X-Mas week 12/19 - 12/25

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - Robinson Woods, 6 miles.  Easy mellow run.

Wednesday - Winnick Woods, 7 miles.  Fun run charging the hills.

Thursday - Eastern Trail, 8 miles.  Took off later than I wanted to so I hit the Eastern Trail for a flat run. The energy was real strange out and I never really felt good or safe on the run. With high humidity the headlamp was not helping my vision much so I turned it off for most of the run. Really had to struggle mentally to get in the 8 miles and get it done.

Friday - Back Cove, 10.5 miles.  Relaxing 2.5 mile warmup with a killer 5 mile tempo run and a 3.5 mile cool down.

Saturday - Stroudwater, 6 miles.  Good strong run in snowy fun conditions.

Sunday - Planned 6 but ended up kickin' it Christmas style sunup to sundown.

Summary - 37.5  Recovery week.

Enter Winter 12/12 - 12/18

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - Blackstrap 6 miles.  Power hiked the hills and took it easy on the downhills and flats to give my tired legs and achy body a comforting ease in to the week.

Wednesday - Back Cove 8 miles.  Supposed easy run with Zak but we cruised at a quicker clip than I was expecting. Went from his house around the Cove, up the Prom and out-and-back on the causeway.  Still felt pretty tight from the race and the fall I took, a bit like I played hockey all weekend.

Thursday - Fitzpatrick Stadium 9 miles.  Hit the track close to dark on a rainy and windy evening. After warming up two miles I hit three 1.5 mile repeats at 5k pace. Recovered a 400 in between and cooled down 2 miles.

Felt OK but not real confident I'd be able to make it through the workout after the first interval.  Kept on the pace as close as possible each lap and finished strong.  Absolutely toast afterward though.  Another surprisingly fun track workout.

Friday - Stroudwater 6 miles.  Mellow run making sure not to go out fast in the beginning like I really wanted.  I was glad I didn't as I was definitely sluggish at the end.

Saturday - Robinson Woods 8.25 miles.  Ran steady throughout the run, albeit not as hilly as it could have been, I tried to keep a solid pace.

Sunday - Jungle Run 20.4.  Excellent run with Ian, Zak and Joe.  Met up with Zak at his house and then pooled over to Ian's where Joe arrived shortly thereafter.  It was stupid cold out with temps hovering around 15 and I'm guessing wind chill below zero, had to be.

We headed down the road a bit until hitting the trails I've heard so much about.  They were a mix of single-track, power lines, dirt roads and lots of glorious hills mixed in.  It was surprising with the temperatures so bone-chillingly cold that not all the water was frozen.  We had a tough time avoiding the wetness in between slipping on ice and crunching through permafrost.

We all had done a few miles the day before, but Joe trumped us having run 21.  So when we got back to Ian's house in between loops and Joe's bottle was frozen, he decided to call it a day.  The rest of us took off down the road again with the wind directly at our faces.  This part of the run was no joke as my hands were frozen solid with no feeling for about two miles.  It warmed up enough though once we hit the hills again and got out of the direct wind.

We did a few variations on the second loop but still ended up hitting the big bitch hill, and another close to the end which meanders on for what felt like three quarters of a mile.  Really fun adventurous run with conditions making it all the more tough.  Had an absolute blast and can't wait to hit the route again.  Thanks to Ian for showing us the area and posting the elevation profile so I could use it.

57+ miles for the week.

Till We Meet In Hell and the week 12/5 - 12/11

Monday - Rest


Tuesday - Presumpscot Trail, 7 miles.  Hit the trail to outer Washington and then all the loops on the way back. Ended up doing a few repeats on the last one before calling it good on a sluggish, low energy day.

Wednesday - Robinson Woods, 7 miles.  Real nice and easy, enjoyable run in the pouring rain.

Thursday - Winnick Woods, 8 miles.  Real cold, wet and windy run feeling sluggish and tuckered. Still managed to push a bit on the hills but not quite the workout I anticipated. Did two large loops and finished with one inner loop.  Headed to see Garry Bracken for some tune-up work after.

Friday - Robinson Woods, 11 miles.  Today's run changed from interval work and 5 miles to 11 and slow so I can flip flop the seventeen intended for Sunday and run the Till We Meet In Hell run.
Felt real tired and sluggish today and took it super, annoyingly slow to make sure I could get in some fun this weekend. Real cold at the end but otherwise an OK run.

Saturday - Presumpscot Trail, 8 miles.   Nice easy semi-hilly run with Zack. Catching up, planning, anticipating and looking ahead at the year of excitement.

Sunday - 'Till We Meet In Hell, 12.35 miles.  Incredible run with the Trail Monsters! Gorgeous area with a 1.4ish mile loop and 300ft of elevation gain. Finished 8 full loops with 1.15 miles in to the last.

Started mellow with Andy, Blaine and Ian. The hill at the start of the lap was a rough way to get the blood flowing and a clear indication the course was going to be awesome.  After the first lap it was Andy and I and my goal was to keep up with him or at least keep him in sight and eventually pass.

I kind of started to get it in my head that it would be fun to really race and maybe win.  I knew that with Ryan out, Jamie tuckered from an awesome run the previous day, Ian having had a full day previously as well, Blaine on the low training end, Jeff focusing on skiing, and Andy coming off an injury, (not to mention the other TM's that were not in attendance) that I might actually have a chance.  I knew that if everyone was at their peak it would be a different day so I figured I'd capitalize while I could.

After a horrendous bone-crushing fall early on I definitely worked to keep up with Andy on the downhills and flats, but noticed him slowing on the ascents.  On the 8th lap I made my move up the first hill and pushed the rest of the way. I thought I'd gone too early though and felt real heavy on the last few climbs, sucking wind as best I could to keep moving forward.  Really gave it all and left nothing.

Splits:
1 11:06
2 10:08
3 9:52
4 9:52
5 10:11
6 10:16
7 10:17
8 9:32
9 8:44 = 1.15 miles

This was such a fantastic race/run put on by Val and Rick and really well laid out.  It was truly great to see the amount of TM's that came out and the fun and energy had by all.  After the event we took over Gritty's for good post-race food, beer and the first ever TM awards hosted by Ian.  People voted on various funny and interesting topics for the 2011 year.  They graciously voted me most improved runner, and best finish.  Super nice group of people with such wonderful support, motivation and camaraderie that I'm happy to call friends.

Thanks to all for a wonderful 2011!!

Summary - 53.3 miles. 

A few more miles 11/28 - 12/4

Monday - Rest.  I decided to do squats while stacking wood and would regret the decision a bit latter in the week with tuckered quads.  I suppose the cross training is good but it weakened me a bit more than I thought it would.

Tuesday - Sebago to the Sea Trail.  6 miles.  Nice easy run with little energy today. Great to explore the trail from the Riverton Trolley Park North along the Presumpscot and to see more of the trail system which will eventually connect Sebago to the Sea.

Wednesday - Fitzpatrick Stadium.  8 miles.  After a 2 mile warmup around Deering Oaks I hit the track for a great workout with high excitement and gasping for air after each interval.
Did three sets of 800, 600, 400, 200 at a target 6 minute/mile pace.  Jogged a 200 between each with a three minute rest in between. Cooled down with about a mile jog around Deering again.  Had to dodge a few older folks going for their afternoon walks around the track that were a bit more serious than I was. All-in-all the workout was fun, quick and felt effective.

Thursday -  Back Cove.  6 miles.  Quick easy run around the back cove. A bit cold at first but warmed up on the back-stretch.  Surprised at how many people were out in the dark and cool weather, but it was gorgeous with clear skies and stars all around.

Friday - Winninck Woods.  7 miles.  Really pushed it hard on the hills and tried to keep a quick pace throughout. Felt good and strong, slowed down a bit in the end due to darkness and did not want to face plant on the roots and rocks.  Did two large loops including the inner. Oddly enough somebody had leaf blown the inner loop.


Saturday - Bradbury.  10.3 miles.  Great run with TM's. Mostly ran with Ian, Jamie and Brett but there were at least 16 people all together. Hit the East and West side with a steady conversational pace and ended up on the West side with my old hill repeat next to the boulders.  It starts across the field at the school and ascends connecting briefly to the South Ridge trail then finishing at the summit, also part of the beautiful loop.  After a quick breath at the top we charged down the mountain to finish a great run.
Super good as always catching up, learning about past events and dialing in next years training.

Sunday - Black Point Rd.  11.5 miles.  Ran almost to Ferry Beach with tight legs and energy which wasn't great against a steady head wind. Had to push it and keep focused the whole way to maintain some intensity and ended up with a 2 minute negative split. Felt heavy legged and laborious most of the way but had the wind at my back to help me up the few hills towards home.

Summary - 48.8.  Great week with really great weather.