Sunday, August 10 - North Twin Mountain (4761', 11)

I was planning on Washington today, if the weather would cooperate at all. I dawdled as usual and by the time I got in the car, it was about 3 o'clock and totally cloudy. Before I made it out of the driveway, the radio program was interrupted for a severe thunderstorm warning. Yeah, maybe I'll take a pass at Washington. Fortunately, I've got great views of the sky and mountains on the drive, so I wait for inspiration. After 12 minutes I was inspired as I entered the town of Twin Mountain, just at the point where the road runs directly toward the looming masses of the Twin Mountains (North and South, mostly from the north you see north twin. They are the 11th and 9th tallest peaks in NH, respectively and appeared relatively clear, while Washington and the rest of the presidentials were having a kettle drum contest.

I checked my map and drove to the trailhead just a few miles up the road. It's at the end of about 2.5 miles of dirt road heading directly south into the heart of the pemigewasset (pemi) wilderness. From the trailhead, north twin is 4.3 miles and south twin is 1.3 miles past that. I figure that I'd need a time cushion of 6 hours to do both, though I'd hopefully need less than 5. It was 3:30. I brought my headlamp, just in case. I really never planned to do both at this hour, in this weather. It's no big loss not to bag south twin even with it being only 1.3 miles away. It's even closer to Galehead, so it can easily be added when bagging the rest of the many pemi peaks. I'll need up to 12 hours for that 20+ miler. By doing this today, it lets me avoid a 2.6 mile side trip later.

Total 8.6 miles
3:00 exactly elapsed time
1:42 up
1:10 down

Saturday, August 9 - Mt. Jefferson (5716', 3)

It was cool and overcast most of the day, with occasional glimpses of blue sky. Still, it's the nicest day in weeks. I want to stay away from the major trailheads like Appalachia, and off the main trails. After great lengths of internal debate, I decided to do Jefferson by way of the caps ridge trail from Jefferson Notch. It feels like cheating. The Jefferson notch road is the highest public road in NH (closed in winter). You take 9 miles of dirt road to the AMC parking area at the Notch, which is at just about 3000 feet of altitude. The caps ridge trail is 2.5 miles to the summit of jeff, some of it pretty rough with some ledge scrambling, but mostly soft, smooth and quick, relative to most trails in the presidentials. The sky was beginning to clear, at least on the lower parts of the mountain, and I thought the peak might just clear in time for me to arrive. The Caps are three large promontories near the top of the ridge leading from Jefferson Notch to Jefferson. They were in clear air and had very nice panoramic views of the valleys. The tops of the peaks were still wrapped with heavy clouds.

I reached the summit after an hour and 25 minutes of steady climbing. It is a much easier climb than Madison or Adams, each of which has long, tedious, half hour boulder scrambles at the summit approach. Jefferson's boulder scramble takes about 30 seconds. Completely clouded over, not a view to be seen. I spent about 5 minutes at the summit then another 5 to eat my banana at the first cap, and had a nice little talk with a mom waiting for her hubby and kids who were going up a second time in the fruitless hope of getting a stunning view. Let's call it 1:25 up, leave at 1:35, arrive at trailhead at 2:42 (67 minutes down).

It felt quick and easy. The trail really is pretty tough, only averaged 34 min/mi uphill, and I can usually maintain faster than 30 on all but the steepest or most technical slopes. Nevertheless, 85 minutes to a more than mile high summit just seems too easy.

That was fun. If tomorrow is nice, I may go out for a long peak-bagging series.

Friday, August 8 - Mts. Tom, Field & Willey

Friday, August 8 - Mt. Tom (4051', 39)
Mt. Field (4340', 23)
Mt. Willey (4285', 29)
Total 10 miles, 3:52, 3450' climb

The legs felt fine today, but the weather called for thunderstorms again, especially in the afternoon in the mountains. Screw it, I'm going anyway, it's too nice a day not to be on the trail. (mid-60's, windy, rainy)

I figured the Willey range would be an easy afternoon foray. It's supposed to be a pretty easy trail and you can get all three done (one of them twice) in 10 miles. And it is very sheltered - no open ridged or rocky summits - trees everywhere. Should be OK even if there is some cracklin' and boomin' along the way. Checking the map, and reading tim seamon's comments from his record breaking run (all 48 of the NH 4000 footers in 3 days, 13 hours), I figured on finishing in between four and five hours. A bit quicker if I can match seamon's times.

On the way to the trailhead at Crawford Depot, the rain picked up a little bit, and the sound of not-quite-distant thunder punctuated the entire hike. It never got too close, though, and I never did see any lightning.

Much of the trail is runnable, both low and high, but the runnability was more or less negated by the mud. This would be another great trail to run when dry. Even the steep sections have steps just the right height to make running easier than hiking. It rained much of the way, and the air was cool, so I was completely comfortable the entire way. I reached Mt. Tom (2.9 mi., 68 min., 23 min./mi.) just as I was beginning to feel good and warmed up. I ate a banana and rushed off to Mt. Field (1.5 mi., 36 min., 24 min./mi.), then to Mt. Willey (1.4 mi., 30 min., 21 min./mi.), where I ate my second banana. I'll need to get used to taking food along, as many hikes will now be over 10 miles. A downhill mile to Mt. Avalon (3442', 1 mi., 22 min.) which has very dramatic views over Crawford Notch, much better than any of the three major peaks which all have obscured peaks. That's what my guidebook says. The only thing I saw today was gray and wet. This weather is so much nicer than florida and virginia!!! Avalon had some flat rocks at the summit which were slick like marl. I ran most of the last 1.8 miles (32 min., 17 min./mi.) - the trail was almost like a cross country course. Legs felt great the whole way, no little aches at all.

Eight down, forty to go. Is there any way I can get them all done before the running school?

nfw

Thursday, August 7

Thursday, August 7

I was heading out to Cannon Mountain for a quick up and down before dark, and hadn't gone a quarter mile in my car when a thunderstorm warning interrupted my entertainment. In fact, I could see that the mountains in that direction were all covered with roiling black clouds. With accompanying lightning and thunder. Screw it, maybe I'll run later.

By seven most of the rain had passed, and there were even some breaks in the clouds. I stretched and ran 3.2 up and down the road. I can tell one thing right away, my training has not been geared to speed. Mile splits, 10 min, 9 min, 7:55, 1:32 (28:30). I was beginning to feel a bit better by the end of the second mile.

My left leg has taken the bulk of physical damage incurred on trail, plus it's got that gouty foot going on. So naturally it's my right leg which hurts. Outside of the lower leg just above the ankle, one of the stabilizers/extensors. It hurt a little throughout the day, so I paid a little extra attention to it while stretching. It didn't bother me while running, and I iced it and took some ibuprofen before bed. Other than that, my legs feel great after a couple easy days.

Wednesday, August 6 - Mt. Hale (4054', 38)

My battered legs rested all day, stretched at 3:30, drove 15 miles to the Pleasantville trailhead and started on trail at 4:39. This is supposed to be one of the easiest of the 4000 footers, 2.3 miles with a gain of about 2400 feet. I figure at best I'll get up in an hour, at worst 75 minutes.

It's a great trail; the bottom 2/3 is almost all runnable, both up and down. I didn't run up, but after yesterday's adventure, every step that wasn't balanced on the corner of a broken piece of granite felt like a foot massage. There is dirt on trails!! The grade was consistently steep, and wet all over, of course, but I was able to maintain a steady pace with about 4 fifteen second rests spread over the first hour. Because the pace felt quick, I decided to rest at the top, rather than after 60 minutes. At about 57 minutes, the grade began to level off and there was light from a clearing up ahead, so I rushed ahead and reached the mist-blown summit in just under 59 minutes. That works out to 26 minutes/mile up an average grade of over 1000 feet/mile. That really felt refreshing, in addition to the cool, clammy winds blowing strands of mist across the broad, flat, tree-surrounded summit. Nothing but gray. I enjoyed the feel of the wind for about 6 minutes, then headed down at 65 minutes. The top third of the mountain isn't much faster downhill than up, but the trail downhill is easily runnable for the entire last 1.5 miles, with some sections on the bottom you can even open up on a little bit. I really must consider making this a regular recovery run. Made it to the trailhead at 1:52, for a downhill time of 47 minutes (20 min/mi). Every time my feet landed on dirt, it felt like Dr. Scholl's gel insoles. Even the rocks felt soft. And less than 20 minutes away. What a country.

Summited at 5:38. 5 peaks climbed so far, each summited between 5 and 6 pm. The happy hour 48, I'll call it.

Tuesday, August 5 - Mt. Adams (5799', 2)

Adams kicked my ass. The way up was long and uneventful, going for the long, easy route to the summit. From Appalachia take the link to lowe's path which basically runs along the top of Nowell's ridge. There were two parts to the trail, first the crossover to Nowell's ridge from Durand's. It's 2.7 miles crossing over, with moderate climbs. Once on lowe's path (3.0 miles), the trail gets steeper and rockier, and like most of the presidentials, the summit is a long, arduous clamber through broken boulder fields. Mt. Adams is much like Madison in this regard, but the boulders are bigger and there are more of them. I took it pretty easy and reached the top in a bit under three hours. Having started at 2:20, this brought me to the top at about 5:16, right on schedule. As long as I can get down as quickly as I got up, I'll be down before dark. No prob. Nothing can possibly go awry.

On the way down, things quickly went awry. In my own defense, however, please consider that I wouldn't know how awry for another hour or so.

I took a different route down, though I had planned to go up and back with lowe's path. The trail became very steep, very quickly. And it wasn't really a trail, either, just a miles long river of boulders, slowly making their way downhill. You can see this in the picture.

About two minutes from the top, before the trail even turned cruel, I stepped off trail by just a couple feet, but the surface wasn't solid and I bashed my left shin in two spots. Damn that hurt. Before the day was over, I would also tear off the scabs on my left knee, bash my left knee on a rock, bash my right knee on a rock, break my camera lcd and stub my left toe. I felt like some wiseguy had taken a Louisville slugger to my legs.

Anyway, the trail is crazy. I've been on some rough trails the last few weeks, but they were all blazed blue. I don't know what blue means, but it includes some pretty rugged climbing. If you see orange, think twice about following. I see pretty quickly that this trail goes straight down the headwall of King ravine, which generally forms the border between Mt Adams and Mt Madison. On the Madison side of King ravine is Durand ridge, along the top of which runs air line directly to Madison hut, between Madison and Adams. Durand runs north from Madison. On the other side of King ravine is Nowell's ridge, running directly up Mt Adams. Running along the top of Nowell's ridge is lowe's path, which I took up. King ravine is between the two ridges, a classic glacial cirque with a knife-edge ridge (Durand) and a huge, flat headwall. And I was climbing straight down the headwall. The boulders ranged from the size of small cars to small buildings, and while they appeared at first glance to be stationary, after a few minutes at the crazy angle of the headwall it was possible to sense their inexorable downward flow. This was punctuated by the fact that you couldn't trust any size rock. I stepped on one the size of sofa and it began to slide downhill. Crap. All I need is a rockslide. And we've been getting record rainfall for over a month, including every day for three weeks. The ground is soft and soggy and the rocks want to go downhill. This is serious scrambling, all four arms and legs getting a good workout. At some points, it must have been about a 50 degree slope. Extremely slow going. Many of the boulders were over 10 feet long, and a slip could easily drop you in a hole you can't get out of. Possibly with a broken leg or skull. I definitely want to pass on that.



Great view, too, of the whole valley. After about an hour, I had gone maybe a half mile, and dropped probably a thousand feet. Looking down, an endless stream of boulders descended and disappeared into the early evening gloom, through which my path was destined. This was exhausting, both physically and mentally, what with the removal of any margin of error. I did start one small rockslide, with about 20-30 rocks, the largest being about 50 pounds or so. I got lucky and they didn't pound me, but it was close thing. This trail is nuts, even for me. It's drizzling out and the sharp rocks are very slick. For the most part, I don't move my feet without also having two solid handholds. And, like this paragraph, the boulders and rocks and climbing just went on and on and on. I'm well into a second hour of this (and I'm not taking rests, either) before the trail eases off. For another mile or so it's just a hard trail (now blazed yellow rather than orange - woo-hoo!). By now 2 ¼ hours have passed, and I may not even be halfway down. It's past 7:30 with total overcast, so it's dim and flat and getting darker by the minute. My legs are hurtin'. I try to keep up as fast a pace as possible while I have whatever light I still have. I know that in half an hour half the rocks and roots will become invisible.

Despite the dark, the next hour was productive and uneventful. I practically kissed the sign which read "Appalachia 100 yds" because I really didn't want to go another mile in the dark (I was hoping it wasn’t the sign that said "Appalachia 0.9 mi.). It was 8:39. My legs were covered with mud and bleeding in four places. I can't wait to do it all over again tomorrow!

Here's what one of my mountain books says about the King ravine trail which I descended in the rain today. "Traverse of King Ravine involves rough scrambling over boulders and ledges and is not advisable in wet weather or for descent." No shit. It further describes the "very steep, rough ascent of the headwall" with a climb of over 1100 feet in less than half a mile. Yes, I remember. See photos. Looking up at the wall could give you vertigo. Could but didn't. It was a good day not to break my leg!



2:56 up 5.7 mi
3:20 down 4.6 mi
6:21 total time on trail
about 10.3 total miles
4600 foot climb

Sunday, July 27 - Mt. Cabot (4170', 33)

Sunday, July 27 - Mt. Cabot

It rained.
I never wrote it up.
Didn't even bring the camera.

Saturday, July 26 - Mt. Waumbek (4006', 46)

Picked some low hanging fruit - Mt Waumbek (4006'). Started at 4:10.
63 minutes to Mt. Starr King (3907', 2.6 mi.), Waumbek summit (3.6 mi.) at 83 minutes. Rested a couple minutes, then headed back, passing starr king after 18 minutes and reaching the car in 58 for a total time on trail of 2:23, a total climb of about 2600' over 7.2 miles. I ran most of the way back - very good trail for running, both uphill and downhill. I don't often brag on running 15 minute miles, but it's still a lot faster than hiking pace and not much difference in effort.

Friday, July 25 - Mt. Madison (5366', 5)

Friday morning. Wow, what a great day to climb some mountains! Mostly sunny with enough fluffy cumulous clouds to provide occasional shade without threatening rain. The air is dry. Can you imagine, the air is dry. My plan is to get on trail by one and do a mini presidential traverse this afternoon. I think I'll take Howker's, because it leads directly up Madison, should be dry, has great views from the Howks, and crosses over a waterfall. It's a pain in the ass to climb down, but it's a quick climb up. I'll stop by Madison hut for lunch, then summit Adams via Star Lake, and return by Lowe's path, maybe cutting over on Randolph pass. I'm figuring six hours. It's probably between 10 and 12 miles total with elevation gains of over a mile. Lemme check. About 11.5. Hmm. Maybe I should go down air line. I'll just have to improvise, and see how I feel. Regardless, I've been up over 4800 feet too many times not to actually start bagging peaks. Maybe I'll grab Jefferson too, as long as I'm up there, right? If I bust my ass, I could reach Madison in about 2:10, Adams in 3:10, Jefferson in 4:10, back by 7 hours. I think I'll pass on Jeff.

Even I think this is crazy.

Started on trail at two sharp, reached Madison summit (5367') at five sharp, hung out about 5 minutes, then made it Madison hut by 5:25, where I rested for 10-15 minutes, slugging water and eating a couple slices of leftover bread. Howker's is much longer than Valley Way/Watson. Took air line down, running some lower sections. Time down from the hut about 1:35 for a total time on trail of 5:15 (2:00-7:15) a total distance of about 9 ½ miles and a total climb of about 4100 feet.

Thursday, July 24

Thursday
Thursday morning
Steady rain since yesterday afternoon, with some stiff wind. I slept late (10:30) again. This is some tiring training. I'm pretty exhausted, but my legs are thoroughly enjoying the trails - they're definitely beginning to feel good. I'm sure it's also good for the heart. This would be a good day to rest up and give the trails a little rest. We'll see.

[Insert musical interlude of your choice]

Thursday night
The rain never stopped. In fact, it rained harder as the day went on. I even checked the weather and took note of the impending arrival of a long, thick band of storm frontage. There were thunderstorm warnings in maine, there was a tornado in Epson, but up here it just rained. and rained. and rained some more, but harder. I figured today for a 4 hour hike up to Madison hut and back, so I actually made it to trail by 4:00, though I skipped stretching for the second consecutive day. (note to self)

In addition to the driving rain, the wind was blowing pretty hard, and I don't think it was all that warm either. As I did yesterday, I brought along a thin, long-sleeved thermal shirt and my thick, lined windbreaker, rolled up and tied around the waist (great kidney protectors in case of a stupid fall, I guess). Yesterday I never unrolled them, because it was perfectly comfortable temperature for what I was doing, and it wasn't quite raining yet. Depending on weather, I always wear a Running School synthetic tee, usually short sleeve, like today. I was comfortable up to about 4000', because the Valley Way trail heads up Madison not atop a ridge, like air line and Howker's Ridge, but alongside the ridge in the valley. On nice days, air line is pretty quick, as is Howker's, and both have spectacular views, especially when you're following up the knife edge on air line, with steep ravines on either side. On a day like today, though, you'd be much more exposed to the wind and rain. Valley way is very sheltered, but for much of it, mostly on the top half, you're walking up stream beds. In today's case, with hyperactive streams still in them. Not that I mind, I don't at all. The water is cool on my feet and legs and washes the mud off my shoes. I stood in one for a couple minutes, letting the shower massage waterfall wash the mud off my calves. Almost all the mud is in the bottom half, so clean as my shoes might have been at the hut, they were muddy by the parking lot.

I made good time on the bottom, reaching the Watson trail before an hour had passed. The 22 hour soaking didn't really slow things down uphill - I made better time than yesterday, they just made it harder. I developed the practice of 10 breath rests on the steeper sections. I passed by 7 other hikers on the way up, and the same 7 on the way down. First I came up on a young strong father carrying two (light) backpacks, and his 12 or so year old son, overweight and not happy to be climbing a mountain. This was more than halfway up, but the hard climbing was still ahead. This was a little after five; they had been on the trail since one. Not good. Next, about a minute or two ahead of them were an older couple, as it turns out, Dad's parents. They're trying not to get too far ahead. They're in good shape. Finally, about 5 minutes ahead of them, were a young mom and her two daughters, 5 and 8! They were picking their way through a steep section, and seemed to be doing OK. There was still a long way to go at the pace they all were going, and the last third of a mile is exposed.

I felt good. Most of the soreness in my knee from Sunday's fall is gone, both uphill and downhill. About a half mile before the hut it began to feel cold, so I put the thermal long sleeve on over the tee. I took it as easy as I could, maintaining a steady uphill tempo, resting every 20 minutes for 60 seconds, or for ten breaths if I needed it, which wasn't often. I reached the Madison hut at 5:48, for 1:48 going up, 5 minutes faster than Sunday, but feeling a lot better than I did then. I rested 12 minutes, talking to various hikers, then headed back down promptly at 6. At 6 they serve dinner at the hut. It smelled powerful good. I thought of food all the way down.

I put everything on, and was glad to have brought warm clothes. Saw mom and the kids within 8 minutes of leaving. The little girl was crying. She was wearing little girl sneakers with little girl socks. As she tried to wade across an icy stream at 4500 feet. Mom and big sister were trying hard to keep her spirits up. I assured them they were within minutes of warmth and dryness and food. This is no trail for kids, especially not today. Next I passed by Mom and Dad about 15 minutes down. They said to say hi to their son. His son was having a lot of trouble, with his own son. Hard to tell if he was whiny, unathletic or both, but he was sure struggling. I figure they still had at least an hour before they reached the hut, and some real rough climbing and water traverses, too. I hope they save them food. I told Dad his Pa said "Hi." I had the bottom half of the mountain to myself and took it very, very easy (it was quite slick). I also did a little sightseeing at the more torrential waterfalls and rapids, as I switched over to the brookside trail for part of the way back. The trip down took 1:53, a little longer than the trip up. Some running on the way up, none down. It was pretty dark, and not quite 8 yet. No fall, no slip, no blood. No exhaustion.

I feel good. I hope the weather is nice tomorrow. This is fun. Maybe I'll take some pitchers.

Wednesday, July 23

Wednesday
Another day of perfect weather! Cool, overcast, occasional rain. And I think my legs may feel, dare I say it, good. The question arises, is it reasonable to expect to hike 2-4 hours every day, at an average grade of almost 1000 feet per mile? It really doesn't include a whole lot of actual running, but my heart rate stays high and the legs work hard. I mean, this shit is really exhausting!

I did a bunch of research online today, looking for descriptions of the various routes up Mount Madison (5367 feet, starting from about 1300 feet). First of all, I was mistaken; last spring I went up Short Line, not Air Line, because I remember passing by Mossy Falls. Which means I've taken Short Line, Air Line and Howkers Ridge trails up to about 4000 to 4800 feet. The unanimous online consensus from trail folk is that Valley Way is the easiest way up. Valley Way goes straight to Madison Hut (4800') in about 3.8 miles, and from there it's about 0.4 miles to the peak. Optionally, you can split off Valley Way after about 2.4 miles (3350') and take Watson's Path directly to the summit of Madison in about 1.5 miles. Hmmm. That's a 2050' climb over 2.4 miles (850'/mile, 16% grade) followed by 2000' climb over 1.5 miles (1330'/mile, only a 25% grade - the Mt Washington auto road has an average grade of 11.6%). Piece of cake.

I can't let myself get tempted to do really stupid things (because I'll do them every time), so I wait until late afternoon to hit the trails. I start at about 5:30 sharp, giving me no more than three hours of light. I'm planning on two hours so I can call it an easy day. Valley Way is a great trail, especially if you plan to run, but I didn't stretch today, so I fast hike it, reaching the Watson cutoff at about 62 minutes, about 26 minutes/mile. I take Watson for a very easy 8 minutes for 70 minutes out, up to about 3450' then head back. I take it real easy and careful on the top section down, anxious not to bust my ass, but the bottom two miles is almost entirely runnable, so I runned it. In fact I felt pretty good and totally enjoyed running it. As soon as I reached the car, the deluge began - good timing. For me at least, not so much for the three people I passed about a mile back, who probably still have 30 minutes left on trail. 50 minutes back for a total time on trail of 2 hours. That makes two days in a row without hurting myself. A new record!! (beating yesterday's record of one day in a row)

So I'm thinking it should be possible to summit Madison in about 2 hours, and to get back within 4. The question is, do I do it as a morning workout and get home before noon, or wait 'til 4 and try to get back before dark? Or is there a stupider option I've missed?

Tuesday, July 22

Tuesday
178 pounds. My legs are still sore, and if I sit down for more than 10 minutes I walk like I ran a marathon the day before when I get up. I feel like I lost all fitness while down south. While in Florida, I could actually SEE it decline! My dad had just had a double bypass, and the kids were taking turns staying with him. I went last and stayed until he could mow the lawn and hoist the 5 gallon water bottle, then a week or two extra, for luck. My stay overlapped with those of Lorelei, Chris and Tony, so I got to hang out with some brothers and sisters I don't see often enough. Anyway, dad was checking his blood pressure three times a day with his spiffy automatic sphygmomanometer, so we kids did the same. It was a contest, of course. When I first arrived, I would usually win both bp and hr, with numbers like 124/78 and 52. By the end of six weeks (or thereabouts, all the days fade into one tiki bar blur) I'd get stuff like 148/90 and 60. Hell, another six weeks and I'll be having the bypass. Except for the one day I hashed, and one day I played 18 holes of golf (with cart, NObody walks the game in south fla), I got absolutely no exercise. Unless you count Golden Tee Golf.

I like to get at least an hour of exercise a day, so to make up for the last three months, I should get four hours a day for a month. Right? Of course not. That's just crazy talk. I need a sensible training plan. Let's see, what am I training for anyway? Hmmmm……. Something to do with mountains. Something stupid and dangerous. Oh yeah, that's right, the presidential traverse.

I couldn't help myself. Reading the map, looking at different routes up Madison, I just had to have a little peek at another. There are numerous trails, including one which is dead flat and soft along the old train line (which does not go up the mountain), so I figured I could just take another easy day. The day was overcast, cool and occasionally drizzly, again, just the way I like it. From the parking lot, I took the train trail - 1 flat mile east to Howker's Ridge trail. I walked the mile, just to warm up the legs (I stretched at home) in about 15 minutes, then turned up the trail. The trail has a real nice lower section, much of which is runnable, then turns steep. There are a couple nice waterfalls, including one you have to cross. It's maybe a little faster than air line on the way up, but much easier on the way down. There are a series of promontories called Howks, with very dramatic panoramic views. I didn't get onto the trail until about 5:15, so I decided to go up for an hour and a half, which would get me back before dark, absent any misadventures. And there weren't any. I stayed on my feet the whole way and did NOT finish bleeding! First time for everything. 90 minutes up, 83 minutes down. The legs even feel a little better.

Monday, July 21

Wake up at 8:30, hobble to the bathroom, then go back to bed.
Woke up when rested. Hobbled into the LR, turned on the telly for the morning Charmed session. What's this? No Charmed? I check the guide and see that it's 12:30! Holy Crap! Did I really sleep 4 extra hours? My legs feel like crap, especially the banged up left. I go out shopping and the walking around helped a lot; it doesn't feel like anything internal was hurt, except some muscle bruises. I bought the AMC trail map today. I've got to do a Presidential traverse. First week in September. 19 miles, 9 of New Hampshire's 48 4000 foot peaks, including the 5 highest. 12 hours. I must do this.

Ran 2.8 from home at sunset, though it was still mostly cloudy. Stretched well beforehand and, while a little stiff and sore, I didn't find any major pains or limitations. Very awkward and painful for the first mile, with some unsettling discomfort on the front of the knee just below the kneecap. Began to feel better near the mile mark, but passed in a septagenarianistic 10:20. The second and third miles were quicker, as I was beginning to feel better, and that knee thing faded away. The second mile was around 7:40, but then I ran into one of my (recently graduated) athletes at the HS who was out for a jog, and I ran with him for a bit, at a casual pace so we could talk. It was great to see him. I really missed coaching this spring. Lancaster is having their road race this Saturday. I must attend.

I should do an easy double tomorrow and get back on the trail Wednesday.

Sunday, July 20

Sunday three in the afternoon, and I think I'll hit the trail. I'm thinking two easy hours up, one easy down. heh

I'd been slugging out at home all day long, and it sure felt great. I haven't been home in more than three months, and every place I visited (Virginia beach, Cape Coral) was hotter than hell. Over 90 degrees every day, muggy, and hanging over all the smell of burning swamp fires. In Suffolk, VA, the "Great Dismal Swamp" is burning. Because it is the ground which is burning, and it has an organic layer averaging something like 6 feet thick, the rains haven't put it out - they need a hurricane. It started a couple months when a piece of logging machinery caught fire. The logging machinery was clearing brush from a hurricane several years ago, because the brush was a fire hazard.

It's so miserably hot in south florida, and the sun is so strong, the streets are deserted between about 11 and 5. I asked my dad, "where do kids who live here go during the day?" It was summer vacation, and you couldn't find a teenager outside in the middle of the day. He said they go to the mall. Ninety degrees but it feels like 102 because of the stifling humidity. Uncivilized. Yahoo told me it was 79 and overcast in Whitefield. Mmmmmmm, that would be comfy. Every day I'd tell someone how much I missed the north country.

I'm finally back, and I've spent my first day and half relaxing in my very own home, all alone and so quiet. It's been raining, sometimes heavy, sometimes lightly, for the last 24 hours. It's three o'clock, and I figure it's time to say hello to the trails. I delayed my trip down to VA in the spring by a day so I could take a (first and) last look at the trails connecting the mountains of NH. That day, I took air line from the Appalachia parking lot up (Durand ridge next to King ravine. That day I climbed trails covered with an average of 6 feet of snow, and made it about 3.5 miles (about 4740 feet, up from about 1240) in two hours, and about an hour and a half back. I saw a couple skiers on their way down and I was less than an hour up. They looked at me as if I were crazy! Was it because I was wearing simple running gear, shorts and tshirt with running shoes? I had my emergency gear with me - a bandana. I ran (OK, so most of it wasn't technically "running," as the trail is pretty damn rugged) most of the way up Mt. Madison, turned around and ran back, passing them again just before the trailhead. Who's crazy now, silly skiers. You may not be bleeding, but I can go up and down in the time it takes you to come down. I took a pretty good fall about halfway down and had some nice bruises and gashes which took a couple weeks to heal. Also scraped my shins in about a thousand places on the ice crust, mostly during the run down. It was a great trail, and the next day it was 90 and muggy in VA. So damn hot.

I grabbed some appropriate synthetics to wear in a cool rain. Despite the unrelenting rain, I hadn't heard any thunder all day, so I didn't worry about the weather. I filled a bag with dry clothes and a towel, wrote the first line of this entry (sarcastically) and was out the door at about 3:15.

Appalachia parking area, 3:37. I spend about ten minutes getting dressed and adjusting my hydration. It's certainly warmer than it was in March, but it's still cool and overcast and drizzly. I love this weather. At 3:47 in the afternoon, I start up the mountain.

I don't run much. I'm just planning on maintaining a quick, steady pace, letting the climbing do the work. Besides, it turns out the trail is much more runnable in winter, especially downhill. A good trail runner could run up most of the bottom half of the trail, steep as it is, but it is far too steep, rocky and slippery to run down, except a handful of sections no more than 30 seconds long.

4:13, and I'm wiped out. Crap. My gouty left foot hurts. I've been heading uphill for 26 minutes and I'm exhausted. I've gained back the 15 pounds I lost running last winter. Ran once in Florida, and it was a short, easy hash. Ran more often in VA, though they were all hashes and I was in FL longer than VA. I did manage to eat and drink a helluva lot, though, by golly. Man, did I eat well, and often, with gusto, and relish. A nice healthy carnivorous diet. An exceedingly unhealthy lifestyle for me. I feel like I lost any fitness I gained over the winter. I look like crap - pasty complexion, bags under the eyes, unshaven jowls. Did I really plan to climb a mountain and get back down before dark? Was I kidding when I wrote "2 hours up, 1 down?" Well, it doesn't matter, I tell myself. I'll rest after an hour. The trail steepens and narrows.

30 minutes. I'll rest in 30 minutes. Steady, quick pace uphill.

40 minutes. I'll rest in 20 minutes. Still steep, steady pace, making good time.

50 minutes. I'll rest in 10 minutes. Making good time.

60 minutes. Where's my damn rest?

67 minutes. I'll rest here. Nice log to sit on, and a rare section of level ground. It feels good to sit. My foot isn't bothering me any more, and I feel better. It's not yet 5 o'clock, and I'm sure I've covered about 2.5 miles. Two minutes rest and I'm heading back uphill. I've known all along I was serious about going two easy hours up. In March, I didn't make it to any particular landmark, and turned around after two hours at some anonymous twist in the trail. This time, I wanted to make it at least to Madison hut, 3.8 miles up, at 4800'. My goals for the next few weeks, as I get back into shape, include making it to the top of Mt. Madison, Mt. Adams and both. I'd like to do both and get back down within 4 hours. The trail gets rougher, as it winds up following a narrow ridgline with steep ravines falling away on either side. That's right after you pass the DANGER sign warning about the coming alpine region. It's cooler now, about 50-55 degrees, and the wind is blowing pretty good on the ridgeline. I stopped to enjoy the feel of the wind on my face, and to laugh. I love the mountains. Man, I could do this every day!

I reach Madison hut at 5:40, about 7 minutes faster than 2 hours. Good enough for me. That comes out to 30 minutes per mile, gaining about 1000 feet per mile (average 20% grade) on rough trails. It's large and warm inside, with benches and water and food and maps and stuff and people even. They might have looked at me as if I were crazy, but maybe they just had their own crazy looks. I don't sit, for fear of stiffening up. I'm very tired. After about 6 glasses of water, I head out the door at 6 sharp. The map on the wall says the normal time down air line is 2 hours 38 minutes. Let's hope not. My legs are wasted. Two and a half hours more would suck.

Must be careful now. The light is flat with the gathering gloom darkened further by rainclouds. I'm tired, the trail is soaking wet, steep and rocky. I DO NOT want to bust my ass on this trail. I've never finished a trail run without bleeding, but I'd like to today. What the hell is this old bald fat guy is doing at 4800' in running shorts, anyway? My legs are shot. They're not only tired, but painfully sore in about 4 spots. Very careful on the way down, yet still the occasional slip occurred. After the fourth time I slipped or tripped or stumbled, and managed to catch myself, I began counting. I'm not rushing at all now. Even so, every now and then, a little slip in the mud (but it catches itself and that makes 5) or a trip on a root (but I recover and that makes 6) or a stumble on a rock (but I grab a tree, and it holds, and that makes 7). 8, 9, 10. Ten times lucky! I AM INVINCIBLE! I'm less than a tenth of a mile from the parking area, and by now the trail is (relatively) gentle and easy. My legs are, as I said, wasted, but I'm running! Good time to relax and lose concentration, right? It's almost dark. Can you guess what happens next?? Is it too fucking predictable to stand?!? 11 strikes, my toe catches on a rock, I'm leaning too far forward and my trail leg is lagging. Tuck and roll time. Rocks got the outside of my right leg, one little gouge in upper thigh, one little gouge in calf, big mess around the knee. See photo. damndamndamn stupidstupidstupid



My legs are shaking when I get to the car (30 seconds later). 1:23 for the descent (book time is 2:38). There's blood running down my leg, but it's not too bad. By the time I get home, they've stiffened up pretty well. I stay off my feet the rest of the day, stay up late and have trouble sleeping.

Saturday, March 1

Saturday, March 1, 2008
Ran 63 minutes in light snow during the late afternoon. Most of the state received over a foot, but here in mountains we got totally gypped. For the second time in less than a week, as downstate received another foot earlier in the week when we barely got 6 inches. This time we didn’t even get that – only about 3 inches, but it was pretty enough to run in, and easy enough on the legs. For the second day in a row I ran to the high school. There is a one mile long access road which is kept smoothly graded with snow all winter. It’s a great run, my track kids run it a lot in spring as we wait for the fields to dry out. It is very nearly arrow straight, with a gentle v shaped profile – down and up in either direction. There are also trails all around the school, and they’re graded too, and tracked for cross country skiing. Not so great for running, though, so I took another trail which, though it went out into the middle of nowhere, was smoothly graded about 10 feet wide. So I took it, and after a quarter mile or so I ran into a logger running a skidder. I hope he’s clearing land for the new track complex! As I passed by the athletic fields, still covered with 25 inches of old snow despite being shortchanged this last week, I called out “30 days! You’ve got 30 days to get clear! Track starts in 4 weeks and 2 days!” Actually, I did it several times. There are mountains of snow 12 feet high surrounding the parking lot. There are windows in some of the first floor rooms covered to the top with snowdrifts – at least 8 feet high. I anticipate a banner mud season this year.

It’s been awhile since I’ve kept my training log, but I have been doing maintenance training – a fairly long run or swim every 2-3 days. I haven’t been to the pool since last Saturday, and probably won’t go back for a little while. I don’t know if the pool was causing it or just aggravating it, but swimming was absolutely killing my sinuses. Maybe it was just the last remnant of that stupid cold from earlier this year, but it seemed that every time I swam my sinuses would go through a week of hell. I really feel bad for people who suffer from chronic sinusitus – I felt as if my head were going to explode. Even the neti pot didn’t seem to help. They finally cleared up yesterday, maybe the day before.

Yesterday I ran to the school and back also, leaving out the extra trail near the school but adding a little trail foray closer to home. It was close to six miles, and I figure today was close to 7. I yelled at the fields yesterday also. Maybe they’re putting up a dome with in indoor 200 meter track. Oh, I’ll bet you anything that’s what the logging in back of the school is all about. Clearing land for the dome. Yup.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Swam 4500 m, 85:10. 9:27, 9:16, 9:17 (27:59 for 1500, 29:52 for 1600), 9:19 (37:18), 9:21 (46:40), 9:27 (56:07 for 3000, 59:56 for 3200), 9:33, 9:37, 9:53.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Friday, February 15, 2008
What a week. My school’s Principal’s father died Saturday. My landlord/neighbor died Sunday. On Monday, at school, things turned much worse. Pat’s dad, Lew and those around them had been on their particular road awhile, knew what was ahead, and dealt with it calmly and rationally. Lew in particularly is an inspiration to me, for the way he never seemed to let his inexorable decline affect his life. So Monday I have lunch duty (7th/8th grade). On of my 8th grade students comes up to me in the middle of lunch and says her dad is her, can she go out to see him (you can see the reception area from the caf)? I say “sure” and she goes out, then comes back a minute later and says she’s being dismissed. I tell her “I hope everything is alright.” She leaves, lunch ends, and we all go back to the afternoon classes. A couple hours later, during my last class of the day, one of the other 8th grade teachers come into my room and tells me that the girl’s mother was killed that morning in a crash with an 18-wheeler while on her way to work. She taught elementary school children at a small school in Vermont. I work at a small school also, and the 8th grade, by statistical anomaly this year, is 2/3 girls. All of these girls who seem so melodramatic at all times over all things are now facing real-life mortality and sudden, shattering loss up close and far too personally. Tuesday’s after-school discussions with the kids lasted much longer than normally also. 8th graders can be prodigiously, umm, … “communicative.” And they can be so incredibly emotionally needy. I don’t mean that negatively, that’s just the way kids are. They “need” emotional interaction. I’m totally cool with that. I just need to conserve my energy, to spend it on them and not myself. I’m happy not be compulsive about running/swimming every day. There are some things much more important than my own personal desires.

The weather wasn’t ideal for running or swimming anyway, with alternating snow and (almost) thaw leaving the roads rutted, icy and totally crappy for either running or driving to the pool. Then on Tuesday I HAD A GUEST!! Can you freakin’ believe it??? Somebody came to visit me!!! I am such a gawdamn hermit that I was totally surprised. I love surprises! Anyhoo, it was easy to take a little time off (Wednesday was a snow day – about a foot or so of heavy wet), but tonight I’m back to just lonely little ole me and absolutely had to swim. And I’ve been visualizing this swim for several days (that’s my “secret tranining”), so I’m certain that it will be be my finest workout ever.

I was slow getting out of the house, and didn’t get to the pool until exactly 7:00. They close the pool at 8. I’m hoping to do that 2 mile/sub-60 minute swim tonight, so I’m about to ask the owner if I could get and extra 5 minutes tonight. He beats me to it, though, and his first words to me after walking in the door are “I have to close the pool exactly at 8 tonight, so don’t dawdle.” D’oh. I figure it’s just as well. I’m all bound up; the right side of my back goes into spasm at any location at the slightest touch. I really need a good massage therapist. (Beth from ’91-‘95 was instrumental in many of my best racing seasons.) I stretch well and start swimming at about 7:15. I plan to swim quickly and efficiently right from the start. Almost from the start, though, I decide to do something completely different. I normally warm up with a couple easy, shakedown laps, usually breathing every 2 strokes, right side, then switch to breathing every 1 ½ stroke, alternating sides, of course. Today I decided, spontaneously after about half a lap, to stick with the 2 stroke pattern as long as possible. Which turned out to be the entire swim, 2500 m. It changed my mechanics quite a bit. In order to get oxygen quickly enough, I had to eliminate, almost completely, the two rest portions of my stroke (glide and recovery), and also speed the overall tempo up quite a bit. This created greater force, thus greater torque on the shoulders (my left is still weaker than the right, but is much, much stronger than 3 months ago). To reduce the stress on my shoulder, I increased my shoulder roll just a shade, and tried to stiffen the upper body while keeping the legs loose and pliable. I also did all my breathing right side, where my range of motion is better. It felt good! I could hear the water rushing past my ears, and the laps passed quickly. As usual, nobody was in the pool, indeed the pool area at all, throughout the entire swim. I busted it pretty good all the way through, beginning to tire at about 1500 m, but able to maintain tempo and pace (with very intense concentration – much like the third third of a marathon) completely through 2000 m and almost to 2500 m.

2500 m in 44:50. 500 m splits: 8:56, 8:52, 8:56, (26:44 for 1500, 28:34 for 1600 m), 8:58 (2k in 35:43), 9:08. Damn. That felt fast and looks fast written down. Must be all that secret training. Well, I did say my goal was to be knockin’ down the 500’s in under 9 minutes (2/8/08). I really like the sound of that 90 minute 5k. Look for that before the end of the month.

I still need that massage. My back (right side only) is knotted from my head to my ass. Every friggin’ centimeter. A long series spasms or spasms just waiting to happen. I’ll try to soldier bravely on.

February 10, 2008

Sunday, February 10, 2008
Swam 2000 m in 36:17. 9:00, 8:55, 9:04 (26:59 for 1500, 28:51 for 1600 m), 9:17. Gotta stay ahead of Kerry. Usually, when I get out of the pool I’m nice and relaxed – barely breathing hard. Today I was working hard, and it showed. If I swam at maximum effort, I might be able to go 500 in 8:30. Might. But I can go 9 minute pace for 30 minutes and 10 minute pace for 90 minutes. Of course, if Kerry is going to be dropping 5 minutes off her mile time every week, I’ll have to do better. I might have to start … secret training.

13 Weeks complete - Saturday, February 9, 2008

Saturday, February 9, 2008
11.6 miles, mostly at a brisk, almost tempo, pace. I did my normal long run out and back, planning to do 10 but ready to do less or more depending on how I felt. As it turns out, I didn’t feel that good, and began to consider turning around at the three mile mark. I didn’t, though, and when I reached the four mile mark was surprised to find myself continuing down the road rather than turning back. Well, what the hell, I didn’t feel that great, but at least my legs weren’t sore. On the run back, I concentrated on keeping the turnover rate quick and the mechanics smooth. The roads were very slick, because there was a total snowpack on the road surface due to a foot of snow in the last two days, combined with temperatures right around the freezing mark all day and light snow/freezing rain throughout the run. I figure the slick roads are worth about 15 seconds per mile, which makes the overall pace of today’s run quite gratifying. I kept the pace quick all the way home, and stripped off the windbreaker, t-shirt and bandana at my house, then went out for another 1.6 easy miles for a cooldown wearing just a thermal shirt. This was definitely my best run so far. 8:21, 8:35, 7:28, 8:57, 8:33 (41:55 out), 8:18, 8:09, 8:06, 7:27, 7:50 (39:50 in!, 81:45 for 10.0 miles)
Today marks the end of my first 13 weeks training, and I’m pretty much on schedule. Total 364 miles over 91 days (exactly 4.0 miles per day).

February 8, 2008

Friday, February 8, 2008
Swam 2200 m, 41:12. 9;35, 9:14, 9:04, 9:07 (37 even for 2k). 200 cooldown in 4:12. I didn’t get to the pool until 45 minutes before closing, so I knew I could go fairly hard straight through. There might have been another 1000 meters in me at that pace, but the distance and intensity felt right. My next swimming goal is to start banging out those 500 m blocks in under 9 minutes, with an eye to getting a sub 90 minute 5k.

February 7, 2008

Thursday, February 7, 2008
3.8 miles at night. 24 degrees, snowing lightly after snowing most of the day. Felt strong. In fact, I had to hold back on the uphills, because I kept picking up the pace without realizing it. Good sign.

February 6, 2008

Wednesday, February 6, 2008
4.6 miles nice and easy, 38;33. It snowed 3-4 inches today, maybe a bit more, so the roads were pretty snowy and slick. I think about all those high school track athletes I’ll be seeing in a couple months. After the first few days of practice, half of them will be complaining about lower leg soreness – shins and ankles. You want strong lower legs? Run in winter!
Good volume and intensity last week. 28 miles running, 4+ swimming
I’ve decided to lengthen my shortest run to 30 minutes

February 5, 2008

Tuesday, February 5, 2008
6.2 miles mostly easy in 50:30. 8:50, 7:53, 4:04 (.55 mi.), 5:40 (.7 mi.), 4:59, 8:08, 7:51, 1:37 (49:00 for 6.0), 1:30. Did I really average 8:08/ mile (8 flat/mile over the last 5.2) running mostly easy on slushy, icy, hilly roads?

From 1/26
6.2 miles in 52:25. 22:05 out, 5:55 for 0.7 mile loop, 20:58 in, 3:28 for last 0.4
Today
6.2 miles in 50:30. 20:47 out, 5:40 for 0.7 mile loop, 20:58 in, 3:07 for last 0.4

February 4, 2008

Monday, February 4, 2008
That’s what I’m talkin’ about! An easy recovery run that feels like an easy recovery run. I didn’t want to do too much, partly because the last 4 days have been high volume and also because tonight is dart night. I got out just at 4:30 and received stunning vistas throughout the run. Picture a thick carpet of churning grey clouds in the distance, with three equally spaced mountains jutting through like ^^^ and their snow capped peaks glowing with a pink rose petal hue. They are about 15 miles away, as the crow flies, but adjacent the aforementioned presidents (from this point of view) is another mountain which, though smaller in size is larger in profile due to its being about 5 miles away. The clouds which obscured the bottom (and presumably middle) of the presidents is doing the opposite now, the top of the mountain is obscured but the bottom is clearly visible. And this was just in one direction. Look left. More left. Right. Behind. Mountains, valleys, ravines. I slowed down to a near crawl just to enjoy the sight. Anyway, I was a bit stiff and a little sore at first, but by the end of the run felt just fine. That’s my idea of an ideal recovery run – you feel your better when you finish than before. I almost went a couple miles extra, but decided not to. That’s called an iron will.
3.2 miles, 28:24.
And the wings were perfect last night.

February 3, 2008

Sunday, February 3, 2008
Will the Patriots be able to complete a perfect season? We’ll know in about 7 hours. I made a test order of wings last night, and they were nearly perfect. After swimming today I picked up the fix. I’m bringing them, and a six pack of homebrew (a pumpkin ale and a red holiday spiced ale) over to Becky and Dave’s tonight as a Super Bowl snack surprise.

I swam 4500 m in 88:26. The workout was one of those open-ended workouts. Swim continuously until I failed to finish two consecutive 500 m blocks under 10 minutes. I was hoping to make it to 5000 m, and could have slogged through another 500 m, but what would have been the point. Besides, I was working hard on number 8 and could only do a 10:05. 9:46, 9:29, 9:34, 9:32, 9:34, 9:45, 9:52, 10:05 (77:36 for 4k), 10:50. No problems.

Here’s a photo of the road surface upon which I run.
It’s pretty much all like this, except where the road is slippery.

February 2, 2008

Saturday, February 2, 2008
About 8.5 miles in about 72 minutes. It was warm and comfortable today, about 30 degrees, humid, with little wind. I tossed my hat and gloves in the car before I even left the driveway, and was perfectly comfortable, too warm even, for the entire run. I wasn’t sure how far I’d go. I cleaned the house all day (mainly dusting and vacuuming), then watched the Millrose games on the telly from 3 to 4. I stretched during the last 15 minutes of the meet and got out the door by 4:05. My legs felt a little stiff and sore, so I thought I might just turn back at the two mile mark and call it an easy 4.0. But by two miles I was feeling warmed up, and the next half mile section of road was nearly level, so I decided to go out another 4:15 (the first two miles were 8:32 and 8:34, for 21:22 out), turn around and call it 5 miles. The half mile split back was 4:39, followed by 7:47 and an uphill 7:59 (20:24 in). By then, I had been humping it pretty good to try and get that last mile in under 8 minutes (OK, OK!!! I stopped the watch a second early. I lied. It was only 8:00, maybe even 8:01. I’m still rounding it to 7:59), so after I took off the reflective vest and my windbreaker, I decided to go out for a little cooldown jog. Maybe .4 miles or so. But the instant I started out, I knew that wouldn’t do at all. It felt so nice and cool without the jacket, and it felt so good to be running nice and easy, I had to go farther. I decided to go out the other direction to the one mile mark, which just happens to be the top of the crest, with the 360 degree vistas. So I go out and back, then get back to the house, knowing it has now been 7.0 miles. Doing the math, (I had taken off my watch along with the vest and jacket), I figured I had been out about 59 minutes. If I’m going to run 59 minutes, I might as well run an hour. So I keep going, past the house again, to do the .2 out and back to the end of the road for an extra .4 miles. But then I think, if I’m going to run 7.4, I might as well run 8 and make it my long run, so I turn right at the end of the road. Then I take the first (and only) right after that. I’ve never been on this road before. It’s nice. Hey, there’s another road going off to the right. I’ve never even known this road existed! Now I’m almost 8 miles out, and running away from my house exploring a back country road I’ve never seen before just as it is getting dark. This is the kind of thing I love about running – exploring. So call it 5.0 miles in 41:46, about a minute rest, then about 3.5 miles in about 30 minutes. No. That doesn’t count as a double workout. But it sure was fun.

My International Buffet - February 1, 2008

Friday, February 1, 2008
Ran 5.5 miles in the freezing rain. Felt light and strong and had a lot of fun.
161 lbs.

I feel healthy. Taking some time off has really helped me recharge. And it hasn’t been a step back, either, because I’ve made some progress towards some lifestyle changes I’ve been intending for some while. I’ve cleaned and organized my home, which has helped my frame of mind a whole helluva lot. It feels great to sit here in the middle of an ice storm, having run earlier in the day, listening to the freezing rain spatter against the windows, with a nice warm fire crackling in the fireplace, a kitchen full of food and bread fresh out of the oven, finally getting a chance to pay attention to my glog. I’ve also adjusted my diet. My diet was pretty healthy before, but it is now much better. Eating healthily is expensive. $208! Granted, it’ll feed me for the better part of a month, but still, … damn. I’m cooking and baking a lot more, and have added a lot of fresh stuff that grows from the ground. I’ve dropped an unhealthy habit, and it has now been a month since I stopped drinking. Well, not completely, but this last Monday at darts I had exactly one beer (a Guinness, so it doubled as dessert). Granted, I don’t drink all that much while school is in session (I was hitting it pretty hard over the summer, though), but it was more than a Guinness a week. I probably weighed about 180-185 pounds at the beginning of September. I was 175 when I started training in November, and had gotten down to 165 by New Year’s. I’ve dropped about five pounds in the last two weeks, all while eating like I had my own personal nutritional chef. One who knows what I like. Jambalaya with hot Italian sausage, Irish soda bread fresh out of the oven covered with butter.
Yeah, baby! Peach jello with grapes and blueberries. Tiny lentil soup (the lentils are tiny, not the soup) with leeks and brown rice and all kinds of other yummy stuff, roasted vegetables, mashed turnips, garlic ciabatta bread with olive oil, frittatas with red, green and yellow peppers, onions and mushrooms, salmon and scalloped taters, latkes with sour cream and chunky applesauce, and some buffalo chicken wings. Yeah, I know what I like.

Yesterday in the pool and today on the road I could really feel the lack of those 20 extra pounds. I probably haven’t been under 160 lbs in ten years (with a peak of about 195 lbs!). I set some PR’s from 1992-1994 at about 155. I haven’t been under 150 since about 1984, but still have hopes to get thereabouts by November.
I hope to do a double tomorrow. Run/run or run/swim.

January 31, 2008

Thursday, January 31, 2008
Swam 2200 m in 41:30. 9:23, 9:19, 9:27 (1600 in 29:59), 9:28 (37:38 for 2k). Feeling strong and well rested. Average pace per 500 m = 9:25. Fastest 500 m block prior to today: 9:29.

January 27, 2008

Sunday, January 27, 2008
8.0 in 67:27. 34:33 out, 32:54 in (mile 8 in 8:01). Didn’t feel that great, but the pace was reasonably quick for a pretty easy effort, especially with most of the road still coated with packed snow/ice. Another bright day, about 25 degrees with a little cross breeze and stunning late afternoon mountain views. Any time I can wear shorts in January it has to count as a good day.

January 26, 2008

Saturday, January 26, 2008
Obviously, I missed something. But I think I might be a little closer to figuring out what’s been wrong. While I’ve been feeling crappy since early December, in addition to a general feeling of physical exhaustion and emotional ennui, there were both specific and non-specific physical symptoms suggestive of autoimmune problems. For example, my sinuses would go haywire at random intervals throughout the day and there were signs of systemic inflammation, especially around old injuries. Since getting my tooth repaired on Monday, I could definitely feel all the symptoms fading. Except the damn sinuses. In fact, after swimming on Tuesday, my sinus irritation dramatically increased and stayed that way for the next two days. Noooo! If something in the pool does this to me, I’ve got a problem. After a couple days thought and rest, though, I found a simpler explanation which I and Occam prefer. Although the sinus irritation/inflammation was exacerbated by the pool water, it was probably caused simply by the dry winter air. Easy solution, I broke out the old neti pot to cleanse, soothe and moisturize the sinuses. Within two days I felt 90% improvement. The real test will be the next time I swim – I should rinse the sinuses out immediately after swimming and, with a bit of luck, I’ll be able to make it to spring on my original nose.
Ran 6.2 miles in 52:25. 22:05 out, 5:55 for 0.7 mile loop, 20:58 in, 3:28 for last 0.4. Feeling fine. Cool, 18 degrees and clear. Great mountain views near sunset.

January 23, 2008

Wednesday, January 23, 2008
It’s 4:00 and I just put on my running shorts, then started giggling. I’m going to run!!! YIPPEEE!!!!

I’m a little nervous, though. During the last week (mostly) off, I’ve developed those running injuries I expected to occur, oh …., while running. My knee and hip both hurt. Note to self: when you don’t run, you don’t stretch. Later.

Back. Everything felt fine after the first mile, so I took the down and up 5.1 mile o+b. Today is probably going to be the nicest day of the week, up near 25 degrees and snow squalls alternating with bright clear skies. We’ve gained a lot of daylight since December. It now stays runnably light out until about 5:15, a gain of about half an hour. 12:36 (1.4 mi.), 9:10 (21:46 out), 9:40, 11:25 (21:05 in). 42:51 for 5.1 miles, mostly easy, but a lot of tempo running on the way back. It felt wonderful to run hard. I can’t wait to race. I can’t wait to HAMMER!! WOOO-HOOO!!!!

Then I’d have to back off the pace a little bit – one slip on the ice and I'll have a real injury. Excitable boy.

Coach’s Quote of the Day: “When in doubt, always err on the side of ‘rest.’”

January 22, 2008

Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Thank you Dr. Rosenberg. The minute he patched up my poor broken tooth I felt a tangible sense of relief and wholeness. It was as if there was a slow leak of energy leaving me feeling depleted and without reserves. I hope this gets me back to normal strength.

Swam 3700 m, 72:57. I lost count of 500 m blocks, thinking I had done 3200 m, but the watch doesn’t lie. 10:03, 9:34, 9:38, 9:46, 9:48, 9:59, 9:56, 4:13. Arms felt great. Breathing was smooth. Water was slippery. Swimming is fun.

January 17, 2008

Thursday, January 17, 2008
It’s 8:00 and, for the third night in a row I’m off to bed before 8:30 without running. As my pappy once told me “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Something’s broke.” About 5 days ago I began to feel the same energy-sapping symptoms I’ve spent much of the last 5 weeks fighting. Well, last time I fought it until the holidays, and the rest I got then helped me a lot. So I decided to get the rest in early this time, and I’m so exhausted by the end of the day that I would be struggling mightily to get out to run anyway. But the real question is ‘why?’ I haven’t been sick three times in the last 10 years, now I’m chronically ill with vague, inconsistent symptoms, including auto-immune responses. I get the feeling something is fucking with my immune system and last night I think I figured it out. Too bad it makes me seem like a dumbass. About 5 or 6 weeks ago one of the furthest back crowns on one of my molars broke off. It didn’t really bother me, though, so I did what I do best. I ignored it. Despite the good sized hole in the tooth. Dumbass. Anyhoo, the rest of the story writes itself. I can feel it gently throbbing as I type. Fortunately, I’ve got a real good dentist down in Concord and I’ve got a Monday appointment. I’m happy at not having to miss school. I hate missing school. Until then, though, I’m taking it easy and listening to what my body is saying (Sleep! Bake Cookies!). What the hell is it with the cookies, anyway? I made 70 cookies tonight to bring into school tomorrow, because the 50 I made last night went so quickly today. I’m not feeling well! I’m tired! Must bake cookies! Wahhhh!!!! Freak.

I’ve been too tired to glog. I hope my three readers aren’t worried; this is just a tiny little bump in the road. There are much harder things ahead.

January 14, 2008

Monday, January 14, 2008
Swam 3200, 61:57.
500 m splits: 9:55, 9:39, 9:37 (29:11 out), 9:29, 9:34, 9:43 (28:46 in, 57:57 for 3000), 3:59 (61:57 for 3200). Each of today’s splits was within 5 seconds of their counterpart from last Thursday (29:12 out, 28:37 in). I probably swam a bit easier today, but took longer taking my splits, as most of the lights were off and it was hard to see my watch.

My left shoulder is feeling much better – it used to begin crapping out between 1 and 2 miles. Now, I only feel a little twinge every now and then. Stroke refinement probably accounts for part of the improvement, as does increasing strength and plenty of (swimming) rest the last couple weeks (I’ve run 14 days out of the last 16 and swam twice).

January 13, 2008

Sunday, January 13, 2008
Easy 3.2 at sunset. This should be the last warm day for a bit. It was cooler than the last 4 or 5 days, probably about 30 degrees, but a warm 30. Everything feels pretty good, but lets hope the left foot doesn’t go hinky. It doesn’t quite hurt, but it feels a little stiff.

I spent much of the weekend cooking. Soup, jambalaya, latkes, roast pork with turnip and horseradish mashed taters, oatmeal cookies, mixed berry jello with blueberries. Food good. I’ve got all my lunches and most dinners for the upcoming week prepared.

January 12, 2008

Saturday, January 12, 2008
4 miles mostly easy at 12:30, followed by 3.2 miles a little uptempo at 4:30. 8:37, 8:27, 7:27 (24:31), 25:05 (5k), 26:08 (3.2 mi.). First double workout! Bring on the hgh! The second run felt better, but I got to meet a dog during the first. About 1.5 miles into the 2 mile out and back loop, a boxer came out of his yard just after I passed by. He gave a couple desultory woofs, then went back to his yard. I told him I’d be back in about 10 minutes, but he didn’t seem to be listening. Evidently he was, though, because on the run back he was waiting for me. Fairly young male, looks to be 12-15 months old, territorial but not exactly sure of where his jurisdiction ends. Nice looking dog, and certainly not vicious-seeming, but not a dog I’d turn my back on. I slow down, say hi and wave as I approach. He barks and starts circling around, gives a little test nip toward one of my heels then begins to circle for another go-round. I don’t think so. I stop, square up facing down directly at him, walking slowly toward him, point my finger at his face and say “Back off Dog! The road belongs to me!” After a moment of doggish thought, he seemed to remember something he left buried in the yard and trotted off. Alpha dog my ass, Pup.
Woof!

January 11, 2008

Friday, January 11, 2008
School was canceled today. Something about an early morning ice storm. I kept busy most of the day and got out to run at about 5, just as the last vestiges of dim light gave up their day-long losing battle. It was steady precipitation throughout the day, beginning shortly after midnight with a couple hours of freezing rain, followed by 2-3 inches of snow, followed by rain, then maybe some sleet. By 8:00 most of the new snow had been mushed into slush, then formed into ruts, destined to never be frozen solid, due to the freezing rain which was obviously thinking of changing into plain old rain. By 5 o’clock the wind was blowing steadily at about 25 mph, but it was pleasantly warm and I ditched my hat and gloves before the mile mark. After the first mile my legs began to feel strong and rested from taking the day off yesterday, so I decided to go long, from 5 to 7 miles. My road was mostly clear of ice, as it gets some traffic on Fridays, but some of the more shady sections were a little icy. When I got onto Hall Road, though (the big downhill), it was downright hazardous in spots. I’d be running along, nice and comfortable and easy, the road seemingly clear and smooth …. …. too smooth. Black ice smooth. You may be familiar with the feeling in your car, when you suddenly realize you’re not really in control – you’re just hoping to make it to the next patch of road with enough friction to control yourself. If the entire run had been like that, it would have been a real pain, but it was only a few sections of the road. Other than that it was a beautiful evening, just about perfect running temperature, and plenty humid with the rain. I think it stopped raining about halfway into the run, and I’m sure it was getting warmer. The visibility was pretty good – the diffuse lighting from the high rainclouds provides a nice even light, but I had my handlamp with me. At one point, I clicked it on to check a questionable section of road, but “click….” and no light. So, naturally, I pointed it at my eyes and tried again. This time it worked just fine, nice and bright, right in the old retinas. I immediately broke out into raucous laughter at the stoogeness of it all. Now of course, I’m running at night after an icestorm on mountain roads. Blind. Might as well do some bounding and springing drills. Excellent.

I added a couple miles extra after the 5.1 mile loop, and would have run more, but a little voice was nagging me, saying “save some running for the weekend, dude!” I wonder what it feels like to run in the daylight. Then I made some latkes for dinner. It was my first time, and I was nervous. It was a very traditional recipe, though, and they turned out incredibly delicious. It literally took me back in time to my childhood, eating my grandmother’s potato pancakes with sour cream and applesauce. The taste and texture was exactly the same, bringing back a flood of memories and feelings from my childhood. I can’t wait to make these in class with the kids. The latke lab.

Miscellaneous notes after yesterday, which marks the completion of two months of training (began 11/11). 250 miles total; ¼ of the way to my six month goal of 1000 miles, after 1/3 of the time, right on schedule. Weekly mileage trendline maintaining y=0.1735x+25. 58 days trained, 3 days missed. Beginning weight 175, current weight 164. And as a final note, I cannot remember the last time I saw a doctor (not counting dentists), but it may have been 13 years ago. The secret to good health – stay the hell away from doctors and hospitals.

Knock on wood.

January 10, 2008

Thursday, January 10, 2008
Swam 3050 m, 58:50, then they began flashing the lights on and off. 500 m splits: 9:54, 9:42, 9:37 (29:12 out), 9:29, 9:29, 9:39 (28:37 in). I was going to go another 5 laps and call it 2 miles, but the club owners obviously forgot to give me extra time. I was doing a lot of stroke experimentation, mostly pretty subtle stuff involving the hands, wrists, feet and ankles, but also some other, more profound mechanical adaptations. At about 1300 m I hit upon a sweet combination which made 9:30 500’s feel easy. I kinda wish I had gotten here a little earlier.

January 9, 2008

Wednesday, January 9, 2008
3.2 miles at night. Not as late as last night, more like 8:30. It wasn’t quite as warm as yesterday, but it was still about 40 degrees at runtime. And blustery. Like 60 mph gusts (I’m only about 10 miles from Mt. Washington) during the late afternoon/evening. Figuring the moon’s light wouldn’t be much more robust than last night, I brought the light, and it’s a good thing, too. There were lots of branches and trees knocked down, so the road, ordinarily smooth and pothole free, now had occasional sticks and branches strewn about. It wasn’t too bad, really, but I was glad to be able to see when I needed to. Car count = 1. Stupid traffic.

Running Blind - January 8, 2008

Tuesday, January 8, 2008
3.2 miles very easy at night, no time.
It was ridiculously warm today, actually over 60 degrees – too warm to run. I waited until 9:30, and it had gone down to about 45-50. It was mostly clear, so I left my little headlamp home (I took off the strap and carry it in my hand if I need to see the road or alert vehicles, usually no more than 10 seconds total per run, on average), assuming there would be plenty of light from the moon and stars. D’oh! New moon tonight. I learned that the stars alone don’t provide much light, especially with low-lying mist from the warm weather sublimating the snow. I’ve got pretty good night vision, but for most of the run, especially in the low sections, I couldn’t see the road or my feet at all. In many places I was running by feel, trying to sense the crown in the road, the only light being a faintly lit “V” directly ahead of and above me, where the trees opened up to the sky. I ran easily and even felt pretty good after warming up. In fact, it was a prototypical recovery run, leaving me feeling much better afterward than before. Tonight’s car count = 0.

January 7, 2008

Monday, January 7, 2008
Warm, overcast, slightly after sunset, but not dark yet. 40 degrees and calm.
3.2 miles quick in 25:15. 8:21, 7:50, 7:47 (23:54), :40 (24:34 for 5k), :41.
Compare from 12/30 - 8:12, 8:15, 7:27 (23:54), :45 (24:40 for 5k), :50 (25:30 for 3.2)

January 6, 2008

Sunday, January 6, 2008
5.1 miles (my new favorite run), 41:30 (8:08 pace). It was warm out today, somewhere in the mid-30’s. My road (the first and last 1.4 miles), while not completely clear or dry at all, had plenty of nice (albeit sandy) asphalt to get into a quick rhythm on. The rest of the run is on roads which really don’t get winter sun and almost no traffic, so they still had a good thick layer of snow. It’s a long steady hill, though, and the town is on the ball, so there was such a heavy layer of sand that it was a most excellent running surface. I changed heart monitors, and kept the HR locked on 140 for the entire downhill run, after using the first mile as a warmup. 8:41, 7:40, 4:04 (20:26 out, 8:01 pace). Looks like a negative split is out of the question.
My plan was to keep the HR near 145 on the inbound (uphill) run, and that’s pretty much how it worked out, with a few spikes to 150 on the steepest sections. 145 is a mostly comfortable pace, and I was able to maintain a decent pace up the hills and a pretty hot pace on the downhills. The splits back were 4:53, 8:21, 7:49 (21:04 in, 8:16 pace). Not half bad! Only 38 seconds slower on the run back, with about a 250 foot climb over the first 1.8 miles. I thought I would feel tired today, and did for the first half mile or so, but once warmed up my legs insisted on feeling good, and begged me to let them run fast. The best thing about winter training is running fast in the spring. I am now officially cautiously optimistic.

I used to be a good hill runner – my specialty, actually. They don’t kill me anymore (read November entries for a reminder of when they did). Once I get my long run up to 13 miles (scheduled for March), I’ve got a 13.1 mile loop which climbs Prospect Mt - 900' climb over 2.1 miles. Big fun in the spring sun.

January 5, 2008

Saturday, January 5, 2008
8 miles easy, 70:14. 8:14, 9:16, 9:13, 9:19 (36:02 out), 8:26, 9:25, 7:56, 8:25 (34:12 in). Nice day, about 25 degrees with no wind. It wasn’t warm enough to melt the snow on the road, but it was warm enough to make conditions slushy and slippery (but at least a dry slushy – slippery but the feet stay dry). It doesn’t make a big difference on the downhills – I’m used to slippage, but it makes the uphills impossible to maintain a decent pace. The HR was between 129 and 140, mostly about 132. Very comfy indeed.

January 4, 2008

Friday, January 4, 2008
5.1 miles, 26:00 out, 24:28 in, 50:28 total. Mirror Lake route (out=down, in=up). I really like this route. I left to run at about 7:45, and it was completely overcast, very dark, almost snowing, the air heavy with moisture, laden with snow. It snowed lightly throughout the day, and sometimes during the run I could feel tiny stinging sensations from small particles of frozen water hitting me in the face, but mostly it was a very quiet, peaceful run. It was comfortably warm, about 20 degrees, maybe 24, with just a gentle, almost caressing, breeze, so I ditched the windbreaking jacket and ran with 4 soft layers: thin synthetic, thin thermal, thick thermal, cotton high neck long sleeve. I always wear gloves to start, but they usually come off within ½ mile. Even yesterday, they came off for most of the last half of the run, and it was -10 by the time I finished. I didn’t mention it in the log yesterday, but I noticed how very much harder it is to run when it gets down to -5 or less. I could feel my HR greatly elevate just to keep warm – it felt like tempo pace to run 10 minutes per mile. Today felt much better, and without the windbreaker, there was no fabric rustling – the only sound for most of the run was the squeaking of my shoes on the hardpack snow and the gentle sounds of my breathing. And I ran really, really easily! I’m not a fan at all of running “junk” miles, but tonight it felt wonderful to run effortlessly during a pleasant evening. I also did an easy set of form drills, high knees, butt kicks, wall slides (the kids call it either clydesdales or prancing ponies). I only saw three or four cars overall, and none during the middle 3 miles.

It only got down to -22 last night, but there is a long warming trend coming up. It’s actually supposed to be in the 30’s and 40’s for the next 7 days! I’ve already run 6 out of the last 7 days (31 miles running, 4 meq swimming), but if my gouty left foot can handle it (it hurts just a little after today’s run), I should get some nice running in over the next week. Tomorrow ends week number 8. First 7 weeks logged 22, 28, 26, 28, 35, 28 and 28 meq. An 8 miler tomorrow gets 35 for no. 8. Weeks 9-12 are scheduled for between 35 and 40 m/w. Next week starts one double workout per week!! I love double workouts!!!

January 3, 2008

Thursday, January 3, 2008
3.2 miles just after sunset. 30:15. Brisk, -5 degrees, no wind. Tonight is expected to be colder than last night, one local forecast was for lows between -25 and -10. Whenever they give a range like that, I know which to expect. I’m going for the -25. Maybe I should start my morning runs tomorrow. Oh, yeah! I’m definitely going to do that! I’ll play darts tonight, then get up at 4:30 so I can enjoy the unique pleasures of a run in the predawn 25 degrees below zero darkness. Only 57 degrees of frost? Pah! I don’t even wear a shirt until there’s more than 60 degrees of frost. Bring it on! (Really, though, I won’t get out of bed until after 7 – zzzzzzzzz)

Random notes
Last 7 days = 40.1 meq, 26 running, 14 swimming
Mileage goals: January – 160, February – 170, March – 200
Previous mileage goals: November – 70 (actual – 73), December – 130 (actual – 132)
Daily goal no. 1: Stay healthy
Daily goal no. 2: Have fun

January 2, 2008

Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Swim 2000 m, 39:55. 400 m splits: 8:12, 7:38, 7:33, 7:32 (30:57 1600). Easy 400 m cooldown in 8:59. I’m feeling a hankerin’ for a sub-30 minute mile. Sounds like a great tempo workout.

A cold front came into town today. The temp dropped from something like 25 this morning to 7 degrees at 3 o’clock. After tonight’s swim (8:00) it was -1 and right now, 9:30, -13. Looking for -20 by morning, with a high near zero for tomorrow, if things break just right. I’ll be running outside tomorrow.

2008 - Year in Review

Let it not remain unsaid that I never jumped on or off a bandwagon, whatever the hell bandwagons are. Wagons with bands in them, perhaps.

But other bloggers have done year in reviews, so I will also, just to be like them, if a bit stupider.

It's been a sweet year, although I slept through most of it. I slept about as late as I can - about 10:00, enjoying some pleasant semi-directed dreams. It is currently half past noon. I had a very satisfying cup of coffee, Hawai'ian Macadamia Nut, with one the banana peanut butter muffins I made last night. I'm now starting a second cup, this time decaf hazelnut, with a second muffin. It started snowing lightly about half an hour ago, but seems to have stopped. Looks like nice running outside. I'm undecided whether to swim and run today or just to run. I haven't had the car out of the garage in two days and I like it. I may run long again today, even though it would be reckless. I'll have to decide soon.

Other than that, I just saw a documentary on the telly which clearly showed that it wasn't Bill Rodgers or Frank Shorter or Steve Prefontaine that inspired two generations of American distance runners. In 1965, well before any of the previously named runners achieved notoriety, Elly May Clampett took up jogging in front of a national audience. Uncle Jed told her "you're showing more meat than a butcher's window." If I had a nickel ....

Large hunks of ice are falling off my roof, raising quite a racket as they try to startle me into mistyping. It takes a lot more than falling ice to scare me.

So that's about it for 2008. A very good year, but not quite great. I give it 8 out of a possible 11 Nobel Prizes.

Easy 5.1 mile o+b Mirror Lake at sunset. 24:41 out (major downhill), 23:34 in, 48:15 total. Snowing, little wind, 26 degrees. I picked the distance because 1) I felt good, 2) it's a nice loop, and 3) it represents the average miles per day scheduled for January.