Training Log Archive: PG

Event: Mt Tom
 

NEOC local meet at Mt. Tom. Ran the start for a couple of hours, then headed out on the Red course after Phil printed up a special version of the map, 1:11,000 (as opposed to the version everyone else was getting until we ran out, 1:10,700). I believe there is a reason for these less commonly used scales, though that reason may be philosophical in nature and far beyond my ability to understand. Suffice it to say it was a beautiful day, a fine and testing course with a sufficient number of hills and rocks, and all the controls were right where they were supposed to be.

Good run, though good walk would be more accurate every time the course turned uphill. Just a little careless at #4. A few falls, got my little finger on my left hand on one of them, though it seems like it shouldn't affect my grip, also got zapped in the eye, the non-contact one, towards the end, bit of a scratch but maybe not too bad.

My routes.

C • map scale 1

Picking up points 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1, plus a Green course control between 2 and 3. With stakes and e-boxes, even half a dozen is a good armload, especially when the forest tightens up a bit.

C • Picking up EP controls 4

Red - Splits

At the track, thought I would try a run at T pace, threshold, chart said to do it at 7:04 per 1600, did 4800 in 20:54, 1600s were 6:59, 7:00, 6:55. A bit of a mental struggle, going a hair too fast, kept telling myself to slow down just a little, but was afraid I would slow down too much, so ended up not slowing down at all. But not too far off. Effort level -- hard work, breathing hard, but not excessively so, in control. Probably just about right.

35F, almost no wind, overcast, perfectly pleasant except for the fact that it was about 4 pm and the sun was already going down.

Heading south in a couple of days, was planning on leaving Monday but just found out I have a funeral to go to on Tuesday, an elderly aunt died last week, will be a chance to see relatives I rarely see. Then south, back via Valley Forge on the way home. At least that's the plan right now.

C • Pretty much a spike, really. 1

4 laps warm-up, 1 lap after.

Was it an intra-breakfast run? Meaning after the first part of breakfast and before the second part. Whatever, when you're at the DeWeese estate, you get the program and the program starts early. I passed on the hour of spinning at 5:30, but got dragged along on the run at 8, with Charlie, Rhonda, and Rhonda's training buddy Kathleen.

Nice relaxed pace until we hit the first hill and the ladies took off. It seems they surge up any and all hills. I got used to it after a while, but at first I thought they would be dropping me as well as Charlie.

Felt ok after yesterday. Cold, windy, invigorating. And all done at an early hour!

Here is the fine group (PG, Kathleen, Charlie, Rhonda). A careful observer will note that the driveway is severely sloped and I am on the uphill side....

Feeling quite distressed by the soaring G and my lack of zip at Manchester, T Day dinner was slim pickings. You do what you have to do...

Manchester Road Race. Not thrilled but not bad. 514th overall out of maybe 9,000, 4th in 60-69.

Splits: 6:29, 7:44 (uphill), 6:46, 6:43, 4:59.

Not thrilled because the last half seemed like very hard work for not good times. You reach the high point at about 2.2 miles and then it is all down/flat. Mile 4 and the last .75 should have been quicker, but it just wasn't there. Time up the hill was ok. So why no better? There's the age issue, can't do anything about that, it will only get worse. And the training issue, but my training hasn't been too bad. And then the G issue, where I clearly am carrying the proverbial extra 5-pound bag of sugar. Need to do something about that.

Glad I went though. Saw a bunch of Walkers, plus George clued me in on just where to park and how to get there to avoid closed streets, so I parked within a couple blocks of the start/finish. And getting in the under-35 seeding group was just right, crossed the start line in 7 seconds and right then could start running as fast as I cared to. Lots of people, but not annoyingly so.

And a nice rest of the day too -- a tour of Charlie's laurel wrangling feats, a short but ok visit with my mom, and a delicious dinner chez Rhonda.

Oh, yeah, one other thing -- the thought popped into my mind somewhere around the 4-mile mark, it occurred to me to wonder how close I might be to sudden death? Was I exerting myself to such an extent (and I was working hard) that I was close to taking a one-way trip over the edge? Or was I in no danger at all? Unresolved, of course -- or maybe I should say, Thank goodness -- and I didn't linger over the thought for long, there were still several more minutes of pain to deal with....

Well, the results are out and I'm pretty sure I am now 1-0 lifetime vs. Frank Shorter.... :-)

Also, there was a finisher age 68, ran 37:57, from Colchester, CT, name of Clem McGrath. J-man's dad?

C • Clem McGrath 1

C • Premature death risk? 16

Warm-up.

Whether the inspiration came from JJ's recent victories, or more likely from the ever more common pitter-patter of little feet, or most likely from the appearance of fresh mouse shit on the kitchen counter, it was time to go to battle again, though hopefully not yet time to call in a real professional (Ross).

And it also was time to try out a new tactic -- make the traps as appealing as possible to the mice. First by cleverly adding a hint of blue cheese to the left-over aroma of peanut butter from the last great war (our stock of PB being depleted for the moment). And secondly, and this was pure genius, by figuring out that mice have needs too, not just for food but also for a little culture. And all in a nice social setting.

So I looked around and decided that they probably weren't all that interested in sports, or business, or even the news -- what they really cared about was leisure and lifestyle, so I laid out "Leisure & Lifestyle" and put out three traps in a nice social setting, each with the potent mix of stale PB and aged blue cheese, pretty sure that good things were going to happen overnight.

And bingo!

An early morning, and a rather chilly early morning (25F), run with Dave, up South Sugarloaf and back. Didn't have much zip, but it's done. 9:21 up the hill.