Turning of the Screw

After several months of long runs, slow mile(and longer) repeats and tempos we jumped on the track for a "little" turnover. The menu was set at 6x1200, then 1x800 to round it to 5 miles. The goal was a steady heap of laps, while droping the pace a little each rep. The 800 would be icing on the cake and "just don't pull anything"!

Here is how she went:

1200's
4:12, 4:15, 4:12, 4;06, 4:04, 3:54(got excited)

800
2:26, going 77, 69(37/32)

All in all it was a good workout and I'm happy with the times. I felt young whippin' thru my last 200, we'll see how I feel tomorrow morning:)

Orcas Island 25K

Just did my first trail race - what a blast! I have had an almost 2 year hiatus from any competition and since moving out to the Pacific Northwest I had been wanting to break into the trail running scene. This one was a lot of fun - despite being sick and just having come back from a week of wine and cheese in Nice (It's called a French Taper - you should all try it). I'll post a few pics below. I hope everyone is well. Cheers, Jude

Here's the race profile - with about 6000 of elevation gain.






Below are a couple of views of Mt. Baker from the top of Mount Constitution (mile 7 on the run)

This is the aid station... and I mean THE aid station. The only one on the course. Also no plastic or paper cups. Everything is BYOB here in the tree-hugging Pacific Northwest.
Did I mention the snow? We had about a foot of snow on about a mile of the course near the top of Mt Constitution. Didn't have my snowshoes either. This is me about 15 minutes from the aid station.
Take care. See you all before too long. Jude

Adding An Apple

I've invited Jude to join us at the DITC Blog. I had to add a little more Northwest Flavor:)

Hope all is well with everyone!

Fragrance Lake Trail in 37:30!!!!

Imagine busting your hump for 4.4 miles and reading 37:30 on your watch!!!!

-My lungs burned
-My legs were wobbly
-My breathing sounded like a caged beast(scared a few hikers)
-I was on fire at 8:30 per mile climbing over 1000 feet in the first few miles

In successive weeks we have "jogged" this part of the trail in 46 and 48 minutes(which was tough), today was the day we put the pedal to the metal to see how racing this part of the trail would differ. My conclusion is it hurts whether you run it fast or slow, it's just a big climb, so it's better to just get it over with(as fast as possible).

Week of 1/26

Week of 1/26/09
Monday – AM Exercises PM Core Synergistics
Tues – AM Shoulders and Arms/Ab Ripper PM Tempo Workout 5x5:00 w/1:00 rest. Total time 60:00
Wed – AM Exercises PM 50:00 on snowmobile trails!!!! Awesome!
TR – AM Foam rollers on calves/IT Bands PM 40:00 easy
FRI – AM Exercises PM Shoulders and arms/Ab Ripper
SAT – 5.6 K Snowshoe Race at Cobble Mountain in Gilford, NH. Placed 2nd, much closer to Jim Johnson who crushed me last week. Left Calf cramped on the descent, had to stop and stretch…cost me about 1:00. 1K splits – 3:21, 5:48, 6:21, 10:28 (climb) 5:28…finish. Awesome race, awesome time! Felt much better than last week.
SUN – Long 1 hr 50 minutes – nice and easy. Experimented with Hammer gel the last 40:00 and felt good. Sore from yesterday in calves and quads.

Snowshoeing!!!!

Addison chasing down a ...7 year old boy!?@#$




Aidan rolling!!!!

dad placing 2nd

Back stretch.

I found this interesting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/7854443.stm