The Crossroads

2/24/12 PM

2012-02-24T13:42:00.002-08:00

Lets try this again. Easy run, 7.5 miles, 49:17. Slower than 6:30's. Time to pack for the race.

2/24/12 AM

2012-02-24T09:08:00.003-08:00

AM: Easy 5.4 miles, 33:25. Was going to run longer, but pace wise I was not going as slow as I wanted so I cut it short and will go out tonight and try and run slower than 6:30's. I know, it's a heck of a problem I've got! But if keep hammering away I'll show up to the race this weekend tired and although most of the top 10 would love that, it isn't going to happen because I ran myself ragged. I'll go out again later and if I'm going too fast by the first mile I'll stop and walk home. Just need someone who wants to run 6:30-6:45 pace, but up in these parts those people are few and far between. But saying all that my heartrate is in the resting zone when running in that 5:55 to 6:15 range, but I've just found running faster than 6:20 pace just beats up the body more than needed before a race.

2/23/12

2012-02-23T13:47:00.002-08:00

My goal today was to keep things slow, slower than 6:30 pace was the number. Pretty much went as slow as I could comfortably go without feeling like I was on my heels.

8.5 miles, 55:45, so I did good. I'll still get in my nightly bike ride so I can get my legs turning over quick, but I've simply got to keep things on the shorter easier side the next couple of days so I have a chance to run well at DH Jones this weekend. I'm pretty excited to run against a bunch of fast New England guys and see how far I've come since Midwinter.

The week that was while on the bike. So I broke out my old VHS tapes and got in three awesome movies. First was Superman III, then I broke out The Last Starfighter, and finally Police Academy. Makes the time on the bike go by pretty fast when I get bored of video games.

Leg

2012-02-22T16:30:00.000-08:00

No news on what happened to my leg a couple weeks before the Manchester marathon in November. It hurt enough so I didn't start and took 1 to 2 weeks completely off a few times to let it get better although the whole thing started as a non running related injury and to this day seems like running doesn't bother it any more than walking or sitting. Actually doing lunges hurts it the worst. Doing the smart thing with all those weeks of training I took off didn't help at all and the $4000 I spent in hospital tests never found anything wrong with it. Still hurts now, but just kind of learned to live with it, whatever it is. It has it's good days and it's bad, but doesn't seem to slow me down and the more I do the better it usually feels. I guess at some point I will have to get more tests, although I'll go elsewhere for those, but for now I'll train and this will be the last I speak of it until I either get more tests or I cannot run because of it.

2/22/12

2012-02-22T15:04:00.000-08:00

Went over to Northeast Harbor late afternoon and got in the only workout I'll do this week.
2.3 mile warmup, 15:09. A few strides. Didn't really feel great, a little sore from the plyos workout yesterday, but I knew I'd feel better once I got going.

3-miles in 16:00, then 1 minute easy jog before running 80 seconds allout. Then 3 minutes easy jog.
2-miles in 10:30, then 1 minute easy jog before running 70 seconds allout. Then 3 minutes easy jog.
1- mile in 5:07, then 1 minute easy jog before running 60 seconds allout.

Went a little faster than planned, but never went nuts other than the allout pieces. Things are coming together as they always do, although there is always that first part of any training plan that makes you wonder if getting back to where you were before will ever happen, but things seem to improve. Power of time off and a good plan I guess. Imagine at some point age will catch up to me and that will stop happening, but I can feel things starting to click again.

3.7 mile cooldown, 24:47

2/21/12

2012-02-21T13:50:00.000-08:00

Easy 11.6 miles, 1:10:27. Ya so it was almost 6 minute pace, but heart rate and effort were low and the last time the numbers looked like that was back in October before I ran that half marathon in Saco. I guess I will find out tomorrow when I go to do a workout, but other than that cold I had over the weekend I have been feeling like my old self. Helped I took yesterday off too and the easy biking I do at night with high cadence really is paying off.

Got in drills and plyos after. Tomorrow the planned workout is one of the first I'll do with actual mile markers instead of minutes.

goal is to run 3 miles around 16:30, then after 60 seconds rest run 80 seconds allout. 3 minutes rest before running 2 miles in about 10:40, another short rest before doing 70 seconds allout. Another long rest before finishing off in a mile in 5:10, short rest and then 60 seconds allout. Along Sargents drive this workout is tough with the hills, but it's good because there are two sets of mile marks along this section and the road is always clear.

Other exciting news is Dirigo will have at least 5 runners coming down to DH Jones this weekend.

2/20/12

2012-02-20T03:19:00.000-08:00

I said last Wednesday I was going to take Monday off and let all the training soak in. After getting that head cold Wednesday evening and taking few easy days because of it I would have normally told myself that those days were easy so I don't need a rest day. My head cold is totally gone and I feel great today.

Day off

2/19/12

2012-02-19T08:51:00.000-08:00

The real Maine runners led by General Zod met off of Eagle lake road and looked like they were going to tackle Cadillac mnt. I headed over to Northeast Harbor to start my run and met up with Matt F. He was having trouble with his hip from the start and after 4 miles in about 29 minutes he turned around to call it a day. I headed over to Somesville and hit up Beach cross road and beach hill road before returning to Northeast Harbor. After the first hour I started doing 1 minute surges every 10th minute. Got 5 of those in and then another one right before I got back into Northeast to finish fast. I really sped up after the first 4 miles because all of a sudden I started seeing 6 minute miles click off without to much trouble. Total run was 18.5 miles, 1:57:17. My head cold is just about gone too, so hopefully I can be healthy going into DH Jones next weekend. With 9 weeks until Boston I needed a longer run.

2/18/12

2012-02-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

Light Hill cycles workout over in Seal Harbor. 2.3 warmup, 14:49, then three loops of hill cycles. Each loop is 1.2 miles and the goal is to run around the loop nonstop at about 10-k pace for the entire workout. No break between loops. Most of the loop is slightly downhill so running 10-k pace feels like tempo effort. Then on the other side of the loop you get a hill that is about 90 seconds up and has sections in the 15-18%. Trying to stay at 10-k pace on the hill means the effort goes up a lot, probably close to your 800 meter race effort and even then i'm lucky to be running under 6 minute pace on the real steep section. By the time I get to the top my tongue is hanging out of my mouth and thinking about another loop is terrifying. But that's why I start the whole thing halfway down the downhill section so by the time I finish a loop I feel pretty good again and starting another loop doesn't seem too daunting. Usually I'll build up to 4-5 loops as the season goes on and then I'll switch to 2x2 loops and then 2x3 loops with a rest in between. This was one of my staple workouts in early 2010 when I ran well at Midwinter and Hyannis.

It's a solid workout because you're getting in a lot of eccentric work, a killer hill and essentially it's a tempo workout where you're legs are going faster for most of it other than when you grind up the hill. Plus you learn to change gears as you transition from the steep part of the hill to the more gradual part, to a flat part, to downhill. But like Plyos, you must be careful not to do too much or run the downhills too hard. But if you do you'll pay on the uphill section and it will take weeks to recover from the pounding. So train smart if you try this.

Today I got in 3 loops, 19:08, going 6:23, 6:24, 6:21 for the splits. Not super hard but the legs take a good beating and it will take me a few days to recover from this one I'm sure. In a couple of weeks I'll add another loop and so forth. The roads in seal harbor are well maintained and this time of year almost nobody lives in any of the houses so no traffic. I think all 10+ times I've run this workout here I've never seen a car. Although this is workout I got at Zap, I don't think I ever ran it at Zap. I remember running up Globe road from Mulberry, but never doing this. I always got the luxury of doing it back home while on a visit.

2.5 mile cooldown, 16:40

Total for the day was 8.4. Pretty light the last few days. A few good reasons for this, first is I've had a head cold since Wednesday night so I've been taking things easy, and secondly I want to get a solid long run in tomorrow with some surges. As it is I'm still sick, but hoping by tomorrow I'm close to 100% again. Took a chance doing the workout today, and we'll see if I get sicker or if I'm better in the morning.

2/17/12

2012-02-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

Very easy 5 miles with Matt F. over in Seal Harbor. Felt really good and almost did a workout, but decided to let the body and mind rest and get something really tough in this weekend. 34:27 for the run. I am due up for a longer run with a workout built into it, so I'll create something for Saturday or Sunday.

2/16/12

2012-02-16T13:53:00.000-08:00

Easy 8.5 miles, 54:53. Went out on the park loop road which is mostly clear of snow between Ledgelawn and the toll booths. Getting spoiled with this weather, warm and no wind.

2/15/12

2012-02-15T13:42:00.000-08:00

Easy run out on the marathon course. 12.4 miles, 1:18:53. Felt pretty good for having done a workout yesterday. Had to control myself after I clicked off a couple 6 minute miles in the middle of the run and made the effort to back off a bit after that. Starting to feel like my old self. Going to train pretty hard through Sunday but I am going to take Monday off and let all the training soak in. The weather is awesome. Almost no wind at all out by the Tarn, which almost never happens. Sun would be nice, because no snow and dirty roads isn't very scenic, but it's warm.

2/14/12

2012-02-14T13:35:00.000-08:00

11.8 miles, 1:08:44. Did 7x3 minute pieces in the middle of the run. Took 90 seconds easy jog between. Covered 5.5+ miles during the 30 minute workout part. I seemed to hit a hill during every 3 minute piece which should help get me in shape I guess but man I couldn't catch a break. Not a ballbuster workout but I rubbed one raw which was unpleasant.

2/13/12

2012-02-13T13:37:00.000-08:00

Easy run, 11.9 miles, 1:16:03. Pretty cold west wind, but it was the roads out by sand beach which were sketchy with a mile + of ice where I needed to be careful. Got in plyo session number 2. This time I did half the jumps uphill and added a few more. Some light lifting last night along with core and 40 minutes of biking while I played a little basketball on the PS2. This is my favorite time of year to train and the rest of the week looks like some nice weather.

Just found out, my win yesterday doesn't mean shit. Third place ran 20 miles the day before so I should have been second, so these yummy brownies I won should not be mine. Also, I found out I am going to totally get my ass kicked at the Boston marathon this year by the real Mainers training up on MDI. I mean it sounds to me like I should bow to general Zod right now.

2/12/12

2012-02-12T15:24:00.000-08:00

Headed down to Bradbury for the second race in the snowshoe series. The Trail Monsters again increased the finishing field with 45 runners. A lot of road races in Maine don't see that many people and here were 45 people in sub 20 degree weather with snowshoes strapped to their feet. We used a new course on the East side of the park so we'd have enough snow. Although it's always nice to get away from the mountain side, the East side has it's challenges with narrower, weavier trails that are a disadvantage the faster you are. Luckily I was on snowshoes so that instantly made me slower. I had a few things on my mind. First was the total ass whooping I had taken last weekend at Midwinter. Second was Eric who was lined up with a crow singlet and although he probably is a nice guy, people who wear crow singlets piss me off and there is no way in holy hell I was going to allow someone wearing one to win a race I was in. So I did the only thing logical and went out pretty hard and discouraged anyone from thinking they had a chance. A few times when I got tired I'd think I had to put every second on Eric so the results would explain. After finishing the 4.1 mile race I waited for the next few runners to come in. My faith had been too high because Jeremy was coming in second with Eric third. Ya I'm sick in the ways I motivate myself, but it works.
2 mile warmup on dry land, 4.1 mile snowshoe race, 2 mile cool down on dry land.

2/11/12

2012-02-11T06:31:00.000-08:00

Real easy 8.5 miles, 55:59. The sludge run I wished I would have had before Midwinter happened today. With a race tomorrow I am glad it happened today. All it took was not eating breakfast before the run. Maybe I learned my trick to feel like crap and run slow the day before races. With over 24 hours to rest up for Bradbury I should be good to go. Not too many days Autumn runs further than I do, but she's out in the snow doing 10 miles.

2/10/12

2012-02-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

Easy run with Matt F. Most of it was on the park loop road. Another fine day.
15.9 miles, 1:43:34

2/9/12

2012-02-09T13:26:00.000-08:00

Went over to Somesville to run on the Somesville 10 and 20 mile course. It is pretty hilly and I wanted to start getting used to a tough course like what I will face at the Jones 10 miler and also use the hills to help get me in shape. warmed up 16 minutes before starting 10x2:30 downcycles with 90 seconds float between. Each 2:30 piece started at about marathon pace and every 30 seconds gets quicker. The main thing is to start slow enough so you can increase the pace every 30 seconds. Over a hilly course its tricky, but tougher. Then the 90 second float is a quick recovery about 15-30 seconds slower than marathon pace. So 10 of those gives you a pretty solid 40 minutes with lots of pace changes. Cooled down 9:48. Total was 11.3 miles in 1:05:48.

2/8/12

2012-02-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

Easy run out to Otter Creek. Not very often do I get to enjoy a southwest wind back into town in February. Legs were pretty sore just trying to get my shoes on from yesterdays plyometric session which kept todays run on the easier side, so that's good. 11.3 miles, 1:13:45.

2/7/12

2012-02-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

Easy 10.9 miles, 1:10:43. Decided to go right on the park loop road today which was a mistake as there is still a lot of ice that way. Amazing what a little elevation and shade does. Got in my first Plyo workout in months. It's really what I've been missing, but the extra pounding I was afraid would hurt my leg more. It doesn't seem to make it hurt any worse, so I'll get a couple plyo sessions in a week and slowly build up to 100 total jumps. Pretty light today, but I'm sure I'll be sore from what I did.

2/6/12

2012-02-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

Day off of running. Probably the nicest day we'll have all month. Got a nap in, woke up and my legs were really sore. Probably the first time in a while I've allowed over 30 hours between runs and I think I probably haven't been benefiting from my training due to it. Sometimes I forget you have to rest hard if you train hard to allow adaptation to the body. Time to build in more rest.

2/5/12

2012-02-05T15:31:00.000-08:00

Wasn't what I expected, but I knew I was in trouble warming up when I was running 7 minute miles when I've been cruising at 6:15-6:30 all week in my easy runs. Race started and my normal bounce wasn't there. First mile is really easy and just about every year I run it under 5:10 without much issue. This year the weather was perfect, the nicest I have ever seen it for this race. Hit the first mile in 5:21 with Chris h. Zolla and Nick had caught up before two miles and I was pretty much off the back end after that. Ran the rest of the race solo and although I did my best to give chase it just wasn't happening today. I tried way harder today then when I got the record two years ago, but just a bad day for me. I knew all week a day like this was due with the training I've been doing, but I kept hoping the day was going to be Friday or Saturday. Probably tomorrow I could run two minutes faster, but I'm going to take a day off and hopefully in 3 weeks at the Jones 10- miler I can hit it right. Just happens sometimes. I remember racing a track 5-k when I was at Zap in 16:30 and people asking if I was going to be thrown out of the program and then a month later racing a 25-k at the same pace I'd run the 5-k in. Lots of 15-k, 10- milers, 20-K's, and half marathons during marathon buildup that I ran 5:40-5:45 pace in and then went on to run sub 5:30 pace in the marathon, so this shit happens during marathon training. Now if I run all my races like I did today then I would start to worry. The main thing is I tried to stay relaxed even though I was getting a beat down, and I am happy I never gave up, worked every second of it and even sprinted in at the end. No one can take away the fact I have run 4 sub 2:25 marathons or ran sub 51 at the midwinter course, it's just a matter of enjoying the process each time of getting back to that level, and that comes with good and bad things....2 mile warm up, some strides, 10 mile race, 4.5 mile cool down.

2/4/12 part two

2012-02-04T12:45:00.000-08:00

Easy 5.1 miles, 32:20. 6x strides in flats after.

2/4/12

2012-02-04T03:14:00.000-08:00

AM: easy 4.4 miles, 27:36.

The Celtics games are on late enough so I am only capable of watching the first half. I turned on last nights game with the idea that if the the Celtics won over the Knicks that the Pats would beat the Giants on Sunday even though I know that's not how it works, but at halftime it looks like Boston was in trouble and I went to bed thinking both Boston teams had lost.
5am, I turned on sportscenter, Celtics with the win. So there is at least some hope on Sunday. Just when you think the two teams are behind an incredible amount they come back and win. Made me think, that's why they play the whole game. Got me thinking even more, make sure I race the whole 10 miles on Sunday. There may be good patches and bad patches of the race, but you have to use every mile, never settle, and push beyond yourself. And if you end up having a bad race, you have to get up, brush the shit off and be ready to jump right back in it the next time out. The reason the best seem to take chances is they don't think they are chances.

2/3/12

2012-02-03T02:37:00.000-08:00

Easy 7.3 miles, 45:47. 6x strides in flats after.

For anyone who missed the 21.2 mile snowshoe run last weekend up Mount Shaw with Kevin T., and Jim, J. Here's Kevin's Garmin info Mount Shaw run on Snowshoes the run was pretty brutal.

2/2/12 part two

2012-02-02T13:55:00.000-08:00

Went over to Northeast Harbor to run on Sargents Drive. Warmed up 2 miles, then did 4x(5:00, :30, :45). With 2:30 easy recovery. 5:00 pieces were at tempo effort, about 5:10-5:15 pacem the 30 seconds is a floating rest(sub 6 pace) and the 45 seconds starts fast and every 15 seconds gets faster until you get close to top speed. 2+ mile cool down. Out and back on the 5 mile course for 10 miles total, 59:23. Did this in trainers so I didn't beat up my legs too much.

Should be able to break an hour at midwinter since I can do it on this course in a workout, but you never know I guess.

Almost forgot, all the tests have come back now for my leg. Nothing. So weird, this mornings run it hurt every step while tonight I never felt it. I guess next I will have to get some neurological testing done to see if there is a short circuit someplace between my leg and brain. Right now as far as the doctors are concerned I am very healthy. Glad it only took $3000 to figure that out. What is so strange is the more I do the better the damn thing feels. Shit, I hope I don't get some other injury because my leg hurts the most after taking a day off.

2/2/12

2012-02-02T04:33:00.000-08:00

Easy morning run. Pretty icy but with all the dirt down it was not bad and just had to be careful going around turns.
4.4 miles, 28:19.

4xstrides in flats after to wake up the legs for this afternoons light workout.

2/1/12

2012-02-01T13:28:00.000-08:00

11.4 miles, 1:16:05 with Matt F.
Park loop road is clear again.

Wow, finally saw the updated entry list for Midwinter. The addition of the RRCA numbers are interesting. Harmon, Wheeler, Lunt and Zolla.

1/31/12

2012-01-31T14:29:00.000-08:00

11.7 miles, 1:12:37 in the light snow.

Was going to do a workout, then before I headed out the door decided not to. But after about 30 minutes of easy running I felt good and decided to do my lactate ladder workout. 2:00,1:30,1:00,:45,:30,:30,:30,:45,1:00,1:30,2:00 pieces with double the time recovery so I could run them hard. After a day off Friday, a 21 mile snowshoe run Saturday(which was hard, but very slow pace wise, and then slow runs Sunday and Monday I wanted to get the legs moving. This workout all toll only is 12 minutes of fast running, but you run each one like it's the last and with the very long and easy recoveries you have no excuses not to get after each fast piece. 1+ mile cool down. I did notice after the first couple of fast pieces I felt pretty recovered after 60-75 seconds. Legs couldn't go much faster, so leg speed probably isn't my best right now, but I felt fit being able to recover so easily after really going as hard as I could each piece.

1/30/12

2012-01-30T15:46:00.000-08:00

For the 3rd day in a row I got in a run away from Bar Harbor and with another person. I was in Bangor as the sun went down and met up with Adam Goode. Got in about 30 minutes solo before meeting up with Adam and taking a little tour of Bangor. 8.8 miles, 58:39 total. It's been kind of nice running with so many people the last few days, but now back to the
Island for many solo runs.

Will try and get one good workout in this week before Mid-Winter.

1/29/12

2012-01-29T12:14:00.000-08:00

15 miles in Portland with a group of about ten guys. 1:47:23. Great tour of Portland and South Portland.

1/28/12 part 2

2012-01-28T17:24:00.000-08:00

With no race this weekend I was thinking about the Midwinter Classic next weekend. I haven't run it every year, but over the years I've had the chance to run it five times. Each time has been faster, although if I ran faster than 2010 I would be shocked. I know I'm in shape to run under 54 minutes, but how much faster than that I don't know. One things for sure, I will give it everything I've got

2002- 56:37, 9th place
2004- 56:29, 10th place(aka, Mike Swift)
2008- 53:28, 3rd place
2009- 52:40, 2nd place
2010- 50:57, 1st place

1/28/12

2012-01-28T10:05:00.000-08:00

Got up to an email from Jim that said something like Kevin and I are doing a 20 mile snowshoe run up to Shaw Mountain starting in Ossipee. Perfect I thought as I was only a few miles away.
Plenty of snow so I am a little confused why Sidehiller a few miles up the road was cancelled but that just gave the top three from last year a chance to do something a little nuts. With a crusty layer on top of the snowmobile path we took turns breaking trail the first 6 miles. Once a group of snowmobiles went by it made things a little easier. It was pretty tough breaking trail, but you get to learn who's tough and who's classy and we all took good turns breaking through the snow. Those two guys are tough and classy and it was a good thing we all were able to take turns because it made for much longer break.
The last 2+ miles to the top of Shaw Mountain were mostly uphill and even the snowmobiles turned around with a mile to go. We made it to the top(2990 feet) in just about 1 hour and 58 minutes. I ate my power gel and washed it down with some snow and the three of us couldn't really believe we had to run all the way back.
We stopped a few times to chow down some more snow and Jim had his power gel halfway back which gave us a reason to stop for some snow. We made it back about 30 minutes faster and running time was 3:30:47, for 21.2 miles on snowshoes. We were all pretty fried when we got back, but it was an experience.

Something I said has gotten peoples attention over the past couple of days. Excellent.

1/27/12

2012-01-28T09:54:00.000-08:00

Day off. Shoveled snow from 6 to 9 and then drove to Vermont, got Autumn and then head back to Tamworth, NH. I sent an email off to Jim Johnson asking him if he wanted to run the next day and went to bed.

1/26/12

2012-01-26T13:32:00.000-08:00

Easy 9 miles, 57:20. Out on the park loop road. Amazing that it's clear at the end of January. Tomorrow is a travel day to Vermont, great weather for it. Not sure I will have time to get anything in, but I will try.

Sidehiller on saturday . Course has been changed because of the lack of snow, but in the process they made it a mile longer which benefits me. Still don't know if it will be a snowshoe race or a race on mud and ice. Either way my strategy is to run the first half really easy and try to gradually speed up on the second loop.

Studded a pair of racing flats just in case it turns out to be a winter trail race.

I guess neither, race site says race has been canceled.

What does that mean?. If you didn't go to Orland, ME. last weekend to qualify for snowshoe nationals you're going to have to go to Vermont or new York to try. Good thing I took nationals off my calendar a couple of days ago. Psychic. But like the USATF, the snowshoe organization obviously have some issues if they are giving a bid to a race in Orland. I am not attacking the race because I am friends with the race director and he puts on a good event , spends a lot of time organizing the race and his heart is really into it, but I am attacking the lack of snowshoe interest in this part of Maine and the United States snowshoe federation for even allowing a bid in the first place because they should have some standards for an event to be a qualifier and the 14 people who finished I believe is the largest field ever at Orland. I live 40 minutes from Orland and guess where I went the same day as Orland, 2 more hours down the road to Bradbury Mountain State park which had three times as many runners and we actually raced on snowshoes. It would make me so happy if snowshoe running became a big hit around here, then I wouldn't have to travel to western Maine and out of state to race. Even most summertime road races in this area see less than 100 people race. Of those, maybe 25% will do a trail race, of those maybe 50% will snowshoe race, so that number is 12.5.
14 at the Orland race, pretty spot on. I'm not saying it will never work, and I hope it does, but right now Maine isn't ready for a bid. I believe Bradbury may be ready in a year or two although the best facilities are at Hebron Academy.

1/25/12

2012-01-25T13:44:00.000-08:00

Recovery run, 42:04. Was just going to be about 37 minures but every time I tried turning onto my street I got cut off by a car so I did another loop around the neighborhood and it wasn't until the third try I managed to make it. 6.5 miles.

1/24/12

2012-01-24T14:30:00.000-08:00

16.9 miles, 1:43:38. Wasn't really planned, but it was so nice out and I felt so good I decided to do my long run today after I got going. Not really a long run, but for me right now it is. I was just running an easy run, but just past 5 miles I felt really good so I started my 7,6,5,4,3,2,1 minute workout and was like what the heck, take advantage of feeling good. Goal for these is always to start off at about marathon pace and each one should be faster. Half rests, so 3:30 after the 7, 3:00 after the 6 and so on makes the rest shorter and shorter and makes this workout pretty tough as you try to speed up. Fun though and you can cover some monster ground in this workout.
This time I did fast floats after the 7,6 and 5 minute pieces and then ran a bit easier after the 4,3,and 2 so I could really pick up the pace. Did this over some hilly terrain and really worked on transitioning from either flat, downhill or uphill and tried to be pretty smooth. It wasn't until I got about 12 miles into the run that I decided I'd run some more to get at least 25-k.
Leg hurt worse yesterday but off and on it would hurt today, nothing new really. x-rays still haven't come back but unless it's a piece of bone moving in there I doubt my leg is broken. I'm no cross-fit athlete.

1/23/12

2012-01-23T11:56:00.000-08:00

11.8 miles, 1:16:38. Kept things pretty easy. Rained the first mile then it was pretty nice. I think Wednesday I will do a long run with a workout.

1/22/12

2012-01-22T13:07:00.000-08:00

Cold when I headed out the door to meet up with Jim and Kevin at White Lake at 7:30 this morning. -12 to be exact and when we started the run it was -9. No wind though and with four layers on only my face got cold. The guys were good enough to take me on an out and back so I would have a chance to make it to Bradbury by 11am for the snowshoe race. They took me on some packed snowmobile trails and the run once I warmed up was really fun. Really nice to run with others and to listen to other stories. With the go pro camera on the whole time I made sure not to say too much, but certain subjects always get me going and I let loose. They had me back to my car by 9:10 and I knew it was going to take about an hour and a half to get to Bradbury.
Made pretty good time and was parked and had my number with about 15 minutes before race time. With 90 minutes of running in my legs already I simply wanted to run Bradbury to support snowshoe racing in Maine, of course winning some home cooking always motivates me to run fast enough to win. Last year I ended up racing twice a weekend and getting into some tough races and I ended up sick. Well I raced hard yesterday so today I told myself I had to control things and not push it too much even if it meant I lost.
Jogged around for a couple of minutes and the race started. A good field with 45 runners. I believe that is the biggest snowshoe race ever in Maine. The race started and I went out really easy and kind of hoped Matt would take the lead. But he didn't so I took the first half mile pretty easy and once we got into the deeper single track section I started surging around each little corner for a second. Just enough so a gap formed but no move was ever seen. After that it was just fun on snowshoes bombing down some hills and dodging trees. Kind of too bad I felt so good today and wish I'd had that energy yesterday at Whitaker. Last year I was out of shape and in the race of my life in the first race at bradbury with a good snowshoe runner the day after racing really hard. This time I was all about staying in control and hopefully winning and being in a lot better shape helped. Knowing the course was nice too and between the snowshoe and trail series and training runs I've done here in 2011 I know all the trails now.
As always the trail monsters put on another great event on some awesome terrain and the awards, food(hot soup) and fire make for a nice setting afterwards.
All toll I got in 90 minutes this morning with the guys, the race which I think was just under 29 minutes and then I got another 12 minutes afterwards on snowshoes checking out the start of the next Bradbury race which is February 12th, 11am. I used my red feathers for the first time this year. I rented some dions at hebron and Whitaker, but without the deep cleat on the rental model I've had a tough time going uphill, so I think I'll stick with the red feathers for the rest of the year even though they are a bit bigger and heavier, at least I get traction.
I know I am not getting my long runs in for Boston like I should, but my only goal at Boston is to run hard to 25k, not the full marathon.

1/21/12

2012-01-21T10:35:00.000-08:00

Ya baby, Whitaker Woods Snowshoe race was again an awesome event. Not only did we have plenty of snow, but it snowed the whole time. After warming up with Jim Johnson I realized he was in better shape than he'd been telling everyone. When I was the one huffing and puffing I knew it was going to be the race I wanted. Total I think I had about a 2.5 mile warm up on the snowshoes.

Race started and I took the lead but I definitely didn't have that energy I had last weekend at Hebron. I didn't feel bad, but bad enough that soon Jim went by and he got a good enough gap even before the first climb that the elastic was already snapped. Not only that but sounds of someone else right behind left me wondering what kind of day I was going to have. But it was good, I was red lined with Jim ahead of me and Dave on my heals. I got to the top of the first hill in second and we headed down a bit before starting the second hill. This is where Dave went by and he seemed in control and fit. I was so red lined I didn't even get on his shoulder and the gap got bigger and bigger as we went up . I was probably only 7 or 8 seconds back in third, but again that elastic was snapped and part of me was like, OK third place. Then my college coaches voice rang in my head. ''You have to make a conscious decision and go get them''. Soon I had caught up and ran behind a few feet on some single track. When we came back out to the wide groomed trails I got along side Dave and before we got to the next turn I took the lead and just kept going. As we got to the field where we finished I could see Jim about to finish as I started the loop around the field and with the turns I could see I had second locked up but sprinted anyways. Jim, easily won about a minute ahead and we both ended up running about 30 seconds slower than last year. Dave ran great and not only knocked a huge chunk of time off last years race but seems very fit. Don't let those two tell you they are not fit.

aR team ran strong and although I couldn't get the men's win, we got the women's championship belt with Leslie's win and I believe we took 2nd, 4th, 6th and 7th with strong runs from Danny, Chris and Ryan. I'm bad with names, but soon the results will be up anyways.

Afterwards Jim, Dave and I ran the 4 mile course again to take the flags down. All toll I spent about 90 minutes running on snowshoes today.

1/20/12

2012-01-20T13:14:00.000-08:00

10.2 miles, 1:05:30. We got about seven inches of snow here in Tamworth which made the roads pretty bad to run on. I thought about a snowshoe run but I will be spending the next couple of days on snowshoes and didn't want to tire myself out after I had already shoveled for 45 minutes.

For the first time since January of 2010 I got that feeling during my run I was burning fat for fuel and didn't have enough carbs. It's a fine line between being under weight and being at performance weight. Well, tonight I will do what I did back in 2010 and have a pretty hearty meal. Most people would probably freak if they experienced the marathon wall 5 miles into a run, but I laughed and said, it's about time this happened, I am finally back into performance weight, now go home and eat something.

Fitness wise I feel like things are going well. Other than my leg still hurting which doesn't bother me other than the doctors haven't figured it out in the past 3 months. But I have moved on and hopefully tomorrows snowshoe race will help continue to increase my fitness. Hopefully plenty of fast runners show up tomorrow and give me a good test. I'd like to be pushed to my limits and see what I've got. On the same note, if the lead pack thinks the first half will be a cakewalk and try and turn it into a sprint race at the end then I will take over right away and keep things honest. But hopefully someone shows up that goes out ripping fast and I go red line in the first half mile, and the lead pack gets shredded, that would be awesome.

1/19/12

2012-01-19T14:12:00.000-08:00

Drove to Goddard college in Vermont, then to Tamworth, NH. Managed to get out as the sun went down and the snow started for an easy 8.6 miles. Very icy, but nice to loosen up after about 10 hours in the car. 54:02 for the run. Cannot wait to sleep in a bit tomorrow and get some solid training in the next 3 days.

1/18/12

2012-01-18T11:39:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot. The doctor called Monday, ya only four days after the ultrasound of my leg. I hardly believed it. Of course they found nothing with the ultrasound and the x-rays were not back yet. Cannot wait to get that bill.

And ya, I should have gotten out this morning for a run because now I am going to have to go out after dark and it's gone from 45 degrees down to almost 25 and by 4 it probably will be colder. Shit. My own damn fault, I wanted to go to work early and be the good worker. I have run home from work before, but that's over 20 miles and I cannot do that both ways everyday. Hopefully I can find my facemask although I have a feeling I have misplaced it and probably will find it in April. Well I guess I shouldn't say I cannot run to and from work everyday, I could, but that would suck.

My brother came over to help me with something and once we finished I jumped in his car and drove to otter creek with him. That way I could enjoy that north wind to it's fullest while I was forced to run home. Ran back into Bar Harbor along the marathon course and there was even some action along the way the wind had ripped a big tree out of the ground and it was leaning up against a power line and the tree was on fire. Fire department was there. Not a very long run, but come on, it's an easy day and I probably will jump on the bike later.

6.2 miles, 41.17

1/17/12

2012-01-17T04:53:00.000-08:00

Easy 5.3 miles, 34:08. Short, but I plan on another run later. Had to control myself as i started to go faster than my agreed upon easy run speed limit.

12.7 miles in the dark, 1:18:13. Stayed 30-60 seconds slower than goal marathon pace the whole way. Even though it's a bit faster than easy running the hardest part of this was doing it in the dark and dodging Jackson lab traffic. Did this over some pretty hilly terrain to get used to working up and over some hills.

1/16/12

2012-01-16T04:53:00.000-08:00

8.3 miles, 54:07 as the sun came up. Friggin cold. Wanted to go faster so I would warm up but after racing back to back days I also want to rest up, so I froze my ass off jogging around.

52:30 on the spin bike.

1/15/12

2012-01-15T14:03:00.000-08:00

The hebron hills snowshoe race was awesome. Plenty of snow and just like last year the course was rugged, the post race was awesome with pizza, cookies, and plenty more and being able to take a shower after freezing your ass off is nice too. They really have a great place up at Hebron to host events.

As for the race, like I said yesterday I was going to run the first loop as hard as I could. I did. Most of the first half of the loop rolls downhill before getting a handful of pretty tough hills to finish off the loop. Starting the second loop I wouldn't say I was hurting, but I had pushed myself about as fast as I could have if anyone had been pushing me and for the next mile as I rolled downhill I really made myself relax while keeping things as fast as I could. I wanted to get to the uphills totally exhausted and make walking pop up in my head. Bottomed out and a pretty steep hill looms In front. As soon as you get to the top you veered onto the single track section which was slightly uphill and weavy enough so you couldn't catch your breath. Another section of a few rolling hills before you get to what I guess they call ''breaker hill'' ran up the whole thing last year and the first time around today and as I approached it the second time today my wife was just about to start up it as well in her first snowshoe race ever. I wanted to walk it, but I drove the arms, toed in the cleats and other than slipping once and laying a hand on the ground to steady myself I made it to the top again without walking. After that you fly down the other side before climbing the final quarter miler back up to the starting field. Sprinted to the finish line and clocked in at about 34:40 for the 5 mile race. Sub 7's on snowshoes on a pretty tough course I was pretty happy.

After yesterdays race and todays I figured a couple of things out. Firstly that I am pretty fit. Secondly, that mentally I am ready to race again. I did a lot of mental imagery during today's race pretending I was racing faster guys and being able to focus for over 30 minutes with no one around but the trees gave me some confidence. A few times I thought maybe I shouldn't waste the mental energy to simply push myself, but very soon I will be racing faster runners and I had to trick myself into thinking I was racing ghosts today.

1 mile warmup on the indoor track before getting another 2 miles in on snowshoes, 5 mile snowshoe race, then another mile on snowshoes before running 1 more mile on the track.

1/14/12

2012-01-14T14:02:00.000-08:00

Alright, no complaints after today's race in Belgrade. Warmed up 2 miles, then 23:13 for the 4.5 mile race. 2.5 mile cooldown with Ian Fraser. Did what I wanted to do and I was happy how well I could push myself. Leg hurt warming up, I didn't feel it at all in the race and it hurt cooling down, so I guess I should just start running faster and I will be fine.

Hebron hills snowshoe classic tomorrow and I am really going to push things to see how well I handle going out fast. And if the camera man is at the top of breaker hill, don't expect to see me walking, although I will want to.

1/13/12

2012-01-13T13:26:00.000-08:00

9.3 miles, 1:00:00. You cannot beat a strong south wind in mid January. Nice not try freeze on the second half of the run, although after taking yesterday off my leg hurt more than it has in weeks when I took two weeks off. For whatever reason the more I run the better my leg feels. Either way I kept things easy today and tomorrow will race in Belgrade at the 4.5 miler, unless the roads are too bad to drive on. Goal is to be under 5:15 pace which would be good for me right now on a tough course like Belgrade. After that I am going to camp out and rest up for the Hebron hills Classic snowshoe race the next day. The race is on but instead of the 5.5 k course we have an option of running 2.5 or a second lap to make 5 miles. My only goal for this race is to get to 2.5 miles first, even though I am going to run the 5 miles. But like the king of the mountain award at Bradbury a third of the way through the course I don't plan on allowing anyone to have any glory. Of course just maybe someone will show up to prove me wrong. Either way I have run with a lot of pain the past few months and I may not be 100℅ but I will turn myself inside out for both races.

1/12/12

2012-01-12T10:02:00.000-08:00

Got an ultrasound and X-ray today in my quest to find out the problem. Results will be a couple of days, so I'll get back to everyone in a week or two, but as far as I could see from the ultrasound I didn't have a baby in my leg or any kind of alien, so that's good. And my arteries looked really good and they could tell I didn't smoke and that I exercised a lot, WOW! The guy was kind of like a virtual tour guide of my leg. What a dream job. The x-rays went faster although the table was harder and my skinny ass didn't like that. Plus it's not as interesting as the ultrasound.

I wanted to get a run in this morning while it was clear, but my noontime hospital time forced me to go into work earlier than normal and it looks like now I will have to let more snow fall and go out for a snowshoe run later as the roads right now are a mess but not enough snow to break out the snowshoes. Either that or just jump on the bike, but I would rather do some sort of running and I don't have a treadmill at my disposal. At least it is warm out.

Probably going to have to get on the bike. After a few inches of snow it's now raining and just plain ugly out. Probably by morning the snow here will be gone. Just get in an easy ride and easy run tomorrow and rest up for my test for Saturday at Belgrade. Hopefully someone shows up and kicks my butt. I really need the motivation of getting silver or bronze or not even placing. Nothing like losing to motivate. I guess most fast guys will be following the Olympic marathon trials, but you never know who might show up on a cold winter day in Belgrade.

71 minutes on the spin bike

1/11/12

2012-01-11T05:16:00.000-08:00

11.1 miles, 1:10:40. Not super cold out but the north wind made for a colder second half of the run. Going to try and get 8.5 to 12.5 miles in for my runs in the mornings. That way I get a decent run in and if I have any energy at the end of the day I can get a short run in or jump on the bike but not really feel like I have to.

Looks like not enough snow for the snowshoe race this weekend so I'm headed elsewhere to test my fitness. Going to return to the Belgrade Thaw 4.5 miler for the first time in 6 years.

Here's a list of the winning times since the race started.

1980- Fred Judkins----23:35
1981-Tom Leonard---23:45
1982-Rick Krause------24:43
1983-Henry Chipman-23:33
1984-Floyd Wilson----23:52
1985-Chris Bovie------24:06
1986-Chris Bovie------24:21
1987-Chris Bovie------24:29
1988-Peter Lessard--22:32
1989-Todd McGraw--22:33
1990- SORRY, No Maine Magazine and the one CMS newsletter I have only covers March+April 1990.
1991-Cliff Rogers------24:48
1992-Stan Bickford---22:58
1993-Todd Coffin-----22:01***CR(4:53.5 pace) Article says this is a CR, so 1990 was slower.
1994-Todd Coffin-----22:42
1995-Tom Thibeau--24:44
1996-Todd Coffin----22:44
1997-Todd Coffin----23:31
1998-Ludo Bruyere--25:09
1999-Ludo Bruyere--25:13
2000-???????????????????(highly doubt anyone broke the CR)
2001-???????????????????(highly doubt anyone broke the CR)
2002-David Drew-----27:13
2003-Dan Suthers----27:21
2004-Adam Zakowski-26:35
2005-Ludo Bruyere----28:49
2006-Judson Cake----22:44
2007-Matt Poulin----27:23
2008-Ludo Bruyere----26:26
2009-Wade Davis----26:24
2010-Jeff Jones----24:50
2011-Pat Founier----25:18
2012--tbd

1/10/12

2012-01-10T14:20:00.000-08:00

Probably the third or fourth time I have done this workout in the past few months. But each time I have to get back in shape it seems to help. I tried over the last few weeks to do just about every run easy or hard over the hilliest terrain I can find on the island. With no snow or ice I have a lot of options with the park loop road, carriage roads and rest of the island. Warmed up 1+ miles before hammering out 9x3-minutes with 90 seconds jog recovery over my 8.5 mile loop. Started my cool down as I ran by the Hubbell house so if they happened to see me I probably looked pretty bad. 3 minutes isn't too long, but over the hills on this loop it's not easy.

PM: 44 minutes on the spin bike.

1/9/12

2012-01-09T04:43:00.000-08:00

Got my act together this morning and did a good run as the sun came up. Usually I can only manage 4 or 5 miles in the
morning, but if get out the door instead of watching sports center for an hour then I have plenty of time for a better run. 8.9 miles, 56:14. Kept it pretty easy, but faster than my 6:18 easy pace, so I guess it wasn't an easy run.

Tests are back. It is not Lyme and it's not some form of arthritis. Well I don't think I am imagining the pain. Whatever, I will just run and maybe something magical will happen.

Things I could try.

Voodoo
Hoodoo
Green magic
Leeching
Apitherapy
Humorism
Ho'oponopono
Ear candling
Beer spa

1/8/12

2012-01-08T14:57:00.000-08:00

11.7 miles, 1:15:36. Nicer out today even though it was supposed to be colder. Leg hurt more today, but it was off and on. Mostly hurt on bone today which isn't too bad.

33 minutes on the spin bike during Tebow time. Awesome stuff.

1/7/12

2012-01-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

16 miles, 1:46:22. Ran the first hour with Matt F. After an hour ran 1 minute pickups every 10 minutes. Got 4 of those in and then ran the final 2-k In 6:15. Happy with this. Most of the first hour was pretty icy and then in got pretty warm and the rest of the run was pretty soft on the carriage roads. The climb from little long pond up around the mountain went pretty good for me. Matt was having a pretty bad day although he ended up with 18 miles. The faster I went the less my legs hurt.

1/6/12

2012-01-06T05:08:00.000-08:00

5.1 miles, 32:30. Some light drills after. Excited about going to watch The Devil Inside tomorrow.

Never heard a word about my tests but I did get a hefty hospital bill in the mail. I saved up all $600 of my Christmas money because I wasn't sure what I wanted. Well now I am glad I saved it all because it's all going to the hospital.

Another 7.3 miles with the headlamp. 47:20, quicker run in the snow as I was pissed at the world. Once it started raining I stopped and walked a couple more miles and let the world piss on me a bit more.

1/5/12

2012-01-05T05:07:00.000-08:00

8.5 miles, 50:27. Mile warmup then 3x9 minutes getting progressive each 3 minutes and taking 3 minutes easy between. Mile+ cool down. Legs were back and forth. Not ever too bad, but a few times they hurt a bit.

I guess I will have to call the doctor, again.

42:00 on spin bike. Legs feel a bit better today, but still no word.

1/4/12

2012-01-04T05:27:00.001-08:00

Layered up and and headed out as the sun came out. 5-miles, 32:22. Hadn't planned on a AM run but I wanted to start getting used to the cold weather. Legs hurt off and on, but nothing I couldn't handle.

Doctor better call today.

sickle cell article

50:30 on the spin bike late night. No word from the doctor.

1/3/12

2012-01-03T13:41:00.000-08:00

6.7 miles as the sun went down. Thought I would need my headlamp but didn't need it with the moonlight. 43:43, some road, some trails. Other than running into the northwest wind the weather was pretty nice for early January. Called the doctor today and this time the results were in. Each time I have called they will tell me if a certain test is negative. This time they just said the tests in but we cannot give out the results but the doctor will call you tomorrow. So I guess either the Lyme or the arthritis test came back positive. My money is still on Lyme, but I should find out tomorrow. Either way my training is going to go on, maybe with some pain, but as long as it doesn't seem to make things worse I will keep chugging along.

I am a little worried about how my Thalassemia or sickle cell trait may make going to Frisco, CO for snowshoe nationals kind of dangerous. Ryan Clark, Pittsburgh Steeler who has the same trait had to have his gall bladder and spleen taken out after he played in Denver a few years ago and they are not letting him play in Denver for the playoffs next week. Well Denver may be a mile high, but most of the race in Frisco is over 9000 feet. Most people with the trait may never know, but if you do anything very stressful, especially at altitude it become very dangerous. Snowshoe racing is kind of stressful. I have done some pretty stressful efforts between 3000 and 4500 feet when I was at Zap and a couple of times ran easy short runs at about 6000 feet, but never tried to run really hard over 4500 feet. I guess I will have to leave it up to what my family thinks I should do. I don't mind loosing my spleen and gall bladder but then the chance of dieing doesn't sound appealing. I guess I should be pretty happy I have been able to run the way I have my whole life with this trait. Of course I kind of have to wait and see what the doctors tell me tomorrow. If I have chronic Lyme then I will be on a bunch of medications for the next couple of months which will probably not help me feel very good at altitude. Plan is to go.

1/2/12

2012-01-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

Headed

to Sand beach with my snowshoes in hand. Heard about races in the desert on snowshoes but never tried using them on sand before. It was awesome. The upper part was like mashed potato which is exactly how some of the races are once a bunch of people have run through a certain section of the course. Some little dunes made for some jumping and sliding and the uneven terrain made the pace change constantly, just like roller coaster hills in xc running. Down towards the ocean it got a little more like running on groomed trails. Running along the ocean I first tried to stay dry but then after a while just ran in with the waves 3-5 inches deep. This was neat because the sand became like mud and it was like running in deep snow as you not only pulled up out of the sand but also having some water weight as well. Plus the water pulling you out really worked on balance which is key in snowshoeing. Back up to the mashed potato section was a good grade. Nothing steep, but on snowshoes it was 100 meters where you had to work and use your arms more. 51:36 for time which each loop being 2:30-3:30 depending on where the tide was and how big of a loop I could get in. Some strides afterwards in my shoes. If you ever want to feel fast, even if you're not, go run in snowshoes and then do some strides without them on after, you'll feel like a winner. Even when it snows I will only be on my snowshoes 1-2 times a week, but until it does I will spend those days on sand. Plus, what a view between the ocean and the mountains. Do I sound excited, well I am, but it is a pain in the ass to wash all your stuff after with all the sand and salt water on it. But fun as heck and the few people on the beach think you're nuts too. Well maybe I am. 30 minutes on the spin bike late night.

1/1/12

2012-01-01T15:36:00.000-08:00

10.2 miles, 1:01:05. Middle 5 miles steady in 27:42. Carriage roads were pretty soft again which made for a good workout. Some pain in the leg but only 1-2 on a scale from 1-10. My least favorite part of training is right now. I don't know why I took most of the past 2 weeks off thinking that would help my leg, all it did was bring me from 15:30 to 16:30 5-k shape and the doctors still don't know anything. Tuesday if they don't know I'm packing up camp and going to see another doctor, but this time I'll drive to Boston and see the best I can find.

12/31/11

2011-12-31T11:46:00.000-08:00

90 minute run with Matt F.. 13+ miles. Pretty hilly on the carriage roads which are pretty soft and really helping build some leg strength. Less pain today which made things nice.

12/30/11

2011-12-30T14:20:00.000-08:00

6.6 miles(43:03). Fisrt 3 miles uphill. Pain each step but just one leg and only on bone this time. It's like a surprise every time out.

12/29/11

2011-12-29T15:39:00.000-08:00

53:00 moderate on spin bike. Still no word from doctor although I'll call them again tomorrow. Leg again feels really good today, so maybe the weather theory is way off. Still I decided to just bike and by the first of the year training whether I've heard from the doctor or not is going to be forward 100%. The snowshoe race at Hebron will be a good test of fitness. It's a pretty tough course since you mostly are going downhill the whole first half of it and then you climb and climb some more the whole rest of the way. Last year I was able to run the whole thing, just barely so if I can again I'll know where my fitness is at. Although I guess it depends on snow conditions, things were pretty packed down last year. A 2 foot storm the night before would make for slow going especially for anyone up front.

12/28/11

2011-12-28T13:13:00.000-08:00

5.5.miles(37:18) probably closer to 6 miles. Carriage roads and amazingly no pain. This is starting to make me wonder if the arthritis tests will show something as I am finally starting to see a pattern and that it seems to be weather related. Come on weeks and weeks of pain every step and then today nothing. I don't know what to make of it, but I did have a smile on my face today and it was a relief not to have to grimmace each step.

Another 53:00 on the spin bike before bed while playing some NCAA football. It's in the game. I've got Pro Cycling Manager for my PC, but it would be way cool or really lame if they came out with a snowshoe racing game. They could make it cool by allowing runners to punch each other in the races and having to avoid spectator snowball fire. Come on, hockey is a fun game, snowshoeing with some twists could be fun too.

12/27/11

2011-12-27T13:59:00.000-08:00

10-k(53:55) on snowshoes with Matt F. We used 8x25 sized snowshoes which are a bit bigger than the ones used in racing, but good to train on. Nice on the legs with less pounding and going up seven bridges on snowshoes makes for a good workout. Still no word yet on my blood tests.

12/26/11

2011-12-26T13:33:00.000-08:00

5.2 miles (33:58) out along schooner head road.

12/25/11

2011-12-25T09:44:00.000-08:00

8.6 miles(53:46) in the white mountains. Snowed all day here which made the run a little slow but I still managed to stay under 6:18 pace. Pain each step in both legs but only 4 or 5 on a scale of 1 to 10. After the Celtic game which is pretty ugly right now I will spend some time in the hottub with the snow falling.

12/24/11

2011-12-24T06:43:00.000-08:00

Now after about 2weeks of no running with the pain in my legs not changing I have decided to star running again today. It doesn't seem To get worse or better from running so until the tests come back which during the holidays I am guessing will not be fast I am going to just run. Plan is to go to all my planned races in January and February so if you want to beat me you'll have a good chance. I will use hebron and Bradbury as get fit races. Hopefully I get my butt kicked and that will help me train harder to get back into shape. Sidehiller goal a month ago was to win, now I just want to be top 10 so I can make nationals. If I can get through that then I should be able to get pretty fit by nationals and the race in Quebec in march. I hate going to races in shit shape. Not only does it give others who shouldn't beat you hope, but it's tough to race when you are not ready 100%. Saying that whatever is in my tank for any of those races will be depleted.

5 miles 31:54 in the white mountains. It was a run. Feels like a long time but it was really nice to run in the sun and get outside again. Legs don't hurt any worse after and even though they hurt the whole run there is no reason to just sit around and bike when I can get outside and run with mild pain and feel the same afterwards. Doesn't make running fun but it's running.

December 23rd

2011-12-23T07:14:00.000-08:00

50:30 on the spin bike. Light upper body lifting.

December 22nd

2011-12-22T17:25:00.001-08:00

70:00 on spin bike. No good movies on, but got in some good old college football on the PS2. I made myself as a player and in the BCS game got injuried for 4 weeks, how fitting.

December 21st

2011-12-22T14:58:00.001-08:00

50:30 on the spin bike. Didn't go too nuts since I had two teeth yanked out yesterday but I did get to enjoy one of the greatest movies of the 80's. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai. If you haven't seen it, watch it. Classic stuff if you're an 80's buff.

Haven't heard back from all the blood tests yet, but the Thyroid test came back and that's all normal. I actually went outside today and even after all this rest trying to jog across the street to avoid a car gave my legs incredible pain. I hope they figure things out soon. If my legs eat themselves or fall off I'll have to get a couple of those fake ones that make people run faster. Good to see Rupp deciding to run the Marathon trials. Even if it's just to mess with people it's awesome.

Week that was interesting

2011-12-21T05:04:00.000-08:00

14th- 5-miles of running on treadmill(32:21)
15th- 50:30 on the spin bike.
16th-55:00 on spin bike.
17th-50:30 on spin bike.
18th-50:30 on spin bike.
19th-AM: 60:00, PM: 40:00, spin bike
20th-70:00, spin bike.

Although I have had no pain on the spin bike the leg seems to be getting worse. I woke up one night with a very bad headache and the other leg was hurting. Bad enough I couldn't even walk down the stairs. Weird. I went to see the doctor again which over the last few months is at least half a dozen times. I wanted some blood work done as whatever is going on is not normal. It's like something is eating away at my legs and my joints too. After days of rest I now have a tough time walking. At least the biking with low resistance doesn't hurt or aggravate anything. Now that's it's both legs I'm pretty concerned. Tests going out at for different arthritis diseases, thyroid disorders and lyme disease. I had the two wisdom teeth pulled yesterday and that seems to have solved the headache so I doubt I'll go ahead with the MRI on my head but a 3 month headache had the doctors concerned. If the blood tests come back with nothing I guess I'll have to see a neurologist and do some special tests on the legs. It would be nice to be running by New Year's, but I just do not know yet. I know what everyone is going to say, cross fit athletes would push through it. I have never had to walk down stairs backwards after a marathon and here I am walking backwards down the stairs. Brutal, but without the constant headache I slept pretty good last night.
The time off has been nice. It's allowed me to watch a lot of football, basketball and break out the PS2. Besides the regular sports like Football and basketball, I've actually got a rugby game and a ski and shoot game that are pretty fun.
If whatever is wrong with can be fixed and even if the doctors say it's not they can piss off, I'll work real hard to get back into racing shape. Luckily all those around me are great and have always supported me.

Day 26

2011-12-14T05:55:00.000-08:00

AM: 46:00 on spin bike. About as long as it took me to race my first 10-k back in 1993. Was going to run but if I did it would have been a workout and I decided to just keep letting my leg heal.

Day 25

2011-12-13T16:05:00.000-08:00

AM: 30:15 on the spin bike. About what I've run around Eagle lake in so I thought it was a good number. I think I did Eagle lake in 30:16, but I forget the exact number.

PM: 50:30 on the spin bike. I really like the sound of that. I don't think I'll have much company if I run that in a month and a half. But you never know. Plus I think I want to start running like Tebow plays football. Just have in close and then beat everyone at the end. ya right, not my style.

Been over 48 hours of no running and the leg feels amazing. Felt pretty good this morning but I made myself take another day off. Head still hurts, but hopefully after they rip the teeth out I'll have a couple soup days before I feel really good.

Core.

Day 24

2011-12-12T05:02:00.000-08:00

50:30 on the spin bike. Just the amount of time I plan to spend in one of my races this winter. Stretching and lifting.

I'm a Pats fan but I may have to cheer for Tebow next week.

PM: Another 50:30 on the spin bike. Ice bath after. I may do the unthinkable and actually take a few days off from running. My leg injury that kept me from running Manchester has moved it's way from my ankle and shin to the upper shin and knee over the past few weeks and although I can deal with the pain, it's making running not very fun and I'd rather rest up now while I have time. If a few days off doesn't help I'll go back to the doctor because whatever is going on I've never seen before and between college, Zap and beyond I've seen a lot of injuries. Since I'm getting 2-3 wisdom teeth ripped out soon they don't want me running anyways for a couple of days so it will work out well. Between the pain in my leg and the pain in my head, I'm just tired of pain. Not being able to sleep for the past couple of months due to the teeth has really bugged me. I'm a really good sleeper until recently and now it's just a constant headache with a few explosions throughout the day that bring me to my knees. But I can bike with no pain, so I'll stay fit.

Day 23

2011-12-11T11:29:00.001-08:00

Was going to run a workout but with a nice group to run with today I decided against it. Plus my head hurts worse today. I've had some bad headaches the last few months and sometime in the next tens days I'm getting 2-3 wisdom teeth out which are causing the problem. The worst is right after a run when it's cold old. It's been getting bad and usually I lay down on the ground for 20 minutes after and just try to control the pain. Nothing helps the pain.

Anyhow, got in 16.7 miles today. (1:59:59) Really slow which made for another fat burning run for me. But great company. Louie, Dan, Andy for the first 11, Adam and Josh did 6 before the rest of us got there and we did almost another 6 after. Autumn ran 8 miles and did the seven bridges eagle lake loop. She's getting pretty tough.

Once I get these teeth out I'll be happier.

Day 22

2011-12-10T06:37:00.001-08:00

Woke up late, turned down a run that would have had me pushing the baby stroller again and I'll go out by myself and run nice and easy. Not sore from the hills and I feel pretty good. Carriage roads are great, nice and soft from all the rain. May get to run with Adam again tomorrow which would be nice.

AM run- 8-miles, 50:45. Goal for my easy runs is to go no faster than 6:18 pace. Just stayed in my speed limit.

PM run- 4- miles on treadmill to loosen up. (27:20) Felt like I was sprinting. I hate treadmills.

Day 21

2011-12-10T06:20:00.001-08:00

Taking things pretty easy this week. Be lucky to hit 60 miles for the week, but I've been backing off the last couple of weeks to give myself a good rest while still trying to stay fit before I really start to train for Boston. Main goal is to start the whole cycle really strong then build up my endurance, power and speed as I go.

Today I met up with Brian and we got in about 2 miles easy before doing 15x200 meters hills. Measured out with my wheel and gaining 50 feet it made for a good workout. Avg. for all of them was 38.83 with a quick jog down between them, about 50 seconds before starting the next one. Not only will these make me stronger, but I could feel as I was going up my running form going back to the way it should be. 2+ mile cooldown before going to PT. Hill workout itself only took about 23 minutes. Went to bed early.

Day 20

2011-12-08T05:43:00.001-08:00

Just read the rumor of the 2016 US marathon trials standards going to 2:14 for the A standard and 2:18 for the B Standard. Hope that's just a rumor or it's going to make a lot of people not even try.

5-mile run(33:14) Some road, some trails, ankle deep puddles, fun. Lifting. Long day.

Day 19

2011-12-07T14:25:00.000-08:00

Got in 13.1 miles(1:19:20) Goal was to stay 30-60 seconds slower than goal marathon pace so between 5:48-6:18 pace. I did this on the MDI marathon course to get some hills in. It wasn't a jog like most of my runs are but it wasn't very hard and other than one of the more uphill miles(6:13) and one of the more downhill miles(5:49) the other ones were within a few seconds of each other hovering right around 6:00 pace. It was kind of nice cruising along although it took some control not to go faster than I needed to. Cold and rainy but at least it wasn't slick.

Day 18 PM

2011-12-06T13:48:00.001-08:00

Another run with the bats. Bar Harbor Batman is going to start getting jealous. Tried out a pair of the new shoes. Felt good and they fit. Was totally holding back because I just wanted to kill this run in the new shoes, but I've got a harder run tomorrow I can use them for. 5.3 miles tonight(34:43) Stretching after. And anyone who thinks BH batman is not real check out youtube and or facebook, or just come to Bar Harbor and maybe you'll catch a glimpse. Either way I'm running with his buds.

Day 18 AM

2011-12-06T04:40:00.000-08:00

5.3 miles(34:00) Goal is to keep my easy runs slower than 6:18 pace. Lots of good workouts to come where I'll be going much faster.

Day 17

2011-12-06T02:42:00.000-08:00

My recovery day. 45 minutes on the spin bike, some stretching and some light bungie work. Set up my own little home gym since I will not be getting a Y membership. No treadmill so all the running will have to be outside this year. Still possible I may get a gym membership someplace else for a few months. I can do a lot of stuff here but not everything I should be doing. Right now for seated calf raises and squats I'm either using 40lb bags of pellets or 70lb bags of sand. But it would be a heck of a lot safer in a gym. I may have to build something to wear so I can just have the weight on me instead of trying to get it on my shoulders for the squats.

Day 16 PM

2011-12-04T15:47:00.000-08:00

Went to Eagle lake for a true recovery run. 6-miles(41:49)

Core, lifting and an ice bath.

Way to go T Woods and T Tebow. Focus and hard work pay off.

Day 16 AM

2011-12-04T10:08:00.001-08:00

Slept in, waited until well after 9am to go run. I used a lot of Frank Horwills training back in 2002-2005 and I want to combine it with the stuff I learned at Zap. In order to do that you kind of need to know what your current paces are. I headed over to Brian's for some advice on what to do for a test other than simply racing. We headed to the track and did 4x1600 with 1-minute rests. We both agreed that the average for all 4 would give me a pretty good idea what my 5-k race pace was as I've done this test a lot in the past and 4x1600 with sort rests made sense. Once I got that data I was going to use it for some other workouts ranging from 3-k pace stuff to marathon pace stuff. Warmed up 2 miles off the track. Brian came to the track and did all the timing which was awesome in two ways, first I didn't have to wear my watch and secondly I always feel it's good when someone is watching to keep things honest. His splits for me as follows, thank B.

1)
1:11.8 - 1:11.8
1:15.3 - 2:27.2
1:15.8 - 3:43.0
1:15.3 - 4:58.3

2)
1:13.8 - 1:13.8
1:16.1 - 2:29.9
1:16.1 - 3:46.0
1:14.9 - 5:00.9

3)
1:14.1 - 1:14.1
1:15.4 - 2:29.5
1:15.5 - 3:45.1
1:13.7 - 4:58.8

4)
1:13.3 - 1:13.3
1:14.4 - 2:27.7
1:13.9 - 3:41.5
1:11.9 - 4:53.4

2 mile cooldown

This gives me a good idea where I'm at. Well ahead of where I need to be in December. Lots of tempo stuff and hills for a while longer as it won't take long to get 10-k and under speed back.

Day 15 PM

2011-12-03T14:09:00.000-08:00

Easy 7.1 miles(46:18). Back to the indoor range qualifying. So 11 other people were in the class and each time we shot 10 shots at the target which you had to hit 10 out of 10 to pass the instructor kept going right for my target. Everyone else would go get their targets and bring them back to him but each time he went right for mine looking for that one missed shot. I got the vibe he wanted me to fail and be disqualified by the way he talked to me. I had to play the game and not do anything dumb or unsafe as that's the best way to get kicked out. With three instructors he was the only one going down range and going right for my target each time. One guy did something unsafe and got thrown out and a few others failed and left. With 10 shots to go I did some pre race focusing and even though there were others around I pretended I was back home shooting cans as a kid. 10 for 10 I finally could leave. Funny thing is I've shot this weapon since I was a kid and last night when I went to get it ready I noticed the site was missing and had to put a site from my air pistol on it which is not the right site. Anyhow not having a site makes a weapon unsafe so I had to throw it on or get disqualified. At the very beginning you get 2 practice shots that don't count. I didn't hit the target with each of those because the site was so screwed up, but I knew where it was shooting. I basically had to aim about a foot and to the right a bit and then my bullets would hit dead center of the target. Not the way I usually roll, because I'm not used to aiming at anything but dead center, but I had to improvise, adapt and overcome. I love tests.

Day 15 AM

2011-12-03T12:38:00.000-08:00

Easy 4.3 miles(27:10). I then had my indoor firing range qualification from 9am-2:30pm although it took an hour to get to so most of the daylight hours were wasted again. I grew up firing weapons so it was easy. Just means I get to go out and run in the dark again tonight, awesome. Tomorrow I'm really looking forward to running at about 9-10am and then sitting on my ass the rest of the day.

Day 15

2011-12-03T03:31:00.000-08:00

The workout from yesterday for those who don't know is named after famed Australian runner Steve Moneghetti, 2:08 marathoner. Most of the workouts I do are either from College at the University of Maine or Zap Fitness. Over the past few years I've designed a few of my own but for the most part the workouts I got from Coach Lech and Coach Rea train you to race. The trick I've found is not only implementing them at the right time but whether or not to do workouts that play to ones strengths or weaknesses. I hate doing tempo based runs although those help me the most. By doing a lot of tempo based stuff with change of pace it makes the workouts more fun to do and much more race specific. There is a time and place for even paced tempo or marathon based runs, but when I'm getting ready to race I make sure there is a lot of change of pace in my workouts. If your pacing is good and you can change gears in a race, you are a much more dangerous runner.

Day 14

2011-12-02T14:22:00.000-08:00

AM: 5 miles this morning, 32:41. Explored the new Eastern Trail in Ellsworth.

PM: Back in the dark I went to Eagle Lake and got in 7 miles(43:46). Hadn't planned on a workout but my legs felt good, so after 10 minutes easy I started a safe all season workout. Did the Moneghetti fartlek workout. It's something we used to do at Zap. Most of the guys always did it on the track while I always did it over rolling terrain. That's a lie I got to do it once on the treadmill at 3% incline. Anyhow the whole thing only takes 20 minutes and you go 90 seconds hard, 90 seconds fast float, 90 seconds hard, 90 seconds fast float, then 60 seconds hard, 60 seconds fast float, 60,60,60,60,60,60 before going down to 30,30,30,30,30,30,30,30, and finally 15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15. As the harder pieces get shorter they should get faster and you must make sure you keep a good float going. It's really good practice to learn to relax while running pretty fast and recovering at a fast pace. Plus, 20 minutes doesn't take long. Hard to see my watch but I got it done.

Day 13 PM

2011-12-02T03:17:00.000-08:00

After PT, I got in my lifting routine and added some extra ankle weight exercises. Plus some wall sits. Also got in some reps with the expand a lung. I've noticed that I am weaker breathing out than breathing in.

Day 13 AM

2011-12-01T12:57:00.000-08:00

Drove into work early to get my shoes, then ran a light workout.
1-mile warmup, 24 minutes progressive each 3 minutes getting faster, 1 mile cooldown. Went through the mile of the workout in 5:38 and I felt like I got fast as I went. Still tough to go much faster than 5:20 pace with these heavy shoes. It's not just the weight, but the whole action of the shoe isn't made to run fast.Feel like I'm running on snowshoes more than shoes once I get rolling.

6.5 miles total(37:27)

Off to PT, maybe the last time.

Day 12 PM

2011-11-30T17:29:00.000-08:00

Home even later, but I got something in under the moon although I only got out the door because I had to prove to myself i could do it. 6.1 miles(40:23) pissed off and giving every car a dirty look. I was ready to pounce on the first person to say or honk at me. Forgot my running shoes at work and other than my racing flats I'm a one pair runner right now. I broke out a pair of shoes I'd used in the spring of 2009 to hike around Scotland. They worked. New shoes are not showing up until next week. Hopefully I can get some daylight tomorrow so I can get a workout in. Trying to run sub 5:30 pace in the dark is plain dangerous. Cannot wait until the days start getting longer.

Session of core and lifting as well.

Day 12 AM

2011-11-30T04:23:00.001-08:00

4.4 mile jog(29:24) Some roads, some trails. Dark enough so the bats were still out. But at almost 60 degrees it was tee shirt and shorts weather so that was nice.

Day 11

2011-11-29T15:01:00.000-08:00

Blah, that's how my day went. Once I got out the door I enjoyed the quarter moon that was up and ran pissed off for 8.5 miles on the loop road in the dark. (56:54) Good practice for Cabot I guess but something needs to change. I'm not training to finish races, I'm training to win them. This piss poor schedule I'm on sucks and the worse it gets the more I'm going to say F the world and do it anyways. If I can simply manage to avg. 10 miles a day during the week I'll do the weekend warrior stuff and hammer out the weekends. I did manage to thank the moon for lighting my way a little. Might as well say stuff out loud since I didn't see any other idiot out running in the dark. I know what everyones saying, the cross fit athletes were probably doing repeats in the dark up Cadillac Mnt and pullups on tree branches, but I'm not that tough after a day of work.

Day 10

2011-11-28T14:23:00.000-08:00

Morning run never happened but for good reason as I was taking care of my sick cat. Took him to the Vet again today and he's getting better but I wasn't going to go out for a run and let him suffer by himself. I did get some upper body lifting in to work the pistons that run the machine, ha, ha, but it was good anyways to let my legs recover a bit. I did use my expand a lung on the way to work so I got somewhat of a workout in.

Got in 11.3 miles after work. Ran from Eagle lake over to Little Long Pond and met up with Matt F. Got in a loop around the pond plus some one carriage roads and then he was nice enough to drive me back to my car that was at Eagle Lake. 1:14:13 total for me.

My shoe order couldn't be made because both shoes were out of stock so I went elsewhere and ended up getting a pair of Adidas Boston to train in, Adidas Mana's to do workouts in and a pair of Adidas Pro's to race in. I hope I like Adidas shoes.

Day 9 PM

2011-11-27T11:09:00.000-08:00

Got in an easy 5.8 miles with Matt F. on the carriage roads in NE Harbor. Not totally clear of snow but good enough for an easy run. A couple more nice days and they should be clear again.
A set of light plyos and then lunch.

single leg jumps
double leg jumps
lunge jumps
heel walks
toe walks
Crossovers(speed skaters)
Drop jumps

I'm going to jump on the bike later just to loosen up but running for the week is done.

Day 9 AM

2011-11-27T08:45:00.000-08:00

Slept in, watched tv, had some coffee at a friends house, blogged about it.

Day 8 PM

2011-11-26T14:28:00.000-08:00

Lifting and core routine. A few more ankle and lower shin exercises this time with the bungies. First Plyo session tomorrow I think.

Day 8 AM

2011-11-26T09:35:00.000-08:00

Started at Eagle Lake even though we couldn't use the snowed in carriage roads. Adam, Chuck, Josh and I got in 15+ before Adam and I got in some more. I got in 21.6 miles in 2:25:00 before stopping while Adam did another 15-20 minutes. Managed some 1 minute pickups during the last couple miles. One of the easiest longs runs I've done in a long time, but great company.

Day 7 PM

2011-11-25T15:15:00.000-08:00

No run, but I had an hour at PT to continue to heal my leg. It's as good as new but I'm not taking any chances, so I got some heat treatment, massage, ultra sound and stretching in. Going back next week just to stay on top of anything that may come up. Getting a YMCA membership next week and the last time I went to the Y consistently was the 6 weeks before 2010 Midwinter and if missed that then you missed the show.