Current Training Status: not blogging... running.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Local Mount Tom Paved Route

9:00 pace is the target this morning. It is 8:08 am,
temp around 30. Today I worked from 4-7 am. Had a
decent night's sleep, laid down at 7pm with the game
on and woke up for the final quarter. This is the big
run for the week. Tomorrow night there may be a New
Years 5k fun run from the Brass Cat, and on Tuesday
morning the club is meeting for 6-7 mi. in Westfield
on the old 'First Race' course. Hopefully I'll find a
rhythm to the running soon, there is no pattern or
steady expectation to my training right now. Who
knows? Forecast for tonight : A chance of snow in the
evening...then snow after midnight. Snow accumulation
of 4 to 8 inches. Lows in the upper 20s. Northeast
winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow near 100 percent.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Review

Thursday's Group run took to the roads, as the
reservoir was too poor. Eight of us did almost 8
miles in less than an hour in the neighborhoods south
of Ashley. I logged this in Trailrunner with no
problem. Previous long routes would not save after 15
minutes of clicking, pain in the rear. Now it's
working out and I may be able to post something
directlly to this blog, don't know. It would be ideal
as that is where everything is mapped and one function
of this blog should be to share prospective run
routes.

Since Coolrunning's log was usurped by the Active
morons, I've plugged into http://www.kickrunners.com/
where all the ultra runners from the Ultra/Trail
thread went. That is the 'Extreme Running' thread.
The activity there is mostly ultra folks way out of my
league, but my personal interests and accomplishments
are extreme in their own way so I feel comfortable
there. Heck, I may stumble through an ultra this
year anyhow, even though I posted as a goal that I
wouldn't. I said I wouldn't do it 'impulsively'. So
I may plan to. I declared Morefun Wapack and
Escarpment, and a couple marathon goals. That is wise
progress for myself while doing the Mountain thing
again.

Goals and Direction are developing nicely and this
blog feels purposeful, a journal beyond simple run
logging. My brain is awake once again, something to
note. The unsung odyssey through Art School crops
into my runs after long absence. My interests are
migrating with something more than seasonal drift.
The new year is hopeful and I'm almost... driven?
Not yet. The sun did wake and all hell broke loose,
multiple shooters. Godcosm energy is rippling and
discipline will be the key if this keeps up. God save us.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Holidays


Trailrunner's Running software has occupied all my run
documenting energies. This past Christmas weekend was
a logistical nightmare, but a lot of fun when all the
dust settled. I managed to give Nye a great
Christmas, with Grandma Holly and Duffy. Duffy was
well behaved and it was awesome to have a little dog
around. I even snuck in plenty of running when an
absurd turn of events on Christmas Day left me at
Walmart in Noho with only my running shoes and a
bottle of Iced Tea to take me home. It wasn't until
today, the day after Christmas and well past noon,
that I was able to untangle the actual sequence of
events over the past couple days. I was totally
exhausted all day today. I am ready to move foward,
and am unsure of where that will lead me.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

CR Log Offline

Today, 11:30 am, at the Log Cabin entrance to Mount Tom, I ran 4.75 miles in 39:13.  That is 8:15 per mile.  That distance was covered wearing my Trigons, which completes the my usual Cool Running Log data.  Temperature was in the teens. 
 
There was also a workout Thursday that I could not log due to the CR to Active switch.  The snowstorm which started at noon had dumped 6-8 inches of fluffy powder.  At 6pm I arrived for the group run anyway.  Not alone, two ladies were walking their dogs.  Waving, I put on the snowshoes and caught up to them.  One was new to the area and had been a runner.  I told her about the club, she had run in a race with John Kelley and was interested in finding a group to run with. 
 
I said goodbye where the woods begin and took off up the hill.  Didn't make it past the water's edge without stopping, totally out of breath.  Checking my watch, my temperature was comfortable, no unusual pains from the showshoes, there should be no problem completing the distance even if it took an hour.   Striking out at a run from the crossroads along the winding causeway, resting briefly at the treeline.  I resigned myself finally to the sense of running in place, working much too hard at foward progress against the weight and drag of the snow.  It was dark in the trees. 
 
As I started out running again the pine branches above dumped a load of snow, surrounding me in a beautiful sparkling whiteness.  'Whump!' every now and then as an enormous snowpack from the branches fell  beside me.  Walking again at the canal fence, setting out along Wright Pond still at a run when suddenly headlights appeared ahead.  Saved by the plow!  I pulled to the side, off the road, giving the plow a wide berth.  The plow drew up beside me and stopped, the driver rolled down his window.   They told me the Res was off limits after dark, warned me that there was no one to find me if anything happened, and told me that the road was covered in ice anyway.  I thanked them for the advice and told them I'd go back right away. 
 
I was running a loop course, so that would have been true if I'd met them or not.  Off came the snowshoes and I began running towards the pump station.  In the flats before the hill I found the ice.  It was a solid sheet of ice with a dusting of snow for traction.  Step by step I made it up the hill.  Theplow had not touched Whitney at all so I strapped the showshoes back on and was able to run for the entire quarter mile to the crossroads. 
 
There, I rested feeling totally spent with tremendous respect for Jay, Sheila, and understanding that Paul Low won all the Mountain Races he did becuase of the snowshoe races he also won, not the other way around.  Great conditioning.  The whole adventure took about 40 minutes for 2 miles!   I had achilles and plantar pain in my right foot briefly during the run.  That night and the next day, a nasty damp pain spreading down from my normal sore groin area on the right was the only complaint. 
 
Today that did not bother me, but today I felt the same achilles pull when I began to bring my right foot foward in the gait cycle.  This only lasted for 10 foot falls or so.   My posture was much improved immedately after the snowshoeing, so I'm sure it will wind up to be therapeutic despite the potential for damage.  Either way I felt fine for the rest of the run today and am probably in much better shape than if I had raced Norfolk or run with the club. 
 
This morning was to be a 10.5 mile hill run up and down Mount Tom.  Despite ducking out of that, I have run 25.75 miles this week.  This is a healthy increase from about 20 the week before, and allows for another healthy increase this week.  My limit should be 30, which I probably won't make due to weather and shorter snowshoeing workouts.  I expect Cool Running to be back Monday and I can start to look at weekly hours run as well as distance for comparison.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Competence vs. Performance

The run this afternoon was spectacular. Despite 3
miles of unplowed ice covered snow, I kept up an
overall pace above 10:00 without hurting myself. The
last 5 feet before the Nonotuck parking lot stopped me
cold, solid ice except where an oak leaf might have
drawn some heat. I hopped from leaf to leaf and made
it. Slipped and slid a few feet before decending to
East St. That is a great climb. Was a little sore
but could still push it to the lookout tower, and
though my groin ached on my challenged right side, and
my right foot was sore as usual, I felt very competent
and secure in a performance this Saturday. About mile
8, I had an epiphany similar to 20 years ago when I
learned to fire a pistol. Performance and Competence
share the same relationship as Precision and Accuracy.

Conceived In February, Setting Out Today.

Well, this is the plan. Test driving the Sustained
Energy from Hammer mixed with Heed, a pouch of each
which is pretty rich, I'll drop one bottle at the
Route 5 end and switch off there. I won't walk. Noon
32F and sunny, one layer of spandex stuff. The whole
area was blanketed in fog this morning, encrusting the
trees in thick white ice and frost. Should be a
beautiful day up there.


10 Miler Saturday, Tomorrow?

Sunday's Hanukkah Race left me sore even though I ran
slow. Could not move fast, though I though I
prepared pretty well. Rather, I did not tackle the
long run from Westfield that I've been planning.
Restraint is not preparation. Sore all over is better
than injured at a weak spot, I suppose. Somehow
though I'm soured to this 'restraint' business.

So, I am simply not going to think too much about
racing 10 hard hilly miles Saturday. On resdogs list,
Jeannie posted about this race down in CT, "...Top
runners from around the world ... pictures,
controversial interviews, and attractive women! $100
for a new men's course record ... toughest and the
best 10-Mile Race in Connecticut..." a total joke, of
course. More seriously, Jay responded calling it,
"...a very challenging and beautiful course though the
backhills of no-where..." and Jeannie shoots back,
"Jay, I've run this twice and would agree with your
assessment...hills, middle of no-where, pub...and may
I add, beer."

Ahh, hills. Goofy Graustein race management, the topo
map is undulating and USATF's elevation ... well this
is a blog and there it is after all. I mentioned it
to Jay at the Hanukkah race and got a non-committal
response, with a wince. Tomorrow would be a great day
for a thorough crunch through the East Mountain
Trails, 10-ish slushy miles. 12 paved miles of Hills
moments, away await at Mount Tom. 4 days from a race
I want to PR at, is that wise? I need an hour, plus
of workout slightly harder than my last hour, plus, of
any distance.

Now, is this the better blog? No. This will be
whittled down to display the running and wandering
territory for the reference of anyone concerned. The
runlog is elsewhere. These diversions are most likely
a waste of time. Iran? of course I ran, but any
political bologna from the news is irrelevant. Some
reflection on locations, can't reflect at length in
the runlog so this may be the spot or it may not. Got
hits on the counter after posting bad news, well screw that.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Bush Notch

Very solid mapping of the M+M Bush Notch section north
of dagobah. Saw 4 hunters and 1 atv rider who paused
to tell me that he had passed a couple hunters. Just
up the first hill from the highway on the M+M I looked
up to see a figure decorated in orange. I bushwhacked
directly to him and said, hi. "Naw, you're wearing
orange..." he reassured me, when I asked if I was
heading into trouble. Totally nuts, there are deer
and hunters and bullets will fly. It is a risk that
is acceptable, not safe by any means.

Immanent Shakedown by Active

Here's a couple of alternatives to the Active Running
Log which promises pricey dissapointment:
 

http://thinnmann.com/runlog.htm

http://www.davidhays.net/running/runlog/runlog.html

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Doo Doo, Doo Doo,

Here comes the sun,

http://www.ketv.com/news/14782867/detail.html

I say, "Robert A. Hawkins, 19, opened fire at 1:42
p.m. Wednesday." SSRI test subjects in the care of
the state seem particularly reactive to solar events.
Look at it ramp up. While I returned from lunch in
the breakroom this nut snuck in to the mall and put
the brakes on destiny killing 8. Heard Limbaugh
barely defend the 2nd amendment today in response.
Bush, either about this or the bogus Iran
intelligence, is showing considerrable pharmacological
damage to his central nervous system. The breath
convulses during expository remarks. The beautiful
wig today provoked one of the most intense interior
monologues I've recently had, religion. I say, it's
alright.

I will run today to the East Mountain Bluff for a
possible repeat, during the group run in the dark
tonight. Realized last night at the meeting, I have
no idea how I should be running right now in
preparation for Escarpment and Washington.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Ashley Miles in Segments

Before the monthly EORC meeting, 4 miles with Mike and
Jay. Found out this evening that I will not be doing
the Provin Mtn. run from the old homestead. I came up
with a great 5 mile run to the summit and back for 10.
There will be no work for me there and oddly, some
ulterior motive is needed to park there and run. So
tomorrow I can do whatever I wish! Park and bus to
Westfield for the whole shebang, right up to 141 from
the Westfield River. How much crunching through snow
crust can I take?

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

M+M Where I Grew Up

Setting the Mega-Run down. I want to run a good 5
miler this weekend, so no need to kill myself. Why
not only 10 miles? Why not fulfill my 'run from home'
urge from Southwest St before the parents sell it? I
shall pitch the idea for Thursday, and then do some
work around the house.

Monday, December 3, 2007

A Day Without Dagobah

It is trying to snow. All night a freezing rain built
about an inch of white crust over everything. School
was cancelled, and I won't run the run I'd planned
today. Even in the horrible weather I would have
headed up the M+M from Route 20 in West Springfield.
From the ridgeline, the trail quickly descends and
threads its way around a bog below Bearhole Reservoir.
There are thickets and blow downs and off camber
scrambles. A neat wide Jeep trail and dirt road
bypass this. Friday, after 30 mins on the M+M, it
swung back up from the bog where I caught that Jeep
trail, and I was back to the beginning of the M+M in
10 minutes! Despite that I would have wound my way
around down there today and continued along the
ridgelines I've not run since September, even in the
rain and crusty mess.

Happy Birthday Nye!

Today we had a great run at Robinson State Park,
before visiting Grandpa Gerry's. There have been over
a month now of miles at Wright Pond in Holyoke, this
was the first adventure on trails. It was cold, I was
proud and we both enjoyed ourselves. The route mapped
at USATF may be short. It began to snow or sleet a bit at the
end, and the weather now is freezing rain. I had
planned a long run from Route 20 to Route 141 on the
M+M tomorrow, and it may be slippery.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Just go to SLEEP ...

Why am I suddenly blogging?  I was about to hit the sack after checking the e mail and then ... umm.  Excuse me;  Wow, what a day! Goodnight blog, blog you in the morning.  Sheesh.