Training Log Archive: PG

Warm-up, including 1x100 and 1x200. Legs felt pretty good.

5K time trial. Time to see where things were at. I figured I would start out at no worse than 6:40 pace and see if I could make it 5K or not, thought that should be doable but you never know. 6:40 translates nicely to 400s in 1:40 and 200s in 50, and the old watch of Gail's that I've been using has a display mode that gives the lap time in big numbers, easy to read, so every half lap I'd look down and it was easy to see how things were going.

And things went well. Laps kept going by at 97 or 98, sort of a nice place, any slower I'd have been stressed about making my goal, any faster and I'd have been really stressed about whether sub-20 was possible. As it was, when the first 1600 rolled by in 6:30 I figured I'd started a little quickly, I always prefer to run negative splits, like the feeling of finishing strong rather than dying. But the second wasn't much worse, 6:32, and hung in therefor the last one, 6:32, and the last 200 in 45. Very pleased overall. A little better might be possible but sub-20 seems out of reach.

A little bit warm, mid 70s and dew point of 64, light breeze out of the north. Had the track to myself except for a young guy working on little bursts, maybe 50 meters, with a parachute tied to his back. I asked what his best for 100 meters was. 10.6 he said, presumably without the parachute. So we were at opposite ends of the spectrum in many regards (speed, distance, age, good looks,....).

1:37.2
1:37.4
1:37.4
1:37.8 (6:29.8)
1:38.1
1:38.2
1:37.4
1:38.0 (6:31.7, 13:01.5)
1:38.2
1:38.0
1;38.6
1:37.5 (6:32.3, 19:33.8)
0:45.0 (20:18.8)

40 good workouts down, 10 to go, leave in 15 days.

Possible workouts: Westfield 5k (monday evenings), Holyoke 5K (Thursday evenings, maybe this Thursday if the weather is OK), Loon Mt. race this Sunday (see if bl is going?), re-run Forest Park sprints?, re-run courses at Ansonia?, re-run Quabbin course?, couple more track workouts, couple more terrain runs at Mt. Tom? So many good possibilities, not much time....

C • Nice effort 5

Oiling the joints.

At Mt. Tom with Spike -- he and Mary stopped by for a brief visit after visiting an ailing relative in Vermont -- shadowing him on the Red middle course from the day before the Billygoat in 2004 (route shown is back then).

We got to the first point, I told him he was wrong, he protested. It turned out we had different maps, I had the Blue course. No problem, we managed just fine, a very pleasant outing in the woods except for a couple of hard falls. Do you fall more when you're going slow?

Nice to be done with the day's training by mid-morning.

C • Falling 4

Very honored to have to have a visit from Spike and Mary, in the area just to continue their research on the similarities between Kansas and Western Mass. Their latest findings -- (1) Western Mass. has the world's largest yarn store, Kansas has the world's largest ball of twine. (2) Western Mass. has really good O' terrain, even in the summer. Kansas has terrain, even in the summer. Amazing. They will have to come back for further research.

C • Kansas v. Western Mass 3

Back home. Finally got out after putting it off for a while, then needing a trip to Whole Foods for provisions for the impending arrival of Spike and Mary, who apparently are happy eating most anything as long as they don't have to eat the same thing.

Sugar-Gunn loop on Mt. Toby, sluggish, but also not trying to push it. Saw 7 turkeys above Gunn Farm, fastest seemed to be doing about a 6-minute-per-mile pace as it pulled away from me.

This week has been a disaster on the G front. Will have to force myself on the scale in the morning. And then take corrective measures.

A couple of family shots. Me, my sister and my brother --



And my brother's family --

C • family 12

Opening Day. No, not at Fenway, that was a couple of months ago and not nearly so important. This was opening day of the FDF season (fucking deer flies for the unitiated).

Yesterday at Mt. Tom I wasn't bothered by any, but somehow, as I was toweling myself off after the run, there was a fresh FDF caught in the towel, a quick sqeeze and it was dispensed with. So today I figured I had best be prepared, so the blue cap was readied. And it still works like a charm, 14-0 was the final score, with me not even aware that there was any FDF activity at all. So sweet.

Today's run was actually in Litchfield (family visit, my mom's 91st birthday), the blue trail on the Five Ponds map. 30:01 down to the dirt road, 29:19 back). Felt warm and very humid, even at 9 in the morning. We've been getting cool and rainy weather for much of June, lots of folks complaining, but it's been nice for running.

The verdict from the family is that my new look is fabulous.

Back to Mt. Tom to re-run the Day 1 course from day 1 of the Western Mass 3 Day a little over two months ago.

My intention beforehand was to do a little more, two round trips, adding a second out-and-back to the SW, but at some point after about 25 minutes, while contemplating how tired I was going to be going up the hill again, I just lost my resolve and decided that what I had done before was plenty. I suppose I could argue that (1) I'd had three hard (but not long) workouts in a row and better not to push my luck, or (2) I'm only training to race for 30-40 minutes, so this was enough. But both of those get trumped by the third (and more to the point) argument -- wimp. Some days that's just what you are.

But it was still good training, all just in the woods, no trails. The woods at Mt. Tom are still real nice this time of year, some ferns up in a few places, but not very tall, and overall the forest is very good running, And the section along I-91 is a nice place to train because it is not rocky.

Splits last time (from road to NE end, back to road, to SW end, back to road, to NE end, back to road, total):

6:10, 6:00, 11:05, 8:41, 5:46, 5:37= 43:18.

This time:
5:34, 5:20, 9:56, 8:03, 5:31, 5:27 = 39:51

Routes this time were probably a little straighter, which accounted for some of the improvement. But still, nice to be faster. Actually, wasn't trying to run fast, just keep chugging along on the uphills and use the downs for recovery. The ups did feel easier.

36 down, 14 to go.

Weighed my shoes on the kitchen scale.

Salomons I've been using for 9 months for rogaining and orienteering: 460 grams (per shoe).
Inov-8 Talon 212: 255 (I wear size 11, the 212 is for a smaller size).
Inov-8 Mudclaw 270: 355.

I like them all, but I won't use the Salomons for racing any more, the others just make me feel lighter on my feet.

So it seems that Michael Jackson died. That seems to be a big deal to a lot of folks. Yet another part of American culture that I remain blissfully unaware of.

I'm not so totally unaware that I didn't know who he was, but if I had just one word to describe my opinion of him, that word would be "weird." If you gave me two words, then I guess I'd go with "really weird."

Sometimes it is nice to be out of touch.

Training - Splits

Exact same workout as 6/10, 4x400 with 2, then 2.5, then 3 minutes rest, except had lighter shoes on. Don't know how much difference that makes, but it has to make some.

Took more willpower than ever. Figured I would get it done early in the day, so I went right after yoga class. Got to the track with the usual sense of dread, decided first I needed a pit stop, and in prime mosquito season I didn't feel like using the woods. So off to use the facilities at Historic Deerfield (the facilities were quite modern). Finally, back to the track, couldn't delay it any longer.

Averaged 86 last time, hoping for under 85 this time. Told myself to not go all out on the first one, that would just make the whole operation more painful, so of course I ran the first one as fast as I could, 82.5, legs wobbly at the end, struggling to hold on, first 200 in 40.x, second in 42.x.

Figured that the next would be slower, but it was just the same, the whole package, despair beforehand knowing what was coming, 40.x and 42.x, wobbly at the end, and 82.2.

And ditto the third, barely making it, 82.2, and ditto once more for the fourth, 82.3. Each time feeling like in the last 100 it was impossible to keep going, and each time hanging in there.

Nothing about it was fun, except for when it was over. But you have to get out of your comfort zone sometimes, and even out of your semi-comfort zone, if you want to make progress.

35 down, 15 to go.

C • "despair beforehand knowing what was coming" 2

Five laps before, including 2x100 and 1x200 faster. Walked a slow lap after.

Saw Every Little Step last night. Excellent, we both really enjoyed it.

Forest Park 5K in Springfield (every other Wednesday evening, alternates with a road 8K).

Was aiming for Roland Cormier's old age 64 record, which was very soft (23:33, Roland was running 18s and 19s all through his 50s and then faded). Figured it would be no problem even though the course is hard, maybe 30-45 seconds slower than Northampton. Ended up with 22:16, mostly pleased, thought under 22 would be really hard, and I think I'm still a little tired from Greylock. And the section along the stream was pretty muddy, sinking in a couple inches in paces.

Or maybe I'm just making foolish excuses....

Still a good hard effort. There is a steep hill at about the 1K mark that guarantees hard breathing for the rest of the race, and then the last couple hundred meters are up another steep hill. Tried to take my pulse after the finish, but had trouble concentrating until enough time had passed (20-30 seconds) that it had slowed down significantly.

Splits: 8:15 (2 posts), 13:43 (left turn), 18:05 (2 posts again), 21:13 (bottom of last hill).

Two other age records out there, Westfield 3M on Mondays, 20:19, Holyoke 5K on Thursdays, 20:48, both will be hard, maybe not possible. But will have to try. Got to do more track work first.

Starting tomorrow.

Best ever at Forest Park was 19:20 in 1983 (as compared to 18:32 at Northampton). More recently, 22:13 in 2004, 21:50 in 2005, 21:35 in 2006.

34 done, 16 to go, enjoying every one.

Ten minutes before to oil the joints and help clear out the GI system, 5 minutes after to get back to the cheap economists parking lot outside the park. :-)

Another excellent workout. Re-ran the Green course from a month ago at Mt. Tom --



Time then was 52:20, this time 45:31, no mistakes this time, plus didn't have to look at the map all that much, plus a better line in some places, plus I think I ran better, plus, of course, less facial wind resistance. Whatever, very nice.

Changes to the route -- to #8, on the line; to #9, a little closer to the line, just left of it; to #10, right on the line until the trail, then just a little left.

Interesting comparing splits, find out how much you can lose even when you spike the control, just by not executing really cleanly and efficiently. The challenge is to do that the first time, every leg.

Still no FDFs. Is it possible we got them all last year? Or is my new look just to much for them to handle?

33 good workouts down (neither the two sprints at Ratlum nor yesterday on the treadmill count), 17 to go, 3 weeks, on schedule.

C • Still no FDFs 4

Official results for the first and last Hexathon (times are for Forest Park Sprint 1, FP Sprint 2, Northampton Mile, Greylock Half-Marathon, Ratlum Sprint A, and Ratlum Sprint B), based on 5 best times.

1. Joe Brautigam, WCOC (27:43, 28:10, 5:42, 2:23:13, 18:46, 17:50) = 1:38:11

2. Pavlina Brautigam, WCOC (27:35, 29:46, 6:52, 2:34:07, 22:15, 18:42) = 1:45:10

3. Peter Gagarin, CSU (24:12, 28:49, 6,10, 2:26:47, 25:57, 20:18) = 1:45:26

4. William Hawkins, CSU (19:20, 22:08, ----, 1:46:32, 14:54, 13:47) = 2:56:41

5. Ross Smith, CSU (21:54, 21:43, ----, 1:55:36, 15:50, 16:08) = 3:11:11

6. Samantha Saeger, NEOC (28:11, 26:56, ----, 2:02:34, 20:50, 19:34) = 3:38:05

7. Jeff Saeger, NEOC (DNF, 32:42, ----, 2:25:53, 33:12, 33:40) = DNF

C • Weekend... 2

Green course - Splits

1. So the Hexathon (as Ross called it) is history. The scoring system was simple -- no point system to worry about, no computers needed, just take your best 5 times from the 6 events.

Cynics would point out that this gave a serious advantage to anyone running all 6 events, because they got to toss out their time at Greylock, but, hey, it was a Hexathon not a pentathlon. Clear winners were Joe (thanks to his superior sprinting at Ratlum Mt.) and Pavlina.

Was it a crazy thing to do? Of course. So what, life is short.

Will it be done again? We're not that crazy. If you weren't there, you missed it. Forever.

2. I think I survived. Nothing really hurts. I ran the first four events hard, staggered through the fifth and cruised through the sixth. I think I might be a little tired. I may try to get out on the bike for a little bit if the rain holds off.

The Inov-8 shoes are great. Used the Mudlaw 370s for Graylock, seemed real good, and the Talon 212s for the sprints and mile, felt really light and comfortable. The Mudclaws have a stiff heel counter, and my left heel was getting a touch tender on the steep climb near the top, but it didn't bother me thereafter, nor this morning.

3. The shave. Looks strange, feels strange, but then I've always felt I looked strange so this is nothing new, just different. Gail is reserving judgment. Will I grow the beard back? Who knows. I expect to take a bit of razzing, but that is nothing new either. :-)

The G was down a bit this morning but I doubt the shave was the reason.

In Greenfield anyway, wet roads so I didn't feel like biking, so having preached the virtues of the treadmill to Phil as a good place to run if you are not sure how long the body will hold up, it seemed only right to hop on the treadmill myself.

A five minute walk to start oiling the joints, then 2 miles at a pace slowly ratcheting up from 10:00 per mile to 7:30. Felt pretty good, sweating away (which felt weird on my newly-shaved parts), could have run for a while but dinner was calling.

Also presented myself at the office. The ladies were unanimous that I looked both younger and different, though I don't think any went so far as to say I looked better, nor did any come and give me a few strokes to check it out up close. Perhaps if I had come in on casual Friday?

I wonder if women who cut their hair much shorter have a similar anxiety -- what will they think, also what will they say (which might be quite different)? -- the first time they see friends. A test of one's self-confidence. Because this trivial matter of hair, so totally unimportant, is also so very important.

C • Gizmo 3

Maps from yesterday at Ratlum Mt: Sprint A and Sprint B.

Event: WCOC BBQ, Sprints, Meeting at DeWeese Farm
 

What a great weekend. Six races, wonderful company.

Now totally wasted.

And, thanks to the fine work of Ms. Pavlina and an encouraging crowd at the WCOC summer meeting, almost clean shaven. Now off to see if I can remember how to use a razor and finish the job.

And the initial verdict is in -- I'm looking very good. :-)

C • Clip & Snip, part 2 18

Mt. Greylock Trail Race, a half-marathon more or less.

So, with this the fourth event of the weekend, I was not exactly well-rested, but I didn't feel awful either. No soreness from yesterday. And the weather was better than expected, not raining. Picked up Jeff and Sam and Ross in Greenfield and headed up in the hills.

The Greylock course has varied a lot over the years. I'd run this version once, 4 years ago, time was 2:19. Didn't figure I'd match that because all my times have gotten slower, no reason that this would be an exception. And it wasn't.

One of the things I like to do is take splits at trail races. It's useful when I run the course again, gives me a sense of how I'm doing, plus provides some entertainment value. So my splits from 2005 had been --

1, Junction of Bellows Pipe and Thunderbolt: 15:49
2. Junction of Bellows Pipe and AT: 38:08 (22:19)
3. Top: 46:22 (8:14)
4. Cross road at top of Sperry Road: 1:14:49 (28:27)
5. Jones Nose: 1:35:09 (20:20)
6. Leave Cheshire Harbor Trail: 2:06:45 (31:36)
7. Finish: 2:19:19 (12:34)

The question was how much slower I would be. I was assuming I could still get under 2:30.

We headed off, and up. I didn't feet great, didn't feel terrible, just sweating profusely. Some running, a good bit of walking. Thought I was doing OK, hit the first split, 17:28, yikes, not good at all, over 10% slower. And feeling like I was working too hard.

Up and up, mostly walking, second split at the top of the ridge, 41:23 (23:55), that was a little better than expected, mood picked up. And then a little more up to the tower, 50:05 (8:42), also not so bad.

The next couple of miles are what any orienteer would normally love -- rocks, roots, mud, water everyplace (though never more than knee-deep) -- which I don't do too bad on these days, but my coordination is not what it used to be, plus I really really didn't want to do anything stupid. So in places I was pretty cautious, though still probably taking a few too many risks. Eventually got over to Sperry Road, seemed forever, 1:20:28 (30:23), not too bad. Then over to Jones Nose, trail not so bad, some mud, some rocks but pretty good running, felt like I was plugging along a little better, 1:41:30 (21:02), pretty good!

The next section is always a pain in the ass. After an initial downhill, there is a long gradual slog uphill (upstream), then about a mile of flat mud, before it starts to drop in earnest. All on a jeep trail, no problem with rocks and roots. So it's just a matter of gritting your teeth and doing it. And I gritted my teeth pretty well, 2:14:45 (33:15). And then almost all downhill to the finish, one last uphill after crossing the bridge, managed at least to run all that, finished pretty strong in 2:26:47 (12:02).

So not so bad. Mostly satisfying, a little unsatisfying, the latter just the continual process of dealing with the inevitable slowing down.

Ross did great, Sam did really great, first woman, Jeff was a minute ahead of me, much stronger up the climb. Also there were Will Hawkins, third overall, Joe and Pavlina.

And then, since there was a lot more to do, changed quickly, collected my container of fresh strawberries for the first 60+, and we all headed off for Ratlum Mountain.

Results. The course map, more or less, especially questionable from miles 1 to 3.

Event #5, Sprint A at Ratlum Mountain. Got checked in, figured I should try to warm up a little. The first attempt at running was not fun, no oil in the joints, feet hurt. But after a few minutes of little bits of shuffling and then slow jogging things loosened up.

Headed off, running not so bad through #5, not fast but a steady tempo. 6 through 9 were slow, scrambling through the laurel, but not terrible. And then I bonked big-time, real fast. Sweating like crazy, suddenly no energy at all, even walking the little uphills was a real struggle. Staggered around the rest of the course, really slowly. Definitely low blood sugar.

I've bonked before, but very rarely this badly. The time I remember most vividly was one year at the Escarpment Run, 18 miles, about 4 miles from the end I lost it, zero energy, couldn't even run the flats. Begged a cupful of something sweet from a passing hiker, and within 5 to 10 minutes I was ripping down the trail again.

So this time, I was done Sprint A, but there was still one more "sprint" to be done. I saw Rhonda -- "Can you get me something sweet, anything?" A glass of OJ and a very sweet cookie appeared, and were inhaled. Sat for 5 minutes. Ordered up one more cookie just to be sure. Sat a couple more minutes and then....

Map coming

Sprint B. Headed off, and no kidding, the legs felt good. Ran a nice steady modest pace all the way around. My orienteering left something to be desired, missed 1, 5 (headed for 14), and 14. But a lot more fun than the first sprint. And very happy to be done.

Amazing how the mind and body can work, or not work.

Excellent courses by Charlie. Best ever.

Map coming

Sprint A - Splits

Sprint B - Splits

Event: NEOC: Forest Park Sprints and Picnic
 

Phil's sprints at Forest Park. This was Sprint 1, mostly on trails. Not a bad run after a little fumble at the first control. Tried my other pair of new shoes from Inov-8, seemed fine.

Sprint 2, more in the woods and slower. Several screw-ups (5, 8, 9) but not so bad.

Four more races to go in the next 24 hours....

Maps -- Sprint 1 and Sprint 2.

Also put out 5 controls, picked up 6 after, maybe 30 minutes each, but it was very non-stressful so I can't call it training.

The Northampton Mile. Net downhill maybe 70', all at about the half-mile mark.

Ran OK. First quarter in 91, feeling too fast, but knowing the downhill was coming. Second quarter in 93, last 100 yards or so sharply downhill, but I used it to recover instead of speeding up. Third quarter in 95, first 100 yards or so gently downhill, still a little conservative. Last quarter in 92, felt good at the end, obviously had a little left over. 6:11 total, a little better than expected given I already had two sprints in the legs. I'd guess the downhill was worth 5 seconds, maybe a little more.

Quite good fun actually. And was over really quickly.

Joe B also ran. Disappeared like a shot at the start. I think he was about 5:40, don't think he was really working hard.

Warm-ups before the first sprint and the mile.

Sprint 2 - Splits

Sprint 1 - Splits

Just a short ride to get a little exercise instead of a snack. Bookmill loop. Timing was not too bad -- according to Gail it rained here pretty hard, starting after I left and ending before I got back. I just got a couple of sprinkles.

Blood pressure today was low 120s over about 70, it's been better since I lost a few pounds.

B-day -2?

So this was 2 weeks ago --

Thursday evening track group. And a nice evening it was. And there's is no other way to put it -- just a great workout. :-)

A good crowd, maybe 15 people, I was roughly in the middle as far as speed. The plan was 2x800, then 2x1000, then 2x800, with a modest amount of rest in between. Two weeks ago I did a similar workout with 800s from 3:19 to 3:23, so the goal this time was 3:20 or just a little less.

(distance, time, rest)
800: 3:17.9, 1:14
800: 3:16.4, 1:15
1000: 4:06.7 (800 in 3:17), 1:38 (including back to the start)
1000: 4:02.2 (800 in 3:14), 1:47 (including back to the start)
800: 3:13.5, 1:24
800: 3:09.9

All of them felt easy except the last one, easy meaning around threshold pace, no faster, could have kept going. Felt really good.

Tonight couldn't have been more different.

For starters, rain. It looked like we'd get a break in the all-day rain, but that was not to be, seemed to get harder.

Next, nothing felt easy, everything a struggle.

And, hard to call it a great workout, other than it got done (mostly).

The plan for our group of 6 was 2x400, 800, 2x1000, 800, 2x400, with rest of about 60-75 seconds, not so much. I had thought that a reasonable goal would be to try to keep to a 6:20 pace, or 95 seconds per lap. But that proved too ambitious.

(distance, time, rest)
400: 1:35.8, 53
400: 1:34.4, 54
800: 3:12.1, 1:18
800: 3:16.2, 2:16 (cut this one short, a little more rest, needed it)
800: 3:15.0, 2:18 (ditto)
800: 3:14.3, 1:15
400, 1:31.5, 58
400, 1:30.6

A struggle all the way. But, got it done, even if slightly modified, and there's something to be said for that.

A couple laps before and a couple after. We started the intervals 5 minutes earlier than expected (the guy in charge is very anal about time). I could have used a couple more laps before, though I'd guess it was going to be a struggle anyway. Some days are like that.

C • Time at least for a letter to the department 1

At the trails at the Brattleboro Retreat after a round of RP just up the street with Mike Fritz. I had hoped to run first, it's so nice to get it done with early, but that just didn't happen. But I got it done right afterwards, and the legs felt not as bad as feared.

Up to the Ice Pond, down to the Retreat farm and back up, up to the top of the ski jump and then back down, and then back to the parking on Dummerston Road. All seemed to go by quite quickly. New shoes seemed OK.

Track tomorrow.

So it seems like a reasonable plan for the upcoming weekend should include the NEOC sprints at Forest Park in Springfield on Saturday, the Greylock Half Marathon on Sunday morning, and then after a quick transfer and with a special dispensation from the Duke of Ratlum Mountain for a late start for Sprint 1, the up-to-now totally detested, but this year under a new philosophy (that they are supposed to be fun), world famous Ratlum Mountain Sprints. With just enough time when we get there to don the blue caps, because FDF season is just about here.

To be followed by delicious food and drink, plus some special entertainment to be announced as soon as the final plans, which have been 39 years in preparation, are decided upon.

Anyone game? Joe? Ross? Sam? Clem? Or should I just be asking the guys with a little macho (and mush for brains)? Jeff? George? Clint?

C • tempting 24

One more thing to make Saturday more worthwhile -- the Northampton Mile late Saturday afternoon.

So that makes a 6 races for the weekend. How can anyone pass that up?

C • fdfs 5

From the results of yesterday's race... :-}

Warm-up for the Northampton 5K XC. As almost always, legs didn't feel like there was going to be much there when called on.

Last time I was here was 3 weeks ago, ran 22:14. A couple weeks before that 22:34. The goal this time was under 22. The stretch goal for sometime in the next 4 weeks to have a go at the age 64 record of 21:33.

Here is my post-mortem from 3 weeks ago:

Splits: 7:13, 7:05, 7:14, 42.

Still need to HTFU when it comes to working hard. Holding back a little bit for the first couple of miles (no lactic acid in the legs at the top of the first hill, no real heavy breathing) as if I'm scared of crossing the red line, though I'm not really that close. The third mile was closer to the edge, felt pretty close to the right amount of pain, still could have pushed a little more. Just have to relearn how to do this.

So the plan this week was to start faster, get under 7 for thr first mile (down then up), then a little faster for the second mile (mostly flat, one drop), and then if I died on the last mile, so be it. Nothing ventured, noting gained, at least go down trying.

Saw Seth just before the start, he usually beats me in these things pretty handily. But not tonight.

Shoes were the old stand-bys, Saloman 460s, they're not really called 460s, but that's what each one weighs, a nice solid pound each. I got some much lighter shoes yesterday, but it seemed possibly foolish to race in them first time, plus I wanted to see if the last 3 weeks of solid training had made a difference.

Though I did trim my beard. Trim, not cut off completely. Though I'm thinking about that. Even checked out razors at the store. But didn't buy one. Yet.

C • Clip & Snip 21

Ran as planned, a harder effort right from the start, so I was already breathing hard when we hit the first hill a half mile in. Passed Seth on the way up, not sure at the moment if that was wise, but no holding back. Hit the first mile in 6:49. Holy shit. 24 seconds faster than 3 weeks ago. Definitely working hard.

And for mile 2 too. As quick as I could, definitely breathing hard, 6:42, 13:31. Holy shit again. Though the good time was tempered by the thought that I was right where I had to be if I wanted to beat the age record (21:33). Which meant I had to keep going.

And mile 3 was suddenly longer. Seriously. Not just in my mind. Don, who started and carefully measured the course 23 years ago, had decided a couple of weeks ago that runners over recently years had been gradually cutting a couple corners in the third mile, making the course maybe 20-30 yards short. So he'd gone out and placed big logs marking the original route. Not what I needed at this point, but the course was the course.

Hung in there best as I could up the hills. Knew I had to hit 3 miles in 20:50 to have a chance, got there in 20:47 (7:16 uphill). It was in the bag. A good finish, 21:27, one word after I crossed the line, "Wonderful."

Splits: 6:49, 6:42, 7:16, 40. Forty-seven seconds faster than 3 weeks ago. Lots of good workouts in that period, the best being the 4 hard 400s.

Took longer than usual for the pulse to calm down.

So I finally remembered what it's like to race. Now I'll have to see if I can repeat it.

C • Happy 7

C • big logs? 2

A variety of trails at Hopkinton State Park, including for the first half mile or so the rootiest trail I have ever seen, no rocks, no dirt, just roots. Yuk.

Not too exciting, but did the planned 45 minutes, low stress.

Stopped before the run at the Inov-8 warehouse, tried on various shoes, bought a couple pair. Time for something new.

And then after the run, a brisk walk (2:50) around the Lakeside 18 at Juniper Hill. More excursions into the trees than I would have wished. Very interesting topography, both in and out of the woods.

And then, home just in time to go see The Brothers Bloom. Wasn't expecting much, just some light entertainment, but disappointed anyway. Can't win 'em all.

C • Warehouse? 3

Pocumtuck Ridge trail, up to the towers as usual and then down the jeep road to Pine Nook Road, and back. Route.

Legs were tired and a little sore from yesterday, so the plan today was to just take it easy. And since I was doing that, why not go just a little further. But mainly, just not run hard.

Which I did, nice relaxed pace throughout. And coming back up the jeep road was pleasantly easy. Mission accomplished. 24 down, 26 to go.

So a guy was taking photos at Northfield yesterday and they included the following shots of yours truly.

I looked at the first one, and my immediate reaction is, Wow, I look really old. Now, since I am rather old, and possibly even really old, maybe that is the expected reaction, but somehow after a lot of work and a lot of sweating and not doing too too bad, to then look and see how bad you really look is, well, unsettling.



Though, as I have finally come to realize, there aren't a whole lot of folks out there who are entirely happy with their self-image. And I am certainly less unhappy than I used to be.

And, anyway, reason to hope, there was a second photo....



Great, now I still look really old, plus both legs seem to be attached to the rest of me at rather strange angles.

So I raised the subject, the first one, the looking really old -- I don't think I'm up for having my legs reattached -- at dinner, out to eat to celebrate our anniversary a few days late. Should I dispense with the beard?

Gail is sure I would look younger, though unsure of exactly what the new look would be, since I haven't shaved for 38 years. And she's not sure I would want to start shaving again now. She did say that my dad would have gladly dispensed with shaving, except that his beard would have been white and made him look older, and he didn't want that.

So we ruminated on that for a bit, and then on the equally drastic steps that she could take, dying and/or cutting her hair.

Who knows where this will go. But if someone comes up to you and sounds familiar but looks somewhat odd, well, you have been warned.

C • Lans Taylor? 15

New England Trail Running Champs at Northfield. Just up the road so it seemed silly not to go.

Bad news -- not much zip in the legs. Time was about as expected, but about 4 minutes slower than three years ago, last time I raced the course.

Good news -- seems it was good enough for first in the 60+ crowd, therefore a medal and a pair of shoes.

Other good news -- nice time hanging out afterwards. Ross and Sam and Jeff were there. Sam was second woman. And I found out that Ross (3rd) and Brendan (1st) and Ian (2nd) took the top three places for CSU at the US Champs in radio orienteering last weekend. Very cool, although I must say that the CSU publicity machine seems to have missed the boat on this one.

Also saw some old friends from days when I did more trail races, also some local runners I haven't seen for a while. All very pleasant.

And checked out the shoe offerings from Inov8. May have to try them out.

And my time wasn't so bad, though clearly more work needs to be done.

C • Powerline photo 2

C • CSU owns radio orienteering! 6

Legs did not feel at all spry. Knew it was going to be a struggle.

And then an afternoon round at Hickory Ridge with Sunderland friends Will (artist and maze designer) and Liz (lawyer) and a glass blower friend of theirs. Good company, mellow golf, and then a while spent afterwards enjoying a beer and talking about town politics. Very very pleasant.

Biking in to Northampton to pick up the car. This time a very slight tailwind (2 mph?).

And then quickly up to Greenfield where the annual Relay for Life fundraiser for the cancer society was just kicking off, and first thing on the agenda was a lap around the half-mile old harness track for "survivors." And I joined in, feeling both totally out of place -- because for whatever reason I don't feel like a survivor, maybe because I had a case that it seems has turned out to be fixable without going through a lot of the really bad stuff others do -- and also totally the right place to be.

Looked around a lot, wondered who had lost what body parts or had what part of them traumatized, noticed how the clear majority were women.

And I also thought of the old phrase, God helps them that help themselves, and that, while doing a lap around this track at a very slow walk was good for the soul, much better for me overall was the 185 hours of training over the not quite six months since surgery. There is nothing like working up a good sweat, both for the body and the soul.

Class has been moved to early Thursday morning....

As I was passing some time in Downward Dog, it occurred to me that that was probably quite beneficial for the whole back of my legs -- hamstrings, calfs, Achilles. A good reason to keep going.

5K XC race at the Holyoke reservoirs. Course is just about flat, cinder service roads, like the old cinder tracks, not that anyone here ever ran on them. Route.

Goal was under 21:40 (7-minute per mile pace). Thought it was doable. But the race doesn't have miles marked and it's been a while since I ran it, so I couldn't remember any splits to various turns. So I never was sure how I was doing. But I felt like I was moving pretty well, and the pace seemed steady the whole way, neither dying at the end nor a lot left in the tank. Final time was a pleasant surprise, 6:48 pace.

Just need to go 17 seconds faster for an age record on the course. So much easier said than done.

Once again, feeling of real satisfaction afterwards. 22 good workouts down, 28 to go, 34 days. Making good progress, still a ways to go.

C • I did. 6

Before (8:00) and after (10:00). Before seemed just about right, and also all I had time for as I got there late.

Home from NH after a very early round of RP. Got lucky again on the weather, forecast was for rain both yesterday and today, but only had the umbrellas out once yesterday (and not at all today), and that was just for a few minutes.

Anyway, legs seemed tired all day. I had planned a track workout because I have a meeting tomorrow that will probably conflict with the Thursday evening group. The plan had been to repeat the workout of 2 or 3 weeks ago, 8x400, 100 jog -- I really like to do the exact same workouts from time to time to get a better reading on what my fitness is. But I just didn't feel up to it. In fact I almost didn't get out the door.

But at the last moment decided on a different plan, another old standby but not done for many years, just a simple 4x400 pretty much as fast as possible, but with adequate rest in between to be fully recovered. A workout to focus on running form and leg turnover, and in the process die four times. I remember doing it a couple of times when I was trying to break 5 minutes for the mile. I'm pretty sure then the numbers were 4x400 in about 66-67 each, dying 4 times of course, with a good 5 minutes in between to get ready for the next. (Ended up with a 5:02 and then a 5:01 not long after, and that was as good as it got.)

That was 20 years ago and the numbers have changed a lot since then. Didn't know what to expect. The hope was to be under 90 seconds, thought I should be able to manage that but not sure.

So I ran the first one -- 86.1, fast as I could. Then 2 minutes rest.

Then the second one -- 86.9, again, fast as I could, thinking towards the end that stopping after two was still an OK workout. But once done, the resolve to keep going came back. 2:30 rest, to help morale.

Then the third one -- 85.9, once again, fast as I could, dying again, thinking towards the end that it was clearly going to be a set of Bricker intervals (i.e., doing fewer reps than intended). But again, once done, the resolve to keep going came back. 3:00 rest this time, to help morale.

And finally the fourth one -- 85.1, best yet. And so fine to be done.

No apparent damage to the legs. Very positive for the psyche. Will have to have a go at a mile sometime in the next month. I think 6:15 will be as good as I can hope for, and that may take some doing, and also more preparation beforehand.

And I really like doing -- or at least having done -- stuff like this. I'm clearly out of touch with the vast majority of orienteers.

C • Nice... 3

C • mile 1

Four laps to warm up, including 2x100 to stretch out. And then just a slow lap walking after.

C • Cool. 2

Anniversary today. 36 years. This year is shaping up to be absolutely the best.

C • Congratulations! 6

Same as yesterday, again late in the day after a round of rogaine practice. A little slow going up (24:04), so worked harder coming back (20:28).

C • watch 1

Woods roads in Wolfeboro, NH (visiting the Goodwins at the northern outpost and clubhouse of WCOC). Route. A nice psychological process -- committed to doing the run, just enough time after a round of rogaine practice (i.e. golf) and before dinner, which helped in a way because there was no sitting around thinking about it, just change and do it. As usual, the legs felt dead and stiff and awkward to start, but I am slowly learning just to start slowly and after a few minutes things will loosen up and feel much better, which they did.

Very pleasant (after the first few minutes), chugged up the hills without undue difficulty. No FDFs yet, I expect they will be showing up in about 10 days. 23:50 out/up, 21:07 back.

Wonderful afternoon on the golf course with Gail, Peter Goodwin, and his son Hunt. Excellent company, beautiful afternoon.

Once again I was tested -- snowmen (i.e. 8) on the 4th and 5th holes, both par 4s. And once again I did not lose my cool, just cussed a couple of times (you have to be allowed a little reaction) and then moved on. The round as a whole (86) was the usual mixture of the sublime and the absurd, but psychologically it/I was brilliant. As was the new mellow Gail.

I could look at a day like this and have mammoth regrets that it took me so long in life to learn some things, like how to deal with the ups and downs life throws at you. But a more accurate reading of my feelings would be -- better learn this stuff late than never.

Event: WCOC Osbornedale State Park
 

WCOC local meet at Osbornedale (site of the relay champs a couple of years ago).

No legs/energy today. Just sort of accepted it. Still put out some effort, but the pace was pretty slow. I compared splits with Andy V (58) and Sergei G (60) and the difference was all on the uphill legs. Just didn't have it. The warm weather (low to mid-80s) didn't help either.

Clem had 55, seemed happy enough, or at least not bummed like after yesterday's run.

My navigating was again pretty solid, can't think of any problems of any significance.

Hungry.

My route.

Warm-up. Didn't take long to work up a sweat.

Just a reminder before I forget -- I need to get an Obama shirt (or several) for the trip to Europe.

C • but... 1

Red course - Splits

Event: NEOC Gay City State Park
 

NEOC local meet at Gay City, a place that I have enjoyed orienteering several times, although there is a significant difference in the feel of the place depending on whether the summer vegetation is out or not. It's not so much that the visibility is less, it's actually still pretty good, but the ferns are up, hiding the rocks. The ferns are far from everywhere, but they make a difference where they are. So a place that is quite fast under dormant conditions changes to only moderately fast this time of year. But still a fun place to go no matter what the season.

I had a good run navigationally, but physically the same problem as last week, ran out of zip after about 30 minutes and was really struggling the last half, lots of walking breaks and stumbling and falling. No serious damage done, though at one point map and control card were quite bloody, all from a little slice at the end of a finger. I guess my blood is flowing well.

It also seemed hot, I think it was about 80F. But that's just a lame excuse. Also didn't come into to this fresh, been training through everything, another lame excuse. Really just need to HTFU and learn to push for 45+ minutes like I will have to do in 6 weeks.

At least the first half was good, ran all the hills. And the orienteering was solid all the way, getting really good mental images of how the controls sat, so never missed anything by more than 10 or 20 meters. That's good, got to keep building on that, you want to develop good habits, so that when the pressure is on you still do things right.

My routes. Nothing that I would do any differently, except not fade. Which might serve as a reminder that I have been eating too much recently. At least I was moving well the first half.

And at least one initial connection, met Marie. And came close to a scalp or two, but Pavlina ducked me by running the Green course and Clem didn't make quite enough blunders. Close, of course, gets you nothing.

C • Nice job, maybe I'll go run... 2

Warm-up. Seemed about right. Started about 6 or 8 minutes later and felt good.

Cool-down, quite literally, consisted of a trip to the pond. Very nice.

A nice evening so it seemed like more exercise was called for to break the recent habit of chowing down after dinner. First a trip to the range to swat a few, then a very nice hike up South Sugarloaf at dusk, the full moon rising over the Pelham hills.

13:38 up (brisk pace), 12:36 down (mellow pace, wanted to keep a tight ship).

So part-way up, right at the hairpin, I passed this guy carrying a skateboard. Was he really going to ride it down? Just then a gal passed coming down, and she asked him that very question. And he said he is. And she said, "Oh, that's sketch."

And he said a couple more things about maybe not going all the way to the top because he's forgotten his slide gloves, not sure exactly what they are, but they sound like what you might wear if your confidence is not too high.

And again she said, "That's sketch."

Now that's a new term for me, and I'm not sure if it means, "That's awesome," or "That's idiotic," or maybe a little of both.

I got up to the top, admired the moon and the darkening landscape, and then headed down. Just as I was getting to the hairpin, I could make out the skateboarder, and he was riding down, but he wasn't going very fast and there was a terrible grinding noise.

And I was thinking, how sketch can it be to ride downhill with the brakes on max and going about 5 mph? Unless sketch means just idiotic, in which case he was absolutely sketch.

He got down ahead of me, but not by much.

C • sketch 15

Gail announced that she too is getting more mellow. That is such excellent news. :-)

Red - Splits

Back over to the other side of Mt. Toby for another test on the Power Line Power Climb (.85 miles, 800' climb). Last time a couple of weeks ago was 13:54 on a day when the legs felt good, and when I was surprised and delighted by the time.

So today's plan was to match or better that, and in particular to run at least all the first quarter (the steeper pitches get steeper as you work your way up, and each quarter on it's own is tougher, plus there is the cumulative effect).

Splits from last time at the usual places: 3:45, 7:26 (3:41), 10:13 (2:47), and 13:54 (3:41). But I forget to check these numbers before I left, so I didn't really know how I was doing. All I know is it was a struggle and I felt slow. So this time the surprise was even greater as I reached the top in 13:07. Where did that come from? Whatever, very cool.

Pulse was around 170. Ran all the first quarter. Running all the first half would be really hard.

Splits this time: 3:29, 6:58 (3:413:29), 9:37 (2:39), and 13:07 (3:30).

Plus over to the start (6:28) and back down the jeep trail from the top (21:08, includes a bit of time dealing with a dog, owners couldn't be bothered to do anything to control it).

Thursday evening track group. And a nice evening it was. And there's is no other way to put it -- just a great workout. :-)

A good crowd, maybe 15 people, I was roughly in the middle as far as speed. The plan was 2x800, then 2x1000, then 2x800, with a modest amount of rest in between. Two weeks ago I did a similar workout with 800s from 3:19 to 3:23, so the goal this time was 3:20 or just a little less.

(distance, time, rest)
800: 3:17.9, 1:14
800: 3:16.4, 1:15
1000: 4:06.7 (800 in 3:17), 1:38 (including back to the start)
1000: 4:02.2 (800 in 3:14), 1:47 (including back to the start)
800: 3:13.5, 1:24
800: 3:09.9

All of them felt easy except the last one, easy meaning around threshold pace, no faster, could have kept going. Felt really good.

15 down, 35 to go.

Five laps before, one after.

So a little over two weeks into an 8-week training program. Not that there is a real program with workouts planned for the whole period. The goal is just to get in a lot of quality workouts, try to recover the feeling of what it means to race. And try not to get injured. And try to keep up the enthusiasm, because sometimes training hard just plain hurts.

So far, so good, for sure. I'm clearly reaping the reward already from the drop in the G. The hard workouts are still hard, but when the legs feel good, the workouts are so much fun (just have to think back to various times when a month or two would go by and not a single run felt good, but you keep at it because there is no alternative). At the end of this evening's, I was just ecstatic, rather than the usual more subdued glad-it's-over feeling.

But keeping the fingers crossed that I don't self-destruct. Then again, even if I do, in the meantime I'm enjoying the journey and not just looking forward to the destination.

Back from the track, 5 minutes to change, and then off to see The Garden, yet another fine flick. I seem finally to have expunged from my memory some horrible flick I saw a week or so ago, can't even remember the name....

Got me thinking on the way home about local politics and what needs to be done. We are facing a mammoth budget deficit in town, mostly for reasons beyond our control, and it's not clear how we will deal with it. Town meeting in a week, time for some creative thinking.

C • State & local finances 6

A day off from running, got out to bike instead. In to Northampton to pick up the car. A bit of a headwind, felt OK. Good for dispensing with a little irritation at the car folks who took most of the day to determine that they had to order a part and therefore couldn't fix what was wrong. So I get to do it again next week. At least I was mellow when I got there.

On the plus side, finally got tickets for Europe, thanks to George being clever, got a good itinerary at a good price. Though those folks were also trying to drive me crazy in the process. We must have tried 6 or 8 times to book some flights, get all the information in, click "Purchase" or whatever, and then get told the flight is sold out or the price isn't valid or something, in other words, start all over again.

And really, customer service isn't hard if you just try a little.

Movie time again (got to wipe out any lingering memories of ST). Got going a little to late to see The Garden (which has its last day tomorrow...), but in time for Summer Hours. Very very fine.

What a great day! Well, maybe the running was a little sluggish, but I got it done. But first....

An early start, headed up a ways into Vermont to meet up with Mike Fritz for a round of golf. I've hardly played at all this year, maybe a couple rounds, plus a couple times just a few holes. But it's fun to get together with Mike at some course between us, get to play at different places and catch up on life.

Today was a test as to how I would cope with the usual adversity golf throws at you. And the bottom line is that I was brilliant. And my golf wasn't so bad either, much to my surprise.

It ranks right up there as one of the most enjoyable rounds I have ever played. Good company, of course. A beautiful day. But among the adversities were a rather slow pace of play ahead of us, and I am usually very impatient, and greens that were pretty horrible, having, along with most courses in central Vermont, suffered a lot of winter kill. Normally the slow play would drive me nuts. Not today. Normally greens this bad would really drive me nuts. Not today. As I said, I was brilliant, psychologically speaking. It just happened, no special trying, no gritting my teeth, no talking to myself to get myself to behave. It just happened. And that is so cool.

Towards the end we were talking about how often we played, and how you didn't want to play too often, would waste too much time that could be spent productively. I said some people manage to play all the time and always enjoy it. Mike guessed neither of us was sociable enough to just play for the social pleasure, or drank anywhere near enough to fit in with that crowd. I guessed we might also both be too competitive, that it's hard to play without caring about the score, and that meant some days were going to be less fun.

I also guessed I was still caring about my score a little, but caring less. And that was a good thing.

Played #18, long par 3 across a valley to an elevated green. Beautiful 5-wood left me 40' across a stretch of green that would have been mapped with lots of little brown dots (broken ground), just terrible. Three putts, the miss on the second followed by the usual "Shit." Mike said, Don't let it bother you, it's the green. I said, it (meaning being pissed) was already gone, it hung around for 5-10 seconds at the most, and then gone. All smiles walking to the car. And that is so nice.

Initial plans to play again in 2 or 3 weeks. And then a quick departure since there was only so much time to get a run in....

Drove down to Putney and then up into the hills for a run I did once with Ken Walker on Putney Mountain Ridge, starting at the south end. The initial hope had been to run to Pinnacle Mt. and back, about 10 miles, but I didn't quite have enough time for that after the slow golf. So I just headed off, thinking I had time for about 80 minutes.

Within a couple of minutes I decided 60 minutes would be enough, and even that a struggle. Dead legs, also tired from being on my feet for 4 hours, plus dehydrated for sure. Of course I had no water with me.

But I kept plugging away, and at 30 minutes I looked on the map at what lay ahead and decided I wanted to go to the next junction. That added a couple more hills. Got there right at 40 minutes, perfect, headed back. Hung in there OK until the last up, had to stop a couple of times for a brief break as I was quite wasted. But before much longer it was done.



Started at the kiosk at the south end, as far north as where the Headwaters Trail branches off.

And then quickly as I could, back to the office for a late afternoon tax appointment. This time of year things are seldom simple, and this seems to have been no exception. Guy about 70, had a stroke a year or so ago, managing pretty well, had a young friend along to help. They'd brought no papers, so this was just a session to figure out what he needed to try and find. It will be a challenge, it may require a bit of careful fiction. But rather than kicking myself for getting involved, I was quite looking forward to helping him out. So I gave them their homework, list of all the stuff I needed, and then headed home.

But not before dealing with another new client to be, buying a house in 2 weeks, first time, can get the 8K credit. Things are picking up.

Dinner just about ready when i got home. Homemade pizza, new variety (asparagus, onions, just a little bit of a couple of kinds of cheese), wonderful whole-wheat crust made from scratch. Delicious.

What a great day!

Mill River to Atkins Reservoir and back, a route I've run several times with Phil because it's close to UMass. It also is flat for the first mile or so, and I felt like I needed that, though it climbs some thereafter.

Really good run. Meaning a good time without a really hard effort, maybe the intensity was 3.5, but certainly not 4. Felt good, even up the hills.

Splits: 8:53 at junction for RF going north, 14:00 crossing main road, 16:30 crossing Market Hill Rd., 22:45 crossing flat Hills Road, 27:45 at turnaround. Back: 5:20 FH Rd., 10:11 MH Rd., 12:11 main road, 16:39 RF junction, 23:52 back. Cruising.

Quads still quite sore from last couple of days.

A pleasant surprise.

Best leg was 6-7, good route, moving well the whole time, reading the map well on the go, and thinking correctly on the approach -- on the compass, reading how the control sat on the slope, plus aware that I was going for the right-hand boulder. No way I was going to miss. Felt that way on every control.

Got to keep that mental focus and keep working on the fitness. And at some point on the "fighting spirit." Need to be running the course 4 minutes faster, and some of that comes from just willpower. (Not just the willpower on the day, but the willpower to train in the weeks before.)

When I was having a hard time signing up for the Oringen at the end of last week, I had a feeling mine wasn't an isolated case. Seems it wasn't. (The gist -- they have lots of pissed-off people, so the entry deadline has been extended a few days.)