[ripvanracer]

Thanks Laura. I have another fun race this weekend. Stairs, ladders, hills.

Keep crushing the miles KS.

 

[ripvanracer]

Hi KS

Ran the heritage days 10k (6.4 miles) on the Blue Heron trail Saturday morning. On Friday afternoon I previewed the course hiking the first 3 miles uphill and jogging 3.4 miles downhill. Course was easier than I thought it would be. We got started with the first minute downhill on a paved path before hitting the trail. I got a good start and was right behind the leader. He started pulling away and I got passed by another runner. I got to the first set of steps in 6:47. Once up the steps we climbed some and I got passed by two more runners. Over the next mile we lost the elevation we had gained making our way back along the river and I stayed in 5th place. I got to the second set of steps in 15:53 so I knew I was on the pace I wanted to be. The next mile was all uphill as we climbed about 500 ft. I caught one runner pretty quickly who was walking the hills. Soon after I moved into 3rd place. I finally caught 2nd place just before we got to the peak. There was a sign that marked 3 miles and I got there in 25:22. I thought I could run the last 3.4 miles in 24:30 so I was still on pace to reach my goal of 50 minutes. After the peak was some great smooth gradual downhill where I really picked up the pace. The actual trailhead was at my 4.5 mile mark and I ran that 1.5 mile section in 10:22. I had 1.9 miles to go but that included going down 80 steps and across the "crack in the rocks" which would slow me down some. I made it through those and was flying down the last switchbacks when I heard cheers below as the winner crossed the line. I arrived 55 seconds later in 2nd place finishing in 49:15 so I was happy to get my goal. Later in the day I hiked 4 miles with a group to look over the valley from the other side of the river.

 

[ripvanracer]

Stopped at Big Bone Lick State Park on Sunday for an easy 4.5 miles on the trails.
Monday I ran 7.39 miles in a little over an hour.
Tuesday I did my hilly 8 mile route in 60:50.
Today everything ached so I did an easy 2 miles on the grass.


No race this weekend. Going to check out the trails at a couple state parks after watching a college Xc meet Friday.

 

[ripvanracer]

Hi KS. The relay races have really taken off.

Got to see 3 of the local kids run at the xc meet.

Today I drove to Pike Lake State Park to run trails. I got a trail map and planned out a route. I decided to do a 1.2 mile loop trail before tackling the harder trail that would take me to the Buckeye trail. After 3 minutes of flat running to get to the trailhead, I turned on the trail and it went straight up. Wasn't ready for that! When I got done with that trail, I took another .5 mile trail that I thought would connect with another short trail taking me back to the lake. Couldn't find that trail so I took the road back. Headed across the dam and missed the trail going up the mountain so I ran the .4 mile lake trail. I then circled back around the lake and found the trail. I climbed 400-500 ft but it was a more gradual climb with some switchbacks. At the top I turned on the Buckeye trail which was also a bridle trail. I followed it down the mountain on the other side. At some point the Buckeye trail split off but I missed that turn. When I got to the bottom, I turned around and headed back up. The grade was much steeper and I had to walk a minute near the top. I got back to the park trail and took the other way down. When I got back to the lake, I ran the short trail I couldn't find earlier entering from the other side. Looped back on another short trail so I ran every trail in the park. Total time was 80 minutes so I'll call it 8 miles.

 

[ripvanracer]

Hi KS
What marathon are you running next?

I went back to Pike Lake on Sunday but my legs were too beat up for more trail running. I mapped out a road course that looped one of the peaks I did Saturday. The first 1.7 miles was a gradual 500 ft climb. After a right turn, it was rolling hills past a campground for a couple miles. The Buckeye trail crossed the road at my 4 mile mark where I was going to decide to take it 2.5 miles back to the park or continue another 6 miles on the roads. I decided to stay on the road and soon got to the downhill. I plummeted 600 feet over the next 1.5 miles at 6:30 pace. The rest of the run was fairly flat to rolling as I circled back to the park finishing the 9.93 miles in 76:16

Today was 2 easy miles untimed.

 

[ripvanracer]

That will be a great vacation!


It was raining today so I did a hill workout on the treadmill at the fitness center. Mile warm up, 4 hill runs a little over 1/2 mile each at inclines between 10% and 15%. Half mile at 8 minute pace between. Hit 5 miles in 49 minutes with 1,725 ft elevation gain.


Signed up for a race November 12th that is 14.5 miles and 3,845 ft gain/3,845 loss. It's in the Pine mountains of Kentucky. Going down this Sunday to run 11-12 miles of the course.

 

[ripvanracer]

Nice consistency KS

3 easy on the treadmill Friday. Saturday morning I went to watch the local Xc teams run. I did 2 miles on the course before they started. Over the years they keep making the course easier. Mile in the woods the trail is at least twice as wide. Every root and rock is spray painted white. All the low places have a bridge or filled so even though it rained the last couple days, the course was dry and fast.

I wont be so fortunate on my trail run tomorrow!

 

[ripvanracer]

Went to Kentucky Sunday to run the trails of a race I will be running in a couple weeks. I had researched most of the trail so generally knew the elevation change. The first mile of trail was the Hidden Arch trail. It was flat to begin with but then went down some steps and around a rock arch. The climb back was around 100 ft. After a mile of flat trail, I turned onto the Buck creek trail. The trail descended 350 ft to Buck creek and then passed through the creek a couple times. After that it climbed back up with a few switchbacks so it was runnable the whole way . The next section was the pinch em tight trail that went 1.2 miles of flat easy running before coming to a road. A right turn on the road brought me to the Gray's Arch trail head. At this point I was 4.5 miles into the run and was keeping under 10 minute pace at a pretty easy effort. After a short .2 mile connector trail, it was time to see the Rough trail. I immediately descended 500 ft. of rocky technical terrain. At that point I followed a sweet flat trail that meandered along a creek with multiple bridge crossings. I then saw a road up ahead and knew I missed turn. I took the wrong way on the Rough trail and ended up at the trail ahead. After going back and forth trying to figure out where I needed to go, I backtracked up the rocky ascent and arrived at the turn I missed. The problem was that I had already been unning 75 minutes and if I turned onto the Rough trail, I would have had a minimum of 6.4 miles to the car. I decided to return the way I came which was 4.6 miles. On the return trip, I ran a minute faster and finished 13 miles in 2:06-2:07.

Monday I ran an easy 7 miles.

Tuesday I did a hill workout on the treadmill running 5.81 miles with 7 half mile climbs totalling 2,450 ft.

Wednesday was another easy 7 miles.

Thursday I did a hard progression running 7.82 miles in an hour

Today I did an unmiled 20 minutes I'll call 2 miles.

 

[ripvanracer]

Went to the regional high school xc meet today. Our boys team made it to the state meet and our girls missed it by one place though they weren't that close to the last spot. Our top girl made it as an individual. The course they run is spread over a large campus so it takes at least 1 1/4 miles of running to see a good portion of the race. I decided to jog slowly in between the 5 races I watched and ended up with 18.4 miles in 3:56. When I was able to run a mile without stopping to talk or watch the races I was running between 9:00 and 9:30 pace.