Training 2/8 to 2/14

2/8 Monday: 7 miles in 53 minutes

Treadmill run at home.

2/9 Tuesday: AM: 10 miles in 70 minutes PM: 4 miles in 32 minutes

AM: Did 1 minutes pickups at the beginning of miles 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Felt OK during the pickups. PM: Did a very easy treadmill run at home.

2/10 Wednesday: 8 miles in 60 minutes

Easy run with Heather before heading to work. Felt pretty heavy and tired.

2/11 Thursday: 8.5 miles in 63 minutes

Did 6 x 20 second strides during the end of the run

2/12 Friday: 8.5 miles in 65 minutes

Tried to keep things very easy and relaxed.

2/13 Saturday: 11.1 miles in 76 minutes

Bradford Valentines Race. Did 2.5 mile warm up with Heather. Ran 5 miles in 27:36 for 5th place. Ran 3.6 mile cool down with Heather. See race report below for all the details.

2/14 Sunday: 15.1 miles in 1 hour 52 minutes

Felt very tight and slow to start. Keep things very easy and comfortable and let the run come to me. I ended up feeling pretty comfortable and the pace came down nicely throughout the run.

Total Miles: 72.2

Overall this week went pretty well. I got in the miles I wanted and some good work with the light pick ups and the race. The race did not go as well as I wanted, but its early and the faster times will come with more work and quality in the running.

Bradford Valentine Race

On Saturday I took the long ride over the river to the other side of Haverhill for the Bradford Valentine Road Race. Heather and I were entered in the open couples competition. I would be running the 5 mile course while Heather would be running the 6k course. This would be the first road race for me since last fall and only after 6 weeks of running. So the goals for this one were to get in a hard effort, find out what kind of shape I was in, and have a good time!

After a nice 2.5 mile warm up with Heather, it was time to get on the racing flats and head for the starting line. Upon getting to the starting line I noticed that this race was going to be very competitive up front with the likes of Jim Johnson, Matt Germain, Josh Gordan, Dan Verrington, Dave Quintal and Bob Jackman in the field.

The race went out pretty quick, and as I expected Jim went to the lead followed by a pack of Josh, Matt, Bob, Dan, and myself. We hit the first mile in 5:13 and I knew this pace was going to be too quick for me. At the point Jim and Matt were off the front and pulling away and I was trying to keep in contact with Josh. Over the next mile I struggled to keep up with Josh and I began to suffer quite a bit. Soon Bob was right on me. We hit the second mile in 5:22. By this point I knew that I probably was not going to catch back up with Josh, so I decided to just stay with Bob and try to finish with him. The next two miles over rolling terrain really put the hurt on me I stayed with Bob the whole way the 3rd mile went buy in 5:47 and the 4th in 5:53. Some ugly splits! In the last mile I decided to see if I could race Bob into the hurting zone and drop him. I put in a few surges trying to break him, but I could not get away from him. around the final turn I threw in a very hard push with about 400m left and got a gap on him. At this point I knew I had him. I pushed a bit more till I saw his shadow disappear. With about 75 m left I relaxed knowing I had forth place. Big mistake!!!! Before I could even react Bob zoomed past and the race was over. I finished in 5th place in 27:36. The last mile covered in 5:19. Matt Germain won the race and is having a very strong start to 2010. Jim Johnson finished 2nd and Josh Gordan 3rd. In the couples competition Heather and I finished 2nd. Heather covered the 6k course in 23:13 good for 4th overall woman.

Overall I would have to say I was disappointed with my time and mental lapse in the finishing kick. I actually felt solid, but slow, like I could not get my legs to go any faster. I know with more miles and some workouts this will improve pretty quickly. Its early, and I would rather be running fast later this spring and into the summer. For now some more miles and the addition of some workouts will get me closer to where I want to be.

Results

All Photos by Jim Rhodes

Heather rocking into the finish!

Training 2/1 to 2/7

2/1 Monday: 7.1 miles in 53 minutes

Easy running from work.

2/2 Tuesday: 10 miles in 73 minutes

Rattlesnake Road from work, felt OK. Did 6 x 20 second strides during the last bit of the run.

2/3 Wednesday: 8.1 miles in 61 minutes

Easy run from work. Felt a little tight during the run, but nothing to bad.

2/4 Thursday: AM: 10 miles in 72 minutes PM: 4 miles in 32 minutes

AM: Rattlesnake road from work, did a 1 minute pickup at the start of miles 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Felt OK doing the pickups. PM: Very easy run on the treadmill in the afternoon.

2/5 Friday: 7.3 miles in 53 minutes

Ran from daycare before getting my daughter. Felt OK, but a little tired from the double yesterday.

2/6 Saturday: 8 miles in 59 minutes

Went skiing with my daughter in the morning, then hit the roads for 8 miles before heading back to Haverhill. Actually felt better than I thought I would after skiing.

2/7 Sunday: 16 miles in 1 hour and 54 minutes

Ran with Craig Fram, Kevin Alliette, and Andie Colon from the Whirlaway. First couple mile were very cold, but once we got going it was alright out there. Did not feel all that good, just heavy and slow. Also has some tightness in he hamstrings that I did not like. We finished up the run at about 7 min pace which I was happy with. But to be honest I was pretty damn happy to be done with this run.

Total Miles: 70.5

This was a very good week of running. I got up to my goal of 70 miles and got in a very light workout and some strides. Was feeling pretty tired over the weekend especially after the long run. This was probably due to a combination of the miles and skiing on Saturday. Still I was happy with this week, I would like to try to stick around 65-75 miles for the next few weeks.

Training 1/25 to 1/31

1/25 Monday: 6 miles in 46 minutes

Very easy treadmill running. Recovery from long run.

1/26 Tuesday: 10 miles in 72 minutes

Did the hilly loop from work. Felt pretty good.

1/27 Wednesday: 8 miles in 57 minutes

Did 8 x 30 second pickups with one minute rest between. Just something to turn the legs over during the run and get myself ready for some future workouts.

1/28 Thursday: 9 miles in 67 minutes

A nice easy run with Heather.

1/29 Friday: 7.1 miles in 50 minutes

Last 2 miles were pretty solid in 6:54 and 6:35. Starting to feel stronger.

1/30 Saturday: 7 miles in 53 minutes

Easy treadmill running. Just could not get myself outside today.

1/31 Sunday: 15.2 miles in 1 hour 49 minutes

My best run yet! Felt nice and easy. The last 4 miles were all around 6:40.

Total Miles: 62.3

A very good week. I got in over 60 miles with no days off and no doubles. I even had some quicker miles to close out some runs. I am starting to feel stronger and getting excited to get in some racing in the next few months. For now I just need to keep getting in the miles and stay healthy!