LÄRABAR Ambassador

February 16th - 22nd: 67 total miles with a solid 10 mile road race in Amherst, MA.

Monday: Started off the week terribly with my car battery being dead in Karen’s driveway. She already left for work so I was riding solo. I called a couple towing companies to assess the situation better. They stated there are a few people in the same situation. It would be a while. Ughh. I called my co-worker to cover my training class. Ended up calling my buddy Pete Rowell who came through in the clutch and drove over within 15 minutes of contacting him. We picked up a new battery right down road and drove back to install it. NOTE: The windchill was roughly -25 degrees. A free toolkit (provided by my mom’s old work) was all I had sitting in my trunk to change out the old battery. Somehow, we succesfully changed the battery (a couple indoor breaks to prevent any frostbite and regain feeling back in the fingertips) and my baby started right up. Thanks again Pete and hope you end up reading this!

I made a pit stop at home before heading to work to find a large care package. Ripped it open like a kid on Christmas morning and found 300 LÄRABARS plus a few other goodies. My face shows my excitement...

A free box of LÄRABARs!

6 miles (NT) in the evening on the treadmill after work in Guilderland to top off the day of adventure.

Tuesday: 4 miles (31+) solo in the AM. 4 (28+) solo on the treadmill.

Wednesday: 10 miles total. 4 x Hills Rd with Goup. 2:51, 2:46, 2:41, 2:39. Quality workout and hills are always something I enjoy. Back to work at 6pm for a scheduled meeting for 15-20 minutes. Luckily I live less than 5 miles from work.

Thursday: 5 miles (41:45) with Karen. Snowing a bunch. 5 miles (NT) on the treadmill.

Friday: 3.5 miles (NT) on the treadmill in the AM. 6.5 miles (NT) on the treadmill in the PM.

Saturday: 5 miles (NT) on the roads with Karen in Albany before heading to Leominster, Mass for the weekend. Lee Outlets to hit up the Nike Factory Store. A bunch of deals and left with a bag full of merchandise. Dinner and a movie at my Sarah and Bob's house.

Sunday: DH Jones 10 Miler. 18 miles on the day. A solid 4th place finish in 52:28. Ran tough, smart and consistent. Race report and pictures to follow!

New Tires On The Honda

February 9th - 15th: 69 miles total for the week. 

Decent week. Treadmill makes me want to stop running, but it will get better and winter will end eventually. 

February 9^th (Monday): 8.5 miles (58+) solo on the treadmill.

February 10^th (Tuesday): 7.5 miles (NT) with Renee at the YMCA in Clifton Park at 5am. 3 miles (NT) in the evening through the neighborhoods.

February 11^th (Wednesday): 3.5 miles (NT) with Karen in the AM. 5 miles (NT) with Goup in the PM. New tires mounted on the car. Way overdue, but sitting on all season Pirellis now! The car doesn't look any different, but the ride is so much smoother. Bring on the snow!

February 12^th (Thursday): 5 miles (NT) with Karen in Ballston Lake in the AM. 6+ miles (NT) solo through the neighborhoods of Ballston Lake in PM.

Didn't even plan it.

 Just gotta have one some days.

February 13^th (Friday): 7.5 miles (53+) with Renee and Dave at the YMCA at 5am. 5 miles (35+) with Karen and Goup at Vent Fitness.

February 14^th (Saturday): 10 miles. Attempted a hill workout in Albany and it went terrible. Legs felt like mush and didn’t have any pop. The 12+ miles on the treadmill yesterday could have had something to do with that feeling. Oh well.

February 15^th (Sunday): 9 miles total. 3 mile tempo on the treadmill in 16:30. Sub 60 for the 9 miles.

Always gotta include my favorite niece!

Write a Plan, Stick to It

February 2nd - February 8th: 69 miles

Monday: Off. Snowstorm. Drove to the gym and it was closed due to weather. Shoveled the driveway and walkway for some cross-training.

Tuesday: 10 miles (74+) down in Albany. Sloppy roads, but got the miles in. Easy on the legs.

Wednesday: 8 miles (54+) in Albany on the UAlbany campus due to the sloppy main roads and the concern of bad drivers.

Thursday: 7 miles (NT) at 5am with Willow Street women. 9 miles (60+) with Shaun Donegan at his house in Malta. 16 for the day and felt good. Brutally cold, but bundled up right.

Friday: 7+ miles (NT) with Renee from my house. Goup yelled at me to not run in the afternoon because we are still slowly working back into the miles and I ran 16 the day before between 2 runs. Oops - my bad.

Saturday: 2.5 mile warmup. 4 x Hills Road (1/2 mile). 2:50, 2:45, 2:47, 2:45. 2.5 mile cooldown. Work from 9:30am-6:30pm. Another 4 miles (with new trainers) in the evening to make it 13 for the day.

Sunday: 15 miles (1:50+) on snowy roads in the morning. 1st half on my own. 2nd half with Karen. Work from 11:30am-5:30pm.

A quality week of training with a day off. After this week, Goup is writing a strict training plan because we both know that's exactly what I need to prevent me from running stupid. I  don't have the issue of logging the miles. The issue is when I should stop logging in the miles for the day or week.

Stylin.

Back on the Horse (January)

Week of December 29th - January 4th: 45 miles

Monday: 7 miles (50:13)
Tuesday: 7 miles (NT) in Albany with Joe Benny
Wednesday: 5 miles (33+)
Thursday: 7 miles (45+) at the Hangover Half
Friday: 5 miles (36:00)
Saturday: 8 miles (NT)
Sunday: 5 miles (31:36)

Week of January 5th - January 11th: 54 miles

Monday: 7 miles (NT) with a group in Albany
Tuesday: OFF
Wednesday: 8 miles (52+) on the treadmill
Thursday: 5 miles (sub 30) on the treadmill
Friday: 10 miles (NT) in the neighborhoods with Goup
Saturday: 13 miles (NT) with Karen in Albany /// Night skiing @ West Mountain with co-workers
Sunday: 2.5 mile warmup, 10K winter series - 34:20 tempo, 2.5 mile cooldown

 That belly.

Week of January 12th - January 18th: 48 miles with 2 days off

Monday: 10 miles (72+)
Tuesday: 5 miles (NT) on the treadmill
Wednesday: 9++ miles (63:03) with Shaun Donegan in Saratoga
Thursday: 7.5 miles (NT)
Friday: OFF (company holiday party in the evening)
Saturday: OFF - Work for 10 hours /// Night skiing @ West Mountain with co-workers
Sunday: 16 miles (1:50+) with Karen in Guilderland

I could eat this for the rest of my life.

Someone wanted to brighten my day at work along with anyone else that passed by this.

Week of January 19th - January 25th: 60 miles

Monday: 8 miles (60:12) with Karen
Tuesday: OFF (bowling @ night)
Wednesday: 5 miles (32:35) in the AM. 7 miles (44:09) with Goup in PM.
Thursday: 9.5 miles (71:25) with a group in Albany
Friday: 7 miles (46:28)
Saturday: 8 miles (54:03) in the AM
Sunday: 1+ mile warmup, 15K Winter series - 52:30 solid effort, 5 mile cooldown 

Week of January 26th - February 1st: 58 miles

Monday: 8 miles (NT) down in Albany
Tuesday: 3+ miles (NT) in the AM.
Wednesday: 3+ miles (NT) in the AM. 7+ miles in the PM.
Thursday: 3 miles (NT) in the AM. 9 miles (NT) in the PM.
Friday: OFF - lazy
Saturday: 9 miles (58:40) on the treadmill. Birthday night celebrations all day! Chowdafest and Das Boot.
Sunday: 16++ miles (1:51:13) in the afternoon with Karen in Ballston Lake.

Chipotle.

 Chowdafest!

The Rest of December (Post Marathon)

The rest of the December was spent with 2 weeks off. A week of 32 miles and a great Christmas with my family! Photos of the important things in my life.

 Can't get enough of her.

 The extra calories are needed. Don't judge me.

 Omelet with hot sauce.

 Tucker gets to sleep with me. She's a good cuddler.

 No rocking chair.

 Selfie.

New England attire.

California International Marathon (CIM) Race Report

December 6th (Saturday): Big breakfast with the family in Kate's apartment. Greg made a huge breakfast. Banana pancakes, bacon, and eggs with mushrooms and onions. Packed up the bags and headed over to Sacramento for the expo. 3 miles through Sacramento before entering the expo. Picked up my number and walked around to check everything out. Purchased a pullover. Attended the elite meeting (which was intense, but cool - the realness of the race set in just about there).

Fuel up!

 

To the hotel to shower and change up for dinner. Out to dinner with everyone. Chicken parmesan and lots of water. Bed at a decent hour and prepped all the gear for the next day.

December 7th (Sunday): 4am wakeup. A small breakfast of oatmeal and Gatorade. Eaten with the wooden stirrers for your coffee. Sorta like chopsticks. Dominic drove me down as close as we could to the start line. Dropped me off at an intersection and I jogged in the 2+ miles to the starting line. Inside the elite tent. Reeked of sweaty people, but that's normal. Some strides in the parking lot and ready for the race.

Off the line smart and worked myself into a group of 15 or so people by the 2nd or 3rd mile. There was a 2:15 pace group and a 2:18 pace group. So you will see how the splits went and how it blew up in my face by mile 21.

Mile 1: 5:15
Mile 2: 5:19
Mile 3: 5:04 (slightly downhill and caught up with the pace group)
Mile 4: 5:07
Mile 5: 5:19 (26:06)
Mile 6: 5:11
Mile 7: 5:17
Mile 8: 5:15
Mile 9: 5:13 
Mile 10: 5:08 (52:12 - even splits for the 1st and 2nd 5 miles - 26:06 x2)
Mile 11: 5:14
Mile 12: 5:13
Mile 13: 5:13

68:26 through 1/2 marathon - feeling smooth and ahead of pace - keep it together and you got it

Mile 14: 5:16
Mile 15: 5:22 (78:32 - 3rd 5 miles @ 26:20)
Mile 16: 5:13
Mile 17: 5:14
Mile 18: 5:17 (during this mile - I was thinking "You got this Eric!")
Mile 19: 5:23
Mile 20: 5:30 (1:45:13 - 4th 5 miles @ 26:41)
Mile 21: 5:32
Mile 22: 5:54 (Ahh! it's over and my legs are shutting down hardcore)
Mile 23: 5:59
Mile 24: 6:14 (I think I stopped for a few seconds on this one - wasn't sure I was gonna make it)
Mile 25: 6:16
Mile 26: 6:15
Mile 26.2: 81 seconds

Finish time: 2:22:46 - missed hitting a PR by 26 seconds, but was through 20 miles much quicker  (almost . I loved every minute of it and know a couple factors I need to focus on the next cycle.
 

Mexican food at night with my Kate, Erin, Dom, Greg and Karen to celebrate all the hard work. It was an awesome day and amazing trip to California. I cannot complain about anything and I am excited for the next one!