July 28 - Aug 3 (14:23)

Mon (3:02)
am (2:32) Fireblades. Ran Cataraqui Trail to Newburgh and back. Legs a little tired from yesterday, but was happy to get a good back-to-back effort after Sunday. Pretty hot out and tailwind on the way back. Got water at the store in Camden East.
pm (:30) Frees/Barefoot. Easy run on our grass trail. First 10 mins with shoes, then last 20 minutes barefoot. Felt good to loosen up the legs after this mornings run. (abs)

Tue (2:31)
am (1:13) Gazelles. Nice relaxed run on cinder trails at Lemoines. Cool morning. Legs were a little stiff until I got going, but then felt good and like I could have kept going a long time.
pm (1:18) Skylites. Tempo Run. Warmup to Cataraqui Trail for 18 mins, Tempo run for 40mins out and back on Cat Trail East, Cooldown for 20mins home. Felt pretty good. Legs were a little tired from the last few days, but felt strong. Got stung by a bee again (second time in the past few weeks), but didn't react badly.
~ During my tempo run today I was coming to a narrow, heavily treed area of the trail and noticed about 15 wild turkeys. Some adults, some young. They aren't the swiftest of birds, and I felt as though I could have almost caught some of them that were trying to fly along the trail away from me. I wasn't exactly flying during my tempo, however wild turkeys don't do so well in that department either. Too bad we don't eat meat, or I might have been able to catch dinner!

Wed (1:22)
am (1:22) Crosslite3. Ran Cataraqui Trail West to grass hill. Felt quite good after tempo last night. A little tired at beginning, then felt much better and could have kept going. Just doing one run to take as a recovery day today. Felt a strange twinge in my left ankle/shin on medial side after coming down hill on my way back. May have slightly twisted it or something.

~ We had my Mom (Grandma Rosie) and Dad over for dinner tonight to celebrate Grandma Rosie’s 70th birthday. As you can see from the attached photos, everyone was in good spirits during dinner and it looked like an enjoyable evening was going to be had by all. That was until the smack talk began shortly after dinner. We were talking about how fast Brennan had gone on his record setting ride on our 500m grass trail last week (see http://www.healthandadventure.com/58101/index.html ), when Rosie quickly exclaimed, "That's nothing Punk. Let me show you how it's done!".

We're not sure if it was the beer talking, as Dad seems to have found an increasing number of beer empties along Switzerville Road since Rosie's Rodeo, but the challenge was laid down and Rosie bet Brennan 20 bucks that she could kick his ass on the mountain bike.
Sunset came and found Rosie and Brennan at the start line on their bikes. Bren got an early lead off the line and through the trees with Rosie hot in pursuit. Once out of sight, all we heard was the sound of flying elbows, broken branches and some foul Fitchett-eese language. A short while later, Rosie and Brennan were seen walking back to the start line with anger in their eyes over the apparently aggressive riding tactics they each felt the other displayed.
What could have turned into a brawl on the race track was soon averted as Brennan offered to show Rosie how to do Catwalks (popping a wheelie) while mountain biking. Soon the two combatants were seen comparing bike tricks suitable for a rodeo indeed and all was forgiven.

While Rosie may not realize that the qualifying period for the 2008 Olympics is past, I expect that she is in hard training on the trails of Switzerville for the rematch...or the London 2012 Olympics.

Happy 70th Birthday Grandma Rosie!

Thu (1:56)
am (:40) Frees. Easy run on our grass trail. Ran last 20mins with Siku. Shin is still a little achy, but not bad. Didn't notice it while running.
pm (1:16) Gazelles. NDSS track. Warmup: 24 minutes (including stretching, drills, strides), 12 x 400 with 90 jog in 81,80,79,78,80,78,78,77,77,77,77,76. Felt really quite good. Was a little tired going into the workout, but after the first few repeats got into a nice smooth groove. Felt comfortable. Pleased that leg speed feels pretty good considering the high mileage and long runs.
Fri (2:01)
am (1:21) Crosslite3. Easy run on Cataraqui Trail West to Grass hill. Legs a little tired from track last night, but loosened up. Feeling pretty hungry by the end.
pm (:40) Skylites/Barefoot. Easy run with Sara on road/trail. Ran last 16 mins barefoot on our grass trail. Felt good. (abs)
~ Went to Tasha and Evans Kingston wedding reception. Tasha is Gene and Sue Steacy's daughter (they live in Canmore now). Feel a little old when I realized that I've known Tasha since she was in diapers. Was great to get caught up.

Sat (1:25)
am (:34) Gazelle. Easy run with Gene Steacy in Kingston on streets. Ran RMC route, then along the waterfront. Legs felt good, even though on pavement.
pm (:51) Gazelle. Steady run on Cat Trail West. Felt really good. Wanted to run longer and harder, but taking a few recovery days before heading to Adirondacks for some bigger days from Sun – Tue.
~ Was great running with Gene again this morning. Went for coffee after and swapped running stories. I've known Gene since the early 1980's when we both worked at Footlocker, while I was in high school. Gene went on to eventually run a 2:26 marathon and still loves running as much today as I do.

Sun (2:06)
am (:21) Frees. Ran easy with dogs on grass trail before leaving for Adirondacks until Tuesday. Planning to get lots of good long runs on trails and in mountains.
pm (1:45) Skylites. Mt Van Hoevenberg (2860) ft). Nice run with Sara this evening on trails up Mt Van Hoevenberg. This was the mountain where the Olympic Bobsled course starts. Very muddy in places, plus plenty of wet rock so had to be careful. Perfect run for this evening to get ready to do some longer and tougher runs over the next few days.
~ Camping in South Meadow, near Lake Placid. Great spot to camp for free in the High Peaks Region and have easy access to so many different trail options.

Week Ending Total = 14:23
~ Great week of running with some quality days while getting some good recovery days too. Nice back-to- back days from last Sunday and Monday. Some great runs lined up in the Adirondacks for Monday and Tuesday.