Week of 3/19 - 3/25


Had a great week running wise and I would guess what highlighted this week was the unseasonable warm weather.  Had some runs that had temperatures in the high 60s and it felt like late May.  As I write this post (3/26) we are back down to the 30's. Thanks!

In terms of training this week there are 3 days that really stand out.  On Thursday Chris C. and I did repeats up the access road, 4 up 4 down.  We started at the reservation head quarters to get a good warm up in.  Repeats were definitely fun to do with Chris. C I appreciate his "great" mentoring.  We finished the day with a little over 10 miles.

Saturday had a great 10 mile run with two speed laps around Ponk with Chris C.  Another "great" mentoring session.  I was dropped after the first lap, went out too fast but, I am learning from "greatness" himself.

Sunday was another miserable, I mean great day to be hiking.  It rained on Chris C. and I for over 8 hours. We did Franconia Ridge, came down to refuel on some food, warm our bones and then head up to Cannon via the Hi-Cannon trail, which Chris C. coined "worst trail ever", demerit was received for complaining.  The conditions on Sunday consisted of slick rock, bullet proof mono-rail that only required micro-spikes.  There was no sign of snow on Franconia Ridge.  Because of the rain and wind, I would guess windchill was below 32 as there was a thin ice layer forming on the rocks and our gear which was soaked.  See picture below.  Hands were a major issue both of us lost ours at various times.  Dexterity was completely lost and the sense of being able to feel anything with your hands as well.

Sunday Chris C. and I did a nice 8/9 mile run on the XC Ski trails near Loon.  We had blowing snow and wind but sunny.  The trails were in relatively good shape, soft in spots from clear drainage routes as well as shoe sucking mud.  Neither of us lost our trail runners but it could easily happen.

All and all it was a good week.  Thanks to Chris C. for letting me stay up at his condo for a March training camp, his mentoring on consumption of Tostitos, desire to eat at Subway for lunch, "subway for lunch?" and eating all my lunch on the way home like a chipmunk, THANKS, I will starve!

Totals for the week:

57.12 miles of combined trail running and hiking
9406 feet of vertical
14 hours 14 minutes time on feet

Week of 3/12 - 3/18

First off, big congratulations to my friend over at There is Gold in Them Hills for his performance at the Georgia Marathon (road) 3:34:29, he has not posted a race report but I am sure he will soon, check it out here.

Well, this week you would have thought it was late May we had temperatures in the high 60's bright sunny skies and to top it all off I had a run on Sunday in 72 degrees, zero wind and clouds.  There continues to be progression in my running and things are continuing to look on the up and up.  Hill repeats over at the Blue Hills access road continue to be Wednesday adventure, I truely hate them, but do them, blah.  Core strength and stretching have also remained in the routine which I am happy about, trying not to let them drift off.  The core strength and stretching I think have been the biggest benefit to my running this year.  What adds to this is the 5am text message competition with Chris C to see who is up and actually doing their morning core/stretching vs. sucking their thumb still in bed.

The miles were definitely up this week, just shy of 60, one of the big pushes this week was the Bonds Traverse which included Bondcliff, Bond, West Bond, South Twin and Galehead.  We pushed hard for 22 miles but were brought to a virtual crawl for about 2 miles (2.5 hours) of waist deep quick sand like snow that was completey water saturated.  Everyone ran out of water on South Twin, it wasn't that bad as temperatures were not that bad, you could melt a snowball in your mouth if you wanted to.  We did restock on water and S-caps on the descent on the Gale River Trail, lots of good water sources and a really great trail to run.  The trail conditions are getting BAD, it is mash potato, soft, jello like, mud like quick sand.  We made it out in 8 hours 42 minutes, check the Garmin Data link on the main page.  I had about 2 liters of water all day and pushed back about 3000 calories, stomach was good and felt generally good all day.

Here is a pic or two from the day:

Totals for the week:

56 miles combined trail running and hiking
13 hours 18 minutes time on feet
7580 feet of vertical

Week 3/5 - 3/11


Not much to report this week other than really happy with getting close to 50 miles and feeling really good during each run and after each run, recovery was great.  General overall body feels good as well, things seemed to have worked themselves out but I need to be diligent with stretching and core strength.

Looking forward to the looonger days, warmer weather and NO headlamp at night!!!!

Totals for the week:

49.93 miles of trail running
7 hours and 6 minutes
3196 feet of vertical

Week of 2/27 - 3/4


Had a great week of "running" dealt with some "slap in the face" March weather after we had a relatively dry winter.  Had snow, sleet, sludge and rain fall during the runs this week.  By far the Saturday run in mid 30's, wind and pouring rain sucked.  Sunday was the best day of the week weather wise was able to run in shorts, ss shirt and Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer (which continues to impress me).  The Sunday run was 12.1 miles, BUT I felt really solid and strong which is a good sign for me.

Also congrats to fellow comrade Chris C. for his 3:47 50k in New York.

Totals for the week:

37.98 miles of all running
2134 feet of vertical (pathetic)