Just Another Day in Studville...

Air Brick: Running and Biking The Airline Trail South End 2 End

As any CT runner worth the salt on their brow knows, the Southern section of  The Airline Trail is a 22 mile rail trail that connects East Hampton Colchester  Hebron  Lebanon and Willimantic. According to the DEP, “The trail takes its name from the imaginary line drawn from New York to Boston, through the “air” so to speak, to illustrate the shortest possible route between these two major east coast cities.”  Although I have run many miles on this trail, I have never run it from end to end.  That is, until today. 

Unlike some other epic running days, I actually had a real plan for this day.  I awoke at 4 AM, ate a quick oatmeal breakfast and coffee and was off.  I drove to the Cranberry bog near what I had considered the start of the Airline trail in East Hampton.  I walked about a hundred yards up the trail in the dark with my mountain bike, then walked about 20 yards into the woods, and locked my bike, a helmet, and a few snacks to a tree.  The temperature was a comfortable 58 degrees, and I was really excited to unleash my epic plan, and to spend a day in the woods.

I then went back to my car and drove the ~40 minutes to Willimantic, parking at the end of the Northern Airline Trail in an urban residential neighborhood.  I was supposed to be starting at 7:00 AM but even after waiting 10 minutes to try to get a gps signal with my
Timex, I decided to get started at 6:30.

To get from the North Trail to the South Trail I had a couple of road miles to do Starting with The Frog Bridge.  Ok, so its not the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, but it is really cool in its own rite.  From there it was a quick right, as I worked my way through a few neighborhoods and soon found myself out in the country.  With very little effort I was on the trail.  Last time I ran this section was a few years ago when training for 24 Hours around the Lake.  At that point it was still under a lot of construction, and was still rough.  On that day after a long swamp run,  I found myself dead ended in a fenced in area sharing it with all sorts of livestock.  Today I knew better and took a shortcut under the power lines before taking a short road detour.

Many leaves had fallen and obscured the trail making for a crunchy run.  I was moving along well and regularly sipping from my Camelbak.  As the sun rose and I knew that at about 7 AM my friend Jen Barrett would be starting from the Rt 149 lot running towards me.  We met up when I was about 9 miles in, a few miles north of RT 85.  Jen is a great runner, and our first two miles were 8:03 and 7:53, a bit faster than I had been running.  It was nice to have someone to run with and to push the pace a little.

We soon ran into John Paggiolli and Darrel on the trail and stopped a moment to chat.  Soon after we hit the parking lot and knew that I had about 6.5 miles to the end.  At that point I recalled that the trail had actually been extended about another mile to the center of East Hampton.  As Jen and I ran, and the miles built up, the conversation grew quiet as the long run delirium started to set in.  At 19 miles or so I realized that I had not had an energy gel in way too long, and started to fade a bit as we struggled up hill. Sections of yellow leaves covering the trail blurred before my eyes.  Soon after Jen reached 16 miles, and made the turn to go back to the parking lot to round out her day at 21 miles.

The runkeeper application on my phone called out 21 miles as I reached my bike.  However I was not yet at the end of the trail, so I decided to continue on into town.  The trail was much improved from my last visit, and after a zig zag up a ramp, and a small parking lot I finally found myself at the terminus of the Southern trail, albeit with an empty Camelbak.   Desperate for water, I looked and saw a Lady’s clothing Store called WINK’s that let me refill my Camelbak. 

After a slow slog back to my bike, I ended the run portion of the trip at 22.79 Miles.  Now all I had to do was to bike back to Willimantic.  My brain at this point was a bit fried and I was busy adjusting to a much faster pace.  I was nervous that I might just hit a bump and spaz out.  After two miles or so, I heard the call of a group of 3 bikers as they passed on my left.  I decided that I would pick it up and stay with them, although they were moving faster than my current pace.

After several miles of hanging 50 ft off of the back of the peloton, we hit an uphill and I pulled up and started talking to them.  This group of friends rides every year from East Hampton to Willimantic.  Robert Edwards and Chuck Paprzyca and Chuck’s son are all avid hikers, made the 21 mile bike ride fly by.  Well except for the flat tire that Rob got that set us back about 20 minutes, but I really did not mind the rest.

We continued on blasting through the leaves until I opted to take the Power line detour in lieu of the road. At that point the other guys continued on and I headed up the rocky, crowded powerline trail.  In hindsight, it was  good thing that Rob did not hit that trail as it may have knocked out his other tire.

A few more miles, and I flied [sic] over the Frog bridge, and saw my car once again, still intact after nearly 6 hours.  What a fantastic day.  I love spending time in the woods, spending time with new and old friends, and I just love point to point trips.  Airline Trail South, a friend I got to know better today.

 

   

 

Come on...y'all know it's true!

Mesh Aliens

The Strike has a theory:  The space aliens that inhabit the Mesh look just like this...

Run Away Ego

Nearly every marathon I have run had clear expectations attached to it.   Run for a PR, run to lead a pace group, or run it just for fun because I am not in shape to push it.  Today’s Nipmuck Trail marathon fell mostly into the last category.  Or at least it should have.  Clearly my training lately has not been up my past discipline.  The long recurring groin injury sidelined me to the point were I have just reached 700 miles for this year.  So the idea behind signing up for Nipmuck was to just tough it out and run it as a practice run for the Shenipsit through run in November.  

However when I arrived at the race, pinned on the bib, donned my fancy skull gators, I felt obligated the race the course.  Unfortunately my race effort could be likened to that of an old man at the bar, removed from reality, locked in the past.  There I was with very little training looking to pick a fight with the race course.  Yeah, great idea…

The race consisted of two out and back loops.  I started the first 12.4 mile loop as if I was the well trained, gutsy, trail hardened veteran of 2 years ago.  All went well as we ran the mildly technical single track at around a 9:15 pace.  I realized at about 10 miles that this pace on a trail was perhaps too fast. At this point someone said I was in 45^th place.  At around 12 miles the first mild cramp hit my calves.  Really!  A cramp at 12 miles!  How unusual and cruel.  I started popping  enduralyte tablets to try to head this off.  However in a few miles my simple calf cramps would seem minor.

I ran back through the starting area and took a big stomp in a mud puddle just for fun.  I then headed off to the second loop, which was reportedly more hilly and technical.  I decided to play it conservatively and walk the hills.  However I soon found that I was feeling winded, and the cramps had now moved to include my quads, feet and calves.  My pace at this point really tanked.  A few runners passed me.  I found this to be very depressing, however things slowly went from bad to worse.  I started to bonk a bit, and was just basically miserable.  And so it went, on and on and on and on.  Bonking cramping, getting passed… 

So where is the redemption?  At the start, I thought I was a bad ass. At mile 19 I was reduced to road kill, the kind that just sits flattened in the middle of the road, getting pummeled by car after car.   I did have a few funny light moments, like when someone told me I was looking good.  I laughed for about a half mile.   

And then it happened.  Redemption.  During the entire second half I was thinking that there just must be someone ahead of me that went out faster or was even more ill prepared than I was.  Yet I don’t think I passed more than one person.  At around mile 24 I started to power through the cramps, and used a lot of positive self talk.  Ok so it was not so positive “come on you big @#$% baby, get moving”.  Finally I saw a runner ahead of me that had passed me a couple of miles back, and I began to reel him in.  For the first time in about 15 miles I would be the one calling for a pass on the single track.  I started running up hills and pushing on the down hills.  And finally made the pass.   A small bright spot, and then I passed another runner.  

At that point I could hear the low key finish line in the distance, and just ran till I finished.   The next trick was to try to not fall into a giant ball of cramping agony.  I quickly grabbed a cup of chili.

Finish time was a pedestrian 5:22 which was good for 58^th place.  If I look at this as a training run, it was a smashing success.  I think it also served to remind me how important training is.   I was simply not prepared to race today.  Lesson learned no regrets.  I could easily handle the physical suffering, but my ego sure had a hard time.                                                                

Is isolation my kryptonite?

With teammates either away on vacation with their families (at secret training camps?) or nursing a mysterious injury I was left to do my long run yesterday alone. Woe is me. But an interesting thing happened on that 20 miler that deserves a little discussion. With neither a running partner to talk with nor an iPod to listen to you would expect it to be quiet. But afterwards I realized that it was too quiet. Something was missing from my run but I couldn't quite figure it out right away.
Now normally when we run as a group I can voice my opinions on matters in more than one way. Sometimes its with choice words, sometimes through grunts. Butt sometimes my backside offers a burst of insight. A rebuttal, some might say. Since this backfire may catch some off guard I try to warn them with a little "Fire in the hole!" Sometimes you'd swear I could singlehandedly perform the entire 1812 Overture! Anyway, its a gift. And I think the others are jealous. Lately I've noticed Art getting in on the act and feeling comfortable expressing himself in our group setting. And why not? His first name conveniently rhymes with the act. Good for him. Personally I think its great to get it out there in the open. Share with the world, I say.
And that is what was missing from my solo run yesterday. One would think that with the dinner I had the night before there would have been something. Nada. I failed to entertain myself with a single for 2.5 hrs. You don't think... Could it be? Perhaps I can only perform for an audience? Do those guys actually bring out the best in me? Is the secret to my superpowers really the COMPANIONSHIP after all?
Hurry back guys, the sounds of silence are killing me. I have some things to share with you.

Declaration

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one to reduce the amount of pressure being placed upon oneself, and to prioritize the aspects of one's life in relation to their duties and responsibilities they should declare a new focus.
I, therefore, announce my intentions to not seek a personal best time at the Colchester Half Marathon as I previously intended. Rather, I will continue training to a certain degree to run a respectable and true Boston Marathon. I still intend to run the aforementioned half marathon in February but with no pressure placed upon myself.
By eliminating the pressure of training hard to achieve a certain time I am granting myself more leeway to handle personal and professional goals. This change in focus is a direct result of new goals for 2008. Intensive training and setting PRs will be placed on hold until I can accomplish more important personal goals.
There is only so much pressure one can place upon oneself. Some things have to give.

Thoughts on the "Feed the Warrior" Concept

I say "Bravo!" to Rick's latest post on "Feeding the Warrior".  Jay and I joked about it a little bit during the run this morning, but I have admittedly been kicking the concept around in my head since then.  At first I thought it might be another unique apporoach to diet and nutrition, but now I can see that it goes a bit deeper than that.  By the way, you might be a bit disappointed when you see the Nike commercial that this idea is based on.  It's actually pretty funny, but it's just not one of those dramatic Nike ads that leaves you whispering, "Wow" and desperate to get your running shoes on and do some training.

My interpretation of this concept is that the human psyche has, essentially, two different identities; the warrior and the coward.  The term "Kill the Coward" comes up in the commercial, but maybe "Starve the Coward" fits better (it's just that "kill the coward" sounds better in a TV commercial).  In other words, the message is to re-direct your time, effort and energy (the "food", so to speak) away from your inner-coward and send it to your inner-warrior.  The inner-coward is the guy that thrives on food in the form of sleeping more than you need to, eating junk food, mindlessly watching too much TV, putting little or no effort into training, etc.  To put it another way, the coward loves to take it easy and avoid the effort, discipline and sacrifice required to pursue ambitious goals.  Meanwhile, the inner-warrior is the guy who is all business, a man on a mission who does not fear challenge and is continuously desperate to leave the comfort zone.  He craves just the opposite of what the coward craves...a disciplined and focused approach to achieving goals and spending the time and effort to take the necessary steps.

The "warrior" image is something that obviously appeals to battle-hardened distance runners.  But this is a concept that can apply to other areas of life.  Like our careers, families, and other non-athletic endeavors.  Whether you want to break your PR in the 5K or hit a certain income level next year, you need to neglect the inner-coward and empower that inner-warrior.  Feeding the warrior and starving the coward is just a great all-around metaphor.  And Lance Armstrong is the perfect real-life embodiment of that warrior image.  Or Rick O'Toole, of course!

So...go ahead.  Kick that coward in the teeth and feed that warrior!