The Month of May (at a glance)

April 28th - May 4th: 50 miles

Monday: 8 miles
Tuesday: 12 miles
Wednesday: 3 miles
Thursday: 12.5+ miles total
Friday: 7.5 miles total
Saturday: Off day (built a shed in Massachusetts) - felt like shit
Sunday: 5++ miles. 5k race in Leominster: 15:30 for feeling like poop

Previous week (post long run)

May 4th - May 11th: 71 miles

Monday: 8.5 miles (We Run The Capital Run)
Tuesday: 7 miles (46:39)
Wednesday: 13 miles on the day (workout - mile: 4:47, 2x800: 2:24, 2:22, 4x400: 69, 68, 67, 66)
Thursday: 10 miles (5 and 5)
Friday: 9+ miles total
Saturday: 5 miles (easy with my dad)
Sunday: Pack 10 Miler (last 2 miles sucked) 15 miles on the day

I was safety supervisor on site. Approved this chaos.

Dinner at Sarah's!

 

May 12th - May 18th: 65 miles

Monday: 7 miles (46:35)
Tuesday: 9 miles (60:57)
Wednesday: 9 miles total (3 and 6)
Thursday: 13 miles total (workout on treadmill in the AM, workout on track in the PM)
Friday: 8 miles
Saturday: 18 miles (2:06:04)
Sunday: Off

Eggs and hot sauce. Can't go wrong.

 Steak with veggies over a bed of pasta.

Toothpaste was on sale!

May 19th - May 25th: 53 miles (WACHUSETT MOUNTAIN)

Monday: 7 miles (50:07)
Tuesday: 10 miles total (3 and 7, trivia at night)
Wednesday: 5 miles (36:11) with Goup
Thursday: 10+ miles (7 mile tempo in the afternoon - 5:30's for 5 mile section)
Friday: 4 miles in the AM (travel to Leominster for the weekend)
Saturday: Wachusett 10K (34:52) for the win. 12 miles on the day.
Sunday: Spectated Vermont City Marathon and was the pit crew for Goup. Ran him in the last couple miles. 5 miles on the day.

The first mile.

 The final stretch of miles.

May 26th - June 1st: 74 miles

Monday: Travel day back to NY in the morning. 8 miles (55:08)
Tuesday: 7+ miles total. Wicked sore.
Wednesday: 9 miles (62:03)
Thursday: 12 miles on the day.
Friday: 10 miles (67:06)
Saturday: 12 miles on the day. Spectated the Freihofer's Run in Albany.
Sunday:16 miles (1:48:42) on the my own.

 I hit a bird :( - first animal I have hit with a car.

Back For More Hills

April 21st (Monday): The advantage of heading home for the weekend is leftovers! Double stuffed potatoes for lunch. Piece of cheesecake. Chocolate bunny after work. 10+ miles (67:49) at 7pm. Beautiful night out. 70 degrees out.

April 22nd (Tuesday): 3 miles (19:13) in the morning on the normal loop. Easy day at work. Over to Hills Road for a 2nd round. 6 x 0.85 mile loop. 4:44, 4:38, 4:36, 4:33, 4:30, 4:25. Total time: 31:59 for the 6 miles. Down to Zim Smith trail parking for the WRC group run. 3 miles with a stop at The Mill for a brewski. Saucony rep bought the round.

April 23rd (Wednesday): 3 miles (20:09) in the morning. 7+ miles (52:21) in the evening.

April 24th (Thursday): 10 miles (72:35) in the evening with Goup. An easy run out and back along the bike path to keep it flat and relaxed.

April 25th (Friday): 3 miles (18:54) on my own in the morning. 8 miles (54:28) after work. Quicker runs overall today, but felt good.

April 26th (Saturday): Dog sitting for the weekend. Hit up the track in the afternoon for a 4 x mile workout. 3++ mile (24:13) warm-up around the neighborhoods. Workout went well. 5:07, 5:04, 4:59, 4:55. Total time for the 6 miles: 32:51. 2.5 mile cooldown (16:05). 11.5 miles on the day.

Over to a friend's house down the street to hang out with two dogs and sleepover. 

April 27th (Sunday): 18 miles (2:08:11) in the trails down in Clifton Park. Flat and easy. A nature reserve that should be explored again on another day.

85 miles for the week and a quality week of work. For those reading this post, I am looking to catch up on the blog by the end of tonight. I will just be posting mileage of what I remember and some pictures along with the weeks.

Home to Newtown

April 14th (Monday): 11 miles on the day. 2.5 mile (16:17) warmup over to Hills Road. 4 x Hills Road loop. Rocked the loops. 4:43, 4:38, 4:30, 4:29. Cooled down to the Zim Smith trail for We Run The Capital Run. 4.5 mile cooldown total with a stop at The Mill for a beer (Saucony rep paid for it).

 Black bean turkey burger with avocado and salsa. First of many.

April 15th (Tuesday): 3 miles in the morning (21:22). Easy day at work. Stayed late. 7++ miles in the trails with Goup and Will Koons (electrician contractor from the job site). Underdressed and battled rain, sleet, and snow. Shorts and t-shirt was rough. Vented about work to keep myself warm.

Wittle munchkin!

April 16th (Wednesday): 10 miles (69:37) with Goup in the afternoon.

April 17th (Thursday): Attempted a workout at UAlbany and it went terribly. 2 mile warmup. 4x400 in mid 70's. Decided to stop instead of struggling through the ladder. 1.5 mile cooldown. 8 miles on the day. Some days aren't career days.

April 18th (Friday): 7 miles (49:05) in the evening with Goup.

April 19th (Saturday): Home to Newtown for a short weekend to celebrate Sarah's birthday and Easter. 9 miles (61:35). I was able to sleep in and relax before heading down to CT.

 Gatorade mix to bring home.

April 20th (Sunday): 15 miles (1:51:34) in the morning. Some of the miles were run with Sarah and my dad. The rest of the day was spent time with the family for Easter. 70 miles for the week and a quality week overall.

More pictures of my favorite niece!

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost

April 7th (Monday): 10 miles (70:49). Half on trails, half on roads.

 Best way to break in the new trainers.

Steak over a bed of pasta.

April 8th (Tuesday): 3 miles (19:27) on my own in the morning. Smooth run. normal day at work. Down to UAlbany by 5:30ish for a track workout on the newly surfaced track. 3xmile with half rest. 3 mile warmup (19:24 + strides).

5:07, 5:04, 4:58. 25:22 for a total time. Rest was keep honest under 7 minute pace

2.5 mile cooldown (17:32) around the UAlbany campus. Over to lifting at Fleet Feet. Serious session of lifting. 5 sets of a circuit plus some core.

April 9th (Wednesday): 3 miles (NT) in the morning. 8 miles (57+) in the evening. Good day of recovery.

April 10th (Thursday): Attempted a workout in the afternoon. Too chilly in the morning to run and needed the sleep. 5 mile tempo in the middle of 10 mile run. Failed. 2 miles in 10:40ish and fell off hard. Trotted it in for 11++ miles (70:44).

April 11th (Friday): 5 miles (35:11) with Derrick at 6am. Shorter day at work and traveled down to Leominster, Mass for a weekend with the family (Sarah, Bob, Mom and Dad).

April 12th (Saturday): Some shopping and popped in to see the wedding planner with Sarah and Bob. 10 miles (87+) in the afternoon with Sarah. Out to dinner with the family at the local restaurant, Rye and Thyme. Good conversation and some live music.

April 13th (Sunday): Relaxed all day. 17.5 miles (2:01:15) with a couple necessary stops. I had a route mapped out for roughly 15 miles and was basically a bigger loop of an existing 10 mile loop I have done multiple times in Leominster. No need to write down directions (maybe I should).

The cool part of the run was finding out that one of the roads I mapped out the run on (the road that made it a bigger loop) was a blocked off dirt service road only. Boom! Cruised on that for a couple miles. First stop was the bathroom break in the woods.

Back on the pavement roads. No problem through 9 miles. Ran past a couple roads (one of them did not have a street sign, hmm) and continued right past them. 2nd stop was to ask how to get back to the center of LEOMINSTER. The guy responded with "Sterling?" No Leominster. He let me know, "I could head back a little and take the next left (I thought so) or continue down the road I was on and it was turn into Pleasant Street." I know Pleasant Street. Awesome. Continued on for another 5 miles and I was in DOWNTOWN STERLING. Liar! Listened to my instinct (aka the big sign that said Fitchburg/Leomisnter this way) and took a left onto route 12.

Coming up to 2 hours on the road and I told Sarah I would be back in 2 hours. Hmm. I recognized my surroundings and knew I had a few miles before returning to Sarah's house. Stopped into the Sterling Police Department to make a phone call to Sarah. In my short shorts and sweating up a storm, I asked the dispatcher if I could use a phone to call my sister and let her know where I was (it was in a jumbled form and probably sounded like crazy talk). He told me to sit down in the chair and he'll have someone help me. I gave him Sarah's name, my name, and her number to call. Sat back down. He asked if my sister had my phone.

Oops, I gave him my own number. Recited Sarah's number and he was able to get in contact with her. He asked if I was gonna be picked up at the Police Station or along the way. I let him know I had another 10 minutes to cover my distance/time. Aka I'll be running along Route 12 towards her house.

Frozen yogurt for dinner and off on the road back to NY by 8:45pm.

 A couple different fruit fro-yo flavors packed full of fruit on top.

75 miles for the week 

& a few photos below of my adorable niece!

Week of Delmar Dash 5 Miler

March 31st (Monday): 10.5 miles on the day. 3 mile tempo in the middle in 16:05. Big batch of burrito mix for the week.

Pure fuel.

April 1st (Tuesday): 3 miles (21:08) in the morning. Night lifting session. 3 miles (21:58) AFTER lifting with Ryan Sweet. Ouchies.

April 2nd (Wednesday): 3 miles (21:26) in the morning with Derrick. Normal day at work. First quality workout on the track. Meet up with Pete from the team and we all warmed up. 3+ miles (21:46). Some strides and onto the planned workout. 5x800, 5x400. Alternating with half rest. The classic Keene State workout.

2:26, 71, 2:26, 71, 2:26, 69, 2:26, 69, 2:26, 68.

Happy with the times. 15+ on the day. Buffalo Wild Wings (not impressed) for some dinner and a beer with the guys.

April 3rd (Thursday): 3 miles (22:02) in the morning. 7 miles (50:31) up in Saratoga with Megan and Shaun.

Pizza, brewski and Redbox (Meet the Millers)

April 4th (Friday): 9 miles (58:37) with Scott Mindel at 5:15pm. Quality run with good conversation.

April 5th (Saturday): 6 miles (42:05) with Scott and Goup at 11am. Relaxed the rest of the day.

April 6th (Sunday): Down to Delmar in the morning. 2.5+ mile warmup (19:23) on the first section of the course. Stacked field and was pumped to see so much talent on the line. Off the line well and fast first mile and in 4th place. 4:50ish. Held on for a 6th place finish and a slower 2nd half for 25:20. 5+ mile cooldown (43:31). A couple easy miles with a few kids that were lost during their fun run.

70 miles for the week with a good workout and hard race.

Photos from the week featuring Madison :)\

No captions necessary.

One Day Off + Madison!

March 24th (Monday): Day off.

March 25th (Tuesday): 8+ miles (57:59) with Goup.

March 26th (Wednesday): 3.5 miles (25:02) with Derrick in the morning. Normal day at work. Another 11 miles (80:22) in the evening on the Shen high school campus. Warmed up and cooled down with Goup. While he worked out, I ran around. 14.5 miles on the day and feeling good.

March 27th (Thursday): 3+ miles (23:48) in the morning. Another normal day at work. 9 miles (54:25) in the evening. 7+ mile tempo in 40:46.

 Breakfast for dinner!

March 28th (Friday): 7 miles (51:47) after work.

March 29th (Saturday): Attempted a track workout (first real workout since before the marathon. So it's been a few months. The goal workout (did not make it up and Goup did not make it up). 6x1000, 6x200. 200 rest on everything. Blahh. Survived 5x1000 and killed the 200s.

3:14, 3:08, 3:10, 3:19, 3:17, 32, 32, 31, 29, 29, 30.

Plus, this was completed at 8am in the morning. Gross. Not my ideal workout or time of day to do it. 2 mile warmup, 2 mile cooldown. 10 miles on the day.

THE BEST PART OF THE DAY WAS MY NIECE MADISON WAS BORN!!

5 weeks early and a wittle bugger!

 Proportion of how small she is :)

March 30th (Sunday): 13+ (1:42:18) miles from the Fleet Feet store in Malta with the team. Pancake breakfast to follow. Ran with the women's team for most of it for a relaxing run.

65 miles for the week with a couple "Rust Busters" and a day off. Keep it going!

Week of Fast Friends 4.5 Miler

March 17th (Monday): Easy 6 miles in Congress Park with the We Run the Capital (WRC) group. Easy slow run that aided the recovery of New Bedford well. Quality dinner at night. Chicken wrapped in bacon.

Baked with chopped up onions. Topped with chili powder, cayenne, and ground cinnamon.

March 18th (Tuesday): 3 miles (21:44) in the morning. Work 9am-5:30pm. We had a 24 hour shutdown so I was allowed to adjust my schedule accordingly. Boom. Another 6 miles (43:18) down in Albany before the lifting session. Chipotle for dinner.

March 19th (Wednesday): Work 6am-2:30pm. Run @ Fleet Feet with the local high school team. 9.5 miles (64:31) for total miles. 4 miles on my own. Another 5.5 miles with the team plus a little more. Free pasta dinner at the store. Boom again!

March 20th (Thursday): Solid 9 miles (61:31) in the evening.

March 21st (Friday): 7 miles (49:49) in Keene with Sears and Goup. Athen's for subs.

March 22nd (Saturday): Bagel for breakfast from the Fowler kitchen. Over to the race venue to use the restrooms, pick up the number and warm up with the group. 3 miles (21:35) on the first part of the course. Rocked the watch for the run.

Rolled on the course. Slowest in 3 years, but still grabbed the win. 5:09, 5:21, 5:14, 5:16, 2:33. 23:45 for a final time.

 Yeah. It was in the 30's and John Lennon is rocking no shirt behind me.

3.5 mile (26:30) cooldown with the group. Grabbed a mini charcoal grill on the prize table. Relaxed at Andy's house for most of the night before hitting up a few bars in Keene with the gang. Good times.

March 23rd (Sunday): Pub for breakfast. Killed pounds of food. Chilled and napped on the Fowler futon in the midmorning hours. Over to Ferenc's for a quality 18 miles (2:07:19) with Goup and Ferenc.

70 miles for the week. First quality week of miles with many more to come.

New Beford Half Marathon Race Report

**YEAH I KNOW. A WHOLE MONTH LATE ON THE REPORT**

March 15th (Saturday): Slept in. The normal organize the house/room before heading out for the weekend for a race. Breakfast. Down to Albany to pick up Joanna with Goup to carpool over to New Bedford. Joanna works part-time at the Hampton Inn so we scored made cheap rooms for the weekend. Made it over to Fairhaven (town over) to check into the hotel by 2ish. Packet pickup was open until 4pm. Quick drive over and back to the hotel to change up for a shakeout run.

5 miles (34:47) with Goup. Stretched, sticked the legs, and showered up. Two people were "busy" in the next room. We were hoping they would get it out of their system before we headed to bed. Called into The Pasta House for reservations. Only can make reservations for parties 6 or more. Whatever. St. Patrick's day weekend so it was busy at the only nice restaurant in Fairhaven. Walked over and waited for about an hour. Worth it. Fried calamari and some pizza for dinner. Rocked my new orange corduroys for dinner. As we were finishing up, I received a compliment from a tipsy guy with green pants, an orange sweater, and a belt buckle with a suggestive saying on it.

Stopped at Walmart on the walk back to pick up some Gatorade. Back to the hotel to watch some television and crash for the night. Clothes all laid out for the morning.

March 16th (Sunday): 7am wakeup. Down to the lobby to grab the free breakfast. Saw a Belgium waffle maker. Boom! Some butter and fake maple syrup. Chilled and upstairs to change up. Packed up the room and on the road by 9ish. Short drive over to Y. Inside to destroy the bathroom. One stale, but waited in line.

Breezy out, but sunny. Warmed up 2.5 (18:57) with Goup and Joanna. Back to the car to decide on the level of warm clothing I needed. Decided on just a thin hat, thin gloves, half tights, and arm sleeves. Made it to the front line after some swerving/bobbing/weaving. Knew the competition was deep so dipped back a few rows to control my first couple miles. Goup and I discussed the night before and the morning about what to do to run a smart race.

Splits went like this:

Mile 1: 5:24
Mile 2: 5:40 (changed gears and left the pack I was running in)
Mile 3: 5:25 (16:30)
Mile 4: 5:32
Mile 5: 4:57 (26:59)
Mile 6-7: 10:07
Mile 8: 5:09
Mile 9-10: 10:19 (52:35, 25:36 2nd 5 miles)
Mile 11: 5:47 (wasn't changing distance on the guys in front of me, it was just that brutal for everyone)
Mile 12: 5:32
Mile 13: 5:18 (uphill/downhill)
Last 0.1: 54

Photo courtesy of Krissy K.

Finish time: 69:47

Happy with the results and a quality step forward in the training. Still very early in the year.

2.5 mile cooldown (19:17). 18 miles on the day. Major food intake inside the gym. Fish sandwich, seltzer, and a Powerbar protein bar. In the car and on our way back to NY. 45 miles for the week due to the beginning of the week (home for a few days for personal reasons). No worries.

Home For A Few Days

March 10th (Monday): Drove home yesterday to spend a few days at home. My aunt's longtime boyfriend (aka basically our uncle) passed away. He was a great man and it was unexpected. To be home with family and friends was a blessing in disguise. I was able to see my sisters from California (especially my sister who is due May 1st). 4+ miles with Sarah in the afternoon.

 Crispy, thin, thick, bendy. We had it all for the BLTs with mad accessories.

March 11th (Tuesday): Off. Day of togetherness with the family. Services in Greenwich. The rest of the day was spent at the restaurant. Good food and good company all around.

 Scallops. So tasty.

March 12th (Wednesday): 5 miles (34:04) in Newtown.

First draft and concept of tattoo idea for the 4 siblings.

March 13th (Thursday): 8 miles (55:44).

March 14th (Friday): 5 miles (31:18) and felt like crap.

Still Cold

March 3rd (Monday): 8 miles (60+).


March 4th (Tuesday): 7 miles (47:42). Weight lifting. 5 Guys Burgers and Fries
.
March 5th (Wednesday): 8 miles (55:10).

March 6th (Thursday): 5++ miles (40:31).

March 7th (Friday): 9 miles total. Ran outside for a few miles, but it was brutally windy out. Ran over to the local gym and ran on the treadmill for 5+ miles. Ran home. Picked up my 10 pound slab of smoked bacon from a buddy after work. BLT made with avocado and raw onion.

 Pure healthiness.

Lightly toasted and real Hellman's mayo.

March 8th (Saturday): 2 miles at the Summer Expo for the good running form clinic. 9 miles (60:44) in the evening. Down to Albany to hang out with some buddies and grab some beers.

Another diesel sandwich with bacon.

March 9th (Sunday): Day off. Volunteered at the Summer Expo again and ran 2+ miles with good running form clinic group. 51 miles for the week and just waiting for warm weather. As I type this, I was able to run in shorts and a long sleeve. It's a totally different ballgame now.

Breakfast before heading to the expo.