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.