Training Log Archive: PG

"Prologue" - real good course in interesting terrain (no "prairie" O'), a couple of mistakes but not too bad. Best time was 18+ by Leif Anderson.

The Chase -- had more energy than I thought I would have, again an interesting course, a mix of a few long legs across the prairies and a lot of short legs in the more complicated areas. breathing hard all the way, but still able to run a lot of the uphills. Best time was 38+ by Dan Stoll-H.
As usual, I'll post routes when I get home.

Prologue - Splits

The Chase - Splits

Stampede - Splits

Training on Bisbee Hill map at the 1000 Day. Running ok, orienteering was real nice.

Easy run in Boulder, but the lungs were working overtime.

Leverett loop, no falls.

A short outing at Five Ponds in Litchfield. Back and hip not too bad, better after a few minutes.

Lots of sore places, especially my lower back, which has been acting up for a week or so. Time to take a few days off before heading to Wyoming (mowing the "lawn" may be as active as I get).

Around Lake Winnipesauke, no big hills but endlessly up and down. Hazy, hot, and humid, getting pretty tired by the end, plus managed to be really stupid -- not paying attention when I was getting a bottle out and clipped Phil's back wheel and hit the pavement pretty hard. Lost a bunch of skin on one elbow and one hip, but no serious damage to me or the bike.

With Phil in the White Mountains, loop from Sawyer River Rd -- Carrigan Notch, Desolation, and Signal Ridge trails. Ran all except the last quarted mile to Carrigan Notch and the wicked steep 1.9 mile climb climb up Carrigan. Legs felt good, enough though they were getting a bit pulverized on the long rocky downhill at the end. Real nice outing.

More sore places than I would care for, not used to long distances any more, but at least I got 10 hours sleep to make up for none the night before.

Whately/South Deerfield. Lots of sore places.

Last 31.3 miles of the Vermont 100 Mile keeping Jeff Saeger company. Mix of jogging and walking the first part, mostly walking the second. Started a little before 9 pm. Good weather, absolutely beautiful at dawn even though I think I was enjoying it a lot more than Jeff. But he hung in there real well, finished in 26 and a half hours. (Time includes sometimes lengthy stops at aid stations for refueling...)

Race course over to the gate and back, good hard pace.

At the track with Phil (sure wouldn't have gone without his urging...), 4 x 800 in 3:05, 3:04, 3:03, 3:03 with a slow walk/jog 400 in between. Surprised mysef a little, was feeling really sluggish warming up, but the legs weren't so bad and the heavy breathing/pounding heart seemed just like what I've been doing the past couple of weeks.

Before, after, in-between....

Shutesbury/Wyola loop. Got a painful cramp in my left calf at the top of the Shutesbury hill, took it easy the rest of the way which was mostly downhill anyway. I've had 6 months trouble-free with the calves, hope this isn't the start of something.

Warm-up, cool-down.

5K XC race in Northampton. Still in the wrong time zone, felt like I was racing at midnight, but a decent result, 9 seconds faster than a month ago. Need to get some more speed in the legs, if that is possible.

Leverett loop, steady pace.

Back home this evening. Weight down 4-5 pounds on the trip, to about 135. I guess the last week took something out of me.
I'll post maps in the morning.

World Masters Final in Asiago, Italy. Qualification races on July 6 and 7.

See the discussion thread....
Somewhat bummed, becauses my goals/hopesexpectations were very high, but 5th is still real good. And the trip as a whole (except for the food poisoning) was excellent. Nine races, 2 firsts, 3 seconds, a third, a fourth, a fifth, and a tenth. It is really fun to come over here and compete where every second can matter and a minute or two makes a huge difference. And just thinking about it provides lots of motivation to get out and train in the months before.
I guess I need to dream up some new goals now or else I'll get fat and lazy again....

Stomach still off, not eating much....

Well, I didn't feel great but it was a whole lot better than yesterday. Didn't really eat anything yesterday, but got a lot of fluids in so at least I wasn't dehydrated today. Ran a lot better, still walking up the hills but moving ok otherwise. And a good smart run -- the one time I had any doubt as to where I was I stopped long enough to figure it out. Hit all the controls right on, even though most of them seemed to be pits.
Friday will be tougher, just because the pace will have to be harder, and that rachets up the mental stress. Will have to stay smart.... Meanwhile, nothing tomorrow, except eating!

Talk about a day that wasn't fun. Woke up in the middle of the night feeling bad, then throwing up, then just feeling awful. No breakfast, managed to drink just a little water before the start. By the time I reached the start triangle I was exhausted, felt like I was at about 70 miles of a 100-miler, and that is not usually a good/strong feeling. Walked even the slightest upgrade and even had trouble just walking up the last couple of hills. But hung in there mentally, missed nothing. That was the plan and nice to actually do it.
It was a time when experience helps, both from the late stages of ultras and rogaines, and from once 10 or 15 years back at a 5-day in Germany when under similar circumstances I made it through the day and then recovered enough to run really well the last three days. So I hope that repeats itself.
After I finished I felt so bad I just wanted to lie down under the table where they were downloading times. Staggered off to the car, slowly drank a little, lay on the ground shaking and panting for about an hour while first Randy and then Gail tried to take care of me, and then threw up everything all the way back to the first course for dinner last night.
At that point Gail suggested we head off to the first aid tent to see if an IV was possible. It was, and after an hour there I felt a touch more human, and now a couple of hours later some more fluids and a little bit to eat are staying down, so there is hope for tomorrow. It would be nice to be strong enough to move up a little, but first I have to do some serious reloading. And then remember to use my head tomorrow no matter how fast or slow I am moving.
Note that I put down intensity 4. That is an average of a 2 for my speeed and a 6 for my tenacity....

Walking around at model area #1, really difficult.

Walking around at model area #2, really easy. Who knows what the actual races will be like.

Three goals: Make the A final, do well enough in the qualifying races to get a late start in the final, and run as well as I can (physically and mentally) in the final.

Public race in Asiago, did just for training, not pushing, and not paying attention a couple of times that cost me 3 or 4 minutes. Steep slopes, variable runnability, lots of rocks and cliffs in places. Tougher/slower than the Euregio terrain (at least what they gave the old men).

Walking with Gail on a training map near where Qualification 2 and the final are. Tough terrain! Also beautiful! Variably open and wooded, very interesting topography, plus a bunch of old trenches left over from WW1. Concentration/staying in contact with map will be crucial. Hope I learned something today.

Spent the day in Verona, neat old city, lots of hours walking with a street map, but can't really claim training....

Euregio 6 Day ends. 3 days in Austria June 25-27 and three days in Italy June 30 to July 2.

Last day of the 6-day, strange in that it didn't matter how I did, I would end up second (only 5 days count). A decent run, finished second, 2.5 minutes behind the Frenchman and maybe a minute or two ahead of third. Could have been a minute or a minute and a half faster, but not more. Anyway, a good week. Got a huge assortment of fresh berries for winning day 5, and a wine/cheese/sausage etc. food basket, all local products, for 2nd overall. Very fine prizes.
Next week will be tougher -- about 300-350 in my class as compared to 75 the first 3 days this week and 95 the last three days. Qualifying days are Tuesday and Wednesday, final on Friday. Easy training until then.

Better run today. Pretty much perfect for the first 2/3 of the course, then a little hesitation and a questionable route, but still a good run overall. First by 1 second over the French guy, third was about 50 seconds back. Very nice to be 1 second faster than 1 second slower!
Another really short course, but at least this one was supposed to be short.