Marathon Training Week 6! Trails, trails and trails!!! Week of 9-16 to 9-22

I have no races planned for two weeks!  So I get to hit the trails again, and rock some Nipmuck prep...I've most likely mentioned to the two or three people who read this that my training for the trail marathon last year was shit.  This year?  My mileage is way up, I'm doing longer runs more regularly, and feel much more confident about this year's race.

Monday, 9-16 - 3-ish Miles (Mostly Trail) - Easy run at Wheeler.  Getting to know the small network of trails there, and have a good rapport with the coaches of the cross country teams and their students, who see me out running on the trails pretty much every day.  I did interrupt four high school kids smoking pot during my run, but what do you expect when you're standing on the main trail between the soccer fields and a large subdivision?  Dummies...



Tuesday, 9-17 - 3.2 Miles (Trails/Road finish) - Lantern Hill quickie.  Wanted to get a bit more from a short workout today, before my daughter's practice wrapped up, so I hit Lantern Hill, which can't be beat for intensity.  Good stuff.  Fast run down the hill back to the car.  Gorgeous day, too:

Lake level to this vantage point...could see the Block today!

Wednesday, 9-18 - 3+ Miles (Trail/Road Mix) - Wheeler trails and quick spin through NoSto village.  The high school soccer team had a game, which derailed my plans to do some track work, so I took a run down to the village to see if the bridge was almost done being repaired...and hey, it's open!  And still tacky as I found out, my shoes sticking a bit with every step as I crossed the fresh asphalt...

Thursday, 9-19 - 6.5 Miles (Trails/Dirt Track) - Arcadia Trails for five miles, then a short 1.5 mile dirt track workout at Wheeler.  Great day to get lost in the woods, right?  Started at the Arcadia entrance, and went up a dirt service road and took a left on the Mount Tom trail.  Ended up getting lost on unmarked trails, but eventually found my way back.  Fortunate to have two things:  GPS with real-time mapping on the Strava app, and a busy state road so I was close enough to hear cars as I got closer.  Good fun!


Had a 20 minute window before my daughter's soccer practice let out, so I did some loops on their dirt and gravel track, and four 200m fast, 200m slow loops:



Friday, 9-19 - 6+ Miles (Trails) - Tippecansett Trail from Beach Pond.  Jim joined me for this, perfect day for a run.  About a half mile up the trail we come across two state troopers and an Exeter police officer?  After exchanging greetings, they ask if we run here a lot.  I said that I did, and they pulled out a missing persons sheet, with a picture of this dude from New Haven who went missing two months ago.  Creepy, except that he's been seen hanging out at the Beach Pond parking lot, so at least I'm not going to happen across a body out in the woods.  They gave me a flyer and we continued on our way.  Funniest thing?  I run into cops in the middle of the woods, and the very first thing I did was pause Strava, and as I'm pausing it I'm thinking "Yep, you're that guy..."  All in all, a good run, saw three more deer and took a shot of the Tippecansett Pond:

I see some leaves changing!

Saturday, 9-21 - 0 Miles - Hadn't taken a zero in over a week, and the house and yard needed some tending to...good call!

Sunday, 9-22 - 13 Miles (Roads) - Local NoSto run with hills.  After it rained all night and into this morning, I scrapped my trail running plans and waited until the Sun was trying to come out.  Was also feeling kind of lazy, until my wife said "You should go for a run.  Otherwise, you'll be a handful later..."  Me???  A handful?  I'm so low maintenance it's absurd...but apparently I'm fidgety if I haven't run.  I'd wanted to do 10-15 miles, and ended up splitting the difference with a run that gave me more elevation than the entire Nipmuck course, but in half the distance.  I've done technical and non-technical trails this week, and a long-ish run on roads, and feel good about my training.  Used the CamelBak today and almost drained it, and stopped at about mile 7 and took a GU, which I have to remember to take.  I also have to decide on the CamelBak, or the waist pack with flasks for the race.  It's 4 miles or so between aid stations, so I could forgo the backpack, but it's actually more comfortable than the waist pack?  Problem is, it has a very small pocket for gels and whatnot...I'll keep playing with the two for the next couple weeks and make a decision.



I also saved another two snapping turtles today!  One was the size of a half-dollar, the other was bigger and had moss on his shell.  He wasn't as happy to be rescued from the road...

Dude!  Just trying to help!!!