Pulled Quad

Saturday's Presi-Traverse left me hobbling a bit...still. It's become apparent that I pulled my left quad a little. No big deal. Another day or two of rest and I should be able to resume running again but resting for now is the obviously smart choice.

Quad aside, I'm pretty amazed at how beat up the rest of my body still feels. Between that and the piss poor performance in the mud at Pineland last month, it's obvious that I am definitely out of trail shape. But the wheels are in motion and that's already changing. Looking forward to more.

Presidential Traverse

I'll let the pics do most of the talking, but what a great day yesterday! Presidential Traverse from Dolly Copp to Webster Cliff with Bob P. and Debbie M. The weather was just about perfect: Lower 40s up top and 50+ mph winds on the higher peaks, but when in stretches where the wind was blocked, it felt pretty balmy.

Mt. Washington and Mt. Jefferson as seen from Mt. Adams

Looking back at Jefferson.

The Great Gulf looks squatchy. I bet there's some
fine trout in that little pond down there. 

Looking ahead to where we must go. 

In the Lake of the Clouds hut. Hee hee. 

Bob and Deb heading up Monroe with the Lake of the Clouds hut and
Mt. Washington in the background. 

Hey look! My car! As seen from the Webster Cliff trail. 

With less than 200 miles on them, my Saucony Kinvara TRs
suffered an early demise. Their road shoes rock, maybe they should stick
with that? 

Great trip. While we ran and speed hiked we also didn't really push the pace terribly hard. We also had an extended stop on Mt. Washington for around 30 minutes. Very fun time! 

Ran 23.8 miles in 11:27:01. Includes stops. 

Elevation gain: 9050'

Saucony Kinvara TR (what's left of them), shorts, long sleeved shirt, windbreaker (off and on), buff (off and on), gloves (off and on). 

Lower 40s to Mid 60s depending on elevation, partly cloudy, 50+ mph winds up high. 

Hey, Who Turned Up The Gravity?

My legs felt heavier than a Black Sabbath guitar riff. Likely due in large part to waking up at 3:30am to go fishing before work (two micro smallmouths and a chub).

Good run all the same though. It was on the roads, which kinda sucked. I've really gotten used to doing more trails lately, which I really enjoy more. Going to take tomorrow off to ensure a smooth Presi-traverse on Saturday.

Ran 5.4 miles @ 8:31/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Slightly hilly.
Lower 60s, overcast, humid.
Saucony Virrata, shorts, short sleeved shirt. \

Rail Trails

I had planned on running something short yesterday, but that never happened. I had woken up at 2am and couldn't fall back asleep. That happens to me once every 2-3 weeks. Sometimes it doesn't phase me much but sometimes it does. Yesterday it was the latter. When I got off work, I opted to come home and do a face plant on my bed. I woke up in time to run, but opted to finish up a paper for my Shakespeare class instead (it rocks).

Looked to make things up a bit today and ran eight miles on the rail trails at a moderate pace. Pretty uneventful. We've had some bizarre off and on showers all day that feel really cold and windy when they hit but when they disappear the air is still, warm and humid. It's been alternating like that all day. Odd, but pretty cool. Unfortunately, I only had the humidity during my run and the long sleeved shirt was a tad overkill.

Hit the river afterwards for about 30 minutes. I knew the fishing would suck because the water is high and moving fast, however, I finally perfected the double haul cast. The line shoots out like it was fired out of a cannon. Very stoked, it will come in handy from here on out.

Ran 8.2 miles @ 8:35/mile pace.
Rail trails.
Slightly hilly.
Lower 60s, overcast, humid.
Saucony Kinvara TR, shorts, long sleeved shirt.

Hill Repeats

Did a series of three hill repeats up Ossipee Mountain this afternoon (Ossipeats?). Just over two miles up from where I parked and around 735' of gain each ascent. It's a buttkicker.

Very enjoyable though. The views from the top are pretty awesome and it's just nice being in the woods. Also, it's a really nice bonus that even though it's June 10th, I've yet to feel a deer fly.

Particularly proud of today's workout because I was really tired after work and my stomach was also a mess all day. I really didn't feel like running. Still, I toughed it out, and as usual, I was really glad I did. I earned some extra cheese for my burrito this evening.

Ran 12.3 miles @ 10:04/mile pace.
Dirt roads, trails.
Extremely hilly.
Lower 60s, overcast, humid.
Saucony Kinvara TR, shorts, short sleeved shirt, cap, handheld bottle (water).

Short and Wet Trail Run.

Time is tight this afternoon. Squeezed in a very short and easy trail run on the front end of what looks to be a lot of rain over the next day and a half.

Went well. Legs only slightly tired from yesterday. Short route but very hilly and technical. Running this weekend will be a slight challenge as I'll be busy, but will do what I can.

Ran 3.8 miles @ 9:54/mile pace.
Trails.
Very hilly.
Mid 50s, overcast, raining.
Saucony Kinvara TR, shorts, short sleeved shirt, cap.

A Surprising Decent Track Workout

Ready Player One.

I think I've done just one other speed workout in the past two months. It was more than time. Was glad to hit the track this afternoon, but also expected a lot of rust and prepared myself beforehand for what I anticipated to be an ego-crushing workout.

I was wrong. Surprisingly, my times were pretty decent and I was just slightly slower than par based on previous workouts during a training cycle. Very, very pleased and a good confidence booster.

Workout was alternating 800M and 400M repeats with 400M of active recovery in between. Four reps each, but was prepared to do just three each in case the wheels came off. Towards the end, I actually considered tacking on another set of reps, but decided not to push it this soon. In the midst of a training cycle, absolutely, but for now, best to play it safe.

Splits are below. Hard to gauge the pace with 400M after an 800M, especially since I'm more used to the latter, but so be it. It all still went very well.

Cooled down by running barefoot on the grass. Great foot massage from that.

w/u: Ran 1.3 miles @ 7:19/mile pace.
8 X alternating 800M and 400M reps w/ 400M active recovery. 2:48, 1:23, 2:54, 1:24, 2:50, 1:23, 2:52, 1:25.
c/d: Ran 1.1 miles @ 11:07/mile pace. Barefoot on grass.
Mid 60s, mostly cloudy, humid.
Nike Waffle Racer VIII, shorts, short sleeved shirt.