Training May 14 - 20

Monday, May 14: GEHC Trails – 3 miles – I had to get over to the River Club for Coach’s golf tournament early this morning so I didn’t have much time to get a run in. I was going to take the day off, but ended up heading out for a quick three mile loop around the Environmental center. I was way too tired by the end of the day to get out for a second run. I did win a Nike Everclear putter though, so that was pretty sweet.

Tuesday, May 15: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – Normal morning run, up and around the GEHC then out and back on the greenway trail before work. I wanted to get out for another 3 or 5 in the afternoon but I got stuck at work a little late and Amanda wanted to go to trivia so I scrapped the second run in favor of dinner.

Wednesday, May 16: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – Today looked like it was going to be a good day to get in a workout in the afternoon, but knowing how the week was going early on I opted to run eight in the morning to make sure I got at least that much in. Turns out that was a wise decision. At the last minute I had to change gears and head down to Buckhead for our State of the Franchise event with some of our season ticket holders and our front office. By the time I got home I was starving and it was almost 9, so no second run let alone a workout. I’ll pay for that on Saturday.

Thursday, May 17: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – SSDD…same shit, different day. Ran the normal route again but at least the pace has been better this week so I feel like these are quality runs.

PM Run – GEHC Trails – 2 miles – Thunderstorms rolling in shortened this run to two miles. Better than nothing.

Friday, May 18: GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Out and back on the Sweetgum/Cherokee/Creekside trails. I got thrown for another loop today. Our GM did bike to work day and rode from Buckhead to Flowery Branch (40ish miles) so I was up at 5am to do clips then in the car to head down for the departure at 6. No morning run. By the time I got out of work I figured the best thing to do was just run five and call it a day with the race tomorrow.

Saturday, May 19: Dirty Spokes Mt. Tabor Trail Race – 12 miles (8 mile race + 3 wu & 2 cd) – I was not into this race at all…mentally or physically. I didn’t feel like my body was ready to run at all and mentally I’ve been out of it for over a week with all the stuff I’ve had going on a work. I’d been on my feet a lot and my mileage dropped again, so going into it I had a feeling it was going to be ugly. In the back of my head I hoped and figured that I’d snap out of it once we got going, but I really just wanted to get through it. I warmed up with Mitch and my legs felt awful. When we got to the line I talked to Jesse Rappole and Nathan Haskins for a quick second (both said they weren’t feel fast today) then we hit the trail. I tried to say close to the two of them but my legs wouldn’t cooperate. I ended up settling into survival mode and just ran the course. I ended up third in 54:15, which in part is a result of the technical difficulty of the course (it was tough) and part because I ran crappy. Last year I ran 52:0X here and a month ago I ran 55:08 for nine miles (yeah oosh).

After the race, Amanda and I drove over to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield and hiked up to the top of Kennesaw Mountain. We tagged a summit, even if it’s only like a mile hike to the top and it’s only like 1,000 foot summit, still counts.

Sunday, May 20: Gainesville State College – 11 miles – I needed a day to just relax so I took the short drive up to GSC on Sunday morning for two loops of the race course. I ran this really slow, but it was good to get back to running for an hour and a half on Sunday. My legs were still pretty trashed from the race yesterday and I definitely need to make stretching more of a focus and priority post run. I’m kicking around the idea of running in the Mountain Goat 10 miler in Caton next weekend.

Weekly Totals: 57 miles on 8 runs with one ugly race – This was a an okay week given how crazy it was work-wise. I think I would have hit 65 or 70 if it weren’t for a couple of early mornings and late nights. Hopefully I can get back on track and be around the 65-70 mpw mark over the next few weeks. I think that is going to be the best spot for me mileage-wise as I round out the summer before training camp starts.

Training May 7 – 13

Monday, May 7: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – Started the day with eight miles on the GEHC trails. I’ve been running this run under an hour pretty consistently over the last week or so, but I think all the running around we did this weekend with Amanda’s sister in town took a little something out of my legs as I came in a little slower today.

PM Run – GEHC Trails – Three miles - Started on the homesite up to the creekside, to the Cherokee, through the treetop course and finishing up with the sweetgum. Slow going as it’s starting to get hot. Upper 80s/low 90s. Got this run in despite Amanda and I planning to go see the Avengers tonight. I’m glad I did, even though we’ve been good and skipped the candy and popcorn for both the Avengers and Hunger Games it still felt good to get something in before sitting in a chair for three hours.

Tuesday, May 8: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – Identical run to yesterday morning. Slow going, but got in a solid eight miles. I probably need to get in a workout this week with Mt. Tabor in a couple weeks, but I’d like to feel like I have my legs under me a little bit more. I might need to take a day or two where I only run in the morning and take some time to relax.

PM Run – GEHC Trails – Same loop as yesterday. I think the couple of late nights are taking a toll on me. I’ve been really tired on my morning runs and had absolutely zero motivation for my afternoon runs.

Wednesday, May 9: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – Just went with one run today. My typical eight mile course, GEHC loop + the greenway out and back. I’ve seen a ton of rabbits lately. Today I saw a fairly large and unnerving snake. Someone dropped a huge rock on it but it was pretty sketchy looking. I see the big black rat snakes every once in a while but this guy was desert camo and looked an awful lot like a copperhead. I’m not one for killing animals in their habitat, but I gotta say I was glad that this one was dead. I’m not looking forward to running into any of its relatives though. With that said, it was probably a water snake or something harmless, but for story purposes it was a huge copperhead.

Thursday, May 10: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – Normal morning route, I finally seem to have broken out of my little funk. I think taking yesterday afternoon off to hang out and play video games was a good idea. We also stayed home from trivia so I got a chance to get a little more sleep, which I desperately needed. No workout this week but right now I am good with just getting runs in. I will probably pay for that come Mt. Tabor, but I’ll take a bunch of quality runs over a depressing workout right now. However, I do need to get back to getting in a tempo run each week, at least to finish out the Dirty Spokes series.

PM Run – GEHC Trials – Normal three mile loop, uneventful. Just trying to get the miles in.

Friday, May 11: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – Today is going to be a one run day with mini-camp starting at work for the rookies. I won’t get home until around 7 and Amanda is out early so I’m taking it as a one run day. I hate feeling like all I did was wake up, run, work, run again and then go to bed. I need some down time in there somewhere. Anyway, this morning I ran the typically eight mile run and checked in at 58 something, which I was pretty happy with. I think taking a couple of the afternoons off and getting back on my sleep cycle has helped my legs bounce back a little bit.

Saturday, May 12: GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Originally I hoped to be able to go over to Ft. Yargo to get in a long run before heading into the office but had to change gears when I found out I had to be in earlier than expected…then “disaster struck”…I forgot that today was Saturday and didn’t set my iPhone’s alarm. I woke up and 6:30 and scrambled to get clips done to be able to get out for any run at all. I managed to get in five on my out and back GEHC trail, but I was seriously depressed to only get in five. I did run 3 or 4 minutes faster than usual on this run, so that was nice, but now I’m going to have to get another five in tonight and I won’t be out of work until around 7…balls.

PM Run – GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Same route as the morning’s run. I ran it a shade faster than this morning, but I also stopped for a few minutes to mess around on the little kid’s treetop course. I got through most of it but I got a little nervous on one section that didn’t look like it would take my weight so I dropped down. You are definitely not supposed to do that, but there was no one out there at 7:45 at night…if they can’t take a joke.

Sunday, May 13: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – This was what I like to call a Rambo run. 90 percent trails in substantial rain and mud. After doing a run like this all I want to do is watch Rambo First Blood. I don’t know why, I guess it’s being in the woods in the gray, rainy weather. It just reminds me of that movie. Good thing I picked up the Blu-ray for five bucks at Target a while back. As for the actual run, it was pretty solid. I ran at a good pace for most of it with a slight slacker section about three quarters of the way through before picking it up for the last 10 minutes or so. I have definitely gotten back on track with this run as I’m getting it done under and hour again. Good end to an up and down week.

Weekly Totals: 67 miles on 11 runs – After tallying everything up and seeing that I ran 11 times last week and only got to 67 miles I was a little bit discouraged but at least I am running with some more consistency. Having to work this weekend meant no longer days on the weekends so I will live with it. I have been really up and down recently and if running eight in the morning and then adding three in the afternoon is what I am able to do with the time that I have then that’s what I will have to make work. The afternoon heat is starting to get to the high 80s, which makes it tough to get in quality miles in the afternoon and now that I am running my morning runs a little faster I am happy with what I am getting from them. I’d like to be able to have a couple days a during the week where I can get in a 10 or 12 mile run after work, because I’ve still got a few weeks before the temperatures get really oppressive, but as long as I can come in around 65-70 miles a week for the next two months I’ll be happy.

Training over the last few weeks

No Longer M.I.A.

I’ve been getting a little busy at work lately so I’ve kind of slacked on blogging my training. I’m going to do short wrap ups for the last few weeks then hopefully get back on track. I’ve had a couple of solid weeks, including my first two wins of 2012. Before I start with the recap I figure I owe a shout out to Saucony for accepting me to run for their Hurricane racing team this year. After running pretty well on the trails last year and my experience in running specialty, I was accepted to be a brand ambassador and run for the Saucony Hurricanes, so technically I’m sponsored by Saucony…yeah that’s right, what’s up?

I am really excited to be representing Saucony on the trails and roads this year (and hopefully in the future) because I really like their products and the direction they are headed in advancing the sport of running. The company’s #FindYourStrong campaign is very cool and I’m a firm believer in whatever motivates you to get outside and get moving, do it. I don’t care what sport it is, but I think it’s important for everyone to be active and that’s kind of the meaning I take from Find Your Strong. I also think that they are really on the forefront when it comes to offering a variety of shoe types. I’ve worked in a running specialty store, so I am familiar with gait analysis and the rise of minimalism, but at the end of the day I know everyone is different and has different needs. I think Saucony’s introduction of shoes like the Kinvara, Hattori and my new favorite the Peregrine. I also love what they are doing with some of their other shoes i.e. the Hurricane, Guide and Triumph by reducing the heel-to-toe drop down to 8mm. I’m not a barefoot, hardcore minimalist, but I do believe in the benefits of it and I love having the ability to run in shoes that give my feet and legs some different feels. My point is, I’d be running in Saucony’s whether or not I was a member of the Hurricanes team.

On to the wrap ups...

Wrap up 4/9 – 4/15 – Mountain Goat Nine Miler

This week started off well. After a pretty good showing at the Dirty Spokes Olde Rope Mill 6.5 mile trail race, I got third again but ran better than last year, I was able to bounce right back with a solid workout on Tuesday. I ran 8 sets of 30-60-90s on two loops of the Gainesville State course in preparation for the race their on the 21^st. Following that workout I decided to cruise the rest of the week with a recovery day on Wednesday and then normal runs on Thursday and Friday, then jump into the Mountain Goat Battle of Allatoona Creek 9 miler. The race was my first as an official Hurricane, as I got my uniform and gear the night before. It went really well. I cruised through the first 5k at a steady pace and opened up a good size lead before really pulling away on the trails. I ran 55:08 for the nine miles and won by over two minutes. The race was in Acworth, Georgia, which I thought was fitting given how many miles I’ve logged in its sister city Acworth, NH with Josh Ferenc. After the race I headed up 575 to Canton to play paintball at Nitro to complete a full day of running around outside. I am officially 12 years old when I’m not at work.

Totals: 69 miles – This was really just a result of running 10 on Sunday instead of the 13 or 14 that has become customary. I also only ran five on Friday before the race. I slacked off a little bit there.

Wrap up 4/16 – 4/22 – Dirty Spokes Gainesville State College Trail Race

This week started off a little rockier than the last. I think that was a result of being a little bit tired from the longer race and the full day of running around. I still got good mileage in early in the week but I had to bump my workout from Tuesday to Wednesday because of a late night at work. I did the same workout as the week before but ran a little bit slower than I was hoping for. The course was a little sloppy due to heavy rain the night before and I wasn’t really into it mentally, couple that with the fact that I fell seven minutes into the workout and I was heading for disaster before I even hit the trail. After the first loop I bounced back a little bit and ran a negative split for the second half of the workout, I even added a ninth set of repeats to keep myself from jogging in the last couple of miles. By Saturday I felt like I was running a little bit better but I was still wondering how trying to run on the fast, flat course would feel after back to back races on some trickier terrain. Amanda and I drove up to the Dirty Spokes Gainesville State trail race where I met fellow Hurricane Mitch Novy for a two-mile warm up then changed into my peregrine’s and bright orange jersey and headed to the start.

Last year, Josh came down and won this race easily, while I battled Matt Rivers all the way to the finish for second. This year things shook out a little differently as Woody Dover from Big Peach took the early lead followed by myself, Jessee Rappole (Big Peach) and Mitch. After we got off of the open field start, I took the lead and tried to use Tim (Dirty Spokes RD) as a pacer while he drove the course on a four wheeler in front of us. Knowing this was a fast course I really took it out hard, I kind of wish I wore a watch to know what my first mile split was, but oh well. I build up a nice lead going into the woods and ended up holding on for the win. It was my second win of the season and my second straight win as a Hurricane.

Totals: 65 miles on nine runs – I doubled almost every weekday except for Wednesday (workout), Friday (pre-race day + I was a little soft). The race was really solid, but I decided to take a couple weeks off from racing as three in a row had me a little worn out. In retrospect, this was probably a mistake. I should have found a 5k to jump in to test myself before the next trail race. Going into it where I am at now, I feel kind of like I did going into Running the Rocks and that didn’t bode well for me.

Wrap up 4/23 – 4/29

Draft Week…that pretty much sums it up for me. This week is so crazy and hectic for me I just try to get whatever mileage out of it that I can. The lack of a first round pick helped me out a little bit because I didn’t have a late night on Thursday, but Friday, Saturday and Sunday are just tough. Last year I was on pace for 100 miles early in the week because I went crazy on my early week mileage, this year I toned it down a little bit. This is actually the week I came up with the 8 & 3/8 & 5 double on the GEHC trails.

Totals: 59 miles on 10 runs – The fact that I got 10 runs in amazes me. I may not have been running far, but at least I was getting something in and in a week like this I feel like that will only be beneficial in the long run. I didn’t have any workouts or really long runs, but 10 trips out the door means I made an effort. I could have easily called it a bust of a week and run like 30 miles.

Wrap up 4/30 – 5/6

I rebounded a little bit this week in terms of mileage and got back to getting in some longer runs on the weekend, getting to Ft. Yargo for a great 14 miler on Saturday and then going to Harbins for a miserable 10 on Sunday. Amanda’s sister also came down for the weekend so we did plenty of running around. My morning eight milers started to come around as well. I hit them all under 60 minutes and set a new PR of 56 and change. It’s not fast by any means but it’s better than jogging through it.

Saturday was the definite highlight of the week. I woke up, did clips and ate then hopped in the car for the ride over to Ft. Yargo. Dirty Spokes was having a 9/6 hour Bike Race (woof) so I stayed on the hiking trail for two loops and I rolled. I kept looking at my watch in disbelief as I passed the mile markers because I didn’t feel like I was working at all. The weather was great and I stopped to check out the race and chat with the Dirty Spokes RD Tim about the Mt. Tabor race in a couple weeks then headed home. When I got home we drove up to Toccoa to summit Currahee and check out the military museum. I made the executive decision not to hike up the mountain because it was in the high 80s when we arrived and I didn’t want us to get half way up then me have to turn around and run back to the car to pick the girls up, so we drove to the top then hiked around a little bit and took in the views.

Sunday on the other hand, was awful. I went to Harbins, which is a cool park and has really nice trails but I always run slow and Sunday was no exception. I ran this 10 miler the slowest I have since I found out about the park. It was awful and nearly ruined all the excitement I had after Saturday’s run.

Totals: 62 miles on 8 runs - Sunday’s run actually wore on me during the next week. I was sluggish up until the next Thursday when I finally snapped out of it. I would have liked to have gotten more miles in but I was just glad to get back to getting in a “long” run.