an amazing likeness
April in northern New England is really the end of winter rather than the start of spring and the weather can swing widely from snow to warm days of sun and everything in between. The maple trees are sprouting new sap lines, and there's the distinctive whiff of eua de skunk at times....all good signs for warmer days to come. Daily runs are getting a bit easier to start as there is light in the sky and the snow banks are gone on any street with a southern exposure to the snow...but with temps ranging anywhere from 20's to 40's -- no rush to wash and store the winter running gear just yet.
We've got a somewhat quiet race week on our race calendar this week (thanks Zelanie for your work on the calendar!) this week before a major explosion of activity next week.
Hog4life is aiming for course PB at a half in a TN valley where the race description goes out of it's way to remind runners there are "a few hills" 3 times in the 2 paragraph course description. Mitch -- I'm guessing you can expect some rolling terrain when running Appalachia, surprising as that seems.
My plans are for a back-to-back set of halfs on Sat/Sun -- one is at recently closed Naval Air Station and it's always windy because...well, because it's an airport on the coast. The other is a beautiful, but hilly country run in NH which runs the opening 5-6 miles on dirt road...so I'm really hoping the road hasn't thawed to mud yet.
Wishing all our HM racers and trainers a great weekend of following winds and easy strides built on the confidence of the hours spent laying in base miles. Getting to the start line healthy is 2/3 of the journey, enjoy your runs!
Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.
MT, good luck to you on the back-to-back! I am looking for one of these, but would like to minimize travel, so not many options down here.
The only hill that I'm concerned with is Whiskey Hill, haha.
Good luck to all who are racing this weekend, hopefully the weather cooperates for all.
MT I wish you all the success with your back to back Half Marathon!
Ron's PRs 5K 24:14 (12/07/2013); Half Marathon 1:53:33 (5/26/2013)
MT, good luck to you on the back-to-back! I am looking for one of these, but would like to minimize travel, so not many options down here. The only hill that I'm concerned with is Whiskey Hill, haha.
Good luck MT and hog4life
hog4life - the one I did is New Years Eve and New Years Day in Allen TX. It was awesome!
First or last...it's the same finish line
HF #4362
Good luck to you all! Hope the weather cooperates !
Ready, go.
Good luck And have fun.
Run, Walk, Crawl, just Finish.
HF # 1189
Hope the weather cooperates !
1/2 & 1/2...Saturday is rain, sleet, 35-40F, wind 10-15 from east (off ocean). Sunday is polar opposite...45-50F and sunny...nice.
Good luck, Mitch! Enjoy the course and the new hardware!
MilkTruck- Hope you have a great back-to-back! I am very interested to hear your take on it, since this is your first time doing it, correct?
Back to back 1/2Ms is really interesting. Fatigue management seems pretty different than one single event. If you go all out on the 1st, what is left the following day? Like Zel, I'm interested in knowing how it all turned out for you.
I wish you the best MT and Hog4Life.
Cyberic, I still have one more week.
My message was not very clear. I was actually adressing milktruck telling him I was interested in hearing how the double halves went, just like Zel showed interest just before me.
Back to back 1/2Ms is really interesting. Fatigue management seems pretty different than one single event. If you go all out on the 1st, what is left the following day? Like Zel, I'm interested in knowing how it all turned out for you. I wish you the best MT and Hog4Life.
I know when I did mine - I pushed myself on day 1 BUT I knew I'd have to do it all again the next day and I figured I couldn't kill myself the first day.
The few people I knew and checked up on all did far worse on day 2. Interesting to see. I mean, my second day would have been a PR time except for the fact that I PRed the first day. So it's not like I took it easy or anything.
MT is a far better runner than I though so yep, I'm interested in how he finds it too!
A quick post which I'll update later on....front half of the weekend duo is in the books with a 1:42:30 or so. Cold, wet day at the start made the first 3-4 miles a challenge to get warmed up and comfortable. Then steady-eddy until 10, sharing wind breaking with a partner for the 2 mile section down the runway (miles ~6 & 7). Steady pick up from 10 on in...which I think will prove to be a bad thing tomorrow -- legs were more fatigued in the last 2 miles than I expected or wanted.
Sitting here, I think the toughest part of tomorrow's race may be mental -- be able to stay focused for another 13.1 miles and fight as the legs fade.
Great job on day one, rest, refuel and have at it tomorrow. Wishing you the best.
The wheels fell off miserably for me, 2:21:15, for a personal worst of 7 times. I'll put more details later, not even sure it's worth a RR, but we'll see. Potty break at 3 miles, foot went numb at 4, tried adjusting and switching the socks around, no luck, even tried no socks, multiple stops, severe stomach cramps, not a side stitch, more like my Crohn's telling me not today, managed to finish. I had some bad nerves the last 2 days, very nervous for this one. Possible diet choices the last 2 days, possible breakfast. The one bright note though, I had a goal to run up the entire Whiskey Hill, and I did, probably passed 30 or more people.
I had originally planned to take it easy for next weeks half, but after today, I might just be able to throw it down.