Just Another Weekend

This was a great weekend with lots of good miles. I have finally kicked my cold and feel like my old (not that old) self again. Saturday, I raced Andy's 4.5 mile Fast Friends Race in Swanzey. It was a wicked challenging course, but fun. I was very impressed with Andy's race directing. You can tell when an experienced racer puts on their own event. There were plenty of restrooms, d.j., professional timing, and cool prizes (I got a gift card to Agway). I ran the race in 22:44 (avg 5:04) which I am pleased with (results). On Sunday, I met some of the crew at Greg's house in Chesterfield. We were going out for our first Pisgah outing of the year. We got in 20 miles of just about every surface imaginable and had an amazing time. Just another Keene weekend. I took some pictures and a video to show just how awesome the scenery is and juvenile the runners are.

Mar 22 - Mar 28

Mon - PM 14 miles on Keene Rail Trail 3 miles w/KHS
Tue - PM 12 miles Rail Trail
Wed - AM 3 miles PM 9 miles w/ track
Thu - PM 8 miles Solo 4 miles w/Mark 5 miles w/ KHS
Fri - PM 14 miles
Sat - AM 14 miles w/ 4.5 mile Road Race (22:44)
Sun - PM 20 miles in Pisgah with Greg, Boj, and Mark (epic)
Total -106 miles

New Bedford Half Marathon (USATF NE Champs)

I have been in denial since a mediocre workout Wednesday, that I have been fighting a cold. I took as much time off as I could all week, and thought I could just tough it out Sunday. Not true. I am hopelessly mortal and can't be 100% all of the time. I headed out at my goal pace and felt pretty good through 3 miles. It was the climb at mile three that seemed to be a game changer for me. I couldn't maintain my effort up the hill and lost contact with the lead pack. I just could not turn my dogs over. I couldn't break 5:10 pace thereafter either. I knew very early on that I was in big trouble. My splits just kept on creeping closer and closer to 6 minute pace. I got caught by a viscous pack of CMSers at around mile 10 or 11 and tried to root them on, salvage a scoring race for myself, and help as much as I can. Jim Johnson had a huge race and closed very well. I could see him put the burners on and kill the last three miles. Greg and Bob pulled each other along with Bob just edging out Greg in the final mile. Greg looked good and PR'ed through 10 miles but faded just a bit in the final stretch. An awesome effort and a huge PR. It was another fun day, despite the disappointing race, with a great team and great weather. I look forward to licking my wounds, regrouping, and coming back stronger and faster.

10 x 400

Objective : 12 x 400

Recovery : full 400 jog recovery

Keenyans : Me, Greg, Mark, Boj, Goupil, Clint Joslyn, Dave Cairns

Result :

66 / 61 / 64 / 63 / 62 / 63 / 62 / 62 / 61 / 61

Overview : I think the most exciting thing about this Wednesday was seeing Clint, and hearing about how good his wife Angela is doing. He hopes to become a regular on Work Out Wednesdays. Other than that, the workout seemed flat. Usually one of us has some motivating words to get things going. Today, everyone succumbed to their demons. Mark and I wanted to do 12 of these efforts but just felt miserable from the first one. In fact, we set out to do 3 x mile and changed it to 400's after the first lap of the first "mile". So in the end we had 10 x 400. It is hard for me to get excited about a full recovery workout. I know it has it's benefits but it just doesn't seem as tiring. I am getting pumped for this weekend and can't wait to run a fast half marathon. I am making a bold prediction by stating, "CMS will have at least 5 scoring team members under 1:10 this Sunday!" Let's do it.

Mar 15 - Mar 21

Mon - 0
Tue - 10 miles with Greg (1:06:23)
Wed - 12 miles w/ track workout
Thu - 0
Fri - 0
Sat - 0
Sun - 17 miles (Half Marathon 1:11)
Total - 35 miles

Mar 8 - Mar 14

Mon - PM 17 miles (1:43:20)
Tue - PM 14 miles (1:34:23) w/ Greg and Josh Ferenc
Wed - PM 15 miles w/track workout
Thu - PM 17 miles (1:48:27)
Fri - AM 17 miles (1:43:48)
Sat - AM 17 miles (No Watch) w/ the boys
Sun- 0
Total - 97 miles

The Pyramid

Objective: 400/800/1200/1600/1200/800/400 @ 69 secs per quarter
Recovery: half of effort time to recover
Keenyans: Me, Greg, Pete, Boj, James, Dan
Result:
400 - 69
800 - 2:18
1200 - 3:27
1600 - 4:33
1200 - 3:25
800 - 2:14
400 - 60 (it was almost 61)

Overview: Before we started we were second guessing our recovery goal. It seemed pretty ambitious and overwhelming. In the end we figured we would give it a go and if we got in over our heads we would go back to the normal half distance jog recovery. I am extremely pleased with this work out, due to the fact that we hit half time recovery. I think it adds another element to the session. No matter what, you have to run faster than you want to when you are tired. And training with these guys is awesome. We all seem to have certain strengths that we can draw off of. Chasing a 1:50 half miler in a workout will make you faster on any day. I love it. Also, this was our first Wednesday as a group on a real track all year. Another plus. Well, back to solo miles for a couple of days.

16.75 Mile Tempo/Progression

Andy, Mark, and I met up at Erik Kress's house at 10 Saturday morning. The plan was for Erik to drive us out to the Clarence Demar start line in Gilsum and then set up a fuel station at mile 10. The three of us did a quick 10 minute warm up and then got right into it. We wanted to be conservative the first mile to get things loose and came through mile one in 6:00. Unfortunately most of the lines have been washed away and we had to run on feel. The few splits I did get were around 5:30 pace in the beginning. After the water stop that Erik generously set up, I decided that things were going pretty well and wanted to hammer out the last bit of the effort. I started progressing and felt smooth. I ended up bringing the pace down to around five minute pace by the end of the session. I was feeling it and trying to hold up but felt strong. I think I may have had too much coffee earlier because I felt a little nauseous if I tried to go all out. My stomach seemed to keep me limited which was probably good. I missed the 16 mile mark and wasn't looking at my watch and ended up stopping on Felt Rd, which after mapping found out it is 16.75 miles. I guess that's extra credit. My final time for the workout was 1:29:44 which averages to about 5:21 pace. Basically, mission accomplished. It was an absolutely beautiful day and it was a fun workout with some good guys. Sunday we are meeting again for an easy, social, 20 miler followed with some burgers and beers. Don't you wish you lived in Keene man!

Mar 1 - Mar 7

Mon - 10 miles (1:00:56) Legs are a bit tight from racing but feel good.
Tue - 10 miles (1:05:36) with Rob Lind in Brattleboro.
Wed - AM 3 miles treadmill (21:00) PM 13 miles w/track workout
Thu - AM 3 miles treadmill (21:00) PM 11 miles (1:07:52)
Fri - Off (trying to be patient even though it goes against my nature)
Sat - 21 miles w/ 16.75 mile tempo/progression
Sun - 20 miles (2:13)
Total - 91 miles

16 x 400

Objective: 16 x 400 @ 70 sec

Recovery: 60 sec jog recovery (200 meters) / 400 jog recovery after 8

Keenyans: Me, Andy, Mark, Greg, BoJo (new CMS member), James, Dan

Result:

I do not have exact data but all splits were 67-70 seconds

Overview: It was good to be back at it. I was a little tight from Sunday's race the last couple of days and wasn't sure how things would go once I got moving. This workout was encouraging because it felt so smooth and effortless. It really seemed to shake things out.

DH Jones 10 Miler (USATF NE Champs)

I was definitely anxious about Sunday's race. It being the first of the Grand Prix events and the first time I have returned to a race where I felt like I raced well the year before. I put a lot of pressure on myself to try and run faster. My volume is the same as last winter, but this year I have some solid workouts under my belt and a great group of guys to train with. Jess and I made our way down and met a carload of hoodlums at Bickford's (Greg, BoJo, and Jeff). We drove in tow to Amherst and when we got there, we set up camp and chatted with other CMS teammates. I really love running for CMS and think we have some great guys on the squad. We have also grown and added some new faces to the scene which is exciting. Jess met Krissy K. and they set out to take some pictures of the race. She said she had a great time and it was fun having another person to cheer with. Some of the CMS guys (plus Mark Miller who would look great in Polar Blue) headed out for a warm up. We had the usual immature banter that usually goes along with our runs and then went our separate ways to focus on our individual demons before the gun went off. When the race started the usual suspects quickly formed a lead pack and we settled into pace and jockeyed back and forth for the first three miles. At around three we were met with the first hill and what seemed to be a game changer. Brendan Callahan, Mark Miller, Pat Moulton, and myself separated from the rest of the field. Brendan made another move at around 5 and gapped the three of us. I would end up chasing him the rest of the way. I think I lost Pat and Mark a mile 7. Pat mentioned he had been under the weather and Mark got a stitch so I had to try and reel the leader in solo. I ended up getting as close as 3 seconds back on Brendan but he was too strong and seemed to sense my presence when I got too close. I was very pleased to end up running 50:58 on a difficult course and run 49 seconds faster than last year. BAA won the team competition with CMS just barely edging out GBTC. Again, it is so much fun to be a part of such a good team. Next up.... New Bedford Half!

Heidi Westover nearly breaks record at Jones Group Realtors 10 Mile Road Race