Scott loves trails

Things got so crazy with work, family, etc. that I never had a moment to sit down and blog the training for my last five weeks leading up to Massanutten. Here are the broad outlines I can reconstruct looking back post-race, from my Garmin and my sketchy memory and a few notes scrawled to myself along the way! Week #15 (4 to go to MMT, ending 4/15) Overview :  This week was about moving from recovery from the mega-training run previous Saturday of 41 miles in Harriman (and from Tues. speedwork, my first organized session in a while) on to Traprock Saturday as my last tune-up race pre-MMT. Total running time :  9:55 (3-week moving average= 11.15 hours) Total runs :  5 Speedwork :  1 (Keohane class:  6 X half mile on lower loop of C.P.) Weight :  155ish Yoga :  1 Vinyasa class Strength :  1 Iron Strength full body and one upper body Other :  1 brief swim, one ice bath, one hot/cold bath Long trail run/Race...

It's official!  35:03:33.  My first MMT finish!  Hope to get around to a longer report in a few days when I come up for air from playing wicked work catch-up this week. But wanted to make sure I got word out to any who might be listening! So many things about the race were sweet.  The sunny weather.  Dry trails.  Washing away my '09 MMT DNF.  Finishing two 100s in a row for the first time.  Finishing strong.  The company and camaraderie of my pacer friend Steve. There were no major crises to overcome on this killer of a course, with its relentless rocks and climbs.  But I never had too big a margin on the cutoffs to play with, either.  Progress was fairly steady, slowing a lot at night, and I fare better on the single track than I did on the dirt roads, where my turnover sucked.  A lot more to come when I write up my report, so stay tuned  But for now just the great news--Massanutten rocks!  And in my own modest...

Overview :  This will be probably end up being my peak week in terms of time on feet, or pretty close to it.  This despite the fact that my legs felt pretty beat up after solo speadwork Tues. and then a leg session on Wed., leading me to get a much-needed but unscheduled massage on Thursday that was really helpful and then an unplanned rest day Friday which proved smart. (Same issue of soreness in the quads, especially upper right where it attached to hip.)  A well-rounded week, and the Harriman 41 mile run (most of it solo) was the highlight.  More on that one below. Week Ending April 8 by the Numbers Runs:  4 Total Time on Feet: 14:47 3-Week Moving Average: 12:48 Yoga:  one Vinyasa class Strength:  one upper/core, one leg-specific Speed:  6 halves on Bridle Path in C.P. (solo) Massage:  1 Harriman looong training run on Sat. 4/7 :  41 miles in 11:42.  My longest single training run for this cycle, or ever...

Ok, I know memory fades, and this was back on March 31st, but I'm just now getting a moment.  Some background's in order first.  I've done the Delaware Water Gap fat ass 50K two of the last three falls.  Love the course.  It goes up and over Mt. Tammany twice, one time in each direction, during the Jersey segment of that two-state event (where you cross a busy highway bridge on the pedestrian ramp spanning the very scenic Gap).  The two co-organizers of that event, Alex and Dennis, let us know at last November's event they were doing this unusually structured event in March:  climb up, over, down, back around the base, and then repeat Mt. Tammany....for 10 loops, in 10 hours, covering 1,000' each of vertical in each climb (actually 1,200), but they liked the symmetry of all the "ones" and "zeros," hence the "Tammany 10."   Never be a guinea pig for a new ultra and some R.D.'s dystopian fantasy of a cool course?Wrong, this was fun!  ...

Overview :  A bit of a recovery week in between mega-long run weeks.  All amidst a very crazy week with Mihiret home sick, juggling work schedules, doing taxes and meeting accountant, etc.  Pretty sore beginning of week so, between that and the time constraints, very little running.  But managed to get in three medium-long runs Thurs./Sat./Sun. to sort of salvage total training volume. Literally no time for strength or other cross-training. Mon. 45 minutes (few short walking section, quads very sore; really needed massage but had to cancel appointment because of baby home sick) Tues. 40 minutes (still quite sore, very slow) Wed.  35 minutes (a very short window for run on teaching day, but did one loop of outer Reservoir at something approaching tempo pace; legs loosening) Thurs. 1:43:14 (legs better, and with babysitter part of day, so picked up the mileage) Fri. rest Sat. 4:08:12  trail run at Palisades with Garth and Paul (last 2 ho...

Mon. 1:16 run after yoga (quad soreness shows up) Tues. massage + upper body weights + 30 min. swim Wed. easy hour run Th.  easy 45 min. run Fri.  rest Sat. Mt. Tammany 10 @ Delaware Water Gap on rugged single-track--31.56 m in 10:16:48 (19:32 per mile) with about 9,600' of total elevation gain (8 loops). Sun. rest Overview :  Quad soreness unexpectedly showed up on my Monday run after yoga session, my first yoga class in a while.  Guess the combo of speed, tempo, pavement running, and hilly trail run last few days in Mexico City was the culprit.  Spent rest of week loosening up, and got a timely massage Tuesday which helped out with that. Skipped speed and any lower body sessions to rest up for Mt. Tammany.  The race went well (separate report coming). Week by the numbers .... Runs :  4 Yoga/stretching/massage :  1 Vinyasa class, stretching most weekdays and Sunday, one deep-tissue massage. Speed :  0 Strength : ...

Overview :  I knew I'd be a little constrained on when/where I ran with all the friend and family obligations and the distance to get to the quality running areas.  So I had already expected to be more focused about "quality" and maintenance.  In the end, it proved to be even tougher, with Mihiret sick and a few short nights of sleep with her up and the inability to get an early departure to make it the quality 2.1K dirt training circuit there.  Also, Wendy and Alex weren't up for as long a run as I might have hoped this weekend or one previous (though still awesome to run with them.  Still I got in a good amount of runs, and some halfway decent training--enough to come home to discover a sore quad the next day on a run right after yoga class.  Where'd that come from?!  Week Ending March 18th Number of runs:  5 Total running hours:  7:10 (three week moving ave.. = 9:13) Total Rest days:  1 (day of return trip to NYC) Longe...