The Duel Ferries Run & 90 Miles/Week June 21-27

Saturday, June 26: I turned 27 and thought what a better way than to start it with a 20 miler at duel ferries. I met a dozen GRC fellows at Edward's Ferry and we started off on the canal towards White's Ferry. I started off easy and wanted to build during this run. I was to do the full 20+ miler(20.2miles). I hung in with the pack and cruised through the first 10.1m in 1:07. We stopped to get some water/gatorade after the first loop, (I took some powerade at my car), and then proceeded to run the second half. The size was cut in half for those wanting to do 20 miles. Karl, Joe, Dickson, and Ashish all ran ahead moving at a pretty good clip while the Red Fox, Bain, and Jason Dwyer(a fellow who randomly met up with us around mile 2-3), and I drafted a bit furthur back. Red Fox said, we'll get them at the water stop. "Jesus, you guys are brutal!" said Jason. A few miles later, Jake and Jason began to pick it up. Bain and I lost a little ground and just hung in range of a solid pace. I was not going to pick up the pace anymore as I wanted this to be a consistent effort and if I felt good the last 5 miles to then pick it up. So Bain and I hung back around sub 6:00 pace or so and I felt just fine, actually, I began to feel really good. We all met up at the next water stop and regrouped. Ashish had turned around and decided to run less, and Jason would run to White's Ferry and finish up his run there(he took the ferry across). Bain and I ran just a tad slower than Karl, Jake, Joe, and Dickson, so we began to lose ground again after starting up again after the water stop. Bain told me to "go ahead" if I felt good but I declined and said I would like to keep the pace we were going for a bit longer. As we approached White's Ferry, however, I began to pull away and run faster and feel better all at the same time. The turnaround was sunny and it beat down hard on our bodies. Now to river road. I saw the four in front together not that far ahead. I focused on reeling them in. As we made a turn, I noticed the pace started to change drastically, in fact, it happened so fast, and appeared that already the four of them were separating. It looked like Jake and Joe had surged ahead with Dickson and Karl trailing. Downhill, uphill. I worked the uphills. I tried to keep them in sight. After another turn, I saw an awesome sight of 1, 2, 3, 4, runners ahead all equidistant from eachother. This was epic. We were all beating eachother up(in a good way). It looked like Joe was ahead and putting on the hammer with Jake following. Suddenly, I saw Dickson just strides ahead of me. Was I running faster? I had no idea what pace I was running. sub 6 still? 540s??? I was just running by effort and concentrated on running strong. I felt strong. I caught up to Dickson and he nodded his head that I was giving a good effort today and ran ahead. I soon saw Karl coming to me. How fast was I running?, I thought. I focused on catching Karl and did ever so slowly. The sun blared down on us. I ran with him for a bit before pushing even furthur ahead. I started to see the Red Fox but he had a pretty decent gap and it seemed he wasn't slowing down anytime soon. I could hardly see Joe as he must've really stomped on it. At the final turn, I caught up with Joe and Jake but only because they had stopped briefly. Dickson caught up to me and together we ran back to Edward's Ferry. Jake, Joe, and Dickson finished a little bit ahead as at this point my legs were saying "no more, you've done enough for today." So I shut it down with about 10 min left and just ran steady for the last part. I messed up my time as I forgot to stop my watch a couple of times but based on others' times I'm guessing I finished around 2:06(around 59min for the second 10.1). Anyhow, I was thrilled with my run and how solid I ran! Turns out all six of us ran under the old duel ferries record. Jake seems to be pretty accurate with pace so he gave me a good idea of how fast we ran. This is a great run and I'm at perfect position right now in my training. I have a solid base I have been working on and my fitness level is good. The training is paying off dramatically. I just have one goal: to train correctly and optimally peak for Chicago. I think I am on the right track. Again it's a process, like anything, to get to that next level. Total mileage this week was 90. Next week will be a little less mileage and I'll do a 5K workout next Sunday(Autism Speaks 5K) as well as a small workout during the week probably.

Lottsa Running

I have put in 48 miles in the past 4 days. On Monday, I met up with Lucinda, a friend who I ran with on my highschool team. We started at Swains Lock on the Canal and ran evenly for about 75 minutes. Lucinda is training for the Twin Cities Marathon and is one of the top female runners in the area. She recently finished 13th in the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.
On Tuesday I ran an easy 45 minutes with Mickey, who was panting quite a bit afterwards, due to the extreme heat. I made sure he got in some water right away.
Wednesday I ran nearly 16 miles total with a half hour on my own before meeting up with Joe and the rest of the GRC crew at BCC HighSchool. Joe and I just wanted to run distance while the rest did a workout. 1:50:00 total of running.
Thursday morning at 8AM I met up with the Sunrays and led them with Mark on the RockCreek Trail starting from Needwood. Got in 1:00:00 exactly. In the PM, I ran at Riley's Lock on my own for an additional 55 minutes.

I feel like I'm fitter.

6/14-6/20: 84 Miles/Week

Good runs this week. All distance. Some faster, some slower. General overall mileage is increasing. I feel tired some days, but also feel really good on others.

Sum of the Week:

Monday: Ran EZ 4 miles with Mickey on the Canal(very hot and humid day), got caught in downpour which felt unbelievable and refreshing. Had to clean off the dog though.

Tuesday: Ran with the Sunrays club team for about 30 minutes before running a steady 2 miles on the track with Chris in 11:54(a 1:58 INDOOR 800 meter guy who's going to Clemson in the fall). He is in good shape and has potential to run very well in college. Ran an additional 50 minutes afterward on my own to get in 13 for the day.

Wednesday: I decided out of the blue to treat myself to a solo serene long run in the middle of the week. I drove out to difficult run after getting off work at 3pm to explore the great falls area. I pleasantly found a trail that led to Riverbend and ventured even furthur out. It got hilly furthur out! Eventually I turned around after about an hour and called it 17 for the day.

Thursday: Sunrays practice at 4pm again. Ran 50 minutes with the team, then added 45 more minutes on my own. 13 for the day.

Friday: Tired. I woke up from my afternoon nap when Joe called me. I was glad he did, since it got my ass out of bed to finally get my late afternoon/evening run in. Met Joe and Andy at Seneca Creek Park around 6pm, ran for about an hour with them, added on after to make it 11 miles.

Saturday: AM: 7 miles easy, tired.
PM: 5 miles after work in the late evening(after 8:00), felt better.

Sunday: PM: 14 slow miles starting from Old Angler's Inn and looping back onto MacArthur Blvd. Finished around 8PM when it was cooler. Hot day.

Total: 84 miles

June 7-13: 72 Miles/Week

Today after working in the store I ran a 14 miler. I started out to Baltimore road and took it past rockville high to the rockcreek trail. It was still hot when I started after 6:00 PM and I was huffing and puffing after yesterday's workout. As I came back and ran up a hill, delirious, (and pretty damn tired at this point), a girl drove by and yelled, "Hey sexy!" It always entertains me when people yell all sorts of things out their car windows while I'm running. I also ran into a few kids who were out playing on their lawn and started to run after me, but soon after they gave up. After reaching the top of the hill I finished up, tired, and thirsty. I drove to Seven-Eleven and gulped down a Twister and Simply Lemonade.

Sum of this week:

Mon: PM 9 miles
Tues: PM 9 miles w/ 3x200m strides(35 secs each)
Wed: PM 4 miles
Thurs: PM 13 miles
Fri: AM 7 miles
Sat: AM 16 miles w/ 10K in 34:16(5:30 pace)
Sun: PM 14 miles

Total: 72 miles

Sat, June 12: 16 Miles + 10K Tempo

I ran Lawyers Have Heart 10K this morning as a nice tempo. I warmed up for about a mile, did a few strides, and went on my way to the start. I delightfully found Karl, Joe, Scott, and Neal before the start of the race. I have been feeling pretty good and wanted this to be a very solid effort. 5:30 pace was the general area I was shooting for or faster if I felt good. I started out a little fast(I think first mile was low 5:20's), but settled into a pretty good rhythm of upper 5:20s. I went through 5K in 16:55 and felt pretty good turning around and picked off a couple guys. The second half was a little slower(17:20) but it was ok with me-I ended up still averaging exactly 5:30 pace. I ended up 7th place and finished in 34:16. Interestingly, 34:16 was my PR in 2008. Afterward, I ran with Joe, Karl, and Scott for about 20 minutes before turning around to run an additional 40 minutes on my own. I wanted this to be a high mileage day. I am starting to get into the zone of Marathon Training at this point. My legs are getting into it. The mileage is almost 60 after today and I am hoping to get in a decent amount tomorrow to sum up a solid amount this week.

Sunday, 6/6: 5K Workout, 17.5 Miles, 71 MPW

A pretty good week. I have been doing more doubles and just trying to ease back into training hard. Most of my runs have been at a modest pace so this Sunday I decided to crank it up and jump in the Capital Crescent 5K and use it as a solid workout. The goal was to not race but just run hard and stay aerobic(meaning to not dig into lactic acid build up afterwards). I was pleasantly happy with how I felt(other than the horrendous heat and humidity), and it felt good to move the legs fast. I was leading much of the way with a runner whom I did not know hanging on to me until the final stretch where he surged ahead. I had no response to it because A) I did not have a kick, and B) this was a workout. So I hung my head in and ran through the end in 16:18. I did not really have a goal time or pace, just to run hard and break the ice a little bit. I have been doing decent volume(though the mileage should get much much higher later this summer) and running slow for the most part so again, this felt good. I ran another 6 miles after the race, and later in the day after work, jumped on the Cabin John trail for an additional 6.5 miles, total of 17.5 miles for the day. 71 Miles for the week.

June 1

After working at the store today I ran on the Cabin John Trails for an easy 7 miles. Afterwards I drove to Magruder High School to help Nate with the first Derwood Sunrays Club practice. I am leading/coaching the distance mens runs that are made up of mostly highschool runners. We ran an easy 5 miles or so and I added on with one runner named Chris-easy name to remember!-for some additional distance as he is training to run in college this fall. Did some strides after the run on the track to get some turnover going. Got in 13 for the day. Also ran 11 yesterday morning with the GRC at the line.

Other than battling a cold I am feeling pretty darn good. I sense I am pretty damn fit underneath the skin.