Rock Creek Park Loops

Time: 135:00
Distance: 20 mi.

I managed to find company for all of my last long run before the Austin Marathon. I met up with Max at the beginning of the run, and we picked up Rosen at about one hour into it. Max dropped off around 90 minutes and I ran with Jon most of the way back to his house. I first went West in the park, then once we picked up Jon up and down Beach Drive.

I felt fairly good throughout the run, except for at about 100 minutes when my left sesamoid became quite sore in a very short period of time. I definitely had to alter my stride and foot strike to keep the pressure off of it. I can't think what might have brought this on, other than the more minimal midsole of the Lunatrainer catching up with me after having worn it for the last week. I hope this is not the case, as the shoes have seemed great so far.

Capital Crescent Loop

Time: 125:17
Distance: 20 mi.
Map

Target: progression steady long run, getting down just below 6:00 pace and going 20 miles
Run: 4.65 miles north through RCP in 33:27 (7:11 pace); 15.35 miles around Capital Crescent Trail in 92:00 (5:59 average with measured miles on the CCT--from miles 7-14--in 6:20, 5:57, 5:52, 5:51, 5:48, 5:49, 5:52)


The Dalecarlia Tunnel over the Capital Crescent Trail in Bethesda, MD

I started off running with Rosen from Pierce Mill. He ran with me for the first 30 minutes and then turned back to do an out-and-back. This great loop, which measures exactly 20 miles, connects the full length of RCP on Beach Drive with the Capital Crescent Trail. Once I crossed the Maryland border, just beyond 4.5 miles into the run, I started picking up the pace a bit. Because I am probably running the Manhattan Half Marathon (or a half marathon simulation) next weekend, I wanted to do a steadier run than last weekend without going to the well. I got down to about 6:20 pace by the time I got on the CCT and then tried to keep the rest of the run just a bit below 6:00 pace. My legs were beat from the get-go (I really need new shoes... are you reading this Jordan?) and got sore and tired as it went on, but I felt fantastic aerobically. Despite being tired at the end, I recovered very quickly.

Outside The Beltway

Time: 140:00
Distance: 20.5 mi.
Map


The Capitol Beltway (I-495) and the DC Mormon Temple

After my plan for a morning run in New York with Nick was derailed by having to deal with my car window getting smashed in Brooklyn last night, I was forced to run by myself in the evening in Washington, DC. I headed out the door unsure if I was mentally ready to get in a long run with the sun slipping towards the horizon. Once I got going, though, I decided it would be best to get 'er done and over with. I kept the pace very comfortable so that I wouldn't be repeating the last two weeks' long runs, both of which involved going to the well.

The run itself ended up being quite nice. Beach Drive is closed to auto traffic on Sundays and it was late enough that there was almost no one out. The Maryland border is about 6.5 miles out, so I continued past it on city roads heading north in Silver Springs, MD. Just before I reached the Capitol Beltway I saw an enormous white Wizard of Oz Emerald City or Magic Kingdom-esq lighted structure. As I got closer, it became apparent that it was a Mormon Temple. It absolutely dominates the skyline, particularly at night. I turned around at 70 minutes and ran back, at this point in nearly total darkness. Running through Rock Creek park was a bit creepy, but I did enjoy feeling totally alone with just the sound of the creek to accompany my footsteps. I got back to the house in 138:30, so I added 90 seconds along 11th to finish up around 7pm.

Moody Bridge

Time: 99:45
Distance: 15.5 mi.
Map


Light snow covering the Mt. Holyoke range, just south of Moody Bridge


Dirt section of Moody Bridge Road

Out and back run on Moody Bridge road and out to RT-47. Feeling a little bit guilty about taking yesterday off, I vowed to get in a mid-week medium long run today. The weather was quite nice, and despite some random shin tightness in the first 5 miles and some standard piriformis tightness/soreness towards the end I felt fairly good. I am a bit dehydrated, though, which didn't help me feel sharp. I kept the pace up for the last few miles, getting down to 6:05 on Station Road and 5:40 through Amherst Woods.

I queued up the new TV On The Radio album Dear Science, which I will admit is very good (despite being inclined to be skeptical about any indie music that Pitchfork loves) and kept the energy up throughout the run.

I took the photos here later in the day when I was out doing some errands. I am the proud owner of a nice new DSLR, so hopefully I'll be able to post more original running-related photos when I get the chance.

Super Rosen Loop Steady Run

Time: 112:46
Distance: 18.25
Map

Target: 2-3 miles warmup, 12 miles steady, 3-4 miles cooldown
Run: 2.75 miles, 12 miles averaging ~5:45, 3.5 miles

A mediocre long hard effort of 12 miles on the 7 mile Rosen Loop. My watch lost the splits somehow, but my splits ranged from 5:35 to 6:30 (a seriously uphill mile that included a GU, water, and a shirt change). The majority were in the mid-5:40s (with a few faster), so I'm going to call that the average. This loop is much more hilly than my last steady run and despite feeling great aerobically throughout I my legs felt pretty dead from the get-go. Oh well, it's another long and hard effort. I should be much better rested by the next steady effort in two weeks.

Prospect Park

Time: 120:43
Distance: 18 mi.


A path winding through the middle of Prospect Park

After a late night in Manhattan, I waited most of the day to get out the door for this week's long and supposedly easy run. I was overtired, underfed, and dehydrated heading into the run. When I started to feel not so great in the first 30 minutes, I knew I was likely heading towards the well. This was definitely the case, and despite it being a beautiful and warm afternoon in Brooklyn, I struggled throughout a few different loops of Prospect Park. When I could, I raced joggers to keep myself focused. Once I got back it took me about two hours and a lot of water and food to start to feel normal. Yikes.

Chesapeake and Ohio Steady Run

Time: 107:14
Distance: 17.5 mi.
Map

Target: 3-4 miles warmup, 10 miles steady, 3-4 miles cooldown
Run: 3.75 in 24:20; 10 miles in 56:33 (28:45/27:48); 3.75 in 26:20

To make sure I got my long harder effort in this week, I decided to do it this morning. I also knew that the Chesapeake and Ohio Towpath would be the a great place to get in an out-and-back long run with measured miles, as I really had no idea how to pace this run based on effort. The goal was to get in 3-4 miles warming up and getting into the pace, 10 miles with the general target of working down to about 5:40 pace, and then running straight through with the same 3-4 miles cooldown.


The towpath runs between the Potomac River and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (on the right of the path here)

I started from where I parked near M Street in Georgetown and got worked down to about 6 minute pace by the time I hit the 4 mile mark on the path (~3.75 miles from the car, 24:20). I felt very comfortable running the first mile of the steady section in 5:50 and kept bringing it down from there. I ran the first 5 miles up to the turnaround point (which, while flat, has a consistent slight uphill grade) in 28:45 (5:45 average). I kept pushing the pace a bit on the way back, running 27:48 (5:34 average) with a few of the middle miles under 5:30. The total time for the 10 steady miles was 56:33 (5:39 average). I was fairly tired, and ran the cooldown 3.75 miles in 26:20.


These 9 mile markers indicated my turnaround point

I was generally happy with how I felt given that this was my first effort like this in my training cycle. I got into a good rhythm (despite hopping over two trees over the path) and was able to run through a side cramp in the 7th mile of the steady section. I didn't go to the well and stayed aerobic throughout the run. With a bit more sleep and better nutritional preparation I would've felt okay to go 2-3 miles longer hard without too much trouble. That is the pace I will have to average for the whole 'thon in order to run under 2:30. Yikes.

RCP Superloop

Time: 112:00
Distance: 16 mi.


Trail near Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park

Morning run with Ben from his house in Kalorama on the biggest trail loop in Rock Creek Park. It was a chilly morning, but I warmed up fairly quickly. It was great to have company and run a lot of the way on trails, which made the run fly by. It was good to bump the volume from last week's long run without raising the intensity, as my legs were pretty tired by the end, but not dead.

Reservoir Park, Chestnut Hill Reservoir

Time: 93:10
Distance: 13.5 mi.

This was quite shy of the 2+ hour run that I had scheduled, but after a long last couple of days, this is what I had in me. Ari came over from Cambridge for it and Tom ran the first 30+ minutes of the run with us around Reservoir Park. We would have been closer to 80 minutes, but I got us lost on the way back to the McArdle residence.

Bike Path, Rosen Loop

Time: 115:42
Distance: 18.5 mi.
Map

Target: 5 miles steady warmup; 10 miles averaging 5:45; 3 miles recovery
Run: 6.5 miles steady warmup; 10 miles in 56:39 (5:40 pace) starting at 6:00 and working down around 5:30; 2 miles recovery


The wetlands along the bike path

I started this run pretty early so that I could get back in time to catch some Olympic track action on sketchy live online TV from Denmark. Eliot is in town for the weekend and volunteered to bike along for the run, which was particularly nice for this hard session. After running up to his house, we headed to the bike path near Amherst College. I was shooting to start 3 miles out and got to a decent pace, but missed the first mile mark (or there isn't one?) so I really started with 2 miles from Station Road.

The first few miles on the bike path were just getting into it, 5:59 and 5:52. Once I got onto the 7-mile Rosen Loop starting on Station Road I got a bit more on pace, even over the hills. I then did four miles in 22:45 (5:41 pace), two miles in 11:04 (5:32 pace) and the Station Road mile in 5:21. Because I missed the first bike path mile I was planning, I went back onto it for a final mile where I relaxed the pace to 5:38.

Overall, I was happy with how comfortable I felt, though it would be good for these runs to more steady throughout and less progression. I was able to take some water during the run, again, and some GU around 5 miles of the hard effort. My knee felt great, so hopefully the new shoes have saved me there.

Shutesbury Hills

Time: 130:44
Distance: 20 mi.
Map

Long run from Atkins Reservoir up into Shutesbury. To get in over two hours with a lot of soft surfaces I did two ~8.5 mile loops on Sand Hill, Pelham Hill and Pratt Corner roads with a connector to where I started of less than a mile. For this 20 miler there were less than 8 miles on pavement, the rest is on nice (but hilly) dirt roads. I got back to my starting point at 124 minutes and added on about six minutes on the road near the reservoir.

Overall I felt fairly good, and was also able to take water at around 30 minutes and water along with some GU at close to 90 minutes. I took both easier than I thought, but fought off a bit of a side cramp as a result in the last 30 minutes. Aerobically I was feeling fine, but my legs were pretty dead by the end. I am badly in need of some new shoes, which are supposedly in the mail.

Walden Pond

Time: 120:00
Distance: 17.5 mi.


Trails at Walden Pond

After a night in Boston, Ari and I headed up to Walden Pond in Concord/Lincoln for a long run. Ari is getting back in shape for the CVS Downtown 5k and back up to 75 minutes for his longest run of the week. We explored the trails and quickly found that there is a lot more there than is on the park map, so we had no problem getting his time in just looping around and exploring. The trails adjacent to the pond were fairly crowded, but once we got away they were quiet.

After dropping Ari off at the parking lot I added on another 45 minutes no faster than we had been running--not much faster than 7:00 on the windy trails. I was pretty tired by the end regardless, and sat dazed in the pond for a few minutes after I finished.

Moody Bridge, Bike Path Loop

Time: 105:42
Distance: 16.75
Map


Bridge over the bike path near Amherst College

Looking to get going with more steady-paced long runs I did a loop that included 7 miles back towards the house on the Amherst Rail Trail bike path. To get out there I ran out on Moody Bridge Road to Bay Road and across Route 9. I was shooting to connect with the bike path on West Street, but went one road early by accident and had to head up Route 9 one block to get to the right spot. I thought there were mile markers all the way out on the bike path, but could only find the last three. Once I turned onto the bike path I also tried out eating a Clif Shot Gel packet over the course of about 5 minutes, which went surprisingly well.

The first part of the run, to the bike path, was 8+ miles averaging 6:32 pace. The second part on the bike path, exactly 7.0 miles, was 6:04 pace (last three miles in 5:58, 5:56, 5:49). Finally I jogged up the steep hill on Station Road and finished the last mile in Amherst Woods under 6:10.

Also, Jilane sent me a LetsRun thread with some Duckberg All-Stars shout-outs.

Moody Bridge, Bay Road, 116

Time: 93:30
Distance: 14 mi.
Map


Cows at a farm along Bay Road

Solo morning run from the house. I started out heading towards Moody Bridge Road, not knowing where I might end up but not particularly enthused about the prospect of running for 90+ minutes. Of course, once I got out there there was nothing I would really prefer to be doing, except towards the end when my legs got very stiff and tired. Instead of making this an out-and-back to the end of Moody Bridge, I turned left on Bay Road and made a loop up around Hampshire College and 116. I finished going Potwine to Middle Street and South East Street and Station Road.

An ice bath would've been nice after this... my legs, right hip, and lower back are all quite sore.

Town Lake, Greenbelt

Time: 92:00
Distance: 13.5 mi.

Fairly easy longish run with Joe from his house. We headed down to Town Lake and the Greenbelt, just going out and back. My legs (and body in general) feels pretty tired, but the run went well.

Town Lake, Infield

Time: 105:00
Distance: 17 mi.

Target: 105 minute run with a 4 mile tempo in 5:35s in the middle
Workout: 48:40, 4 miles in 21:36 (5:24 avg), 34:51 (including 8 diagonal strides)

I met the guys for their Sunday run from the track. Apparently they have been doing this mid-long run tempo for a few weeks (not including last week). This worked fine for my "get Wednesday and Sunday hard efforts" plan leading up to the half. We got rolling on the east side of Town Lake, down to close to 6 minute pace before starting the tempo at 0.0. It didn't take long to get into the pace, as the first mile was about 5:28 and the rest were faster. They have finally cleared out the construction near the South First and Congress bridges, so we could do the "normal" (i.e. 80m long) 4 mile tempo. I felt fantastic aerobically the whole way, but my legs got tired.

The guys finished up on the infield for about 5 minutes when we got back at around 85:00, and I added on another 15 with some diagonal strides with a quick jog in the middle.

I also got back in my Elite 2s for this run, my right peroneal still hasn't warmed up, so to speak, to the Elixir's.

Safari

Time: 111:00
Distance: 17.5 mi.
Map

A square-ish long run with Jordan from his place on my last morning in Norman. We began with 4 miles directly into an unrelenting 15+ mph wind. As soon as I was about to start hating him and running in general, we turned east and got out of the wind. It was fairly nice out there, with very straight rolling roads and farms abound. We got down to a steady pace, which was definitely good. It has been really nice to run with Jordan, who keeps the pace honest and the mood light. It has been a very nice change of pace (literally and figuratively) training with him the last few days. He posted the splits and the rundown:

Hit splits of: 6:59, 6:43, 6:38, 6:35, 6:26, 6:26, 6:09, 6:21, 6:07, 6:07, 6:04, 6:12, 6:05, 6:02, 6:05... We were trying to come up with a name for the run and some ideas were: "Rusty Tractor," "Rusty Wheel," "Midget Horse," "Wild Dogs," and "Dead Squirrel."

I've decided on naming the run "Safari." For one, we were a bit in the middle of nowhere. For two, there were a lot of animals: more dogs than I could count, squirrels (including a dead one), a dead skunk, turkeys, cows, hawks, horses, and yes, in fact, two miniature horses.

Town Lake Lollipop, IF

Time: 125:00
Distance: 20 mi.
Map

Solo long run, which I was actually fairly happy about. It was nice to have a little space. Because I only worked out once this week, I wanted to make sure that this was a decent effort. I figured that I could run down to Town Lake (4.5+ mi.) do the whole loop (10 mi.) and come back for close to 2 hours, focusing on running steady through the middle 10 miles. I got out the door fairly quick and was running just over 6 minute pace by the time I was on Town Lake. I did the loop in 61:00. I was over 19 miles into the run when I got back to the house at 118 minutes, so I added on a few minutes on IF just running easy to get myself over 20 miles.

Hip flexors and hamstrings were pretty sore by the end of this, but I got in our cold-ass pool afterwards, which will hopefully help.

Scenic, Stratford, Town Lake

Time: 120:00
Distance: 18 mi.
Map

Early morning long run with Joe. We met near his house and made up this loop as we were going. I was pretty tired and my legs were a little beat, but I was able to get rolling along after we got off Stratford. It felt good to get back on the 2 hour train. I was very dehydrated.

Update: I forgot to mention that my right hip was sore near the top of my IT band at the beginning of the run and seemed to loosen up. By the end of the run I seemed to have some soreness on the top/inside of my left foot.

Town Lake East, Hancock Loop

Time: 105:00
Distance: 17 mi.

Met the guys at the track for their 80 minute taper long run (Big XIIs is next weekend). We ran easy down to Town Lake (1.5 mi), then ran 30 minutes out and back at 6 minute pace or under (10 miles) and back up to the track easy (another 1.5 mi.). I then did a 25+ minute add-on up around Hancock and back on Speedway (4 mi.).

I didn't feel too settled at the uptempo pace on Town Lake, but it will take a few of these type of runs to get back on it so I was happy to ease into it with only one hour really hard. It was easy to run 6:15ish pace for my solo add-on.