5/25 - 5/31

Taking this week as a recovery week to rest from Vermont and the training before. Overall my body feels ok considering this past weekend. The first couple days I did nothing but rest and hydrate. As the week went forward I started to add some light stretching in.

Mon - Fri. - 0m

Sat - 2+ running (sprinting) around Albany at the Freihopers run for women. Legs felt surprisingly good.

Sun - 5m (37:28) on the bike path with Renee and KQ. My feel for pacing is a bit off but otherwise felt easy.

Summary - almost a full week off..main thing is I feel recovered and feel ready to get back to training.

Vermont city marathon

VCM- I made the decision early in the winter that I would chase this race again this year. Last years race was a combination of things, not fully trained and not fully health. Going into the race this year I was trained (best training block to date and health). I felt really good about where my fitness was at, and had a pretty solid plan.

Race day - woke up around 540am and immidiately got a drink and back to hydrating. Ate some breakfast, rolled out and tried to keep off my feet. A little after 7 I drove down to the start, got in a light warm up then to the line with Macknight. Was greeted by a crew of Albany people that come out to watch! It was awesome!

I was able to see a few people before the start and found Jim, Joe and Dan at the line and tucked in with them. Off the line I was right with Jim and we cruised together for a good portion of the course. Jim was looking for sub 2:50 and I was thinking 245, we decided to work together and stay under control. We locked into a rythem pretty quickly and we're just clipping away. After the turn around on the highway we began to separate a little, I wanted to try and get up with Joe around 10m or so. The next couple miles I moved thru some crowds but never really dropped the pace down. My main concern was to continue to get fluids in, I was trying to get 2 cups per water stop. Once back into town I was able to catch Joanna (formerly from Albany) we chatted for a min and noticed we were shooting for the same time and trying to get with the same group. We were able to cruise together for 8-9m , once I knew we had 10m left I began to get a head of steam and started working to close the gap with the group infront of us. At this point my legs felt refreshed and I was thinking just one mile at a time start to lock in. Somewhere between 19-20 I felt some real tightness in my quads and calfs, I'm still questioning the split decision I made but saw an opportune place to get a quick stretch and keep moving. It's hard to say weather the cramping would have gotten better had I left it alone or not. The next mile I was trying to get back on pace and back into the groove of things, coming up on 22 you have a short steep down hill then a little pop up to the bike path. This seemed to be the final dagger, my legs immediately locked up once I got on the bike path. I tried to walk it off and keep jogging to finish up but they continued to get tighter. The final straw was around 23m I was trying to fight thru and keep moving, I started to feel a lot of stain near my achilles I have dealt with those injuries before and have no desire to do that again. I finally pulled the plug and knew I wasn't finishing, it was a long 3m walk back but it gave me time to think and clear my head before seeing anyone. I was not happy about dropping but was happy the way everything was going till that point. 

Seems me and the spring marathon still have something's to workout. 

Splits:
1 - 6:23
2 - 6:12   (12:36)
3/4 - 12:24 (25:00)

5 - 6:12   (31:13)
6 - 6:23   (37:36)
7 - 6:19   (43:55)
8- 6:22    (50:18)
9 - 6:28   (56:46)
10 - 6:08 (1:02:55)
11 - 6:25 (1:09:21)
12 - 6:23 (1:15:44)
13 - 6:23 (1:22:08)
14 - 6:32 (1:28:40)
15 - 6:23 (1:35:03)
16 - 6:49 (1:41:53)
17 - 6:25 (1:48:15)
18 - 6:17 (1:54:36)
19 - 6:35 (2:01:11)
20 - 7:25 (2:08:36)
21 - 6:49 (2:15:26)
22 - 6:53 (2:22:19)

As for what's next: I am going to enjoy my 2 weeks recovery before getting back to running. I think there are some small things that I need to add to my routine over the summer months, but nothing major. The main focus will shift to some shorter stuff for a little before coming full swing to prepare for Hartford. 

5/18 - 5/24 RACE WEEK!

It's finally here! Race week and I'm feeling health and fit! Let's go!!!

Mon - 640pm - 7++ (51:57) in the neighborhoods with Macknight. Felt good and relaxed.

Tues - 530pm - 5m (37:08) ran in Spac for some trails and relaxation. Post run got in some extra stretching and a ice bath..all about recovery!

Wed - 630pm - 5m (34:07) normal loop in the neighborhoods. Everything feeling good.

Thurs - off - 1hr massage

Fri - off - unplanned, ended up working 7-7 by the time I got home I was beat.

Sat - 12pm - 3m (20:23) in Burlington.

Sun - 23m (VCM dropped at 22)

Summary - good week of rest, unfortunate result at the race. Report to follow.

5/11-5/17 2 weeks left

As I close in on race day my main focus is feeling healthy and rested. The works been done.

Mon - off - planned to run but once the evening came around I was still feeling this past weekend. Opted for an early dinner and early lights out.

Tues. - 530am - 5m (nt) legs felt good a bit humid out. 

6pm - 5m (36:18) decided to mix things up a little. Made the trip up to Spac and ran the XC course.

Wed- 6pm - 7+ (51:30) assortment of loops in the neighborhoods with Macknight.

Thurs - 6pm - 8+ (59:00) another trip to Spac, looped some of the course then hopped on the "five mile trail" and took that around the park.

Fri - 6pm - 7+ (track) went over to the Saratoga track for my last workout. The plan was mile,2x800,4x400. I had talked to Pete earlier and the week and he suggested to keep the recovery at a quick pace. Got out a bit hot in the mile (504) and keep the rest under 7min pace. The 1st 8 (234) again keep the rest quick. Felt good thru 200 of the 2nd 8 then the form started to fall apart came thru in 77 and was done. I jogged off a lap and decided to end on a good note, popped over to the 200m mark and ran one hard 30.5. Shot Pete a call after as I was a little thrown back, he reassured me it was a good workout and that I pushed the mile a little to fast and recoveries should have been a bit slower. 

All in all it was a fun time trying to push, looking forward to the long push next week!

Sat - 7am  - 3+ (24:44) went down to watch the run Westfield race. Renee and KQ were running, myself, Kevin and Mark went to watch. Both ran PR's!

Sun - 10m (1:15:30) met up with KQ and Renee at the Y for there 10 miler. Just hoped in and ran the course, was a bit warm out but legs felt very good. Prior to the race I did the kids race with Sydney, Addie and KP, this was far more fun then the run!

Summary - 47m with 1 decent workout

Hayes in the barn!

5/4 - 5/10

Mon - 6pm - 10m (1:16:22) went to the state park just outside of Albany and met up with some of the ARE guys along with Macknight. Was nice to run on hilly soft surfaces, legs felt good after yesterday's run.

Tues - 615pm - 8m (5x800) wow did today get changed around a lot. Had the original plan of 5x1200, and having time for a proper warm up. Got out of work late and Jim got talked into a different workout as he wasn't feeling great. I shot out for an easy 10min warm up (not nearly enough) and jumped in with Jaime and Rich as they were doing 800's. Was a little nervous of the pace haven't done much faster paced stuff. Much to my pleasure and surprise the workout went really smooth, I sat back on the first rep then took over the work for the first 4-500m of the next reps. This allowed me to work on 2 things, running infront relaxed and fighting when those guys would go by.

Times : 233/233/231/233/232

Wed - 545am - 3+ (nt)

4pm - 9+ (1:06:17) out of work early today, went and picked up Ricardo (who's up visiting) and headed to the bike path in Albany. Had a nice relaxing run and caught up on things from the past year.

Thurs- 530pm- 8+ (nt) had the watch going to start the run but with how hot it was I staged some water at the house. Forgot to start the watch back up after the water stop. Oh well legs felt kinda shitty, didn't hydrate enough during the day.

730pm - 1hr massage

Fri - 530am - 6.5m (52:58) met up with Jessy, did the normal neighborhood loop. Legs felt much better and not to sore from last nights massage.

Sat - 8am - 8m (Peeper 5k) 2nd overall - not much to note with this race I got my ass handed to me pretty early, once we hit the turn around it was over. I opted to back of the pace and cruise in, overall not to surprised the change in course added a new element and I knew running a strong 5k would be a shot with no real speed work.

Sun - 8am - 15+ (1:53:54) Ran from my parents in Barrington down thru dover and back home. Sam came over that morning and joined for the run, it was pretty warm but felt very good for the run.

Summary - 68m - good week overall very happy with the workout earlier in the week and happy with the race. It was a nice change of pace and good 2nd workout. only 2 weeks till VCM and i'm feeling strong, the work is done now just need to get some rest and get to the line.

4/27 - 5/3

Been a little delayed this week with getting my posts up. The change in jobs has had me pretty busy.

Mon - 630am - 5m (NT) legs were pretty tired this morning.

430pm - 5m (NT) I knew I was still feeling sore and tired, I opted to leave the watch at home and not worry about it. Afterwards enjoyed a nice ice bath.

Tues - 530am - 10m (72:56) had a later start time today and knew I had a company get together in the afternoon which I would be at till 8pm. 

Wed - 630pm - 13+ (3m/2m/1m - 1m recovery) first day at the remediation site plus some paperwork at home lead to a late start. The goal was to be in the 3 ranges of marathon pace (AB and C goals) 3m @620 pace / 2m @610pace and 1m @600. I have some slight mixed feeling on this workout, I couldn't settle into any of the paces and found myself running faster than planned for all set. The plus side is it felt very relaxed and easy. 

Times  - 18:27(609pace) / 11:51(5:55pace) / 5:31

The recovery miles were 7:14/7:12

On the final mile I gave in a bit and allowed myself to open it up a bit while staying under control.

Thurs - 615pm - 5+ (38:40) in the pinebush with Mulford

730pm. - 5m (38:10) solo from the house. Felt very tired on this go, I was going to do the whole run on trails but they had some shut down for a control burn so I didn't want to get lost.

Fri - 5am - 5m (42:21) really tired this morning. 

515pm - 7m (51:06) in pisgah with the one and only Hammett..found out we would be out of work early and needed a run I shot Greg a text and met at his place for a run. Was great to catch up and get on the trails.

Sat - off - had plenty of time to run but chose to hangout and do stuff around the house with my dad instead.

Sun- 530pm - 19.3m (2:07:08) Drove back from NH, and hung out for a bit before heading out for my long run. Really didn't have anything planned just knew I wanted somewhere between 18-20. It was fairly warm out so I opted for loops that would pass by the house and staged some gels and water. Did the first 13+m solo and felt very relaxed, the last 5m Derrick joined for. This was the first time I really noticed the pace, Derricks usually able to hold a full conversation on runs and today wasn't talking to much. It was noted a few times about the pace but at that point I wasn't backing off. Overall was very happy with this run and gave some added confidence with VCM right around the corner.

Summary - 75m (6days) pretty happy with this week, starting to adjust to the new job and finding that my focus is coming back. Looking forward to these next couple weeks but also wondering what I'm going to do with this added free time?

James Joyce - race report

4/26 - James Joyce 10k, spent a good part of the morning relaxing at the hotel before heading over to the start with the crew. This race has 2 starts with the masters getting a 3-5min jump on the open field. This differently makes the race interesting, especially in the open field. As we got off the line it was very appearent where the gap was, the chase pack was myself and 1 other runner. As we moved thru the opening mile it crossed my mind to go and try and hang onto the leaders but never made the move. I was feeling a bit off as my legs felt jello like and my upper was very tight, as I moved thru the course I was in and out of masters runners from the start. At 2m the one guy I was running with pushed away and I never covered the move, the next 3m were pure shit! I wasn't going anywhere and felt like I had nothing to give. Somewhere after 5m I finally started to feel loose and began to move up, I caught a few more masters runners and just pressed to the finish. 

I finished up in 36:10 which sucks! I know my fitness is far better then that, on the cooldown Sarah asked if something was wrong? She noted that when she could see me on the course I looked very tight and not running smooth or efficient. I've been noticing that for the past week or so and all I can link it to is the added stress of changing jobs. 

The plus side is even having a bad race I ran close to a minute faster then last year which I also thought was a bad race. With a month to go to VCM that is the only focus, I have some things to workout before then but nothing major!

A few photos from the race thank to Krissy K.

As for my athletes they all ran well! 

Renee - 3rd master

Erin - 9th master

KQ - 5th open (new pr)

Derrick - top 3 (55-60) 

4/20 - 4/26

Mon - 5am - 5+ (NT) met with Jessy for an easy morning run. Legs felt surprisingly good and lucked out to only minimal rain.

545pm - 9m (4xhills rd) was really struggling with motivation this afternoon. Not sure if it was the weather or what. Finally got going and headed over to hills rd, the plan was to do 4 reps and run quick but relaxed. Wanted to shorten the workouts this week with a race planned for the weekend. 

Times: 256/256/255/248

Very happy with this workout, not only was it my best set of 4 reps this cycle but I felt very strong and smooth climbing! Not bad for lacking motivation.

Tues-640pm - 11+ (1:20:17) decided to wait for Macknight and joined on one of his loops (new for me)

Wed- 5am - 4.5m (nt)

530pm - 11m (16x400) 200R. Met Macknight and Pat Carroll at the skidmore track for this workout. Today was another one of those unfocused days, thinking about it now with changing jobs this week my mind has been running with plenty of other items. The workout itself went well with the target being (77-80) per interval, I was solo in the intervals which added some toughness to this workout.

Times: 78/80/79/80/80/80/81/80/79/79/78/79/78/77/76/75

Thurs - 5pm - 10m (1:14:20) No morning run today as I wanted a bit more rest after yesterdays workout. Decided to head to the bike path and run on the cinder, was a bit chilly out but otherwise nice to be on the trails.

730pm - 1hr massage

Fri - 5am - 5m (NT) body felt pretty good after yesterdays massage

430pm - 9m (1:01:08) It was feeling like winter all over again! snow and all I started to wonder if maybe I slept thru summer. Decided to tuck into the neighborhoods and loop together some random streets to hide from the elements, was a decent run considering the weather.

Sat - 9am - 5m (36:42) normal loop in the neighborhood, legs feel good and have some lift to them.

6pm - 5m (38:04) Easy shakeout in Dedham Ma. First 3m were with Renee and Erin, 2nd bit was solo around the area.

Sun - 10am - 13m (James Joyce 10k) 36:10 - Race report to follow.

Summary - 88m with 2 good workouts and 1 shit race. Had planned another run for Sunday when I got home but by that time I was spent. I shot Eric a text to decide what I was going to do, if he said run again I was gonna force myself out the door. I was instead told to call it a day, the next couple weeks I need to focus on some of the things from this past race and refocus for the race.

4/13 - 4/19 try something new!

As I finished up last week and started to focus on the upcoming week some thoughts raced thru my mind. First and Formost was miles for the week and workout? I envisioned holding the daily miles from last week and try going above 100m. Hell why not right?

Mon - 5am - 6+ (46:39) met with Jeff and hit the normal loop. He is in the nearing the end of his taper and clearly feeling good. I let him control the run and drag me along.

4pm - 8m (56:40) did a few neighborhood loops before hitting the bike path. Was a bit stiff but loosened up after about 30mins.

Tues- 5pm - 10m (67:33) ran the 1st 5 with Macknight, we caught up (had a 4-5 day stretch of no run or being home at the same time) stopped at the house to stretch a bit then out to finish up solo.

Wed- 5am- 5m (42:00) started out with Jess and Jeff before peeling off to head home.

6pm - 15m (track workout) Met with Jim Sweeny at the UA track. Got in a nice warmup with him and Nick, also saw Lozier and caught up real quick. The plan was 8xmile (6-550) wanted to keep the first 4-6 controlled then try and pick it up on tired legs. I've done extended mile reps before but never more then 6. We took 400 rest between each rep to keep the legs from fully recovering. 

Times: 603/557/553/551/543/536/530/520

Holy hell extremely happy with this workout, and glad I had company during it.

Thurs - 430pm - 13m (1:42:34) Met Shaun at the price chopper in malta and made the trek over to the trail head. We met up with Adam (who was biking) and made our way onto the trails, within 5 mins of being on the trails I stumbled almost went down but caught a tree which may or may not have cut my thumb open. Shaun immediately gave me some shit about not getting hurt (much deserved last summer i managed 3 falls on 1 run)

Fri - 5am - 6+ (53:10) met up with Jeff and Jessy for our normal morning runs. Jeff is closing in on his marathon and looking ready for a huge PR! The run its self was relaxed and pretty warm out. Legs were still tired from wednesdays workout.

430pm - 10++ (track) Met with KQ and Renee at the Shen track, got in a 3m warm up then paced KQ in her workout (mind you I didn't do great at controlling the pace early...oops) It took me a little to get into the workout, my legs seemed to loosen up pretty well and we cruised through.
Times: 602/608/611

Sat - 8am - 18m (2:25:33) Ran from U Albany with Joe B, Joe M, Pat and Newman. The plan was for a rolling hill 12m loop then others would add on. I stayed with Pat and Newman for the 12m loop before breaking off to do some on my own, the temps got up quick on the run. After I had finished 15m I saw Joe B and Joe M fueling up and decided to join them for my last 3m instead of going solo. The legs were off and on today but my hips were really tight, leading me to cut it a little short from the original plan of 20m.
After the run we hit up some brunch at Cafe Madison, I came home for a bit before meeting back up to play 9 holes of golf (haven't played in a while, hooked a few shots off course towards some houses...didn't here any glass break so i'm calling it a win)

Sun - Out the door at 5am to head to Kingston and watch Jeff run his marathon, I had ideas of doing my run while we were down there but once we scoped the course it didn't look like it would pan out. At the start I would guess there were 25-30 ppl between the half and full, we drove out to the 9m mark which is on a rail bed. It looked to be a scenic course but holy hell your running solo with nothing but your own thoughts. It was awesome to see Rich get the win and also see Jeff run a 40 min pr (again running by himself)

6pm - 11m (1:16:10) I had this whole plan to watch the race run then come home and finish off what ever miles I might need. Well no run at the race, then proceeded to come home and sleep for 2-3 hours watch some playoff basketball then convince myself to stope being lazy and get out the door. Surprisingly the legs felt great today, which is a relief I was expecting them to still be sore.

Summary: 103m (new high) really happy with how this week went. Had an awesome workout on wednesday and to come back friday and hold marathon pace is a huge confidence booster, all well getting a new high for miles. With 5 weeks to go I plan on 2 more big weeks before coming down, this next week might be a bit lower 90-95 with the plan to race at James Joyce but I will play the miles by ear on how my legs are feeling.

4/6 - 4/12 Just like new

Last week ended interestingly, with my car breaking down on the trip home. Realistically wasn't that bad, got an extended weekend and saw some of the guys I wouldn't have been able to see other wise.

Mon - planned day off - plenty of traveling and picking up my car. 

Tues - 5am - 3.5m (nt) no need for the watch as I knew I had plenty of time between the run and leaving for work.

430pm - 10+ (1:09:56) felt completely off this whole run, part of why I hate days off. Effort was relaxed and happy with the time, just felt like a fish outta water.

Wed - 5am - 5m (NT) met with Jessy, Jeff , Renee and James at the shen track. Short warm up then paced Jessy thru the 1st 2 repeats of her workout.

6pm - 11m (8x1k - 600r) met Gavs and the rest of the ARE crew at the track. The weather wasn't to bad for a while the last 4 reps were in rain/hail and some other shit! Overall workout went great, took a bit to get comfortable on the track and get into pace. This was planned to be a threshold workout (330-335) started out a bit slow but worked into it nicely.

Times: 340/338/336/333/332/330/327/319

Gavs did every other with me, I asked him to start on the 2nd so I would have help on the last rep if needed. Ended up skipping the cooldown as all my dry stuff got wet and I was freezing!!!

Thurs - 5pm - 10m (1:15:36) with Shaun and Derrick. Did a loop around BL legs and lower back were very tight.

730pm- 1hr massage - holy hell!! Knots on knots on knots...this was painful to say the least.

Fri - 5am - 7m (56:37) normal loop with Jessy and Jeff.

530pm - 8m (1:01:20) in pinebush with the ARE crew, legs are still sore from massage.

Sat - 830am- 15m (1:58:19) met with Renne,KQ, Erin, Dave and Mark on the bike path.

Sun-9am- 21.5m (2:31:13) met with Jim Sweeny at the battlefield preserve with the plan for 20-21m. Felt really good, last few miles were rough climbing back to the car. 

Summary: 91m happy with the miles and getting a day off in there. Had 1 good workout and a solid long run. 6 weeks left!