m 4:44 / km | |
| weight:143lbs shoes: Air Max Trail 09/05 | ||
| With Phil on the west side of Quabbin Reservoir, all on old jeep roads and a nice place to go during deer season because no hunting is allowed except on a couple of days of controlled hunts -- there used to be no hunting at all, but the deer herd got way too big and was eating all the young vegetation, which may have been great for orienteering or off-trail running, but not what the forest managers wanted. But then it's managed in a strange way anyway. No mountain biking or XC skiing allowed, might pollute the watershed, but boats are allowed on the water. Shows where the political power has been.
We stuck to the trails because everything was pretty wet after more rain last night and neither of us felt inspired to head off trail. That didn't keep us from getting wet, since it was still raining and there was lots of standing water around that we gave up trying to avoid after a while. One bit of standing water that we did avoid was where our intended route crossed Gulf Brook. The beavers must have been busy, becasue the crossing seemed like it would have been about a 30-yard swim. We turned around without any hesitation. The USGS maps don't show all the trails, and of course they also show some that don't exist, and in the few times I've run there I've never managed to remember to write down map corrections, so there is always a bit of uncertainty as to where our route will take us. Added to that is the fact that we were actually on terrain covered by four different USGS quads (three of them 1:25,000, the SE one 1:24,000). I had a bit of concern when we were still heading south on a trail that I didn't recall having been on before and therefore wasn't sure if it came out where the map said, and at the same time the map, which I had neglected to put in a map case, was threatening to disintigrate in the rain. But I treated it with some very tender loving care and it stayed just together enough to keep me entertained all the way back. Another thing keeping me entertained was bits and pieces of Bach's violin concerto in E. Now I'm about as musically inept as it's possible to be, but this tune had been playing on NPR as I drove over. The only reason I remembered it was many years ago I'd listened to it probably 3 or 4 times on a long plane flight and it had served to soothe my fragile nerves, so when it appeared on the radio it was like an old friend. I mentioned it to Phil and it was apparently an old friend to him too, dating back to a summer backpacking trip to Europe at age 18. He will have to fill in the details.... Oh, and the run? Longer than intended (the shorter route via hill 971 didn't seem to exist), but we hung in there well, keeping a good pace up all the uphills on the way back (accompanied from time to time by Mr. Bach). A fine outing and not a hunter (or a deer) to be seen. | ||
| C • pollution 1 | ||
Tuesday Nov 29 | ||
| road running 1:04:30 [3]8.4 mi (7:40 / mi) | |
| weight:144lbs shoes: Pegasus 10/05 | ||
| Around N. and S. Sugarloaf, mostly flat. It occured to me part way around that I had been thinking about going to the track, and then obviously forgotten about it, so I managed to work in 8x100 strides to get the legs moving a little faster. Also served to increase the pace a bit for the last couple miles. Which was good, because I'm planning on running with Phil tomorrow and he claims to be hurting and I don't want to feel too frisky. | ||
Monday Nov 28 | ||
| road running 47:39 [3]5.2 mi (9:10 / mi) | |
| shoes: Air Max Trail 09/05 | ||
| Over to South Sugarloaf (15:23), up (9:56), down (6:53), back home (15:27). A real low energy day, but managed to make it up the hill by shifting to an even (s)lower gear. Mid-30s, fog, drizzle, a bit of ice/slush in Sugarloaf, but not enough to make much difference except get my feet wet. One of those days, I suppose, that makes other days seem so nice in comparison. | ||
Sunday Nov 27 | ||
| road running 1:03:51 [3]8.0 mi (7:59 / mi) | |
| weight:144lbs shoes: Pegasus 10/05 | ||
| Along the river to the town line (18:15), then the lopp up to East Taylor Hill Rd (28:48), then back from town line (16:48). Relaxed pace most of the way, a little quicker the last mile or two.
Training is slowly getting a little better, more runs around an hour. Need to keep it up, though the next couple of weeks are a little difficult because it's shotgun deer season and I prefer to stay out of the woods. A couple more O' meets left in the season (Townsend next Sunday and Sessions the following Saturday), plus I'll try to get to a couple of the Forest Park races (5k/10k on alternating weekends) in Springfield if the weather isn't too bad. Doing is always harder than just thinking about it, of course, but it helps to make plans. | ||
| C • forest park? 3 | ||
Saturday Nov 26 | ||
| Event: NEOC - Mt. Tom | ||
| orienteering 1:17:14 [3]7.3 km (10:35 / km) +350m 8:32 / km | |
| weight:144lbs shoes: new Integrators | ||
| NEOC meet at Mt. Tom, produced by Phil. Ok run, decent energy except when it went seriously up and then it was a struggle to get up even at a slow walk. Despite 3-4" of dry snow I only fell a couple of times, which was a pleasant surprise. Guess I wasn't running too aggressively.
My routes/comments. Real nice course by Phil on a cold (low 20s) snowy day. | ||
Red - Splits | ||
Friday Nov 25 | ||
| part trail, part road 31:20 [3] | |
| shoes: Air Max Trail 09/05 | ||
| At Charlie's, mostly in the snow with perhaps 10 minutes on pavement, never flat. | ||
Thursday Nov 24 | ||
| trail running 1:32:00 [3] | |
| weight:145lbs shoes: Air Max Trail 09/05 | ||
| With Charlie, mostly on the Tunxis trail north from Rt. 219. Snowstorm was just wrapping up, about 3-4 inches, footing wasn't great but not bad either. Maybe the first third on foot trails, then on woods roads, then the last 24 minutes on roads even though a good bit of that was in the slop on the side. Very nice run. Also good training for those times I knock my contact lens out -- ran most of the way without my glasses on because they just kept fogging up. At one point I scared up a creature quite nearby in the mountain laurel, which Charlie said was a big buck with a huge rack, but I never saw a thing....
I was thinking after yesterday's run when I felt so tired that I might not feel so bad if I wasn't carrying an extra 5 pound bag of sugar around my middle (that's my image for being overweight). Need to do something about that but it's probably not going to happen until tax season starts in a couple months. For now the challenge is to keep it from getting worse. | ||
| C • 5 | ||
Wednesday Nov 23 | ||
| trail running 1:15:44 [3] | |
| shoes: Air Max Trail 09/05 | ||
| Robert Frost loop on Mt. Toby. Quads were really tired/sore, not one of those days when it feels like fun. First day it's seemed like winter, about 30 degrees and breezy, wore gloves and hat and glad I did. A bit of ice, plus lots of water from recent rains. Pretty much gave up trying to keep the feet dry, even though it always surprises me how deep a puddle you can step in and not get wet if you pick your feet up quickly enough. | ||
Tuesday Nov 22 | ||
| road running 34:35 [3]4.5 mi (7:41 / mi) | |
| shoes: Pegasus 10/05 | ||
| Along the river to the town line (17:33) and back (17:02). Had planned to go longer but the conditions were not pleasant (upper 30s, rain, wind) and my will power was lacking. | ||
Monday Nov 21 | ||
| part trail, part road 38:02 [3] | |
| shoes: Air Max Trail 09/05 | ||
| Out along the river, then up past Gunn farm to Gunn Mt. road, back North Mt. Very tired to start, but felt a little better as time went on. | ||
Sunday Nov 20 | ||
| Event: Blue Hills Traverse | ||
| orienteering 2:11:29 [3]13.3 km (9:53 / km) | |
| shoes: new Integrators | ||
| Blue Hills Traverse. A good run, though I got awful tired the last 30 minutes or so.
Had the distinct pleasure of beating William (aka "feet" these days) to the first control (thanks, Joe for leading the way while others were higher up and to the west). And then a repeated distinct pleasure to beat William, again just barely, to #5. When I inquired what he'd been doing to be as slow as I was, he muttered something about not being able to remember the last time he had missed 5 controls in a row. Saw quite a bit of Pavlina (who is getting faster!) and Samantha (ditto!) and Ross (who is getting slower now that he a real job) and Joe B (who claimed to be tired from some unexplained activities the night before that I assume involved an excess of booze) and John F (who came trotting by on the way to 8, saying he was "just chilling" when I asked why he was going so slow, and came by again on the way to 23 and very kindly offered to escort me in but I sent him on his way, though it must have frazzled me in some way because I blew the last 2 controls and finished 3 minutes after him) and even a glimpse of Ernst and Tim Parson (the right kind of glimpse, they were heading into 16 while I was on my way out, the roughly 6 minutes I had for an advantage being just enough to hold them off at the end). A nice social run in other words. And one of my better ones in recent years, though I would have been happier if 15 had been the last control and the finish had been at the ski lodge. That way my energy and the course would have expired at roughly the same time. Routes/comments. | ||
| C • 2 | ||
Traverse - Splits | ||
Saturday Nov 19 | ||
| Note | |
| More flat training today. Got all call this morning summoning me to the golf course, not the usual one since it's closed for the year, but The Meadows, a little 9-hole affair with the vertical difference between high and low point on the course of about 10 feet. Unfortunately the course sits right at the junction of the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers, and it was flooded pretty badly last month. Closed for a while, 2 holes are still closed. So we played 14 holes, temperature in the 30s, had the course to ourselves. Another solid no-hills workout. Now all I have to do is find some snakes to help me practice cardiac arrest and I'll be ready. | ||
Friday Nov 18 | ||
| trail running 1:05:11 [3] | |
| shoes: Air Max Trail 09/05 | ||
| Starting my flat training for Florida with a run on the Montague Plain, meandering along the variety of old woods roads and power line cuts. Would have been completely flat except I ran a bit on the east side of Wills Hill, up in the area I often run in the winter. Nice day, but no wildlife except for a few chickadees, despite the fact that it is a "wildlife management area." | ||
| C • 2 | ||
Thursday Nov 17 | ||
| trail running 1:05:57 [3] | |
| shoes: Air Max Trail 09/05 | ||
| Same route as yesterday, though wetter after heavy rain overnight, but also much cooler, so i felt better. No trouble keeping up with Phil on the climb, then dropped him pretty quickly on the descent. Steady pace, harder the last 10-15 minutes.
I suppose I should point out that Phil was only present in a philosophical sense, but I dusted him anyway.... :-) | ||
| C • 8 | ||
Wednesday Nov 16 | ||
| trail running 1:09:43 [3] | |
| shoes: Air Max Trail 09/05 | ||
| With Phil on Mt. Toby. Mid-60s, strong southerly winds. Warmer than expected, sweating and feeling crappy all the way up the south mountain climb, better but not great thereafter only because there were no more long hills (and the long-sleeve shirt was wrapped around my waist). Pleasantly non-compeitive, which is how I will describe the run, ignoring the fact that I couldn't keep up on the long climb.... :-) | ||
| C • 3 | ||
Monday Nov 14 | ||
| road running 45:14 [3]5.2 mi (8:41 / mi) | |
| shoes: Pegasus 10/05 | ||
| Over to South Sugarloaf (14:58), up (9:08), down (6:51), back home (14:17). Better than I expected after the weekend. | ||
Sunday Nov 13 | ||
| trail running 7:00 [3] | |
| shoes: new Integrators | ||
| Warm-up. | ||
| orienteering 1:07:47 [4]9.1 km (7:27 / km) +300m 6:24 / km | |
| shoes: new Integrators | ||
| Long-O', M55 (Green-X course).
A really solid run. No mistakes and I think my routes were all good. And a good effort physically. Legs felt pretty decent, and I spent a lot of time being aware of how, and how fast, I was moving, trying to be as smooth as possible, and trying to keep a pace on the uphills that I hold without going anaerobic. Had in mind to try to run all the hills, but walked 3 or 4 short stratches on steeper pitches when it didn't seem like running was going to be any faster. A little tired at the end, but could have gone further if I had needed to (would have been fun to run the Red course to see how I would have placed...). Started 10 minutes after Charlie, 8 after Phil, and was curious if I would catch and/or see them. Passed Charlie without seeing him, I think on the way to 6 as we took different routes. Saw Phil just ahead coming into 8. He was a bit quicker up the hill to 9 but I was out of the control faster. I was a little uncertain on the first part of the way to 10, but didn't want to slow down to be sure, so just kept going in the right direction and pretty soon everything made sense. Amazing how one is affected by the thought that someone else is watching. Saw Phil for the last time leaving 11 as I was a little stronger going up the hill to the road crossing, but he wasn't far behind at the finish, having had one of his best runs ever, I think, good for second in M50. Routes/comments. | ||
| C • long o routes 3 | ||
Green X Long - Splits | ||
Saturday Nov 12 | ||
| trail running 9:00 [3] | |
| shoes: new Integrators | ||
| Warm-up. | ||
| orienteering 36:33 [4]5.1 km (7:10 / km) +90m 6:35 / km | |
| shoes: new Integrators | ||
| DVOA A meet, slightly shorter courses today before the long-O' tomorrow. An OK run, not great but no mental meltdowns either. Maybe a minute or two altogether of errors. Didn't feel great physically, but also not real bad, ran up the few hills there were without a problem, but it was pretty flat.
Another beautiful day and another fine DVOA production, excellent map and courses and amenties. | ||
Green X 1 - Splits | ||
Friday Nov 11 | ||
| Event: US Long Course Champs | ||
| orienteering 15:54 [5]2.6 km (6:07 / km) +80m 5:18 / km | |
| shoes: new Integrators | ||
| Sprint at Fair Hill, MD, start of DVOA's Long O' weekend. Nice course by Wyatt, lots of fun, ran clean and as fast as my little legs will carry me these days. Best tine was 13:05 by Clem. | ||
| C • Padding your workout log 6 | ||
| trail running 10:00 [3] | |
| Warm-up. | ||
Chapel Sprint - Splits | ||
Thursday Nov 10 | ||
| Note | |
| No training today, but had the great pleasure to visit one of the seven wonders of the orienteering world, the DeWeese bridge.
One certainly hopes and expects that the O' map of the DeWeese homestead will be expanded before long to cover this fine edifice. As the Michelin guides say, a visit to this bridge is "worth a detour." | ||
Wednesday Nov 9 | ||
| trail running 1:12:05 [3] | |
| shoes: Air Max Trail 09/05 | ||
| With Phil on Mt. Toby. With both of us focusing (even more than ever) on the psychological ramifications of every move, I can report the following:
1. Immediately after announcing on the first long uphill that we are running faster than "talking pace," which I interpreted to mean too fast, Phil shuts up and increases the pace. I do my best to keep the gap from getting more than 20 yards. He seems quite pleased, though he does complain about the basic unfairness of the fact that I can run downhill, especially downhill through crap, faster than he can, so any lead he may have going up just isn't going to last. With which, I feel quite pleased. 2. I keep my head in front on the other two climbs, though it is clearly a case of the pace being set by the person behind. I will push hard enough to keep a few yards lead. If I hear him falling back I can ease up, but if he is getting closer, then I have to keep picking up the pace. I have no choice. 3. We opt out of one last climb and come back along Rt. 47, motoring pretty well. With a half mile to go I decide to take it a bit slower, and say as much. Phil rejects the idea of a social jog in and picks up the pace, finishing strong. I guess he had no choise. In all, a relatively non-competitive run.... :-) | ||
| C • training pace 2 | ||
Tuesday Nov 8 | ||
| road running 52:44 [3]6.8 mi (7:45 / mi) | |
| shoes: Pegasus 10/05 | ||
| Two-silo loop -- up along the river then a couple of small hills and then back. Pushing the pace a little, and legs felt it (and will probably feel it tomorrow). | ||
Sunday Nov 6 | ||
| road running race 33:25 [5]5.0 mi (6:40 / mi) vdot: 49.0 | |
| shoes: Pegasus 10/05 | ||
| 5 mile race in Hatfield, mostly flat, total climb about 80'. Nice day for racing, low 50s, no wind, light drizzle.
Did the best I could. Aerobicly I was just about right (had enough left to finish without fading, but no more), but the legs were hurting, mainly the quads. Don't know what I'm not doing right, they have been bothering me for a while now, whereas the usual bugaboos (hamstrings, caves, achilles) have been behaving themselves. Time was a little better than expected. Ran a 5-miler in Amherst in late April in 33:45 when I was in better shape (and 6 months younger!), but it was a much hillier course. So I was hoping for under 35 for sure and maybe under 34, so the 33:25 was a nice surprise. But I worked hard for it, including having a guy closing on me in the last couple hundred yards, and my mind was conceding that he would pass me while my legs were picking up the pace. And he got closer and I picked it up some more and he got real close and it was an all-out sprint for the last 30 yards and I got him by about 6 inches. We are silly sometimes. Splits: 6:31, 6:50 (slightly up), 6:50, 6:39 (slightly down), 6:35 (flat, except for 3 speed bumps...). Ran the race once before, 10 years ago, in 30:50. Best ever for 5 miles is about 29:30. | ||
| road running 15:00 [2] | |
| shoes: Pegasus 10/05 | ||
| Before and after. | ||
Saturday Nov 5 | ||
| trail running 31:32 [3] | |
| shoes: Air Max Trail 09/05 | ||
| M&M trail south of Rt. 202 (close to where I was yesterday, up and down along the ridge crest). Didn't have much energy so cut it short. | ||
Friday Nov 4 | ||
| trail running 49:32 [3] | |
| shoes: Air Max Trail 09/05 | ||
| After sitting through an all-day tax seminar, got out just before dark for a run at the Holyoke reservoirs. Mostly flat gravel/dirt roads, but about 15 minutes on really rocky trails up on the ridge to the west. The causeways were quite spectacular with the water high, as they were barely above water and the darkening sky and waves from the stiff southerly breeze gave a sense of vulnerability. Would have been a nice time to have a camera.
Came back quite dirty as one bit of firm ground I stepped on turned out to be mud about knee deep. Thick, dark, oozing, sucking, mud. But I had my shoes on tight.... :-) | ||
Thursday Nov 3 | ||
| trail running 40:01 [2] | |
| shoes: Air Max Trail 09/05 | ||
| From the overpass over 91, a loop aroud Whiting Reservoir plus a short up and back at the south end to Rt. 141. Gentle terrain, but a slow pace anyway, legs were tired. | ||
Wednesday Nov 2 | ||
| trail running 1:12:16 [3] | |
| shoes: Air Max Trail 09/05 | ||
| With Phil from Mill River to Depot Road. Nice run, not the often/usual near race pace clash of egos.... :-) ... even though as Phil says, we often push ourselves more when running together and that's a needed part of training. But Phil was suffering this time, so I could run at a reasonable pace/effort. Legs and feet still feeling sore by the end.
Beautiful afternoon, crisp air, fall colors still around although the leaves are coming down. Both the sun, low in the afternoon sky and right in our eyes on the way back, and the leaves, oak leaves especially, hiding the rocks and making the downhills more slippery, made the running a little harder, felt like running blind at times. But still better than running at night. Splits: 8:40, 9:20, 6:53 (24:53 to Juggler Meadow), 12:23 (37:16 to Depot Road). Back: 11:13, 6:49, 9:04, 7:53 (35:00). | ||
| C • 9 | ||
Tuesday Nov 1 | ||
| part trail, part woods 33:09 [3] | |
| shoes: Air Max Trail 09/05 | ||
| At Mt. Tom, was planning to do Phil's loop (from Lake Bray, up and over Whiting Peak and Goat Peak) despite the fact that legs felt very tired. My mind must have been tired too, because I missed the turn for the Keystone trail. Which was just as good, even the gentle hills were a struggle. So I looped around onto the ridge by I-91, noticing a fresh streamer on the end of a stone wall, for Phil's meet in a few weeks I assume. Then along the ridge to the NE tip of the map and back to Lake Bray. A nice outing, still some hills but all shorter, and better than what I had planned given how I was feeling. | ||
