Training Daze

Not much happening on the racing front since my latest debacle at Muddy Moose.  Although I do have a series of races scheduled in the coming weeks including the Bedford 12k, Pineland Farms  25k, Newton 10k & Hollis  5k.  So, lately it’s been all about the training. Some good, some bad and some bizarre...

Muddy Moose Trail Race (Short)

Last weekend I packed up the family and headed up to Wolfeboro, NH for two very special events.  The first was a memorial service for my Step-Grandmother Arlene “Gigi” Jillette who passed away earlier this year at the ripe young age of 98.  And, the second was the Muddy Moose 14 Mile Trail Race.  This race was one that I’d been eying for a few years and since we were going to be in the area anyway, it seemed like a good a year as any to do it.  Unfortunately, as it turned out, I’ll need to make a return trip to the “Borough of Wolfe’s” if I’m going to check this race off my to-do list.

The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill

One year ago today, I tore my hamstring on an easy training run in the woods. The accident happened the day after watching a thrilling Boston Marathon and (by no small coincidence) the day after my quickest tempo run ever. It’s been a long, difficult road to recovery since that fateful day and when given an opportunity to run this year’s race I quickly jumped at it.  Because running Boston (at least in my own twisted mind) was my little way of saying - I’m back!

Unfortunately, the weather gods had other plans.

The Sounds of Heartbreak

Hello Boston, my old friend,
I've come to run with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
The obsession that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of Heartbreak

In restless dreams I ran alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my Nike’s to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
The Citgo Sign
It blew my mind
And touched the sound of Heartbreak

In Monday morning’s light I saw
Ten thousand runners, maybe more.
People talking without listening,
People stretching without warming,
People taking leaks that toilets never share
But no one dared
Disturb the sound of Heartbreak

Fools said I, You do not know
Heartbreak like a side-stitch grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my gels that I might feed you.
But my words, by screaming coeds drowned
And echoed
In the wells of Heartbreak

And the people bowed and prayed
To the running god they made.
And the statue flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the plaque said, the words of the dropouts
Are written on the Green Line halls
And Med Tent walls
And whisper'd in the sounds of Heartbreak 

Sung to (and stolen from) "The Sounds of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel

10 Things

10 things I’ve figured out since I re-started learning to swim:

1. Goggles are very important.
2. Ear plugs are important, but not as important as goggles.
3. A nose plug is not important and actually quite annoying.
4. A swim cap is also not important but still very cool.
5. Swimming with your mouth closed (the entire time) is hard and stupid.
6. Lifting your whole head out of the water to breathe is not recommended.
7. Breathing with a right side head turn is hard but with the left side it’s easy.
8. Kicking should be continuous and not once every swim stroke.
9. Kick turns are cool but physically (and genetically) impossible for me to do.
10. My shoulders, neck and upper back hate me for trying this.

Oh, and I still have no fucking idea what I’m doing.

New Bedford Half Marathon

At the start of the year, The New Bedford Half Marathon was to be my “Goal Race” for the Spring of 2012. I geared my early season training plan around it in order to peak for the March 18th race date and hopefully run a new Half Marathon PR. And, while my training did go pretty well for the first 2+ months of the year, I realized after the 10 miler that a HM PR (1:23:06 or better) was a little bit beyond my reach at the moment. So, going into the race, my "new" plan was to put in a good, hard effort and just have fun with it.

As usual, the start at New Bedford was crazy. It took me a while just to worm my way up through the tightly packed corral area to a place where I thought I should be, pre-start. The temps were near ideal – Sunny, 45 degrees and almost no wind. Of course, we were standing amongst the taller buildings in downtown New Bedford, so any wind was bound to be somewhat minimized. That was not to be the case, as it turned out, down by Clark’s Cove and New Bedford Harbor. But, more on that later …

Square One

Recently I decided that it would be a good idea to expand my cross training world to include swimming. Lord knows why. I waste enough of my time exercising, really, without including time driving to an aquatic facility, flopping around in a pool for a while, then driving home. And then, probably catching a cold from going outside with wet hair.

Anyway, that “X-T World Expansion” began this past Monday evening at the Nashua YMCA. I signed up to participate in a Tri-Swim class (or in my case - Try Swim) to help me learn proper swimming technique. The class is taught by a burly guy named John, who clearly has no idea what he’s in for with regards to teaching me how to swim.

DH Jones 10 Miler

This past weekend I ran the DH Jones 10m in Amherst, MA. This race was the first of seven in the 2012 New England Grand Prix and was also the first GP race that I’ve run with my team since the Red’s Shoe Barn 5m in April of last year. Gate City had nearly 50 runners signed up to run and everyone seemed psyched to get the season started. So, to say that I was super-amped up for this race would be a very mild understatement.

Give and Take

In running & racing jargon, once a runner reaches the ripe old age of 40 they move up to something called the Masters Division. I’m not sure why they call it “Masters”. In the 15 years I’ve been running, I certainly don’t feel like I’ve “Mastered” anything yet. However, as a Masters runner I have learned that I need to be flexible – both in my training and my racing expectations.

When I started running at the age of 29, I could hammer every workout day after day and nearly every race I ran seemed to bring a new PR. If I trained (and raced) the same way these days I’d end up getting injured more than I already am! So, I’ve learned that a certain amount of flexibility (a give and take if you will) is required for both my running longevity and my overall sanity!

Running on Faith

Long distance running requires a certain amount of faith; Faith that your weekend 20 miler will be worth getting up at 5:30am for; Faith that you’ll be able to complete the day’s workout in its entirety, despite what your legs are telling you; Faith that the driver coming at you with a cell phone in one hand and a tall vanilla latte in the other is not going to plow you over.

Long distance racing requires a whole other level of faith: Faith that your finely-crafted training program will deliver you to the starting line on race day in the best shape of your life; Faith that the pace which felt slow and difficult during your 10 mile training run will now feel light and easy during your marathon; Faith that when you push yourself to the limit, you can achieve your goals.

Running Goals for 2012

2011 was a bit of an up and down year for me running-wise. It started out very promising. A winter of base building (long runs) and strength training (snowshoe racing) left me primed for some early season road PR's. I ended up having a couple of good races and then promptly tore my hamstring in April. 

For the initial recovery, it took about 2 months before I could start training full-time again and then another 2 months to get myself back into reasonable racing shape. I had a couple of OK races in September as I built up my speed. But, from early October until now it's been one hamstring set-back after another.

Fortunately, with some deep tissue massage, active release therapy, graston technique and some core exercises I believe I have my latest hamstring issues solved. Or, at least solved enough to start setting some goals and making a plan for the New Year. With that in mind (and tempting fate beyond belief) below are my running goals for 2012:

Training Goals:

• Stay injury free for the duration of 2012.
• Get my weight below 180 (184 currently) and keep it there for the year.
• Add more (and varied) cross training exercises to my training routine.
• Learn to swim. Not just treading water, but proper swimming technique.

Racing Goals:

• Compete in my first duathlon race.
• Complete my first 50 mile race.
• Become an Iron-Runner by running each of the 7 NEGP races
• Win a race - of any distance.

Time Goals:

• 1m: 5:10 
• 5k: 17:30 (5:38) 
• 5m: 29:00 (5:48) 
• 10k: 36:30 (5:54) 
• 10m: 1:02:00 (6:12) 
• 1/2m: 1:22:00 (6:16) 
• Mar: 3:00:00 (6:52)

So there it is. In black and white.

Now all that's left to do is make it happen ...

Sanctuary

I really love running on the trails this time of year. All the leaves have fallen and are blanketing the brown & dirty ground. The sun is low in the sky but shines brightly through the leafless forest canopy. It’s crisp and cold but the snow has yet to arrive. Cross country season is over but snowshoe season is still a month away. It’s like trail running’s “curtain call” before the snow and ice of winter make the trails impassable (save for snowshoes) over the next few months.

I’m particularly fortunate this time of year to have a wonderful system of trails right outside my daytime door. A patchwork of Conservation Land, Wildlife Refuges, and Town Forests just across the street from where I work in Carlisle, MA. The trails system I run on stretches along the west side of the Concord River from Route 225 in the South up to Treble Cove Road in the North and includes land parcels named Foss Farm, Great Meadows and The Greenough Land.