Managing Time and Expectations

I have returned back to work in New Jersey, after 20 plus glorious days off with my girls and the newest addition to the family. This post will be considerably shorter than last week, as last week served as a "catch up" of sorts.

Nice Sunset Run in Kent Hollow, Rupert, VT. View is 

looking Northwest towards West Mountain Ski area 

in Queensbury, NY. To either side are 

Shatterack and Haystack/Little Haystack Mountains. (02-17-17)

First and foremost, fatherhood is hard! I am sure nowhere near as hard as motherhood, since I'm now 250 miles away and my wife is handling EVERYTHING without me. Since Ashley and I are both fitness addicts we tried to work out a plan so each of us can get some uninterrupted time to dedicate to working out. She is a complete warrior and is back to lifting and cranking out miles on the elliptical, just a couple of weeks after delivering our son.

Ashley kept her strict and impressive lifting/cardio

regimen throughout the full term of our pregnancy. 

While snowshoe races were plentiful this week (Saranac World Championships, GSSS, Frigus), I was happy to stay home!

I am learning that the trick to maintaining running fitness, is a mix of two things;

Creativity: Luckily our home in Vermont is built into a steep hillside, this allowed me to gain well over 2,000' vertical feet in very few miles over the course of a couple of dynamic workouts. I was able to do several tough repeats all while being visible outside of our living room window. Continuing with creativity, I strapped on my Dion 121 snowshoes and dragged my 75lb stepdaughter up our hill serving as her sledding towrope.

Libby wasn't the only one to have a little fun...

Quality > Mileage: While I think volume is always an important piece to any training plan (especially when ultra distance is the main goal), there are many programs that focus more on intensity and less on pure mileage. An example of low mileage conditioning would be Crossfit Endurance training plans. The rest of my workouts over the last few weeks were close to home, but tough terrain at a harder effort. I find that chasing Strava course records gives me reason to run/climb quickly. 

 A defeated smile after unsuccessfully trying to 

beat Dan Rosenthal's Course Record up

Peaked Rock in Shushan, NY. Dan seems

to own my entire neighborhood on Strava including 

some tough climbs up Mount Equinox and Lye Brook

Falls. Every hound needs a hare to chase!

In closing, I think that incorporating shorter harder workouts on the days I have parenting responsibilities will help me continue to train and eventually return to competing at a level that I haven't been able to in a few years. For now, electronic competition is working out just fine. 

Another evening run finished by headlamp, on Vermont's

muddy and icy dirt roads. Ebbenville Rd. Rupert, VT.

Yard Repeats!

Town Baggin'

Access Road to Lye Brook Falls Manchester, VT. The carbide

spiked Inov-8 Arctic Claws make skating rink surfaces like this

feel like pavement. The studs are great when spikes are too much.

A Couple of Tracks!

In the near future I will share my newest addiction to the "heat map" and why it is a helpful tool.

New Year New Me?

Alright, so that's highly inaccurate. It is a new(ish) year and this page hasn't been touched since my incoherent ramblings about Boston 2014. The truth is it has been a new three years, where I had all but forgot that this page existed. The excuse list is long but distinguished, it includes MAJOR family changes, four years of worldwide deployments with the Coast Guard, a couple nagging injuries, and overall lack of competitive running. Here's what's new:

-First and most exciting my family and I welcomed a new addition on February 8th at 4:12PM. Brycen Audy Hamilton, weighed 7lbs 6oz and made his late arrival at Southern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington.

Photo Courtesy of Amanda Taft Photography

-I have received orders to depart the Atlantic Strike Team, and return to Coast Guard Station Merrimack River in June 2017.

-Mom beat cancer....for a third time!

Since the Strike Team kept me away from home, and away from the mountains my fitness level suffered and I have found myself spending more time on the treadmill and pavement than in the woods. The shift back to Newburyport, MA should allow more time with my family and more time to train for future ultramarathons. 

Despite, the slow activity of the last few years I was fortunate enough to be a competitor in some fantastic events,run some great trails in around the country including Colorado, Alaska and Washington, and even got to race abroad in Motta St. Anastasia, Sicily for an MWR sponsored event. Here are some Highlights and photos!

Charlotte Amalie, USVI

30 Day "deployment" Silverton, CO

Sixth Overall finish at MPF/RNR event Water Gap 50k (4:22)

Completing a section run of the Batona Trail by headlamp with Jeff Blough

Touring San Juan Puerto Rico on foot, during a cruise ship fire response

Third Place Male at the Black Rock Races 10 summits 25k, and Fifth Overall at the "Great Schunemunk Traverse 20 Miler"

So that is the update, and from here I will begin a face lift of this blog. It once served as a platform to not bore my non interested friends on social media. The namesake, will likely change since I do not anticipate racing the Spartan Ultra Beast again (2 finishes is enough). My focus going forward will be about goal setting, enjoying the trail, and time management as a new father! Thanks for checking out my page, I look forward to more frequent, and shorter posts in the future!

Dave