I made the comment, half-kidding, right before the start of the race on Saturday that "Training is for suckers," which was overheard by a certain someone. She looked over her shoulder and, with a dead serious voice, said "You better train," as she's well aware of my upcoming schedule, track record of shoddy planning, and tendency to just wing it when race day arrives. Point taken!
I shall now endeavor to train better, according to my plan, and get my mileage into the realm of acceptability. And still have fun! Gotta have that too, or what's the point...
So I have no scheduled races until the 7 Sisters race in early May, and that should give me time to get it all lined up!
Monday - 5. Late afternoon road (gasp!) recovery run from the house. Misty, sort of rainy, but 50+ degrees and shorts/t-shirt weather! And flowers coming up from the ground, and felt much like Spring. Peeptoads peeping out in back of my house, too! Good run.
Tuesday - 0.
Wednesday - 5. Canonchet Preserve w/Jim, Hopkinton. Mid-50s, partly cloudy and a nice breeze, and we're very lucky to have clear trails here! Great time cruising the lower part of the preserve...
Thursday - 4. Pequot Woods w/Faith, Mystic. Yet another glorious day before another shitty round of weather, and a fairly early release from work, meant another commuter stop. Got ahold of Faith, who's into her VT100 training plan, and suggested Pequot Woods right off I-95 (next to Fields of Fire Adventure Park! There should be Strava segments and an "open run" hour there, just sayin'...). Perfect day, cool and breezy and clear trails, although this place has some rock garden, ankle-snapping stretches that would slow even a Brightman or Lonergan...but fun times, then off to pick up Soph and friends from softball!
Friday - 0.
Saturday - 0.
Sunday - 5. Lantern Hill fun w/Jim. Great time exploring the Mashantucket Pequot trails, the old remnants of the Pequot trail, and some bushwhacking off trail for fun. I highly recommend the steep, rocky hill directly next to the beginning of the Narragansett Trail!
Monday, March 27, 2017
Brrr-lingame Week! Week of 3-20 to 3-26
This week marks the official beginning of Spring, and the continuation of the rollercoaster weather pattern we've been in. Saturday is the Brrr-lingame 10 mile trail race, which has gone off in pretty much every weather situation you can think of, from warm and sunny to 2 feet of fresh snow on the ground. Crazy how much it fluctuates! There's also a 5 mile option, but I'm going in for the full 10, and maybe some bonus miles on top?
Monday - 3. Trail run from the house with Jim (and a beer swap!). 1/2 mile up the street from my house is a small preserve with several miles of trails, which I almost never run, but what the Hell, why not? And I forgot about the awesome swimming hole there, for when warmer days come up! Short but fun run out and back, and I capped it off by finally taking the "Crutchley's Driveway" segment on Strava, that a certain Mr. Puddin' had created a few years ago. I could never duplicate the exact angle that he ran it (except on my tractor when I was mowing the lawn) until today! Victory!!!
Tuesday - 0. Jobsite wrap-up in Norwich. 47,000 trips up and down the stairs to load the trucks = zero miles for Critchlery.
Wednesday - 0.
Thursday - 0.
Friday - 0.
Saturday - 15. Brrr-lingame 10-mile trail race (and warmup), and 4-mile Narragansett Trail run with Russ and Niki. Awesome double, I ran a steady race at Brrr-lingame in perfect trail conditions and finished in 1:31, good for 24th place. Swapped a couple beers, but had to jet. Immediately took off to the Rt. 49 trailhead for the "Gansett Trail to run out and meet Russ and Niki. Russ is on his final long weeks before the taper leading up to Massanutten 100, and was doing a 16 there and 10 the next day (this was a "rest" week, haha). My legs were pretty well toast from the race, but I trotted out a couple of miles, meet Russ, and cruise back to the cars, with Niki not far back. Great time meeting up with them!
Sunday - 7. Arcadia trails tutorial with Rachel. Great chilly morning trail run with Flaksman, who was really interested in how to piece together the massive amount of trail miles there are in Arcadia. Went from Midway to Frosty Hollow, took the white to yellow trails and looped around Breakheart Pond, and took another awesome unmarked trail along the stream back to FH. Some further exploration on the N/S Trail, and hit 7 for the day. Legs felt shitty at first but loosened up after a couple miles. Saw a trail, new to me, on the way in to the parking lot that I'm gonna check out next week. Looks hilly and technical...
Monday - 3. Trail run from the house with Jim (and a beer swap!). 1/2 mile up the street from my house is a small preserve with several miles of trails, which I almost never run, but what the Hell, why not? And I forgot about the awesome swimming hole there, for when warmer days come up! Short but fun run out and back, and I capped it off by finally taking the "Crutchley's Driveway" segment on Strava, that a certain Mr. Puddin' had created a few years ago. I could never duplicate the exact angle that he ran it (except on my tractor when I was mowing the lawn) until today! Victory!!!
Tuesday - 0. Jobsite wrap-up in Norwich. 47,000 trips up and down the stairs to load the trucks = zero miles for Critchlery.
Wednesday - 0.
Thursday - 0.
Friday - 0.
Saturday - 15. Brrr-lingame 10-mile trail race (and warmup), and 4-mile Narragansett Trail run with Russ and Niki. Awesome double, I ran a steady race at Brrr-lingame in perfect trail conditions and finished in 1:31, good for 24th place. Swapped a couple beers, but had to jet. Immediately took off to the Rt. 49 trailhead for the "Gansett Trail to run out and meet Russ and Niki. Russ is on his final long weeks before the taper leading up to Massanutten 100, and was doing a 16 there and 10 the next day (this was a "rest" week, haha). My legs were pretty well toast from the race, but I trotted out a couple of miles, meet Russ, and cruise back to the cars, with Niki not far back. Great time meeting up with them!
Sunday - 7. Arcadia trails tutorial with Rachel. Great chilly morning trail run with Flaksman, who was really interested in how to piece together the massive amount of trail miles there are in Arcadia. Went from Midway to Frosty Hollow, took the white to yellow trails and looped around Breakheart Pond, and took another awesome unmarked trail along the stream back to FH. Some further exploration on the N/S Trail, and hit 7 for the day. Legs felt shitty at first but loosened up after a couple miles. Saw a trail, new to me, on the way in to the parking lot that I'm gonna check out next week. Looks hilly and technical...
Monday, March 20, 2017
STELLA!!! Week of 3-13 to 3-19
Big storm a comin' this week, including possible "Bombogenesis" from winter storm Stella! Fun! Looks like an interesting week anyway, no races to speak of and a potentially lighter than average work schedule...
Monday - 6. DPNC trails, Mystic. Getting some miles in before the trails get obliterated. Partially clear, mud and snow mix, and got my legs shredded a bit when I missed a turn and ran into a briar patch. Whoops! I may (may?) have to hit the treadmill during this storm, as it's now time to really buckle down and do the work that needs to be done before the big races come up in June (and beyond), and they come up quick! My friend Eric has been banging out 30-milers on his treadmill...I just can't see doing that, though...ick.
Tuesday - 0. Stella was a bust, at least in this corner of New England...3-5 inches of snow with a couple inches of sideways, wind-driven rain thrown on top. More shitty weather, I may not have ever seen?
Wednesday - 0. Nope!
Thursday - 6. Bluff Point mud run, Groton. I chose the path less traveled, unless you're a mountain biker! I veered off the main path for some fun, muddy singletrack and got totally filthy. Awesome run, and tacked on extra time at the end because a big 'ol skunk was blocking the trail near the parking lot. Great time! Glad I was able to find some clear trails, too!
Friday - 2. Short trail check at Long Pond. Awesome fun in shorts, t-shirt and gloves, sliding all over the place on trails that are sketchy when they're clear, nevermind packed snow! Did a couple short out/back runs, decided a long run for Saturday wasn't feasible, and called it a day.
Saturday - 0. Family shopping marathon in Garden City...
Sunday - 17. TREADMILL??? It happened. I was running errands and doing shit at the house, had family scheduled to come over in the afternoon for an early dinner, and my hopes of getting a long run were slowly slipping away...so I caved. I think it's been two years since I hit the treadmill, and I pitched the idea to my wife, who really got on board with it. My target was 15. I grabbed a bottle of Tailwind, my Kindle, put on a Billy Yang Films playlist on YouTube and got to it. I started the pace at a flat 10 and pretty much kept it there, with a few slight variations in pace/incline. It's my "all day" pace, and I realized quickly that my Garmin was slowly shorting my mileage. So I ultimately ran 17 according to the treadmill to get 15 on the Garmin. Could have gone longer, and it really wasn't that bad...playlist is key, I think?
Hindsight being what it is, I suppose that if I'm going to train in New England for an early Summer ultramarathon, I may have to get some 'mill time in, just to balance family/work/weather constraints. Fortunately this shouldn't happen often, but I can make the most of it!
Monday - 6. DPNC trails, Mystic. Getting some miles in before the trails get obliterated. Partially clear, mud and snow mix, and got my legs shredded a bit when I missed a turn and ran into a briar patch. Whoops! I may (may?) have to hit the treadmill during this storm, as it's now time to really buckle down and do the work that needs to be done before the big races come up in June (and beyond), and they come up quick! My friend Eric has been banging out 30-milers on his treadmill...I just can't see doing that, though...ick.
Tuesday - 0. Stella was a bust, at least in this corner of New England...3-5 inches of snow with a couple inches of sideways, wind-driven rain thrown on top. More shitty weather, I may not have ever seen?
Wednesday - 0. Nope!
Thursday - 6. Bluff Point mud run, Groton. I chose the path less traveled, unless you're a mountain biker! I veered off the main path for some fun, muddy singletrack and got totally filthy. Awesome run, and tacked on extra time at the end because a big 'ol skunk was blocking the trail near the parking lot. Great time! Glad I was able to find some clear trails, too!
Friday - 2. Short trail check at Long Pond. Awesome fun in shorts, t-shirt and gloves, sliding all over the place on trails that are sketchy when they're clear, nevermind packed snow! Did a couple short out/back runs, decided a long run for Saturday wasn't feasible, and called it a day.
Saturday - 0. Family shopping marathon in Garden City...
Sunday - 17. TREADMILL??? It happened. I was running errands and doing shit at the house, had family scheduled to come over in the afternoon for an early dinner, and my hopes of getting a long run were slowly slipping away...so I caved. I think it's been two years since I hit the treadmill, and I pitched the idea to my wife, who really got on board with it. My target was 15. I grabbed a bottle of Tailwind, my Kindle, put on a Billy Yang Films playlist on YouTube and got to it. I started the pace at a flat 10 and pretty much kept it there, with a few slight variations in pace/incline. It's my "all day" pace, and I realized quickly that my Garmin was slowly shorting my mileage. So I ultimately ran 17 according to the treadmill to get 15 on the Garmin. Could have gone longer, and it really wasn't that bad...playlist is key, I think?
Hindsight being what it is, I suppose that if I'm going to train in New England for an early Summer ultramarathon, I may have to get some 'mill time in, just to balance family/work/weather constraints. Fortunately this shouldn't happen often, but I can make the most of it!
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Go Home, Winter! You're Drunk. Weeks of 2-27 to 3-5, and 3-6 to 3-12
Of course I'm behind on the blog. And of course we're going to begin the week with record highs, temps in the 50s and 60s, then plunge into single-digit wind chills by Saturday. Then climb again, plunge, repeat. Why not? And there's a flu, bug, whatever going around, so that's fun! Currently I'm the "Last Man Standing" at my house, and if I don't get what they're getting, it'll be a Festivus miracle. Don't breathe on me!
Monday - 0.
Tuesday - 2.5. Hibbard Trail at Whitney Forest, Lebanon. The newest blue-blazed trail in the CFPA list is a 1.5-ish mile loop trail in Lebanon, CT, and I had enough time before work to run it in both directions. Tons of stream crossings, twisty singletrack, and fun!
Wednesday - 4. Airline Trail, Lebanon. Had a go at this section of the Airline Trail, and had time for a 4 mile progression run of sorts before heading to work. Misty and drizzly until the last half mile, when the sky opened up and it poured, a good soaking rain. Hey, I'll take 55 and rainy anytime!
Thursday - Friday - 0.
Saturday - 5. Beach Pond loop with Rachel. Single-digit wind chills, sunny and a stiff, cold wind blowing off the pond. Fun, right? Showed Rachel the Pachaug/Arcadia mashup of trails at the CT/RI border, had some fun climbs on technical singletrack. Wind was not an issue in the woods, but as soon as we got back to the cars, WOW. Winter ain't done with us yet!
Sunday - 0.
Monday - 0.
Tuesday - 0.
Wednesday - 6.5. Lantern Hill repeats. Had an early day, and decided to get some much-needed climbing done at Lantern Hill. 1,400' of climbing done. And hey, now it's 55-60 degrees! Shorts and a t-shirt again!
Thursday - 0.
Friday - 4. Rocky Neck trails w/Adam. Got done with a shitty day at work and needed to stop off for some trail time. It had snowed all morning, and I kept looking out the window, wondering if I was going to get to run. Finally we finished up, and I went straight to the trailhead and texted my friend Adam, who lives up the road. Got 4 miles in (he's tapering for a 50 next week) on picture-perfect trails, the temps had warmed to 30, the Sun came out, and all was right with the world again. Funny how that works :)
Saturday - 7-ish. Belleville Pond 10k Trail Race. Holy Farking Hell, it's cold out! I'd made the bold statement that my running tights were being shelved for the season, and that I'd be running in shorts, weather be damned! Whoops. Turned out that on race morning, the standing temp was like 15 degrees, with winds 15-20, gusting to 40? Wind chill hovering around zero, give or take. So of course I had to wear shorts, along with a couple other dudes (we won't talk about the guy who ran in JUST shorts and shoes, nothing else). When I told The Gazelle about my plan to wear shorts, he gave me the "Well, duh! What else would you wear on such a lovely day?" look. I puttered around, went through a few clothing options before deciding on Speedcross 4 shoes for digging into the snow, shorts, and a compression shirt, t-shirt, and Merrell windbreaker, along with a hat and gloves. RD Mike Galoob got us lined up on time, and we were off! I figure I could have pushed the pace more, but it was just a totally enjoyable run. Start to finish. Lots of fun trading beers before (and after) the race, a great lunch with friends at a local tavern afterwards, and an all-around great time! Blizzard of '17 coming up in a few days! Hahahaha :)
Sunday - ???
Monday - 0.
Tuesday - 2.5. Hibbard Trail at Whitney Forest, Lebanon. The newest blue-blazed trail in the CFPA list is a 1.5-ish mile loop trail in Lebanon, CT, and I had enough time before work to run it in both directions. Tons of stream crossings, twisty singletrack, and fun!
Wednesday - 4. Airline Trail, Lebanon. Had a go at this section of the Airline Trail, and had time for a 4 mile progression run of sorts before heading to work. Misty and drizzly until the last half mile, when the sky opened up and it poured, a good soaking rain. Hey, I'll take 55 and rainy anytime!
Thursday - Friday - 0.
Saturday - 5. Beach Pond loop with Rachel. Single-digit wind chills, sunny and a stiff, cold wind blowing off the pond. Fun, right? Showed Rachel the Pachaug/Arcadia mashup of trails at the CT/RI border, had some fun climbs on technical singletrack. Wind was not an issue in the woods, but as soon as we got back to the cars, WOW. Winter ain't done with us yet!
Sunday - 0.
Monday - 0.
Tuesday - 0.
Wednesday - 6.5. Lantern Hill repeats. Had an early day, and decided to get some much-needed climbing done at Lantern Hill. 1,400' of climbing done. And hey, now it's 55-60 degrees! Shorts and a t-shirt again!
Thursday - 0.
Friday - 4. Rocky Neck trails w/Adam. Got done with a shitty day at work and needed to stop off for some trail time. It had snowed all morning, and I kept looking out the window, wondering if I was going to get to run. Finally we finished up, and I went straight to the trailhead and texted my friend Adam, who lives up the road. Got 4 miles in (he's tapering for a 50 next week) on picture-perfect trails, the temps had warmed to 30, the Sun came out, and all was right with the world again. Funny how that works :)
Saturday - 7-ish. Belleville Pond 10k Trail Race. Holy Farking Hell, it's cold out! I'd made the bold statement that my running tights were being shelved for the season, and that I'd be running in shorts, weather be damned! Whoops. Turned out that on race morning, the standing temp was like 15 degrees, with winds 15-20, gusting to 40? Wind chill hovering around zero, give or take. So of course I had to wear shorts, along with a couple other dudes (we won't talk about the guy who ran in JUST shorts and shoes, nothing else). When I told The Gazelle about my plan to wear shorts, he gave me the "Well, duh! What else would you wear on such a lovely day?" look. I puttered around, went through a few clothing options before deciding on Speedcross 4 shoes for digging into the snow, shorts, and a compression shirt, t-shirt, and Merrell windbreaker, along with a hat and gloves. RD Mike Galoob got us lined up on time, and we were off! I figure I could have pushed the pace more, but it was just a totally enjoyable run. Start to finish. Lots of fun trading beers before (and after) the race, a great lunch with friends at a local tavern afterwards, and an all-around great time! Blizzard of '17 coming up in a few days! Hahahaha :)
Sunday - ???
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