Monday, December 29, 2014, 6:39 pm

11.48 mi, 1439 ft gain, 2:01:34. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 loop & hill, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Starting to feel a little worn down from the streak, but not too bad. Took it pretty easy.

I’m writing this several days later, and unfortunately, I don’t remember much about the run.

Average HR 121 bpm.

 

Tuesday, December 30, 2014, 4:16 pm

11.07 mi, 867 ft gain, 1:35:49. Through town to Wallace Falls RR Grade, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

Also writing this several days later.

I gave the dogs a day off. I felt better than the previous day. Had to turn on the headlamp before getting to the turnaround at the Greg Ball trail junction.

I used my new Amphipod reflective safety vest that I got for Christmas. I like the front pocket.

I had a couple small, flat packages that I needed to mail, so I carried them with me and stopped off at the post office on my way out. It’s about a 5 min drive to the P.O., and took about 8 min running.

Average HR 128 bpm.

 

Wednesday, December 31, 2014, 6:59 pm

11.06 mi, 1470 ft gain, 1:54:53. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 loop & hill, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I didn’t have a lot of energy starting out. My right lower calf has become rather tight and a bit sore the last couple days. It’s like my body knew that today was the end of the year end push, and will get to take it easier for a little while to recover.

It was kind of chilly, but not too bad. I had a bit of frost form on my beard and mustache from my breathe. It was noticeably colder on the flat between the main road and the hill. It’s always colder in that section.

I felt a little better after a few miles, though my calf was about the same the whole time. I’m looking forward to some shorter runs for a while, and to see if this stretch of training has had any effect on my fitness after some recovery.

I have an 8 mi race on Sunday, but I’ll take it easy until then and again for the following week until the Bridle Trails Winter Running Festival 50k on Jan 10. I plan to run the 50k at a fairly easy pace and then another 15-20 mi run the next day as my first big back-to-back training for a 100 miler.

Average HR 125 bpm.

Looking forward to more running adventures and breakthroughs in 2015.

 

Thursday, January 1, 2015, 7:23 pm

4.25 mi, ft gain, 48:08. Olney Falls DNR rd, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Took it pretty easy. I wanted something a little hilly, and still not too difficult. I kept it short today after the long streak to finish out 2014.
The trouble spots I’ve had the last week or two felt better today. It’s almost like my body knew I’d be taking it easy for a few days.

I’m looking forward to Sunday’s 8 mi race. I might break out the old New Balance MT1010v2 for the race. It’s supposed to rain and will likely be muddy. They have much better mud traction than my Superiors.

Average HR 120 bpm.

 

Friday, January 2, 2015, 6:38 pm

5.51 mi, 96 ft gain, 40:56. Through town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

That felt so short after my >10 mi streak. It was raining a little but not too bad. I kept the pace a little faster than I’ve been running, keeping my HR in the 140s for the most part, a little slower starting out. I went hard the last 0.2 mi or so.

My lower legs are still a little sore and tight, but getting better. I might do one 10+ mi run next week before the Bridle Trails 50k, but I’m going to keep it shorter and fairly easy until then, other than the 8 mi race on Sunday.

Average HR 142 bpm.

 

Saturday, January 3, 2015, 5:49 pm

4.24 mi, 360 ft gain, 36:50. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 loop, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

Traffic was awful on US2 westbound on the way out to the tree farm. I’m not sure why that is today. It’s usually the end of the weekend when it gets this bad. On my way home, it looked even worse. Glad I was going east home.

I felt like going longer, but kept it short and easy ahead of tomorrows race and after a hard December.

It was really foggy, so I used my flashlight rather than headlamp for the most part. I went without light for a bit as well. Even with the fog, there was enough ambient light for some sections of the non-technical gravel/dirt logging roads. And I’ve run there enough to know the terrain really well.

Average HR 128 bpm.

 

Sunday, January 4, 2015, 9:11 am

1.49 mi, ft gain, 13:37. Warm-up St. Edwards Park, solo. New Balance MT1010v2.

Like the other races, my heart rate was a little elevated before the start. I ended up getting a better warm up today than the past couple.

Average HR 141 bpm.

 

Sunday, January 4, 2015, 9:36 am

8 mi, 1109 ft gain, 1:01:08.1. St. Edwards Park Absolution 8mi Race, solo. New Balance MT1010v2.

I went out too fast again, but dialed it back pretty quickly. Two guys passed me shortly after the start. I let them go ahead, but followed within sight. I’d catch up closer on the downhills and some of the climbs. At the end of the first lap, one of the guys went through the finish line, so I was left with one other guy.

I continued to follow. He went ahead a little more, and I let him go. I was still close enough to see him on some of the more open sections. I was pretty sure I’d catch up a bit on the downhill and probably the last climb as well. I got back to within 10 sec or so after the downhill. Then I let him go a little bit on the flat by the beach and caught back up on the climb. Looking back, I should have made a move on the climb, but I’m still new to racing and wasn’t sure what I’d have left for a kick at the end. Toward the top, he went off again. I reeled him in a bit on the short, steep descent before the last little climb. Once he hit the blacktop for the final flat section, he sped up. I picked up the pace there as well. With about 200-300 yards to go, I kicked hard, but I came up short by a couple steps.

Talking to him later, he didn’t know that I was pouring it on at the end, and he coasted through the finish. Just before that, the short blacktop section goes around a curve with a hedge directly off to the right side, blocking the view up ahead. He used that to speed up when I couldn’t see him. In the end, he beat me by half a second.

This was my first time intentionally staying behind in a race. In the couple races that I led from early on, I spent the rest of the time running scared, expecting that someone would catch me at any time. Running as the pursuer was less stressful, but I don’t know yet which strategy works better for me. Each event is so different, it’s hard to tell.

I’m very happy with my finishing time and 2nd place. And I got more racing experience for next time. I also got a strava segment course record.

Average HR 167 bpm.

 

Weekly Totals: 56.8 mi, 6176 ft gain.