US Mountain Running Champs (Cranmore)

July 21st (Sunday): 6:30am wakeup. Rolled around in bed for a bit before making it downstairs for some breakfast. Bagel with whipped cream cheese and some Gatorade. Back upstairs to change up quick and head out by 7:15ish to the race venue (Cranmore resort). Arrived by 7:30am. Received a call from my mom letting me know that they were closing up registration and number pickup. Jogged over and picked up my number.

Back to the car to gather up my gear and organize what I wanted to bring up to the summit. The race started at the top and was a 3 lap down/up course. Roughly 4k a lap. Up to the summit with DoubleJ at 8:20ish. Dropped off our bags with my parents while we warmed up. Scoped out all the heavy competition passing by me. Swung into the woods for a bathroom break. 2 mile warmup roughly and over to one of the benches to switch into the racing gear. Injinji socks, Inov8 X-Talon 212's, and no shirt. Applied the Body Glide to the thighs and underarms. Powerbar energy gel before the start of the race. Trotted over to the starting line.

Courtesy of Richard Bolt.

1st lap: Solid off the line and around the tight summit loop before the first downhill section. Cautious the entire way down to ensure I didn't destroy the quads too early. Knowing I was gonna be out there for 60+ minutes, I knew I had to run it like a 10 miler. Cruised the downhill through some sloppy muddy sections. The uphill climbs were runnable for the most part and keep it relaxed.

 I am not sure if this was the 1st lap or 2nd lap, but I was smiling.

2nd lap: Grabbed a cup of water on top and was passed by a guy or two on the short summit circle on top. Forced me to get after it on the downhill section (not a hammerfest, but moving well). Straight through all the muddy sections with any hestitation. Water stop at the bottom. Climbed well and utilized the power-hiking technique. 2 laps down and ready to rip the last.

 Courtesy of SNAPacidotic.

 

 Courtesy of SNAPacidotic.

Zombie.
 

3rd lap: The last downhill section was a definite hammerfest. No regrets and cruising with a couple guys on the steep sections. There was a muddy section with an option to run on a slab of wet rock. I slapped right through the mud while some one else opted for the rock. Smash! He went down hard and I didn't bother looking back. Just kept hammering forward. The last climb went well and realized Brandon Newbould wasn't running. Threw me into another gear and adrenaline rush through my entire body. Tristan Williams was on my tail so I surged the uphills and continued the power-hike technique on the extra steep terrain. Closed well for a 11th place finish and a top 10 American finish. Time: 61:14.

2nd lap I believe. Mexico and I worked together well on the steeper stuff.

Chilled at the top for a bit. Some organic baby food from TiVo. Delicious. Changed into trainers and trotted down the mountain to the bottom with DoubleJ and some other guys. Hung out with my parents, Sarah and Bob with some refreshments. Awards ceremony and a podium finish with a top 10 American finish. Sweetness!!

 Top 10. Reppin the Northeast!

Out to lunch with my parents. Flatbread Company for pizza. A little window shopping and on the road by 3:45pm. Ate some of the leftover pizza on the car ride back.

 

Whoopie pie from my parents. Mmmm (not homemade, but devoured).

 I had to pee that bad. Barrel rolled through the door.

Wrapped myself up in ice for the hips.

Preparation For The USMRC

July 19th (Friday): Made myself a bowl of Oat Bran in my boxers because Goupil wasn't home (not like that makes a difference). Work 7:30am-4pm. Nonstop day because we were short staffed. Burrito mix for lunch.

Down to Clifton Park for a haircut. I hadn't received one from a barber since graduating college. I decided to pamper myself and get a clean look for the big race on the weekend (Cranmore, US Mountain Running Championships). Solid work on the dome piece. Straight razor on the neck for the 1st time. Fresh to def.

Immediately after, I swung into Sleepy's (right next door) to take a 2nd shot at mattress hunting. Worked with Don to find the right one. I left my wallet in the car to ensure I didn't put any deposits down or make any impulse purchases. Don tried real hard, but no budging here. Found the one single mattress that tickled my fancy. Left with an invoice, but no sale for Don. Over to Metro Mattress (visited the same places in the same order about 6 months ago) and checked out their selection (and obviously prices). Same guy I didn't care for much so I chatted a bit before peaced out.

Final stop was Raymour & Flanigan Furniture (last time was the less than knowledgeable guy with a limp or hitch in his step). Worked with a new guy (Greg) and he sold me on it. Checked out the same mattress and it was the cheapest price. I told him I would be in next week to followup with the purchase. We had an honest conversation and let him know I would sleep on it over the weekend (no pun intended). Focus on my racing and come back with a clear head on Monday. He responded with he works off commission and he has Monday & Thursday off. No worries.

This is what sealed the deal.  

From the parking lot. It was a sign to buy it from here.

Easy 5.5 miles (36:22) at 8:30pm on my own. Cruised right through and feeling good. More burrito mix for dinner (in a wrap this time) and a protein shake. Chilled and bed at a decent hour.

Looks gross, but so good.

July 20th (Saturday): 6:45am wakeup. Out of bed wide awake. Double serving of Oat Bran. Whipped up a couple chicken wraps for the car ride. Filled up the Nalgene bottles with Gatorade. Stocked everything up in the freezer to chill it all off while I cleaned up and packed my stuff.

Boom.

Right before I left, I ran the dishwasher. We were out of dishwasher detergent so I used dish detergent.  Wrong choice. Suds all over the floor. Resolved the situation fairly quickly with a cup of cooking oil (Googled it) and suds disappeared. After a couple towels and a trip to the grocery store to pick up the right stuff, I was on the road. Everyday you learn something new and learn from your mistakes.

Over to Madison, NH to Jim Johnson's house. 4+ hour ride that went smoothly. Devoured both of my chicken, avocado, and black/pinto beans on the ride. Arrived at DoubleJ's by 2:30ish. Out for an easy 3 miles (23:58) on my own around 4pm. Back to Jim's for some stretching, foam rolling, sticking and relaxing. Napped for about 45 minutes because it was a long day of traveling. Ian stopped by to interview a couple of the Colorado guys (Andy Wacker and Brandon Birdsong) along with Jim and I. 

Jim and I hit up the local spot for some dinner. Chicken parm sub and a small vanilla milkshake. Home to eat, chill and head to bed.

Local. Dessert.

Rest Is Just As Important

July 17th (Wednesday): Protein shake for breakfast. Carpooled with Goup to work. Free lunch from our Monthly EHS Update Meeting at 12pm. Work 7:30am-4pm. Last minute meeting for Goup from 4pm-5pm. So Alyssa was able to give me a ride home. Realized I forgot my keys so I broke into the house for a second time in a couple weeks. Much smoother this time. Called up the 4 local dealerships and told them what I wanted. A 2010 Honda Accord EX 5 speed manual with 40K miles or less. I knew they didn't have any in their inventory so they took down my information. Sounds good to me. Applied for my credit card through my new membership to a credit union. Chilled the rest of the night and ate a bunch of snacks. Day off from running. Kinda just happened. Wicked hot out and the body told me to relax this week with the big race this weekend at Mount Cranmore.

 

Oops. Almost Towed.

July 18th (Thursday): 6:50am wakeup. Quick breakfast and threw some things together for lunch. Work 7:30am-4pm. Taught NCO first thing in the morning. 2nd time this week. Some snacks for lunch. Home to relax and head for 7+ miles (NT) on my own around 7:30ish. Napped a whole bunch after work and before the run. Felt great to sweat out any toxins and just run free with no watch. Back to stretch, foam roll, and make a bunch of food. Burrito mix (lunches and easy dinners), marinated chicken, and cooked up some chicken for a wrap. Bed by 11pm.

One of my Amazon shipments came in today. Sweet new Nalgene top. Boom.

$7 bucks.

You remove the other top. I was just too excited to do that at the moment.

US Moutain Running Series Documentary

July 16th (Tuesday): 6:15am wakeup. Decided to sleep in. Taught the new contractor training first thing from 7:30am-9:30am. A couple hiccups with technology, but worked out just fine. Spinach, avocado, pinto bean and chicken wrap with newly purchased Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. Out of work by 4pm.

Home to relax for a while and snack on some food. Black licorice, kettlecorn, and some Gatorade. Out for run at 8pm. 8+ miles (56:12) through the back neighborhoods and a small section of trail. Back to foam roll, make a protein shake and ice the legs while watching Big Bang Theory.

Here is a public preview of a section of the documentary that Ian MacLellan is doing for the 2013 US Mountain Running Series. Check it out!

Section on Sleepy Hollow. Click away and watch!

Here's the link to copy if this doesn't work for some reason

http://maclellanimages.com/blog1/2013/07/16/trail-climbs-sharply-a-mountain-running-documentary/

Buying In Bulk

July 15th (Monday): 6:30am wakeup. Protein shake for breakfast. Cooked up the chicken in the morning and made a wrap for lunch. Work 7:30am-4pm. Normal day. Down to Clifton Park for a Target run. $44.35 worth of Clif Bars. Three 12 packs and two 6 packs. White chocolate macadamia nut, chocolate chip, chocolate almond fudge, and Sierra trail mix (haven't tried before). Stopped at TD Bank to deposit some money. Back to Ballston Lake to stop at Hannaford's for big grocery shopping. Picked up the essentials plus a couple extra things such as Kettlecorn and black licorice. Annie's bunny graham cracker snacks were still on sale. Bought 4 boxes.

Stocked up!

7 miles (49:15) at 8pm with Goup. Ran a couple loops on the grass field at Chango Elementary School right by our complex while Goup did some barefoot running. Added on another loop around the neighborhoods. Back to stretch, foam roll and ice. Protein shake for dinner. Bed by 10:30pm.

 You Only Live Once.

Vegging Out

July 13th (Saturday): 8:30am wakeup. Most of the day was spent on the couch or inside. Ate a whole bunch of food. A classic breakfast that was a staple when I was a kid (even through college). A bagel with butter and jelly. Eventually made it out for an easy 7+ miles (48:26) at 8pm.

 Tastes like a jelly donut.

 Dinner. Delicious. Hooked on the wraps.

July 14th (Sunday): 11am wakeup. Oat bran with blueberries and maple syrup. Clif Bar and a granola bar for snacks.

 Organic blueberries. Mmm.

The highlight of the day was the French toast chicken wrap I ate for a late lunch. The marinated chicken in maple syrup and cinnamon was one of the best ideas I ever had. The chicken with fresh chopped spinach and extra maple syrup. Mmmm. Walked over to the grocery store to see if I would melt away. Survived. Picked up the mail. Overflowing just slightly since my keys were gone for a solid week. Plus, I don't check the mail that often. So it was probably 2+ weeks of mail.

 Chicken, spinach and maple syrup.

Lots of hydrating with Gatorade. Out for a run by 8pm. 13 miles (86:01) in a figure 8 loop along the bike path. Saw 5 bunnies along the way. I think 9 out of 10 runs, I see at least 1 bunny. Cruised through the run and felt great. Drenched by the end of the run, but felt good to sweat. Release the toxins.

Protein shake and bed at a decent hour.

One Day At A Time

July 11th (Thursday): Standard day of easy miles and work. 2 miles in the morning. No time. Just got out and enjoyed the opportunity to be alive. Bagel for breakfast. Work 7:45pm-4:15pm. Burrito mix for lunch. Some snacks to accompany it. Home to have another bagel as a snack before the run. Chilled on the couch until I had just enough time to run and shower before hitting the movies. 5.5+ miles (37:22) on my own. Back to foam roll and make a quick protein shake. Shower and down to Clifton Park to see The Heat (Clif Bar for a snack during the flick). Hilarious! Who's your wife? A 5 pound bag of flour with a hole in it?

Bed by 11pm.

July 12th (Friday): 6:20am wakeup. 3 miles (20:27) for a morning shakeout. Protein shake for breakfast. Work 7:30pm-4:00pm. Taught the contractor safety orientation with the new slides for the first time. All that work paid off because it was able to presented wayyy smoother. Leadership walk at the end of the day that was productive and always great to meet the higher ups from the other departments.

Home to chill, do the dishes and look over some KBB values on Honda Accords. Trimmed, cut up and rinsed about 2 pounds of chicken thighs to be marinated in a couple different marinades. Experimenting with a maple syrup and cinnamon marinade. Normal marinade of chili powder, Italian dressing, hot sauce, dry chicken rub, salt and pepper. The last one was hoping to be Worcestershire sauce and Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. No BBQ sauce. I know, a sin not to have that stocked in the fridge at any given moment. I settled on Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning and garlic salt.

Mmm. Raw chicken.

Mapped out a 10 mile loop and mentally remembered the mile markers (the 7 mile tempo from the other week with an additional loop to make it a full 10 miles). Workout was sub-60 with 5 sets of 30, 60, 90. First 2 miles were taken as a tempo warmup in 12:15ish. 5 miles: 29:07. 2nd 5 miles: 27:50. 56:57 for the 10 miles. 1/2 mile jog off for a total of 59:48 for the 10.5 miles. 

Lots of foam rolling and iced for about 2+ hours. Protein shake. Identity Theft on Redbox for a movie to watch while icing. Left the ice on the whole movie. Eventually it was warm, but too lazy to remove it. Ending up falling asleep on the couch.

Deer In The Headlights

July 10th (Wednesday): 2.5 miles (18:22) for a morning run. Honey wheat bagel with butter for breakfast. Grabbed a punch of leftovers and whatnot in the fridge for lunch. Lunch turned out to be pretty decent combo (healthy too). Orzo rice, raw spinach, sliced raw mushrooms, pinto beans, and fresh avocado. Balsamic vinaigrette dressing to add some flavor and salt/pepper. Annie's graham cracker bunnies and a Clif bar for a snack. Crunchy granola bars at the end of the day to hold me over for the afternoon run.

I received another call about my keys yesterday from Marty (last time on Monday was from Sue at the Clifton Park Library) at the information booth on Broadway Street in Saratoga Springs. They are only open until 5pm so I had to wait until today to pick them up. Confirmed by calling back the number. It ended up being Marty's cellphone, but she confirmed and let me know that Barbour is working today. Up to Saratoga to retrieve my keys. Success! I greeted Barbour and she was like "How do you know me?" Humorous. Keys obtained. Boom.

Before returning home, I stopped at Hannaford's to pick up a few more things (mostly for my burrito mix). Short drive (1/2 mile) home to prepare a big batch of burrito mix for the rest of the week (lunches and maybe dinner). As I readied myself for a run, I spotted a deer in the "side yard" of the townhouse. Background tunes match right up with the peacefulness. Baauer are the people that brought the world the Harlem Shake song.

 

Music: Neva Knew (Baauer Remix) by Obey City.

 

Snack before the run: Nutella with the honey graham cracker bunnies.

Eaten like a bowl of cereal.

Out for a run. 8.75 miles (58:14) around 7:45pm. Smooth out and back along the bike path. I saw a bunch of people along the way. Either bikers, runners, walkers. On my way back, I ran up behind a couple walking their dog along the sidewalk. They looked like nice people. From the middle of the road (where I was running), I turned and waved. It was one of the equipment engineers from GLOBALFOUNDRIES that I met earlier in the week. One of the most genuinely caring people I have ever met. Greeted each other by pointing at each other and saying each other's name. "Eric!" and "Moe!" Continued on and finished up the  run.

Back to wipe down the body from being drenched, stretch, foam roll, and make a protein shake. Bed earlyish.

Shake It Out (Post Loon)

July 8th (Monday): No morning run. Protein shake for breakfast. Work 7:30am-4pm. No stop work day. No official lunch break. Ate during my 1pm meeting. Three mini chicken, spinach, avocado wraps. I received a call from the Clifton Park library stating my keys were found and reported to the Saratoga Library. Sounds great! Headed up there after work. None of the employees including security (responsible for lost and found) had any recollection of keys being reported. Hmm. Nevermind. Over the police station to check. No dice.

Home. Bummed. 10+ miles (70:05). Surprised how not too sore I was. Tired, but not too achey. Ending up running at 8pm and had about 30 minutes of warm up in the house while I was catching up with Goup from the weekend. Stayed on the main road for the run and a relaxing time overall.

Stretch, foam roll, and a shower. Bed at a decent hour with a protein shake for dinner.

July 9th (Tuesday): No morning run schedule. Protein shake for breakfast. Work 7:30am-4pm. Busy all day. Down to Walmart with Goup to pick up a few things. I grabbed a couple box fans for the downstairs. Worked like a charm for my room and worked out well for the downstairs. Sweet. Living room is now at a comfortable 74ish instead of 80+.

Back to the house to change up for the workout. Over to Burnt Hills for a 12x400 and 8x200 track session. Nothing crazy fast. Just shake the crap out of my legs from Loon. 2.5 mile warmup (17:10 + strides) around the neighborhoods. Some tennis clinic being held at the courts. Walked by to access the track. Workout went smooth: 75, 74, 74, 74, 74, 74, 73, 73,72, 72, 72, 72, 35, 34, 34, 34, 34, 33, 34, 33. Boom. 37:19 for the 6.5 miles. 5:44 pace. Walked it off back to the parking lot and 2 mile cooldown (14:40) around the perimeter of the athletic fields and the edge of the track (on the grass). Made sure to bring a towel and extra shirt to keep the car seat fresh.

Protein shake for dinner and bed at some point. 11 miles on the day.

Loon Mountain Race Report

July 7th (Sunday): 3:30am woke up in a sweat. Back to sleep to wake up to the alarm at 6:30am. Played some Candy Crush Saga while I rolled around in the bunk. A full house in the room so I was extra quiet as I moved all my stuff into the adjacent room. Over to the main cabin to make breakfast, brush my teeth and put my contacts in. Placed the glasses on the shelf behind the sinks (ending up leaving them there). Honey wheat bagel with a thin layer of peanut butter and sliced bananas. Some Gatorade to wash it all down. Packed the car up and over to the race venue by 7:30am.

Into the Octagan Lodge to register and use the bathroom (hadn't pooped in over 12 hours). Back to the car to chill and organize all my gear. 3 mile (21:25) warmup with Ferenc along the first mile of the race and some of the pavement bike path. Back to the car to change up, grab a swig of Gatorade, and apply the Body Glide to prevent chaffing. Jogged it out to the lower dirt parking lot to get some strides in and pop into the woods for a quick bathroom pit stop.

Parking lot start under the bridge.

 

Zoom.

9am start. Off the line well and a quick first mile along the dirt parking lot, pavement, and the beginning of the loose gravel access road. Rocking the Nike Lunarspeed Lites and feeling good about the choice of footwear. Injinji socks to keep the toes separated and prevent blisters. Worked into that low grind gear and locked into a solid pace. I have no idea what my splits were, but I was taking advantage of the downhills to open up the stride and recover. I was surprised with the amount of downhill. A nice long downhill before the Upper Walking Boss and ready to climb in beast mode (in the words of Tilton as I powered by him at the beginning of the UWB). I utilized the power-hike and surge method for the UWB and it worked out well. I noticed Eric Blake and Ferenc were using the same technique. I started to gap Tilton and close up on Newbould. 5 mile mark at the top of the UWB. A gradual downhill section before a steep downhill to a final 50 meters of uphill to the finish line. Newbould was no where in sight after I crested the hill and I cruised it in for a 4th place finish. 48:59. Chilled at the finish. Pounded some cups of water. Chatted it up. Off down the mountain for a cool down with a bunch of guys (Ferenc, Newbould, Todd, and another guy that knew the trails).

 Don't even get to enjoy the views, just the grass in front of me.

 I need to buy this picture.

 Courtesy of Far North. UWB.

 TiVO.

4+ mile cool down. No time on it, but it was roughly 40 minutes of running. Black bear ran across one of the trails we were trotting down. Scooted right across the path. Epic! River soak. Brought the water shoes (DoubleJ always has a pair in his car and it made it way easier to walk into the flowing current without being sweep away). Back to the car to change into dry clothes. Walked over to the awards ceremony inside the lodge. Whirlaway came away with the team win and we received  a box of local pastries. Yum. Apple turnover. Destroyed. Raffled off a bunch of things and I ended up winning a pair of Julbo sunglasses. Boom!

On the road just before 2pm. Drove about 2 hours before stopping for gas/Subway. Same place. Sweetness. Black Forest ham with cheddar cheese, spinach, onions, green peppers, sweet onion sauce, salt/pepper, and oil/vinegar. Sat down and had Powerade/Sprite mix to wash it all down.

Home by 5ish. Stopped at the grocery store for some essentials for the week. Unpacked, chilled and ate some food. Out for a shakeout 5+ miles (37:14). Thunderstorm just missed Ballston Lake. Big bolts of lightning and rumbles of thunder in the sky, but no rain. Back to stretch, foam roll and ice. Showered and a protein shake. Bed at a decent hour.

18 miles on the day and 77 miles for the week with a couple hiccups on the one workout (split into 2 days to stay mentally tough) and a big weekend of miles. Solid race at Loon Mountain that was a ton of fun. Upper Walking Boss was wicked tough, but I think I might suffer through it next year.

Calm Before The Loon

July 5th (Friday): 7am wakeup on my buddy's couch. Zombie walked to my car about a mile away. Drove to work. Showered at work. Work 8am-4pm. A ghost town so computer work was completed along with a full site inspection (on the John Deere buggy). Sausage egg and pepper jack cheese with sriracha sauce. Buffalo chicken wrap with the works for lunch. Both bought in the cafeteria.

Home to nap for about 3 or 4 hours. I am not sure. I ended up waking up at 11:15pm and changing up for a late night run. Out the door by 11:45pm. 5.5 miles (38:58) through the back neighborhoods. Relaxing run. Back to the house to stretch, foam roll and eat some food. Bed by 2am.

In the shade at work.

July 6th (Saturday): 7am wakeup. Just shy of 9 miles (59:47) before the humidity hit. The last couple miles I started to feel the heat. Made it back to the house to foam roll and take a cold shower. Cleaned my room, packed my bags and made a couple chicken/avocado/spinach/BBQ sauce wraps. Ending up eating one on the spot and wrapping the other one (I had to use two small wraps to hold all the filling) in aluminum foil. Nalgene bottles filled and snacks in the bag.

Recharged my AC system in my car and drove the first 45 minutes with AC. Disappeared. I knew it wouldn't be for the whole car ride because I could see the leak while I was charging the system. Oh well. I think I will try the sealer next week. Worth it for the summer months. Inexpensive overall.

4+ hour trip to The Loj (in Woodstock) to meet Ian and his helper, Casey. He graduated Tufts in 2012 so The Loj is open for Tufts current students and alumni. Ian invited me and it's only 15 minutes from Loon. Boom.

Drove over to the river for a shakeout 5+ miles (38:22) on my own. I wish I had my phone because I ended running up this secluded backroad that turned into dirt. The sign said "Camp 4 Sale." There were a bunch of little cabins along the river. They were siiick. Back to the river to soak for 10 minutes and change into some dry clothes.

Over to Loon with Ian and Casey so they could scope out the scene for filming. Stopped at Da Choppa in Lincoln to grab peanut butter, bagels, bananas, and Cherrios. Dinner and breakfast. Watched this ridiculous documentary on Martin Strel. This Slovenian guy that has swam the entire Amazon River and some other crazy long rivers. The Amazon took him between 66 days for 3273 miles. Craziness. Ridiculously funny, yet powerful message in the end. Bed by 10:30pm.

 

Bunk house. Coolio.

Humidity 1, Eric 0

July 2nd (Tuesday): Woke up to my alarm at 6:15am, but my phone was freezing up so I did a standard reset. It never turned back on and I woke up at 7am. No morning run. Work 8am-4:30pm. Chilled and prepared my dinner before the run. 10 miles (70:20) on my own. Ventured on the back neighborhoods with some trails for a bit in the evening on my own. Into the creek for a soak because my body was hurting (aka overheating and sore). Bed at a decent hour.

Killing it on the stovetop.

Egg noodles, sauteed onions and garlic, chicken, and steamed broccoli.

Lovely day for a Guinness (courtesy of Erin Macknight)

July 3rd (Wednesday): 2 miles (15:11) solo before work. Work 7:45am-4:15pm. Home to change up and head out for a workout. Ian MacLellan is doing a documentary on the mountain series so he wanted to get footage of me on a workout and interview me back at the house. 

Logistics worked out well because I was attempting a hill workout on a mile (up/down) loop in the back neighborhoods. 2 mile warmup (14:21). Some weird looks due me following a car with the trunk open about 20 feet in front of me. 3xmile. Too aggressive on the first one and suffered the next 2 intervals. The goal was 4xmile. Instead, it was 4:52, 5:23, then shut it down on the 3rd one right before the rest section. The interval is approximately .4 uphill, .45 overall downhill (with a short uphill), and a .11 (aka ~50 seconds) of rest. 12-13 seconds short of 1 mile for the loop. 2 mile cooldown (14:xx). Foam rolled and a protein shake. Iced the legs and attempted to cooloff. Chilled for the rest of the night.

Watched 300 and got pumped for this weekend for Loon! 9 miles on the day and the humidity won today, but I survived.

July 4th (Thursday): 8am wakeup. Protein shake. Up to Saratoga to watch the Firecracker 4. Jogged from the starting line to the 1.5 mile mark then back to the finish line. Sweating my ass off. Cooled down with the ARE guys and watched the awards ceremony.

Drove off back to the house and left my keys (except for my car key which was in my running shorts) in the wheel well. Gone. Hmm. Drove back to Saratoga to look for them since I couldn't unlock the doors to my house (Goup was up towards Lake George). No dice. Back to the house a 2nd time to break into my own house. Success. Spare key was on the window sill so I was able to pop the screen out and open the window to grab the key. No need to climb through the window. 

Some Gatorade and a snack before heading out for a 2nd run around 2pm. Extra humid and hot. 2nd attempt to finish the workout. Decided on just a 2 mile warmup (13:10) and 2xmile (but more even and overall faster). 5:14, 5:09. Boom. 2 mile cooldown (13:10). Almost a death march, but stopped over at the river to splash the face and neck to bring the body temperature down. 

Back to Saratoga after a shower, protein shake and gathering up some extra clothes. Over to a co-worker's place to celebrate the 4th of July. Fun night and crashed at my buddy's house. Ending up seeing some high school teammates. They were twins and didn't believe it was them for the longest time. Small world!

 Ants in our pants!

Blah Monday

July 1st (Monday): No morning run. Cereal for breakfast. Work 8am-4:30pm. Busy day with catching up on stuff from the weekend. Stir fry over rice for lunch (bought in the cafe). Topped it with sriracha sauce to some spiciness. Lots of peanut butter M&Ms throughout the day. So good. Clif bar at the end of the day as I was walking out of work to the car.

Stopped at Hannaford's for the essentials for the week. Nothing out of the ordinary. Graham crackers and Nutella for a snack before heading out the door with Goup for 10 miles (70:15) along the bike path at 7:45pm. Passing shower cooled us off and caused me to remove my glasses for a couple miles in the middle. Black flies towards the turnaround point, but not too annoying.

Back to stretch, foam roll and shower up before making some dinner. Veggie wrap. Spinach, pinto beans, and avocado wrap with balsamic vinegrette dressing. Protein shake. Body (arms and back) sore from the 9 holes of golf. Some good cross-training. We had carts, but I wasn't hitting it too far most of the time so I was just walking it out between shots.

New dishware courtesy of Sarah.

How I function for the most part with laundry. Slowly getting better.

Weekend In Newtown

June 28th (Friday): Ambitions of getting most of my miles done in the morning before work, but that didn't happen. 3 miles (21:26) on the normal loop (original loop since the road construction starts at 7am and I was passing through around 6:30am). Hectic day at work with closing a whole bunch of stuff out before the weekend. Lots of computer work. Chicken, veggies, and pasta for lunch along with a couple pieces of free pizza and a small salad.

Home to pack up and head down to Connecticut for a guys weekend with my dad. Home by 7:30pm. 6 miles total (4 miles with my dad and another 2 added on after) at 8:30pm. Relaxing run and good to catchup on the local neighborhoods and whatnot. Showered up and teamed up on making juicy burgers for dinner. Sweet pepper relish, ketchup and mayo. Toasted bun. Hit the spot.

Fell asleep on the couch and bed by 11:30pm.

June 29th (Saturday): Slept in a little bit (tossed around in bed) before crawling out to change up for a run. Pre-run snack of pretzels and Nutella. I missed Nutella so much.

 Amazing combo.

 Piled on.

10+ miles (66:57) on the classic hilly loop. Surprisingly lower humidity than I thought and a cool breeze. Shade for about half the run. Back to stretch, foam, and shower up in the outdoor shower. Hard boiled egg for a post-run recovery snack. Bowl of cereal for breakfast.

Mayo and pepper.

 First bite above. Two bites total.

View from the outdoor shower.

Over to a small neighborhood to learn standard in the 92 Honda Accord with 272,000 miles on it. It went fairly well and my dad was giving me some tough situations like reversing uphill without rolling back because "there was a small child in front of me on a bike." Frustrating, but made it through all right. I was done after about an 45 minutes. Solid lesson.

Home by 2:30pm. Plans of heading out for a 2nd run at some point in the evening. Plans changed and played 9 holes of golf with the Meier's (Bill and Dale) around 4:30pm. Fun time and had a couple decent shots. About every 14th shot was a good one. Stopped at the grocery store to pick up some food for dinner. Chicken and veggies for the grill with a side salad. Dinner at their house and chilled until about 10pm. Watched an episode of Hemlock Grove. Suspenseful first episode and might need to watch the rest of them on my own time.

Bed by 11pm.

June 30th (Sunday): Slept in until 9am. Eggs and toast for breakfast. Some pretzels and Nutella. Changed up for a long run and my plan was to head over to Huntington State Park for some hills/trails. I told my dad that I was driving over and he said "Take the Honda. Just take your time." Okay dokey. Success! No stalling whatsoever and a fairly smooth ride. Sweetness. 15 miles (1:45:29) with a couple hard efforts on the downs and ups. Slight death march the last couple miles, but survived. Soaked in a "river" that smelt kinda bad and wasn't wicked cold, but it did the body good. The drive back went even better. A couple 1st gear starts on a hill and some downshifting too. Woohoo! Practice makes perfect.

A milkshake to reward myself with the long run and the 79 mile week of some solid efforts (two workouts). Helped my dad with the lawn a bit before the storm rolled through. Relaxed inside the house for a few hours. Eventually packed up and made some dinner (oversized burger) before heading back to NY. Home by 11:30pm. Lost my bluetooth headset (somewhere) for the 100th time. Brought the Nutella home because my mom told me. Mistake. Gonna be gone so quick. Oh well.

In motion, but the speedometer ain't working. The norm.