Catching Up

It’s been a little while since I’ve taken the time to update my log so here comes a short and sweet overview of my training the last two months or so (wow it really has been a long time). When I last left off I’d only been running 40-50 miles a week, so I have successfully upped my mileage. I went from 50s to the mid/high 70 with a down week in between due to the NFL Draft. I probably jumped a little quicker than I would normally like to, but I did it by adding a second run of three to five miles in the afternoon on most days, so that really helped me up my mileage without putting a ton of extra stress on my body all at once by increasing the length of my morning runs. Ideally, I’d prefer to just run 10 on one run then seven and three, but with my work schedule that’s where I am at.
In addition to increasing my mileage I ran four races, all on the trails (three wins, one nightmare), rocked an idiot 20 miler at Ft. Yargo, and had the race that I’ve been super excited for canceled.

You’re an Idiot
I will gloss over my idiot 20 miler real quick…I was trying to be a tough guy and I was really frustrated with some stuff at work, so to get my anger and aggression out I decided to run 20 on the trails at Ft. Yargo. Terrible idea. I should have gone with my old standard of running a really hard workout, like the time I caught Wilson on the Base Hill 10 mile tempo, blacked out with a mile to go, and apparently sprinted through traffic on Rt. 9. Anyway, I ran the half marathon course then added on the seven-ish mile hiking trail. It was fun for about 15 miles and the last five were awful. My legs were completely dead, I was dehydrated, my feet hurt, and I had to take a couple Raymond breaks along the way. I got home and booted. Woof. Whatever, I still got 20 in.

The four races…

Dirty Spokes Olde Rope Mill 6.5 miler
I had my best run at Rope Mill park, taking first on a tough 10k course against some stiff competition, including a high school kid that made me really nervous for the first three or four miles. It was my first win in three tries at this race too so that made it extra sweet. I went out a little conservative and hung behind Jesse Rapole for about a mile and a half before I decided to surge and take the lead at the top of one of the numerous short climbs. From there I was able to open a good gap that I maintained until the final two miles were I really opened things up. I ended up running sub-6 minute pace on a tough course.

Mountain Goat Alatoona Creek 9 miler
The next week I returned to Allatoona to defend my crown from last spring. The course was different this year and didn’t have as much of the cross country style open fields as last year, but I was able to open up a big gap early and despite the water logged conditions I cruised to the win. I also won $100, can’t beat that.

Dirty Spokes Running the Rocks 10k
My next race was Running the Rocks at the 1996 Olympic Mountain Bike trails, which is one of my favorite races and Tim from Dirty Spokes really put together a fun course, the best of the three that I’ve run during my time here in Georgia, but some stomach issues ruined this day. I woke up really excited to run, I was feeling really charged up after the events of the Boston Marathon and I just wanted to get out and run hard after all of that, you know try and return some positive energy to the world. Unfortunately, something I ate the day before changed that. I had major stomach issues before and during the race. I was able to hang with Jesse until about 1.5 miles before I had to let of the gas. Once I took care of my stomach issues, I was able to bring the race home and I managed to finish second. I definitely had to forget this one quickly.



Dirty Spokes Mt. Tabor 8 miler
I rebounded well from my nightmare day at Running the Rocks to pick up my first win at Mt. Tabor. Now the only Dirty Spokes races that I haven’t won at least once are Heritage Park and Running the Rocks (and Haw Creek, but that hasn’t been run yet). This was a weird race in that it wasn’t all that hot out but I felt like I was melting, and I also felt like I was running a lot faster than I was. For the first time since Gainesville State, Mitch and I ran the same course as the 8 mile race was a double loop while the 4 miler was a single loop. I decided to go out with him and just try to work together to see if we could get things rolling. I know if Woody Dover, my main competition, would want to go out that hard and I felt like I had the benefit of having someone to work with. That worked well for about two miles, then I took the lead to try and spell Mitch so he wouldn’t be leading the whole way. We ran together for a bit then I started pulling away as I surged in and out all of the tight turns. My legs were not feeling good so I was trying to force myself to run harder than my legs thought they could handle. That plan worked pretty well for six miles, then it was a death march to the line. I was able to hold off Woody for the win though. The course is called Mount Tabor, but there isn’t a lot of climbing, however it’s one of the tougher courses for me because it’s so tight. There are a lot of tight turns and not a lot of spots to open up your stride. Also this one should be called running the rocks…cuz…mad rocks yo.



Since I got into the swing of racing I my running was feeling much better. I’ve also successfully recruited Amanda to join me on most of my afternoon runs. I run while she bikes, we even got 10 in one afternoon a week or two ago. I did find myself in a bit of a rut in early May though. I was running a good amount of miles but not great quality miles. I was just kind of running. Then I got some family news that hit hard and the USATF Trail 10k Championships, my big goal race for 2013 got canceled. That was a shitty couple of weeks, but I soldiered on thanks to some motivation from Strava’s May Massive. I’m rocking that Challenge. As of this writing, I’ve run 481 km in May and I rank 28th in the world and I’m the 15th highest ranking American, pretty good for running 7 in the morning and 3-5 at night.

Once I found out I’d be missing the XTERRA Georgia Championship due to an impromptu trip home and with the USA Champs race being cancelled, I’ve had to focus on Peachtree as my big race. That’s helped me get out of my little rut. That and a beautiful new pair of Kinvara 4’s that make me want to run fast every time I put them on. I’ve started working in an up tempo morning run and got in a killer 3xmile workout up Currahee in on Memorial Day (more on that soon…for real).

Mountain Goat Battle of Allatoona Creek 9 Mile Trail Race

After last weekend’s Dirty Spokes race at Rope Mill park in Woodstock, I found a flyer for the Mountain Goat Trail Run Series under the windshield wipers on my car, as is common with most road or trail races. Normally, I say ‘hey I should do this race it sounds cool,’ then I completely forget about it shortly thereafter. Howevah, while Amanda and I were checking out the Woodstock/Kennesaw area we saw a poster with all the series race dates on the wall at and REI and low and behold the next race was a mere seven days away on April 14. I decided to see how my training went over the next couple days and if I was feeling it I would jump into the race, with the mindset of worst-case scenario I get another tempo run in. Fast forward to Thursday afternoon’s run…I was debating doing this race all week, but made the decision to go for it on Thursday. I had a solid workout on Tuesday and my legs felt pretty good, due to the fact that time constraints have forced me to run a lot of shorter doubles lately.

 

 

I woke up extra early Saturday morning (5:00 am) to get news clips for work done before making my way out to Acworth, GA. My GPS had some issues finding the actual location of the park that the race was at but I ended up noticing a couple cars with all the familiar signs of trail runners (26.2 stickers, USA Triathlon stickers, etc…triathletes love trails) around me and followed them to the parking lot. I parked, signed up, and since this was my first official race as a Saucony Hurricane I threw on my newly minted Vizi-Pro gear and headed out for a quick 1.5/2 mile warm up on the first part of the course. I ran into fellow Hurricane Mitch Novy, threw on my racing gear and we headed over to the starting area.

 

 

The race started out with a 5k in open grass fields before crossing the street and hitting the Turtleback mountain bike trails. Before starting a guy running in the five mile gave Mitch and I a quick rundown of what to expect on the mountain bike trails. He said they were fairly flat with one section that had a couple of switchback hills. Switchback hills seem to be par for the course in this area of Georgia. The gun (err…cowbell) went off and we started running down a gravel road that stretched out about 200 yards before hitting the grass fields. As I always try to do, I got out to the front to escape and carnage and since Mitch and I were wearing bright orange everyone else decided to settle in behind content to let us set the pace.

 

 

After letting things shakeout over the first quarter mile or so I decided to take advantage of the fact that the early part of this course was right in my wheelhouse and put in a small surge to see if anyone was going to respond to any early moves. The one thing that I still struggle with in these trail races is racing with a group on tight winding trails. I thought a little bit of a surge would stretch things out and by the time we hit the woods I’d know who the contenders where. My overall race plan was similar to how I approached the half, stay relaxed early, don’t get in over my head in the first few miles and then work the flats and down hills once I got through 5k.

 

 

My surge worked perfectly. Mitch and a few others stayed within contact but they started to let me drift away after about a mile. I felt absolutely great for the first 5k. I was running effortlessly and used the courses turns to continue to stretch my lead by surging out of them. This section of the course reminded me of the Tufts cross country course in Grafton if it were dead flat. I think my comfort on that type of course helped me run well without feeling like I was running hard. Thinking about running well at Tufts in high school and then winning ECAC cross country there as a sophomore in college only fed my confidence.

 

 

After rolling through the first 5k and building a solid lead we ran back through the starting area, across the street and into the trails. I used the first section of trail as a spot to continue to build my lead and try to make sure I was out of sight once we got into the tight, twisting single-track. Most of the race was actually fairly uneventful. It reminded me a lot of the Xterra half marathon. I was running in no man’s land for a long time and I alternated between worrying about whether I was getting caught and just trying to keep pressing to run away from everyone. One problem I ran into in the woods was the lack of mile markers. Mountain bike trails are tricky because the amount of twists and turns can not only slow you down by make it difficult to judge the distance you’ve traveled. No mile markers left me in a tough spot when I got deeper into the race. I knew there was a water stop at six miles (or 10k I’m not sure), but other than that my only other marker for distance was the finish line. I also never wear watch in races, which left me with no clue of how far I’d run and about mid-way through the race I started looking for the water stop around every turn.

 

 

Eventually I hit the water stop, took a little bit of GU and tried to refocus and close the race out over the final three miles. It’s funny, I’ve taken GU exactly twice. Once in the Xterra half and once last weekend, for about 60 seconds it’s like Popeye’s spinach, I absolutely hammer. Then, shortly after, I want to boot because it’s nasty. Although, the mandarin orange flavor wasn’t as bad as the strawberry banana. Anyway…after the water stop the course continued to have a few ups and downs but overall it was fairly flat. With about two miles to go I started passing lappers from the five mile race, which helped me keep pressing the pace as I tried to catch them. I scared the life out of one woman, who was running with her headphones in (grrr…) I yelled ‘on your left’ twice but she still didn’t hear and then when I passed her she let out a blood curdling scream. I felt kind of bad for scaring her, but like I’ve said before, headphones in a trail race when you might get lapped are not a good idea.

 

 

Shortly after that incident I passed through the section where the trail originally had split at about 3.5 miles, so I knew I only had about a half to go until I hit the finish. I tried to stride it out and drive through to the finish, I had a little hitch in my giddy up with some slight hamstring tightness but I was able to finish strong and hit the line at 55:08.

 

 

Overall I was really happy with the race. It was uneventful but I got in a really good rhythm through the first 5k and separated from the pack without using a ton of energy, then I was able to roll through the single­-track really well. I felt strong for most of the race, despite a little bit of hamstring tightness. As far as time goes, I generally equate these trail races as running a mile longer than their actual distance. What I mean is, I feel like whatever I run for the trail distance I should be able to run a similar time for a race that’s a mile longer on the road. For example, running 55:08 for nine miles on the trails, to me, means that I should be able to run a similar time for 10 miles on the road. That might not be 100 percent accurate but that’s my belief. This was a good long workout that should help set me up for next weekend’s Dirty Spokes trail race.

Training April 2 - April 8

Monday, April 2: GEHC Trails + Ivy Creek Greenway – 8 miles – Started the week off with an eight miler around the GEHC trails and then out and back on the greenway. I actually worked from home today, so I probably could have run further, but my legs were still feeling the 14 miler and the day of paintball from the last couple of days. I decided to get in a quality eight vs. a slower 10.

Tuesday, April 3: AM – GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Amanda and I had originally planned to go to trivia tonight and I wanted to get in 10 miles but didn’t think I’d have enough time to get it in after work. I woke up at 6:15, did my 45 or so minutes of news clips for work then headed out on the GEHC trails for five. It’s really nice running in the mornings right now. The temperature has been in the mid to high sixties everyday making it a little more comfortable than the afternoons.

PM – GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Got out of work and both Amanda and I seemed to be really tired. I headed back out for a quick five on the same out and back that I’ve been doing lately and then came home for dinner and an early bed time. Ten for the day.

Wednesday, April 4: Chicopee Woods – 11 miles – 8 sets 30-60-90s – I wanted to get another workout in on the tough terrain at Chicopee before Olde Rope Mill this weekend. I ran the same workout as last week, Coyote loop to Tortoise and White tail trails for 11 miles with 8 sets of 30-60-90 repeats. This week was much better than last week’s workout. I ran my repeats and my rest much better and finished my final set when I reached the creek crossing at the bottom of Granny’s climb, which means I fit in a whole set more before the creek than last week. I was hoping this would be a good confidence booster going into the weekend’s race, but after finishing, I just kind of felt okay. I was tired and I ran hard but I am still uneasy about how Saturday is going to go. I think I need to find something to mix my training up, whether it’s more miles or a couple of days of longer singles instead of doubles or finding a new place to run once or twice a week. I feel like I’m in a little bit of a rut after I ran the Running the Rocks race slower than I did last year. Made a road 5k is in order to see where I’m at in terms of fitness.

Thursday, April 5: AM GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Woke up early to get in another morning run. This is an old Keene State standby, double up on recovery days. I used to love doubling up on the day after workouts to get good mileage in but give my legs some extra time to recover.

PM GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Second run was the same as the first, but a little bit faster. I got 10 in for the day and let my legs recover a little bit, but still stayed on the hillier trails to try and keep my legs used to the up and down to be ready for Saturday.

Friday, April 6: GEHC Trails – 6 miles – I really wanted to get up and get my run done in the morning but ended up sleeping an extra 45 minutes and running after work. I changed it up a little bit today and went with two loops of the GEHC trails starting with the homesite trail to the creekside trail, up onto the paved section of the Cherokee trail, past the tree top adventure course and on to the sweet gum trail. My legs felt heavy, but that’s to be expected the day before a race.

Saturday, April 7: Dirty Spokes Olde Rope Mill Trail Race – 9.5 miles – Amanda and I left a little bit later than I had originally planned, so we missed out on parking down at the trailhead/starting area…this did not turnout well. After walking down to the registration area I realized I needed to hit the portos, the line was wicked long and by the time I got back to our picnic table staging area to put on my singlet and shoes I had about 10 minutes before the start of the race. I warmed up for about 90 seconds and then headed over to the start. I settled down after about two miles and ran in third where I ended up finishing. The course actually wasn’t as bad as I remembered, in terms of the number of switchbacks but it was still pretty rough. I wasn’t pumped about my race but then I realized I ran about a minute faster than I did on the same course last year, so that was positive. I cooled down three miles and ended up running another three when we got home. After the race I saw a flier for the Mountain Goat race series, which has a 9 mile race in Acworth, GA next weekend. I’m not sure yet but I think I might drive out and jump in it just for spits and whistles.

PM – GEHC Trails – 3 miles – Due to the fact that I didn’t get a chance to warm up and with the ruggedness of the course I decided to do a three mile shakeout after we got home. 12+ miles on the day.

Sunday, April 8: Ft. Yargo State Park – 14 miles – After yesterday’s race I wanted to get something nice and easy in on Sunday, so I went to Ft. Yargo and double looped the hiking trail for 14 again. I actually felt pretty good despite the tough race, but I think the fact that I did a short shakeout when we got home helped. Stopped at Krispy Kreme for some Easter donuts before getting home then cleaned up the kitchen and bathroom. Hit Mellow Mushroom for lunch (they have the best BBQ chicken pizza I have ever had) then just laid low for the rest of the day.

Weekly Totals: 71 miles on nine runs – I feel really good about this week. I hit 70 miles, which is right where I want to be. Looking back on Saturday’s race, I feel good about that too. Granted I got steam rolled by the eventual winner and ran some of the early part of the race a little soft and ended up leaving myself with too much work to do I still made the podium and ran faster than I did on that course last year. I have accepted the fact that there are going to be days that I only have time to run 5 in the morning and 5 in the evening so I am hoping to make sure that I am running at least 10 a day even if its split up with some longer runs on the weekends. I think that is definitely doable for the next couple of months until it starts to get really hot and I have to move to just AM runs. Next week, I’m looking to hit 70-75 miles and maybe throw in a race on Saturday (maybe not), I’m kind of on the fence but I figure I’ll make a decision on Thursday. I’ll also plan on throwing in another 30-60-90 workout. This time I’m going to run at Gainesville State to prep for the next race in the Dirty Spokes series in two weeks.