Another Bradbury 6, and Fast Shoes

Back to Bradbury this morning for another 6 mile run. Just when we thought no one else was going to show Dave, Jim and Lily arrived. I had brought my snowshoes but since no one else had planned to run in them I left mine behind, but it turned out they would have been useful. It had only been two days since the last major snowfall and there hadn't been enough snowmobile traffic to pack down the trails so I thought the conditions were even worse than last Saturday.

We ran the "usual" route northeast along the Snowmobile Trail. Dave and Lily turned around at about 2.7 miles and I turned at 3. The three of us are all running the Mid-Winter 10-Mile Classic in Cape Elizabeth tomorrow so we didn't want to go too far. Emma and Jim wanted to get in 10 miles today so they kept going. Funny how people can say "I'm not in shape to race 10 miles" while they are in the middle of a 10 mile run in conditions far worse than they would ever encounter in a road race.

I had a nice run and felt pretty relaxed despite the arduous conditions.

time: 1:05:49
distance: 6.0 miles
pace: 10:57

weather: 23 degrees, sunny

conditions: very soft snowmobile trails

gear: Brooks Cascadia 3, wool socks, tights, 2x long sleeve tops, gloves, mittens, buff



Earlier this week I was in Boston and I came across these shoes that whispered "We'll make you run faster"

So I bought them in hopes of making up for lack of fast training by wearing fast looking shoes.
I'd never heard of them before: Saucony Grid Sinister. They look a little more substantial than a racing flat but a lot less bulky than most of the road shoes I've used before.
I like the fact that they have a relatively low heel at 27mm and weight only 10.3 ounces. That's about the same as the Inov-8's that I wear. I have yet to actually run in them, but they feel pretty good wearing them around the house. Hopefully they'll do the trick tomorrow during the race.

Bradbury 6

Another day off from work and another visit to Bradbury before the next big snow storm. Today we planned on 6 easy miles and that's what we did. Conditions were better than on our Saturday run, but still a little soft underfoot in places. We ran an out-and-back up the Link Trail then north on the Snowmobile Trail.


About two miles into the run we came across two men with guns and a dog, I guess it's always hunting season for something in Maine. We didn't stick around to find out what they were planning to shoot today, just hoping it wasn't us.


My hamstrings have been tight ever since cross country skiing (classic) for the first time this year on Friday, and all the hilly miles since then haven't helped. At least today's run didn't make the situation any worse. I just hope they loosen up by Sunday.

Overall a pretty casual run with most miles at around a 10 minute pace, until we hit the gradual downhill leading back to the park when Emma picked it up and we got in an 8:35 final mile.

time: 58:51
distance: 6.0 miles
pace: 9:45

weather: 23 degrees, sunny

conditions: soft packed snowmobile trails

gear: Inov-8 Roclite 315 with screws, wool socks, tights, 2x long sleeve tops, gloves, buff

Georges Highland Path

On Sunday Emma and I headed up the coast to visit my aunt and decided to check out some new trails, new to us anyway. Two summers ago I did some running on the land of the Georges River Land Trust in Thomaston and this seemed like the kind of place that would get plenty of snowmobile traffic, but without knowing for sure we took a bit of a chance. From the trail head on Dunbar Street there was a sign saying no snowmobiles or ATV's, but I decided to take a look over the snow pile at the end of the road and see what the conditions were like. It looked like only one person had walked through the snow since it fell last week, but about 100 yards down the trail it looked like there were snowmibile tracks, sneaky buggers.

After wading through deep snow for a short stretch we came out to one of the most immaculately maintained snowmobile trails I have ever seen. The trails was about 10 feet wide, the whole width had been groomed and was well packed for easy running. Well, it wasn't that easy, there was a lot of uphill. After a little more than a mile there was a powerline than crossed the trail with snowmobile tracks in either direction, and even bigger hills. Since neither of us were feeling that adventurous we thought we would skip the powerlines and stick to the flatter trail, but this ended up in someone's back yard after another quarter mile so we turned back to hit the powerlines and the big hills.

After a short but very steep uphill we were met with an incredible view as this powerline cut seemed to go on forever in both directions. It's nice when the effort of climbing is rewarded with a view. We headed down the other side of this hill and continued to descend for more than a mile. These trails weren't groomed like the ones we started out on but had seen enough traffic to make them easier to run on than the ones at Bradbury the day before. We eventually hit a logging road and made a short detour off the powerlines to do some exploring, this is the little peak in the middle of the elevation profile.

From here we turned around and headed back the way we came, now going up a very long hill. Although the air temperature was in the mid-teens with all the sun reflecting off the snowy slope it felt much warmer, and combined with the increased effort of running uphill we got quite warm. We each took off a layer but after reaching the top of the hill and running downhill on the other side for a few minutes we started to feel the cold again.

We finished the run wishing we could have gone on longer. Looking at a map I can see that the powerlines head east directly into Rockland, and going west they just keep going. Great potential for long winter runs and hopefully some good summer running too. We'll definitely go back to Georges Highland Path.


time: 1:07:13
distance: 6.7 miles
pace: 10:01

weather: 16 degrees, sunny and breezy

conditions: firm packed snowmobile trails

gear: Inov-8 Roclite 315 with screws, wool socks, OR gaiters, tights, 2x long sleeve tops, gloves, buff

10 @ Bradbury

There were 10 of us and I got in a little over 10 miles. Good day.

The group today included Randy, Mindy, Jim, Dave, Alan, Chuck, Lily and Dom in addition to myself and Emma. Our biggest group in some time.

Conditions proved to be more difficult than expected and the pace was very slow today. I had hoped that after a week of snowmobile traffic since the last snow the trails would be well packed, and they looked fairly well traveled but we all sunk in deep with every step.

Not to be put off by the conditions we trudged along in a single file line that gradually extended itself as we each found a pace that was as comfortable as could be expected in the soft snow. The sun was shining and the temperature was well into the 20's, a great day to be outside running.


Mind the gap in the snowmobile bridges, one wrong step could lead to a painful fall. Chuck, who has learned from experience as have I, makes it look easy.


At 5 miles we hit the powerlines that run east towards Brunswick and west towards North Pownal. No one felt like going any further so we all turned here.

Most of the way back along this out-and-back route is uphill and we clocked some very slow miles. Good ultra training as I always say when the pace is forced this slow. By the time we reached the top of the last hill, about 1.5 miles from the parking lot, Chuck, Dave and I had got a little ahead of the rest of the group and proceeded to pick up the pace for the gradual descent along the Snowmobile Trail in the park.

As punishment for getting ahead of the rest of the group I made Chuck and Dave join me on an extra half mile that included an uphill finish. We averaged a 10:23 pace for the run as a whole but got in a 9:02 for out last full mile. Emma, Alan and Jim were waiting when we got back to the parking lot and Mindy and Randy who had made a minor detour weren't far behind. Jim brought cookies to share and we all hung around in the parking lot drinking coffee, hot Gatorade and eating cookies until we were too cold to take it any more.


time: 1:48:12
distance: 10.4 miles
pace: 10:23

weather: 27 degrees, sunny and breezy

conditions: soft packed snowmobile trails, very inefficient

gear: Inov-8 Roclite 315 with screws, wool socks, OR gaiters, tights, 2x long sleeve tops, gloves, buff

Second time faster

I've never been a fan of early morning running. Mostly because I'm not good at it. On Tuesday (last week) I knew that I wouldn't be able to get out of work in time to make it to Twin Brook for the weekly run so Emma and I decided to go for a run before I went into work. I don't know how people do this on a regular basis.

One of the down sides of living in Portland during the winter is the length of time that it takes to get the streets and sidewalks cleared after a major snowstorm. By Tuesday morning there was still much evidence of Sunday's big storm in the form of packed snow and ice, 1" to 2" thick on most surfaces which made running pretty sluggish even with screw shoes. It wasn't our intention to go fast so we plugged along a nice 4 mile loop of the peninsula at about a 9 minute pace.


On Friday I took the day off from work in honor of Emma passing the Nursing Board exam and decided to repeat the same loop as before, this time at 3:00 in the afternoon. Feeling recovered from the previous nights adult beverages and with a spring in my step I headed out towards the Western Prom and found the roads to be somewhat better than before but the sidewalks were still a mess. I didn't check my watch as I ran but cruised along at a comfortably quick pace, broken occasionally at some of the busy intersections in town and by the need to dodge and weave around people on the sidewalks who weren't expecting to come across anyone moving at my pace.

Not that my pace was incredibly fast, but I was happy to run the loop almost 7 minutes faster this time around in a 7:20 pace, with a last mile of 7:10. I was pleased with this run but it didn't give me a ton of confidence about the thought of the Mid Winter 10-Mile Classic coming up next weekend. Last year, after two months of speed work and hill reps I managed to run the race at a 6:53 pace. This year I've been doing a lot of slow miles in the snow. I feel strong but certainly not fast. We'll see...

Tuesday

time: 36:14
distance: 4.0 miles
pace: 9:03

Friday

time: 29:22
distance: 4.0 miles
pace: 7:20

Snowshoe Strength Training

Another fairly short run today, I would have gone a bit longer but my face was getting cold.


I love the icy unibrow.

I planned to lead a snowshoe running training group at Bradbury this morning for people interested in participating in the Pineland Farms Winter Triathlon but I think the blizzard put people off. So it was just me, I don't mind doing winter sports in winter conditions.


I set off on the east side trails the way I intended if others had been with me, I figured I'd start out easy and then hit the mountain. The Knight Woods trail had received a fair amount of ski and snowshoe traffic before the 3 inches of fluffy snow that had already fallen this morning so running was pretty easy for the first 0.75 miles. I then hit the Snowmobile Trail which had received a lot of snowmobile traffic (go figure) before today so that was even easier to run on. As I approached the Link Trail and the way back to the parking lot I decided that I'd try a little back country running and follow the Bradbury Scuffle course. I wasn't sure how easy it would be to follow the single track trails of Fox and Ginn but thought I'd at least get a good workout in while I tried.

It appeared that maybe one person had skied out here a while ago but their tracks were quickly disappearing under the new falling snow so I was pretty much on my own. I'm sure I went off trail a few times, no matter how well I know these trails there are places that are hard to follow under a foot of snow. This 3 mile stretch of single-track was pretty hard work, my Atlas DT snowshoes are great on semi-packed snow but in loose fluff they sink in quite a lot.

By 4 miles I was back on the Snowmobile Trail and was able to pick the pace up again. Now on wider trails I felt a little more exposed to the elements and snow started to accumulate on my face and everywhere else. By the time I reached my outgoing tracks near the end of the Scuffle course my footprints were getting covered by the fast falling snow and even on previously packed trails it was becoming hard work.

I decided to call it a day after finishing the 6+ mile course.

time: 1:18:37
distance: 6.3 miles
pace: 12:29

weather: 14 degrees, blizzard

conditions: light, fluffy snow 3-4 inches deep over old snow

gear: Altas DT Snowshoes, Inov-8 Roclite 295, wool socks, OR gaiters, tights, 2x long sleeve tops, t-shirt, gloves, mittens, buff

Saturday Hash

This afternoon I was trying to decide if I should go into work to chip away at the massive workload that I am going to be faced with this upcoming week or go take part in a Hash Run.

Easy decision.

The start location for this run was about a mile and a half from my home at the Front Room in the East End and the temperature had finally warmed up to positive numbers. I left the house with 13 minutes to get there and it took me 12.5 running at a brisk pace. I saw Jim on the way there who offered me a ride and I offered him a race. I won. He had to find a place to park.

The route took us all over the East End and included more checks and false trails than I'd ever seen before. Since I was fairly consistently the FRB I got in a fair amount of extra mileage at the checks, but that was fun. At the al fresco Beer-Check we were provided with homemade egg nog and as an extra (cruel) treat ice cream cake. Just as the chill was sinking in we set off for more ups and downs along the Eastern Prom and then finally made our way through half a dozen checks to the On-In at the North Star Cafe. Mmmm, Peak Organic Ale.

Hash Runs are happening weekly here in Portland. Check out the Portland Hashers Facebook page for info on upcoming events or e-mail portlandhashers@gmail.com to get on the mailing list.

Hashing is a much better way to spend a weekend afternoon than working.

Thorncrag Bird Sancuary

I learned a new word today: snotsicle. A snotsicle is created when you have a runny nose and it's so damn cold out that the drippage freezes on your nostril or upper lip. That's how cold it was today for our run at the Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary.

Mindy came by this morning and rode with Emma and me up to Lewiston, most of the way fueled by vegetable oil which still burns well in these frigid temps with the right heating system (thanks James). Valerie was the only other brave soul to turn up this morning, I guess she had to since she offered to host the run and was the only one who knew the trails.

After taking a few extra minutes to get all of our layers on while Valerie did laps of the parking lot to keep warm we were finally ready to head out in the cold. A thermometer we passed in Lewiston on the way to the park told us that it was -10 degrees, but Valerie told us her thermometer at home said -19 when she left this morning. Either way this was going to set a record for the coldest temperature I've ever run in. I think the previous low was a balmy 7 degrees during the winter of 2005 when I stress fractured both my femurs. After getting home I checked Accuweather.com which stated the temperature range from 8 to 9 am was from -17 to -11 degrees.


The trail we set out on immediately headed uphill and it didn't take long to get warmed up. By the time we reached the top of the hill I decided I was overdressed and took off my windbreaker. This still left me with three layers on my upper body which was more than enough to keep me warm and with the unrelenting hills I was working hard enough to actually break a sweat. This had the interesting effect, combined with our breathing, of putting a lot of moisture into the air which then froze and accumulated on our eyelashes and hair. It was pretty cool looking, hopefully Mindy will share the photos she took afterwards.

For an "urban" park the Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary has a great little network of trails that get a lot of use even in the winter. Despite being snow covered the trails were well packed by foot traffic and conditions were great for running. Even though it was a little uneven the footing was much better than the GAC Fat Ass course that we ran last weekend and I soon began to think about putting on my own Fat Ass event here this winter. That was until we'd completed a loop that covered most of the terrain here and I realized just how hilly it all is, that would be one hell of a 50k course. I wish I had brought a camera with me so I could share some of the beautiful imagery of this place. Within the park there are several old stone foundations, memorials, benches and an incredible stone fireplace that add another level of interest to the natural surroundings. There are also several places where you can get great views including Mt Washington. Although there isn't much of an opportunity for a long run without repetition these trails were well worth the drive to Lewiston. Thanks to Valerie for sharing them with us.

After the run we stopped at the nearest Tim Horton's to refuel. We like eating off of real dishes and drinking out of real cups, and there food and coffee is pretty good too.

time: 1:17:32
distance: 6.8 miles
pace: 11:24

weather: -17 to -10 degrees, calm and sunny

conditions: snowy trails well packed by foot traffic

gear: Brooks Cascadia 3 with screws, heavy socks, tights, 3x thermal tops, windbreaker, balaclava, buff, gloves, mittens, handwarmers

GAC Fat Ass 40k

Ok, this is one of those weeks where work leaves me with little time or energy to run, or even write about running. So my report from the GAC Fat Ass 50k, of which I ran 40k, will likely be forever unfinished...

As we were walking back to our cars after the run I said: "I really didn't expect to feel this bad."

I knew going into this that running 4 laps wasn't going to be easy and completing 5 was pretty much out of the question (no training to run the full 50k), but I wasn't prepared for how abusive the trails were going to be at Bradley Palmer State Park. Who would have thought that running so slowly could cause so much pain. Don't get me wrong, I certainly enjoyed myself, and it's not like I was hobbling away with an injury, but I finished with a thorough aching from head to toe.


And it was cold too. Not unpleasantly cold, just cold enough to form icicles on peoples faces.

I was sort of hoping that a new arrangement of facial hair would make me feel bad-ass enough to push beyond the limits of my lack of training, but after 4 hours of running through the ice and snow I was done for the day.

The 10k loop with a few good hills

Lap 1: 1:01:35
Lap 2: 59:40
Lap 3: 59:57
Lap 4: 1:00:00

Completing the first lap together

Nice to be running trails together again

sn0m8n finds the Pringles

A beautiful day for a long run

Even on the 4th time around the trail didn't get any easier to run on

Stephen, sn0m8n, gIANt, Buttercup, Fezzik, Sparkplug, Mindy, Gnarls, J-Rock

Thanks to the rest of the Trail Monster crew for great company on another adventure.

time: 4:13:16 (4:01:12 moving)
distance: 24.8 miles
pace: 10:12 (9:40 moving)

weather: 15-23 degrees, sunny and calm

conditions: snow covered trails, crispy on top, soft in the middle, some ice

gear: Inov-8 Roclite 315 with screws, wool socks, gaiters, tights, 2x thermal tops, t-shirt, thin gloves, buff, sunglasses (gloves and knit hat for first lap)

Despite how bad my feet looked after the run they actually felt fine. The messed up toenails are from previous outings.

Twin Brook 6

Emma and I ran together at Twin Brook tonight, it was our first trail run together since the Vermont 50. That was a long time ago.

Jim was there at the beginning and James and Maury met up with us about halfway through. There was still a thin layer of soft snow on the ground, in many places covering a layer of ice. It was a slow run but that's probably the way it should be for several reasons: knee, ice, impending Fat Ass. I'd like to be able to run all five laps of the GAC FAt Ass 50k this Saturday, but I haven't gone over 20 miles in the past 8 weeks so stepping up to 50k is probably too much. But I'll see how it goes.

time: 1:00:00
distance: 6.00 miles
pace: 10:00

weather: 29 degrees, clear

conditions: hard packed snow, ice

gear: Brooks Cascadia 3 screwed, wool socks, tights, 2x long sleeve tops, thin gloves, buff

Roasters Run

Emma and I met Jim and Shauna at Maine Roasters Coffee in Falmouth for an 8 mile run. When we moved to Portland in 2004 this was where we first met other local runners, with the Maine Track Club group that meets there on Saturday morning. We haven't been back with that group in a while but it's always nice to go back there for a run once in a while.

The route we chose was pretty hilly, and when we realized we might not make it up to a full 8 miles we threw in an extra trip up and down Town Landing in Falmouth (middle of the elevation profile).

As it worked out the route was actually 8.5 miles, Emma's longest run since the VT50 in September. It's been a long recovery process for her but progress is definitely being made, and it's so nice to be able to run with her again.

time: 1:11:25
distance: 8.51 miles
pace: 8:23

weather: 20 degrees, sunny

conditions: clear roads

gear: Brooks Cascadia 3, wool socks, tights, 2x long sleeve tops, 2x thin gloves, buff, sunglasses

Bradbury 15ish

Randy picked me up this morning and drove to Bradbury. After last weeks solo run I wasn't sure what to expect but was surprised to see a good turnout that included Jamie, Mindy, Stephen, Ryan and Jim. We headed out of the park on the snowmobile trail and I didn't have a specific route in mind, but several of us agreed a 2 hour run would be good. Randy's car told us it was 11 degrees at 8 am, which I didn't believe but Jamie's car confirmed this.


We ended up running a great big loop that took us about 2 hours and 15 minutes, a little longer than I was expecting but not too far off the target. I had never run this loop just as we did today so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Trail conditions were pretty icy, but luckily most of us were wearing screw shoes. Stephen screwed his immediately upon arrival at the park and I should have offered to let Mindy screw hers too (sorry, I saw the Yak Trax in your hand).

By the time we finished it was 32 degrees and I had stripped off one of my shirts. Although the elevation profile makes it look like the whole run was very hilly the ones at the end felt the hardest and I really warmed up running uphill. My Garmin told me that we ran about 14.5 miles but I have typically found the distance to be short compared to other peoples GPS and to measured race routes (don't buy a Garmin 405). So I think it was probably closer to 15 miles.

time: 2:14:12
distance: 14.56 miles
pace: 9:13

weather: 11-32 degrees, mostly sunny, breezy

conditions: hard packed snow, ice

gear: Brooks Cascadia 3 with screws, wool socks, tights, 2 long sleeve tops, Source 1.5l hydration pack, thin gloves, buff

The Hangover Classic

On New Years day Emma and I decided to start the running year with a race, the Hangover Classic in Salisbury, MA. Although trails would have been preferable this road race had several unique features which made it stand out above your ordinary road race. Although I can't credit the race organizers with the course conditions on race day the previous days snow left the streets of this seaside town covered with a layer of packed snow. The sub-freezing temperature and strong winds with gusts in excess of 30 mph certainly made for unpleasant conditions if you were one of the unfortunate volunteers standing around directing runners. But the real draw of this event is that after finishing runners are given the option of a plunge in the ocean and are rewarded for their foolishness with special beer glass.

We had planned to do this race for some time, this planning occurred when it was warmer and the thought of jumping in the ocean wasn't so far fetched. But as race day approached and we watched the weather forecast is began to look like swimming in the ocean on New Year's Day might not just be a bad idea but might actually be really bad for us. This was until Jim informed us that he and Shauna were coming along and that in his mind the plunge was not optional.

The Hangover Classic offers two race options. Jim, Shauna and I all opted for the 10k and Emma, who was feeling somewhat less certain of her abilities due to a slow recovery from major knee problems, signed up for the 5k. To further protect herself from having her name attached to an unflattering time Emma registered under a fake name and wore her See-You-Jimmy hat as a disguise.

Driving 70 miles south did nothing for the temperatures, nor did waiting for the late 11:45am start. It was damn cold and windy and as we walked from the parking lot to the bar where registration was held I think we were all questioning why we were doing this. After standing around in the snowy road for way too long we finally took off running. I think the roads for the entire first mile were covered in a thick layer of packed snow. I was grateful to have brought a pair of Brooks Cascadias each with 16 screws in the bottom. These certainly gave me an advantage over many runners who were forced to slow down because of the conditions. I noticed that when cornering I had a particular advantage over runners who really slowed down to keep from slipping. Suckers.

Note the proximity to the ocean

After the first mile there were plenty of clear patches in the road, but overall I'd estimate that only half the course was free from snow. In some places there were wind blown drifts that must have been 6 inches deep. Luckily it didn't take long to warm up, and by about halfway through the race I started thinking about what it was going to feel like to jump in the ocean later. It actually seemed doable. At around 4 miles I ran straight through the only aid station on the course, even though it was serving beer as well as water I decided that losing momentum might bring on a chill that would make me lose interest in swimming so I kept going.

About 1/4 mile from the finish I saw Emma, who had finished the 5k race and gone to the car to get a change of clothes for everyone, standing at the side of the road cheering me on. She chased me to the finish and I was quite surprised to see the time on the clock as I approached just turning to 41 minutes. I had been warned that this might be a short course, and was hoping that since the start/finish was in a new location this year that the distance would be accurate but I don't think I was going that fast, not in these conditions. I would expect to break 41 minutes on a cool fall day in good conditions but not in the crap that we were running in today. Oh well. I'm not a 10k runner so it doesn't really matter to me.

When Emma caught up to me, we headed into the bar for a few minutes to keep warm until Jim came through the finish line. I knew he'd be stopping at the beer station en route and would be a few minutes behind. Jim crossed with Shauna right behind and we all headed for the beach, only a few yards from the finish line. We stripped down to the bare essentials and took off running for the water (except Shauna who was enjoying watching). Luckily the tide was not too far from high so we didn't have far to run. By the time we reached the water our skin was frozen from the -10 windchill so the water temperature didn't actually feel bad at all.

Much to our surprise the sandy beach dropped off abruptly once we were a few feet into the water. This helped with the submersion process, there was absolutely no choice, but this made getting out a chore. A slight undertow and cold muscles made swimming out very difficult. Once back on the beach I threw on a bathrobe (probably the most important thing to bring to a winter ocean plunge), grabbed the rest of my gear and headed for the bar. The mistake I made is that I decided to carry my shoes rather than take the time to put them back on again. This meant I got indoors rather quickly but not before running across the snow covered road barefoot. By the time I got inside my feet were frozen. Literally frozen. I have a minor case of frostbite.

10 minutes later we were all warmed up and the free beer was flowing. We bumped into a few other folks we knew and had fun hanging around for a while in the crowded bar. Oddly enough Emma, who was the least confident in her abilities going into this race, came away winning a jacket and $20 for finishing in 5th place in the 5k (however the results show her finishing in 6th, oops!)

5k RESULTS
10k RESULTS

time: 41:08
distance: 6.2 miles
pace: 6:38
place: 26/295 - 9%

weather: 11 degrees, sunny, very windy -10 windchill, water temp: 37 degrees

conditions: roads 50% covered in snow/slush

gear: Brooks Cascadia 3 (screwed), wool socks, triathlon shorts, thick tights, 2x thick thermal tops, thin balaclava, buff, 2x gloves, sunglasses