Massages and Miles

 93 miles for the week. Huge workout and a quality long run just like planned.

November 10th (Monday): 4 miles (30:34) in the AM. 8 miles (55:04) in the PM. Standard day and legs felt pretty good coming off the 15K yesterday.

November 11th (Tuesday): 5 miles (34:37) in the AM. 5+ miles (NT) in the evening before bowling. Another solid day of recovery. Pushed out the two workouts to Wednesday and Thursday.

November 12th (Wednesday): 3 miles (20:18) in the AM. 10+ miles (56:19) in the evening. 56 flat for the 10 mile loop and the actual workout. Splits were 14:32, 14:06, 13:48, 13:34. Felt great and rocked right through the double loop.

 Yo yo yo.

November 13th (Thursday): 3 miles (20:14) in the AM. Out of work on time at 4ish. I missed my iPhone 6 being shipped by FedEx. It needed a signature. The main headquarters 25 minutes away was open until 8pm. I had to get a 3 x 3 mile workout down at the bike path again. Similar times to last time. Cruised the workout compared to last time and felt much stronger. 2+ warmup (15:30 + strides).

Splits were as followed: 15:45, 15:50, 15:40. Overall faster than last time and felt smoother. 3 mile (19:07) which was much quicker than last time due to feeling less depleted and the motivation to grab my iPhone down in Menands, NY. Back to the car with just enough time to change and head down there. No speeding and made it with 13 minutes to spare.

Ordered 5 Guys on the ride back up north and stopped in Clifton Park for my dinner and the Verizon Store for a case. Home to shower and head to bed.

November 14th (Friday): 3:30am wakeup. Couldn't sleep so I walked downstairs to watch some old school television (Catdog, Hey Arnold, etc) and setup my iPhone 6. Woohoo! 9 miles (68:16) with Renee and Jenn at 5am. I had a bunch of time so I dressed it up for a Friday and went with the company sweater vest. Massage at 5pm at Back In Balance. Deep tissue and focused on hips and hamstrings. Feels amazing and I recommend receiving a couple throughout a training cycle.

 Lunch. Peanut butter, Nutella, banana, granola, honey wraps.

Selfie.

Steak for dinner.

November 15th (Saturday): 7+ miles (55:14) with Fleet Feet group at the Zim Smith bike path. Relaxed and did some laundry in the afternoon. Another 3 miles (NT) with Derrick at 5pm. Over to my buddy's apartment for some brewskis and whatnot.

Playing the "Air Cat"

November 16th (Sunday): Hung out at my buddy's apartment all morning. Eggs and bacon for breakfast. Movies on TV. Back to my house to run 20 miles at sub 6 minute pace. 20 miles (1:58:37) to finish off another big week of miles. 5:55 pace and felt good. Ran at 4pm so the temperature was dropping and darkness was setting in, but made it happen.

Stockade-athon 15K

89 miles for the week with a fast track workout and a big PR in the 15K.

November 3rd (Monday): 3 miles (20:18) in the AM. Busy day at work. 5 miles (34:29) in the evening. Sore, but nothing too crazy from the big trail run yesterday.

 Adorable.

November 4th (Tuesday): 3 miles (18:49) in the AM. Work until 6pm. Straight to bowling. Tired so the afternoon run did not happen.

 I cannot stand the cuteness.

November 5th (Wednesday):  4 miles (26:38) in the AM. Out of work at 4:15pm to head down to UAlbany for the Wednesday workout at 6pm. 6xmile with 400 rest. Quicker. 2.5 mile warmup around campus.  I didn't quite have the motivation right before the workout as I was getting my strides in on the straightaways. I had a very brief pep talk with Goup and he pumped me up. He pointed out the potential cute girls running a workout on the track and that should be motivation enough. Worked like a charm.

Workout went as followed: 4:49, 4:51, 4:49, 4:48, 4:46, 4:43. 40:32 for the total time of 5:24 pace for the 7.5 miles. 5 Guys Burgers and Fries for a reward from the 17 mile day.

November 6th (Thursday): 8+ miles (54:06) in the morning solo. 8 miles (56:24) in the evening with Goup in the pouring rain for a 16 mile day. Quality recovery. Ran past a pizza place and they convinced me to order a couple pizzas for dinner.

Dinner and leftovers for lunch.

November 7th (Friday): 5 miles (34:47) in the AM. Busy day at work - been a busy week overall. 5 miles (37:43) with Derrick in the evening.

 Baked potatoes and avocado. Mmm.

November 8th (Saturday): 10 miles (67:43) in the morning with Megan and Goup on the bike path. Headed over to Back in Balance for my flush massage at 10am. Walmart, Target, groceries, movies on TV, and a well deserved nap was my entire day.

 Hearty dinner for the race tomorrow.

November 9th (Sunday): Carpooled with Renee and Jenn from Renee's house. We almost (we did for a couple miles) forget the numbers for the entire team. Turned around after a little bit down the road to grab them from Renee's car. To the elite tent to drop off our stuff and relax for a short time. 4 mile warmup (27 + strides). 8:30am start. Stacked field and went out with the leaders.

4:48 through the 1st mile, but I knew we would be quick with the type of guys in the field including Josh McDougal. 5k split of 15:39 and right with the top 10. My 4th mile was slow and that's where I lost contact with the lead pack for the next 5k. 31:41 through 10k (16:02 2nd 5k). Last 5k I brought it back down and focused back in with the overall downhill grade. Finished up with a 47:22 (15:41 last 5k). 5:05 pace overall and a PR by a few minutes. Conversion to 10 miles puts me at a solid sub 51 effort. Happy with the results. 45+ minute cooldown with Patrick (4th place overall) from Syracuse. Awards ceremony (too long) and Bombers for burritos and relaxing.

Another 4 miles (26:58) in the evening to finish off a 25 mile day.

 Byahh!

 Pushing hard.

 Eyes open? Not sure.

The Harder The Workout, The Better The Results (3 x 3 mile)

96 miles for the week. Great week of training. A couple big workouts and a solid long run.

October 27th (Monday): 3 miles (21:07) in the AM. 10 miles (57:13) total. First 5 miles in 31:33 and the 2nd 5 mile at hard tempo in 26:40. 5:06, 5:10, 5;01, 5:08, 5:12. Felt good and solid start to the week.

October 28th (Tuesday): 5 miles (34:38) in the AM. Solid night of bowling at the league. 150, 156, 144. Most consistent and best scores so far. 5 miles (34:26) post league at 10pm.

October 29th (Wednesday): The afternoon brought a workout that I only have seen on paper or on Flotrack Wednesday workout videos. 2+ mile warmup total. I had mapped out the 3 mile straightaway on the Zim Smith Bike Path right down the road from me before driving down to the parking lot. Crossings of roads were my major markers for splits. 5 minutes rest between each interval. Changed into my Nike Lunaracers and ready to roll. Goup wanted me at current marathon pace, 2:20 pace, and 2:18 pace (basically 5:25, 5:20, 5:15) for the 3 x 3 mile.

B - Bridge, E - English Road, P - Pond

This was a big workout to wrap my head around, but succeeded. Depleted by the end and I love it. The splits were the following 15:56, 15:59, 15:35. 3+ mile (22:17) for a cooldown back to the car in the flats. 19 miles on the day.

There is a burger underneath that all.

October 30th (Thursday): 4 miles (30:41) in the AM. 9 miles (64:14) in the evening. Amazon package arrived with my Nutribullet!

October 31st (Friday): 9 miles (66:26) with Renee and Jenn at 5am. 5 miles (34:52) in the evening

I love FaceTiming with Madison. She was part of the 3 Blind Mice.

December can come soon enough.

This is how you prep food in the mornings. Omelette, burrito mix (x2) and sauteed veggies.

November 1st (Saturday): 5 miles (34:26) in the AM. 3 miles (21:09) in the evening. Over to Peddler's for Renee's birthday dinner with a bunch of friends and all the kids. Out to Albany after for a guys night.

November 2nd (Sunday): 7am wakeup. Drove to Vermont for an epic long run with Ferenc, Hammett, and Pat Rich at Ferenc's new place. 18 miles (2:08:21) through straight trails and amazing views. Veggie chili for recovery fuel and hung out with Ferenc until about 9:30pm or so. Drove back to NY.

Views on the drive over to Vermont.

So good.

Marathon Specific (4 x 2 mile)

96 miles for the week. 2 quality workouts to start the marathon specific training cycle.

October 20th (Monday): 3 miles (NT) in the AM. 10+ miles (56:32 - 56 flat effort) in the PM. Felt really smooth on this run and cruised right through it. 2.5 mile splits: 14:26, 14:03, 14:05, 13:56).

October 21st (Tuesday): 4 miles (NT) in the AM. 5 miles (33:24) before bowling league. Saw a local guy in the neighborhoods that was rocking a solid pace. Legs felt okay.

October 22nd (Wednesday): 3 miles (NT) in the AM. Normal day at work and out at a decent hour to allow me to head down to UAlbany for the track workout at 6pm. Pete told me I might have Macky for assistance in my workout. Sweet deal.

He was there when I was back from my 2.5 mile warmup around campus. Changed into my Lunaracers and ran some strides to loosen up. Goal was 10:30 and work down from there. Goup told me I wasn't allowed to break 10 on the last one. I thought that was fairly comical because I thinking I wouldn't be near that. Things change.

10:28 (Led the entire thing with Macky on my side and felt smooth)
10:18 (Macky brought us through in 5:08, finished up fairly even)
10:05 (Macky paced me through the 1st 800 and the end - the quicker rest caught up with him)
9:55 (Again, same deal as the previous interval - surprised myself with the minimal effort)

Finished the workout with the final 800 rest and a total time of 54:46 for the 10 miles. Boom! It was a huge confidence booster to crush this kind of workout (1st time doing longer intervals) and it was awesome to have Macky helping me out - solid workout. When we were "jogging" the last rest, Macky was like "You're in great shape! You're getting ready for a marathon, right?" I responded, "Thanks - I better be - yeah, running a marathon in December!" He came back with "Oh okay, that doesn't make me feel so bad that I couldn't hang with you." Haha - he's getting in good shape, but he is more accustom to the shorter distances (way quicker than me over mile to 5k).

Five Guys as a reward (like every week) and back to the house to shower/head to bed.

 Yogurt and granola as dessert!

October 23rd (Thursday): Morning off from running. 12 miles (82:37) in the rainy weather after work - solo effort. Felt good and legs were sorta tired, but no serious soreness.

It's gonna be amazing seeing this little one for 10 straight days

October 24th (Friday): 8 miles (58:17) with Renee at 5am - 3 x 30,60,90 to help her out on her workout. 5 miles (34:43) right after work and before heading back to CT for the weekend.

The advantage of running at 5am. Over an hour to get ready for work.

October 25th (Saturday): 10 miles (66:27) in the AM. The rest of the day was spent relaxing (massage, pedicure, bowling, and a home cooked meal).

Salami, Swiss cheese, cheddar cheese, BBQ sauce (toasted and melted).

 Blurry, but you can see the lady has gloves on. Normally they don't...

October 26th (Sunday): 13+ miles total in the beautiful town of Kent, CT in the morning/afternoon. Drove down with my parents, sister and her friend to run the scenic Kent 5 Mile Road Race. 7 miles (46:35) prior to the race. Ran with my sister for the Kent 5 Miler. 1 mile jog around after. Some window shopping and food eating in downtown Kent. Headed back to NY soon after the race. 8 miles (55:02) at 6pm to finish the day with 21 miles.

Massages Are Beneficial

87 miles for the week. Quality miles. Massage scheduled for Saturday - focus on calves & hips.

October 13th (Monday): 9 miles (64:56) in the afternoon.

October 14th (Tuesday): 4 miles (30:16) in the AM. 7 miles (46:34) in the PM.

 Ice bath to reduce inflammation.

 

October 15th (Wednesday): 3 miles (21:08) in the AM. Just shy of 10 (63:11). Sub 65 effort.

Milk carton shaped ice cube.

 

Keeps the water cold to say the least.

 

October 16th (Thursday): 5 miles (33:49) in the AM. 7 miles (48:38) in the evening.

 Can't wait to see her in December!

October 17th (Friday): 8 miles (57:50) at 5am with Renee. 3 x 30/60/90. Afternoon off. Recovery room after work for food and drinks. Saratoga for a couple hours at night with co-workers.

October 18th (Saturday): 9 miles (60:32) in the morning before my 11am massage. Sherri worked on my calves and hips. Wow. Fresh haircut by my boy Sean in Clifton Park. 4 miles (29:52) in the evening.

 

Lost my key when using the "bathroom" on a run. Found it today.

 

October 19th (Sunday): Up to Saratoga for the XC Classic Race. 8 miles (59:40) with Renee through SPAC. 5K race (17+) as a tempo. 3 miles (21:22) - course in reverse. Chilled for the afternoon. Another 6.5 miles (45+) with Ken from Fleet Feet at 5pm. See dinner below made in the cask iron pan. Devoured so quickly. So good!

 Potato wedges. Mexican style. Black beans. Avocado. Onions. Peppers. Salsa. Seasonings.

Clean plate club.

Hartford 1/2 Marathon RR 2014

52 miles for the week. 2 days off and a crappy day at the races.

October 6th (Monday): Off. Normal day at work. Over to the Recovery Room for beers and food with some co-workers for someone's birthday.

October 7th (Tuesday): 5 miles (33:35) in the morning. 5.5 miles (39+) with Will Koons and Pete Rowell along the cinder section on the Zim Smith bike path.

October 8th (Wednesday): No morning run. A relaxed 5x800 track workout down at UAlbany to test out the calves and not be too taxed for the weekend. 2.5 mile warmup. Some strides. 2:28, 2:24, 2:22, 2:26, 2:23). Cruised and legs felt decent. Shorter intervals, but a step in the forward direction. 2.5 mile cooldown.

 Electric stimulation. Every bit helps with recovery.

 Rocking out (aka hearing protection for the airplanes overhead).

October 9th (Thursday): 3 miles (NT) in the AM. 7+ miles (48:04) in the PM.

Dinner of champions.

 

Baked potato topped with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt.

Salads are important too!

October 10th (Friday): Work until 1pm or so. Busy morning with training and running around to finish up my stuff before heading out for the weekend. Home to pack up quickly and hit the road. Some major traffic hit throughout the entire ride. I was pounding Gatorade the entire day and thought I could make it to the hotel without having to stop for a bathroom break. I almost peed while I was driving. I pulled off at some random exit in Connecticut, but it was one without any gas stations right off the highway. I continued to drive as I am literally squirming in my seat doing the pee dance. It is very difficult to hold it and drive standard at the same time. Eventually found a random side neighborhood to park my car on the side of the road and empty the overfilled bladder.

Prepped with high visibility gear.

October 11th (Saturday): Early wakeup. Sat in bed and slowly woke up. Made some instant oatmeal with the coffee maker. No spoons. Improvised and used wooden stirrers. Changed up and relaxed before heading out for a short warmup around the block with Megan (eventually winner of the half marathon). 3 mile warmup total (loops + the jog to the starting line). Felt good, but I was in for a rude awakening. Splits will speak for themselves:

Mile 1 - 4:59 (off the pack and feeling okay)
Mile 2 - 5:04
Mile 3 - 4:58
Mile 4 - 5:09
Mile 5/6 - 10:30 (30:41 through 6) - not so good and settled in to that pace through the course
Mile 7 - 5:16
Mile 8/9 - 10:35 (not getting any faster and the course has some rollers
Mile 10 - 5:12 (some downhill and maybe some chance to get out of the funk)
Mile 11 - 5:23 (just kidding!)
Mile 12 - 5:27
Mile 13.1 - 5:43 (5:11 pace and somehow salvaged something for the end)

Time: 68:19. Only 39 seconds off my PR, but felt not all that great. Pictures will be a witness of the true feeling. Rainy and 40 degrees did not help.

The rest of the day was recovering and driving over to Leominster to hang out with Sarah, Bob and my parents. Homemade dinner that was bomb-diggity!

Early on. 

 

Tongue out. Feeling okay.

Look of exhaustion.

October 12th (Sunday): Up to drive over to Boston to watch the BAA Half Marathon. Sarah (my sister) and her friend were running it. Trotted around and spectated. Home at a decent hour back in NY.

That's a new one...

Heat/Ice & Rest/Repeat

81 miles for the week (recovery)

September 29th (Monday): 3 miles (21:17) in the morning. Just shy of 9 miles (60:13) through the Pinebush Trails with Pete, Lozier, Macky, and Goup. Good group and quality run. The soft terrain felt good on the calves, but definitely are torn up from the last couple weekends. Lift at 8:30pm at the Torres Gym.

 5 egg cheese omelette. Home fries. Toast. (lunch from yesterday after Brocktrot)

September 30th (Tuesday): 4 miles (29:24) in the morning. Two baked potatoes for lunch. Butter and Greek yogurt to top it off. Another 4 miles (29:04) in the evening. Decided to cut the run short because the calves are still sore - made a proactive decision to skip the Wednesday workout because my goal race not for another 2+ months. One workout is not going make a difference and I might make it worse when its not worth it. Can't get greedy and contract the Superman Syndrome.

 Did it again!

 Two more months until I get to see this wittle bugger!

October 1st (Wednesday): 3 miles (NT) in the morning. Been religious about heating before the run and icing soon after. Even for the morning runs!

Another 9.5 miles (61:29) total at 7pm. Wanted to hit up the trails at Kinns Road, but it was kinda late/dark. Two loops in Kinns and onto the roads through a back neighborhood. Found a grass field to do a couple laps on in. It turned into a mini workout. 300+ meters hard, 100 meters easy. 14x300. Decided to keep rocking intervals until I slowed down. Easy on the legs and raised the heart rate for a solid 20 minutes.

October 2nd (Thursday): 4 miles (28:09) in the morning. 8 miles (55+) in the evening. In the solid routine well of heating and icing. Foam rolling and sticking like crazy too. Continue to recover and get my legs fresh for the Hartford Half.

Egg salad (prepped some at home, some at work) for lunch.

October 3rd (Friday): Just shy of 7 miles (48+) with Renee at 5am. She convinced me to run in the morning somehow. Relaxing run in the dark and good conversation. Stopped at Bentley's for after work refreshments and food. Lots of good laughs with co-workers. Back to the house by 7:30pm to change up and head out for 5 miles (33:58) at 8pm. Stomach a little heavy from beer and fried food, but made it happen. Dedication right there.

Finisher medal put to good use - courtesy of New Bedford.

October 4th (Saturday): 4 miles (NT) first thing in the morning. Work 8:00am-4:30pm. Nonstop day and major OT! No lunch break because I was too busy out in the field. Peanut butter, Nutella (aka hazelnut chocolate spread from Italy Sarah brought back - so good), banana, and honey wrap for a snack when I arrived home to hold me over for my tempo. Mapped out a 10 mile loop. Cut it short at 9.5+ miles (54:14) - tempo 9 in 50:20. Calves tightened up in the middle, but nothing too bad. Ice and protein shake to continue the recovery process. On the upswing.

October 5th (Sunday): 10+ miles with some Fleet Feet women on the new Stockade-athon course in Schenectady. Renee let me borrow the electric stim device for my calf muscles. Take recovery to another level! Used it twice this day (mid afternoon and evening). Relaxed the rest of the day on the couch watching television movies.

 17 oatmeal pancakes (11 for breakfast, 6 saved for later - dinner/snack)

 The right way to cut a banana for wraps.

 Baked potatoes. Greek yogurt, chili powder, hot sauce.