A Series of Fortunate Events
The Plan is the Plan Until it Changes
In life, things rarely go as planned. We are forced to re-plan and sometimes re-re-plan. We must adapt as things change and hope that we prepared ourselves enough to deal with those changes.
Over the past three weeks I ran 267 miles (2nd most in a 3 week span ever), 3 miles short of my goal. This training block was not without problems.
I started the block with a 5:30am run of the Skyline trail at the Middlesex Fells and was already at 36 miles by lunch on Wednesday. Running a major negative calorie count mixed with a few glasses of wine and I almost missed Thursday all together. I rallied and knocked another 10 the following day with nearly 4000' of climbing. I closed the week out (literally at midnight Monday Morning) with 89.7 miles running part of Henry's Boston Quad.
Week 2 began with a 15 mile run during the monsoon on Marathon Monday (aka the Boston Marathon). After backing off a bit for a couple of days I had another big vert Thursday (~3500') and then put in a 29 miles, mostly at the Fells again, knocking full loops of the Skyline Trail, Reservoir Trail, and an out and back of the Cross Fells trail. The week / run was going great until mile 26 when I tripped over a small stump going down hard. Luckily my Go Pro was nice enough to automatically turn on and record my moaning for a good 60 seconds. I slogged back to the car with a throbbing big toe and called the week at 87 miles.
The third week started off with recovery day (3 miles) followed by two big days. On Wednesday evening I got out for the 16 mile Museum of Science loop and probably would have fallen asleep had it not been pouring (again). I still needed one more big run to complete my training cycle so I went all in with a trip to the Blue Hills Friday evening. After struggling to find a place to park and having to go back for my phone in the car, I finally began ascending Great Blue just after 8pm. As I got about 400' above sea level I entered the fog and could barely see 10' in front of me. My pace slowed to about 18 minute miles and only got worse going down hill. A couple of miles later / the next side street, I bailed and headed home. Still determined to make this work, I doubled down on a plan for Sunday. The plan was to get up at 4am to run 24 miles followed by the 1 mile kid run at the Becca Pizzi race with Neil and chased with a 5k.
Earth Day Celebration
Last Saturday morning Amy, the kids, and I participated in an Earth Day celebration at Lone Tree Hill in Belmont. We planted a hand full of Pine Trees along a trail named Pine Allee. This area is one of my favorite trails and I generally run there 2-3 days a week almost year round.
The kids had a blast and over the past few months Neil has really started to show that he understands the world is so much bigger than him.
Becca Pizzi Kids Run and 5K
After my 24 mile warm up run Sunday I got to the Belmont track and checked us in for our race. The kids race started at 9am and was four laps on the track. Neil had been talking about this race for about two weeks and had even picked his outfit out, his Team Leyden shirt and NF hat, over a week before the race.
We started the race at just over 9 minute pace as kids went flying out in front of us from every direction. By end of the first turn we were already passing people and continued to do so for the entire run. Other then a minor walking break just before the end of the third lap, Neil ran the whole thing clocking a 10:30 mile.
Twenty minutes later the 5k started and before I knew it we were flying around the track again. My plan for the 5k wasn't overly ambitious, but I was interested in seeing who my competition was before I settled into a comfortable pace. By the one mile mark I was in sixth place, but still within striking distance of third.
Right around 1.2 miles in, the two leaders blew through a turn and as we approached I could hear the volunteers yelling at the other runners to go right. Funny enough the three guys in front of me decided they would follow the leader rather than go the right direction. Having run this race before and living in Belmont, I knew where I was going. Not sure what the end result would be I just kept plugging away.
As I completed the second mile I was feeling pretty good and picked the pace back up a bit. As I entered the track I heard the announcement that the first runner was on the track so I picked it up again and flew through the finish. I was a far cry from my 5k PR, but happen to have come out on top none the less. I guess it pays to know where you are going.
[Add on from Amy: I have to add that as Scot approached the track Nat started chanting Daddy and I was sure he was mistaken. There was no way his daddy who had just run 20+ miles that morning and was going to be running an ultra in 2 weeks would be in the lead. Turns out the kid was right]
267.7 miles over 21 days complete. Taper time.
18,000 Miles
This past week I logged my 18,000th mile since I began tracking my mileage back in 2006 (Note: well over half has come in the last 4 years). Over that time I have burned somewhere in the vicinity of 2 million calories and climbed around 1 million ft. It has been a wild ride thus far and I can't wait to see what is next.
Up Next: Transvulcania
The big race is just over a week away now and I am excited to see how it goes. I have never climbed 14,000' ft in a day before and I have never run above the cloud line. It is races like this that I live for. All I can hope is that the training was enough and when the time comes I am ready to handle anything that is thrown at me.
As Phil Albert of Townson University would say, "The hay is in the barn."
- Scot
In life, things rarely go as planned. We are forced to re-plan and sometimes re-re-plan. We must adapt as things change and hope that we prepared ourselves enough to deal with those changes.
Over the past three weeks I ran 267 miles (2nd most in a 3 week span ever), 3 miles short of my goal. This training block was not without problems.
I started the block with a 5:30am run of the Skyline trail at the Middlesex Fells and was already at 36 miles by lunch on Wednesday. Running a major negative calorie count mixed with a few glasses of wine and I almost missed Thursday all together. I rallied and knocked another 10 the following day with nearly 4000' of climbing. I closed the week out (literally at midnight Monday Morning) with 89.7 miles running part of Henry's Boston Quad.
 |
| The Sun Rises in the East |
The third week started off with recovery day (3 miles) followed by two big days. On Wednesday evening I got out for the 16 mile Museum of Science loop and probably would have fallen asleep had it not been pouring (again). I still needed one more big run to complete my training cycle so I went all in with a trip to the Blue Hills Friday evening. After struggling to find a place to park and having to go back for my phone in the car, I finally began ascending Great Blue just after 8pm. As I got about 400' above sea level I entered the fog and could barely see 10' in front of me. My pace slowed to about 18 minute miles and only got worse going down hill. A couple of miles later / the next side street, I bailed and headed home. Still determined to make this work, I doubled down on a plan for Sunday. The plan was to get up at 4am to run 24 miles followed by the 1 mile kid run at the Becca Pizzi race with Neil and chased with a 5k.
Earth Day Celebration
 |
| Nat and his tree |
The kids had a blast and over the past few months Neil has really started to show that he understands the world is so much bigger than him.
Becca Pizzi Kids Run and 5K
After my 24 mile warm up run Sunday I got to the Belmont track and checked us in for our race. The kids race started at 9am and was four laps on the track. Neil had been talking about this race for about two weeks and had even picked his outfit out, his Team Leyden shirt and NF hat, over a week before the race.
 |
| Neil and I finishing up lap 4 |
Twenty minutes later the 5k started and before I knew it we were flying around the track again. My plan for the 5k wasn't overly ambitious, but I was interested in seeing who my competition was before I settled into a comfortable pace. By the one mile mark I was in sixth place, but still within striking distance of third.
Right around 1.2 miles in, the two leaders blew through a turn and as we approached I could hear the volunteers yelling at the other runners to go right. Funny enough the three guys in front of me decided they would follow the leader rather than go the right direction. Having run this race before and living in Belmont, I knew where I was going. Not sure what the end result would be I just kept plugging away.
As I completed the second mile I was feeling pretty good and picked the pace back up a bit. As I entered the track I heard the announcement that the first runner was on the track so I picked it up again and flew through the finish. I was a far cry from my 5k PR, but happen to have come out on top none the less. I guess it pays to know where you are going.
[Add on from Amy: I have to add that as Scot approached the track Nat started chanting Daddy and I was sure he was mistaken. There was no way his daddy who had just run 20+ miles that morning and was going to be running an ultra in 2 weeks would be in the lead. Turns out the kid was right]
267.7 miles over 21 days complete. Taper time.
 |
| Nat and I accepting our award from Becca |
This past week I logged my 18,000th mile since I began tracking my mileage back in 2006 (Note: well over half has come in the last 4 years). Over that time I have burned somewhere in the vicinity of 2 million calories and climbed around 1 million ft. It has been a wild ride thus far and I can't wait to see what is next.
Up Next: Transvulcania
The big race is just over a week away now and I am excited to see how it goes. I have never climbed 14,000' ft in a day before and I have never run above the cloud line. It is races like this that I live for. All I can hope is that the training was enough and when the time comes I am ready to handle anything that is thrown at me.
As Phil Albert of Townson University would say, "The hay is in the barn."
- Scot
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