Catching up

Wow, been a while since I posted. Been busy prepping for the move and watching the Olympics. a couple solid weeks (56, and 52 miles the last two on 5 runs per week each). Still not as motivated as I should be.....I really need a scheduled day and lifestyle. This should improve soon as I start my new job on Monday! Too bad I can't move into my new house until Sept 16th.

So some highlights of the last few weeks:

8/6, 8/11, 8/18 I did the same workout. One of my favorite quickies. I run to a track and do a 2 mile run where I run the straight a ways hard and jog the curves. this amounts to a 16x100m surging run. this is much like the 30 sec hard 30 sec easy workout many folks do. I always end running the second mile faster as each successive 100m strider feels smoother and faster. On the 6th I ran 13:50 for the 2 miles, then 13:37 on the 11th and 13:02 on the 18th with what felt like the same effort.

On the other end of the spectrum I got out to Shenandoah NP for four serious climbing/descending and trail running on the AT and other technical trails. I had great company in Sophie and Jeff Wilbur of charlottesville. I ran an 18 mile loop on 8/7 and 8/9 that has over 4,000ft of climb and on 8/15 and 8/17 I ran a tough 21 miler with over 5k of climb. All these runs took between 4:05 and 5:02 to run. For me this is the perfect length of time to be out on my feet pounding and still be able to recover well. In the summer with an early start I will go through 100 ounces of fluid and take in around 800 calories on such a run. This puts me on the verge of being hungry and helps increase my bodies fat mobilization abilities.

Today Anne and I headed to Ashland, VA for the Patrick Henry 1/2 marathon and managed to complete our goal by covering the distance on tired legs at goal marathon pace: 1:59

Fun stuff, highlighted by attending a pre-race talk given by Maureen Ackerly about the US Oly trails marathon in April. This amazing runner is a 39 y.o. mother of 2 who happens to be a partner in a big law firm. Talk about juggling life responsibilities and still manage to PR in the marathon! Amazing.

Trails are Awesome

After 3 resting weeks following Hardrock I was able to get in a good one this week:

61 miles on 6 runs including two(2) four hour runs on trails. Man were they fun! On both Thursday and Saturday I had great company while trotting the trails above the Charolottesville reservoir. We ran the moormans river road loop traveling up to, then 8 miles on the Appalachian trail in Shenandoah NP and back down. Thursday Jeff and I even got to see two bear cups. This is a loop I used to run nearly weekly when I was getting my masters at UVA.

GPS tracks of our runs. Saturday's run with Sophie shows the actual route while Thursdays run the garmin unit lost reception under the heavy canopy and overcast skies. (Here)

Today Anne and I continued to build her long run for this Novembers Richmond marathon by doing a fun 13 miles on the course.

After 12 hours of running in the last 4 days I am feeling incredibly good

Trying to make it Ours

Ahhhhhh Arlington! Good stuff. Moving back to NOVA. Start work Aug 25th. Close Sept 15th. Can't wait for either!