Pineland Farms Trail Running Weekend

2012 May 26-27  Pineland Farms Trail Running Festival

Saturday, 5 km in 0:37

Saturday they had 5k, 10k, 5k barefoot, and 5k canine, where runners race with their dog. The day before it was warm and humid and I didn’t feel like running, but after a travel day, I decided to do the 5k anyway, hopefully to loosen up my legs. Normally I don’t run for a couple of days before a big run, but I made an exception. Bill and I decided to go really easy and to walk up the hills to conserve as much energy as possible for 50 km the next day. As it was I didn’t feel like running at all and dragged myself through it, but by the time we finished I felt warmed up at least and a little better.

The 5k course weaved back and forth in broad switchbacks, using mostly parts of a cross country ski trails, with some sections through mowed fields. I had hoped to use my Nike Skylon road running shoes for the 50k the next day, but decided during the 5k run to use the backup pair of shoes I brought, Montrail Mountain Masochists, which are much more stable. Not that the footing was bad, but I didn’t like the way the Skylons felt on those trails.

Sunday, 50 km in 7:57

Sunday had 25k, 50k, and 50 mile races. It was Bill’s first 50 km, and we were going to try to follow the lead of his older experienced-marathoner brother David. I just wanted to run with them, hoping I wouldn’t have any problems and could keep up. I decided last year that sometimes the overall experience is worth more than killing myself to go all out in races unless 1) my training is very good, 2) I’m at a good racing weight, and 3) I have a solid desire to go hard. My overall training has been very good, but my weight isn’t down as much as I wanted, and this wasn’t my goal race, so I wasn’t going to go hard, but 50 km is a long race for me and while I was somewhat confident I would be able to handle the distance well, you never know until you get out there.

We discussed our strategy a little, and though the course wasn’t extremely hilly, it was undulating, with lots of little ups and downs, so the plan was to walk most of the uphills and run the rest. Hey that sounded great to me. Luckily the warmth and humidity from the previous day was gone the morning of the 50 km, and it was about 60 degrees when we started.  

As we started out down the hill I felt very sluggish, but after half an hour I was warmed up and running ok, if not feeling that smooth. On that day I loved our relaxed approach with hiking up the hills instead of running, not exactly the way most people do a race, but refreshing for a change, and very much like what I’d been doing for a few months mixing running and hiking when out on my trail runs.

For most of my life I’ve been a fairly consistent runner, sometimes going through competitive phases, to be sure that means for me competing to do my best only, since I’m a mid-pack finisher, or sometimes a little better, but not winning anything or placing in my age group. I’ve also been a hiker, avid at times and more occasional at other times, but always loving nature and the outdoors. Since I was a teenager I’ve always loved running trails much more than running roads, and as I aged a little I learned to walk up some of the hills when trail running, especially when I starting doing longer distances and some ultramarthons.

But this year I started doing what I call run-hikes, which can be any combination of running and hiking in the same outing. The difference is that I make what I’m doing distinct in my mind so that when I’m hiking I adopt a hiking mindset and when I’m running I take on a trail-running mindset. That means I consciously tell myself “ok I’m hiking now” or “ok I’m running now”, which is enough to shift my experience of the moment. Sometimes when I switch to hiking it’s an instant relaxing relief, and my senses suddenly become a little more peripherally aware. Other time when I switch to running mode I will feel the excitement of moving faster over obstacles, and even though my senses are still awake, I get more of a tunnel-vision focused on the trail ahead, which becomes a meditation of a different kind. Combining the best of both activities on my outings has been a complete revelation this year.

Our controlled approach to the Pineland Farms 50 km became an extension of the kind of run-hikes I’ve been doing much of the year, with the difference being that I switched modes faster and more frequently when hiking up the hills, whereas when I’m normally out there I would hike for much longer, not based on hills, but based on what I wanted to do at the time, then I would run for longer periods as well. At Pinelands I would saunter up the hills more slowly than Bill and David, but would run faster at the other times, sometimes slightly leapfrogging. It made for a very relaxing and fun 50 km for me.

I followed my plan for long stuff of starting to eat a lot early then continuing to eat throughout the run, which I’m sure paid off because I wasn’t very hungry after finishing. I started eating a protein bar 5 minutes into the run. After that I would grab stuff off the tables, eating the fruit right away, and stuffing the other food – cookies, pretzels, etc – into my little front pouch, which I would eat before the next aid station. I did take probably 6 s-caps throughout the run, but didn’t need that many. Peeing five times was a bit too much, but after the run I wasn’t thirsty so it was all good.

The 25 km course went downhill to the west, weaving down a mix of contours around fields and cross country ski trails in giant switchbacks, coming back up the hill, then going out on the east side for 8 km or so. The first lap went well, and we were all feeling pretty good, but the promised-for cloud cover never came, so it felt warm in the sun. As the day wore on a cool breeze made it very tolerable and a fine day for running.

On the second lap I started to feel a little stiff in places, but fine otherwise. Then pretty much at the bottom of the hill, David took off at the aid station, and we just figured he wanted to bank a little time, but since he’d been pacing us thus far, we thought we would soon catch up with him. Nope. Finally about 20 minutes later when crossing through the finish area on the way to the last 8 km lap on the east side of the course, we spotted him across the field and soon caught up with him at the next aid station, having worked it a little bit to catch up to him.

From there it was a bit more of a slog on tiring legs, but we all stayed together, with David’s son helping pace us in. We were running representing Crow Athletics, and wore singlets with the outline of a crow on them. Curiously, in the last couple of miles we started seeing crows, there seemed to be one up ahead in the trail around every turn. It occurred to me later that crows have very good vision and are smart. They could easily have seen the crow outlines on our shirts and been curious. Don’t know, but the crows were good omens at that point and kept us going strong to the finish.

The only slight disappointment to the day was that they ran out of beer! Each finisher was supposed to get two free beers, but the tap had run out. I mentioned it to Bill as we were getting some food, and one of the volunteers heard me. Turns out they were saving some beer for the 50 MILE finishers, but she went and got us a couple, so we each got at least one, but they really should plan better on that one thing. Otherwise a well done weekend!

I felt pretty good after finishing, I think because we walked most of the hills and I ate a lot during the run. Overall, my average heart rate for the 50 km was 121, or about 63% of maximum heart rate, which I think made my recovery go much faster. When I hammer a long race it takes weeks before I feel fresh. I liked doing the race as a run and in a more relaxed manner for a change. It was a very different refreshing experience!

Outdoor Week ending 5/27/12

Taper week leading up to the 50k run at Pineland Farms Sunday. I'll write up a little report on Pineland, but say here that it was a well run event + pun intended, but... they'd run out of beer by the time we finished at our moderate pace, and that can have a way of cancelling out many of your good feelings about the event, given that those two free beers at the end were the main prize for us. Managed though to finagle a bottle from the secret stash saved for the 50 MILE finishers only.

Rhrs   Rclimb  Ltime   Lclimb  Htime   Hclimb  OnFeet
7:48    1210    4:27    450    4:45    3200    12:33

Date      Type  Time  Climb Effort (HR) Description
21-May    off                   
22-May    run    0:57    160    3    stony brook
22-May    hike    0:55    700    3    stony brook
23-May    run    1:27    450    6    ram park, fartlek
24-May    run    0:20        8    gym, trd
                Speedplay up to 10 mph
24-May    hike    0:20        2    gym, trd
25-May    off     travel day
26-May    run    0:37    400    1    5k very easy
                Checked out the course, walked up the hills
27-May    Pineland Farms 50 km in 7:57 as:
27-May    run    4:27    200    2    121    Pineland Farms 50k
27-May    hike    3:30    2500    2    121    Pineland Farms 50k
                 Since we hiked up most of the hills, I'll guess the amount of hiking.
28-May    hike    2:00    150    2    Bath, ME

Treadmill Meditation

A few days now before the Pineland Farms 50k run, and I did my last effort to speak of in an 87 minute fartlek run yesterday, mostly on the mud flats next to the Ramapo river, but also climbing up to the reservoir and doing a lap on some of my favorite single-track trail. Today had been a dismal day when things weren't coming to together particularly well, and the weather was soupy with rain and drizzle all day. Hopes of catching a few rays of sun for a late afternoon run faded and I went to my $10 per month gym instead.

I hate exercising indoors almost always, but am glad to have the option in winter especially, or when something quick at night works better. I can pretty much only do an hour on the treadmill, and that's pushing my mental limits of toleration. It's just so boring, even with watching TV, that its hard to maintain a strong effort. Today though I just wanted to sweat and run a little, so I did 5 minutes of walking then 5 minutes of running for 40 minutes, which made it easy and relaxing.

Then during the run blocks I started just doing mini progressions, staring intently on the clock, doing like a minute at 7 mph, then 8 mph, etc. In one block I topped out at 10 mph for a minute, and it felt refreshing to run that fast, just staring at the clock for one minute. Normally you don't want to look much at the clock; you try to avoid it because treadmills make the passing of time dreadful, hence the nickname they've acquired 'dreadmill'. Instead I looked at nothing but the seconds ticking off on the clock, facing the enemy, and it worked this time.

Been a while since I ran at 6 minutes per mile, but I feel good and loosened up tonight, and it made for a great sweat. So today it was more like treadmill meditation, and I really enjoyed the change of pace, literally. Without those relaxing 5 minute blocks of walking though, which luckily I think is fine during a the mini taper this week, it wouldn't have been fun at all.

Outdoor Week Ending 5/20/12

Wet early in the week then a very nice weekend.  The upcoming week will be a mini-taper into a 50k next Sunday. Less hiking this week and I missed it.


Rtime Rclimb  Ltime Lclimb  Htime Hclimb  OnFeet
6:25    3090    1:29    1100    3:35    1385    10:00

14-May    run    0:49    340    2.5    stony brook
                hike    0:29    200    3.5    stony brook

As always I checked the weather for the week ahead and the day first thing, and it was showers all day and for the next few days rainy. I got out late, but it looked from the radar that I could get in a run with only light rain, which for me is much preferable to a downpour. Mine was only the second car in the parking lot, and I didn't see anybody out on the trail as I just did an easy run-hike up to the lake, with 49 minutes of running and 29 minutes of easy hiking. Just a slight drizzle out there. Nice enough out for running in shorts and tshirt but for the slippery rocks at 62f and just a slight drizzle.

15-May    run    1:11    700    4    ram park

Over to Ramapo Park today, getting out early with the promise of less precipitation on the radar for a couple of hours. Again hardly anybody there -- it's night and day with people outside anywhere when it's sunny vs. rainy. I felt a little better than yesterday, did a short loop on the flats by the river to warm up, then headed up the ridge on the green trail, which contours its way up the hill before crossing the gas line cut, which I turned left on up the steep fall-line of the hill. After topping out I took the smoother white trail back along the ridge before crossing over to the blue trail and taking that around the watershed. So many options in this park; I took a couple of side loops on the way back down the mountain. 71 minutes today, about 700 ft climb.

16-May    run    0:43    200    3.5    stony brook
16-May    hike    0:37    350    5    stony brook


Up to Pine Meadow lake again. 

17-May    run    1:23    1100    4.5    hook


Did my old northern hook mountain route from the fire station on the long path north, then coming back on the river trail. 

18-May    run    0:30        1    gym, trd

19-May    run    1:29    750    4    145    stony brook, fartlek
19-May    hike    0:42    135    2    118    stony brook

20-May    hike    1:47    700    1    stony brook
20-May    run    0:20        3    stony brook, rock play

It's nice to go out and be really casual sometimes and just hike, but I enjoyed running a few of the technical sections and the streambed. Perfect day for it -- sunny and dry feeling and in the upper 70s.

I chased this one down the river trail for about a mile before the woods opened up a little.

 The Hudson river where the river trail starts south from near the bottom of  Landing road.

 

The Stony Brook

Steamy Week Ending 5/13/12

It was rainy and very humid early in the week, and still felt a little steamy but nicer later in the week. All run-hikes this week except for today.  This week I still had a slight hangover from the 4:29 long run April 30th, but by Saturday I felt pretty good. Now I have an easy week with nothing long upcoming, then a mini-taper week before running 50k on May 27th.

Rtime Rclimb  Ltime Lclimb Htime Hclimb OnFeet
6:44    2160    2:11    900    6:12    2830    12:56

Monday:
7-May    run    1:45    600    3    stony brook
7-May    hike    0:35    400    3    stony brook

Did a nice little run-hike today at southern Harriman park. Just after starting out I noticed the tree that had fallen across the stream months ago was still alive and growing!

First I hiked easily for 20 minutes up the creek valley before switching to a run to get up to the lake. After stopping at the lake I decided to run around the lake on the red then white trails on the west side, then following the unmarked very tight single-track that weaved through close mountain laurel on the east side of the lake. That trail stops at the Torne valley dirt road, so I decided to run the road south over to pick up the white trail, but I found the road just as slow as the single-track, super rocky with numerous flooded sections that I chose to pick my way around. I spotted the fresh track of a medium size bear, which perked up my senses a little more until I got back up on the ridge.

After finally getting to and up the short white trail section heading back west, I got to the black trail and it's southern view spot showed the Torne valley lush after recent rains.

Shortly after checking my rattlesnake den (he was either sleeping inside or out hunting), I switched to an easy hike for about 10 minutes, thinking and deciding how much more running I wanted to do today, but shortly decided to run again, and did so until the last half mile or so, when I hiked again. All told 1:45 of running and 35 of hiking today. Overall effort 70%hrmax.

Tuesday:
8-May    run    0:37    40    3    stony brook
8-May    hike    1:01    560    2    stony brook

Hiked up to Pine Meadow lake, then ran down. 

Wednesday:
9-May    run    1:07    480    4    ram park
9-May    hike    0:43    400    3    ram park

Hiked up the hill, then ran the yellow trail up and over to bear swamp road, then ran the orange trail back, plus a little extra loop, then finished up hiking.

Thursday:
10-May    run    0:37    100    1    stony brook
10-May    hike    1:03    550    2    stony brook

Pretty much the same as Tuesday

Friday:
11-May    run    0:27    40    2    mohonk
11-May    hike    0:55    280    2    mohonk

Was going to do the Medium-long run today, but didn't feel fresh at all, and ended up just running a little of a loop up at Mohonk, then hiked the rest.

Saturday:
12-May    run    2:11    900    4    148    stony brook
12-May    hike    0:55    300    3    124    stony brook

This was my medium-long run after last week's 4:29 Monday, giving 11 days of rest in between, and 14 days of rest from now to my next 50k in two weeks. I felt pretty good today, and had fun on the rocks.

Anatomy of a run-hike:

Lap   Time  AvgHR
 1     10:11    114    Hike, warmup
 2     26:46    156    Run, mostly uphill
 3     05:02    125    Ran too hard, take a breather hiking
 4     32:52    146    Resume run, mostly downhill
 5     10:02    130    Starting 2nd lap up, hiking
 6     51:32    143    Resume run, settle in, around lake
 7     15:13    121    Finish around lake, leisurely hike
 8     20:26    147    Starting down, last bit running
 9     14:57    133    Finish off with easy hike

Some might wonder if the running is less effective as training when broken up into sections like this. I don't think there's much difference overall, but it's probably slightly less effective as training for running to break it up like this. The benefits are twofold. First, it gives the energy supply system a chance to catch up when trail running, which requires a higher effort than normal running, allowing you to be comfortable doing more on a given day. Second, when I switch to a hike, my experience completely shifts and I relax and take in the natural surroundings in a deeper way. My combined overall heart rate was 140, or 73% of maximum heart rate, which shows that blending in an hour of hiking nicely moderates the overall effort.

The less-used single-track behind the lake:

Sunday:  easy recovery hike
13-May    hike    1:00    340    1.5    ram park

10 inch turtle sunning itself today:

Week of Recovery 5/6/12

On the long run Monday I pushed farther than usual, to test myself a little. Recovery from longer runs always takes time for me, even when I've been training more than now. I'm simply not one of those people who can knock out long stuff week after week, which is totally fine. I'm happy to be running and pushing my personal limits from time to time. This week a little more than usual I felt the shadow of the long run.

Rtime Rclimb Ltime  Lclimb Htime  Hclimb OnFeet
7:39    2760    4:29    1620    2:26    1050    10:05

30-Apr    run    4:29    1620    7.5    142    Mohonk 'marathon' 26.51m
30-Apr    hike    0:15    30    1    mohonk

Chronicled separately.

1-May    hike    0:45    60    1    new paltz rail trail

Legs pretty stiff, so just easy walking. For these situations I subtract a little time and call it a hike.

2-May    run    0:23        1    gym, trd
2-May    hike    0:17        2    gym, trd

Legs still not ready to go, but a little light running on treadmill.

3-May    run    1:17    640    2    stony brook
3-May    hike    0:27    400    2.5    stony brook

By Thursday I was dying to get out there more, so I did a little more, albeit on still recovering legs. It was a lackluster somewhat cooler day, but the timber rattlesnake I'd seen a couple of weeks ago on the black trail was right there with his head sticking out of his den. He tried to withdraw his head so I wouldn't see him, and I probably wouldn't have, but I know right where he lives.

4-May    run    0:37    100    2    ram park
4-May    hike    0:27    460    2    ram park
5-May    run    0:53    400    2    ram park
5-May    hike    0:15    100    2.5    ram park
6-May    off

By Saturday's run I was feeling a little better, but still not ready to open it up that much. Based on the way the week unfolded, I overdid the long run by a click or two, but everything should be fine as long as I keep listening to my body in coming days.

Goals:
5/27 Pineland Farms 50 km run
7/29 Escarpment trail 30 km mountain run
9/30 Vermont 50 km run