Gusto to the End
John's Running Blog

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty & well preseved body, but rather to skid in broadside, totally worn out & proclaiming WOW,  WHAT A RIDE!"  - unknown

Alright so I missed a few blogs. I haven't been running the last week and a half. For some reason I feel a little tightness in my left shin. I don' t think it is anything but I am playing it safe. So 1 week to go until the Double Boston. (BOS2X) for those of you who don't know last year I ran the Boston Marathon twice back-to-back (52.4 miles) to raise money for Dottie's Dream. I was blown away from the response and the money I raised. The money bought bicycles, exercise equipment for kids waiting with Cystic Fibrosis and will help to send a kidney transplant recipient to the U.S. Transplant Games this summer.

This year I am planning on running the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run out in Squaw Valley California to raise money for Dottie's Dream. OK, this one going to be tough. I am not planning on finishing this one under 24 hours. My goal is to finish it upright and get as close to 24 hours as possible. Oh yeah, Back to the Double Boston. This year I am using the Double Boston as a training run for the Western States. As if 52.4 miles isn't enough I am planning on Heading down and parking in Cambridge about 2 miles or so from the finish line. I am planning on parking about 4:40am and running to the finish line to meet up with a couple of other crazy individuals. We will head out to Starting line about 5am. I hope to complete my first marathon in about 4 1/2 hours and my second about the same. I am a little nervous about my time down right now but as coach says "The hay is in the barn" If I don't write before the Marathon check back for post run entry. See ya

Google map of my run  

Summary

Time of Day:   5:14am
Total Time:     39:56     
Pace:            7:30 min/mile
Distance:       5.2 miles
Average HR:   137 bpm
Max HR:         148 bpm
Temperature:  40 F
Wind              18 mph

I'm am trying to play catch up with my blogs.   Sorry for the delay Chief.  My work is moving from Cambridge to Wilmington the second week of May.   I am excited because being from Haverhill my commute will be much shorter and I will save a gallon of gas a day.   However,  The down side is that I am not going to be able to run in Boston.   I love running in Boston.   There are so many street that every day can be new.  

Today I decided to run through the North End.  My run basically stayed on the outside of Boston.  I concluded by running through the commons, up one side of Beacon Hill and down the other side before crossing over the Charles River and heading back to work.

  

This week because of Easter we decided to run on Saturday.   We were planning on meeting at the outhouse at Bradley Palmers State Forest in Topfield.  This was the location of the Fat Ass 50k.  There is a great 10k (6.2 mile) loop that has a great single track up hill.  We heading off at 9am.

I got to the park at about 8:30 and figured that I would get in about 3 miles before the rest got there.  When I arrived there were plenty of cars there.   I guess others also wanted to get in a little extra miles as well.   After I finished the 3 miles everyone was gathering about.   Gilly didn't waste any time getting us all of and running.  The idea was to complete 4 loops. (24.8 miles)   We all took off and it wasn't long before we split up.   This trail is one that most all are familiar with so we were off at our own pace.   I took off with Pierce and Scott.   Pierce (was a lieutenant in the marines, So I call him Lt) hasn't been around in a whie.  As he says he was up on the shelf for a bit.  I guessed he meant he was injurred.   Pierce was planning on doing 2 laps and Scott was planning on donig 4 or 5. 

My back never hurt me when I run,  but today was a little different.   This was the first time that my back hurt me during my run.   It didn't last long just for the first loop.  I think the reason was that I tried something different the night before.   Someone told me to put a board in between the Matress and boxspring.   Maybe that wan't the best idea to do the night before my long run.  The good news was the faster I went the less it hurt.  So we cranked.  The three of us had a great two loops.  The first loop was in 59 minutes.  The second was 56 minutes. 

After we concluded our second lap Piece played it spart and called it quit.   I wanted to wait around for others but scott was on a time schedule so he headed out.   I finally started on the 3rd loop.  I started running off by myself.   That wasn't very entertaining.   I waited up  for Lori.  Trust me not that I was ahead of her becasue I was faster than her or anything.  Lori, much like Carol, has kick butt times at Vermont and other ultras.  So I ran a good portion of the 3rd lap with her. This is where the "burn out then fade away" comes in.  Up until this point I was dtrong both mentally and physically.  Like I said I had a great first 2 loops.  Then cam the first fall.  It was a tiny root but it sent me down and rolling.   The first fall was no problem.  I stayed loose and didn't really hurt anything.  Sure enough, 20 minutes later another little root sent me down and rolling again.   However, for some crazy reason I didn't stay loose.  I tensed up.   That's not the best thing to do.

Considering my back was hurting on the first lap and I was worried a bit about my hip from this fall  I lost the mental edge.   I told Lori to go on as I stopped to stretch my hip and hamstring out.  It turned out that I had no problem with my hip but my hamstring ended up being a little tight.   I lost my edge.   I decided that i was not going to do the forth loop.  I am not sure if I was just being a whimp or being smart.  I like to think the latter.   Anyway here is the details.

The definition of an ultra marathon is anything over 26.2 miles.   26.2 miles, the infamous distance for years that was the focus of months of my training.  A year and a half ago I never would have even thought about going beyond 26.2 miles.  So there we were,  on a Sunday, 1 of 52 throughout the year, going out for a run.   We ran 27 miles.  Actually I still am pretty excited that I did it.  The next day I felt great. Well other than my back, my legs felt great.

We started off the day at 8am.   Coach said we were going out for 5 hours and starting at Bald Hill.   So let me start off by saying "Wow can that girl run".  That girl is Carol O'Hear.   She is my Western States buddy.  I am right in front of Carol on the WS100 lottery results for this year.  Now that is only because O'Connor comes before O'Hear.   That is the only time I will be in front of her.   I was extremely proud of my 23 hour 30 minute Vermont 100 finish.  just to put this in perspective.  Carol finished the Vermont 100 in 19 hours and about 20 minutes.  Yeah, Fast!  So my goal for the day was to try to hang with her.  

The group of about 15 started heading down the trail.   Almost all of our run was going to be on the Base Circuit.  The Base Circuit is a trail that runs from Rowley down to the Cape, about 200 miles or so.   The trails were extremely muddy from all rain and melting snow. We tried for the most part to avoid running in the mud and water since we had 5 hours of running ahead of us.  Granted,  we were not always successful.  Carol kicked it up a notch and I decided to hang with her.   We went out for a bit until we got a road and was unsure we say to go.  We headed back to the group and hooked up with them about a 1/4 mile back.  

Ed and Cheryl are awesome.  They stashed a cooler in the woods the previous day.  The cooler contained Gatorade, water and various assortment of food.  Did I say they were awesome.   From that point the group sought of split up,  some taking longer at the cooler while other decided to press on.   Gilly, Carol, Marty and I headed out first.  The goal was to get the top of this hill by 2 1/2 hours.  This hill is the highest point in Essex county. We had some laughs along the way every time we yelled back to Gilly who responded very eloquently " No Soup".  He didn't actually say soup but this is a rated G blog.   So this little saying became a motto for the day.

  I used to think road running was exciting,  until I hooked up with G.A.C. ( Gilly's Athletic Club) .  Trail running has added another dimension to my enjoyment of running.   If you want, every run could be different and unique.  Today was no different.   Gilly told me that we were coming up on a boardwalk.  Not just any boardwalk, this one was second only to Atlantic City he said.   So maybe this boardwalk isn't as wide as Atlantic City, only two planks wide to be exact.  It made the run memorable in it's own sense.

After we crossed the infamous boardwalk, we looked at our watch and realized that we probably won't make it to the top of the hill by 2 1/2 hours.   We decided that since we were running 5 hours whats another 1/2 hour or so.   Marty gave us fair warning, If with think we were at the top we weren't there yet.   It turned out that every turn we made the hill just kept going up.  We made it to the top took a breather and headed back down.  About 13 minutes from the top we passed Ed, Rob, Jen and There might have been others.  Anyway, they got lost.  The good news was that they too had there mind focused on the top on the hill and wasn't planning on headed back until they conquered it.  They were in for a long day.

We caught up to several others from the group on their way back.  Carol, Marty and I put the hammer down.   Well let me be accurate.  Carol put the hammer down and Marty and I just tried to keep her in site.   We had two thing going for us.   One, she was a little unsure of the trail and didn't want to get lost.  So she was kind and waited up for us.  Two, she tried to avoid the mud and water which slowed her down a little bit going around the mud hole.  Marty and I used this to our advantage and barreled straight through them to make up time.  Soaked feet didn't matter at this point. 

We got back to the cars with 5 hours 23 minutes on my watch, 27 miles.   Carol had to head back to the store so Marty drove her back.  I hung out first on the ground then in Gilly's front seat and waited for Gilly and Roy.   Great run everyone.  we definitely have some mentally tough individuals in this group.

We had some pizza before we left the store.  I called up Dottie on my way home and asked her if she wanted me to pick up any food on my way home.  She wanted pizza.   With out any hesitation I said " That sounds good to me"   Let's just say I had a lot of pizza that day.  I decided that I wasn't going to take an ice bath.  I woke up Monday morning and regretted that decision.   Prior to going to work on Monday I filled the tub up with cold water and dumped all the ice in the ice maker into the bath....ahhhh that felt much better.

Google map of my run

Summary

Distance: 27.59miles
Time: 5:23:58
Pace: 11:44min/mile 
Average HR: 138 bpm
Max HR: 198 bpm (The HR graph shows a spike that I think is wrong)
Temperature: 36 F
Wind 6 mph

Google map of my run  

Summary

Time:            0:39Distance:       5.18 miles
Pace:            7:29 min/miles
Average HR:   140 bpm
Max HR:         158 bpm
Temperature:  35 F
Wind              6.9 mph

Quick Blog.....Decided to do a little tour of Boston today. I headed up the Esplanade and crossed over at BU onto Commonwealth.   I headed down Comm Ave. and crossed over into the public gardens.  I love that beacon Hill Brownstones so I headed up to the top of Beacon Hill through one of  the narrow streets lined with those brown stones.      I took a bee's line through goverment center and Faneuil Hall, by the Boston Harbor, around the North End and Crossed back over to Cambridge to work.   I felt good so I decided to push  the last mile.

Google map of my run  

Summary

Time:            1:02
Distance:       8.26 miles
Pace:             7:36 min/miles
Average HR:   147 bpm
Max HR:         186 bpm
Temperature:  33 F
Wind              1.2 mph

I checked the bulletin board on Saturday night.  We were headed out about 8:30 for 4 hours.  With that being said I absolutely was not going to run before.  I got there about 8:20 and headed into the store to meet up with everyone.   We were planning on heading out from the store.   I like that.   We were on the road for about 2 miles before we headed into the trails.   I never realized all the forest land in Topsfield.  In addition to the two state forests today we started our run in the bird sanctuary.   We came upon this lookout tower about 3 stories high.  I had to get a look at the landscape from on top.    It looked over this marshy (is that a word?) wetland that I can only assume was a great place to look at birds.

I stuck up front a bit with Ed.  He is a little bigger than the average runner, but man this guy run.  He’s like a machine - Steady Eddie.   We wondered through the sanctuary over a bridge, through someone’s back yard.  At this point we crossed over a road and headed into Bradley Palmer State Forest.  This is the place for the fat ass 50k.  So now I am running along with Gilly and he starts talking about making sure I go up the 3 step and not around them.   Steps…we’re in the middle of the woods.   What the heck is he talking about.   There in the middle of the field 3 wooded step that looked like a podium.   Sure enough 1 by 1 every one of us ran up the 3 step and down the other side.  (well all except Jen).

So next we were off to the hills.  We headed up the hill and down the other side.  Gilly wanted to do that 3 more times.   I do like the hills so I tried to take it hard.   Chris and I were cranking down the hill on the return trip and Chris went down, twisted his ankle.  He did not even give it a chance to swell.  He was up and limping on it straightaway.   Sure enough, down the hill and back up.   I was in my own little world on the hills.   I went down one too many time and ended up doing an extra hill.  Some how along the way, my watch stopped.   It was about 2:05 into the run and my watch said 1:10.

We headed off to find some more hills.  Did I tell you Gilly loves those hills.   We headed to another little ski hill. Up one side and down the other.   We really had to did in deep to get up this last one.   As much as it killed us all we went halfway back down to run up with “Iron”.  “Iron” is an older gentleman, who from what I can gather, has done it all.

We headed back.  Randy, Lori and I took off.    As we got closer to the store we picked up Jason.  Man did I really have to dig down deep.   I spent my legs on the hills.  I loved it!   Randy was kind enough to hang back with me as Jason and Lori pulled ahead as we approached the last big hill by route 1.   AS we got closer to the store Lori and Jason double back a bit and the 4 of us finished strong.   My legs were definitely spent I couldn’t wait for the ice bath.

Like I said my watched stopped for about 55 minutes.  So all elevation of the first set of hill wa not recorded.   Here is the

Google map of my run  

Summary

Time:            4:24
Distance:       about 21miles
Pace:             N/A
Average HR:   141 bpm
Max HR:         178 bpm
Temperature:  31 F
Wind              21.8 mph

I didn’t do much running this week.  Dottie was out in Sioux Falls SD for training.  I spent most of my time out of work with Liam and Re designing Dottie’s Website.   I haven’t published the finished site so the link above goes to the old out-of-date one.

I typically run Saturdays on the road, however, I couldn't resist the fresh snow.   It wasn’t much but it snowed a couple of inches   I decided to head to the local trails for some Saturday trail running.    We have a reservoir here in Haverhill that has a castle and some trails.   First off…. Running in the trails by your self is boring.  Don’t  get me wrong there was definitely some cool sites and some fun/challenging sections (running around the outside of a field – see google map).  But they are not as exciting when you’re by yourself.

Google map of my run

Summary

Distance: 6.35miles
Time: 1:03
Pace: 9:55/mile
Average HR: 143 bpm
Max HR: 169 bpm
Temperature: 33 F
Wind 8.9 mph

Gym in the evening

Dottie and I headed to the gym about 40 minutes before it closed at 6pm.  So we were scrambling to get in our workout.   I decided, due to lack of time, to not try anything new.   I followed the Navy Seals 101 and the Core Advantage workouts.

Navy Seals 101 - Complete 5 sets of the following:   15 pull ups, 30 pushups and 50 air squats.

I only did 3 sets.  For the pull-ups, once again,  I used the machine that supports your weight.  I set it for 58lbs support.

                           Set 1     Set 2     Set 3        total
Pullups                  10         10         10             30
Pushups                20         20         20             60
Air Squats             25         25         25              75

Core Advantage -  As many sets as you can do in 20 minutes:  5 overhead squats, 10 glute/ham situps and 10 glute/ham back extension.

I did 9 minutes with a 30lb barbell for overhead squats.   I completed 7 rounds  I replaced the Glute/Ham situps with stiff leg leg raises.

                                          Total

Overhead Squats                     35
Leg Raises                              70
Back Extensions                      70

You probably sick of me saying this, but this was a great Sunday run. They just keep getting better and better. To start with the snow on Friday made for an absolutely rememberable run. Just like every Sunday run it was about mostly all trails. Fresh powder!

I got to the store about 7:35am. I remember last week Gilly mentioning that we would probably start our run at 8:30. I stopped into the store just to make sure. Yup, we were heading out from the store at 8:30. I decided to head out for 4 miles prior to the run. I didn't get in as many miles as I wanted to last week. I did a quick out and back averaging about 8:15/mile. When I got back to the store I found out that we were planning on doing 3 1/2 hours.

We headed up an abandoned railroad track for about 2 miles. Gilly took the lead and then Rob and I switched off breaking the trail. (Making a path in virgin snow) I really wish I had a camera. I might just buy a cheap one so I can carry it with me. The sites were unbelievable. It is always interesting to see the animal tracks. Dear leaves tracks like they had a few too many shots of whiskey. Ed took the lead as we headed into the woods. I stuck close to him since he seemed to know the woods pretty well. We got a little ahead of the group and turned around to catch up with the others. We all decided to head back and pick up a few guys who might not have gotten the word that we left a half hour earlier from the store. I spent a lot of time breaking the trial. Not because I think I am leading the way but more because I just like the beauty of breaking through the fresh snow is just a great experience. My goal for this run was to push hard and burn my legs out for the first couple of hours so that I really would have to dig down deep to finish the last hour. It's a mental thing…I like that stuff.

We were out about an 1:40 when we found ourselves crossing a frozen water crossing that turned out to make Rob's day a bit more exciting. He broke through the ice. Thank God it was only up to his thighs. The water was fridged. Impressively though, he toughed out to finish the 3:30 hour run.

When I returned to the store before we went out I sought of forgot to put my food in the pack. So I had no food for my run. Not a smart thing to do….Bonkings not fun. However GAC has a lot of generous individuals, which got me through the run. One of the highlights was, while standing at the top of this hill Gilly decided to bobsled down it without a sled. Ed followed as did I. It was a blast but fun sometimes comes at a cost. We had to climb back up this steep hill. Gilly and I put the hammer down on the 1/3 mile stretch of road. He thanked me for pushing but I think we fed off of each other. Like most Sundays several of us race to the end. I led for a while but my legs were blasted. I arrived to the store 3rd, well it would have been 4th if "Big Man" Ed didn't decide to conquer a hill for the fun of it.

Now let’s get to the best part of the day. We were hanging out at the store and Cheryl gave me this unbelievable snack she made. She told me how she made it and I made her repeat it several time. So here it is....Saltines covered in Chocolate, a buttery/sugar coating with sliced almonds. I stopped of at the food store, pick up the ingredients and made it this afternoon. Alright, I am not the best baker so it didn't look as neat as hers but it tasted almost as good.

I had to do the unthinkable. In the past, to improve my recovery I have taken ice baths. Yes, a full bath of cold water with all the ice in my ice maker floating on top. It’s a mental thing to actually convince yourself that inflicting this pain on you will help you in the long run. After I convinced Liam (my son) that he cannot play with his boats while I am in it, I submerged myself up to my belly button. Fa fa fa freezing. 10 minutes watching the clock closely. Actually you eventually get numb. The pain sets in when your out of the bath tub and you start to thaw out. Hopefully it will help.

Great job to all!

Google map of my run

Summary

Distance: 20.7miles
Time: 4:01
Pace: N/A
Average HR: 115 bpm (seems a little low)
Max HR: 168 bpm
Temperature: 25 F
Wind 8 mph

Today i wanted to do some hills.  Considering that I work in Cambridge hills are hard to come by.   If fact i only know of one hill, Beacon Hill.   Now if you haven't seen Beacon hill and the Brownstones, it truly is an amizing little cluster in the middle of the city.   I will try to include photos over the next day or so.  So I headed out during lunch and ran staight there.   I didn't focus on pace and went by how I felt.   I felt pretty good.

As you can see,  I tried to cover all the streets on Beacon Hill.   I did 8 hill repeats.  It was a great day.

Google map of my run  

Summary

Distance:       6.11miles
Pace:            7:36/mile
Average HR:   145 bpm
Max HR:         167 bpm
Temperature:  27 F
Wind              16 mph

 

 

Core Workout

I met Dottie at the gym after work.  Dottie was doing Yoga and I want to give the Navy Seal Workouts another go. 

Navy Seals 101 - Complete 5 sets of the following:   15 pull ups, 30 pushups and 50 air squats.

I only did 3 sets.  for the pullups I used the machine that supports your weight.  I set it for 58lbs support.

                           Set 1     Set 2     Set 3        total
Pullups                  10         10         10*             30
Pushups                20         20         20*             60
Air Squats             25         25         25               75

* I had to pause to finish the sets.

Core Avantage -  As many sets as you can do in 20 minutes:  5 overhead squats, 10 glute/ham situps and 10 glute/ham back extension.

I did 15 minutes with a 20lb barbell for overhead squats.   I completed 9 rounds in 15 minutes.  I replaced the Glute/Ham situps with stiff leg leg raises.

                                          Total

Overhead Squats                     45
Leg Raises                              90
Back Extensions                       90

I had to get into work extra early today to take care of something.   With that being said I decided to take a long lunch.  I wanted to head out for about 9 miles.  I took the usual route to the Charles River and headed west along the path.  I was only wearing 2 thin layers and a running hat.  I just felt faster because I didn't have the 4 layer and winter hat and glove.  It had dried up some so I was able to follow the dirt path along side the river.  At this point I was heading directly into the wind.  The wind was blowing fierce today.   I like running into the wind because I can fell my muscles working.  I looked down at my watch and was suprized to see a pace of 8:09.  I was feeling pretty proud of myself considering the wind.

I headed across the BU bridge and headed east on Comm. Ave.  I felt strong so I figured I stick to the current pace.    I did a little wandering around Boston making a bees line to Beacon Hill.   I headed down Newbury street to Hereford then to Boylston.  Running the stretch of Boylston alway brings back memories of the marathon.  My splits started to drop below 8:00/mile...wow   I cut straight across the commons to the capital.  It was a little muddy but entertaining.  I headed west and cranked down Beacon until I hit the bottom and I had to stop for traffic.  I was bummed because I was traveling at a good clip.  I was once again heading into the wind.

I made a decision that I just wanted to see what I had in me.  It has been a while since I really hammered it.   The strongest winds came as I headed up Baystate Rd.  To my surprise that was my fast split yet.  I crossed back over the Charles.  I saw a runner about a couple humdred meters ahead and just ran him down.  Granted I am sure he would have picked up the pace if he knew I was running him down.  I caught him and headed back to work. 

I am definitely excited about this run.  It has been a while since I really hammered a run.

Distance   Time     Split time
1.00       0:08:09    8:09
2.00       0:16:21    8:10
3.01       0:24:16    7:55
4.03       0:32:23    8:07
5.03       0:40:53    8:30
6.03       0:48:26    7:33
7.03       0:55:45    7:18
8.04       1:03:08    7:22
9.05       1:09:23    6:14

Google map of my run

Summary

Distance:       9.06 miles
Pace:            7:40/mile
Average HR:   142 bpm
Max HR:         173 bpm
Temperature:  43.4 F
Wind              21 mph

Dottie and  I headed to the gym tonight.   I figured I would give that navy seal workouts, recommended in the videos I placed on the left navigation bar, a try.   I started off with  the "Navy Seals 101" (video will be posted soon) and "Core Advantage".  I threw out my back back in 2002 and it has never been the same since.

Navy Seals 101 - Complete 5 rounds of the following:   15 pull ups, 30 pushups and 50 air squats

I wanted to start of a little easy so I only did 3 rounds.  Round 1: 10 pullups (slightly assisted last 3 by my Dottie) 30 pushups and 50 air squats.  Round 2:  7 pullups ( again alightly assisted by my wife), 25 pushups and 25 air squats(Dottie told me to slow down and focus on form).   Round 3:  7 pullups ( again alightly assisted by my wife), 20 pushups and 25 air squats.

That was fun.   I definitely need to work on the pullups.

Core Avantage -  As many sets as you can do in 20 minutes:  5 overhead squats, 10 glute/ham situps and 10 glute/ham back extension.

The equipment that I used would not let me do the glute/ham situps so I replace it with 10 straight leg leg lifts.   I didn't count how many sets I did but I will next time.  Just to be safe I use a 10 pound bar for the over head squats.

I got home and boy was my back tight.  All in all ...I loved it.  I need to now sit down and figure out my gym schedule andhow many times a week I want to add in these workouts.  

We met up at Gilly's at the usual 9:00am. I got there just a minute or two before we left. We got to Willowdale and didn't waste any time. We had a good 15 -20 runners show it was a rather good showing. I like to stay with the lead pack for a couple of reasons. First I like to push myself. Second, sometimes on the single tracks it's a lot and stop and go if you in the back of the group. We headed of immediately onto the single track. Today I chose not to get there early and do extra miles. The trails were a couple of inches of heard crusty snow Gilly's idea was to head out to the water tower and do some hill repeats. It took a little longer than we expected to the water tower so we only got to do a couple of hill repeats.

I always like the when we start heading back. At that point pretty much know everyone's heading back for the cars and we take off. We took turns pulling the lead. I goal was to be out for 3 hours. I lead for a bit there until when I made a right instead of left. Oops… We finished nice and strong. We didn't do as much mileage as we hoped for being out 3 hours. About 13 miles. I think next week I am going to modify my running a bit. When we get to some intersections or the end of a single track we wait for everyone to catch up. Next week I am going to try to double back and just keep running. Gilly might try to start at 8:30 next week. I might try to put in 8 or so miles before. All in all it was a good run. I enjoy the company of the group.

Google map of my run

Summary

Distance:       13.2 miles
Pace:            N/A
Average HR:  142 bpm
Max HR:        185 bpm
Temperature: 33 degrees