9/25/10: Training Update

I've continued to have a great time running the last few weeks.

I took it easy for a week and then got back to 80 miles this past week. Last weekend I ran 20 and 22 miles, and both were really hard and by far the fastest I've run on those routes. As a result, I was mostly taking it easy and recovering the rest of the week.

Today I was still not feeling 100% and did 8 miles with a bunch of cross training (30 minutes biking and 1 hour stairmaster). Tomorrow I'm heading out to Bull Run for a long trail run (hopefully 30+ miles).

I also finally got around to posting the pictures from my run in Toronto. It was actually a much nicer morning and much more scenic than the pictures show.

I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but I'm definitely putting my name in the for MMT 100 next year. We'll see what the lottery gods have in store, but I'm crossing my fingers!

9/11/10: Training Update

This ended up being a great week of training. The stats are:

• Saturday: 23 miles in the Massanuttens on the Tuscarora trail
• Sunday: 26 miles on DC trails
• Monday: 17 miles mostly on hilly roads with 2 treadmill miles at 10% grade and 6mph
• Tuesday: Off due to work travel
• Wednesday: 9 mile run in Toronota. It was a beautiful sunrise run along Lake Ontario. I took some pictures that I'll post soon.
• Thursday: 11 miles
• Friday: 9 miles with hill sprints
• Total: 95 miles

I felt strong all week, and most of the runs were pretty fast relative to my usual pace. This was the third week of heavier training (75 miles, 85 miles, 95 miles), and next week will be a down week with 40ish miles to recover.

I'm taking this weekend mostly off while I help my Dad do some work at the Florida house and drive with him from Florida to DC to bring some things back to Jersey. It'll be good to take it easy and not run much for a few days after a tough week of training.

Hope you all enjoy the great fall weather!

9/6/10: Labor Day weekend training

It has been an amazing Labor Day weekend here in the DC. For all 3 days, high temperatures have been in the low 80s with no humidity at all. In other words, a perfect weekend for tons of running!

On Saturday, I met up with Greg at Elizabeth Furnace for some mountain running. We did a roughly 23 mile out and back on the Tuscarora Trail, and it was a great day out in the mountains. Up on ridges, there was a great cool breeze, and the views were spectacular with the chrystal clear sky.

Unfortunately most of my pictures didn't turn out except for the one below, which was the view across the Shenandoah Valley towards where the Tuscarora Trail hits the Appalachian Trail. I've run a lot of the Tuscarora Trail, but this section was new, and views were great as you dropped off the mountain towards the valley.

On Sunday I did another 26 on trails around DC. I felt surprising good for the day after a long run in the mountains and ran much faster than expected. Then today I did another 17 or so with the last 2 miles on the treadmill at 10% grade.

That brought the total for the 3 days to over 65 miles, which is some of the best training I've done in a long time. My legs are pretty shot, but it felt great to get out there and run hard this weekend.

I'm looking forward to some more weekends of hard running on beautiful trails leading up to Mt Masochist. If this weather keeps up, it'll be a fun fall!