Portsmouth, NH Run

Time: ~49 mins
Distance: ~11.3 km

I ran this evening in Portsmouth after visiting a number of accounts. An employee of Runner's Alley and I went out after hours and got in about 50 minutes of running. I wouldn't know because somehow the Timex GPS system got turned on while in my bag and drained the battery. This is just one of the many reasons why I'm not in love with Timex right now.

The pace was solid and we covered a nice loop that went through Newcastle. We had some good chats about work, training and the college/professional running scenes. I'll definitely have to work in more runs with Andrew when I'm in town.

Portsmouth to New Castle

Time: 35:33
Distance: 8.01km
Pace: 4:26/km
Map

I was in the office most of last week and needed to get back out on the road. I decided to make a route that would take me to all three of the Runner's Alley locations in order to share my love for Balega socks. They are awesome! No really. They are.

My day ended at a coffee shop in Portsmouth which is a town I would consider living in if it were so far away from a major airport. The downtown area is filled with locally owned shops, art galleries and restaurants. It's fun making trips up to visit our footwear developer's office because I get to enjoy the Portsmouth buzz.

At the end of the day I parked near the library and changed into my running costume. I wanted to put in a few kilometers to kill time before driving back to MA in order to get Meagan from the airport. I ran from near downtown out to New Castle which was founded in something like 1623. I did the run a couple of years ago during a winter sales meeting. I'll have to come back fully healthy and complete the loop.

Old New England

Time: 50:12
Distance: 7.32 miles
Pace: 6:52
Map

I got up and out the door after little sleep for a run out to New Castle which is apparently close to Portsmouth. It was good to be back on the roads of New England as it brought me back to my time at Brown. The most memorable part of the run happened when I was approaching main street and a sign read something along the lines of "Founded 1623, Incorporated 1693." That's something you don't see everyday. It's something that was a little more familiar during my days in the northeast, but I've been removed from that atmosphere.

I felt good by the end of the run and was able to grab a quick shower before seeing the SS11 Craft apparel line.

Portsmouth Track Workout

Time: 54:35
Distance: ~8 miles

W/u: 18:06 for 2.22 miles
W/o: 5 x 1k in 2:57 w/ 1 min rest.
C/d: 18:35 for 2.21 miles

Around 4:00 pm today all the sales reps went over to Dan Richards' Design offices to check out some of the new stuff he and his team are working on. Pretty neat stuff for Karhu to come. After a lengthy discussion with Dan, Paul and myself about the direction of footwear these days, we finally headed off to the hotel. I grabbed my flats and we were downstairs for a warm up to the track.

Paul has lost 20 pounds since returning to the rep force which means he no longer wheezes, spits and coughs during a 15 minute run. It was fun and productive jogging over to the track where I would be doing my workout. I didn't do much in the way of strides or drills. I just slipped on the flats and got to work. I will say that while it was cool compared to NC and TX, the temps were warm. I started to get hot around interval 3, but I still finished decent.

Splits:
2:57.53, (1:01), 2:56.75, (1:01), 2:57.84, (1:00), 2:59.9, (1:01), 2:58.06 for 18:54 total.

I would rate this as a C+ type workout. I definitely felt a little rushed going into it and considering I didn't get much sleep, I'll take it. The second interval is the only one that felt comfortable. I started to struggle on the last two and had to dig the final 500m of the last one. If it weren't for a faster last 200m with the wind at my back, I wouldn't have broken 3:00. When I saw this workout on paper a few weeks ago I wasn't intimidated. The short rest really caught up with me as the quick jog across the infield was fleeting. I had envisioned closing the last one in 2:50. It wasn't meant to be.

Paul hung tough on the cool down back to the hotel too. He has 20 pounds to go and maybe he'll be back in 4:00 minute shape again. That is if he can find a course that has a steeper downhill and gets more wind at his back.

Portsmouth, NH Run

Time: 33:31
Distance: 4.75 miles
Pace: 7:03
Map

Why does the sun rise so early on the east coast? I swear it was 5:30 when the light started shining through the hotel blinds. I was wide awake and hour later and out the door for a few miles through Portsmouth. For not getting to bed until a little after midnight, I felt pretty good this morning. We spent a couple of hours at a local pub watching the Celtics and Magic play in the Easter Conference Championships.

My run took me from the hotel to Portsmouth HS where I ran a lap around the track before heading back. I'm supposed to do a workout this evening and I wanted to know the distance to and from the track. Our schedule is packed with meetings and presentations, but I still hope to find time to bang out a workout.

Treadmill Time

Time: 36:30
Distance: 5 miles

Again, I was down on the treadmill for some time on the feet. I'm ready wrap things up here this afternoon and head off to DII nationals. This afternoon's bike session doesn't really pertain to my territory, but it will be good prep to become familiar with the direction of the company. Great stuff.

I probably should have run at the hotel in Peabody, MA but I wasn't feeling the need.

Karhu Kool-Aid

Time: 22:51
Distance: ~3 miles

Today we learned about the fulcrum technology in Karhu shoes. Huub Valkenberg is the CEO of the company and is responsible for bringing Nike to Russia and India. Since buying Karhu, Huub has become a big believe in the brand and put a lot of research into the shoe's technology. We learned results of a test where Karhu was pitted against Asics and while it's much too detailed for me to explain here, I'll say that the fulcrum is awesome. If I wasn't drinking the Kool-Aid of Karhu before, I am now.

The group had an early break after a visit to the brand's shoe designer's office. Dan has prototypes all over the place with shoe sketches and molds detailing improvements to the current line. We came dressed to run and did just that after our session. I wanted to put in more miles but everyone was content with the short jog and it was lunch time. I fear that my training is going down the shitter this week.

Too Cold Not to Treadmill

Time: 35:00
Distance: 5 miles

I made the mistake of not bringing enough warm clothing to sales meeting. I was worried that I'd catch grief for wearing old Brooks, Nike, Adidas or Asics gear on the runs. I only have two Craft pieces and I'm reluctant to get them dirty with sweat. It was a stupid mistake as I don't think anybody really cares since I'm new. In fact, Danielle from Colorado wore Saucony's on the run because she, too, is new, and used to work for the competitor. Oh well.

I was down at the fitness facility before 7 bells to fit in some miles that were oh so fantastic.

Group Jaunt in Portsmouth

Time: 22:29
Distance: 2 miles

Yes, that is really slow. This afternoon the sales team took a break and suited up in our running costumes to go for a jog. My new boss, Paul Perrone, and I ran down the other members of the group after getting out the door late. Paul sounded a little like Johnny G when he would run 5 or 6 miles with the Brown XC team. Lots of coughing, hacking and uncomfortable breathing. It was a little gross and worrisome but Paul managed well. Maybe not well, but not dead.

We finished up the run at Runner's Alley which is the local shop. It was cool seeing Craft on the hangers in the store after just learning about Layer 1 (aka base layer). I've been taking tons of notes and will be excited to get the samples of the gear in a few weeks. Good thing I'm sample size.

Exploring Portsmouth

Time: 69:58
Distance: 10.02 miles
Pace: 6:59
Map

I ran with Lee Greenberg this morning through the streets of Portsmouth. Great little towns they got up in New England, I tell you. Around 15 minutes into the run Lee, the sales rep out of Chicago, and I ran into a fit looking guy about age 50. We got to running with him and he told us that on Sunday he was running the Philly 'thon. His goal was to run in the 2:50s which is pretty badass. That's like faster than Wee Man. Snipe!

We dropped Lee back at the hotel and then I ventured out and heard some stories about Portsmouth. I found out that Mark Coogan lives in the area and that the winner of this year's Marine Corps Marathon is from the town. Who knew that Portsmouth was the training Mecca of the northeast?