When I wrote up my Vermont 100 training plan, I made Mondays and Tuesdays my hard days. I do faster paced work on Monday and a long run on Tuesday. Weekends are light with a 3 or 4 miler Saturday and a cross train day Sunday. This is so i can enjoy other fun activities with Kevin on the days he is off from work. It works out great.
Kevin and I have fallen into the habit of doing Saturday's short easy run together on the local trails. Today we ran and walked for 4 miles on the Ossipee Trails. It was windy! Most of the snow and ice is gone. We didn't see the Pileated Woodpecker today, but we did see an enormous hawk or eagle flying away from us down the river. We hoped we'd see it again to get a better look, but we didn't have another sighting.
Back home, I found my first tick of the season crawling on my arm. Watch out, they're out there already!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Montrail Mountain Masochist Shoe Review...Sort of
Late yesterday I ran up and down Ossipee Hill on the way home from work. The road surface started as mud and then quickly changed to mostly ice as I ascended. I was trying out my new Montrail Mountain Masochists, and I was impressed! I'd love to tell you why I love them so much, but I am just not much of a product reviewer. I had a stint reviewing shoes for Saucony years ago and I needed help from my non-running husband. I have the words, I just don't have much of an opinion about items. I like them or I don't. So he'd tell me what was good and bad about them and I'd put it into good reading. It worked out OK.
Many of my hiking, cycling, skiing, trail running, and snowshoeing friends readily admit they are "all about the gear." They love shopping for it, reading articles and reviews about it, trying it out, and comparing opinions about it with other people. These are the people that will happily talk ski wax for two hours over drinks. They are the ones that will show up on a different road bike each week for 6 consecutive weeks and talk about the bike they are on through the entire ride. They can fast hike 20 miles with me, all the while explaining the merits and the faults of the new pack they are using. They can talk about things I never give a second thought to, like water bottles, gloves, and lip balm... and make it sound interesting! With these folks, I can't drive home from a hike, ride, or trail run without stopping at the bike shop, Pearl Isumi Outlet, or EMS where they educate the salespeople. I'm not sure where this ties in, but I have observed that these types have matching outfits that they partake of their sports in, and they look really good in them!
I would like to be part of that. I would love to talk bike componants, helmets, socks, and glide wax and sound like I know all about it. I'd really like to tell you why I love my new Montrails. Hmmm, I can tell you why I didn't like Montrails years ago when I last tried a pair. They felt like too much shoe for me. I am 5 foot 2 and 105 pounds at my heaviest. I'm a neutral runner and I'm light on my feet. I don't need a hiking boot, I need a shoe that I can feel the trail in! I felt like the last Montrails I tried, the Hardrocks, would be great for through-hiking the AT, but I couldn't run in them. They made me feel like I had cement blocks attached to my feet. Back to the Mountain Masochists... They are everything the old Hardrock isn't. So to wrap up this lengthy, yet useless product review, Wow, what a great shoe!
Many of my hiking, cycling, skiing, trail running, and snowshoeing friends readily admit they are "all about the gear." They love shopping for it, reading articles and reviews about it, trying it out, and comparing opinions about it with other people. These are the people that will happily talk ski wax for two hours over drinks. They are the ones that will show up on a different road bike each week for 6 consecutive weeks and talk about the bike they are on through the entire ride. They can fast hike 20 miles with me, all the while explaining the merits and the faults of the new pack they are using. They can talk about things I never give a second thought to, like water bottles, gloves, and lip balm... and make it sound interesting! With these folks, I can't drive home from a hike, ride, or trail run without stopping at the bike shop, Pearl Isumi Outlet, or EMS where they educate the salespeople. I'm not sure where this ties in, but I have observed that these types have matching outfits that they partake of their sports in, and they look really good in them!
I would like to be part of that. I would love to talk bike componants, helmets, socks, and glide wax and sound like I know all about it. I'd really like to tell you why I love my new Montrails. Hmmm, I can tell you why I didn't like Montrails years ago when I last tried a pair. They felt like too much shoe for me. I am 5 foot 2 and 105 pounds at my heaviest. I'm a neutral runner and I'm light on my feet. I don't need a hiking boot, I need a shoe that I can feel the trail in! I felt like the last Montrails I tried, the Hardrocks, would be great for through-hiking the AT, but I couldn't run in them. They made me feel like I had cement blocks attached to my feet. Back to the Mountain Masochists... They are everything the old Hardrock isn't. So to wrap up this lengthy, yet useless product review, Wow, what a great shoe!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Wear and Tear on the Ossipee Trails
I was scheduled to run 11 miles this morning. Kevin and I rode bikes on the Ossipee Trails a few days ago and I saw that trail conditions were very good for late Winter/early Spring. I normally don't like to run over the same section of trail over and over again because I like variety, but other trails in the area are still snow covered or are wet. The Ossipee Trails are a joy to run on right now. So I did three repeats of the entire length of trail, looping around Polliwog at the far end and climbing the steep banking up to the Rescue Barn at the near end each time. I avoided the snowmobile trails further up the slope which still have snow on them and stayed on the single track close to the river where about 75% of the trail is now melted down to the dirt. I used my antiquated GPS to determine that each repeat was about 3.3 miles. Add the slightly more than half mile to and from the trail and I had a pretty near perfect 11 miles!
I ran for about 1 hour 45 minutes and never got tired of looking at the same stuff over and over again because there was so much to see. The crows that have been heckling me each time I've been out there lately, showed up on my first return trip and stuck around in the trees over my head for the rest of the run. I saw a beautiful huge Pileated Woodpecker on my second return trip. He was right where I had, on an earlier outing, noticed an enormous pile of wood chips under a dead tree. Kevin had told me they were from a woodpecker but I had been skeptical that one bird could do so much to a tree. After seeing this guy close up, I believe it now! I saw ducks floating around near the gravel bar and lots of deer tracks. Before I knew it, my three out and backs were done.
I ran for about 1 hour 45 minutes and never got tired of looking at the same stuff over and over again because there was so much to see. The crows that have been heckling me each time I've been out there lately, showed up on my first return trip and stuck around in the trees over my head for the rest of the run. I saw a beautiful huge Pileated Woodpecker on my second return trip. He was right where I had, on an earlier outing, noticed an enormous pile of wood chips under a dead tree. Kevin had told me they were from a woodpecker but I had been skeptical that one bird could do so much to a tree. After seeing this guy close up, I believe it now! I saw ducks floating around near the gravel bar and lots of deer tracks. Before I knew it, my three out and backs were done.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Great Skiing Fun on the Hall Trail
My friend, Mary called Thursday asking me to drive over to New Hampshire for a ski Friday. I'm a snow snob, I admit it. If the snow isn't good, if rocks and sticks protrude through the snow, if pine needles and cones litter the skiing surface, if areas are wet or bare, if the base is too thin, I won't ski. I looked around at the bare ground surrounding me as I drove through Southern Maine and told her I didn't think I wanted to. She assured me, "there's good snow in the mountains!" She is a notorious liar, but a good friend, so I agreed to go.
I'm glad I did! There wasn't much snow and a lot of bare ground at the lodge in Jackson, but by driving up a side road and parking at a higher elevation, we were able to ski from the car onto the Hall Trail on about 2-3 feet of good fresh snow! Temperatures were warm and the sky was perfectly blue. The bright sun felt wonderful on our pale winter skin. What a great day for a ski!
I skied with Mary and Gail. In warm temperatures (this is for those of you who aren't classic Nordic skiers) you should use Klister. This is an extremely soft, messy, sticky wax that allows for grip to push off in the slippery, slushy, soft snow. No one likes Klister. It's very hard to remove from your skis once you put it on, it makes a big mess and somehow gets on your hands, clothes, inside your car, floors of your house, dog, hair...OK so maybe I'm exaggerating, but it is messy stuff. Each of the three of us took different approaches to avoiding the Klister issue. I brought it with me, but at the last minute decided to just use the softest hard wax i had and hope for the best. Mary used waxless skis with a modified grip zone. It was the most aggressive fish scale I'd ever seen! Gail didn't have even a smudge of grip wax on her classic skis and used glide wax from end to end. She was going to skate ski in them.
So we took off on the notoriously hilly Hall Trail over Popple Mountain, each with our own approach to the Spring conditions. Gail couldn't climb very well, but had us whipped on the flats. Mary could march right up even the steepest hills, but couldn't glide at all on the downs. It was funny to see her having to use the poles to propel herself down really steep slippery slopes. She said in defense of her modified ski idea, "they don't glide, but I could ski up Mt Washington in these things!" I could ski fine on shaded areas that had less melt, but had nothing on the exposed areas. So we all skied at our own rates, sometimes Mary ahead, sometimes Gail, and sometimes me, depending on the conditions. We usually all ski right together because we are well matched in ability. It made this outing a little different and more interesting. It was a lot of fun to keep passing each other along the way and saying things like, "You'll catch me on the next climb," or "See you next sunny stretch." We really had a blast!
All told we skied about 12 miles I think. It was great hard work and we were all sore and tired when we finished. That little bit of competitive spirited passing back and forth made us all work a little harder than usual. Let me tell you, I'm feeling it today!
I'm glad I did! There wasn't much snow and a lot of bare ground at the lodge in Jackson, but by driving up a side road and parking at a higher elevation, we were able to ski from the car onto the Hall Trail on about 2-3 feet of good fresh snow! Temperatures were warm and the sky was perfectly blue. The bright sun felt wonderful on our pale winter skin. What a great day for a ski!
I skied with Mary and Gail. In warm temperatures (this is for those of you who aren't classic Nordic skiers) you should use Klister. This is an extremely soft, messy, sticky wax that allows for grip to push off in the slippery, slushy, soft snow. No one likes Klister. It's very hard to remove from your skis once you put it on, it makes a big mess and somehow gets on your hands, clothes, inside your car, floors of your house, dog, hair...OK so maybe I'm exaggerating, but it is messy stuff. Each of the three of us took different approaches to avoiding the Klister issue. I brought it with me, but at the last minute decided to just use the softest hard wax i had and hope for the best. Mary used waxless skis with a modified grip zone. It was the most aggressive fish scale I'd ever seen! Gail didn't have even a smudge of grip wax on her classic skis and used glide wax from end to end. She was going to skate ski in them.
So we took off on the notoriously hilly Hall Trail over Popple Mountain, each with our own approach to the Spring conditions. Gail couldn't climb very well, but had us whipped on the flats. Mary could march right up even the steepest hills, but couldn't glide at all on the downs. It was funny to see her having to use the poles to propel herself down really steep slippery slopes. She said in defense of her modified ski idea, "they don't glide, but I could ski up Mt Washington in these things!" I could ski fine on shaded areas that had less melt, but had nothing on the exposed areas. So we all skied at our own rates, sometimes Mary ahead, sometimes Gail, and sometimes me, depending on the conditions. We usually all ski right together because we are well matched in ability. It made this outing a little different and more interesting. It was a lot of fun to keep passing each other along the way and saying things like, "You'll catch me on the next climb," or "See you next sunny stretch." We really had a blast!
All told we skied about 12 miles I think. It was great hard work and we were all sore and tired when we finished. That little bit of competitive spirited passing back and forth made us all work a little harder than usual. Let me tell you, I'm feeling it today!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Just Following the Plan
The training plan I wrote up to carry me to the Vermont 100 is going well I think. This is a strange thing. I have had some very good coaches at times in my running life. No matter how accomplished these people were, I always secretly questioned the training plans. I would think "this is impossible, I can't do all this training!" or "this is ridiculously easy. I've got to add a few workouts of my own." I was always kind of like Goldilocks with the soup too hot or the soup too cold, or the bed too hard or the bed too soft. My coaches' advice never felt "just right." This is probably because I never gave them enough feedback. I never felt confident enough to speak up to those more-accomplished runners.
By thinking things through, asking myself what my current goals really are, and admitting that I am not Superwoman, I have come up with a plan that will work for me. I no longer feel the desire to place in races or run PRs, instead I want to stay healthy and fit and be able to enjoy running for many years to come. The plan I have written up for myself is low mileage, but challenging. It progresses through the season. I look at what I need to do each day and don't question it. I find myself thinking, like Goldilocks, "Ahhh, this is just right!"
Today I thought I had a five miler planned, but checking my spreadsheet I saw that I only had a measly little 3 miles to do. Instead of thinking, "3 miles?! That's nothing!" I thought, "OK, 3 miles. What ever it says made sense when I wrote this thing up so I'll just do it." I'd been out on the roads a lot lately because the mud and ice is pretty bad around here. Today I decided to move it back into the woods for my short easy run. Just for the joy of it I ran the wonderful River Run Trails. It felt great to be slipping and sliding and slogging along in these late Winter/ early Spring trail conditions. Cloudy sky, rotten snow, mud, water, and ice didn't deter my mood at all. I just felt good to be among the trees listening to the river.
By thinking things through, asking myself what my current goals really are, and admitting that I am not Superwoman, I have come up with a plan that will work for me. I no longer feel the desire to place in races or run PRs, instead I want to stay healthy and fit and be able to enjoy running for many years to come. The plan I have written up for myself is low mileage, but challenging. It progresses through the season. I look at what I need to do each day and don't question it. I find myself thinking, like Goldilocks, "Ahhh, this is just right!"
Today I thought I had a five miler planned, but checking my spreadsheet I saw that I only had a measly little 3 miles to do. Instead of thinking, "3 miles?! That's nothing!" I thought, "OK, 3 miles. What ever it says made sense when I wrote this thing up so I'll just do it." I'd been out on the roads a lot lately because the mud and ice is pretty bad around here. Today I decided to move it back into the woods for my short easy run. Just for the joy of it I ran the wonderful River Run Trails. It felt great to be slipping and sliding and slogging along in these late Winter/ early Spring trail conditions. Cloudy sky, rotten snow, mud, water, and ice didn't deter my mood at all. I just felt good to be among the trees listening to the river.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
10 Miles of Ups and Downs (Literally and Figuratively)
Last night I mapped out a ten mile loop for today using the on-line G-map Pedometer. I wanted a loop and I wanted it to be ten miles long. Those were my only two criteria. So the loop I came up with started out in the back roads of Porter, crossed over Kezar Mountain in Parsonsfield, and sent me back home down Elm St. It looked good on the map.
The loop started with 3 miles of uphill running. I felt slow and tired and awful. I checked my watch and found I was averaging 10 minute miles. Yikes, that's pretty slow! But next I had two miles of downhill, where I made up a lot of time and started feeling better. Just as I was starting to enjoy the run, I came to a point where I had to climb uphill for a few miles on muddy and icy Kezar Mountain Rd. Before I got to the highest point, I was feeling discouraged and slow and terrible again. My legs were aching and tired. I didn't want to check my watch, but I couldn't resist. I didn't like what I saw. It told me that I was pathetically slow and out of shape. I finally reached Elm street and had just two miles of mostly downhill on clear pavement left to go. This was fast and easy running, life was good again! When all was said and done, I only averaged 9:30 pace and felt like I worked awfully hard to do that.
The loop felt very difficult. It really beat me up today. there's only one thing to do in a case like this, I'll have to run it again next week and see if it feels any better!
The loop started with 3 miles of uphill running. I felt slow and tired and awful. I checked my watch and found I was averaging 10 minute miles. Yikes, that's pretty slow! But next I had two miles of downhill, where I made up a lot of time and started feeling better. Just as I was starting to enjoy the run, I came to a point where I had to climb uphill for a few miles on muddy and icy Kezar Mountain Rd. Before I got to the highest point, I was feeling discouraged and slow and terrible again. My legs were aching and tired. I didn't want to check my watch, but I couldn't resist. I didn't like what I saw. It told me that I was pathetically slow and out of shape. I finally reached Elm street and had just two miles of mostly downhill on clear pavement left to go. This was fast and easy running, life was good again! When all was said and done, I only averaged 9:30 pace and felt like I worked awfully hard to do that.
The loop felt very difficult. It really beat me up today. there's only one thing to do in a case like this, I'll have to run it again next week and see if it feels any better!
Monday, March 1, 2010
A Drenching
I just got back from a nice 5 miler on the road. The road I ran on is really in rough shape, with cracks and holes and wash outs. There is a lot of standing water in places from our recent rain. Just as I was running around a huge puddle, a small blue car approached from the opposite direction. He slowed down briefly, then suddenly accelerated and splashed through the puddle sending a big wave of muddy water up my side and into my face and hair. I was soaked! I wanted to give him the finger, but instead I turned and gave him a big sarcastic smile and a wave and yelled out "THANK YOU!"
He turned the vehicle around and came back. I said to myself, "Oh Sh*t! What now?" He stopped beside me and rolled his window down. The driver wasn't the young smart Alec I expected, it was a very old man. He apologized for splashing me and said he didn't mean to. I told him there were no hard feelings. Now I feel bad about my sarcastic "thank you." I am so glad I didn't give him the finger!
He turned the vehicle around and came back. I said to myself, "Oh Sh*t! What now?" He stopped beside me and rolled his window down. The driver wasn't the young smart Alec I expected, it was a very old man. He apologized for splashing me and said he didn't mean to. I told him there were no hard feelings. Now I feel bad about my sarcastic "thank you." I am so glad I didn't give him the finger!
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