Trail Running Benefits

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=19733

Y'all see this article? They didn't mention anything about the problem of poison ivy though.

20-miler

I did my second longest run ever (in terms of time) on Saturday at Mansfield Hollow State Park. Jessica, Dan, Karolina, and Niko joined me for the first 10ish (out-and-back to the dam). I ran with Jessica, Karolina, and Niko for the first 5-mile trail loop and by myself for the second. My legs felt decent until the last 5-mile loop. I did not do a good job of hydrating on the run. It's been tricky this time around, as it was unseasonbly warm this spring. Last time around, I carried a hydration pack, which worked very well, except that it was cumbersome for running.

After the 20-miler, we went swimming in the river. It was cold, and I was the last one to jump in. When I jumped in, Niko jumped on my head and bloodied and bruised my right eye.

Yesterday, I did a short recovery run at Northwoods in North Guilford. Jessica joined me and then did a few more miles on the roads. We ran the blue/orange alternative trail to Bluff Head but didn't make it to Bluff Head, as I missed a sharp right-hand turn. We wound up continuing northwest and onto some roads until turning around at roughly 15 minutes into the run. The difficulty of the blue/orange trail varies, but whether Northwoods as a whole is runnable remains to be seen.

Altitude

If I--as a runner who has never run at altitude before--was told that it would take the better part of two weeks to recover from running 10 miles (6 of which were at 10K race pace) at 5,000-plus feet, I would have responded, "no way." I also would have been wrong. It's not the lack of oxygen in the air, but the lower barometric pressure, that causes the beneficial effects--or, in my case, a large buildup of lactic acid--of running at altitude. I've learned that no matter the elevation, the air we breathe always contains 20% oxygen. It's the barometric pressure that varies. The higher up you go, the less pressure there is. The less pressure there is, the less oxygen there is in your blood...

I didn't seem to notice much of a difference in my performance at 5,000-plus feet. It wasn't until I ran again at sea-level when I began to notice a difference in my performance. My legs would literally not go. I had a very difficult time last week and even this week through Thursday. I'm not sure how coming up short on my 18-mile long run will affect my marathon performance, but judging by this week's long run of 15 and change, I would say that it will not affect it at all.

Week 11

Week 11 started on Monday (a day earlier than normal) at the Bolder Boulder 10K in Boulder, CO. My legs felt good for having run 16 miles two days before the race and a short recovery run the day before the race. Tuesday was a travel day--three flights from Denver, to Dallas, to Washington, D.C., to. Hartford/Springfield. I did four and change on Wednesday and six and change on Thursday. Both runs were difficult. Friday was a rest day. And then came Saturday. I had 17 and change mapped out but could only do 15 and change. I wanted to stop several miles before I actually did. My legs felt like lead, I was nauseous at times, and I was dehydrated. This same kind of thing happened in 2007, while training for the Hartford Marathon. During Week 11 of that buildup, I ran my fastest 5K the day before my long run. I had 18 mapped out but could only do 17. Racing during big weeks seems to be the culprit. Not to mention, I could have gotten more sleep and eaten better. Run and learn.

I was feeling pretty bad on Saturday and Sunday about not being able to finish my long run. However, a decent recovery run on Sunday made me feel better and gave me a confidence boost. I'm optimistic about Week 12.

Sunday Long Runs

Karolina, Niko, and I did 15 miles today at Mansfield Hollow. Jon and Diego joined us for the first 5. It was hot and humid, but we had a good time. Lots of swim breaks for Niko. We plan to make a habit of the Sunday long runs.

Ryan, word on the street is you and Jess ran the Boulder 10K? Can we get a report on how that was? Pictures?

Bolder Boulder

Early this morning, we arrived back in Connecticut from a trip to Boulder, CO. On Memorial Day, in Boulder, we ran the Bolder Boulder 10K. Fifty-thousand some-odd runners were expected, starting in 34 waves, 23 of which were qualifying waves. We qualified, by submitting recent race times, for the 12th wave. We were late to the start, as there was traffic from construction, but able to start in a later wave. (Runners were permitted to start in a later, but not earlier, wave.) Despite starting in a later wave (with slower runners--not that I'm fast), we were able to run without tripping over other runners, which I did a lot of at the Manchester Road Race (the only other big race I've done) two years ago. I was shocked at how well-organized the race was. Dr. Oz was at the start. Ryan Hall was in town, too. However, we didn't get to see Ryan. We learned at the expo the day before the race that he would be at Folsom Stadium, in which the race finished. Running into the packed stadium for the last few hundred yards was such an adrenaline rush. I highly recommend this 10K. It's not billed America's best 10K for nothing.

For having run 16 miles two days before the race, I'm happy with my time of 48:37. In fact, it's my 10K PR. Despite running 21 miles at 5,000 some-odd feet through Boulder (I biked it), Jess beat me by about a minute. Pictures from Jess' long-run can be seen embedded in the text above. The picture on the left was taken on S. Cherryvale Road. The picture on the righ was taken on the path that runs along S. Boulder Road.

My race photos can be seen here: http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=61703&BIB=DA506&S=230&PWD=

Jess' here: http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=61703&BIB=DA509&LNSEARCH=1&PWD=

On Memorial Day, after the race, we took a ride up to Rocky Mountain National Park. The Rockies were snow-covered and impressive. My new favorite animal is the Rocky Mountain Elk, although they seemed to be quite a nuisance.

10th week of marathon training

Tonight starts my 10th week of marathon training for the Missoula Marathon, which is on July 11th in Missoula, MT. Last year, while training for the San Francisco Marathon (which I registered for), I became sick with a tick-borne disease and was forced to stop training during week 9. Given last year's setback, completing week 9 this year felt like a huge accomplishment.

After reading the FAQ section of the Missoula Marathon's website and finding out that Missoula Marathon registrations can be transferred from one year to another in the event of extraordinary circumstances, I wrote the San Francisco marathon and explained to them what happened to me last year. A few days later, I received an email from the marathon stating that, in keeping with the "industry standard," it's the policy of the marathon to not allow the transferring of registrations from one year to another, but that, given my illness, the marathon would make an exception for me and allow me to run the 2010 San Francisco Marathon. Unfortunately, the San Francisco Marathon is only a few weeks after the Missoula Marathon and, also, a few thousand miles away. I haven't yet responded to the marathon about its offer, but I plan to decline it.

Week 6 long run

Who: Jessica Borsotti, Ryan Lamanna, and Jared Lamanna

What: Long-run

Where: Peoples State Forest, Barkhamsted, CT

Why: N/A

When: May 1, 2010 @ approximately 4/pm

(Temperature: 80+ degrees)

Jess did 18 and change; I did 11 and change. Jared hung for the first few miles and then was left in the dust. He did four and then biked the rest of the way. After running 11, I met Jared, drank some water, ate a banana, and hopped on my bike--with a quarter of a Nalgene full of water--in pursuit of Jess. On my way up the hill, I dropped the Nalgene, and within seconds the water had spilled from the Nalgene and begun running down the hill. My bad. I collected my water bottle and continued up the hill and onto Route 44. I don't know if any of you readers know Old North Road off of Route 44, but that was, I believe, the 13th (and the 14th?) mile of Jessica's long-run. I tried biking up Old North Road, but I had to stop and walk to the top. It was brutal. At the top, I hopped back on my bike and sped down the road. Finally, I saw Jessica up ahead, and when I caught her, she said: "There you are. What took you so long? I need water." I said: "I don't have any water." She said...What she said cannot be published here, due to its explicit nature. Despite my dropping the ball (no pun intended), she ploughed ahead. A few lots down from where I caught up with Jessica was a house, attached to which was an open garage, in which was a man who clearly had had one too many beers. I pulled into the driveway, placed my bike on the driveway, walked into the open garage, and begged for water. The man kindly threw me an iced cold bottle of water from his mini refrigerator and then went inside and filled up my Nalgene with ice and water. I thanked him, hopped back on my bike once again, and sped down the road. When I caught up with Jessica again, she took the bottle of water and was tempted to chug the whole thing. Instead, she sipped it every few minutes and finished--with plenty in the tank--what proved to be a very, very difficult 18-mile route. Yay!

Day after 16-mile long-run, Jess Borsotti triumphs at 4th annual A Community Racing for Research 5K

After a 16-mile long-run on Saturday, Jess won the 4th annual A Community Racing for Research 5K in 21 minutes flat yesterday. Results.

It was warm (in the 70s) for our long-run on Saturday in South Hadley, MA. Jess did 16, and I did the first 10, biking the last six. I secured my bike behind a group of trees, and coincidentally, at the bottom of a steep, half-mile hill. Before switching to my bike, I bathed in, and sipped from, a nearby stream. I tried to keep this a secret from Jess, but my wet hair was a giveaway. And then I continued to rub it in. Oh, well.

Boston Marathon 2010

Instead of streaming the 114th running of the Boston Marathon from a computer, Jessica and I decided to go to Boston to watch the marathon in person. We "started at the finish line" on Boylston Street. We watched the elites on TV at Whiskey's and then moved outside onto Boylston Street to watch them finish, along with scores of other runners, including Jessica's friends Kristyn (3:29:23) and Elaina (3:29:01). Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot won in 2:05:52--a new course record! Ryan Hall and Meb Keflezighi took fourth and fifth places, respectively. Hall set a new course record for an American (2:08:41--59 seconds faster than his time last year).

Jim2

During my 8th week of marathon training, building up for the 2007 Hartford Marathon, I ran a 6:52/mile 5K. I was shocked, given that my previous 5K PR was just shy of 8:00/mile, and that I hadn't ever done any speedwork. I was just logging plain, old miles, all of which were about 10:00/mile. I wanted to know how this could be, so I posted, back in August 2007, the following on one of Runners World's forums and received a thorough and helpful analysis by Jim2, which can be seen HERE.

Jim2 recently passed away after a long battle with cancer. See article here.

Marathon training -- week 3

Jessica and I are training for the Missoula Marathon, which is on July 11th in Missoula, Montana. We are following different marathon training plans, but we do our long runs on the same day. Jessica's long runs have been longer than mine thus far, and to ensure that she's hitting her splits, I've paced her through the first miles of her long runs (my long runs). Ha! It's very rare that I'm not running 30 to 50 yards back of Jessica. Even in that position, I'm pushing it.

I did nine today; Jessica did 14 and change, her longest run ever to date. She ran it at an 8:03 pace, and she said that she felt great, maybe her best since beginning training. I went out too hard today and, therefore, had little left in the tank for the hills in the later miles. I ran negative splits last weekend over a truncated version of today's long-run route and felt much stronger on the hills than I did on the hills today. Controlling the pace in the early miles is key.

I knew that Jessica was feeling good today, because she looked strong on the hills, cruising right up them. She had some doubts going into today's long run, as this week will be a tough week--48 miles--the most she's done in three or four years, but she wound up having a solid run.

Thirteen more weeks to go.