Training Log Archive: Rosstopher

Skyline Trail Race. Jeff put on another great race this year, and there was a big turnout of 103 runners. I figured the field would look much like last year, when Ben Nephew and SGB were the only guys I saw the whole course, and so I was a little shocked when a whole host of speedy looking guys came screaming past me on the first hill climb. I decided that I must be moving too slowly so I gamely tried to keep with that fast moving pack, but they were off and gone and I reached the top of the hill with burning quads and a slightly deflated ego. There must have been 15 or 20 guys ahead of me, but I calmed down and tried to maintain a steady pace for the next 10 minutes. I quickly caught up to a large group that had abruptly faded and I worked my way past them.

After the road crossing I passed a couple of guys and was passed by one really fast-moving fellow that blew past like "I was tied to a pole" (which was a colorful phrase I heard someone use to describe Sam burning down the ski-slope at the end of her race). After the 2nd water stop, I was able to move into position behind a pair of runners and stick with them for much of the 2nd half of the race. The guy in front was really slow on climbs but incredibly fast on the downhills. I would catch back up to the pair on each climb, but they would pull away easily on the downs. On the last climb I got a bit of a lead on the crew I was with but was feeling pretty beat, using my hands to pull me up the rock faces. The speedy guy was just behind me, so I was aware that he might take off at any moment. When we got to the ski slope I really opened up and tried to create a bit of a gap, but in the end it wasn't quite enough, as he snuck past me at the finish line by a nose.

A tough effort, a warm day, and a 6th place result, 7 minutes back on SGB (what a champ that guys is!). I am happy that I wore my icebugs with spikes, much better than my asics sneakers. I ended up about a minute slower than last year, but I suspect that is a result of running the first hill too hard trying to keep up with the overly ambitious, and then having to work my way past all of those people again over the next few miles.

C • Judging by your description... 1

Ali and Ed were going orienteering at Blue Hills today, but logistically we needed to spend the day in the apartment. Becky and Rob came up with a U-Haul to take a bunch of our furniture and stuff, and we spent the morning preparing for the move, and then carrying furniture out to the truck. Then it was a massive meal, and a snail paced trip around the mini-golf links, capped off with a root-beer float and a nap. Could the day get any better? The evening was spent having dinner with Ed and getting absolutely schooled in Ticket to Ride, Nordic Countries.



Here we see the CT roadtrip warriors at Chipotle's and here we see the wreckage left in the wake of losing all of our shelves, lamps, the bed, dresser, chairs, etc.

C • Exciting! 9

Incredibly slow and sleepy on the way to work. I have the suspicion that there aren't enough days left to complete all the tasks that I'd like to do at work. I suspect that next week will involve a lot of time at the lab and not as much training as I'd like.

To work in the morning. Quiet and sunny, a good day to be out and about.

Leaving work late again. heading up to Fresh Pond for the CSU race. I drank a cup of tea right before leaving the lab and the caffeine and sugar was nice but the sloshing was annoying.

Showed up about 5 minutes after the start of the race, so I just dropped the bag and my shirt and headed out on the course. Catching up to Terry and Patrick was out of the question, but I felt pretty good so I wasn't too worried about having people to run with.

Stopped once to quickly tie my shoe, and was passed by a lady on a bike that I could almost keep pace with, that helped me keep speed around the back section. Finished just a couple seconds slower than 2 weeks ago and was very pleased with the run.

tired, thirsty, making for a slow run home. Eventually felt a bit nauseous/faint so I stopped at a gas station and grabbed a chocolate milk to rehydrate. Pretty ideal recovery fuel.

I got home feeling so overheated that all I wanted was a cold shower. Well our water never gets cold here, so after a very unsatisfying 2 minute warm shower, I got Sam to join me out by the pool, and I just floated in the pool until I re-equilibrated.

C • Beast 1

C • chocolate milk - recovery drink 2

Not feeling to zippy in the morning. Wednesdays are kind of rest days for me :)

I was working late and was in the animal facility still when the automatic timer went off. Being plunged into darkness is a good excuse to stop what you're doing and go home :)

Sam made a fantastic dinner and then we went over to a friend's house to play trivial pursuit.

Running to work. Slow but feeling pretty good. The last couple of days are being felt in my hamstrings, and it took a few minutes to warm up and get the soreness to go away. Humid morning, good thing there is a shower at work.

To the track. Feeling a little weary and a little hungry, but way more alive than last week. Which is to say that when I got there I didn't flop on the ground and try to take a 20 second nap :)

The weather cooled off nicely and I arrived just as the group was finishing up drills and strides.

A nice workout, designed as always by Terry, with an emphasis on some longer intervals as they're preparing for an 8 mile race at Stowe. The plan was [800, 1200, 1600]@ 8-10k pace and [2x 800, 2x400] at 3-5k pace, 200 rest after each, 400 rest after the mile.

I knew that I wasn't going to feel fresh going into this workout, and I was pretty happy to run 80 second splits for the first 3 intervals. I had a mild amount of GI discomfort at the end of each interval, probably just a side effect of being a little dehydrated, I was pleased at how I handled it though. The faster stuff wasn't really that fast, but it was a full out effort, and actually the times are probably about right for my 3k pace anyway.

2:40
4:01
5:22
2:35
2:37
1:12
1:11

Felt good to run into the wind on the homestretch because it helped to cool me down.

Abbreviated cool down with the remaining runners. Abbreviated because one of the gates we normally pass through was locked. Talked about how Harvard should figure out a way to air condition the outdoor track for us :)

C • dibs 3

Spent a long morning shopping at the wrentham outlets for clothes and a camera. A very successful outing as I got some very good deals on running shorts and a nice new camera.

Then Sam, Jeff, and Judy went for a bike ride starting in Dedham and I decided that I wanted to do something more running specific and I wanted to keep my Monday Hill workout habit. So I headed out to do one mile repeats up Westfield Street. The hill measured from the grate in the ground at the intersection up to the driveway at the top is 1 mile, and starts off steep for a minute, then it goes flatish and a little downhill for a long section before climbing steeply again near the end. The sun was out in full force and I was pushing pretty hard.

By the last climb I was really struggling, but it felt good to work this hard.

6:20
6:15
6:16
6:32

Then the slow slog back to meet up with the Saeger/Karpinski trio.... followed by a nice long nap at home.