Squirrely Six

Ran the Squirrely Six this morning. I was a lot warmer than I expected to be, with temperatures soaring into the low 40s :-). Seriously, I peeled off my jacket before the race, and probably could have been comfortable in a thinner shirt. At lease one guy ran it in a sleeveless shirt and shorts.
I ran the first mile fast because I had fresh shoes waiting for me at the end of a very wet and muddy section at the start of the race. Probably 20-30 people passed me while I was changing my shoes, but I didn't think that was of much consequence. I caught a few of those people, but for the most part ended up running the race with the same 5 people around me. The hills were harder than I thought they would be, but my strategy of taking easy on the hills and putting out a big effort at the top really seemed to work.
When I reached the top and got onto the flat along Beaver Creek Road, I could just see the last of the five I had been with through the race. I caught them all along the flat, and also passed one woman who had passed me on the uphill.
I felt great about the downhill section, and took the "lead" among the five.
The bottom stretch - final mile - was tough. I was running, but not fast. I think I psyched myself out. I took an inventory of how I was feeling, and was fine. My breathing was steady, my legs felt really good, and so I pushed it a bit. Then we hit the last muddy/wet section at the end and I just lost heart. All those little climbs and the cold/heavy feet. Before I knew it, the end was, well, there. You couldn't see it from far off. Just came around a corner and that was it. Too bad. The "sprint" at the end was too short to catch anyone. I feel like I left something on the course because of that last little bit.
The last time I saw before crossing the line was 56:56. I'll have to look up my official finish time.
I stuck around and saw Heidi (my office mate at work) and Erica (her friend who used to work with me at Emma Willard), who were dressed up as Candy Corn and Indian Candy. Then a big surprise came around the corner - the father of a former student of mine who was doing the full half marathon. I took off to run with him, and looked back over my shoulder to see Joe's wife Elizabeth arrive. I gave her a shout, then ran off with Gary. He ran 12 miles up to Thatcher park before the race. Wild. He wanted to get 25 miles in for the day. He runs 40 mile endurance races.
Liz, Heidi, Erica and I hung around a bit. Got warm (actually, I got a lot colder), ate some food then hung to see Joefinish. He came in with a group of three and looked strong and steady at the finish.
So it was cold, wet and I'll probably be sick for a week now, but I had fun. I don't know if I'll be doing any of these "first night" runs. I'm actually looking forward to getting on the eliptical trainer and treadmill indoors where it's warm.

532 Madison Ave

Well, this was most unexpected.
I left my keys in the car after last night's run, so when my wife took the car to work I was left with a car, but no keys. Not good. I fretted for a bit, then put on some layers of clothing and hopped on the road bike. Not my best ride, but the tailwind made the first half of the ride pretty easy. By the time I got to Troy and had to ride up the hill my legs were feeling pretty heavy.
I think the last few times I rode to work it was 1:30. I lost quite a bit of time on the bike path feeling listless and unable to push the pace with the wind at my side.

Ah, so the title of this post? That's where I was when I hit my 1000th mile. That's 1000 miles since I bought the cycle computer in February. It's been a good 1000 miles!

Route map
24.86
1:37:11

Thatcher

So I ran with a belly full of burritos this evening with Joe. What a terrible run. Ugh. My gut felt bloated the whole run, and by the time we hit the top my legs were heavy and slow. I guess I'll eat better on Saturday night before the Squirrely Six race.
The course is cool. There's a 1 mile flat terrain run before you hit the big climb. The climb isn't the steady Long Path road that I thought it would be. The climb takes you up the steep, technical portions that I usually ride down. The nice thing about this is that you don't have the climb the whole thing at once. You climb a steep burst, then it's flat for a bit. The bad thing is that those steep portions are quite steep.
After the run I hopped on my mountain bike and followed Joe along while he did Hairy Gorilla portion of the race. I've ridden out there before but never seen the conditions so bad. Mud and standing water everywhere. I could barely move. Wish I had ditched the bike and run again.
I hope this is the bad dress rehearsal before the performance. One more run this week, and maybe a 1 mile job on Saturday and that's it. Wish me luck (I'm going to need it).

Fast!

I ran again tonight while my son was in Tae Kwon So. Same route as last week, but I tried to add about a mile using some side roads. I didn't feel like I was going particularly fast, but in the end I logged just under 6 miles in 45 minutes. Since my goal for the Squirrely Six is 54 minutes (6x8 minute miles), that felt pretty good. If I run again this weekend it will be at Emma Willard on Saturday. Hope to get one more in...

Black belt training

Tonight both of my kids had a Tae Kwon Do class. They both went to the first class, then I took my son out for a run. I thought we'd do about 2 miles. We ran a short but hilly out and back route that I've done a few times, but we shortcut out a bunch of stuff. I was really proud of him - he ended up running 2.35 miles in the end. Great job for an 8 year old. His pace is good, too.

Track & stairs

I ran with my son again today. He was off from school, so he was with me all day and then after work we just went to the track. He really struggles on the track, pretty much stopping 3-4 times per mile. When we go on the road he's nothing like that. 1 mile in he had to use the bathroom so we ran back to the gym. I ran stairs while he did his thing. That felt pretty good. I was winded near the end, but my legs felt fresh.
We both finished with a half mile on the treadmill...

Pretty good

I ran tonight while my son was at his two hour Tae Kwon Do class. There is a 4 mile loop that I spotted, so I gave that a try. Very hilly. Probably the best run I've done. I still had a lot left at the end, my strides felt long, and I finished the whole thing in a lot less time than I thought it would. Well, at least I think I did - I didn't time it :-)

Hope to run at least one day next week...

Where you been?

I've been so busy.  Holy cow.  Every year I think that the return to work will be better than the last.  This year I looked forward to a return with a number of things going for me:

 

1.  I was in better shape than I had been in a long time

2.  Both my kids are going to the same school. 

3.  On a good day, I could wait until 6:00 to go pick up my kids at their after school program

4.  TONS of opportunities to ride with friends, acquaintances, buddies, whatever

 

I admit that as August came to an end, I started to look forward to riding less.  I planned to do a race one weekend and decided to just ride instead.  There was a century ride in Saratoga, but I had a soccer game to coach.  The third Masters of the Mountains race conflicted with the opening days at my school.  I feel like in July I would have bailed on the soccer game, called in sick to work and done whatever I could have to get in a ride.  Ah well, I'm sure I will get inspired again soon.

 

So what have I been doing?  I've been running as much as I find the time for.  I don't like running, but it is easier and less time-consuming than biking.  My son has to run 50 miles (with 39 to go) in order to satisfy the requirments for his black belt, so I've been running with him and then going for a run for myself.  In this way I can get in 5-6 miles, but the first 2 are very slow.

 

I did go for a ride with Joe a couple of Saturdays ago.  I would say that it didn't feel right.  I started with my bike computer at 955 miles and with nothing to do until about 6:00.  25 miles in, though, and I was feeling out of gas.  Joe was understanding, and didn't need the miles.  He's been preparing for a marathon and had already run that morning.  We only got about 35 miles in.  I never even looked at the computer to see how far I'd gone. 

 

Three weeks ago I brought the mountain bike out to Grafton on a Friday afternoon.  The regular Friday night crowd was scheduled to arrive at 5:00, and I got there at 3:00 to get some riding in before they got there.  Less than a mile in I picked up a stick which went right through my spokes and broke off two of them.  I left before anyone knew I had been there.

 

And tonight the Mountain Bike is still sitting there with 1 wheel off.  I've got the replacement spokes, I just haven't put them on yet.  Again, I know in July I would have been out in the garage at 9:00 at night getting all greasy and getting it done.

 

So I'm hoping to do the "Squirrely Six," a 10K trail race up at Thatcher Park the last weekend of October.  I've been increasing my miles, but haven't run a full consequetive 10k yet.  I'm excited, though, it's the first running race I will ever be in.

 

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