It was a fun November, but now it's time to go down for a few weeks. I'll recap the last month since it's been a while since my last post.
BAA Master's men - 2
nd at New England Cross Country Championships
The last time I had run at Franklin Park was 22 years ago, when I was an undergrad student at Northeastern University. It was fun, although I had already lost some fitness. The team was put together by my team mate Mark
http://runfastermaster.blogspot.com/ and we had a strong lineup. My team mate Andrew and I helped displace the competition and keep us in second. I want to come back next year in shape and take this race seriously.
Palmer Cyclocross Place?
I wan't last, but this was a brutal course with steep run ups, which by the last lap was killing my back. My tank mountain bike just wasn't cutting it and I was at a huge disadvantage. This was my first cyclocross ever, so my MRC team mates were congratulating me anyway.
MRC Wrentham Cyclocross Cat 4 36th
Boy - a completely different course! I actually felt great on the bike and will take a mid-pack finish any day. My triathlete team mates were actually surprised I did as well as I did. I actually passed a number of guys (boy, that must have been embarrassing) and finished strong. The down side was the 20 degree temperature made the day just brutal and I barely survived. My mountain bike has just had it and loosened up again, where the crank was hitting the chain stay - I didn't care, just keep cranking those pedals. The day was a blast - drinking frosty John Harvard's brew in the freezing cold. I look back at last year at this time and I hadn't been on the bike for a month and a half, so this cyclocross thing is good motivation to keep going after my race season and something I can do for just fun and not take serious!
Anyway, I have run very little the last week and it is time to go off-season. It's very important for the serious athlete to do this part of periodization ever year. I think it's also helped me keep going all these years without any serious problems. I have checked the blogs and the pro triathletes are also on down time, so now is the right time. The only real training I will be doing is drinking beer and watching the Patriots. I'll continue to swim and go to the gym though, so things don't get too out of control.
Everyone else should be taking some time off too! Boston Marathon training starts in three weeks!!
Cheers!
-Kyle
I am totally psyched to be starting in corral 1 this year! It will be wierd to start actually seeing the starting line (if I get there early enough). It had been a very hard training season. The NE weather has not cooperated and I am just getting to run trails in the last few weeks. I have pushed as hard as possible in March and have paid dues by getting the flu and a GI infection that I am still shaking. I may have pushed too hard and paid, but I have continued to train though it - the addiction is too strong and only yesterday did I take what could be considered a rest day. The last week has not been fun and I look forward to the warm weather approaching later this week. My numbers are still okay this week: 65mi running with one day off (no speed workouts), plenty of bike time ~ 150 miles and two easy swims (4200yards). The final few weeks approach for Boston and I will down shift long runs and focus on speed. I still want to keep my mileage high though, as always. Runs will be broken into doubles to keep the numbers high.
