Updates!
With hurricanes, new assignments, and dad duty I have neglected to keep this page alive. There haven't been many changes in my training/racing world, nor to my present philosophy regarding running. I have been logging less mileage over the last few months, but much more vertical climbing. Chris Dunn at Ascend Endurance Coaching (Link below) blogged something along the lines of "when short of time..climb". This sort of advice is right up my alley as a busy new dad splitting my time and attention between a career in Coastal Massachusetts, and my beautiful family in Southwestern Vermont. In addition to the lower running mileage I have been cross training by road cycling and mountain biking. I feel like the bikes will generally treat my body better to keep me moving for years to come, that is if I keep them upright! Most of my road cycling has come in the form of my 15 Mile commute to work. It is pretty rare that I find pavement attractive even on a bicycle.
Racing
Mount Mansfield
I have only toed the line a few times since Loon in July. I ran the Race to the Top of Vermont with some pretty disappointing results. This was a tough climb from the Base lodge at Stowe Mountain Resort to the highest point of the auto road. This race doesn't reach the summit of Mount Mansfield, however with a little fuel in the tank I took advantage of my time on Vermont's highest peak and returned to my truck via the Appalachian trail. I ended up finishing 58th out of 380 something and about 5 minutes behind my goal time. The return trip on the A.T. was probably the highlight of my day.
Mount Mansfield ridge traverse after the Race
https://www.strava.com/activities/1155652897
Race For The Cure VT
Ashley entered us into a local 5k benefiting the Susan G. Komen foundation. Initially we were going to run together however the race organizers outlawed strollers at the absolute last minute (on the starting corral). Luckily we had family available to hang with the "B-Man". Since I was no longer laden with a newborn and stroller I decided to treat the race as a speed workout. I was grateful to win in 19:31. Ashley ran an extremely strong race in her return after giving birth and finished in 26:31!
Race For the Cure
Lynn Woods Summer Series
This Free race series (donation recommended) is held on every Wednesday night throughout the summer. In addition to a variety of distances to choose from Lynn Woods offers some very unique races. This year in addition to being a regular on the "long course" I participated in the 4 person relay with aR teammate Jeff Hixon, and a handicap race which was probably one of the most interesting trail races I have ever run. Our relay team "The Crispy Bits Of the Round table" was a strong team of mixed trail and very fast road runners. Our combined time was 1:04 minutes for a four person 10 mile trail race. We were tenth overall an celebrated afterwards with some adult beverages and sausages cooked over a coffee can sized camp stove.
Finishing my 2.5 mile trail loop 16:14
The handicap event gives middle and back of the back racers the chance to break the tape. At the start each runner is assigned a handicap based on results from the entire summer. Of those who showed up I was second to last to start, and trying to overcome a 28 minute deficit for a 5mi trail run. I HAD ZERO EXPECTATIONS HERE. My only goal was to hold off the one racer behind me with a 30 minute handicap (2 minute head start). This race felt like a losing battle until the very end when all of the runners bunch up a mile before the finish chute. My final time was a 35:38 @6:31 pace which was the second fastest that evening, however it was good enough for 37th overall with the handicap applied! This series is a ton of fun, and Lynn Woods trails have something for everyone. There are steep climbs, sketchy descents and technical singletrack.
Biking & Hiking
I am really enjoying my time in the saddle, and as of today I have logged around 300 miles on the bike and over 14,000' of elevation gain. As far as running I am around 1,233 miles and around 117,000'.
The commute has really strengthened my legs I have nicknamed my
98' steel Bianchi Trofeo "Serbatoio di Guerra"
Climbing is lovely...descending on a hardtail 2,000' is scary!
A 5 mile fall stroll with B-Man!
Links
http://ascendendurancecoaching.com/
lwrun.org